The Knitting (and Wine) Blog

Laura’s Blog Entry 

As I sit here twiddling my thumbs until the next podcast comes out, how about a crafty blog to help pass the time? I just know you all are oh so anxious to hear the next podcast, am I right? OK, if you’re not, just keep it to yourself, will ya? It would completely crush me.

So here’s what been “on the needles” so to speak lately. I am deep into holiday knitting. Gifts, gifts and more gifts. There are some pre-teens on the list and here is a peek at what they are getting:

Yes, it’s Fun Fur. It is indeed fun. And quite furry. I love the color combo I came up with on this one.

Also knitting related, a while ago Mari was kind enough to let me raid her bead supply to make these stitch markers. For non-knitters these are used to mark things in a row of knitting, a stitch change, for example, so that the knitter isn’t stuck counting and counting and counting stitches. They are very pretty and I want to make more that fit larger needles, too.

I finished up one of my first projects recently. It’s a set of leg warmers for Mari. No, I wasn’t having a Flashdance moment. She is actually a dancer. (Although I am now fighting the urge to go cut out the neck of a sweatshirt…)

There was no rush to get them blocked (stretched out and shaped properly) and sewn together as I finished them in late spring when it was too hot to wear them. Now they are set for when the cool weather hits.

I totally butchered the ribbing; some of it is seed stitch instead, but it was a good learning process. They are quite wearable, errors and all. I gave up on perfection in my life a while back. Sometime I rip things out and fix errors, but I was making so many mistakes at that point that it was better to just keep knitting and learn what I was doing wrong. It is cool to see how much I have improved since I made these!

I am currently looking for a sock pattern to give a try. I need to see what all the fuss is about regarding hand-knit socks. And winter will be the perfect time to give it a shot. I have researched enough to know that I will first do a toe-up pattern to make sure they fit. I also plan to do the two sock on two circular needles method. I like the idea of doing both at once.

I also have my eye out there for a sweater to try. I am not big on sweaters – I only own a few. But that is because they rarely fit me right. This could solve the problem.

The biggest and most exciting project has been the Mohawk Hat from the Pretty in Punk book. It is finished, but won’t be revealed until the podcast comes out on Saturday.

Finally, the wine. HeatherReMix and her husband Bob sent Neil and I home from our fun trip earlier this summer with bottles of homemade wine. The bottles were so pretty I had to take pictures.

Well it tasted just as good as it looked. Yum! Guess I’ll have to go back to the Riesling now that these are finished.

Time for dinner and homework – and then bake some Snickerdoodles! Hope the new recipe I found is good…

PS – It was.

Bellevue Hill Park

As I sit here and delay the start of the dusting and vacuuming, here is a highlight from last week.

Mari and I took a quick trip to one of Cincinnati’s many cool little parks. She was asked to appear in a little video project, so we zipped over there for a fast shoot. The temperature was 102 degrees, but luckily that didn’t affect the wonderful view of the city below:

This park has some contemporary architecture that is quite photogenic:

These concrete canopies form a little shaded pavilion. This structure was designed in 1955 by R. Carl Freund, and was used as a bandstand and outdoor dancing venue. Can’t you just see the women in their fresh, crisp 1950’s dresses out for a night at this pretty location? All of the other local parks I have been to have traditional style structures, so this is a little gem. I think my new photography assignment is to visit some other parks and see what I can capture.

Now Playing 4

“Personal Jesus” (Acoustic)

Depeche Mode

We talked about this version on the podcast recently. It was then that I realized I didn’t have it in my collection. What kind of fan am I? After righting that wrong I have been enjoying this track in all its simplicity. The tide turned for Depeche Mode with the release of this song.

“Second Wind”

Tracy Bonham

Song two and already a trend. On a spiritual kick. Another acoustic guitar track by a killer singer. I discovered Tracy when she toured with Blue Man Group and the ever lovely Venus Hum. This song reflects feeling a bit alone down here. Like someone isn’t quite paying attention. It’s “Hey you, what’s with all this bad crap going on?” wrapped in a pretty tune.

“Womb of God”

Monk

Monk is the work of Ric Hordinski. We’ll be featuring one of Ric’s new songs on the September podcast, but this one is another favorite of mine. Most of his stuff is instrumental, so a vocal track is a special treat. This song is perfect for when all is right with the world and I feel that rare spit second of big-picture perspective.

“Reflecting Light”

Sam Phillips

Hands down, Sam is one of my favorite songwriters and one of my favorite female vocalists. I’m not sure why this song makes me weepy. It is so sweet – but not sappy. The string section has something to do with it – nothing like a nice string section behind a great vocal (think “One Caress” by Depeche Mode). To me this song is about exhausting all the options that are about me. “I’m on my knees in fascination.” All my favorite songwriters seem to spend a lot of time on their knees. I just hope that I am indeed “reflecting light.”

“Piece of Soul”

Katie Reider

This is an example of good classic, acoustic songwriting. “Do I have any right to love you like this?” This is on a sweet little album called Wonder. A little tidbit for the BSG fans – Dave Eberhardt, the actor who played the main character in Neil’s BSG film, plays guitar on this album. He is multitalented! And oh so humble! I really miss getting to hear Katie sing live. Alas, she left this area of the country not long ago. Note to self: Play Katie again on the podcast soon!

“Illumine”

Venus Hum

This track is off the illusive and rather valuable self-titled album Venus Hum. Sometimes referred to as “the one with the red dots.” The first time I got to hear VH live was on a trip to celebrate my birthday in Nashville. I had not yet acquired my coveted copy of the aforementioned album, so I didn’t know this song. I fell in love with it immediately. It’s just got that certain VH something – quirky sounds and electronic goodness, all wrapped by Annette’s kickin’ voice.

“Television Tower”

Monolake

This song falls into the my-how-you’ve-grown category I have created for myself. Neil has always been into electronic music in a serious way, but until the last few years I hadn’t fully embraced the genre. I think that since Neil and I have started doing music together I have started listening in a different way. The laid back groove to this one just flows.

On that note I think I’ll just float off to bed now…

Mari-isms

“I don’t like orange cars. They are just like big sparkly carrots!”

Reclaiming the Bar

Laura’s Blog Entry

Lots of new music these days. Last week I got my copy of Recoil’s Subhuman Deluxe CD. I don’t want to talk about it now, as it will be the topic of conversation on the next podcast. And just so Neil wouldn’t feel left out I got him Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero. When I gave it to him he said he had planned to buy it online that very day and just ran out of time. Perfect!

So I am still in a fall frenzy around the house and got some more things done this weekend. On Saturday morning I reclaimed the bar. All the papers I sorted last week had been housed there, so it wasn’t much of a bar anymore. Well, it is a bar once again.

MMMmmmm… Maker’s Mark.

We got this bar at a silent auction that benefited Mari’s preschool. Neil spotted it right away, and got hardcore about the competitive bidding. There was another guy who wanted it, and they went back and forth on the bidding all night. In the last few seconds Neil slowing wrote down the final bid as the time ran out. The other guy was kinda disappointed, but his wife went up to Neil, hugged him, and said, “Thank you so much for winning that. I didn’t want that monstrosity in my house!” Good times!

It is a sort of retro-tacky style with woodgrain laminate and studded black vinyl, but somehow it looks sort of nice in our dining room.

I moved the pretty glasses from where they had been stored in the kitchen. That meant I needed to rearrange 3 kitchen cabinets once that space was freed up. One thing leads to another.

Finally, we took a trip Saturday morning to Organized Living, one of my favorite stores, ever! I got some gagets for Mari’s closet to hang her belts and necklaces. I even got them installed.

Note the skull necklace – my little Goth girl.

Last night we prepped all the school supplies, so we are in good shape for tomorrow – THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Yipee! I can already sense the quiet that is about to descend on the house. So I’m off for some more paper sorting – where do all these piles come from? And if I am a really good girl I will get to dig into all the cool scrapbooking paper my sister gave me for my birthday last December. I plan to use it to scrap our first trip to Disney when Mari was five. What am I saying? I’ve already been a good girl – let’s pull out those supplies!

Mission: Organization

Laura’s Blog Entry

I don’t know if it is the back-to-school frenzy that is in the air, but this week I am on an organizing binge. Inspiration could have come from the party at the cool loft we attended, combined with an organization consultation I did – but I am in the zone. I am currently filling up my second garbage bag of paper that I don’t need. Lots of shredding going on. Cleaned out the “Household Binder” where all the current school year info. will reside. Filed a six-inch stack of papers.

Plus I am cleaning out the “Homework Drawer” – or as Mari refers to it – “The Chamber of Horrors.”

This is where the pencils, paper, erasers, planning calendar and other instruments of torture reside. Soon Neil will be resuming his duties handling the homework sessions on the weekdays, and I will take my shift on Sundays. So the drawer prep is the least I can contribute to his thankless task.

Little Mari is quite a good student, but she hates her some homework. I think she finds it a great injustice that she puts in a good effort all day at school and then – oh the humanity – is expected TO DO MORE WORK in the evenings.

In the crafting realm, I also went through stacks of patterned and solid paper and brought it all together in its new little organized home.

Did I mention my slightly disturbing relationship with my label-maker?

Years ago Martha Stewart made it very clear that I needed one of these. Boy was she right! I’ve even been known to slap a label on something I made for a potluck dinner. Never hurts to let people know what they are eating.

I also like it for labeling binders. I like binders almost as much as I like my label-maker. Binders with page protectors inside… mmmmmm.

I have made a binder for each of Mari’s school years. This is possible because I have only one child. And before you think I am a little over-the-top with this, I will tell you that I only finished her second grade binder a few weeks ago. Third grade is all in a big plastic file box at the moment. Stuffed full. Maybe after school starts I’ll start on that one.

I am out of steam for today, but have earned a massive bowl of Graeter’s (only available in the month of August) coconut ice cream tonight.

Respect the Recoil

Laura’s Blog Entry

So on the way home from picking up Recoil’s new album Subhuman (the deluxe CD/DVD version, of course),  I pop it into the CD player (as per my new-album-ritual) and what does Mari say?

“I have heard this song at least 2 times already!” Like she is so over it.

The truth is that yes, indeed she has heard the song twice. We listened to the Subhuman Podcast on our trip to Cleveland a few weeks ago and Neil dozed through the first playing, as it was my turn to drive. So I played it again for him on the way home.

I don’t care if she’s heard it 30 times… someone teach that kid some respect, would ya?

Home Sweet Home

Laura’s Blog Entry

We were talking last night with some new friends about living in Cincinnati.

They chose to live here when they decided to leave LA. You may be surprised by this, but I’m not. Cincinnati is actually a pretty cool place to live. First of all, we have a very comfortable life here on only one income. Neil and I had to choose long ago whether we wanted to move to New York or Chicago, or stay here. There have continued to be plenty of creative opportunities here, and we don’t have to scrape by financially or live crammed into a tiny space. Although we never seem to have enough closets!

Also, there are many cultural opportunities and things that inspire us creatively here. Sure, Depeche Mode hasn’t played here since the Devotional Tour, but the occasional trip to Chicago is not a bad thing. There are more live shows here than I could ever hope to attend. And we are discovering the small Goth community that we never knew existed. Beautiful parks, a pretty skyline, killer supermarkets where I can get any ingredient that has ever been mentioned on Food Network. Life is good!

Neil and I dream of retiring someday to a loft downtown. For now we just borrow the loft view that belongs to our friends.

Mari-isms

“What if for Halloween all the cats dressed up as dogs and the dogs dressed up as cats?”

Summer Garden

Laura’s Blog Entry

OK, before I babble on about the garden, I feel I should post a photo of Trent Reznor for all those who stop by in their search of photos of him. Give the public what they want.

Now where was I…

The garden was in full bloom a week or so ago, and it merits another entry. Here are some highlights. For a girl who dresses mostly in black, I sure like the pink when it comes to flowers!

These are from earlier this spring:

Bleeding Heart

Iris
Yes, I like a good close-up.

Summer Flowers:

Zinnia
One of the few things I’ve been able to successfully grow from seed – thanks, Tara!

Iris Leaves

Phlox

Blackeyed Susans
Taken this morning – note the driftwood dragged back from the shores of Lake Erie. I really liked the shape of it.

One thing I love about gardens is the whole cooperative nature of them. A great deal of these plants were generously given by other gardeners. I bought the Daisies and the Bleeding Heart – the rest were from other people. When I look at them I see the people they came from, along with the beautiful blooms.