Terby Knits & Does Other Stuff Too

2010-02-21T23:13:00.001-08:00

Psst.

Over here.

What I do when it snows.

2010-02-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

The snowstorm came and went, leaving a lot of snow in its wake. I haven't actually been out of my apartment since Friday night, so it didn't affect me that much. Saturday morning I cleaned and did a new (to me) exercise video, which seriously kicked my butt. I took a nap in the afternoon, watched junk on the computer, and knit on my seasilk clapotis. The snow stopped late afternoon, but I wasn't that motivated to get out and go. Sunday I woke up to beautiful weather. It was gorgeous, and I should have been up and about, except for the fact that I was (for 3 days) so sore from the video that movement was challenging.

Now we're in the throes of another snowstorm, and the view from my window looks like this:

Sorry for the blur - my camera isn't that great for nighttime photos taken through a dirty window. Everything appears to be closed for tomorrow, but I'll be walking in to the lab regardless, as I have some things to do. Luckily, it's not a difficult walk, just a mile, but it will be kind of messy out there. I don't have to stay too long, and then I think I will be back home to enjoy some quiet time to myself. My neighbors all seem to be very excited about their unexpected day off, and are up late and being really loud, which I'm not excited about. I probably would be if I was staying home too, frankly.

Knitting has been sporadic, as usual, and I'm fighting the urge to cast on for about 10 new things. Tonight I took advantage of not having as many urgent tasks to deal with and updated my stash page on Ravelry. Over the weekend, I finished my first two knits of the year - one that had been languishing, the other was a quick and new knit.

The oldie was finishing my striped Opal socks started back in November when I was evidently looking for a simple mindless knit. I don't typically knit with the self-striping yarn, but it does seem to go faster. I was also quite amused that my socks ended up almost identical without my trying. I think they are about a row off. I now have only 3 pairs of socks left to go, and hopefully I will have less trouble with second sock syndrome.

The quick knit was a replacement for my sadly misplaced hat. I found this pattern, the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret on Ravelry, thought it was cute, and whipped up a hat while watching a movie on Sunday night. I like the hat better than I liked the movie (Notting Hill). I'm not sure it's entirely successful - the cables make an interesting texture, but I don't think it reads that well in this hat. It is, however, cute, and I think the slouchy berets are kind of flattering. I used about a skein and a half of Tahki Yarns Tweedy Alpaca, which is also a nice yarn. The tweedy bits aren't very tightly incorporated into the yarn, so they will fall out, but the stuff was soft, pleasant to work with, and not bad elasticity. I knit the brim with a twisted rib so that it would hold shape better. This is one thing I have learned from making this kind of beret a few times.

I don't have photos of either of them, but I also put some time into my clapotis and into a lace scarf that I have been working on since March of 2008. I think that scarf is on the top of my list of things I want to finish. It's a simple pattern, just a matter of plowing through it and getting it done. I'm not doing any Knitting Olympics, and I'm not making any promises regarding my knitting promiscuity, but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the number of ongoing projects, so I'm trying to wrap a few up before I start anything new.

Like Minions. Or Endpaper Mitts. Or a chevron hat. Or another beret. Of course I'm not looking at patterns. Really.

I lost my favorite hat.

2010-02-05T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was out and about on Sunday, taking advantage of living in a city and ignoring the fact that I had no heat. I've been grumbling about that a lot lately, but it's been a recent major frustration in my life, as now I never know if my apartment is going to be too hot or freezing cold. (At the moment, it's too hot. In some ways I prefer no heat.) Anyhow, a friend and I were wandering about and we went to a restaurant to get pho, and I think I left my Selbu Modern hat there. I'm a bit sad. On the other hand, hats are relatively quick, it's an opportunity to knit something new, and I definitely have the yarn to knit a hat. Plus, despite the fact that I loved that hat, it had room for improvement, and this time I know I should switch the contrast color to the other hand, and I've got the opportunity to pick out two new colors to play with.

In the meantime, I have too many things on the needles, and not enough time to finish anything. We're under a snowstorm warning for the weekend, however, which means I have made few plans to do much, leaving me plenty of opportunity to knit something. I'm woefully behind on the cleaning, plus there's always laundry piling up, but generally, I think this weekend might be an opportunity to get myself together again and back on track for a number of things. I've got photos in the camera, so a post may be in the works.

It may be a sigh of relief.

2010-01-17T22:51:00.000-08:00

After a lot of procrastinating, and a lot of thinking and reading and rewriting, I think my grant application may finally be done. It's almost 2am, and I've sent the (hopefully) final draft (it just needs to have references added in and my reference software is being defiantly uncooperative) in to my PI and to two friends for added eyeballing. I would go to sleep now, but I had coffee with my dinner, at about 8, and that was not a bright idea considering how little coffee I'm typically drinking these days.

I am somewhat ashamed at the amount of procrastinating I indulged in while writing this. Clearly I'm out of practice writing, but I also feel like I'm out of practice thinking. Just goes to remind me how much MORE work I really should be doing, most of the time. And that's just frustrating sometimes.

Anyhow, that's the not-so fascinating stuff going on in my life. In the rest of my time, I've been doing the usual - playing Bejeweled 2 obsessively, cooking things, watching CSI:SVU and occasionally knitting things. I am still in the grips of a wicked bout of startitis and fighting yarn buying urges. I went to a knitting group gathering on Saturday, where we worked on sock yarn blankets. I now want to buy tons and tons of mini skeins and swap them. I also restarted my blanket, as I didn't like the 13 squares I knit on size 3 needles, and decided to go down to size 2 needles instead. I now have 3 squares knit, but I'm in no hurry.

Today I also got the bug to knit a hat, and grabbed some Koigu to cast on for a new Purl beret, as the last one I knit is larger in the crown than I really wanted, due to the fact that I am a surprisingly loose knitter on size 3 needles. I started the hat, then realized that although I love the colors of this yarn - absolutely adore - they're knitting up like clown barf. I am thinking that I might make another chevron scarf with it instead, even though I know it's not the most exciting knit in the world. I tried gloves, but that was a disaster.

In the meantime, I have no shortage of things to work on. I'm loving knitting Clapotis again, this time with Handmaiden sea silk in a solid orange color. I'm also trying to finish a pair of fake isle socks, just a mindless knit but cute socks. They're especially timely as I had to darn two pairs of my oldest socks out of Knitpicks yarn. And yes, by darn I mean hold it over the garbage bag and say "darn." If there's light tomorrow, I may try to take some photos.

Speaking of tomorrow, my plan for the day is to go to the gym, check my email, and take the morning off. I want to go to the LYS to get some additional needles. I broke another 1.5 needle, and I need 2's in a smaller size. If there's yarn there, I might get something to make a hat. The afternoon is probably lab again, although if I don't have to be there, I'm going to go back home. This weekend didn't feel like much of a break, despite my not getting much accomplished.

Science and Momentum

2010-01-14T11:16:00.001-08:00

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/01/fear_of_science.html?sc=fb&cc=fp

I just read this and really liked it. It points out something I think people are woefully unaware of - scientists don't control their creations normally, and the public has to play a role in guiding the use of discoveries. If we take grant money, technically, we're working for your interests.

In other words, if it's important to you, speak up!

Must be a blue moon, because I'm blogging...

2010-01-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

and there are pictures.

I got through the first week back from my vacation. Things are slowly picking up again - there's a bit of a lag from things shutting down, and I'll be back up to full speed in another 2 weeks. During the slow time, I'm working on a grant submission and we're cleaning and rearranging in the lab. I'm trying to readjust to being back here.

One of the strange things is that winter at my house looks a lot like this:

When I left my apartment, there was snow. (No complaint here - just strange to go from the ground covered with white stuff to the ground covered with leaves.)

Over break I worked on a few things, including some Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.

It's a straightforward pattern, but with the usual nice little touches that Nancy Bush puts into her designs. Very clean, very clever refinements that no one would ever notice. Of course, I ran out of room in my suitcase and had to leave this behind. Hopefully it will be shipped back to me soon.

And for New Year's, I cast on for a new pair of socks. Neither the yarn nor the pattern is new to me, but the combination was novel. (Sanguine Gryphon Eidos, and of course Monkey.) I love this green.

Knitting? There's tons of that going on. At least the starting part. I'm doing a KAL with my local group, and yes, I'm knitting a Clapotis again, this time out of orange sea silk. When I cleaned up my apartment, I found a scandalous number of things that are in progress, and if I get more organized, I might blog about them or even actually finish them... But I'm still working under the constraint of having little time for knitting. This isn't getting better any time soon, either. I'm still working long hours, plus I'm really trying to cook more meals for myself, and find time to read. Plus, my sister and I are having a bit of a competition - we have a pretty healthy sense of sibling rivalry, and we're trying to use that for good. Both of us have some weight to lose, and so we're competing - not for number of pounds lost, but for consistent weekly losses. There's money at stake too, but I think bragging rights are the key. In my case, that means I'm now trying to find time to exercise daily (in addition to walking to work.) Stuff will get finished, but it would be great if I could find a way to comfortably combine reading and knitting in the evening.

Ranting and raving.

2010-01-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

I uploaded photos to my computer last night, but ran out of steam before I wrote anything about them. The knitting can wait until later, however, as I have a rant.

This morning, I logged on to Facebook (a nasty habit, and one I really would give up, if it wasn't for Scrabble) and read a post by a colleague of mine. She's a fitness enthusiast, a fighter, actually, who is in enviable shape. As you might imagine, she is a regular attendee at the gym. Her post was about how she just laughs at the people who show up at the gym for 2 months before falling off the wagon and becoming fat and lazy, and how these people had no motivation.

On one hand, I understand her point. If you are a regular exerciser, it probably is very annoying to have more people at the gym, using the equipment you normally have all to yourself. However, I think it's really unfair to say these people don't have motivation. And frankly, it generates a hostile attitude at gyms, particularly for people who are making a genuine effort to try to get in shape. It's not easy to be on display, doing something that's hard, and nobody needs critical judgements when they are working out. (This is why I don't like the gym, and why I prefer running. When I'm on the street, and I pass another runner, I've never gotten anything other than a smile and a wave, regardless of how quickly or slowly I'm moving. Unfortunately, it's cold, and I need to run, and the treadmill is my only option, so I am waiting for my spanking new gym membership to activate.)

I don't necessarily agree with the idea of making grand New Year's resolutions - but at the same time, I think it's reasonable to take some time at even an arbitrary starting point to think about your life, figure out where you are, what you want, and how to get there. I think taking any steps to meet your goals is also a reasonable action.

There's another underlying point here, that I'm trying to get to. Last night I watched Michael Pollan's interview on The Daily Show. As a food enthusiast, I've been following the discussions about vegetarianism, sustainable agriculture and suchlike with a fair amount of interest. (A disclaimer here - I have not read Pollan's books, nor have I read Jonathan Safran Foer's latest book. I am also neither a vegetarian nor a vegan, and I am not, have never been, and will never be a member of any animal rights groups.) Again, I agree with some of the points that keep being made. We all should be eating more real food, less processed crap, and we should be engaging in much better animal husbandry and agricultural practices as evidenced by the increasingly more common outbreaks of food-borne illnesses (salmonella and E. coli O157 being obvious examples). BUT - and there's a big but here, we should also be aware that there is a class issue at play here.

Yup, I'm playing the elitist and classist card here.

Purchasing "organic" meats and produce (I'm sorry, my science background makes me hate the term) costs more money. Processed food costs less. We subsidize crap food, and it's cheaper to purchase and takes less time to prepare than real food. Pollan touched on this last night, and suggested we should stop the subsidies, without providing a real solution. I keep hearing people saying we should accept higher food costs, and try to live in a more sustainable way. Which is great - but a) we can't make enough affordable food for people that way, and b) there are a lot of people who are having financial troubles now as it is. What's the solution for people who aren't in the upper middle class or above? If you don't live in an urban area, it's not that easy to have access to the healthiest of foods. Plus, the urban folks I've met who suggest that Walmart is always an option have not lived in some of the rural areas I've been to. Walmart isn't always there, and a lot of them aren't like grocery stores. And finally, growing your own garden isn't realistic either - it's a matter of time, cost, and presumes you have access to land.

I think that we as a society have become increasingly more critical of the obese and overweight. It's always been an issue, but now greater negative commentary has become justified by health reasons and discussion of the "obesity epidemic." Time to exercise is not necessarily a given for all people - if you're working 2 jobs and taking care of children, it's unlikely you're going to have a lot of time to hit the gym, or even have the extra money to pay for a membership. My concern is that people are engaging in these discussions without considering the greater societal commentary they're making - it's not just about weight, or appearance, or what you're choosing to eat - it's part of a larger discussion about financial worth and societal status, and there are some much bigger issues that really need to be addressed.

I've been rambling here, and it's well past time for me to stop and get on with my day. Thanks for sticking with me.

Hello 2010.

2010-01-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to do much of a yearly wrap-up, but I'm stealing a meme from Kim since I think it will make a nice summary. Over the next couple weeks, I'm going to attempt to find some time to reorganize things over here a bit as well.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

Went to Rhinebeck
Moved to Pennsylvania
Learned a whole bunch of new science stuff.

2. Did you keep your 2009 resolutions, and will you make more this year?
These were my resolutions:

1. Run a half marathon. - No.
2. Eat out less and cook more. - Sort of, as I cooked more.
3. Read more books. - Yes!
4. Find a new job. - Yes!
5. Travel to a new city. - Yes!
6. Go camping. - No.
7. Learn a new skill. - I learned new science techniques, which I think counts.
8. Write a paper. - Sadly, no.
9. Knit more than I did in 2008. - Nope.
10. Go shelling on the beach.- Yes!

So that makes for about 50% success rate. Not terrible.

This year's resolutions/goals are similar:

1. Run a half marathon.
2. Cook.
3. Read books.
4. Go camping/hiking.
5. Write 2 papers and a book chapter.
6. Knit.
7. Go shelling on the beach.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not close friends, but I know some people who had babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, last year no.

5. What countries did you visit?
No travel outside the US for me.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Publications. My immediate family in one state.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finding a new, and good, job.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Giving too much notice on my previous job.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing physical. ;)

10. What was the best thing you bought?
iPod Touch.

11. Where did most of your money go?
Bills.

12. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier, slightly thinner, better off in many ways.

13. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Sleep. I don't do that enough. Running. Relaxing and enjoying myself.

14. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying, stressing out, and having insomnia.

15. What was the best new book you read?
Nothing's really standing out - I enjoyed several things I read, but nothing was that memorable.

16. What was your favorite new TV show of the year?
Glee, I guess.

17. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Being unhappy isn't always your fault. Sometimes walking away can be the best solution.

And with that, let's not speak of 2009 any more. Today's my last day with the family, and I think I have convinced the larger and smaller boy that a trip to the beach might be nice. A run is in my plans for the afternoon (it's not running that hurts, it's not consistently running that hurts.) I have some knitting to do - I cast on for a pair of Monkeys in some Sanguine Gryphon yarn which I haven't been able to match a pattern to well, and I have another pair of husband socks on the needles. I also want to pack up a box of stuff to ship back to my apartment, as I want to make sure I'm really traveling light for my return. There are a few photos on my camera to post when I return, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the family time I have left.

Happy holidays

2009-12-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to do a quick post - the blog isn't dead, just probably continuing to be on a very sparse schedule through the end of the year.

Honestly, my holiday spirit is pretty low right now, and I'm ready to start a new decade. I won't be sitting quietly and very still, waiting for the year to end without anything else happening this year, but I am ready to move on.

So to all my friends who still check in here - happy holidays. May they be filled with much joy, and may your year end on a high note.

See you next year.

Too short.

2009-11-28T23:06:00.000-08:00

And just like that, my vacation is over. I'm tired, and I should go to bed, but I don't really want it to end yet. I don't really like here so much, but my husband and son are still here, and it's strange having a life there without them. I've booked my tickets for Christmas though - I'm taking a long break, over a week, and that will be good.

Hopefully next time, I won't have food poisoning. That put a bit of a damper on the trip for me, and I'll spare you the details, only to say that Thanksgiving dinner was much better going down than when it made its return. For posterity, however, I will say that a) I brined the turkey using Alton Brown's guidelines, and it was much better than usual that way. I will do that again. b) I tried to make pie crust, and I still don't have the knack. I used a 50/50 shortening/butter mix, and it was pretty meh. c) Cranberry sauce is excellent if you add in a pint of blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, and tangerine zest. d) I finally made the gravy well, but my stuffing was too crumbly. And yes, I'm really sad that I didn't eat many leftovers this year. Next year the big change will be to make a pecan pie and a pumpkin cheesecake. I'm neutral to negative when it comes to pie, and the husband isn't a big pumpkin fan. (I could, however, throw all caution and tradition to the wind and attempt this next year, but the primary limiting factor is that I don't have a stand mixer.)

Knitting news is very very boring, and I don't have my camera cable with me. I brought my Verona shawl, , which makes a lovely, wearable final product, but is a lot of uh, sure, let's say meditative knitting. I will wear this scarf quite a lot, but I'm less entranced with the knitting than some of the other folks who have been knitting it. It's soft and warm and almost weightless, and I like the color and the irregular qualities of the yarn. Frankly, it's almost long enough for me, but I wouldn't mind being able to wrap it around my neck one more time, so I suppose I'll just keep going for a while.

Finally, I'm leaving you with a video of a song that I'm very fond of. I just missed a concert I really wanted to see, but I was able to watch Mike Doughty in a live streaming of his NY concert tonight. He closed out the set with this song, "Your Misfortune," which is the last song on an album that I have listened to over and over again. This is from a show in Japan, not the one I watched tonight, but I think it's pretty, and some of you might like it as well.

Photos when I return and find my camera cable.

Reading

2009-11-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been reading a lot more nonfiction than fiction. Earlier this year, I finished reading Ghost Map, which is a pretty interesting read if you're interested in cholera, epidemiology, or social history. I didn't think that most of you would be that excited about it, and frankly, there are enough serious flaws to the book that I can't recommend it. The parts about epidemiology are great, but I didn't find the author's pontification on urban life to be particularly interesting, or enlightening, and could have been edited out. The loss of focus to the book was a serious flaw in an otherwise interesting read.

However, I'm reading something now that I think would be of more interest to anyone coming by my blog. I don't consider myself a serious foodie, but I like food, cooking, and eating. I also really like reading books about the aforementioned topics. Heat is written from the perspective of a journalist and cooking enthusiast who somehow managed to get a job as an extern in Mario Batali's kitchen. Buford writes well, and has a good story to tell. It's compelling reading, and has not only managed to inspire me to spend more time in the kitchen, but also to look into Batali's recipes and techniques. I've had mixed opinions of Food Network celebrity chefs, but Batali comes across as a guy who genuinely has some technique, and is a lot more interesting than his TV image. (Speaking of which, I tried to watch Rachel Ray cook Thanksgiving dinner in an hour. Was flipping through channels and caught about a minute or two, after which I went back to cartoons. I find her voice grating, and my son commented that what she was making didn't look very good.)

Anyhow, the other book I'm reading, but left at home, is Spice: The History of a Temptation. It's not nearly as fast of a read as Heat, and not as much fun. It's interesting though, if you have any interest in the history of spices, and the role they have played in exploration and expansionism. I haven't gotten that far into the book, and I'm more interested in the role spices played in social history, but it's not bad so far. I'm not going to give it a hearty endorsement yet, especially as I haven't finished the book, but if you have an interest in the topic, it's not bad.

I've had a resurgence of interest in cooking, and have been playing with the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book. I'm a big fan of the basic bread recipe, and I enjoyed the olive oil dough, but I'm lukewarm on the brioche. I also decided it was time to toss out my old spices and start over with small jars from Penzey's. I've threatened to do this several times in the past, and after some really disappointing experiences, I decided it was worth the investment - and really, it's a lot cheaper than what I found at the grocery store. Speaking of which, I'm shortly off on my final run before Thanksgiving - I need about 4 things, as I'm testing some new recipes this year. I'll try to get some photogenic shots of anything that turns out particularly well. It's strange making a break from the Thanksgiving dinner I'm used to (my mom's), but I think it's time to try out some new traditions.

Testing testing

2009-11-24T21:43:00.001-08:00

Just installed a blogging app for my iTouch. If this works, I'm more likely to be around more again. Finding time to pg has been tough - I've been really wrapped up in my work, not making time for anything else in my life. Time to strive for greater balance again. But for now, sleep. I'm beat, and there's lots of cooking in the immediate future. Photos and words in the morning.

Well phooey.

2009-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today was the first night this week that I left work before 10pm. Yes, you read that correctly. Tonight I got home at the early hour of 7:45, and made something dinner-like to eat. I was looking forward to relaxing and finally finishing that blog post I'd been meaning to finish up.

Only 2 problems.

1) Tonight is game 1 of the World Series.
2) My neighbor is blasting music. The bass is making my head vibrate, and I'm not exaggerating. My entire living room is vibrating, and it's really ticking me off. I had a glass of water on the floor, and there were waves forming. It's not even 9pm yet, however, so I can't really complain. I can't definitively tell if it's from upstairs or next door, or from the bar. It is loud, regardless.

At this second, I hate apartment living. I suppose I could just go back to work. I just wanted to be able to relax for a few minutes.

I'm going to go see if I can hide somewhere else in my 2br apartment. I need to escape this noise.

2009-10-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

So. Rhinebeck.

It didn't get off to the greatest of all starts. I woke up 10 minutes before I absolutely had to leave my apartment to get to the train station. This is lucky, because I messed up setting the alarm on my clock. I'm pretty amazed that I woke up at all, considering it was 10 to 6 when I bolted out of bed. Once I got to the station (in record time) I waited at the wrong track for a while, then I struggled with figuring out the ticket machine, as I clearly am in desperate need of caffeine in the morning. The trip itself was easy. Once I got on the (correct) train it was a fairly short ride up to New Jersey. I got off the train just as Cordelia and Kathy were coming to meet me - and they had coffee. This was a really fun meeting, as Cordelia and I have been emailing for years, but hadn't ever spoken in person. (I think we are both shyer in person than by email.) Kathy drove us to meet Kim, who I also had never met before, but have been a long-time blog friend of. All three women are lovely people and I hope to see them again soon.

Let me say that the drive to Rhinebeck is gorgeous -lots of rolling, tree-covered hills, which were stunning in the fall. We got in around noon, and first headed for food. I think the most popular item there had to be the "Artichokes French." The line was insane, and as much as I like artichokes, I'm not a big fan of waiting. After a quick lunch, we headed for the barns. Rhinebeck is the second fiber festival I've attended, with the first being SAFF. I knew I didn't want to go nuts the way I did at SAFF, so I tended to be much more cautious with my purchases this year. In fact, it was really hard for me to get started. I'm also not very good with crowds. Too many people + too much stuff = a strong sense of claustrophobia and a need to flee. Which is part of my explanation for why I don't have photos of any of the crowds or the stuff.

My general feeling is that if you spin, this is a great festival to attend. There was a lot of fiber. Really gorgeous fiber, and I almost walked home with a Golding spindle, but that's just something I don't have time for right now. There were some beautiful naturally-dyed yarns, but I wasn't finding a lot of things were really grabbing me. Some booths were just too mobbed for me to browse in, as well, which may also have held me back a bit. I stared very hard at the Brooks Farm booth, thought hard about Creatively Dyed yarn (seasilk, particularly) passed by The Fold a few times, and I really wanted to buy something at Briar Rose. In the end, I made my purchase at Sliver Moon Farm. I really like the way variegated yarn looks in the skein. I love it. BUT - I seem to not like knitting with it as much as I like semi-solid yarn. So I ended up with this.

Not a whole lot of sock yarn there, which may or may not have been a good thing.

The most fun part for me was seeing all of the knitwear. It was fascinating being somewhere and having the experience of people focusing on looking at your knits, not you. There were some amazing things there. I spotted one "famous" blogger, and I'm ashamed to admit I did that thing where you openly stare at someone (I suck at connecting names and faces, so I was trying to figure out why she looked familiar for a really long time) - but she smiled at me, so I feel a little less ridiculous. I got a few compliments on my Selbu Modern hat, which was very flattering. I still see all of its flaws, but I'm really proud of it.

That's all for now. Except for the required animal photos.

Thursday bullets

2009-10-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I went to Rhinebeck and I had a really good time and I need to blog about it and download photos from my camera. I also need to take photos of some yarn that I bought there and track some other acquisitions I've made since I moved here.
There are 2 completed knitting projects I still haven't blogged. Not only that, I've worn both of them. Not only that, but I still haven't woven in the ends on one of them, and they're really obvious. Also, they aren't socks.
I have a new bedroom window so every post from now on out shouldn't be about how cold I am. (To be fair, it was very chilly with the breeze and not turning the heat on.)
This weekend I'm hoping to do some food shopping and knitting in addition to going in to work. I'm planning on cooking soup and starting up breadmaking again next week. If I'm really motivated, I might watch a movie or read a book.
I'm very tired this week. After coming home from Rhinebeck on Saturday night, I went to bed. Sunday I went grocery shopping, went out to lunch with a friend, went to work, and then cooked soup. Work is very busy right now. (This is good. Really.) On top of that, I'm fighting a cold, and if you know where I live (and that my apartment is located above a bar), you will also understand my stating that it's been a bit loud in the evenings. Particularly so last night.
I want to knit some mitts and some gloves and some mittens and a sweater and some socks and I don't want to start anything new until I have finished some of the old things that are taking up space in my living room. I'm not very excited about working on most of them. The item I most want to knit is stalled due to a backorder of additional yarn. Hopefully it will arrive soon.
I'm going to try to knit now, maybe with some tea and honey for my sore throat, and possibly with some crappy tv streamed over my computer. So much for my attempts at daily blogging.

I need pictures.

2009-10-15T18:14:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know. Yet another photo-less post. In my defense, when I got up at 7 this morning, it was grey and rainy. When I walked home from work, via the grocery store, it was cold and grey and rainy. Photos? Hah. I'm concentrating on staying warm.

There's a significant draft in my living room. Specifically, one of the new windows put in the apartment before I moved in is not sealed well, and it leaks when it rains. In the bedroom, there's still a missing window pane. In a word, I'm cold. I'm thinking about buying some caulk to fix the living-room window. As I said, I'm cold, and I'm responsible for the heating bill come winter. It's only fall now. At the same time, 42 and rainy with no heat doesn't feel very warm.

I have a need to knit something, immediately, but I have no idea what. I am in desperate need of mittens. I also could use a warm sweater or three. Instead, I have a shawl, socks, and a scarf on the needles. I'm feeling a need to finish things up, too. I am also afraid that I have lost my sock mojo. I have some great yarn, but I'm just not getting into it. (I just looked down at myself and realized I am a handknit nightmare - over a Land's End sweater and yoga pants, I am wearing my purplish chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, my red and orange Clapotis wrapped around my waist, and blue striped socks. Perhaps there is a reason I am avoiding cameras?)

This weekend I am going up to Rhinebeck. I'm excited, partly because I am meeting 2 blogging friends who I feel like I almost "know" from years of chatting back and forth, and also because it sounds like this festival is a sight to behold. I'm not planning on buying much - but tomorrow may be a time to revisit the Ravelry queue and think about what I might want or need.

Other than a heated mattress pad, that is. I'm thinking of getting one of those on Sunday. Plus a second pad to put over the memory foam cushion that makes up a significant portion of my mattress, as I'm sleeping on a futon.

Brrr...

2009-10-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back north, after a weekend away. It's cold up here! Tonight it's in the low 50's, which would probably feel less cold if it hadn't been in the 80's and 90's for me this weekend. This upcoming weekend? I may be even colder, but let's see how that develops... I may have some exciting (at least for me) news later this week.

Tonight was knitting, and it was good. I've decided that my mystery project (which isn't done yet) needs a second skein of yarn. The big reveal? It's a Shetland Triangle out of Malabrigo Sock. I'm going to buy the second skein and keep going. It's a great pattern, and I love knitting it. But I am also sick of all the dinky little shawls I have been knitting lately, so this one will be bigger, and deserves to be so.

Photos soon - I promise. I need light, and right now I need to find someplace warm to go hide. There's a wicked draft that I'm sitting in, and the window to my apartment isn't fixed yet. I'm cold! I'm even contemplating fingerless gloves to make my joints stop aching, which is just sad commentary.

Late, and I need sleep.

I missed a day, but not for lack of trying.

2009-10-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just kind of busy, what with the dissertation defense, experiment, meeting, and flying out of town. Got back to the southern state around 10 something at night, took a taxi home and tried to hold up my end of a conversation about football, which is sort of the equivalent of asking me to speak fluent Chinese.

Have spent most of today attached to my son, or rather with him sitting on me or otherwise touching me. It's nice to be missed, and it's wonderful to see him, but IT'S HOT HERE, and disgustingly humid. Plus, there are mosquitos. And I'm really not used to it anymore, especially since I have been experiencing pleasant fall-like weather up north. It's good to be back, however, as I missed my family, and my washing machine. I find myself oddly overwhelmed by the size of my house, and it's not big. I guess I've adapted to the city more than I thought, as it was also odd to be driving and to not hear sirens last night when I went to bed. It's strange being here, because I don't live here anymore, and it's decidedly not home. Of course, it's also clear that we're in transition, because my husband isn't really living here either, and my apartment is for the most part, undecorated.

I am not sure what our plans are for the rest of the weekend. Right now, husband is out picking up burgers and fries for dinner. I am still protein-starved, and I'm fitting into my "skinny" jeans again, despite my scale saying that I have not lost an ounce since I moved, so I feel no guilt. Even after the Krispy Kreme donuts and the cookie earlier today. Hah. We're possibly going to go play mini-golf on Saturday, if the weather holds, and I think there's potentially interest in seeing Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. I don't really care what we do, as I'm happy to be with them. Tonight is likely to be movies/TiVO and hanging out with some knitting.

On the way out of my apartment, I realized that I left my camera, so photos will not be happening this weekend. There's also been no knitting yet today, and I suspect that time will be somewhat limited. I did finish another mystery, however. One thing I love about travel is that I essentially have a lot of uninterrupted time to read. I just finished reading Shot Girl, which was a light, but fun read. If you enjoy mass-market mysteries, this one is better than many I've read lately. Food's here, so I'm off.

Packing, with knitting.

2009-10-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

I just unraveled a sock. I liked the yarn. I liked the pattern. They just weren't quite right together. Bad proportions, or just an ill-fitting sock for my foot.

I'm not sure what to bring with me. I'm going to be away for a few days, and I am close to the end on the mystery project, I have a mindless sock that is about a day from completion, and a mindless scarf I can take with me. I don't know how much time I'm going to have to knit, and I hate the idea of running out of knitting. But I'm also liking finishing things a lot.

Too late now to write, and I'm too tired to think. Leaving tomorrow afternoon, and I'm delighted.

What I do, and a turtle.

2009-10-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

As I kind of expected, things went from a relaxed and easy pace to all kinds of insanity at work today. It's a short week for me, as I'm taking off to see the hub and kid this weekend, and I'm vacating work a day early. Of course, now that I have plans for that, all the supplies I had ordered are now trickling in, and there's work (a lot of it) to be done on the 3 experiments I'm working on.

I was going to head over to knitting tonight, but I was starving (forgot to eat) and I'm tired. So I picked up a sandwich on the way home and watched Heroes and House instead.

The front half of the week is typically brutal. I have a regularly scheduled experiment on Monday, and I'm usually busy with that all day and through most of Tuesday. It's not difficult work, but it requires fairly intense attention during the active times, and for a good chunk of time, it's a matter of constant, careful motion. All the steps are time-sensitive, and there's a lot of moving from one place to another. This week I got a reprieve (sort of). I was able to pause my experiment at a point where I don't usually stop, and I'll take it up again next week. Of course, now I have to look forward to working with some seriously scary reagents, and I'm more than a little nervous about it. (Next week, I get to work with trifluoroacetic acid, and yes, I will be working in the fume hood for a change. Acetic acid is no big deal, neither is hydrochloric, but this stuff intimidates me a bit. Okay, a lot.) Plus, I really want everything to work, so I have to be very very careful how I do things next week. Should be interesting - I need clean, non-contaminated samples, but maybe, just maybe, I'll have some good results by the end of the month.

Anyhow, I got to do something very cool today, and I played with lasers. No kidding. I'm learning how to use a million dollar piece of equipment, which oddly seems less intimidating than it used to. (We really have excellent toys here.) There's more training tomorrow, plus a session on how to use a much less interesting piece of equipment in the lab (it doesn't have a laser.) I spent the afternoon staring in frustration at my computer, finally figuring out that the answer to a problem I was having was much simpler than I thought, but does mean that I lost some time and have to repeat something I did last week. Then I did a little bit of prep work for the third project that I'm doing preliminary work on, which I'm super excited about. I have a laundry list of small things to do waiting for me in the morning, and with any luck, I should have another shipment of supplies arriving, because I'm waiting for a custom order to come in.

Sometimes I gripe about my job - it's busy, it's hard, and the personalities around me can, at times, be a little different. At the same time, I love the variety of things I get to do. Most of the time, I'm not sitting at a desk; instead, I'm doing and making things. I am however, tired. Tomorrow will come soon, and it will be busy. Time to knit another row or two, and then to collapse and hopefully sleep. I'm hoping for a quiet night. I'm also grateful for an iPod app that generates white noise. There's little else that knocks me out so quickly.

Day 5, i guess - Interweave Knits Weekend

2009-10-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for a knitting magazine. I like to look at them, and I frequently find "Special Issues" to be more exciting than the actual magazine. (Actually, Interweave, I'm looking directly at you on that one. Lately I like Knitscene better than IK, for whatever reason.) Anyhow, here's my take.

The bottom line: Do you need this? No, it's not essential, but there are some interesting things in it.

There are a few attractive patterns, but there's nothing that really jumps out at me as an amazing fantastic "wow, I really need to knit that 5 minutes ago," but there are things I would make out of the magazine.

First, an article on novels about knitting.
Next, "Friday." Starts strong, with a pretty Kathy Zimmerman guy sweater, and a cute kid's sweater by Wendy Bernard. Two of my favorites in this issue. Kid pants, and a capelet are next. Then a sweater that is meant to be reversible. My feeling about this is that anyone who has seen me in person will realize that the shape of my chest and my back are rather dissimilar, and this sweater is designed for a much different body type than my own. A blurb about sizing things for kids, and some simple socks. The patterns follow, with commentary. Much more mixed than the current layout of IK.

Next, an article on teaching kids to knit. I admit to have not read this yet. "Saturday Morning." A really basic, very wearable women's cardigan. (I would knit this, and actually might.) A cute baby jacket, and a kitchen towel. A very interesting basket out of some ridiculously huge yarn. Probably costs a fortune, but at least it was done to make a sculptural piece instead of clothing. A pillow, with a super simple and elegant design. I really dig it, actually, and am intrigued by the color. Probably a deceptively expensive project. Awesome button. Next an apron and a hat. More pattern information and words.

An article on fiber festivals. More patterns - a guy sweater and a scarf by Ann Budd, and a cardigan by Annie Modesitt. The cardigan is not me, but it's interesting. Next, "Sunday," and a cardigan that is cut in a current style that I personally don't find flattering, and can't pull off, but I like the color a lot and the stitch pattern. Another guy sweater - I get the concept, but I'm not sure I like the placement of the design element. A cute cloche hat, which would either look adorable or horrible on me. A cowl neck sweater. Can't personally wear them, and this particular one would add a good 30 pounds on me. Kid shrug. A lace cardigan in bulky wool - again, not my style or cut. Very current lines, but I'm not shaped right for it.

Simple colorwork hat and mittens. Some designer interviews (They're all very cute, and look happy. I like the photos.) Staff projects - a vest, a scarf, a bag, and a vest. Next page is a dog vest (? Really not for me.) Two plain simple cardigans I like a lot, and would personally wear. The down side to both of them is bunching of fabric around the armhole - oh, and the patterns are online, not in the magazine. An absolutely ridiculous hat - I'm sorry - I get what you're doing, but I'm not that much of an exhibitionist.

Overall, the layout reminds me a lot of the first IK that came out when Eunny Jang first took over. I don't have really strong feelings in favor of or against this issue - and I think it does serve it's purpose of patterns for relaxed, low stress weekend knitting of casual clothing.

Peek for yourself here. Thoughts?

Sunday

2009-10-04T19:53:00.001-07:00

Today, for something different, you're getting an intentionally bad photograph. Really. It's bad, and it's intentional. I'm curious as to how much can be identified by this shot.

Here are the clues:

1) It's a popular (possibly even viral) knit.

2) At least one of you has knit one.

3) It's an incredibly addictive pattern, and I've done nothing but knit this since I cast on last night. I had to rip back completely once, because I made a mistake and it bothered me, and I had to do some significant tinking twice. The first time was because I was knitting in bed without my glasses on before I got coffee. This was a big mistake. The second time I got distracted by the show I've been watching (Dead Like Me) and couldn't figure out where I dropped a stitch.

I'm also curious if anyone can identify the yarn. I promise there will be better shots of this. It's working up rather quickly, but I also think it will end up being a bigger knit than I expect. For indoor flash photography, the color's actually fairly true. In person, in daylight, the color is a bit more crushed grape, and it has almost a velvety quality.

Now to sneak in a bit more knitting on the couch before I collapse. I should by all rights do that now, but I'm not quite ready to call it a night yet.

Day 3.

2009-10-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

It's Saturday night, my apartment is clean, and mostly tidy. I have some laundry in the machines downstairs, and the rest of the evening is mine to spend relaxing. I did very little today - I slept in, talked a little on the phone, napped, knit, and watched silly tv shows. It's been very nice. I'm a little blue today. Weekends are harder than the weekdays, and I have a tendency to become overly tired. It affects my mood a lot, and it's easy to slide into a negative mood. Tidying up helped, sort of symbolically moving on and getting ready for the week. A fresh start, I suppose.

Things are, for the most part, good. I like my job, and I'm learning a lot. I still feel behind, and under pressure, but that's going to be true regardless of what I'm doing. I haven't taken the easiest path, but there's still hope that this will all work out. I've met a really neat group of people to knit with, and if I were in less of a hermit mode, I could probably go out and socialize more with them too. I'm trying to do things for myself.

I just started knitting a new project - a Shetland Triangle Shawl. I just finished 2 triangular shawls (no, I didn't take photos yet) and I'm not sure why I really wanted to knit this, but the yarn and the pattern were calling to me. I actually have a few things clamoring at me. The other is a pair of Fiddlehead Mittens, which I'm likely to start tomorrow, and there's a sweater that has tried to materialize on my needles. So far, the sweater hasn't taken, so there's a possibility I can hold off on that until I finish something up. It's fall. I think this is the equivalent of spring fever, and I'm feeling a strong urge to swathe myself in handknits. I know it makes for boring blogging, as I keep starting things and having little followthrough. I knit for myself though - what I want, when I want, with no pressure. It's one of the few things in my life that is like that. Maybe the only thing.

Part of trying this daily blogging is to determine if the blog is something I'm going to continue or not - I know why I knit, but I'm not sure why I'm blogging. I have met some really neat people, friends even, online. However, I'm finding it much harder to connect these days. I like Ravelry, but I don't do so well on message boards. I don't leave comments often, and I don't think I have many readers left. I'm okay with this, but I wonder if it means that I'm done with blogging? On the other hand, I don't email much either, and it is a way of keeping in contact with the friends I have who do read this.

Sorry for the moodiness tonight. Weekends are hard, and I miss my family. Tomorrow is a work day, but hopefully the light will be better and I'll get some shots of knitting.

Last minute post

2009-10-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm sneaking in under the wire today.

Just finished watching season 6 of Wire in the Blood. I don't know if I liked the series or not. It started out strong, but I think it lost something as time went on. Interesting to see how much grittier of a crime show is put on by the BBC. I hate that the male psychiatrist became the key to solving every crime, and that the female lead police investigator depended on his input way too much. There was more humor and incompetence on his part earlier on. I think the writing got sloppier, but it was entertaining enough for me to watch 24 episodes.

I'm watching a lot of junk this year, since many things are on Hulu and elsewhere online: Heroes, House, Gossip Girl, Castle, Vampire Diaries (yes, I know, it's crap), Bones, Dollhouse. I think that's all, and that's a lot. By the end of the day, I'm wiped out, and don't have much left for anything else.

I finished another scarf last night - that's 2 down. Photos tomorrow, as I got home far too late to take any shots.

Tomorrow will be a better planned and more interesting post than this one.

So I've got this thing...

2009-10-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

But it's not golden. (Ok, I thought it was funny.)

Anyhow, when I moved, and left my washer and dryer behind (oh, how I miss them so) I purchased this thing on sale from Target.com:

I paid a lot less than that asking price for it, but I have to say - it's a nifty little gadget. I'm not a big fan of drying a lot of my clothes, and I used a drying rack a lot at my house. I did think this would be a pretty cool accessory for a knitter. Basically, it's just a fan blowing air over the stuff you have laid out flat on a mesh shelf, but it does cut down on drying time significantly. If, like me, you are both cold and impatient, this is a good thing.

At the moment, I'm using it to dry a Simple Yet Effective Shawl. Once it's dry, I'll weave in the ends and eventually I'll take a photo and post it here and on Ravelry. I used less than one skein of Trekking XXL, and honestly had a lot more yarn left over than I intended, but I was ready to move on and at the end it was really about deciding that it was more important to end with a garter stitch section than to use all the yarn.

Next up is another less fabulous than practical knit, which is another triangular scarf-like item that is very close to completion. It comes with a mildly cautionary tale, which I'll share as soon as I am done.

It's October 1st, and I see many of my friends are doing daily blogging. I'm too noncommittal to commit, but I'll take a stab at it without officially joining anything, because for me, joining increases the likelihood of my failing to follow through... Tomorrow's topics may include: "You have no idea how glad I am it's Friday," "E. Coli, or Bacteria really do not smell good," or "I'm so old and out of touch I can't tell if my new friends are hipsters or not and who cares anyhow because they have yarn."

See you then.

Moving on.

2009-09-30T05:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote anything here. When I'm knitting, I'm working on a lot of slow, simple things, and they're dragging on. Hopefully in the next week or so, I'll be done with some of them and have something to show. It's fall here, and I'm trying to resist the urge to cast on 3 new things. There are enough things in life that I do because I have to, not because I enjoy them. I don't want knitting to become onerous, so I'm not stressing finishing things, just trying to have the perspective that I would have more room and things would be tidier if I finished a few things first. Time has not been on my side.

Speaking of which, I'm grateful that it's now Wednesday. I'm ready to be done with this week. I have no plans for the weekend, but sitting on the couch with tea, knitting, and movies sounds about perfect.

Persisting despite it all.

2009-09-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

You know how instructions for circular knitting always say "join, making sure to not twist?"

Yeah. I finally managed to get a twist in my knitting, and I've been persisting, regardless of the mistake. I'm knitting a self-fringing scarf, so it will be cut open at the end anyhow, and I figured, oh, what the heck.

It's a lot easier to knit when it's not twisted, but at this point, I'm Committed.

Speaking of which, I just jumped into another project, thanks to the ladies I met today for a KIP in the park. I may have found a group to hang out with. They're knitting mitered squares for a sock yarn blanket, and swapping yarns. Of course, this sounded like a fantastic idea to me because it's really pretty, on tiny needles, and is going to take up an insane amount of time. And we all know how quickly I knit things these days.

While sitting outside, I worked on my Charade sock. Pretty. See?

One slight problem:

It's too big. So, I'm going to have to think about what I want to do to make these work. The patterned section isn't as stretchy as the rest of the foot. Going down a needle size for the foot isn't going to work, because I don't want to compress this yarn any more. I might just use the gauge for the plain section, rip back to the heel, decrease faster for the gusset and knit the rest of the sock plain. Haven't decided yet.

I'm itching to start new things, but I really want to get some of the old projects to go away. I've now completed 12 pattern repeats of the Trellis scarf, out of a total of 23. Which means I'm now feeling motivated to try to knit one repeat a day, which would get me a pretty lace scarf, and a clear needle in 2 weeks. I have a second sock for my husband - finished decreases, so plain knitting to the toe. That's not more than a week of knitting (I dislike the yarn.) My Badia still needs seaming, as does the Cutaway cardigan. Tangled Yoke is still waiting for the arms to be joined to the body, and I only have a yoke to knit. I'm also about 50% and 75% done with 2 other laceweight scarves, because I'm nuts and seem to not knit with anything thicker than fingering weight right now. I'm craving sweaters and a new shawl, and I have an afghan that requires seaming (but we aren't talking about that today.)

I think it might be fall, finally.

Knit critics

2009-09-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

I think the knit world needs more criticism. And by that, I mean more constructive criticism, not snark. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good snark, and I certainly think it has its place, however, it's not what I'm looking for. I like praise, as we all do, but I want it to be meaningful. Bells posted about viral knits recently, and it got me thinking. I agree with her that it's absurd to denigrate a knit because "everyone has made one." It's also silly to expect everyone to design their own knitwear, or to talk about how there are no good designers out there. I also can see the value in a cute, quick, 1 skein project that makes a thoughtful gift. What I wish we had more though, is serious discussion about what people liked about a pattern, what they wish was different, and suggestions from readers and bloggers, as to what they'd change next time.

I like socks a lot, and I'm really fascinated by what Cookie A designs. I don't love all her designs, nor do I want to knit some of them. A few I want to make because the construction is cool, or because I want to see how the charting fits the pattern. A few pairs I want to make because I want to wear them. Some, frankly, just don't do much for me. I think Monkey went viral because it was a very clever sock - a simple pattern, neither too big nor too small, that looked good with solids, semisolids, and wildly colored yarn. That was the sock that made me think about how diagonal lines are good for breaking up repeats in handpainted yarn, so that you get less striping. Yeah, it's not an earthshattering concept, but I hadn't quite internalized it until I knit the pattern.

Some designs are classic and universally flattering. I'm going to be a bit of a jerk and suggest that the most popular sweaters (as listed on Ravelry) don't fit that descriptor. Which makes me think that the reason they become popular is due to KALs - I assume people are still doing those. I also think a KAL can be very useful, if people are sharing information about how they are modifying a pattern or finding errors or ambiguous directions. I haven't participated in many of them, as I have commitment problems with my knitting. But the few I have tried, I haven't seen that kind of criticism taking place.

I suspect a lot of my attitude about this comes from my day job, and I know people sometimes interpret the critical eye as being overly negative. The truth is that all crafting isn't equal, yet we dole out praise as though it was. We should celebrate the act of creating something with sticks and strings, and encourage people who are just learning to keep trying. I wouldn't mind though, if could find a little more discussion of things like "Next time I'd consider angling the decreases in the opposite direction" or "Short rows in the bust would fix the pulling problem as the waist" or "I really like it - the only thing I might change would be to start the shaping 1/2 inch higher, but that's nitpicking." If I saw that more, I think I'd take the 5 star ratings on patterns and yarns more seriously, and perhaps the really good viral knits would get the respect they deserve.

Today looks like an excellent day...

2009-08-22T06:26:00.001-07:00

to hole up and knit. The rain started last night, around midnight, and it's feeling blessedly cool for a change. I don't think that's going to last all day. We're under a flash flood watch, but I don't think it's going to stop me from making at least a short jaunt out to see what's going on in the world today.

Today's the first day I've ever heard one of my neighbors - it sounds like the person upstairs from me is doing aerobics. It's fairly quiet though. In some ways, it's a nice change to hear another human.

One of these days I suppose I need to get out and head to a knitting group around here, get to know some people. The weekday meetings are hard - I don't always leave work early enough, and by the time I walk home, I'm not really excited about going out again. I'll have to get over that hurdle. It's also a group that meets in a small space, and there's something intimidating about joining a group of strangers in a small room. The other group that meets on a weekend I feel less enthusiastic about. It's farther away, and I've picked up a strange vibe.

Anyhow. I am still knitting, just nothing too exciting. In the process of exploring the yarn shops around here, I picked up some more stuff - a ball of Trekking XXL, probably to remake the Primavera socks, except this time in my size. I also fell down hard in the other store - I don't like the location as well, but the shop is gorgeous - and I bought two more skeins of sock yarn. The yarn is gorgeous, and deserves photos as soon as I clean up my apartment. As a moving-in present I also bought two Morehouse Merino kits. Totally mindless patterns, but the laceweight is pretty fantastic on the hands. It's another rustic yarn with a fair amount of variation in thickness, a single ply that isn't incredibly strong but possibly a bit deceptive. I'm knitting a Verona shawl, which is a giant rectangle of stocking stitch, and a Partridge Scarf which is a self-fringing triangular scarf, and also totally mindless knitting. It's about all I can manage.

Last weekend I sat down to finish some of my albatross projects, the Cutaway Cardigan and Badia. I really don't like seaming. It's not difficult, I just prefer knitting to sewing. I'm very close to being done with Badia, but am slightly stumped. My next step is to seam the sides, and then I'll have to deal with the armholes. The pattern calls for knitting ribbing first, then seaming (which seems odd to me) but my concern is that the ribbing is going to make them too small and too tight. I think that leaves me with crochet to fix the problem. I suspect I'd be more excited about the project if I liked the yarn I used, but more on that later.

Time to finish my coffee, then get on with the day.

Did I mention that my kitchen is small?

2009-08-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

For a week after I moved in, I didn't have internet. Work's been busy, and long, and all-consuming, and I just haven't been able to figure out what to say here. The problem with a knitting blog is that it's about knitting, and now that I have no AC, and it's high summer, there's a minimal amount of knitting going on to write about.

But then I remembered that occasionally, I cook, and I thought I'd tell you about the challenge I set myself after moving here. My kitchen, as I mentioned, is small.

(Please excuse the dishes in the sink - I decided to take photos and write this after I fixed dinner.)

That's the bulk of my kitchen, with the photo taken from me standing with my back against my apartment door.

This is taken from the living room, and you can see the entire extent of my kitchen here. There's a closet that I use as a pantry, but I'll be honest and tell you there isn't much in there. The paper on the fridge is a takeout menu from a sushi place.

See? Small. Since I wasn't really happy with using a cutting board on the sink as counter space, I bought this cart from IKEA. By the way, I'm a lousy shopper. IKEA terrified me. Way too many choices. Nice stuff, but overwhelming.

Anyhow. I've set myself 2 goals while living here. First, you might note there's no microwave, and if you've ever followed me on Flicker, you might notice that I can't shut up about how hot it is here, so turning on the oven isn't an option. Thus, a lot of convenience food is out. Second, I'm really trying to limit takeout. Third, with access to fresh food (small farmers markets, a big farmer's market, and Trader Joe's) I'm trying to really limit processed food items. And finally, I'm trying to cook without a cookbook. I can't take full credit for this idea - I saw this blog post, and it resonated with me. So far, it's been an interesting experience. I'll admit to eating a lot of salad, and some basic pasta, but it makes shopping a lot easier. As an added benefit, I think this in conjunction with walking to and from work has resulted in me dropping some of the excess pounds I carry around. Oh, and my final challenge? My kitchen tools consist of one large pot, one pan, and one medium pot, a spatula, spoon, vegetable peeler and a can opener. Knives, a set of mixing bowls, my multi-tool and a George Foreman grill round out the tools.

Tonight wasn't the healthiest meal, but it was tasty - I brought some well salted water to a boil, then added angel hair pasta and about 8oz-10 oz of asparagus trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces. That cooked for about 2 minutes, until the pasta was close to done. Then I cracked an egg and dropped it into the water, and cooked for about a minute more. I drained most of the water off the pasta/veg/egg combination, then tossed it in a bowl with maybe 2-3 oz of herb coated chevre, and tossed everything to combine. To keep it from being too sticky, I finished it with a tiny bit of olive oil and ground black pepper over the whole mess. It was even better than usual, thanks to the addition of the egg.

This weekend I'm planning a trip to the market for more fresh vegetables and for some spices I desperately need. I'm having fun cooking this way, and it's a nice way to shake things up a bit. A friend suggested trying a chickpea and apple salad today, and I'm leaning towards trying that this weekend. Simple ideas are definitely welcomed, so please share if you have a favorite ultra-easy dish that I can try!

2009-07-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

“Traveling, you realize that differences are lost: each city takes to resembling all cities, places exchange their form, order, distances, a shapeless dust cloud invades the continents.” Italo Calvino

Back in a while.

N=4

2009-07-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

Monday already? 4 days left to finish packing, run the errands, and head for the hills. If I buckle down today, I can probably get the bulk of it finished.

I'm still hanging on to this as my excuse for being a less than motivated blogger. That, plus not too much knitting going on.

This is my latest - ages and ages ago, I started the Lizard Ridge Afghan from Knitty. Still think it's a cool pattern. Still love the color effect. Think it's a beautiful thing. Will never, ever, ever attempt to knit it again.

I completed about 6 squares of the blanket before giving up. Then I used the rest of the yarn into a garter stitch blanket. I kept 4 of the squares from the original project, and blatantly copied an idea I saw on Ravelry. I seamed the 4 squares together, then started seaming them together at the corners. My seams are wonky, but it's a pillow, and doesn't show that much. (I used mattress stitch, more or less.) When I was almost done, I folded some batting into a shape close to the pillow, stuffed it inside, and them jammed polyfill into the pillow until it was roughly pillow shaped. I finished seaming, then attached 2 buttons to the front and back of the pillow to give it a more interesting shape and to hide the join at the center front. It worked pretty well, although evidently I kept my first square attempt at LR, which has some interesting interpretations of short rows. It's not really obvious though, and the colors hide a lot of sins.

I am actually very fond of the pillow, but I don't have the patience for a project of the scale of the afghan. I strongly prefer the afghan in lots of shades of Kureyon.

Back to packing - the end is in sight. I can't tell if I'm taking hardly anything, or way too much crap. Something inbetween, probably.

I'm all about the bug photos.

2009-07-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Photo from a short family walk on the 3rd of July, off at a sadly underused park where there are endangered red wolves. I don't have any good shots of the wolves. They're really shy and solitary, and the fenced-in area had a screen as well as glass, which makes photographs challenging. There were an amazing number of butterflies and dragonflies out.

Today we went for a family stroll in the county park. If I had been there, I would have photographed the banana spiders. I love these guys - huge spiders, with amazing webs. (I took a photo of one that lived outside my living room window when I first moved in.)

But I think most of you are more interested in fiber than in my shots of bugs, so here's some screaming orange roving from Julie. (Although I could take a snap of the palmetto bug crawling near the ceiling. Yuk.)

I'm pretty excited about this fiber, but I want to get some more practice spindling before I mess with this. I think I also want a lighter spindle for sock yarn. I've been eyeing this. (No, Julie, a wheel is not in my immediate future.)

It was great not going to work today. The packing thing was decidedly less fun, but I assume I'll get there eventually. Up soon are some photos of finished things. I'm still knitting, but the move is definitely cramping my style a little bit.

Ehhhhh....

2009-07-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I just sewed in the ends of Ishbel. It's pretty. It feels nice. It looks really stupid on me. Worn with the point in back, I look dumpy. Worn like a bandana, it adds a huge amount of weight to my front, where I'm already topheavy. Not a good look. Kind of slung to the side, it looks like I'm trying too hard.

I finished a pair of socks tonight. They're a full inch too short. Knit top down, after repeatedly trying them on. How did I miss that? Plus, they're more red than orange, and I really wanted orange.

I ripped out a lace scarf tonight. I just wasn't liking the project, it had stalled, and I decided it needed to go.

I was about to start another pair of socks, and I'm not sure I like the yarn.

I'm on a roll. Maybe I should just give up and go to bed.

Might as well finish the post with a photo of the black widow spider who took up residence near my back door a few weeks ago. She's gone now, as it wasn't a good place for her to be. The little spiders nearby I think are males. Click on over to see it bigger, if you like. (Or run away, if you don't like spiders!) I thought she was a beautiful spider, but it just wasn't safe to let her hang out too close to us.

Weekends are for knitting

2009-06-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ishbel is blocking.

She is a LOT bigger than I expected.

Blocking is also not my strong point. I periodically consider getting blocking wires, but the truth is that I'm just kind of sloppy about edges. I ran string through the top edge of Ishbel, but it didn't really help me out much.

I also finished a pair of socks for the husband. These are a pair from Favorite Socks.

He's pretty happy with them. I was so close to being done with them when I forgot about them and moved on to something else, I don't remember what...
When I was sorting through my yarn and picking out the losers, I also cleaned up my projects and re-discovered some of the socks I had left to complete. I worked on another super simple pair for him for a while, but it's not my favorite yarn. I also rediscovered my Primavera socks, and managed to turn the heel and make it partway down the foot this evening. I'll probably work on wrapping those socks up this week. I'm really hoping to concentrate on finishing some things off for the next month, although I'm contemplating the next sock to be started.

Time for changes.

2009-06-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling like a lazy blogger, but I want to get back to blogging. Hence, a collection of random bullets.

It's Friday, and since my ersatz boss is a) on vacation for the next 2 weeks and b) as of 2 weeks from now no longer my boss, I'm taking some extra time this morning. I have almost nothing to do for the last period of time. Mostly cleaning up, documenting things, and transferring a little bit more of what I know. In general - as little as I can possibly get away with.
I'm not going to say anything more than I'm glad that it's over.
I have a whole weekend ahead of me, and a little less than a month before I start my new adventure. I probably need to get going on the packing.
One of my biggest tasks has been checking to see that I have PDF files of all the research articles I own and recycling the paper copies. I have 1 file drawer left to go through, but I have reduced my paper weight by at least 1/3 already.
Summer of Socks '09 has started, but I haven't knit any socks recently. I completed another garter stitch square for my ever-growing afghan. I'd like to finish 3 more, then it will "just" need to be put together.
On my list of things I would like to accomplish before I leave town, I have a sweater that needs seaming, and my tangled-yoke cardigan could easily be finished in a week.
I'm planning on giving away some of my yarn, either to Goodwill or to the school district for using in art classes. I have some single balls of stuff that I will never knit, don't like, and don't want. And no, it's not stuff I'm going to gift away on the blog - I'm terrible about going to the post office, and trust me, you don't want this either.
I don't really feel like going to work today, despite knowing it will be much much less stress than usual.
Thanks to the tutorial on Yarn Harlot's blog, I realized I have been picking up stitches incorrectly in garter stitch. Makes much more sense her way, but I'm completing my blocks the way I've been knitting them anyhow.
I'm running out of things to say, but I've got some ideas for other posts (and photos) that I'll try to get to this weekend.

Aw! I got tagged...

2009-06-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Bells tagged me, so I had to answer these.

What Is Your Current Obsession?
This is a hard question. A better question for me is What Are Your Current Obsessions... So I'm going to answer that instead. I'm currently obsessed with my garter stitch log cabin blanket. I dropped everything else to work on that. I've also developed an obsession with Animal Crossing on the Wii. Oh, and playing Scrabble on Facebook.

What Are You Wearing Today?
Jeans and a deep v t-shirt in navy blue over a wine-colored camisole. It's hot as blazes outside.

What's for dinner?
(I want to eat at Helen's house.) Salmon, rice, and spinach, with a hot dressing of soy sauce, oil and chili oil on top. Mix, then add avocado and cilantro. Yum.

What Would You Eat for Your Last Meal?
Ooh. That's a tough one.

What's the Last Thing You Bought?
A bag of Sun Chips from the vending machine. I was hungry yesterday at lunch. Before that, books.

What Are You Listening To Right Now?
My very loud washing machine and my son who is talking to himself while driving blocks around the living room.

If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go?
Florida. I don't like the heat, but I'd really rather be with my mom and sister tomorrow. It's 9 months after my dad's death, and cruelly, also my parents' wedding anniversary.

Which language do you want to learn?
If I could learn another language, I'd like to learn Chinese. I am, however, hopeless with languages. Plus, although I can hear that I'm doing something wrong, I can't figure out how to make the changes to make the sounds correctly.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
Uhhh... I like my house. It's the first home I've ever owned, and there are many things about it I will miss. I'm particularly fond of the front room, which has a beautiful bay window. It's a great room to sit in to knit or read or just relax.

What is your favourite colour?
Green.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
A thin, stretchy v-neck black cardigan. I actually have 2. I loved my original one, which I found in a discount store and have worn it past the point where it looks nice. I got a replacement sweater last year, and I love it almost as much.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Preparing to move from California to Wisconsin to start grad school. Planning my wedding. Completely freaking out. (Not much changes.)

Describe your personal style?
Sloppy. I'd like to say casual and comfortable, but I think that's a stretch. I'm working on cleaning it up, but I've lived in the lab too long. I wear jeans 99% of the time, and only in the last 3 years have I made an effort to wear ones without holes in them!

If you had $300 right now what would you spend it on?
I would get stuff in preparation for my move. I need some household things. If I'm supposed to spend on fun things, I'd splurge on myself instead and buy a Nintendo DS, a game, and some pretty circular needle and dpn cases. Or else I'd hire a babysitter and go out on a date or two with my husband.

What are you going to do after this?
Play with my son, make dinner, possibly make cookies, watch TV and knit, play scrabble, read a little and go to bed far too late.

What inspires you?
Passion for what you do, no matter what it is. Being excited about something can bring artistry to the simplest things.

What are your favourite films?
Boogie Nights, Soapdish, Better Off Dead, The Usual Suspects, Lost in Translation

Whose work/designs are you inspired by?
I think Wendy Bernard has a great eye and wrote my favorite new knitting book of the year. Cookie A isn't always to my taste, but she has crazy math skills and makes me think. Ysolde has some pretty patterns. Stephanie Japel (Glampyre) doesn't design for me, but I love to look at what she does - she's got a unique style. Finally, Nora Gaughan does some really wild things, and I want to look at more of her patterns to see how they're constructed.

Your favourite books?
I have many loved books, but these are always on my list.
Italo Calvin: If on a winter's night a traveler. Invisible Cities.
Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth
Mercer Mayer: Professor Wormbog in Search of the Zipperumpazoo

Do You Collect Anything?
Not really. I buy a lot of books, cds, games, and yarn, but I think I play with those things too much to really consider any of them collected.

What makes you follow a blog?
Beautiful photos, good writing, or interesting projects. Sometimes something just amuses me.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
I left work early. The good part of the day has just started.

What's one thing you dream of doing?
Running my own lab.

Passing it on:
Julie (I can't wait to see how you answer #1.)
Kim (Hamsterball!)
Acornbud (If you aren't reading her, you should. She knits pretty things and has beautiful photos from Hawaii. Isn't that more than enough reason?)
Anyone else want it? I don't really know who's left reading anymore... Please let me know if you take it. I like to read responses.

I see squares.

2009-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lots of squares.

At last count, there were 14 of them. I'm knitting #15 now.

I'm shooting for 20, which will require a lot of seaming. This may wait until after I move.

Have I mentioned the move? Slightly more than a month away. I'm ignoring it as much as I can. Did I mention I was knitting squares? I watched North and South, the one with Richard Armitage, not anything starring Kirstie Alley. He's not hard on the eyes.

Does that make up for a not that exciting blog post?

I'm not a golfer

2009-06-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

But I know a water hazard when I see one.

(Golf course at Hilton Head, photo taken from path behind condo we were staying in with husband's family for a weekend.)

If I were more focused

2009-06-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

I could probably have more finished things to show off on the blog. But, instead of finishing a sock or three, instead of finishing Ishbel (did I mention I started that?), instead of finishing a sweater or a lace scarf or 3, I knit square things.

This is one of those very polarizing projects - you're either going to love it or hate it. I've noticed that Noro is a yarn that people have strong feelings about. Sort of like posts on Ravelry about dpns vs. magic loop. Right now, this is the best thing ever for me to knit. Yes, all garter stitch. Log cabin blogs, from the instructions in Mason-Dixon Knitting. Gauge? Approximate. My tension is variable. The last 2 days, I was clearly more tense than the first 2 days I was knitting this. The blocks are smaller. Decidedly so. I'm not going to explain why, I'm just going to keep knitting square-ish things.

I originally was planning to make the Lizard Ridge afghan. I have the yarn for it, but I like it better this way. It's not subtle, it's not delicate. It's a large-scale project, it may look very home-made, and I don't care. I know the seaming is going to suck. I know knitting and quilting are different media, and perhaps should stay separate. Regardless, I'm totally entertained by watching how the colors play out in each block, and thrilled by the fact that I can crank one of these out in a day or so, with little time or brainpower invested. I need something bright, cheerful, and simple right now. This puppy fits the bill.

More later, but for now, I'm back to making square things.

ETA:(Oh, and the color here? Totally wacky. This thing is so bright it blasts out my camera. I'll try again in the daytime.)

2009-05-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

Go. Go make this for dinner now.

Still here.

2009-05-26T04:58:00.001-07:00

Things picked up for a while, and now are slowing down a little bit, at least temporarily. I've found an apartment to rent, my application has been accepted, and a small deposit to hold the apartment is winging its way to its destination as I write.

The usual stresses and difficulties haven't changed, but this week should be a little easier as a) it's shorter, and b) my biggest source of stress and difficulty is out this week. This leaves me more able to go about things according to my own schedule, which helps a great deal.

I seem to be off to a slow start this morning - we got back in town from a mini-vacation with the inlaws yesterday afternoon. I started to get the house picked up from some work we had done - wallpaper removal, popcorn ceiling removal, painting - messy stuff that has left a residue of dust everywhere. I'm trying to look at it as an opportunity to get rid of some of the clutter as I put rooms back together. Yesterday, I poked around in the bookshelves, and pulled some books out to give away, and moved unread books that had gotten lost in the shuffle to more visible locations. Now it's easier to shop the bookcases again, find just the right reading material.

I'll post some fun travel photos tomorrow, and update the knitting news. I'm in sock mode, which means about 3 being worked simultaneously, but hopefully at least one of those will be finished up shortly. Trying to resist the call of the new and finish up some of the lingering projects. Small and portable is winning right now, thanks to the current decluttering efforts.

Aw shucks.

2009-05-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about the hat. Seriously - it's puckered in some places, but it blocked out a lot better than I had hoped. I'm very happy with it, and I'm definitely going to be knitting some more 2 color hats in the future, or I might start knitting mittens. I don't see myself knitting many sweaters this way, although I have a copy of Meg Swansen's Knitting, and there are a few things in there that strike my fancy. No promises in any direction.

Anyhow, one of the things I really like about knitting is how everything gets easier with practice. I picked up my Trellis scarf again, for instance, and discovered how much more relaxing knitting it has become. I dropped a stitch and was able to calmly correct my mistake without having to rip back to the beginning. Yeah, I'm still having to tink back a row every so often, but that's not a big surprise when I'm only half paying attention by trying to talk on the phone and knit, or watch TV, or wrangle a small kid. I think I finished another repeat and a half today, so it's gradually getting a little longer, but nothing dramatic as of yet. For me, this one falls under the category of long-term project.

Zarzuela Knits and Crochets posted regarding Summer of Socks 09, and I think I'm going to play along again this year. I love the idea that the theme is "no stress" this year, which will make it much more fun to play. I'm not in the mood for something really competitive, but I'm happy to see socks no matter what. I'm still plugging away at the 3 or so pair that I acknowlege having started. If I can finish those up by September, I'd be pretty excited. I've also had a couple patterns hit my radar lately - Marilinda has definitely captured my interest, and Charade looks like a great way to use some of my variegated yarn in a wearable sock.

Photos this weekend, if there's anything pretty that catches my eye and more importantly, if I remember to get some duct tape for my camera...

Weekends

2009-05-03T15:25:00.001-07:00

I did a whole lot of sitting and knitting this weekend. It was the first weekend in a long while that all three of us were home at the same time, and we made it a weekend of relaxation - no work, as few chores as we could manage. Lots of reading, playing Wii, knitting, bike rides, walks, and movies. I also played a whole lot of Scrabble on Facebook.

I saw Madagascar 2, which none of us would recommend. Friday night we watched Waitress, which was cute, but not my favorite of all the movies I've ever seen. The husband and I caught up on TV - Dollhouse has gotten pretty good, which is unfortunate as I suspect it will be canceled
in the next 5 minutes. House was okay, and we still have Chuck to watch.

I finished a sock for the husband, but it's not really blogworthy. I'm continuing to work on a couple pairs for him. I'm about halfway done with the second sock for one pair, and haven't cast on for the other yet. I'm alternating between those socks and the second Primavera sock for myself. I've only knit the cuff so far.

More excitingly, I started (and finished) a quick little knit by Glampyre. This is the Reclamation scarf, a quick knit to use up a skein of yarn. I do actually wear scarves as accessories, not just for cold-weather wear. They're also especially useful in my office, where the AC is perpetually set too high, and there's a cold breeze that blows on my neck.

The yarn is Filatura di Crosa College, which isn't the greatest stuff ever. I like the color, but the texture is a bit off. It's stiff and furry at the same time, but knit on large needles, it isn't so bad. I probably will wash it once I have some finished socks, and it should soften up a bit and bloom. It's a discontinued yarn, and not one that I really feel like I missed out on much.

I am very proud of this completed knit:

I fell in love with the pattern, Selbu Modern, and decided to try it out. This is the first time I worked with 2 colors, and it was a pretty good choice for a first project. My tension is all wonky, and I had a hard time with the top of the hat for a couple reasons. First, I should have switched to dpns sooner than I did. Second, choosing aluminum needles was a poor choice, and stickier needles would have made my life simpler. Third, stabbing myself in the palm of the hand with said aluminum needles meant that I took an extra week to complete this project. I'll just say ow and move on, but I don't recommend doing what I did at all. Overall, I love this, even if my photography is lacking.

My camera is in an iffy state - the battery cover has broken, and it's hard to keep the batteries in place with a complete circuit in order to take photos. My birthday is in a week, and one of the things I asked for was an inexpensive point and click camera to fill in the void. We'll see - it's an interesting time here. Off for more laundry, some more mindless knitting, and to enjoy what little is left of the weekend.

Books

2009-04-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

At one point in my life, I read much more than I do now. I think this was before having a child, and probably before I went to grad school. I still read, but there's been a definite drop in both the quantity and quality of my reading. The past couple years have been particularly difficult - after the deaths of my mentor and my dad, I've wanted to avoid anything serious, anything potentially distressing, and preferably no discussions of cancer in my books. That's mostly left me with mysteries and science fiction, although I admit that most of the Twilight series also snuck in there. (I haven't read the last book, and I probably will. At the same time, I think it's a terribly written series and the female protagonist is a wet washrag.)

Two weekends ago, I went to the bookstore with Julie, ostensibly to knit. We didn't ever get around to that - we wandered around a lot, and yakked a lot, but didn't pull out the knitting. I did, however, purchase some books. I just finished The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, volumes 1 and 2 over the weekend. It looked promising - it had great blurbs, it was a NY Times Bestseller, it sold itself as

"...a bodice-ripping, action-packed roller-coaster ride of suspense, betrayal, and richly fevered dreams."

With a line like that, I couldn't resist. I wasn't looking for high literature after all, I was looking for escapism.

The first chapter was promising, but the book rapidly got bogged down in its own language, overly convoluted plots, and poor pacing. Parts of the book stretched on forever, and critical scenes were rushed and hard to follow. By the time I finished reading both volumes (evidently this is one larger work that was packaged into two smaller paperbacks for ease of handling), I still had no connection to any of the characters, and had lost track of much of the intrigue and the rationale for most of the actions. It was bizarrely violent, gory, and completely nonsensical, and lacked any sense of fun.

I don't think it's that I don't like steampunk - Girl Genius amuses me, and I enjoyed the Difference Engine, but this book really left me cold. In some ways I think it's comparable to Jonathan Norrell and Mr. Strange, at least in terms of being somewhat in need of an editor, but Norrell and Strange was a much better book. I didn't enjoy that one very much either, but at least I didn't want a refund of my time quite as badly.

Overall, I was disappointed, and I'm recommending a pass on these.

Blog Block

2009-04-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've been having a hard time figuring out what to say lately. As usual, I've been juggling a lot of projects. On Ravelry, I formally claim 9 of them. There are well over a dozen, however, and although my dabbling keeps me from being bored, it doesn't make for exciting blogging. Over the last 2 days, I've finished 2 socks.

Primavera. Simple pattern, nice effect. I still count Trekking as one of my favorite yarns. I like the way the colors blend into each other, the yarn is durable, and makes a sock that's just the right weight.

For the knitting-tolerant husband, the Undulating Rib sock from Favorite Socks. This is some Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color yarn I've had in stash since the first year I started knitting. It's also a striping yarn, similar to Trekking, but much less even in yarn thickness. I don't know that I loved working with it, but I'm quite pleased with the sock.

And this is my labor of love. I hate this yarn. It's squeaky, and sticky, and slimy. I don't like working with it, but the husband likes it. The colors are fun, and the dye is gorgeous - I just hate the base. I'm up to the toe on these, then got distracted and had to rip back. Now the sock is in time out, and I'll finish the toe tomorrow, and cast on for sock #2. If it wasn't meant for the husband, I'd chuck the whole thing.

I had several ideas earlier this evening about what to write, but it got late and I got tired. Hopefully I'll be a little less scarce, now that I'm over my cold, and actually back to knitting, but it's been hard to do much of anything.
I keep hoping my schedule will get less intense, but I think that's not going to let up until at least August.

Two sleeves down.

2009-04-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

And a yoke to go.

Bells recently started Tangled Yoke, and as I don't want this to be another time that she completes a sweater I started years ago before I finish mine. I had one sleeve already knit, and just finished the second one moments ago.

They are, however, off on stitch count from what they should be according to the pattern. Not hugely, just a few here and there, so I'm planning on adding in the extra 2-3 stitches per sleeve (one sleeve is short 2, the other 3) when I join the whole mess together.

Just not tonight.

Should I be more concerned about this? I tried the sleeves on, and they fit just fine. But at 6 st/inch, this is not insignificant... Then again, I'm okay with being a sloppy knitter.

Title goes here.

2009-04-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished knitting a Bias Shawl out of Handmaiden Silk Rumple. This was one of my presents to myself for getting a new job. I have to admit that I am not entirely sure about the finished product. The yarn is silk, and feels fantastic. After all, it is silk. But - it's also boucle, and I'm not certain how I feel about that aspect. As usual, I love the colors (peridot mist for my particular skein), and I mostly enjoyed working this up. The pattern is an incredibly simple 2 row repeat, which is frankly about all I'm up for right now. I needed something mindless, or meditative if you prefer. Currently, the wrap is blocking, and I'm holding off a final judgement until it's dry. I will state that my blocking skills are lacking. I can't pin a straight edge, and I'm way too lazy to use string to block things. I'm contemplating asking for blocking wires for my birthday, especially if I keep knitting lace. I have a suspicion that blocking just may require a lot more patience and attention to detail than I have at the moment. Hopefully I'll get some photos of it tomorrow once it's dry, but I also have to go into the lab and work this Saturday. I spent yesterday hiding at home, and am planning to do the same again today. I have a lot of work to do involving organizing spreadsheets, and as I have coffee and relative quiet at home, working here is an appealing option. That being said, I tried it yesterday and spent much more time drinking coffee and knitting than I did working.

My boys come home tomorrow night, which is good. Having the quiet was nice, but I think I much prefer having them with me.

On hold

2009-04-07T20:35:00.001-07:00

Just for a little while. Being at the computer is seriously stressing me out.

An excuse to blog

2009-04-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the blogging every day thing isn't going so well. I also don't want to sit online and whine about my life. And frankly, things aren't going so well, so I'm trying to keep quiet. Anyhow. I'm grumpy and things feel aversive, so I'm going to go with the 10 on Tuesday theme for the day.

10 Least Liked Foods

I like food. I like to eat, and I'm a reasonably adventurous eater. That being said:

1. Organ meats. I don't care for them, won't eat them.
2. Lima beans. My mom insists they are something
3. Peas. Raw, maybe, but cooked peas gross me out.
4. Ham. I don't know, I just don't like the way it looks or smells.
5. Canteloupe. Or melon in general, come to think of it. That's a textural issue for me, as well as finding them too sweet.
6. Collard greens. Too bitter.
7. Any overcooked vegetables. I like my roughage raw.
8. Over-ripe bananas. Ick.
9. Beets. Don't care for them.
10. Brussel sprouts. Taste bitter to me.

Doo doo doo....

2009-04-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Looking out my front window.

Yesterday I could not figure out where to drop my son off for daycare, which was held at a school we don't normally go to. It was his first day of spring break, and since my boss was away, I decided I'd take the day off and spend it with him. We ran some errands, played outside, and I then started to spend some time on my least favorite yard chore. Raking. This represents a tiny fraction of what needs to come up off my yard - and this is from an area that has already been raked once this season. Ugh. I have a lot more work to do.

I'm hoping to get the piles picked up by the end of this week, but the job never seems to end. My legs are really sore from picking up the piles, but I need the exercise anyhow.

At least you can see pretty flowers out the back window.

So the boys are off for their vacation, and I've got the house to myself. Which means I have been doing my best to be anywhere but home. It's weirdly quiet. I'm going to settle down for the rest of the evening with a movie, some popcorn, some knitting, and some tea. I'm hoping to get close to finishing a sock - I'm not sure how long it should be, and the husband isn't around to try it on, but I know it needs a few more inches of foot regardless.

Tomorrow, in to work to collect my computer and my phone charger. I've picked up 2 new knitting books recently, which will make good blog fodder for tomorrow, I think.

Day 2

2009-04-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

I swear to you I had fewer of those 2 days ago. It's been a week. Thankfully, tomorrow is Friday, and the boss is out, which means I can relax and have a better day.

Julie freaked me out about carpet bugs, which prompted me to pull out my roving and spin a little bit. I am not very good at making yarn with my spindle, which isn't much of a surprise. I don't play with it very often, and honestly, I don't really have time to take up spinning, even though I do find working with the spindle to be really relaxing. I think most of my yarn is safely stored in plastic bags inside plastic tubs, but there's one area in my house that I'm a little nervous about. I think I'll dig into that area this weekend, but it's hiding a lot of things I don't really want to deal with.

It rained all day and wasn't a good day for photos. Hopefully tomorrow the pollen will have been washed away a bit and it will be slightly drier. Roads were flooded for my morning commute - high tide + rain + living at sea level = hazardous conditions. If it's a little better, I'll snap a shot of the wrap I've been knitting away on. Let's face it - it's a novelty scarf, but it's silk and it feels fantastic, and I'm feeling totally unashamed of it.

This cheesy 80's moment

2009-04-01T15:34:00.001-07:00

Brought to you courtesy of a lousy day.
Humor me. I gave notice today (3 months) and it didn't go so well. But, hey - I made it this far. I can make it another few months, right?

I'm challenging myself to blog every day this month. If nothing else, it may help me get out the camera more.

Tuesday 10

2009-03-31T17:28:00.001-07:00

Today's prompt: 10 Things on my To Do List

1. Pay taxes. Yup, haven't started that yet. Still have to contact the old school to get paperwork I need to fill out the forms, too.
2. Rake the yard. Spring leaf-fall is in progress, and the live oaks are dropping leaves like nobody's business.
3. Get back to regular running. I miss it and I need it.
4. Sort the paperwork in the kitchen.
5. Clean the garage.
6. Finish up some unfinished knits.
7. Figure out when I'm going apartment hunting.
8. Notify my boss of my plans.
9. Run western blots.
10. Cut sections.

Exciting, no?

Nothing profound here.

2009-03-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a serious and thoughtful post, but then being thoughtful started to make me sad, and I need to go to work soon.

So instead you get two quick photos:

I finished this up over the weekend. This started out as a pair of Dashings, but it didn't take. One skein of Cascade 220 makes a short scarf, child-sized. It was a satisfying knit, and I understand why so many people made these. It reminded me that I have a lot of Cascade 220 in the stash, and that at some point, I really do intend to make a cabled sweater, one of the ubiquitous patterns, but one I like a lot.

But I get distracted by shiny things, like this.

This being more Handmaiden Sea Silk, my celebration for finding a new job. I've taken to wearing scarves a lot. I wear a lot of basic things, like plain shirts and black cardigans, and a bright splash of color makes me look less grim and more put-together, while requiring very little effort. This is an important part, because I don't really want to take the time to get dressed up, and don't really see the point if I'm going to get dirty anyhow. (I have darkroom chemical stains all over my best-fitting pair of jeans currently, but that's not stopping me from wearing them.) I know that knitting scarves is passé, but I'm not that stylish anyhow, and this is for a scarf/wrap that I'll probably start in August or so.

I'm trying to finish some things up before I cast on for yet more new. Now 50% done on a lace scarf that's been an albatross for too long, and soon to start either ripping some socks or finishing them off. I'm never good at resisting the call of the new for long (usually those projects hanging around forever are there for a good reason), but I'll be making an effort to clear the deck at least a little bit over the next month or so.

Wallowing.

2009-03-25T16:40:00.001-07:00

Yes, wallowing. New Handmaiden Silk Rumple, color Peridot Mist. I'm celebrating. A nice reminder that better things are around the corner, especially on a Wednesday.

Good things

2009-03-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

It is an absolutely gorgeous Saturday. The second day of spring, according to my son, who seems to know these things.

This has been an interesting week, very much of an emotional rollercoaster for me. Wednesday marked 6 months after my father's death, which was a rough day for me. I had an experiment inexplicably failing in the lab, which was really upsetting me - I can deal with things not working, but it's so frustrating when it's not consistent, and there's no good reason for it not working. I got some positive reinforcement in other ways, which was nice, and most importantly, on Friday, I got word that I got the job. I'm currently in DEEP denial as to what this means on some levels, but right now I'm basking in it.

Because my friends are enablers all, I did start the hat that was calling my name. I'm not certain I have nearly enough yarn to finish it, but I'm not so concerned about that. The whole point of this one really seems to be to try it. I've never done stranded knitting before, and I'm certainly not doing it very well. I grabbed 2 leftover balls of yarn - some Shibui Knits in mulberry, and leftover Dream In Color Smooshy in Happy Forest. The pattern calls for Koigu, and these yarns share a very similar base. My stranding is uneven, and I have a strong tendency to drop the yarn from my left hand, but it's fun knitting. I ordered a smaller size 2 needle, a shorter one, as I do seem to keep knitting hats, and that 16" length is easier to work with than a 24". Trying to do this on 2 circular needles was an exercise in frustration. I can do it, but I wasn't happy. That mention of ordering a needles? Er, it's probably not coming to my house without friends. I decided I needed a celebratory present, or a consolation present, earlier yesterday. I settled on some ridiculous yarn, something extravagant, but I'll share that later.

Time to grab a quick brunch and head in to work. Going to take some of that simple knitting with me, try to read and knit during the long incubations.

Breathing.

2009-03-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

It has been verified that my reference letters arrived. Should hear by the end of the week.

Eep.

Whims.

2009-03-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

I want to cast on for this hat right now.
(Ravelry link, because the 5 of you who read this are on there anyhow.)

Problems with this idea:
1. I counted, and I already have 12 things in progress. Not kidding. I really feel like I should finish some things up before I get drawn in to the allure of the New! and Shiny!
2. I'm at work, and even if my yarn were here, it would not be looked upon positively for me to be knitting at work.

I broke my camera, so photos may be a little sporadic, which goes nicely with the sporadic posts. It's not fatal damage to the camera, as the issue is just that the batteries fall out of the camera now unless I tape the compartment shut. I need better tape.

I am still waiting. I will emerge from my cave once I hear something, but until then, I'm still pretty jittery. Working on that patience thing.

Saturday

2009-03-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Time to move that last post down the page. We finally have beautiful, sunny weather, great for being outside, or taking photos of things I've been knitting. Of course, now that the weather is good, the wee beastie is down with another bug. Holding steady with a fever just under 102, cheerful, but too tired and sick to do much of anything. Unfortunate, because it's gorgeous.

At the same time, I'm really behind on little tasks and cleaning, so I can catch up on those things. I'm trying to do some meal planning for the week, and stockpile some meals for those nights when there's just no time. I'm trying to eat more healthily, and not spend as much on takeout, but the last couple of weeks have knocked me for a loop.

I've noticed that the more I have going on, them more small projects I tend to accumulate. The latest evidence:

I knit a Last Minute Purled Beret (pdf download) from a skein of Manos I had been hoarding. It's okay, but I think I probably should have knit a smaller size. I just washed it a few moments ago, and it's drying on a plate. I may need to figure out something to tighten up the ribbing, or find a large-headed friend to gift it to. It's okay. I loved Manos when I first found it. The colors are very pretty, and it's soft, but I feel like this hat screams "handknit," and not in a good way. I may feel better about it once it's dried, but I'm thinking that I might put a pink ribbon in right above the ribbing, knit a quick flower, and gift it to my niece. This is hot off the needles, but still.

In the same stash-busting urge, I started a pair of Dashings. The Cascade 220 was a nice contrast to the Manos - I feel a lot better seeing even stitches. These are good for tv or movie knitting. No, I don't really need fingerless mitts, and I probably won't wear them, but I figure someone will like them. Besides, I can't make a hat out of this color. I'm really pale, and this color would look incredibly BAD on me. Wearing a hat out of this color would make me look like a zombie on a good day.

Husband is overdue for socks. I've had this yarn in stash for him for a long time, and I'm slowly knitting these up. I was speeding along for a while - the pattern is easy to remember, and since he likes short socks, they're a relatively quick knit. The hardest part is getting him to try the sock on for size, and I'm rapidly approaching the point where I need to start the toe. (An inch or so.)
I have another pair on the needles for him, but I'm contemplating ripping them back slightly. I realized I liked the purl side a lot better than the knit side, and then proceeded to work them inside out. However, the sock is a lot slower going in all purl, and I have a harder time remembering whether or not I've done my decreases. It might be a lot faster if I rip back and just knit the dumb things and turn them inside out at the very end. I was concerned about the gusset, where I pick up stitches, but this time it look just as good on the inside as the outside. Since I don't love this yarn, I'd almost rather just get it over with, and take the time to undo it so the knitting will go faster.

Finally there's Juno. I love this pattern, but right now, it's an object lesson in why it's a bad idea to try to knit from a chart when you're sick. In other words, although it's not a hard knit, or a hard pattern to follow, it's in time out for a while.

Enough for now, I suppose. I keep getting interrupted, and I can't remember what else I was going to say. Sick one is feeling bouncy, and is demanding attention.

Getting a few things off my chest

2009-03-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry - have to do this so I can keep my mouth shut in real life.

To my new office mate: Hi. Glad you've joined the lab. Well, not really, because you represent a financial commitment that my boss isn't willing to make to me. In any case, thanks for taking an interest in my life. However, I'm able to manage my time without your input, so feel free to stop asking me what I'm working on, how it's going, why I'm not going to conferences/meetings/poster presentations, where I am, where I'm going, where I've been and other questions of that ilk. If you don't see me at my desk, I'm probably in the lab, darkroom, another lab, or the other lab. Oh - and don't worry about the number of hours I'm here - trust me, it's enough, and it's not your business. Thanks! P.S. I don't really want to talk to you about jewelery, face-lifts, my weight, your weight, or how The Biggest Loser is your favorite show because you like "seeing the fat people run around." I don't really think I have much in common with you.

To the clueless grad students: I'm done helping you. You're rude, obnoxious, disrespectful and some of you are just jerks. Just because I'm female doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm talking about, and even if you don't respect the fact that I got my degree and you're still earning yours, I have more years of experience than you do, and you should realize that. You mistake arrogance for confidence, and I'm not in the mood to argue with you, nor do I have the time to do so. P.S. You're wrong, by the way, but you can figure that out yourself.

To the new postdoc I like: No, it's always like this. It's always a frat-boy atmosphere, and liking what you're working on isn't enough to get you through this. It's 6 months in, and you're unhappy. They're never going to listen to you, they think they know everything, and they will always be overconfident and dismissive.

To my potential new employer: Please hire me. Please please please. I love your lab, I liked your people, and I want to go away and do something different now. You seemed really nice and encouraging, and I think you liked me, and I'm really really desperately hoping to come work with you. I know you said you'd get back to me next week, but please make it early in the week because I'm a nervous wreck.

Once more, into the breach.

Ten on Tuesday

2009-02-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

Today's theme:

10 Favorite Ethnic Foods:
1. Pho Tai. (Anyone surprised? Didn't think so.)
2. Sushi - I particularly like yellowtail and tuna, but as long as it's fresh, I'm usually pleased.
3. Sashimi (yes, cheating.)
4. Miso soup.
5. Bagels and lox. The good stuff, not the little chopped up bits mixed with cream cheese. Does this count as ethnic anymore?
6. Pickled herring, in wine sauce.
7. Dal
8. Hummus
9. Thai brown curry with tofu, peanuts, and potatoes
10. Ramen

I'm back from my trip. It's still very much winter if you drive a bit north of here. I remembered to bring a scarf and a hat, but I forgot gloves. Now off to put some lotion on my chapped skin and get some desperately needed sleep.

Saturday, too early o'clock.

2009-02-21T02:25:00.000-08:00

I woke up around 4:45 this morning, after a not so great night's sleep. I've got a cold, and a miserable coughing fit woke me up. I stomped around for a while before deciding to give up, fix a cup of English Breakfast (normally, it's coffee, but I only want tea when my throat hurts), run the dishwasher, and read internet comics and knit.

Currently, I'm putting most of my efforts into knitting some socks for my husband. I've knit a lot of socks for myself, but it's his turn now. I had started a pair, gotten fairly far along in fact, before ripping them out completely as the yarn and pattern competed too much. It was just a simple rib, but the socks have too much of a striping pattern in high contrast colors. I'm really not sure about this pair. On one hand, the color of the yarn is fantastic, but I'm not really sold on the base yarn. It's a relatively loose twist yarn, and is splitty, and fuzzing out. In general, I'm not a huge fan of superwash yarn. This one in particular feels weird to me - slick and almost synthetic.

Since I'm not sure how well these socks are going to hold up, I'm also knitting a second pair, which I'm enjoying more. It's funny to me how some socks seem fast, even at a small gauge.

Photos later, once the sun comes up, at which point I may switch to some lace projects. Unless I go back to bed, which is also quite likely.

Finished

2009-02-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

I decided these had to be Milford socks when I realized how well the socks blended in with the rug in my front room. If you know the show, you got the reference, otherwise, I strongly recommend watching Arrested Development.

More detail on Ravelry. Pattern is Mockery Sock by Katie Grady. Yarn is Araucania Ranco Multy. A new yarn for me - it's nice, but not remarkable. Knit on size 1 needles, but I wish I had used 0s, or dropped some pattern repeats. I'm really happiest with 64 stitches on a size 1 needle, going up to 72 is really too big for my foot. So there's a decent chance these will make their way to my sister, who has feet about a size and a half larger than mine. I am very likely to use this pattern again. I like the texture a great deal, and it's quick, attractive, and easily memorized.

Now, back to a very simple sock while I read way too many threads in the Rav forums. Just fascinating.

Really Random Friday

2009-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

I've officially had an extremely odd week, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. If you're one of the few people crazy enough to have stuck around over the past couple years (and if you have, you know who you are), you've seen me finish grad school, work for a while, find a postdoc, and now face a serious career crisis. The current question - should I stay or should I go? On one hand, the economy stinks, and being dependent on government funding isn't a great plan right now. On the other hand, I love, really love, what I do, when I'm interested in it. This week, I had decided it was time to go. As in, I decided that Wednesday, and proceeded to enthusiastically start looking for other career options, and found a few things that really appealed to me, and was starting to make Big Plans.

Then I got my dream second postdoc interview opportunity. The one that fell into my lap, that seriously, there's no way he can want me to work in his lab. Amazing stuff. Incredible, fascinating, really ultra-cool and exciting science with someone who quite honestly may be up for a Nobel prize someday. Add to that a location that I would probably prefer to my current digs, and a surprisingly fewer hurdles for my husband to find a job. Plus - as a final bonus - a great knitting community and a lot, and I mean a lot, of yarn stores around and opportunities to wear knitwear. Plus, proximity to MDSW. Seriously - this is not a bad thing. Oh, and I have friends in the area, and I also kind-of sort-of know 2 knitters in the greater semi-near area.

But this means I have to really think about what I want to do, and I don't know. It's a possibility (interviews usually lead to good things at this level, almost always, but it's not a given) that has suddenly hit me at exactly the point where I was ready to move on, and had really decided I was okay with that. I don't know what I should try to be when I grow up.

So, instead of thinking so much, I'm going to try to finish a pair of socks this weekend, check out a sale on silk yarn at my LYS, and maybe even finally make it to the farmer's market. Oh, and run. Because I haven't gone in 2 weeks, and I might be going crazy.

Go look at this. It's pretty.

My laugh for the evening.

2009-01-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

This may be slightly crude (?) for some viewers, but it made me laugh. A lot.

NERD!

2009-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

I question the coolness, and I'm definitely more of a science nerd than that depicts. But it was heavily weighted towards math...

Good.

2009-01-23T04:31:00.001-08:00

Friday morning - that's a relief.

Not that much exciting going on here. I've come to the conclusion that being "an adult" means spending an awful lot of time doing laundry. Other chores too, but the laundry just keeps coming around here.

This week was a short one for me. I picked up a cold that's been making the rounds here - the sick- enough-to-feel-totally-lousy-but-not-so-sick-that-it's-easy-to-justify-staying-home variety. I spent about 2 days in bed doing almost nothing, and completely fell behind on chores. Work has been a series of frustrations, days of seeing all my plans going out the window. So I'm glad it's Friday, and there's an end to this week. I'll be back in the lab on Saturday, but only for about half the day, and hopefully it will be quiet and I'll manage to have some time to myself. I may even bring a super-simple sock with me to work on while I read articles and wait during some long incubation steps.

I'm back to knitting the Trellis scarf. I started this one back in 2007, looks like August based on the upload date. I'm almost at this point in the pattern again, so I'm recycling photos. It looks the same. I got a bit farther than this the last time, then managed to drop some critical stitches (in silk) and watched far too much of the scarf unravel. Interestingly, it's a much simpler pattern for me this go around. It's still a bit too complex for working on while watching a movie or a TV show that I'm very engaged in, and I know better than to pick it up too late at night. However, it is satisfying a craving for lace work.

According to Ravelry, I have at least 7 things that I'm currently working on. I think that number is off, but I know I have 3 socks, 1 vest, 2 sweaters, and 2 lace scarves on needles. This is a bit much, so I'm not planning on starting anything new for a while. (HAH!) I say this just as I'm about to get some yarn in, which I don't really need, but really wanted. I'm still feeling a little leery about the sweaters, but at the moment I'm enjoying what I'm working on. That's the important part, right?

Time for work. I've got a shadow today, which means no iPod, and having to work more slowly than usual.

I got the bug!

2009-01-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

I don't have a "real" finished shot of this, but I guarantee it looks a lot like it does while blocking. This scarf was pretty while I knit it, but ok - I get it now - blocking really does make the lace. I'm currently blasting through a pair of socks, but I'm plotting my next lace project (ignore the fact that I already have a lace scarf on the needles, it's not what I'm craving to start.) I've wanted to knit Ene's Scarf forever and a day. I've linked it, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows this one already. I finally think I might attack that project, and the Trellis Scarf which I started and frogged (no thanks to probably choosing the wrong needles and failing to use a lifeline - silk and the 7 into 5 stitch is slippery) are next up on the radar.

And yes, I cast on for a new pair of socks. On a whim, I started knitting the Mockery Socks on Saturday night. I spent the better part of yesterday with needles in my hands, and have zipped through the gusset and am working my way down the foot already.

Today is a day off of work for me. I should be doing other things, but I'm taking advantage of the time off to rest, knit, and regroup. Thanks to some really impressive insomnia and the discovery of Ballykissangel, I've found myself doing a lot of knitting lately. Yesterday was the 5 month anniversary of my dad's death. His birthday, and my former mentor's birthday, were both in the first week of February. Although they're had milestones, I am starting to feel like my old self again. Still, I'm grateful to Netflix and their "watch immediately" feature. Especially when so many BBC programs I missed are available at the click of a button.

Proportion is tricky

2009-01-16T04:30:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason (there were many) that I wasn't in a big hurry to put buttons on the big orange sweater is that I know it's an unflattering knit. (Other reasons include that it's much more reasonable to wear it in say, winter in Minnesota, than winter in South Carolina. It's chilly here, but I'm not going to pretend that it's anything near cold.)

First, it's a cropped sweater. In and of itself, that's okay. I'm short-waisted, so this can be a flattering length on me. I'd prefer it to be just a little bit longer, but only about an inch. The real issue is that it is wildly boxy, and drop-shouldered. The sleeves are fairly fitted through the forearm, then become giant by the time they meet the body. The overall effect is not particularly flattering. (The pictures aren't so good either, but the ones my husband took were even worse.)

However, I still love the fabric, and the color of the yarn. Peace Fleece is definitely on the "rustic" end of the spectrum. This is not next-to-the skin soft, although washing did a lot for the yarn. I would not hesitate to get it again. I think I'd prefer a dk weight, for multiple reasons, including that I really don't need something quite so hefty in this environment.

Overall, I consider it a satisfying sweater, but not a rousing success.

Yesterday I tried on a raglan-sleeved silk turtleneck sweater that had been given to me as a gift. It's a particularly gorgeous color, and feels wonderful. However... I look as though I have no neck with the turtleneck collar. The raglan construction makes me look incredibly broad through the shoulders. Couple that with an ample bust and no waist shaping, and the sweater adds on a good 30 pounds. We'll just skip over the bottom ribbing that pulled the sweater in by 2 inches, and had a lovely pooching effect at my hips. The overall effect was not good, and the sweater is going to be given away.

I'm wondering about the sweaters I have put into my queue to knit, and those waiting to be finished. All I am certain of is that bulky knits do few people any favors, and I find myself irritated by the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, that begins with an editorial on about how people are being more economical in their knitting choices, and then follows with an issue almost entirely comprised of chunky, bulky, oversized knits. Made with very pricey yarn. I thought this trend was over?

So I'm about to block some lace, and returning to knitting socks, but I haven't found a match with pattern and yarn yet. Sometime this weekend I'll go through the projects again, and prioritize what I'm going to finish up or frog. I've only got a little time to knit, and my knitting resolution is to work on things that I enjoy.

Completion

2009-01-14T22:28:00.000-08:00

I'm really going to regret it come morning, but I stayed up late to finish knitting the lace ribbon scarf. It desperately needs to be blocked before I can make any decisions about it - at the moment it's a soft but crumply mess.

Now, I desperately need to go to bed. I was tired before, and I'm only going to get about 5 hours of sleep before it's time to start the day again.

Tuesday Ten

2009-01-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

This week's Ten on Tuesday:
10 things you want to do in 2009

1. Run a half marathon. Really. I don't have any idea why, but I'd like to do it (by the end of the year.)
2. Eat out less and cook more. I miss cooking. It takes time and effort I frequently can't find.
3. Read more books. Again, something I miss doing, that takes time and effort I have trouble finding.
4. Find a new job. Because, well, I have to as my funding is running out.
5. Travel to a new city.
6. Go camping.
7. Learn a new skill.
8. Write a paper.
9. Knit more than I did in 2008.
10. Go shelling on the beach.

A special treat

2009-01-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hey - what's this?

Let's take a closer look:

Excellent goodies!

Really beautiful yarn.

A very cool felted bowl that now lives in my office.

And a fantastic little box.

Perfect. Bells read my mind. :) Fantastic colors, and I don't know if she realizes how perfect the box selection was - I have a small, but treasured collection of boxes from around the world.

Thank you!

2009

2008-12-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, everyone. So far, my year's off to an ambivalent start. Things are mostly good - my best friend from high school is visiting, my house is clean(ish), and I've enjoyed having time with my family as well as time to do some of the fun things I enjoy. The only real negative experience I had was an asthma attack while running yesterday. I'm pretty disappointed about that, but life will go on.

While doing laundry, I noticed that the husband's socks now have holes in the bottoms of them. This is after he washed them with other clothes, inadvertently felting them (he claimed they were even better). So now I need to knit some new socks for him. He's requested a warm thick sock, and after consulting with him and poking through the stash, I'll be starting a pair of socks for him in this yarn:

Which is Blue Beetle from Dyeabolical Yarns. I've not knit a whole lot of socks for my husband, so I'm going to try to make a few pair for him this year. At least they're in the queue, although my track record for finishing things is not that high. The Blue Beetle is going to be used for a pair of standard plain socks. I'm also thinking that he'll get a pair of Charade socks in

I'm still working on finishing the ribbon lace scarf. It's still enjoyable, but I really am hoping to finish that up soon.

Project monogamy

2008-12-29T17:21:00.001-08:00

Doesn't make for the most exciting blogging. I'm still knitting the lace ribbon scarf. It grows, on and on, slowly. I'm still enjoying the process of knitting it - the Handmaiden Sea Silk is some seriously nice stuff, and the color is gorgeous. This is a good thing, because ultimately, this scarf is for my mom, and it should be something good. Last night I worked on it while watching episodes from the first season of Ballykissangel. I'm a Netflix user, and the new "watch instantly" feature has been getting a lot of use from me lately. I had gone through much of what I wanted to see already on hulu, so it's nice to have some additional options for when I'm up late and knitting. Especially when they are things my husband isn't really interested in seeing. I watched the original version of The Office while knitting and baking last week.

I continue to give away handknits. The latest thing to leave my house was my Midwest Moonlight scarf, knit back while I still lived in the midwest.

The date on this in progress shot is June 24, 2005. That's a while ago.

It's been gifted to my office mate, who appreciates these sorts of things, and is a really really nice person.

My schedule for the week has radically changed, and I'll be on vacation instead of at work. I didn't get in some supplies I needed, the lab has mostly shut down, and I don't really feel like spending $10 for someone to watch TV with my son while I read at my desk. So, I'm hoping to take advantage of this time to play and catch up on some things around here. This hopefully includes some time to catch up on photographing some things, and posting a bit more.

Now that's just weird.

2008-12-24T04:03:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm up remarkably early for me. I'm a little anxious and not sleeping well, and I woke up at 5. Instead of going back to sleep, I had some coffee and chatted, thinking that my son would be up at 7. However, he's not feeling well and has instead gone back to sleep. This means I have some blissfully quiet and relaxing time in my home to myself. Two nights ago, I was reading a mystery novel in the kitchen while making cheese risotto (every bit as good as it sounds, and yes, another Nigella Express recipe). I have no idea where I put my book. It wasn't very good anyways, so it's not so bad that I can't find it, but it would be nice to finish it.

In the meantime, I'm off to sit in the front room, drink coffeee, knit and read a different novel.

Pre-dawn quiet is even nicer than the silence of the middle of the night.

Wrong

2008-12-23T05:28:00.001-08:00

It's 33 degrees outside today.

I just spent a good 15 minutes looking for a sweater to wear, and couldn't find one. Seriously. Of the sweaters I have knit - 1 is too cropped, 1 is too big, and the third needs buttons (and is probably a little cropped, too.) Let's not mention the sweater still on the needles, the one that needs seaming, and the half-done sweater vest I threw aside in disgust because I made a massive mistake and need to rip back the front.

Good thing I have a few days off coming up. Sadly, I still doubt I'll get anything finished. I need more time!

Almost a week later...

2008-12-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

And almost no knitting. Still knitting the same lace scarf I've been working on, and plan to finish it someday. I've been working a lot, and doing some reading, although nothing too exciting, or at least not worth mentioning.

I painted my fingernails.

I made rice crispy treats.

I made cookies (blogged by someone else, here) from Nigella Express.

I baked some pumpkin cranberry bread, that, despite being non-photogenic, was delicious. I've been on a bit of a cooking tear, actually. I've been having a good time with Nigella Express, and have been nibbling on martini olives (green olives marinated in gin and vermouth), and chocolate pistachio fudge, which was way too simple to make for my own good. Tonight I made an incredibly simple salmon dish from the book, and it reminds me that I want more of Nigella's cookbooks, no matter how many miles I would need to run to continue to fit in my jeans.

And today I went to the beach in December. It was windy, chilly and overcast, but still beautiful.

Enjoy your holiday preparations, and time with your families.

Unusually single-minded

2008-12-10T04:18:00.000-08:00

It took several days and a location shift for the orange sweater to finish drying. I still need to sew on the buttons and get someone to take decent photos of it.

In the meantime, what little knitting time I have has been occupied with the scarf for my mom. The color is called periwinkle, and it shifts from a light blue to a deeper blue to a purple shade. I think the effect is fairly subtle, and it plays nicely with the shine of the silk. I've really been enjoying working with the Sea Silk, and the pattern really only requires memorizing 4 rows. But, since it is a scarf, and it is lace, it's growing slowly. I'm estimating the length to be about 27" right now, and I'm guessing I'm about halfway done. I'll be honest and say that despite enjoying the pattern and yarn, and wanting to get it done to gift to my mom around her birthday, I'm not at all certain I'll make that deadline. It's taken me about a month to get this far, and jumping projects tends to help me continue to enjoy what I'm working on.

2008-12-07T21:41:00.001-08:00

I spent a good chunk of time here this weekend, and did less knitting than I had hoped for. On the plus side, I got some encouraging results on a test I ran, so I think I know how to modify what I've been doing to get better results. Not as good as new data, but it's always good to know what I need to do to make things work. My new orange sweater is still drying, very slowly. Elizabeth knows me too well, and guessed that I would start on Mr. Greenjeans already. Which I did, then realized I made an error and ripped back. Just as well - I realized that I need to think through a few things, and take some measurements before I go on. I may be actually working on other things before I get to it, come to think of it. I'm making slow but steady progress on the scarf for my mom, and I organized my works-in-progress area that tends to collect (and rapidly grow out of control) located next to my couch.

I did get a few other things accomplished - we got a tree, went to a holiday party, attended to some minor but critical household shopping errands, cleaning and laundry, and I even got a run in. Sadly I'm still doing laundry, although I would much rather be getting ready for sleep right now. I'm not really ready for the week to start, but I'm not completely dreading it either. It was nice to take some time away from work to relax and tend to other parts of my life. I'm starting out the week a bit behind, but it's nice to know I'm in more control of my schedule this week than usual.

Well how about that.

2008-12-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

I just finished knitting the neck band on my Orange Crush. It needs a bath, and I have buttons to sew on, but it's done. I'm curious what another good wash will do to the sweater, but overall, I'm really pleased with it.

You might ask why I want such a heavy sweater in SC, and I don't have a good answer, other than that I do get cold, and it would work as outerwear. The color is fantastic. The drop sleeve? Not very flattering, and it fits a little oddly. But I will wear it, because, as I mentioned - I love the color, and sometimes you just need a snuggly sweater.

My choices now are a) to seam up the Cutaway Cardigan I started ages ago, which is probably a good plan, b) to finish up the Cable Yoke sweater that's been marinating beside the couch, or c) to start Mr. Greenjeans. Now, I have to admit, seaming isn't that bad. It's just not as enjoyable to me as knitting, so choice a isn' t the most appealing. However, the sweater is really cute, and it's cool enough to wear it right now. Choice b requires working on another sleeve, which I don't find incredibly motivating, however, there's not that much finishing to the sweater, so I could potentially have another wearable sweater in a relatively short time. Choice c is in some ways the most appealing, because I like novelty. However, it means confronting my confusion as to what flipping size I should knit for myself. I'm guessing the medium, as it gives some ease at the bust, but I'm not sure if the ribbing is really going to take care of the 7 inches of ease that I'll have at the ribcage. Yes, short rows are an option, if I knit a smaller size, but I suspect swatching some more may provide the answers I'm looking for. I get the impression that the sweater model in the photo may be a curvier gal than some of the people on Ravelry who knit the sweater and were complaining about how much the garment pulls in at the waist. For my short-waisted self, this is a good thing.

Photos soon.

Back to the knitting

2008-12-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

I'm embarrassed about my post yesterday, but I want to say thanks.

Anyhow. Moving on...

Finished up:

Pinwheel blanket. Less blurry in person, and I can't really capture the actual red of the blanket as it is just not making my camera happy. This is a big blanket - larger than I realized, which might explain why the last rows took such an incredibly long time to finish. My son loves it, which was the intention. I didn't use up all the yarn, but that's approximately 4.75 skeins of Cotton Fleece. Pleased with this one. Also pleased with my jogless stripe. It's the little things.
I've made 2 of these blankets now, and I'm done with them. They're cute, but I'm not revisiting this again.

Half finished (as in, I knit one)

Plain sock, yet again. Miss Babs yarn, which is very nice. 64 stitches, wing it for the heel and toe. I'll start the second one soon, maybe. They are not thrilling to knit, but I do find that I wear my simple knit socks the most often.

After saying that, I started this crazy loud thing:

Nutkin sock, Fleece Artist Somoko yarn, I think. Color is tropical fish or something along those lines. It's bright and obnoxious, and I'm not sure that it's going to stick around in this form. I like the pattern, but I'm contemplating something different. If I can figure out what's going on in the pattern, I think this yarn would look very nice as one of Cat Bordhi's new pathways socks. I had a hard time with the sizing and figuring out what was going on with those, however, but maybe over the holiday break, assuming I actually have any time off.

I have no idea what I called this. It's a lace scarf, made out of a rayon material. I made a mistake, and should rip back a few pattern repeats, or I can ignore it and move on. Considering that I'm the only one who knows the mistake is there, I'm not sure which option I'm going to choose. (I'll probably rip back, as long as I remember to get a needle and some dental floss first. It's not a big mistake, but it does nag at me.) I can't get a good photo of this, despite trying. It's much prettier in person.

And, because I'm so original, I'm knitting the lace ribbon scarf from a few Knitty's back. The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk, the pattern is very simple, which makes for a comforting luxury knit. I'm making this for my mom, because the color really suits her, and it feels soft, and I want to give her something. Yes, I'm on a bit of a lace kick. I'd really like to have this finished by her birthday, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm maybe at the halfway point, and I'm short on time to knit, and my attention is divided between other projects. My guess is that I'll be done with this by February?

In the meantime, I still have 2 sweaters I'd like to sew up and finish. The husband is off to a meeting on Thursday, so I could work on those Thursday and Friday night, after the wee beastie goes to bed. I do have things I should be doing for work, as well as for hopefully finding a way out, however, and I should focus on that as well. Then again, I might not.

The deeply personal post

2008-12-02T04:59:00.001-08:00

This morning, I told my husband that I thought I might be depressed. He agreed that I certainly was. It's probably not a big surprise to anyone who knows me, and it's probably not unexpected right now.

I was with family at Thanksgiving. This is only the second time I've seen my mom and my sister since my father died. The other time was to put his ashes to rest. It was the first time being back at my mom's house. I was only there for a day and a half, at most, but long enough for my dad's absence to follow me back home. It was inescapable while in the house. Memories of his life, memories of his death. It was intensely painful being there, and yet, I have to fight a strong urge to go back there and stay with my mom.

Yesterday, I had a stomach bug. I could probably have gone in to work by noon, but I had no desire to do so, and I stayed home, sat on the couch, watched CSI:NY and knit. It's 8:00 now, and I should be packing up my belongings and heading in, but I don't really want to. Dragging myself out the door is going to take a great deal of effort, and frankly, my interest is low. Really not a great time for a low point in my career. The economy is bad, and my field is taking a hit, like many other people out there. I keep contemplating whether or not I want to continue to go on. Part of me does - at times, I love what I do. But it's a job that demands a lot of time and effort, and at the end of the day, the work follows you home. Nights, weekends - it doesn't matter. I still should be working, because someone else is. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time to live a balanced life. I like to read. I like to knit, and cook, and run, and play with my son, and even interact with my husband. It's hard to cram all that in to the few hours I have in the evenings and when I'm not at work on the weekends. It would be nice to be able to enjoy it, without the guilt.

So I'm contemplating a big career change. For those reasons, and for the fact that well, things aren't looking so good for me. I've performed poorly, and there's not a whole lot of recovery from that. I could move, find another postdoc position, hope for the best, or intentionally go somewhere I might actually belong (not the south), and find a job, find fulfillment in other areas of my life. Maybe doing what you love for work isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Of course, now isn't the best time to be making big decisions, so I'm trying not to. At the same time, the recession and the fact that my job isn't going well isn't helping. I know I should try to look on the bright side. I have a job for almost a year still. I could still see things turn around, and I could walk out with more options. The perfect next job might appear. I might start to feel better soon.

I guess all of this is in part my explanation for why I'm not posting much. That, and a self-indulgent need to put it out there. Going back to running is probably a good thing, and might help my mood. I don't want to be a whiny, complaining blogger, but I'm far from my happiest right now. Time to do battle, put the armor on, head to work, and pretend to be okay.

Wednesday Ten on Tuesday

2008-11-25T04:47:00.000-08:00

I don't really want my blog to go the way of the dinosaurs, so I'm making an attempt to post. I'm trying something new - Ten on Tuesday, and I may try to come up with something for another day of the week to get back in the habit. I haven't got a whole lot to report on the knitting front, but I have a long car-ride coming up later today, so things may change rapidly. I do have miserable insomnia tonight.

10 Things You Are Thankful for This Year

1. My family. Losing my father has been rough. I'm not okay yet, and there are days when the sadness just leaks out with surprising intensity. Keeping busy has kept a lot of it at bay, but there's still a deep visceral hurt. I'm glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my mom, my sister's family, and my own. I think my cousin is coming too, and I like him a great deal as well. Cuddling with my son has been one of the few things that's gotten me through this time.
2. My job. Oddly enough, despite the fact that it's causing me a tremendous amount of stress, I do love what I do. I don't love where I'm doing it, I'm not infatuated with exactly what I'm doing, and I don't love the fact that I'm soon facing unemployment and some serious uncertainty about the future. I do have a paycheck, and there are moments where it seems worthwhile.
3. My friends. I just got back from a conference where I was able to spend time with some amazing people who love me. I'm lucky to have the friends I have, and I don't know what I'd do without them.
4. Books. Part of blogging less and reading fewer blogs has been related to reading more. Some work-related reading, but also novels have snuck back in. I just finished Ghostwalk, and am partway through Prep and Kushiel's Chosen. Great literature it's not, but reading feels good. I like the escape.
5. Running. I haven't been out in a while, but running was working for me. It felt good, in a very simple way. I enjoyed seeing myself get stronger and better at it. Hopefully, I'll get back to that soon.

For now, 5's good enough. Especially since it's 4:30 in the morning, and grabbing another half hour of sleep could only do me good.

Placeholder

2008-11-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Your result for The Find Your Philosophical Era! Test...

The Modern

19% Ancient, 13% Medieval, 44% Modern and 25% Post-Modern!

Congratulations! You are: a Modern!

(Keep in mind, by Modern, I mean the era which began around the 17th century and ended in the 20th century.)

Throughout the Modern era, philosophers and scientists were forced constantly to do battle with the forces of censorship, philosophical conservatism, and pure inertia.This was the age in which “innovation” was a bad word, and the Moderns were all about innovation. Despite all the opposition they faced, Modern philosophy is the most optimistic of any era. The Moderns seem really to have believed that, for instance, giving men freedom from kings and priests and tyrants will make men happier and better. Their goal was a political community based on reason. But while some Moderns concentrated on becoming more and more scientific, rational and civilized, others, such as Wordsworth and Rousseau, reacted against this trend by turning back to what they saw as the pure, uncorrupted truths of nature. However, the Romantic and the Scientific trends in Modernism are two sides of the same coin. The two are united in their disdain for the status quo and for social norms, and their search for more real, trustworthy truths upon which to build the new society they all dreamed of.

Some modern philosophers: Newton, Voltaire, Bacon, Hume, Rousseau, Hobbes, La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, Darwin, J.S. Mill

Some modern artists: Da Vinci, Molière, Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw, Mozart, Cervantes, Swift

Typical modern art forms: opera, comic plays, portraiture, the concerto, the confessional memoir, descriptions of nature

Take The Find Your Philosophical Era! Test at HelloQuizzy

Proof

2008-11-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's not a great photo, but I'm actually wearing a handknit today. This scarf is incredibly comfortable, even if it was painful to do the finishing.

I've worn a few of my knit items out in the wild, including one sweater (Sprout), several scarves, hats, and of course, socks.

I'm craving cardigans.

Unrelated photo

2008-11-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

It's a bit of a blogging tradition that especially if you don't have much to say, you should still post a pretty photo. I haven't been out much lately, so this is a bit of a stretch. We've officially hit my crazy time of the year, and my sporadic updates get even more scattered.

I leave for Washington DC very early Thursday morning. After that, things will slow down very slightly, but I'll be with family for Thansksgiving, which is coming up fast, then it's just a few weeks before Christmas and the new year. It starts to all blur together for me starting around Halloween, frankly.

This year, I'm not doing any holiday knitting. My plans are to get through my meeting, hang out with friends, and to come back and work to generate more data and hopefully be working on a manuscript by the beginning of 2009. Other than that, I'm just hoping to survive the holidays.

This year, I'm not planning on any crazy baking, either. Last year I was so sick of baking that the smell of butter made me ill. It is baking season (I made a loaf of pumpkin bread and some chocolate zucchini bread today) but I'm not going overboard. I'm planning on making a few batches of cookies and cooking lots of soups and roasts for my family. Maybe some more breads, too.

On the knitting front, well, I finished a dishrag this weekend, but that doesn't seem exciting enough to post. The big red blob is ALMOST done, and I'm looking forward to the end of that project. There are some tough memories knit into it, but also, well, it's boring. I'm working on some garter stitch rounds and then binding off, but the stinking thing is huge now, and each round takes me a while. I started a Lace Ribbon scarf out of some really nice yarn, Handmaiden Sea Silk in periwinkle. It may be for my mom. It's my kind of comfort knitting right now. My orange sweater still needs seaming (I need time that I don't have to work on it.) Oddly enough, socks are beginning to sound more appealing again, and I'll take some yarn and needles with me for my flights, but I don't expect to get much done.

Facebook is still sucking up a lot of my time, thanks to word games I play obsessively. But now I really should go read and prepare....

History.

2008-11-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

Something big just happened. I'm glad I was part of it.

On my to do list...

2008-10-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Catching up on the blog is up there, but more pressing things to deal with. Just a quick note to suggest that people check out this. If you like photography, even if you aren't that into science, these are phenomenal images.

There is knitting to talk about, some seaming, and yes, some buying happened again. Will spill all, but first I have to finish a poster for presentation next month.

On a totally other note.

2008-10-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

Browsing through the WEBS catalog today, this caught my eye. Great color. Pretty sweater (I think I know someone who knit this, and it's cool). But... Was that really the best photo they could get? The model looks either possessed, or she's really worried about a piano or a very large pigeon in the sky above her. Oh, and I think she might be really cold, too.

Sometimes this hits too close to home:

2008-10-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd102008s.gif

And I have to say - those are some well-compensated non-tenure track faculty.

Blob

2008-10-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

While the parts of the orange sweater are drying after a bath in Kookaburra Wool Wash, I'm back to working on one of my two blanket projects. This is the pinwheel blanket, started in late August. It's for my son, from yarn originally intended to be a sweater for him (and then I realized it was only handwash). So now he gets a bright red circular blanket to snuggle under on the couch. I've got about 1.5 skeins of yarn left to go, and the rounds are getting LONG. I'll be glad to call this one done soon.

Orange crush

2008-10-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Can't stop. Three days of obsessive knitting. Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan. (The older, boxier version, but that doesn't really bother me.) I love this yarn beyond reason. The color isn't quite right in my photo, but it's not quite right here either.

Snapshots

2008-10-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Badia is in time out.
Time for something else.

Negative progress.

2008-10-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

I just spent the past 2 hours knitting several rows on a vest, then ripping them out.
Yesterday I unknit about an inch of cabling.

I'm thinking that garter stitch might be a better plan.

Decisions, decisions.

2008-10-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Despite the simple sock and the blanket that are already on the needles (things I can't pick up as I was knitting them while my father was dying), despite the vest that's ALMOST done, despite the cardigan that needs sleeves and a yoke, despite the cardigan that just needs to be seamed...

I'm thinking about starting another sweater. Yup, really. I started swatching for Mr. Greenjeans last night. I've been obsessing about what size to knit, but I think I've accepted that I'm knitting the medium. I think the critical decision with this sweater for me will be where I start the ribbing section - and yes, I'm going to decrease a needle size for the cable and ribbing section as otherwise, the sweater won't have enough shaping on me, and it's a pretty boxy fit. I still need to wash my swatch. I get stitch but not row gauge with one needle, and row but not stitch gauge with the larger needle. I prefer the fabric on the smaller needle, go figure. The yarn's a screaming electric blue color, (Louet Riverstone , color Royal if you're wondering) and I'm not entirely certain about it, but it was a good deal at Webs.

Anyhow. Pretty clearly I haven't been doing a lot of knitting. I haven't been sleeping a lot either. Much of my time I've spent playing with this:

I sometimes impulse shop when I'm anxious (usually for yarn or electronics.) So I have a new iPod nano, in shiny shiny green. And I got a Nike + sport kit, a cool little gadget that allows me to obsessively track my runs using a chip in the shoe and a receiver that plugs into the iPod. Now I like running even more because I make graphs! Yes, I really am that much of a geek, but data is good. There is an annoying flaw in the system and I've lost information for about 3 of my runs so far, but theoretically a fix is in the works.

I've also been obsessively playing word games on Facebook. I am ashamed, but I have been totally sucked in.

I also restocked on coffee.

This weekend I cleaned my house, which was filthy, and I made cookies. I normally go for things that don't require box mixes, cereals, and that sort of thing, but these taste really good. Plus, they allow me to sneak fiber into my son's diet. Hah.

Tomorrow is Monday. I'm not happy that I have to go back to work. This probably sounds terrible, but I'm really tired of well-meaning people asking me if I'm okay. I'm not, honestly, but my way of coping at the moment is by living in denial. Anyhow. Hope everyone has a good week.

Pondering

2008-09-27T05:52:00.001-07:00

In my mailbox recently was an ad for this, which is not my normal thing. However, I'm experiencing strong project lust. Colorwork has never been my thing, but I like this a lot.

Julie, Elizabeth? Comments?

There, and back again.

2008-09-23T07:16:00.001-07:00

My father passed away September 18th, at 9am.

I can't talk yet.

This is not my originally scheduled update

2008-09-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

Imagine some knitting photos here - they are supposed to be, but I'm taking an unscheduled trip out of town today. Knowing that I need to drive south, I've been obsessively tracking Hanna - luckily the winds are in my favor, and it's a non-issue today. Also because I have no idea when or if school will be canceled. Despite beautiful weather, after-school care was canceled yesterday, as the elementary schools around here are emergency staging areas. I'm not feeling terribly concerned about this, since it's sounding mostly as though we'll get a lot of rain. I do have minor worries about my roof, which is old, and needs replacing, but there's little I can do about that. I tend to worry about it most of the time.

Woke up unfortunately early this morning, which is due to a combination of falling asleep early (for me, it was about 10pm) and waking up at 3, realizing all the things I need to do this morning before I hit the road. Insomnia isn't fun, but it does let me catch up on blogging. It is weird to wake up this alert this early. Yeah, I'm a little anxious.

I'm packing knitting to take with me, even though the last time I did a trip like this I didn't knit much at all. I've been making a Pinwheel Blanket for the wee beastie. Imagine a big, bright red blob here. I've been working on this one for about a week now. I didn't document it on Ravelry. For the record, I'm using Cotton Fleece in Barn Red, and one skein of charcoal, once I get there. I had purchased 3 skeins of the stuff to make Sherwood for said beast, but I had a realization that a) he grows quickly, b) it's not machine washable c) I'm slow to finish things d) I live in the south and d) did I mention it's not machine washable? So it's going to be a blanket for snuggling under. I ordered the other 2 skeins from Webs when I realized I wanted this to be bigger, and figured stripes would take care of any lot number differences. At last check, I roughly estimated it was about 24 inches in diameter with 2 1/4 skeins left to go. I do like the yarn - yardage is good, it's a reasonable price, and it's pleasant to work with. I don't know how much additional warmth the 20% wool adds to the fabric, or how much this will ultimately grow, but I would use it again if I were looking for cotton in this weight. It's not a really portable project right now, so I think I'll be throwing a sock into a bag to take with me, even if I'm still not that excited about knitting them right now. They are mindless, and I don't think I can concentrate really well right now.

Time for more coffee, packing, and soon getting the little one ready for the school bus. I can be contacted in the usual ways, even if I'm a little out of touch right now...

Food meme silliness

2008-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm totally a follower, so I'm doing what Julie does today. And I'm curious about my readers - I love food, but some of these things are out there for me.

1. Venison - I don't care for it.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare - I was going to say no, but then I realized I did have it. It was okay. I won't eat it again.
5. Crocodile - nope.
6. Black pudding - no. And you can't make me.
7. Cheese fondue - I like it, but it doesn't like me.
8. Carp - I don't think so, but I did eat some catfish my friend fished from a rather dirty river. At least I think they were catfish.
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush - yum.
11. Calamari - Unlike Julie, I like tentacles. I like octopus sushi too.
12. Pho - my love of this is well documented. I do prefer it with thin sliced beef as opposed to tripe or meatballs.
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart - I only eat kosher hot dogs, and those sort of scare me.
16. Epoisses - German cow's milk cheese.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - Japanese plum wine
19. Steamed pork buns -yum
20. Pistachio ice cream - ice cream and I aren't friends
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - kind of bland, really
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese - oh heck no.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche - yes please!
28. Oysters - not my favorite.
29. Baklava -
30. Bagna cauda. Had to look this up. Sounds okay, but haven't had it.
31. Wasabi peas - love.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - doesnt sound appealing.
34. Sauerkraut - delicious on kosher hot dogs.
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - cigars stink.
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo - love it.
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - not intentionally.
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - only the cheap stuff.
46. Fugu - I prefer my sodium channels unblocked.
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - as sushi, yum.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - overrated.
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi -I don't think I liked it.
53. Abalone
54. Paneer - I'm really not good with dairy.
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - but not anymore.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini - extra olives, thanks.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads - eww.
63. Kaolin - yup, worked, too
64. Currywurst - ew
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs - I like frogs too much to eat them.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - liked it as a kid, too sweet now.
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho - yummy.
72. Caviar and blini - surprisingly good, especially with the creme fraiche
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail - I have... issues... with slugs and snails.
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum - I prefer pho.
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - quite possibly. It was a tasting menu, it was amazing, it was in Manhattan, and I couldn't tell you where it was or how I got back to my hotel.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare - only Welsh Rarebit for me.
87. Goulash
88. Flowers - good in salad
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish - was okay.
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox - my favorite breakfast
97. Lobster Thermidor - I would probably like it, but I prefer my lobster steamed.
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Only 43. I would try another 20 on the list, but no more.