Stitch 'n' Pitch and Wed Night Knitting

Hello:

Last night was the annual Stitch 'n' Pitch at the Mariner's game.  The Eastside Stitchers were well represented with about 18 seats in the stadium.

 Yes, some of our seats were filled with non-knitting spouses or children (I brought Himes),

But, we still had a pretty large group.

The people from Noro Yarn were the featured guests, and there were all kinds of booths selling yarn, etc.  There seemed to be a pretty big section of people knitting, definitely more than the last few years.  The Mariner's played pretty badly (this has not been a good year for our team), but the weather was warm, and it was a good night for baseball.

Tonight was our regular Eastside Stitchers Meet up at Crossroads in Bellevue.  It was a pretty small group.  Maybe people were a bit "knit in public" weary after knitting at the ball game yesterday.  It's interesting though, when Eastside Stitchers first started meeting at Crossroads 4 years ago, (or started back up since there had been a group before), a group the size of tonight's group would have been a big group!  Anyway, who was there, and what were they knitting?

WireKnitter is knitting a beautiful shawl in this amazing gradient yarn.

BlueBerryMary has started (and has finished the cuffs of) a pair of fingerless mitts.

Dreamweaver19 is making good progress on her crazy baby blanket.

Wajio has started a second Rib-A-Roni hat by Jane Tanner.

and GwenS is just about on the last color of her self-striping yarn shawl.

That's it.  Small but excellent group.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet at a baseball game.

Fiber Friday

Hello:
Friday morning I got a text from GwenS, "I'll be at knitting today..."  Wha??? I had totally forgotten Fiber Friday!  I had taken my usual morning walk, but was just settling in to knit at home, so of course I gathered my knitting things and headed out to Crossroads to knit.

We had a nice size group at the round table under the skylight (the light is great in the day time there).  And since I didn't post right after I got home (though I did go tutor immediately after), I have forgotten 2 of the projects!  I'm hoping someone (GwenS) will pm or text me so I can update this post with all the names.

GwenS was knitting this amazing shawl.  The yarn is Caterpillargreen Yarn's MCN Fingering Self-striping.  Yes, this yarn is self-striping shawl yarn.

Constance was starting a lace shawl.

WinterPromise31 was knitting a cabled bag.

CathieC was working on this beautiful hat.  Interesting construction with the woven border knit flat, then joined in the round.

Dreamweaver19 is making good progress on her baby blanket.  This is all from one skein of crazy yarn that she bought on the South Sound Yarn Crawl.

So I know BlueBerryMary was there, and I can't remember if she was starting a new project:

But I'm pretty sure this was hers.

I also have this photo of the 3 color cowl that CathieC has almost finished. It is not social knitting, as she is on the lace section, so she just brought it for Show and Tell.

Ok, enough of my bad memory.  It would be ok if we knew that I had learned my lesson and would make a better habit of immediately posting these "Who was Knitting" posts, but we all know that I won't and will continue to wait a few days, then have to wonder, who the heck was knitting this beautiful project?

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet without a brain.

Home Again!

Hello:
Of course, I have been home since last Wednesday night, but not posting as I've been getting back into the swing of things, knitting, walking, knitting, tutoring, hanging out with friends and knitting.  I just wanted to post some photos of my first walk back in Bellevue.

View from the top of my hill.  Our hot weather broke and we finally had some summer rain.  The last few days have been cool and wonderful.

Wild blackberries at the bottom of my street, just as I head up from West Lake Sammamish Blvd.
It's good to be home.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet from the Pacific Northwest.

I just saw

That the high temperature in Bellevue is supposed to be 74 . Although I am sad to leave Moogie, this makes me happy.

Last Dinner in NYC

I can't believe (though you all probably can) that I forgot to take photos of my last Dinner in NYC.  Anyway,  Moogie and I went out for Japanese food to Nobu Next Door. It was a part of  New York Restaurant Week,  so since we had reservations, we ordered off a special lower priced tasting menu. We had 1 appetizer each 1 main course eaxh, and 1 dessert each. We had sashimi salad and really amazing shrimp tempura for the appetizers.  For the mains, we had a sushi sampler and sliced wagyu beef. The desserts we're a lychee pan Cotta, and an amazing chocolate rice "cake.* It was a perfect ending to the day.

Singer Sargent

I forgot to put up photos of John Singer Sargent's work in the last post. The above portrait is "Madame X," one of his early important works. The scandalous pose brought him tons of attention. I love how he makes the fabric look. You can see that the bodice is velvet, and the skirt satin. This is one of my favorite things about Sargent's work. He made fabric look like fabric, like real fabric. It is extraordinary.

last day 3

Hello, 

 in the afternoon, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have 3 special exhibits that we wanted to see in addition to their regular collection.  the first was works by John Singer Sargent. Moogie and I have always loved his portraits. This exhibit was so much more. Then we saw an exhibit of fashion from about 150 years ago to the present that was inspired by China. It's hard to explain how cool this was. The last special exhibit was 4 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh.  Two were of irises, and two were of roses. No photos were allowed of the Van Gogh paintings.  They were stunning.

Last Day 2

Hello:
 After breakfast,  we took the subway uptown past Harlem to a museum called The Cloisters. It's at one end of  this big hilly park.  We hiked through the park , it was so lovely. Then we found The Cloisters. It's this big monastery /church/castle building.  It's made of pieces and entire rooms from European Medieval churches and monasteries brought back and reassembled.  It is full of medieval art. We liked the tapestries the most. There were also these amazing walled gardens. It's not a very well known museum because it's so far north. But the subway takes you right to it, and it is worth the trip

Biggest Day So Far/ Last Day 1

We started with breakfast at Clinton St. Baking Company. They are known for their pancakes. We had the banana walnut pancakes with maple butter.

last catching up post (5) Dinner in Chinatown

Hello,MMonday evening, we had dim sum at Nam Wah Tea Parlor.  the egg rolls were huge.  we picked 4 different things to try, and all were delicious. The steamed shrimp and pea pods dumplings we're especially good. the restaurant is tucked away in a little corner of a side street, but well worth the search.

Catching up post 4: Tenement Museum

Hello:

At noon, we went on a tour at the tenement museum. We were supposed to go on a walking tour,  but it was cancelled because of the heat. We chose the tour, Irish Outsiders. There are no photographs allowed in the museum, which is a restored tenement. So, no photos here. But , I can't recommend this musem and the tours enough. It is bizarre how many people lived on the lower Eastside in a tenement and how many cultures came through that neighborhood.  At one time, New York city was the third largest German city in the world, beat only by Berlin and Vienna.  The families (20 of them in this building) lived in 3 room apartments, sitting room,  kitchen, and bedroom. Only the sitting room had an exterior wondow. The bedroom was so small, and the bed set up to sleep 4, with 2 pillows at the head, and 2 at the foot. There was no indoor plumbing,  with a pump and outhouses in the small back yard. Families of 6, and with later ethnic groups , as much as 11 or more, lived in these 3 rooms. My Losi grandfather immigrated from Italy during this tome, and I thinking he lived on the lower Eastside. I really want to find out where after visiting the museum.

Catching up post 3: Restored Synagogue

Ugh, I'll have to add the particulars such as name and address when I get back to my computer, but after Bakery Day, we walked to a restored synagogue on the lower Eastside.  it was very hard to capture the colors of the stained glass windows. The bottom and edges of the photo will give you a taste of how beautiful they are.

Catching up post 2: Monday morning, Bakery Day

Hello,

Moogie has this charming tradition: Bakery Day. Every week she picks a new bakery, somewhere she has never been. She walks there (this makes you worthy of eating pastry) chooses something, and enjoys herself. For Bakery Day , we walked to Ceci  Cela.  we had an apple turnover. It was divine.

Catch up Post 1: Sunday Afternoon

Hello,Sunday morning, I slept in a bit  then checked out of my hotel, and moved into Moogie's apartment for the last few nights. Pookie, Moogie and I were supposed to go to brunch together, but as I felt like the walking dead, I stayed back and tried to sleep more. Then we went out to The Bronx to see the art show Moogie has been doing marketing for. One of her internships this summer has been with Clocktower  Productions, an arts and radio non-profit.they had a show of sound, performance and visual art called, Anxious Spaces , at this big gallery space in The Bronx. It's really difficult to describe this kind of art because the sound part is so important.  My favorite piece was in the first room, and was just a microphone hanging down in the middle of the room, with a speaker on the far wall. There was some loop of sounds running continuously,  but the mic picked up sounds the visitors made, distorted them, and played them back as part of the sound. We spent some time clapping, snapping, and whooping. When we were leaving, someone brought on a bike, and was ringing the bell. It was really cool.
     On the walk back to the subway, we passed through a neighborhood with lots of great Street art.

Ugh! I have the stomach flu

After we got home from seeing Fun Home Saturday night,, I started feeling sick. Moogie has been yelling (well more warning ) me about touching things, for instance I often have to hold the handrail going down the stairs to the subway platform, those railings are filthy. Or once a homeless guy dropped his water bottle, and it rolled right in front of me, so I picked it up and handed it to him. Mom, don't touch any of your things since you touched that bottle. Do you think I got the flu from NY?

Finally, we went to a Broadway musical

We saw "Fun Home," which won the Tony this year for best musical. This is not a typical high energy feel good musical. It was sad, and poignant,  and wonderful. Ok off to bed , I am  exhausted.