Because Sometimes A Sock Sack Isn't Enough

Having recently found myself with no fewer than three (3!) knitting projects on the needles these days, I was running out  places to put them all. As regular readers and members of my knitting circle know, I am not a usually a multi-project knitter, although I think I am starting to turning into one. The case these days is that I'm requiring different projects for different places - largely driven my the fact that my main project is black yarn on rather small needles. It started when needed something simple for an airplane trip, then something light-colored for theatre knitting and dark restaurants for knitting group, and then I had a design idea I really wanted to work on... you get the idea.

My solution to this plethora of projects? A new sweater-sized project bag!

As I'm also enjoying one-day sewing projects, this worked out great.  As a bonus it matches my needle roll!

A drawstring bag is no work of sewing genius, there are a few details I added that I'd like to share.  First is my fancy round bottom, which was much easier to attach than I thought it would be.

Second is my interior pocket for holding spare needles, pattern instructions, needle holders, etc. This spare storage takes it just a step above the usual project bag. 

As for the project inside? I've been working on it since January, but I have every hope that I'll be able to show it off here, finished, by the end of the month. Because you know when you need a hand-knitted sweater in the Northern Hemisphere? The end of June. Yeah....

Lord Love Vacationland

So today being Memorial Day, the more or less official start to the summer season, gives me reason to taunt? flaunt? that this is going to be my first summer in Maine. Maine, as you may or may not know, is called Vacationland, at least on the liscense plates. It is also referred to as The Pine Tree State on the quarters, and the Way Life Should Be on the sign as you cross the state border. 

All of this is to say, 40-hour work week aside, this is going to be an awesome summer. And Mr. Cleaver and I kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with style.

After our usual yoga class (me) and tennis match (Mr. Cleaver), Mr. Cleaver kindly drove up to Brunswick so I could meet one of my favorite knitwear designers, Ysolda Teague, at Purl Diva.

I got to chat with her briefly and got a signed copy of her adorable book of patterns, Whimsical Little Knits. And just today I found out that she's going to be at my regular Tuesday night knitting group, so double yay!

Afterward, Mr. Cleaver and I strolled around the Bowdoin College area, poking our heads into any shop that looked interesting and then made our way to Fat Boy Drive-In for an early dinner.

Unsurprisingly, I love drive-ins and Fat Boys is pretty quality. My chocolate shake was perfect (I guess they're called frappes [pronounced "fraps"] here), and though not on roller skates, our waitress was very friendly.

And food is always more exciting when eaten from a tray hanging from your driver's side window.

Sunday we took low-key, running some errands and reading the paper; potting some plants and eating a cherry pie I had made and frozen months ago.

Today we went to a Seadogs game (a minor-league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) and then went to a cook-out at my Mother-In-Laws. All-American and all awesome. This is going to be a great summer.

Fish and Finery

As promised I'm here with my latest sewing project and my mysterious 9-months in waiting project, which I just now realized could be construed as a pregnancy. It's not. It's goldfish.

If you've known me in the past 7 years or so, you may know that I love goldfish more than most people love goldfish. I've taken multi-state roadtrips with goldfish. I really like goldfish.  Our last Goldfish, Franklin died when we were in Chicago, and Mr. Cleaver , who had gotten quite attached, wasn't ready to commit to a new pet right away. When we decided to move back to Maine, I made Mr. Cleaver promise me that after we moved I could get a fish tank and some goldfish.

True to word, we got a 10 gallon tank/hood/filter set up on sale in mid-November. But as we were planning on going away for Thanksgiving, we figured we'd wait until we returned and the hustle and bustle of the holidays were over. Come the new year, we still had no fish, but more glaringly in our somewhat furniture-light apartment, no place to put the tank. We looked and looked, but found no suitable tank stand until a few weeks ago, while I was still working on the History Boys.

The show over and now May, we finally went and picked up a pair of lovelies. So without further ado, meet Gil:

And Jac.

They've adjusted nicely to their new home and are Mr. Cleaver and I are thrilled to have 'em.

You know what else makes me happy? Having time to sew and finishing a project in a day! The project?  Rae's Ruffle Top Tutorial from Sew Mama Sew!    

As soon as I saw it on the blog I knew I had to make it and picked up the great leaf cotton/bamboo fabric at Z Fabric and the contrasting green from JoAnn's.

I made a few modifications, namely the width of the bottom was limited to 1/2 the width of my fabric (I thik it ended up being 27" at the bottom), but I don't see that it made much difference. I also omitted the arm cutouts and side shaping, choosing to do a french seam on the sides and keep everything as simple as possible. I love the end result . It's pretty and airy and the perfect summer top. I think I shall be making at least one more this summer, which as someone who rarely makes patterns twice, is saying something.

Next up: An awesome start to summer!

Getting Back in the Swing

I certainly didn't intend to take a month-long hiatus, but life, as it is wont to do, often does it own thing. Having now had an entire week of evenings to do whatever I want to do with them I finally felt ready to come back.

Generally, I knit a lot and sew a little in the cooler months and sew a lot and knit less in the warmer ones. Despite tonight's frost warning, we are definitely edging into those warmer months here in Maine and the sewing bug is hitting me hard.

I made  pair of aprons back in March for my new York trip, but the last item of clothing I made was this skirt, back in December, which I don't think I ever showed here. 

Before I could jump into new projects though I made myself tackle my small mending pile first, so Saturday morning I sewed on some buttons and darned one of my handknit socks while making gardening shows on New Hampshire PBS. It was rather relaxing. Later that day Mr. Cleaver and I headed out to the theatre to watch a pair of readings and then went to try the famous fries at duckfat, which are seriously good.

On Sunday, I started (and finished!) a new sewing project, as well as put something together that was nine-months in the waiting. Both of which I'll share later this week, when I've taken some photos.

It's good to be back.

It's going to be quiet around here

I'm halfway through two weeks of rehearsals every night, so I'm not getting much down time.

That said, we open April 25th. This is a fantastic show so if you're in the Maine area I'd recommend making some reservations!

Lent Weeks 5 & 6, or I am a Human Chain Letter

I didn't realize it until a co-worker mentioned it today, but this is my lest week of Lent. It really flew by me this year. Maybe because I was working in two-week increments due to paychecks, but yeah, I can't believe I have only 3 more days (good thing too as my Pro Flickr account is due to expire come Sunday!)

Without further ado, Week 5:

A shiny new haircut courtesy of Nina at Bei Capelli, which I am quite fond of, which is a big deal if you're me - at least according to Mr. Cleaver.

Some travel essentials from Hannaford's (our local grocery chain). Where did I travel, you may ask? I spent a lovely weekend in New York City visiting friends, which brings us to...

Lent Week 6:

I'm going to preface this by saying my solo weekend in NYC, despite some plane delays and a vigorous rainstorm was incredibly awesome thanks to the lovely friends I stayed with and who guided me around the city. I had a blast - I had so much fun that I didn't take many photos - I think I took something around 42 before I deleted any out of focus ones, etc. The hardest thing I find about photography, aside from feeling a little awkward about whipping out my large SLR is that I feel like I can either be in the moment or I can document the moment - and this weekend I was far more about being in the moment.

Airport water and some  snacks from home. 

After a long airport delay I finally reached JFK and took a cab to Monica's (a friend from the Chicago days), where I was met with freshly baked cupcakes!

Monica with some tasty cupcakes in the apron I made her.

The next morning we went out for breakfast, which for me meant French toast and Fresh Apples juice at Gracie's (?- the diner at the corner of  86th and 1st). 

Monica had to go to a performance for school around 1pm, but before depositing me on a train to my next meet-up she took me to a 107 year old bakery neat her apartment.

I bought a 1/2 lb of black & white cookies for Mr. Cleaver (which I'd never had before and thankfully my husband is the sharing kind) from Glaser's Bake Shop, whose payment policy was right up my alley (see below)

After I left Monica, I met up with Susie, a friend from high school I hadn't seen since we graduated back in 2001. 

She toured me around the East and West villages with stops at Purl Soho and Purl Pactchwork, the latter of which I bought some awesome rooster fabric; downtown yarns where I got the wine-colored malabrigo lace-weight; Lupe's Kitchen for some mexican food (another cash-ony establishment); and Strand, where I eyeballed several books, but decided after a day of carrying all my possessions around New York that I didn't want to add any further weight.

We also stopped at lovely little tea shop for lavender and camomille tea, but unfortunately I have no clue whatsoever what the name of it is, though it does have some awesome wallpaper in the back.

Continuing as a human chain letter, Susie deposited me on the F train around 6:30 and sent me off to Brooklyn, where I met up with college buddies Jenna and Rebekah for a very tasty three-course dinner at the Vinegar Hill House, to celebrate my visit and Rebekah's news about her job at a summer camp in Maine. Our meal lasted for about 2:30 hours, when once again I was placed on a train and delivered to Washington Heights and Brenna, a roomie from my first go-around in Portland.

The next morning we headed out for brunch at Good Enough to Eat, where you knew if must be good because we had to wait in line to get a seat. And good it was, my apple pancakes, though not quite my Katie Cakes, were delicious.

Because my friends know me well, Brenna and I headed to another yarn store, Knitty City, which lives up to it's claim of being the friendliest yarn shop in NYC.  I picked up some of my beloved Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock in the new Andersonville (my beloved neighborhood) colorway. 

Street Art in Brooklyn.

We then rode over to Williamsburg for some vintage shopping and hipster watching at  Beacon's Closet. Though the  stock is overwhelming I didn't find anything to my fancy. Around this time we both realized we had to go to the bathroom and started the great Brooklyn bathroom hunt.

We stopped in Penny Licks bakery for a cookie and found their bathroom out of order. We kept peeking into shops hoping against hope and meeting no luck until a friendly store employee sent us to a nearby bagel shop. 

When we made it back to Washington Heights it was around 6 and we were both pooped so we picked up some snacks at a convenience store, ordered a pizza, watched chick flicks on HBO on demand and knitted socks.

The next morning we ate bananas and bagel and I took a cab to the airport, reaching a waiting Mr. Cleaver at 2:30pm. 

I didn't visit Time Square, Central Park, or the Empire State Building, but I had the best New York trip I could have imagined.

Lent Week 4

I sucked with taking pictures this week. I don't really carry my camera around daily so I missed a couple of things, like my tank of gas and the burger and beer I bought for dinner at my knitting circle this week. Of course now that Mr. Cleaver and  I got new cell phone this week (as well as a new number for me) I have a camera phone, but  alas, that doesn't help the past, so in addition to the items mentioned above:

All my weekend baking has required the purchase of a new sifter/sieve  from Le Roux Kitchen to combat the clumpiness I've been noticing in my dry goods. It worked wonderfully on the doughnut I make this morning. And it was one of the serendipitous purchases where it cost exactly what I wanted to pay. Once I'm out of rehearsal/production (ie late May) I'd like to start doing a series of baking posts, but for now, alas I haven't the time.

Yoga. 

Thrilling list, I know. 

Maine Maple Sunday

Today Mr.Cleaver and I went to our first Maine Maple Sunday - for those unfamiliar with syrup production, when it first starts getting warm sugar maple sap is running high, trees are tapped, and on the 4th Sunday in March, local sugarhouse open their doors for tons of syrup-seeking locals.

We headed out to Merrifield Farms because I told Mr. Cleaver I don't care where we go as long as there are pancakes. We did get some delicious pancakes and sausage and hot dogs and maple baked beans after about an hour wait. It was cold, but it was worth it. 

And while Mr. Cleaver patiently waited in line I got to run around the grounds taking pictures of other people's children's enjoying the day. We didn't pick up any syrup sadly, because one long line was enough, but I hope you enjoy my photos of our little jaunt!

Lent Week 3

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a creature of habit. This week, with only $2 "whatever" dollars for the pay period and rehearsal every night, by spending fell into pre-designated purchases only - namely Saturday yoga and lunch. 

That said, I did feel the crunch a little  at the end of this week. I didn't have time to go the bank as usual on Thursday or Friday and really debated about going to an ATM, I held off and made it to the bank about 2 minutes before closing on Saturday and got my money for week 4. I also maybe cheated when last Saturday Mr. Cleaver bought me $6.25 worth of yarn. I told him I'd pay him back, but he'd hear none of it (he's a keeper, I know). That said, here's the pics.

The "Wrangler" with some rather intense horseradish mayo and a double chocolate cookie. 

How's my form?

Lent Week 2

Week two, and I've resorted to paper clips. Making sure all my bases are covered. Including the important "whatever" category.

A yogitoes mat to keep me from from doing a face-plant into my mat during downward-facing dog.

A "Gemini" sandwich from North Star Cafe.

A tank of gas.