needles & pins
Originally uploaded by Needleworks, Inc.

I've finally gotten a computer at work and I've been shamelessly using it to read blogs all day long.

It's a good thing that they've firewalled Facebook, because I'd probably get fired. They don't know about Ravelry, though. Suckers.

New blogs that I love:

flintknits

pepperknit

bag n' trash


Old blogs that I read faithfully:

the sartorialist

posie gets cozy

soule mama

Can I say that I'm really surprised? Those geniuses over at Vogue Knitting had the perfect method for knitting a shawl collar. Perfect and ingenious.

You are knitting short-rows, in a sense. You start by picking up stitches just along the straight part of the back of the neck. Knit back across these stitches and pick up a few more at the end of the row. Since I was working in a 2x2 rib, I picked up 8 stitches (I think their recommendation was 6, but I had to accommodate my pattern). Turn, work across stitches, pick up 8 more at the end of that row. You continue to do this until you've picked up stitches for the entire neckline!

(At the same time, when you've knit about 3/4 of an inch you add a few decreases just to the back of the neck.)

It's brilliant I tell you! Brilliant! I love it and I'm half-way home on the collar. Perhaps. I will finish. Tonight!! Bwahhahahaha!

(Oh, and can you believe that this is even a picture of the same sweater? The difference between night and day, if you will.)

Whoa, that's a big glass of wine. Tell you what, though, I'm gonna need it. See below.

This is a picture of the sweater that I made Master P for Christmas. It should have been done for Christmas, but there were some extenuating circumstances and I didn't quite finish. So, he got a box of sweater parts to open on the big day. So what.

I finally put it all together (which took a while) and was ready to knit the collar. And so I did. And so it looked like crap. See, I didn't have a pattern in hand when I knit this sweater, just some inspiration. It was designed with a shawl collar, but I had never knit a shawl collar such as this before.

So I knit it the first time, and it was WAY too small. I knit it again, adding short rows, and it was way too short around the neck.

Now, armed with a page from Vogue Knitting's Ultimate Knitting Book, I am ready to knit the collar for a third time, but not without that glass of wine!

(P.S. Thanks for all the birthday love!! Knitting (and crocheting) friends are some of the best friends!)

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I can honestly say, that I am exactly where I want to be in my life. A year ago, I was about as far away from that as I could get. A lot can change in a year.

This is me with two of my dearest friends: Kevin, who a one of the first real friends that I've made in my adult life and, Sabrina, who I've know for over 15 years. The other two cuties you might recognize from The Point.

We had a big ol' party on Saturday and yesterday Master P and I went to Marlow & Sons and other various points in Williamsburg. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Simple socks from Cat Bordhi's book, "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles". The first pair of socks that I've ever made.

OK, so maybe that's not exactly true. Maybe I did knit a pair of house socks for myself out of Sweet Georgia's Speed Demon sock yarn. Somehow, that didn't seem quite the same.

These took longer than I wanted. Luckily, the recipient won't know that I only just finished her Christmas present last night. Or she might now, if she reads my blog, which I don't think she does, so we're still in the clear.

I knit these at the same time, meaning, I knit the leg on one, then the other, turned the heel on one, then the other, etc. I can't quite handle two at a time on the same needles, so this was my solution and I worked like a charm. I used Regia sock yarn, two skeins, and had a ridiculous amount left over which I, scandalously, threw away.

I'm pleased with these, but glad that their finished.

The family ventured to Brooklyn this past weekend for our first family dinner at The Works. I butterflied a chicken for the first time, and from the scraps, I made chicken and rice soup. This should keep me for a good week with cold weather on the forecast.

My Baba made the trip and brought us a special treat: kruschiki. My mom will be mad at me for not remembering the Ukrainian name for these, but Google let me find a recipe with the Polish one.
Baba transported the fragile delicacies in a big, mysterious box and when we unwrapped them, there was much ooh-ing and ah-ing. We all had a good laugh as we stuffed them into our mouths and the powdered sugar dropped onto our fancy, dark-colored, New York duds. If you could only understand how the little bow-ties melt in your mouth! The labor involved is worth the end product! Unfortunately, I never helped my Baba or Dido make kruschiki, so I have no experience with the recipe, but be bold, dear readers, and make some for yourselves!

Bushwick Avenue Haiku
The man shuffles and
An empty box follows him,
As if a stray dog.

Some of you may have noticed that I removed my blogroll from the sidebar. It was just too, too big, so I took it down. Maybe I can figure out how to link to it, since some of you said that you refer to it sometimes. Instead I added a "What I'm watching" and "what I'm reading" component. This is in keeping with the more lifestyle-y bent I'd like my blog to take.

I have a really basic understanding of things like html and Bloggers new format doesn't allow for too much wiggle room, but I'd like to add some more cool features. Can anyone tell me how to get actually pictures of books up there? That would be cool.

Thanks!

I was going to post some really cute pics of me & Master P at Rockefeller Center last night, but I stupidly selected "format card" on my camera menu and all the pictures were erased. I could cry.
Instead, this is a picture of the beautiful necklace that Master P gave me for Christmas that I've been wearing, um, every day.

My favorite part are the apples. If you like this, the guy who makes them has a table on Prince Street, outside of the Apple store. I have three of his necklaces now and they are always a conversation piece. Each one is one of a kind, made from found objects.

(Do you remember that interview? Well, I got the job!!!!!!!! Yay!)

After knitting exclusively on Master P's Christmas Present for nearly 3 weeks, I couldn't resist some serious swatching on New Year's Eve. Above, witness the beauty that is Mission Fall's 1824 Wool. It's my first time working with this yarn and I adore it! It's incredibly soft and machine washable, of course.

Just before Christmas, two friends of ours who live in Paris had a baby! I was itching terribly to knit him something, but it had to wait until Master P's sweater was complete. Of course the Mission Falls is for him, little Nathan. I started a little top-down, pea coat style sweater for him. My calculations were off, so maybe he'll be able to wear this in about, oh, a year and half!

(More photos as soon as I buy more yarn to finish the sleeves on this sucker.)

My absolutely perfect day....

• Woke up, cooked the biggest breakfast ever and celebrated the first day of the new year with Master P.
• Drank an excellent bottle of champagne while munching on this bread, which I made this morning.
• Watched Zoolander and Dude, Where's My Car? on TV.
• Took a nap.
• Woke up, watched Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
• Ate entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie.
• Watched Star Wars (episode IV, which is the first and the best and will forever be referred to by myself as simply, "Star Wars", so when I say, "Oh, I watched Star Wars" don't ask me, "Which one?" because I won't answer you, but will roll my eyes and sigh.)
• Knit sweater for new born baby of dear friends in a far away land.

It's my 2 year blog-iversary, ya'll! I can't believe all of the cool, talented and lovely people that I've met through this amazing thing called the internet. Thank you all for reading and keeping me inspired day after day!