A curly haired knitter speaks from NYC
Whenever my spirits are low I take a wander around town...and scenes like this give me hope and renewed faith. This picture holds one of my favorite buildings --the Chrysler Building-- a vision of art deco architecture if ever there was one. Located at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, this building is home to some unusual residents -- several elusive and persnickity Peregrine falcons, who like to swoop down from the highest of heights and capture unsuspecting rodents and birds. These birds are as majestic and fabulous as the building they live in. NYC, the concrete jungle. Yes, indeed.
In a moment of blogging comment weakness, I volunteered to let my pal Heather interview me. [What was I thinking?] I was hopeful that I would get such fun and fantastic questions as: on a scale of 1 to 10, would you rate Koigu as your least or most favorite yarn? Or, what is your needle preference? No. Such. Luck. Heather tackled this interview assignment like a women aspiring for a position on 60 Minutes. [or Jerry Springer!] Our Q and A is as follows:
1. 2004 saw some really major changes in your life. What brought them about ?
The good: following my heart. The bad: not doing my due diligence.
2. You often give us little glimpses of your Italian family background. What does your Italian/European heritage mean to you ? Is it an important part of shaping who you are ? How will it shape Jamie's life ?
I am a second generation italian american -- meaning that my parents were born here, but my grandparents were not. The things my grandparents brought with them to this country were love of family, the love of the language, italian, the love of a good italian meal, and the love of celebrating holidays italian style. My mother and father embraced these traditions and passed them on to me and my brothers.....and as a result, my italian american heritage is grounded in these things.
Sadly, I do not speak italian, but for a few choice words that are not really appropriate for publication on this blog, as well as a few phrases that are necessary for a girl to shop in Italy. My knowledge of european history is not as strong as it could be.
I have dark hair and eyes with v. fair skin. Here in NYC, people tell me I look italian. When I visited Italy, people thought I looked American.
As an italian american, I have always been repulsed by the sterotype that is attached to italian american women. I abhor stereotypes. Of. Any. Kind.
My heritage helped shape who I am. How much so? Who knows!! It is one thing, among many, that I carry in Life's Handbag.
With the arrival of Jamie to Chez CurlsandPurlsNYC, I now tell people that I am a chinese-italian american. Ditto for Jamie. I want Jamie to be proud that she chinese, proud that her mother is of italian descent, and that in our home the two cultures are blended. I will do my best to teach her about chinese culture and italian culture. For the past year or so, I have been reading A History of Modern China by John Spence, a noted chinese scholar. If Jamie is to learn about the history of the country she was born in, it is important that I learn about it too. Will she learn chinese? If she wants to. Will I? I will try, but my facility for foreign languages is poor.
3. Your Friday postcards are fabulous and seem to show a real passion for NYC. What, if anything, would you change about your city and could you ever see yourself living anywhere else ?
I am a native New Yorker. I fell in love with NYC when I was 17 years old. I love it here. I also hate it here. I have, as they say, a real love-hate relationship. In the late 1990's I seriously thought about moving to San Francisco, for I was fed up with living here. [Actually, I was fed up with being a lawyer and thought I could escape the profession by moving across the country.] Instead, I moved to Cambridge, MA, to study at Harvard for a year. I liked living in Cambridge and although it was a calmer, quieter, and more manageable place to live than NYC, it wasn't NYC. It was clear that after ten months of living somewhere else, I was homesick for all that I loved AND hated about NYC, so I came back after my degree program was over. I think that it is fair to say that If I found the right job I might move back to the Cambridge/Boston area, for it would be a nice place to raise Jamie...but more likely than not we will stay here.
What change would I make to this Great City that I call home? A politically and socially charged question, if ever there was one. More middle income housing. Tax breaks for the middle class, who get used and abused on the tax front more and more every year. Improve the public school system. More parks and public spaces. And, if it were in my power, put an end to the west side stadium deal.
4. Knitting , sex , chocolate - rate them in order of importance and tell us why !
[!!!] Hmmm, what is it that I shall reveal here? I really cannot rank these three things in order of importance, for that would be like comparing apples and oranges. I can, and will, to quote the Rolling Stones, say this: you can't always get what you want, but if you try try try, you just might find, you get what you need.
5. What is your relationship with your stash ? Does it torment you or comfort you?
It both torments and comforts me. It torments me because I have a lot of yarn stashed that is earmarked for specific projects and very little time right now to knit at all. Yet, having all that yarn comforts me too...for I know no matter how long I stay on my yarn diet, that if I can find the time, I will have a project or two [or three or four or five...] to knit.
Ok, ok, ok already....enough about me, tell me more about you...what do YOU think of ME.....just kidding. If, after this blistering Q and A you are hankering for a cross examination of your own, read on, read on!!
If you want ME to interview YOU you must :
1. Leave a comment saying "Interview Me". I will list your questions on THIS blog.
2. You will give answers on YOUR blog.
3. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
4. You should ask 5 questions.
NEXT!!
Baby Jamie (soon to be Toddler Jamie) and I were given a most fabulous gift the other day....but MANY of you knew that gift was coming our way didn't you? The secret is out folks, the gift has been bestowed, and the recipients are gobsmack!! What did we receive? An unspeakably beautiful blanket for Baby Jamie made with love and friendship by many knitters across the globe. It is one of the most beautiful blankets that I have ever seen. It is a fabulous melange of orange, pink, and cream! [And some other yummy colours as well.] It lights up our apartment! We love it! We love it! We love it!!!
I must confess that I found out about the secret plan to knit this blanket that was hatched by our dear friend and blanket designer extraordinaire Kay while I was in China with Jamie. The support I received from our online knitting community when I went to China to be united with Jamie meant so much to me, as did the willingness of so many knitters to put some knitting time aside to knit something for Jamie. I find myself boo hooing just writing about!
Many thanks to the knitters of who contributed squares for your beautiful work, kindness, and generosity of time and effort. The story of this blanket with be a memory my daughter and I will revel in for years to come. Extra special thanks to those stalwart knitters who braved the inclement weather to sew up the squares. Ditto to Heather for knitting up the blanket's flowery center and to Siow Chin for the knitted bear. (Jamie LOVES the bear, in part because it has moveable parts AND, more importantly, because it is just the right size for her to hold!)(I LOVE BOTH the bear and the flower!)
~~
Sorry for my infrequent posts as of late. I have been feeling a bit ovewhelmed by the obligation to post, especially when my knitting pace has slowed down quite a bit, and have been wondering if the end of CurlsandPurlsNYC is near. [Most likely not, for my blog brings me great joy, especially the supportive and funny comments so many of you leave for me!!) With so little free time, I am more inclined to knit than to blog about knitting. I am happy to report that I have been knitting more than I have in the past four months and have finished a few small projects, the details of which will be revealed in subsequent posts.
....or do the accoutrements of knitting remind anyone else of yarn in bondage?
T! A tea salon and emporium! Nesteled away on a sidestreet in the Flatiron or Gramercy Park area (or is it the Union Square area?) this little tea shop is a nice little retreat. The tea selection is just YUMMY and best of all, all the menu selections come with appropriate tea recommendations so that the guest is not overwhelmed by the many wonderful teas there are to choose from. It is a good place to meet a pal for a quiet and civilised snack or to sit, think, and knit by yourself. While it is NOT kid friendly, it is otherwise a welcoming place.
Treat yourself to a nice visit AFTER you settle up with the Tax Man!
......there was a little girl whose Momma was knitting her a Jumping Dress. The little girl waited and waited and waited for her Momma to finish knitting her Jumping Dress. Then one day, her Momma knit all the pieces and started to sew them up. The little girl put the half sewn up Jumping Dress on in Great Anticipation.
Finally, the little girl's Momma finished sewing up the Jumping Dress. Even though the Jumping Dress was sewn up, her Momma needed to do four more things before the little girl could wear it: 1) make a button loop; 2) find the right button; 3) sew on button; and 4) weave in the loose ends.
So, in order to pass the time [days][weeks][months][years][GASP] the little girl would have to wait for her Jumping Dress to be finished, she ate some yogurt all by herself and felt much better.
I am a tormented knitter. [Or is it that I am just tormented. Period.] Tormented because I have v. little quality time to knit. I am struggling to finish a v. easy pattern, the ballet top, from Debbie Bliss Quick Knits because I do not have enough yarn to finish it following the pattern as written. I am not angry at myself for not buying enough yarn, Patons Grace, Tangelo, for I did not buy the yarn for this particular project. I don't have enough yarn to make the shawl collar. All I need to do is rework the collar, I just don't have the mental capacity lately to do that at the end of the day. Too. Tired. Too. Distracted. Too. Frustrated. I really do want to finish this thing.
I also want to knit Martha from Rowan 37. Love. It. Thing is, I am on a yarn diet. Why is it that, at least for me, a yarn diet is easier to stick to than a food diet? [This does not have to be a rhetorical question.] Even if I did decide to knit it, given my limited knitting time, with its fine gauge yarn, would I ever be able to finish it? Should I just take the knitting plunge?
True Confession: Motherhood would be easier if I did not have to make three meals a day for My Girl. I really do not enjoy "the cook" aspect of motherhood. [ I don't really mind the "I am done with this, here, you take it" aspect of Motherhood. I find that kind of funny.] Any easy meal suggestions for lunch and/or dinner? Come on all you moms out there, 'fess up. What do you feed your kid for lunch and/or dinner? [We don't eat red meat. Or pork. Or fast food.][Really.] And nutritious snacks? Am I the only one out there who gives her kid yogurt and fruit for snack? [She likes it. Really.] [She also always gets a big SnackTrap full of Goldfish or Cheerios or Corn Chex.]
I also want a bigger apartment. Should we move to the suburbs, say, to Westchester? [CurlsandPurlsWestchester does not have the same ring to it, does it?]
I also want to start an NYC Stitch and Bitch that meets one night a month in the evenings, when I can get a babysitter. [Ladies of the Drafty Table, I love you, I just cannot get there on Friday afternoons.] Is anyone game?
And, I have not forgotten about my Mommy Chic Knitalong. To the contrary, I have been giving it a lot of thought. Is anyone interested in such a thing? And, if so, do you trust me enough, fashionwise at least, to pick out a few patterns to choose from? Would a Mommy Chic garment for Fall appeal to anyone out there?
Have I asked enough questions?
[Music Cue: James Taylor, You've Got a Friend"] I call this photo, "Dog Posse." Meet Woofie and Squeaky, my Jamie's canine pals. Now, I am not becoming one of those overly sentimental Momma's (I have always been that) writing about my daughter's toys merely for the sake of writing about our humble family life. It's just that these two guys and the manner in which my daughter interacts with them CRACK ME UP!! Woofie and Squeaky are her constant companions, always within an arms reach, always ready for a hug at any moment. In the morning, when Jamie climbs into my bed for our morning cuddles, Woofie and Squeaky must come too. Before I can wipe the sleep out of my eyes, Jamie has comandeered my bed with her Dog Posse, blankets, and other kid ephemera. We have a nice little morning party as I turn on the clock radio so as to listen to NPR's All Things Considered and Jamie turns it off. Again. And again. And again. Cause and effect are a wonderful thing. As are good friends, of any feather. Or should I say fur?
I am up to my neck in necklines, literally. I finished knitting both the front and back pieces of the Jumping Dress that I started for Baby Jamie about two weeks ago. Considering that I knit it in fits and starts, I am quite pleased that it only took me two weeks to knit these two pieces. That said, I thought I was going to have a finishing party over the weekend, so I went out and bought party food. Not. So. Why? Because I got stuck on the pattern when it came to finishing the neck edging. Turns out that despite two advanced degrees I still have difficulty following [reading] a pattern. A svelte rabbit I know might call my ineptitude a "bonehead moment." I call it just plain dumb. Fortunately my pals at my LYS helped me decipher [read] the pattern and as soon as I get a free moment, I am going to finish this little jumper and give it to My Girl. While I think it might be too big for her just yet, I need to find just the right shirt to wear under it and perhaps sherberty coloured tights. If the jumper is too big for My Girl to wear now, I may also knit her a little bolero sweater to wear over it in the pink All Seasons Cotton Melange colourway, for what's a cute little jumper without a bolero sweater? [I may also knit the bolero in a solid orange in the new Rowan Cashcotton that my friend Karin sent me as a birthday present. I think it would compliment the jumper's colourway v. v. nicely.][Thanks again, Karin!!][I meant it when I said I was going to make use of my stash!][My yarn diet is going much better than my food diet.][Unlike my friend Heather, whose food diet willpower knows no bounds.]
In other neck news, I am almost finished with the right front piece of my Nicole Jacket [Jane Ellison Queensland Collection], with just a little bit more of the neck to go. Once that piece is finished, it's a quick trip to Sleeve Island to knit up the last sleeve. [I knit one sleeve first and then went on to knit the other pieces in their usual order][Why did I do that? The sleeve is soooo boxy that it also served as a swatch. So, instead of swatching I started a sleeve and then checked the gauge at the appropriate moment. My gauge btw was SPOT ON!!] My predicition is that I may have TWO finishing parties this month. Wooo. Hooooo. Hmmmm, maybe I should call the caterer...
It pays to have friends in high places, literally and figuratively. A visit to a friend's office not too long ago yeilded this photo. The building? The New York Life Insurance Building on lower Madison Avenue. It is a grand building. I don't know about you, but if this were the view I had outside my office window, I might spend a tad too much time gazing out my window rather than working with Windows on my computer.