femblog

Wooly Wednesday

I was listening to the news the other morning and heard a report on a Giant Knitting Machine, part of a temporary art installation at MassMoCa.

How cool is that?!?

Okay, stats.  It's by an artist named Dave Cole.  It's two digging machines with the scooper part taken off and two sharpened telephone poles put on.  The flag was knit with a mile of fabric (!) and is apparently stll there as part of the museums permanent collection. (I have no idea what he did with the knitting machines).

Oh, and I finished my Cloud 9 Tank.  It did not involve giant knitting machines.

Thoughts on Music

I remember the first song I heard that I discovered on my own. I was eight and living in England.  I would watch Top of the Pops every week with my sister.  They didn't exactly have music videos, but hadwhat you might called the precursor to music videos.  Clips from concerts or movies, for example ('Your the One that I Want" from the movie Grease was a big hit.  I'm dating myself, aren't I)

The song was "Love is Like Oxygen."  I didn't know who sang it (it was Sweet, in case you want to know) but I thought it was brilliant.  This was probably when I developed my taste for pop music.  I didn't know it was called pop music, but I liked it.

You see, to me music is filler.  Listening to music is not an activity.  Listening to music is what you do while you are driving or cooking or knitting or talking to a friend.  Every so often you pause and say, "I like this song," and then you go back to what you are really doing.

It's not that I don't have a small appreciation for other music.  I have gone to the symphony, I like classical music, I go listen to jazz (mostly for my husband, but I'm there!).  But it just doesn't move me the way a good book does.  Pop music fills all my music needs: it's catchy, it sticks in my head, it has a strong beat, it doesn't require too my of my attention.

Getting Meniere's Disease a number of years ago has not helped.  One of the symptoms of Meniere's is tinnitus - that ringing in your ears.  So I have been listening to that noise for six plus years now.  I like to have background noise to kind of cancel out the ringing.  Sometimes this is a fan, sometimes it is just the noise of the city where I live, but sometimes it is music.  Which fits nicely with my like of background music.

But this morning I was listening to "Love is Like Oxygen" and remembering.

There's Gonna Be Fireworks

On the Fourth of July.

My family and I all trekked down to The River last night to watch the fireworks.  That would be me, husband, four kids.  The kids were in a good mood, all playing together.

 

We took the subway across town and then walked the rest of the way.  There's lots of public art in town. This was a light sculpture, that changed color slowly.

 

The kids liked that too.  It was hard to not be in a good mood.  Out at night, lots of people all equally happy to be out walking along with you. 

When we got to the river, we set up camp on one of the bridges that cross The River.

 

My husband very sensibly brought a chair.  There were thousands of people out and, I swear, an equal number of police.  I mean, I'm used to city police and I supose there was a big enough crown to justify the state police, but why was the National Guard there?  And was that fly over by four Air Force jets decorative?  Or something else? It made us a little nervous.

I took my son and Twin B off to search for ice cream, leaving the other three behind.  We found an ice cream truck as well as the longest line to wait for ice cream I've ever seen.  Half an hour later (really) we made our way back to the bridge only to discover why there was all the police.

It was to keep ME off the bridge.  Okay, I guess it was to keep other people off the bridge too.  Apparently, the bridge was not allowed to have any more people on it.  Unfortunately for me (and the ice cream) I was on one side with half my family, and the other half of my family was still on the bridge.  I tried to convince the police to let us through on the basis that I was just returning to the bridge, but no dice.  So I handed off melting ice creams to my husband, got some jackets for the kids in exchange, and settled down to wait elsewhere.

Our town has the fireworks in two parts: a small display set to music at 10:00 and then a large display when NYC is done at 10:30 (that way the networks can show them both - or so I am told).  After the small display, we were let back on the bridge.  Hmmmm. Very suspicious.  Were all the police expecting trouble at the first display?  I think we will never know.  And, of course, nothing bad did happen.

The fireworks were great.  I love being close enough to feel them reverberate through my body and just fill the sky over my head.  The kids were thrilled and declared it the best show we've seen.  And my husband and I were very smug because earlier in the day we had driven down to The River and parked our car so we could drive home!

 

Happy 4th of July

 

I just thought I'd start you off with a nice picture of chocolates!  Hopefully some of them will make it to you this weekend.

We are having a very mellow weekend.  Just the six of us, hanging, trying not to get on each others nerves too much. 

I helped a friend de-snail her garden the other day (boy, did it need it too) but my daughter wouldn't let me "dispose" of  them.  We had to agree to find them a new happy snail home.  Also, one of them had to come home with us.  Twin A named her Slimey.

 

This is Slimey making its way down my daughter's leg.  Gross!

Tommorrow we will go down to the river to see the fireworks.  I feel that fireworks are only worth going to see if you are close enough for the sound to reverberate through your whole body.  Otherwise I could just stay home and watch them on tv.  So off we will go.  I just hope it finally stops raining.

I am ignoring that loud rumbly noise I am hearing right now.  I'm sure those dark clouds mean nothing.  La, la, la!  I can't heeeaar yoooou!

It's July!

I had such fun with this last month, that I decided had to do it again!

It's National Ice Cream Month; It's National Get Along with your Ex Month; It's Read a Almanac Month

Week One (July 6th) starts National Canned Luncheon Meat Week (I could do without this one)

Week Two (July 13th) is National Laughter Week (Always a good thing)

July 1st is Princess Diana's Birthday; it's also starts the Second Half of the New Year (How are those resolutions doing?)

July 4th is Independence From Meat Day (I'll think about it but I do love a good steak)

July 7th is Father-Daughter Take a Walk Day (Yes, do that.  Let me read my book in peace)

July 10th is Don't Step on a Bee Day (Again, I didn't really need a day to remind  me about this)

July 21stis Creme Brulee Day (and my twins birthday) (Mmmmm! My favorite dessert!)

July 26th  is All or Nothing Day (I Googled this.  It seems to be one of those made-up-by-a-company-to-make-money holidays.  It's for kids to live the day "like it's your last".  Okaaay.)

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

P.S. I'm the one being watered by my gleeful sister.

P.P.S.  I can see how photos get all over the internet. This was scanned by my dad, given to my sister who posted it on Facebook, where I copied it and then posted it here.  Gotta love the 21st century!

Music Meme

What song are you currently obsessed with?  The one you can't stop playing over and over?

Go to your playlist on your iPod or MP3.  Place the songs in alphabetical order.

Now tell us the song you can't stop listening to, and the next ten songs (and artists) as they appear.  No cheating and skipping that song you're embarassed to admit is on your playlist.

I have been listening to That's Not My Name, by The Ting Tings endlessly.  The next ten:

1) That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, The Smiths

2) That Time, by Regina Spektor

3) That Voice Again, Peter Gabriel

4) Therapy, from tick, tick, BOOM!

5) There's a Fine, Fine Line, from Avenue Q

6) There is Life Outside Your Window, also from Avenue Q

7) Things Can Only Get Better, Howard Jones

8) This Way, Dilaed Peoples with Kayne West

9) Three is a Magic Number, Schoolhouse Rock

10) Thunder, Boys Like Girls

This ended up being a more interesting list than I thought it would be. Kayne West and Schoolhouse Rock in the same list?! Interesting.

Consider yourself tagged!

Wooly Wendsday

I just about finished the first of my sister's socks. I just have to bind off the toe. The cuff is a little tight, which I'm concerned about. But my sister is thinner than I am and I know from experience that handknit socks stretch out after you wear them. So I'm hoping that combination of things works out.
Unfortunately I have serious SSS (Second Sock Syndrome). This is where you are so excited to start a pair of socks and you cast on and everything is fabulous and you love the yarn and you love the pattern and then you finish the sock and you are just done. Done with that yarn, done with that pattern, heck, you're even done with socks. So I did what any good knitter worth her salt would do in this situation.
I cast on a new project.
I decided to make the Cloud 9 Tank (option B) but with the cable on one side only. I cast on last night and I'm almost through my first skein of yarn (conveniently wound on my new swift! Thank you honey!). I have waiting to do today (thank you children) and I ambitiously brought a second skein "just in case".
I think that I was overdosing on teeny needles. This tank is knit on size 6's and compared to the 1's or even 0's I usually use, they feel enormous. And like I'm making so much progress!
Advice for the day: go buy some Malibrigo Silky Merino. Even if you don't knit you can keep it on your desk and pet it. Go. Now.

A Survey

Which tank should I knit with my fablous new Malibrigo Silky Merino in a beautiful aqua/watery color way.  I have about 900 yards.  (page down to see photos)

poll by twiigs.com

 

 

 

TANK A:

Venus by Helen Hue

photo copyright © helenhue

 

 

TANK B:

Cloud 9 Tank by Pattie Waters

Photo by Patti Flickr

 

 

TANK C:

Lace Cross Tank by Norah Gaughan

Photo by JoodieKadoodie on Flickr

 

WWKP Day (edited)

Today was World Wide Knit in Public Day! Did you knit? I actually made it to the knit-in that had been organized downtown. I went with a couple friends (but I'm blogging from my iPhone and don't have blog links right now). It was fun and mellow (and damp from the rain). Knitters are very friendly. I found the sock knitters right away!

We walked to Windsor Button after (I'll put in links later, I promise!) and ran into Pride Day! Very fun (and the photos for that are on my real camera - why am I even blogging this right now?).

I found some beautiful Malibrigo that I had to buy even though I don't know what I want to make with it.  (Maybe this tank - if you have a Ravelry account). I bought a much as I could afford, just to keep my options open.

The weather was perfect, the friends were perfect, the knitting was perfect. Let's do it again tommorrow!