FIrst Christmas Presents

Meg's Christmas 2008 socks
Originally uploaded by physikerinknits

I'm *this* close to finishing my Christmas knitting. I discovered that I can knit a pair of socks in about 8 hours--thanks to delayed transcontinental flights (thanks to the Northwest's snow and Northeast's ice)! I still have to hide the Washington gifts, but in the mean time, I can show you the Princeton gifts!

Meg got slippers, the Striped Footies from Lion's Brand Yarn: Just Socks book. Using a solid and a variegated yarn to stripe it creates a rather different look than the original.

Rachel got wristwarmers (these are also her birthday gift), the Pixie Warmers on Ravelry. I forgot exactly how much smaller her wrists are than mine, so we might have to adjust when I return:


I'll post about the amazing snow we're having as soon as I upload my pictures!

The Nutcracker!

Audrey, Jess, and Rachel!
Originally uploaded by moosicalmath

Last night, Rachel, Ben, Audrey, Colin, Justin, Eugene, Erica, Dan, and I saw NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker in the David Koch Theater. Unlike Friday's opera, we arrived about an hour before the show--aah how wonderful it feels to be early. We bought lattes, took pictures, and enjoyed the Christmas beauty of Lincoln Center. Our seats were in the nose bleed section, but at least that meant we saw the overall production quite well!

It was lovely--rather different from Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker, but good. The most interesting difference was that while in PNB's, Clara/Marie and the Nutcracker dancers switch from children to adults either after she defeats the rat king, or right before, and they remain adults throughout the second act. In NYCB's, the girl and prince dancers are children the entire time. There were also more children dancers in the second act in general than I remember in PNB's, and they were phenomenal!

After the ballet, we said goodbye to Eugene and met Andy at Akdeniz Turkish Cuisine near Rockefeller Center. I found it on NY Mag, and it was delicious. The atmosphere was fun, the servers highly attentive (but not suffocating), the food very yummy, and the prices reasonable. Mmmm.

Then, we hugged Erica and Dan goodbye, and walked up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree! So pretty!! We soon realized that if we left NOW we could barely make the 11:40pm train. We walked rather briskly about 15 blocks down to Penn Station, and found seats on the packed train with three minutes to spare.



Now, I am praying that the yucky weather in NJ allows my plane to take off, and the yucky weather in WA allows it to land tomorrow. Goodnight!

Culture Month

My opera glasses and Gramma's pearls go well together.
Originally uploaded by moosicalmath

First, I decided to make this blog my main blog. It is not just about knitting anymore! Oh no!

This month is Culture Month: so much music and dancing and Christmas!

Some friends and I bought a four-pack of tickets to this season of the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. (The first was Verdi's La Traviata, on October 31st.) On Friday, we had our second opera of the season: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. We dressed up, ate sandwiches on the train, shoved our way onto the subway, and literally ran into Lincoln Center ten minutes before showtime. We settled into our (close, but uncomfortable) dress circle box seats, watched the crystal chandeliers rise, and enjoyed the five hours of amazing opera. Okay, okay--honestly, it was four hours, with two 30-minute intermissions. And okay fine, I perhaps might have maybe slept soundly for a total of 30-45 minutes. But we practiced our German, empathized with Tristan as he took 1.5 hours to die, and got a lot of use out of my beautiful new opera glasses! They are from the Paris opera, made in 1907. Thank you, Uncle Jimmy! :D

My next cultural event was Sunday, when I attended McCarter Theater's A Christmas Carol. (For free! Yeah Princeton!) Ah! It was anything but a humbug. Great acting, intricate sets (great use of fire), and an extremely good looking young Mr. Scrooge.

Sunday was not over! Oh no! Sunday evening, we supported Luc in his choir concert. He's in the Westminster Choir College community choir. Meg, Josh, and I made faces at him and applauded heartily as they sang in English, Latin, German Latin, Latvian, Ukrainian, French, and...was that all? They sang one of my all time favorites: Carol of the Bells!

Next up: Thursday--The Nutcracker at the NYC Ballet in Lincoln Center and a walk around Rockefeller to see the tree for Rachel's birthday.

Saturday--I FLY HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! :D

In the mean time: I am so very, very close to finishing my Christmas knitting! I knit an entire sock this evening, cast on to cast off! Yes!

Christmas Knitting!!!!!

Christmas Knitting!!!!!
Originally uploaded by moosicalmath

I can't post pictures of the gifts yet, but here's how it's going! ;)

I have seven gifts done, four more to do for sure before Christmas, and two others I'd *like* to get done. We shall see!

A wedding and a lamb

M and J's Wedding Gift Flowers
Originally uploaded by moosicalmath

My dear UW friends M and J got married last March in Seattle, and I visited them in Oxford this July and finally gave them their gifts!

Here are their flower washcloths and matching dishtowel:





I made Mom a lamby when the family visited me in New Jersey in early October. She wasn't going to have an outfit, but then...I made her one.

Bolero was tooo big...but works?

Bolero was tooo big...but works?
Originally uploaded by physikerinknits

I tried to make Ribbed Lace Bolero, but it turned out way too big. I still don't settle into a consistent gauge until too far into the project for me to care enough to frog it and start over. Ah well. I've worn it once and think it's cute enough...

I used some skeins that I bought at the Inselwolle yarn store on the island of Lindau, Germany. It's beautiful Baumwolle--cotton--actually from Germany! :)

SO MUCH TO UPDATE!

Purple Foot Monster
Originally uploaded by moosicalmath

I've been incredibly busy this summer, and busily knitting, too!

First we have my current project: purple socks. Third pair, and this one FINALLY fits me! :D

Next, we see my second pair of socks: rust ones for a Christmas gift.


Here is my FIRST pair of socks: blue and purple gigantic things.


We have Mateo's handwarmers (he owes me a latte):


We have Audrey's shower gifts:





And we have Bill's scarf in action:



Whew. I have so many projects in my queue, it's wonderfully insane.