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.

Month by Month

Before I start, can I say that it feels like forever since I've done a proper blog entry? I've really had a tough go getting going this month. Let's call it the early-mid-winter slump and try to move on, shall we? Last year, I decided that the New Year's Resolution, while good in theory, doesn't really pan out well in real life  - even for those of us who have in the past planned out parts of their lives 3 years in advance to a fairly high degree of success.  Instead, I found last year that thinking of things on a monthly scale worked out better. 

So for January, my goals have been two-fold:

1. cook more
2. make our apartment more "homey"

And I've done decently on both accounts.

So far this month I've learned to make a quiche, chicken pot pies and given another go at making wheat bread in the bread machine (though I'm still in search of a great bread machine/wheat bread recipe, so if you have one, send it my way!). 

Last week Mr. Cleaver and I took a trek to Massachusetts in search of cheap Swedish furniture and while we came home with a few nice pieces, neither of them were what we were looking for  (if you know of an affordable TV stand approximately 52"w x 30"h x 18" d or something to put a ten gallon fish tank on we'd be ever so grateful!) Even without said furniture, I did do some work on the living room - mainly hanging up pictures and sewing a pillow cover. In any case, I'm finally going to show some photos of the apartment.

A before and after, both in all their non-cleaned glory.

Before:

 

We bought the chair and couch separately (at a consignment shop and Goodwill respectively) but they match amazingly well. The borrowed tray table and fabric covered plastic boxes add a touch of class to the original arrangement as does the printer, just hanging out on a spare dining table chair from Craig's List.

After:

The Chicago neighborhood print was a Christmas gift I gave to Mr. Cleaver and is flanked by some vintage Maine postcards (one of which feature the Westbrook highway-seriously) and my first real art purchase, a Clifton Henri photo. The two photos by the closet are by my father and myself. The end tables are real tables now - but the printer is still hanging out, keeping it real. Not a real big change, but it does feel much better.

I whipped the pillow cover out of some leftovers of felted sweaters. And if a certain reader from Oregon is wondering, hey aren't those my sweaters? And shouldn't I have some coasters/bowls coming my way? Yes they are and yes you do, they're just going through one more wash cycle before I mail them out next week - promise!

Speaking of sweaters and things completed on monthly scale, I'd also like to present to my "Mermaid Coat," so named for its sea moss colorway and oyster shell buttons. 

The pattern is the quite popular Drops A-Line Jacket, the  yarn is Peace Fleece Worsted in Kamchatka Seamoss, and the shell buttons are from Savaged Relics. And like an actor in in their first high school play, I have no idea what I'm doing with my hands here.

It is super cozy and super warm. It's a simple pattern and I finished the whole thing in month - give or take a day.

So I guess you could day I'm sitting pretty on this whole "month-a-lution" thing. Now maybe for February I should decide to be a better blogger.

Catching Up

So it was about 18°F outside yesterday and today. In general its been cold and yucky outside and I have limited daylight time to take photos due to my 9-5.  This is my excuse as to why I haven't posted about 5 finished knitting projects  - no chance to take decent pictures. That and two of them were Christmas presents and I didn't want to spoil the surprise on the off-chance their recipents checked the blog. Well, the photos aren't super great and I'm still missing the sweater I finished in early November, but here's a quick roundup of some knitting I've done this winter.

I call this my "Fisherman's Wife Beret." It's a fairly simple lace beret and I wear it all the time. I'm working on writing the pattern on it, which I'l let ya'll know about when I finish it.

These were my first go at toe-up. The pattern is Elfine's Socks and I found it to be very well written and I particularly liked the way the heel was done. I used the magic cast on from knitty for the toe - but I need to find a good cast off as I had to use a mechanical pencil to get the top loose enough! The yarn is Jojoland Melody Superwash - the color is great, but the yarn itself I wouldn't use again.

 

This one was for my mom for Christmas. It's a bunny variation of my own pattern.

And this is the piece de resistance of my Christmas knitting, the "Winterberry Gloves," for my friend Kasey. I designed them from scratch having never knitted a glove before and they turned out really well. I'm making myself a pair with a few tweaks and am writing up the pattern for this one as well, which I hope to get out in February.

Winter in Maine is good for knitting, what can I say?

When Hobbies Collide! - DPN Holder Tutorial

The day before I started my new job, I sat down at the machine and sewed. In preparation for my soon-to-be-condensed crafty scheduled. I designed, cut and sewing this little project in about an hour (research time not included). This is a new land-speed sewing project record for me.

I had picked up a 1/2 yard of this amazing Michael Miller fabric several month ago thinking to make something knitted-related in the future. I wasn't sure what, but with my growing frustration with my growing doubled-pointed needle collection, I knew I had to make a DPN roll. 

I trolled blogs, etsy, and flickr looking for inspiration and then dumped out all my needles on the bed, pulled out a ruler, made a few guesses and came up with this:

I didn't take pictures while I was making it because it was too dark ad I was speedy along, but here's a somewhat tutorial for the roll.

Materials:

• 1/3 yd main fabric  (in this case, the skulls)
• 1/3 yd contrasting fabric  
• 1/3 yd fusible interfacing
• 1/3 yd ribbon
• note: I had a 1/2 yd of each and could make two from that amount.

Cut List (all measurements in inches):

Main Fabric

• 1 - 9.5"x16.5" - body
• 1 - 5.5" x 16.5" - pocket
• 1 - 2.5"x 16.5" - upper flap

Contrasting Fabric 

• 1 - 9.5"x16.5" - body
• 1 - 5.5" x 16.5" - pocket
• 1 - 2.5"x 16.5" - upper flap

Interfacing

• 1 - 9.5"x16.5" - main body

Directions:

All seam allowances are 1/2". Press after each seam.

1.  Iron fusible interfacing to the back of the contrasting body piece.
2. With right sides facing, sew together top of pocket. Turn piece right side out and top-stitch the edge. Do the same with the upper flap pieces.
3. With the right side of contrasting body and the main fabric of the pocket of facing you, baste sides and bottom of pocket unto the contrasting body. 
4.  Stitch divisions into the pocket. Make sure to begin measuring 1/2" away from the fabric edge. The pocket widths from left to right are as follows (there will be 15 pockets total):
   • 5/8"
   • 5/8"
   • 5/8"
   • 5/8"
   • 3/4"
   • 3/4"
   • 7/8"
   • 7/8"
   • 1"
   • 1 1/8"
   • 1 1/4"
   • 1 1/4"
   • 1 1/2"
   • 1 3/4"
5. With the right side of contrasting body and the main fabric of the pocket of facing you, baste sides and top of upper flap unto the contrasting body. 
6. Fold ribbon in half and pin center of ribbon to the left side of the pocket, alining with the top of the pocket (see photos above). Pin the ribbon unto the pocket so you don't accidentally stitch it down.
7. With right sides facings, sew the main body piece and the contrasting body piece together, leaving a gap out to turn right side out. 
8. Turn piece right side out, making the corners nice and sharp and hand stitch the gap closed. Un-pin ribbon and trim length if necessary.
9. Fill with needles and enjoy!

(PS - if you have any issues with this tutorial feel free to email me with questions : ms.cleaver(at)gmail.com)

Driven to Distraction

For the most part, up until recently I was a one-project knitter. But this:

Drove me to distraction.

I love hand-knitted scarves, I do. They're warm and cuddly and made with love. But I hate hate knitting scarves. They are generally mind-numbingly boring and so long, but never as long as you think, so they take forever to knit. Now I've never done one of those lovely lacey numbers, and maybe several months from now, when I've forgotten knitting this scarf, I'll give it a go. 

So why did I knit this scarf? The yarn. The lovely lovely yarn that is named after my old neighborhood in Chicago - Edgewater. As you may or may not know, Lorna's Lace is based in Chicago and many of her colorways are named after and inspired by Chicago neighborhoods: Argyle, Ravenswood, Devon, Lakewood, etc. When I found out she added a Edgewater colorway I leaped with joy and began haunting my LYS on a weekly basis until they got it in stock.

I normally only pick up Lorna's in sock weight because I can never figure out what to do with multi-colored yarn on a large scale that doesn't seem too busy, but this time I went with the worsted weight. I decided I wanted to make Mr. Cleaver a scarf (knowing that he doesn't really wear them) to remember our two years in the Windy City. I picked up the yarn in early August and hoped to finish it before we moved - hah! 

I tried, I really did, but even knitting this thing while watching TV was boring. And I decided to do the whole thing in seed stitch, which gave it a great texture and made me a great big fool. And if you can't tell, it's actually two yarns- Edgewater & Black Purl, alternated every 16 rows: which is my I call this my Sextuple S Scarf: Seed-Stitch Self-Striping Striped Scarf.

So while I was trying to finish this scarf I started and finished a cardigan, a hat to match the unfinished scarf, an identical hat for a friend who liked the hat that matched the unfinished scarf, and a beret I designed. I'll post about the other projects after I get a chance to photograph them, but Mr. Cleaver was gracious enough to model his new gear for me.

The hat is Brooklyn Tweed's Turn a Square. It's super simple  and a quick knit. A great beginning hat pattern for those wanting to try knitting in the round. I really liked the way the multi-colored yarn worked with the grey and since I have a good chunk of the Black Purl yarn left, I think I'd like to do a similarly toned vest and give steeking a try.

Oh, and for a guy who doesn't really like hats or scarves, Mr. Cleaver gave both of these his stamp of approval.

Whew!

Fair Weather: Part I

I have to admit that growing up I hated fair season.  

To me it meant nothing more than dancing on hot concrete stages that were every form of uncomfortable and I never got to do any of the fun stuff, like rides or games - except for once. Of course the piece de resistance of bad fair experiences was in high school when I volunteered to do a "Say No to Drugs" Puppet show, only to arrive at the booth to discover that I'd have to spend all afternoon sitting under a table next to the Vote No on 9 people. Not cool.

Nevertheless, when Maine fair season kicked off last week, I was thrilled and have now gone to not one, but two fairs. Since I took hundreds of photos, I'ma gonna break this up into two posts.

First, Marjorie, the woman who essentially taught me to knit, called and asked if I'd like to go with her to the Common Ground Fair. Run by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardens, this is meant one thing to us knitters: fiber, yarn, and the creatures that wrought it.

We had beautiful warm weather and a fantastic time.

There were pie cones:

Lots of fiber:

 

Spinning (which I really really want to learn, weaving too):

Llamas:

Sheep:

Sheep Herding:

And it wasn't all about knitting-related things, we also saw Native american dancers and drummer, chair makers, basket weavers, and boat builders.

But we did both some some lovely golden yarn from Enchanted Knoll Farms. Because really, it's all about the yarn, right?

Walking

When I moved to Maine, I decided that I wanted to walk more and Mr. Cleaver agreed. We both love to stroll together, in Chicago, we'd jaunt up to Andersonville. Here in Portland, we've ended up in a neighborhood tailor-made for the leisurely stroll. Then houses are lovely to walk along and the other evening we saw some little brown bats in action at the far end of street, there's also Baxter Woods which is a 6/10 mile loop through deciduous and evergreen trees, and then there's Evergreen Cemetery.

Now before you start thinking that I've gone all morbid and spend all my time hanging out in cemeteries, I say fear not. It's just that cemeteries are some the best keep green-spaces ina lot of urban environments, if you don't mind weaving between headstones. I always loved the idea that in the early 1900s people used to have picnics in graveyards. I don't know why the shift occured, but there are plenty of people wandering the trails at Evergreen, so I'm not alone.

I also love the history of graveyards. Who were these people, why did this one deserve a monument, while this person hardly a stone at all?  What happened to the wife on the headstone listed below her husband with a birth, but no death date; and how horrible to lose someone at sea.

As an added bonus, Evergreen has a trio of duck ponds, filled with Mallards that will eagarly take your stale bread. We also saw what might have been a cormorant. I'd really loved to get a book on the local flora and fauna so I could identify it all.

And my favorite season is knocking at the door!

In a quick round-up of other news. I had my second interview on Monday, but alas, no job there, though the interview went (I felt) very well.

We found a great dresser for $10 at a garage sale this weekend, so I am no longer living out of a suitcase, which is fnatastic for one's pysche. I've also made what seems like an endless series of trips to Target and Walmart to get all the little things, like a toaster or a vacuum.

The book club is reading Watership Down, and I raced through it. I forgot how wonderfully thrilling that book is. Next up on my reading list is Richard Russo's Empire Falls, then I plan to do a survey of New England Poets - feel free to send along any suggestions.

I'm about a third of the way done with the first sleeve on my Forecast sweater and I picked up some lovely leather buttons for it on sale at JoAnn's yesterday. I'm also about halfway through sewing a Kasia skirt out of thick navy blue linen. I'm feeling very confident about my sewing on this piece, though if anyone has a trick for making sure you iron the interfacing on the right side of the fabric I'd love to hear it! I also managed to pick up a great vintage navy blue linen dress/jacket combo at Material Objects, it's an almost exact match in color to the skirt, so I can mix it up with the jacket. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

I'm assisting my friend Peter on a reading of the play The History Boys for Mad Horse Theatre, I'm not sure the exact date of the reading yet, but I'm excited to be involved!

Our internet is supposed to get hooked up on the 23rd, which I can't wait for, and will hopefully increase the regularity of my posting. Until then - I'm off to enjoy the fall weather!

Putting it all Together

So since the last time I posted, a number of things have happened.

1. We moved into the new place and are slowly making an empty apartment into a home (a big shout-out to our Portland friends who are letting us mooch their unwanted furniture!)
2. Mr. Cleaver got some part-time work as adjunct faculty at the community college
3. I got a call for my first job interview, which happens on Monday afternoon and there's a good chance I'll get another interview this week (I know a guy).

It feels good to be in our own place. The neighborhood is great, our landlords are super nice and it's a solid apartment. I'll post some photos once it gets a little more settled. So far I've managed to get a few things on the walls and my sewing machine on my desk, but no clothes out a suitcase. We all have our own priorities.

I went to a new knitting circle on Tuesday, I'll have to give it a few more tries to see if it's a good personality fit or not. It was a really small gathering, so I'm not sure it was representative, but we'll see.

Other than that, knitting's been on the backburner to unpacking, but I did finally take some photos of WIPs to share.

The photo above is the Forecast cardigan. A surprisingly simple knit, with more purling than I'd like, but I really enjoy the pattern. I'm knitting it in Cascade 220 Heather and I am really enjoying this yarn. It's very spriongy!

This scarf I haven't worked on since Chicago, but I thought I'd photograph it too. It's my "Seed-Stitch Self-Striping Striped Scarf." It's not very interesting to knit and I dislike making scarves in general, but I loved the colors and wanted something simple to display them. The blue-green color is particularly special since it's the Edgewater colorway from Lorna's Lace, which is my old Chicago neighborhood. The Purple is called Black Purl. It's just a nubbly scarf, but I like it. I might pull tassles on at the ned, but we'll see, I still have a lot of length to knit.

We don't have internet in the apartment yet, so the posting may still be spotty for a while. But keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow!

Unemployed, but no longer homeless

So last week, when I said I'd post this week, I forgot to take into account that I'd be living out of a suitcase at the mother-in-law's with dodgy internet and looking for a job and an apartment. But after week here, I've managed to secure a place to live starting September second and have sent out a dozen job applications. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some interviews next week. 

In other words, it's been both slow and crazy/stressful all at the same time. Yay for moving!

But I have had plenty of down time, which means I finally finished my Shock Wave socks that I've been working on for over a month, which considering the relative ease of the pattern, is longer than usual. They turned out very nice though, and since it's about 15 degrees colder here, have come in handy already.

I've also done about 34 rows of my Forecast cardigan since Monday evening, which is fast for me, so it evens out. In between job and home hunting, I did manage to check out a new (to me) yarn shop and bought some more sock yarn, so I'll be set for projects for a little while.

As all my belongings are shoved into two cars, I haven't had an opportunity to do any more sewing, which I miss more than I thought. I'm itching to get out my machine and start stitching, but it'll have to wait until the new place.

That said, I've yet to share the last project I finished just before the move.

It's basically the same shirt as the one from my new favorite outfit, but with a ruffle. But the best things about this shirt are threefold: 

1. I got the material for $2 at a garage sale
2. I actually got the collar stand right
3. I did my first bias tape on the sleeves and a french seam on the insides.

So all in all, it was a great learning shirt. And also fabulously snazzy. Of course, now all my projects will be more fall/winter in nature.

Well, I'm all internet/computer burned out after spending several hours on applications, but I'll be back soon!

SnB Northside

I know I haven't talked (typed?) much about knitting here recently, which isn't to say I haven't been knitting. I have, just due to high humidity and clammy hands, I haven't been knitted as much.

Prior to this year, I was a cold-weather only knitter. But the ladies of SnB Norhtside have made make the habit year-round, if only to share in their company one night a week.

For my first year in Chicago I went to my knitting circle on and off as my theatre scheduled permited, this year was a little more flexible and they had moved the lovely Kopi cafe, which is nice walk from my apartment.

As Mr. Cleaver can attest, Tuesday nights are often a highlight of my week and even if I screw up on a project, I always come home in a good mood.

This past Tuesday was a farewell party at SnB, with three members (myself included) leaving in the upcoming weeks.  I decided to bring along the camera to capture it all before I go away. So I'm just going to let the photos speak for themselves, with a caption or two (and if I misspell anyone's name I'm sorry!)