Valentines

And finally...somewhat decent pictures of the valentines. Above is a detail of the "Heart of Yarn" Card Set, which is currently in my Etsy shop, mariss+drew.

And take a peek at "The Little Hearts" set too!

All this sweetness makes me want some baked goods.

Edited to note that these items are no longer in the shop.

Daylight Saving Time vs. The Philippine Cobra

Did you read that we will be doing a Daylight Saving Time study for the 2007 year? We will be turning our clocks forward on March 11th, instead of in April. Apparently, this is a test to see if we can save some energy. Also interesting is that most people seem to have an extremely strong opinion on Daylight Saving Time. (Did you know it's not Savings time? New trivia for me too!). What's your stance?

In Florida, we're too close to the equator to notice the difference in the daylight from summer to winter...which of course is redundant, since South Florida only has summer and summer-lite as seasons! Now that I live up north, I find myself brightening up each day that the sun sets a minute later, and cannot wait to spring forward. I definitely notice the sun affecting me in a positive way, and find myself feeling a bit gloomy when the days are short. However, in many parts of the world, this may be the opposite, or not make a difference, so my opinion may be a little ego-centric here....but happy people probably make better decisions...

What got me started on DST, is that I am unable to take any decent pictures of my knitting or stationary, so you will not be seeing any photos today!

I've been working diligently on my sweater, and playing with my watercolors, and pen and ink.

I'm enjoying painting and drawing little illustrations, and not needing everything to be perfect. My favorite paints are Schmincke and Winsor & Newton artist grade watercolor pans or tubes. I also love the ever versatile Escoda kolinsky sable brush. One single brush lets you do washes, small details, lines, and if you take good care of it, can last forever. I recommend a size 6. If you can't tell, I became an art supply snob when I worked at Pygmalion's Art Supply in Bloomington, Indiana, which is my favorite art store in the United States.

I also selected a new pseudonym for myself. This is because of the awesome new name for our Quizzo Team, the "Deadly Viper Squad". At the Locust Bar, I am now known only as the "Philippine Cobra". There will probably be a tee shirt to follow, with vinyl letters and a sparkly cobra in the national colors of my mother's homeland.

Stay warm, everyone! (Except for all you show offs down South).

k3tog

Although this sweetheart did such a great job measuring, I am off about 3/4 of an inch lengthwise. It probably didn't help that I accidentally knited it on size 7 Addi Turbo circular needles instead of size 6.



Disclaimer: Non-knitters, there is quite a bit of shop talk in this post. Sometimes I forget it started as a knitting blog...

I need to rip off the cast-on blue bit anyway because it was cast-on too tightly, and Grace suggested I try Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn casting-on castoff method instead.

Then I will steam block the heck out of it to stretch that 3/4 of an inch. If not, it will be fine. As long as everything is consistent...

I am knitting both fronts of the cardigan at the same time, which I would generally prefer, as I hate backtracking or repeating things. However, it is slightly more possible that I finish one panel of the front of the cardigan and the corresponding sleeve by next Wednesday.

It is our last class and I would like to have half of my sweater to seam together, especially since that is what I need the most help with. Have I stopped knitting the twin panel? No. I must separate them so that they can live their adolescent years apart. Perhaps tonight.

I bought a pair of Inox size 6 circulars, and they are not for me. Although the pointy tips are great, I tend to touch the tips often and prefer the blunt tip of the Addi's. They also make the wool feel squeaky when I knit and I'm not even a tight knitter. I liked Sherry's Knitpick's Options circulars, but prefer the Addis for for now.

I thought I needed the pointier tip for the bobbles. However, I tested out the Addis (how do you pluralize this?) and it is possible and much smoother to knit 3 together for my bobbles. So, I bought a pair of those and am enjoying my knitting again.



The pattern is four rows, and every other row has 2 or 4 bobbles in it. That is a lot of turning around and purling and k3tog and finger cramping and second guessing picking this pattern!

But it's not too bad and I'm getting the hang of the bobbles. If I knit the last three purled stitches of the back of the bobble loosely, it makes it easier to knit the three together. I'm also slipping the first of the 5 purled stitches and am finding it does create a more circular bobble.

Oh, but they are so cute! And I am going to love this sweater.



In non-related knitting news, I will be taking off work on Friday to spend the day in Brooklyn with Kathy Jean and Trey. Trey is flying in from Chicago for Kathy Jean's birthday. Good thing that I knitted KJ those Fetching gauntlets so that I get some points too! (wink)

I not only get a ride home from knitting class from my friend Olivia, but she treated Mike and I to two delicious slice of homemade keylime pie with fresh whipped cream and a raspberry coulis. Now do you know why I wanted to be neighbors with this lady?

I'm hoping to get some knitting done on the bus to NYC tomorrow. My next post will be my sweater finished...it's possible, right?

Degenerate Knitters

When I told people I was going to a "knitting slumber party", they thought I was kidding. When they realized that I thought this was an extremely exciting event, they tried not to make fun of me. Well, you are all going to be jealous, because it was the most...fun...ever.

I met Regina, Lisa, Sherry, Jennifer and Rhonda at a knitting circle, and they are way too cool to only see for an hour at a time. Regina graciously hosted a party and invited us to stay over, since it is in the suburbs. They collect all sorts of random items that you never knew about but covet instantly. I kept walking around eating the homemade sushi that Regina made saying, "Oh my God! This is so cool!"

Or, in the case of The King, "Oh. My. God. What IS that?!"

Yes folks. That is a frightening bas-relief of an anonymous royal, who bears a striking resemblance to Burger King's King. The King doesn't look so scary next to Sherry, but stand anywhere in the room, and he won't take his eyes off of you. (Regina, I love him, though! And did wake up alive after all).

To break down any preconceived notions of what knitters do when they hang out--we drank beer and watched the Eagles game. (While knitting of course!)

Regina's husband brews his own beer and enjoys introducing others to kweichow moutai. Hint: if the bottle looks like motor oil, you probably don't want to drink it. But, it was a small shot, and a favorite drink of old Chinese men, so I'm glad I tried it. Even though it made us belch motor fumes for the rest of the night. And Robert did buy us all fresh bagels in the morning and let four extra women take over his home! (Thanks, Robert!)

I had such a great time. I was sorry that our favorite girl, Jennifer couldn't make it, but we had fun in her and her mom's honor. Well, I did, because I say cheesy stuff like that and I adore Jen.

Last bits, I fell in love with their chocolate and black lab, and three cats. Dita von Pumpkin even sat on my lap for about two hours!

I reached my goal by finishing the back of my sweater, and even got some help measuring. Thanks, guys!

Hawaii

My best friend, Trey, is going to Hawaii this summer. She loves to travel and is a spirited and independent woman who is not afraid to try new things. Such as go to New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Ireland, England, Italy, etc...

I would love to go to Hawaii with Trey. Surfing, volcanoes, pineapples, snorkeling... There. It has been documented on my blog, so it is now real and means I will be more inclined to find a way to do this. So if I start telling you I need to spend lots of money on yarn, you have to remind me of my Hawaii budget. I know some of my yarn enablers will have difficulties with this.

I could have gone on a fourteen day cruise to South America with how much I spent on airfare and weddings last year, so I figure I can budget for this trip.

Now if only people will wait to get married until next year...

I Heart Tweed!

I heart tweed. And no, not Brooklyn Tweed, although I am a fan. Any guesses what this is going to grow up to be?



You still don't know? Okay, fine.



I signed up to take a four-week sweater class at Loop with my friend, Olivia. Mind you, this was a day after I told Mike, "I decided that I am never going to make a sweater. My attention span is too short and I love doing projects that I can complete quickly. So I don't want to make one." Any of you who know me, are probably nodding your heads right now.

But--I really like my friend Olivia and wanted to take the class with her. The prospect of deadlines and having to go to four classes after completing "knitting homework" changed my mind. So did the generous Christmas check I received from my Aunt Marty. (Cha-ching = yarn!)

Well, since you know that I can never make things easy for myself...the glorious tweed above will be turning into, this. (Picture from Laughing Hens).



The pattern is Tyrolean by Sarah Dallas. It is among many gorgeous patterns in the hardcover of Vintage Knits. I have a love hate relationship with bobbles. They look so adorable, but they're so damn annoying to knit. But I think that the end result will be worth it.

Now stop shaking your head at me! I'm really going to prevail here!

Fetching

I made 1-1/2 knitted gifts for Christmas. I felt my friend Kathy Jean needed some love over the holidays, so I whipped her up a pair of Fetching gauntlets from Knitty.



As you can see in this photo of us seemingly hawking coffee products in Central Park, Kathy Jean loves all things green.



The yarn is Koigu Kersti. The second I saw it, I knew Kathy Jean would love it. And she did.

This was an easy and fun knit. The pattern is simple and I had plenty of yarn left over to add to my stash.



Technical note: I accidentally forgot to put an extra cabled row on the cuff of the gauntlets, but did not restart it in order to finish them in time for the holidays. Plus, Mike's Christmas hat is only halfway done, and it is now January.



However, my present from Mike is not finished either. He still needs to paint this little bluebird he sculpted for me...but he's in Indiana right now, so we'll give him a break...and me some extra time!

M.I.A.

I was missing in action, but now I am back.

Since we've talked, I made origami birthday party decorations for my friend Jenny. Quite festive, don't you think?



While I was home in Florida, I knitted seven rows on Mike's Christmas hat. I was too busy attending luaus with my lovely parents...



Spending time with my canine niece, Maddy...



Cooking plastic goodies with adorable children...Modeling outrageously fake bling with Brooke...



And doing a little rooftop weeding for my mother...



I enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with Heather at our old hangout--the corner of A1A and Las Olas...



And having a great view from Seat 21F on New Years Day.



Happy New Year to all of you!

Heroes, Smarty Pants and Urchins

I could not resist posting one more photo from the aquarium. This sea urchin and these fish were amazing. There was no movement at all. They were just posing as if in a fashion shoot for couture.



When I was young, I wanted to be a marine biologist, just like my hero, Eugenie Clark, aka "The Shark Lady". I literally read this book fifteen times. One of these days, I'll pick up my own copy.

My parents always stressed that I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, where that was an astronaut, a shark lady or an architect. I love that they taught us to be independent and dream big.

The two friends that I knitted for this month are intelligent, brave and fun as hell. That was the only unified theme I could figure out for this random post.

I got some knitting done on the car ride from Philly to Baltimore. As you can see, I couldn't resist wearing the finished mitt, but will be happy to give them to my friend Kathy, who needs some warmth.

Lastly, I got to give the Brainy Beanie to my best girl, Heather. What a happy recipient of this hat. Heather passed the knitting gift test and will be getting more presents in the future. Is it just me, or does she break the stereotype of the typical electrical engineer?

Andrew

This Saturday, we went to the Baltimore Aquarium. My favorite thing to see were the rays. (Picture from aquarium website, I don't have access to mine right now).



It happened to be the first anniversary of my brother Andrew's death and I wanted to do something he would have enjoyed. So Mike, and my friends Heather and Nate from D.C. went with me to check it out. I have known Heather since elementary school, and it meant alot to me that she came up to spend the day with me. It helps to have people around who remember him and loved him too.



Andrew intimidated people when he was dressed in full punk gear with his mohawk up. (These pictures were taken of him for his friend Reus's photo project. He never got arrested!) But he would open his mouth and be the most sensitive, compassionate and sweetest boy ever. His interests were so vast, that he was able to touch so many people. He would surprise them and broke down stereotypes.



He had a childlike glee and was really silly, which is one of the things I miss most about him. And he gave the best hugs and provided comfort or advice to anyone who needed it. As my Dad wrote in his wonderful obituary, "He was a friend indeed, to anyone in need."



He was an amazing brother. (He let me french braid his hair right after this picture was taken).



He wrote a book at the age of ten and the dedication said, "To my Dad. Because he is not just my father, but also my best friend." And as you can see here, he was really a mama's boy. I think that woman made him his lunch until the eighth grade! We always knew he was her favorite! (wink)



I miss you Andrew and I will see you again. (And that totally sounded like Maximus from The Gladiator, but that would have made him crack up).

Argyle Cards

We moved into my new apartment in July. With my trip to the Philippines and other things going on, I just had the chance to set up my little studio area last month.

It ended up being in the bedroom because there's a bright window, a second television and lots of space. I placed a curtain along tension wire so that I separate the studio area from the sleeping area.



I'm quite happy with how my studio area has turned out, especially since I've now been inspired to start doing this. I have finally set up my own shop on etsy.com.



More to come...

2006 in Review

I saw this meme on Sweet Georgia's blog. I thought it may be fun to do. It may not be that much fun for you to read, but it's here for my loyal fans (you know who you are)!

1. How was 2006 for you?
2. What was the highlight of your year?
3. What did you want to accomplish that you didn’t get to?
4. What are you planning for 2007?

1. How was 2006 for you?

• Bittersweet is how I would describe 2006. This has been the year when I’ve had to sort out my feelings of losing my younger brother last year (December 16, 2005). However, it’s also been a year where my perspective on life has changed. I think when your life falls apart, you have to figure out how to survive and grow and learn. You can’t shut down and feel guilty for being happy, or for being able to do things that your loved one can’t see or share with you. It has been a year where I’ve felt the need to protect my parents, and to let them and my friends and family help me too.
• This has been the year to get off of my tookus and try to do the things I’ve been dreaming about for years. Most of these things will be included in question 3 and 4, but at least I’m putting myself out there. I don’t want to be so scared to fail at something, that I never try new things.
• 2006 is the year I became a blogger. I never thought I’d be a blogger, and found it somewhat silly at one time. But I really enjoy it, and reading others' blogs. I always liked to write, but it was mainly letters to friends, or journal entries. (Journals that my best friend Tracy knows to burn when I die! While refraining the urge to read them!) I didn’t realize how much I missed putting my words out there for others to see as well.
  
  It’s also so inspiring to see what other people are working on, and getting new ideas, sharing new products and being part of an online community. And it’s also been a place where I’ve become better friends with people I know in my “real life”.
  

2. What were the highlights of your year?

• My trip to the Philippines with my mom. I got to know my aunts, uncles, dozens of cousins, and my cousins children, who happen to be the cutest children ever. Incidentally, the lowlight of our year occurred on this trip--which was my poor mom breaking her ankle pretty badly while we were there. But our hospital visit will provide stories and laughs to fill this lifetime! And, I loved learning a little Tagalog!
• Quizzo, parties, get-togethers, impromptu meetups, brunches and movies with friends! This fall, I have gotten over my slump and become social again. There was definitely a slump for awhile. Understandable of course...but being a hermit gets old. (And I don't want to harass Mike too much!)
• Being a bridesmaid in my friend, Tara's wedding in Jacksonville, Florida. And especially getting to see my favorite children in the Western Hemisphere.
• See Mike get his MFA in Painting!
• Getting to see my "Swedish Brother". We had a wonderful exchange student in 2000, named Daniel. He is the greatest guy and my family loves him. It was so much fun to see him when he visited with his friend Olof.

3. What did you want to accomplish that you didn't get to?

• I'd like to go to the beach one time this year. Ironically, I have been to the following places this year, but extenuating circumstances prevented the visit! Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Davao and Manila in the Philippines. Oh wait--I will be in Ft. Lauderdale from the 22nd of December until the end of the year. I will get in the ocean in those 9 days.
• I was hoping to make more soup this year, sew an apron and make a cupcake pin cushion for a friend and myself. But it has been a warm winter, and the cupcakes can wait until 2007!
• This year I have learned to not get down on myself for not finishing everything I set out to do. If it sits for a bit, that's fine. I'll pick it up when I feel inspired again. I'm sick of stressing myself out for goals that I set for myself. Therefore, I'm trying to set more realistic goals for myself, and accomplish those.

4. What are you planning for 2007?

• Setting up my etsy.com store mariss+drew, to sell stationary and possibly some handmade items in the future.
• Soup club! Anyone interested in joining my soup club, let me know. We will make a big vat of soup once a month and everyone takes some home. You must invest in some fine Tupperware that is spill proof! (wink)
• Scrounging up some money to go to Hawaii with my best friend Trey, her mom and aunt. Can we say...subsidized?! I'm just kidding! But I adore Trey and her family. We'll see how this goes...
• I'd like to read Don Quixote by Cervantes and finish any other books on my list to finish.

Tourists

Mike's art show in NYC went very well. It was last Thursday. There was a huge turnout, and his stuff was the best work there. (Honestly, I'm not even being biased here!)

The one fun thing about blogging, is that I've been taking more pictures, and looking at things from a more artistic perspective again. I'm no professional photographer by any means, but I used to enjoy doing it and being in the darkroom.

While we were in New York, we had the loveliest weather. It was in the mid sixties, and perfectly sunny. Since we didn't have a lot of money to spend, we spent a lot of time walking around and enjoying the gorgeous day.




We had to visit The Rockefeller Center in it's holiday glory of course. I took a great picture of the butt crack of a woman skating. For the moves that she was doing, the woman needed to wear a longer sweater and perhaps invest in some non-hoochie pants. I'm taking the classy road in not posting the picture....at this time (wink).



Union Square...Anyone know what that number thing is tallying? I'm too lazy to look this up. Blue ribbon to the correct guess...I love the color of the leaves, and the flashy gold next to the techie building.



Gorgeous red leaves...we were bombarded by crazed squirrels and sketchy people in this park, but ran into a good friend from Bloomington unexpectedly! These may be the prettiest leaves I see all year.



The New York Public Library. I love me some books! Just kidding. This is a gorgeous library though, and I love the lions guarding the books.

Guess what?! I even knit some of my second sock on the bus ride there. And petted some fibers in a yarn store, salivated over some fabrics, and got 2 cookie cutters! (An "M" for Mike, and an ice-cream cone for me. Good thing the M works for me too--so I really got two presents! Ha ha ha.)

Brainy Beanie

This will be called the Brainy Beanie after it's new owner, Heather, who just happens to be an electrical engineer. I made it extra big to fit her large brain. Hope you like it, Heath!

Pretty yarn for Heather's hat. Diarufuran to be knit on size 7 Lantern Moon double point needles in rosewood (to replace these awful metal ones below).



Thanksgiving progress. Loving knitting with this yarn, it will probably pill...but the fabric is gorgeous and quick to knit up.

Detail for some eye candy.



Sad face when I finished Heather's hat and realized it was just a tad small. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. So I took it to knitting circle and ripped it out there. I only lost the top portion of the hat, but actually enjoyed knitting with the fabric again. I told you this is a joy to work with.



Progress! Don't you love the striping? I actually took this picture to document at what length I need to start decreasing. Although I have a pretty big head, I have the tendency to make my hats too small. So now I know to knit until it feels uncomfortably long, and that's the right point.



Happy face that the hat is now the proper size. Although it doesn't look that much bigger, it made a huge difference. The hat is quite stretchy, but doesn't feel like it will fall off now.



Leftover yarn from the one skein! that was needed to knit this hat. I've already started a log cabin blanket with this lovely scrap.

Birthday Girl

My birthday was on the nineteenth. My mom and dad spoiled me with a box of crazy gifts, including some items my mom informed me were re-gifted and items I had left at home in Florida. It was still so exciting to open a box of stuff. My mom rocks!



Included in the box were some Swedish candies that our friends had brought us when they visited from Sweden. Let's put it this way, my mom sent them to me because they were too gross to eat. By the end of my party, we were passing the candy around daring people to eat it. We also needed to pass around napkins so that the taste-testers could gag out the candy quickly. This was inevitable because the candy was a salty, gummy, licorice in the shape of cats and gorillas. The gorilla candy included ammonia as an ingredient. There was also a touch of menthol.

I even made a birthday bet of $10 that my friend, Abe, wouldn't put the rest of the candy in his mouth and eat it. Of course he did, then I felt bad and told him he could spit it out. But I paid the man for pure entertainment value!

I invited some of my favorite neighbors over for lasagna, beer and birthday cake. My sweet friend in the flowered dress made me the cake. Mike was going to, but we ran out of time. I now have a "free birthday cake pass" that I may have to use tonight. I mean, seriously, what is Sunday night without sweets and cake? I may have to make a pumpkin pie as well, since we are out of left-overs.



I must say that the highlight of my birthday was receiving a handmade pinata, made in the likeness of my beau, from craftster extraordinaire, Aimee. She is the founder of a very cool sewing pattern business, but can hopefully be convinced to start making party pinatas full time. (wink)

We weren't using a stick to hit it at first, because we were scared to knock down Mike's paintings...In this glamourous shot, I am unintentially imitating a favorite childhood hero--Ralph Macchio, in the Karate Kid.

All in all, I had a fabulous birthday. I am a lucky girl.