Where Did The Socks Go?

And you say whaaaaaat?

Well... Let me back track a bit. Last Thursday, work sent me to NYC for East Pack Expo. With such a short notice, I decided to cast on a pair of easy socks to knit while I am walking around in the expo. I started them while i was on the train, and once I got out of Grand Central (no photo there... DOH!) I started walking towards to Freefoods for breakfast. While walking, I show my pair of socks around town:

Time Square was a little dark due to the clouds. Oh well. While I was at Freefoods, I had a hard time choosing what I want to eat since there were so many different awesome organic foods there, but I settle for these:

My melon smoothie and mango. The smoothie is made with honeydew, goats milk yogurt, honey and mint, and the mango was infused with agave syrup and mint. I also got an organic bagel with organic cream cheese - SO YUMMY.

Sadly, I would say that's about the highlight of my expo trip, since the trade show isn't THAT exciting. I did have one person come up to me while knitting and asked me if my needles were "medical devices". HUH? Yeah...

Saturday I went to Dream Come True Farm with Archiknist. I swear I thought we were going to melt while we were there - it was SO. HOT. And it still is! While we were there, we saw two Nigerian goats. They were so tiny and cute!

That's a mama goat!!! Isn't she cute and tiny? :) She actually provides the milk that makes the soaps the farm sells! So awesome. There are also llamas, alpacas and sheep on site. I was so good and didn't buy anything!!!

Speaking of anything, a box showed up in my house few days ago:

A drop spindle and lots of rovings! When I went to MDS&W last month, I went to the ravelry party, but due to time constraint, I didn't stay for the raffle and gave my ticket to Anarchy, who I met during the party. Apparently my ticket won, and instead of keeping the drop spindle, she messaged me in ravelry and sent me the spindle, and threw in some roving for me to try too! Knitters are SO generous! I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm thinking of doing that this weekend.

Another thing I received this past week was this:

It's the Amish Friendship Bread from Knitsheady. Today is day 9, and tomorrow, I need to split it and bake it and give four of the starters to four friends. It's a good thing I'm going to SnB tomorrow :) I saw this on the internet a lot, and apparently it's quite a popular thing to do - although it is my first one ever.

So no knitting to show this post due to these:

I've been busy making my wedding invitations. I decided that I really like the one I saw online but didn't want to pay the hefty price, so I bought whole sheet paper and am making them myself! I want to mail them up at the 1000 Islands so I got less than a month to finish them. I better hurry! It's a good thing I'm almost done with the cover :).

Well, I'm off cutting more paper. Maybe next time, there will be some knitting to show, or maybe even garden stuff! :)

Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend last year was a big weekend for David and I. Our truck broke down in the Finger Lakes region and we made it up to 1000 Islands in time to go to all the appointments for looking at locations for our wedding!

This year, we went to up to check out some hotels and properties for potential vacation home/land. So instead of camping, we stayed at The Wooden Boat Inn in Clayton. It is a cute little place that has five rooms with a garage and patio with a fireplace. The Inn Owner Diane and the housekeeper Sue were both super nice and friendly. We arrived around 11:30pm on Friday night. I got the key from where Diane told me is going to be and walked into the room we have. Each room has a handmade quilt bedspread with matching pillows. Our room also had a rocking chair with a crocheted blanket. The room isn't super big, but it was very comfortable and clean, with a touch of "home" feel, which was very nice.

The garage has a microwave and a fridge for guest use. We went shopping the next day for some burger for grilling. Yes, they also had a grill for us to use! Plates, cups, utensils were all provided as well! It was ALMOST camping except we are staying in a room. On the second night, we actually got some firewood and started a fire at the fire place and sat outside and enjoy the sky and quietness.

Needless to say, we really liked this place. We are actually going to stay there when we go up before our wedding! I highly recommend this place to anyone who travels up to the 1000 Islands and need a place to stay.

Besides checking out Wooden Boat Inn, we also went to see a Captain Simon's B&B down the street. The place is gorgeous and the owner Bonnie is a sweetheart. She gave me a quick tour of the house and was eager to have my friends and family to stay there.

We went back to the Hart House to refresh our memory of what the place look like, and also how we can hang some of the lanterns we bought for the outside. Jo, the inn keeper was out working in the yard when we arrived so she showed us around again and gave us some ideas on what we could do with the house and yard. I was getting excited just talking to Jo about all the plans I want to have!

While we were on the Wellesley Island, we stopped at Park Antiques in the Thousand Island Park, a private community on the Island. I love going in there because they ahve real antique stuff, not junk as you think of most of the antique stores. I bought a pearl ring there, but silly me forgot to take a picture before I send it to the jeweler for resizing. But I did take a picture of this:

Yes, that's a GIANT spinning wheel! A very old style one. I wish I have the room to buy it. It was a very good price and even for decoration for a craft area would have been very very cool. But it's okay, I did buy this:

A primitive yarn winder! I know, it's a little backwards to buy a yarn winder first, when I don't have a spinning wheel, but this way I can be sure to get the spinning wheel!! See my logic? ;)

On Sunday, David and I drove to Cape Vincent to see the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse since we've never been and it was only 20 mins away!

It was a little cold but gorgeous there. We looked through the telescope and saw another lighthouse on the lake:

I know, not the best picture, but I tried.

After leaving Cape Vincent, we headed to Theresa for the Home Again Farm. It is an alpaca farm, which isn't too far from where we were.

Of course, I couldn't leave without some yarn!!!

So soft! And pretty! I'm thinking of making the Heartland Lace Shawl with it but I'm not sure if I have enough yardage. I'll have to be creative about this.

So overall, it was a productive and relaxing weekend. We love it up there and it would be awesome if we can just spend the whole summer there!!! So if you are looking for a cool place to go, I highly recommend you to travel up to the 1000 Islands!

MDS&W & Sock Pentathlon Sock #2

In case you are wondering, that's "Maryland Sheep and Wool". I wasn't able to go last year, but this year, I was SOOOOO there.

I took a half day on Friday and took the train down to Baltimore. I've never taken Amtrak before and I have to say I had quite a pleasant experience. And I met a couple of nice people too! Once I got there, I took a taxi and went to MamaE's Party! Sadly, I didn't take ANY picture! I was too excited to meet E and SweetSheep!!! But I did get a photo with them the next day!

Sneaksleep came and meet me up at the party, and after the party, I went back with her to her house for a nap cap and got up for the big day.

And see who we saw!!! :)

Zarzuela!!! She had move to Jersey a couple of years back and I haven't seen her since then! It was so great to see her there!

There were lots of sheep, llamas, alpacas, angora bunnies, and of course, there were food, yarn, and people spinning.

And while I was eating lunch, I noticed quite a bit of buttercup:

After the first day, Sneaksleep and I went to the Ravelry party - it was fun, and a lot less people than I expected. We stayed for a little while before we went and met up with the rest of the New Haven gang for some fondue at Melting Pot.

That was the first time I've been to a Melting Pot and it was so much fun! Although a little on the pricey side, but it was totally worth it, especially the chocolate fondue!

Yum. (that was the s'mores fondue, you should try it if you go!)

Sunday was a lot less intense, even the traffic was a lot less. Sneaksleep and I say goodbye after an hour in the fairground, and I left with Sami, Karen, Brenda and Beth around noon. While I was in the car, I was busy working on the Sock Pentathlon Sock #2 - Berlin Muster. I finished first sock while in the car on the way home, but the sewing needles were in the trunk with my overnight bag, so I couldn't finish the grafting, so what is a girl to do?

Use the buttons I got from the festival and parties! (and you call me crazy, collecting pins and all!) And since I couldn't knit while I'm at work, slowly, I finally finished the pair this morning, although, not without a hitch - again, that stupid little sewing needle. So the engineer in me took over, and fond something to use:

Twisty-tie!!! Yes, you read that right! And a few minutes after, I have these:

Pattern - Berlin Muster by Kristin Benecken
Yarn Used - 0.56 skein of Valley Yarn Franklin
Needles - Harmony size 1
Gauge - 8 sts per inch
Knit - May 01, 08 to May 07, 2008
Modification - I reduced the purl stitch so it's only 56 stitches, although I probably could still go down a bit since the lace is quite stretchy.

The pattern was fairly easy, although everyone had a hard time to get it started due to various reasons. The yarn was wonderful. I love it so much I want to get more of it! I have plenty of it left to do another pair of socks! You can read my full review here.

Well, now both of that are blogged and in the bag, it is time for me to rest my eyes. Good Night.

Anticipation

Look what came in the mail!!!!

This is MY original cube from Schrodinger. I totally forgot that today is the Sock Pentathlon pattern 2 release and I was suppose to be sitting around all day and knit that pattern until it is done! But with Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival being this weekend, I don't think that is going to happen! So I needed something that I can knit and walk with. After lots of searching Monday night, I decided on this cube. I absolutely love it! I can't wait to give it a test "walk"!

The other thing that came in the mail today is the summer issue of the Interweave Knits. I already saw the preview and I can't wait to be able to knit some of the pattern in it! So if you don't have a subscription, go out and get one when it's released in the stores!

So I've been reading on the Ravelry group of MDS&W and learning what to bring and wear, and I can't wait to go! I'll be taking Amtrak down to Baltimore, take a taxi to see MamaE's at her open studio, meet up with Sneaksleep, go to her house, chat/sleep, get up and go to the festival! I also plan on going to the Ravelry Party at Columbia if I'm not completely pooped out after day 1 of the festival. I still need to figure out where I want to go though - I want to try out some spinning wheel during this festival, and save up the $$ this year to get one next year. Oh I can't wait!!!

I better go get ready for that sock pattern. The next time I post, hopefully I will have some socks to show!!! And lots of pictures and loot I'm sure! :)

Needham, MA

Oh boy was I busy this weekend!!! It all started off from a phone call from Andrea, the SWE New England Region Treasurer, at 10:30 Friday morning. The vendor where we got the conference bags from made a mistake and shipped the products to her house, instead of Olin School of Engineering in Needham, MA. And not all the bags fit in the car! Jenn to the rescue! I drove up to meet Andrea at her work around 11:30, pick up a few boxes, and drove down to Jen's house to wait for her to come home and carpool to go up to Olin. While I was waiting, I was busy writing all the Thank You cards for the speakers and eat sushi -

YUM. Although I didn't get a lot of cards done, I had a wonderful lunch.

After I picked up Jen, we drove up to Olin, checked into our hotel, and I went to the school to help set up things, and drop off the boxes, leaving Jen in the hotel doing what she needs to do for the next day. If my prof was there from RPI, he would be very proud of our little assembly line with Just In Time feed!

After finishing the prep for the conference, Jen and I went to Somerville and met up with Mer, Adam, and Adam's roommate AJ for dinner.

Aren't we cute!? :)

We went to this sandwich place - the place was completely packed, just people who wants a great sandwich, which is what we all got! I also tried out a local dark beer which was just excellent. We bid the gang goodbye with some ice cream and headed out back to Needham.

Saturday morning came all too fast. Jen and I got up at 6 to make sure we got time to get some things done prior to the conference start - such as those darn Thank You cards.

Oh, I should mention at this point that Jen and I had another roommate, April. April traveled to our region from Illinois to help out with Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee (CLCC) since the lady who usually comes is currently out of country for work. And April is a KNITTER!!!! :) (everyone wave hi to April!) She is very sweet and nice. Too bad we didn't have a lot of time to hang out with each other.

So April helped me with some of the Thank You cards (I told you she was nice!) and I got them finished on time! (I still can't believe it!) We had our CLCC meeting in our room (two other girls had showed up at this point) and we all went to the conference right after.

The conference itself was a lot of fun. The morning and dinner keynote speakers were both excellent and untraditional, which made it even better. I got to go to a few sessions, but not all. Why? You asked. Because I was speaking in two sessions! ME! SPEAKING! Yeah I know, I can't believe it either. One of them is "Work/Life Balance Panel" (What balance?) and one of them is the CLCC module.

I certainly am no Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee, however, this is almost like a dream come true. Once upon a time, I was the one sitting down, listening to all the speakers of their wisdoms and advice, thinking to myself, wouldn't it be so cool if I can be the one sharing those wisdoms and advice? My day had come, and it was VERY COOL. And to prove it to you that I really was speaking, Trish had taken a picture of me in the panel:

See! I wasn't lying. And yes, I was wearing Rusted Root underneath my jacket. :)

The conference ended around 9pm (including dinner) and I headed back to the hotel exhausted. I knitted a little, and chatted with April until we both fell asleep.

Sunday was the business meeting till 1pm, and I drove home with Jen, which concluded the 2008 Region Conference. I got home exhausted still, and passed out as soon as I was able.

I did knit a little, but not enough to show any progress. But I do have to say Kiri is pretty easy. Hopefully soon, I can show some progress. So how was your weekend?

My Version of Christmas 2007

So much had happened during these past few days it's hard to figure out where to start! So I guess I'll start where I left off.

Lots of presents for Colin were wrapped by mom. As we put up the Christmas tree, we realized the main branch of the tree was missing!!! Now where do you get a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve???? But we made due and found this at Lowes:

And look what's hanging on the tree!

We had Christmas dinner on Christmas eve since David and I were leaving at noon on Christmas Day. Colin really wanted to open the presents but somehow we convinced him to open it on Christmas morning.

Needless to say, he woke up super early on Christmas Day. Terry made Waffles on his new George Foreman Grill. It was very very good and easy to clean! Unlike the older ones, this one has removable plates that you can put them in the dishwashers and actually wash them!

After the breakfast, Colin was finally able to open his presents:

And he opened the big one last:

David and I bought him the Smart Cycle and a game to go with it. He loves it and he asked to play with it three times that day!

We left after all the presents were opened. On the way home, after much discussion (maybe 2 seconds), we decided to take the detour up to Niagara Falls. And here are some of the pictures I snapped while I was there:

The upper rapids


The other side of American Falls


The Horseshoe Falls


We trying to get the picture with the fall


David trying to throw one of the ice sticks that fell off from the railing


All the ice!


A squirrel posing for the picture

We left the park and decided to go to the Casino next to the park and play some Keno. As you can recall, the last time we played it, we won $150!!! But what do you know, they DIDN'T have Keno!! So we walked around and sat down at the Wheel of Fortune penny slots. We had no clue what we were doing, but all of the sudden the bonus round came up during one of the hits and we spin and it stopped at 10000 on the wheel! We looked at each other, and the screen was lit up blinking at us - we had just won $100!!!! But the waitress lady won't let me take a picture, so we took the ticket out and ran outside to get a shot of it before we cashed it:

We had $3.85 left from the $10 we put in. We left happy and $93.85 up, totally paid for the hotel room the night before and then some.

The rest of the drive home was very uneventful, which was a good thing. While driving through, we went pass a town name Deposit, NY. I commented: What the hell is in Deposit? Why would you name a town that anyways? Plus I was bored because it was dark so I couldn't knit, and there was no radio station for the past 15 minutes...

We got home, sort through the mail and got a piece of mail from the Good Sam Club. Guess where it came from?

Deposit, NY.

'nuff said.

On the knitting front, I finished Vine and gave them to my future SIL Page. Here is the detail:

Pattern - Vine by Iris G. on MagKnits
Yarn Called For - 1 ball elann.com Peruvian Baby Silk in #5420 seashell pink
Yarn Used - 0.5 skeins of Jaeger Alpaca in Brown
Needles - Option size 1
Gauge - 7 sts per inch
Knit - December 22, 2007 to December 23, 2007
Modifications - Reverse row 46 and 47 so there are two knitted row between like the rest of the pattern.

Page likes the gloves. One bad thing about the dark color, the pattern hardly shows. If I were to make it again, which I most likely will, I'll make it in lighter colors to show up the vine pattern.

I am currently making the Honeycomb Socks for Schaefer Yarn. I heard back from Laura and had made some adjustment. Then the engineer in me figured out something else and I had gotten approval from Laura to make the change. I'll be submitting the changes to Laura at the end so she can modify the pattern.

Well, I should probably go knit that now...

Happy New Year to all!