I’ve been a bad blogger of late! I certainly didn’t plan to let more than a week go by, but sometimes life/work/events/neverending heat intervene, don’t they? Hope everyone is having a fun summer and surviving the repeated heat waves with a cool drink in hand.
For my part, the knitting continues mostly apace despite the heat because I’m all linen, all the time…. First up, the “Dejeuner” bag from Quince and Co. is done – it’s so cute!!
This is a quick knit and the instructions/pattern are perfect. I think I did something wonky when I worked the knitted cast-on to create the handles, so they look a little uneven, but I still love them and I’ll tell myself that uneven = unique, right?
Here’s a closeup shot of the stitch pattern, which I also love for being lacy but simple:
This bag came in mighty handy last weekend when I stopped into the new (and authentic!) French bakery in our neighborhood, “La Boulangerie”!
(I’m pretty sure that the last photo is blurry because my hands were shaking in anticipation of the fresh bread that smelled so good. Also, I think that’s my thumb in the corner. Please disregard.)
The bakery, run by a Frenchman who also lives in the area, has clearly been wanting in our neighborhood – on the morning I went, he had sold out of his first batch of croissants in 15 minutes! And I was the 10th person in line, too! Luckily, they also had some fresh baguettes for sale, so I carried my tasty bread home in my cute little “sac” and made the most of it with some fresh coffee and the now-potentially-infamous sour cherry jam:
I understand that the hours of La Boulangerie (or “La Boul” as I’ve started to call it in my head) will increase once they can increase their baking time/staff/output to meet the demand, so I’m looking forward to what treats appear next…
Lest you think that my linen love affair ended with my market bag, I have further proof that the affair continues – my “Nyanen” tee from Quince and Co. is also moving along nicely.
Admittedly, this isn’t a great picture, but you can see that it’s still going well. Naturally, I love this design for being worked in the round to the armholes and for having a simple silhouette without a lot of embellishment. The lace pattern is easily memorized after a few rounds, and I can’t wait to finish this up and soak it so that I can really see the zigzag motion of the pattern.
I especially like that this top will have a longer hip-to-armhole distance than usual – I don’t think that I have a very long torso, but it’s still a huge pet peeve of mine to wear a shirt that needs to be pulled down regularly, so I like that this one will extend to the lower hip. It’s a great project for subway knitting since it’s lightweight and compact, so I’m hoping to be finishing this one up before the weather cools down (as if….)
I certainly wish I’d had this linen top to keep me cool this past week at Eataly’s new rooftop beer garden, “Birreria”. It’s a great space, 14 stories up, that carries all kinds of well-known and not-so-well-known beer from numerous countries, and even some homemade brews and wines, too. There’s even a fancy retractable roof, to protect diners in all weather – although honestly, we wish there hadn’t been one on the night that we went, as it seemed to only trap the heat amongst the diners instead of allowing the breezes to blow…
(Once again, I’ve noticed that my pictures are a little wonky – kind of crooked, right? I swear, I only had one beer!)
Andrew and I went with our usual NYC partners in crime, my sister and brother-in-law, and our friend who is a sister for all intents and purposes, Michelle. Birreria is best experienced with a group of people, since there are lots of cheese and meat trays that you can share. Michelle and I split a cheese plate – the fresh ricotta was probably the highlight 🙂 After a round of meat and cheese (and beer…..), there was a course of smaller/lighter fare. You can definitely go big and order steaks and sausages, but most of us stuck to salads and grilled mushrooms, probably in part because it was too hot to eat anything else! Joe, on the other hand, ate steak. And loved it too 🙂
Gabrielle and I both had a salad that I think our mom would love – Bibb lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, caramelized onions, and boiled new potatoes, all dressed in a light vinaigrette.
All in all, a great place that’s definitely worth visiting, especially once the weather cools and Oktoberfest looms!
On the knitting and crochet side, I’m gearing up to work on a few projects that need to remain “secret” but once I get them underway and on track, I’m looking forward to coming up with some new designs. In the meantime, take it easy in the heat – eat some fruit, pick up a new book from the air-conditioned library, and enjoy the view from the shade!
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