Some Weather, Some WIP’s & Lots of Fun!

It’s been a smashing week ’round here! There has been great music, food, nice weather and friends. First, let’s talk fun.

Over the weekend, The Syndicate attended the annual French Quarter Fest – I believe it was the 40th – the country’s largest free music festival. Though the crowds grow every year, this is a chance for locals to get out and hear our awesome local bands all gathered in a (sort of) central location. The Festival is very well organized and, despite the crowds, we had a blast! We saw Bonerama, a big brassy aggregation formed of trombone players from Harry Connick’s band. They’ve been playing together about 20 years; I can remember seeing them on Algiers Point when they first began. We danced the evening away with Jon Cleary, former pianist for Bonnie Raitt. Let me tell you what we ate! We had Shrimp-a-Go-Go which is fried shrimp, macadamia nuts, green onions all wrapped up in some kind of magical sauce. Then we sampled the Crab Ravioli, just what the name implies but robed in some sell-your-soul-to-the-devil creamy sauce, all surrounded by buckets of Mango Daiquiri’s. We suffer so.

On Saturday evening, all the old gang from Frenchmen Street gathered for a memorial for our lost friend, bluesman Coco Robicheaux. I’m telling you, it was like a reform school reunion! Here is my Antique Frenchmen Street Bartender photo showing just about all of us from the down-river side of Frenchmen in the years following Katrina. I think we’ve held up rather well, considering!

We had some heavy weather on Saturday, though not nearly so bad as the rest of the country. Mostly it was a rain event which can cause problems here in New Orleans but since all but 3 of the city’s pumps were operational, we were just fine, even in Mid-City.

I took that rainy blustery day and, after battening down the patio, spent the rest of the day knitting. Clever me! I’ve got a couple of interesting projects in the works. First, I swatched for my upcoming Maypole Shawl. I’m aiming for a bouncy, fun, not-too-serious wrap with a floral feel using Manos del Uruguay Alegria in the Macachines colorway. I’m particularly hopeful about the I cord edging! Maypole is out for a test knit right this minute.

In keeping with the floral theme I have planned for May, I’ve started a humble, yet feminine pair of fingerless mitts which I plan to embroider. I’m so taken with all the lovely boho embroidered knits and clothing I’m seeing for spring, I just couldn’t resist. Also, I’m longing to dust off my long languished embroidery skills because, yeah, I need yet another craft.

Last but not least, a sweater project that must remain secret. I bring it to light because I’m absolutely enchanted by the yarn. Really, Cheryl? You’re enchanted by gray wool? Yes! This yarn, Nature Spun, is like holding a little brown sparrow in the palm of your hand. Simple, light, airy, a little rustic, perfect. Brown Sheep is a family owned yarn company from Nebraska that produces really lovely wool products in a variety of weights ranging from fingering through bulky. All of the weights are available in the same nine million colors! I swatch with it quite a lot partly because of its behavior and stitch definition but also because I can get it in almost every color of the rainbow and in any weight. My local source is Bornside Yarns in the Marigny, home of the famous Miss Bette, my mentor.

Friends, that’s all the news that’s fit to print for today! Til next time, happy knitting!

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