Last Day to Vote

Remember to vote for the All-Star Game! Voting ends today. Make sure that, among others, lovely Mr. Lo Duca, ultra-happy Mr. Reyes and of course, my adorable boyfriend Mr. Wright are all out there representing the National League!

LETS GO METS!

Better Be Enough

Seduction Sock 1 = DONE!


Lovely Seduction Sock was cast on while flying across the pond and was completed the other night. I cast on the second sock this morning so hopefully I'll have a lovely pair of socks to keep me warm on these cold New York City summer nights. I'm sweating just thinking about it.

Think I can actually get Sock 2 out of that little ball?

Mind the Gap [in Intelligence]

Back from the other side of the pond and let me say, I'm glad to be back. Some ideas I came away with:

- Bear left and don't get hit by a car.
- Refrain from using expressions like "Pip pip, cheerio."
- The Tube is too far underground.
- Guinness tastes better across the pond.
- Smuggling DPNs onto a Heathrow-JFK flight is easy but throw your water bottles away.


But certain quirks and scenarios got my blood boiling.

Service
Like in other European cities, service is included in British food and drinking establishments which means no tipping. Without a tip, however, servers don't "need" to work harder which means, in my experiences, mediocre service at best. No stitch-hitter stamp of approval.

Technology - workwise
As my company is in transition in our London office, our computer servers and bells and whistles are as well. This means that we are using our New York artillery to keep us going. So, not only were we already working in temporary spaces that resombled a World War II-style bunker, our computers were running slower thank a 56k dial-up from 1996. They would time out, bump you off, freeze, you name it. Horrible experience. Appreciate your internet.

Back to Land o' Knitting!

I went to Loop in Islington [northern London]. Wonderful! Such a great selection of yummy yarns at good prices. This being my third trip to the UK in a year and a half, I had to buy yarn! The lovely owner [I think?] was informative and made me feel right at home. I was on the prowl for yarn you can't buy in the states, but that was a lot harder [and more expensive] than I thought. Those yarns were hand-dyed cashmere yarns. I might have been treating myself for my birthday [last friday!], but I wasn't feeling THAT generous.


I'm thinking this Pear Tree yarn will make an adorable cardigan or lacy sweater. I immediately fell in love with the sky-like color and its softness.


Standing by the register, after I picked up the Pear Tree, some darning needles and a yarn cutter [finally, I have one!], this Colinette Jitterbug caught my eye. Delish! At 200+ meters, I'll be making enough socks to keep everyone warm! I might need to start using sock yarn for something else.

To the Plane Station!

My lovely sister-in-law and fellow knitting/blogger Debbie refers to the airport as a "plane station." How painfully adorable.

Skipping across the pond I go. Look, I packed and with only 3.25 hours before my flight.


I even squeezed in some more work on my Bergamo shrug. Coming along rather well. Had to fudge some decreases here and there. Don't tell the knitting police. Just the left side and the side bands remain!


I decided to not take this project with me since it requires attention and not the treatment of a red-headed stepchild. Instead, I'm taking some Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn I bought back in Colorado and taking a crack at the Seduction Socks from Interweave. We shall see what unravels [ha! I kill me!]


Now, some of you might have noticed that me, a die-hard Mets fan, has been rather quiet regarding baseball. Unfortunately, my beloved Metropolitans have not been playing very well. Pitching not hard/fast/anything enough. Batspeed and swing leaving something to be desired. Therefore, I had to take a Ross-and-Rachel break from thinking/talking about baseball. I was still following the games but... crying on my Debbie Bliss cashmerino Aran.

Now off to London.

Slow and Steady...

After my breakdown realization that committing to one project was not going to work [and Hila's wonderful explanation of why it's better for you as a knitter], I have been enjoying my Bergamo pattern. The Debbie Bliss yarn doesn't make it half-bad either!



The pattern is a purl-dot pattern that's rather simple but elegant. I'm rather intriguing on this provisional cast-on and how it all will come together.



Non-Knitting News
Panda [lovely Amanda] and I decided, on a whim while eating Indian food watching the Sopranos series finale, to finally go to the ballet. To our sheer luck, we caught one of Alessandra Ferri's final performances with ABT in Manon at the Met last night. Magical. Delicious. Impeccable. If you have the chance, see her before she says good-bye forever on June 23rd. Tickets aren't that expensive [our cheapo seats were only $35!] and well worth the beauty on stage.

I just might start dancing again...

I Cheated

I tried to be monogamous, really I did. I didn't look at any other yarn. I didn't read pattern books and barely read blogs in the hopes that I wouldn't be tempted. Because of this, I have barely picked up the needles on my pink tank top. Oh that poor tank.

Now, I have this:


The beginnings of the Cache-Coeur Bergamo in Weekend Knitting. Maybe this [and the potential of a pair of socks and a few baby garments!] will show me that the tank top is not the devil incarnate. And now that auction season is almost over, I can focus on my lovely stash.

So, forget being a monogamous knitter. I'd rather be a knitting slut!