Major Knitter

My Favorite Fig Tree

Did you guess that BF and I were in Sao Paulo, Brazil?  If so, you were correct.  That was the Brazilian flag with the Sao Paulo state flag to its left.  We dined at a wonderful restaurant in Sao Paulo, and one that is particularly memorable for us, called Fig Tree, or A Figueira.  It was wonderful.  I just love getting together with old friends and laughing, and laughing, and laughing.  The best part of this vacation is the resting and relaxing that was done.  Hardly any knitting got done.  I brought yarn to knit three pairs of baby booties and I only finished one booty (that's a single booty, not a pair).

This is the tree trunk of the overgrown Fig Tree namesake that grows in the center of the restaurant.  It's utterly amazing.

Here's a very dark, hard-to-see picture of the Fig Tree with its branches reaching out to every guest at the restaurant.  Good laughs were had by everyone.  Great friendships.  Great memories.  Great times. 

Did I mention that I love vacation -- especially when it involves friends in Brazil.

Where In the World is Major Knitter?

Can you guess where I am from this picture?  C'mon - take a guess down to the city.  There are many clues for you here.

The color of the sky is the only true deceptive part of this picture.  I don't think I ever remember a July day that was this beautiful in this city.  

Acquiring Another Accessory

I was at Knitting Central last week and I picked up another addition to my knitting toolkit.

These are the Lantern Moon cable needles.  They're fantastic.  I love the little carrying case, too.  

Do you have a favorite cable needle?

World Record Crunch

A few weeks ago I participated in the Wise Potato Chip world breaking record at Citi Field - otherwise known as the Big City Crunch.  

Here I am posing with my knitting outside Citi Field with the Wise Potato Chip truck.

Here's the nice young man who distributed our record breaking bag of complimentary potato chips inside the stadium gates.  (Sorry - I'm not sure why my pictures are sideways today).

Here are the specially marked Wise potato chips with instructions on waiting until the end of the second inning to open them.

It was great fun and I'm officially a member of the Guinness World Book of Records, at least in spirit.

How about you?  Have you done any world breaking activities lately?

More Sock Yarn

At our annual dinner for the Westport Young Woman's League - we received these lovely little knitting bags (although some members might think of them as tote bags).  I decided to fill mine up with some new sock yarn that recently arrived at my LYS - Knitting Central

I don't have any particular patterns in mind, but I suppose the blue and the black/gray will go to Secundogeniture.  The white sock yarn is for me.  Perhaps I'll find the perfect pattern at the Sock Summit 2009.  

In the meantime, it's open membership time for the Westport Young Woman's League.  If you'd like to join, please fill out a form.  It's one of my favorite ways to meet new people in town.  Most of my best friends are from the league (if not from knitting).  

Memories from Maine

BF and I had a lovely little mini-vacation to the coast of Maine.  We made the obligatory stop in Freeport, Maine and the outlet malls.  Of course, the big attraction there is L.L. Bean.  It's such a cute little outlet town and I was thrilled to see that it didn't appear to be suffering the closed storefronts all along the streets that so many other main streets are experiencing across the country.  

Then we reached our destination - Belfast, Maine.  Idyllic.  That's the best way to describe it.  It was truly picturesque.  We stayed at the Belfast Bay Inn - a recently restored pair of buildings turned into a 8-room inn.  We ate dinner at the waterfront - delicious New England Clam Chowder - and strolled along Main Street browsing the charming storefronts and purchasing a board game in the toy store, which we promptly went back to our room and played.

One of the questions was "Sioux City is the 4th largest city in which state?"  Are you kidding?  I didn't get this question about my hometown???  I-O-W-A!  

Of course, it was during this stroll along Main Street that we discovered a delightful LYS just a few doors up the street from our Inn.  Is that great or what?  I bought this at Heavenly Socks Yarns

The next morning we woke up and drove a half-hour south to Camden, Maine where we strolled their Main Street and found another knitting shop - Unique One Sweaters and Yarn.  I purchased more yarn - plus some local natural alpaca wool from Oreo and El Rubio.  Does anyone know these animals personally?  

After our lunch we took a little siesta in this town park overlooking the harbor.

The next day we got ready to go out on a boat for a memorial service.  We left early enough in the morning that the water was as smooth as glass.

Of course, I took some knitting with me, and, thank goodness, I also brought my heavy-duty fleece.  Maine is gorgeous, but it was definitely chilly.  It was in the low 60s this early morning, plus the wind from the boat ride, and I was one happy camper with my snuggly warm fleece.

We rasied a toast on this state park island and shared memories of a dear friend.

We ended the trip with a celebration of life - and a soft-shell lobster bake, complete with corn on the cob and homemade blueberry, apple and strawberry-rhubarb pies.  If I could plan a memorial service that would truly celebrate a loved one's life, it would be like this: happy, sad, casual, and fun - all at the same time.  It was an event that made us all feel that our friend was among us enjoying the summer vacation weekend with her loved ones. 

Finishing Friday - Baby Booties

BF and I just got home from a week in Maine.  It was breathtaking and I am thoroughly enchanted with Belfast, Maine where we stayed.  I'll tell you more about my trip later, but for now, let me post my Finishing Friday picture

Here are the Stay-on Baby Booties I made while in Maine.  I visited the Heavenly Socks Yarns LYS located a few doors up the street from our Inn where I purchased the US Size 3 Square dpns and one skein of Catania Color.  This is such a fun pattern to knit.  I could make these over and over again.

It's Hip to be Square

Look what I got yesterday?

These are Kollage's Square dpns.  They're really interesting and I like them a lot.  I cast on for a pair of Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties and will give you a full report of them shortly. 

Have you used these needles?  What did you think of them?

Security Measures

If you're reading my blog, it's because you contacted me and asked me for the User ID and password.  Thanks so much for continuing to read.  I really appreciate it.  Hopefully we'll have this little blip worked out in no time.

Hogwarts Revisited

As you're all probably aware, the latest installment of the Harry Potter series hits the big screen this Wednesday, July 15th.  I read the book once, when it first came out in 2005, but haven't read it since.  I decided I needed a little refresher course in my Harry Potter knowledge.

I'm already enjoying delving into the magical world of Harry Potter.  It's no wonder millions are anxiously awaiting the 6th film.  I probably won't go until the weekend.  How about you?  Will you go to the midnight showing?  Do you secretly dream about designing some knitwear for the cast to wear in one of the upcoming movies (OK... I think they're already filming the 8th movie, so it's probably a bit late for that pipe dream).