Rockin' weekend....

Acoustic music at Perk's

A night of audio charisma (scroll down to the 9th review) at Perk's Coffeehouse in Norwood as A (on the left) plays with his friend Mr. Curt. And another great review of A's new CD (and Mr. Curt's) in the local Metronome mag -- quotes to come later when I get my hands on a copy. Check out their artist pages at Low Budget Records! I'm a proud wife tonight...

On the knitting front, still no pictures to show, but I am getting moving on my ribby cardi -- a little tricky to figure out how to work the increases into the sleeve ribbing but a good buddy at work helped me sketch it out. Is anyone as big a fan of Bonne Marie as I am? Can't wait to be featured in the gallery ribby...

And my first picture....

Secret Pal Stash

Secret pal time....

My first secret pal package has arrived -- and it's a good one!

1 box of truffles from Trader Joe's (yum yum!)
2 skeins of the new Knit Picks Sock Landscape in Rocky Mountain Dusk
2 stitch keepers
1 stitch counter
and a very cool magic marble kaleidoscope

I can't wait to start some socks on some double points so I can use my stitch keepers -- I got a great new sock pattern at the Portland (ME) Knitting SPA market last month so I'm ready to go!

Thank you secret pal!

Off to my old hometown....

I'm off to Philadelphia tomorrow to visit my mom and eat my way through the city. Mom and I make an annual pilgrimage to The Book and the Cook Festival. It's a great event where cookbook authors team up with Philly restaurants, design a menu, do some cooking, stop by each table to talk, and sell/sign their latest cookbook. I'm not a foodie (though my mom sure is!) but it's always a great time. This year we're treating ourselves to a rather chi-chi lunch with Mireille Guiliano who wrote "French Women Don't Get Fat."

The important question -- what knitting to bring? I think it will be the Yarns Downunder wavy scarf (the short rows are lots of fun) and the Chicknits ribby cardi which needs some quality time. I'll have about five hours on the train each way so what better to do than knit.

A package went out to my secret knitting pal this week -- hope she likes what's in it!

Yoga and knitting...

Spent a wonderful weekend in Westborough doing yoga. The yoga I study (and taught until very recently) is called Svaroopa® -- it’s a slow deep form of yoga that emphasizes the release of the muscles along the spine. It’s great for everyone, especially those with sore backs. If you're looking for something a little different from the current aerobic, hot, sweaty yoga, then try Svaroopa® . A list of teachers is available on the Master Yoga Foundation website.

*Svaroopa means “the Bliss of your own Being.” It's mentioned in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1.3 --tadaa drashtuh svaroope ‘vasthanam -- when the mind becomes quiet, you will abide in the bliss of your own being. What could be better than that?

Tag, I'm it.....

I've been tagged by my good buddy Wendy -- I have a feeling that being tagged could get pretty tiring but right now I'm just happy to be noticed -- so here we go....

What was the last book you read or are reading?

I just finished the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- I loved it! I highly recommend it -- just a fascinating read. I also recently finished John LeCarre's Absolute Friends. I'm a LeCarre fan from way back but hadn't read much of his stuff recently. It was classic LeCarre -- wonderful characters -- twisted plot.

Where did it come from (library, bookstore, gift, etc.)?

Though I am very non-committal when it comes to my book-buying funds (I'll buy books anywhere) I did buy the Time Traveler's Wife at my local bookstore Village Books. I just bought Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell tonight so that's my next read for the work commute.

How many books do you read per year?

I have no idea -- I think the more interesting question would be how many books do I buy each year (a lot!).

What is your favorite genre?

I buy a lot of knitting and yoga books but am just getting back into reading novels again. I love mysteries but read many fewer than I used to when I was younger.

Who will you tag now?

j, are you game?

A little knitting content

Had a wonderful evening at my lys, Circles, listening to a great talk by Marcia Cleary on fashion trends and knitting. Marcia's designs are available on her website -- a site I drool over pretty regularly -- and it was fun to see her designs "in person."

I had neglected to bring a project so had to buy one while I was there! I picked up a skein of Filatura di Crosa Baby Kid Extra and the funkiest, shortest green plastic Clover circular needles from Japan and started an Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. (Easy pattern but the kid mohair is slow-going.)

Anyway, that adds yet another project to my active pile of one Bonne Marie Ribby Cardi, one Anny Blatt mohair and ribbon scarf, one wavy scarf with Stacy Charles Ritratto (this is a fabulous short row pattern from Yarns Down Under in Connecticut), and one baby hat for a baby born in November.

Help! (Another blog name from my husband was Bags of Knitting on Every Doorknob...)

Here's a little confirmation from the universe....

Many of you who know me know that I've been thinking about blogging for quite a long time but was really stymied by what to name my blog. It seemed really important that the name be just perfect before I could start writing. My husband, A., came up with a lot of great and funny names like Cereal for Dinner, I'm Not Here Right Now (what I always say when the phone rings), and Stinkknits (knits spelled backwards) but nothing was quite right. And then I heard a snip of an old Donovan song -- Happiness Runs -- on a tv commercial and it hit a nerve. And I was seriously considing it for the name. I looked at the rest of the lyrics though and they were a little sappy -- and Lennon's song Instant Karma popped into my head -- and that was it! The blog would be named Instant Karma -- it was perfect! But there already was an Instant Karma blog on Blogger. So I started humming the song and there it was -- Shine On. So much what I want my life to be...

Well, that's the first part of the story. The second is that I rarely listen to music on the car radio (or at home for that matter) -- I'm pretty much an NPR woman. Sometimes when I'm in the car, though, and the NPR subject matter is a little dry, I'll switch to the River or an oldie station to see if I can catch any of the music that I love. I was driving to Cambridge, and I hit the button, and there it was ....

...A super star
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on...

Pretty cool, don't you think...

Well we all shine on....

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon, you're gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
You better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me
Who in the heck d'you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here?
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Yeah yeah alright ah ah
-- John Lennon

Let the blogging adventure begin....