Urban Exploration

So I know this is amazing - two posts in a row but don't get too excited yet - there is relatively no knitting content ahead. But...there are some interesting pictures.

Yesterday after work I decided to take one of my treks from 32nd and Madison to over the Brooklyn Bridge. I decided to take pictures of interesting sites on my route. So here we have a little photo journal of my trip. If you are familiar with Brooklyn you'll realize this trek was a lot longer than just over the bridge - I basically walked to Park Slope - I'm guessing 8-9 miles.

This was on one of the court buildings on Centre Street - if you can't read it it says - "Equal and Exact Justice to All Men Whatever State or Persuasion" - if only this were true!

Halfway over the Brooklyn Bridge - it's not as late as it looks.

Hmmmm...what to say...Just say NO!

Good thing Knit-away was closed or I would have indulged too much as usual.

Did you know Ex Lax was in Brooklyn? Ok it's no longer Ex Lax Inc. it's been converted into apartments but I loved that they kept the sign and soothing blue and green colors...LOL.


Hang a right on 4th and Atlantic...

I love old ads on the sides of brick buildings

Stuff nightmares are made of...scary!

Why is is so much fun to take pictures of the sunset? Maybe it's the romantic in me!

End of the line...well I think I could have kept walking but it was getting dark so I decided to take the rest of the way home by train. All in all it took me about 2 hours from start to finish - not too bad I think.

Warning knitting content ahead

Ah ha! I think I finally remembered this is a knitting/spinning blog so here we go...

I finished my Clapotis in May but since I decided to do one which stripes I had a bazillion ends to weave in. So it languished in the WIP pile until I got sick of looking at it all crumpled up in the corner. Here it is on the bed blocking



I tried to take some timer shots with it after is was blocked, but they all came out crappy...when it gets cooler I'll bring it to the point so one of my fellow Spiders can take a shot of me wearing it.

I also went ahead and started Sizzle This pic was taken friday last week so I have a bit more done on it now - although I must admit not all that much.



Isn't the color great? I can't wait to see how this is going to look on me...I'm pretty excited - my first real garment!

Here are a few pictures that I didn't get to post from my trip upstate - the first one is my favorite. This is the largest prozac pill I've ever seen! - see the car off to the right for a size comparion.


I could make a lot of money selling off chunks of that...LOL - just kidding...



Ahh I love the mountains!



This is what happens to me after 4pm at work...

Breather from the City

I realize that I am a NYC girl born and raised and I don't think I want to live anywhere else other than NYC...but...from time I NEED a break from it all. A break from the subway, the noise, the oppressive city humidity and heat which radiates up from the cement and into the soles of your feet. There is nothing like a country breather in the middle of summer.

This weekend I went upstate to the Catskills to visit my dad. My two sisters, niece and I drove up the 2.5 hours very early Sat. morning...and I am so glad I went. It's been a difficult couple of months, and I didn't realize how much a little getaway could help release tension and just make me feel good.

Here are a few pics from Sunday - we went to a lovely creek with a waterfall and went swimming.


Isn't it just georgeous! The water was so clear and cool, I didn't want to leave.


Me and my sisters.



Me and my niece...look at that tan - I'm like a ghost compared to her. I guess it helps that her dad is Columbian, and she is out in the sun and the pool all day. Ahh to be a kid again.

So - if you are tense or need a break - take a little overnight trip it'll do a world of good!

Although I have no knitting content I did buy yarn for Sizzle on friday. Debbie Bliss Cathay in a great magenta color. I'll be swatching tonight, and most likely doing a little math.

So while I was up at my fathers place I had this idea of maybe doing knitting/spinning retreats. My father's property has about 7 cabins on it, one of which he lives in. They aren't ready to be rented out yet, but we are working on fixing them up. The property is a nice size with a swimming pool (being fixed as well), 1/2 a basketball court, and plenty of grass to roll around in (for kids). I thought that it might be cool to offer a few different workshops over the course of the weekend, and also have a little shop for Indy vendors. Would anyone be interested in something like that?

Just because there is static...

doesn't mean I am not working - look I promise I've been doing stuff...

Freshly dyed yarn which went up in the New store yesterday...my wonderful mailing list customers are getting first crack at them because without all of you I wouldn't be able to do this. Also I've got a bunch of sparkly batts up -



Now that I've proved I've actually done something in my blog absence I will admit to one thing - I have hardly knit a stitch! I find it really hard to knit at all in this heat and I can't figure out what to knit. I'm thinking it's really about time I made a real garment. What do you guys think of Sizzle ? Do you think it'll work for me? Jessica made it and it really looks amazing on her. Another thing going for this is that since she made it already and I get to see her every friday she can help me out when the pathetic knitter in me is hopelessly lost! Not to mention The Point is having an amazing 40% off sale so I might be able to find the perfect yarn for it at a good price. Ok I think I'm sold.

In the midst of all the deying and carding and change in my life, I've decided I needed some change in the craft room. Do you remember when it looked like this? (scroll a little you'll see it)
well it wasn't working for me, so in the spirit of all the changes going on I made some more. Here it is now -







There you go, yes I know I have a lot more organizing to do. Next I'll tackle making it look neat!

UPDATE : I've heard from a few of my mailing list customers that some of the updates didn't go through so I'm letting the cat out of the bag and here is the URL for the store - www.brooklynhandspun.com/Store