Tuesday 1 February 2011

Warming Myself the Best Way I Know How- With Booze and Knitwear

Wintertime is a great time for warming yourself in front of a fireplace (even if it's only a metaphorical fireplace) with a snifter in hand. Last night, we did just that over at the Brandy Library in Tribeca. We were there for a Cognac tasting. I'm a whisky drinker and I have never really tried Cognac or knew anything about them, but I'm always happy to discover new and exotic ways to get my drink on.

Because I am willing to sacrifice my morning after alertness for the sake of an educational experience, I found a couple of Congnacs that I really liked. Several more I deemed drinkable, and there were a couple that I wouldn't want to repeat the experience- they burned going down, had a harsh acidic aftertaste, or just tasted like the sour grapes they came from. Overall, I felt very warm and relaxed and fuzzy once the buzz settled in, which was really nice.

I think my favorite of the evening was a Bache Hors d'Age. It was a rather staggering $200 a bottle, but so pleasant and drinkable. I also had the pleasure of trying a couple precious sips of Louis XIII. This usually sell between $1800-$2500 a bottle. It was the most flavorful and mellow of everything I tried, but I don't have a palate for it enough to tell you more. I spent the rest of the evening telling the Wall Street bankers at the bar, "Yes darlings, I just simply can not have a productive week of social affairs if I haven't had my Louis on Monday evening." à votre santé!

Afterward was a pleasant stroll across Chinatown to warm ourselves with the wonderful Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings. If you've never had them, I feel very sorry for you.

Other than continuing my hedonistic binge, I've been knitting away.

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I finished my Land of Oz shawl, but haven't had a chance to get good pictures of it. So there's a teaser.

I cast on for another pair of socks. Yawn. With my very last skein of BMFA Socks that Rock that exists in my stash. Squeee! The color is "Atomic 6" and I love it.

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They are going to be the Houdini Socks by Cat Bordhi. They are made toe-up, but you just make a tube for the foot with a toe on each end. Then you cut open the sock to create a place to fit your foot in before continuing on with the cuff. Genius, no? Well, I'm not going to say that quite yet. Let's wait to I actually get to the cutting part to see how badly I sweat this. More Cognac please!

I've also been plugging away at the Placed Cable Aran.

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It's a really simple plain pullover that has a series of three O cables that grace both the front in back. It's in good old Cascade 220, that workhorse of a worsted weight yarn.

I've also been chipping away at the mound of fiber in my spinning basket from Cadfael. I can't believe how much space that little fleece puffed up to once it got teased and carded. And shhhh...I still have a huge 1 gallon freezer bag packed with more of the fleece needing to be picked through and carded. I was seriously doubting that I had a sweater-amount of that BFL fleece, but I've already got 3 full 4oz bobbins spun up and I've barely noticed a dent in the pile. I need to throw a movie on the big screen and get through some of that wool already.

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