under attack

pattern: Mercury socks yarn: hue loco glitz sock in the eskimo colorway

First for the good news: I finished a pair of socks and I love them to bits! The pattern (handpaint highlights socks ) plays so well with the pretty colors of this highly variegated yarn by phydeaux designs. Definitely plan on repeating this pattern with other colorfully fun sock yarn in the stash.

Now for the not so good news: my sock wips appeared to have mysteriously multiplied overnight. I am not quite sure how this happened. {cue music for the Twilight Zone} Maybe some unknown law of quantum physics is at play. Or there could be the existence of an alternate universe where knitting projects self-propagate and then travel through the space-time continuum to land in our wips basket. A nefarious plot by elves and fairies? Regardless of how they came to be, I now have to accept their existence and come up with a plan of attack:

*take a much needed seaside vacation
*bring only sock wips
*do nothing but knit (and eat)
*resist casting on any new socks (at least until a few of these are off the needles)

*find fellowship and support from others who are in the same boat #knitwipkal

Sounds pretty simple right? Wish me luck!

thirty

"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." — Ally Condie

This past weekend was surreal, joyful and bittersweet. I am so glad that I was able to travel back home to northern New York to see these old high school friends of mine. Didn’t realize how very much I missed them until I saw their smiling faces again. So many memories to revisit and new ones made. Laughter, tears and hugs. Until next time friends!

p.s. One of the best parts of the weekend was discovering how many of us were knitters/crocheters/quilters. There might have been some plotting going on for a crafty reunion. Oh how I hope it happens!

socks galore

February: paintbox yarns, passion fair isle colorway

March: twizzler socks, West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4-ply, mojito 

Hi friends! Just wanted to check in with you all and give you a quick sock update before I head off to visit Vietnam for a couple of weeks. I am flying solo on this trip so there will be a lot of travel knitting and reading to look forward to (over 20 hours of flight time). I am horrible at dealing with jetlag. Any tips? I know that staying hydrated is a must. I will also try to eat according to my destination time. But sleep is always an issue for me on planes. I have tried noise-cancelling headphones, sleep masks, travel pillows and melatonin. Nothing seems to work and Benadryl makes me extremely groggy for a long time which defeats the purpose of taking it. My husband suggested fasting during my flight but I don’t think I can go that long without eating. So I will probably end up watching all the movies, knitting on my socks and pigging out :) Speaking of socks, April is looking like a fun knitting month full of socks. I will be participating in the Coffee & Craft Podcast’s Sock Sprint that Bernadette is hosting. It is a challenge to see how many pairs of socks we can finish in a month. The hard part is trying to figure out which yarns to bring with me.

I will be flying out on Sunday so wishing you a wonderful Easter if you observe it. Have a lovely start to April!

journeys

The last few months have been chock-full of journeys, both big and small. Most memorably, I traveled to Vietnam to visit my parents and had a wonderful time seeing the country through their eyes. Not surprisingly, most of our focus was centered around food :) I spent a lot of time at the numerous markets shopping, exploring and trying new things.

My mom doing her best Lunch Lady impersonation. This food stand was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.

One of the highlights of the trip was a tour of the Mekong Delta.

Seeing the floating markets first hand was pretty amazing.

We also had an opportunity to visit several fruit orchards and some local cottage industries. I loved seeing all the different varieties of fruit grown in the region.

Such a peaceful place compared to the hustle and bustle of Saigon, where highrises are sadly taking over the landscape:

I am hoping to return in a couple of years to explore more of this amazing country.

I'll save the smaller journeys of the knitted kind for the next several posts. In the meantime, there's lots of catching up and visiting to do. I've really missed being present in this space but felt like a break was necessary. Hopefully with the school year winding down and with work becoming less crazy, there will be more time to spend on the fun stuff.

seasonal goals :: winter

One of my favorite things to do in January is to read about everyone's resolutions and goals for the year ahead. So many wonderful intentions and inspiring ideas. I love the feeling of having a blank journal just waiting to be filled up. This year, I have decided to set seasonal goals instead of year long ones. Hopefully, thinking in the short term will result in more success and most importantly, be more fun!

So here are my goals for the next couple of months:

❄ Be more adventurous in the kitchen and start cooking recipes from my large collection of cookbooks. At least two new recipes a week. Different variations of spaghetti does not count.
❄ Start a recipe journal or box. Write down the ones that are tried and true family favorites for future generations to gush over.
❄ Work on Vietnamese language skills at least 30 minutes a day in preparation for my upcoming visit in March.
❄ Finish the following WIP's: Pine bough cowl, Amanda cardigan, Kraken pullover, Spirograph headband the second.

I think that all of the above goals are realistic and achievable. One caveat: since there won't be any shiny new projects to show off for awhile, things might get a little boring around here. However, I am hoping that my diligence pays off and there will be more finished objects to show you in the next couple of months. Otherwise I might have to resort to posting bad photos of my weekly recipe attempts.

quick recap of vkl

the view of Times Square from my room

Tomorrow reality sets in again with my first day back to work. But today I am still daydreaming about what an amazingly fun vacation it has been. Vogue Knitting Live was so cool on so many levels. The best part was meeting and socializing with a bunch of friendly & fun loving knitters from different parts of the country (one as far away as Alaska!). Knitters are the best people! I also had a chance to meet up and go out to dinner with an internet friend :)

Siljan Mittens by Nancy Bush

My second favorite part of the event were the two day long classes that I took with Nancy Bush (on twined knitting) and Franklin Habit (on different colorwork techniques). Both are awesome teachers who are passionate about passing their knowledge onto new knitters. I am very excited to apply some of these new techniques to my knitting and to share them in more detail with you.

Riverside Studio Yarns from Quebec

Matryoshka doll shawl pin from Michelles Assortment & bird buttons from Incomparable Buttons

As you can see from the above two pictures, the third best part was the Marketplace. So many terrific vendors, so little time to shop. Plus, it was super busy. But I did manage to get my greedy hands on some new-to-me yarns and pretty little notions. Aren't the buttons adorable? They, along with the woven basket below, were handcrafted in Africa.

Camp Out Mitts

Lastly, it was simply wonderful to knit knit knit without interruption. I love my two guys, but sometimes a girl just wants to knit have fun! Lots of things came off the needles this week and I am excited to show them off on Friday. Until then, I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on!

NYC

My mom and I had a fantastic time in NYC! We are already making plans to go back (hint hint to the hubby). It was so great to just wander around with no agenda in mind, admiring the gorgeous architecture and neighborhoods.

The Flatiron Building

We decided to skip the restaurants and just browse the different shops in Chinatown, sampling a little bit of this and that. We had banh mi sandwiches from here, then mango rice balls and sesame balls from here, then washed it all down with Vietnamese iced coffee. Sorry for the lack of food pictures, but we were ravenous after all that walking! The only things that we didn't manage to eat right away were the mangoes that seemed to be everywhere. If I hadn't forgotten to pack my utility knife, I am sure that those would have been quickly devoured, too!

As for the shopping, the variety of stores was amazing, although I mainly stuck to window shopping since most of my month's pin money was set aside for Maryland Sheep and Wool (more on that later). However, a few crafty finds still managed to jump into my shopping bag.

These embroidered silk shoe bags were a steal at $4.50 each. They are just too pretty for shoes but will make great project bags.

 I couldn't resist this silk scarf in my favorite color.

I used to have a pin cushion just like this when I was little and was sad when it was lost. The pretty flowered pouch will make a nice home for my current favorite on-the-go project. I managed to knit a few during the train ride to and from NYC.

 

Grays and Blues

Having fun experimenting with grays and blues and a new stitch pattern. I am not sure if this will lead to a new design or not....just enjoying the mesmerizing interplay of colors and pattern. This will be going into my travel pack because I am taking my mom to NYC for some shopping and sightseeing. Just us girls! It will be a whirlwind trip since this weekend is the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and you know that I can't miss that. Have a good weekend everyone!

Little Guy and the City

We are back from NYC. Lots of wonderful memories despite the rain and cold (and lack of yarn shopping). It was the little guy's first visit and I was kind of nervous about how he would take to the city. No need to have worried though, because his high energy level was a perfect match for its fast pace. We mainly stuck with touristy things like visiting the Empire State Building, Times Square and Rockefeller Center. Oh, and lots of toy stores. The little guy is now telling us that "next year, I am going to second grade, then high school, then college, then The Big City." Sounds like an awesome plan to me!

On Vacation

We are on an end of summer vacation down at the shore. I managed to find a quiet spot to get in some knitting. Currently working on kitty number four. Such a fun and easy pattern, although knitting it in public has garnered some odd looks by non-knitters trying to guess what I am making. It still amuses me to see the reactions I get whenever I knit in public.

A Madcap Wonderful Time

Our trip to Disney World was so much fun! It is truly a magical place despite the crowds and long lines. Our most favorite parts were: the food (as evidenced by an extra 5 pounds gained), the rides (I loved the Haunted House and It's a Small World), the World Showcase at Epcot, and the pool at our hotel with the awesome water slides. But the very best part was spending time together and making happy memories.

I wish I could have bottled up this garden and taken it home. What a lovely knitting spot.

My two guys

The little guy fending off a muffin attack.