24 April 2008

equal parts sleepy and happy

So last week I went to see the Peter Doig show at the Tate. It was an amazing show, I think because it had this quietness to it, but also a lot going on. Every time I looked at a painting and thought I didn't like it, the second time or third time I walked by it, I would notice some squibble of paint, or a shadow, and it would make me suddenly realize that I really did like it. It shut down the usually non-stop chatter that goes through my head each and every moment of my waking and sometime sleeping life.

Anyway, when I left the Tate, I started walking through a nearby garden and as I was walking, suddenly there was this amazing gigantic church. I thought, "What could that church be?" And then there were all these crazy, old buildings, which I presumed were all churches. Sorry, London, for not knowing. It was the houses of parliament and Westminster Abbey. I didn't go in, 10 quid seemed a bit steep.

I got this Habu yarn, which doesn't really match my other Habu yarn.

So, you see, once again impulse-buying does me no good. In fact, I'm grumpy about it. I'm making a very ugly scarf with very nice yarn.

Two weeks ago I went to John Lewis, where I avoided impulse-buying, even though they had tons and tons of lovely Rowan yarn. I'm very intrigued by the cocoon stuff - mostly the metallic-y colors.

Oh, and I started a new job today. It's just two days a week, and I really like it and I really like the people I work with. It's also only for three months. The best thing about it, though, is it's in Islington, so it's a very nice walk up the canal, and the street I walk on has a lovely garden for having lunch in, and it's right near Loop!

And finally, I'm going to NYC next week for a couple of weeks. So much going on, especially when I can't be bothered to post for weeks on end.

11 April 2008

Edinburgh botanicals

The last of the photos from Edinburgh. Oh, did I mention I went to k1yarns while I was there? I did.

Anyhoo,









09 April 2008

More Scottish Borders

We drove through this landscape deep in the scottish borders, which was amazing for its bleakness and drama. In a few months it will be covered in pink and purple heathers, but right now, it looks almost like a moonscape. There were practically no other cars, though there were lots of sheep and lambs. I like lambs again. They're just too cute.







08 April 2008

Edinburgh & the Borders

Edinburgh:







I lost my first moss stitch beret, and I had an extra skein of the cascade pastaza, so I made a new one - I like it better, because the band around my head is tighter, so it's not always threatening to fall off:



My cozy v-neck is almost exactly the color of the borders...



The Scottish Borders:











03 April 2008

It's been awhile

I swatched. I washed my swatch. I measured. I did math. I made adjustments. I tried it on as I knit. I made a sweater that fits:



It's the cozy v-neck from Fitted Knits.



I really love the color, and that I actually made it and did a good job.

In the three or so weeks that have passed since last I posted, quite a lot has happened. I went to Loop, which is my new favorite store. So cute. Such nice yarn. So close to where I live.

We went to see lambs being born in Sussex. I didn't actually see any lambs being born, but I did see lots of fairly new-born lambs, and lots of afterbirth hanging from the ewe's you-know-whats. I forgot my camera, so no photos. After that afternoon, I had a much better understanding of what people mean when they use acting like sheep as a metaphor for human behaviour. I came away from the afternoon less excited about sheep. Though the sheep at the Hackney City Farm seem much less ... sheep-like. Maybe because there's only three or four of them. Now I'm more excited about goats. Partially from seeing all the photos of new babies at the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm. It just seems like goats would have a sense of humor, and sheep don't really seem to?

I've also been coughing for five weeks. Last week, I ended up in the emergency room, because I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe when I coughed. They took x-rays, blood tests, and found nothing wrong with me. But then, I went to my doctor today for the first time. He was really nice. He thinks I have pleurisy, which sounds worse (to me) than what it really is - a lower respiratory infection. So he gave me some penicillin, and hopefully it'll go away. I thought all the coughing was making my back muscles sore, but actually they're not sore at all. My lungs are sore, and it feels like my back.

Last bit of news, my landlady in Brooklyn, who's supposed to be taking care of our cat, Bruno, lost him. That's right, she lost him. She took him to her house in Vermont, and he's gone. I am really freaked out, worrying that the poor little guy might have spent the last days of his life in absolute misery. I am also more rationally expecting him to figure things out and end up safely with one of her neighbors. A friend was telling me today how a friend of his had moved 100 miles away, and one day his cat disappeared, and found its way back to its original home 100 miles away. Come on, Bruno! You can do it!

One thing I really like about London - there are great tights here.