Knit PH at Freddy's: May 18, 2008

I was running a bit late. I met up with Eleanor and Marc at the Brooklyn Museum for the Takashi Murakami exhibit. There was some initial confusion, I waited for them in front of the museum, they waited for me in front of the exhibit. A few cell calls later we walked into an interesting show of paintings, video and scuplture. Murakami's more controversial works combine Japanese anime characters and erotic art. But more controversially, Murakami LV bags were sold in the middle of the exhibit — at $3K per handbag it's simply obscene! We went out for Mexican food right after — and apparently so did everyone else in the neighborhood. I ordered the Mexican pork chop.



The weather was heavy, humid and wet so we had a small Sunday group. Penelope, Jane and Marci were the first one's there. I set up the swift and winder in a Benadryl haze. This pollen is killing me! I haven't seen Penny and Jane in a while — busy with family and school. Penny is going to take her brother on a dumpling tour of Manhattan and Brooklyn. There's a secret dumpling house on Allen Street that has the best of all things steamed and pan-fried. I asked her about Queens "Uh! first of all you have to go to Queens..." True, Queens is a mysterious borough, but I know a few excellent Korean grills in Jackson Heights worth the trek.



The Germans' were there. Stephanie baked a Bourbon chocolate cake served with fresh whipped cream. There's a pound of butter in that batter — but that's what makes it so bad that it's gooooood. Tracey brought her friend, Greg, a fellow librarian from Montreal. Alexandra brought some hand-dyed yarn that she spun. She reported that today's Brooklyn Flea was literally a wash — it rained all day but she managed to break even with today's sales. She turns a good dollar on the online ETSY store though. Spinners are the ninjas of the fiber world. I'm impressed with how many we have in our group. Eliza, Tomo, Jane, Alexandra, Chris... I'm sure there are more who lurk quietly among us.

Jane pointed out that Tomo is currently all-about dyeing with Kool-Aid. Matter of fact, she's bringing a box of Kool-Aid with her to Japan. After seeing the post-nuclear Murakami exhibit, I can't believe there isn't an Asahi Corporation version of Kool-Aid. Kuru-Eidu? Alexandra re-skeined her hand-dyed yarn for better presentation. Jane mentioned using a knitty-noddy, a winding device that counts 3-yards per revolution. Where do I buy one of those? Sounds cool. Alexandra said she prefers using two swifts in tandem. Her yarn was varigated with blue, soft lavendar and plum. I though I was helping her but I actually got tangled in the winding process. She untangled most of it on the back of a chair and I resumed my seat. So sorry 'bout that dear. Tracey is making her first pair of socks. I gave her a quick refresher on the magic loop. I think it's funny that her brother Peter is a regular at Freddy's. I met him and his friend Bruce at the last Knit PH at Freddy's. He's been here fro Board Game Night. The evening flew by, but maybe that was the Benadryl. Victoria showed up a bit late, just in time to...



Suddenly around 9:00 a woman in thigh-high boots appeared and announced they were throwing a benefit, not listed on the calendar. I told her we'd break the group down soon but she quicklty became nasty and aggitated. Thigh-highs, the alpha female, marched over to the Germans and stated "We need this table, are you going to be here? Tsch!" One of her tribal eunuchs hastily un-crated chili pepper lights. Thigh highs kept making tsch tsch noises as if she were trying to lure a horse into the room as a few art-hair guys shoved chairs all around us. I believe we were in fact being girl-bullied. Penny asked if we should leave, I took out my camera and tripod and said, "Yeah... in about 20, 25 minutes or so." The best form of retaliation — move very, very, slowly. Next thing you know they shut off the lights. Penelope yelled out "We get the hint!" Camp Douche Bag had taken over the tree fort. We left, ever so slooowly. At the front door I reminded everyone that Knit PH takes it outdoors this summer starting in June. Stitch Therapy will be offering 10% discount cards on yarn for people that register with Knit PH. I joined the Germans at their table in the front room for a beer.

Is this years "obnoxiousness" last years grey? It's so common that it just might be fashionable. I just don't understand this era of over-entitlement in which we live. It reminded me of the time when this greasy trust fund poet and his dirty cokehead Brazilian girlfriend demanded the chair that I was sitting in. Oi vey gevault. Anyhow, 40 minutes later the band went silent. James, the electrician, showed up with his tools looking a bit irritated — bartender Eva called him in for an emergency. "They blew some fuses... stupid douche bags!" James marched directly to the back room. A bar regular, Steve stepped out for a cigarette. He said the balding white guy with ninny braids huh, not a costume? punched the mail box and screamed "I hate this F-----' bar!" and left. Poor mailbox.

Tsch, must have been those chili pepper lights.

Update June 20. '08
Management report: That group is now banned from the bar. What was that obnoxious ensemble and from whence did they come? For whom are they throwing a benefit, perhaps a douche bag in a coma?

Fifth Avenue Festival 2008

Meet the Simpsons: Homer, Marge, Maggie,Lisa... and Sponge Bob??

I was supposed to go to the Fifth Ave Festival with Bill and maybe meet up with Eleanor, but by around 11:30 I realized I was the only one with actual plans. So off I went. I thought I'd grab lunch from the street fair but instead I blew my money on some rainy day trophies: a glass monkey, a bag of pistachios, sunglasses, and finger puppets. As you can see I got Homer, Marge, Maggie, Lisa and Sponge Bob Squre Pants. If I had been there ealier I might have found Bart.


A Fabulous "Don't": Maribu is not meant for rainy-day gear.

Most of the vendors were local, which is refreshing to me. It seems all NY festivals have the same tubes ock vendor, sunglasses booth, chiroprator, massage seat, candle-incense, etc. There were a few, but mostly local restuarants and vendors came out with their wares. I can't belive how many new restaurants are now on fifth. I remember when it was dangerous. The biggest danger now seems to be paying to much for dinner. Thai, Mexican, Japanese, French Bistro, Bolivian — one would never guess that the world is having a food crisis but for the smaller portions.


What Child is This? The Peruvian sweater booth is now a street fair fixture here in Brooklyn. It may have displaced the pilates demonstration seminar.

But as the weather predicted, a cool overcast Sunday gave way to rain. Fifth Avenue was crowded but I ran into some familiar faces, Shab and Danny, Eva's younger brother (what-iz-name), some fellow musicians who still think my name is Roger, go figure. I ran into my neighbors, Mr. Long and his wife. They talked about allergies and pollen. "It seems every year they say it's the worst year..." Reminder: Stop taking Benedryl before I go into a coma.





I started at St. Johns and walked as far as 11th Street. On my way back I spotted a family eating roasted corn, they pointed me to the booth near the antique car show. It wasn't lunch but it hit all the right spots. The music was nice, dogs ran children ran through the streets and the smell of grilled food filled the air as I headed my way back up Lincoln.


This 1966 Fiat iis the bomb, but I still have a soft sport for the Nash Metro.

Knit PH at Maha's: May 5, 2008

Finally, a warm freakin' day! This weather has been all over the map and I'm so sick of being cold. Maha's cafe always looks like summer, I was craving the zatar bread with cheese and lentil soup. This is the last knit at Maha's for the season. Much like harp seals, Knit PH will migrate outdoors this summer but will return indoors for winter. We have two new people in our group, Hyeran and Melissa. They saw my shrug in VK and wanted to meet me. Of course the first thing I said was "I am so sorry, please go to VK's web site for errata." I'm very flattered that someone wanted to congratulate me on that pattern, instead of wanting to stab me in the eye. Hyeran even brought the Spring/Summer '08 Issue of VK. Hyeran works in book publishing at Scholastic. I told her that Chris is also from Scholastic, but they didn't know each other. and of course Marci, from Crown Publishing. This is the last week for the Crochet Coral Reef exhibit, Marci is one of the participants. I didn't get to see the show, but she brought in a work in progress, a soft crochet star.



This is the last Knit PH at Maha's for the season. This summer we take it outdoors for the first time. Lisa, Eliza and I have been e-mailing each other about plans for knitting in Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum sculpture garden (respectively). Socks are still all the rage — Archie, Hyeran, Melissa, Tracey and Lisa were comparing footage. Tomo, on the other hand, has broken the fifth wall of hand-dyed yarn. She dyed a sock yarn that makes a self-patterning hounds-tooth check! Whoa???! She strung the yarn over the length of her apartment to calculate the pattern.



It's good to see Eliza back in the group, she's been occupied but not in the best way possible. Her husband Chris was mugged and badly hurt. He's still recovering from his head injury: a fractured cheek bone. It's been a long road for them so far, it just might be a bit longer. The good news is that Chris' vision has improved. He's a writer and a professor at NYU. Eliza has found solice and comfort in spinning — Chris bought her a spinning wheel and roving as a present a while back. She and Tomo got together and Kool-Aid dyed some roving — It was still wet, and Black Cherry/sheep scented. From and earlier spin Eliza made a deep plum neck warmer.

Before we left, Maha gave us a each a piece of baclava. It was a sweet way to end the indoor sessions. Reminder: Make Maha two infant-size hats for her new twin nieces.

Knit PH at Freddy's: April 20, '08

Dave from the German Language Studies group brought a baked cheese cake for everyone to share. It was baked fresh by German comrad, Stephanie. They eventually assembled in the front room at the bar, possibly plotting against the French. The German/knit nights have been a little confusing for some. Tracey wanted to do both but settled with the knitting. She tried to convince her brother Peter that it's very cool for a guy to KIP. But he and his friend moved to the bar for conversational Deutsche, beer, and ESPN.



Bitsy finished her cable-hoodie. There's an Elvish quality to her sweater — it's very Cate Blanchett circa LOTR. She brought a few large cones of black cotton-something-or-other that she purchased from School Products. I suspect it's their house cotton-silk. You can't beat that yardage for the price, but it's not very practical to bring on the train. She wound them into smaller balls. I too was seduced by School Products' massive cones. I bought the last two charcoal grey silk/wool cones — store proprietor, Victor, said "Iz good qvality, yes? And good yardage, you make good purchase." He has a mild Russian accent. The original plan was to re-create a saddle shoulder cardigan that my father bought me when I was 19. My fahter had this funny idea that when I moved from Guam to Los Angeles for college that I would be cold in winter.



It's a very simple grey cardigan with knife ribs. It now has a few cigarette holes, a worn area on the back, and it's literally come apart at the seams. I've been playing around with a pattern inspired by Andy Goldsworthy's earthworks. A knit-on-knit cable is referred to as "shifting sand". Doesn't that sound like a Kung Fu move? I want to incorporate this into my cardigan design. Meanwhile, I've just finished a pair of arm warmers for my friend Caroline using this shifting sand pattern. I was also told that arm warmers are referred to as "gauntlets", not arm dickies.



Hanna and boyfriend Dave arrived — she finished her first sock and started the next one while Dave made himself another watchman's cap. There were a few new faces. Megan brought some friends, Alexandra, Stacey, and Emeline. They are also members of Archie's Park Slope Knitting Circle. Tomo asked me if I've gone to the Atlantic Avenue circle run by Daniel. I didn't know that Atlantic had one. Isn't it funny that most of the Brooklyn knitting circles are run by men?

I settled at a table with Liz (from Detroit) and Tomo. Liz has been to Freddy's before, she's actually a big fan of the Kings County Oprey, an evening of contemporary and origianl Blue Grass music. Liz works at a veterinary clinic on the Upper East Side. She reported that the cost of fuel has directly affected veterinary care. She had to inform clients of the new prices changes, some supplies have gone up by 200%. Even cats have fallen victim to the unsettling socio-economics and weird weather patterns we are all experiencing.



By 10:00 pm the cheese cake was mostly finished. I brought the last slice to bar owner Frank Yost. Emmeline pointed out that the clock on the wall had the wrong time. It's actually broken, I remember when it was knocked clear off the wall on Opera Night. The sopranos were getting routy.

Knit PH at Perk: April 10, 2008

We've had some warm days and night lately. It's not officially spring yet but my freind Ellen's Star Magnolia tells anther story. I pruned the tree in her front yard two years ago to to revive it's bloom. Another sign of spring is the Freddy's v. O'Connors softball game. It's almost time to dust off the mascots (below) and get in shape. Over a beer I told teammate Jim that I bought a cup. He laughed at me and said "Geek! No one wears a cup on our team!" I stopped myself before I told him it was a two-for-one special.



Most people are shocked into quitting smoking for health reasons or fear of cancer, I was inpired by something else, my March Amex bill. I bought 47 packs of Marlboro Lights at $7.30 each — the total: $343.10! I was horrified. When do I spend $300 on myself? It's now been four days and five cigarettes since I bought a box set of NicoDerm CQ, Step 2. Cost: $47 for a two-week set. My cheapness factor just might be the hero in this health segment. In a shocked but celebratory mood, I decided I'd occupy my time by learning how to really use my camera, the Canon Rebel XT 350D. I've re-read the entire manual and bought me a how-to book — this one has pictures. I've primarily relied on knowledgeable strangers, daylight settings, and pure luck.



At this month's Knit PH at Perk we had some visitors. Lisa's husband stopped by with Lola (inset: coonhound) and Rudy (above: bassett hound). Lisa's husband is a photographer, he gave me some quick tips on shooting: "Use the green button. THE GREEEEEEN BUTTON!" It was an evening of pressed sandwiches and late winter goods at Prospect Perk. Mike was working on a popular sock pattern from Knitty called "Hedera". He's already made socks for his wife, she showed them off at a family event. Tomo had her green Shi Bui socks as well as her tamarind-colored Jello socks. Her "Knitted Room" project went well, I told her to send me picutres. Archie showed up with new member Diana, an admited craft-addict-latina-hippie-mom from Bensonhurst. Marina hasn't been by in a while so she biked over, arm warmers in tow. We had a shawl corner: Tracey was halfway through her shawl, as was Marci, meanwhile Patty was proofing a shawl pattern for the shop.

Patty mentioned that the zoo will be having a spring sheep shearing demonstration. Lisa reported an article from the New York Times about spring sheep shearing in Montana and New Zealand. It pays about $80 per hour. Patty admitted she hated sheep, I'm not into the idea myself. They do smell mighty bhahahahaad. Archie asked why I've never charged for the knitting circles. Meetup.com registry costs $140 a year. I don't want cost to be an issue with a small seasonal group. But it has grown quite a bit to over 132 members, over four seasons. Maybe I should shear some sheep for a few hours. I'll consider a collection for this fall.



A wooly critical mass gathered, so it was time to make a group decision about expanding Knit PH into summer. I got an enthusiastic "YES". Starting in 2008, Knit PH will be taking a summer break from Maha's and the Perk until the fall. We still have to keep the Freddy's slot otherwise we'd lose the calendar date. I received confirmation that we can use the Brooklyn Museum sculpture garden and the picnic house in Prospect Park. These are both FREE and have decent bathroom facilities. Archie had a great idea about organizing a big Park Slope/Prospect Heights BBQ/knit. He suggested knitting a balloon to mark our territory — I'm sure this will scare off bees, errant spinners and stray weavers. Tomo and Marci suggested a yarn trade, I suggested book loans. A few people have already responded to help organize.

The great urban outdoors, good friends, late summer sunsets, the enticing smell of grilled food, dogs, children, music — all we'll need now is cooperative weather. I'm reminded of the family that was killed by lightning in Propsect Park when they ran under a large tree during a freak storm.



9:00 PM came quickly, we packed up and moved outside as Prospect Perk owner, Murat, started cleaning up and bringing in the benches. Archie, Tracey and I waited with Diana until her husband arrived with her daughter. By a total coincidence, he works at the museum. He said he overheard the events coordinator (Beverly), speaking with some guy (me) about a knitting circle at the museum. I told him to put in a good word for us. I'd like to one day knit indoors at the Auguste Rodin room. "The Thinker" could use a cardigan. No?

Givin' Me the Finger

Look what I made, knit bling! This is a knitting thimble, it's an aid for Fairilse knitters who use the continental style of holding the needle. One or more strands of color sit between the posts. The tensions is made by holding the body of yarn over the pinky finger.



Dan and I took Caroline's silver workshop this past Saturday and Sunday. Caroline Gleman is a jewelry designer (and Dan's wife) who specializes in wedding sets. She and her creative partner Michael Fitzgerald own and operate Studio174 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. What a rockin' class! We learned the basics of working with silver, then used those techniques to make jewelry. I never realized how maliable silver is — it can be pulled into wire, twisted, hammered, and bent. It's almost like working with hard clay. BTW, on Saturday Dan roasted two chickens and made risotto for the group. We sat up on the roof for lunch, it felt like a summer picnic in April. I own a few commercially made thimbles, but they're for people with tiny hands. Although they are about $3 a piece, they tend to break easily. I admit I was seduced by the umlaut. The difference? Mine's better. Booooya Grandma!


(l-r) Inox™ "Norwegian Thimble", Clover™ "Yarn Guide", Inox™ "Strickfingerhut für Jacquard Muster"

In this workshop we learned about materials and techniques. Silver (Ag) is usually alloyed with other metals such as copper and zinc for strength. "Sterling" describes a grade of high quality (92.5% silver by weight). Working with silver is a very physical process that requires patience, a good grip, and your undivided attention.



Silver can become brittle by simply overworking it. To recondition the metal, silver must be "annealed" with heat. It's first coated flux (borax and ammonium chloride) then heated with an acetylene torch until it acquires a dull rosey glow. It's cooled in water, and cured in a warm boric acid bath, then neutralized with a baking soda solution. This heating/cooling process is repeated as often as needed.



The day started with drawing a short slug of silver through gauge plates. I made medium and large wire by pulling the slug through progressively smaller slots until I got the gauge I wanted. Constant annealing is important when the metal becomes too difficult to pull through the plate. Afterwards the wire can be flattened using a mallet between steel blocks or pulled through a press for a more accurate thickness.



Sunday morning, Dan and I roamed Williamsburg looking for coffee, bagels, and whitefish. For lunch, Paul and Gabby made some nice sandwiches with provolone, roasted peppers, and hard salami. They also brought watermelon. It was a bit chilly that day but we took our lunch break on the roof again. Meanwhile back in class... the bridge of my knitting thimble is made from a wide square wire and bent into shape with rounded and square jewelry pliers. Caroline helped me with much of the shaping. The continual loop shape is known as "the dragon". It reminds me of Andy Goldsworthy's earthworks.



The knitting thimble was made in three peices which required silver welding — that is a whole other skill set to acquire. My first weld didn't take becase my metal wasn't hot enough. In my second attempt I used the wrong grade of silver soder so the weld snapped off. The third weld finally took but that was pure luck — the soder liquified and drew into the join. As you can see (above) the heating and cooling process creates a patina that must be cleaned with a file and sandpaper. I did a lot of sanding and filing to refine the shapes. Fine sanding is used before the final polish.



Buff polishing is one way to finish silver after fine sanding. Soft clay is used as a polishing agent. You can control the level of sheen you want to give your silver. That's Dan at the wheel finishing his Thunder Cats medalion. The metal took on a deep luster. For an extremely high polish we used the sonic drum, a machine uses vibration filled with stainless steel beads called "shot" and tap water. The silver is layered with shot and left in the sonic drum overnight. This is best used for fine wire work, chains, and delicate casting.



When we took the silver out to dry it seemed to glow. I couldn't imagine trying to buff these fine pieces at the wheel. We had a lot of talented people that day in the studio, some people returned to rent work space, for some this was their third workshop with Caroline. Jodie mentioned that she wanted to take the gold workshop. While waiting for a welding station to free up, I ate the last poppy seed bagel. I got a chance to look at Caroline and Michael's work in the glass show cases. I now had a greater appreciation of their craftsmanship. I'm defintiely coming back for more... and possibly bialies with lox spread.

Knit PH at Maha's: April 03, '08

I showed up a bit early to re-arrange the half-round table at Maha's. I had the lentil soup and zatar bread — Middle Eastern soul food. I also had a walnut chocoalte chip cookie, yum. With the table sitting at 90°s from the wall we can now comfortably fit ninr people and a bird in our group. New member Nancy pointed out it was a bit "cozy" at Maha's. I didn't set out to find the smallest places to knit, our group has just grown and sprouted legs. As Knit PH assembled at Maha's, I mentioned that I was thinking of expanding our seasonal Knit PH into spring and summer in an abandoned phone booth on Underhill. I did leave a few messages at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum on Tuesday, one of them bound to call me back with an answer. I like the smaller groups though, it makes for quality conversation.



I'm not the only monkey in town — so I found out. Esther brought in “Ricky Marc Bones from LA, dude!”, a yarn monkey in progress from the west coast. He's green and blue and stands (or hangs) about 7" tall. Esther is Bensonhurstanite by way of France and Germany. She's a member of the Krafthaus MeetUp group along with Christina, Tomo, and Nancy. There's a lot of cross-pollination through the MeetUp and Ravelry. It's funny meeting people online then meeting them in person. Chris introduced herself and said "You don't look like a monkey" to which I replied "Well, not today". Chris is another person from the publishing world, she works at Scholastic Textbooks (Ancillary Computer Learning). I introduced her to Marci who works in children's books at Random House. Marci was working on her tiny shirts, they are roughly keychain size. Marci was thinking of starting a Windsor Terrace/Kennsington group at Vox Coffee Shop or Connecticut Muffin. I think it's a great idea, WT couuld use a knitting circle.

Erin is new the group. She owns a cool bead shop in Cobble Hill called Brooklyn Bead Box. Her shop has bead kits, chain, clasps, findings, gold, and jewelry making supplies. They also host jewelry-making parties for kids and adults. Sounds like fun. The KraftHaus people were glad to meet her, they make everything from soap to quilts to jewelry. It's good to know there's a local shop, I hate hiking to the city's bead district just to buy large buttons. Erin previously worked in fabric design, as did Christina. They talked shop. So did Scholastic Chris and I — I was the AD at Time for Kids TE, their arch enemy. Both Scholastic and TFK steal employees away from each other on a constant basis. I beleive the euphamism is called "courting".

I finished Caroline's black Hugo, I should have brought my tap light. I kept dropping stitches, then going back to pick them up with a hook. Black is hard to work in low light. I also brought in my titanic spool of wool-silk that I bought from School Products. It was cheaper than buying skeins, but it's not very protable. I was thinking of rolling down the hill. I'm finally getting back to Caroline's gauntlets — I made one. I learned this week that these arm-length fingerless gloves are not called "arm dickies".

VK Lace Shrug Errata: Writing the Wrong

My apologies go out to irritated readers of Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer '08 who wanted to make this Lace Shrug. Sorry for the inconvenience. Just as W said about the Iraq war, "mistakes were made"... on my pattern. Use the instructions for assembley from VK, but go to VK's website for pattern corrections:


http://vogueknitting.com/?q=node/456

I met with Lisa B. from VK to go over some errata on my shrug pattern. We compared her notes to my Excel files. The sleeves and the cuff start off OK, then towards the end of the pattern they spiral downwards into mechanical error. Oddly enough my stitch count was still correct, regardless of how off the pattern was — mystery. I told her I'd go back to my written notes and compare them to my Excel files.



I went through the pattern line for line and made the shrug using Lang "Silk Dream" (5 balls @ 90 mt) starting with the sleeves. From what I could tell, my notes were correct. But as I typed in a correction to R72 in my MS Excel file, the "auto write" filled in the cell with text from a previous line! When I keyed a correction on another line, the same thing happened again. I found the culprit — Bill Gates is ruining my pattern! I found "Enable AutoComplete" in my prefs and turned it off. FINALLY! I can go back to making my own horrible typos with gusto. So I went back to my pattern to make corrections counting each stitch and row as I wrote into my file.



As you can see from my photos, the corrected pattern works. All things check out on the sleeves, the cuffs and the back panel. This pattern was written as a small/medium size using Tili Thomas "Rock Star", which is a medium weight silk yarn. Using Lang's "Silk Dream", it turned out to be a small/petite/eat-something-you-skinny-girl size. This is due to it's 50 merino/50 silk content. I haven't written this pattern for other sizes, but I have plans.

This rust colored shrug is currently hanging in Stitch Therapy's storefront window.