Tangled Up

Last night, in an attempt to overcome my current motivational/productivity doldrums, I decided to wind some yarn. First up was some beautiful Manos del Uruguay Maxima Multi (in Peach Melba), which wound perfectly and will soon be on its way to my nana, who, in her 92nd year has taken up knitting again with gusto!

Nest I tried to wind a hank of Malabrigo sock yarn (in Alcaucil), with the intention of starting this scarf, inspired by JCasa. It seems that tangles are a common problem with this wool, but what a terrible mess it's in!! I'm not sure it's salvageable - I just don't have the patience...although maybe with Simon's help I can try to sort it out over the weekend.

Also sitting and waiting to receive the benefits of an energy spurt, is the wedding quilt!! And the supposed-rush-job baby quilt! If only there were enough hours...

Terminal 5 = No Pictures

For my birthday, Simon treated me to four (!) gigs, and last night we saw The National play at Terminal 5.  Unfortunately I had to check my camera, so I have no photos... boo.

We've seen The National before, but always outdoors, and we had been a little disappointed at the sound... particularly Matt's voice, which never seemed as good live. But on several occasions last night I was convinced he was miming, he was that good.

They played a perfect mix of old and new - although Ada didn't make an appearance Dónal! ...and as they ended with a thundering "Terrible Love," I was left wondering, just who was Glen Hansard smooching with on the balcony!?!

Behind schedule

Surprise, surprise, I am considerably behind schedule on the epic five-wedding-and-six-baby-gift extravaganza...

...which is why finishing this quilt top seems like such an achievement!! It's Marquee, from the Modern Quilt Workshop. While it's a pretty simple pattern, it has taken a lot longer than I expected or would have liked. That said, I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. Bright and happy.

...but before I can finish this quilt completely, I need to make a gift for a baby warming next weekend. Well, it's baby shower, but I keep mixing up "baby shower" and "house warming" and now "baby warming" has just stuck. I'm using Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels, and my intention is just to make a very simple pieced squares quilt, along the lines of the beautiful work of Ashely, of Film in the Fridge - one of my absolute favorite quilting blogs.

I suppose I should mention that today I became a lot older than I've ever been before... It's taking a bit of getting used to - I've now grown sufficiently old that it seems like it might be time for me to grow up too. Scary!!

V: Homemade Peppermint Deodorant = Tingly Cool Underarm Awesomeness

I love angry chicken's blog... I am so envious of her sense of style and many creative talents. I also really admire her efforts to make natural alternatives to everyday products, and I was immediately drawn to her recipe for homemade deodorant.

Now I should say that I am a very very sweaty person, as is my darling husband. Since coming to the US, neither of us has really had any luck identifying a deodorant that actually works well, so smelly pits have been a permanent problem (ew!).

I am not exaggerating when I say all of our problems have been solved by this homemade stuff! Of course, it will not stop you from sweating, but it does stop the stink... even after hauling our new air conditioner home on the subway and up our 5 flights of stairs. It doesn't stain. It is the business. The fact that it's all natural is a bonus!

I basically followed Amy's directions to the letter, including ordering my ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs. I didn't shop around, so there may be cheaper alternatives. The only substitution I made was that I bought a little bottle of Vitamin E oil in Trader Joes - I added about a tablespoonful. The unrefined shea and cocoa butters have a rather strong smell that isn't all that pleasant, so you need quite a lot of essential oil. For the first batch, I tried bergamot and sweet orange essential oils, but it was altogether too orangey. For the latest batch, I used peppermint - it has a delightful tingly cooling sensation when you put it on. I've also made a lavender batch. I really cannot recommend this stuff enough, and I swear it's not just for hippies!

Update (29th July 2010): Unfortunately a couple of people have reported getting a rash from the homemade deodorant... I'm going to try and work out what the source is (the essential oil, perhaps??) and will post another update if I do. I think that I did get a slight rash, but the effectiveness of the deodorant far outweighed the discomfort of the rash, so I persevered and it seems to be gone now. Please let me know how it worked out if you tried it yourself!

IV: Baby Quilts

I'm going to ignore the fact that I failed to post yesterday, and go ahead and talk about some more FFOs - a pair of baby quilts. The red/green one has already found its way to its new owner, baby Luca, while the purple one will hopefully go to its home, with baby Abigail, in the next week or so. Luca's parents were really very grateful for the quilt, which made me so happy!

The quilts were made using Elizabeth's Simple Modern Baby Quilts pattern, which I believe is currently unavailable because she is revising it. I really have to own up to something though... when I started these quilts (in January 2009!!), I can't honestly say that I had babies Luca and Abigail in mind (I dare say that at that time, their parents may not have had them in mind either!). Instead, I was making them for two other babies, James and Seán, who were born last March. But, by the time I finished the quilts (April of this year!), James and Seán were already one year old. So I thought that quilts with trucks and other boy-things would be much more suitable than the baby birdies on these (Alexander Henry's Starling)...

So, I hope to get started on those boy-quilts really soon! Fingers crossed they will not take as long to complete as these did!

III: Humbled

A short post tonight, technically past the deadline for Thursday but I think that's ok. We spent a lovely evening in our not-so-local local, Toast, with my cousin, Father Eamonn. It was very humbling to hear of his work in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, and we were in awe of the many places he has been and the many languages he can speak. It made me think a little about all the things I have and all the things I want and how really there's not many things among those that I really need.

II: A Finally Finished Object

Just before I went home to Ireland I finally finished the cardigan I had been working on for my friend's daughter Molly. It was originally meant as a welcome gift - but by the time I finally finished it, Molly was only a week away from her first birthday!!

I used the Betty Lou Lace Cardigan pattern from this book. In general, the pattern was fairly simple, but I found the lace section very slow-going. The lace body was a bit wonky-shaped in the end - I suppose my gauge must have changed over the 8 (!!) months I was working on it. Overall though, I'm fairly happy with it.

The yarn is Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (commonly known as KPPPM), colorway P136. I foolishly didn’t have a specific project in mind when I bought this wool, so I didn’t have enough, and had to order more after embarking on this project. The dye lot for the second batch of wool was very different. I had already started on the lace body and couldn't bear to start over so I ripped back the body as far as the yoke in the hope that the change in yarns wouldn’t be so noticeable. It's not too bad, I hope!

So, this project taught me two very important lessons:
Lesson Number 1: Do not buy wool without a specific project (and required yardage) in mind.
Lesson Number 2: Do not start a project without necessary yardage.

Lesson 1 should really be altered to read: Do not enter a yarn store without a specific project (and required yardage) in mind. I can never resist the temptations of those walls of color!

In other news, tonight it's so hot in our apartment that we're eating our chocolate biscuits with a spoon!

I: A challenge..

Well, that was a very long and unintentional hiatus from blogging... Filled with travels to Ireland and beyond, all-too-short time spent with friends, some FFOs (finally finished objects), and other work-in-progress. Lots to blog about then! So my challenge for the next week is to post every day. Can I do it?

I'll start with an easy one...tonight two great friends treated us to Midsummer Night Swing at the Lincoln Center. The music was great, and the dancing unbelievably impressive... And in the insufferable New York summer heat, the fountain at the Lincoln Center seemed like the best spot in the entire city.

Pedal-powered smoothies

Free smoothies, made in a blender that was driven by the back wheel of a bike... on National Bike to Work Day. Awesome!

Musique

I can't believe I had never heard of La Blogotheque/The Take-away Shows before... Simon stumbled across it on youtube last night while trying to learn a Yeasayer song. An absolutely incredible and vast collection of candid, raw performances from lots of bands and musicians I know and adore, like Beirut, The National, Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver and Sigur Rós. But there are many many more from bands I haven't heard of, how am I going to get through them all?

This one from Yeasayer gives me goosebumps!


Now that I think about it though, there is another fantastic project, devised by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich - From the Basement. I came across it ages ago, when Thom Yorke performed, then promptly forgot about it! D'oh! There's oodles more fantastic stuff on there, including Radiohead,  PJ Harvey, Band of Horses, and Beck. Ooooh, (re)discovering new music (even if it's only new to me) makes me so profoundly happy...

Block printing, attempt 1

A mess, a punctured and bloody finger, sore shoulders (from the carving) and several hours of a Saturday morning produced two relatively pleasing looking owls.

The printed versions weren't quite as pleasing. I just couldn't seem to get the amount and distribution of the ink right. The cards are also too small. But as my very first attempt at block printing, I don't think they turned out too bad - not bad, but not great either.

I followed Lizzy House's lovely tutorial, although I don't think I followed it that closely, because I thought "Well, how difficult can it be?" Rather difficult, apparently! I also wish I was more artistically talented... I picture something in my head - I know what I want to draw - but when I put pencil to paper, it doesn't look as it should. Something I can work on, no doubt, but I do wish I had some of that natural artistic ability!

Happy Saturday!

Roderigo y Gabriella

Simon used to go see them every Wednesday Monday in the pub around the corner across the road. Last night we saw them at a packed Radio City Music Hall. They were amazing, of course!

[Update 5/1/10]: Edited to correct factual errors regarding the day and location that Simon used to go see Roderigo y Gabriella in Rathmines. Also, I forgot to mention that we were very lucky to have received guest list tickets for the gig - big thanks to Kris and Emma! I've never been on a guest list before and it was very special - we were practically in the front row! I hope we can return the favour sometime.

The first of the wedding quilts

Finally! One down and many more to go...

It's a New Wave quilt, as designed by Elizabeth Hartman, one of the many free designs available at her site Oh Fransson! Eight of the twelve prints are from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line (the Afternoon Tide bundle), the others were lurking in my stash - but I can't remember what they are.

The solid used for sashing on the front and for the back is Kona Cotton in turquoise. The other backing fabric is a batik I picked up at the City Quilter. The binding is a Carolina Chambray (I think!), but I can't remember the name of the color. 
I'm pleased with how the quilting came out - I just stitched in straight lines 0.25 inches either side of the seam with the sashing fabric.

It turned out smaller than I would have liked - I didn't really think about the finished size stated in the design when I started - but I think it will make a nice lap quilt for Sarah and Tim to curl up under in front of the telly.

Next up, Marquee from the Modern Quilt Workshop. This afternoon was dedicated to the arduous task of cutting the fabric - my second least favourite part of quilting, next to ironing! Hopefully it will be all fun from here on in!


[Edited 4/27/10 to include all the links I omitted when I first posted!]

Swans

Netflix swans to keep Simon company while he practices.

Just as we were thinking that our friends and family were safe from the volcano-ash craziness (I bet news readers just love saying Eyjafjallajoekull), we heard that Simon's grand-aunt and (second?) cousin are stranded in New York! So we'll be having some visitors for a few days!

Atoms for Peace

We waited for hours (due to a freak accident around the corner - thankfully no one was hurt), the set was (very) short and the venue was stuffed to the gills...

...but it was worth every bit.

The guy is a genius.

It was my first time to see Flea live, and that too was worth it... his bass really filled out Thom's songs and seeing the two of them jumping around the stage like crazy was priceless. I'm a lucky girl.

And while I was out enjoying myself, my poor husband was fretting over his interview. Well, he did himself proud and bowled them all over with his charms (and intelligence)... we just have to keep our fingers crossed now!

A quiet weekend...

While Simon slaved away on his talk for the very-important job interview, I worked on the first wedding quilt.

I really like how the zigzag stitching is coming out on the back. I just need to finish the binding now.

It was shame to waste a beautiful spring weekend indoors, but next weekend we'll be letting our hair down... and tomorrow is Atoms for Peace. I can't wait!

On a Friday

A man. In a tree. Singing. On a Friday.

...only in New York!

North of the Border

We're just back from a fairly tiring and work-filled week in Toronto that was made all the more fun by the company of antipodean friends and others from across the pond. It was my second time in Toronto, and I still didn't make it up into the CN tower, and instead have to make do with a photograph from the ground.

We spent a wonderful evening with Simon's uncle and aunt, who treated us to a fantastically tasty Indian meal at Nataraj (Bloor Street West near Brunswick). We were joined by Simon's cousin, whom he hadn't seen since they were 10! We spent another great night in a microbrew bar called C'est What, on Front Street, near Church.

While I had a great time in Toronto, perhaps the best part of our journey was the flight back to New York. It was a crystal-clear night and the sodium streetlight landscape was breathtaking. The view of the city as we circled to get in line for landing in La Guardia was better than any tourist helicopter ride could ever provide - the city buildings shone and sparked and the streets flowed with the lava of car headlights. I was gutted not to have my camera. There's just no leaving New York, as the song goes.

In the crafty realm, we have five pairs of friends who are getting married and at least five friends who are having babies this year! So I need to get my skates on... I spent the past few weeks ordering several tons of fabric (Simon was gobsmacked at all the packages coming to the door!), and have just started to get cracking. Above is the wool for a snug baby hoodie (see my ravelry projects on the right) and the beginnings of New Wave Quilt, the pattern for which comes from the incredibly creative and generous Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! And I'm slowly-but-surely nearing completion with Molly's cardigan, using the cover pattern from this book - I just hope it'll fit, seeing as I intended to finish it several months ago!

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Green shamrock cookies (that were a bit of a failure aesthetically but tasted good nonetheless), a green Empire State Building, the company of good friends visiting from far far away, and several too many beers all added up a fantastic night (despite the sore heads the next day).

I really wish I had more time to post on here, but the last few weeks have been crazy with deadlines and other pressures... hopefully April will be easier! We're off to Canada for a few days now...so hopefully I'll try a Canadian post!

Success!

Both the race and brunch were a success! Both Simon and I knocked a couple of seconds off our best paces (his a whole minute faster than mine!), and there were happy bellies after delicious boozy french toast, eggs with spinach and mushrooms, winter fruit salad (which I was initially nervous about, due to the presence of anise, but it was amazing and I will be making it again very soon), and of course, Bloody Marys. 

Overall though, the favorites were the Morning Glory Muffins. The recipe (below) is from Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking, a book I picked up a couple of years ago and just love. There's a fantastic mix of recipes from a range of "ethnic American" cuisines (mexican, asian, jewish), as well as a lot of American favorites that I wasn't familiar with before moving here. The recipes were gathered from chefs and bakers all over the US, and each recipe is accompanied by a tale of its origins. Morning Glory Muffins originated in Pam McKinstrey's Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket. Given that many of Pam's customers were holiday-makers heading out on their boats, the deliciously moist muffin was designed to still be good the day after baking. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins
from "The New American Cooking" by Joan Nathan
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup unsweetened shredded (desiccated) coconut
½ cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots (I put in 3-4 big ones, it's usually more like 3 cups..)
1 apple shredded/grated
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3 large (organic, cage-free) eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 12

Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F), and grease/line a muffin tin. I only have a 6-cup muffin tin so I bake in two batches.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in sugar, then the coconut, raisins, nuts, carrots, apple and pineapple. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Add to the other ingredients and stir well. Fill muffin cups with the mixture.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack for cooling.
Eat! I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, as well as being a delicious breakfast, the muffins are really scruptious served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!