Sunday, September 09, 2007
A year ago today Duck and I rolled into Santa Fe, where we camped for 7 weeks and got ourselves into all sorts of sun-soaked, chile-soaked, margarita-soaked fun.
On our very first day there the Santa Fe Festival was going full swing in the plaza. There were parades and music and art vendors, like they were there to welcome us into town, and that's when we bought this:
The little bit of Santa Fe in Boston.
A couple of you asked about it on my previous post. It's called Sparrow Disenchantment and when we saw it we had to have it. I wish I could remember the artist's name. She had some really cool pieces.
An entire year ago! I can't believe it. 2 thousand miles way, we celebrated with brunch this morning at a Southwestern restaurant around the corner. I ordered a "Santa Fe Eggs Benedict," smothered in green chile hollandaise sauce atop a biscuit. I had something similiar in Taos except the sauce was deep shade of red from the red chiles and the biscuits were from yams and my god was it delicious. This dish here wasn't bad. It just didn't remotely come close to melting my teeth the way my first experience with New Mexican green chile did. Not wasn't expecting it to. That kind of dish wouldn't be polite in Boston.
The tiniest bit of Santa Fe in Boston.
Luckily we still have a several pounds of the hot stuff left in the freezer and tonight we're going to make grilled chicken swimming in obscene amounts of cheese and chile, the way it's supposed to be!
But I MISS YOU SANTA FE.
I miss the real thing. Hopefully we'll meet again soon someday...
Filed Under: Life
Friday, September 07, 2007
The living room, in the new place.
Furnishings that used to spread out over 3 rooms - so luxurious! - are now stuffed into one. Notice that eyesore of a basement couch and TV stand? Some of them will have to go eventually.
But this chubby little guy is going to stick around to enjoy the view.
All in all, we're adjusting to city livin' pretty well. Even though there's like, no storage space. (One bike leaning against the piano, one against the kitchen wall). Ah so you win some, you lose some. I think I'd take a overstuffed room with a view over closets any day.
Filed Under: Cats | House | Life
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
To prevent this blog from becoming the fetid pond of neglect and sorrow that it wants to be, I give you this.
It is called "A Sock and Hancock."
We match!
Marina Piccola socks, knit from my Koigu stash that before was in Grumperina's stash.
And that's all the Exciting News in Knitting I have for now.
Oh I also started a sweater. A real sweater, with real meat too! But more on that later. We must pace ourselves. I will say that this fall, sweaters will be making a miraculous comeback into my knitting queue. This season, they're going to be the new socks. You heard it here first.
Filed Under: Socks | Marina Piccola
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Where has this month gone? Unfortunately I've been getting used to not blogging.
Dottie soaks up some Provencal sun in the medieval town of Les Arcs, southern France
It's been a real busy month or so, between the moving and the trip (planned MUCH MORE in advance than the move) and work. I've hardly knit, and I wasn't going to blog until my Sockapalooza socks arrived, so at least I'd have something to blog about...They're not here yet though, but I've been assured they're on their way.
Enjoying the flower market in Aix
In the meantime, my sock pal, Faith, has received her Twisted Flowers Socks. The whole package took a little detour before getting to its final destination: my departure date coincided with the deadline, so I decided I'd be all efficient and swing by the post office on the way to the airport. Unfortunately the post office had moved 2 blocks further down, which isn't a big deal but with 100 degree weather and a haul of luggage it might as well have been 2 miles away. So into my carry-on it went for a little joyride to Europe and back. So much for efficiency and finishing early. The funny thing is up until recently Faith was based in Germany (she's in NY for now), and when she goes back the socks in its short life will have traveled across the Atlantic three times.
It's a miracle I didn't lose them. I brought my Drunken Bees with me - very nicely did they keep my toes toasty on the plane - and now I have no idea where they are. :-(
Maybe they escaped and are hiding here with all the other drunken bees.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Sockapalooza | Travel
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Sockapalooza 4 socks - and some extras - are ready for their sendoff tomorrow! I'm sending them on the early side because they are going overseas...
And so are we. There will be sun, sea, olives, drunken bees in lavender ready for harvesting, lots of wine and good good food. And family. Ah yes it's been a tough lifestyle we've been living these past few weeks I tell you. ;) (Though I have to say, boy am I tired.) Catch you in a coupla weeks...
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Monday, July 30, 2007
Here at last is the pattern for the Drunken Bees Socks. Fair warning, the pattern is not laid out to a T. I've left out specifics like how to do a cable, how to knit a heel turn and the toe, and all those very macro details like how many stitches to knit across first before you start the heel, how to distribute stitches, etc. If you're an experienced sock knitter - as in you've knit at least one or two socks - you don't need to know exactly how, so I don't want to fluster myself trying to spell it all out!
All you need is the chart and you can work out the rest to your liking.
But feel free to contact me if something makes no sense or looks wrong.
For more photos, see here.
DRUNKEN BEES SOCKS
Yarn: Fingering weight sock yarn. To really show the pattern, use semi-solid to solid colors.
Needles: 5 size 1 dpns (or whichever method you prefer for circular knitting) for S/M foot, Size 2 for L foot.
Pattern is deliciously squishy and should stretch comfortably to fit.
For socks that pull in a little more, you can knit through the back loop of every yarn over that was done in the previous row.
CAST ON:
CO 69 sts. Distribute 17 sts on 3 needles, 18 sts on one needle
CUFF:
Repeat (k2, p1) ribbing until cuff is 1 inch long or desired length.
Begin last row of ribbing with a k2tog.
Now you have 68 sts to work leg pattern.
Slip stitches =
RS: repeat (sl1,k1) to end
WS: sl1, then p to end
LEG:
Work leg pattern chart 3 times, or to desired length (make note of where you left off).
HEEL FLAP & HEEL TURN:
Divide sts so that there are 33 sts for the heel flap, and 35 sts for the instep. Make sure you split in such a way as to allow two "honeycomb" patterns to continue down the side of the heel. I started the divide in the middle of a bee flight pattern. You might have to knit across some stitches to get to the start of heel.
Slip first stitch of every row. Except for the honeycomb patterns and the purl gutters, knit the heel in slip-stitch pattern, until you've worked 26-30 rows.
See chart above.
Follow flap with your preferred heel turn. I used a square heel.
GUSSETT:
Pick up the slipped stitches on side of heel flap, and continue chart pattern for instep.
INSTEP:
The instep is symmetrical. For the first and last 6 stitches of the instep, follow the first 6 stitches of the "bee flight" leg pattern chart (stitches 6-11). Or, just knit them in Stockinette. Or ribbed. Whatever you want.
Continue until desired length, then knit your preferred toe method.
Bzzzz!
Filed Under: Socks | Drunken Bees
Friday, July 27, 2007
Our first meal when we moved in consisted of champagne, left on the kitchen counter by the previous owner with a nice little note, and Wendy's. After moving we craved nothing but alcohol and grease.
The boys wanted to join in the fun, but we shoo'd them back down. Veebs was such an obedient cat that he made an immediate U-turn. 
Bunny, however, would not be deterred. So we had to bring up the vacuum to stand sentinel next to the stairs. Bunny hates the vacuum, almost as much as other people sneezing. If we could get the vacuum to sneeze with a press of a remote button, we would have a fail-proof way of deterring Bunny from the stairs forever.
Sunset over Boston.
I likes living here.
Filed Under: Life
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Sorry for the lack of any. The capable folks at comcast have not provided us with any internet access though they have commercials on teevee (which we can't watch because also, no cable) that advertise the EASE of transitioning through a move. All you have to do before your move is to go their web site and update your address and poof! your account will transition seamlessly to your new home.
Only we don't really trust web sites, probably because it is our profession to make web sites, and we know something you probably might already guess, which is that web sites, especially the biggest most corporate ones, are strung in place with the floss of cotton candy, so we called someone and talked to a real live person who also assured us the transition would be seamless, and well that person probably used the web to put in our ticket. So, no internet.
No internet, and no water. I mean, first there was water, and just when I got my hair piled high and the shampoo at its most sudsiest, there wasn't.
The single guy in the lower unit is renovating. After I finished my shower via bottled water, I asked him to give a heads up before his plumber shuts off the water to the entire building. I did it with a smile though, as it was the first time I was meeting this fellow building-mate (we met the other occupant below the day we moved in and WOW is she BUBBLY!!!). My first impression of him is already wobbly, but there was no need for him to feel the same about me!
(I also have this fantasy of being BFF's with all my neighbors where on warm summer evenings we'd all sit on the front stoop of our buildings and chitchat over a glass of wine. I've witnessed this scene countless of times already on other stoops. I've wanted to join in. And then I'd remember, Right. I am DEATHLY AFRAID OF PEOPLE.)'
Over the weekend we had found out from neighbors that he had a penchant for not paying his condo fees on a time which is why the other owners got a separate building management involved to go after him...but then last winter the building management didn't shovel the sidewalk well enough so all the occupants were fined by the city of Boston.
Lose-lose situations are sometimes funny.
Before that, an occupant in the second unit had gassed him or herself. Not so funny.
And way before that, this building housed a stained-glass and mosiac studio. One neighbor in the rowhouse adjacent is trying to find out the name of the artist, who she claims has important works in old churches around Boston.
Mosaic glass tiles circa 1920 (?)
Hee!
More photos soon...when I can find the USB cables...
Filed Under: Life
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