Knitting Fun

I participated in Knit-a-gogo's Lace Retreat at the O Street Mansion Sunday and was it awesome.
First - the goodies. (Apologies, the camera is currently in a safe place - so, use your imagination). We got bags with the yarn - Neighborhood Fiber Company's Watershed yarn - a seacell/merino blend that is amazing. I chose the custom event color.
Stitch marker - a stitch marker from Storm Moon Knits.
Project Bag - a gorgeous reversible project bag - from Stuck in Illinois.
Needles - bamboo DPNS and 24" circulars.
Pattern - Parthenope

We gathered at the O Street mansion, which is, interestingly a mere block from my vet (or ist my cat's vet). It doesn't look like a fabulous place for brunch or dinner or tea or to stay from the outside, but it clearly is. I have been to some great brunches, but there were three rooms of food. It was great in that the separation meant there weren't crazy lines in any one section and that your brain didn't totally short out. Although I must confess I walked into the dessert room (room, two giant tables full of sugary stuff) and walked out with nothing but a promise that I would be back. (I was, I just neeeded more preparation.)
After gorging, most of us wandered the rooms a bit - the mansion is five adjacent townhouses and has secret passageways and other such interesting stuff. It is quite a trip. I loved the faux wood jacuzzi and now know what my bathroom will look like when I win the lottery.
Then the knitting. The pattern creates a huge square, which in the pattern picture has been folded over for a triangular wrap. While knitting has changed my view on triangular wraps, I still don't see a need for a lot of them in my wardrobe, so I like this idea of a big square. You start in the center with eight stitches and work out. I used two circulars (having brough extras in anticipation) in part because I am not a fan of the DPN (I know they have their uses) and also because I was worried about laddering, but as Knit-a-gogo herself (aka Danielle) pointed out, in this pattern the ladders would actually fall in such a way as to appear part of the pattern.
The pattern requires a lot of concentration through the first repeat, but then as you get through to a point where you are adding in repeats (it suggests going up to 19 per side) it does start to flow. The pattern is almost entirely a chart, although it probably would be a good first chart for someone. Danielle had drawn a square around the repeat for us, to make the isolation a lot easier, especially since the chart only gets you through two and expects you to work the rest out, so the square helped immensely.
Karida (of Neighborhood Fiber Company) was also there, and she assisted Danielle with knitting tips as well as a blocking demonstration. It was a great day - food and knitting. Yum.

Author Stalking: Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman was at Politics and Prose last night, so I went to see her and pick up the latest Tess Monaghan story. P&P records all author visits, so you can actually purchase a DVD of the actual event, rather than relying on the parts I found most interesting, but there you go.
Lippman asked how many folks had read the Tess stories compared to the stand-alones, the crowd was full of Tess fans, but a healthy percentage had also read the stand-alones. The preference was for Tess stories. I meant to clarify this with her during the signing, but forgot - I think it's there's a really simple reason for this. Lippman talked about how in the stand-alones she really uses up the characters - this is their one shot and we are getting there story out there, so after that, it takes a while before she is ready for that level of intensity again. So, the Tess books allow Lippman to recharge and yet still write because, as she pointed out, you can't totally use up your protagonist in a series. And I think the experience is similar for the reader. I read Every Secret Thing and was riveted, but I needed something light and airy to read after that. Whereas the Tess stories don't have the same emotional impact. They're still great, but you have the distance of viewing them through the eyes of someone you know is going to survive the book.
Anyhoo, Lippman talked about the irony of the fact that she had tried to set up clear boundaries between her personal life and professional life and then went and wrote a book about Tess going to assist on a television show being shot in Baltimore, which therefore was going to mean that every interview was going to mention her relationship with David Simon and that she saw the strange but ultimately thought it was a writer thing - to be unable to not use this information. Lippman did point out that while she certainly made use of her knowledge of how TV shows work, "The Wire" was a show about Baltimore made by people who know and love Baltimore, whereas the show in Another Thing to Fall takes place in Baltimore but is being made by people who don't know Baltimore. (It is also an intentionally silly premise).
Lippman also talked about the invisible people phenomenon, the state of journalism and some quick thoughts on solutions to crime in Baltimore. (Although she pointed out she has the advantage as a writer of being able to make up crimes that get solved, so you know.)
So, it was great fun to see Lippman in person. And I have a great book to read too.

Awards (Well, Nominations)

So, the Golden Heart and RITA nominations are out today. I just want to put out a quick congratulations to Cindy Dees author of the fabulous Medusa series that I have slowly been hunting down. Apparently the panel agrees with me since she is nominated twice for Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure.

Thanks to Alison Kent who let us know to gather the news here.

ETA: The official results are now here.

Into the (Stylish) Ether

I recognize that I am a tiny (if loyal) portion of the "Project Runway" audience. But, nonetheless I offer my thoughts. If it was up to me...
*More designer background. Why is it that I know more about some of the eliminated designers than the finalists? I found out Christian was from Annapolis by reading an interview. Why was his family visit edited out? I like that stuff. I don't necessarily want road to the runway back - at that point there are simply so many designers (sorry, guys) but the home visits were strangely skewed.
*More model switching. I understand the value in giving the winner some sort of advantage. But the winner, is in most cases going to stick with the model they were using. So, let everyone else choose. Or let the models choose. (That rocked!) More opportunities so that people don't all end up with the first or second model they ever got.
*Keep up the great range of challenges. I find it sort of funny that so many got upset that menswear was hard (I don't doubt that it is) and yet few seem to complain about using food or recyclables. Depending on your post-shaw direction, it certainly seems much more likely you'd be called upon to do menswear.
*Reward those who do follow the constraints. Jack, the winner of the menswear challenge this year didn't have three pieces, as others did. Jillian used candy in the Hershey's challenge and yet lost to someone who used more fabric-like material. It's not just this season - last season in the first challenge, Keith won when used a sheet when other's used furniture or even coffee filters. I am certainly not saying reward bad design - but if the top three includes only one person who stayed with the intent of the challenge, it seems they should be rewarded for that.
*Do something about the reunion show. It's fun to see folks, it is mildly amusing to watch the clip cycles. But really, if you are going to barely let anyone answer the questions that get raised, it's just a waste of everyone's time.

More Asymmetricity

A recipient of an Assymmetrical Cable Hat mentioned she would love one in blue. Since it fit my mood and forced (forced, I tell you) me to go buy more yarn, I complied. Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton in the misnamed (in my opinion) blueberry color.