I find it interesting how my life revolves around Nerd Wars. For us Nerd Warriors, September is a break month between tourneys. Its a relaxing, no points, fun times month. We re-group and re-power when the rest of the world is getting off of summer vacation routines and getting those kiddos back to school. Collage too goes back in session at the end of August, so they're at full swing come September. Me, I'm getting ready for the next tourney, planning, catching up and putting my house back together. Once the tourney starts its all knitting all the time. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, pashaw! Points, darn it all, I need those points. I've never been the competitive type, I never played sports or anything. I did do two academic type things in high school but I've never been the team oriented person. 'Til I found Nerd Wars. Stargate Command is most certainly not about the points, or the number of projects, or Dwarfing the Nebula. We are all about each other. Support for the rough times, celebration of achievements, and we all have crafting addictions of some kind. So its sort of a themed support group who sometimes earns points. Love them all so much! I'm only getting sentimental because this upcoming tournament, T9, will mark two years of Nerd Wars for me. TWO years!
Okay this thing is supposed to be about projects and yarn acquisition; so here goes. Since its break time I haven't done much. The seasons are changing and the weather is getting colder, so I've also been "nesting" for the entire month of September. (Which has freaked out the Hubbs, ha!) I had intended to participate in the blog hop which ended on the 19th. I totally forgot, oops. I did finally finish the second oven mitt in the set I was paid to make, oh, a year and a half ago... Thank goodness I have forgiving friends. So here it is: Sorry It Took So Long
That is quite a few rows ago, but at least you can see colors this way. The yarn is Malabrigo Lace in Bobby Blue. The beads are 8/0 silver lined Delicas from Fire Mountain Gems. So far all the beads have fit on the crochet hook. The quality of these is far superior to the ones I got at Michaels. I know where I'll be getting all my beads from now on.
Last weekend I went home, as it was Lowville's Ninth Annual Cream Cheese Festival. I've been wanting to get up there for quite a few years, but it never seemed to work out. This year Kraft was attempting to break the world record for largest ever Cheese Cake. They invited celebrity Chef Duff Goldman to help. Well, they did it! Lowville, NY is now the holder of the record for a 6,900 lb. Cheese Cake. I really wanted to see the unveiling but right at 12:15 we had a torrential down pour and nasty gusts of wind. Several vendor tends blew over. I was under a tent eating BBQ chicken at the time, so I didn't get wet. I had seen the line for the cheese cake earlier when I did a quick walk around. So when the rain tapered off I made a bee line back to my car. I had other plans that day. My uncle told me the next day he stood in line for an hour to get a piece of the cheese cake. He got there about the same time I did. There will always be next year.
So what were my other plans that day? Yarn shopping! My Aunt took me to Old Forge for the day. The Old Forge Hardware Store has a yarn shop in the back. I know, it sounds goofy and it is, but its a half way decent yarn shop. Unfortunately there are no yarn shops near Lowville. Old Forge is about an hour away, Syracuse is an hour and 20 minutes or so. The closest is The Handmaiden Boutique in Adams (45 minutes) but she only carries Cascade. Old Forge is inside the Adirondack State Park, which is just beautiful, and is a tourist town. The Hardware store is a huge tourist souvenir shop essentially. It has everything, books, pottery, utensils, candles, furniture, yarn and there is an actual hardware section. The yarn shop part has a pretty good selection of yarns. Dale of Norway, Cascade, Mirasol, Noro, Araucania, Sublime, Debbie Bliss, James C. Brett... There were a couple brands of sock yarn I had never seen before. They had lots of pattern books too. Since its a tourist town, all the shops close down over the winter, I think that's why I found this:
Yes folks that Noro Cash Iroha. Its been discontinued for at least a year now if not longer. They had quite a bit of it, in several colors. I picked up two of those and this:
Araucania Huasco I decided to splurge since this is souvenir yarn. I found a shawl pattern I think this will work with. The Noro is probably going to be a scarf with a lace pattern to it. The silk and cashmere make it grow like crazy, from the comments I've read. After the yarn shop we went to Montezuma Winery's shop. The actual winery is down on Seneca lake (in New York's Finger Lake region, where amazing wine is produced.) I had no idea Montezuma had a shop in Old Forge so of course I had to go. I picked up a bottle of Cranberry Bog and a bottle of the 2012 Riesling. I've already consumed the Riesling. It was very good, sweet, floral and fruity. I've had Cranberry Bog before, I hope to save that one for Thanksgiving, maybe.
We also went to a sort of knick knack shop, I wasn't to interested 'til I got to the back. They have antiques too! I found a Boye 11 crochet hook and size 3 knitting needles. I think the needles are Susan Bates. They look like my moms so I know they aren't super old, but they are a size I don't have. The shop had a basement filled with even more stuff. Glassware, Pyrex, appliances, flour tins, glass milk bottles, sifters. Oh, it was great. I inherited my nostalgia from both my Grandmothers. I also grew up in an old turn of the century house, so yea, I love old musty shiny things. After that place we went to The Country Cottage, its a candy/chocolate shop. We got fudge and chocolates. So good. My two favorites were the chocolate walnut fudge and the salted caramels. They make the caramels with dark chocolate and they had the perfect amount of salt. They had other commercial candy there and they make their own donuts, but they were already out of the donuts. After we finished shopping we hunted down a place to eat. The first place, Sisters Bistro, was pretty much all reserved, so we decided to go elsewhere. One of the waiters there recommended Five Corners Café as it was good and similar to that place. So we checked it out. It was Amazing! It was really small, maybe only 10 or 12 tables, but everything was made to order ,from scratch. We both got the roasted chicken with butternut squash gratin and escarole. There was a cranberry puree around the chicken too. Amazing! Did I mention that yet? I thought the pricing was really good too. They also had a wine and beer selection. I went with a glass of Graff Riesling. Very good, I like the Montezuma just a tad better, but overall it was a really great day. It had started raining back when we were in Montezuma and it got crappier on the way home, but eventually we made it back. So, if you ever make it to Old Forge, get some yarn, wine and chocolate and have lunch or dinner at Five Corners Café. I think I may have to make it an annual trip.
September has flown by. Nerd Wars starts back up tomorrow at midnight. I have a dissertation planned for this tourney and a commission coming up so I plan to be busy for this one. More FOs will be forthcoming and therefore new blog posts. Until Later, Happy Crafting!
-Q
Okay this thing is supposed to be about projects and yarn acquisition; so here goes. Since its break time I haven't done much. The seasons are changing and the weather is getting colder, so I've also been "nesting" for the entire month of September. (Which has freaked out the Hubbs, ha!) I had intended to participate in the blog hop which ended on the 19th. I totally forgot, oops. I did finally finish the second oven mitt in the set I was paid to make, oh, a year and a half ago... Thank goodness I have forgiving friends. So here it is: Sorry It Took So Long
To my defense, I did make a second one way back, but it over felted and was too small, so I had to make a third one to complete the set. I know they get used, that's why he kept begging me for the second one, the first one gets used all the time and he wanted the second one so he would stop burning his other hand. The pattern is Out of the Frying Pan. The yarn is Ella Rae Classic. I love the transformation, I really should do projects like this more often.
I was getting an itch to knit some lace, so I did a second Cassis Shawlette, this time for my Mother. I had originally picked out the yarn for myself, but as soon as I started knitting it, I knew it was for my Mom.
As I was doing this one, I realized I didn't follow the pattern correctly for the first one. In the short row section, I was knitting the wraps together one stitch too soon. It worked out good though. The first shawl was for my MIL and it was deeper, she is a more substantial person, so a deeper shawl is better. My Mom is short and small, so a shallower and longer shawl is what she needs for her body type. I put beads in this one. Green 6/0 seed beads that I ordered from Fire Mountain Gems.
Beads don't photograph well... Mom loves it. I wrapped up the shawl and left it for her. I wish I had been able to see her open it, but I had plans last weekend and had to come back to the city early.
Those are my only two FOs. I'm working on a second, larger pair of Showsy Toes Baby Sandal Socks. I actually just have to do the bind off on the second sock and then sew in fifty million ends.... okay its like eight ends. I really should get a move on, so Raelynn can actually wear them.
I started a second Jeweled Cowl. This one is for a friend of mine at work who is a beader. She loved the first one. My timing is pretty good too. She has been out of work due to medical complications. She has a compression fracture in her back and will be out for the entire month of October, at least. I hope this lifts her spirits at least a little bit. I hope to go visit her once the cowl is finished. I counted last night, I'm two rows shy of halfway.
Last weekend I went home, as it was Lowville's Ninth Annual Cream Cheese Festival. I've been wanting to get up there for quite a few years, but it never seemed to work out. This year Kraft was attempting to break the world record for largest ever Cheese Cake. They invited celebrity Chef Duff Goldman to help. Well, they did it! Lowville, NY is now the holder of the record for a 6,900 lb. Cheese Cake. I really wanted to see the unveiling but right at 12:15 we had a torrential down pour and nasty gusts of wind. Several vendor tends blew over. I was under a tent eating BBQ chicken at the time, so I didn't get wet. I had seen the line for the cheese cake earlier when I did a quick walk around. So when the rain tapered off I made a bee line back to my car. I had other plans that day. My uncle told me the next day he stood in line for an hour to get a piece of the cheese cake. He got there about the same time I did. There will always be next year.
So what were my other plans that day? Yarn shopping! My Aunt took me to Old Forge for the day. The Old Forge Hardware Store has a yarn shop in the back. I know, it sounds goofy and it is, but its a half way decent yarn shop. Unfortunately there are no yarn shops near Lowville. Old Forge is about an hour away, Syracuse is an hour and 20 minutes or so. The closest is The Handmaiden Boutique in Adams (45 minutes) but she only carries Cascade. Old Forge is inside the Adirondack State Park, which is just beautiful, and is a tourist town. The Hardware store is a huge tourist souvenir shop essentially. It has everything, books, pottery, utensils, candles, furniture, yarn and there is an actual hardware section. The yarn shop part has a pretty good selection of yarns. Dale of Norway, Cascade, Mirasol, Noro, Araucania, Sublime, Debbie Bliss, James C. Brett... There were a couple brands of sock yarn I had never seen before. They had lots of pattern books too. Since its a tourist town, all the shops close down over the winter, I think that's why I found this:
We also went to a sort of knick knack shop, I wasn't to interested 'til I got to the back. They have antiques too! I found a Boye 11 crochet hook and size 3 knitting needles. I think the needles are Susan Bates. They look like my moms so I know they aren't super old, but they are a size I don't have. The shop had a basement filled with even more stuff. Glassware, Pyrex, appliances, flour tins, glass milk bottles, sifters. Oh, it was great. I inherited my nostalgia from both my Grandmothers. I also grew up in an old turn of the century house, so yea, I love old musty shiny things. After that place we went to The Country Cottage, its a candy/chocolate shop. We got fudge and chocolates. So good. My two favorites were the chocolate walnut fudge and the salted caramels. They make the caramels with dark chocolate and they had the perfect amount of salt. They had other commercial candy there and they make their own donuts, but they were already out of the donuts. After we finished shopping we hunted down a place to eat. The first place, Sisters Bistro, was pretty much all reserved, so we decided to go elsewhere. One of the waiters there recommended Five Corners Café as it was good and similar to that place. So we checked it out. It was Amazing! It was really small, maybe only 10 or 12 tables, but everything was made to order ,from scratch. We both got the roasted chicken with butternut squash gratin and escarole. There was a cranberry puree around the chicken too. Amazing! Did I mention that yet? I thought the pricing was really good too. They also had a wine and beer selection. I went with a glass of Graff Riesling. Very good, I like the Montezuma just a tad better, but overall it was a really great day. It had started raining back when we were in Montezuma and it got crappier on the way home, but eventually we made it back. So, if you ever make it to Old Forge, get some yarn, wine and chocolate and have lunch or dinner at Five Corners Café. I think I may have to make it an annual trip.
September has flown by. Nerd Wars starts back up tomorrow at midnight. I have a dissertation planned for this tourney and a commission coming up so I plan to be busy for this one. More FOs will be forthcoming and therefore new blog posts. Until Later, Happy Crafting!
-Q
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