wrapping up in new york

I don't know where my head has been lately... I think Baby J has diverted all of my energy into nesting!  I have a slew of baby crafts to share, but I did want to wrap up our trip to the East coast... which we finished over a month ago - yipes!

Along the way to Manhattan, we stopped in Hartford and Long Island.  I have exactly one photo to share from each leg:

What? Knitting content!  I whipped up these hats for some friends of ours, they are the Diezel Ribbie Hat from Tante Sophie in Blue Sky Worsted.  My co-worker Rickie made these earlier in the year for her family, and I couldn't resist making some too!  The yarn is great and the pattern is so easy.  Success!

Rob's cute nieces in Long Island! 

We managed to get to Manhattan on a lovely fall day.  One of the first things we did was have a picnic in Central Park, which I've never done.

We also took a nightime stroll along the High Line, which was so beautifully lit.

No exhibitionists here!

Lots of opportunities to take goofy photos too!

The theme of this trip might be "things we've never done in Manhattan".  The next morning we went to the Cloisters... more silly photos on the way to the musuem.

The Cloisters was a wonderful break from the hustle of Manhattan.  We had a great time enjoying the art, architecture and weather.

We dropped by the Met, just to go to the rooftop garden.

We ate lunch at the Secret Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel... a super nice hotel with a burger dive in the lobby.  It's down a hall next the the concierge desk, it's a little hard to find if you don't know where you're going.

Our last night we ate Arepas (a first!) at Caracas and finished off our trip with a visit to Rice to Riches for rice pudding.

Along the way, we saw lots of good friends, dropped by Purl for a hello to all the wonderful people I talk to on the phone but never get to see, went to the Morgan Library (loved it!), visited two projects of Rob's that took him away for most of the summer, and ate lots of great food.  We love New York!

boo!

Just to prove that I'm not the only crafter in the family...

Rob's great Halloween pumpkins - Happy Halloween!

tourists in toronto

I went to visit our friends Anna and Jim last year in Toronto, but this was Rob's first time to visit.  We spent most of our time with the family, but we did manage to catch a few sites in town.

Anna and I in front of the (not-so) attractive Libeskind addition to the Royal Ontario Musuem - I find it funny that the only photo we took was in front of a building we weren't too crazy about!

The AGO was a much better architectural experience.  One of our good friends worked on the addition, so it was great to get to go.

I like this photo because I look so worried - I thought someone was going to get in the shot!

Our favorite space in the museum was the Italian gallery.

Hey Chloe!  You're a cutie!

Like last time, we took the ferry to Center Island.

I always love looking at the view to the city.

We did venture out to the suburbs to go to a Malaysian restaurant a friend recommended - it was fantastic!  And we got to start out with delicious non-alcholic Malaysian coolers!

Next up is a quick visit to Hartford and Long Island, ending our trip in Manhattan!!

going over the falls in a... never mind!

We decided to include Toronto in our East Coast trip, but wanted to visit Niagara Falls along the way.  So we flew into Buffalo and drove there on our way to Toronto.  It was a quick drive, but what was hilarious was that Rob asked, as we drove closer, "What are they manufacturing here?" What he thought was steam was the spray from the falls!

See? Lots of steam at this factory!

We stayed on the American side, where you can get right up next to the falls.

I love to give the v-sign!

There's an island that separates the two falls that we walked around when we first got there.  It was fun to see the rush of water as it approaches the falls.

Hey Baby J!  Your first trip to anywhere!

That night, we drove over to the Canadian side to see the falls lit up at night.  The Canadian side has the better view... but also more hotels and wax museums than we expected!

It was still beautiful, and we just had to walk a little ways to get away from the crowds.

The ground is wet from the falls... it was very atmospheric...

The next morning we took the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the falls.  If you saw the wedding episode of "The Office", we did exactly that, sans wedding dress and tuxedo.

But we did get to wear the sexy blue ponchos!

Rob got some good photos of the American Falls, but the mist was too strong as we got to the Horseshoe Falls. 

We both really enjoyed getting wet on the boat ride.

Don't worry!  We didn't throw any objects over the railing!

Here's a good photo showing the American Falls in the foreground and the Horseshoe Falls in the background.

Afterwards, we crossed the border and took a beautiful drive to Niagara on the Lake, before driving to Toronto.

Next stop? Toronto!

return to dc

Thank you everyone for the nice comments about Baby marirob.  I have some crafts to share, but first, I want to catch up with our trip back east!

It's been a year and a half since Rob and I had been to DC together.  We lived there for a year, and Rob lived there during college and worked there for four years.  Most of our trip was spent with family and friends, eating lots of great food.  But what did I do for the first time this trip?

I went to the White House!  I guess I just never made the effort when we lived there.

Down the street from the White House is the Renwick Gallery.  They had an exhibit entitled "Craft" so of course we had to go in.  One of the artists featured was Mark Newport, who makes full sized knitted superhero costumes, out of acrylic, no less.  They were amazing!  At the end of the exhibit, there was a hands on area, where Mark Newport had started a knitting project and everyone was invited to add to it. Guess who picked up the needles right away?

Rob didn't want to be left out, which brought on the most stressful five minutes I've had in a long time while I tried to teach Rob to knit.  I think it was stressful because I've never tried to teach someone to knit so quickly!  He took his task very seriously.

He looks stressed!  I did a little eyelet pattern in orange, and Rob knitted a row in black.

I have to say, it's my first time knitting with acrylic and aluminum needles - quite the non-luxury knitting experience!

Afterwards, we stopped by the American History museum where I had to take a photo with Julia Child's kitchen.

And look!  She has the same cat magnets we have!

One of our final stops was to a library that Rob worked on when we lived in DC.  It's Baby J's first trip to one of Rob's projects!

Our next stop?  Where Rob's parents honeymooned back in the 60's!

a little break and a little bear

It's one of those years - one month it's April and the next time I actually have craft content, it's October!  The summer has flown by.  We got back a couple of weeks ago from a trip to the East Coast, and I'll post photos (including Rob knitting!) but I wanted to post a project I just finished.

It's my fourth Baby Bobbi Bear, made once again with Pakucho Organic Cotton, this time in Chocolate.  It's such a great pattern.  It took me a couple of nights and reminded me why I love to knit!  And who is this bear for?

What is this freaky picture?  I'm scared!  Well, it's Baby J, due in February!  Rob and I are having a little marirob.  More Mari than Rob (hopefully) since it's a girl.  That's how I spent my summer, trying to beat the heat and sleeping more than I ever have in my life.  There is already a myriad of baby craft projects going on in my head... I'm going to try to get them done while I'm feeling good.  Rob is planning some manly crafts of his own too!  Stay tuned!

sweater frenzy continued

So... I finished another sweater this week!

Pattern: Liesl Cardigan, size XS

Yarn: Artfibers Kyoto, Color 23

This is a great, quick knit.  I think it took me about 4 days?  I decided not to put on buttons because I wanted a more loose cardigan to throw on.  I also wanted a long cardigan so I blocked it longer rather than wider.  The pattern is very clear, and the lace pattern is easy to memorize.  I think this would be a great cardigan in a cotton yarn for summer.

The yarn is really soft and I love the color.  The only downside to the yarn is that the dye came off on my hands when I was knitting (and a little on Maggie!)  The water turned bright blue when I washed it as well.  I'm not wearing white with this sweater until I've washed it a couple more times.

If you've been keeping track, this is my fourth sweater in a row knit in the round.  I really want my next sweater to be knit in pieces to break it up a bit.  We'll see what my next project will be!

it only took me two years to finish!

I'm on a stash busting/ufo finishing frenzy.  Well, frenzy might be too strong of a word, but I finally finished a sweater that's been languishing for... as the title says, over two years!

Pattern - Enid Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Winter 2006

Yarn - Reynolds Whisky, US 4 needles

I am so happy with this sweater!  I made lots of mods from the original pattern, many of which I got from Ravelry.  It was very interesting to come back to a project i put down for so long.  I think I stopped knitting it because I got bored with kniting all the stockinette on size 4 needles.  First change - I made this into a pullover instead of a cardigan, I thought it would look better that way.   I had most of the body finished, but I had made it longer and added waist shaping.  I also made the sleeves three quarter length with ribbing at the end (the original sleeves were full length).

I made the yoke shorter and skinnier, going with pSTATqueen's mods.  I'm glad I did, because the yoke would have been too big.  I also made the neckline higher and added short rows to the back of the neck.

For the neckline, I made it as originally written, and it came out too loose.  So I went with jrs' neckline mods.  Oh Ravelry, how I love thee!

The yarn was great to knit with as well.  It's a little rough, but it's nice and stretchy and blocks beautifully.  This is another sweater I'm so happy with!

Not to neglet my other crafting - I finished my Silk Garden Sock woven scarf too.

I'm going to give this to my mom, but I haven't seen her since I've finished... I hope she likes it!

I'm very happy with the way the Malabrigo Lace and the Silk Garden Sock worked together.

So, the motto of the story?  It can be so much fun to finish UFO's!

almost instant gratification

Last week I decided to make a sweater - here's what happened after three nights of knitting:

Pattern: Shalom Cardigan by Involving the Senses

Yarn - Rowan Cork, 4 balls

It's always nice to use stash yarn - I'm on a stash yarn knitting frenzy at the moment.  This sweater is all due to Ravelry - so handy!  It's fun to browse through the patterns, see what other knitters have made, and try to imagine how you would look in the same sweater.  The pattern was super easy, I used Ishi's mods, which were very helpful.  I didn't add any waist shaping, I lengthened the back by 6 rows, and I added 10 rows of garter stitch to the sleeves.

Knitting with Rowan Cork is very interesting.  The yarn is nice and stretchy, but I had pretty uneven stitches at times.  After blocking, the fabric evened out and the yarn is so soft!  I really think this sweater is smashing!

Unki was upset after not being featured in the last post, so I decided to post a little video of him.  Yes, he really jumps that loudly.  He's a big boy!

a tale of two sweaters

Well, it's taken me a while, but I've finished two sweaters!  I have to admit, I finished the first one a couple of  months ago but it's not quite a winner.  But, as with most of my sweaters that I would never wear out of the house, it is so comfy!

Pattern - Zena by Skif

Yarn - 3 various laceweight yarns on size 7 needles

I first heard about Skif patterns when a customer called purl looking for yarn for the pattern.  I was intrigued by the description so I found the pattern and cast on.  The yarn is ended up using is a Knit Picks merino laceweight yarn, i think an alpaca laceweight yarn, and some Habu non twist cotton boucle.  The resulting fabric is so soft and comfy.  The problem with this sweater is that it's too big (I actually machine sewed the sleeves skinnier and cut the seams - yipes!) and I didn't knit the back long enough.  The sweater is knitting from the front to the back in one piece, and then you pick up and knit the sleeves.  The patterns are a little confusing, but I do like the idea of using various yarns to create a certain look.

My next sweater that I just finished was a take on one of the first sweaters I ever made!

Pattern - Hourglass sweater with seamless yoke from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn - Terra in Black Locust Bark, 9 skeins

I've been wanting to make a seamless yoke version of this sweater ever since I saw Diana's version over three years ago - wow!  I just loved the way the neckline looked on her sweater.  As she did, I used the seamless yoke calculations from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns (which is a fantastic book!). 

I bought this yarn when I first started working at purl, and I really, really loved knitting with Terra.  It's soft, interesting, and there isn't too many thick/thin parts to it.  What I'm not crazy about is the pooling that happened in the middle of the body.  I chose a dark color hoping that the pooling would be minimized.  When I wear the sweater, it doesn't show up as much, so that's nice.  The part I'm most happy about this sweater is the fit.  I feel I've learned so much since I made my first hourglass, about yarn, different fibers and how they behave, about construction and my own body shape.  It's a winner!

I usually have some photos of Unki hanging around, but I thought Maggie deserved some blog love.  She turns 13 years old next month!  She loves just hanging around most of the day.

But I had to share a photo of her whiskers - she's definitely proud of them!