Best knitting pun to date: Purl Jam

1. Cecilia Gallerani, aka "The Lady with an Ermine" - Leonardo Da Vinci, 2. salmon belly sushi for you ?, 3. Front cover of the 1937 Madison Central HIgh School yearbook, 4. 47/365 - let go, 5. Gael García Bernal, 6. Vitamin Water Rainbow, 7. 宮川町 Miyagawa-cho, 8. do you ♥ a matcha tiramisu? ^-^/, 9. Call of the Raven (formerly Nature's Special Effects), 10. The Calvo Family - Holidays, 11. September 8th - Kaleidoscopic, 12. 365 Toy Project: My Heart's a Bitter Buffalo

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.b. Using only the first page, pick an image.c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Cecilia
2. What is your favorite food? Sushi
3. What high school did you go to? Madison Central
4. What is your favorite color? Brown
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Gael Garcia Bernal
6. Favorite drink? vitamin water
7. Dream vacation? Japan
8. Favorite dessert? Tiramisu
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10. What do you love most in life? my family
11. One word to describe you? kaleidoscopic
12. Your flickr name? bitterbuffalo25

I love these things...don't you guys? Looking at all those pictures of sushi made me want some....I may have to stop by Kabuki Sushi before my Stitch N Bitch tonight...Here's a kntting mosaic, just for fun!

1. Silk Garden 226, 2. Rolling Hills of Noro, 3. Young Cria - Diana and Scott Blair's Alpacas, 4. Seasons Cable Fingerless Gloves, 5. f. pea, 6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9055213@N02/605762117/, 7. knitting, 8. DSC00101, 9. entrelac scarf, 10. attempt #2 at knitting on double pointed needles yields success, 11. Frankenskein on Merino-Rambouillet, 12. day dreamers

1. Favorite yarn? Silk Garden
2. Favorite brand? Noro
3. Favorite fiber? Alpaca
4. Favorite thing to knit? Gloves
5. Favorite knitting blog? f pea (currently)
6. Favorite LYS? Uniquities (in Vienna, VA)
7. Stitch N' Bitch I attend? DC Stitch N Bitch
8. Current WIP name? Pithy Hat
9. Favorite skill/technique? entrelac
10. Most hated skill/technique? DPNs
11. Blog name? Frankenskein
12. City I knit in? Alexandria, VA

Let my love open the door

As someone who is a knitter, an artist, and a architectural designer, I have realized that I notice silly, tiny little things in tv/movies that other people do not. I notice knitted items in EVERY movie/tv show I watch, artwork framed distantly in the background, wallpaper and bedding, etc. And, while I consider this for the most part a wonderful thing, it does tend to suck up quite a bit of time on le interweb when I feel hellbent on finding, for example, a similiar wallpaper to the one used on Flight of the Conchords in Bret/Jermaine's bedroom...

And I don't think this happens because I lack originality...I think I am just someone who is very easily inspired by visual images...so I may stray from where I started, but the initial inspiration found in movies and some tv sends me into a frenzy...if I had no eyes, I would have no life....I guess that's a characteristic that is shared among us knitters.

Anyway, my point is, I have a lot of fun finding patterns for knitted items I've seen...and 90% of the time, some similiarly crazy knitter has already seen the item in question and written up a pattern for it. Here's a couple that I've been thinking of writing patterns for:
Mary's hat in "The Secret Garden"

Lily's hat in "Eagle Vs. Shark"...this one would be an easy one to write....you can't really tell, but all it is is a super-duper wide 1x1 ribbing around the bottom, and then a non-gradual cinch at the top....similiar to the Pithy Hat I'm working on...
And of course, all of the many many MANY HP-inspired knits...This still is from THE NEW HP. The best book...of the series. And so help me, if they mess it up like the 5th movie.....WHO'S EXCITED? Not quite nerdy enough, you say? Well, there was even a sweeeet book written on the subject of HP knits:This book has sweaters, hats, scarves (of course), socks....all from the HP movies. I hope she writes another one after they get done with all the movies, because I want to make that lacy cabled hat worn by Hermione in the image above from the 6th movie. Is anyone else annoyed that they made Daniel Ratcliffe's hair look stupid again for the new movie? It needs to be longer! Oh well.

So Blake and I have been watching a lot of "True Blood"...it's that show about vampires on HBO with Anna Paquin. It's pretty good! Cheesy dialogue, and well, it's about vampires, but there's something about it that I like.

Do you ever just want to skip town for a year and go to....I dunno, Japan or something? I've been thinking a lot about that lately. I guess it's because my undergraduate studies are over and I'm feeling adventurous for foreign countries. I think we're going to Europe next year. It'll do Blake and I a lot of good, I believe.

My mom used to (and still may) have this big box of winter wear in the closet nearest to the front door that we would all rustle through and wear when it was cold out. It was like a community winter gear box for all four of us kids....I'd like to see that stuff again and try to recreate it, as I remember a set of hats/mittens that were so vintage and adorable....I'll have to ask her about that.

Speaking of my mom's house, she's been cleaning the garage and she found a bunch of my old art stuff...and pictures of my family.My grandpa (Mom's dad) in the 1950s...in Casablanca....he was in the service and travelled everywhere.

One day I will get those scarves done...The August is For Melody scarf needs to be done by Thanksgiving....and I am just DRAGGING on it...Hopefully my resurgent interest in watching movies constantly will deplete some of my WIP woes.

Send me links to the stuff you guys have been making! Whether it's a Flickr image, something on your Ravelry/Craftster, whatever! Whip it out.

I love New Zealand 'eccents'

So I called in sick to work today...I mean, I have been sick, but today I knew I didn't have to go downtown and deal with DCRA people or anything else majorly important, so I stayed home. Sometimes you just need a day off. Also, I have pictures!


The green hat pictured to the right is the beginning of the Pithy Hat, knit with my Manos Del Uruguay yarn. In the second picture, you can kind of see what I meant before when I said that the cables aren't really well defined...but I think it'll be a good gift anyway. It feels wonderful...soft and almost silky, although there's no silk at all in it.
Down below you can see my niece's Silk Garden hat, which turned out really well, I think. I really want to knit myself one in a different colorway. The pattern actually calls for me to pick up and knit some ribbing along the bottom, but I think it's cute rolled up like this, don't you?
















I think I'll ask Livia what she thinks when I give it to her on Christmas. She's a little fashionista, so I know she'll have an opinion. Either way, it's an easy easy knit.


I've also got better pictures of my Magnum Scarf. It's so pretty, I just cannot stop touching and looking at it.

Team Leanne! She won! I liked her and Kenley the best from the beginning, and then Kenley started getting snarkily mouthy...so even though I liked her taste generally, I was rooting for Leanne. So..yes! I want that wedding dress, by the way....

I'll probably watch movies and knit most of the day....and perhaps go out later? I went shopping for a few new clothes, so I have cute things to wear. I miss Blake a lot these days. He works kind of long days, and I'm not much on being alone. But the bad thing is, I also don't feel comfortable around many people...so i kind of miss Blake being around for me to joke with.

Anyway! I may post pictures later of some stuff I bought. In the mean time, find love in everything you do, my friends. And look forward to the new season of Flight of the Conchords in January! It's going to be awesome.

What's 'boobs' in French?

So I'm sick, and its awful. Especially since I have a busy week at work with a huge deadline so I can't stay home...blurg. Well, atleast, I don't want to stay home, because I want my bosses to be impressed by my determination. I clearly have SOME free time, as I am blogging. right now. at work. Anyway, I'm just taking Mucinex until it gets better, and it needs to get better soon.

I can't decide if I'm going to my Stitch n' Bitch tonight...part of me really wants to go, chat, and also see if imported beer kills this cold, and part of me thinks it might be kind of crappy to go when I'm sick. If not just for my sake, then the sake of my fellow knitters...I don't want to get knitting needles shoved in my ears later on because I got someone else sick.......I don't know what to do! Speaking of which, I should point out BugHeart's blog. It's really pretty and awesome, and she is (one of) the main coordinators for DC SnB. And she's an entomologist, which is neat!

So I've been knitting a lot lately, obviously, and aside from working on the two scarves mentioned in the previous post (which are taking FOREVER), I also finished a Noro hat for my niece's xmas gift. I've since cinched one side and put a pom-pom on top, but here is the most recent picture I have

I love Silk Garden....I just think it is the prettiest yarn ever. I'll post pictures very soon of the finished product...it's adorable.

Now I'm also working on a Pithy Hat for a gift as well, in the green Manos Del Uruguay yarn shown in a previous post. The problem is, the yarn is quite slubby, and there are lots of thick/thin spots, which I LOVE (it's the reason I bought it), but the stitch definition of the cables and ribbing is kind of...lacking because of the slubbiness of the yarn. I mean, it still looks cool, but not vrey well defined. I don't want to frog it just yet though....pictures on this to come as well.

In lieu of more knitting pictures, I'm going to show you a secret that could cost me my life...

It's le office desk. I'm pretty important, huh? Yeah.

Ok so, I've been getting back into Netflix and I think all you fellow Netflixers should share with me what you've been watching/plan to watch! Here's a few on my list:

-At home:

• In Bruges - watched it, and it was pretty good. Some hilariously funny moments, but all in all a pretty dark movie.
• Eagle Vs. Shark - Hilarious movie. Jermaine Clement is my wannabe b/f
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being - One of my favorite books, but haven't watched the movie yet...I rented it from Netflix previously, but Blake accidentally sent it back....so I rented it again.

-Upcoming:

• Pom Poko - A Ghibli Studios film that I'm really excited to see.
• Breathless - Godard's most famous.
• A Woman is a Woman - another Godard film.
• Umbrellas of Cherbourg - I should've watched this years ago...Catherine Deneuve is hot.

So more to come very soon....pictures and such.

Live every week like it's Shark Week

Sorry for some crappy picture quality on the first and last pictures....One was taken with my phone, and well, my camera isn't really that great. In fact, it sucks for taking pictures in artificial light. So...I'm in the market if you guys have suggestions.

Anyway, to more important things! These are the beginning of my xmas gifts, and boy are they moving slower than I thought they would. The only semi-instantly gratifying project I had was the scarf at the top....the Mega-Cabled Scarf mentioned previously, and whose pattern is on the Stitch DC Blog. This pattern was really fun and super quick, and I intend on making more of them in the future.

The bottom two pictures are gifts for my sister (Yellow and White plaid-ish...aptly named "August is For Melody" from the August is for Jack pattern. The pattern is easy, but a bit slow. I'm about halfway done with it, and it will be Mel's bday gift. The burgundy scarf is from a simple lace pattern called Cat's Paw Lace. It's going a bit quicker than the other one, but what can I say, I'm impatient. After these are done, I'll probably start on the fingerless gloves meant for my little sister's birthday, which falls two days before xmas. Phew....lots of work ahead!

So...I bought two tickets to Stitches East! I decided to forego the classes, as I want to save more money for purchasing yarn and supplies. In the interest of practicality and restraint, I am NOT buying yarn or anything else knitting related until Stitches East...only a month away, but given the pace that I've been buying yarn and knitting stuff, even a month without doing so will be a needed break. So, if any of you are also going to Stitches East in Baltimore, let me know the most convenient way to get there! The MARC train doesn't run on the weekends, no metro goes out that far...so I'm still figuring out how we'll get there that Sunday. I really would hate to drive it....blech.

Here's what I want more than anything right now: To stay in a cabin/chalet somewhere in Shenandoah, just me and Blake. A hot tub, canoeing, fishing, and wine drinking....where can i find this? I keep searching for some kind of highly convienient search engine for something of this sort...I NEED TESTIMONIALS...I put my Autumn weekend getaway as well as my sanity in your hands, readers. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, watch 30 Rock every night like I have been. it.is.AWESOME.

Also, check out the Yarn Harlot's latest post where she inspires one of her readers to get Barack Obama to hold a knitted sock in progress! True test of a famous person's character, I say. You can find her blog in the side margin under "dope knitting blogs" ------------------------------>

Peace Ma Nerrrrrrrrdz,

Cecilia

Manos del Me

So, I have to begin by pointing out that the DOW dropped 777 points....crazy depressing. And by depressing I mean Depression. So, in true "the economy is bad, so I need to be entertained" form, I went out and bought more yarn today. Whoops. In my defense, I've had a rough couple of days. I won't go into detail. More importantly, I found the greatest LYS (local yarn supplier for all you who don't know the lingo) EVER. Really. After reading some Northern Virginia Ravelry forums, I noticed that a great deal of people were talking about a store called Uniquities in Vienna. So, today, I was feeling tired and a bit down when I decide to go to Knit Happens and buy yarn...but failed to remember that its closed on Mondays until I reached the doorstep. So with my GPS-enabled phone in hand (it's a lifesaver, let me tell you), I decide to take the opportunity to check out Uniquities before it closed for the day, as I knew it was about a 20 minute drive. It was awesome. It had everything I could possibly want in a yarn store and more. Lots and lots of stock, helpful people, and even prices that were a bit lower. I'll definitely be back. I've fallen off the wagon, folks. But you know...with yarn. So check out what I got.


The Manos del Uruguay (shown in the kelly green color) is some of the most beautiful yarn I've ever seen. They also had Noro, but that will have to wait...

So, on Sunday I went with my mom and Blake to the Crafty Bastards show, and it was great. The only disappoint was that Stitch DC pulled out at the last minute (that's what she said) and I didn't get to see my buddy employee (dealer) person. Oh well. Pictures!




The free tote and the Make zine tshirt! The people from Craft zine were there too, and it was great to talk to them.


My mom checking out the goods.

An especially cute craft. There were so many talented people there. This particular piece is made by Beth B. at Tiger Flight (tigerflight.etsy.com, but she has her stuff on magpiedc.etsy.com for the time being).

Other notable sellers that you should all check out:

• LoyaltyandBlood: Created by David Denosowicz and Maggie Doyle. Screen-printed t-shirts and totes, and awesome charm jewelry.
  
• Folktale Fibers: Some of the most beautiful handspun yarn I've ever seen. There's not much on her etsy now, but she does have an option where you can pick your own colors and she'll spin you up 4 oz of lovely falkland sheep goodness.
• Chris Creatures: Lots of amigurumi stuff, including sushi made into karate fighters, adorable refrigerator magnets, and basically the cutest stuff you've ever seen. Oh yeah, and Chris is pro-Obama. Awesome.
• Block Party Press: Really beautiful, whimsical, and folksy jewelry and accessories. I am personally madly in love with her honeycomb necklace...just in case any of you have inquiring (and gift-giving) minds.
• Final Approach: Seriously one of the coolest ideas ever. This seller takes reclaimed suitcases and bags and makes them into works of art. I think his etsy is empty because he had everything at the Crafty Bastards show, but shoot him an email or add him to your favorites. You'll be glad you did.
• kg + ab: Simple, clean, and lovely decorative items. This includes sculpture, dining ware and wall art. Once again, no items for sale right now, but check out the seller's previous stuff for a basic idea of the aesthetic.
  
• Sofia Masri: Sofia handmakes ornate and stunning porcelain jewelry, and it was quite hard to get my hand on the purse strings and not buy some of her lovely earrings. This store is up and running, so check it out. Also check out her other store: Poopsie.
• Jenny Jen 42: You can see Jenny's stuff in the above picture with my mom holding the pillow. This seller does some great things with felt appliqués and fabric. It makes me want to start using appliqués....all the time...on everything I own.
  

I hope this will inspire you all to come to DC for the great craft fairs and stores here. I'm going to save money for next year's fair and buy allllllll kinds of awesome stuff. It'll be ridiculous. I can't wait.

How 'bout that debate, huh? I'm excited to talk about it with my SnB group tomorrow...over German beer! Yes!

Bigger is better

Ok, so, it's been awhile.. I always think about posting, but then I think, "nobody reads this, so blehhh"...but now I'm thinking that I don't give a fuck who reads this and I'm going to log my thoughts in it anyway and catergorize this task to a very full folder in the back of my brain: self-indulgent ramblings. And speaking of indulgence, I have some news on that front; I have been buying yarn like crazy lately, and although I think I need to calm down until I actually complete a couple of projects (they're all xmas gifts), I think I'm going to be buying this today:


It's called "Magnum", and rightfully so. I'll refrain from the multitude of penis jokes I could make here relating to the above mentioned name, but you should know...it's amazing (I have it in a deep and peacock-y bluish-green). It's super bulky, comes in great colors, and softy silky woolly goodness. I just want to buy a bed made out of it. I'm so into chunky yarn lately...I think's because super chunky knit scarves are coming back in style, and I want to make them. Lots of them. Specifically, a free pattern that can be found on stitch dc's blog designed by the amazing Marie Connelly: http://stitchdcblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/cabled-scarf.html

When it's done, it looks like this:

I love it. It will knit up so quick! The bad thing is that I've already planned out my other knit gifts, so if I made this, I'd be making for moi, so I would feel EXTRA bad buying this yarn and the size 19 needles needed to make it. And yes, I said the words "cock", "penis" and "magnum" in the previous paragraph. Maybe that'll up the google hits that I get on this blog...GENIUS.

Ok...so I wrote half of this blog yesterday without finishing it, and I did end up buying that skein of yarn....it's insanely pretty. And I love Stitch DC in Capitol Hill. Everyone is really nice, especially this lady named Lauren who always helps me wind my new yarn and who seems really cool.

TGIFriday, right? My mom is in town and I'm really excited about the things we have planned. Here goes:

• Watching the debate tonight (if it even happens) and throwing rotten tomatoes in the general direction of John MCCain/Palin
• Ordering AMAZING Thai food from this place near my house whilst watching said debate/whatever it's going to be
• Getting my KnitPicks order in on Saturday, which has some lovely xmas gift yarn inside
• Doing something awesome on Saturday in the area? Probably going to see Ghost Town (I heart Ricky Gervais)
• GOING TO THE CRAFTY BASTARDS SHOW with my mom!!!!!! I'm going to take pictures, and update them on here next week sometime. I hope I miiiiiiight be able to afford something...even if it's small. Or at the very least get the vendors' etsy info so I can save up and buy later.
• Maybe going to the DC SnB @ Teasim on Sunday after my mom leaves if I can make it.

Oh, and speaking of Stitch N Bitch, I went to one at this great bar on U St on Tuesday night, and had a really awesome time! We drank beer and talked shop and politics, and everyone was awesome, liberal, and intelligent, and funny. I will def be going to it every Tuesday, and perhaps their meetings at other locations on Sunday and Thursday nights. I love knitters. They're just better people. :)

The Office last night was AWESOME.

Hopefully getting out of the ol' orafice today early to hang with my mom in the city a bit before we go back into VA. We've eaten at a couple great places that I highly recommend if you haven't already been:

• Biddy Mulligan's: In Dupont circle, actually inside the hotel my mom was staying in. Obviously Irish, and good.
• Clyde's of Georgetown: In Georgetown (duh), fancy district, and this place is apparently a staple of the area. Seafood was delicious. Best thing we got was the Crab Tower appetizer and the Lobster Bisque. Good lord it was good.
• Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe: Also in Dupont, a bookstore AND a cafe. There are a few of these types of places in DC. All we got was Riesling wine (I think the brand was called "Naked" and it was some of the best I've had), a combo appetizer aptly named "sharezies", and dessert. It looked good, and tasted even better. I will come back to this place many times over.
• Po Siam: The Thai restuarant in Alexandria that mom and I have eaten at before, and loved. The curry dish was great, and the restaurant itself is clearly a place that someone takes pride in...and they deliver to my house. Awesome? yes.

Of course, I don't usually eat out this often, but since my mom has been in this week and we've stayed in the city, we've eaten really well. I'm already sad for her to leave, because my mom makes life fun and great. She's the best mom in the world.

Anyway, enough of that. I've been knitting lots! I think I'll post pictures of my progress another time, when I upload my Crafty Bastards show pics. So...lots more knitting stuff to come.