Has it really been that long?

Three months have past since my last post! Feels like I've been busier than ever before in my life, but I'm sure that is not quite true. Before I really lay into what all has happened in the last few months (will have to wait for another day, I'm afraid), I wanted to post this lovely post card for an event I'm helping with this weekend:

If you can, check out the Designing Women website, which provides a list of the vendors. It's such a great idea, to have a group of artists and crafters put on shows and invite a non-profit they care about to come and raise awareness and funds. Women, Work, and Community is an organization that helps folks with new businesses, public speaking, financial awareness, and exploring career options, free of charge. This Saturday you'll find me in the kitchen serving up goodies donated by individuals and businesses around Maine.

Well that's my spiel for today. Coming up next...home decor disguised as de-stashing...
Plus, check out the calendar page. A few sweet shows coming up.

Weekend Update

Updated to add: Just added a new show to the calendar page, where Jeremy and I and many sweet friends will be backing up our friend Emily Thomas at the Oak and the Ax this coming Thursday.

Who here has been to the Frontier Cafe in Brunswick? Such a gorgeous spot, right on the water, with huge windows, and a sweet little menu. We (Plains) played an early show with Arborea, in a little theater with long tables off of the main room, to a wonderful crowd. I get chills whenever I see Arborea. They are about to go on tour for three months, all they way across the country, so please, if they come through your area, GO SEE THEM. They are enchanting folks. Such a great evening. If you get the chance to see a movie or some live music, or just want to go and have a meal, GO. Brunswick also has a pretty great downtown, which I had never noticed before--the only place I've really been to in Brunswick is the massive flea market in the same mill building as the Frontier. Check this place out! I can't wait to spend some more time up there.

On Friday, Jeremy played (and was joined by our friend and Plains band mate Pat Corrigan) a solo show as Drab Pony. The evening also featured wonderful sets by Manners, Aleric Nez, and Nuda Veritas (all the way from Burlington, VT). The set that Jeremy and Pat played was largely improvised, and instrumentation included drums, a grand piano, and a metal detector, on top of Jeremy's normal set-up of various loop pedals, SK-1 Casio keyboard, and guitar. He inserted a small mic into the piano and was able to loop it, which sounded incredible. In a particularly intense moment, Jeremy actually struck the keys with various body parts, such as a knee or his rear end. We in the audience lovingly referred to this maneuver as "Butt Piano". Drab Pony was called back twice for encores, and we are all hoping that they play together more often.

Pat waves the metal detector over various objects to make a lovely electronic pulse.

If you look closely, you can see the microphone coming out of the piano.

Rebecca setting up

Nuda Veritas, otherwise known as Rebecca Kopycinski, is touring on a new album. Go here to read an interview with her before the show. She used pre-recorded and live loops to create rhythms and gorgeous layered harmonies, just with her voice. Her instrumentation included a small harp, guitar, and a keyboard.

One of my favorite graphics at the Apohadion. Drawing by Pat Corrigan. (Sorry it was dark in there!)

In other news, I present to you...Bayarri:

The seaming of the sleeves went better than I expected, as it was my first time seaming the sleeve first, then sewing the sleeve into the body of the sweater. As time goes on (this is the third sweater for me this year, which is the most I've ever made for myself, ever, after deciding I needed to spice up my wardrobe), I've become more and more intrigued and delighted in the process of finishing a sweater, and not just loving the knitting part and dreading the making up part. Sample knitting and working through the Master Hand Knitting course (more about that later) has really ramped up the quality of my knitting, though I've now been a knitter for 15 years. It's a slow and amazing journey. Sometimes I wish I had a machine.

Anyway, I seem to get an awful lot done when I have two days off in a row. Yesterday was one of the laziest days of the whole summer, where I spent many hours watching movies and knitting up swatches of one of the new yarns that have yet to be released by Knit One, Crochet Too. Well I guess that was pretty productive. Perhaps a crafter who can do things while watching Netflix can never be unproductive. (Unless wine is included in the mix, in which case that is possible, for sure.)

'Tis the week of shows.

Well last night we played what we believe to be our last South China show until we can write and release something new. It was a beautiful show, and if Cross Record is coming your way, please check them out. Tonight they play at the Whitehaus in Jamaica Plain, then it's off to Cake Shop in Manhattan. Aleric Nez nailed an interpretation of "Tell Ol' Bill", one of my favorite old time-y songs. The things that man does with his voice are a marvel. Every few months you can catch him at Blue on Congress St. in Portland, backed by a small and mighty string section and other special guests.

So the week is young, and the coming days are filled with more opportunities for us to play for folks:

This Thursday, we'll be playing a Plains show up in Brunswick at the Frontier Cafe, sharing the bill with our friends Arborea oh my wow is that going to be a gorgeous show. If you've not hear Arborea, think traditional English folks songs and drones that are at once soothing and intense. Go here to listen to them and think of how happy you'll be when you're sitting right in front of them while they make this music. And? They live in our great state, right up the road in Lewiston. If you buy tickets for this show ahead of time, you can save two dollars.

On Friday, Jeremy will be playing in Portland as Drab Pony, hosting a show with our friend Rebecca of Nuda Veritas all the way from Burlington, VT. Experimental loops aplenty, with very different results. Rebecca can sound like a church choir all by her lonesome, and Jeremy can sound like an encroaching hurricane, and both also create achingly beautiful melodies.

The details of these two shows can be found on my calendar page...

Still life with concert

Blocked sleeves before they were seamed, plus unblocked body.

Body, spritzed into submission.

 So close to being able to wear this...at one point I actually ripped back about 15 inches due to a tension issue. It was a sad moment that I'm trying to block out. (Oh, the puns, the puns!)

This morning, after being released early from a slow day at work, I was able to participate in brunch at the Oak and Ax. Jeremy and I will be back there tonight as South China, sharing a bill with Aleric Nez and Cross Record (from Chicago). Here's a link to the event on Facebook.

The details:
The Oak and the Ax
140 Main St, Back Alley (park on Main St. and follow the signs)
Doors at 8pm, music shortly thereafter.

We've been working on new arrangements of older songs, and realized recently that this will be our last show for an extended period of time, as we turn our focus to other projects. Some of them are South China related but won't be ready for quite a while, and others are solo projects and collaborations and as soon as I can let the cats out of the bag, I will.

Dear blog. (An apology.)

Dear blog,

I'm sorry I abandoned you for so long. I kept thinking about posting, but my life has been moving at a pace that I haven't really been able to keep up with. My excuses for not writing since May are many, and perhaps you would deem them meager, but hear me out:

1. In early June, I changed jobs, and am now doing prep work in one very tiny kitchen in Willard Square, and it is a fountain of delicious marvels and happy folk. I work there full-time.

2. In mid-June, Jeremy and I packed up our belongings and moved them into an 1880s farm house in Biddeford, for a super sweet house and pet sitting gig. Our friends went on a long road trip across the country, and if you are interested in reading about it, go here.

3. In late June, before moving into said super-sweet house, we went on a little tour with some friends.

4. In early July, I began a freelance knitting pattern editing gig.

5. In mid-July, we celebrated both Jeremy's birthday and the wedding of my sister and new brother in-law! (Another sister, remember how many I have?)

6. I finished Estelle in mid-May, wrapped up some projects for Tess Yarns, suffered an attack of Startitis, and now am blocking and finishing Bayarri.

7. Jeremy and I have been busy working on some secret recording projects. So there.

Other, more lame excuses:
8. Guitar Hero World Tour (Hey Corrals...there will be way more songs for y'all to play when you get back...xoxoxoxo)
9. Netflix (goes dangerously well with knitting! Good thing I have a job that gets me out of the house)
10. The commute from Biddeford to SoPo and back makes me super tired.

My plan this summer was to embark on a day-to-day account of life in an old house taking care of three turtles, a lop-eared bunny, and a huge lawn, and the creative pursuits we've undertaken while being spoiled with so much space. However, we are now halfway through our stay here, and I have not written a word. Here are some of my favorite photos from the summer so far:

Chopping baby red peppers for roasting at work. They look like strawberries! (I don't think my phone did the colors justice...)

Estelle on the Lee River in Swansea, MA

On tour: Jeremy and I went to Richmond, VA, a night early so we could visit one of our favorite haunts (pardon the pun), the Hollywood Cemetery.

Here are some hilarious and ridiculously spoiled turtles.

 Dearest blog, I am hereby renewing my promise to post regularly. My life does move at a whirlwind pace, but writing and taking photos of what's going on inspires me to keep being creative.

Oh and...here's a brand new blog to keep an eye on...

Plains on the Radio and Bayarri on the Needles

Estelle is currently getting her front border put on. Completed sweater photos will be forthcoming in a couple of days.

As far as mail goes, there is no greater feeling than receiving a box of yarn or books in my PO Box:

What's that you say? Where are my other projects I was working on? Irmo? Morganeve's Mitts? The master hand knitting swatches? All got packed up in the move, and ended up E V E R Y W H E R E. Who here knows the reality of being diligent in well-organized packing for about two days and then saying "Meh!" and throwing it all together in a random location and not labeling anything and figuring well we don't have THAT much stuff and we'll be moving soon again anyway, etc? Anyone? Other professional subletters out there? While it's true that the four pieces of furniture we own makes it seem that we don't have a lot of stuff, our books, music, instruments, crafting supplies, and kitchen gadgets say otherwise.

Well I did eventually find these things, so they will be moving forward as soon as I finish Bayarri and some secret items. I've actually never made myself a summer jacket before, and this will also be my first real-live Intarsia project. Thus far I've only tackled stripes (jogless jog jedi, right here!) and any attempts on Intarsia have not made it past the swatch stage. So far it looks passable, though I might have to jostle some weird-looking stitches...

It seems a bit crazy to be knitting with 8 different balls of yarn at the same time, but it looks pretty darned cool...

Tonight, Plains will be heading down to MIT to play on WMBR during Pipeline! with Aleric Nez. If you are in the Boston area, tune in to 88.1 FM--if not, you can stream live at wmbr.org. The show runs from 8-10pm. Always a blast. Jeremy and I have played on Pipeline! as Brown Bird, Plains, and South China. This trip will include Plains' traditional post-show trip to Gilley's in Portsmouth, NH, for our midnight sliders and fries. Imperative.

What's a girl to do when her bosses go to MDSW without her?

Well. While packing and moving me and Jeremy as well as our room mates out of our place at Revere St, I was also assisting Tess' Designer Yarns in getting ready to go down for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival: photographing Tess in the newest garments; packing yarn, garments, and patterns (and everything else); creating, printing, and laminating signs and garment tags; and of course, knitting. I finished a Falling Water Shrug by Margaret Radcliffe in their newest yarn, Kitten (65% Cashmere, 35% Silk, 100g/410yds per skein):

And I blocked out the most gorgeous cobalt Summit Shawl, also in Kitten, made by another sample knitter:

I've been feeling more comfortable taking photos of Tess in the garments. After all, she is a pro, and her mother, the dyer and owner of TDY, has been photographing her and the yarns for over 25 years. So, I have good coaches. They are patient and encouraging.

I didn't accompany them to MDSW because I had a show in Brattleboro, VT, which had to be rescheduled due to a five-alarm fire which destroyed an historic building in the downtown--the fire happened in late April, but there was a benefit concert for the residents of the 59 apartments that were destroyed, as well as the businesses that called the Brooks House home, on the same night that we were to have had our house concert. We'll be doing the show soon, and I'll post details when we know exactly when.

So, when my bosses are out of town, and I have absolutely no plans for the entire weekend, what is a knitter to do? (You're not really going to dignify that with an answer, right?)

Well, as I was helping pack the last bit of odds and ends into the van headed for MD, my boss put an Addi Knitting Machine in my hands:

I knitted a sample scarf for Knit One, Crochet Too:

On Friday, I went to a show at the Apohadion at which my darling husband played. The evening ended with an exciting theatrical number, which you can watch here.

On Sunday, I started blocking the sample scarf, and I swatched for Estelle...

And here, a week later, I am starting the first sleeve, but my photographer has gone to work for the day, so the photo of me wearing the sweater will have to wait.

On Monday, I went into a frenzy of baking, making a few of my greatest hits: Chocolate Mint-Chip Cookies (from Still Life With Menu by Mollie Katzen), Cheddar-Dill Biscuits (my fave recipe is on epicurious.com), and unsweetened granola with almonds, coconut, and raisins (from The Joy of Cooking).

When I drove up to Knit One, Crochet Too in Windham on Tuesday, I met the owner, Helene, and several of the staff that work there. There's a tiny office space that opens into two large warehouse rooms FULL of yarn and sample garments. Deb, the shipping manager, graciously sent me home with a sample ball of Baby-Boo, their bamboo yarn. I picked a light lavender color that I can't wait to swatch. They do a podcast about the inner workings of a yarn company, from designing yarns to designing garments...it's fascinating. Here's where you can listen to it.

Still more to catch up on, it's been tough tearing myself away from my needles...

Back to the land of the living

Wow, I've been gone for a month! Jeremy and I moved to another apartment in Portland, attended my cousin's wedding in CT, and have generally been packing and repacking and unpacking boxes and engaging in some other activities that are as yet under wraps. Lots of news has piled up, a few items of which I'd like to share with you:

News item #1:
The Tea First compilation, that South China contributed a track to (remember the fire ladder?), will be released very shortly.

News item #2:
South China now has a whole slew of shows coming up at the end of June, which you can find out about on my calendar page.

News item #3:
I finished up those mitts and that hat for Mel many weeks ago now, and she loved them. I didn't get her to model them for me, so you're going to have to deal with this weird photo of me:

And look at what she made me in exchange!

I have literally been trying to get a good photo of these cross-stitched/embroidered pendants, but as it turns out, both camera and phone are far-sighted. I'm working on that. In any case, Mel's a genius!

I've been really lazy about taking photos of my own sample projects, though I have begun taking photos at work of Tess modeling things that I've either made myself or blocked out to make photo-ready.

As I mentioned before, we moved a couple of weekends ago. We had one last craft night before we really started packing things up:

The bottom photo is a killer chocolate pudding recipe that came from my dear friend Greg's cousin's friend's blog (phew!) and I had Jon take his portion before he left for his show at Port City because I knew this was all going to disappear fast, which it totally did. The best part about making this pudding was watching each person put a spoonful in his/her mouth and make the exact same wide-eyed expression and say the exact same thing, every time: "Oh my god."

And our final moments in the house:

Our bedroom, where most of my blog and Ravelry photos were taken! If you can't see the gorgeous brown walls that Jeremy painted (his color choice), visit my Ravelry page.

Our kitchen, where we made many many batches of wonderful things. Including that pudding.

Our living room, where we had craft night...

Well there's lots more to tell, and far more photos of current, recent, and stalled knitting projects, but this post is already very long. More soon. Sorry, I will do my darndest not to hide for a month ever again.

Most boring blog post ever.

Hey friends, I'm one of those people that leaves doing the taxes to the last possible moment. Probably because painting season starts up again in the spring and we never have the money to pay the taxes early, say, in January.
So during my breaks while doing a year's worth of accounting in five days, I am doing some knitting, but photos will have to wait. I apologize for the silence. Really, it's kind of screechy on my end. Maybe this year I'll train myself to stay on top of these things...

Plains, Brown Bird, and Al Scorch in Portland this very night.

I do have a lot to catch up on here, but I waited too long this morning to get all the photos and links in place before heading to work.

So for now, I'm just going to say that tonight Jeremy and I are playing a show at the Apohadion Theater, which is located at 107 Hanover St in Portland. Tonight we're playing in Plains. Brown Bird and Al Scorch are also gracing the stage. Show will start 8:30-ish, please bring a donation for the traveling folk, and your beverage of choice.

Everyday life is so fascinating and rife with possibility and small wonders. I can barely keep up with myself. Raise your hand if you feel the same way.

Couldn't leave without one photo. Here is Fyvush, our resident kitty, facing down our resident dragons.

Home again, with lots more yarn and a new brother!

It seems like we were away for a whole week.

On Friday, Jeremy and I left the 4 inches (and counting) of snow in Maine and headed south to CT for the rehearsal. The wedding on Saturday was beautiful and super fun (and probably the shortest ceremony I've ever been to) despite my being extremely nervous about getting all of my notes right. Jeremy and I cut the rug big time at the reception. Literally, I have danced with my husband twice in the 9 years we've been together. I don't even remember much of his dancing, since the first time he got up I was laughing so hard I couldn't see him through my tears, and the second time I just couldn't keep up with him. The owner of the Saybrook Point Inn herself came to check out his moves. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the Saybrook Point Inn staff, who were so gracious and sweet. Everything about this day was perfect. And now I have a brother!

 I have my sister Katie and future brother-in-law Jason to thank for these photos, as it is difficult to take good shots with my phone...none of the photos I took came out well. Here we are missing Andrew's forehead, but the shot was so cute I couldn't pass it up. Rest assured, his forehead is as cute as the rest of him is.

 My sisters. A lot of people seem to think we have an endless supply, but in reality there are only four of us. Aren't they gorgeous?

After the reception, we went to Mohegan Sun, my first (and perhaps last) casino experience. I came out of there after a half an hour with ringing ears and a stunned look on my face. Plus my eyeballs were totally dried out.

On Sunday, we drove to Providence and I may have bought some yarn at Fresh Purls.

Berroco Weekend, and the phone camera doesn't do the delightful orchid color justice. The other color is Mouse.

We then visited Dave and Morganeve at Machines With Magnets, where they were working on a couple more songs to add to the upcoming Brown Bird album. (We've met the resident hound there, sweet and friendly!) We were so lucky as to get to listen to the rough mixes late Sunday...we ended the day celebrating a friend's birthday and enjoyed some freakishly delicious cupcakes and carrot cake.

On Monday, chilling in Warren after a crazy weekend, I may have visited Bella Yarns:

More Berroco Weekend in Taffy, plus Pattern Booklet #296, and about 275 yards of Haze by Queensland Collection, Cotton/Corn Viscose fingering weight goodness...perhaps a summery shawl will come from this...

Taking a load off at chez Brown Bird

Next family wedding is in less than three weeks!

Recording and more recording...

Monday night Jeremy and I met up with our sweet friend Dave to do some overdubs for the new Plains album, a record that's been in the works for over a year:

Tuesday night Jeremy, Dave and I gathered again to lay down cello, banjo, and trombone for a Tin Ceilings track, to be released on the next Seasonal Disorder compilation from Burst and Bloom Records.

Wednesday night was for mixing...a perfect activity for starting my new sample project...

Pat Corrigan, amazing artist, illustrator, designer, and musician, has made a short film. If you're like me, and watching cats doing ridiculous things is one of your favorite pastimes, you won't be disappointed. The conclusion of the film is particularly riveting.

There's much more to this week than I'm letting on, but it will have to wait--we're driving down to CT for the wedding rehearsal in this special April Fool's Day blizzard. Slow going.

Updates and Musings

Morganeve's mitts have been cast on, after much swatching and calculating. Because I failed to swatch in the round, however, the cuff is coming out far stretchier than in the flat swatch I made. I ripped out and am convinced that I have the right number of stitches, so now I'm making sure that my tension in kept in check.

I finally got up the courage to undo and re-knit all three offending fingers on Mel's left glove. In a poignant hour yesterday, all of us at Revere St. (except for Dylan, who is on tour) sat around crafting/facebooking/making the cat comfortable while listening to "This American Life" amid a growing sea of boxes. This was my chance to weave in all. those. ends. So now, the glove is blocking peacefully and is mere days from going with its counterparts to a loving home.

Jeremy and I seem to be releasing new South China songs only on compilations this year, which is way easier than putting together an album, let me tell you. Last Thursday we recorded an instrumental song for a compilation to be put out by Tea First Records. We used a loop Jeremy recorded a while back, to which I added a couple of cello melodies (and harmonies). As we were thinking of what to lay down next, Jeremy started playing with a random fire ladder in the band room, and decided this would be the perfect "percussion" for the song. I, as the half of South China with way better rhythm, volunteered to play the fire ladder:

These I show you at the risk of also showing what ridiculous faces I can make...

As we were working out this new piece, I thought about the parallels between the knitting designs I've been working on and the process of songwriting. Thinking about songwriting as a design process is something I've never done before. Both processes involve the same types of fears: Is this idea going to go anywhere? What if I put all of this work into this idea and it doesn't work out? Am I really considering all the possibilities with this idea? Is this really any good? etc.

Somehow, frogging a piece of knitting seems way less frustrating than spending days and weeks trying to make a song work that is just not, well, working. It's as though I feel I have a never-ending supply of design ideas, but only a finite number of musical ideas, and I must cling to them, tooth and nail. Whitney Smith, a ceramic artist in the Bay area, often addresses the subject of having to let go and not become too attached to her pieces. In her case, when she puts her perfectly thrown and glazed items in the kiln, there's no guarantee that what comes out at the end of the firing will be usable: things crack, glaze runs all over the place, sculpted bits fall off and stick to other pieces, etc. Though a song or a sweater design is not a physical object that could explode if something goes wrong, the idea is the same--things don't always come out the way you want them to, and you can't be heartbroken with crappy results, or you might not want to make anything ever again!

One last photo:

One of our room mates found this upstairs as he was packing. I love maps, and I love origami, and using old maps to make origami? Such joy. I've made a ton of these over the past few years. Someday something amazing is going to be done with them. So just watch out.

Whipping myself into massive productivity

Several days ago, I was going to post a bunch of photos of my multiple UFOs, but the sight of all of them together just made me put away my computer and get to work. I refused to have another post without any significant progress.

I finished Mel's things Monday and blocked 'em, then tried them on yesterday morning and discovered that the ring, middle, and pinkie fingers are all too short on the left hand glove. I would tell you how this happened, but it's too sad and embarrassing to talk about...

 

One small triumph I had while working these though: the pinkie fingers kept being a wee bit tight. First I ripped back the bind-off and re-did it way looser. Then, when I blocked the gloves, I inserted a rolled-up sheet of paper into each pinkie, resulting in a very comfortable fit. I can't believe it worked!

Now I have to add two more rows to 3 fingers, which I'm patiently working at a few moments at a time, in between crying jags...

In the meantime, I've been working on a swatch for some mitts that I've been promising my friend Morganeve (she would be the hottie on the left there with the upright bass...) for months now. Her birthday is coming up right quickly, which seems a reasonable deadline for this project, seeing as I am using sock yarn and size US 2 needles, plus I'm making up my own pattern. Speed math just is not one of my strengths, and something I strive to improve.

The cable pattern, while not original (BGW Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Vol. 1), took some doing to determine how I could do the Wave of Honey Cable as fancy ribbing (as BGW suggests) and have it fall evenly under the Triple Braided Diamonds. I did so by eliminating one purl stitch from each end of the Triple-Braided Diamonds panel, since I opted not to put a barrier between the two stitch patterns. I may chart this one out when I write up the pattern, as the instructions get awfully wordy. As you can see, the Triple Braids grow right out of that fancy Wave of Honey ribbing, which looks like a lovely tree.

The silk chenille top...well it's just frustrating me. I have under two weeks to complete it so that I can wear it to my sister's wedding, and let me tell you, black silk chenille is hard to see. I am not convinced that I'll have it ready, especially since getting the performance part right is going to take up a lot of my time from now until then...priorities...

And here is my repertoire for the wedding:
Intro
-Allemande, Sarabande, Menuets I/II from JS Bach's G Major Suite for solo cello
-Arioso, also by JS Bach, from Cantata #156
-Jesu, Joy of Man's desiring, from Cantata #147 by my man JS Bach
Parent/Bridal party procession
-Prelude from said G Major Suite for solo cello
Bridal procession
-Trumpet Voluntary, by Jeremiah Clarke
Recessional
-Hornpipe, from Water Music, by Antonio Vivaldi
Outro
-Gigue, from Orchestral Suite #3 in D Major by JS Bach
-Gigue, again from the G Major Suite by JS Bach
-Courante, from the G Major Suite by JS Bach

Then, I'll be about ready for a stiff drink.
And, one last photo:

Knightsbridge by the Fibre Co. in Holly and Ivy, that used to be knit up in cabled arm warmers. I have some ideas for this yarn's new life...

Ceramics, Japan, and Silk Chenille

Tuesday was craft night, which always means eating too much amazing food, hilarity, inspiration, and spending time with wonderful friends. I scored a gorgeous bowl made by one of the lovely residents of last night's locale:

I have been wanting a shallow bowl for salads, but my money's always spoken for. Now I have one! Yay! And one hand made by someone I know!

Here was one of the highlights of my trip to Stitches West:

That, my friends, is Japanese breakfast at the Embassy Suites. Rice, pickled vegetables, seafood, seaweed, tofu, and there's a bowl of miso soup lurking outside the shot. I would seriously eat this every morning if I would only take the time to learn to make my own pickles.

My thoughts are often in Japan these days. I adore the culture, the language, the food, the anime, the textiles, there is just so much I love about the country and its people. It breaks my heart to see the terrible time Japan is having right now. 

On a lighter note, I didn't do anything for St. Patrick's Day except wear my February Lady sweater and have myself an Aprihop, which is an apricot-flavored IPA. The apricot flavor is subtle, and it balances the hoppy-ness perfectly, which sometimes can get overly bitter. This has got to be my new favorite beer.
We watched a movie while I worked on my silk chenille masterpiece:

It's a wonderful and lucky thing to get paid in yarn for the samples I've knit for Tess' Yarns. If I wasn't sample knitting, everything I make would be from t-shirt and plastic bag yarn, and that is no joke.

Oh yeah, and I nearly peed my pants when I visited the Panopticon.