This post is a bit late in coming, as I have been back from NY since the sixteenth of June. I was lucky enough to be in NY for ten days. I went with a friend and stayed at Hotel Marrakech on the Upper West Side. The hotel was pretty decent for the cost, though they would often forget about the little things, like soap, when refilling items in the room.

For the most part we just roamed the streets aimlessly for good parts of the day and ate delicious food when we stumbled upon it. I really prefer vacation to feel like a vacation, and that means taking a fairly laid back approach to seeing the sights and planning for me. We went to a couple different Magnolia Bakery locations and smashed cupcakes in each others’ faces. The smell of that bakery is enrapturing. The smell of every block in NY is an entirely new experience.

My favorite part of the trip was probably the music. I got to see PJ Harvey and John Parish at the Beacon Theatre, a lovely lovely place. I saw Apollo Run at Knitting Factory and School of Seven Bells at the Bowery Ballroom. It was three glorious nights in a row of good music. I had never heard Apollo Run or School of Seven Bells. I went to Apollo Run on the recommendation of a friend who knows some of the band members. How could I miss a show at a place called Knitting Factory? Really?

Deciding on School of Seven Bells was tougher because they were playing on the same night and roughly the same time as Sunset Rubdown, a band I’ve loved for awhile now. I watched a couple of YouTube videos of School of Seven Bells songs and that decided things for me. I have been listening to their Alpinisms album over and over since then. You could not forcibly pry it from my ears. It is magic.

We went to the MoMA and the American Museum of Natural History. I adored both of them, especially the MoMA.

I could take up permanent residence within its walls. Here’s the chair I will knit in.

We saw the Tangled Alphabets exhibit. My view of cursive writing is forever altered. Unfortunately it was an area where pictures were not allowed, but I’m contemplating buying the book to have a more tangible representation of my memories.

A very threatening purse:

Here are a few images from the American Museum of Natural History. I had to take this picture, for my love of the Squid and the Whale.

And here is a squid:

I went to Mecca, ahem, Purl and bought sock yarn (it’s a compulsion) and knitting supplies for my friend Greg so I could promptly teach him how to knit. He’s working on a hat, or more appropriately, a toque (since he’s Canadian).

We went to the Bronx Zoo and saw a bunch of crazy animals, you know, like one typically does at a zoo.

Peacock wedding dress: (Yes, I know it’s a dude, more power to him).

We also went to Habu (heaven) and I bought some of the silk/stainless steel yarn in a taupe color to blend with some laceweight mustard colored yarn of theirs, and another sage laceweight color just in case I need to make two scarves… I really want to work with this yarn as soon as possible, but as I have three projects on the needles right now, I feel I shouldn’t allow myself that kind of indulgence, yet. Somehow three projects feels like a good limit for me. It’s good to know one’s tolerance.  (I should specify ACTIVE projects, as I’m remiss to mention the sweater, blanket squares, etc. in that are out of sight and mind at the moment).

I’m incubating an idea for an art project with the silk and stainless steel yarn for the fall Art Amiss show. I’ve been mentally reworking some knitted wall art for quite some time now, and I suppose I should just get to it. After Ishbel and the two pairs of socks I have on the needles. Argh. I will be posting in-progress pics of those projects soon.

I will probably post more NY pics at a later date. I didn’t want to overwhelm with images.