The Raleigh Hotel
Originally uploaded by Needleworks, Inc.

Thanks to everyone who sent us Well Wishes for our vacation - it was much appreciated!

So, we went to Miami. In August. Crazy, I know. It was hot, but it was just what the doctor ordered. Nothing but lots of sun, Cuban food and rum. That's a pretty good prescription.

This is a picture of The Raleigh Hotel. It wasn't out hotel, but we fell in love with the beautiful pool and ended just about every day there. Can you get a good look at that tree? There were live orchids growing in the nooks and it was hung with lanterns that lit up as the sun went down. It is a truly magical place.

My beach tote got a great deal of use and it proved to be a perfect design - just right size for magazines, books, water and beach towels for Master P and myself. I was very, very pleased.

I used to go to Miami at least once a month for work, and Master P used to live there, oh, about 10 years ago, so we didn't take many tourist-y pictures, but for more of our trip, go here.

I was really busy the week before my vacation so there will be more updates, as I promised. Stay tuned.

I'll leave you with this cozy image of dear Monk snuggling on the couch. He's never really this calm and sweet. Well, he can be sweet, but mostly he's a trouble-maker.

I finally got pillows to stuff the cases I bought a while back. And you'll remember the black and orange one is from my grandmother. I really am pleased with them. (Note: if you live in NYC, Economy Foam is the coolest. You can get every kind of pillow there.)

So, I'm off to Miami for 5 days. This blog will be quiet during that time, but when I get back, I'll have so much to share with you: a finished sweater, a few new projects and pictures from my trip!

I sure am making some headway on my list! Can you believe it? I've had a huge surge of productivity these last weeks.

I made this bias tape using one of those handy dodads. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? For someone who dislikes finishing, custom bias tape is a Godsend.

This is a detail of the totes I made. I love how all the stripes are going in different direction.

This tote is going with me to Miami in two days! Master P and I are jetting off to South Beach for five days of sun and relaxation. It will be a nice change from the gloomy weather we're getting here in NYC.

We have pillows! I'm quite pleased with these. I love the sparse, graphicness of them. I'm thinking of making another set with the body of the pillows in felt as well.
I don't know what my obsession of late has sprung from, but when I piled up all the pillows I've either made or bought in the last 6 months, I had quite a pile indeed. At least a dozen. They're certainly not all going on my couch!

Luckily, at least one is going to my contest winner. (I'll leave it for you You-Know-Where on Saturday, Karen.) I have another contest brewing since I got harassed by Veronique for not making the last one very hard. You just wait, Veronique, you just wait! (Insert wickedly mischievous laughter here.)

Oh, and I'm making quite a dent in my list, no? My goal was to have everything done before fall, when I would start a new list. In my mind, Fall begins after Labor Day. In which case, I'll never finish in time. But technically, it doesn't begin until mid-September. What's the consensus on that one?

inspiration + inspiration = dinner

Is there such a thing as Mohair Disorder? A Mohair Disease? A strange malady that makes you buy unnecessary amounts of mohair yarn?

I have the same obsession with mohair yarn that I do with suede shoes - I love them! They are both so pretty and both so unpractical! For some people it's sparkly things, for me it's fuzzy things. Go figure.

Still, I managed to take all of this yarn home last Saturday, without realizing the shocking fact that it was all mohair, until I pulled it out to gaze fondly at it. *Sigh*

I did use the orange (and it is Orange, with a capitol "O") Kid silk Haze to start the Kiri shawl on Sunday. It's my first lace project and I am really scared of it, but completely encouraged, at the same time, by the result of completing the first chart.

The green and the navy are destined to become two more cardigans. I'm only knitting cardigans from now on. Oh, and I have been knitting! I nearly finished a lady's version of The Ivory Buffalo sweater - I just have to finish seaming and knit the collar and button band - and I am half-way through a secret project. It will be revealed later. I promise you pictures, soon.

We're going to be famous

honey bear
Originally uploaded by Needleworks, Inc.

This little number will be in Good Housekeeping's November issue on winter-izing your home.

I was trying to show the scale and this guy was just the perfect size!

You may not want to believe it, but this time, I am the culprit. I put this table in my hallway. It's been there for almost a week and nobody wants it. Could it be that it's such a nice table, that no one can believe that it's sitting out there for free, for someone to take?

I doubt it. (Yes, Jill R., this is the table that we found in our apartment when we moved into it. Two years ago.)

You will be interested to know that it has been replaced by this. We're grown ups now. You will also be interested to know that I got a major deal and did not pay nearly anything close to what they're saying this cost. Yay, me!

Am I the last person in NYC to have gone to Momofuku? My goodness, that place is amazing! Master P and I went for a very early dinner with Big S, a blogless friend whom I haven't seen in a very long time. It was just perfect. Definitely go, but go early if you don't want to wait on the sidewalk for a long time.

I had a very busy weekend that didn't involve much crafting. I did a little work on Karen's prize, did some knitting on a secret project, but that's it.

What I did do was go to brunch, see the exhibit on Paul Poiret at the Met and hang out in Central Park. Very busy weekend indeed!

What? What's that? I can't change the list mid-project? Says who? Just who is making the rules here? Me! That's who! I've abandoned the wrap dress for this luscious silk jersey I bought a while back at Mood. It was a snap to sew.

This is the only decent picture of me wearing the dress at Master P's birthday party and it's with my friend, Kevin! He looks adorable and I'm making my best "I'm Not Looking At The Camera" face. But alas, the picture is in black and white, so you can't see the gorgeous color of the silk jersey.

So here you are. The mustard-y, marigold-y yellow color that I am just enamoured with. Oh, and the necklace! How much do I love this necklace? I made it with my own, two little hands! The green is jade that I bought almost a year ago and the little ones are topaz and I don't know what the yellow ones are, but, oh, that color!