A Day Well Spent

Last Saturday I spent the day in Manhattan. My husband and I took a Circle Line tour to see Olafur Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls in the East River. It was so much fun. We traveled around the whole island. It was great to see the waterfalls so close up. After a nice lunch we walked to the Museum of Modern Art to see the Home Delivery exhibit of pre-fabricated housing. My husband was excited to see pictures of Quonset Huts which he remembered in his neighborhood after WWII. In a parking lot some homes were erected and visitors could walk through them. In the museum they traced the history of pre-fabs and showed some that were actually built and some that were just imaginative designs. From there we took a slight detour on the way back to the bus station to M&J Trimming on Sixth Avenue. I was just not happy with the buttons on Loppem and was able to find some great new ones there. My husband picked these out, and then almost fainted at the price. I bought them anyway. Even though I am still not pleased with the buttonhole placement, I am happier now that I have buttons that blend so well with the sweater.
This week I finished another Bucket Hat, this one in Malabrigo’s Bobby Blue for my sister. I also finished Meida’s Socks from the book Favorite Socks that I have had for a while. The yarn is from Steinbach Wolle and is part cotton so they should be a little cooler to wear. I got it in Seaport Yarn and loved the colors. I also managed to sew up the Rowan sweater Quarry. It isn’t that flattering to wear but it was a quick knit with a fun construction.

Spinning Wheel

Look what I got! I am so excited. I have been looking at spinning wheels for two years and trying them out whenever I could. This week I spoke to a friend and her friend got a new wheel and she asked me if I wanted the old one. Of course I said yes. It is an Ashford. I know nothing about wheels or spinning but have wanted to learn for so long. Now here is my chance. She also gave me a book but I think I’m going to try to look at some videos on line as soon as I can. There are two places in Brooklyn that I know give lessons. I don’t know any place near me in New Jersey. I’ll be calling Brooklyn soon.

I finished my first Norah Gaughan sweater, called Loppem, from her volume 3 from Berroco. There were a lot of errors in the pattern but I think it came out all right. I worked most things out but I didn’t think about the placement of the button holes while I was knitting and she had them outside the button band. I’ve been trying to reduce my stash so I used some Elizabeth Lavold Classic AL that I got last summer at Webs. It is half merino and half alpaca. I love green. I think I will get a lot of use out of this. There are some other very interesting sweaters in the book but I think now it is better to wait and see if any other corrections are posted.

Starts and Finishes

I’ve finished two pairs of socks. That’s why I love socks. They are so portable I have lots of opportunities to work on them so they get finished really quickly. I didn’t know these Handsome Devils Socks were in Greenbay Packers colors but they do look good. The Spring Forward socks are from Knitty. These were the fastest socks ever, only taking me one week to knit. Now I’ve really decided to get in gear and finish some holiday presents. I’ve had yarn and patterns waiting for me but kept procrastinating. So I started a Better Bucket hat in Bobby Blue for my sister and a Half-Pipe Hat in leftover Peruvia for my son. I just have to master the Tubular Cast-on and I’ve been practicing it.

I also started Loppem from the new Norah Gaughan, volume 3. I couldn’t wait to get this book with its lovely and unusual patterns so I ordered it directly from Berroco and got it in three days. However, this pattern had so many errors that I ripped it out and decided to wait. Nothing seems to be test knitted anymore. If the public has to test knit something, the pattern should be free. I don’t mind paying for a pattern but I expect it is be as error free as possible. Berroco still hasn’t posted all the corrections called for.
On another of my Friday trips to New York City I visited the Met and MOMA. I loved Jeff Koons Balloon Dog (Yellow) on the roof of the Met and this room called “I only see things when they move” in the exhibit of works by Olafur Eliasson at MOMA. That man on the floor was trying to figure out how it worked, as were most of us. I am so lucky to live so close to the city!