This picture was taken at the intersection of east 36th Street & Lexington Avenue at 7am. The photo is very blurry (I tried twice), but the yellow leaves of this tree were on fire with the rising sun and looked so pretty against the quaint buildings on that street.

Now for a serious matter that I need some help with. I'm having a little problems with the kitties at The Works that I thought I would put out there. You guys may know Monk from his various appearances on the blog. Monk has a sister, Penelope, who has been very troubled the last two days.

We inherited an area rug from our neighbors on Wednesday night and Monk took a liking to it right away. He spent almost the entire evening sitting on the rug. Everything was fine. Late Thursday afternoon, he and Penelope started to fight with each other in way that is truly disturbing and very new.

Whenever he comes near her, she growls and then attacks him viciously. Master P thinks that the rug must smell like some other animal and she doesn't recognize her brother or like the smell. It's really very upsetting and more than a little unsettling. The cats are about 4 years old and we've never seen them fight like this before.

I sprayed the rug entirely with Febreeze but they are still at each other's throats (literally). All I've read about aggressive behaviour in cats suggests that I cat will act out suddenly if it feels its territory is being threatened. Could this be from the rug? I'm a a real loss, here. Tonight I put Penelope in a "time out" in the bathroom and Monk just sits by the door meowing mournfully. It's as though he wants to be near her, but she won't have it.

Has anyone had an experience with this kind of behavior?!

Happy Thanksgivink Dah-links!

I've been making soup like it's going out of style here at The Works. Last week was lentil soup, that wasn't a huge hit. I froze most of that. Yesterday, however, I made potato and leek soup.

I can't emphasize enough how easy and really practical is is to whip up a big pot of simmering goodness. I usually make quite a bit and freeze half the batch. I always have stacks of soup in my freezer to make a quick lunch (if you keep it frozen, it will keep the rest of your lunch cold!) or to defrost for an informal dinner party when I'm at a loss. (Some fancy garnish can make you look like a rock star!)

Also, and this is the most important, it is cheap. Potatoes and leeks? How much did that cost me? Like, $5.00. Seriously folks, do yourself a favor and make some soup.

Potato & Leek Soup

You will need:
about 4 leeks, cleaned well, sliced lengthwise and chopped. White and light green parts only
4 medium sized potatoes, peeled, and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
5-6 cups of chicken stock or broth, or vegetable stock
some nice olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of your pot
plenty of salt and pepper

Cook the leeks in the olive oil over medium high heat for around 5 minutes or until they start to smell yummy.
Put the potatoes and stock in, season generously with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the potatoes start to fall apart, about 25 minutes.

You can use a blender to make the soup smooth or leave it chunky and rustic. I like it somewhere in between.
Garnish with sour cream, creme fraiche or plain yogurt. (I also added a splash of apple cider vinegar right at the end, but this step isn't necessary.)

Enjoy this with a big salad with bacon and a poached egg or as a start to a meal featuring fish or chicken. Instant rock star!

What happened to October? Or November, for that matter? This week was a blur of work and crafting, much like the past month.

That interview a while back? The position is still hypothetical at this point (something about budget, blah, blah), but I went in this week, freelance, to see if I might be a good fit. I can't really tell you who I'm working for, but I can tell you that if you read the New York Times, you will be seeing some ads that I styled with some handbags. Very cool.

In the weeks until Christmas, I'm going to be crafting mostly gifts, so they won't make an appearance on the blog. I thought I'd take a shot at a more life-style blog, though I already have catching up to do.

This is what my week looked like:
Sunday: work at The Point - all day
Monday: emergency evening shift at The Point. Knitting season is in full swing!
Tuesday: crash at home. Cooking, knitting, catching up
Wednesday: Project Runway Night at Kevin's house in Queens. Lasagna and Heidi Klum!
Thursday: quality time with Master P. Much TV: The Office, 30 Rock, My Name is Earl
Friday: date night. "No Country for Old Men" & Italian food
Saturday: much knitting & martinis on the Upper West Side with a special friend visiting from Boston (regulars at The Point know who I'm talking about!).
Today: yummy brunch with Kevin and his man, browsing around The Container Store, and hot chocolate at The City Bakery. The week is off to a good start!

There I was, bleary-eyed, drinking a cup of coffee before heading to work and reading all of your blogs. I thought, "I haven't posted in a while. Danged dreary weather."

Then it hit me (it was only cup #1, OK?): daylight, sunshine, pictures!

I managed to get this pic of the latest incarnation of the felt pillows I was working on a while back. Felt on felt. I think these will come out a lot more like I envisioned. That's often the case with my projects, I find. It takes more than one try. I love how the monochromatic circles look kind of like a Lego!

I'm madly knitting and sewing what I hope will be holiday gifts. Everything else will be put on hold for now. I kind of like it, too. Just fun mindless, TV-watching knitting. Mindless is about all I can handle about now anyway. I'm starting down the barrel of 12 consecutive work days, so wish me luck!

(And a shout out to my dear friend, Lynn, who doesn't have a blog, but reads mine and, apparently, tells other people to read it, too! You rock, Lynn!)

It's been a real, long while since I had a serious visceral reaction to some yarn. Since I swooned and squealed and Had To Have It!!! I thought that maybe I was a little burned out. To much knitting on demand and not for my own pleasure. That is, until last Sunday.

There I was, minding my own business, working at The Point and labeling some yarn, when I encountered a bag of Claudia's Hand Painted Silk. Oh, I had labeled the fingering weight sock yarn easily enough. No temptation there. "I don't even knit socks!" I thought silently, calmly putting all of the lovely yarn on display.

Then, from an assorted bag of 24 colors, came this baby. I mean I yelped, people! I squealed in delight. I brought the poor skein up to my cheek (an action that, frankly, I deplore in others) and then I hid the yarn behind the desk, in case any one else should see it and then I'd have to fight them for it.

And so, I bought that skein of 1,100 yards of 100% Silk lace yarn on the spot, not being able to be apart from it for even one more moment, and I DON'T EVEN KNIT LACE! Nope. Not a stitch.

This cannot be a shawl, folks. It just can't. I won't be able to do it. I may become a slightly wide stole-type thing in a nice 4 or 6 row lace repeat with a lot of purl rows. Something dreamy and luxurious just for yours truly. Oh, man. I can't wait.

Here is is, the last of my custom designs for The Point, for a while. I need a little break and some quality time with my To Do List.

This is November's featured pattern with the yarn of the month, Soho Bulky Tweed from Tahki Yarns.

I really want everyone to know what a fun knit this was. I love this pattern for it's knitterly qualities. There are no pieces to sew together. You simply knit a rectangle for the back, cast on stitches along one short side for one arm hole, pick up stitches along the bottom edge, and cast on more stitches for the other arm hole. And there you are - you just knit round and around until the fronts/collar are the desired length! I seriously finished this in two days.

And the Soho Bulky Tweed is delightful. It seems boring and scratchy in the skein, but when you knit it, it's springy and forgiving. It softens considerably when worked up and is seriously warm. A good pairing of yarn and project, I think.

(And thanks for the advice with my Big Wool Jacket. I'll have the results for you in a couple of days!)

I finished work early today and squandered all picture-taking daylight hours watching "Home at the End of the World" and not knitting. Just sitting, as if in a trance.

(What a waste! Did anyone else find Colin Farrell's character more than a little creepy? I kept expecting him to make out with Sissy Spacek.)

So now we have this: A slightly blurry picture of myself with the jacket in progress. They jacket that, faithful readers of my blog will notice, is featured no where on my To Do List.

The jury is still out on the sleeve. I've already ripped it out once because it was too wide and made my arm look like some kind of black French sausage. Should I do some decreases or should it be wide like so many jackets we're seeing this season? The good news I can probably knit this all tonight (while watching Chuck, Heroes and The Journeyman) and made a decision.

Why do I love the L Train tonight? The train that causes me so much grief? The train that runs only 40 weekends out of the year? What has warmed the cockles of my commuter heart?

(Perhaps the two glasses of wine that I imbibed before boarding have changed my perspective.)

What is it that I love? The two Polish couples that I expect to get out at Lorimer Street that do not? The trio of girls in flip flops, despite the 50 degree weather? The family of supposed French tourists (MTV Store bags in hand)? Where are they going?

The train does not thin at Bedford Avenue as I expect it to. As it does every other night. The Hipsters reading Plato. Do they live on my street?

I love the chorus of voices and sounds. Everything that the L Train is - an amalgam of cultures and ages and faces.

The crowd follows me out the door. Where do they live? No one shadows me around the corner. They do not live on my block. My street. They scatter. Chatting in the many languages I recognize, but do not understand.

On Monday morning, I will be so irritated. So impatient. So tired.

Tonight I love it. The L Train.

All this dreary weather does not allow for good bloggin' pictures! I had a really productive week, as promised, and nearly no photographic evidence.

I finished two skirts earlier this week, attempted to take pictures of me wearing them myself, the decided to wait for a sunny day and Master P to do a little photo shoot. No sun = no pics.

Then there's my Anna sweater, from the Rowan Studio One. I finished the back, but it just looks like a pile of mushy mohair (which I guess it is, in all fairness) when I try to photograph it. I decided that after finishing the back and knitting NINE inches too many, that I deserved a break of the Big Wool variety.

That's where this picture comes in.

It's a jacket inspired by one I saw a while back at J. Crew ( I can't find a picture of it now) and it's made of Rowan Big Wool. I love this yarn. I've never knit with it and I don't know why. It's really, really lovely. I started this baby on Wednesday and with another entire day of rain ahead of me, I think I may finish it this weekend! I can't wait!

Oh, man. This week just blew by me! I stumbled home every night, bone tired, and had just enough energy to read my Bloglines, eat dinner and pass out on the couch.

I kept reading everyone's blogs and thinking, "I don't have the energy to knit." Can you believe it? I didn't knit a single stitch in 4 days!

I didn't do much knitting, but I made a new friend (Hi, George!). It's hard not to bond with someone when you're on your hands and knees for 9 hours a day, stapling Lycra to a wooden frames. (Don't ask.)

Since I didn't knit at all. Or sew. Or cook. I thought I'd show you what I did do. I had my very first ever paid styling job. See that picture on the left? That's my handiwork. I'm kind of a proud mama.

What's ahead? Knitting! And sewing! I have three days off staring me in the face and I plan on being plenty productive. Stay tuned.

P.S. This is my 200th post! Yay me!

Oh my. I haven't posted in a while because I feel as though I don't have much to share. How contrary to the truth that is!

On the knitting realm, I finished this cutie for The Point's October Pattern of the Month. An endeavor that seems to be eating up a bunch of my time. It doesn't allow me a lot of time for personal knitting, but it's stimulating to be designing. Stop by the store to see the sample in person.

Also on the knitting/The Point front, I have just finished designing 4 exclusive hat patterns for the store. Look for pictures here and more details, where else, at The Point!

As for that interview, I have no news, but I am scheduled out the wazoo with freelance gigs, which is wonderful. I'm pretty much working non-stop for the rest of the month of October! Now, let's just hope it keeps up! I'd love to be this busy all the time (though, again, it doesn't leave much time for personal... anything!)

Stay tuned!

Sometimes I can be so danged silly. I mean just silly.

Here I was with all of this amazing produce that my grandmother gave me. From her garden. She's such an incredible woman who, at eighty years old, still grows tomatoes and beans and corn (to name a few) in her little patch of garden in New Jersey.

She only gave me a little bit, but it was too much for me to eat all by myself. I thought I could pickle some of it. I've always been interested in canning and pickling. I have fantasies of having my own little patch of garden and putting up veggies and preserves to last me all winter.

So I set out to do some research on the internet on pickling. I went to several websites and got a lot of different information. So much that it just set my head a-swimming. I was about to throw in the towel when I realized just how dense I was being. I had a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips.

So I called my Baba.

She told me over the phone everything I needed to know and I set out a-pickling. I had a bunch of beans that I put up with garlic, dill and red chili flakes. I also picked up some fennel and put that in with some fennel seeds, garlic and shallots. I am so proud! And I feel as though I am carrying on a little bit of something that my grandmother taught me. I hope you're proud Baba.

OK, so it is not a cardigan with an owl on it. Though I did finally put the Owl Cardi back on the needles and knit two rows, just to get my chart reading back on track. It remains untouched.

With another exclusive Pattern of the Month for The Point under my belt, I decided that I was entitled to cast on for a new project. That means I only have three Works in Progress on the needles right now. Not bad.

This is Anna from Rowan Studio One. I'm using Alize Angora Special (I can't find any info for it online, but you can view details on my ravelry page), which is this crazy yarn that is about 600 yards per skein. I only had to buy two! This is a nice mindless knit to entertain me when the intarsia chart from the Owl Cardi proves too much. I forgot how nice it is to knit from a pattern and have all of the thinking done for you!

Hm. One of the (many, many) perks of working at a yarn shop is that sometimes, they pay you in yarn!! I'm so excited, but mostly overwhelmed, by all my new yarn. I'm no where near finishing all of the projects that I had in mind for this fall/winter and now I have two more in my queue.

My worry is that I may lose interest before I have time to knit everything! Does any one else waking up, in a cold sweat, in the middle of the night, gripped by this fear? Am I the only one?

This is some Araucania's Nature Wool. It's definitely woolly, but I love it. My very first major knitted project was a massive cabled poncho out of the chunky version of Nature Wool. It's super warm and I just fell in love with the hand-dyed subtle coloring. This is equally lovely and is destined to become a stockinette, deep, deep v-neck sweater. Something to show off the coloring of the yarn.

And, well, Big Wool from Rowan. Does it get any more fun? This is going to be a J.Crew-inspired jacket. This might be the first thing that I cast on for after I clear up some stuff that's already on my To Do List. Ya gotta love that chunky knit instant gratification!

Thank you so much for all of your kind words regarding the Urban Naturalist's Ladies' Jacket! But there is knitting news on the horizon. Oh dear, that's right. There's been another update to my To Do List. Alas, (that's right, Ms. Blue Garter) the Owl Cardi is top on the list, but not the latest project to be completed.

Recently, Master P's cousin became a Proud Papa. What was the first thing I did? Cast on for a little cardigan, inspired by these awesome robot buttons.

I cast on during our vacation in Miami and finished the next week. I used the Barbara Walker Top-Down Method and 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby. I simply adored knitting with this yarn. I will use it for all baby projects in the future. Seriously. It's the perfect gauge for little garments and it has the perfect combination of softness and stitch definition. And I, The World's Wonkiest Knitter, was able to get the correct gauge with the recommended needle. I am in love!

Soon this sweater will be off to little Harry and I will tackle the Owl Cardi, which involves intarsia, which you may recall I do not enjoy. But I know I will enjoy wearing the Owl Cardi once it's complete. Wish me luck!

What I'm loving right now.
Getting on the L train at 6th Avenue as Haitian Fight Song is starting on my iPod, and listening to it all the way home.

Good Night.

Interview outfit
(a little blurry)

Do you think I'll get the job based purely on my cute red shoes?

The Urban Naturalist's Ladies' Jacket.

This was made from leftovers from the Urban Naturalist's Ivory Buffalo sweater. Believe it or not, one bag of yarn (10 skeins) made two adult sized sweaters! I am in love!

Made from: 5 skeins of Steadfast Fibers' Wonderful Wool, colorway Sahara

Time to knit: I honestly don't remember. Not very long - less than a month.

My favorite part of the sweater is the shawl collar. It was taken from Nicky Epstein's Knitting Beyond the Edge. The collar and button band is knit in one piece with the collar being shaped by short rows. I did it in a 1 x 1 rib to match the cuffs. I am so please! It is definitely a technique that I would use again. Maybe a bigger collar next time.

I am so ready for fall!

Boy, I am one lucky girl! Look at the beautiful gifts I was given in my last week at The Point! The stitch markers are from the amazing (but blogless) Peggy and the cute, little pouch from the multi-talented (but blogless) Carol. Thanks guys!

I am constantly struck by how generous knitters (and most all crafters) are of themselves and their knowledge and, well, everything!

The few friends I've made in NYC have been through The Point. I knew 3 gals from college when I moved here, but found it impossible to meet new people. I was freelancing and not staying in one place for very long - it's hard to form friendships that way. Then I started working at The Point and I met the most dazzling array of wonderful people. Some who will be life-long friends.

I'm telling you, if you're a new knitter in NYC and you don't know anyone, just hop on down to The Point and park yourself there for a couple of days. You will meet amazing people. I promise.

What is it about knitting and crocheting and general craftiness that inspires this kind of sharing and giving community? I wish I knew the secret so I could spread it around a little in other parts of my life. Speaking of community, I received my Ravelry invite! I'm so psyched! I was supposed to be revising my resume this morning and instead I poked around on Ravelry looking for peeps I know. If you on there, come find me!

Yet another way to make friends through knitting!