Greetings from my Daycation

Last week was bleh. It was hot--which I hate--and I was wingie (for lack of a better word). But hey, Wednesday was Cinquo de Mayo and who can complain about a reason to drink margaritas, eat some good food and celebrate with our friends south of the border.

Except I got sick. Really sick. Like high fever, can't keep a thing down, my whole body hurts and I'm going to the Emergency Room because I don't feel like dying alone in my apartment and getting eaten by the cats.

And New Boy had a root canal so he was wingie too. (P.S. He took very good care of me when I was sick.)

So by Saturday we were both ready for a daycation. Jersey Shore--here we come.

First things first--what are we going to eat? Ever heard of Pete & Elda's? I had never been but New Boy keeps talking about it so we hopped in the car and off we went.

It was a positively gorgeous day! I woke up to thunder in the morning (which by the way wouldn't have stopped us) but the tv said the afternoon would be pretty but windy--perfect. Over the bridge (hello Hudson River) and onto the turnpike. True confession--we didn't even make it onto the turnpike proper before we stopped for a snack. I'm not a big fast food person but I do love me a Nathan's hot dog. Luckily, we got on line just before a few bus loads of girls basketball players arrived.

With our first hunger pangs satisfied we continued on our way. Gotta tell you--the turnpike is still pretty icky but once you get on the Garden State Parkway it's a gorgeous ride. After one big wrong turn (not too dramatic) and a call to K who is all-things-South-Jersey, we found our way to Pete & Elda's and the best thin crust pizza I have ever had. Just writing its name makes me crave it. The place was casual and comfy and we sat at the bar and didn't say a word to each other until we had just about finished the pie. Again, we were followed by a group of girls basketball players but they weren't sitting at the bar so they didn't cramp our style.

After a few hours of lounging and eating it was back into the car to go exploring. I haven't been near the Jersey Shore since about 1979 and I had no idea how pretty it could be. Point Pleasant is beautiful and all the little villages that you drive through as you go down the island have their own little characters. I don't know how I would feel about it during the height of the season but on a gorgeous Saturday in early May, it was paradise.

After a quick stop for a doughnut (New Boy has quite the metabolism), we drove all the way down to the State Park where they very kindly let us make a u-turn and head up to the Seaside Heights boardwalk. It's exactly the same as it was some 30 years ago--loud, garish, tacky and wonderful.


The place was crawling with prom kids who all looked so tired but they were determined to have a good time. Oh--and did I mention the wind? It was wild! By this point, I was completely wind blown and didn't care one bit. We found a place to sit down, have a drink and stare at the ocean for a while. I was on Diet Coke all day--thank you antibiotics--but that didn't bother me one bit either. New Boy had a dozen and a half clams on the half shell that he was crazy about (see my note about his metabolism) and we watched the rides on the pier just north of us and stared at the waves coming in.

Look at the way the water is blowing back off the tops of the waves.

That's how strong the wind was. And yet, some crazy people were still going on this ride.

Now you wouldn't get me on that thing for a million bucks on the best of days but in 45 mph winds, you would have to knock me unconscious and strap me in. If you can't tell by the picture, it's about 8 stories high and has a cab at the top and the bottom of that long metal thing and then it spins around. And around. And around. And when people are getting off at the bottom, you just sit at the top like it is in the picture. Definitely not for me.

After a walk on the boardwalk and the requisite piece of fudge, it was time to head home. But daycation wasn't over yet. A quick stop at Fairway got us a big bag of beautiful shrimp which ended up stripped, steamed, chilled and then tossed with grated fresh horseradish and lemon juice. By this time I was hungry again so it was the perfect meal.

And, in perfect daycation mode, we spent the end of the day fantasizing about the pizza place we would open with wonderful thin crust pizza and lots of seafood on the menu.

It was perfect.

Climbing the Column of Leaves

What an amazing journey I've been on.

But let's start at the beginning. A few months back, I started to go to (another) knitting group. This one meets on Thursday evenings in a Greek restaurant and I will admit, I was a little intimidated the first time I walked in. I knew a few of the other members but only casually and, in the spirit of the 9-year-old girl I still am sometimes, I was afraid I wasn't going to fit in or that they wouldn't like me or that I would like them and oh-my-god what the hell am I doing here.

But I sucked it up, introduced myself and ordered a glass of Chardonnay. Here's where it gets good. These women are amazing! And not just amazing knitters but amazing people--they're all different from each other but they fit together like one of those ancient mosaics that you see on the History Channel and wonder how the hell they figured that out.

And can we talk about talented? No really, I don't mean just nice even knitting with good finishing skills. I mean these chicas pull things out of thin air and then actually make them. And they're gorgeous--both the women and the things they make.

And I am an acolyte in this group which is an amazing feeling. I've been knitting since I was about 9 (I was home sick from school and found my mother's copy of Knitting Without Tears and I've never turned back) and am often the go-to-girl for my friends but this is like being in first grade. Everything feels brand new to me and each week I learn something new and exciting.

So--now let's get to my journey. Jeri made a beautiful sweater in 2007 that she was finally peer pressured into writing up the pattern for. Are you ready for this? This is the great part.

SHE LET ME BE A TEST KNITTER ON IT.

True confession--I was a little terrified. What if I screwed up? What if I took too long? What if it was ugly? What if it didn't fit? Oh crap, what have I gotten myself into?



And like all good journeys, it was wonderful. Yes there were challenges but we were a team (the famous Margaret of the magical fix on my sister's Christmas mitts was test knitting as well) and we were all in this together so off we went.

The sweater is knit in one piece from the bottom up with some really beautifully subtle waist shaping. And rather than keeping track of a load of increases and decreases while knitting lace, Jeri was brilliant enough to just change the needle size. Sometimes the most elegant solutions are the simplest ones. I was knitting the larger size and, often, sweaters for we busty girls have very limited shaping and are very boxy. Not so in this case.



Once you hit the armpits, it was time to set aside what was now a pretty big piece of knitting and knit two sleeves. The original pattern called for three quarter length sleeves but I wanted a longer sleeve so I was planning more repeats. Uh-oh, the sleeve was waaaaaaaaaay to wide for me. It's supposed to have a bit of a bell shape to it but this was way too much (think 1970s hostess pajamas). Tried going down a needle size--nope. Tried going down another needle size--nope. So after several midnight emails, a bunch of phone calls, a trip to the studio and a bunch of trying on, the sweater has what is the perfect sleeve for me. Just belly enough and close enough to be so very comfortable.


Sleeves attached with a little pattern tweaking and onto the yoke.

And this was the part that really scared the hell out of me. It's a very unique and original method of shaping that involves reducing the lace panels and angling the leaves in to the v-neck. This is where I found out just how brilliant Jeri is. It was smooth, it was elegant it was a delight to knit and so different from anything else I've ever done (or seen for that matter) before.

Oh my God--am I really done? No honey, you still have a little bit more to go. It's time to finish the neck.

I don't even know how to describe this. If attached i-cord and a perfect gusset had a baby, that would be how you did the neck. Sorry--I can't describe it any other way.



I fell so truly madly and deeply in love with this sweater that I almost cried when it was done. Instead, I wore it around the house for about 4 hours (yes, over my nightie) and then summoned some really cool, damp weather so I could wear it out.

Want to knit it? Come on, you know you do. You can get the pattern here. And you can see Margaret's version here.

This is my rebound sock. I just couldn't get into another long term relationship too quickly.

Happy Earth Day!

I was going through my button jar (okay, one of my button jars--it's not hoarding--I swear it's not) and I came across this.


What a great thing to find on Earth Day! I have no idea what it came from or how old it is but it made me feel very green.

Then I flipped it over.

Hmmm--maybe that's my next career. An organic nylon farm. I think it'll fly.

Now get off the computer and go out and love Mother Earth today!

I Like This Chick!

Read this. I'll wait here.

So--are you in?

These are my kind of resolutions. I hate the ones that say "I'm going to stop blah blah blah" or "I'm not going to blah blah blah". And considering the fact that I shaved my legs yesterday, I can already check one off!

I Couldn't Help Myself

Hey--You Gotta Eat

Those of you who know me in real life know that I have been out of work for quite some time. Which sucks! I actually like to work, I like being around other people and I like to have a regular steady income.

None of which I've had lately.

I don't think I've been those broke in over 20 years but it amazes me what can be accomplished with very little. Especially when it comes to food. I love to cook and I love to experiment in my kitchen--sometimes with great results, sometimes with not so great--but my budget has really limited the ingredients I can choose. At first I was a little sulky about it but then I realized that Yonkers has great resources for food (another reason the Y.O. is a great place to live). We have a very diverse population which brings along with it some really amazing cuisines.

So I'm throwing a food challenge down to you today. Go to a market that is waaaaaay outside your normal. If you are African American and live in a predominantly African American neighborhood--head out to Chinatown. If you are hispanic (see the note above about the neighborhood), find your way to a community of Greek immigrants. If you are Irish American (like me), check out all of them.

Here are some of the ingredients that I have found that are dead cheap and are not readily available in my neighborhood.

• Turkey Wings--Dude you are going to love these. Rub them with a little olive oil (the cheap stuff will do) and salt and pepper and roast them in the oven with some cut up onions (don't even bother to take the skin off the onions). Dump the whole thing into a big pot, cover with water and as it simmers add whatever veggies you want. Amazing turkey soup. That is if you can resist picking the meat off the roasted turkey wings before they make it into the soup pot. They're delicious.
  

• Pork Shoulder--I can regularly get this for under a dollar a pound. I keep a container of garlic paste in my fridge at all times and I recommend that you do too. Take 50 peeled cloves of garlic (you can get the big jug of pre-peeled ones at Costco for a song and really, this is not the place to be a garlic snob--it's just not necessary). Put them in the blender with 1/2 cup of water and let her rip until they're all nicely pureed. You can use this on all sorts of things. I cut little slits in a pork shoulder, salt and pepper it and then rub it with puree. Into the roasting pan, cover it with foil and roast it very slowly (25o - 300 degrees). After about 3 or 4 hours, take the foil off so it crisps up. You now have several meals ready to rock and roll. Slice it and serve it with some of the pan juice over rice. Shred some and mix it with barbecue sauce and have it on a roll (or over noodles). Shred some more and add it to some sauteed onions, spread it on a tortilla, top with cheese and another tortilla, a few minutes on each side in a hot pan and, ta da, instant delicious quesadilla.

• Save those condiments. New boy brought Mexican food over last week. There were delicious red and green sauces but they sent way too much. Seared some chicken thighs (they are always on sale somewhere), took them out of my trusty black skillet and then added in the green sauce with some chicken stock to thin it. I wanted to deglaze the pan with a few tablespoons of tequila but I didn't have any so I skipped that step. Put the chicken back in the pan and then popped the whole mess into the oven for 40 minutes or so. Delicious!!!!!!!! And elegant enough for company. I'm freezing some of the sauces to see how they hold up.

So what are you going to find (and remember--it has to be inexpensive) and how are you going to cook it? Life is an adventure and, just because I'm broke doesn't mean I can't enjoy the ride.

Does Anyone Else Have A Cat Who Does This?

I think this is the feline equivalent of eating cereal out of the box. Heatherthecat seems to think it is the greatest treat in the world to rip open the cat food bag and stick her whole head right in!

So sorry the blog has been dark for so long. Life has been, well, life lately and we all know how that can get.

Personal Life = Complicated
Career = Complicated
Knitting = Thank god I knit or I would have taken a rock to my forehead ages ago!

I have some finished things to show you.

These are Kathleen's birthday socks.

The patter is Spring Forward from the Summer 2008 Knitty. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll in Twinkle Heather. Nice yarn for this project and very reasonably priced (see the career = complicated note above). I started this pattern when it first came out in a very vivid red hand painted yarn and although I loved both the pattern and the yarn, they just didn't go together. Kind of like Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson--love them both but knew from the git go that relationship was doomed. This was a much better choice. I made Kathleen her first pair of hand knit socks for her birthday last year and anyone who shows them off as much as she does deserves a drawer full of them. Until she gets sick of only get socks as gifts.

And here are Pop's Christmas socks.


Okay so they didn't exactly make it under the Christmas tree but I got them to him before Valentine's Day and that's always a plus. (P.S. Granny's scarf still isn't done.) My basic sock pattern that I've had for a million years also in Knit Picks Stroll. This time the color was Pine. Now, frankly, Pop would wear a pair of pink socks but I just didn't have it in me to force them on him. He is very conservative in his clothing (in 44 years I've never seen him wear a t-shirt) but he does like to make a little fashion statement with his socks.

This week, I've dug into my UFO basket and am finishing things up. Sissy's Hey Teach may actually get finished in the next few weeks and my little leaf mittens are so close to done. Brought them to knitting group last night but I get so distracted by what other people are working on that I don't seem to get a lot of my own work done (but that's another blog post).