the mighty momogus

Sing along with me.... "It's the MOST cupcake-filled time of the year!!" 

Time for another chapter of "Third Time's a Charm", the (seemingly) never-ending saga of my quest to satisfy my Landscape Shawl yearning.

You may remember this, though your mind (like mine) may recoil at the memory:

This was my first attempt at a new Landscape Shawl, made with the butt-ugliest color of Kureyon sock yarn ever seen. I gave up after I saw bright turquoise and grey coming up next.

Then I cast on this:

This is sock yarn that I had stared at abstractedly for months since it was on the shelf across from the counter at work. I think it's Trekking, but I've lost the ballband. The colors, caramel with bits of green and rosy pink, seemed warm and inviting and not as yechhy as the Kureyon. But, as often happens, once I started to knit it up, everything got muddy and unappealing.

Then on Friday a shipment of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn arrived at the store. And because I don't have any yarn at all at home HA HA I purchased some, and cast on once again.

Now we're talking! I'm foregoing the picots, which I have always been a little ambivalent about. They're kind of a signature for the Landscape Shawl, but they're also a pain in the butt, and I also honestly like the look of the shawl better without them. So there you are. More than you ever wanted to know about my recent Landscape Shawl history.

Shall we switch gears? In unrelated Phillies news, Ryan Howard beat the Phillies for the first time in arbitration. The team should have just have given him the extra ding-dang $3 million in the first place. Brad Lidge hurt his knee yesterday - uh oh. Cross yer fingers that it's not serious.*

I finished "Post Captain" and am now reading "HMS Surprise". Dad told me that this was his favorite, which I found a little demoralizing since there are like 20 books after this. But perhaps my experience will be different from his. I liked "Post Captain" because there was a lot of girly-romancey stuff; this book is a lot saltier - there's torture and scurvy and squalls - and the ladies are 12,000 miles away. But it's still immensely enjoyable. Patrick O'Brian rules!

*Hey! - I thought I told you to cross your fingers! Lidge has to have surgery and is out till May. Of course. He's thrown ONE PITCH as a Phillie - we're in Garcia/Tartabull territory here, folks.

SNOW DAY!!!! YIPPEEE!!!!


Somebody knows how to do a snow day right - he "suggested" pancakes as a special Snow Day breakfast (I obliged), then put on nearly every piece of clothing he owns, went out, made a snow angel, brushed off both cars, shoveled the sidewalk, threw some snowballs at the trees, built a snowman, then came in, put on warm comfy clothes, "suggested" hot chocolate, and then settled in front of the tv to take in some cartoons.

Yeah, snow day.....

So here's what's new around here:

1. Hello!

Is it a desperate blogging tactic to post pictures of appliances? This was pretty earthshaking stuff around here. Our old refrigerator was 35 years old - it was Harvest Gold. The model name was, I kid you not, FOOD-A-RAMA!!!! Yippeee! Despite its groovy name, it had some unfortunate characteristics that I won't spoil your breakfast with. So for Matthew's birthday I gathered up my pennies, hiked on over to Gerhard's and purchased this big beauty. It was quite an endeavor to get it in. To get the old behemoth out, the two delivery guys had to take its doors off and also remove our back door! The Food-A-Rama must have weighed 1800 pounds, but the guys remained cheerful and funny throughout. This new fridge makes ice (what? when did they invent that??) and has ice and water on the door. We are speechless at the luxury of it all. I figured if we're only going to get a new fridge once every 35 years, we might as well go all out.

2. While poking around Ravelry the other day (which is what I do with about 85% of my spare time), I saw that dear Stuntmother had queued The Inga Hat. I was so knocked over by its mighty beauty that I immediately cast on and knit it all Monday and yesterday (Gus had off so I had some leisure time while we lolled around and watched tv). Here it is:

It's a pretty gorgeous pattern, but this hat (knit to gauge, folks!!) was HUGE. Even on my gigantic noggin, it came down to my nose. I've seen modifications, but they entail losing half of the pattern. I'd dearly love to make it again, but I'll have to knock it down to fingering weight.

3. I am halfway through "Post Captain". Unlike "Master and Commander" a lot of this book takes place on land and concerns Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin jockeying for the affections of the same woman. Bonus! I thought it would all be quarterdecks and topgallants, so this excursion into Jane Austen territory is quite pleasing. Dad has already dropped off his copy of Book 3, so I am set.

4. The Phillies are happily ensconced in Clearwater. How dreamy to read all the articles and see all the baseball news stories. What a nice time of year.......sigh......

It's Valentine's Day. The Dark Time is officially over. Pitchers and catchers report today. Celebrate the love.

Oops - sorry for the dearth of posts.

Let's see, what's new....I finished two Fake Isle Hats while on vacation:

Kureyon and Wool of the Andes. It turned out too big. I might felt it a smidgeon and see if it fits better.

2nd Try. I bought new yarn at Purl by the Sea in Montauk. Lang Mille Color and some plain merino from Berroco. It turned out better, but a smidgeon too small.

I'll have to try another one eventually. It was a very enjoyable pattern, though I amended it a lot. I highly recommend.

And now, an object lesson in why it's important to patronize (in person!) your favorite local yarn store. Behold! Inspired by Jen's gorgeous Landscape Shawl, I cast on one for myself in Kureyon sock yarn in the ickiest colorway ever made. This was ordered online, so I didn't see that it was so tremendously icky:

Bleh and double bleh! I finally faced reality when I saw the next two colors coming - grey and bright turquoise. I gave up and threw the whole ding-dang ball away. If it were the usual beauteous colors of Kureyon it would have been another matter, but knitting a scratchy, weak, thick and thin single-ply in horrible colors is no way to spend my time! The Landscape Shawl fever still has me in its grips, but I'll find another yarn. It was great starting another one - I'd forgotten how much I adore that pattern.

I've spent the rest of my knitting time working on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.  I've finished what was called for in the pattern for the body, but I think I'm going to add a couple more inches to the length. I also finished one sleeve. Contrary to every other sleeve experience I've ever had, knitting this sleeve was FUN! Why? I don't know! It just was! I guess maybe because after all those 250-stitch rows on the body, it was fun to only work on 70 stitches. Also, the Felted Tweed is such a dreamy yarn. O Felted Tweed, how I loveth you so much it's not funny.

I finished "Master and Commander" and have started Book 2 - "Post Captain". Perhaps by the end of the 15 or so more books I will know the difference between a mainsail and a topgallant, but for now I gently elide over that stuff.

I'm back! Yippee-I-yay!! Boy oh boy, what a nice week that was. Here are some highlights.

Our daily (or sometimes twice-daily) walk on the cold glorious deserted beach:


It's good to skip shells into the ocean. Here are Gus and his father caught in exactly the same moment of their follow-through:


Excellent stuff from our daily beach walk. Gus found a starfish and some coral after a particularly stormy night. We also found a ton of sea glass:


We also ate well.

The Candy Kitchen, Bridgehampton:


O Mighty Shagwong of Montauk, how we ate at you twice and had lobsters the second time and rolled home, fat and happy:


I bought a trashy historical novel to read, since I didn't want to tote the gigantic Harry Potter book up. I finished the novel halfway through the week and picked up "Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian from my aunt's bookshelf. This has long been a favorite of my dad's, but I had never been interested. Too much nautical-tech-talk, not enough bodices ripping. But it was FABULOUS!!! I'm halfway through and am happy there are a billion more books after this.

Tomorrow I'll get back to knitting.

One more thing: The Phillies equipment trucks leave for Clearwater this week. I'm just sayin'.....