It was only a dream

I don't remember people's faces in my dream unless they're friends of mine.

I was staying in a house with a tiny, 10x40 (maybe) backyard. My host said there were a lot of bats so I went outside to see if I could find any. Someone else was back there and he showed me a bat that was hanging inside the eave. It was gigantic. Then I noticed they had buried themselves under the stepping stones and gravel in the garden. So I freaked out and said we had to kill them - chop them up and bury them under human organs.

Next scene I'm in a car driving to BK with someone else, and a homeless kid in the car. He gets out and we continue to get burgers. We decide to get one for the homeless kid and while we're out looking for him I run into David & Laurea who are trying to exchange a watch he got for her, this really huge silver watch. I gasp when I see it and pull the same exact one out of my pocket.

Then the alarm rang.

What dream dictionaries say about bats:
1. Awful is the fate of the unfortunate dreamer of this ugly animal. Sorrows and calamities from hosts of evil work against you. Death of parents and friends, loss of limbs or sight, may follow after a dream of these ghoulish monsters. A white bat is almost a sure sign of death. Often the death of a child follows this dream.

2. To see bats in your dream, symbolizes uncleanness, demons, and annoyances. Alternatively, bats represent rebirth. You need to let go of old habits. Your current path is not compatible with your new growth and new goals. It may also mean that you are blindly entering into a situation or deal. You need to evaluate the facts more carefully. The dream may also been a pun on feeling "batty" or feeling crazy.

To dream of a white bat, signifies death of a family member. To dream of a black bat, signifies personal disaster.

To see a vampire bat in your dream, represents that a person in your life may be draining your of self-confidence and/or your resources.

According to Chinese folklore, if you see five bats in your dream, then it symbolizes good health, longevity, pace, wealth, and happiness.

GREAT. So since I'm hacking the bats to pieces does that mean I'm sabotaging my chances at good health, longevity, pace, wealth and happiness? Or fighting the chance of a personal disaster?

Awesome.

W-E-E-K-E-N-D it's weeeekend

Took Friday off and headed into the city to grab a sandwich from Num Pang, which I ate at Union Square. Being the first really nice Spring day of the year, everyone was out, including this bronze statue and two old ladies having a ball with him. They kept talking to him and digging for more change to make him change poses. Then they would laugh and laugh.

Knit New York was having a moving sale so I went and bought a bad bad bad amount of yarn. This is a yarn baller - if you buy a hank/skein of yarn you can't knit or crochet with it until you wind it into a ball. Most places will do it for free right then and there. Usually I'll do it at home but since this skein was almost 700 yards I handed it to this blue haired Betty.

Michael cooked dinner in Bushwick for me, Seth, Angel and Mitch. This is his dog Kennedy, half Basset Hound-half Dalmatian.

With my new yarn I started a new project, the Purl Bee's Daisy Stitch Handwarmers. This photo was taken on Saturday - I stayed up til about 3am on Friday getting it started and by Saturday night I finished one handwarmer. It looks difficult but once you get the tricks down it's a piece of cake. The hard part for me was getting enough slack in the yarn to do the [k3tog, yo, k3tog] into the same 3 stitches. Knitting this is very meditative as I don't have to refer to the pattern that often until I get to the thumbhole and it's fairly quick to do. I'd like to try this pattern on a matching hat, which I will somehow have to finagle. I don't like matching scarf-hat combos but I think matching hat-handwarmers/gloves is ok. I'm now obsessed with making things on dpns (double pointed needles) as this was my first try. It's not as scary as it looks although my fingers look and feel gnarled after a few hours. Next projects include an apple sweater and finger puppets! I'm also now obsessed with buying yarn to stockpile for future projects. This can get very dangerous.

Saturday Alex and I headed into Chelsea to check out Corey Arnold's photos at Sara Tecchia Roma. In the same building was bitforms, which was showing James Paterson's Harvest.

Sunday was a terribly lazy day where I did more knitting both at home and at Bar Olivino, where my knitting group meets once a month. It's funny to note that this Sunday the crowd consisted of 5 young women knitters and 3 old men, who were regulars.

When I got home I went to work on dinner: Lemon-rosemary chicken with gravy; chickpeas, artichoke hearts and carrots in lemon and rice. To be posted on The Itis later tonight.

Ooh pretty!

Jewelry by Norwegian designer Bjorg. Whimsical, Old World, elegant and most definitely BAD ASS. Her jewelry is inspired by her diverse life, including time spent in Denmark, Norway and India. I especially love the rings and bracelets.

No information is listed on the site just yet as to purchasing and retailers but I've got my eye on it.

Edit: A bit of Googling I found some on this site from the UK.

Oh Monday. Oh you.

Arrived at work 8:15am. After 5 hours of sleep.

Received many snarky emails throughout the day.

Left without saying goodbye.

Continued knitting project on train only to find that I had skipped an entire row's worth of knits. How?? No clue. Starting over again. FOR THE FIFTH TIME.

Drinking this. Helping immensely.

Have to be at work at 8:15am again tomorrow.

Considering packing the wine in a thermos.

Scenes from Saturday

Ricky & Ryan in Flushing. I talk to Ricky pretty much every day on Gchat but the last time I saw him was at least two years ago. Ryan trying to look cute and Ricky trying to look elegant. HA.


Alex, Cinco and Chris at Alligator Bar in Greenpoint


The draught beer at Brouwerij Lane in Greenpoint, a new beer store. Mitya did the sign outside so we all went for the grand opening events. We tasted some beer and we got to keep the mini beer glasses we used.


On our way to Williamsburg we passed this junk yard. Is that guy peeing back there or is he being punished?


Some wilted balloons caught in a tree


Nick, Angel and Mitya at the Posterboy show

Regulators: Craft up

This is Noro Silk Mountain yarn, a blend of wool, silk and kid mohair. I'm using it to make another neck cowl, which is shaping up nicely and looks a little like rainbow river moss. I'm trying to stockpile for gift giving and/or selling. We'll see how that goes.

Noro is famous for the variegated colors in their yarns, and I really want to try making another lace scarf with it.

Check this site out for beautiful creations made with Noro Yarn. Click on References.

Currently I'm working on about 3 projects. And learning that I knit like I read: different projects at the same time. Variety is the spice of life!

Next up I want to learn to embroider and cableknit. Baby steps.

Weekend update

Saturday I made biscuits & gravy for breakfast and then we collected old clothes and headed to Beacon's Closet to sell them. We made $40 and spent it on beers and brats at Radegast, then did a little window shopping and headed home.


We watched Let The Right One In, which was spooky and creepy. The filming was very sparse, letting the actors shine through. I liked it a lot but was very tense throughout. Will get on to reading the book as I'm sure there were aspects that were lost in translation.

Sunday we had a delicious brunch at James and then headed into Soho for - what else - shopping.


We headed home where I made chicken and sausage cassoulet and then sat down to watch A History of Violence. Like Eastern Promises, it had a bittersweet ending that left you wondering. As with most of his movies it was dark and touched on questions regarding human nature.

Spring came, spring went.

Some photos from the weekend. Breakfast at Choice Market, dinner at Char No. 4, met up with some friends at The Rub, Chinatown on Sunday.









Today is also my day to guest blog at the Bonbon Oiseau blog. It involves music and photos, my two favorite things. Check it out!

Winter of Discontent: Images

by Lydia Joy via Flickr

by ardenstreet via Flickr

By Scarlett Hooft Graafland via Don't Panic

by razorbern via Flickr

How's your winter?

Some exciting news

Bonbon Oiseau at Brooklyn Flea's winter pop up

Deb of Bonbon Oiseau has just headed to Paris to exhibit her Fall 09 collection at Le Showroom Paris. Read all about it here at her blog. This year, she was asked by one of the organizers to curate an entire room! So she has brought Brooklyn to Paris for the week. Designers included are Hortensia Handmade, Dunlin Bags and Judith Haas Jewelry.

Since she will be busy at the show, she has asked her blogging friends to fill in for her on her blog, myself included. Starting tomorrow, please check back every day until the 15th for a different guest blogger each day. Topics include Paris, France, bonbons or oiseaus (birds) or anything else we would like to write about. I have a week to think about it so check next Monday the 9th for my 2 cents.

Speaking of blogs, I discovered another one today, via Flickr. This is mamichan's blog, and she loves to knit and cook as well. She is from Japan, raised in suburban NY and now lives in Minnesota and has some good recipe ideas. She tries to eat locally whenever possible. Check her out!

It's granny time

My KnitPicks order came yesterday and I was excited to start a new project. I started this scarf last night and after about 5 tries I finally got it. This is the Lovely Leaf Lace scarf from the Purl Bee, made with supima cotton-modal yarn instead of cashmere. At $2.50 a ball from KnitPicks, I wanted a cheap yarn for my first try.

I had to invoke the help of the Knit Witch, who helped with stitches I've never done before like "ssk"or "s1, k2tog, psso." It was all Greek to me too until I watched some videos. And now I am obsessed with knitting lace.

I think this yarn weight and needle size is good for a nubbier yarn like cashmere. I want to try it with a bamboo-silk blend next, so I will have to use smaller needles. I am planning to invest in some Denise interchangeable knitting needles - this is the best option I've seen out there. With all the different lengths and sizes I need, it's better to have this little kit instead of a zillion different needles flying around.


Patterns in general are difficult for me to follow because I often forget which row I am on and I don't use a counter. I usually just wing it and hope for the best. Hopefully I can learn to be more disciplined because eventually I want to knit onesies and baby blankies and stuffed knit animals for all my married and soon-to-be married friends. Start breeding already!