Category Archives: Events

Give Thanks… (NaBloPoMo Day 22)

 

Obligatory Pie close up shot-- Project52 week 47

 

PIE! Pumpkin pie, to be exact. Nothing fancy, just something to take to the family or dessert this evening. Assuming we don’t eat it all first. ;)

No controversy, no animosity, no standing on lines half the day and all night waiting for crap you don’t need. Just relax with the family and enjoy each other’s love and company. Eat some good cookin, blast some music/football game, laugh at your drunk uncle knocked out in the recliner without his dentures(been there, done that), play with the kids, put your brother’s apron out when he never fails to set it on fire… whatever

 

Just. Be. Thankful. Today, tomorrow, always.

 

TTFN

 

I won! (NaBloPoMo Day 8)

Wow! I spent the first half of the day contemplating my topic for today’s post when I went email-checking and found a Congratulations!  I won the local photowalk contest!

Back on October 13th, was the Scott Kelby Annual World Wide Photowalk and I participated with a group of local photogs under the leadership of Mark Garbowski. All participants were allowed to post a photo to their local photowalk page to enter the photowalk contest. Well, I entered mine in, thinking, “eh, what are the odds?”

Little did I know that I’d win the local contest. I’d sort of forgotten there was one, really. And, to be fair I was apparently the only person to enter a photo(why??). But,

I. WON!  a free copy of the e-book version of Scott’s “The Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers”. I had been wanting to get this one but chickened out. Good thing I waited huh? :)

Here’s the shot that won:

Image

I can’t wait to dig into that book!

TTFN :D

NY Sheep and Wool–part 2!(The Haul Edition)

Despite the crazy that was Hurricane Sandy, October had been fairly good to me. Most years it is, because it’s my birth-month.  This year in particular I got spoiled like nobody’s business..

My Virtual KnitChat girls gifted me at every turn for my special day,  and some of us got the royal treatment at Rhinebeck as well. Knitters are some of the most generous people in. the. world.

While browsing the offerings, I did purchase a few goodies such as:

Finn fiber from Point of View Farm

1 lb. of Finn! I love me some Finn! I haven’t had any since Rhinebeck ’08, from Misty Mountain Farms. I went by their booth this year but they only had top, not roving. Bah. During a second pass-through on day 2 of the festival I found a vendor selling nothing but Finn products. Score! I will be sure to find them next time.

Little Barn haul

Another old stand-by that I did manage to get lucky with was Little Barn. I always make sure to stop by their tent and I was not disappointed. I’ve never spun Coopworth before so this will be my intro to it; 8 oz. total, plus 4 oz. of random dyed wool (maybe Corriedale?)

More goodies!

Then I scooped up 4 oz. of Falkland fiber from Into the Whirled and an oz. of Suri Alpaca with sparkle from Still River Mill. I’ve never spun either of these breeds so I’m really looking forward to them. Into the Whirled actually had a similar colorway all dyed into one braid but I chose the separated version so I could stripe the yarn myself. It finally occured to me why I sometimes get disappointed with the results of pretty colorways spun up: short color blocks get ‘muddied’ when they’re spun and plied; with separate color sections you can spin them end to end and navajo ply them for striped yarn. I’m hoping to spin the Alpaca on a hand spindle to get a really thin single. I spindle park-and-draft style so that shouldn’t be too hard.

Now, for the surprises(I told you knitters were awesome, didn’t I?):

Batts!

A mystery bump from Still River Mill and the infamous Loop Bulls-eye Batt! I’m guessing the ‘mystery’ part is the colorway, as the bumps were labeled as Alpaca and Merino. *shrug*. I’d heard a few things about the Loop batts, but never really considered buying one. I actually finished spinning up the singles last night to Navajo ply another day, and I swear pulling the fiber out of the middle was like a fiber-y clown car! There appeared to be 4 different colors but there were actually 5! I like big batts and I can not lie! ;) . I will do a proper review of the spinning once it’s all done.

Merino fiber

Last but not least, almost 8.5 oz. of lovely pastel ‘clown-barf’ Merino fiber. I don’t know. All I did was look at it, put it back and 10 min later it got laid in my arms. Weeee :D

So there it is!! Truthfully though, I could have left Rhinebeck empty handed and it still would have been a great time. I got to hang out with some of the coolest people I know: Yarnies!! :D Thank you ladies for an awesome time! I am truly blessed!

TTFN!

NY Sheep and Wool Festival… or, Rhinebeck 2012!

After a 4-year absence I got the chance to hit the NY Sheep and Wool Festival, aka Rhinebeck, again. The first time I went, I only spent the Saturday there, but after spending the weekend in 2008, I knew I’d have to continue making a serious vacation of this experience.  And, so it was a weekend this time too.

The highlights are as follows:

People:

LetteKnits, HeiressKnits, CiciCarry

(L-R)LetteKnits, HeiressKnits, and CiciCarry!!

G+ KnitChat finally meets.

My G+ KnitChat crew, clockwise(VivianneKnits, me, Monetb56, PDXLaceknitter and TamiKnits– we all rode up together except for Viv who freaking LIVES up there! I am Gel- Us!
Food:

Maple Cotton Candy!

Maple Cotton Candy, ohhh so good. I was holding out for these delectable soaps I found in ’08 from a vendor with no online presence, but alas, he was nowhere to be found.

and Fiber goods:

Untitled

Lots of decorated wheels. I keep saying I’ll do up mine, but I get lazy and scared of messing up so..

And don’t forget the sheep!

Untitled

Cheviot girlie!

And just think, I did this times two! We stayed all day on Saturday til we just about got kicked out, but left early on Sunday to avoid the crazy that is trying to get out of the parking lot all. at. once. Live and learn.

So much to see and do and tried to take photos of it all. Wallet in one hand, camera in the other and a ton of fun was had.

I will have to make a separate post of the actual haul, as I’m still trying to recover(and make room!)

 

If you’re heading out to SAFF this coming weekend, I hope your experience is just as, if not more fun!

 

TTFN!

30/30

Day 30--Self-portrait
This is my last photo in the 30-day Photo Challenge for June 2011. I hear tell there will be one for July but I won’t be entering that one. I’m still debating if I have the stamina to even do any sort of photo-a-day projects. I’m torn between feeling like I need to always be out-of-doors and trying to open up my home life more. And I’m not sure I’d like to do the latter. Plus with the Beanlets around the place isn’t always spiffy and photo-ready. ;)

I’ve been knitting off and on through this time. I’ve been busy on Pinterest, seeing lots of things I’d love to make; sewing and yarn-craft alike. The latest item to pique my interest is Mao, a cute little one-piece knitted toy cat. Mao is designed by blogging-multi-crafter OiYi. I have to admit that most of my unwillingness to knit toys was because they usually involved knitting a bunch of separate parts you would then have to seam together. This is done in one big section(just add the tail–no biggie), and you stitch on facial features with embroidery thread or thin yarn. Easy peasy. Mr BeanKnit has a few new 3rd(4th?) cousins coming soon and so I’ll definitely have little ones to give them too. Several weeks ago I bought a bunch of cotton yarn at Michaels for some potholders but those will have to go on hold while I make some Maos.

I haven’t done much sewing other than fixing a ripped seam or three but I am gonna have to dig in my heels and get to sewing because my wardrobe is woefully skimpy these days. I usually dress in layers during the colder months but since it’s warmer(read: hot!) now, all I need is one layer per section and I’m good to go! I’m not ready to tackle pants. I can’t bring myself to do it and I’d prefer more skirts. I’ve been loving the jeans skirt to death because of the built-in pockets but I will have to bite the bullet and add some pockets to the skirts I plan to make.

Well, just touching bases to let you know I’m still kicking! TTFN!

Food Frenzy!

So far the week’s turning out to be fairly good despite the rain. No good outdoor pics since every time I saw something snap-worthy it was raining and I couldn’t take the camera out. But in between those drenching moments…

All that remains..

This is all the remains of the yummy lunch I had today. Zagat was sponsoring a Food Truck Frenzy today! It was actually last week but the rain caused a postponement. No matter,k as it rained today too, though not hard enough to stop me from enjoying the food samples. ;)

I’m no foodie by any stretch of the imagination so take these reviews with a grain of salt:

1) Luke’s Lobster Truck: The offerings were a Lobster roll or a Shrimp roll. I choose Lobster and loved it! I’ve tasted chilled lobster before and I didn’t like it at all, but this roll sample had it with a tasty, slightly spicy sauce, on a sliver of buttered roll. Mmm good. I’d definitely get a whole one if I could meet up with the truck again. They weren’t allowed to sell at the event or I’d have seriously bought one! Add one to the twitter contact list!

2)Desi Truck: Having always wanted to try Indian food, this name jumped out at me on the event list a few weeks ago. The choices were a Biriyani, Haleem, and various Kati rolls. I chose the Kati roll with chicken. Sadly, I’m not impressed. Now, I’ve never eaten a Kati roll before so I truly didn’t know what to expect but I would have liked the chicken to be way more moist than it was. It’s as though they just cooked up a bunch of the fillings in anticipation of the crowd and then let it sit. The wrap was light and crispy which was a nice touch but the flavors just didn’t get me. I won’t be clamoring for this truck any time soon.

3)La Cense Beef Burger: They were serving Grass-fed Angus Miniburgers with a few topping choices. Having never tasted grass-fed beef before(as far as I could recall, anyway), I asked for the burger to be plain so I could taste the meat better. Yeah? No. It reminded me of those mystery-meat ‘burgers’ they served in the school lunches years ago. Umm No. Either they’re lying about the quality of the meat or I just don’t like grass-fed. Gimme grain-fed any day! NEXT!

4) I wanted to try the Steak Truck but even after almost 40 minutes they still weren’t open. I don’t know what their deal was but I would have thought they’d have been ready by the opening time. Oh well. On to Treats Truck!: The offerings were a Pecan Butterscotch Bar or a Mexican Chocolate Brownie. I went with the first one. It was nice flavor-wise but this, too, was a bit on the dry side. It was just the right amount of sweet for after lunch. I could see myself going back and maybe trying something else. Maybe today was an off-day?

Then I got to wash it all down with an ice-cold bottle of Perrier. And they even offered these little Colgate Wisp mini-brushes in case you had something sticky or garlic-y. That was very thoughtful.
So that’s it for my mini-reviews. I’m supposed to vote for my favorite truck and today that was the Lobster Truck. Mmm I miss it already.

TTFN

Great (Craft) Adventures

Here’s the post I promised the other day(oops!):

Gone are the days when the only way you could meet someone for the first time, was in person. The internet has allowed us to ‘meet’ people from afar, by way of video, blogs, chatrooms, virtual worlds, etc. Often times we so easily develop friendships with people who might otherwise stay complete strangers. I met Mr. BeanKnit this way, as well as all my crafty netfriends. But just as I got the jitters when meeting him face-to-face after months of internet and phone chatting, I still get a little nervous when going to hang out with fiber crafters..

Nashé and Me @ Lion Brand Studio

Meet Nashé, yarn crafter and make-up artist from right here in the (quad?)-state area. She found me by way of my podcast last year and we’ve been chatting ever since. We finally got a chance to sit and knit together the other day. I had a ball! In fact, I had 3 of them:

Lion Brand Baby Alpaca yarn

I picked up this LB Collection Baby Alpaca( and a package of cute little stitchmarkers) when were leaving the Lion Brand Studio, where we sat to click sticks and talk about everything. I also got to put a few rows on the KP Fall/Winter shawl, which I took with me that day. I must admit the biggest reason I stopped working on it was my unwillingness to wind more yarn. Winding laceweight takes ages, it seems. But I’m enjoying the knitting of this project just like before and have been putting in a little work with it each day.

In a few rows, it’s on to the next color change!

Back again..

We also stopped off at B&N at Union Square to check out some crafting novels by Maggie Sefton, as well as a pattern book by the Doublestitch Twins, Erika and Monika Simmons. Unfortunately that location didn’t have it, but I’m sure I’ll find it somewhere!

It rained off and on that day but for once it didn’t bother me because I was having so much fun! Over lunch Nashé and I talked about crafting, motherhood, and makeup! She’s a sweetheart and it felt like old friends seeing each other after years apart. Thank you, Nashé for spending the day with me! :) Looking forward to another meet-up!

Next up, Mother’s Day, Tea, Shawl WIP pics and more potholder madness!

Hubris is the mother of last-minute sewing

Now that the Thanksgiving food coma has lifted I remembered to post this.

I opened my big fat mouth and wound up having to do something to keep from putting my foot in it. I got cute and told my cousin, who was hosting Thanksgiving dinner at her house that I would bring some Sweet Rolls for the meal. I’m a Jean E. Yuss. Because it’s a long trip(especially with transit running on a Sunday schedule), I decided I’d need to keep the rolls warm so I wouldn’t have them waiting for them to bake once I got there*. So crazy me decided to sew a quilted cake carrier tote which turned out ok, but nothing like what I envisioned.

Below is some fabrics I got at the Sav-A-Thon last year on clearance. I figured now was the time to use them.
Dairy of a Proctrasinating Crafter: Quilted Cake Carrier Wrap

I totally pulled the idea and the shaping out of my a$$ on this one. I thought about making a tutorial but decided against it when I realized I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. But I kept at it. And the result was this:

Dairy of a Proctrasinating Crafter: Quilted Cake Carrier Wrap

I actually finished it the morning of Thanksgiving, having started the evening before. Around midnight I got fed up and got me a drink of coquito, and promptly went to bed.
Yay Coquito!

Looking at the finished item I know now what I’d do different:
1)Make the bottom bigger and the side panel longer to go all the way around to fit so I wouldn’t need the zipper(though I do like that part of it.)
2) Really get an understanding of how to sew in elastic. I couldn’t get it to shrink down over the top as much as I’d have liked. Or,
3) I could have made the side panel taller so I could leave a few inches unquilted and fold that part over for a drawstring casing, eliminating the need to futz with the elastic in the first place. (aha, moment of genius, after it was all said and done)

Other than that, it was a fairly good experience taking my own idea and making something. The family thought it looked good despite the issues with the closure and that alone made it worth while.

* It ended up that when we were leaving she told us she was still cooking so it wouldn’t be like they were waiting for us to eat. Since I was running a bit behind(I farked up the recipe–You can’t always substitute shortening for butter, just so you know) I wound up just carting the rising dough with me instead of baking at home. The warmth provided by the quilted wrap helped them rise nice and big! Yay! Oh and I uh don’t have a pic. We ate ‘em. ;)

Still kickin'

Lucky Number 7!

June went by in a whirlwind of lazy(if you can believe that). Everything is about winding down from the school year and into a relaxing Summer. So I haven’t been crafting much at all. The increasing heat doesn’t help either.

So, school is out, and littlest Beanlet celebrated her 7th birthday. The cake was ultra light and very yummy. I’m tempted to make a cake more often but alas, a trip to a local amusement park proved to me I need NOT indulge in the goodies when I couldn’t fit in some of the rides to enjoy them with the kids.

The day before Independence Day we Beans set out to enjoy the new Luna Park at Coney Island. It was an interesting day, and the kids(and Mr. BeanKnit) had a great time. See pics here.

I basically spent June amassing way more teacups and saucers than I can use at once, and delving a bit deeper into the world that is tea. I’m nowhere near a connoisseur of all the teas there are in the world but what I’ve been getting from Adagio suits me just fine.

I’ve tried a variety of flavors and types: flavored ceylons like strawberry, raspberry and chocolate; a sampler of chai teas, my favorite being the Thai Chai; rooibos/honeybush which, I learned, if steeped too long starts to taste like tree branches.

Properly brewing tea is almost a science and I spent one weekend going through about 8 different teas before I figured out how to tweak the technique to get a great pot of tea. There will be a more in-depth review of what I have tried in a later post. Right now I just want to relax with the family and enjoy a peaceful 4th of July.

Happy Crafting!!