I'm looking for my heart in San Francisco

Source: www.alwaysnewmistakes.wordpress.com

Mister T, Miss L and I are off to San Francisco for a few days to do some house hunting. I am anxious to find a home for us. I've set up a number of appointments to look at places in Noe Valley and Pacific Heights. Here are my must-haves:

1. Garage since we will start driving our car again

2. Yard for Miss L to run and play

3. Built-in ironing board in the kitchen (this may not be a must-have for Mister T) to block my finished objects

4. Formal dining room

5. Three or four bedrooms to allow a guest room for you mamas to visit and a separate craft room (another one that may not be on Mister T's list of must-haves, not the mamas visiting, but the craft room)

6. Very few steps (not easy in San Francisco)

7. Recently renovated kitchen for my cooking adventures

8. Excellent coffee shop ala Jack's in close walking distance

9. Friendly, helpful knitting store stocked with lovely yarns in the neighborhood

10. Lots of neighborhood playgrounds for Miss L since there won't be any playgroups as fun as our Monday and Thursday playgroups

to be continued...

Spring garden tee for a little girl

Mama N, if you have a girl I am going to knit this lovely little spring garden tee for her! It recently was posted on nevernotknitting. I just love how delicate and dainty it looks!

Source: http://www.nevernotknitting.com/

The Flying/Flu Dilemma

Master D runs away from the Swine Flu.

Greetings from Captiva, Florida! Master D and I have been visiting my parents here for two weeks and we were supposed to hop a plane tomorrow. The plan was to land in New York long enough to pick up a rental car and whisk Mr. E off to Providence to visit his new niece. The presents are purchased, the hotel room reserved, my hair is highlighted, our outfits are ironed.

But Mr. E started mentioning the swine flu, and at first I changed the subject because I hate bad news. Then I watched CNN and thought about my toddler on an airplane, in New York (with many confirmed cases), and all of us near a new baby. And I started to worry. Soon, my head was swimming with images of Master D throwing up, both of us dangerously sick, all alone back in Ohio. Then, of course, I worried that D would meet the same fate as the poor toddler from Mexico who died while visiting relatives in Texas and panicked. I made calls to cancel our trip and made other arrangements to get home by car.


The statistics make me feel like a worrywart, when the numbers are so low and the chance of catching swine flu is so small. But it’s still a chance I can’t afford to take. The trouble is, this kid is the whole world. No matter how small the risk, it is worth avoiding if it means he will be that much safer. Then again, I get in a car with him everyday when I know that car accidents kill more people than the swine flu. So the question is, when should you worry and when do you just have to live?

Knitting supports Indian community

Source: BBC

This is a lovely story in the news today. Hathay Bunano (meaning handmade), a company started by British/Bangladeshi founders has set up workrooms in some of India's poorest areas. The women were taught how to knit and are paid 25% above the minimum wage to make toys and other items for the West. What a beautiful idea? Great for Hathay Bunano too of course as it's still cheap labour, but nice all the same.

This little piggy went to market and this little piggy got the flu

Source: http://todaypictures.blogspot.com/2006/09/kiss-pig-contest.html

Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night to Miss L coughing in her crib. I stumbled out of bed half-asleep with one thought in mind - swine flu! I don't know if anyone else is as paranoid as I am about this latest pandemic. Luckily it looks like Miss L has a seasonal cold, just a runny nose and cough. No fever or vomiting. Whew! Isn't funny how things can seem so much worse in the middle of the night?

I was amazed at how little information was posted online about the swine flu. As soon as I heard there were confirmed cases in Queens I went to the CDC's website to find only a reference to an outbreak in Wisconsin in the 1980's. I hope they have updated it since I last looked a week ago.

I need practical information - how it is different from the seasonal flu, how long is one contagious, how to treat children under the age of 2, etc.

After another night of coughing (and my late night hysteria) I checked Tribeca Pediatrics website this morning. I found an informative, thoughtful letter from Dr. Cohen, which eased my fears and made me feel better informed and prepared. I hope you find it helpful too!

I'm feeling purple - or maybe blue?

No posts from me for a while. But there is a good reason - I haven't had internet access! I've managed to run my business and keep in contact with friends on email and facebook all via my black berry. Amazing really.

I spent the day nursing a sick little man. After gloating that Master R never gets sick, he's now been sick three times since we moved back to London in mid-Feb. It's been the same every time - high fever, running nose and grumpy - and has only lasted 48 hours before he's back to his usual self again.

While we were getting some fresh air in our garden I picked these lovely branches with purple flowers. I'm not sure what they're called but they look beautiful against the purple backboard of our Aga. Then I noticed that the pom poms I'm currently making for my new rug are also the same colour. This image lifted my blue mood slightly...

Miss you all xx

RIP The Point is CLOSING!

Source: http://www.yelp.com/; photo courtesy of Joshua G.

I just read an email from The Point announcing that their final day of business is this Wednesday!! I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. Where will we go to knit and eat cupcakes? Certainly not Seaport Yarn. Heavy sigh...

Everyone who works at The Point is so friendly and helpful. I always enjoyed spending an afternoon picking out yarn and needles for a new project and then treating myself to a sweet magnolia cupcake and rooibos tea. There is no replacement for this wonderful knitting cafe!

On a lighter note, maybe they could not survive without Mama N's business!

They are having a huge sale, everything is 30% off through Wednesday. I think Mama J, Mama V and I need to take one last trip up on the 1 to buy some yarn. I know Mama J has some knitting to do for Baby Boy #2. I need to purchase yarn for Miss L's summer cardigan.

Stay tuned for an update on our final visit to The Point. Sniff, sniff.

Following the leader

Source: http://www.marthabeck.com/

I took Miss L for a demo gym class in the West Village last week and it became very apparent that Miss L is just too independent of a girl to follow the leader.

An elaborate obstacle course was set up for the kids with tunnels and stairs. After some open play time, the class instructor asked all of the kids to follow her through the obstacle course in a specific sequence. All of the kiddies lined right up and started climbing through the course. Miss L took one look and then ran over to the middle of the obstacle course to climb up the stairs in the opposite direction of everyone else.

Then Miss L noticed everything that was not part of the obstacle course. She tried to climb over the barriers to an empty theater stage. She noticed stairs, not the multiple stairs set up for the obstacle course, but the stairs leading outside, which were obviously not part of the obstacle course.

After chasing Miss L around I breathed a sigh of relief when the class instructor called everyone to the middle of the room to sing songs. As everyone sat down in a circle for the butterfly song (think of the butterfly pose in yoga and then shake your legs like the wings of a butterfly while singing) I watched as some of our little friends from playgroup kissed their toes at the end of the song as prompted by the class instructor. Meanwhile Miss L decided she wanted to stand up and dance around the circle.

Miss L definitely dances to the beat of her own drum. I think the Montessori school system is calling her name. It also looks like she inherited the independent spirit that seems to run in Mister T's family.

Happy Earth Day!

Source: The Marine Mammal Center, http://www.tmmc.org/

Today is Earth Day and I thought it would be appropriate to share a few easy tips for running a more green household. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to compost in your city apartment. Let's not get extreme and start storing our rubbish with worms under our beds. Yes, this was mentioned in a recent New York Times article! And I'm not going to tell you that you should use cloth diapers.

I would like to focus on little things we can do each day to be more friendly to our environment. I think it is really easy to feel overwhelmed with changing our day-to-day activities to be environmentally conscious. But let's start by admitting that no one can be absolutely perfectly 100% eco-friendly! For example, is it better to buy a new hybrid car or a used car? Do cloth diapers make a more negative impact by using more energy from laundry washing than disposable diapers? The list of debatable topics goes on and on. So let's just try to do our best and act in good eco-faith.

1. Try to buy local and seasonal fruits and vegetables. (I know this is tough for us on the East Coast who are just coming out of a long cold winter of apples, and more apples, but spring is coming and with it will be a greater variety of fruits and vegetables at our Greenmarkets throughout the city).

2. Become a member of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). There is a great summer CSA at provisions in the South Street Seaport. Each week you receive a bounty of fresh vegetables from a local farm. Last summer we enjoyed summer squash, heirloom tomatoes, garlic, onions, salad greens, peppers, kale, chard, carrots, beets, basil, radishes, etc.

3. Carry your own canvas bag and coffee mug. This will help reduce your use of plastic and paper bags and cups. I keep a couple of canvas bags in my stroller bag for my daily treks up to Tribeca. I also have a stainless steel coffee mug for any coffee I may need to take to go from Jack's.

4. Think about what you can buy locally versus ordering online, which requires more packaging and transport. When I want to buy something for Miss L, whether it is a pair of new shoes or a cover for her carseat for airline travel, I first see if I can find it in a store in the city that I can easily get to by subway before considering to order it online.

5. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Try to buy recycled products and look for options with reduced packaging. I think of myself as eco-conscious, but I need to be really diligent to make sure I don't throw out items that could be placed in the recycling bins in my building.

6. Find beauty products that are nontoxic, i.e., lotions, shampoo and make-up that does not contain parabens and phthlates. We all spend so much time carefully selecting soap and shampoo for our little ones. We should apply the same level of scrutiny for ourselves. Some of my favorite products are more expensive, like Dr. Hauschka, but there are more affordable options as well, such as Whole Foods new line of shampoos and lotions that are paraben-free and under $5 for a large bottle (I like the grapefruit line the best).

7. Try using cloth napkins for everyday meals versus paper napkins. I have an old set of cloth napkins that I use for our family meals. I think of it as my "everyday china" napkins. This greatly reduces our use of paper napkins. I also try to pick up Miss L's spills with a wet washcloth or towel rather than paper towels.

8. When you order take-out or delivery tell the restaurant that you don't need paper plates, napkins and plastic utensils.

Maybe just think of one little thing you can work on and see how it goes for one month. Doing a little something is so much better than doing nothing. I'd love to hear other eco-ideas from mamas out there!

My ode to Shel Silverstein

I am doing some spring cleaning right now, and it's a little more involved this year with a cross-country move looming in the near future. I found a poem that I wrote for Mister T during our renovation of our brownstone apartment a few years ago and thought I would share it. First, let me give you some background.

We bought a floor-through, or a flat as they call it in London and San Francisco, in a brownstone on the Upper Westside. We did a gut renovation, meaning we tore everything out except for the beams that framed the apartment. The renovation took about seven months. We decided to restore as many of the original features as we could, which dated back to the 1890's. This included restoring the original wood accents around the fireplace and doors, as you can see in the photo of the finished fireplace.

We hired three Italian men to restore the wood and they sanded the wood for weeks, and weeks and weeks. I thought they would never stop sanding. As the date approached for us to actually move in to the apartment, they were still sanding, we had no kitchen (no cabinets or appliances just newly painted walls) and I was buying lunch everyday for everyone working in the apartment. The problem was that some of the workers wanted McDonald's, others wanted Chinese or Cuban take-out and the Italians wanted mama's home cooking which was really difficult in a kitchen without a stove or refrigerator.

One day I stopped in to check on the progress and opened the door to the sound of wood sanding. I immediately closed the door and sat on the outside hallway step and wrote this impromptu poem for Mister T. I should also mention that this brownstone was a self-managed co-op and the outside hallways were a mess. It took two years for us to convince the rest of the owners to renovate the hallways. Just in time for us to flip the apartment with only one open house (and a feature in On the Market in the Times), make a nice profit before the downturn and thankfully move downtown where I met all of my mama friends!

My apartment will never be complete
With all the dust it will never be clean and neat
The Italians won't stop sanding
I'll be lucky if any of the original wood is left standing
McDonald's #7, pork fried rice, chicken and beans
We better still live here when our kids are teens
Everyone wants cash and more money
You better get a really fat bonus honey
We won't have a kitchen until summer
Our first contractor couldn't have been dumber
It will be great to breathe in all the fumes
Which will lead us straight to our tombs
The hallways look like a crackhouse
There better not be any bugs or rats, not even a mouse
We'll have no TV or stereo, just wires
And you know they're all just a bunch of liars
Maybe when its all said and done
Our apartment will be worth a ton
And we'll still be together
And New York City will have warmer weather

Is Miss L a watermelon kind of girl?

Source: Watermelon sweater, www.nevernotknitting.blogspot.cocm

Help TK Mamas! I am trying to find my next knitting project. I would like to knit a cardigan or sweater for Miss L that she can wear in the spring and fall, and during those foggy San Francisco days over the summer. I have been searching for patterns on Ravelry for more than a week now and haven't found anything that really stands out. I'm not sure this watermelon sweater is the right style for Miss L. I'm thinking it would be better to knit it all in one color. What do you think? I am trying to coax all TK Mamas to comment on this post!!

Little finished objects: Easter eggs

Mama J and I decided to knit Easter eggs. We compared our finished eggs yesterday at playgroup. Mama J knit beautiful pastel eggs for Master A. I ended up using some of my scrap yarn from previous projects. I initially thought I might knit a dozen or a half dozen, but each egg took longer to knit than I expected! So Miss L will have four eggs in her Easter basket, along with her Serena & Lily bunny. Mama J and I decided that we are knitting our little ones bunnies for next Easter.

I can't wait to leave the basket outside the front door on Easter morning and then run and tell Miss L that the Easter Bunny came and left something outside.

Tonight I am dying real eggs for an indoor Easter egg hunt and tomorrow I will attempt to make hot cross buns.

Can A Sausage Change Your Life?

Source: www.wildsausage.com

Hi Mamas,

I've been quiet for a while. Mostly, have been eating sausage. This sausage in particular. I've posed my title of this post in question form, but in truth I already know the answer: yessiree bob.

We're having a Niman Ranch moment in our household. First came the gold standard - the apple gouda pictured above. When I first tried a bit, which had been purchased for Master K, I couldn't believe my mouth and proceeded to distract my child until I could switch out his remaining deliciousness with some old turkey hot dog, just so I could finish it off. Bad, bad mommy!

The next thing was to test it out on the sausage and bacon maestro, Mister A. I doubted he would react as I had, since he is used to farm-fresh Scottish goodness, and in fact frequently laments the quality of the meat he eats States-side. But instead, he declared: "This is the best sausage I've ever had."

Mama H is similarly a fan of this brand, and in fact her parents live near the Niman Ranch in California. Nirvana!! But please, share this information judiciously: I've already experienced two Whole Foods outages of this particular item. Word is spreading and the supply can't keep up. But this can lead to good things, too. I was forced to branch out to their Chipotle Cheddar flavor this past weekend, and really I have to say it made the homemade pizza positively ethereal.

Since the weather has been so lousy lately (excluding yesterday's burst of Spring), really ya gotta turn to your food for joy. Mama A, if only Niman made a vegan sausage...it would be so good we might all convert from our carnivorous ways. But for now, the happy pigs and chickens of Niman Ranch have found their #1 fan.

Finished object: turn-a-square hat

I finished knitting this men's hat just in time to mail it to California for my Dad's birthday later this week. I am very happy with my first Brooklyn Tweed pattern. I found it fast to knit. It only took a few days, and I am sure some could knit this in one sitting (such as Mama N!). Mr. T gave me an afternoon off last week and I knew just what I wanted to do with my free time. I jumped on the 1 train and went to The Point to knit the afternoon away (after stopping at Blue Ribbon for some toast). Mama V and Mama J (with a very well-behaved Master A) joined me mid-afternoon for a little knitting and chatting. Mama V has started her long-striped scarf, casting on 250 stitches, and Mama J picked out yarn for this hat pattern.

The hat was coming along marvelously when I got to the point where I needed to switch to double pointed needles. I was quite intimidated when I looked it up on knittinghelp and saw four needles being used at once to knit in a circle! At first I panicked. Then I got upset that Mama N wasn't living a few floors above me. I started to give up hope, and then I thought, what would Mama N do? I gathered my things, put Mr. T in charge of the house and went back up to The Point. Carly was working there that day. I asked if they made super small circular needles to finish the hat, but she assured me that it was good to learn how to work with double-pointed needles. I carefully ripped out a few rows of the hat and Carly sat with me to show me how to move the work onto three double-pointed needles, knitting with the fourth. Mama N would have gotten a good laugh as I did the math in my head very slowly. 18 stitches times 4 divided by 3.

In the end the double-pointed needles were easy to work with once I understood how to use them. I have found this to be true with each new skill I learn with knitting.

I am going to knit another hat with the striped pattern reversed to give to my yoga instructor J who is moving to Atlanta next month. But first I am knitting Easter eggs for Miss L's Easter basket.