Knitters Wishlist

The following is a list of patterns I want because I eventually hope to knit them but don't yet own the patterns. Have you noticed I like lists?

• Wintergreen Mittens (R) by Kate Gilbert
• Deep V Argyle Vest (R) by Eunny Jang
• Forest Canopy Shawl(R) by Susan Lawrence
• Poinsettia Wreath Kit by ?
• Irtfa'a faroese lace shawl (R) by Anne Hanson

And, Knitting/Crafting books/magazines I would love someday:

• Interweave Knits Fall 2007: for Tangled Yoke pattern (R) and the sock patterns purchased at LYS 12/13/07
  
• Knitscene Fall 2006: for Central Park Hoodie pattern (R)
• Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughn: all of it?
  

Knitting/Crafting books to get from the library:

• Knit Wit: Okay, I only want one pattern (R), so I should just get this out of the library.
• Last Minute Knitted Gifts: I only want the chevron scarf (R) and maybe hourglass (R)
  

I'll add more later, but, this is it so far.

Ravelry Cup a Tea Swap

Sorry so long with no posts! I've been spending too much of my free time knitting, and not enough of it writting about the knitting. =]
Before I get to my new projects, I'm going to do a write up of the wonderful swap I participated in and the awesome package I recieved! (My poor recepient still does not have her package...I have to wait for the yarn to arrive!)

My 'upstream' swapper (I think that's the term) was CynthiaCC, and she gave me an amazing package!

This is the box - look how nicely everything is packed!

And this is my loot!

In there is:

• Weekend Knitting (which I've wanted forever but never got around to buying)
• Good Earth Organic Seven Spice Chai Tea (which i haven't tried but which smells awesome)
• Yogi Indian Spice tea (which I brewed up as soon as I finished taking pictures)
• Mirage tea (from her local tea shop - Cynthia kindly included a description: "A superior blend of coconut and pineapple bits with marigold and cornflower blossoms." It smells divine and I can't wait to try it!)
• Cranberry Orange biscotti (how fall! Since yesterday was filled with Thanksgiving treats, I decided to wait before opening these, but I can't wait!)
• Mirage Yarn from Twisted Sisters in gin blue(That Cynthia is smart - did you notice the yarn has the same name as the rooibos tea? They match!)
• Blue Face Leicester Aran from Fleece Artist in Marine (So beautiful! It's an amazing combination of blue and green and purple - it's my favorite color mix!)
• A lovely card (with beautiful blue and white flowers)
  

AND! Last but BEST!

• A hand made teacozy!

I'd just finished making a teacozy as a gift for my friend's birthday, so I've been frustrated by how hard they are to make, especially to fit my teapot - a Personalitea from Adagio. Cynthia's cozy fit perfectly!

Of course, once I finished unpacking all the goodies I simply had to go make some tea! It was late afternoon, so I tried the Indian spice. As I was opening the teabag, the yogi tag gave me this bit of wisdom:

It seemed very applicable to the wonderful generosity of the knitting community in general, and, in this case, CynthiaCC in particular.

Here's a shot of my teapot enjoying its cosy:

Now, I'm sure you saw that and laughed, but my thought at the time was "wow, I've never seen a cozy pattern so smart! It keeps the top of my tea warm, but keeps the bottom flat to sit on my desk! I wonder if she made it up herself." After taking the cozy off I realised......I'd had it on backwards. =] Hey, whatever keeps my tea warm!

A million thank yous to Cynthia! This was a great introduction to the knitting swap world. =]

Expect another post about what *I* have been knitting later in the day, but until then, drink some tea! If you've never had Adagio tea and want to try it, you can get a free gift certificate by entering your name in the little box on the right hand side. (The aplet was designed by Adagio, so I won't see your email address, only them. There's no catch to the free tea; a similar certificate is how I started drinking them and they're one of my favorite tea places yet!)

Things I Like Today

I'm sure you're all wondering what that white circular thing is, and why it's not a picture of my socks! I'm sorry I haven't posted a picture of my socks, I haven't been able to take a good one yet. It's been raining almost nonstop this week, which is great for the plants, because it's been very dry, but not so great for taking nice pretty outdoor sock pictures. In the meantime, I've started my second sock! I anticipated a bad case of second sock syndrome, especially since I have so many new projects I want to try, so I cast on and knitted half an inch or so immediately after casting off sock one.

I don't have all that much to say, so I'm going to do another list of things I like, which will include the weird thing on the side.

• Method Aroma Ring (yeah, that's the weird thing)
  I was at Target today and I saw the Method had a line of Holiday scents. Now, I love most holiday related things. Their holiday scents were peppermint vanilla, holly berry, and cinnamon bark. I wasn't a big fan of the holly berry. I don't usually like fruit scented house things - the scent is almost always too strong for me. I was excited by the other options. I love most things cinnamon or spice scented in general, and the peppermint vanilla reminded me of one of my favorite candles. This candle is an Aroma Naturals soy candle I got last holday season. It somehow smells just like those after dinner peppermints - sweet and minty, and delicious. It's the first scented candle I've burned to within half an inch of its life. Anyhow, back to the aroma ring. I saw it was a scented thing that I didn't have to set on fire or plug in, so I decided I'd try it. I got it in pepermint vanilla, and got refills in....gingerbread spice! Seeing the gingerbread spice made me crave the similarly named Starbucks latte. The aroma ring...right. So, moral is, I took it home, unwrapped the foil bit and sat it there. It just sits there, people! I love it. Nice fresh scent. Cool modern looking weird vibe. That's that thing I like.
  
  
• Blueprint Magazine
  If you are not familear with Blueprint magazine, I'd suggest you go to your local booksellers and pick up a copy! I say this despite the fact my local bookstore didn't *have* the newest issue and I had to get it at Target, but, that's neither here nor there. Blueprint is one of Martha Stewart's latest ventures. It's been around for over a year now - maybe around two years? I'm not sure exactly - and it's aimed at the 'early career professional' set. (my term, not theirs). Normally, I read a lot of magazines. My local libraries have always had a decent selection, and when they don't, I'm not above browsing through some at bookstores. My family subscribes to Gourmet and Food and Wine, so I get to read those when they're done. I also like to read style magazines (though those I don't subscribe to) and I've become a big fan of Women's Health. At the library, I also check out Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple. All together that's food magazines, craft magazines, fashion magazines and health magazines. The way I like to figure it, Martha (yes, we're on a first name basis; we're Facebook friends!) was looking through her stack of magazines and thought "I know, why not take ALL THESE THINGS and put them into ONE AWESOME MAGAZINE" and thus, Blueprint was created. That's my mind, at least. In reality, I personally think it's just plain awesome. I wish it were every month, not every two months, and I wish the issues were much longer, but as far as it goes, I'm a fan.
  
  
• Thai Food
  Okay, so, this wasn't going to go on the list, but I just went out for an amazing dinner with my mom and stepdad. We had a whole fish, deep fried and then covered with sauce, and it was AMAZING. I had a beef salad as an appatiser. It wasn't what I meant to order, but I didn't want to give it back, so I ate it and DAMN was it spicy. Now, my stepdad loves spicy food, to the extent that when he goes to a new restaurant, he says "pretend I wasn't white and make it as spicy as you can, I won't send it back" or something to that effect, and they do. Tonight I could see the chilies on all his dishes from across the table. The restaurant we went to tonight is one of their favorites, and they have a favorite waiter who knows them well. Unfortunately for me, this means that *everything* ordered by the table is spicier than usual. I was somewhat convinced, for part of the evening, my lips would fall off. But, our fish was delicious.
  
  
• Pumpkin Yogurt
  I'm sure to some of you that sounds disgusting. I'm sorry. For those who are wondering where they could get such a thing, I must sadly tell you you can't purchase it. This is an original recipe, so to speak...take some Fage greek yogurt and add a tablespoon or two of Trader Joe's Pumpkin butter. Mix, and enjoy! This is my favorite desert. I need to pull out the icecream make and make a batch of pumpkin frozen yogurt. I think that might end up being my favorite thing ever.

So much for lists. I'm sorry there aren't any good pictures - like I said, when the weather clears!

Fall!

Things I love about fall:

• Pumpkins!
• The smell of leaves
• Cozy sweaters
• Holding a cup of tea just warm enough to warm you up
• Knitting! (Okay, I always love knitting, but it just feels *right* during the fall)
• The color of the light (I swear it's more golden)
• Fresh baked bread (I also like this about winter. Summer? Not so much.)
• The way marigolds are mirrored in the foliage (This refers to specific marigolds and specific trees, yes, but I still love it!)

This year I haven't done quite so much baking. For September I was too busy (and too tired) to do much - just roasting brussel sprouts took all the food energy I have! Plus there's this whole trying to become more compact thing. Starting tomorrow, I'm going on an almost-week-long trip to New York with one of my best friends from highschool (hi M!) and I know whatever we eat will be less healthy than the nice meat or fish and two or three vegetable meals I've been eating at home. That's one thing I do like about being home - my family really has this whole 'cooking dinner' thing down pat.

I've been tentatively planning my birthday party (mostly in my mind) and I think I'll make my absolute favorite pumpkin pancakes then. The recipe makes somewhere upwards of 30 pancakes, and they're filling enough I can rarely eat more than two or three. Last year when I made them I froze the extras in little preportioned ziplocks - three mini pancakes per bag - and I'd just pull them out and defrost them in the toaster when I had a bit of extra time for breakfast - or just when I wanted something a little more decadent. They're great with yogurt and maple syrup with a cup of chai! The only thing I change in the recipe is I double all the spices. I generally double cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in any sweet recipe that calls for them, it adds a little spice.

Anyways, New York! I've been looking all around my bookshelves for my NFT guide (which I bought for my first tourist outing to the city, of course) so I could bring that along with my Moleskine City notebook. I don't know the city that well, having only been a few times. M, my friend I'm traveling with, lived there while she interned at a museum a few summers ago, so I'm counting on her to introduce me to all the fun places. My only plans are to hopefully hit Alice's Teacup and PurlSoho. Tea and yarn! Two of my favorite things. Oh! We're also going to see Pygmalion, thanks, in large part, to Hiptix, a program the Roundabout Theatre runs to make theatre more affordable for the under thirtyfive set. It's free to join, so if you're going to be in the New York area and fit the age limits, I'd encourage it. I have a special place in my heart for Roundabout after seeing their Threepenny Opera last summer staring Alan Cumming, Nellie Mckay, and Cindi Lauper. It was a Wallace Shawn translation! I do get what the critics hated, but I enjoyed it.

I think I'm going to play around with my template to see if I can't get something a little more fall appropriate. Later!