Toreador, don't spit on the floor

OK, OK, I know those aren't the words. I have seasons tickets to the Washington National Opera this year, through Generation O. It's their club for the under-35 set- they figure if they can get us young, we'll be patrons of the arts when we're older. The tickets are about half price, so it's totally worth it. I missed La Traviata due to work (don't even get me started), but I saw the last two major productions- Lucrezia Borgia two weeks ago, and Carmen tonight. Generation O tickets tend to be available for dates when the alternate cast is singing. For La Borgia, that worked in my favor- the main soprano got panned a bit by DCist but I found the production top-notch and the alternate soprano was superb. The romance between the trouser mezzo and the tenor was a bit overemphasized, but the dude was in love with his mother, too. Who am I to judge. Unfortunately, I missed out on the DC-native Denyce Graves in the title role in Carmen, and the alternate mezzo soprano was ... subpar. She scooped to the notes, missed them fairly often, and worst of all I could barely hear her. The production was fairly banal as well. The sets were uninspired, costumes seemed VERY been there done that, even to a girl who technically has never seen this opera staged before. On the plus side, it really is one of the most entertaining operas, musically, and the orchestra was in fine fettle for most of the night. I adored the soprano, singing the role of the good woman foil for evil little Carmen. And frankly, the tenor Don Jose was pretty stellar also. It's just a bit of a pity when the title role is one of the worst performances I've heard at the Kennedy Center. Period.
I'm skipping out on Peter Grimes (didn't I see that in its first performance at IU?), but I will be sure to let you know how the next operas after that go!

In more craft-related news, I placed an Amazon order last week and I picked it up from the front desk tonight on my way back from the opera, humming Toreador all the way. I'm very pleased with my haul. First up is Jelly Roll Quilts, an excellent book of tips and tricks and patterns for those gorgeous jelly rolls of pre-cut fabric strips. I don't actually own any yet, but I'm thinking the Moda sale going on at my Mom's local quilt store Wish Upon a Quilt might be the kick in the pants I need. I'm thinking of doing a fairly simple nine patch quilt in the Nest by Moda line. It's all little bird eggs, bird tracks, and adorable art deco style birds. Adorable!

Also in my shipment is my favorite new knitting book. It's the long awaited Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. There is one scarf in this book that I don't really care for. Every other project? I want. I want to knit them. I want to wear them. I want to drape them all over my apartment. I want to hang them from the windows, and on my mirror, and the backs of chairs. I want to give them away as presents to everyone I've ever known. In short, this is the best compilation of knitted lace that I've seen outside Ravelry.

And soon after NaKniSweMo, I'll cast on. OH yes. And it will be all lacey gorgeousness for quite some time around here. It's too bad about that holiday gift thing- everyone's just going to have to make do with store bought (or Etsy bought). I can't bring myself to stop knitting myself sweaters and shawls long enough to be a good gifter this year.