Renegade craft fair!

Some folks go celebrity watching in L.A. or some swanky downtown bar. Not me. I go to dusty McCarren Park in Williamsburg on a really freaking hot day.

This weekend was the Renegade Craft Fair in Williamsburg, and it exceeded all my expectations.

My long-suffering friend Kristin accompanied me -- and tolerated my groupie antics. I was so excited to meet Leah from Craftster, which is a forum that always inspires me. I probably haven't made this big a fool of myself since I attempted to interview Chris Rock at Star Jones' wedding. (I asked him if he was moved by her vows, and he simply turned on his heel and walked away. Celebrity reporter, I'm not.)

Anyway, here's Leah in her Craftster T-shirt:




I also spied Maggie, the wonderful fiber artist from Super Maggie. I was wimpy and just took a shot of her from afar. She's the gal in the mustard skirt.




I have ordered her felted flowers, so this weekend I picked up a cute tee shirt.




Kristin and I were captivated by this artist, whose name and card I didn't pick up. She apparently turns large, heavy tapestries into oversized pillows. They made me nostalgic for home -- my grandparents had a hideous wallhanging similar to these of a huge deer in the woods. Anyway, we were drawn to this one of the Last Supper. As Kristin said, "It's really intense."




Here is Kristin with one of her purchases, an awesome T-shirt that we just adored because, well, we are losers.




Click here so you can see a close-up at the designer's website, Edge of Urge.

I also picked up a cute necklace from Sprout Studio. But this here might very well be the highlight of the day. For a while, I've coveted a cute, stuffed creation from Heidi Kenney's My Paper Crane. She has the most delightful little donuts and milk cartons and slices of toast. But, for a friend of mine with a sick sense of humor, I decided to pick up the smiling stuffed tampon doll. And here I am, showing it off on the streets of Brooklyn.




Cheers!

Is it top ramen?

Or is it the remains of a tank top that just wasn't working out?




This is my favorite teddy bear regarding piles upon piles of Mondial Splendid yarn. (Please note the groovy fleece blanket I made a few years ago.) It was a chevron tank from Interweave knits that just looked preposterous. So it sat in my closet along with my other loser finished objects, as Wendy calls them over at
Knit and Tonic.

But it was kinda pricey yarn, and it deserves to be re-created into something wonderful. My dear friend is quite, quite pregnant, and I see a baby blanket in her future. (I know, a white baby blanket would lack function, but so what? Maybe I'll dye the yarn).

Here is the yarn hanging in my alarmingly mint green shower:




I've been a little down in the dumps lately, so I obsessively cleaned my apartment this afternoon. May I say that I totally adore both Swiffer wet and Swiffer dry? They really, really clean like nobody's business. But since I'm a notorious cheapskate, I hate that they are kinda expensive. Memo to Rite-Aid: make a Swiffer knock-off! Anyway, if only my lil apartment stayed this pretty all the time.

I have to be stopped

Ok, here is a pic of my one-skein wonder in action!




I kinda look like I'm scolding someone, which I'm not, but I certainly look a tad angry. Maybe I'm saying, "Ok, just this one last shrug pattern, but then that is it young lady! You can't keep making shrugs!" But how could I resist the cabled shrug from Interweave Knits? It features the daintiest little cable, and we know that I now adore making cables. It really makes knitting sleeves more palatable. Every few rows, you break the monotony by adding the cable. I've seen some folks are knitting the ribbed shrug, but I haven't seen anyone making this one. If you know of anyone, please link to them in my comments!

Here's my progress so far:




This was completed in only a day, mostly while we watched "The Aviator." Sheesh, Howard Hughes was sure nuts. And speaking of planes, my parents are headed to France as we speak. They'll be in Paris for a few days before heading to a farm house in the countryside. They're so adorable. I can hardly believe that they are going -- when I was little, we were so poor that we put clothing on layaway at Hills department store. Boy have things changed.

I'm slightly desperate for some time off, myself. TWO helicopter crashes in one week? I swear they each shaved a year off my life. But nothing that a little knitting can't fix.

the unstoppable shrug bandwagon (and i'm tagged!)

I need to do a teeny bit of finishing on this, but here's my version of the ever-popular one skein wonder from glampyre. Stefanie is so talented and such a generous designer. I've made a few of her free patterns, so I jumped at the chance to purchase a pattern she created. It was a fabulously fun and quick knit.

And I swear I'll have *another person* take a shot of me wearing the shrug. But until then, here it is on my futon:




And here it is hugging my ipod! Oh how we love the ipod.





I hate to jump on the shrug bandwagon because I fear that in a few years I'll look at them and say to myself, "WHAT were you thinking?" You know, the way I feel about my blue wool clogs from LL Bean or my long wrap sweater that looked like it belonged to Obi Wan. I'm already taking heat about my affinity for shrugs -- a cop said to me a few weeks back, "Hey Carrie, you're missing half of your sweater." But I think they are slightly perfect articles of clothing. I'm one of these folks who is constantly cold, constantly sporting goose bumps and shivering. But I don't always need a big, bulky cardigan, just a lil something to cover my shoulders. Hence, I totally dig shrugs.

In other news ...
I was tagged by Keridiana, who designs the most darling knit and crochet creations. (She's gonna have a pattern in the Stitch n Bitch crochet book coming out later this year. So jealous).

1. Total number of books I own?
Between what I have in my apartment and what's in my long-suffering parents' garage, probably 350. This is a mix of undergrad books, graduate books, pleasure books, knitting books.

2. The last book I bought?
Before we went to L.A., I purchased "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris and the groundbreaking "The Second Shift" by Arlie Russell Hochschild.

3. The last book I read?
I am in the middle of "Blue Blood" by Edward Conlon, but a cop at work made me mad so I had to take a hiatus. I finished Anne Lamott's "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith" before that.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me?
Oh, this is hard.
Gotta go with "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott, since it teaches so much about life and writing.
"Summer" by Edith Wharton because it was just a delicious read.
Anna Quindlen's "Black and Blue," which I stayed up all night reading about five years ago.
"The Street" by Ann Petry -- just a heartbreaking take on life in poverty.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise" because it's a great coming of age tale.

the cable gal

here is my finished cable tube top -- photographed in my bathroom. classy!




Can you see the cute cable on it? It's tough to see with the dark yarn.

I used this
adorable pattern, but with yarn from my stash and not the requested jiffy yarn. Honestly, the last thing I want to wear in this heat is a fuzzy black top, but I think it will be sorta snazzy for going out.

Surprise!

Jonathan's surprises for my birthday truly knocked my socks off. Since I so fell for the rooftop bar in L.A., he took me to the Ritz Carlton's rooftop bar in Battery Park, which had a remarkable view of the Statue of Liberty, the water and a wonderful sunset. Even Jersey looked beautiful! I had a tasty almond martini. Here we are beforehand, enjoying the mild weather and waterfront.




Then he took me to Union Square Cafe, the spot beloved by Zagat's. We always spoke about going there, but we've never made it. I had delectable scallops, some yummy white wine and bowtie pasta appetizer. I was stuffed, completely. Here I am, after devouring all the food. Luckily I fit in the picture.





Nearly finished with the cable tube top. i LOVE making cables. Why am i only discovering them now?