The Packers' Super Bowl victory saw much rejoicing around here. We woke up to yet another winter wonderland scene on Sunday:
We donned Packers gear, braved the snow, and headed north to Milwaukee to watch the game with Paul's family. It was intense!
I'm not the biggest sports fan, but I love how the Packers are owned by the community, not by rich fancy-pants big wigs, and the enthusiasm from Green Bay fans is just amazing.
I'm knitting a Hap Blanket as a sample for Sarah. The yarn is just lovely -- The Plucky Knitter MCN Aran. It's light, lofty, and soft, and the colors are gorgeous. What more can you ask for?
The weekend wasn't just filled with football (and plumbing problems, but this is not the place for woes). I spent Friday night at the Riviera Theatre with one of my favorite bands:
Great show, aside from a maddening avant-garde extended riff on "Chimbley Sweep"! Many songs from the new album, The King is Dead. For me the highlights were hauntingly spare versions of "January Hymn," and Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You."
Notes:
This went very quickly, and I used a super cozy and squooshy yarn. Alpaca gives me both the sneezies and the itchies, but doesn't bother Mom. I didn’t check my gauge, and I ran out of yarn during the decreases as a result. I tweaked the pattern a bit to make it work, and it still looks great! Next time I’d use smaller needles, especially for the ribbing, and maybe have an extra skein of yarn on hand.
I've never really mastered the art of taking photos in the mirror, but here's a rough idea of what it looks like.
- Has anyone seen Guy and Madeline Sitting on a Park Bench? If so, what did you think? It's a recent indie film that's part documentary, part musical, but it had a very limited release and isn't on netflix yet. It sounds fascinating.
- Amazon has made it possible to give e-books as gifts. Huzzah, huzzah! More info here. Paul recently built 3 big bookcases for our downstairs den, and dealing with that has reaffirmed my desire to keep using my Kindle. Some books benefit immensely from physicality -- cookbooks, knitting books, art books, things you want to treasure forever or lend out to friends -- but half the books I read don't fall into those categories. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo simply doesn't deserve shelf space in my library for all time.
- Shalder, from The Shetland Trader Vol. 1. I'm jonesing after the Quince & Co. Lark yarn (perhaps glacier or peacock?) for this pattern, but I must resist until another sweater (or two) is off the needles.
- Leaving, from the new Twist Collective. What a great overall issue! I'm always a bit surprised by how expensive each pattern is, though. A $5/pattern limit is firmly entrenched in my brain; I wince at anything above that, especially since whole books full of fabulous knitting patterns are so affordable.
- Little Owls, by Susan B. Anderson. Just too cute! Plus you all know I'm an owl-addict.
Ism's, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus but it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car.
John Hughes' death last week marked the end of an era. I have watched 16 Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off so often that the dialogue is permanently emblazoned in my brain.
the ever nerdy yet dreamy Colin Meloy
Much to my delight, the Decemberists reeled off an impromptu version of "If You Leave" at the Metro on the eve of Lollapalooza. They were fabulous! One of the best Decemberists concerts I've attended, and I've been to quite a few. They did not play The Hazards of Love all the way through (which is pretty much standard on this tour), but rather they played a set-list voted on by fans on the interwebs. "Red Right Ankle," baby! Two rather decorative-seeming girls were on stage for much of the show, clapping rhythmically, swaying strangely, singing some background vocals, etc. They seemed quite unnecessary and distracting... until they got to a cover of Heart's "Crazy On You." Yep, Shara Worden and Becky Starck can really sing. I had to eat my words, and they must sing a lot more in the full-on Hazards shows.
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A feather and fan scarf is in the works to coordinate with my Beanpole Beanie. The yarn's Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Pagoda, and the pattern's Misty Garden from Scarf Style. Not that you really need a pattern for a feather and fan scarf...
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PSA: If you somehow acquire a sofa that's upholstered in Schumacher cut velvet (whatever that means), be prepared to cover it up with a quilt pretty much 24/7. Sigh.
Please pardon the prolonged silence. Cable internetdisastrestruck casaCaffeinated Yarn last Friday, and it has not been resolved yet, despite three visits from the cable guy (including one marathon 5.5 hour session on Tuesday). Good grief, to quote Charlie Brown.
Knitting has occurred, some of which fascinated the cable guy as we watched the Cubs game while awaiting the arrival of yet another cable guy.
The Falling Water Lace Scarf is just waiting to have its ends woven in and a good blocking. I loved the pattern and the yarn. I'll post full details post-blocking. A basic garter rib sock (from Sensational Knitted Socks) is on the needles. I'm using Cider Moon's Glacier yarn in the colorway June Carter. Very pink/yellow/green for Project Spectrum, no? Despite following the gauge chart, I found that casting on 56 stitches made for too loose a sock. I went down to 48 for my narrow feet and apparently quite slender ankles.
Here's my nervous internet conundrum knitting -- a modified version of Cider Moon's Carpathia scarf using GGH Soft Kid in a lovely sea foam green. I added an extra pattern repeat and a couple border stitches on each end. I asked Paul what he thought:
Paul: It looks very dainty. Jodi: What do you mean by that? Paul: It reminds me of tissue paper.
Whatever. In non-knitting news, look who I had a date with last night:
Colin Maloy and the rest of the Decemberistscrew. Paul was there, too, along with a few thousand fans. The show was OK, but a bit of a disappointment in comparison with their stop in Chicago last fall. Methinks the band spent a bit too much time drinking at the Green Mill jazz club across the street before the concert. They played many songs from Castaways and Cutouts, but it was a fairly short show. One disappointment was a rather lackluster version of "O Valencia!"
They did play the much-requested Mariner's Revenge Song as an encore. That one doesn't do it for me, in part because they ask for audience participation. That always makes me squirm, and my inner Cure-T-shirt-wearing, silently-rebellious teenager rears her ugly/non-participatory head.
