More things that make me happy

A long holiday weekend approaches!

I should clarify one thing about yesterday's post. We won't lose our apartment with the sale of Stuyvesant Town, but the chances of affording a two-bedroom apartment in the complex are very slim. Market rents will likely be outside our budget or will closely approximate the cost of buying a co-op, in which case it will be time to start looking for a mortgage and another neighborhood instead of renting. It's all a big leap for two people who have never even owned a car before. And you can probably guess that the outlay for a two-bedroom apartment in New York is quite high, so it's a little daunting to take such a big leap. We're just sad that we'll need to leave. But enough whining. It's not like we're alone in this little adventure. I mean, Lola will be coming along too!

So here are a few more things that make be happy:


*Crocheted boxes. You can find the pattern in this book. And you can make them using kitchen string from the hardware store. I am doing everything in my power to refrain from starting this project. I really need to finish a bunch of languishing projects before starting anything new. (Anything in addition to the quilt(s) that I have just committed myself to making, of course.)



*And have you seen this necklace at Anthropologie? It's the Hemp Flowers Necklace taken directly from the 2005 issue of Interweave Crochet. I'm not quite sure how they got away with copying the pattern exactly, but it's just one more project I've been trying desperately not to start. Purl has the magazine and the yarn, but be sure to leave a copy for me, please. I mean, how much willpower can a girl have?

*Watching Little eat sushi. Who woulda thunk she would like it so much? When we went out for sushi tonight, we ordered her a few of the more tame (and cooked) things from the menu that we thought she would like. But she leaned over the table and started pointing to the pieces of raw fish that she wanted to try, and we weren't able to keep up with her little open birdie mouth. She wanted to try each different kind of fish. She finally reached across, grabbed herself a large piece of eel, and ate almost the entire piece. Our jaws really dropped when she went for seconds on the flying fish roe as well.

*Hustle, a BBC television series that's been showing on AMC here in the states. It's smart, exciting, and totally worth staying up late to watch.


*Reading this book to the kiddo. The illustrations are about as cute as can be, and it's fun to make the animal sounds as the cow, dog, cat and duck take turns trying to comfort the Boo-Hoo Baby.

Have a terrific holiday weekend!

Can you lend me $5b?

It's all over the news today: our city within a city is about to be sold, and life as we know it in NYC is about to end.

But we've nearly outgrown our little apartment anyway, and we've known that we'll have to leave sometime soon. On the other hand, two of the families on our floor are raising two children in one-bedroom apartments, so it could be worse.

Aside from the New York that you see on TV, with its daily cocktail parties and limo rides and the constant noise and lights of Broadway, I thought it might be fun to tell you what life in New York is really like. Particularly life in our little neighborhood.

Our neighborhood in Manhattan is truly unique. The complex is closed off from traffic and includes lots of grassy lawns and playgrounds. We have sprinkler parks, basketball courts, bocce ball, and even a small astroturf soccerfield. In the summer we attend free concerts on the big lawn. We know many of our neighbors and enjoy bumping into them within the community. Older children can freely ride their bikes on the walkways without the worry of traffic. In many ways it truly is an idyllic place to live. It has its problems, but I will be very sad on the day when we finally leave.

Like many NYC dwellings, our apartment is small - about 750 square feet on a good day. This includes all closet space. And I've mentioned before that the baby sleeps in a closet. If we stay much longer we'll need to divide the bedroom with a a false wall, since Kiddo has almost outgrown her Pack and Play.

Essential elements for living in a one-bedroom with a baby:

*White-noise machine. So baby doesn't wake every time you make even the smallest sound.
*Head lamp. So baby doesn't wake every time you turn on the light. And so you don't bruise your shins banging into furniture. And so you can read in bed.
*Sense of humor. After all, you're walking around the apartment wearing a head lamp.
*Ability to part with items of sentimental value without a second glance. Who has room to store it all?
*Creative use of space. Witness that closet-turned-bedroom.

Anyway, this is Lola. Or at least she's named Lola until the kiddo can decide on a name for the doll by herself. She's based on Danger Baby, the doll I made my niece last year, with a few revisions: her legs are a bit longer, primarily.

Lola is made for play. Otherwise what's the point? It's not like we can store her someplace, after all. She's made from heavy wool felt with quilting thread used for the seams so she'll withstand loads of exuberance. Her dress fastens with snaps (they're underneath the back buttons, which are just for show) and was meant to have matching polkadot shorts underneath, but I got tired of fiddling with doll clothes and shoes for a while. The shoes are supposed to look like a simplified version of these, but they don't really resemble very closely, do they?

During our photo session for this post we were trailed through a park outside of Stuyvesant Town by a very drunk homeless man who wanted to pat Kiddo and Lola on their heads. We gently but quickly made our escape to another part of the park. It seems Lola loves adventure. I'm sure we'll have plenty to go around. Especially when we have to leave Stuyvesant Town and find other places to play.

String bag

The weather around here was starting to feel decidedly fall-like over the weekend when suddenly it's 85 degrees and dripping humidity outside again today. I love fall and would happily dig out the pullovers and cardigans in August if I could. But oh well. Mondays are wash day, so we cranked up the AC again and dragged the giant laundry hamper down to the laundry room.

We city-dwellers do a lot of carrying--or "schlepping" as everyone in NYC calls it. Every day I find myself carrying something: usually the kid and her toys when she gets tired on the way home from the playground, the groceries from the supermarket, diapers and shampoo from the drugstore, fruits and vegetables on our daily jaunts to the greengrocer. The list never ends. The other day we dragged a humidifier all the way across town. Thank goodness we can hang bags from the handles of the stroller, but I've certainly built some powerful biceps over the years.

At one time, the Union Square Green Market sold those terrific string market bags you see every once in a while. I always meant to get myself one or two. They fit in the bottom of a handbag (or diaper bag) and can be used as a more environmental option to the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. But I haven't been able to find them anywhere, despite looking at all the natural food stores in the area.

No matter. When I ran out of projects during our vacation, I nabbed Todd's computer and grabbed the pattern for the Saturday Market Bag off MagKnits. It was perfect: small, fast, and used cheap yarn that was available at the nearby megamart (no knitting shops to be found for miles!). And it was fun to knit lace with giant size 15 needles.

I changed the pattern to make the bag a bit narrower, and I knit the front and back as one piece (no bottom seam). I also made two separate shorter straps instead of one long strap. And I love it! We use it almost every day, and it expands to fit more than I imagined it could hold.

Postscript

Ok, due to popular request here are the changes I made to the pattern, as best I can remember:

First of all, I cast on and knit only 35 stitches instead of the 45 stitches the pattern suggests. I knit the repeat approximately 14 times, then cast off and folded the knitting in half to form the bag shape. Sew the side seams together and the bag itself is done. By the way, I recommend using bamboo or wooden needles when knitting the bag, since aluminum needles are really slippery. It can be very easy to drop lose a stitch when your needles are so slick. The pattern for the lace is quite simple but feels a little awkward to knit. Be patient with yourself!

Instead of using a circular needle and picking up stitches all the way around the bag, I worked each side separately. I picked up approximately 26 stitches in the center of one side of the bag, leaving a couple of inches free on either side. I knit those 26 stitches in garter stitch for 4 rows, then put the first 4 stitches on a stitch holder, cast off 18 stitches, and continued to knit the last 4 stitches in garter stitch for approximately 48 rows. Remember, the straps will stretch a lot when you start using the bag, so make them shorter than you think they'll need to be.

Join the strap to the 4 stitches on the stitch holder using Kitchner stitch (Joelle's book gives great instructions for this). And do the same thing on the other side of the bag.

Here's a little illustration to give you a better idea what I did. It's not pretty, but I think it gets the point across.



I hope that makes sense, but please let me know if you want me to clarify any of the instructions.

Whose tent is it, anyway?

Thanks, everyone, for your kind wishes for Bebe. She is feeling much better and has been regaling us with long tales of her ordeal, complete with pointing to her "owie" and toward the elevator, with lots of jibber-jabber to accompany her gestures. I've since discovered that it seems to be a common accident, especially in this city filled with elevators.

It's been a long week, but I finally have a few acceptable photos to show you. This project has been on my Work in Progress list forever: I had time to hand-quilted the two sides of my patchwork pillow while we were away. I had no idea how relaxing it would be, and it really didn't take much time. Once I had I completed the two pieces I found myself wishing I had put together a full-sized quilt to stitch. It would have been a perfect project for the lake, especially during the week when Little and I were alone at the cottage and my evenings were so peaceful (and long!).

It occured to me, however, that perhaps I enjoyed the process of hand quilting simply because I had the luxury of time when we were away. For all I know I may have enjoyed mending socks, too, just because I wasn't rushed to do laundry or paperwork or check email during our absence. Plus, I had a limited number of projects along, so I wasn't tempted to work on something else with more immediate results.


But I think that I will start thinking more seriously about making my first quilt. And since I'm not really crazy about the results of this first patchwork effort, perhaps my first quilt will be a picnic blanket rather than a full bed quilt, just so I can learn from my mistakes and not be too disappointed with the results. I'm not thrilled with the pillow because the fabric selections feel a bit juvenile (waaaay too many polka dots - how did I not notice that earlier?) and the log cabin piecing is not crooked enough for my taste.

Nonetheless, we made good use of our pillow as soon as it was completed: it was part of the dining-table-turned-tent we made on Friday afternoon. Little was thrilled that Parker wanted to play house with her. She doesn't realize that it was Parker's house long before Little ever arrived. I'm sure Parker couldn't believe her good luck when I dragged the tablecloth out of storage today, but then she had to share it with a Tail Puller. Drat!

Thanksgiving dinner, in August

Oh, the hazards of living in a high rise. We spent Sunday evening at the emergency room; poor Little got her hand sucked into the wall with the elevator door. She's fine now but is sporting a very swollen, bruised little left hand. And I can just tell she's not her usual spunky self: she was even more cuddly (and crabby, and sleepy) than usual today, poor little sweetie.

In each of the three x-rays that were taken at the ER, my hand was "posed" next to hers, either holding the same position to show her it was safe or to carefully keep her little fingers in position for the shot. They're probably rather amusing, and bony, photographs. I'd love to see them.

When we returned home late at night our dinner was still waiting for us. I thought you might enjoy sharing it; call it a little celebration that the Kiddo's hand is ok.


Black Bean Mexican Pizza

I make my own pizza crust, but you could just as well buy frozen or refrigerated dough at your grocer.

Toppings:
1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
3 Tablespoon olive oil
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 t hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
1 clove of garlic, minced
4 oz. grated Monterey Jack cheese
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese
1 2.25 oz can of sliced ripe black olives, drained
2 or 3 scallions (green onions), sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (optional: we don't use this)

Garnishes (again, optional):
sour cream
taco sauce
salsa

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle a pizza pan or cookie sheet with cornmeal, or lightly grease the pan if you don't have cornmeal. Roll out the dough and place it on the pan.

In a food processor or bowl, combine the beans, oil, cilantro, cumin, pepper sauce and garlic. Process or mash until smooth (or, if mashing, until you can't stand to mash any more). Spread the mixture over the crust. Sprinkle with the cheeses, olives, bell pepper and scallions. Then bake it for approximately 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Serve it with the garnishes or just by itself. It's so delicious and healthy, and everyone to whom we've served it has absolutely loved it.

(If anyone knows the origin of this recipe, please tell me so I can give proper credit. We've been making it for years, and I can't recall the provenance.)

Things that are making me happy right now

1. Orange-scented dishsoap. Whoever that Trader Joe guy is, he has excellent taste in scents and products. Isn't it funny that such a little thing as orange scent can make a dreary chore more fun?


2. Purl's new blog, The Purl Bee. Those talented people over at Purl are always coming up with something cool. And guess what! You can buy fabric at their on-line shop now.

3. Having short hair again. Remind me next time: I'm just not meant for long(ish) hair.


4. I don't think I've told you yet about the Print and Pattern blog, have I? It's fantastic for inspiration; a collection of visuals gathered from all over the web.

Have a great weekend!

Dinner, anyone?

When Todd and I got married fifteen years ago (whoa!), I had a thing for Danish design. I fell in love with some Dansk blue and white dishes, which were the most expensive thing on our registry. We had just graduated from college, and we needed everything for our first apartment and our big move to New York. I knew we wouldn't have much space in a city apartment, so these dishes would serve as both our everyday and our special china. We were young and hadn't really established our own personal style, and I wondered if we would still like our choice when we were a little older.

I'm pleased to say I still love the dishes, and I'm still grooving on the blue and white color story. I've gradually expanded our small dish collection to include other blue and white pieces, especially the inexpensive Japanese dishes I get at Pearl River Mart. And I still love Danish design but enjoy a more eclectic look at well. Thus the blue and white sashiko placemats I picked up when we were in Tokyo a few years ago.

Eventually I'd love to have a blue and white kitchen; but we've nearly outgrown our little one-bedroom rental apartment, so those plans will have to wait until the next place we live or until we buy an apartment and it makes sense to redecorate it.

Meantime, my blue and white obsession is limited to portable things like our dishes and table linens. Amy has been doing a redwork thing; I guess I'm doing bluework instead. In any case, I made four of them--just enough for a cozy dinner in our smallish dining room. Any more than four people starts to feel a little too cozy.

These are our new dinner napkins made from dishtowels, a la an old issue of Martha. She monogrammed hers; I'm really not a monogram sort of girl. I'm more the sort of girl who can't remember which side of the plate the forks goes on, so my embroidery will help me to set the table. Maybe it will help Little to remember when she helping out someday, assuming I'm ready to risk letting her handle those dishes of ours. After all, I'll probably still like them in four or five years if I haven't gotten tired of them yet.

I wonder if they make similar dishes in unbreakable plastic?

Dewey, dewey, dewey

We're into multiples lately. The Kiddo likes to have us guide her finger to each of the objects on a book page as we enumerate them. And I think she's catching on, because recently she's started pretending to count, pointing to things and saying, "Dewey, dewey, dewey..."

I think "dewey" is Toddler for "two, three."


Then yesterday when we were waiting in line at the post office, Kiddo discovered a wall of post office boxes. Since she loves keys, she was in heaven with so many keyholes to try. Come time to leave, I had trouble prying her away and resorted to bribery to force our exit ($0.83 = one helium-filled balloon = pure joy). The kid has more patience than I do when it comes to waiting for our package to be found.

I'm embroidering in multiples as well. These are some dishtowels finished while we were away. I did everything in my power to avoid using an embroidery hoop (I've told you before how much I dislike using a hoop) but discovered that freezer paper and stabilizing paper ironed to the backside of the linen weren't good alternatives; I didn't like how they pulled the stitches when I removed the papers.

It's easy to tell which towels should be used for drying the dishes when they have pictures of the dishes themselves on them, right?

But the multiples didn't stop with the dishtowels. More multiples tomorrow.

In denial

The city is empty right now; everyone is in the Hamptons or gone elsewhere on vacation. The playgrounds are empty, traffic seems light, and it's generally more quiet than usual in our neighborhood. Anyone who is still here went to Trader Joe's and to the post office at the same time that we went today, so we aren't lonely yet. But I'm still pretending to be on vacation: I haven't done any cleaning yet and I'm delaying washing the dishes for as long as I can. So instead of the usual subject matter, here are some of the flowers from my parents-in-law's cottage for your enjoyment. Back to the usual subject matter tomorrow.

How I spent my summer vacation

We're back from vacation a little later than planned. We were having such a nice time, and then Todd caught West Nile Virus (I'm not kidding) and we decided to stay an extra week so he could recover and so we could avoid the worst part of the heat wave. I wouldn't mind spending every summer hanging out at a lake, especially when it's 100 degrees in NYC!

So here's what we did while we were away:


lounged


tried new recipes (and ate too much)


made new friends


swam


looked at art


gardened (or at least watered the flowers)


and, of course, made things.

We had lots of fun, and it's good to be home. It's time to break out the sewing machine and get busy again!