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!

sweet bounty

cosy company


christmas mouse

one tired puppy...

Christmas 2007

Christmas Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Needleworks, Inc.

I figure it's safe to post some pictures of my handmade holiday gifts. There are a few that are missing because they aren't finished yet!! But I'm not seeing the recipients until later this month, so I have a grace period.

Here's wishing everyone the happiest, warmest holiday season and nothing but love and good cheer for the new year!!! Thank you for all the lovely comments and support you've given to my humble blog all year long! Merry Christmas!

This incredible package brought to you thanks to Kimberli New York. Kim is a super hero, Martha Stewart-like, wonder woman who I met by mere chance. (I was assisting the stylist working on a catalog of hats that Kim designed.) She immediately sniffed out my yarn and the rest is history. Isn't that just a knitter-ly holiday story to warm your heart? (Visit Kim's blog for a tutorial on making these boxes.)

p.s. Sorry for the blurry pic. Can we get some sunshine, people?!!!

The view from where I sit these days....

The last two weeks I've been making batches of candy, the recipe for which I found at Orangette. I made a bunch last year to give out to important people (you know, the UPS man, my favorite bartender, etc.) and it was a huge hit, so I decided to make more this year. Much, much more.

It's just so easy to make. You literally put all of the ingredients in a bowl and let it sit in the fridge for an hour and you're done. Easy.

The recipe calls for one and 1/4 pounds of chocolate, but I was buying the ingredients from memory and I only bought a pound. The result was more of a chocolate bark, whereas last years batch tasted more fudgy. It's tasty either way!

It's finally Christmas at The Works!

We trimmed the tree on Tuesday and found we were sadly lacking in ornaments. The original ones we had were from, believe it or not, our first tree together from when we lived in France. They all managed to make it Stateside without breaking. (I attribute this to my awesome packing abilities!) Well the Christmas trees in Paris are quite small and so we didn't need quite to many. And our last tree, when we lived in a shoebox on the Upper East Side, was quite tiny as well. This year we bought a nearly 10ft. tall tree! Luckily, Macy's had Martha Stewart Everyday ornaments at 40% off!

In this picture you can get quite a peak at what life at The Works is like. See our concrete floors and super high ceilings? It makes it very hard to heat but thanks to the area rug, that was an early gift from my parents, and some new space heaters and new double-paned windows, things are just about cosy these days.

The gift-making is at about 80% complete. I'm quite proud of myself, but trying to not be too cocky. I still have some work cut out for myself. All but 2 or 3 people are getting handmade gifts this year.

There's still sewing to do and candy to make! Excuse me, I've got to go get busy!

Master P had a rare Saturday off so we had lunch at our favorite spot in Williamsburg.

Then we bought ourselves a big, ol' Christmas tree. We have to wait until the branches fall and bit (and until we both have off from work together again) to decorate. Update soon! (And, no, those candles aren't really as close to the tree as they seem.)

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

(I found this quiz over at My Early Granny-Like Tendancies. Thanks, Devon!)

I've recently been blessed with a regular freelance gig. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but I'm working at this place, as a freelancer, indefinitely. It's actually a pretty sweet deal. The result is a very, regular schedule (and lots of money).

Normally, I'm a roll-out-of-bed-at-the-last-minute, grab-a-coffee-on-the-corner kind of gal. Anyone who knows me, knows that if they call me on a day off, at anytime before 10am, I'll be asleep. But recently my circumstances have changed.

The regular gig, in combination with the cat problems, has me getting up, oh, around 6:30am. Normally, this is NOT COOL, but I'm getting used to it. I've realized many things this past week, like, getting up early allows you to accomplish things you normally didn't have time for. Also, getting up early allows you to feel calm and awake when you get to the subway (rather than frantic and sucking down caffeine.)

I can't tell you how long this will last. Probably about as long as the gig. (Didn't I say that was indefinite??)

This is just a quick update on the kitties:

Penelope is going to the vet tomorrow. We can't figure out what is wrong with her.

The rug is gone and just when she and Monk seemed to be settling down, everything escalated this morning. The fighting was so viscous that we couldn't get between them. I was actually scared and covered my head with a blanket!! It seemed like the couldn't be stopped!!!! Penelope lost control and fell out of the loft! (6 feet off the floor!!) She's not injured, but she and Monk cannot even be near each other.

She's been in quarantine in the bathroom since 6am this morning. Whenever I go in to sit with her, she purrs and rubs against my leg like a normal happy kitty! She just can't be near the her brother. Maybe we need to give him a bath? But Master P and I *both* handled the rug and she's happy as can be when we come around!

I'm so stressed out and I haven't slept soundly for 4 days because of the hissing and growling! Wish us luck, dear ones!

Can you believe that on Wednesday I took this picture, and now we have this? I'm kind of happy, though. I love a serious winter - I get to break out my wellies and all of my hand knits! I also get to wear my new vintage coat that' s been sitting in the closet for a couple of weeks!

So, an update on the cats:

As I type, they're still hissing and growling. All day on Friday the rug was in the hall so I brought it in Friday night. I tried to get Penelope adjusted to it by putting her on top of it. I even (don't hate me) put her in the bathroom with it, thinking she'd have no choice but get her scent on it or whatever. No go. She freaked out if she even had to go near it! I mean, hissing and clawing in mid-air, hovering inches above the Voodoo Rug, as Master P had taken to calling it.

So I gave up. I put the rug in the hall again and I was up until 2am with the cats hissing and clawing over rights to the bed. They finally called a truce and both snuggled up with me, but on Saturday morning they were at it again. I picked Monk up and physically carried him out of the loft and downstairs with me. Penelope stayed in the loft all day and only came down to eat at about 8pm. Then, there was still much avoidance and growling on her part and a lot of sad, misunderstood meowing from Monk. I don't think he knows why he can go near her, you know?

They slept alright but started in again around 6am. They finally calmed down and let me sleep until about 10 o'clock, Penelope by my pillow (which is usually Monk's spot) and Monk curled up behind my legs. I fed them and now they're fighting.

It's not as bad as it was, but I can't believe that she still won't let him near her. While she laid next to me in bed, she would alternately growl at him and purr like crazy when I tried to calm her down. It's so weird. I'm hoping that by the time I get back from work tonight, they will both be curled up together on the couch. Here's hoping.