Opera

So last weekend I went to see Turandot at the Philadelphia Opera Company and it was excellent! It is my favorite opera and it got me thinking about all the operas I have seen. So I thought I would post a list of the operas I have seen and make an effort in the future to see operas I am not familiar with.

So I have seen the following opera's

At the New York City Opera I have seen
The Magic Flute by Mozart

At the Pittsburgh Opera I have seen
La Boheme by Puccini
La Traviata by Verdi
Madame Butterfly by Puccini

In Stockholm at the Palace I saw the first Opera by Jacopo Peri Euridice

At the Baltimore Opera
Aida by Verdi
Carmen by Bizet
Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich
The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

At the Metropolitan Opera
Turandot by Puccini
Don Giovanni by Mozart
Carmen by Bizet
La Traviata by Verdi

At the Philadelphia Opera
Turandot by Puccini

There are so many operas I would like to see, that I have not seen yet. But if I could pick one of these operas to see again I would love to see Lady MacBeth of Mtsenk live again, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

Valentines Day

So this is the card my sweetheart got me for Valentines Day. Not every girl would love getting a card with a monkey dressed as a pirate for Valentines Day. But I think the card is pretty funny and sweet knowing the person who gave it to me.

I hope everyone had a good Valentines Day.

Now what?

So I haven't posted in a almost a month and there are three reasons why...

1) I have almost 40 students in my studio which is a first and I started teaching my first Kindermusik class. So work is going really well but is making me really busy.

2) Whenever I haven't been working I've been knitting. I made this lovely vest with yarn from Matt's sister Susan. It turned out really wearable, I really like it.


3) I've been working on this dress. I saw this pattern in September and absolutely loved it. The pattern and yarn were a christmas present and I really wanted to wear it for Valentines Day, but here's the problem. I feel like it is a little big and I should have knit a size smaller.

So in hopes to fix this problem, I seamed the top part smaller which created a very interesting side look.


So my questions are as follows:
1)Does this look ok with the side seam?
2)Should I reknit the top portion with a smaller needle so the top is more form fitting?
3)Should I reknit the whole thing in a smaller size?

It would be worth it to me to start over if it is going to look better, but I may need a few days to mourn the time lost if I rip the whole thing out.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (a few weeks late)

Matt and I brought in the New Year in Boston with friends. It was a great weekend and a nice way to end my break from school.

As usual I did a lot of knitting over the break. Here are the socks I knit to bring in the New Year.

They may not be the warmest I have, but they sure are pretty!

On returning from Boston, Matt came to the decision on his own to clean out his closet and get rid of some outdated, too small, and too old items. The boy has more clothes than I do! These circa 1995 red denim shorts were the most ridiculous item we found and thankfully he is getting rid of them. BTW, they are hand wash only because the colors run.


So I hope the New Year brings some exciting new events, but we will have to wait and see.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday and that Santa brought you some nice things. I was finally dragged into the 21st century by receiving a digital camera. I'm sure I will enjoy using it as posting pictures on the blog will become a lot easier. I have been relaxing over the break as well as Knitting a heck of a lot! I'm working on some items for the silent auction held at my school every January. I finished three items already and may continue with a couple more, we will see.

The only knitted gifts I gave this year were to some very special kitties. Here is one of them through enjoying her present.

Surprise is an elderly kitty but the powers of catnip proved that she still has a lot of spunk left in her.


She caught it!

November's FO!

Presenting my Airy Wrap Sweater!


I'm pretty pleased with the result.



Now I have something nice to wear during the holidays.

The magic of blocking

For someone who has never blocked a Finished Object until about a month ago, I am singing its praises! I blocked the back of the sweater and well see for yourself...



So I think I will continue with this project adding the front next and ending with the sleeves. I think it will be a beautiful addition to my holiday wear...a breath of fresh air. We'll see if I get it done in time...