knitting with marisa

 marisa has been working on a raglan sweater with beautiful yarn from myak, which she bought when i dragged her to an event there not long ago (they're the company that is just two blocks from me . . i started visiting when they began hosting tea and knitting events a year or so ago).

 i finished my "canoli" socks (yarn by havirland - it's my second havirland pair, i really like her color choices for the self -triping yarn she dyes).

 marisa made a delicious buttermilk cornbread in her cast iron pan . . and then as the day went on (we had the impeachment hearing on low while talking) she kept bringing out more food! she always has such good cheeses in her fridge (such as cheddar from shelburne farms in vermont).

i think i'll match up the stripes when i make another pair in this yarn.

talking about the weather (and other things) (an update)

all in together, girls.

how do you like the weather, girls?

january, february, march . . 

the above is a jump rope song i used to jump to with my friends on the block when i was ten . . and the ages that swirl about ten years . . nine, eleven . . eight, seven . . 

i don't like the weather much these days! we're currently having a very mild winter and my body is prepped for cold, but there is no cold. the weather isn't bad, it's just not what we're accustomed to having. because of that i feel discombobulated and a little off balance . . 

it's actually been a very busy january for us. we had eva's charlotte come and stay for a bit while she danced in a ballet workshop. that same weekend korrina and i attended the vogue knitting live event, and the week before and after the knitting event i helped korrina move into a new apartment in queens (an important move for her that cut her work commute in half). so! i actually have many, many photos to share. why haven't i shared them? i honestly don't know. possible excuses may be that i had a very mild flu last week (no fever or vomiting, just a dizzy, achy and weak body), i have a cold this week, and we also have another visitor this week so greg and i finally had to catch up on the laundry and cleaning from when morgana and jenny left. i've also been knitting and re-organizing and sorting books (sadly, we have way too many books). 

 morgana sent a pic from school. i believe they are about to rehearse chekov's the cherry orchard.

 i asked korrina for a pic of the view from her new subway station. nice, isn't it!!

and yesterday i met my friend kendall (whose clown show i helped with in november) at a new restaurant in the neighborhood (banter). i had jasmine tea and falafel with a beet cashew dip, avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and goat cheese. kendall had eggs with a kale salad and bacon. it was all rather amazingly delicious.

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and now i must get ready to run out to see my friend sacha at burdick's where i might get a hot chocolate . . or maybe tea, since they have mariage freres, which is a very good tea!

a dance concert

 chanda danced in ellen's alumni show this evening (her choreography teacher). she danced in her friend amelia's piece and i was able to see my friend joanna and her mom.

it was a great night and she had a fun time.

still holiday time

cannoli stitch marker and yarn from havirland from the vkl event . .

holiday gifts

(and the russian caravan tea is in the kitchen.)

the big moving day

brian's father and i spent the day moving korrina and brian into their new place.

 

there was a lot to do and we didn't finish until 6:30 pm or so. it was dark and my eyes were very tired (not good for driving) so i asked greg to come out after work to rescue me and drive the two of us home.

i didn't get any photos of charlotte when she was here, but it was a nice visit and i think she had a great time at her ballet classes. greg and i saw her off at the port authority bus station late last night . . well, we saw her onto the line waiting for the bus. she texted when she transferred at pittsburgh early this morning and then again when she was in her dorm. i appreciated her letting me know. the day went by so fast . . there was so much driving and loading and unloading . . along with this busy weekend, the days have felt a bit chaotic.

here's a little bit of the bathroom game pluto likes to play . . 

one of the photos of pluto that i sent chanda in london . .

and a photo morgana sent me of the two visitors there. they are staying at a hotel emily's mom found for them, though they did get to visit morgana and jenny's apartment, where jenny made a delicious chili dinner for them.

 

and here they are in front of the whole foods store with all the deliciously ella treats (many of which they brought back for me along with russian caravan tea and kusmi paris tea - rose flavored green tea).

a last lovely meal out . . 

and a photo in front of the covent garden tube station.

partial moving day

greg and i picked up a few plastic bins from the container store for korrina and then drove out to brooklyn to help her and brian move some boxes to their new place in queens. their big moving everything day will be tuesday. of course their apartment is a bit upside down, which their cat, wash, does not like. when we arrived he was searching for a new hiding place, having just been chased out of his current one.

apartment moving is not the easiest. first the boxes get stacked outside the door, then they get stacked by the elevator, and then stacked inside the elevator. once downstairs, they move from the elevator to the lobby door, and then from the lobby door to the end of the apartment's walkway, and then finally from the walkway into the car. it all depends on where the car is parked. if a parking spot was found immediately outside the building, the boxes can go right into the car. but if the car needs to come from around the corner and park in an illegal parking spot, then the boxes get stacked by the sidewalk while they wait for the car to arrive.

 checking the instructions for the bug bomb (we saw some roaches when we visited the apartment on thursday).

 let's go!

 it's such a beautiful drive to queens on the bqe (brooklyn queens expressway), though there is always traffic somewhere.

 student driver! we double parked the car in front of their new building and took turns staying with the car while bringing the boxes in. they're on the first floor, which makes the move a little easier. one of them set off the bomb (i was in the car at that point) and then we looked for a parking spot so we could all have lunch.

 pretty sunnyside wasn't sunny today.

 they're both happy with the new neighborhood . . 

 lunch at the local cafe . . 

 korrina had the chili this time . .

 just admiring the view of manhattan and the pretty brick buildings.

 driving back to brooklyn over the kosciuszko bridge, named for tadeusz kosciuszko who fought on the u.s. side during the revolutionary war.

a beautiful view of manhattan . . . we had to get off the expressway for a little while, as there was too much traffic. of course the service road wasn't much better, unfortunately.

 back on the expressway and bound for brooklyn. it's a thirty minute drive without traffic. with traffic it can stretch into . . . anything. 

 good deed done for the day . .

back at home i made us a hot chocolate to have with the last of the biscotti.

our lady of pompeii

charlotte and i attended the 9 am mass at our lady of pompeii on carmine street this morning. it was a quiet and pretty service. by the time we left, the sun was streaming through the south facing windows.

at the VKL event

this morning greg and i rode the train uptown to meet my cousin and her family at a diner near their hotel. they were in town for a memorial service for a dear friend who had died from cancer.

it was snowing lightly when we left the apartment, but by the time we arrived at the diner it was coming down in big, fat flakes.

 it was so fun to see them and we had a delicious breakfast. my nephew had eggs on his french toast, which i now know is called a lumberjack's breakfast, and had been a favorite of my uncle (i am surprised that i didn't know this, as i lived with my aunt and uncle for several years when at college in california).

 my cousin in her beautiful, russian fur hat. it was a perfect day for it.

 after we said goodbye, greg walked crosstown with me to meet korrina at the vogue knitting live event at the marriott marquis. (and then he left.)

the obligatory escalator pic . . 

 i think i took this photo because i liked the combination of glittery pink bag with the pink and beige chunky mohair sweater.

 admiring the gorgeous knitted collages by citémômes' knit a smile project (tricote un sourire), inspired by monet's waterlilies. you can find out how to participate on their website here.

i'm amazed at how they can sort through all the squares they get, combine the colors, and create a mosaic that reflects monet's paintings.

we ran into our friends kathy and molly. korrina and molly's birthdays are only days apart from each other, both having been born in the same snowy week of november, 1993.

 buying hoof print pottery earrings from chris and valerie fox of haulin' hoof farm . . . 

yarn . . everywhere you turn . .

 korrina pawing through the skeins at cat sandwich fibers . . one of her favorite indie dyers . . 

 just some knitted varmints . . i mean garments.

 trying not to lose her amidst the stalls and all the people . .

 meeting up with jacqui and diana and admiring their sweaters and purchases . .

 i turned a corner and ran into tammy from wing and a prayer farm!

 it was finally time to eat lunch . . thankfully . . 

 we took the escalators to the 7th floor where we could get water and tea to have with the sandwiches i made (salami on sour dough bread with french chocolates and biscotti for dessert - leftover epiphany treats).

 does she look tired? between working and packing up for her new apartment . . i guess she was rather exhausted.

 obligatory elevator movie . . 

korrina with alison from knitrino who won grand prize at the vogue fashion show for her vintage 1949 knitted dress.

resting in the restroom (!) with our yarn hauls . . we decided it was time to go home.

but first we had to see london kaye's 2020 mural, kangaroo island . .

checking to see if she could still catch the express train home (schedules change on the weekend due to track work).

and then we were both out in the cold heading to our separate trains. i walked to the local one train where i met a new friend, who so enjoyed talking with me that she missed her transfer at 34th street (we both noticed each other's knitted scarves).

my cousin sent me a pic from penn station. they had just boarded the train for their ride home.

it was such a beautiful walk home . . i didn't think my boots would hold up, but they did, and my feet didn't even get wet. not bad for $50! (i had bought them in annapolis when visiting my cousin over the summer).

 at home pluto enjoyed playing with the brown woolly ball toy i bought for him at the long island yarn and farm stall.

 my yarn haul from the day: a skein of long island yarn and farm's earthshine (90% alpaca, 10% sari silk) and wing and a prayer farm's the happiest yarn, spun together with fiber from amanda soule's (editor of taproot magazine) sheep.

 uh oh!

time for bed . . i'll be getting up for church with charlotte in the morning.

 

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(but first here's a sweet photo deychen posted of her with marisa and tsering from ages ago:)