Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Epic Pigeon Scam

Warning: The following content has absolutely nothing to do with knitting. Other than the fact that it was written by a knitter. Who is currently not knitting to bring you this story.

Every day on the train, at least once, somebody comes through begging for spare change. The spiel usually goes like this: "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I don't mean to bother you, and I hate begging, but I just got out of prison and I am disabled, and I have nowhere to go, and nothing to eat. Please, please spare some change..." Usually this is accompanied by a severe (seeming) limp. 

I generally see the same guy on the train every day, and I can tell you, he lives in my neighborhood, walks perfectly fine when he's not on the train, and apparently has "just gotten out of prison" every single day of the week. Not that I'm cynical or anything. In fact, there's another beggar that I've seen in midtown, a small Indian lady, who dresses in beautiful saris, and is about 20 years old. When she's begging, she has this crutch that she leans on with one arm, back all hunched, and her other hand extended with a cup in it, and she says "Please, please" in the most pathetic voice EVER. Her disabilities look truly painful. Yeah. I've also seen her running up the stairs of the subway with cane and crutch in hand. 

ANYWAY. Today I saw the pigeon version of this particular scam.

I was sitting in Bowling Green park eating my lunch, when all of a sudden I hear people around me exclaiming "oh, that poor thing" and "Oh, his wing is broken" so I look up and this pigeon limps by with his wing stuck out at a weird angle.

Bowling Green
All these people are throwing the pigeon bits and pieces of their lunches, and the bird is eating voraciously. Then, as somebody went up to grab the pigeon (ostensibly to take it somewhere it could be helped), the pigeon folds up its wing perfectly and flies off.

I'm sitting there laughing my fool head off, going "Boy, y'all just got scammed by a bird."


Monday, June 27, 2011

Finished Object: Mom's Monkey Socks

I finished up my mother's Monkey Socks today. She has admirably tiny feet. Size 5 US (Size 35 European). Dinky. Which is TOTALLY AWESOME for sock knitting.

Anyway, Georgia modeled them this evening, as my big size 9 (Size 40 Euro) feet won't fit into them, and my mother (and her tiny tiny feet) are in Oregon. Which is not anywhere near New York City.

Pattern: Monkey
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in the Ochre colorway
Needle: US 1.5 (2.5mm)




And a gratuitous Beezer shot, since he hasn't been on the blog lately. I love the fact that he can't pull in his fangs for this one.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

New Pictures of an Old (Young) Favorite

I made this Wispy Cardigan (my rav link) for Georgia more than  a year ago. She's grown an amazing eight (!?!) inches since then, but it still fits her. LOVE this pattern. I'll definitely be making her another one when the time comes.

Here are some pictures from today:




And some pictures from last year:



Sunday, June 19, 2011

We Survived The Wedding!

Although we are completely exhausted. Some photos:

The flower girls amid chaos

The bride and much of the bridal party

The bride and her brother

That's my husband walking his sister, the bride (Ella), up the aisle, and making a rare appearance on the blog. The knitted flowers looked really beautiful in the bouquets and as boutonnieres for the men. After the ceremony I took no pictures as I was pretty busy (and entertained) running around after the girls and carrying around my four-month-old nephew.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

In Bloom.

I've finished the multitude of flowers for the wedding bouquets. The bride's will be white, the bridesmaids are getting colors:






I'm now working on the pins for the wedding (which is on Saturday). So far, two finished, about 10 to go.

I also went back to work at my former position at a company downtown. My boss' wife became suddenly, terminally ill and he asked me to come back and see to things for a while.

Hence, things are a wee bit busy. The wedding is this weekend, Georgia's Kindergarten graduation is today, we're moving in two weeks and I'm working full time outside the home again.

Blogging will probably be somewhat on the backburner for a bit.

I am, however, getting LOTS of knitting done on the subways.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Quick Update: Found an Apartment!

We'll be moving into Queens (Astoria)! YAY!

Phew. That was only one of the most stressful times I've ever had. But it was over quickly, and we're getting an awesome apartment.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

September Circle The Fourth

I've been working on my Breezy Cardigan, but got stockinetted-out after I got under the arm holes. Plus, I was falling asleep on the plane coming back to NYC and needed something to keep me stimulated. So I started another September Circle, this one for me.

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock, color 252
Needle: US 7 (4.5mm)
Time: Four days off and on


Here it is in its unblocked glory:

I'll block it and model it at some point in the future. Now I'll be going back to the Breezy.

Things right now are rather tumultuous. I'll have news I can actually share in a few days, I think, regarding jobs, apartments, etc, etc, etc. There are rather a lot of et ceteras right now.

In the meantime, photography-minded peoples should head on over to my friend and fellow NYCer Urban Muser's blog. She's having an AWESOME giveaway that I would totally enter if I weren't committed to keeping as much stuff as possible out of my apartment before the move.



Friday, June 3, 2011

Zonked. But home.

Phew. Jet lag from east to west wasn't bad at all. Coming home however is a different story. It was a little rough getting up at 6:30 this morning to see Georgia off to school, as it was 3:30 a.m. by my body's time.

Anyway, I knitted a bunch on the plane yesterday. Started a new project. And more yarn was purchased immediately prior to my departure from Oregon, which I will eventually photograph and stick up on the blog.

Right now we're apartment hunting like mad, and have appointments to see four places tomorrow.

I was super happy to see my family. I swear that Georgia and Beezer both grew massively in my absence.