Because I Promised Pictures...


Here, we have Blanket. It is a work in progress. Alex is thrilled, and I'm kinda happy to be working on it, too. :-) I just need to go on another yarn run to get the last half's worth. I hate when I underestimate myself.

This is a vintage project; I got on this mini-sweater kick a couple of years ago and made a bunch. I was thinking of making some this year to give away as ornaments, so I thought I'd show off one. So cute, so easy to make - and I sewed it up the same day that I knit it, so it deserves to be shown!

My first real crochet project from a pattern - it's the One-Skein Scarf from The Happy Hooker (Deb Stoller's crochet bible). I really chose this picture because Gypsy's face is truly priceless. I think this may be the most hilarious picture I have ever taken of her...

I Got A Vickie Howell Shout-Out!

If you don't know who Vickie Howell is, get off this blog. Nah, just kidding. ;-) Anyway, Vickie Howell is the ultra-cool host of one of my DIY addictions - actually, the reason I became addicted to DIY - Knitty Gritty. She's also one of the hosts of Stylelicious, where you can learn to make cool stuff like tote bags out of duct tape. Check it out if you get a chance.

Anyway, I LOVE Knitty Gritty and Vickie Howell rocks. I've been reading her blog for a little while, and it turns out, she's going to start podcasting - like I needed more knitting stuff to do on the Web. :-) She's asking fellow bloggers to promote the link, so I link to the podcast (Look to your right. See the icon? Awesome.) and let the webmaster know. And I got a shoutout! I am so psyched!

In other news, still knitting secret stuff like crazy. But I'm also re-knitting Blanket. Need a refresher on the Saga of Blanket?

When Alex was first born, I crocheted him a blanket from this great light cotton yarn. Which I promptly forgot (okay, it wasn't prompt, it was like 10 months later) at a friend's house and I've yet to get back. Grr.

So I set out to make Alex another blanket. I got the same yarn - I believe it's Sugar & Cream, or something like that - I have to check the label, which is home and I'm typing this up at work. Anyway. I got the yarn in a really nice blue, white and yellow variegated, and made the Big Bad Baby Blanket from my Knitting Bible, Stitch & Bitch. Alex loves it. I mean, LOVES it. It is named Blanket, and he's like a miniature Linus. He can't sleep without it, travel without it, anything. Blanket is there. He wouldn't even potty train unless he was holding Blanket.

One day, about a year ago, Blanket started to unravel. So I checked it out, figuring I'd just stitch up the loose end or something. Oh, no. Blanket was literally wearing away in spots. I took custody of it, hoping to fix it and give it back within a week. No good. Blanket is now occupying a spot where I keep Will's & Alex's baby clothes, delicately wrapped in its own Blanket.

I knit up another blanket for Alex, this time with a worsted weight, blue yarn. No good. It wasn't Blanket. For over a year, I've heard about how he misses Blanket.

So finally, I go and get more yarn. Blanket Yarn. All I had to do was flash Alex the ball of yarn and he jumped up and yelled, "BLANKET!"

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Blanket, and realize I need more yarn. Gar. But at least Blanket's in progress. He may be a UFO for now (unfinished object), but he'll be done. Soon. And that's one picture I can post!

I Hate the Trains

What the heck has been up with the trains? Today is my one-month anniversary at Working Mother (and if you've been reading for the past couple of years, you know that's a reason to celebrate) and I swear to you, I have not had ONE DAY where the commute to work has been aggravation-free. This morning, I dropped the kids off at school and was at the train station by 8:10 - a personal best, if I may say so myself.

No train. Okay, one'll be along shortly.

Five minutes. No train. I'm reading my book, trying to unlock my jaw. Okay, so I'll get there just in time, today. Maybe I'll get my coffee after I get to my desk.

Ten minutes. A crowd is forming. Some woman asks me, "Are there delays?" I restrain my irritable, pre-2nd cup of coffee-response and say, "I don't know." I debate taking the local on the other side and catching an express at Forest Hills. Then I decide against it, remembering that strategy has bitten me on the backside every single time.

Roughly about 20 minutes later, a V pulls in. It is so packed that I can't even look at my cell phone clock to see what time it actually is. Luckily, my book's already out because otherwise I'd be forced to spend the commute reading the same old ads on the train. Grr.

The train crawls into NYC, and I get out of the train at 9:12. Yay for freaking me. I decide to get McDonald's for breakfast and soothe my raging temper.

This has got to get better - it's been a damned month, already. What should be at most a 40-minute commute takes over an hour. WTF?

I Don't Wanna Work, I Just Wanna Bang on the Drum All Day...

Not a statement about the job. Love the job. I think I'm still on vacation in my brain. Maybe wandering the mansions of the Cliff Walk made my desire to be idle rich even more prevalent. Who knows? All I know is that I've got the attention span of a 4-year old today. Mayhaps I should take a walk and get some fresh air. But honestly, I don't want to expend the energy. How sad is that?

I just hung out on Ravelry.com and checked out some of the knitting groups. I belong to Subway Knitters, but there is a group for everything. I think I'll keep it small, so I can actually post to the group with some regularity.

Snackage. I am snacky. I want to get a bag of Veggie Chips but I that would require the expenditure of energy. Can't I will them to me?

More Rhode Island Goodness

The happy couple, at the rehearsal dinner on Thursday night.

The Three Mrs. Kiladitises (Kiladitii?) at the wedding on Friday -
we took our jackets and wraps off for the shot, but we were freezing!

Back to the Cliff Walk - Mike decided it would be funny to sit where there was no guard rail and laugh at me.

He finally got me out there, and I was terrified the whole time. See me clinging to the rock?

More water. Nothing exciting to write, just very relaxing and beautiful to look at.

Aaahhhh...

Rhode Island has officially knocked Virginia down to the #2 spot on my "Places to Drop NY Like a Hot Potato For" list. We were there for Mike's cousin Jen's wedding last week, and I fell in love shortly after arrival (and congrats, Jen and JP!).

I located a yarn store within 20 minutes of our arrival - baby, I Googled yarn stores weeks before we left - and got some nice, blue yarn that I've started knitting with already (can't divulge more than that for a few months, sorry) and it knits up like a dream.

We went on a Cliff Walk to see all the Old Moneyed mansions - as Mike's uncle puts it, "These people considered you 'new money' if you made your first million after 1908." The Vanderbilt's estate, The Breakers, was just amazing. I took this picture right by the estate. Can you imagine looking at that when you woke up every morning?

We missed the kids unbelievably, but it was nice to play boyfriend and girlfriend again.

We also found the best Thai Restaurant ever, Thai Cuisine, on the main drag, Thames Street. To say we gorged ourselves is probably putting it mildly, but it was all worth it. Any chance they do takeout to New York?

Nope, haven't started sewing yet...

I still haven't started that skirt that I bought the fabric for. I think I have to dig my apartment out from under all the accumulating crap first. We've been in the swing of seasonal clothing changes, so we've got large Rubbermaid containers all throughout the place, not to mention the usual cavalcade of junk laying around. I'm ready to hire a professional organizer at this point. Or Tim Gunn. But that's just for my clothes.

Speaking of Tim, has anyone checked out Tim Gunn's Guide to Style? I have to admit, I was a little disappointed; I don't know what I expected, but it's just another makeover show. Kind of like Queer Eye, minus 4. I'm psyched for the new season of Project Runway, though.

Little stressed trying to learn everything at the job these days, but otherwise loving being back at work - if, at times, a little guilty.

Break time's over; more to come.

Some Knitting, Some Sewing, Some Sleeping...

...describes the weekend. I had a great day out with the girls when Nancy, Stacey and I took off to go shopping yesterday. Any day that involves unlimited salad & breadsticks at Olive Garden is a good day for me. I even purchased some new yarn - cotton yarn to recreate Alex's beloved 'blanket', which literally wore away about a year and a half ago. I knitted it for him when he was first born, and he became like Linus with it. When it first started to fall apart, I tried to mend it but like I said, it was literally worn away in some spots. So I just knit up another one, with a regular yarn. He's tolerated us, but continues to ask for 'Blanket'. So I got home yesterday, whipped out one of the balls of yarn, and said, "Hey Alex, what's this?" He jumped up and down and said, "BLANKET!" It kind of blows me away that he remembers it.

Will is sullen because I haven't started that massive skull blanket project from DomiKNITrix yet, but that's HUGE.

I also got some fabric because Stacey insists that I can too make a simple wrap skirt using one of the patterns I got when Rag Shop went out of business. Let's see how simple it is when I call her, sobbing, at 1 a.m. one night soon... ;-)

I Haven't Disappeared Again...

...I'm just wiped. The new job is great - loving it! But I'm still getting back into the swing of things, and the school year is ramping up, so I'll be back shortly. Just let me get some more sleep...

Zombie Hunters, A Little Late...

I totally forgot to post some of the pictures from the Zombie Hunters shoot we were on a few weeks ago. What a great time. Mike was particularly thrilled at the chance to break a bottle over Patrick's head - something he's wanted to do for 15 years! Stacey got a bit bloody - she blogged about it, too.

I'll be updating the Zombie Hunters blog, so I'll post here when it's live with some juicy links.

Attack of the Crankies

Wow, I'm bitchy today. I just feel irritable and ready to bite someone's head off. I think being at home with the boys all summer long has whittled down a lot of patience. Only a couple of days more... I've even packed my little 'desk drawer bag', or the Duane Reade bag as I call it. All my little necessities, all in one convenient spot.

I think I'll do a week's worth of ironing, just to feel like I'm getting closer to the big day.

I'm at a knitting impasse at the moment, which is also making me cranky. I'm being my notorious self when it comes to finishing one piece that's been done for weeks, and something that should be relatively simple has a small stumbling block that's sent me off into inaction. And since knitting has become such a soothing activity for me, that's made me very irritable. Grr.

I think I need to do some yoga. I've skipped two days and think I'm starting to feel it. Which can be a good thing, since it means I've gotten back into a routine - hurrah!

And in a complete tangent, anyone want to discuss Britney's tragic performance at the VMAs? Or has Kanye's whiny meltdown moved to the topic du jour? Dude, he makes Alex look mature. Yeesh.

Ah... Insomnia...

Coming to you live from New Jersey again, it's 12:54 a.m. and I cannot sleep. Grr. Aside from Alex's small but incredibly bony elbows sticking me into the back, I'm just keyed up like crazy, obsessing on wrapping up business at the current job, enjoying my last few days as a mostly at-home mom, and getting ready to start a new page the week after.

If there were space, I'd do some yoga. But space is tight and I know I'd somehow crack my head open doing an intense downward dog. I'd knit, but I'd need the light on and that would definitely wake one of the boys up at least. I'm lucky the glow of the computer monitor hasn't roused them yet. I'd eat, but lots of things are starting to fit now that haven't in a long time, so I'm not jeopardizing that. Besides, I did some damage earlier at this street festival thingie Will wanted to go to.

Not only was it hotter than the outer reaches of Hell, but the food was awful. If I'm going to blow my healthy eating plan in a spectacular way for the day, it'd better be tasty. Any kind of outdoor festival must involve either zeppole or funnel cake. I saw a sign claiming to have zeppole, 6 for 3 bucks. Not bad! I order a bag and peek inside, waiting for a waft of hot, doughy powdered sugary goodness to hit. Zeppole, my foot. Zeppole turds, yes. They were these hard, tiny things that look like premature zeppole. And they were overcooked. Feh.

Of course, I ate them. Hey, I'm an eternal optimist - what if one of them was done right?

I've got to wander to a site that requires less typing and more reading. More to come, perhaps when the daylight hours hit.

Two Down!

Alex, ready to take on the world in his TMNT backpack today

Will and Alex at the playground for Will's first day, yesterday

I've got two kids in school. It feels so weird to say that.

Will started third grade yesterday - I think the bloom is off the rose, so to speak. He's happy to be around his friends again, but I'm not sure how much he loves school. I think he's turning into a 'dude'. I'm a little worried, what with this being the first year of the state tests that our NYC Public school kids must endure, so I'll have to sit tight and brace for the rough ride. I'm hoping I'm worrying for naught.

Alex, on the other hand, LOVES school. Walking with him today, I asked him if I could cry. He told me no, because he'd "be home later!" First into his classroom, he greeted his teachers with a happy "GOOD MORNING!", happily chose his own cubby, and proudly displayed his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack for them. Then he put his picture on the attendance board and ran to the circle time area to read. I barely got a kiss on the side of my ear because his new buddy, Jason, had arrived.

It's very strange, after being home for 9 months, to suddenly have 2 1/2 hours to oneself. I went back to Will's school to help escort new kindergarten parents and kids to the classrooms, and then took a nice, long walk. I figured if I rushed home just to sit in silence, I'd be pissed at myself for wasting two hours on a beautiful day. So I walked into Forest Hills, ended up at Barnes & Noble with a $25 gift card from my CafeMom Secret Sister (mwah! Love ya!), and browsed the crafting titles with an intensity normally reserved for parent-teacher conferences.

I ended up getting three kids' books and a free Halloween tote bag. Hey, I've got $6.50 left on the gift card, I'll get a new magazine; maybe the next issue of Interweave Knits.

I saw a chapter book for Will that looked interesting - and honestly, anything that keeps him reading these days, when it's getting tougher and tougher, is a book I'm going for. I've got the first in a new series, Fred and Anthony's Escape From the Netherworld. It's definitely going for the Captain Underpants audience, a couple of years older. And it claims to have "Ghosts! Monsters! Blood! Guts!" on the cover, so I'll take it. Wish me luck.

Alex, for whom reading and being read to is still a pleasure (please, please, PLEASE stay that way!), got two books (well, I figure he and Will could share one). Max's Halloween, which is a cute board book featuring Max from Max and Ruby, who Alex loves. Very cute stuff. I also saw a book by Carl Reiner, Tell Me a Scary Story - But Not Too Scary. It even came with a CD of Carl Reiner reading the book, with sound effects. For $7.99 and the chance at getting a free tote bag, it sealed the deal. The book is a home run with both boys, by the way - I've played the CD for Alex three times today, and Will's just put it in now. Score, baby!

I've finished off two books myself, but I'll blog more about them later. I'm wiped and I still have to get one kid out of the bath and put one in. And work out. And iron. I think I should rename myself Cinderella.

School Starts Tomorrow? Holy Crap!

So it's Labor Day today (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and I find myself embracing the fact that Will goes back to school tomorrow, and that Alex starts Pre-K the following day. And yes, I will cry like a 2-year old with a skinned knee when he does.

After being home all summer with the boys, I'm grateful to have had the time with them, but as I've said before and will say again until the day I die, being an at-home mom (or a part-time at-home mom, as I've been for the past few months) ain't pretty. I think I've said the word "Guys" in a threatening voice approximately every 2.5 seconds every day since June 28th, when Will got out of school. "Please!" follows, clocking in at about 3.2 second intervals. I've almost had sunstroke from being out in the park, while my children play blissfully on, I've watched a lot of DIY Network (new obsession show: Greetings from DIY - Lauren and Linda, I'm talking to you), I've knit a lot and even got to know my sewing machine a little better. I've baked a lot of muffins, I've explored some new recipes, and I've had a lot of fun.

That said, I'm thrilled to say I've accepted a full-time job! Starting on September 17, you can find me at Working Mother Magazine, where I'll be a Consumer Marketing Manager. I'm so excited; I've been reading the mag on and off for about 8 years, and to have the opportunity to be a part of the magazine is so exciting. I love the location (42nd right off of Vanderbilt), which will leave me the opportunity to meet with Stacey for some mac & cheese at Burger Heaven (mmmm...); I really hit it off with the people I interviewed with, and I'm thrilled and hopeful, which I haven't really been much of in a while.

The boys are excited to be in afterschool - yes, after I started my little experiment, figuring I'd give them the home-time and security and freedom I thought they were lacking, they turn around and tell me they miss their friends. Who knew?

So it's Fall, the kids are going back to school, and I kind of feel like they do, as I get ready to go back to work. I'm psyched that I'll have their first two weeks of school off for them (especially since I don't feel like scrambling so early on to find out where to put them on Rosh Hoshanah).

And to be mercenary for just a moment, it'll sure be nice to have two full-time paychecks again... a girl's gotta have yarn, ya know...

** NEW ** THE OFFICE SUMMER VACATION

I cannot WAIT for the premiere! And hour-long episodes for the first FOUR weeks? The Office rocks!

Happy Birthday!!

Alex is now the big "4"! Happy birthday, sweetie!

Soggy Summer

Here it is, August, and I feel like I've wandered into March by mistake. Yeesh.

Well, I've been in beautiful downtown Dumont, NJ, since Tuesday - a getaway with the kids at Nana's - and it's been soggy. I'm hoping the weather lets up today so I can get them to a park. My uncle stopped by and took us to a Burger King with a playground yesterday, and then to a store to do some school supply shopping (which Will does begrudgingly), so that was nice. I'm hoping he calls again today, because I get antsy being stuck in doors all day - especially when I'm indoors with two little ones who get wackier than I do.

Alas, payday isn't until tomorrow, so my beloved Skein Attraction remains in the distance. Uncle Bill offered to take me yesterday, but going into a yarn store with no resources is just cruel and unusual punishment. I continue to amuse myself with my Baby Ull yarn, picked up last time. The pattern has given me a little less agita since I fooled around with it, so I've gotten much of the pieces knit; now I just have the inevitable (sob) assembly - and you can bet I'll be at Skein Attraction for that.

I really have to work on the Zombie Hunters press kit. I'm showing it tomorrow. I've got to clean up the stationery I've concepted, and need to pick up red and black folders today. Lots of cutting and pasting in my immediate future. I've got some cool production stills printed out, just have to whittle down exactly which ones I'll use. I'm going to probably let Patrick vote on the final 4 or 5. Then I go to work on the blogs and CafePress store that I've set up.

I went on a tear and read every script, and I can't believe how good the storyline is. It's great stuff, and I hope this really takes off. I'll keep this space posted on the developments. I'll be AD'ing this weekend, so that's cool. It's been a long time since I've been behind the cameras!

Bad Blogger...

I've been a bad blogger. I have so much stuff to write, and of course, I've blanked. Grr. So expect updates as my memory recovers.

One thing I would love to blog about is my trip to an honest-to-goodness LYS (local yarn store, for all the non-knitters out there). I've read lots about the LYS phenomenon, but locally for me means A.C. Moore or Michael's (which have lots of nifty yarns - I've embraced the racks there on a regular basis for a while now). But man, I haven't been to a place dedicated solely to yarn and the knit/crochet craft since I left Garden City (Garden City Stitches, where I spent many a lunch hour ogling and pawing at the beautiful yarns). I found a place by mom, The Skein Attraction, in Teaneck. And it was there that I found Valhalla...

Yarn, as far as the eye could see. A big table in the middle of the store, with women knitting away and laughing. A little spot for kids in the back, so I don't have to hear Alex's chorus of "BO-RING!" as I wander the baskets of yarn. A very, very nice proprieter who looked at the pattern I showed her (which I can't talk about here just yet, as the person for whom it's destined may be reading this) and led me to the most adorable yarn - and I didn't have to mortgage any future earnings to take it home. Skein Attraction rocks, and I'll definitely be back.

Um... actually, I have to go back... because the pattern is giving me agita already. Grr.

But I'm working on a different pattern for now, so all is well. As long as I have something to knit, I'm safe to be around these days.

One more word about knitting - I picked up the 25th Anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting. Awesome.

My Personal DNA

After Stacey's observation that we haven't been doing enough quizzes lately, I found this one courtesy of USA Today's Pop Candy...

My personalDNA Report

Star Trek Meets Monty Python