Buddy and Dakota Meet Tiny Friends!

We went to visit Whitney and Evan this weekend (see numerous other posts) and we got to play with their pet rats! Todd's family had rats growing up, but being from New York City I have trouble not thinking of them as a little icky at.  But they were so much fun and clearly clever little guys.  As you can tell from these picture, I had a good time playing with them.

Dakota and Buddy were also intrigued by them and also quite gentle.  Puzzled, mostly.  And the little critters were surprisingly unphased.

Grain Pickup

The black of night. Nestled between a hopping bar scene and a busy restaurant parking lot is a dark shopping plaza with a handful of silent storefronts. Dimmed headlights slowly circle the pavement outside, the driver making sure the coast is clear. Two halves of an oak barrel lie on either side of the entrance to the Maltose Express. The driver exits the vehicle and makes a final scan of the area before lifting the right-most barrel from its home in the dift. He grabs the expected paper bag with a smirk and saunters back to the trunk of the vehicle. "Wait!" cries a voice from inside the car. "Make sure the kit's all there." The figure is backlit by the car's inner lighting, obscuring her features but making the glint of her knitting needles all the more menacing in the semi-darkness. After a moment's rustling the man replies in a gravelly baritone, "cara-munich, brewer's gold, Wyeast 1762 strain, irish moss...it's all here." With a chuckle and a grunt he drops the package in the trunk and slams the door shut. "Evan will be pleased," says the voice from inside, echoing the driver's thoughts. "We did it." And with a chirp of spinning tires on wet pavement the sport wagon takes off into the night, just another pair of headlights on a twisty country road in rural America.

New Recruits

For a while I'd been lamenting the fact that I don't know many knitters in NYC.  Then I realized that I could encourage some of my friends and family to take up knitting.  So for Olivia H's birthday we decided to get her some knitting supplies and throw a little knitting party and our SnB was born!

Pi Day: Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

Today we were inspired by Hannah's pi adventures as well as the fun google graphic to make a pie.  Perusing the Dinosaur BBQ cookbook we quickly decided to make the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.  In the interest of time and taste we substituted canned pumpkin for the sweet potatoes and molassas for the corn syrup.  We also seemed to have way more filling than one pie crust could accomodate so we ended up with two: oh darn!  The results were amazing!  Carmelized nuts and rich pumpkin flavor compliment each other perfectly. 

The Lion Brand Yarn Studio

Here I am knitting away as I enjoy the Shirley Paden event.

I have mixed feelings about Lion Brand yarn and The Lion Brand Yarn Studio.  Traditionally they seem to have been a largely acrylic yarn company, but lately they have changed their yarns and their image.  As part of this change they opened a retail store in NYC which is becoming one of my favorite local yarn stores.  They are trying to provide reasonably priced and easy to use yarn for more traditional knitters (acrylic, acrylic blends, wool, wool blends) as well as interesting colors and materials (cashmere, organic cotton, superwash wool, stainless steel) for more adventurous knitters.  They also have a large front window that change monthly.
Sometimes it is hard to find a place to knit and The Lion Brand Yarn Studio has smartly arranged free activities in the store that provide a place to knit and encourage you to buy things from their store.  From their movie night to their themed open knitting nights to designer book talks I find myself there rather a lot.

So far these are the events I've participated in:

• Lily Chin's book talk was a pleasant surprise.  I was put off by the retro style of the book, but I loved listening to Lily's tips and the trials of getting the book to print. 

• Nicky Epstein's talk and sample show was fun but not as engaging as Lily Chin's talk.  I think this was because Nicky Epstein talked less about her work and more just showed off the samples.  However it was very cool that she let people try on the samples and look at them really closely.  

• The talk that I was most excited about was Shirley Paden's.  I'd come across some of her amazing designs in a variety of knitting magazines and I want to knit each one more than the next.  From the structure to the texture her patterns are interesting and challenging and maybe a little intimidating.

• The Lion Brand Yarn Studio also participates in some other interesting things like handing out Subway Fiberphiles buttons. 

• Flicks with Sticks is a great way to spend a Thursday evening.  This is where they show a movie that has knitting in it.  So far I've been amused to watch Calendar Girls and The Seven Year Itch and to look for the knitting scenes in each. 

Patrick's Healthcare Play

2 World Premieres Commissioned by 3Graces about Healthcare, because healthcare is no laughing matter... or is it? The Benefits of Elsewhere by Patrick Link and Susan's Medical Blog by Sharyn Rothstein.

Last night we stayed out way past our bedtime (on a work night) to see a great show written by Patrick Link.  His shows are always well-written and cerebral. This one also happened to be particularly topical to the Obama healthcare discussion, which was probably the point. I'm always impressed by how thoroughly fleshed-out his characters are in the short amount of time we get to know them. If you haven't caught one of Patrick's shows yet we highly recommend them.