New York, New York

...a town so nice they named it twice!

The second trip I took to the East coast this last month was to New York. A good friend and I went to visit her daughter, who was on Spring break from NYU, and we had a blast!

Highlights included:

• Visiting the Guggenheim. I love this museum -- the architecture is wonderful and I enjoy the spiral flow through the museum that allows me to see all the art that's on display, knowing that I won't have missed a thing.

• Watching a performance of The Lion King on Broadway. Oh my gosh, this was fantastic! I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when it was her first night at the Opera when my eyes filled up at the dazzling performances. These people are so very talented, the music and singing divine, and the costumes and stage sets extremely creative.

• Checking out some of New York's knitting stores - Purl Soho and Habu. Each very different from the other and yet both an absolute treat.
  Purl is a bright, fun, hip store that's crammed with yarn in every shade of the rainbow. They have an interesting range of books too - I came away with some cool needlefelting books for my Sis (Happy Birthday Jac!)

Habu has a very laid back feel. You are greeted by overflowing baskets galore, and the yarns come in a variety of interesting and sophisticated-looking fibers. (Note: Be sure to check the address beforehand if you intend to visit as Habu is not visible from the street).


I picked up some goodies in both stores (of course!) and look forward to choosing some projects on Ravelry for the yarns.

All in all it was a fabulous trip -- there was much laughing, catching up, sight seeing, walking and let's not forget the eating! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

UGH: Rebecca Pullover, 9

I just finished the Adrienne Vittadini Rebecca Pullover #9.


UGH!
I think one of the few things going for this sweater is that it satisfies my requirement for the NaKniSweMoDo March Sweater. Oh yes and it's green, so it also qualifies for Project Spectrum.

The main problem is that it has this bizarre underarm bulging thing going on. Not an attractive look is it:


I looked back at the pattern and see a hint at this, but also that they have the sides pulled waaaay down (I wonder, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, if that's to combat the bulge effect?). Needless to say I tried this but it just looked odd! ;o)


So what to do? I'm toying with seaming again and taking in extra from the underam area to see if that would help. And perhaps seeing if there's a way to reduce the length of the sleeves. But for now I'm going to tuck it in the back of my closet and devote my attention to prettier things...

Washington DC

I'm playing catch up today after 3 weeks of trips to the East coast. Whew I'm pooped!

First trip was to Washington DC to meet up with a dear friend from my Amsterdam days. (This is who the 'here and there' scarf is for... sadly it didn't get finished in time. What was I thinking -- a 72inch cable scarf, in skinny yarn, in a week? Next time I should plan for a cowl!)

It was my first trip to DC and I fell in love with the city. Unfortunately I was just a couple of weeks too early for all the Cherry Blossoms to be in bloom (I envision that the city must look spectacular at this time).  But still Spring was in the air with a few early bloomers, budding magnolias and daffodils. Beautiful.

Since it was a short visit, we started by jumping on one of the tour buses to get a sense of the city with great commentary from the guide along the way.

There's so much to see and do, I was a little sad that I didn't have the time to visit at least one of the many museums, and the botanical gardens. I think you could spend years in the city and still not feel like you'd experienced all it had to offer. But I did get to see The White House, Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. I'll certainly be returning at some time.
Then it was back to Colorado (aaah) for 2 days before my next trip to New York...

Hope you are also enjoying some relaxing time this weekend,
Sam

Here and there cables update

What a great pattern -- I'm loving the 'here and there cables' on this scarf. The pattern is very simple to memorize, and the cables appear on both sides of the scarf (I find it a little odd when scarves have a distinct 'wrong side'). The instructions recommend lightly blocking the cables and I can see why -- they really open up and look stunning!


I don't know if I'll be able to get this done before Friday. I should have realized that this is quite the ambitious goal! Of course it won't be the end of the world if I don't complete it by the end of this coming week... but it would be nice to gift to my friend when I see her in person next weekend.


As for the 'bowl', I'd tried my hand at throwing pottery a year or two ago. It was a great class, but it seems I have limited talent for this craft -- with some very bizarre looking pots to prove it! This one comes in handy because it prevents the yarn ball rolling all over the place.

Ooh and since I'm enjoying project spectrum's green theme, I wanted to share some of my recent swag here. I swung by Colorful Yarn today to hang out with some of the girls, and to check out Mary-Kay's trunk show. I came away with some of her wonderful Red Rocks yarn - the Aspen sock in colourway Granny Smith! I'm thinking about making a striped cardigan out of this yummy stuff.


And last, but not least, it was a work friend's birthday this last week and so I made her a pair of turquoise and coral earrings. When I'm in need of instant gratification, and a quick gift, I'll dive into my tin of beads and see what I can create. These are pretty simple, but I do love the 2 different colors of turquoise and the coral together.


Ok back to the scarf... If nothing else, I'm determined!
Sam

Knitting Green

I like to collect old knitting needles, especially the colourful metallic kind. They sit pretty in a tin bucket in my crafty corner in our loft. Here's a couple of green ones to kick off project spectrum.

And if I can drag myself away from my camera, and this computer, I will also get started on a green project -- the 'Here and There Cables' scarf by Norah Gaughan. I'm knitting it in some very pretty silk yarn from Red Rocks Fiberworks in colourway Green Grass (Mary-Kay - this yarn is a dream, so very buttery soft).


This pattern hadn't originally called to me. Until I saw this one on Ravelry. Don't you just love Ravelry for that -- how different folks can take the same pattern and turn it into something unique - with their personal stamp on it, so to say.

I better leave you and get cracking on this project -- it is to be a gift for a dear friend that I'll be meeting up with in Washington DC in just over a week.
Happy knitting!
Sam

Colorado Rocks

I've had it in my mind for some time that I'd love to capture a sunrise at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre.


Red Rocks is a spectacular venue that's nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is impressive during daylight hours. I could only imagine how dazzling it would be in the wee hours of the morning as the sun was coming up. This morning I ventured out and was not disappointed. The skies looked as though they'd been painted in shades of yellow, pink and blue.



Red Rocks is a famous venue for concert lovers. It also hosts some church services -- I've heard that the Easter sunrise service is something to behold. And can you imagine getting married here?


The highlight though for me this morning was on my journey out of the park - there were grazing deer almost at every turn.




The scenery and wildlife are two of the many things that I love about living in Colorado. In fact, only last weekend we were taking a trip down to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs when we came across a herd of grazing Buffalo.




I consider myself very lucky to live here.
Hope you are also enjoying a wonderful Sunday, and a Happy March 1st.
Sam