Thursday, April 24, 2008

A Night to Remember



A couple weeks ago several members from my knitting group threw me a surprise bachelorette party. I was really caught off guard as I was expecting a low key dinner with my friend SP and ended up with a rowdy night of sharing drinks and appetizers at The Park (one of those uber trendy places in the Meatpacking District) followed by the Coyote Ugly type antics on display at the nearby bar Hogs and Heifers.

All identities have been concealed in order for the muggles to keep up their fantasies that knitters only sit at home with their cats playing with balls of string (Ok, we do that too sometimes but don't knock it until you've tried it!).



In addition to sewing a veil/tiara combo the multi-talented SP also made these awesome knitted panties for me. She definately wins the award for Best Achievement in a Last Minute Knitted Gift Award Involving Lace on Small Needles. Nothing says love and cheesy bachelorette fun more than an I-cord thong. Makes me tear up just thinking about it.



And so as to not end this post with a closeup of my newly acquired 'drawers feast your eyes on this beautiful sock yarn AP presented me with from the Adirondack Yarn Company. She bought herself a skein too so we can be 'Sock Sisters.' (Ok, I totally just made that term up but when it catches on faster than Ravelry you can say you heard it here first.)

Thanks again for thinking of me, you guys, and making this special time in my life all the more memorable...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

New Beginnings

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy with the wedding countdown and my birthday thrown in just for fun. I'm a real sap when it comes to birthdays. I think it's because your birthday is one of those times like the holidays when you really feel like a kid again. Plus having mine in spring always feels refreshing after a long dreary winter. Some people start over in the fall since that's when school starts. Others make a fresh start in January for the new year. I like to regroup every April when I hear the birds chirping letting me know my birthday has arrived.



Last Sunday I had my hair and makeup trial. My mom, sister, and niece came along and then took me out to a belated birthday lunch afterwards. Figuring it was Ainsley's 1st half-birthday (She'll be 6 months old next week) I surprised her with this super cute jacket. The back even has a little lamb tail. Now she's a baby in sheep's clothing!



On my actual birthday last Friday I was greeted by this display of balloons and gifts upon arriving at my cubicle. When you're crammed down in the sub-basement of a hospital with a bunch of women you can't help but bond. My co-workers were so awesome for doing this and took me out to lunch to Le Pain Quotidien to boot.



After work that day I had a little time to kill before dinner so I went over to one of those paint your own pottery jobbies over on 2nd Ave called "Make." JF joined me (and made many juvenile comments about the name of the store in the process) and we made this lovely cookie jar.



We must have painted the whole thing in 1/2 an hour as we were in a hurry but I'm really pleased with the result. I'll admit several stencils were used in the process! Cosette even makes an appearance on the side.



My original intent was to keep the jar open and use it to put large kitchen utensils in. I'm rethinking that now as the paw prints on the lid came out well and JF is threatening to throw the lid away if we're not going to use it now while I insist that the jar may have alternate uses in the future. Men-so short sighted!



Speaking of the big C here she is watching me snap pics of the cookie jar. She gets this adorable look in her eyes whenever she wants food or attention. It's just like that character Puss in Boots in Shrek who uses it as a distraction-it works every time!



After a lovely dinner at an organic vegan restaurant Candle Cafe JF gave me my present-the Knitpicks Harmony interchangeable needle set! It was funny because I was terribly excited about the gift while my non-knitting friends did a valid attempt at faking enthusiasm for something they had no understanding of. "Your fiance got you a bunch of colored sticks-how nice!"



For the benefit of my non-knitting friends and family who read this blog the set consists of 9 different sizes of knitting needles. It also includes two different lengths of cords. The ends of the needles and cords are designed so that you can screw the ends into each other and then you tighten it with a little key.


Voila! You would use a short cord for a small project like a hat or sleeve and a long cord for a large project like the body of a sweater or a blanket. Now I'll never have to delay casting on a new project because I don't have the right needle size at home. And the rainbow swirly pattern is really as an added bonus.