Now Norma Knits

Still a Bit Under the Weather

I'm glad I took a few photos at Mount Vernon that I can slap up here to give you a little photo album, my style.

This is where I took a photo of the arches and got a warning that photos are not allowed inside the main house. Bingo! My reputation for causing trouble everywhere I go remains intact, and I won't even tell you about how much fun the TSA officials have (not) with my neti pot salt. I really don't know why -- it's only 7 or 8 ounces of crystalline substance inside a plastic baggie, after all. 

That's Lynn in silhouette there on the right, trying to pretend she didn't know me.

The Father of our Country had a pretty decent view with his morning coffee on the piazza. 

Totally random fun fact I learned (but probably should have known before then) while at Mount Vernon:  General Washington was 6'4", and Martha was 4'11". 

For the spinners:

 For the organic gardeners:

A wicked awesome compost bin

For the Foodies:

We dined at the Inn At Mount Vernon, and it was fabulous. A bit late, I was reminded by Cheryl that A Good Blogger would be taking a photo of the amazing peanut-chestnut soup I was oohing and ahhing about, instead of just scarfing it down. It's their signature soup, and it was crazy-delicious. Sorry for those allergic to peanuts. It probably makes you itch and wheeze just by having me mention it. 

Cheryl did a little writeup about our day and has a photo posted of me....I don't know...holding court, I guess. Go see.

For the bakers, or just anyone who can appreciate the talent, artistry, and hard work that went into making this:

Sadly, my photos don't begin to do it justice. But it was a purely WOW piece of gingerbread genius created by the former White House Executive Pastry Chef.

  

Red Scarves At Mount Vernon

"I will honestly admit I was not prepared to take a college exam."

~ a post written by Sean H., one of the OFA students you are helping by knitting a scarf or sending in a donation to the Red Scarf Fund for Foster Youth.

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Yesterday I had the most delightful day being entertained by Cheryl (you rock the interpretations at Mount Vernon, Cheryl!), chauffeured around by Tracey F. (thank you, Tracey!), and regaled with hilarity as usual by Lynn from the OFA. We all went to Mount Vernon, where Cheryl works, to have a fun tour, a grand luncheon, and take a few photos of red scarves.

It was pretty brisk out there, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. I took responsibility (I have broad shoulders) for bringing the frigid northern temps with me, but the sky was blue and the setting was gorgeous and educational and the company was wonderful. Oh, that Lynn and I, we are a dangerous duo -- and I rather think that our superpowers were enhanced by Cheryl and Tracey -- making us a rather formidable foursome.

Cheryl was strong-armed by one of her fellow interpreters to take over his job in the great Mount Vernon main dining room, so we were privileged to see her deliver a little of her stuff. She is delightful, as was the whole of the tour. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the main house, but we managed to lay out our scarves and shoo people out of the background so we could take photos on the front porch. Cheryl once again saved the day and very diplomatically asked people to move -- blaming it on "that lady" (me) who is "artistic and difficult to work with." What a blast. I had the best day!

Tracey, Lynn (lugging her bag o' scarves), and Cheryl 

All About My NYC Yarn Crawl

There's so little to tell. I only went to one store. Isn't that pathetic? But at least I chose a winner.  And it had the added benefit of a next-door latte, a pumpkin tart, and a wonderful gab with Kay and her daughter who has A+ skills at Sitting and Pretending Not to be Bored and Unhappy When Mothers Gab.  That girl has awesome skill and talent!  She could win gold in the Olympics in that sport!  Not only that, but when a stranger comes along who is admiring and trying to furtively touch The Mom's handknit Shadow Box, she even cheerfully models it for said stranger who *gasp* has never heard of Ravelry.  Hopefully she remembered the word, because she did not write it down, but Kay urged her to JOIN.  Seriously! You mean there really is a knitter left on this planet who has not joined Ravelry? And we met her. Not only that, but when I was in Purl, the helpful and cheerful staff kept asking people if they were there for the yarn crawl, and many of them said no.  You could tell they were wondering why it was so sardine-like in there.  Made me feel so very cosmopolitan.  There I was, having flown down from Vermont for The First Annual NYC Yarn Crawl.  

I really did intend to hit more of the shops on the crawl, but instead I spent all of Sunday with the kids and the dog.  Not much surprise there, I suppose.  And it was a blast.  The weather was wonderful, we walked miles and miles, and though my best NYC walking boots were in the repair shop, I managed to make it through with only a couple blisters and minimal aches and pains, thanks to plenty of "are you gellin'"-type inserts in my shoes.  

I know you want me to shut up and show you what I bought already!  So here it is:

 

Two skeins of splendid, exquisite softness known as Swans Island Certified Organic Merino worsted-weight yarn in Indigo.  This is such gorgeous stuff, I'd like to take a bath in it.  It's made in Maine, and the stunning dye is natural indigo.

The softness is amazing, but as we knitters all too sadly know, the tradeoff with such softness is often that the knitted item pills like a mofo. This yarn has a bit of a tighter twist, and I'm hoping that prevents the pilling. Fingers crossed. I bought it with something very specific in mind, but after I got home, my idea morphed slightly.  The new idea will require more yarn, and I promptly called Purl and ordered two more skeins.   

I've already cast on for the first part:

Look familiar?  Yup, another Palindrome. And since I cast on and knit and ripped out and recast on and reknit a total of four times the other night, in order to get the width I wanted, and the yarn held up really well to all of that nonsense, I have high hopes that it will not pill and be ratty in no time.  I sure hope it won't, because it's meant for something special, and I certainly don't want it to turn into a schmatte suitable only for wiping down the car after a few wears.

And after mucho waffling, the decision has finally been made:  I will be going to Rhinebeck, though I may be walking around with a tin cup asking for donations, since I freakin' lost my freakin' wallet at UVM last night. So all the credit cards have been canceled and I have to start over.  Off to the DMV for a new license today, unless someone miraculously has turned the thing in and I get it before I go to start to recreate my life.  It's the return of WTF Wednesday.  *siiiiiiiigh*

EDITED TO ADD:  The wallet is sitting safely in someone's office.  I will pick it up later today.  Dang it, though, all the credit cards are canceled.  But still, this is the best sort of outcome, and I got the call before I went to get my license replaced.  Big whew.

Greetings From JFK

Picked up a cab on Wall Street at 6:15 a.m. and headed to JFK. The sunrise behind the Brooklyn Bridge took my breath away, and made me very glad I got going so early. Or perhaps the breath taken away part was because of the cab ride. Mr. Jefferies says that next time I should try to choose a cab driver more wisely. However, despite a bit of seasickness and jittery nerves from the erratic driving, we arrived intact, got through security, and have shared a Skinny Vanilla Latte and oatmeal at Starbucks. Well, the sharing part means that Mr. Jefferies suffered through watching me enjoy my breakfast from his travel bag. He would also like to take this opportunity to express his very unfavorable position on pet travel bags. But wait a second, Mr. Jefferies, this in not Terrier Tuesday. Who's in charge here, anyway?! OK, Gate 25, here we come.... Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Yarn Crawl Clue

Unheard Of

 

A giant salad composed entirely of vegetables from my garden.  

All right, I hear you.  I put those in my blog all the time; it's no big deal.

But not on October 8th.  

This salad, from my garden, on October 8th?  

Crazy talk!

(This is northwestern Vermont, need I remind you?)

But it's true.  

In the salad we have:  baby spinach, microgreens (various mystery baby greens from a seed mix I planted in September), sprouted sunflower seeds that fell from the sunflowers I grew this summer, baby kale, baby Swiss chard, broccoli, carrots, red onions, tomatoes (there are now only THREE left from my summer pickings -- I'm stunned and thrilled that they've lasted this well), parsley, chervil; and believe it or not I found some blueberries on a bush that were still edible and delicious, and a great addition to the salad.  In order to gather the ingredients for the salad, I felt like quite the forager, and looking at my garden in its end-of-the-season state, I had my doubts that I'd end up with enough for a decent salad.  Au contraire!

We enjoyed this salad on Thursday with maple vinaigrette and a nice little piece of steak from a local farm. It was arguably even more fabulous than a salad in the dead of summer, given that it is such an unexpected treat for this time of year, and it was packed with the freshest of flavors, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals & phytochemicals. 

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Hey, maybe you'll spot me on the NYC Yarn Crawl this weekend.  At the very last minute, it turns out I am delivering Mr. Jefferies for visitation with his parents, and they are very busy, so I need to keep myself entertained in the city for the weekend.  Aw, darn.

Mile-High Blogging

Greetings from up high in the sky.  I'm currently blogging using Notepad on my laptop, since I have not yet loaded Word on this computer and can't get into Typepad up here.  I've got a seatmate on the left who is too big for the space and a bit oafish and clumsy (redundant, I know), who keeps on bumping things, taking up my space, spilling water, and basically being a pain in my ass.  (He says he dreams of being rich enough to always fly first class.  Yeah, me too.)

On the right across the aisle is a 45-year-old (ish) sophomoric ass.  He's just too cool for the rules.  Doesn't want to hook his seatbelt, so camouflages it when the flight attendant comes by.  Keeps on playing with his iPhone, and keeps on hiding it as the flight attendant goes by, even after they have made the announcement several times to turn off all electronic devices.  She finally catches him, and when she asks, "Are you closing that up now?" he says "Yeah," puts it down, but as soon as she walks by, he picks it up again. 

Why are people such jerks?

I'm on the last leg of my journey home, Atlanta to Burlington.  Go figure:  Salt Lake City to Cincinnati to Atlanta to Burlington.  Could we GET any more convoluted?  (Actually, yes...I know it could happen.) But the flights have all been on time and relatively comfortable...despite being so FULL.  I've been knitting on the red cardi the whole way, and I've just now hit the WALL.  I.can't.knit.another.stitch; I think you know how it is. 

I took a slightly unorthodox approach and sewed up the seams of what I had finished as of this morning. All of it's finished except for one sleeve, the neckline trim, and the buttons.  Then I started knitting the second sleeve.  I'm about two-thirds done, but I need a rest.

As Smith was driving me to the airport this morning, he said that he thought I'd worn everybody out, which is a good thing. They wore me out, too.  And that, too, is a good thing, except for the fact that when I get back I have to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed first thing in the morning for another online training session.

Ah, well. Keeps me young. 

Anyhoo, I'll import this into Typepad when I get home, along with a few pictures of the long weekend.  I have lots to show you -- yarn, jewelry, flowers, lots of smiles, a new wee camera.  I had just the best time.  I love those Utah grrls.  Here's a big enthusiastic, sloppy thank you and shout out to my lovely hosts Cheryl and Margene and their lovely spouses.  And to Miriam who text messaged me when I hadn't been in town for more than half an hour, saying, "Are you here yet?!" and to Susan (and Margene all over again) for taking a day off work to be with me and for helping me model the gorgeous stole that Cookie knitted for me, and to Shelly and Laurie and all the rest of the women and men at the stitch-n-bitches.  And to the owner of Blazing Needles who welcomed me with a hearty, "Hi, Norma!  Welcome back!" when I went in.  (Pity I'm blanking on HER name right now.)  And to the owners of T.P. Gallery for giving me so many laughs and such lovely jewelry.  And to fish tacos and pork chops and green jello and sweet (but shouldn't be) rolls and milk frothers and sex talk in the garden of Brigham Young's lion's den.

 

Dinner Out

More to come..... I'm flying back to VT today....

I'll Tell You Something: The Utahans Are Making It Hard For Me To Resist Moving Here

It was a terrific seminar; I got a warm welcome from the court reporters and did some fabulous networking. It was very worthwhile to fly out here for it. 

More great food.  (This time Italian.)

We had wine and knitting with Susan, though the wine this time did not have such a story of romance and intrigue attached to it as it did the last time.   

I finished the right front of the red cardi, and cast on for the first sleeve.  One of the things on the agenda today is to find buttons for the sweater.  I'd like for the buttons for that sweater to come from here.  We might be going to a baseball game if the weather cooperates.  It's been quite cool and rainy.  If it's warm enough today, hopefully we can do the photo shoot for Cookie's latest wrap.  If it's too cold, we'll all just retire to Blazing Needles and the SLC Stitch 'n Bitch.

Definitely no mundane ruts around here. 

 

Trying to Stay Out Of My Mundane Rut

Dateline Salt Lake City.  Just in from a wonderful, fun-filled day and evening out with my wonderful host Cheryl, and Margene, Miriam, and Laurie.  

Cheryl and I spent the afternoon walking around Salt Lake City, shopping, and having Kouing Aman and lattes at the stupendously good Les Madeleines. 

Don't know what a Kouing Aman is?  Neither did I.  However, it looks like this:

 

...and when I eat one, it elicits comments from nearby diners similar to -- well, you know that famous scene in When Harry Met Sally?  Yeah. "I'll have what she's having."

Cheryl recently finished her Thermal sweater.  It fits me and suits me so well she has decided to give it to me.  Gorgeous.  Gorgeous. 

 

Here I am modeling it next to a very big .... you know. 

How 'bout that smile?  Am I having fun, ya think?  I am not sure, but it's possible that Cheryl has alerted the Utah authorities to check my luggage for a pumpkin-colored pullover before I leave the state.  I wore it all night when we went out on the town and had the most delicious southern barbecue I've ever had. 

Why?  Because it fits me perfectly and matches my new dinosaur bone pendant so well, that's why.

 

The one on the left I bought here in Utah last year.  The one on the right I got yesterday at the TP Gallery, a place that was recommended by a friend who recently came to Utah, and where Cheryl and I spent a long, long while being rowdy, having a barrel of laughs, and haranguing the owners.  So.much.fun. 

I was having trouble staying out of the clutches of an Australian bloke who was there, and at the same time trying to decide between several green turquoise pendants.  I started asking the merchant where the various stones came from, and they were all from states around Utah, but not Utah itself.  I said, "What do you have from Utah?" 

"Dinosaur bone," he said.

I pointed to the one I was wearing around my neck and said I wanted to see what he had.  He brought some over, and I fell in love with the red one above.  I was still undecided between it and the green ones. 

I finally said, "I think it has to be the dinosaur bone.  What do you think?"

This is not your ordinary store owner, who might actually want you to be happy and buy his stuff.  No, not him!  Instead, he said with considerable snark, "OK, fine!  If you want to stay in your mundane rut."

Laugh?  I thought I'd die!

So today I have resolved to try harder to get out of my mundane rut.  Wanna join me?