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.

planes, trains, automobiles

Did I mention that i have a penpal? Well, I do! His name is Piotr and he lives in Srem, Poland. It's pretty exciting. We emailed eachother a few times, but I am definitely more into hand-written letters, so today, I sent out my first letter to him! He's super nice, and has some similar tastes. I am really excited to eventually send him knitted goodies and cd mixes. I always wanted an international penpal since I was a kid, and I'm so glad that I went online and just did it. You guys should do the same...!

I made my mother this cute little heart for mother's day, and she really liked it. I'm also working on some mittens for her, but I had to start them over because they were too small (serves me right for not doing a gauge swatch!) However, the heart has cute little white wings, and they were the first thing I ever felted. It was easy and I'm excited that I didn't mess it up. My mom wants me to make her a cashmere or merino felted scarf for x-mas this year, so that will be fun too.



I hope that my penpal sends me lots of cool Polish things. I'm trying to find out more about him so that I can always include a sweet gift in my parcels to Poland. If he likes fiction novels (which I hope he does), I'm going to send him some of my favorite books. I'm sure it'll be expensive to ship things larger than letters, but that's ok. Here's to finding a job so that I can fund all of these things that I want to do (and of course, more knitting).

Lastly, I got the most awesome book in the mail today, as per Lauren's recommendation. I saw hers and immediately fell in love with the projects in it. I want to get more that are in the same vein of craft books as this one, stat! Now, if I could only afford to buy all of the supplies! Oh, and I forgot! I'm knitting a market bag for all the excellent farmer's markets in DC/Virginia, and I got both the yarn and the bag handles in the mail yesterday. I'm using a cotton/linen blend yarn, so it's sure to be pretty strong (I hope). Haven't started it yet, but I soon will. More to come, imaginary readers/self! Wish me luck in finding SOME kind of full time job.

I graduated last weekend. It was a weird weekend but this week so far has been awesome, so all is well.

-Cecilia J

Baby stuff

So I finished my gifts for Stella! I decided to not knit the cute little dress, as it requires a few skeins of bulky yarn that I don't have, so I think I'll wait on knitting that one. I'm so excited that they are finally done!

Here is the Lion Bottle Warmer. I think it is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever made. I ran out of the cream yarn, so I decided to leave off the legs. I love it anyhow, and I prefer it as an amputee...it makes it really amigurumi-like and adorable. I am a little concerned about it being machine washable, as it is stuffed with cotton balls and I'm not sure they can be machine-washed...I think I'll recommend that Erin wash it by hand so it doesn't come apart.

And here is the sweater...it turned out a little different than the one in the pattern, but I love it. I also love the yarn that I used (Knitpicks Crayon), even though I tend to shy away from boucle and other novelty yarns. But this one really knit up well, and since Knit Picks has added a BUNCH more colorways to their selections, I will definitely be purchasing it again in the future.

So that's all I have for now...I'm not sure what I'll start on next...i kind of want to knit a cute little fortune cat for my new apartment. I found a pattern for one on Ravelry, and I'm really starting to enjoy knitting little stuffed animals. I'm going to get a tattoo of one of these cats pretty soon, by the way. I love all things Japanese.

What I should really do is start making things to sell....maybe these little cats? I don't know yet. Maybe I'll get organized tonight and make a list of things to knit/make for this purpose. I'm pretty broke right now though, so my crafting exploits will be limited to knitting until I can get some extra money to buy craft books/supplies. Yeah. Nontheless, I have a ton of usable yarn to make into things, so I'll start there!

Enthusiasm!

So, long time no post, eh? I was quite busy with school finals a week ago, but now it's finally over, grades are good, and I graduate next weekend. Pretty awesome.

So, with coffee in my arsenal this evening, I've been thinking about all the things in DC/VA/MD that I'm excited about. We'll start with the knitting related events.


Stitches East is in Baltimore again this year (in November), which means I'll be going. I'm going to save up money to buy stuff (especially at ze Ravelry booth), and I'm also hoping to pick up lots of yarn manufacturer swag. Plus, check out all those handmade needles above that were in last year's Stitches East convention...I want them.


I obviously won't be going this year, but this weekend is the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and it looks so great. They require certification that the sheep presented in the festival are well taken care of and in good health, which is cool. Look at all those fleeces! By next May, I think I'll be able to go, as well as pick up some tips for my spinner's education, I need to buy a drop spindle kit soon! Spinning is a great way to knit eco-friendly, and all the great sheep farms in the VA are definitely going to be worth a visit.


Also, I'm not into sports, but Stitch N' Pitch looks like it will be fun, and I hope to attend an event this summer after I move. I love the idea of going to an Orioles/Nationals game, and Stitch N' Pitch are a group of knitters that sit together, knit, and watch the games. I think it sounds...awesome. I've never been to a big Baseball game and I love the idea of it.

Other things I want to check out soon after I move include:
-Capitol Hill, as I've never been, and I'd like to see the Vietnam memorial
-The DC zoo (they have Pandas, how cool is that?)
-The Smithsonian museums, the National Building Museum, and the National Gallery museum, which I've wanted to visit since I was a kid
-DuPont circle, which gives me hope that going to bars may indeed become fun again
-the Pontomac River, which is a great nature/fishing site. Unless I eat what I catch, I wouldn't fish, but maybe I could learn something about cleaning caught fish? The though kind of grosses me out, but either way, it's supposed to be really beautiful
-Bethesda Row in Bethesda, MD. It's about a half hour away and it has a ton of awesome restaurants and shops, as well as a massive movie theater which specializes in independent and art house films. Pretty awesome.
-The Stitch DC shops, which are 3 amazing yarn shops that have classes and such, as well as weekly stitch n' bitches
-Baltimore. I'm really fascinated with this city, and I cannot wait to visit it. I've been told that its a 40 minute train ride away and it seems like a really awesome and artistic/musical city. When Blake and I can afford a place of our own, maybe we'll move there, as we can still work in DC/VA. Plus, if I ever get married, Ace of Cakes will definitely make my wedding cake. yes.
-The DC Craft Mafia, a group of young DIYers that seems like it would be fun to get involved with.

So basically, there's so much to do, and I think there will be lots of crafting, book-reading, game-loving, good movie/music enthusiasts that Blake and I can befriend. I think you guys need to come visit lots, and then move there. I'm so excited to be in the center of all of it. I plan to spend my first couple of weekends riding the metro and exploring.

In my own knitting FO/WIP news, I completed Stella's sweater, which you can check out on my Ravelry, but the bottle holder is still in progress. I'll get it done, give them to Erin, and post pictures soon!

little kid things

By the way, here are the patterns of the things I am knitting for Erin's baby Stella. These are of course, pictures of the pattern knitted by others, but it gives a good idea of what it will all look like, with some changes in color of course.


This is the sweater I'll be knitting, only in blue (KnitPicks' Crayon).

And this dress, in one of my Wool-Ease colors, haven't decided which one yet. This is actually meant for a two year old, which means Erin will have something for Stella when she gets a bit bigger.

And this bottle snuggly, in KnitPicks' Shine Worsted (Cream and Terracotta). It even has a cute little tail! So adorable.

I'm going to try and knit up bigger sizes of the clothing items (if yarn yardage allows), so that Stella will have clothes when she is a few months older, or if she's a bigger baby. Anyway, I'm pretty excited to get my yarn in, and I'm going to try and get as much knitting in here and there while I'm in school, but I don't think I will complete these gifts until after I graduate. That means that Stella will be about 2 months old at this point, so there's another reason for trying to make bigger clothes. I guess that even if I run out of yarn, I can always order more on KnitPicks, right? We'll see. Also, all of it will be knit in machine washable yarn!

Speaking of KnitPicks, I wish my damned order would come in. I wanted to get it today, but I probably won't receive it until my birthday (Monday!). Oh well.

The Famous Toby Flenderson 10,000 watt Smile

Hey doods! So, unfortunately, there hasn't been much on the horizon as far as knitting updates go. Although, Blake did spend some cash on me for some excellent KnitPicks wool yarn, and I'm really excited to get it in the mail. I'm planning on using most of it to knit a couple of baby Stella gifts for Erin. I've never knit anything for a non-adult before, but I've come to the following conclusion: baby/child gifts = smaller and less time consuming, even fun stuff like sweaters. So, when I have time to do so, I plan on knitting even more stuff for Stella, Livia, Emilie, and Landon. Pretty exciting.

So, I have a few pictures to share of my recent cooking exploits. I've made many, many more than this, but these were the most successful:

This is a spinach omelet with part-skim ricotta cheese on the side. I made this for Blake and I last weekend, when he was sick with a virus. This came from the Martha Stuart book (shown on the left)

This is something I made for myself one evening, also out of the same magazine. It is cayenne pepper chicken with an avacado lime salsa on the side. It's more like a salad I guess, as I cut the avacado extra chunky.

This is baked catfish with sauteed carrots and russet potatoes. The sauce on the side is a combination of low fat sour cream, horseradish, and dijon mustard. The recipe for the fish and sauce was taken from the Bob Greene recipe book my mom gave me. This is a bit large for a dinner, but we had it for lunch today. The catfish is breaded with Wasa fiber crackers. A bit starchy I know, but I'm glad we're getting some veggies in.

I made this tonight for myself. It's pizza, only better! I used a whole grain wheat tortilla instead of pizza crust, and I added a bit of tomato sauce, neufchatel and Parmesan cheese, artichokes, and mushrooms. It was so good! I'm going to try making this with some baby spinach next.

Blake and I were talking today and saying that we can't believe how we used to eat. We used to eat NO vegetables, a minimum amount of fruit, and lots of carbs and starches. I just feel that something has clicked, and I will never go back to eating how I did before. I've been really good about not skipping meals and eating lots of fiber, antioxidants, omega-3s, and healthy proteins. And I've been taking lots of good vitamins. I haven't weighed myself in a little while because I want to focus more on health than weight loss, but I can feel myself losing weight. It's really great.