Snow Day!!!
- At December 20, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
0
I am listening to This American Life, still in my pjs (it’s 2:00 pm) loving my snow day. Yesterday it was our first really soggy, wet, snowy day. It being a Friday I was finished at the shop by 4:00 pm. It had been a nice day at the studio with a steady stream of folks coming in to stock up on yarn for a snowy weekend. There was a really cheerful, pre weekend feel to the day. I was home by 5:00 pm (LOVE Fridays), lit a fire, and waited for David to get home. I did a little spinning while I waited. I also wanted to finish up the baby hat & booties I was working on for David’s friend. I had knocked off the hat and had cast on the bootie on the subway ride home.
We spent a lovely evening by the fire with our pals Nell & Time, eating Thai food we had delivered, and drinking wine. All in all, a perfect evening for me.
I also had brought home the demo scarf we made at the Studio on the super cool little Cricket Loom. There’s no pattern, and about everyone’s hands have been on this thing. Claire set it up and pulled a bunch of grey & purple yarns. Then she started it, but we left it on the project table for customers to play with. This thing has Jiffy, Wool-Ease, Vanna’s Glamour, Homespun & Cupcake. It’s kind of the kitchen sink scarf. Weaving is so fun & easy, I may have to buy myself one of these little beauties (thank you store discount!)
Here it is blocking
This is a close up of a few fun things we played with. Holding a little bling (Vanna’s Glamour) with the Wool-Ease:
And running two yarns through at once. Love this look:
Today I finished my first bootie (so cute)
and then I’m going to force myself to do one of the two tedious chores I have. Either finish the bamboo top or weave in all the ends of that woven scarf (althoug I might make someone at the Studio do that!).
Gotta make another bootie now.
Stockinette, Fear of Finishing, and Double Crochet
- At December 13, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
- 2
I’ve been a bad blogger, but I have an excuse
1) opening a brand new yarn studio
2) thanksgiving
3) having my asst. go out of town for a week
and that brings us to now. On top of all that craziness (I didn’t even mention getting a new class & workshop schedule ready to launch in December) David got sicker then I’ve ever seen him. Right now we are sitting at home, skipping a holiday party because he started to feel a little sick again. But (joy) we turned on our TIVO to find a brand new feature . . . it’s connected to our NetFlix & we can just download movies. SOOO cool.
In the land of knitting, I finished my summer top just in time for winter. Now it will sit, and sit and sit while I avoid doing the finishing. God I hate finishing.
I did manage to make some major progress on the miles of Stockinette that is the Cobblestone Sweater. I finished the body & now I’ve started the sleeves. You can keep your &^$& dps, I’m a magic loop gal all the way.
I’ve also been having fun with crochet. I got a skein of one of the brand new colorways of Homespun (a nice perk of the job), called Wildfire . . . really pretty. So in two days I did this little ruffled crochet scarf pattern. I’m kind of digging crochet.
Another delight of the job is getting your hands on the brand new yarns as soon as they come out. I couldn’t resist the 100% Italian Cashmere that just came out. So yummy
Don’t know what to do with it yet, but I’ll figure it out
ADD knitting
- At November 22, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
- 1
I’ve felt all over the place lately. These last three weeks have been an utter blur. The Studio opened on Tuesday and I’ve been working pretty much non stop to get to the opening. Last weekend I was trying to get my Vanna Glamour shawl done for the opening night party. I looked at my couch and realized my knitting was a scattered as my brain felt.
I somehow had four projects going at once. . . not at all like me. First I decided to whip out a shawl in two days. I decided to do a simple three rows of drop stitch and then an eyelet row
Here’s a couple of bad pics
The other couch projects . . . My first crochet scarf (I decided I needed to beef up my crochet skills for the Studio)
David’s Cobblestone Sweater
and there’s STILL the bam boo top that I totally lost interest in now that it’s no longer summer
Today was my first day off where I didn’t work all day (I did work until about 3:00 pm), but tomorrow . . . NOTHING. I will give myself a whole day off! Now it’s time to light a fire and knit
So Many Boxes . . .
- At October 22, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Knitting, Spinning, Travel
- 1
It’s been ages since I’ve had a moment to blog. I’m up to my (&^% in boxes getting the Studio ready to open. I have managed to get sick for about a week in the middle of it all (yeah). The sucky part was missing the Yarn Harlot when she spoke at B & N in Park Slope. Michelle (who is cool lady working in the Studio with me) even saved me a seat, and I was WAY too sick to go. On a brighter yarny note, I did get a lot of knitting done in my sick bed.
This cotton bam boo top is taking me forever. Plus I no longer get any knitting time on the subway since I’m back to rush hour riding (which means standing . . . boo).
Amongst working sun up to sun down David and I did manage to squeeze in two great weekends. Two weeks ago David and I did our Brooklyn open house thing. I wrote about our Saturday at the cemetery, and then Sunday we did a whole other round. First we stopped at the Montauk club. It’s right down the street from our house, but I’ve never seen the inside. It’s both opulent and oddly run down at the same time. Kind of hard to describe.
On our way to Fort Greene we passed Urban Glass, who was also doing an open house. It’s a really big glass blowing place that has a gallery and they give classes and rent their space to artists. I love that places like this still exist in Brooklyn.
Next we went to the fab new(ish) Brooklyn Flea Market. It was a perfect fall day and the flea market was great. We spent the rest of the day walking around Fort Greene. I must admit, we don’t spend much time there. It’s really cool. The neighborhood has changed so much, and it’s filled with great restaurants and shops. We will definitely be going back for the Halloween festival next week. I’ve always wanted to see the dog costume contest!
After another back breaking week at work setting up the store, I was hanging on to the light at the end of the tunnel . . . RHINEBECK!!!!!!!!! We headed out late on Friday night and got into our B & B around 10:00 pm. We didn’t get to see the amazing grounds until we looked out our window the next morning to see this:
We were staying in a spa / B & B on a ton of land, called Buttermilk Spa. Just like last year, it was bright blue sky and perfect color. . . only difference, about 20 degrees colder then last year.
Our first glimpse of the fair grounds was an explosion of red
We started by visiting the little darlings that give us the fiber we love. Here’s a little cutie getting shorn.
We decided after such a killer week that we would take it easy this weekend. I did a little shopping, ran into some pals, watched some Canine Frisbee toss, ate some cheese, and then we headed back to the B & B in the afternoon to go to the spa and walk around the grounds.
My first day’s booty was a pound of this stunning Corriedale roving
After the spa we walked around the grounds which were swell
They also have their own little herd of sheep and alpaca.
SOOO cute.
After a wonderful dinner, great sleep, great breakfast it was back to the fair grounds. Our pal Francesca was meeting us. She was on hiatus from the Spamalot tour, and we’ve been trying to go to Rhinebeck together for three years, and we finally made it!
We started again by visiting the animals. Why can’t I have a farm???
David was trying to take a picture of this cutie alpaca, but right as he snapped, the alpaca stuck his nose right in the camera. It’s my new favorite picture
Francesca went through her budget in the first 10 minutes or so . . . mostly at Brooks Farm. I picked up another pound of Merino roving
Here we are saying goodbye to our wonderful weekend, clutching our treasures
Monday it was back to unpacking boxes and counting balls of yarn.
My First Perfect Fall Weekend of 2008
- At October 05, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Knitting
- 2
I’ve been working WAY too hard for the last four weeks. So, my boss forbade me to do any work this weekend. Being the good employee that I am . . . I listened to him. This resulted in a perfect Saturday in Brooklyn (and Sunday is starting out pretty nice too!). First we spent a lazy Saturday morning at home. I got a nice hunk of my bam boo top done
It starts at the main gate of the Cemetery. . .by the way, for those of you who don’t know about the wild parrots of Brooklyn, I should mention that there are giant nests of bright green Monk Parakeets that live in the front gate. Their squawking only added to the strange and delightful afternoon. (on a weird side note, the other city that I lived in, Chicago, also had a mysterious population of Monk Parakeets that lived in Hyde Park. There were many theories on how they got there, but nobody knows for sure.)
Back to Angels & Accordions. . . it started with a trio of accordion players & the dance performance in front of the gate. First a group of mourners came out all dressed in black under black umbrellas.
Shortly after one mourner laid some flowers on the ground, a group of dancers (presumably the dead) appeared in white flowing costumes. They danced with the mourners, and then after the mourners embraced the dead, they slipped out of their arms and left the mourners with empty arms. 
The dancers then walked up the hill into the cemetery and the whole crowd followed. For the next two hours, hundreds of us followed guides holding large black and white umbrellas, throughout the cemetery. 
As you walked you came across the dancers, singing mournfully, draped eerily and dancing beautifully all around the graves. It was really spectacular. My favorite was walking under a low hanging willow and finding the dead hidden amongst the branches quietly singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (later we found out that Frank Baum was buried near by).
Another favorite was walking though the catacombs past people ringing bells and projections of pictures, and the soft speaking of names. All to accordion music
It all ended with a final, full ensemble dance, by the chapel. A magical afternoon.
and David made blueberry pancakes. Now we’re mulling over going out and doing yet more fun Brooklyn things This weekend is just what I needed to prepare me for the upcoming weeks.
Late Fall Harvest, Late Fall Tank Top
- At September 21, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Gardening, Knitting
- 2
Summer is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is the first day of fall. Sigh. This time of year used to always fill me with anticipation of the coming season. For years as a kid it was the start of a new school year, then for 20 something years in theatre, it was the start of a new theatrical season. As a knitter it’s time to say goodbye to knitting tanks & camis and hello chunky sweaters. This year I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about the future, but that’s because of a whole lot of stuff going on with my personal & family life. We cast on. We forge ahead. My favorite mantra from one High Holiday service I went to years ago was . . . I will try, I will fail, I will try again.
We are still harvesting a bunch of late season veggies. Here’s yesterday’s pickings
And this morning we noticed a few we missed
Since time is running out, today we are going to make tons of pestos, and sauces to freeze. A little summer in the freezer during the cold wintertime.
Just in time for the end of summer, I finally cast off the Lotus Blossom tank
I did a lot of modifications to the pattern so it would fit me nicely. I’m pretty happy with the result.
Now that I finally got that bad boy off my needles, I’m going back to the Cotton Bamboo top that has been languishing in the knitting bag. It’s coming along nicely. I feel like this cable pattern is going to take me forever, so I might cast on David’s Cobblestone Sweater, and alternate between the two projects.
Since I avoid finishing like the plague, I decided to convert the pattern to in the round. For some stupid reason I thought it would be easier to divide for front and back when I got to the cable pattern. I somehow thought I would have to think too much to convert the flat chart to in the round. That was (of course) dopey. There;s nothing too it, and now I’ve just created another seam for myself. Curse you mattress stitch!!
Coming Up For Air (for a day)
- At September 14, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Knitting
- 0
The last two weeks have been insanely busy. I just got back from dropping my mom & sister off at the airport. It was a nice visit, but I’ve been so busy at work I didn’t get to spend as much time with them as I’d like. We had a great Brooklyn day yesterday. We went to Prospect Park to see the exhibit on the re imagining of Grand Army Plaza. I hope we’re still living here when this gets done For those of you have been here, you know why this is long overdue. The Arch, Baily Fountain, the Farmer’s Market, they all sit on disconnected hunks of concrete, seemingly impossible to get to without taking your life in your hands dodging traffic.
After eating our way through all the baked good tables, we headed down to Red Hook for the fall art show (thank you free Ikea shuttle!).
I always enjoy taking folks to Red Hook since it’s something so different.
All week I didn’t get much knitting done, but I did manage to finish (almost) the Lotus Blossom Tank. It’s blocking waiting it’s dreaded finishing.
Product or Process
- At September 01, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
- 7
It’s been a couple of weeks full of surprises and gifts. A huge life change (more about that later) and being the recipient of a moment of pure generosity.
Are you a product knitter or a process knitter? I am a little of both, but primarily I’m about the product. I want the garment. Sure, I love to knit it, but I want the finished item. In fact, if you ask my husband, it’s pretty hard to get me to knit for anyone else. I’ve knit myself a whole wardrobe! Then there’s my pal Kiana or Patrick who will find a pattern they love, or yarn they love and just knit. Patrick usually says “I don’t know who I’ll give it to, but I have to knit this”. Well Saturday I was lucky enough to be with Patrick when he was showing off his latest work. It was a cabled vest made from beautiful hand dyed J-Knits Mohair. It was a soft rose color and it was SOOOO pretty. I told him I loved it, and a few minutes later, he handed it to me and said “I want you to have this”. I teared up. Nobody has ever just handed me something so pretty. I was knocked over. Here I am happily wearing a beautiful hand knit, NOT knit by me
My own hand knits are coming along. I’ve put aside the Cotton Bam Boo Top, so I can finish my Lotus Blossom Tank. I’m doing tons of modifications (like everyone has). It’s funny how many people “almost” like this pattern, yet we like it enough to knit it and make it our own. I’m following, as my base, the modifications on Lickety Knit. However, because my gauge is so insane, I have to do a lot of my own. I’m using Alchemy Silk Purse, which is supposed to be 22 stitches per 4″on a US 5. I get 25 stitches per 4″ on a US 6!!!!
Here’s how it’s looking so far
I decreased 28 stitches instead of the 14 called for, and knit the garter rows and another 3/4″ of stockinette. Then I increased back up to the original 200 stitches. My gauge is tight and it seemed to fit me better that way. I went back to a US 5 to maintain my gauge when I divided for front and back.
Here’s my five lotus blossoms/alien heads (instead of the 4 the pattern calls for)
I love the color variation in the yarn. It really shows up in the stockinette
As for my other news . . . this week I started an exciting new job with Lion Brand Yarn. They are opening a New York flagship Studio, and I was hired as the Studio Manager. I don’t want to give away to much right now (stay tuned for details), but it’s going to be a center for learning, sharing, & special events. The real focus of the studio is to teach and inspire.
What I’ve been most struck by in my first week is the passion and dedication of everyone working for Lion Brand. It’s a family owned business and has been run by the same family for 130 years, which is pretty special. I have a lot of work to do in the next few months, but it’s an exciting project to be involved with. I’m honored to be working with so many people who have such a passion for fiber arts. The design department is a constant buzz developing new yarns, patterns, colors. It’s all pretty inspiring.
A Very Special Visitor!
- At August 15, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Gardening, Knitting
- 3
The other day my little roof deck was honored by a very special visitor. She was in town for just a day from the tour of Spamalot. She hasn’t been back in New York in ages, and I was thrilled she chose my little roof garden to visit. I’m speaking of course of Tallulah the cat. She also brought her person Francesca along with her.
I hadn’t seen Francesca in ages, since she’s been touring all over the US & Canada with her adorable cat. It was great to hang out on the roof, listen to some music and knit. Tallulah was busy smelling everything
And when we were visited with a Monarch butterfly (a RARE sight on our roof), she was fascinated.
Everything was fine with Tallulah finding a shady spot under the deck chair
and I settled down to do a little knitting
Life was good until Tallulah decided to crawl under the deck. Remembering what Francesca said about every moving day on the tour being a fight to get the cat out from under the bed (and our deck is a LOT bigger than a bed), I figured I’d better act fast
I went down to the apartment and fashioned this little cat toy out of a KnitPicks flexible needle
cable, some decorative stitch markers a wonderful customer gave me (thank you Patricia) and the needle end I was able to lure the cat out
Didn’t get much more work done on the Lotus Blossom Tank
which is crawling along at only one and a half alien heads long. Ah well. Tomorrow is another day.
Summer’s Going Too Fast
- At August 09, 2008
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Gardening, Knitting
- 1
Somehow it’s already the second week of August. How the hell did that happen? The whole month of June was eaten by work, then David and I went on our FAB vacation, home, family visits NY, then off to my family reunion, and boom, somehow the summer’s almost over. Okay, I’ve decided to try to slow time down. I’ve wasted the last 5 weeks angsting about what I will do with the rest of my life. I’m going to try to spend the rest of the summer not caring. I’ve worked almost non stop for that past 22 years. I think I can take 2 months to figure out the rest of my life.
Right now I am enjoying a Park Slope weekend after a fab family reunion. Once a year (although we missed one last year), my tiny family gets together. My brother and sister and I used to see our two cousins every year and now that we’re grown, we still seem to pick up as if we just saw each other last week. It’s pretty great. Usually someone has an old picture of us as kids that we are asked to recreate. Here’s this years
So then we made the new generation of kids take a picture that we can make them retake when they’re in their 40s
After we got back I was busy catching up with life, and tending the garden. It’s looking pretty lush and dreamy in the lazy days of Aug
And, as always, one little sweet potato vine ends up a wee bit overwhelming
That’s right, it’s a fairly large tomato plant with flowers starting to come in. Crazy. We may be eating food grown from the seeds of last years garbage. If you can’t find inspiration in that, you aren’t trying
I took my Cotton Bam Boo Smock Top out of town, because it’s mindless stockinette and I don’t have to deal with lace.
The last couple of days I’ve been swatching for the Lotus Blossom Tank. I’m using the amazingly dreamy Alchemy Silk Purse. It’s supposed to be 5.5 st/in on US 6. I know I knit tighter in the round, but I wanted to get a tighter gauge. I think the pattern as written is kind of shapeless. I swatched it on a US 5 and got an insane 28 stitches per 4 inch (the pattern calls for 22), I reswatched on a US 6 and got 25, a doable gauge to make it more form fitting. However, when I divide for front and back I’m going to have to go down to a US 5 to keep that gauge.
The colors are amazing and it feels SOOOO good to knit with.
I wore my bamboo top so I could finally get some shots of me wearing it. David is so sneaky, except for the one posed shot, all the other shots were David sneaking in shots when I didn’t notice. What a guy.
Later today (after watching the opening ceremonies on our TIVO) we bummed around 5th Ave and looked at all the shops, and then tonight we are heading over to Prospect Park to see the final concert of the summer . . . It’s going too fast
