Today, Mom, my niece, and I went to see Ragtime at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn. Absolutely wonderful. This is one of those shows where, if the actors don’t have the pipes, they can’t carry their roles, no matter how good their acting may be. Every actor had a wonderful, strong voice. (Okay, Father’s wasn’t the best, but his is a smaller role and he did fine.) Since the singing was everything you could hope for, the show was great. It’s got one of the best soundtracks around, I think–the incredibly moving dirge, “Till We Meet That Day” at the end of act one, “Wheels of a Dream,” “New Music,” which Coalhouse uses to lure Sarah down the stairs is one of my absolute favorites, and even the opening number, “Ragtime.” All amazing. If you like this kind of thing and get the chance to see it at a decent theater (see note above about necessary singing quality), by all means do. As it is, I think I’ll be listening to the soundtrack in the car for the next couple weeks, and my niece already has a copy of her own, now . . .

I was very brave, too, and brought some knitting with me–a washcloth that I decided to make out of some of my leftover Calmer from my NbaT. It started as a double moss stitch, but I got a little lost knitting in the dark, and ended up doing some ribbing there, in the middle (grin). I think the kind thing to do is to frog back to the last row before I lost the pattern and carry on from there. Or maybe I’ll just leave it there as a little “souvenir” from the show! I haven’t entirely decided yet. I think it was pretty inevitable, though, that, doing anything other than garter or stockinette stitch, that I’d get confused on the pattern, without being able to see what I was doing. But wasn’t it brave of me to bring it along?

  And look! Finally, a winner in the Union Market Square Pullover Yarn Contest. Rowan’s 4-ply Cashsoft. Not only did Jimmy Beans Wool get this here very quickly–I only ordered a day or two ago–but look, they included a lollipop, too. I’m so relieved; now I can finally start this sweater. (And I was thinking about it during the “Night that Goldman Spoke at Union Square” number in the show this afternoon, too!) It’s unusual for me to pick colors so close to the ones in the pattern–I tend to like to pick my own–but . . . I love red for sweaters, first of all, it just makes the sweater extra cozy, or something. And for the accent color? There weren’t that many to pick from that weren’t too dark, too light, or that clashed too much, and darn it, it’s a nice combination. Didn’t it catch my eye in the first place??

  Hey, my niece made herself a Candy Bar Doll. Isn’t she cute? Picture the hair a shade or two lighter, and, well, you’ve got it. (I made one of myself last month, you’ll remember. Fun!)

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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What, exactly, is normalcy, of course, on a day like today, that follows a day like yesterday?

Well, knitting content does spring to mind. I’m into my fourth color and my 6th (I think, I may have lost count) set of repeats in my Flower Basket Shawl. It’s looking fabulous, and I’m going to end up with quite a bit of extra yarn . . . gosh, isn’t that just dreadful? I wonder what I’ll do with it! (grin)

For my Union Square Market Pullover yarn dilemma, I’ve at least narrowed down the choices. I packed up and shipped back the Herrschners and KnitPicks yarns yesterday. There was nothing wrong with the actual yarn, mind you, but it wasn’t what I was looking for, and I decided it wasn’t needed in my stash, either. The Misti Alpaca laceweight, though, I kept. If the gauge is too small (which, let’s face it, it will be) I still love the color, love the yarn, and with the amount of lace I’ve been doing lately, I have no doubts that I’ll find something to do with it.

And in the meantime, I’ve ordered yet another yarn to try in this sweater: Rowan’s 4-ply Cashsoft. The gauge should be right on the money, and the color (Redwood, with Rose Lake) looks just about perfect for me, and if it’s as nice to work with as the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino . . . how could I complain? The price was good, too, only $7.95 a skein–that’s reasonable enough, wouldn’t you say? Okay, $2 more than the Dale Baby Ull, but I’ve heard wonderful things about the yarn and I am, of course, getting money back for the returns . . . (You have to realize that I hate making returns–once I’ve picked out and brought something to my home, I don’t want to let it go. So, actually sending back that yarn is a big step for me!)

This weekend, my 16-year old niece is coming for a visit. She, Mom, and I are going to the Papermill Playhouse on Saturday to see Ragtime, a show I saw on Broadway in 1998 and loved. It has one of the best musical scores I’ve heard in a long time, deeply moving, lyrical, incredible harmonies . . . really amazing, and I’m looking forward to seeing the show again. Tiffany’s never seen it, and the production is supposed to be excellent (styled more on the London theater version than the Broadway version, but that’s fine with me).

Sunday, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will be down to reclaim my niece, but also to celebrate Chappy’s birthday. Nothing big, mind you, but who can object to an excuse for the family to get together and eat cake? Which reminds me, I need to find time tomorrow to bake a cake.

And, of course, tomorrow I’ll start my reading of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. One more week until book 6 is out!

Incidentally, I drove past Nonna’s Yarn Cafe the other day and saw an “Open” sign in the window. That’s great and exciting, huh? But I’m trying very hard to be good and wait until the 23rd, when Risa, her twins, and I can all go together. It’s really just as well that I have plans for the weekend, huh?? I mean, she said she’d forgive me if I couldn’t wait that long, but I’m really trying!

And, an old Irish prayer to leave you with:

May God bless those who love us.

And for those who don’t love us, may God turn their hearts.

And for those whose hearts cannot be turned, may God turn their ankles so that we may know them by their limping.

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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My thoughts and prayers are with the people of London today.

I couldn’t believe the news when I woke up this morning, and am appalled, shocked, horrified, and deeply upset at this attack on one of my favorite cities. The timing seems particularly horrible. Not only the political ramifications, but just the emotional pendulum swing from yesterday’s jubiliation over the 2012 Olympics. Cruel.

Please check out Stephanie’s entry today, and the perfect quote from Gandhi.

I hope everybody’s safe, out there.

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NOTE: This post was written before today’s events in London, but there’s an odd, personal connection for me, here. When 9/11 happened, we’d only had Chappy about two weeks. Our office closed early, and I went home and spent most of the afternoon sitting on the floor, staring at the news on TV and letting little puppy-Chappy coax smiles as he romped and played, oblivious to the horrors on the screen. But, Mom, Chappy and I also took a walk up the street (well, she and I walked, he got carried since he hadn’t had all his shots yet) and there we stood, watching the enormous, miles-long plume of smoke stretch across the horizon. The World Trade Center had been visible way off in the distance.

Having Chappy around being his cute, baby self–completely unconcerned with the scary events of the day–was the only thing that made that day bearable for me. And now, this horrible event has happened on his birthday–another day when we are all, again, confronted with horror and death on the television. In amidst all the grief and anger and compassion on behalf of those in, or with loved ones in, London–I am thankful yet again for the bundle of uncomplicated joy running around my life in a fur suit. I just hope there are just as many sweet, children, cats, and dogs in England as there were here that day, to provide some emotional relief from this senseless act. It’s important to have something to remind you to smile, even when–especially when–surrounded by terror.

My little puppy is in fact four years old, today. I can’t believe it.

So, brace yourself. Cute pictures and motherly-gushing coming up.

So . . . four years ago today. July 7, 2001. Here’s Chappy, his 4-legged mother, and a handful of brothers and sister. (One girl puppy; the rest boys.) Sometimes it amazes me how much Chappy’s face looks like his Mom’s.

A few weeks later–I’m not sure, but I think Chappy’s the one in the back on the right . . . but they’re all adorable, so does it really matter? (Well, yes, to me!) But my gracious, these puppies had just the cutest faces. The day we picked Chappy up? Seven little heads popped up with these round, little, interested brown faces . . . God, so adorable.

Five weeks old; the day I actually met the puppies. Again, I know that all the puppies in a pile of chocolate brown puppies all look alike, but I believe this is my little guy. The fur texture is right, and he slept on his back like this almost all the time when I first brought him home. Still does, for that matter.

Three months old . . . how could you not love this face? (grin)

Almost the same spot, almost the same pose, but when he was almost a year old–much more grown-up!

Chappy’s parents, Buddy (his dad, on the left), and Tawney (Mom, on the right). They create sweet and beautiful puppies together.

Tags: Chappy, Family, General by Deb
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Let’s see . . .

I’m having no luck getting the yarn for my Union Square Market Pullover. None of the three sweaters’ worth of yarn has worked out–either the gauge or the color or the texture . . . So frustrating!

Here’s the latest contender. Nice yarn–Dale of Norway’s Baby Ull. The problem is the color. The green–which photographed too dark, here–is really a light, lime green. A nice enough color, but lighter than I really want for this sweater. And the aqua for accent?? Way too bright. It would be adorable for a baby boy’s sweater, but does not go with this. So, while the yarn itself is soft and long-wearing and the right weight, the colors I have here in my house won’t do at all.

Sigh.

And, to add insult to injury? I’d ordered Addi Natura bamboo needles to try as an alternative to my loved Addi Turbos–to hopefully help me get the gauge. Except . . . Herschnerr’s sent me a Turbo pair. So now I have to send it back and wait for them to replace it . . . and who knows how long that’s going to take.

You know, all I really want to do is start this sweater, yet the gods are insisting I wait. Is that fair, I ask you? Especially considering I’m the host for the knit-along? It just doesn’t seem right (grin).

I’ve made very little progress with my socks these last couple of days. I tried, mind you, but I accidentally picked up the wrong yarn and knitted a full row on one sock with the yarn that belonged to the other one . . . by the time I’d tinked that row out tonight, I’d kind of lost interest in the socks for the night!

I did not get to do the final blocking for my NbaT, though. I thought Chappy still felt warm at lunchtime, and so took him to the vet this afternoon. (Of course, when I got home to pick him up to take TO the vet, I thought he felt cooler–naturally. It’s like demonstrating a specific noise at the mechanic; the car’s never going to cooperate.) I wasn’t really that concerned, but we were almost due for his annual checkup, anyway, and I didn’t want to risk him actually getting sick for tomorrow, because who wants to go to the doctor on their birthday? He’s fine, though. The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong and, at least, we’ve got a clean bill of health for another year. Well, there’s the little pimple above his eye that she sent ointment home for, but as long as nothing goes wrong, he should be just fine.

In other news–the silk pillowcase that shattered on me the other day? I ordered a new pair from Tenderheaded.com, and let me just recommend these folks. Since the one that tore came from them, they took $2 off my order. I know, it’s not a huge amount, but it’s a nice gesture, don’t you think?

They’re also the site where I got my favorite hair comb, too. I only comb my hair out in the shower, when it’s full of conditioner, and never brush it otherwise. Well, once in a blue moon. There are times I miss my Widu. A wooden-bristle brush, my absolute favorite hair brush, ever. Great for tangles, gentle, easy to clean. (sob) I still get emotional.

Why do I not brush my hair, you ask? This is something only a person with curly hair can really appreciate. I don’t have the curliest hair–about a 3a on the hair curl scale, that’s to say–curly, not wavy (a 2) or kinky (a 4), but with looser curls (a) rather than tighter ones (c). Curls–to be curls and not frizz–need to be clumped together, and brushing just breaks the clumps up, so each hair curls off on its own, rather than joining with its neighbors. So the first rule of curly hair–if you don’t want frizz–is to never, ever brush it.

If you’re interested–if your hair has any natural wave or curl at all–please, let me direct you to Naturally Curly.com. Not only is the site chock full of valuable curl-care information, there is a great Message Board where you can ask and answer lots of questions, but there is also an online store where some really great products are available. I have learned more about hair-care in the last 15 months since I discovered this site! Like, how harsh most shampoos are, and what ingredients to avoid, the concept of using conditioner-only to clean your hair, what styling products are good or bad for which hair types . . . A wealth of hair information–much of which is not restricted to curly hair. (Like the importance of deep treatments, one of which I gave my hair tonight, and it’s already softer.)

Why am I telling you all this? I really don’t know. I suppose because my pillowcase story segued so nicely, and it’s something I’ve wanted to mention for a while now. It’s a really helpful place–to hair care what Knitters’ Review is to knitting, and darn it, it deserves the recognition!

Tags: General, Hair, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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  I promised Cate–who is waxing rhapsodical about lace herself, these days– a look at my Flower Basket Shawl. I’m into my fifth pattern repeat and my third (of four) colors. The quilt colors are kind of taking away from it a bit though…

  A closer look at the colors, though it’s not quite perfect in terms of color. The darker color is at the top left corner, and will be followed by an even more intense green.

  Isn’t the Chai beautiful?? I’m going to end up with extra, too–not necessarily a bad thing!

  I forgot to mention, yesterday–my favorite part about finishing my NbaT? Including sewing it up, this is how much yarn left in my skein. I love that. (I mean, sure, I have another whole, untouched skein of Coral Calmer, but wouldn’t it have been frustrating if I’d needed to start it just for a yard or so of sewing yarn? That would be as frustrating as, gosh, not having quite enough yarn in your skein to finish your Peacock Feathers shawl.

On a technical note, have any of you Typepad users noticed that, since upgrading their system this weekend, one of the “custom themes” you can pick for your blog is “Knitting.” There were only 5 “Special Interests” available–travel, wedding, baby, stitch, and knitting. Does anyone get the impression that there are a LOT of knitting blogs out there?? (grin)

I’m psyched for London for winning their bid for the 2012 Olympics. I admit there was a small part of me rooting for New York–it would have been close enough that I might have actually been able to attend some of the events. Because while I’m not a sports-follower at all, I’m something of an Olympics junkie. I’ll watch almost anything if it’s got those five rings behind it. This fixation dates back to my high school days, and I blame it squarely on two movies. Chariots of Fire (of course), and a 2-part TV movie called The First Olympics which my best friend and I watched almost as much as we watched 1776. It was about the first modern Olympics in Athens 1896, and the struggles of the U.S. team to get there and to compete . . . we taped it when it was aired and then watched it over and over and over (grin). (Hey, it was the mid-80s and it cost a fortune to rent or buy a video–the movies we had on tape were the choices. Period. End of story. And even the blank tapes cost $, so we had to be selective about what we decided to keep!) Louis Jardin as Baron Pierre de Coubertain, David Odgen Stiers as the head of Princeton’s Classics department, David Caruso as James O’Connelly (first gold medal winner in 2000 years) . . . fun movie. Anyway, it would have been nifty to get to see some of the Olympics in person, but I’m very happy for London. It’s nice when the under-dog wins!

The new Knitty is up, but I can’t say I’m inspired by any of the patterns. I don’t have a man in my life to knit for. My father has told me that he’s not interested in having a handknit sweater, I don’t think my brother-in-law would want one, either, but I suppose I could make a hat for my nephew (the one with short rows, in Mets colors?). . . but that would be about it. Still . . . I liked it better than the lingerie issue they put out last summer!

Here’s an interesting article about Identical Twins. (Found at Mirabilis.ca again–she finds some of the most interesting news items!) I’m always interested in reading about twins–I had an identical twin, but we were 7 weeks early, back in 1966, and she didn’t make it. Mom and I were just speculating the other day as to whether Susan and I would have had similar hair, but guessing that we would probably have worn it differently . . . but maybe it wouldn’t have been the same texture, after all! (The conversation was inspired by a pair of middle-aged twins we saw at Starbucks on Saturday who had the exact same hairstyle. Looks just a little odd on adults, I think.) Interesting.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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What’s this??

It couldn’t be a NbaT, could it??

Why, yes, it could!

(Forgive the lousy photo–the end of a long day, no makeup, etc, etc.)

It fits pretty well, too, though I don’t think I did my best job sewing the seams. I’ll rewet it and block it properly tomorrow, now that it’s all sewn together, but I’m happy with it.

In other knitting news, my Flower Basket Shawl (in Chai) is coming along like gangbusters. I only started it on Saturday, but I’m already into my third color stripe. (You’ll remember I’m using four different colors, one shading into the next.) It looks just lovely, and I can’t get over how fast it’s going . . . but compared to my Peacock, which seemed to inch forward in painfully slow increments (unlike, say Wendy‘s), this is just flying. It’s a nice, straightforward pattern, easy to remember, symmetrical on both sides of the center point . . . a breeze.

For my Union Square Market Pullover, I’m still waiting for my third-option yarn to come, and then I get to pick from the contenders which I want to use. Now that my NbaT is done, and the shawl is flying along (assuming I didn’t jinx it) . . . I’m more anxious than ever to start that sweater. The Knit-along is up to 14 people now, which is kind of cool. All the more reason that I want to start!

Chappy’s been kind of quiet today–didn’t even help Mom with the vacuuming this morning–and seems just a tiny bit warm to me. Not enough to be “sick” or too worrying, but just enough that I want to give him a little extra TLC. He deserves it, after all, and besides, I’d hate for him to be sick on his birthday!

Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Happy Fourth of July, everyone. (And I do mean everyone, even if it’s not actually a holiday where you are!)

I’ve spent my day doing good, old-fashioned kinds of things.

  Like, finally skeining the purple–yes, purple, despite the blue color in the photo–yarn I spun a while ago, and then setting the twist for both it and the green. Both colors are currently hanging in the shower to dry. (Note the clever re-using of the old, outgrown dog collars to attach the yarn to the towel rod. Yes, really, I’m rather proud of that idea.)

  I knitted the neckband and the shoulder seams of my NbaT, which looks in this photo more like it’s been dismembered, rather than not-yet-assembled, but you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that it’s feeling no pain. All I have left is to sew in the sleeves and do the side seams, and it’s done.

  I did some cleaning and some laundry, although I didn’t actually vacuum my room, which really needs it. But look what happened to my silk pillowcase! I washed it like a good, clean human being, and as I was putting the pillow back in, it split, right along the seam. Frustrating. But the most frustrating part is that it came in a package of two, back when I bought this (silk, to help keep my curls intact while I sleep), and I cannot for the life of me find the second one. I don’t know how often I’ve mentioned that I’m almost obsessively neat, but I just generally don’t lose things. Whatever I’m looking for may be in the second place I look, or even the third, but almost never anywhere beyond that–I’m a firm believer in the “Put things where you’ll look for them first” rule, and it almost never fails me . . . so where could that second case be? And in the meantime, it’s a choice between a cotton case, which feels good, but grabs my hair and ruins the curl, or satin, which is synthetic and gets too hot against my skin, occasionally producing a rash (sigh).

  Other than that, though, it’s been a pleasant day. I spent at least part of my afternoon following Tradition. . . . watching “1776: The Musical” on tv. I love this movie, and have ever since my 5th grade teacher used to play the Broadway soundtrack to us in class, to work to, when we were being good. I did a report in 7th grade on Richard Henry Lee because of his “Lees of Old Virginia” song. I first heard of the remarkable marriage and correspondence of John and Abigail Adams from this show. Then, when we got our first VCR (around 1981), my best friend and I stayed up late one Independence Day to tape it off of Channel 9 WOR. I didn’t realize then that the version had been “sanitized,” not until I saw this cut with various, archaic profanities left in. The songs are catchy, and it’s remarkably accurate, historically speaking, as to what really did go on in the Continental Congress that hot summer. This DVD includes the long-lost “Cool, Considerate Men” number, which I had never seen. But ultimately, it’s William Daniels as John Adams that makes me love this so much. He’s perfect in the part, and a delight. My best friend and I used to watch this over and over (and over), so that I can recite whole, long sections along with the characters. And, we counted once, in the censored WOR version we had on tape, John Adams says “Oh, Good God” thirteen times, and we laughed at every single one of them. I hadn’t seen this in a couple of years, but still, it’s a tradition to at least think about watching it, every Fourth of July. It’s patriotic, fun, and educational, too!

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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  Chappy’s best friend, Horatio, came over to play today. They haven’t seen each other in about 9 months (sad, I know), but boy, did they have a good time!

They romped in the yard.

They wrestled.

They climbed on each other. (Sitting on Horatio is one of Chappy’s very favorite things.)

And after quite a while of that, they finally actually sat down.

  Horatio, of course, also brought his big sister along. Here’s a rare photo of Princess actually stretched out and sleeping while she’s (1) away from home and (2) mere inches away from the two crazy boys’ rough-housing.

And while the dogs were doing the doggy thing, I gave their mom, Cindy, a sock-knitting lesson. She hasn’t knitted anything in about a year, but wanted to do socks so . . . it took us about 7 hours, but she finished one short-row toe and took it home just in time to do the easy part. Nothing else difficult until she gets to the heel, and since that will be a short-row heel, I figure she’s at least got one under her belt. (I considered starting her on a traditional, heel-flap, top-down sock, but since she’s a visual person and not good at following written instructions, there would be absolutely no way I could have walked her through that over the phone.)

While she worked on her sock toe, I added some more rows to my now Flower Basket Shawl . . . since I decided not to risk ruining my beautiful Chai yarn by risking having to frog it another time, since my pattern simply was not cooperating. I also got two sock-toes of my own done, as well as sewing together the shoulder seam of my NbaT, so it’s ready to do the neckband.

I also pulled all my yarn out of my closet to sort through my stash . . . again. I don’ t know why I didn’t think to take pictures, but I didn’t. I have an obscene amount of Jo Sharp yarn, though–especially in the Aran weight that I’m really not that interested in knitting any more. The last few aran-weight sweaters I’ve knitted ended up being much too hot to wear, no matter how beautiful they were, so what am I doing with still more of the stuff? (Hint: The key word in the previous sentence begins with “B” and ends with “eautiful.”) I also have quite a pile of yarn in the office in the “RAOK” pile . . . stuff that’s really very nice, but which I am obviously not going to do anything with . . . You know I really don’t buy THAT much yarn . . . how do I end up with so much that I don’t need?

I don’t suppose anyone out there would like to trade a sweaters’ worth of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran for an equal amount of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, is there?

Oh, and it’s official. I’ve given up on the Rowan Elfin cardigan. I slid the two fronts off the needle this morning at approximately 11:28 a.m. They will be resting with the completed back and the skeins of still-untouched Felted Tweed yarn in a plastic bag pending further arrangements.

The one drawback to the day? We had one of those Off! bug-repellant lanterns lit on the table, and by the time Cindy and the pooches left (around 7:20), my throat felt as if I’d been in a smoky room all day, I was coughing, and out of breath/wheezing. Not fun! It’s such a . . . comforting . . . thought to think that I was breathing in insect-repellant smoke all afternoon . . . that’s got to be good for my lungs, right??

  Anyway, Chappy got a bath after they left (badly needed after all that rolling in the back yard . . . I can’t remember the last time I saw so much actual dirt at the bottom of the bathtub), had his supper, and promptly zonked out for basically the entire evening. He curled up on the arm of my chair while I read–I was tired, too, and figured I’d done enough knitting for one day–and basically didn’t move for over an hour. He is tired!

One final note–today would have been my Dad’s Father’s 102nd birthday. He was born on July 3, 1903 in Germany, and died in 1967 of Alzheimer’s (though I’m not sure of the date, but then I was only about 10 months old). Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Tags: Chappy, Family, Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning, Weather by Deb
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So, according to Jacqueline, I’m a yarn enabler. Apparently my pictures of Artfiber’s Chai yarn has inspired her to buy some for herself. (Or, at least, she says she’s close to it!) And apparently two of her friends are tempted, too.

Frankly, I find it kind of fun being on the “Enabler” side of this process for a change.

And so I made myself a button!

If you’re an Enabler, too, please feel free to borrow it!

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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That’s two strikes for my Chai shawl . . . I got to about the same point again and . . . still didn’t like the way it was looking. I’m well aware that lace doesn’t look like much of anything until it’s blocked and tried to take that into consideration, and yet . . . still not happy with the way it was coming out. The yarn is as beautiful as ever, but the actual lace . . . not so much!

So, I frogged it. Again.

Now I’m thinking I’ll change the lace pattern again, since it’s not coming out the way I really want it to. Or, the other option is just to make the Flower Basket Shawl that so many others have made. Goodness knows that Stephanie‘s was perfect, and Shelley‘s is looking wonderful . . . the sad part is that in the swatch I made a couple weeks ago, the diamond/trellis pattern looked lovely . . . What went wrong when I tried doing the actual shawl? Was it the way I charted the pattern? The increases? The timing of the increases?? Is it worth trying for yet a third time, or should I just give up on this pattern in this particular yarn? The yarn’s not going to stand for being frogged a third time, so no matter what I decide, the next one has to be right.

On the plus side, I’ve made definite progress with my NbaT, seen here, reclining on my new Spaceboard blocking board (with which I am already in love). Doesn’t she look lovely?

I finished the second sleeve last night, and then pinned them out this evening, just before dinner.

I’ll admit to you (but only to you) that this is the first time I’ve ever blocked the pieces of a sweater before assembly. It’s kind of neat knowing that they’re pinned to exactly the same size, but I really don’t know how good a job the steam iron did for blocking purposes. It didn’t seem like an enormous amount of steam was coming out of there, but by the time I got this far, it was obviously too late to soak/wash the pieces first (since they were already pinned out), and I don’t own a spray bottle that’s not already filled with something like vinegar-water (for the floors) or Chappy’s Halo herbal flea/tick spray.

Speaking of Chappy, his best friend Horatio is coming to romp tomorrow. Horatio’s big sister Princess is coming too, of course, but she’s an aloof Greyhound and much, much taller than the “boys” and so doesn’t quite qualify as a playmate. She hangs out with us adults on the deck while the boys wrestle in the yard. Not that they wrestle as much as they did when they were puppies; they’re much more blase about things these days. Still great fun to watch.

And of course, my friend Cindy will be coming, too. (The dogs really rarely ever go anywhere without her.) She picked up some sock yarn today, and some needles, and I’m going to give her a sock-knitting lesson while the kids play. This could be fun! I should probably re-read Wendy’s Toe-Up Sock pattern tonight, too. It’s the one I always use, but since I’ll be giving it to Cindy, I should probably make sure that whatever I tell her agrees with the pattern!

It’s also official. It came in the mail today. An invitation to Tim and Betty’s wedding. (This is my sister’s brother-in-law.) I’m so looking forward to this. Not only is it the first wedding I’ve been invited to in about 8 years, but my Peacock is very much looking forward to using it as her debut. The reception’s at the Manor, too–very ooh la la. And, oh yeah . . . yeah, yeah . . . wishing the happy couple felicitations . . . that stuff, too. Now I get to buy them a gift! (I love buying gifts . . . pity neither of them is into yarn….)

In case anyone’s interested, I started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. Only two more Saturdays before Book 6 is out!

(And, sorry about the funky look to my blog–assuming Typepad hasn’t fixed it yet when you read this–they’re doing upgrades this weekend and promise things will be back to normal soon.)

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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So, Tina and I had both posted about a Yarn Cafe that will be opening “Soon” in Denville. She even took a picture through their door in her excitement a few weeks ago, and I’ve been driving by about every other day to see if the “Coming Soon” banner on the window had been replaced by “Grand Opening.”

Well, color me surprised this morning when I got the following e-mail:

Hello, Just today I was informed that there was a pix of Nonna’s Yarn Cafe on the web. Imagine my surprise!! My name is Josephine and I am Co-owner of Nonna’s Yarn Cafe. We are thrilled to see so many people interested in our shop. We are working as fast as we can to get the shop open. It is our hope to open no later then the second week of July. Hopefully sooner. We look forward to meeting all of you!!

How cool is that? The store hasn’t even opened yet, and already the owners know me. Can anybody spell K-I-S-M-E-T?

Not only that, there’s a time-frame, too! Now I can stop turning up Bloomfield Avenue every other day . . . you know, before I start lurking outside the dance studio every afternoon after work, in about a week and a half (grin)

(Psst. Risa! What are you and the twins doing around the 14th??)

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Here’s a list of what I read during the month of June. It seems awfully heavy on the fantasy/sci-fi scale, but I did actually read other stuff, too, honest! Twenty-one books, with a total of 8,322 pages. (Actually, a short list for me, but I did a lot of knitting–the Peacock, you’ll remember!)

Here’s my reading list for June:

1. HIGH DERYNI by Katherine Kurtz. 346 p. Fantasy. Third in her original Deryni series.
2. EYRE AFFAIR by Jasper Fforde 374 p.
3. LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde 399 p.
4. WELL OF LOST PLOTS by Jasper Fforde 360 p.
5. SOMETHING ROTTEN by Jasper Fforde 393 p. His four “Thursday Next” books. I love these—entirely creative, wacky, fun, silly, unusual, clever, and just amazingly different. Resurrected dodoes, wooly mammoths and Neanderthals. An evil villain named Acheron Hades. Hamlet. Mrs. Havisham. The Cheshire Cat. A look behind the scenes at how a book is built. Spec Ops. Literatec (Literary Detectives) Shakespeare groupies . . . I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this series . . . no wonder I keep going back!
6. JENNA STARBORN by Sharon Shinn. 331 p. Well, I had just read about Jane Eyre . . . this is kind of a sci-fi retelling of that story, by one of my absolute favorite authors. Good stuff, even if it isn’t my favorite of hers, it’s a darn good story told darn well.
7. FALL OF NESKAYA by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J Ross. 557 p.
8. ZANDRU’S FORGE by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J Ross. 528 p.
9. FLAME IN HALI by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J Ross. 543 p. Ms. Bradley may be gone, but her memory is being kept alive. These are “Darkover” books, in the world she created, but by a new story-teller. There haven’t been many (any?) series I can think of where someone else picked up the torch and did justice to the thought and creativity of the original author, but this is a very good try. (Though I liked the books about Marguerida Alton better, but then, I liked the character.)
10. KNITTING ON THE EDGE by Nicky Epstein. 165 p. True, not actually a lot to read, but still a lot of information in this great reference.
11. HARRY POTTER #1. 309 p.
12. HARRY POTTER #2. 341 p.
13. HARRY POTTER #3 by JK Rowling. 435 p. As we approach the publication of book #6, I’m re-reading the current books, one each weekend. Do I really need to say more?
14. WORLD WITHOUT END by Sean Russell. 606 p.
15. SEA WITHOUT A SHORE by Sean Russell. 598 p. Also Fantasy, also a great favorite. I reread this duology about once a year. Love them. This man can write and he tells a great story. Imagine Charles Darwin set off on a voyage of discovery and found that there was still Magic in the world, that could not be explained by the science that he lived by . . . great.
16. FINDER’S KEEPERS by Lynne Sinclair. 453 p. A completely forgettable, predictable, boring sci-fi, “space opera” wanna-be. Boring. I could see where the story was going by the 5^th page, and the writing wasn’t interesting enough to make me want to go along for the trip. Techno-babble thrown in to justify its sci-fi label. Amateurish writing. And did I mention how predictable it was?? I’ll stick with Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liaden books from now on. They’re marvelous and pretty much exactly what this book aspired to be.
17. MAN WALKS INTO A ROOM by Nicole Krauss. 248 p. After reading her “History of Love,” I wanted to read this, the one other book she’s written. I admit I liked the other better, but this was good. Sampson, a college professor, suddenly loses all memory of everything since he was 12, because of a brain tumor, and slowly tries to pick up the threads of his life. Kept making me think of the movie “Regarding Henry,” but it was a nicely put-together piece of mental exploration. I was pulling for Sampson all the way.
18. PEGASUS IN SPACE by Anne McCaffrey. 373 p. Continuing the sci-fi trend. She’s written 3 “Pegasus” books, precursors to her “Talent” series, and this is the most recent one, touching on mankind’s step into Space, using the powers of telekenisis and other mental Talents that we had hitherto believed were unreal. Nice little world she’s got going here.
19. 1776 by David McCullough. 294 p. A slim book by his usual standards, but chock full with various goings-on here in the Colonies during the title year. Yes, there was the Declaration of Independence, and the fabled Christmas Eve Crossing of the Delaware, but there was a lot more, too . . . it wasn’t looking good for General Washington!
20. LAPSING INTO A COMMA by Bill Walsh. 227 p. The title alone . . . this is a little style guide gem of a book that touches on various mistakes that can be made in print, with an emphasis on newspaper writing (since the author does, in fact, write for and edits on a newspaper).
21. JOUST by Mercedes Lackey. 442 p. The first of a new fantasy trilogy. Picture . . . ancient Egypt with dragons, and two countries at war . . . Good.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by Deb
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