Camerata

I finally have a digital camera! I chose the Nikon Coolpix 5200 with 5.1 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom. It was a toss-up between the Nikon and the Canon G6. The Canon has more manual settings - you can vary the F-stop, for instance. Mr. Brewguy preferred the Canon and claimed no ulterior motives. Yeah, uh huh. However Brewgal was just looking for a good point-and-shoot. I did briefly toy with the Elph but my hands are so big they covered the lens.

Look for project photos in the near future.

Brewgal 0 - Virus 1, or The Valentine's Day That Wasn't

"Where the heck has she been??" anxious bloggers wail. Brewgal and family have had a visit from the stomach flu, also known as Viral Gastroenteritis. Oh, man. What a nasty little bugger. Brewgal actually had to throw up on the side of the road on Saturday night. I felt like I was possessed by a frat boy. Needless to say, my Valentine's Day was less than stellar. I spent it on the couch watching reruns of Futurama and Project Runway while Mr. Brewguy fought his own viral version in the upstairs bathroom. The second worst part was going through caffeine withdrawal while waiting for it to pass. Brewgal likes her coffee.

Homebrew in the Funny Pages

This week's Get Fuzzy topic is homebrewing! Check it out here.

Medicine and Knitting Collide

I’m not the kind of person who has to have the correct box for everything. I make do with whatever is around. I love bookshelves for this reason. They hold my 10,000 books, my stereo, my photos, my tin canister collection… you get the idea. My steel crochet hooks are stored in a zippered cosmetics bag. My knitting needles are in a Fisher Price block container. I am the princess of make-do. But I have been surpassed.

I’m a sucker for knitting and crochet tools. I haunt yard sales and thrift shops. I buy all the needles I come across. I’m afraid to try Addi Turbos for fear I’ll have to get rid of all my beloved aluminum. Anyway, during my most recent bi-yearly pilgrimage back to Gettysburg to the Twin Oaks community yard sale, I came across a box of knitting supplies. Of course, I bought the whole box ($5!!). The previous owner had stored many of her sets in these lovely, form-fitting plastic tubes. “What a great idea,” I thought to myself. When I got home, I noticed that one tube still had its original label. I took a closer look at the tube…

“Argyle STERILE FOLEY CATHETER”

“Aieee!” I yelped. *Ewww!* thought my brain. (for those of you who don’t know what a Foley catheter is, see description here) Then I began to speculate about the former owner of these needles. She (I’m assuming it was a she) probably worked in the medical profession. She was probably a child of the depression and had been trained never to waste anything. She saw the cases being discarded and thought, “Those would be perfect for my knitting needles!” The needles were lovingly stored in their separate cases, carefully identified and protected from damage. So I applaud my unknown benefactor’s ingenuity.

Groundhog Day

Dragged from the burrow at the crack of dawn to face hordes of top-hatted Pennsylvanians to deliver the news that winter will be here for SIX MORE WEEKS! They need a rodent to tell me this?

I'm ranting today. I have been besiged by insane drivers over the last week. Allow me to vent.

• When I leave a space for someone trying to pull out of a driveway, that is not an invitation for Mr. Insane Driver to pull around me into that space.
• "Right turn on red" does not mean Mr. Insane Driver has the right of way.
• Do not slam on your brakes in the middle of a bridge because you are yelling into your cell phone. It alarms the rest of us.
• My hand-eye-foot coordination is circumscribed by the speed my brain's electrical impulses. I cannot start driving before the light turns green, no matter how much Mr. Insane Driver honks at me.

*cleansing breath* I feel much better now.

The baby sweater is done! It looks adorable, if I do say so. I will try to get a photo posted soon.

Hat pattern errata and baby sweater status

I keep forgetting you all can't read my mind. I completely forgot to give hook size and yarn suggestions for Brewgal's hat pattern. I typically use a size F hook and DK weight yarn. This combination makes a nice tight weave.

I've finished all the parts for Engineering Godesses' little boy sweater. Now I have to block and piece them together. I think I'll crochet a border in green around the front and incorporate the buttonholes into it. Blocking and piece-ing are my least favorite part. I find I'm drifting toward all my other unfinished objects... the shawl in seed stitch, the sweater for myself in dark sea blue, the baby blanket from stash yarn. They all have voices. And they speak in Haiku!

Needles, hook, bring thy
Magic to my eager heart,
The yarn beloved.

I can't follow a pattern

I can't follow a pattern. Rather, I can't _stand_ to follow a pattern. There is always something I want to change- buttons as opposed to ties, longer sleeves, different yarn, different hairstyle (oops! wrong blog). I use patterns as a guideline, not a set-in-stone instruction sheet. I feel all the pattern designers out there giving a collective *shudder* I'm not sure if this makes me a designer or an anarchist. Knitting Anarchy! What a great name for a band.

Right now I'm working on a baby sweater for my cousin, Engineering Goddess, who is due in March. Since she has never actually seen anything I've knitted, this is an act of familial love. Her only requirement is “not blue!” I’m using the layout from the Puppy Love pattern from MonkeySuits (http://monkeysuits.com/patterns-index.html). But not in Cascade 220 and not with dog-bone closures. I just can't see using wool yarn for a baby who will live in Atlanta, so I'm using Sirdar TinyTots in beige, with a border of forest green. I actually swatched this time! The yarn feels nice, although sometimes out of the corner of my eye it looks like it has worms in it. Apparently I have larvae issues.

I haven’t decided if I will use buttons, ties or frogs for the front closure. And of course, there will have to be a matching hat.

What's in a name?

“So, what’s with the name? You really like Abraham Lincoln or something?”

Great question, astute blog reader! While Brewgal is partial to tall men in suits, Mr. Lincoln is not the source of the title. At least, not directly. Once upon a time, Mr. Brewguy and I used to live in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During one of our many homebrewing sessions, we decided our little hobby needed a name. The name Gettysbrew was taken, as was Gettysburg Brewing Company (may it rest in peace). Lincoln Avenue Brew just didn't quite have the right ring so we chose Lincoln Street Brew. Lincoln Street Knitting is the extension of the franchise.

Ah, those were great times. There is nothing like the smell of hops in the afternoon, wafting up from the kitchen.

Hats, Hats and more Hats

I’m on a hat binge. I’ve recently been brave enough to add colorwork to my crochet.

This is Little Brewer #1’s hat (she loves purple).

I also made hats for myself and Little Brewer #2 (seen modeled here by Little Brewer #1).

The band design for the red and white hat is adapted from Marie-Christine Mahe’s Peruvian pattern at knitty.com (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTperuvian.html). Here is the design in repeat.

The hat pattern itself is extremely simple (see below). It is single crochet worked in rounds, gradually increasing the diameter.

The Play Nice Credo: Free information is good. It keeps the promise of the Internet alive. In that spirit, I post this pattern for all to use. Feel free to use this pattern. Just don’t represent it as your own, sell it, etc. etc.

Brewgal’s Basic Cute Hat Pattern©
Row 1 Chain 5. Join.
Row 2 Chain 1. SC 8 in circle. Join with slip stitch to chain 1.
Row 3 Chain 1. *SC in first st, 2 SC in second st* Repeat until end. Skip last SC in circle. Join with slip stitch to ch 1.
Row 4 Chain 1. SC in each st around. Skip last SC. Join with slip st to ch1.
Row 5 Repeat Row 3.
Row 6 Repeat Row 4.
Row 7 Chain 1. *SC in first st, SC in second st, 2 SC in third st* Repeat until end. Skip last SC. Join with slip st to ch1.
Row 8 Repeat Row 4

Keep alternating Row 7 until you have approximately 86 sts around (for a child’s hat) or 104 sts around (for a small adult hat). If the crown is too wavy, alternate two Row 4’s between your increase rows.

Once you have reached the diameter you want, continue with Row 4 (SC around). The hat will gradually form a shape as you go. Continue Row 4 until hat reaches desired length. Join with slip st as before and break yarn.
XXOO Permalink

Brewgal 1, HTML Problems 0

As you may have noticed, my sidebar was stuck at the bottom of the blog. Still readable, but supremely irritating. I knew I could fix it, I just needed to find out how to do so without resorting to begging. My HTML programming skills are rudimentary.

There have been a flurry of new bloggers on the Knitlist (you are all awesome!), so I've been checking out other blogs. Finally, I came across some programming that made sense. And lo and behold, it worked! I did it! I am so proud of myself.

I'm sure all you HTML gods are laughing, but small victories are good for one's soul.

Amsterdam photos

I am attempting to add photos to my blog. Here is a shot of an Amsterdam canal on my first day. Where exactly? I have no idea. I was wandering around in a jet-lag-induced haze. This was the only sunny day I encountered.



Picture of a canal


And here is a photo of my table at Cafe Belgique, showing the Karmeleit and my trusty Rough Guide.


Dinner at Cafe Belgique

Hats off to El Jefe for offering his website for my photo hosting! I owe you a brew, bro.

Beer Report: Amsterdam!

I love Belgian Beer! Save the IPA’s for someone else. I’m definitely on the malty side when it comes to taste. However, living in the States has seriously hampered my Belgian Beer tasting efforts. I’m stuck with whatever can be imported. I mean, I like Duvel and Stella Artois, but come on! Let's get some variety in here!

I was lucky enough to take a quick trip to Amsterdam in November. I was able to get out one evening and visited Café Belgique (Café Belgique’s website is here http://www.xs4all.nl/~phj/index.html. Beer Advocate has a review of Belgique here http://www.beeradvocate.com/beerfly/user_reviews/1694).

I had a Karmeleit, an abbey-style trippel with a plate of fine Dutch cheese. Malty, sweet, with a nice balance of carbonation, 8% alcohol. Fabulous! You may ask yourself, did she only have cheese for dinner? Well yes, I love good food but I am a little intimidated by going to restaurants by myself in a foreign country when I’m jet-lagged. I'll post a photo of my table once I figure out how to do that.

On my last evening, I had a Barbar Winter Bok. This is a darker beer than the Karmeleit, brewed with honey, 8.8% alcohol. Yummy! It is served in a mug. I had the Barbar in a cute little eetcafe called Dwaze Zaken (www.dwazezaken.nl) located near the Centraal Station. I had originally intended to go to Gollem, but try as I might, I couldn’t find the darn place!

New Year’s Knitting Resolutions

Ok, I realize it's traditional to have 10 resolutions but I only have time for 6. No laughing out there!

1. Learn to cable. Yes, I’m intimidated by those hooky cable needle things but I desperately want to make a sweater with a celtic pattern braid. Oh, the torture!
2. Spend more time knitting (well, duh!)
3. Use up my stash.
4. Replace old stash with new stash.
5. Photograph all finished projects for my knitting archive. Mr. Brewguy takes pictures for a living but the cobbler’s children don’t have shoes.
6. Teach everyone in my office to knit so they can accompany me on lunchtime stash building excursions. Heh heh heh.

Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe.

Inaugural Post

My father used to have this poster in his office that read, "As soon as you see the bandwagon, it's too late to jump on." And because I am my father's daughter, I am completely igoring that advice and starting a blog like everyone else.

Experience my knitting and crochet explorations! Listen to me expound on the joys of homebrewing! Hear me lament my lack of free time!

Welcome to my blog.