Garden Purls

Moved on

2008-05-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

I've moved on to a new blogging system. To read the latest about my hens, gardening, knitting, traveling, and just all around living, be sure to check aWindycitygal on Wordpress.

Another update...

2007-08-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

On the Vox blog. Weather woes and a knitting and chicken update!

Our growing family

2007-08-17T09:19:00.001-05:00

Time for another update!

I've just posted one with some photos over on my Vox blog. Check out the newest members of our family...

A new sandbox

2007-08-06T21:05:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I haven't been posting here is because I've been playing around on Vox. There are some great features and it is much easier to put together a blog post with photos than it is here on Blogger.

I've been really hating the fact that Blogger always throws off my line spacing when I insert a photo, so I have to go back and correct it before posting. It doesn't work with my "flow of conciousness" style of blogging.

I'm still figuring things out there on Vox, but so far I'm much happier with it. If only I could figure out how to export my Blogger stuff and import it into Vox...hmmm....

Check out the blog I've created on Vox and let me know what you think!

The state of my crafting

2007-07-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a rough ride lately in my crafting life.

I was listening to a knitting podcast this week and it was mentioned that Mercury has been in retrograde. Maybe that explains why it's been so darn difficult for me to complete or start a project in the past couple months. Of course, the fact that my commuting/knitting time has been curtailed due to cycling may explain a bit (as well as my commuting/listenting to podcasts time, too) but I've also just been sort of *blah* around crafts lately.

Despite my blog-silence on crafting, I have accomplished a few things: slowly and sometimes painfully, but accomplishments nonetheless. Now photographic evidence of those accomplishments will not be forthcoming just yet. (I was stupid and under deadline, so at least one of those items may not be documented in photos at all.) It's dark right now and I can't get decent photos of my newest finished object(s), so it'll just have to wait.

I have been doing some things, though. Let me just list them here:

A sleeveless baby "saque" (whatever that means) in crochet and knit
A pair of socks
An object for the Chicago Crochet Coral Reef Project

What is that last one? Well, if I can alert David Reidy of the Sticks and String podcast to this cool new project and get it mentioned, then I guess I can put it on my own personal blog.

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project is run by the Institute for Figuring. This project is designed and curated by the founders of the IFF, Christine and Margaret Wertheim, who are originally from Brisbane, Australia but now live in Los Angeles. They started the project in homage to the Great Barrier Reef, as "wooly testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world." Each crocheted piece duplicates the hyperbolic geometry of coral and has been created by hand.

The Reef will be the coming to Chicago this fall during the Chicago Humanities Festival. Organizers wanted to add a Chicago touch to the Reef, so they've started organizing workshops to learn about how to create pieces to add to the Reef.

I was at the inaugural workshop on June 29 hosted by the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Not only did I get to stretch my newly-budded crochet wings, so to speak, but I also learned about hyperbolic space. Cool! My friend Jamie unintentionally grabbed the spotlight, though. She had learned about the workshop at the same Knitting Guild meeting as I did, but she got started right away on her object and brough the finished piece to the workshop. Margaret Wertheim herself kicked off the workshop, and she was thrilled with Jamie's piece!

There will be more workshops, so if you're interested, check out the My Space page they've set up.

As for my crafting mojo...it's looking up. Just in the past couple days, I've started to feel more centered around it. I've cast off and finished a couple projects (the socks and baby saque), and started a new pair of socks.

Yes, there will continue to be crafting projects dissected and documented here. Just hang with me, and I'll deliver.

Ah, summer

2007-07-05T11:35:00.000-05:00

At this time of year I'm usually kicking back and enjoying my garden. The spring is usually the time of year where there is lots of hard work in the garden. But this year the cicada scare in the area delayed things quite a bit. I went round and round with the landscaper about when to have the plan for the back yard (the one behind the house) finished, and we've only just now settled on a date later this month. High summer is usually not the best time to plant, but I'll get the soaker hoses down right away and use them liberally while the plants are getting settled in.

One task that I had thought to "outsource" through the landscaper was constructing raised beds in my side yard (or as it's affectionately known, "The Point"). I've only had to make about 6 very careful applications of herbicide so far this year to keep the bindweed out. (I use a technique that involves "painting" it on the plant to minimize the amount used and the impact on anything else.) So, The Point is ready for its transformation!

Here we see the full lot at the beginning of its change from weed-infested lot into my food-raising area. In the foreground are some cinder blocks and large branch marking out the dimensions of a bed we'll put in for blueberries. I'd like to have 2-3 blueberry bushes, so it will have to be fairly deep and long. I won't use cinder blocks because they'd have to be stacked pretty high and would require re-bar reinforcement, so I have something else in mind.

Moving clockwise, a few more stacks of cinder blocks mark out the dimensions of the asparagus bed. Again, I likely won't use cinder blocks since this will be a pretty deep bed, too.

At the far back is the single bed I constructed this year. Heaps of edging blocks are laying around, awaiting my artful arrangement of them into outlines of future beds. We'll build the blueberry bed, one for asparagus, and one more for annual veggie rotations this year. The rest will have to wait for future years, but I want to have a plan for where to put them.

Here's a close up of the one raised bed I do have in place now. I had waited and waited to discuss raised bed design with the landscaper, and when I finally got the ideas and estimates I was pretty floored by the price. So, one nice Sunday a couple weeks ago I started working in the garden sort of early and decided to just put together a bed with materials I had on hand: cinder blocks, concrete edgers, and compost. I had thought to plant something climbing at the one end (which explains the goofy trellis thing), but it's so late in the season I couldn't find any seedlings (like cukes or beans) and I wouldn't get much if I planted seeds. I did find a very limited variety of pepper and eggplant seedlings, as well as a tomato plant for Mark. (I don't like raw tomatoes, so I only grow them for Mark.)

An interesting note about raised beds: when I decided that I had to do the beds without the landscaper's help, I Googled "raised beds" to see what sort of products and info I could find. One of the results was from a site called WikiHow. It has step by step instructions on how to build a raised bed, and photos for examples. I thought the photos looked familiar at first glance, and then I realized they were photos of raised beds that we constructed a year or two after moving to this house. Mark would have taken the photos, and I must have posted them somewhere. They're not on Flickr so I can't recall where they were uploaded.

I was out with the camera today, so there are more photos to see on my Flickr account in the 2007 Garden set. I took a few photos of the dogs, too. I can't resist posting just one.

Sadie loves to do this crazy spinning round and round thing in the grass and on the rug. She looks so goofy doing it, but clearly loves the sensation!

Diving in

2007-06-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy doing stuff that I just keep putting off blogging. The more I put it off, the more anxious I get about how I'm going to post something really long. So, I'm just diving in tonight.

The weather has been great for cycling, so I've been riding in to work twice a week. I want to take advantage of the good weather, 'cause once it gets really hot and sticky I may not want to do so. I have my old bike back now, too, and that is really nice. I was using Mark's "old" bike (it's only 2 years old, and is in great shape, whereas mine is 7 years old), but we just couldn't get it adjusted to be as low-impact on my body as my old bike. After several trips on Mark's old bike my body was feeling really sore.

Mark and my sister put together a surprise birthday party for me which was a wonderful way to mark the milestone of my 40th birthday. The surprise was well-kept, too. I started to suspect something about an hour before the party, but I still consider that a successful surprise.

What's really been keeping me occupied, though, is all the food processing I've been doing. I've been going to the farmer's markets at least once a week, loading up, and then figuring out what to do with the bounty when I get home. I'll have a hard time returning to the bland fare available in the supermarkets this winter, so I'm also trying to preserve stuff. In the past 2 weeks, I've made 24 cups of strawberry freezer jam, and frozen another 1.5 gallons of fresh strawberries. Now the blueberries are starting to come in. I think I'll just freeze them whole and not process them. I'm pretty tired of jam-making right now, although the product is totally yummy.

Something to note: while researching recipes for freezer jam, most of them called for copious amounts of sugar. I found a pectin product that allows me to make freezer jam with very little sugar: Pomona's Universal Pectin. It's fantastic. If you're interested in making freezer jam with honey or fruit juice as sweetener, this is the product to get.

I've been paying much more attention to what I eat and my palate is totally adjusted to fresh food now. Last weekend Mark suggested we go to a local restaurant for dinner -- one that I found quite good in the past -- and I was disappointed with the taste of the food this time. I want fresh stuff now.

I don't know what I'll do about eggs this winter, either. I've been buying them at the farmer's market only. I'm starting to think seriously about getting a few laying hens. We have the room in the backyard, and would just have to train the dogs to not go after them...hmmm...Farmer Linda!

Happy birthday to me

2007-06-09T06:53:00.001-05:00

Today I am 40.

Oooff!

2007-06-08T19:18:00.000-05:00

I cycled to and from work again today, and I had my first accident. I'm OK, but the bike is messed up.

I was on my way home this afternoon and was still in the Loop when an a**hole of a cab driver caused my accident. I was in the bike lane approaching an intersection. Ahead and to my right was cab #1, dropping off a fare. I was watching this cab closely to see if he would pull away from the curb and into my bike lane. No, he was going to turn right. Fine. But cab #2 on my left caught me by surprise as it cut in front of me so he could turn right, too. He left me about 3-4 feet to come to a dead stop. Not enough.

I braked hard, but could see that inevitably I was going to end up in a collision. I screamed loud. I screamed like a little girl, wailing and piercingly high. I hit the bumper of cab #1 head on, flipped over the handle bars, and ended up on the trunk of cab #1. I pushed myself off the cab, then I cursed loudly, in very ungirl-like words. I think my exact words were "God damn motherfu**er!!" Or something equally coarse and nasty.

I was shaking. My right elbow hurt. The index finger on my left hand was jammed. Pedestrians were asking me if I was alright. Both cab drivers asked if I was alright. I told them I thought I was OK. I was more worried about my bike.

As I got on the bike and headed on up Canal Street, I could tell it was not right. It felt like something was wrong with the front. It wasn't until I was about 5 miles along my ride that I realized my front brake was stuck. And it wasn't until I was completely home, 9 miles later, that I really looked at the front of my bike. The front fork is ruined. It is completely pushed in. No wonder my front tire felt funny. No wonder I had to have the front tire pointed absolutely straight ahead as I took off from a complete stop; if I didn't, the tire would rub against the pedals.

The bike is already in the shop. In total, the damages will be just over $100. In currency, that is. Yes, I will continue to ride. But not next week, since it will take that long to get a new fork and have it installed.

I also have a swollen lump over my right knee. Great. My already bad right knee now has a bruise.

As I rode home I was angry, angry, angry.

Please, if you drive a car at all, watch for cyclists. I'm a good cyclist. I don't do stupid shit like weave in and out of traffic or dash in front of drivers. So, why ignore me? Why treat me like a piece of trash blowing across the road?

F***ing drivers!

Life in the city

2007-06-07T20:05:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, living in this city exposes one to such bizarre things. This afternoon, as I was standing in my kitchen looking out the window I saw a man commit a crime.

This isn't the first time I've witnessed crimes. I've seen drug deals: one where the buyer stopped his car for a moment in the street, and the seller pedaled up on a bike; the other where money and drugs were exchanged through an open el door at rush hour. (Yep, rush hour on the Belmont Red Line platform can be soooo interesting!) I've seen drunk and disorderly arrests (also on an el platform.) I've seen drunk drivers sideswipe parked cars, and a few auto collisions, too (including one where the drivers staggered out of the cars dripping blood, and then ran like hell away from the scene.)

Now, I don't know for sure if it's a crime to defecate in the public way, but I'm going to assume it is. Yes, that's right. I saw a man shit in public.

He walked furtively along the alley with a handful of leaves, looked around a few times to see if there was anyone near, then pulled down his pants and set to business. It was an alley, but it was a very open and public alley bordered by a condominium parking lot on one side (all with balconys overlooking said lot and alley), and my house on the other side. I had a clear view of this guy and his activities and I did not enjoy it one bit.

Mark was around today and happened to be standing near the back door when this happened. I skwawked out something like, "Mark, there's a guy shitting in the alley! Go stop him!" Mark paused for only a second, then charged out of the house. The guy was sufficiently interrupted and took off quickly yelling, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold it!"

This definitely tops that one evening where a couple guys stopped their car to dump their empties and piss on my fence. Right under my dining room window. I was alerted when the dogs started going crazy barking and flinging themselves against the window.

Yep. Crazy city life.

I biked to work again yesterday. It was a chilly morning (about 44 degrees F), but I warmed up as I rode. I'm going to try to bike in again tomorrow. So far the weather has been really nice for biking and I want to take advantage of it while I can. I do enjoy the experience of riding, but I wish it didn't involve so much poor air. When there's a lot of traffic I really feel like I'm sucking on the tailpipes.

Getting active

2007-06-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

I really should try to blog every couple days at least, since so much has been happening in a week!

First to wrap up some loose ends: did I get everything on my list done? No. But enough was done that I felt a good sense of accomplishment and success. That was the most important thing. Work has been so demanding on me lately -- taking up so much energy and time, while not providing that all important sense of accomplishment -- that I really needed to feel like I was making progress somewhere. I guess this is also an important lesson for me, too. I can't rely only on work to fulfill me. It's much better to look for personal fulfillment in my personal life. Makes sense!

So, my little bit of spring cleaning/chore tackling has helped clear up some mental clutter, too, I guess. Some of my list didn't get done because once I reached this critical point, I sidetracked a bit. These were good sidetracks, though.

The first one involved a new skill: crochet.

Have I gone over to the dark side? No, but I really did enjoy how fast this worked up. I started it on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and finished it up on Monday night. I have to admit that once I started it, though, I just didn't want to stop. It was great to work on a project that could be finished so quickly.

Yes, I still worked on my other knitting projects. I did not finish my sweater, but I got most of the finishing done. I only have one sleeve left to set in. But, I'm not happy with how it is fitting, so I've set it aside for now. I'll get back to it later. I will. Really.

The first Tofutsies sock is done, and although I seemed to have mental challenges getting the toe started on sock #2 (six attempts to do a short row garter stitch toe? what was wrong with me!?), I'm now working on the foot which makes perfect commuter knitting. Although my commuting time may not be so conducive to knitting these next few months. More on this in a bit...

Let's get back to the market bag. I made this bag because I wanted something to bring with me to the farmer's markets to carry my purchases. I'd heard that the crocheted string bags are much more durable than the knitted ones, so I thought I'd give crochet a try.

I'm so glad the farmer's markets are back! I really miss getting fresh, local, flavorable produce. This past week, I've been to two farmer's markets already. At the Thursday Loop market in Daley Plaza I added asparagus, strawberries, onions, baby turnips, and radishes to my new market bag. Yesterday at the Evanston farmer's market, I picked up more asparagus, watercress, kale, Chinese broccoli (I love this stuff!!!), eggs, rhubarb, and more strawberries.

Yesterday afternoon was spent processing the "harvest." I blanched and froze a couple pounds of asparagus, and froze about 2 quarts of strawberries. I still have just over one quart of fresh strawberries sitting on the counter, waiting for...something. I also cut up the rhubarb and made some strawberry-rhubarb crisp in custard cups. Baking them in the cups was a way to practice portion control, although I ended up eating two portions last night. Yum!!

I was in Evanston to visit the chiropractor for my usual 6 week check up, but I also had an appointment with a Chinese medicine and acupuncturist. I've decided I need to try something new to deal with the chronic health issues I've had in the past few months. The fatigue, mood swings, and weight gain must stop. It's hard to be productive when you just feel like sleeping all the time, or crying, or wanting to rip someone's face off. Traditional medicine isn't helping me at all. My blood work was "normal," but my gut tells me that I'm going through a major metabolic and hormone shift that that is resulting in misery for me.

So, yesterday I had a consult and an acupuncture session. The acupuncture was very cool. As he put the pins in the place, it felt like little circuits were being switched on in my body and currents were being connected. It was a very satisfying experience. I relaxed, yet felt energized, too. I also have some herbs to take twice a day. I go back in about 10 days for session #2.

The second sidetrack involved my bike. I took it into the bike shop had a rear rack installed, and purchased a trunk bag to mount on the rack. I've decided to use my bike more for running errands and for commuting to work. Last week I biked between Stitch n' Bitch and home (about 7 miles each way), and Friday I biked between work and home (9 miles each way). Commuting to work on my bike takes me about an hour. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work on the train, but biking is a great way to get some regular exercise into my day. I've decided to bike at least once a week, and will try to do it two days a week if the weather cooperates.

Unfortunately, biking and knitting don't mix so this will cut into my knitting time. Ah, well, life is full of compromises, right?

Too many To Dos

2007-05-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

This is a holiday weekend, but I won't have a lot of free time. I will spend much of the day Sunday doing fun things and at a barbeque, but the rest of the time will be packed with chores, including the extra day-and-a-half (this afternoon and Tuesday) that I'm taking off of work. There are so many things to do, in fact, that the list is running over the one page it started on. Sigh

Oh, and somewhere in here I'm going to finish my Lift and Separate sweater (including weaving in the bijillion ends), as well as finish off sock #1 (nearly there...just another inch maybe) and begin sock #2 of the current commuting project pair.

So, here's how I'm spending the holiday weekend.

Bathe dogs
Wash shower curtain
Sort closets, pull out items to donate, pack up, bring to Salvation Army donation center
Pick up some summer clothes
Pack up and drop off large recyclables and books [FYI, there is a great recycling center with a free book and magazine exchange near the entrace to the North Park Village Nature Center for those in the area]
Get haircut and facial
Plant pots
File
Fill out insurance claims
Prep medical flexible spending claims
Wash, hang outside to dry/air, and pack away duvet
Wash living room furniture slip covers and hang outside to dry/air [I have such nice neighbors with clothes lines!]
Clean gutters [This is for Mark to do, but it's on the list]
Clean up samaras [Those whirlygigs that fall off the maple trees...those are called samaras. Sounds like a yummy dessert or a nice name for a woman, not a name for annoying, gutter-clogging things, right?]
Fix hose cart [That's another Mark chore]
Replant brutally torn out plants in front yard, and generally repair damage caused by city when they ripped up sidewalks and curbs with no warning [Does that sound too bitter?]
Lay soaker hoses in front yard
Set up worm bin in basement [Jamie received her worms a couple weeks ago and is willing to share some with me]

Whew! That may be it...for now. Let's just see how much of this actually gets done.

Diversions

2007-05-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Of course I've been busy with work, but I have found time to have some fun lately.

One of the pleasures of living in a large city is the range of experiences and diversions open to you. Last night, I went with my friends Rachael and Shannon to the Music Box Theatre for one of the strangest and memorable experiences I've ever had.

I always enjoy attending a film at the Music Box. While the management has found a way to wedge in a small screening room where they show a few films, most movies are screened in a well-preserved example of the grand old cinemas that were the norm in the first half of the 20th century. OK, the original seats aren't as comfy as those found in the modern cineplex, but the beautiful interior is a treat.

Music Box also shows films that you just can't see anywhere else in Chicago. I remember seeing Guillermo del Toro's film Cronos at the Music Box in 1993 and being entertained by a live organ performance before the film started. Last summer Mark and I went there to see The War Tapes (which I highly recommend).

Last night Music Box presented a live performance of Brand Upon the Brain!. I'm still not sure how to interpret this film, but the performances were fantastic and the experience was, as I said, very memorable. I don't think there was an empty seat in the house, and it was a lot of fun to have the Foley artists right below the screen so I could see how they made some of sound effects. Who knew what a key role celery plays in horror films!

We had beautiful weather yesterday, too, so it was quite a treat to sit outside at Julius Meinl for a pre-movie nosh. The sandwiches were good, but the Millenium Torte was awesomely yummy!

I wish I could say that I spent the splendid day working in my garden, but I can't. I still have no beds in place for my vegetables, and I'm starting to get a bit annoyed by the delay. Apparently the landscaper wants to time things such that the crew is here to complete the entire job -- hardscaping the yard (including building the veggie beds) and putting in the ornamentals -- and not have to come back again to finish. She's waiting for the dreaded 17-year cicadas to emerge, mate, and die before kicking off the project.

Instead of working in the garden, I spent the gorgeous day indoors yesterday learning Japanese short rows at a Windy City Knitting Guild workshop. I've worked short rows before, but I was very pleased to learn this new techinque which makes much, much better results for me.

I'm still working on the Lift and Separate wrap sweater and the same pair of Tofutsies socks. I haven't had a lot of knitting time lately, so my WIPs are going quite slowly. I'm in the finishing stage of the sweater but there's just a lot of finishing involved for this sweater, including knitting and sewing on the edging, and knitting the side ties. K1P1 ribbing is just not a fast knit for me.

Typically I don't showcase photos of yarn but I just can't resist showing this off.

It's a "reclaimed" yarn from Allspunup on Etsy. She unraveled the yarn from a sweater, washed and set the yarn, plied it to make a slightly thicker yarn, and then handpainted it. This is a fingering weight yarn that I'm going to use to make a small shawl/scarf for myself. The price was very reasonable, and she was super fast in getting it to me: I ordered on a Friday and had it in my hands on Monday.

I think Etsy is my newest obsession...

Think like a dog

2007-05-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

As I sit here...in the dining room...in front of my laptop...trying to wrap up a bit of work while also doing my "fun" computer stuff like catching up on blogs...I see my dog Sadie staring at me while she lays on an armchair in the adjoining living room. I'm guessing that the thoughts running through her head are something like this:

"What is she doing over there with that silly thing? I have this great red ball that we can play with, why isn't she over here playing with me? Why isn't she over here rubbing me? You know you love to do that, why not come here and run your hands over me, petting and rubbing and scratching?"

Now her eyes are slowly closing, and I know she knows it's nearly time to go to bed. That's what she's trying to tell me in this minute, "Let's go to bed and forget about that other stuff."

If I really listened to my dogs, here's what I think they'd tell me:

Live in the moment. Forget the concepts of "future" and "past." There is just NOW. Enjoy it. Endure it. Get through it, but take it all in, good and bad. Live it.
I deserve every bit of attention I can garner. Don't doubt that at all. If you can grab attention through some antic -- vocalization, movement, crowding -- grab it and enjoy it.
Take naps.
After laying down for a period of time, always stretch when you get up.
Although we don't speak the same "language," we can still communicate -- not just basic needs, but also what's important to each of us : in other words, our "values." Which leads to my final lesson...
Listen and intuit with your entire being. That's the way to connect to others, to life, and to find enjoyment in the now.

TCB

2007-05-09T22:40:00.000-05:00

That's been my theme song for the past couple weeks: just takin' care of business. This is typically the busiest time of year for me and "my people" -- gardeners, that is. Spring is a time of high activity, although it hasn't been that high for me this year. And that's kind of driving me bonkers.

Typically, I'd be preparing the soil for my annual veggie beds this year. But, I still don't have any annual veggie beds yet. So, I just have a bit of light weeding to do here and there.

No garden sales to attend this year, since I don't need any new plants.

No place to spread out the compost, so my annual compost bin shuffling is postponed.

Pretty much the only thing to do is lay down soaker hoses in the newly configured front yard. I'm just not used to such a light spring gardening list.

There are still plenty of garden delights, though. It's May and so many things are blooming right now. First and foremost: Lilac.

I have one of those old-fashioned, heavily perfumed lilacs. (It also gets powdery mildew at the end of every season, too, but there are always trade-offs.) The other day my next door neighbor and I stood chatting over the fence near the lilac, pausing every once in a while to inhale deeply and say "Ahhhhh...wonderful!"

Another fragrant spring lovely: Lily of the Valley.

These are short plants, though, so it's hard to really get a noseful unless you hunker down next to them.

There are many other ornamentals in my garden that are in bloom this time of year. I'm just savoring them all.

As far as knitting goes, the only new thing on my needles are another pair of socks for my commuting/travel knitting. They are pretty basic, toe-up socks that incorporate one new thing learned while working on the first Rockin' Sock Club socks. I've worked on toe-up sock construction before, and thought that I really didn't like short row toes. After working on the Inside-Out socks, though, I've since learned that it's stockinette short row toes I don't like. No matter how I pick up the wraps, they always seem to leave a little hole. But when done in garter stitch, the short row toe looks just fine to me.

So these socks are constructed with a short-row garter stitch toe, but _not_ a short-row heel. I tried the short-row garter stitch heel on them, but ended up ripping it out. It just didn't feel like it fit right to me: too much stress and pulling along the top of my foot. I really need the extra room of a gusset, so I reworked the heel with a gusset and heel flap. Now it fits much better.

Patterning is a the garter rib from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. (I love that book, and am looking forward to getting the second one!) I'm using the Tofutsies yarn from Southwest Trading Company and am really liking the fabric. It feels very soft and drapy on the needles and on my foot. I guess drape isn't something that's usually considering a desirable property for sock fabric, but I can't explain it any better than that.

I've certainly been tempted to start new projects, but I'm being really disciplined about finishing up what I've already started. So, I'm still working on the Lift and Separate wrap sweater. I'm stuck on the sleeves now. *yawn* Not very interesting, except that I'm looking forward to finishing a new, long-sleeved sweater in time for air-conditioning season. BRRRRR! Tomorrow I'm hauling in the giant, mohair pie wedge shawl for sure.

Springtime in Chicago

2007-04-30T15:00:00.000-05:00

I don't think there is a finer place to be in the world than sitting on my back porch on a sunny, pleasantly warm spring day. I'm not the only one with this opinion, either. My mother-in-law stopped by yesterday morning for a visit. We sat on the porch sipping tea, nibbling on fresh fruit, and just enjoying the experience. About every 20 minutes she would comment how she needed to get moving along, but that she was having trouble moving off our porch on such a lovely day.

Here's a photo of my completed Inside-Out Socks taken on the porch this weekend.

We had the most fabulous weather this weekend and I took full advantage of it. There was actually little gardening for me to do beyond some minor weeding and pruning the roses. I'll be executing Phase 2 of the landscaping plan this spring (hopefully within the next 2 weeks) so I will not be planting my annual veggies for some time. They'll be going in an entirely new location, which means no soil prep right now, either.

This is the year I make a major change in my gardening. I hope. For the past 3 years, I've been using a small area in the yard directly behind the house for annual veggies. Now that I *seem* to have the side yard bindweed issues in hand (I won't even pretend that they are solved, just "in hand"), I can move on with my master plan to devote that yard to edible gardening. I will get another load of mulch put down first, then have raised beds constructed on top of it all and filled with fresh soil. This way, I will not be disturbing the soil underneath all the weed liner and mulch that likely has bindweed seeds in it.

There's lots of space in that side yard and lots of sun. I'm hoping to have permanent beds for asparagus and blueberries built, and to add a total of 5 more beds for annual veggie rotations. For this spring, if I get just 2 annual beds built I'm sure that will be enough.

I'm glad that there wasn't a lot of yard work to do because I have been incredibly tired this weekend, too. I'm guessing and hoping that it is just allergies. Otherwise, I am clueless as to why I am getting stupidly tired (e.g. tired to the point of not being able to talk coherently) so easily every day. I crashed on Saturday at about 5:00 and napped until 7:30. On Sunday, I made it to 4:30 before laying down for 90 minutes. I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow for my annual check up, and this is one of my discussion points with her.

As for the short Sedona, Arizona vacation, it was...well...OK. We ran into some problems managing our time last Sunday. We were effectively kidnapped by Mark's half-brother for a good chunk of the day and didn't make it up to Sedona until early in the evening.

About this kidnapping comment: that's what it felt like. When you tell someone -- more than once -- that you'll be visiting for brunch, does that mean you're spending the whole day with them? I don't think so. Mark's half-brother did. He asked us to park our rental car so he could take us for "a little tour"-- what we thought meant a tour of his gated community -- then zipped us away for a tour of Surprise, AZ's strip malls and housing developments for retirees and non-retirees. Mark seemed paralyzed at speaking up, so after 90 minutes of "This is the Walgreen's where we get our prescriptions, and that's where they're building an Appleby's" it was up to me to set him straight. I explained that as much as we'd like to spend the day with him, we had thought that we were just meeting for brunch and had reservations in Sedona. We still didn't escape until 3 PM and the traffic on I-17 delayed us further.

All I can say about these gated communities in the Phoenix area is this, "not for me!!!!" I guess this is typical for new communities: to be insulated by gates, golf courses, and strip malls from anything going on in the world. Every house looks nearly the same and every strip mall has the same chains of stores. It would drive me insane. If this is the typical experience of Americans these days, then I can see why we've become so ignorant of what's going on globally.

I guess I should consider myself lucky, too, that Chicago retains some character from bygone days. We can visit a local restaurant that is not like any other restaurant. We can visit local shops that are not like any other shop. And so on. Individuality, what a concept!

So, we only had one day in Sedona. That one day was one of unseasonable weather: cold and wet. Not just rain wet, but icy rain wet. And when we went out for a hike, we got caught in it. By the time we walked back to our B&B (about 2 miles) we were soaked and freezing. That was the end of our hikining in Sedona.

I got several photos during that time, though.

This is typical of the views. Red rocks, green trees, and stormy sky. There are more photos here on my Flickr account.

The next day was sunny and fairly warm, but we had to head out of town right after breakfast so we could make our return flight home. To sum it all up: Phoenix was blech and Sedona was pretty, but not fabulous. It still doesn't beat northern New Mexico as the place that stirs my soul the most.

In the desert

2007-04-21T11:40:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Phoenix, Arizona. Mark and I flew in yesterday afternoon and will be spending a few days away from home and the girls (our dogs). For Mark, today is a working day. This trip was precipitated by business for him. Me, I'm just along for the ride right now. Tomorrow we start our mini-vacation as we head north to Sedona.

Phoenix is very flat and very brown. There are mountains ringing the valley where the city is located, but the actual valley itself is topographically bland. The gardener in me is fascinated with the desert vegetation, though. Palo verde trees are just trippy! They have such tiny, needle-like leaves and are green throughout their entire being.

And what is that tree that has such beautiful, purple flowers on it now? For some reason I want to say jacaranda, but I'll have to look it up. At least I'm not seeing streets full of green lawns like we did in Albequerque. Of course, for now we are in the city of Phoenix business district. We'll see if the clever and sustainable desert xeriscaping continues or whether it is replaced by wasteful lawns when we move on through the communities ringing Phoenix tomorrow.

Since the past few days have been full of work, work, work and then last minute packing, I felt the need to catch up on blogging today. Technical difficulties have prevented me from using the Blogger interface so I'm using the email functionality. That means no photos in this post. But of course I don't really have any photos to show at this time. I'd rather not post photos of knitting WIPs, and that's all I have right now.

I am almost done with my Inside-Out socks from the Rockin' Sock Club. I'm about 5 rows away from binding off. It's taken me quite a while to do them since the first sock involved lots of ripping and re-knitting, but the second one is going much faster now.

Socks are usually commuting projects, though. At home and during weekly Stitch 'n Bitch, I've been working on the Lift and Separate wrap cardigan from Big Girl Knits. The back is done, the left front is done, and now I'm working on the right front. I was whipping right through it until last weekend when a combination of allergies, general sleep-deprivation, and work deadlines affected the weekend.

Last Saturday was spent just sleeping or trying to sleep. Every time I got up to attend to some work, I found myself nearly paralyzed with exhaustion. Then I would shuffle back to bed and sleep for another hour. On Sunday, I finally felt refreshed, but I had that deadline for work so I sat down and worked for about 7 hours. Once weekend errands were done, I had maybe one hour of knitting time left before I needed to head off to bed.

It was a busy week at work so there was little time for knitting in the evenings. I've brought the right front of the cardigan with me this weekend, just in case. Even though I will be doing all the driving this weekend, I'm looking forward to getting some prime knitting time in. Between the time at the gate yesterday and the nearly 3 hour flight from Chicago to Phoenix, I completed the short row heel and half the cuff on the Inside Out sock. Ahh, I'm feeling better already!

If there's convenient Internet access over the next couple days I may just post an entry and some photos. Sedona is supposed to be beautiful and I'm hoping to get some really nice shots with my little Canon digital camera.

I must be missing the girls and home already. Although I slept well last night, my dreams all involved our house or the dogs. Maybe they were dreaming about me...

See the Cat? See the Cradle?

2007-04-12T20:38:00.000-05:00

I heard about Kurt Vonnegut's death this morning while getting ready for work. Not a good start to the day to hear that one of your favorite authors is gone, smashing your hopes of ever reading an unexpected new novel or short story by him. I guess it sounds sort of greedy, though. By some accounts it sounds like Kurt was more than ready to check out, and a person shouldn't have to live longer than they want.

I can't say I've read every book or story Kurt Vonnegut ever wrote, but I've read many of them and they've all been extremely memorable. Like this segment from Cat's Cradle:

"The highest possible form of treason," said Minton, "is to say that
Americans aren't loved wherever they go, whatever they do. Claire tried to make
the point that American foreign policy should recognize hate rather than imagine
love."
"I guess Americans are hated a lot of places."
"People are hated a lot of places. Claire pointed out in her letter
that Americans, in being hated, were simply paying the normal penalty for being
people, and that they were foolish to think they should somehow be exempted from
that penalty..."

I loved Cat's Cradle, Galapagos, Timequake, and of course Slaughterhouse-five. Kurt had a way of making me think while providing me with the necessary distance from the day-to-day crap I need to stay sane, otherwise known as fiction. Thanks, Kurt.

Just another day

2007-04-10T23:32:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, I'm running late for an appointment about a mile away, just north of the river. I catch a cab outside my office building. The cab driver greets me enthusiastically, asking if I'm in a hurry. "Not too much of a hurry," I say, not wanting to goad him into warp speed. Sometimes cabbies are a bit too "enthusiastic" for me. But he doesn't go crazy and start accelerating like mad. Instead he launches into a rant about how Americans are ruining the Middle East, complete with plenty of four-letter words. He rages about being called a "camel jockey" when he first came to the U.S. from Iran several years ago. I'm sympathetic, but happy to leave the cab when we reach my destination. I walk back to the office from my appointment.

I leave Stitch n' Bitch tonight and enter the nearby Blue Line el station. I just miss a train and prepare to wait for several minutes. Moments later, a band of rowdy folks descend to the platform. (Will I sound like a crotchety old person if I say they are rowdy young folks?) I'm not really paying them any attention as I concentrate on my book. A train pulls into the station, but it's a short train so it doesn' t pull up to the front of the platform. We rush down the platform to enter the first car. All the seats are already full so we stand. Two stations later as the I grab a recently vacated seat I hear one of the rowdies standing near the doors say very loudly "Oh, man that cool wind feels so good on my balls. My balls are HOT!" Everyone in the car has heard this (unless they are completely isolated by whatever is coming through their headphones), but no one reacts in any way. Just before I reach my station, I move to the doors and wait. A young man moves to the doors next to me. He reeks of marijuana. I feel like I'm getting stoned just standing next to him.

At the bus platform, I stand awaiting the bus with a handful of others. The night is not terribly cold, but it still seems unnecessarily cruel to be standing here with the bus parked and running about 50 feet away, just short of the platform. The driver has taken a break and left the bus. Some gasps of discomfort lead to words of commiseration exchanged between the expectant passengers. Bus drivers certainly deserve breaks, but it just seems like they taunt us when they do this. The bus is here, but we cannot board it. It is warm and well-lit, but we stand shivering in the night until the driver comes back, enters the bus, pulls up to the platform, and opens the doors.

I reach home -- finally -- and unload: off comes the backpack loaded with laptop and files, the knitting bag, my purse, and my outer layers of hat/scarf/parka. I change into some comfy lounging clothes. I pour myself two fingers of single malt scotch, sit down in front of the TV, and pull out some knitting.

As Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Just call me Bashful

2007-04-05T16:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was filled with more knitterly goodness in my hometown of Chicago. Amy Singer was in town at Loopy Yarns, signing copies of her new book No Sheep for You, showing off the designs, and chatting with all the folks in the shop. If by any chance Amy runs across this entry and sees the photo I'm posting here, please accept my apologies Amy! I was so tickled by the whole experience last night that I turned all bashful and snapped only this one photo at the event. See, it was a cold day yesterday so I got to dress up in hand knits and I decided to wear my Mermaid since I adore it so much. When I got to the shop, as I stripped off my parka one of the ladies said to me "I know you! I mean, I recognize you from your blog. I love the Mermaid!" (or something along those lines) and I sort of imploded with excitement. On the outside, I took it pretty well, on the inside I was like "OMG, OMG, OMG!! Someone I don't personally know read my blog! How cool!"

I got lots of ego stroking about the Mermaid during the event. People kept asking me about it and admiring it. I may as well have just kept repeating "Aw, shucks" over and over again. All that attention plus the fact that Amy Singer was so approachable and seemed to really enjoy talking with me made for a little personal melt down. I'm just not used to such attention and have no idea how to handle it except through deflection. So, deflect I did. When Amy asked if I had a blog I mumbled yes, but that it was just a silly little thing. She shared that she had started out with just a little online journal and was now doing what she loves as her career.

For the next hour or so I strolled around Loopy, fondling yarns, talking with friends and new acquaintenances, and every once in a while I'd stroll back to where Amy was sitting to exchange a few words. Before our little group left to grab a bite to eat, I went back to say goodbye but Amy was in the midst of conversation. So, we just struck off and made our way to the restaurant.

Those ladies at Loopy really know how to throw a party! This is the first time I've been down there for one of their events. For whatever reason I'm usually busy when they have a trunk show or something, so I've missed their hospitality. They had wine, soda, selzer water, and lots of yummy snacks. They also had a special of 20% off all non-wool yarns.

Of course I didn't leave empty handed. Besides the signed book I picked up a skein of Art Yarns Regal Silk. There's a sweet hat pattern in the No Sheep for You book that uses this silk in a lace pattern with Rowan Calmer providing an inner liner. I have a couple balls of Rowan Calmer in my oddball stash, and now I know what to do with at least one!

In general, my knitting has been so-so. I've been trying to finish the Rockin' Sock Club socks, but keep running into problems. I've ripped back the cuff of sock #1 three times already. Attempt #1 resulted in some misplaced cables. I was ready to live with that, but when I tried the sock on for a final fitting before casting off, it wouldn't fit over my heel. I thought it _may_ be because of the misplaced cables, so I ripped back to the first cable round and restarted. Attempt #2 had perfectly placed cables, but it still would not fit over my heel, so I ripped back again, this time to the second set of cables. At this point, I switched from the 2.5 mm needles I was using for the cuff to 3.0 mm needles. This seems to the do the trick, but it's taken me about 2 weeks worth of commuter knitting (including 2 flights: prime knitting time!) to get to this point.

The Lift and Seperate wrap sweater (from the Big Girl Knits book) that I started the week before I left for NYC is still sitting on the needles and being neglected. I really want to plunge back into it, but this messing around with my socks has taken precedence. I like to have a sock on the needles to carry around and work on during the inevitable pauses in life (riding on public transit, waiting in airports, visiting relatives, etc.); I also like to be at the point where I can just work away and not have to do a lot of fiddling like short rowing the toes or heels. So I have to do those things at home during my evening knitting time.

Hey, it's spring! The weather may be a bit goofy, but it is still spring. That means there will start to be more gardening stuff added to my posts. Despite our recent cold snap (it snowed yesterday! Eeeekk!), everything is budding and getting ready to leaf out. I really like these transitional seasons. I spent most of the day last Saturday cutting down the ornamental grasses and cleaning up the beds. Now we're ready to really pop!

Knitterly New York

2007-03-26T17:47:00.000-05:00

I mentioned that Jamie and I were going to NYC for the Yarn Harlot's Represent event. While we encountered a few glitches on the first day, we made up for it the rest of the weekend.

Because I am still exhausted, I'm going to cop out a bit and just post the summary I wrote for the Windy City Knitting Guild newsletter.

One City...Two Knitters...Three Days...8 Yarn Stores

Fellow Guild member Jamie H. and I decided to represent Chicago at the Yarn Harlot's event and headed off to NYC in the early morning hours of March 22.

While we were drawn to New York City for the Yarn Harlot’s event, we just had to sample the yarn shops, too. We visited eight yarn shops in total, all in Manhattan. There may be many fine yarn shops we missed in Manhattan and the outer boroughs of New York City, but just visiting these eight over 2 ½ days was exhausting enough. Further explorations of what the greater New York area has to offer knitters will have to wait for another trip.

Weather delays prevented our flight from departing on time and we missed the more intimate gathering of knitters at the Imagine mosaic honoring John Lennon near Strawberry Fields in Central Park. However, we did meet up with many knitters as we yarn crawled our way to the main event at the Fashion Institute of Technology in the late afternoon.

Me and Guido from the It's a Purl, Man podcast at School Products.

Despite our delayed arrival on this first day, we managed to visit two veritable institutions as we made our way from the Grammercy Park neighborhood (where we bunked each night) to the midtown Fashion/Garment district where Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot) was hosting her big event.

The first stop, School Products, is known for its wide selection of coned yarn, and it did not disappoint. There were several tables full of cones and hanks of yarns composed of cashmere, silk, merino, cotton, linen, and various combinations of these fibers. One long table held a selection of hand-dyed hanks and drew a lot of attention. In addition to the tables, the walls were lined with shelf upon shelf of yarn from commercial distributors such as Karabella, Classic Elite, Brown Sheep, and Koigu, as well as books and magazines. A hand-dyed cashmere boucle proved too precious to resist, as did a couple skeins of Koigu.

The next stop was Habu Textiles. Habu is known for producing yarns made of unusual fibers, such as stainless steel and paper, blended with more traditional fibers like silk, cotton, and linen. The small shop was overwhelmed with knitters on this momentous day and proved a challenge to navigate. However, Habu products were found at several other yarn shops in Manhattan.

The balance of the afternoon and evening was spent at the Fashion Institute of Technology where we and dozens of other knitters were treated to a guided tour of the Knitting Laboratory by Professor Anne Denton. We then knitted away on our own projects or squares for Warm Up America (using yarn and needles generously donated by the Craft Yarn Council of America) while Stephanie Pearl-McPhee made us laugh and nod in agreement with her observations of how the world at large views knitters. The auditorium was packed with about 650 knitters who were given the opportunity to ask questions and share comments, too. Apparently the sharing went on past 9 PM, although we found ourselves staggering out at 8 PM, famished and exhausted.

My friend Harriet took us to Bright Food Shop to restore ourselves with a fabulous dinner. Afterwards, we hopped the 23rd Street bus eastwards and back to our room. I didn't mention the room in the write up for the Knitting Guild. We stayed in budget accomodations at the American Dream Hostel.

Jamie in our room at the hostel. Small, but private and with clean beds. Guess who lost the coin toss and got the top bunk? We had to sleep with the window open otherwise we would have roasted to death. The heat worked very well. Unfortunately, I am not acclimated to the sounds of Manhattan at night, and slept poorly even with my ear plugs. Ah, well, at least we had more $ for yarn.

The next morning (March 23), we set out for a long day of yarn shopping by stopping first at Knit New York in the East Village. A cozy combination of yarn shop and café, Knit New York had a balanced selection of basic and novelty/specialty yarns. Shelved neatly next to a large working table was an extensive collection of knitting books for in-store reference, with copies of popular titles for sale. We left Knit New York with a Habu handbag kit and more Koigu (on sale, too!), then continued on our way downtown.

Nestled in the midst of the Wall Street financial district was the most surprising yarn shop I’ve ever visited: Seaport Yarns. Imagine walking into a typical small office suite: reception area, small conference room, and offices strung along a central corridor. Now, imagine that in each of these areas exists shelf upon shelf of yarn, knitting books, needles, and other knitting products. One of the friendly ladies noted that Seaport was originally a market research company, and that they still serve some clients in this capacity. How they can perform their research while knitters wander into their office to view the selection of Anny Blatt is beyond me!

Seaport calls itself “the yarnaholics candy store,” and it more than delivers on this promise. The conference room was full of Louet products, while yet another room was devoted to sock yarns and needles. Several minutes into the “tour” we queried: Is there anything they don’t carry? After a few minutes of thought the response was Blue Sky Alpaca and Koigu.

The shopping possibilities were limited by one idiosyncrasy: Seaport takes only cash and checks, no credit or debit cards. I found the clearance and sock rooms irresistible, and picked up several skeins of soy silk with an unusual chained construction (hopefully enough for a camisole), as well as a hank of Colinette’s new Jitterbug sock yarn. My final haul also included some Diakeito, a multi-colored and plied Japanese yarn that will make lovely socks, and a wool/cotton blend sock yarn by Steinbach Wolle in irresistible sherbet-like shades.

We caught an uptown subway to SoHo where we took a much-needed lunch break before stopping in at Purl. For a small shop, Purl really packs in the yarn, and from floor to ceiling the walls are a scrumptious combination of color and texture. The popular book Last Minute Knitted Gifts was written by the owner of Purl, and it’s a treat to see the actual projects displayed in the store. Natural fibers are the focus of Purl’s inventory, and we were sorely tempted by some luminous yarn by Pear Tree. We escaped with a generous skein of Jade Sapphire silk/cashmere in a most unusual frosty shade called Silver Fern, a small skein of Habu cashmere nep, and a couple more skeins of Koigu.

Finally, we wrapped up Day 2 at The Point, a knitting café just a few blocks north and west of Purl. The selection of yarns was not as overwhelming as Seaport and Purl, and we leisurely explored in between sips of coffee and bites of pastry. Before we knew it, the afternoon was well-advanced and the after-work crowd began filtering in. The Point is open until 8 PM on Friday nights, and it was obvious that these knitters were regulars meeting up to stitch and mingle. We were welcomed in their midst, and wound up staying nearly until closing. Just enough time to finish one pair of socks and begin another.

Hanging out at The Point Knitting Cafe.

Saturday morning (March 24) we visited the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design on our way uptown. The exhibit was a fascinating combination of whimsical and awe-inspiring artwork in a variety of media. The Madison Avenue bus took us further uptown to String, the ultimate luxury yarn shop. Nearly every skein on display contained cashmere and was a tactile delight.

For a few hours, we took a break and enjoyed a visit with some stitching friends on the Upper East Side at Annie & Company Needlepoint. While not a yarn shop, the stitching ladies welcomed us to their large table in the center of this bright and warm shop for a bit of lunch and conversation. Within the next few months, Annie & Company will be opening a yarn shop, too, and we’re sure to make time to visit on our next trip to New York City.

The friendly stitching ladies at Annie & Company.

Finally, we crossed Central Park and wrapped up our yarn crawl at Knitty City on the Upper West Side. Upon walking into the store, we were immediately drawn to a table containing large hanks of Fleece Artist Sea Wool, a sock-weight yarn made of machine-washable merino and sea silk. Apparently, the yarn had just arrived that day and we had our pick of several hand-dyed colors. Knitty City was a warm and welcoming shop with a great selection of basic and luxury yarns, as well as an extensive collection of books and magazines. When we left the store over an hour later with our precious Fleece Artist yarn, a signed copy of the new Friday Night Knitting Club book, and a copy of Wild Fibers magazine, we also had a recommendation for a fine Italian restaurant we dined at that night.

After such exhausting travels on previous days, we were more than happy to spend our last day (Sunday, March 25) lounging in Central Park with our knitting for several hours before heading to the airport and back to Chicago. While we weren’t able to visit every yarn shop in Manhattan, we’d visited enough to get a good “flavor” for the town. Now whenever I think of New York I’ll also think of Koigu, since I encountered so much of it there. The most important thing learned while yarn crawling through New York? No sales tax on yarn!

Photos of the trip may are available on Flickr. Jamie took photos at many of the yarn shops and posted them here. More of my photos are available here.

Diversions

2007-03-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

Seems like every time I think about posting a new blog entry, I end up spending my evening working instead. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm NOT working tonight. *Well, only a little. Just responding to email I couldn't deal with during the day. That doesn't count, you know.*

My lovely Mermaid is not all I was working on the past few months. It's been winter, you know, and I realized a couple months ago that I owned no handknit hats or scarves. !!!! Really, any scarves and hats I've made (and I've made a few...just a few) have been gifts for others such as my neice, nephew, husband, etc.

So, I present here the final photos of my "minor" FOs the past few months:

At left: a pair of socks (of course) for me. Click the photo for a larger image. There's a bit of a story about the yarn that you can view here.

At right: a wimple. I found the pattern here, and worked on it while I was in Mexico. More details about materials, etc. are here.

At left: a My so-called scarf. Yeah, I succumbed to the temptation, too. Click for extras.

At right: My comfy, warm hat! Not only was this hat reworked 3 times, but it has a secret!

Below left: the "secret" inner hat to keep my head and ears really warm!

See, I have not had idle hands!

Next Big Thing: I'm heading to New York City with Jamie for the Yarn Harlot's Represent event. We're flying out on an obscenely early flight next Thursday AM, and staying through Sunday. We'll be staying at a hostel so we can save $$ on a room (where we'd spend little time) and have more $ to spend on yarn. (No surprise there, eh?) I'm interested to see how this hostel experience works out since I haven't stayed at a hostel in about 15 years. In addition to the YH's event we'll check out the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design. Other than that, we're leaving our plans open for serendipitous happenings.

Ode to a Mermaid

2007-03-06T12:30:00.000-06:00

Oh, lovely Mermaid

dancing in the breeze,

gussets flashing

subtle stripes revealed.

You are divine!

Here are the specs, also recorded in the description on Flickr.

This is a Hanne Falkenberg design called Mermaid, in colorway #3, size Medium. I started it in late October 2006 and finished February 25, 2007.

Mermaid is available only as a kit that includes the instructions and yarn, a 4-ply Shetland wool. It is knit sideways and entirely in garter stitch. I used US 3 (3.25 mm) Addi-Turbo needles to get gauge. The body is worked in one piece with short rowed gussets giving it a marvelous shape.

I originally bought the kit at Stitches Midwest from Yarn Barn of Kansas in 2005. I finally felt able to tackle such fine work a little over a year later. The small gauge and colorwork were a first for me, but the results are a lovely heirloom garment.

Back at it

2007-03-05T13:21:00.000-06:00

We've been getting some sun around here, which is a big improvement. Yesterday was sunny, and this afternoon the clouds lifted to reveal some lovely sunniness again. Natural light is the best for taking photos, so I feel doubly lucky that we've not only had a couple days break in the clouds, but I got a new digital camera yesterday. Woo hoo!

I actually broke down and ordered it last week through Amazon.com, but did the free super saver shipping option. Wow is it annoying to track your package when you opt for budget shipping. The package seems arrive at your local postal sorting station with great speed, but to then just sit there for days and days and days and days...All I'm saying is that this camera sat at the Forest Park, IL postal station for nearly a week before I got it. Mark says it's because the savings part means they deliver to your area when the truck is full, not just to meet a delivery date. Although if that's the case, then why are they working on Sunday? Isn't that a more expensive day to deliver it to me? Whatever...I'm glad I got it.

It is a Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, and boy is it sweet. Compact, with a 4x optical zoom, 6 megapixels, and an image stabilizer, it is powerful and solidly built. It actually is pretty weighty for its small size. My last camera was a Canon, and I can't say I ever had a problem with it. Until the LCD screen got messed up, but that wasn't an equipment failure. I paid about the same for this baby as I did for my Canon SD 200 2 years ago.

After the battery was all charged up, I took a few shots in the house. By this time it was early evening, and I caught a napping dog:

I then optimized the Manual focus settings for better flash and color (that Vivid setting is great!) and took another shot:

Can you see the difference? This second one is much less washed out and the color of the chair is spot on. Although, Sadie had moved a bit and you can't see quite as much of her "squeaker" toy. (Notice how it is carefully tucked away so no one -- meaning Hannah -- can mess with it while she takes a nap?)

What I was really eager to photograph though, is my latest and greatest knitting FO. I guess I will have to create another post for it, though, as Blogger has decided to not let me upload any more photos. Hang tight!

A little taste of Mexico

2007-02-21T07:37:00.000-06:00

I've finally uploaded the few photos I have from my Mexico trip to my Flickr account. I didn't take very many photos myself, and the following series was taken by Harriet (thanks!).

Raquel, one of the ladies on the spa trip, grew up in Mexico. One evening, she shared with us a type of fruit that she recalls eating in her youth. Here's Raquel showing us the fruit and how to prepare it for eating.

The fruit is cut open and served up with a spoon, sort of like a soft boiled egg. Raquel described the flavor as "delicious," but it certainly didn't look that way. When it was cut open, it looked sort of lot snot. Snot with lots of chunky boogers in it. You can see it here in my hand.

See how it's sort of viscous and slimy? See those chunks of stuff? Those are the seeds (boogers). I decided that the easiest way to eat the thing was to down it like an oyster. So...

Down the hatch! It actually was delicious. The seeds added a crunchiness that reminded me of noshing on a pomegranate.

I make a habit of trying available local food or culinary specialities whenever I travel, and this is far from the strangest thing I've eaten. (I think the fried caterpillars in Zambia would rate as the strangest.) Wish I could recall the name of the fruit! If you have any idea, leave a note in the comments.

The newest workout: shovel aerobics

2007-02-14T22:36:00.000-06:00

Actually, I can't really complain much about the amount of shoveling. Honestly, 9 inches of snow (especially this fairly light, powdery stuff) is nothing compared to what those poor folks in upper NY state have been enduring for the past few weeks. I just can't imagine having snow piled up to the eaves of my house!

For all the fuss, I'd have thought that the storm would be worse. Yes, the south end of Lake Shore Drive had to be shut down last night due to white out conditions, but this is Chicago after all. We're hardy folk used to weather extremes and harsh winters. Right?

I'd much rather have the snow than the extreme cold of the past 2 weeks. Snow can be pretty and fun. I've enjoyed watching the dogs deal with it: drifts in the back yard are as tall as their shoulders, and they bound through them valiantly, following their standard route patrolling the boundaries of the yard. And Hannah just loves to snap her jaws along the surface, snatching up mouthfuls of snow. I swear, Hannah will eat anything.

Diversions

The Spring 2007 Interweave Knits came in the mail yesterday! There are several patterns that interest me, but none more than the Cable-Down Raglan by Stefanie Japel.

Front and back are stunning. I love the shaping and the tailored look. As soon as I finish Mermaid, I think this will be my next project.

I had to dive into the stash today to see what I had on hand that could work for this pattern. The pattern calls for Louet Gems Worsted (100% merino wool), but I only have one odd skein of that in my stash. While I haven't been following the Knit from Your Stash fad this year, I do realize that I have quite a stash by now and that I really should use yarn I have on hand if at all possible. Besides, I'm already awaiting two packages (my first shipment from the Rockin' Sock Club and some stuff -- not yarn, but accoutrements -- from Knit Picks), and I just don't want to have a third on the way right now.

So, a quick run through stash reveals these choices for the Cable-Down Raglan:

Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the Sage color. (80% cotton/20% wool)
Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton in color #702 (?), a royal blue. (50% cotton/50% wool)
Knit Picks Merino Style in Hollyberry (a deep red) color. (100% merino wool)
Lorna's Laces Dove in either Lilac or Chocolate colors. (80% wool/20% cotton)

I'm leaning towards the Lorna's Laces Dove in Lilac, 'cause I think this tweedy yarn and soft, spring-like color will work very well with the pattern. I'd love to hear other opionons in the Comments, though.

OK, I'm off to bed now. A cab is picking me up a 6 AM tomorrow (yikes!) so I can catch a flight to Dallas to attend a 2-day meeting. At least it will be moderately warmer there.

Winter Sports

2007-02-12T19:28:00.000-06:00

After reading Yarn Harlot's blog today, I see that one of my issues with winter is that I don't do winter sports. Unless shoveling counts as a winter sport, that is. I did some of that today, and if the weather report is accurate, I'll have more to do tomorrow. Rah, rah.

I can appreciate the beauty of winter. Dry, powdery snow looks awfully pretty in the right light: it's so sparkly.

Our winter sports seem to revolve around the TV. I watch lots of TV in the winter, and this year I'm glad that we upgraded to an HDTV. Wow, what a difference! I'm sure many of the folks on camera are horrified when they first see what they look like on HDTV. (Oprah, I'm sure your makeup artists are very skilled, but they just can't hide those bags and dark circles under your eyes from the HD; please give yourself a rest.)

The incredible irony for us is how we receive our HD signal: from a plain vanilla roof antenna.

In November 2005, we lost the connection to our roof antenna in a wind storm. We called around trying to find someone who would reconnect it for us, but no one wanted to get up on our roof in the late fall/winter. So, after a couple months of vainly trying to pull in a decent signal with an indoor ("rabbit ears") antenna, we bit the bullet and signed up for satellite TV. (I was not going to even entertain the idea of signing up for cable TV. The company that owns the cable franchise in our area, Comcast, is just plain evil in my book. E-V-I-L. Never getting any of my business at all.)

So, last February the satellite dish is set up and we got TV again. I was happy to have TV, but not so happy to be paying for it. I just don't understand the concept of paying for TV unless I get it ad-free. Then, I can see why I'd have to pay for it.

In the spring, we got a call from one of the guys we'd contacted that he could reconnect our antenna. Even though we had the satellite, we decided to go for so we could have a back up TV-viewing source.

We got the new HDTV in November. We noticed our old TV (12+ years old, and still kicking) was starting to have picture challenges, so we decided to upgrade. We didn't get an LCD or a plasma; we found a nice TV with an HD tuner and a traditional picture tube (very reliable technology) that was thinner than average. (But not lighter than average. Oy, I forgot how heavy a picture tube is!)

The HD tuner is built into the set, and it was capable of using dual antenna sources. So, we hooked up the roof antenna as well as the satellite and tried to tune in an HD channel through the roof antenna. (We weren't paying for an HD satellite service, so that wouldn't work). The only HD channel we tuned in was CBS, none of the other local channels worked. We were very disappointed, and figured that we needed a new roof antenna to pull in HD. So, we just gave up.

After the new year, we were seeing all these notices about local programming being broadcast in HD. So, we gave the roof antenna a try again. Voila! We got LOTS of HD channels: CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, etc. Our local public broadcast station, WTTW, broadcasts over 3 channels now, 2 of which are HD and show different programs during the same time slot. Awesome!

I swear we're watching the local broadcast channels more than the satellite channels that we're paying for! Hmmm...maybe it's time to get rid of the satellite, eh? Although I would miss Comedy Central and my South Park fix...Maybe after the winter TV viewing season is over. Excuse me now while sign off to go catch some TV.

The cruelest month

2007-02-11T17:58:00.000-06:00

It's February. Rah, rah. I've often said that February is the cruelest month, and this year I think many others will agree with me.

January is usually the month where we get all the bitter cold weather in Chicago. Then we limp along through February until spring finally starts to make an appearance in March. February may be the shortest month of the year if you just look at the calendar, but the way we experience it is as too many days between us and the thaw.

This year, February has been the bitter cold month and we're not limping through it, we're hunkering down and just praying for it to pass.

Last Monday morning, we found that the pipes in our master bathroom had frozen over night. This has never happened to us in the 5+ years we've lived in this house. I had just returned from a week in Mexico the night before, and it was not quite the homecoming that I wanted. The day I flew back to Chicago from my week-long trip to the lovely spa in Ixtapan de la Sal, the high temperature was 4 Farenheit (that's -16 C...without the windchill).

While I enjoyed my break in central Mexico, I spent most of it infected with the nasty flu that my husband passed to me as a parting gift. So, my vacation wasn't as fun and carefree as it could have been. But, I was in a fairly warm spot for a week. And, I was getting a massage every day. Yeah, it was a rude awakening to come back to the deep freeze.

Random Stuff

I saw yet another commercial on TV this week that is shamelessly using one of the special songs from my youth. At least GM had the decency to re-record I Melt with You and not use the original version recorded by Modern English.*
The new Imbolc issue of AntiCraft is out, and while it is a short one Zabet has included the pattern of her (in)famous Snatchel. I'm going to have give it a try, but likely not soon. I have other items to finish first.
I'm slaving away at the sleeves on Mermaid and hoping to finish it by the end of February. (Maybe that would improve my feelings about this month.) I'm immensely thankful for the Hannah Falkenberg KAL and Amy. I could never have worked the pattern successfully just from the booklet that came in the kit; it's just too confusing. While I love many other Hannah pattern's, I just can't imagine working one without one of Amy's clear, concise spreadsheets.
My other knitting project (the one for commuting) is socks for Mark. He wanted long, calf-length socks, so I'm working on the Gentleman's Half Hose from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.

Well, that's enough for now. No photos since my camera seems to be busted. I think the LCD screen was jabbed somehow during one of the numerous hand searches in the Mexico City airport. I'm waiting to see if Mark's theory that letting it sit with the battery out for some time (not sure how long "some time" is) will help. If not, then I'll have to either buy a new camera and send it back to Canon for repair.

*This is actually not the first time I Melt With You has been violated in the name of commerce. My friend Adrienne reminded me that it was used previously in a commercial and that I was outraged. Apparently, it was used in a Burger King commercial.

Surprise me

2007-01-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

I guess I'm just a naive person. Or maybe I'm too much of an idealist. Yeah, that sounds right: I'm a naive idealist.

Last night I was watching television and a new commercial for M&Ms came on. Maybe you've seen the new campaign they've launched: There's an M in everyone. I was sitting there, knitting, and half-tuned in when I realized: I know the song they are playing to accompany the commercial and it just doesn't belong there.

Really, what is This is the Day by The The doing in an M&Ms commercial????!!!! I feel...betrayed.

More and more, commercials are featuring music by the original artists. I've gotten used to that. But up until now, those tunes were ones that were most meaningful to the baby boomers. It was their music that was being used so crassly. What did I care? Baby boomers could sell-out; that was fine with me. They're a big market and everyone wants a bit of their money. Last night, I realized that my generation is now being appealed to like the baby boomers. When did this happen? When did my generation become the latest, greatest demographic to exploit?

Last night, after I mentally picked myself up off the floor, I turned to Mark and poured this thought stream out on him.

Me: That's a song from a pretty obscure band. It's targeted directly to my generation. I can't believe it. The The. In an M&M's commercial.
Mark: Oh, I've heard of The The. I've heard that song before.
Me: Yeah, only because of me; because I have all the The The CDs and play them.
Mark: Well...that's true...

You smile and think how much you've changed
All the money in the world couldn't buy back those days

Yes, and that's exactly why hearing this song has disturbed me so much.

I have one question for Matt Johnson: Do you no longer think this is true?

The The was pretty controversial. Lyrics tackled thorny topics like globalization, religious extremism, and human sexuality. I liked that. It wasn't just about grooving to a beat, but also thinking about your impact on the world.

When they played here in Chicago many years ago [a time that despite hanging around outside the Riv in the bitter cold with my friend Kelly, we couldn't score any extra tickets], a local rock critic noted that it was "music for the terminally depressed." [So not true!] I can't even fathom why anyone thought that a song by such a band could be used to sell candy.

You could've done anything
If you'd wanted
And all your friends and family think that you're lucky
But the side of you they'll never see
Is when you're left alone with the memories
That hold your life together ... like glue

*sigh* I'm too young to be so nostaligic; I'm too old to be so surprised.

Just waiting for the upgrade...

2007-01-17T18:42:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a convenient excuse for not blogging for so long!

Just imagine the usual excuses (traveling, working, prepping for holidays) x 10. Working on web content as a day to day job makes me pretty sick of hunching over my laptop, staring at a screen all the time. When I had the flexibility to take some time off over the holidays, I did _not_ want to go near my laptop any more than was necessary.

I was pretty industrious over the holidays, too. I made a sweater jacket -- from cast on to blocking -- in about 10 days. It was my holiday gift to myself.
This jacket is really warm. It's made with Noro Kocheron, which is a blend of wool, silk, and angora. I'd picked up an entire bag of 10 skeins at the very last minute during Stitches Midwest this past August, and thought that I may felt with it. But, I liked the idea of using the yarn's striping to my advantage by making a sideways-knit project. I happened to have the pattern for Lara from the Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk pattern booklet (the first one), because I had admired this jacket on a fellow SnB member about a year ago and ordered it for myself. So, when I got the itch to make a sweater over my holiday time off, all these things fell into place for me at just the right time.

Up until last week, we've had such a freakishly warm winter that I thought I'd never get a chance to wear it. But, now the weather has shifted and I'm actually getting a lot of use out of this sweater.

In December I got a bit of a break from all the work travel, but it's started picking up in January. Last week I was in New York City from Monday until Friday.

This is maybe the 8th business trip I've had to make to NYC in the past few years, and I finally am getting to appreciate the city a bit. I had last Thursday evening free, and I did something very unusual for me: I attended a musical theater performance.

Well, here I was staying and working in the Theater District all week and walking by these theaters every day on my way from hotel to office and back again. So, I decided to ask my friend Adrienne (who has herself performed in several musicals) for a few recommendations. I had literally 5 minutes to stop at a theater and buy a ticket before meeting some colleagues for a drink, and since I was walking right by the Walter Kerr Theatre, and it was one of her recommendations...well...I went to see Grey Gardens.

Wow.

I loved the whole experience. The theater was a lovely gem, and I felt so connected to the performers in that small, intimate setting. (Well, compared to the cavernous auditoriums that we call theaters in Chicago, it was pretty small and intimate, even though there were at least 200 people in there.) The performance was compelling and the story was wonderful: funny, sad, and really moving. Yeah, I had a few tears in my eyes at the end, but I wasn't depressed by it or anything.

By the time the performance was over, it was after 10:30 PM and I hadn't eaten anything for dinner. So, I stopped by one of those little Asian delis and picked up some salad and a beer, then headed back to the hotel. Now I certainly couldn't have done that in Chicago!

I really felt like I was in a dream sequence or something that night. Walking along Broadway, with all the lights and people about...on a buzz from such a lovely experience at the theater...able to find a decent selection of food at such an odd hour...Now I see why people love New York City.

What do you think of this new Blogger template? I like the new Labels; it's something I really wanted from blogging software and I'm glad they've added this functionality.

So pretty

2006-11-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

We had two glorious days in Big Sur. Yes, I made the drive and didn't totally break down or kill us (obviously). Driving down to the Big Sur Lodge was pretty difficult for me. When we got to the room, I had to lay down for an hour even though it was only the middle of the afternoon. That night, I crashed at about 8 PM and slept straight through until 7 AM the next morning. All that anxiety around the drive really sucked up a lot of my energy.

But, I did get used to the drive and get a bit better. On our return drive back up north, I barely had a twinge as we approached Bixby Bridge, whereas on the drive down I nearly hyperventilated when I saw it.

Mark took many photos with his much better camera, but I have to wait until we get home to upload them since he forgot to bring his transfer cable.

We went to Esalen on Sunday for massages and a dip in the baths. The natural hot-spring baths are right on the edge of the cliffs, and the view is truly stunning. Massages are given in the same place, and it was an incredible experience to be listening to the surf below you, feel the sea winds, and have such incredible body work at the same time. It also leads to a bit of interesting mind tricks to get totally naked with a bunch of strangers and share a hot tub. But that's another story...Will I sound like a total granola crunching idiot if I say that Esalen was a spiritual experience for me?

Today is our last full day, and we're going off to the Monterey Bay Acquarium and Cannery Row.

Santa Cruz'in

2006-11-03T20:25:00.000-06:00

Today we were here

Santa Cruz Wharf on a grey, rainy morning.

And we saw this

Sea lions "bunking" under the wharf.

I was totally delighted by the sea lions under the wharf. I think Mark was pretty bored by it after a few minutes, but I walked around the pier listening for their "barks" and peeking at them.

We also visited a winery tasting room in Felton and got lost trying to get to Bonny Doon winery. Mark's mobile phone signal died, and with it the GPS directions/locator. We were on a little twisty road in a mountain pass in the middle of the redwoods. I guess it would have been pretty cool if I weren't a bit freaked out by the smallness of the road and the fact that we were hugging a mountain. Good practice for Big Sur, which I will attempt to drive to tomorrow.

From the left coast

2006-11-02T14:13:00.000-06:00

A quick entry from San Jose, California where I've been attending a conference for last week. Some things that I've been exposed to this week so far...

- Jeffrey Veen (Google)
- David Weinberger
- David Snowden
- The word "innovation" in many different sessions and contexts
- Red bean smoothies with tapioca pearls

Mark is flying in tonight and we're heading to the coast. We'll start out in Santa Cruz then head on to Big Sur. I'm excited and scared that I'll be driving along Highway 1, perched above the rugged Pacific coast line and hugging a mountain. I hope my fear of plunging to my death from a great height doesn't cause my hands to tremble so much on the steering wheel that the fear becomes a reality.

If we survive the drive to Big Sur, we'll stay there for a few days before heading back up to Monterrey, and then back home. I'm also hoping the weather holds out, because it is getting cloudy here and there is a chance of rain almost every day. I don't want to be slogging through a downpour while hiking around Big Sur.

Geez, I sure can find lots to worry about, can't I?

I'm not sure if I'll be blogging, but as I get Internet access I will be uploading photos to my Flickr account.

Now, on to lunch and final sessions of the conference!

More Love/Hate

2006-10-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

As a bit of an experiment, I'm going to continue my love/hate rant in a new post and see if Blogger lets me add more photos... And indeed it does. WTF, Blogger?

Anyway, back to the hats. The one on the right is the first hat I knit. I used some new yarn that I got at Michael's, Patons SWS, a wool/soy blend. I've never knit with Southwest Trading Company's Karaoke yarn, but I think it's similar.

The first hat I knit is the one on the right. I used the recommended needle size, a US 9, and made a plain stockinette hat with a garter stitch brim following the pattern for Kim's Hats in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The fabric has a nice drape to it, but it did nothing to keep off the chill on a cool morning. Plus, it's a bit "tall" for my head.

Hat #2 is much beefier. I used the same yarn, a US 7 needle, and a sturdier stitch pattern. Same garter stitch brim, but the stitch pattern is knit all sts on round 1, then K1, Sl 1 on round 2. This makes a much thicker fabric. (Thanks, Jamie, for the idea.) However, I made the hat too "short" and it rides up a bit, potentially exposing my ears. I think they will both be frogged.

I love these things totally...
Pedicure Socks, completed while I was sick. Hey, if you're sitting around sick all day, it's good to work on small projects. Finishing these up in a day did help me feel a bit better. Plus, I was able to get my pedicure, and walk out the salon lickity split, instead of smearing my new pedi while putting on socks and shoes.

Mighty Leaf's Breakfast Americana tea. Ever since I tried my first cup of this tea, I loved it and craved it. But it only seemed to be available in assortment boxes in my local store. On the days that I'm at home, I drink tea in the morning (several cups of it), so I really wanted to get more than one or two bags in a box. Then I found that I could order it online. Today I received my shipment of 100 tea bags. Ahh....

OK, so I'm a tea snob! Psst...their Orange Dulce tea is also mighty fine. I only got one small box of that, though.

Love/Hate Situations

2006-10-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

Sounds heavy, doesn't it? Well, I'm going to spill my guts here about some deep intimate secrets, but this topic seems to keep popping up for me lately.

I love my kitty. I hate my kitty. Just look at her. What a cutie pie, right? So innocent looking. But then she does something that really flips my switches. I've taken to refering to her as "cockroach kitty" because she WILL get into whatever food you leave laying around, including the remains left on plates and bowls when you're done with your meal.

I hear the tink sound of cutlery against the dishes and know that if I dashed into the kitchen I'd find her licking the remains of dinner off a plate Mark casually sat in the sink for washing up. I keep reminding Mark to rinse his dishes off right away or the "cockroach kitty" will get them. What's worse is when she finds some sort of food (or even non-food) item on the counter and knocks it down to the floor. Sadie is happy to pick up from there to consume (or chew to bits) the item. I wonder what kind of kick backs Sadie is giving Fiona.

Today while I'm diligently working away in the office, I hear her messing with stuff in the bedroom. What's she into this time? She's figured out how to use the little drawer pulls on my jewelry box so she can open them up and mess around with the contents. I don't have a lot of fancy jewelry in there, but I still don't want it strewn around the bedroom. Especially since Sadie would be happy to chew it up. (See note above.)

Not only is my costume jewelry at risk, but so are my hair ties. See, I started stuffing them in there after she figured out how to get into the little container I've always kept them in. Fiona loves to play with and chew up my hair ties, and although this is cheap and relatively harmless toy, I do need to tie my hair back sometimes and need them for their intended purpose. Now they are back inside the old container, which is inside one of my dresser drawers. Let's she her figure that out! She's smart, that's for sure, but this behavior still annoys me.

Oh, and I also no longer drink water from a glass because of her antics. Now I use one of those refillable sports bottles for my water (and I drink mostly water these days). Would you want to drink a glass of water that the cat just dipped her paw in? I don't want litter-box flavored water.

And then...then she rubs up against me purring away in the morning when I get up, and I forget all of the annoyances.

I love my hat. I hate my hat. What's so hard about knitting a hat? Why do I have so much trouble making a simple hat? When I made one for Mark in the spring, I recall having to cast on and frog it several times. When the weather started getting nippy, I realized that I didn't have a "squishable" hat anymore. I had a polar fleece one for many years, but it finally was irretrievably lost in the early spring. I also have sheepskin hats that are very warm, but they aren't the kind you can squish up and stuff in your pocket. So, I thought I'd whip up a quick hat for myself.

[OK, and here's where I say, "I love Blogger. I hate Blogger." Why, oh why, do you make it so f***ing difficult to post photos sometimes, Blogger? I guess this is it for posting today. Bite me, Blogger. I'm ready for a new blogging software now.]

Feed Me

2006-10-18T23:30:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about food a lot lately. This is partly because I've been on a diet, partly because of the whole e. coli/spinach fiasco, and partly because of a fabulous book I recently finished: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

When Omnivore's Dilemma was released in April 2006, I snatched it up at the bookstore. I've read two other Michael Pollan books (including The Botany of Desire, probably my favorite non-fiction book) and knew that I'd want to read this one. It sat in a stack of "to-be-read" books for months, though.

I had planned to take it on a grand road trip vacation with my sister and mother last July, but the chance to go to India for work conflicted with the road trip idea, so the book and I didn't travel together this summer. It's a 1.5 lb hard cover book, so it's not the kind of thing I take with me during my daily commute or during business trips, either. Finally, about 6 weeks ago I couldn't wait any longer and started reading the book at home in the evenings. (This meant less knitting time, but so be it.)

Wow, it was just as fabulous as I thought it would be: intriguing, enlightening, and totally eye-opening.

The first section on the industrial scale prodution of our food -- possible due to the heavily subsidized abundance of corn (Zea mays) -- really floored me. I've always been one those shoppers that reads labels in the grocery store, but I never realized just how many of the ingredients in processed foods come from corn.

About a week into the book, the e.coli/spinach event happened. By that time, I'd already been reading the second section of the book that looks at organic and sustainable agricultural practices (sadly, they aren't necessarily the same thing.) The timing was incredible and I found myself using the word "prescient" a lot when referring to the book and it's writer, Michael Pollan. I wasn't the only one making a connection to the book and the event. Michael Pollan was interviewed on NPR, Omnivore's Dilemma was noted in several press articles, and the farmer whom is featured very prominantly in the second section, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, was interviewed on On Point (which you can find through iTunes, as well).

I can't recommend enough that everyone read this book to get some much-needed perspective on our food system.

As for the dieting, I started on the Seattle Sutton plan about a month ago. I've thinking about doing this for nearly a year. I rarely can make the time to cook anymore, and had found that nearly every meal I ate was take out or a frozen dinner. I know that's not very healthy. Over the summer, it seemed that I just suddenly gained weight. I found that in July I couldn't comfortably wear any of the clothing that I had bought just 3 months before. Some if this had to do with the SSRI I was taking, but I couldn't ignore the fact that I was also making poor food choices.

I don't own a scale, so I can't say how many pounds I've lost. But I can say that my clothes are fitting a bit more loosely, and I'm going to keep this up for a while.

I stopped the SSRI, too. I had received no warning from my doctor that one of the side effects is weight gain. This just pissed me off, frankly. Oh, just what you need when you're feeling down: to get fat! I'm now taking 5HTP and getting started on some St. John's Wort, too. Those supplements, the new diet, and doing more walking seem to be working just fine for my mood.

Ewww!

2006-10-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

Apparently, some people in this country will eat anything that's been deep fried. Anything. And just what do you wash this down with?

Full Stop

2006-10-11T14:03:00.000-05:00

I've been forced to full stop by a nasty cold. Because I'm too sick to exert myself much, I'm not doing very much work and can catch up on my blogging.

I actually had planned to take most of this week off of work to get some personal organizational stuff done, but having the cold seals the deal. Since I've had to attend a conference call or two this week already, everyone at the office understands that I'm sick and can't be expected to squeeze in work this week. I guess my body knows when it needs a break, eh?

Quite a bit has been going on, too, like...

Changes to my garden landscape.

Before... After...

There's more. Like this:

Before... After...

Isn't this wonderful? It will have to grown more for the true design to be seen, but I think it's wonderful. No more lawn to mow! I can't understand why so many people in the city have a lawn in front of their houses. I mean, it isn't large enough for kids to enjoy, and it's a huge waste of water, fertilizer, fuel, etc. to keep the darn thing going.
Notice where the gutters are located? They're directed into the rain garden, a nice little area to drain the water and filter it into the ground (where it belongs) and not the sewer.

Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

I didn't do any of this myself. I hired a great landscaper to work out the design and then to install it. There's more to come in the spring, too. This was just Phase I of my grand plan for the front and back and of my house. Phase II comes in the spring.

There's been a bit of knitting going on, too. I made some socks for Mark. And I've worked a bit on a lace shawl I'm test knitting for a fellow Windy City Knitting Guild member. [Blogger is being a pain again and not allowing me to upload more photos, so if you want to see any of these things be sure to follow the links.]

So, all in all I've been pretty productive, even if I haven't been very communicative.

What I've been doing on my summer vacation...

2006-09-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

Cleaning up the house. (General de-cluttering and seasonal laundry like washing the slipcovers on the living room furniture and the winter bedding).
Taking the pets to the vet for shots and check ups. (Way overdue, but now completed).
Picking, processing, and freezing beans from the garden.
Picking and freezing tomatoes from the garden.
Picking and eating raspberries from the garden. (Sensing a theme here?)

I haven't really been taking a summer vacation, but I have taken a day off of work here and there for personal business that really needs to be addressed. Still on my list:

Taking the car in for routine service.
Cleaning up my mail pile. (You don't want to see the pile of mail that I've accumulated over the past 2 months. It is an out of control mix of junk, magazines, catalogs, and bills. I've been pulling out the bills so I can pay them on time, but leaving the rest to accumulate. Except for the knitting magazines and yarn catalogs, of course. I know how to prioritize.)

On my days off I've been avoiding the computer. I know that my blog has been languishing, but I've just had too much to do around the house. On the days I've worked, I've been putting in long hours or very intense days, and I usually feel like unwinding away from the computer. So, when I take a break, I knit.

I've finished up a project that shall remain nameless for now. (It's a gift for a family member that may read this blog, so I'd rather not reveal it yet.) I've also started some socks for Mark (my commuting project), a shawl pattern I am test knitting for a fellow Windy City Knitting Guild member, and an easy hooded scarf pattern in preparation for the winter.

Yep, there's a lot keeping me busy right now, but there will be more to come in the days ahead.

Secret blogging

2006-08-10T20:18:00.000-05:00

Shhh...I'm actually on a conference call right now for work. It doesn't require 100% of my brain, so I'm slipping in a little blogging while others are talking. (Yes, it is currently after 8 PM local time; I have one of THOSE sorts of jobs that can conveniently be done remotely: anytime, anywhere. Note the emphasis on conveniently...sitting at home on a Thursday night working when I could be out drinking wine with friends is not ideal to me.)

Not only am I sort of underwhelmed here (no criticism, but I've been through this agenda many times before), but I wanted to blog about my latest finished object: more socks!

I knitted these from some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock acquired during the special tour for the Windy City Knitting Guild. The yarn was labeled "Millends" and I didn't recognize the color from the usual LL lineup, so I don't think it is widely available. It may just be one of a kind. *smirk*

Aaaannnyyyway...the socks were knit top down using the general "recipe" and garter rib pattern from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book. I started these after I took the sock knitting seminar from Lucy Neatby (also through the Windy City Knitting Guild), so I incorporated some of the techniques I learned: the garter stitch heel and the garter stitch toe. I figured with a garter rib pattern in the "body" of the sock, the garter stitch heel and toe would fit in nicely.

According to Lucy, the garter stitch in the heel and toe are more durable. The heel is knit from the other end of the yarn ball, so it is possible to replace the heel later if there is a lot of wear, too. While I haven't noticed a lot of wear and tear on the heels of my handknit socks, I have noticed it on my store-bought ones. So, we'll see how this heel wears compared to the typical slip stitch and stockinette heels I've worked before.

Here I attempted to upload a link to a photo on my Flickr account showing more detail on the sock, but unfortunately Blogger is sucking ass tonight and not allowing me to publish the photo. (If you offend easily, pardon my language...I'm angry and have been watching a lot of South Park and listening to a lot of Dawn and Drew podcasts. Why? Because I like them! Yes, I am a potty-mouthed smartass at heart.)

One final note about these socks...I began sock #2 on the second segment of my return flight from Hyderabad, India (the Frankfurt to Chicago flight, to be exact) and completed it through the heel turning. I guess I'm impressed with how much knitting I can do when I have 8 hours of uninterrupted knitting time.

I'm going to start a pair of Widdershins socks next. I'm really intrigued by incorporating a heel flap in a toe-up sock. I just have to master the cast on technique first.

If it seems like I (and others) are knitting a lot of socks lately, that's probably because they are such a fabulous summer project. Not only are they highly portable (making them my favorite commuting project), but working on socks doesn't involve having heaps of knitted fabric resting in your lap. Even if that fabric is cotton or linen, it can get pretty annoying when the humidity and thermometer are soaring.

But you already knew that, didn't you?

I bet you didn't know that I harvested my first homegrown tomatoes yesterday, did you? I don't eat them (they smell evil to me), but Mark said the one he ate was delicious. I would attempt to photograph one of the beautiful tomatoes and post the photo here for you to admire, but see my previous nasty comment about Blogger and photos.

OKC and OGC*

2006-08-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

Dancing_socks
Originally uploaded by Linda N..

I've been traveling and working a lot, but I have also been knitting. Really. Above are the socks I was writing about a couple months ago: my first toe-up socks made with Knit Picks Dancing yarn. As you can see, they turned out well, despite all the frogging. I actually finished these in June, but didn't get around to photographing them for a while.

By Thursday of this past week, both the weather and my body were in sync for once and I was finally able to do some gardening. (With my jet-lag and the EXTREME heat and humidity we've been having, getting anything done in the yard has been a challenge.) I didn't pause to take photos, but believe me the raspberry patch was a jungle.

Raspberries really aren't that complicated to grow and they require little attention from the gardener. I have black, red, and yellow raspberries. There is some variation in caring for them, but the general guidelines are the same.

If you want to get all technical, the terms to remember when it comes to raspberries are primocanes and floricanes. Primocanes are the new canes that emerge within a growing season; floricanes are last year's canes. Black raspberries bear fruit only on the floricanes; red and yellow raspberries bear fruit on the primocanes, but will also fruit on the floricanes if you prune them in season 1, and let them stand over the winter.

Got it? Here's how it works in reality.

The black raspberries only bear once a year, in the early summer. After the harvest, the canes that fruited get cut to the ground. Shortly after that, it's time to prune the primocanes that emerged this year. They need to be lopped off so they're about 3 feet tall. If they're not pruned down, they snake all over the place and will root themselves if they can. (The black rapsberries also have thorny canes, so it's highly unpleasant to walk into one of those long, snaky canes if they haven't been pruned.) Plus, this pruning also makes the plant put out horizontal branches, which are the ones that bear the most fruit. So, by lopping them off, the gardener is forcing the plant to produce many fruiting branches. Although the "official" guidlines don't mention this, I usually end up doing a pruning of these horizontal branches in the spring, too. By then the horizontal canes have become really long and need a bit of controlling.

The yellow and the red raspberries send up new canes in the spring/summer that bear fruit in the late summer. After they bear, I prune off the top of the cane where they've fruited, and leave these canes to overwinter. In the early summer, those canes bear fruit again, and then I prune these floricanes to the ground. In the meantime, a bunch of new primocanes have sprung up and by this time of year are already flowering and setting fruit. So, I get two batches of fruit from them: one in the early summer and one in the late summer.

I was WAY behind in pruning out the canes that had fruited earlier this summer, so it was a crazy mess of new and old canes in the 'ol raspberry patch. This was bad not just 'cause it's poor gardening practice, but also because the compost bins are across the path from the raspberry patch and we had to sort of wiggle our way into this jungle to dump our compost.

Thursday night was pretty productive for me at home. After getting all sweaty and sticky from tackling the raspberries, I cooled down by bathing the dogs outside with the hose. I thought the cool water was refreshing, but I guess they didn't.

Yesterday it was cool enough outside to finish up more overdue gardening chores. I weeded the veggie patch, picked beans, and dug up the garlic. Nobody had picked anything in the garden for nearly 2 weeks, so most of the beans were added to the compost bin. (My neighbor was going to tend the garden for me while I was gone, but she ended up being really ill and unable to do so; Mark just wasn't sure what to do.) I'm disappointed in this year's garlic harvest, too. The bulbs are all pretty small. Actually, I had dug a few up before I left, but thought that if I left them in the ground a bit longer perhaps the bulbs would get bigger. No chance. Instead, the plants withered even more and the garlic was starting to sort of rot in the ground. Yuck!

Today I'm just going to kick back and enjoy my home, I think. It's good to be back.

* For those who may not know, OKC = obligatory knitting content; OGC = obligatory gardening content.

Reflections

2006-07-31T07:33:00.000-05:00

My last few days in Hyderabad went by too quickly. I packed a lot into 2 days: visits to Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs, and Salar Jung Museum; dinner with a colleague; lunch with another colleague's wife; last minute shopping; and a party. No wonder I was so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately after getting on the plane in Hyderabad. I don't even remember taking off!

I took many, many photos at Golconda Fort and a few at the Tombs.

Entering Golconda Fortess

Shah's Mosque on the Golconda Heights

Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the Salar Jung Museum. Frankly, I didn't want to take photos of the Museum exhibits at all, but would have loved to take photos of the infrastructure. The toilets, for example, were the most foreign I have ever seen. I had heard about the "squatter" toilets -- where the bowl is built into the floor and the user just squats over it -- but I had never seen one until then. I had to use one (not just for the experience, but I really HAD to use one); it was an interesting experience, especially since there was no toilet paper.

This may be a major digression, but...I don't understand Indian toilet habits, although I'd really like to. Even with Western toilets I ran across situations where there was no toilet paper offered. (Making me very glad that I always carry facial tissues.) Universally present was some way to direct water onto your body parts, though. In modern facilities, there was a hose with a sprayer on the end attached to a spigot, while in the squatter toilets there was a small urn under the water spigot. Just how is one to use these things? Was I supposed to wash myself off after peeing by spraying myself? If so, how was I supposed to dry myself before pulling up my panties? (Recall that there was no paper available.) Even more confounding to me were the urns of water. They had a spigot on them, but I would have had to splash the water on myself manually to wash off. I was really glad I didn't have to try to do anything else besides pee in these toilets, 'cause trying to figure out how to clean up after THAT just really blew my mind!

I got caught in the rain while finishing up at the Tombs. It was actually quite refreshing, until I entered the air conditioned car. Brrr!

Speaking of rain, I realize that I didn't write about my most scary and exciting experience in Hyderabad. Last Wednesday night, the monsoon rains really hit hard, dumping about 4 inches of rain on the city within 4 hours. The streets flooded, and in some cases the water was quite deep. Driving through this mess was sort of like the old Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyworld. There were stalled auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, and cars all over the place and we nearly stalled ourselves driving through a section of the road where the water was at the top of the tires. We told our driver several times that he was doing a great job, and gave him a handsome tip when he got us to the hotel. It was a totally bizarre experience that I will never forget.

Some of our colleagues who were on the roads that night weren't so lucky. A woman and man from the US who were sharing a car found themselves stranded when their car stalled in deep water. The driver opened the door and dashed out, and water started pouring into the car. The windows didn't work (power windows won't work with no power), and they were afraid the doors would be hard to open with the pressure of the water. The woman said she was crouching on the back seat, holding their laptops up to make sure they didn't get wet, while the guy got out of the car and found help to push it out of the water.

Ah, India. You're full of surprises and delights, thrills both good and bad, and incredible visual moments. I miss you already.

Hyderabad ramblings

2006-07-26T05:57:00.000-05:00

I'm here for work, so I haven't been out sightseeing and being a tourist for the past few days.

Commuting to the office through a small traffic jam.

But, I have been able to take full advantage of one benefit of visiting India: the food.

India has an extraordinary culinary heritage, and it has the best vegetarian food in the world. (Well, that's my opinion, at least.) Every morning at the hotel, there is some sort of traditional Indian food available on the buffet. One morning I had idlis and sauce, and this morning I had some sort of dish made with potatos.

For lunch, I've managed to eat in the company cafeteria where I can get a tray with assorted small dishes, all of them splendid. Yesterday it was chana dal, lentil dal, and a veg dish made with eggplant and potato. Today it was a mixed dal, okra, and snake gourd. All served with heaps of yummy basmati rice and plain paratha.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I can appreciate excellent cuisine. So while I'm here, I'm eating mostly vegetarian. I can't wait for dinner!

While the hotel is very nice, I've had some challenges with their wireless Internet. For some reason, I cannot view any blogs hosted on Blogger, including my own! While I can get to blogger.com to write blog entries, I cannot view my published entries. This means it is also difficult for me to view any comments left here. It's been a bit frustrating, but at least I can get to Flickr with no problems and use Skype to converse with Mark. Ah, the wonders of technology!

Some random observations about India

2006-07-24T07:53:00.000-05:00

* Driving in India is sort of an art. Pretty much, you just blow your horn and then move. Want to change lanes? Honk your horn and do it. Usually there's enough traffic around that you're not driving very fast, so the worst that can go wrong is a bit of a fender bender. It's the motorbikes and the pedestrians you really need to watch out for. I'm soooo glad I don't need to drive here.

* Women get some pretty tough jobs. So far, I've seen women road workers and women construction workers. These ladies are hauling pavers (carried on their heads, with the added safety of a special helmet with a flat top) or pounding gravel level. And, they're doing it while wearing saris. So far, I haven't been able to get a photo of it, but if I can I'll put it up. It's a pretty strange sight. The upside to me is that at least women don't seem to be blocked out of what are traditionally "male" jobs in the US. Although I'm sure that if the male workers are making 10 cents a day, the women are probably making 5 cents.

* While walking the hotel grounds last night I saw that there was a banquet in one of the ballrooms for some guy who was obviously very important. Through the glass patio doors, I could see several men with rifles and machine guns standing around outside the ballroom. They weren't in a uniform, so I guess they were just hired bodyguards or something. Seeing men walking around with big guns is a sure sign you're in a developing country. Or, perhaps a resident of the US Gulf Coast. (Maybe that's the same thing post-Katrina, eh?)

* While I did post several photos showing charming scenes such as cows roaming the street, Hyderabad is not a backwater by any means. We went to the office today, which is located in an area called Hi-Tech City. The office builidng is very new (about a year old) and very nice. Technical and physical facilities are excellent. I saw the Dell office down the street, and there is a building being built next door that Motorola will occupy.

* Hey, it's raining! This is the rainy season, but even though I've seen evidence of rain (wet pavement, etc.), I've not seen it rain yet. The showers seem to last for only a few minutes. Just enough to get you wet if you're out on your motorbike, I guess. After about 10 minutes, it looks like this shower is over. Wow, if could count on a daily shower like that, I can just imagine how my garden would grow!

Did you miss me?

2006-07-23T12:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been bad again. I've had a lot to do over the last few weeks preparing for this:

I'm writing from Hyderabad, India right now. Like many companies in the US, my employer has set up some operations in India. I've been sent here to establish relationships and scope out the steps for moving some of the tasks that my team currently handles to this facility. It's not a bad thing; I'm not firing people and offshoring their job, OK? It's just that we have a lot to do, and having some of that work done here is the best way to use the resources at our disposal. Plus, I get to visit this really cool place!

It took a long time to get here. There were two flights invovled, one that was 7 hours long and the other that was 8 hours long. I did get to fly business class so it wasn't too rough, you know. But, I was eager to get out and walk around the day -- really stretch my legs -- the day after I arrived.

Everything I've read about India is true. There are hovels situated next door to nice residences and shops. There are cows in the street.
And camels, too.

There are also beggars in the street, although not as many as I had thought I'd encounter. Yesterday, I felt like a total cold-hearted bitch as I brushed off a beggar woman holding a baby. She was persistent, too. After we got in the car, she knocked on the windows and pleaded until we pulled onto the road.

On the other hand, there are lovely and delightful children here, the food is fabulous (if you like Indian food, and I do, I really, really do!), and the weather is wonderful. This is the monsoon season, but it's not raining all the time. There's a brief shower every afternoon, but other than that it's just fine. The air temp is around 80-85 degrees F, with some cool breezes. It is overcast with clouds, but that blocks out much of the brutally hot sun.

This morning, I went out early for a swim and some exercise in the pool. Then I just lounged poolside for a little while to take it all in. I'm so soaking in this experience so I can "replay" it later.

View the full photo set I took yesterday in the Charminar district here. More to come...

Close call

2006-06-27T22:08:00.000-05:00

While coming home from Stitch n' Bitch tonight, I was nearly assaulted.

I narrowly managed to elude harm, and am now sitting here trying to cut through the lingering effects with a cold beer. As for the other party, it's probably still hanging out in a yard, digging for juicy grubs. Yes, my potential assailant was...a skunk.

Riding the bus home from the el station was an option, but the weather is nice tonight and I really need the exercise. So, I walked. I was strolling along enjoying the new Mosh Knit podcast, when I smelled it: the thick, musky stench of a skunk. About five steps later, I saw it. And it was close. Too close. Maybe about 10 feet away from me.

I paused. It paused. It started to raise it's tail, and I quickly back pedaled, then side stepped into the street and across to the other side. I sighed with relief, and continued to cautiously make my way home.

A half block later, I smelled another one. I was getting really nervous, looking around for it. (Apologies to the two young women sucking each other's faces off in a car. I wasn't gaping at you. Yes, I did a double take, since that isn't something I see very often in my neighborhood. But the reason my walk had slowed so much was so I could take extra care in looking for the next skunk, not so I could check out the action more closely.)

Finally, I decided that the safest course of action was to walk down the middle of street. Yes, I had to keep track of approaching cars, but at least I wasn't skunked.

And you thought living in the city meant that the only wildlife we see is in the zoo? Hah!

Guess

2006-06-25T10:56:00.000-05:00

OK, three guesses as to what these photos mean.

Grazing sheep.

A friendly dog.

Wheels and fiber.

Yes, the correct answer is: a vist to The Fold! [OK, photo number 2 may have been a bit of a red herring, but those who have visited The Fold are familiar with Eric, the official shop "greeter."]

Jamie, Rachael and I visited The Fold yesterday and had a fabulous time. The traffic on I-90 was reasonable, the weather was sweet (not too hot, not too cold), and we had a fabulous time visiting with Toni, trying out a wheel, and fondling fibers and yarn.

Before arriving at The Fold, we stopped in downtown Marengo for lunch at the Marengo Cafe, a nice little diner with fabulous hamburgers, and then crossed over to the Flatlander Market for some local and gourmet goodies to take home, and some full strength coffee to go. Suitabley fortified for a few hours of fiber fun, we headed down the road to The Fold.

The sheep were out (obviously) and we "city girls" lamely attempted to get their attention by "baaing" and waving stalks of grass. You can see the reaction we elicited in our "group shot" below.

There are lots more photos, but Blogger is being a pain again and not allowing me to post them. So, visit the set on Flickr and enjoy!

I've been up to...

2006-06-23T17:13:00.000-05:00

Lots of work, for sure, but also periods of fun, fun, fun.

I had a wonderful birthday week, including gifts from friends and a cake presented to me at WWKIP. Jamie gave me homemade gifts: handspun yarn and a necklace, and Rachael gave me a beautiful Dracinia that is now gracing the upper porch. Mark bought me a video iPod, which I think I've finally gotten used to. And the following weekend, my sister presented me with a wonderful picnic dinner that we enjoyed while enjoying School of Rock at Independence Park (one of the Chicago Park District's Movies in the Park events).

So, it hasn't been all work and no play.

The garden beds are taking good care of themselves. At this time of year, I only have to make sure it stays watered, do some light weeding, and enjoy the fruits of my labors.

A ripe black raspberry, on the bush and ready for picking.

All this was harvested just today. Plenty more to come!

Giant berries! Look at the size of the yellow raspberry on the right. Geez, you'd think I was feeding the plant my own blood. No, this isn't Little Shop of Horrors in my backyard. All the yellow raspberries are huge for some reason.

Obviously, the black and yellow raspberries have started to ripen. The red ones are always a week or two behind for some reason.

Well, Blogger isn't letting me show you any more photos right now, so I may as well sign off. We've got a bottle of wine to consume and a pizza to cook. Ah...I love Friday nights!

WWKIP, Chicago style

2006-06-10T18:48:00.000-05:00

Nature smiled on us today. When I woke up this AM, it was to the sound of rain beating against the windows. But, as the time drew near to leave for World Wide Knit in Public Day, the rain stopped and the sun started to peek through the clouds.

It was a lovely day to sit in Millenium Park and knit.
The day was delightfully cool, which allowed knitters to wear their hand knits very comfortably.
Sweaters, socks, shawls, and scarves of all kinds were oohed and ahhed over.
Yarns and patterns were discussed. New friends were made.
We all enjoyed the day so much that we may just have a monthly gathering in Millenium Park during the summer months.

Special thanks to Aidan for organizing this wonderful day, and to my husband Mark for taking such fabulous photos. There are many more available in the Chicago WWKIP set of my Flickr account.

A Stitch n Bitch controversy

2006-06-07T22:46:00.000-05:00

No, not the controversy about Sew Fast Sew Easy.
Button published with the permission of The Knitting Curmudgeon. Thanks!

I mean this crisis that faced the few "early bird," dedicated SnB women who showed up at our usual gathering place last night.

Locked out! No Trespassing! And no place to knit. This caught us off guard until some quick thinking women who live in the neighborhood came up with an alternate location for the evening. Then we just needed to figure out how to spread the word the folks who would be coming by a bit later.

That's a sheet of notepaper Jamie luckily had on hand, and I found a couple bandages in my purse that we used to stick the note on the door.

I feel kind of bad for the cafe owner. I guess his business wasn't doing so well, although he was always very nice to us. Now we also have to figure out where to gather. This location was so convenient: close to an el stop and major bus lines for those who take public transit, and with plenty of street parking for those who drive.

I've had some knitting progress recently, though. Another Finished Object! May I present, my wonderfully functional fingerless mittens:
I wore them at the office yesterday after the super high level of air-conditioning began to numb me. They helped a lot. Although, when one of my colleagues dropped by my cubicle and saw me with a shawl (my Clapotis) draped around me and a pair of fingerless mittens on, he commented that I looked like Bob Cratchit. I really don't care...I'm warm!

A wonderful, Neat(by) day!

2006-06-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, that title may sound corny, but I couldn't resist. Today I took a day off of work and did this:

Photos courtesy of Mark Williams: my awesome, highly talented husband.

The Windy City Knitting Guild is hosting a series of workshops this weekend with Lucy Neatby. I couldn't resist the chance to meet Lucy and learn some of her innovative techniques. I had a total blast today, and am signed up for another course on Sunday AM that I am now extremely excited about.

The swatches above show some of the great techniques I learned today, such as Channel Islands cast on, short-row garter stitch heels for socks, a different crocheted provisional cast on, a Turkish or after-thought sock heel, and a chimney to aid with grafting. Oh, I learned more than that, but it just doesn't show on these swatches.

I haven't taken a lot of knitting classes, but I have to say that Lucy is my hands down favorite instructure now. Some designers and authors may come across great on paper, but they just lack certain people skills needed for conducting classes. Lucy was able to handle a room full of independent women: keeping us all on the same page (or close enough to it that her presentations really worked), and dealing with us all with a calm, interested demeanor. I learned a LOT from her session on Sensational Socks, and what I learned applies to not just socks.

As for my real "on the needles" projects, I'm still finishing up those toe-up socks. I've finished the short-row heel (in stockinette stitch) so it will soon be done. Really, it shouldn't take too long to finish up the leg portion, especially since I've now moved up from 2.25 mm double point needles to 2.5 mm Addi Turbo (circular) needles.

I've also started on a pair of fingerless mittens in DK weight Knit Picks Merino Style. These are absolutely essential to have completed ASAP now that we are into air conditioning season at work. There are days when I get so cold that my fingers and nose become icy and numb. I'm hoping the fingerless mittens will help. I'm also thinking that I may need to knit a pair of leg warmers for the days I wear skirts and maybe even a nose warmer...assuming our business casual dress code will allow it.

In the garden I am still way behind. I haven't even put the purchased tomato and pepper plants in the ground. Mark did generously help me move around compost after work on Wednesday, and I have most of my shrub pruning done.

Now that I have a Flickr account, I'm kind of lazy about posting photos here on my blog. I do update the Flickr account at least once a week with new photos, so be sure to check out the newest ones of what's blooming in the garden.

At least the mating frenzy of the box elder bugs seems to be over now, making it a little less creepy in the garden. They're essentially harmless to my garden, but having hundreds of double ended mating pairs crawling around in the mulch or unlucky singles flying up at you is kind of gross and off-putting.

More stuff to look at

2006-05-31T23:19:00.000-05:00

I've been very busy at work or in the garden these days, so haven't had much time to write. I've been taking photos of the garden blooming and uploading them to my Flickr account, so be sure to check them out. Links are on the right side. Just uploaded today are pics of my roses, peonies, Siberian Iris, and some anomolous growths under the roses.

Oh, and while I'm sure I could/should write a nice big entry about my experience flying with my husband this weekend in a cushy new Cessna, let me instead just direct you to the photos. Check out the Flickr sets for more details. Too bad Flickr won't let me upload the short videos I captured with my camera...or would it...hmmm...

Look, more photos!

2006-05-19T00:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, it's sort of a cheap and easy come on, but there are more photo links available in the sidebar now. I've updated my Blogger template to link to the carefully organized and tagged sets of photos I've established in my Flickr account.

After experiencing failing CDs and nearly a week of crappy laptop problems, I'm pushing more and more of my digital photos to the Flickr server. I'm thinking it may be a better storage solution for my precious memories.

Anways, the newest photos are not mine but Jamie's pics of the Windy City Knitting Guild outing to Lorna's Laces. I didn't say a lot about the tour other than that I bought lots of yarn, but let me note the Beth Casey was absolutely wonderful. She graciously came in on a Saturday, opened her studio to a bunch of yarn-crazy women, and then gave us an awesome tour that included a demonstration of her dyeing a batch of yarn in the very popular Gold Hill colorway. Thank you, Beth.

I'll keep adding more photos to Flickr and updating my sidebar links. I still haven't finished uploading all the awesome photos Mark and I took in Washington D.C. last October, so look for those soon.

Bad

2006-05-17T19:20:00.000-05:00

I'm such a bad blogger these days. I've fallen so much that I not only have neglected writing, I've neglected photographings stuff, too. Some recent examples:

Went to the Lorna's Laces tour organized by the Windy City Knitting Guild. Picked up LOTS of yarn at bargain prices, thoroughly enjoyed the presentation by Beth Casey (current owner), but forgot to bring my camera.
Walked through Ryerson Woods with my friend Betsy on an absolutely gorgeous day and spotted lots of lovely spring wildflowers: white and red trillium, mayapple, phlox, rue anemone, and jack-in-the-pulpit. Completely forgot to bring my camera.
Enjoying the flowering of my own spring garden, but too lazy to get the camera. Already past their prime are the primula, pasque flower, and black chokeberry shrub. Fading fast is the geranium and wild phlox. Will I pick up the camera in time? OOOO...a cliffhanger!

Well, some photos of the Lorna's Laces fun can be found on Jamie's blog and Dee's blog gallery. And Gail posted a photo Dee took of us all sitting on a cold dock waiting for the doors to open; I'm the fool sitting in the middle with my Clapotis snugly around my neck.

Betsy had her camera and took lots of photos. She promised to upload photos to her Flickr account one of these days, but in the meantime added a couple of these lovely photos to the website of the organization for which she currently works. Photos can be found here (check out the trillium) and here (look at all those mayapples!).

While I haven't had time to do a lot of knitting, I have completed a couple of projects.

A baby blanket for my neighbor's first grandchild. Knit in Caron Simply Soft in the Grape color, it's eye-popping and soft at the same time. It's a simple knit and purl stitch pattern of hearts that is reversible.

I also finished another W tank top for myself. This time, I used Rowan Linen Print in color #346, Pip.

While it looks OK and fits OK, I think the Linen Print is really too heavy. By heavy I'm refering to the actual weight of the garment, not so much it's warmth. Although, since the weather has turned chilly again I won't be able to comment on the warmth factor anytime soon.

I'm also nearly done with #1 sock of the pair I started back in March (!!??!!). This is my first pair of toe-up socks, and it has really turned into a process project. I lost track of the number of times I completely frogged or partially ripped back these socks. I think it's somewhere between 6 and 10 times: I didn't like my first few attempts at a short row toe; I didn't like the fabric over the foot when knit on 2.5 mm needles; I didn't like my first few attempts at a short row heel; I didn't like the gaps at the short row heel join with the rest of the sock, or how tight it was just there when I put the sock on; I didn't like the fabric on the cuff knit on 2.25 mm needles; I forgot to start the pattern stitch on the back of the leg (!!!). I think that covers all the various iterations pretty well.

Need more details? The foot was completed on 2.25 mm needles. Since I've been really into using 2 circulars for socks, I actually ordered two Inox Express circulars just for this purpose. (Addi Turbos are only available in 2.5 mm.) While the Inox Express needles were fine, and I frankly love the Inox gray needles, the join on these 2.25 mm Inox Express needles really sucks. I think for sock #2, I'll stick with my 2.25 mm Crystal Palace DPNs. When I got to the short row heel, I switched to the 2.5 mm Addi Turbo circular needles.

After the heel was complete, I picked up not 1, not 2, but six extra stiches between the foot and the newly turned heel. Not six total, but six stitches on each side. I decreased back down to the original number of stitches over several rounds, then I worked the rest of the foot and the leg in 2.5 mm needles. I now have a sock that is nice and snug through my slightly narrow foot, and not too tight on my legs.

Hey, if I'm going to go to all that trouble of making socks just for me, then they better fit correctly!

I know I mentioned it in a previous post, but the yarn I used for this sock is KnitPicks Dancing. It held up fabulously to all that ripping out and reknitting, so I give it high marks for durability. It's a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend, so it's great to wear during the 'tween seasons. Oh, and you can get it on sale for $2.99 a ball right now, so total yarn cost is a low $6 for a pair of socks. Go order some now.

Oh, and be sure to check out my Flickr album, too. I broke down and purchased a professional version so I can store the many digital photos I've saved of my pets, my garden, vacations, and my knitting. I'm still uploading stuff, so be sure to check back occasionally.

Thirty (six) Days in the Hole

2006-05-02T12:48:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school in the '80s, I somehow ended up hanging around with the "stoners." (It's a long story that's best saved for another time.) So, I heard a lot of head-banger music and/or music with sly references to drugs. Last week, as I reflected that I haven't had time to update my blog in over a month, the song "Thirty Days in the Hole" popped into my head.

I couldn't remember who performed it, though. I asked Mark if he knew, but I guess that wasn't his type of music (other than the Beatles and some vague sort of "jazz," I still can't figure out what Mark's type of music was when he was younger...but I digress) and he didn't know. Amazingly, I came up with the name Peter Frampton. That was pretty darn close, as I found when I Googled the song name.

The band who originally performed the song was Humble Pie. I'm not clear on whether Peter Frampton was still a member of the band when the song was first recorded or not. Regardless, I stumled across the lyrics and find that the sound is all about highly illegal substances. Please realize it is not my intention to promote such substances by using the song name in the title of my blog entry. Nor is it my intention to criticize you if you prefer to use such substances.

My point is that I am alive and well!

Here's how I've spent the last 30+ days:

Work
Work
Spring gardening stuff
Knitting
Other home stuff

So, there's been quite a bit going on, just not a lot of blogging about it. More to come, promise...for now, I just need to publish this.

Springing ahead

2006-04-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

It was a wonderful weekend for gardening. Too bad I couldn't get my ass in gear yesterday; I could have accomplished a lot more, and there is a lot of spring clean up to do.

At this time of year, my hobbies are conflicting with each other. Should I knit or should I garden? It's hard to decide sometimes. This weekend, I made time for a little of both.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time knitting away on my little silk scarf. I'm really trying to finish it up this weekend. However, I also found time to run out to the bookstore and pick up the new Yarn Harlot book, Knitting Rules, and Mason-Dixon Knitting. Today I ran out to Loopy Yarns to pick up...a surprise. I'll have to hold off commenting on exactly what was purchased at Loopy for a few days.

I found time to pick up groceries, too, then made back in time to do some spring clean up in the garden. Now you see it...

Now you don't...

The cover crop of winter rye has been completely worked in. I really love winter rye as a green manure. It's hardy and keeps the soil nice and friable. I'm a bit late in turning it over, though. Winter rye is alleopathic and it's recommended to wait at least 2 weeks before sowing seed in a bed where it has been grown. Since I had planned to plant my peas and beets here, I really should have turned this area over a few weeks ago. Today would have been a perfect day to plant peas and beets. Well, I can only blame myself for the late start.

BTW, that last photo shows my entire veggie garden area. I have lots of other perennial beds with herbs mixed in but this is the extent of my veggie gardening area for now. I'm hoping that next year I'll be able to put in raised beds in the "east lot," but this year I need to continue monitoring that area for the evil bindweed; It's no use putting a lot of effort into gardening in that area until the bindweed has been made to behave.

Bear with me for one last garden shot, OK? My garlic is growing so nicely this year now that I've fenced it in so the dogs can't walk all over it.

Garlic is such an easy thing to grow. We use so much of it that I'd really like to devote a whole bed to garlic. *sigh* I just can't wait until that east lot is ready. I've got such big plans: blueberries, asparagus, and now an entire bed of garlic. Yum!

Techno-slave

2006-03-30T19:24:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been a slave to my MP3 player. I've spent a tremendous amount of time learning about how to best use it's features and load it up with podcasts. I spent about 2 hours Sunday night searching Podcast Alley for stuff I wanted to listen to people talk about: knitting, gardening, dogs, environmental stuff, etc. OMG, there's a podcast for nearly everything!

Of course, now that I have the ability to pick and choose exactly what I want to hear, I've also started to load it up with music. I never saw that coming, and now I'm thinking I should have purchased a player with a larger capacity.

I feel like I've finally bridged the MP3 geek gap and can move on. But, I'm now starting to feel a the urge to dabble in podcasting coming on. Help me. I must stop!

On the knitting front, I've been creating and not just destroying. I finished a hat for Mark.

I've been promising him this hat since Christmas and finally got it finished. Hurray! Who knew a hat could be so difficult? I frogged and re-started this hat about 3 times before the final version.

And look at this I'm making a cute little decorative scarf for myself out of this luscious yarn I picked up at Nina during her sale a few weeks ago. The yarn is Art Yarns Regal Silk, a 100% hand painted silk yarn. The color is noted as #130, but I can't seem to find that color on the site. Maybe this is an older colorway.

I love the softness and sheen of this yarn. It was an indulgance, but I'm worth it, right? I'm knitting it up in a simple lace pattern that will hopefull pop a bit more when I block it. Hmm....I've never blocked 100% silk before...hmmm...the label says dry clean only...hmmm...I'll figure this out.

Jamie seems to like the yarn, too.Mmmm...it does seem good enough to eat!

March Madness

2006-03-20T20:10:00.000-06:00

No, this has nothing to do with NCAA basketball, so if that's what you're expecting just move along. Although this phrase has traditionally been used for the basketball play-offs that happen at this time of year, seeing as it's being used in car commercials and even craft advertisements (I'm sure I saw an email from JoAnn.com about some sale titled March Madness) then I can use it for a non-sports related purpose, too.

Incidentally when I exclaimed to Mark on Friday night that I was sick of hearing "March Madness this and March Madness that" he revealed that he hadn't a clue as to what March Madness means. Really. He thought that since spring starts in March, it has something to do with ancient Celtic spring rituals or something. (You know, it's really nice when your husband of 8+ years can still make you laugh.)

So, I feel I have permission to just take the term and run with it. March Madness has manifested itself in me this way:

That is what is left of the sock I was so diligently working on here. Yes, I frogged it completely because it just wasn't working out. This was my first toe up sock and while I learned quite a bit, wearing a "learning experience" isn't always pleasant. Above is the sock before I ripped it out. (Notice the fortifying glass of red wine at hand?) The foot part looks weirdly skinny and elongated, doesn't it? I'm not sure exactly why. I was using size 0 Addi Turbos on the sole and size 1 Addi Turbos on the instep so that could have contributed to the shaping issue, but I've done that before on a top down sock and not had it work out so deformed.

I had to make the foot very long so there was less straining of the stitches at the short row heel turn, so I think that may be the main reason the foot is so oddly shaped. Regardless of all these efforts, I decided there was still too much straining of the stitches at the heel, and that sock was a bit too snug. I've already re-started the pattern. This time, I'm sticking with size 1 (2.5 mm) Addis for both the sole and the instep.

While I was at it, I also decided to do something about the Katrina Rib sweater that has been languishing for the past 2 months.
Following the pattern instructions diligently will result in a cap sleeve, but I had decided to make 3/4 sleeves. Except, after trying it on several times and realizing how it over-emphasises my ample bosom, I've decided instead to do this with it: Yep, I ripped that baby out.

I seem to be really inspired by destruction right now. (I've also contemplated frogging a sweater I made for Mark last year that is not quite right somehow.) Perhaps Melpomene is my current muse?

While I was ripping out the sweater, though, the thought "I am Kali the Destroyer" just kept running through my head. I think this tendency towards controlled destruction is an indication of spring. Very soon, I will be out in my garden, cutting back last year's dead growth that I left standing through the winter. I'll turn over soil and the winter cover crop of rye in my veggie bed and plant cool season veggies (peas, greens, beets, etc.)

Maybe Mark was on to something after all with his comments about March Madness...hmm...

Happy Spring!

You drive me crazy!

2006-03-19T13:56:00.000-06:00

I'm really trying to be a good blogger and post. Honestly. Blogger has just been driving me nuts for the past two days. It won't let me upload any photos. I get that little dialog screen that show photos are uploading, and then all action just stops. That's as far as I get! GRRRRR!!!

About books

2006-03-11T11:33:00.000-06:00

I've been enjoying a lazy Saturday morning of laying in bed dozing, followed by sipping a cup of tea and browsing the blogs. On Erica's blog I came across the following meme and thought I'd give it a whirl.

Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you've never even heard of.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
(His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
(The Secret History - Donna Tartt)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
(Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
~~Atonement - Ian McEwan~~
(The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert

Part of the reason I was interested in this meme is because it's about reading books, something that until recently was a very important part of my daily life. Ever since I learned to read (at 4 or 5, I think), I spent time every day reading for pleasure. (My mom is fond of telling the story of how I received special recognition from my first grade teacher for reading more books than any other student she'd instructed.) As I've noticed the pile of books on my nightstand growing, however, I realize that I'm not reading every day anymore.

I think part of the reason I'm not reading as much is that I've quit smoking. I used to sit and read and smoke every night. Every time I wanted a cigarette, I'd pick up my book and take it with me outside or to the smoking area in our house (the basement). I'd bring my book to bed with me and read before I went to sleep. Now, I'm not smoking so I'm not reading every evening. I'm usually half asleep already when I get into bed, and I'm also reading very little during my commute, and instead spend the time knitting.

I've been getting more interested in audio books lately since I would be able to enjoy a book while doing something else like knitting or housework. While I'll miss the tactile sensations of handling a real book, I'm thinking the audio book option will allow me to enjoy the story, which is the most important aspect of reading. So, Audible.com, here I come!

Yesterday's soundtrack

2006-03-10T11:54:00.000-06:00

Do you ever ask yourself hypothetical questions like this one: if there was a soundtrack for my day today, what would it be? I'm sure I'm not the only person who's thought of this. I mean, what are all those IPod commercials featuring people with dancing shadows and stuff about if not this exact sort of question? (This question with an advertising angle, of course.)

I had a very long day yesterday involving a business trip to Nashville. It was one of those fly in-meet-fly out business trips, but it got complicated by the severe weather we had across the entire middle region of the U.S. (Nashville can get some really nasty weather. Yesterday there were 70 mph wind gusts blowing the sheets of rain horizontally; I was glad to be sitting inside a cozy airport and not on a plane at that time.)

As you can imagine, the gate -- heck the entire airport -- was pretty chaotic for a couple hours. I think all flights in and out of the airport had ceased for at least 20 minutes while the violent winds and rain were sweeping through. There had been people from 4 separate flights at this one gate, all anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get the heck out of Nashville and begin or complete their journeys.

I was well-prepared for delays, though. In my spacious knitting/business bag, I had two small knitting projects (a sock and a hat), a book, and my MP3 player (in addition to my laptop and notebook for work, of course). While I was sitting at the gate patiently waiting with many others, I experienced a couple "soundtrack moments."

By 8:30 PM, there were only about 30 of us left sitting at the gate awaiting our plane from Chicago which would land, off-load passengers, and then load us up and return to Chicago. That's what we passengers and the gate agent urgently wanted to happen, at least.

I was knitting away on the sock and was listening to the randomly shuffled "Mellow" music playlist on my MP3 player. The plane from Chicago landed, people were walking off the jetway into the gate area, and "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen starts playing. ("Everybody knows that the boat is leaking; Everybody knows the captain lied; Everybody got this broken feeling; Like their father or their dog just died") Not a good sign. Sure enough, the gate agent announces a few minutes later that we won't be boarding right away.

About 40 minutes later, I'm still knitting away on the sock and listening to my Mellow music playlist. Another Leonard Cohen song comes on, "Hallelujah." Partly through the song, I have to pause the player as the gate agent announces that we can begin boarding the plane. And there I am, walking down the jetway with "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallaelujah, hallaelujah" echoing through my earphones and my head.

Classic soundtrack moments, no? If I was editing the movie of my day, those songs were totally perfect.

I got a lot of knitting done on the sock, too.

Fiona is kindly modeling the sock today. (Maybe I should submit this to Stuff on My Cat.com.) I think about 4 inches of that sock were done yesterday while I was on a plane or waiting at the gate for a plane. (Knitting really helps me with travel angst. I actually kind of look forward to business travel now because I know I'll get a good chunk of uninterrupted knitting time.)

This is my first toe-up sock. I'm using two patterns as references for this sock: Wendy Johnson's Generic To-up Sock Pattern and the Little Shell Rib stitch from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks (page 41). The yarn is Knit Picks Dancing and I think the color is Square Dance. I've had this sock yarn for many months and just haven't gotten around to using it until now.

Here's an extreme close up of the sock pattern.(I was having some fun with the zoom on the camera, wasn't I?)

Hey, it's getting spring like outside! Heads up: garden season is starting soon!

Taking care of business

2006-03-03T12:27:00.000-06:00

I feel there are a few loose ends that I need to wrap up, and maybe a few newer threads to dangle out there.

First order of business: should I claim a medal from the Knitting Olympics? The fact that I haven't yet posted a medal is not because I have any issues with Franklin's wonderful design, unlike some people. (I'm thinking J in Kansas must have a bunch of relatives in Crystal Lake, IL. What is with these people? Sometimes I feel like we're living in an alternate universe.)

I haven't posted a medal due to ethical concerns. If I refer back to the original rules, then the fact that I did not completely finish my project within the 10 days allotted means that I don't qualify for one. However, Stephanie's closing post on the Olympics notes a special thanks to those of us who did not finish.

So...do I qualify for a medal? What do you think?

Since I'm such an honest and upstanding person I will admit that I still have not completly finished the gloves. I ripped out one of the fingers at Stitch n' Bitch the other night and re-knit it because it was too long. I have ends to weave in and holes to close up, but I'm hoping to have time to do that while visiting with my friend Adrienne tomorrow.

Second order of business: I finally joined the rest of you who live in the 21st Century and purchased an MP3 player. No, I did NOT purchase an IPod. I don't have anything against IPods, it's just that I approached this decision in a very business-like manner and none of the IPod devices fit my needs as well as the one I did purchase, the Creative MuVo2 FM.

I wanted an MP3 player mainly so I could listen to FM radio (in the mornings I really like to listen to public radio) and podcasts during my commute. IPods do not come with FM radio, although some of them will work with an add-on FM receiver. I didn't want to have to bother with additional hardware.

For these main purposes, my Creative Muvo works just great. It did take me a while to figure out the best way to add files to the device (there's an easy way and a ridiculously easy way, but each has pros and cons), but now that I have that down everything is working smoothly for me.

(I had a bit of a shock around the whole music-purchasing process, however. I didn't realize that EVERY site I went to would require me to download some sort of software in order to purchase music. In other words, there is no standard. OK, I figured there were at least 2 standards: one for Macs and one for Windows. That's typical. But I didn't expect to find out that there were no standards at all for Windows. How shocking. All I wanted to do was pay my 99 cents and get a song. Who knew it would turn out to be a quest for determining which music store would add the least intrusive piece of software to my company-issued laptop.)

Now I'm starting to get caught up in my podcast listening. (I know it's possible to listen without an MP3 player, but don't like dragging the laptop around the house with me to listen; it's so much easier to pop in my headphones and be able to walk around.) Getting caught up has it's downside, though. I'm afraid I'll run out of good podcasts to listen to (especially knitting podcasts).

Besides Knit Cast and Cast On, what are other recommended podcasts? What makes them good?

I know that there are a few people out there that have checked out this blog. If you're still checking, leave me a comment with some suggestions and feedback, OK?

Loser?

2006-02-27T20:39:00.000-06:00

The Knitting Olympics closed yesterday. I hate to admit it, but I guess I'm a non-qualifier. To be perfectly honest, I probably don't even rate a Bronze medal. See, here's where my project was near the end of the closing ceremonies.

Notice all those ends waiting to be woven in? And you can't see all the holes between the fingers that need darning.

I suppose if I stayed up late last night and completed all that finishing, I could fudge it a bit and say I completed my Olympic project. But, I had an early start at the office today so I was a good girl and went to bed at a decent hour. (Tomorrow I have to be up at 5 AM. If I want to get a solid 8 hours of sleep, I should be in bed right about now.)

No doubt about it, work seriously cut into my knitting time last week. Don't take this for whining; it's not whining, I'm just stating a fact. (You try being at the office for 12-14 hours per day and then see how much knitting time you can fit in.) I also made a decision to NOT push myself in working on my project Friday night or Saturday during the day or evening. Since I had been at the office so much last week, I needed to spend time with my husband and my pets. Spending time with them recharges me, and they deserve some of my time.

So, I guess I'm not an Olympic contender. But, I have a great relationship with my husband, my pets, and my friends, OK? (If this entry is starting to sound too saccharine, just hang with me.)

Speaking of friends, I watched the closing ceremony with Jamie, Rachael, and Shannon. Jamie finished her Olympic project: a Clapotis in Knit Picks Andean Silk (color = Lettuce). Doesn't she look smug, sitting there with her Clapotis around her neck? And look at Rachael smirking in the background. Rachael didn't even join the Olympics team. (Of course, having major surgery just before the opening ceremony probably rates an automatic honorary disqualification.) Shannon wisely stayed out of the way of the camera.

We had fun watching the bizzare closing ceremony and eating Jamie's homemade chili with Shannon's homemade cornbread. I attempted to amuse with my impression of a Russian ice dancer (just get in a squat position and spread your legs...pretty easy), followed later by my rendition of a snippet from the video for My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas.

What can I say: I really needed to unwind after a long week.

My competitive spirit...

2006-02-21T21:25:00.000-06:00

is apparently alive and well. I don't like to think of myself as competitive, but I guess I have at least a little bit in me.

1) I emailed the link of my last blog entry to several friends. By doing so, I not only released it into the wilds of the Internet to frolic and spawn, I intentionally promoted it. Then, I quickly added a free hit counter from BraveNet because I wanted to see how many people it would bring to my blog. I've been checking my site stats and my comments every night, too. (Thanks for the comment, Erica!)

2) I find the fact that I'm one of the folks bringing up the rear on the "Buy More Yarn" competition discouraging. After looking closely at my position last night and carefully reading over the rules, I'm thinking that the forerunners must be spinners buying fiber. I mean, really, who could buy more than 100 skeins of yarn in two months? Did you win the freaking lottery or something? Or are you thinking that you should be reporting your yarn buying in ounces instead of skeins? Or are you buying teeny, tiny little skeins of yarn? (If so, I want to know what it is for competitive intelligence purposes, at least.) WTF?

3) Despite the fact that I've been working really long days this week and had a very busy weekend, I'm proud of the progress I'm making on my Knitting Olympics project: my first gloves. Above is glove #1, completed last Saturday night. While this isn't exactly trick photography, I did strategically position the glove to make it seem that all the inevitable little holes between the fingers had been closed up and the ends weaved in. (If you have a tip to share on how to avoid those holes between the fingers, please do share it. I've reviewed all the knitting material in my home library and tried a Google search last night to find some tips, but I'm coming up short, here. I mean, other than the obvious "twist the stitches you pick up" trick.) In other words, I do still have finishing work to do here. And here is glove #2. I'm well into the thumb gusset and feel pretty good about the progress. Am I over-confident? Only time will tell. Unlike the brave atheletes of our Winter Olympics, if I falter or stumble at least I won't find myself with my face plowing into the ice and/or being carried out on a stretcher, right?

An honorary Darwin award?

2006-02-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

This is NOT knitting or garden related at all. I am going to record here a story that sounds made up, but it is not. Sadly, it is absolutely true.

Be warned: this story is totally hilarious, but definitely off-color. If you offend easily, don't read below the line.

The story was related to me by my sister first, and I verified the facts with my mother. Mom heard it from her husband, who was told the story directly by his uncle. I have recorded only the facts, and am not exaggerating (for enhanced amusement value or any other reason).

Let me also emphasize that this uncle and the rest of the family in question are NOT blood relatives of mine. They are related only by marriage.

------------------------------------

My stepfather's family is large and a bit odd. They are salt of the earth people that don't place emphasis on schooling. The family owns a fairly large piece of property in the far suburbs that they refer to as "the farm." At one time it was an actual working farm, but now it is pretty much a collection of odd buildings, machinery, one house, a few mobile homes housing various relatives, and whatnot. This family has experienced some pretty peculiar (and at times tragically sad) events.

So, my stepfather has this uncle: Uncle Butch. Apparently, Uncle Butch has been sleeping in the barn for several years. (Don't ask why; it's complicated.)

It's winter, and the nights are cold. Uncle Butch decided that he was tired of getting up during the cold night to urinate. (At a certain age, guys often need to do that, you know.) Uncle Butch's solution to the problem was to catherize himself.

Yes, that's right: he catherized himself.

Let's pause here for a moment to ponder a few details.

What did he use as a catheter? We don't know for sure what he used, but Uncle Butch is not in the medical profession. It's therefore highly likely he did not have access to real medical supplies.
How large was the tubing? We can only guess that he found some tubing somewhere small enough to pass through his urethra. We have no idea of the actual size, though.
What about the risk of infection? Well, Uncle Butch apparently realized this could be a problem, so he sterilized the tubing and his hands with rubbing alcohol first.

This scenario alone is bad enough to contemplate. Anyone who has had a catheter inserted knows that it is very uncomfortable to have one, and that the process of insertion is pretty bad. I understand that it is much worse for men, too. But, Uncle Butch thought it felt good. (Yes, those were the exact words: it felt good.)

Uncle Butch would take the catheter out during the day, and put it back at night. So, he went through the process of insertion and removal several times.

It gets worse.

One morning, the catheter tubing got stuck inside him. Uncle Butch could not get it out of his urethra. This made it really difficult to urinate. He was able to get some urine out by milking his penis, but not enough to relieve his swollen bladder.

Uncle Butch did visit a doctor. (This is a pretty extreme measure for a male member of this family. Usually they avoid doctors like the plague.) When he realized what was going on, the doctor directed him to the hospital. So, Uncle Butch then had to have "an operation" to remove the catheter tubing from his penis.

Apparently, the events above took place several weeks ago. I've only just heard about it, as my mother and stepfather were on vacation during the time it took place and therefore didn't know about it until recently. I can only imagine the exchange between my stepfather and Uncle Butch after my stepfather returned from vacation.

Uncle Butch: So, how was your vacation?
Stepfather: Pretty good. How'd things go here at the farm?
Uncle Butch: Not bad. I had to have an operation on my penis, though.
Stepfather: Say again. What?
Uncle Butch: Yeah, I got a tube stuck in my penis and had to have an operation to take it out.
Stepfather: [Total silence for about 20 seconds.] Why did you have a tube in your penis?
Uncle Butch: Well, it was like this...

-----------------------------------

Again, let me emphasize that this uncle and the rest of the family in question are NOT blood relatives of mine. They are related only by marriage.

Random Fun

2006-02-16T22:31:00.000-06:00

So, Val came over tonight to visit with Rachael. She brought her friend Rick (a visiting Australian swing dancer...doesn't that sound intriguing?) and Chinese carry-out.

Val is really good with a camera and she had fun taking some shots with mine.

Me working on my Olympic project, gloves.

Sadie, guarding her "squeaker toy." (One of 3 squeaky toys she jealously guards from Hannah.)

Hannah, wondering if Val is going to toss her some treats.

Valerie, in a dramatic pose.

The glove at rest. Notice I am working on the "fuck you" finger (as my husband, Mark, calls it.)

Rachael trying the hat she's knit for her boyfriend on Rick. (Rick has a large head, so she thought he'd be a good head model. He also was extremely tired and slept in the chair much of the night, so he was very obliging to be used as a model.)

We watched the Men's Figure Skating on the Olympics. We were so inspired by Evgeni Plushenko's performance, we created a new cocktail: the Gay Russian.

Valerie (the only non-drinker present) came up with the distinguishing ingredient. We knew we needed something sort of sweet, and she suggested a raspberry flavored liquor. Luckily, I had a teeny, tiny bottle of Chambord on hand (along with the other major ingredients), so we mixed up a test drink. Four of us (me, Mark, Rick, and Rachael) gave it a try and agreed that it is drinkable. Why don't you give it a try and let me know what you think?

Gay Russian Cocktail
1.5 ounces vodka
.75 ounces Kahlua
.75 ounces Chambord

Serve over ice and enjoy.

Holey Moley

2006-02-15T22:53:00.000-06:00

It appears I'm sort of zooming through glove #1, despite my original miscalculations that resulted in frogging down to the cuff. I made a stupid mistake in measuring my gauge. Recall that I noted my stitch gauge as 8 sts per inch? Well, that was actually my row gauge.

Duh! I measured vertical stitch count (row gauge), not horizontal stitch count (stitch gauge) and merrily cast 64 stitches on during the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It wasn't until I got well into the gusset that I realized that I had made a huge mistake.

These gloves are for my mother, who, while fairly petite, is also fairly...uh...heavy. So, I figured that having a larger diameter cuff was no big deal and decided to just rip back to the ribbing. Rachael bravely did the frogging after she tried that technique of picking up the stitches with a smaller diameter circular needle. It worked well, and I was able to decrease down to the 48 stitches I originally should have cast on. (I just love Lucia's knitting calculation tools. Thanks!)

I'm not liking the little holes at the base of the fingers. I keep thinking there is some trick to avoiding the holes that I just don't know yet. But, I'm trying not to be too tough on myself; this is my first pair of gloves.

I'm hoping to finish up the knitting on this glove by Friday and get a good amount of work done on the second glove Saturday. Why the push? I'll be really busy at work next week and am sure that I'll get little knitting time. So, I really must get more done.

Onward fellow Olympians!

Finere e Inizio

2006-02-11T19:27:00.000-06:00

For those of us who don't speak Italian, the above (very) roughly translates as Endings and Beginnings. (Or so I hope. I don't really speak Italian, and visited one of those dictionary sites to try and figure out a decent translation.)

Why the emphasis on endings and beginnings?

1) I finished my Jaywalkers Wednesday night.

I think they came out looking very nice and the Socks that Rock makes for a comfy sock, too. The flashing is kind of bizzare, though. On the first sock I completed, I thought it may have been due to a minor error. (Yes, I had a minor error and I didn't fix it. I had an argument with Jamie about it, much to the amusement of several friends, because I refused to frog several inches after I discovered I had accidentally increased the stitch count in the middle of the sole. I decided to just decrease and accept the fact that I would not have perfect socks. Jamie kept insisting that I must rip the work out and do it "right.") However, on sock #2 I got the same flashing effect once I had moved into the straightaway and wasn't increasing or decreasing anymore along the foot.

2) Last night, I cast on for Mom's gloves, which I'm making for the Knitting Olympics. (No photos yet, as I don't have much to show at this point.) This will be the first pair of gloves -- first pair of handwear, actually -- that I have ever made. I'm using Filatura di Crosa 501, a light worsted/DK weight superwash wool and size 4 needles. I had thought about using fingering/sock weight yarn, but I just couldn't get myself to figure out how to translate the pattern gauges for such fine weight yarn. (I'm using the generic glove pattern from Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and the smallest gauge in her chart is for 9 sts/inch. My swatch in sock yarn was much smaller than that. With the 501 yarn and size 4 needles, I get 8 sts/inch. It's much easier to follow the Budd charts as written, instead of recalculating gauge.)

The week has been pretty intense and busy. Lots of work, and travel thrown in to boot. Next week will be more travel for work, but I don't mind that much. Travel gives me time to knit, so I should make some good progress on the gloves. Yay!

Although, with all this travel and work, etc. I'm glad to have Rachael around all day, spending some quality time with the "girls" (i.e. dogs Hannah and Sadie; knitten Fiona). Rachael's been here while recovering from her surgery because it's really not advisable to walk up 3,000 stairs right after major abdominal surgery. (OK, maybe her third-floor apartment really isn't 3,000 stairs up, but there are a lot of stairs.)

Rachael's recovering well (yippee yay!) and has been feeling so great that she actually created a blog yesterday. Today we went to the grocery store and made stops to visit Val and have a coffee. The best news of all is that the pathology reports came back A-OK, so she is now cancer-free; no need for chemo or radiation either.

Gotta get back to the Olympics now. If I don't finish at least a cuff tonight then I'm going to have trouble keeping up with the competition.

Reflect/Think/Pray

2006-02-02T09:10:00.000-06:00

Today one of our own -- a kind, intelligent, lovely, talented knitter -- goes under the knife. Rachael has cervical cancer. She is only 30 years old, but will have a hysterectomy today. She has no children, and while she has been a bit amibiguous about whether having children was a personal goal, the sad fact is that the choice will be taken away from her now.

Rachael describes herself as an ethical humanist and doesn't follow a particular creed. Personally, I'm not sure what I would describe myself as: an ethical humanist? an agnostic? a pagan? Whatever the case may be, I don't think creed or dogma should play any role in what I'm requesting here.

I have a simple request for everyone I connect with today:

If you pray, please pray for Rachael today.

If you meditate, please spend a few moments meditating on Rachael today.

If you don't do any of these things, please stop for a minute and think about Rachael today.

Rachael can use all the positive, healing energy we can send her way today.

And in the coming weeks, please think about including Rachael in your daily reflections/thoughts/prayers.

Thanks.

I Knit for Team Chicago!

2006-02-01T23:08:00.000-06:00

Many thanks to Franklin for creating this special edition of a Knitting Olympics button for his home town! Go Team Chicago!

Jaywalker Update

2006-01-31T12:46:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post today, mainly for record-keeping purposes and to keep me in the running for the Jaywalker KAL.

Obviously, this pattern has been vexing me. I suppose I should expect difficulties with a pattern named Jaywalker: someone who is willfully breaking the law.

Anyway, I did get one sock finished over this past weekend (yay for me!) and the second one is cast on. Not much done on sock #2 right now, but I will keep working diligently.

Am I a dork?

2006-01-27T17:31:00.000-06:00

Am I a dork because I got excited about receiving an email from Wendy of Wendyknits? (She responded to a comment I left via email.) Am I a dork because I use the word dork?

I've been spending more time blogging and looking at (mostly knitting) blogs lately and I'm struck by the level of artistic talent out there. I'm referring to the skills that go into not just writing but also designing visually appealing blogs; good (if not great) photography and graphic design, and; fabulous knitting.

Me, well, I'm a dork, remember? I never went to art school. I learned to color within the lines and to draw stick people, trees, and turkeys by outlining my hand. I can appreciate good design when I see it, but I'm damned if I know how to do so myself. I'm not visually clever. I would never refer to myself as artistic at all.

I am in awe of you people!

Insubordination

2006-01-26T18:46:00.000-06:00

How. Dare. You.

Who do you think you are, Jaywalker?

Let's get this straight: I'm the knitter.

If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be here.

You better straighten up and fly right, buster. Or else.

Sure. Like you've never talked to your knitting this way. Or at least you've wanted to. Admit it.

Buttons

2006-01-25T23:49:00.000-06:00

It occurred to me that I have no buttons on my blog. So, I'm out to remedy that today. I mean, what's a blog without buttons, right? It seems so...naked, right?

1. As previously noted, I've been working on the Jaywalker sock pattern. I noticed that Cara has added me to the Jaywalker Knitalong site, so I'm officially in the KAL now. Woohoo! (Hard to believe I'm the only Linda, but it looks that way for now.)

2. For the past two years I've been a donor to Doctors without Borders, and therefore sort of a member of Knitters without Borders. I say "sort of" because I never emailed the Yarn Harlot and let her know that I've been donating. Today I remedied that, and am now honored to be officially eligible to put up a TSF button.

3. I sent the Yarn Harlot a "twofer" email and signed up for the Knitting Olympics at the same time. I've been thinking a lot about this decision and I believe I'm ready for the challenge. I will be competing for Team USA by knitting my first pair of gloves. I had thought about doing something else, but decided that the gloves would be enough of a challenge AND I would be making progress on completing one of the two pairs I promised to do after Christmas (one pair for my mother, and the other pair for my stepfather).

4. This has to be the sickest or slickest (depending on your viewpoint) "along" yet:

I'm competing against masters here in...buying yarn. Since I really need more of it. Right.

Jaywalker Update

Here's where I was earlier tonight...

And now, several hours later, I am back to just picking up the gussets. I had somehow ended up with a LARGE float of yarn across the heel and had to tink back about 10 rows. Actually, Jamie did most of the tinking for me. Thanks to the knitting gods for giving me such talented friends!

Stylin'

2006-01-22T21:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I made it back from Cleveland in one piece and I finally got my pedicure, too. Woohoo!!

Even though I was in a nice, comfy hotel, I slept poorly Friday night. I was quite exhausted when I made it back home, but still had to keep some appointments and commitments. So, it was no surprise when I fell asleep in the chair during my pedicure. I roused briefly to give my approval of a polish color and again when the woman finished up and told me I'd need to give it about 10 more minutes to dry. No problem; I awoke about 15 minutes later and groggily put my socks and shoes on. The ladies at the spa could really tell I needed the rest, apparently.

I knitted on my Jaywalker sock last night for a little while. I haven't been getting a lot done on the sock this weekend, so I'm not posting any more "in progress" photos. More importantly, I've tried it on a few times and I think it will fit just fine this time. I'm nearly ready to work on the heel. I know this may sound a bit weird, but I think I'll run a life line through the stitches just before I start the heel. I plan on using some reinforcing yarn like I did on attempt #1, and I'm a bit concerned that may contribute to making the sock really tight. When I use reinforcing yarn it really makes for a sturdy heel, but some flexibility is sacrificed.

Today Jamie and I went to Loopy Yarns together. It was a fun outing that involved lots of yarn fondling and a stop at a coffee shop for some caffeine and a bit of knitting. While I did get the needles I needed at Loopy (ostensibly the reason for the excursion), I was also happy to pick up this new knitting bag.

Doesn't it look professional and stylish? After my second business trip in as many months and with a third coming up soon, I've realized I have to do something to make it easier to deal with the TSA regulations limiting a person to only two carry on bags, including a purse or briefcase. I usually tote my laptop around in a backpack when I'm traveling to and from the office. However, the backpack doesn't have much extra room, and I'm just not comfortable with carrying my cash, credit cards, and IDs on my back.

I've noticed that many of the women professionals are carrying totes similar to the one above as their purse/laptop bag. It will fit under the seat in front of you on the airplane, you can easily slip the laptop in and out of the bag at security check points, and you can fit your entire purse (if it's a small to medium sized one) or wallet in it, too. In my case, I can also slip in some travel knitting! When I'm not traveling for work, I can fill the entire bag with knitting projects. Yay!

Serious Stuff

Mark and I watched Vera Drake while I knit last night. It was a very powerful and well-acted movie set in 1950's England. Vera "helps girls" who find themselves "in trouble" (in other words: with an unwanted pregnancy.) Today as I sit here catching up on my blog-reading, I find out that it's Blog for Choice Day.

I'm pro-choice and quite disturbed by the slow and steady erosion of a woman's right to choose in so many states. The PBS program Frontline took an indepth, frightening look at the strategy of anti-choice rights groups in a recent documentary. Follow the link and view it online if you haven't seen it yet; it'll open your eyes to the amazing tactics by these groups.

When I was just out of high school, one of my friends had an abortion. She was 18 years old and while she was seriously dating a guy, she wasn't ready to have a child. After she had the abortion, she told me she could understand why some people are against it and that no woman should go through such an experience. I was shocked that this friend would suddenly become anti-choice.

It took some time and much questioning for it to become clear that she hadn't exactly changed her mind, but the experience had affected her so deeply that she came very close to doing so. Only a few months later she intentionally became pregnant. She and her guy married, had two children, and eventually divorced.

While I've never had to make this choice, I'm glad that I can. And I'm glad that other women in my state can, too. We should be able to make a choice about something that affects our bodies and our lives. Enough said.

Temporarily Delayed

2006-01-20T20:28:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Cleveland! Here I sit, in a hastily booked hotel room, experiencing a second quiet night by myself. I should be at home right now, getting ready to enjoy a bottle of wine and some homemade pizza with my husband. That's my usual Friday night, and I like it very much. But the weather is not cooperating.

Today I was working in Cleveland on a project. As I was walking out of the office this afternoon, I received a call on my mobile phone. The charming robot voice informed me that my flight had been cancelled and that I was successfully re-booked on another flight...one that leaves early tomorrow morning. After a 30 minute consultation with a corporate travel agent getting apprised of the situation in Chicago airspace, it was confirmed that this was my best option. So, here I sit back in the hotel I so enjoyed last night. Hey, at least I have a comfy bed and I'm not trying to sleep in the airport, right?

I'm wondering if this has something to do with my pedicure. I'm convinced that I'm totally doomed when it comes to getting a pedicure. Recall that I was supposed to enjoy a pedicure last Monday, but it had been accidentally double-booked. That was actually my second attempt to schedule one within the past month. The first one couldn't happen due to scheduling conflicts, too. So, I booked a pedicure for 8 AM Saturday morning. My flight from Cleveland won't get me back into Chicago by 8 AM. I've had to reschedule yet again!

My Jaywalkers are likewise delayed. Here's where I was Wednesday night.

Making great progress, eh? Yep, until I attempted to try it on. Now, I had heard that these socks could be snug, but they were wayyyy too snug. It was a testament to the resilience of the Socks that Rock yarn that I was able to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it over my heel in the first place. So, I had to rip it out. *sniffle*

I had been working the sock on my US 1 (2.25 mm) double point needles, exactly as called for in the pattern. My pattern gauge was spot on. My stockinette stitch gauge was...well...a bit smaller than called for. So, I decided to rip back to the ribbing (which seemed just fine), then increase to the stitch count for the larger size and work on. I also decided to give the 2 circular technique a try with US 1 Addi Turbos. (Thanks to Rachael for demystifying this technique for me at Tuesday night's Stitch n' Bitch!)

While travel can be a pain in the *ss at times (like when you get stuck out of town on a Friday night when you should be at home snuggling with your husband and pets), it is great for working on knitting. All that sitting at the gate and on a plane gives one lots of time to knit. So, I was able to get several inches into attempt #2 on Jaywalker. Last night in my hotel room, I tried it on. Not snug at all! But...now it was too loose. So...I ripped it out again. Completely out.

I cast on again at the smaller size. I knit the ribbing on the 2.25 mm DPNs. Then, I switched to the Addi Turbos, which are actually 2.5 mm. (Yes, I was a bit surprised to see that clearly marked on the package...2.5 mm, not 2.25 mm.) I'm hoping that the little 1/4 of a mm difference will make the stitch gauge a bit looser. We'll see. So now, I'm just now getting going again on attempt #3. Let's hope the third time's a charm in this case.

Jaywalking along

2006-01-16T21:39:00.000-06:00

I'm making decent progress, aren't I? I can't help but feel that I should have more than this done, though.

Yesterday I had a lot of errands to run, so I got in less knitting than I wanted to. Today was a holiday, so I didn't have to go to the office. I was hoping to spend a nice chunk of the day knitting, but it didn't work out that way. (Of course!)

The plan for today was to take Hannah to the veterinarian in the morning, start dinner in the slow cooker, then finish the heel on Jaywalker sock #1. I wanted to have the heel finished and the gussets picked up by the afternoon. I wanted the sock all set up for some easy knitting while I was relaxing at the spa this afternoon enjoying a pedicure. This was to be my treat for the day.

Alas, today was one of those days where nothing quite worked out as planned.

There were little chores to do at home that I hadn't counted on. But, I did manage to get the heel finished in time to make my spa appointment. Then, I arrived at the spa only to find out that there had been a scheduling error. Somehow, my facial and my pedicure had been scheduled in the same time slot an hour hence. Nothing could be done to fix it, so I left to run a few errands and came back an hour later for my facial. No way to knit and get a facial at the same time, so sock #1 is a little less developed than I'd hoped.

Damn. I had really hoped to have enough done that I could try it on and admire my sock knitting prowess and my pedicure. That would have made a nice photo for the blog, eh?

Random Stuff

Brokeback Mountain just won the Golden Globe award for best drama. Quite the tear-jerker, and very deserving of the award.
This weekend, we rented Grizzly Man, a documentary about Timothy Treadwell and his "mission" to protect a population of grizzly bears in Alaska. I'm still thinking about this movie and highly recommend it.

Something in the air?

2006-01-14T20:47:00.000-06:00

I regularly check out certain blogs. You can see the list of them over there on the right. So, did one of them mention something about a Jaywalker Knit Along? I don't think so. It seems that I have stumbled onto the latest knitting fad all on my own.

What you see here is a Jaywalker sock in progress with Socks that Rock in the Red Rock Canyon colorway. I swear I had no idea that there was a HUGE knit along for Jaywalker, and that knitting Jaywalker -- especially in Socks that Rock yarn -- seems to be the current fad in the knitting world.

Really, I had no idea. Seriously. Honestly. I didn't know.

Could it be a subliminal thing? Could I now be so attuned to the knitterly vibes of the universe that I was influenced to start this pattern and to use the STR yarn?

Here's the story as I see it:

I was a good girl and finished knitting Mark's felted slippers Thursday night. I seamed the slippers on Friday during a conference call where I only had to be in listen mode. So, by Friday night I thought I deserved a reward for being so concientious and finishing up a project. (True, I still have to felt the slippers, but when I felt I sit in a chair near the washing machine and knit away on another project while the machine is doing it's work.)

As previously posted, I've been craving sock knitting. (That just sounds so weird...most people crave things like chocolate, ice cream, or potato chips. Me, I crave sock knitting.) And ever since I saw the Jaywalker sock pattern, I've been wanting to try it. (I can see from the date stamp on the paper that I actually printed out the instructions on October 28, 2005. I was ahead of the curve at that point, but I was apparently side-tracked.) So, last night I decided to cast on for Jaywalker. I just had to decide which yarn to use.

By now, I have lots of sock yarn options in my stash: a few skeins of Lion Brand Magic Stripes (not my fave, but OK for general use); 2 small skeins of Elann's brand of sock yarn; 2 large hanks of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that I picked up during vacation (from Knit Happens in Alexandria, VA); 2 small hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (from Loopy Yarns here in my hometown of Chicago); one large hank of Schaefer Anne (picked up at Close Knit in Evanston, IL); a large skein of Trekking XXL; and...several large hanks of Socks that Rock purchased from The Fold in November and December.

I piled up all the these yarns on the guest bed. I gazed at them. I fondled them. Then, I decided "what the hell" and grabbed a hank of Socks that Rock. I wound it up and I cast on last night. I knit the ribbing and a couple of the pattern rows, and then I went to bed.

Today, I had a bit of running around to do, but I brought my knitting just in case. In the course of having a coffee while waiting for a shop to open and later getting a flat tire replaced, I carved out another hour and a half of knitting time. You can see the result in the photo above. (You can also see how the colors seem to be pooling. Hmmm...I've wondered exactly what pooling is. Now I'm experiencing it for myself and I think I get it. Oh, well.)

I was so eager to start knitting socks that I didn't bother to do a gauge swatch. (I rarely have a problem with gauge on socks, though. Somehow, they usually work out for me.) I was a bit concerned that I would run low on STR. (I agree with Yarn Harlot that pattern writers should specifiy how much yarn they actually used, not just the total yardage of the number of units needed.) So, this afternoon I Googled "jaywalker socks that rock" thinking I may luck out and find that someone had posted on a blog a friendly tip on how much STR I'd need. Wow, was I surprised with what came up.

Check out the KAL link at the top. If you're diligent and read through it a bit, you'll see that there is a random drawing for several skeins of STR if you join the KAL and complete a pair of socks before February 14. I can do that.

I think I'm about to join my first Knit Along.

Looking Up

2006-01-12T17:44:00.000-06:00

The above photos were taken on my recent trip to Washington, D.C. These were taken in the Library of Congress building, a gorgeous structure and a venerable institution. I just loved the Library of Congress and took oodles of photos of it, including a few shots of the elaborate ceilings.

For a while there, I was really in a low place. Only now, as the situation is improving, am I aware of just how low I was. I'm not one to bitch and moan a lot online (I assume there's enough of that going on, so no need to add my angst), so it may not have been too apparent here. However the fact that I stopped posting entirely for about a month was a major clue that something was wrong.

I'm feeling a lot better now and life (work, home stuff, personal stuff, etc.) no longer seems totally overwhelming. I'm seeing my therapist every week now, am slowly getting back into an exercise regime, and...well...I started taking anti-depressants about two weeks ago.

I have mixed feelings about going on anti-depressants. I can't help but feel it's some sort of cop out. On the other hand, I must be able to function enough to do my job and carry on with normal daily activities. And thanks to the meds, I'm able to do that now.

Oh, and just to show how "up" I'm feeling, I have to post a link to this goofy photo from the Cute Overload website. It sure got a laugh out of me!

Linda gets cultured

I went to the opera last night. Well, la de da! Up until last night, I was pretty much an opera virgin. I'd watched one opera on television many years ago when the local PBS station aired Madame Butterfly. But, I'd never been to an opera in person. Nor have I listened to opera music very much.

My neighbor had a couple tickets she got from her uncle, who was too sick to use them. So, off we went to a performance of The Magic Flute.

Frankly, I'm not really into musicals or dramatic performances that include singing. I'm sort of a grouch about it, I guess. I mean, sure, I regularly break into song during critical points in my day....rrrriiiiiggghhhhttttt....Although I tease Mark all the time about his insistence on "plausibility" in movies and entertainment, I guess I have some "plausibility" issues, too. I really don't see people singing about their feelings as very plausible, which is why I don't do musicals, as a rule.

Nonetheless, I actually really wanted to see The Magic Flute. I knew the storyline was not based on an awful tragedy, and that it had elements of comedy to it, too. (I'd picked up this much about it from watching the movie Amadeus.) So, I figured it would be a good introduction to opera for me.

By intermission, after only 3 Acts out of 11, I was shaking my head and wondering what sort of awesome drugs Mozart must have been high on when he wrote this opera. It was fun and entertaining, but required MAJOR amounts of suspension of disbelief. I guess I'd have to say it was a good thing, overall, but I'm sure glad Mark wasn't with me.

Oh, and although I didn't dress up super duper fancy-schmancy, I did wear the Lotus Blossom shawl. Of course!

On the needles

No change in my WIPs: Katrina Rib, Fibertrends Felted Slippers for Mark, and swatch for gloves. I'm not knittin' up a storm lately, can you tell? I should have Mark's slippers finished -- I mean felted and with the leather soles on 'em -- by the end of this weekend. I have a nice long weekend coming up, so that's the plan at least.

As for the other two projects...well, I'm still on the first sleeve of Katrina Rib, but only have about 5 more inches of knitting left on it. So, if I'm motivated and diligent, I'll be ready to start sleeve #2 during my commuting next week.

The hang up is...I really, really want to knit some socks instead of any of these things. I am craving some sock knitting badly. (I couldn't help thinking last night about how great it would have been to have a sock in my purse to work on during intermission.)

I've been purchasing lots of nice sock yarn lately, and some good sock knitting books, and I'd really like to start working with them. Then again, there are plenty of awesome online sock patterns, too. Hmmm...I think some Jaywalker sock knitting is a strong possibility...

My girls and my WIPs

2006-01-08T10:13:00.000-06:00

When I was in high school I worked on the Yearbook one year . While I had no problems at all in writing stories, I always had difficulty coming up with headlines and succinct captions for the photos. Every time I think about starting a blog entry, it seems like I spend about 10 minutes thinking about what I'm going to title the entry. I guess I still haven't increased my headline skills. *sigh*

My girls

As I was looking through the photos on my camera, I noticed that I've collected a few nice ones of "my girls." (I'm referring to the dogs, Hannah and Sadie, and the cat, Fiona. Mark is the token male in this household.) Actually, there are only photos of Sadie and Fiona today. But, to be fair, Hannah has already had some recent photos posted. As Fiona's main play buddy, Hannah has gotten captured in plenty of photos with her.

I took this photo of Sadie late one evening just after Thanksgiving. That's Mark's toothbrush in her mouth. No, Sadie hadn't suddenly become intensely interested in oral hygiene. I think Fiona must have knocked Mark's toothbrush off the sink during her revels and Sadie picked it up and started chewing on it. She destroyed it pretty thoroughly, too, as you can see below.
Well, even if Sadie hadn't totally destroyed it, it's not as if Mark would have used this toothbrush again anyway. I usually have one or two spare toothbrushes around, but for some reason I'd fallen a bit low on supplies. Poor Mark had to make do with the old toothpaste-on-a-finger deal until the next day, since it was too late to go to the store to get a new one.

I don't know what it is about the holidays this year, but they seemed to "inspire" my girls for some reason. As Christmas rolled around -- and the veterinarian's office closed for the extended holiday weekend -- I started noticing some odd behavior in Fiona.

She was frequently rolling around on the floor and making cute little noises. She would then get into this weird sort of crouch and start sort of waddling across the floor. Most of the time, she'd waddle towards Hannah. Then, Fiona would thrust her behind in Hannah's face. In typical dog fashion, Hannah was game to take a sniff, but was pretty clueless about Fiona's real intentions. Yes, Fiona was experiencing her first heat. And, that was Fiona's ONLY heat, too.

She was spayed this week. See her little incision? She's apparently a precocious kitty, because this wasn't supposed to happen for another month.

During her "episode" she wasn't entirely focused on finding a gentleman friend, though. She still found time for some more typical mischief.

Silly me. I left some knitting out one night. Any knitter with a cat has to have experienced this at one time or another. Thank goodness it was easily picked up again.

My WIPs

I've been having problems with my knitting lately. I can't seem to focus on or get excited about any of my WIPs. On the left, is a slipper for Mark. This is actually a holiday gift that I didn't even start until well after the holidays.

In the middle is my Katrina Rib. Yep, I'm still plugging away on it, but notice that I have progressed to working on a sleeve. Techically, I could be done with this project already, but I decided that I wanted to make 3/4 sleeves instead of the cap sleeves in the original pattern. So, I have hours more of 3X3 rib left to go.

Lastly, the project on the small set of DPNs is not the beginnings of a sock, but a swatch. Eventually, this will likely be gloves for my stepfather. I say eventually because I'm not convinced that I want to make my first pair of gloves in such a fine gauge.

To be totally honest, I'm not sure I really want to make these gloves at all. See, I feel like I was tricked into making these gloves and am a bit resentful about it.

As I noted in my last entry, I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. So, to maintain some semblance of sanity, I decided to do very little holiday gift knitting this year. I knit up those roses and I had purchased yarn a few months ago to make Mark his slippers, but I had already given Mark a combination anniversary/holiday gift in October so it wasn't a requirement to finish the slippers for the holidays. I'm making him slippers because he needs a new pair for the winter.

Just after Thanksgiving, there was an agreement made with my mom and sister that there would be no holiday gift exchange this year amongst the adults. Some of my family members are on a pretty tight budget, so this is a practical way of not having anyone feel bad. Then, late on December 23, my sister called me up to say that she had purchased a gift for my mother and wanted to split the cost with me.

So, here's roughly how that conversation went between us.

Me: "What happened to the no gifts deal this year?"
Sister: "Well, Mom really needed this."
Me: "OK, I'll split it with you. But what about [stepfather]? Won't that be uncomfortable that we don't have a gift for him?"
Sister: "Oh, I made him something already."

The phone conversation then ended and I started spewing many ugly words. Just a couple weeks previously, my sister had casually commented that she had a holiday gift for me that she had purchased before the "no gifts" deal was set. Now, here it was, just a few hours left for me to shop, and I find out that I will be the "bad daughter" if I don't show up with a gift for my stepfather.

What could I do? I made up a "Knit Certificate" offering to knit him an item such as a hat, scarf, gloves, or mittens. And, since it became clear there would be gift exchange amongst all the adults this year, I made up a "Knit Certificate" for my sister, too. (Although I really felt more like whipping her up a batch of Exlax-laced goodies instead. Oh, well. She wouldn't have eaten them anyway. She's always on a diet.)

I'm not sure why I added the gloves and mittens to the list, since I've never made any before. But, there it is. The reason why I am embarking on making my first pair of gloves, I mean. On the positive side, at least I'll be increasing my skills, right?

Mark really had a good assessment of the situation, though. He said that next year we won't fall for this again. Damn straight.

Welcome 2006

2006-01-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

I've been feeling very overwhelmed the last few months, which is why I haven't put anything up here in a while. I've found it challenging enough just to get through each day and get ready to tackle the next one.

So, it has been a fabulous treat to spend last 10 days at leisure (for the most part). I'm never happy sitting still and completely vegetating, so I squeezed in some home chores during this time. I cooked a lot. I made big pots of soups and stews, setting aside portions in the freezer for later meals. I cleared up my desk a bit (just a bit) by doing some filing and shredding. And, I got the wireless networking working. Whoohoo!!

Technically, I didn't get the wireless networking working, Joe from the Geek Squad did. But, I did make the arrangements and I also bought the new wireless equipment.

You'd think I would be all excited about getting the wireless working and would be roaming the house with my laptop. But, that hasn't been the case. I've actually avoided the laptop during this time off. I've been afraid to approach it and get sucked into checking my work email account. Now I'm afraid of what I'll get tomorrow when I go to the office and log in for the first time in 10 days. Seriously afraid.

Anyway, I don't want to think about work right now. I want to reflect on the wonderful knitting I've been doing since I last posted.

Finished Object #1: The baby sweater

This is the baby sweater that I was whining about in mid-November. I finally made it to the fabric store and got the buttons and some grosgrain ribbon. I used the sewing machine to attach the grosgrain ribbon to the inside of the button band, and then attached the buttons. This is a first for me. I'm not that handy with a sewing machine yet, but it worked out pretty well. And, I do like how the ribbon helps anchor the buttons.

Finished object #2: MIL's Faroese-style Shawl

I've already posted a photo of this, but not while it was being modeled by the recipient. Lillian really likes the shawl and it looks so great on her, that I wanted to record it.

Finished Object #3: Lotus Blossom Shawl

My really big project this fall was completing this shawl. I wanted to make a shawl to wear at my work holiday party. I had the yarn (some fingering/sock yarn from Tess' Designer Yarns), but I was having trouble finding a pattern to work with. I think the Lotus Blossom was the third pattern I'd tried. I was having too much trouble with the first two I tried, but the Lotus Blossom worked out great. And I finished it in time. I love this shawl!

Finished Objects #4-9: Knitted Roses

It seems like I made a dozen of these, but I think I really only made 5 of them. I used the pattern in the Vogue Knitting 2005 holiday edition to make up the roses (out of Lion Brand Suede, nonetheless) and then hand-sewed pin backings on each one. I gave a rose to each of my twin aunts, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my niece. I think they'll make nice adornments for their winter coats or on a purse, etc.

Miscellaneous finished objects: I finished the socks that I photographed a few weeks ago and the slippers for my nephew. I also made myself a pair of slippers, since Hannah chewed a hole in my winter slippers last year.

I'm still working on the Katrina Rib sweater. Despite the fact that I've had 10 days off of work, I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done during this time. In fact, I'm still sort of in a knitting deficit right now. I've got a slipper for Mark on the needles right now, and a swatch for some gloves I promised my stepfather.

Well, it's back to work and commuting tomorrow, so I'll resume my dedicated knitting time each day.

Happy new year to all!

Thinking

2005-11-29T21:44:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about blogs lately. Yesterday, I was catching up at work on my reading, most of which is online articles. And, I digressed into reading a bit about blogs. I ran across this article, What's a Blog?, on the Typepad site. I'll metaphorically pause here for a few minutes while you read it.

Yeah, that beginning about macrame and kitchsy '70's crafts really threw me at first, too, but I think it makes a valid point: good blogs have their own voice.

In thinking about this and what it means to me, a neophyte blogger, I've come to the conclusion that I just haven't developed my "voice" yet.

So, what's the big deal? Nothing. There is no big deal. But that's my point: it's not a big deal, so there's no reason to sweat it.

At Snb tonight, the subject of blogs came up briefly and one of the folks commented that my blog isn't updated very often, and that when it is the entries are too long. OK, interesting point, and likely a valid one, too.

I blog when I can squeeze the time in, and unfortunately that's not really often. Anyway, one other thought I've had about blogging is this: the best bloggers, those that blog every day and have interesting things to say, all have wireless Internet.

I don't have (working) wireless Internet at home. Yeah, I have a laptop, but it might as well be a huge, clunky desktop 'cause I'm stuck at a desk in one room of my house with one loooonnnngggg cable running across the room to the router. A few months ago I gave up on trying to rouse my husband's interest in figuring out why the wireless access point won't work, even in the same room. A few weeks ago, I found myself obsessed with this issue and tried to figure it out for myself. Now I'm a couple phone calls away from getting it fixed.

Phone call #1 will be to Linksys tech support who will hopefully be able to tell me why the firmware won't update. If this fails, then...

Phone call #2 will be to the Geek Squad to come over to my house and make the damn wireless work.

Then, I'll be able to roam around and freely blog in every room of my house whenever I feel like it. Wow. Think of the possibilities...

P.S. Is this a nice, short post?

The S Word

2005-11-16T18:28:00.000-06:00

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is. Snow. Our first of the season.

Today was a raw and ugly day in Chicago. While I was smart enough to bundle up with the fleece hat and gloves this morning, I thought I wouldn't need them to cross the street to pick up lunch this afternoon. Once safely back in our office building, it only took about 10 minutes for me to regain feeling in my ears. (OK, I really should have worn the hat!) But let me think about more pleasant times than today's wickedly sharp and gusty winds.

Just last weekend we had fine, warmish weather. Perfect weather for a road trip. So, some of us SnBers went to Marengo to visit The Fold. We knew that Toni Neal would not be there, but none of us was seriously shopping for a spinning wheel. We just wanted to check the place out and get out of the city for a day. And we wanted to get some Socks that Rock, too.

L to R: Jamie (with her eyes closed...darn!), me, Rachael, and Sarah, all displaying our purchases from the Fold. This photo was kindly taken by Toni's son, a charming, college senior for whom we never learned a name. But, he was nice and put up with us crazy women nattering on about yarn and fibers, a doctoral thesis, and why women's feet feel the cold more than men's feet. There was also another special guy there whom we invited to be in the photo, but he just didn't want to join us:

Eric the German Shepherd Dog. I'm sure if I had been holding a piece of bacon instead of a skein of Socks that Rock, Eric would have been in that photo like a shot.

So, my personal haul from the Fold was several skeins of Socks that Rock in the Red Rock Canyon and Carnelite colorways, and one XXL skein of Trekking.

In the Socks that Rock, I wanted to shake things up a bit and go with a colorway that I'd normally not get. I don't have a lot of warm bronzey-type colors, but I'm starting to branch out now. The Trekking is for a pair of fingerless gloves for myself to wear in the office next summer. (Yep, I said summer. It gets so freakin' cold in the office where I work that my hands, fingers, and nose become numb. The Clapotis was made in fairly conservative colors so I could wear it in the office, and the fingerless gloves should be a close match, hence the blue color of the Trekking yarn.)

It didn't take nearly as long to drive to Marengo as I thought, either. I know I'll be going back to the Fold after the holidays to check out the spinning wheels a bit more, and I'm sure at least one of the other SnB women will come along.

Project Update

The lace bolero found a home...with Shannon! I think it looks a lot better on her that it ever would on me.

Now Shannon just has to "pay it forward" for someone else.

...On the needles...

I've got several projects on the needles right now and would just love to be able to concentrate on one.

That deep red object on the left is a Katrina Rib (what I keep calling the "Cookie sweater"), then there's a sock (since there's only one finished...and I'll have to redo the toe shaping on that one 'cause I'm not liking how it fits or looks on me, then it's not a finished project), and finally there's a slipper-to-be-felted for my nephew. I'm just not feeling organized and together these days with my projects and I don't like it.

I will admit that one of the big reasons I knit is to feel a sense of accomplishment: to know that I've achieved something with my talents and time. I did finish knitting a baby sweater and hat last weekend, but I haven't been able to truly complete it and send it off because I haven't had a chance to go to the fabric store and pick out some stinkin' buttons for it.

And, I really, really want to be knitting away on a lovely lace shawl to wear at my company's holiday party next month. Yeah, like I'll ever get the shawl done in time with all the holiday knitting I have to do. As if!

Awww, I guess I'm just cranky today. I haven't had a cigarette since October 29 (4:48 PM Central Standard Time on October 29, to be exact) and have only today come to realize that I really do need those little nicotine patches to function well right now. I realized this more than halfway through the afternoon when I was desperately trying to resist yet another vending machine splurge and trying to figure out why I was so crabby and driven to stuff my face today. Then it hit me: I forgot to put on a new patch today. A hah!

So, I think I deserve some undisturbed knitting time for a while tonight. I guess I'll be a trooper and work on the slippers tonight. *sigh*

Remember Me

2005-11-04T17:53:00.000-06:00

Yes, I did disappear for a while, but there were several reasons for not being able to blog for some time.

First, there were technical problems. The last post I made was just before Yarn Harlot visited Chicago. I was really, really excited and eager to see her/hear her in person. Without going into a lot of detail, let’s just say it was a great experience and she’s a very genuine person. Some folks you like/enjoy before you meet them, then after you meet them you revise your opinion. This was definitely not the case with Yarn Harlot! She’s just as warm, funny, kind, and approachable in person as she is on her blog.

The technical problems arose when I tried to post to this blog the day after her visit. Blogger was “down for maintenance” for a few hours. I tried that evening and received the same response. I tried the next day and received the same response. After that, I gave up. By this time, it seemed that every single knitting blogger in Chicago had posted about Yarn Harlot’s visit and it would have been stale and repetitive of me to post similar impressions and photos. (Not that I think I have a large readership or anything, but I try not to write about the exact same stuff that can be read on other, better known blogs, unless it is to add new insights or something.)

We took vacation in mid-October and what with all the prepping for the vacation at work and at home, then being on the actual vacation, and, finally, catching up with all the work and home stuff after the vacation, well, a lot of time was eaten up this way and blogging was pushed to the bottom of my priority list.

We really enjoyed visiting Washington D.C., and I’ll share some impressions and photos here and there, but not in one big post that will take many, many precious minutes to load. We were away for 10 days, but 2 of those days were just for travel. We took the Amtrak train, so it wasn’t a fast trip. In fact, it was a considerably slower trip than originally scheduled due to an ever-increasing set of delays, which annoyed me in varying degrees. I think the shine is off of Amtrak trips for us now.

Anyway, we were lucky enough on the outbound (to D.C.) trip to get an upgrade to a larger sleeper compartment. We had taken an overnight train trip a few years ago, and so we were aware that the standard sleeper compartments are very small. What we didn’t know was that the configuration of the sleeper car trains and availability of certain services varied depending on the route. There was no baggage service on the outbound train. None, zippo, nada. This meant that we had to carry on everything and stow it on the train.

We really try not to pack a lot of stuff, but we’re two adults on a 10 day trip; we have several pairs of pants, shirts, etc. I thoughtfully made sure I had smaller sizes of toothpaste, etc. Mark just packed the standard size of his toiletries, such as LARGE containers of baby powder, toothpaste, contact lense solution, etc. (We agreed to use the same shampoo, but I just can’t stand the sweet Crest toothpaste he insists on and use Tom’s of Maine unsweetened products.) So, between the two of us we had one large suitcase; one “carry-on” sized suitcase; my backpack with laptop, book, and small camera (no, I couldn’t leave my laptop behind…what if there was a major screw up at work that I needed to fix?); my purse; Mark’s “man purse” (a small bag to hold his various eyeglasses, gum, etc.); and my knitting bag, of course. (For a minimum 17 hour train ride, I packed two projects: a top-down, short-sleeved sweater; and a pair of socks.)

When we entered the car to board, it looked very different. The first thing I noticed is that there was no luggage rack. On the train trip we took previously, there was a luggage rack on the train where passengers could put the luggage they did not want in their compartments with them. (That trip also had a baggage car, too, so there was a great potential to carry lots of stuff!) No, all this stuff would have to be crammed into the compartment – a cubicle sized 3’6” by 6’8” – with us.

The steward asked for our compartment number and I replied something like, “Well, the one I WANT to be in is that larger one back there, but my ticket is for number X.” Smiles all around at this remark, so I hadn’t offended (thank goodness), and then Mark and I eased ourselves and our baggage into the compartment. We made it fit by stuffing things under the seats and sitting the large suitcase on top of this step/side table thing next to Mark.

It wasn’t until about 40 minutes later that I puzzled out what this thing next to Mark was. It was a toilet. Right there, in the compartment with us; right next to the seat, and now with a large suitcase sitting on top of it. I couldn’t figure out how, logistically, I was going to be able to pee in a toilet that was currently unavailable since it had a suitcase on top of it, while Mark was being adamant that he would not sleep with this head near the toilet. Mark outlined a plan that involved a precise set of steps that would allow us to use the toilet (person not needing the toilet to get up and exit compartment, move suitcase to unoccupied seat, use toilet, move suitcase back, signal other person to return, etc.). Luckily, we didn’t have to deal with this as the steward brought the conductor to talk with us about upgrading our compartment and it was worked out that the larger one I had joked about WAS free and we could use it without any additional charge. Whew!

So, here’s Mark relaxing in our “large” bedroom (6’8” by 7’1”) on the train.

Yes, this compartment did have a toilet, too, but it was placed behind a door, and because we could put the large suitcase up above it, using the toilet did not involve heavy lifting and secret signals that it was all clear to return to our little haven.

Notice my Clapotis strategically placed in the shots? I brought it with me and wore it every single day to every place we visited. That Clapotis became sort of my version of the Yarn Harlot’s sock-in-progress. Plus, it was very practical for layering: I wore it as a shawl during the cooler morning hours, then as a loose scarf around my neck during the warmer daytime hours, and finally as a shawl again during the evening hours when it cooled off again. I got a few compliments on it and questions about whether I made it myself (“Thank you. Yes I did make it myself. If you’re a knitter, it’s a free pattern you can make, too.”)

Of course, the folks in the yarn shops I visited immediately recognized it as a Clapotis and their compliments meant the most to me. Yep, I visited two yarn shops: Stitch D.C. in Georgetown, and Knit Happens in Alexandria, VA. I almost made it to the Stitch D.C. store in Capital Hill the same day I visited the one in Georgetown, but my feet were killing me after walking back and forth between Georgetown and DuPont Circle and around the Eastern Market flea market that day. I had to sit down and relax, so we snagged a table on the patio at a nearby Murky Coffee where I had what so far has been the best soy milk latte I have ever had in my entire life.

My impressions of the yarn shops were likewise favorable. I was the first customer in Stitch D.C. on a Sunday morning, so it wasn’t hopping until just before I left. But, I had a nice chat with the women working in the shop that day who helped me pick out some worsted weight yarn for a Truly Tasha’s Shawl.

I visited Knit Happens on Wednesday, their late night. I have to admit I was hoping to see/meet Wendy from Wendy Knits, but she wasn’t there. I was instantly welcomed, though, by a small group of knitters, including Carole (who described herself as “Wendy’s bitch”…whatever that means!), Laura (“the nurse”), Lara, and Holly, who was running the shop that night. Poor Holly was working away on knitting up squares to felt for a workshop with Nicky Epstein taking place two days later, but even though she had this rush project looming over her head she was funny and sweet and helped me pick out some Rowan Wool Cotton in the right color. I spent nearly two hours at Knit Happens checking our their large stock of yarns, knitting, and chatting away about the differences between Chicago and Virginia winters, the White Sox and Cubs, and knitting projects. Meanwhile, Mark prowled the Alexandria streets to check out the dining options, stopped in a bar for a drink, and chatted with his boss on the phone.

Something Stupid/Something Smart

A special section today on one of my stupid knitting errors, and one of my flashes of brilliance…that happen much too rarely.

One of the pre-vacation projects I had to wrap up was the Sweaterbabe’s Mohair Lace Bolero. I made it in Suri Dream from Knit Picks, not mohair, and wanted to bring it on the D.C. trip for a nice night out. I even went so far as to order a couple nice camisoles to wear under it from Norm Thompson. (These are fabulous camisoles with comfortable built in bras. For those of us with large chests who need real support, these are the best. You actually order them in your bra size, not some vague size like “Large” or “C-D cup.”)

So, I did finish knitting the bolero in time, and was even able to block the pieces and sew it up the weekend before we left. But…this was a knitting failure. Sure, it’s pretty:

But it doesn’t fit right. Yes, I checked gauge. Yes, I had to make a few adjustments to the pattern since I never can achieve row and stitch gauge at the same time. But, what I didn’t do was check the measurements in the pattern schematic against my body first!

It does fit, but if I want to move while wearing it, well, then the bottom edge creeps up my chest and now the bottom of my bolero is about mid-breast and looks really crappy. In order to NOT have this happen to me, the bolero should be about 3 inches longer. Well, I said I didn’t really think it was a good pattern, and now I’m sure of it. Who would need a bolero that’s nearly 40” around the bust, and not need it to be at least 14” long? I put on my most supportive bra to see if that made any difference, and it didn’t. Now I’m not sure if I’ll wear it at all. If I don’t use a nice brooch to hold it closed and wear it open instead, the bolero could work for me. But, I like the look of it when it’s closed because the lace edging is more visible. *sigh*

Now, let’s move on to a solid success: the Faroese Style shawl. I made this for Lillian; it will be her birthday gift this year (and her birthday is coming up very soon).

The pattern is from the Spring 2004 Cast On. The yarn called for was Lion Brand Homespun, but I really don’t care for that yarn, so I used Knit Picks Sierra in Cinnamon. I think she’ll love it. This is not a large shawl, but it works well for a smaller woman. After blocking, it came out to 25 ½” deep, and 58” wide.

Finally, we move into the flash of brilliance project, which isn’t a knitting project necessarily, but supports my knitting projects.

I have a long list of holiday gifts to make, some of which are small felted items. I also have a nice stash of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool. This yarn is not very soft, but it reputably felts and dyes very well, so I bought some last year when I had a JoAnn coupon. Instead of buying more wool yarn for my felting projects, I’ve decided to use the Fisherman’s Wool. (It is necessary to use stuff from the stash occasionally, right?)

No, that’s that my flash of brilliance, this is:

See, I’ll need X yards of yarn for a project that will be dyed Y color. So, I need to portion out one of those giant skeins (over 400 yds) into smaller batches for dyeing. One of the gifts I’m making is some felted flowers, and I need a bit of yarn in yellow, another bit in green, and a final bit in red, understand? I don’t need 400+ yards of yarn in yellow, another 400+ yards in green, etc. To measure, I now have the above set up.

On the left, is my swift. On the right is my ball winder. In the middle is my flash of brilliance. I admit, I borrowed the idea, but I’m still the one who found a way to make it work for me.

The key is this device.

That’s a fishing line meter. If you look in a yarn catalog, like Patternworks for example, you’ll see a yarn meter gauge sold for about $50. It is a device exactly like this one that you run your yarn through, and it measures the “line” run through it in feet. Then, just convert to yards, easy peasy! The fishing line meter above cost me about $12 at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Rachael from my SnB actually came up with the idea. Well, technically her stepfather did, I guess, but good ideas get passed on, right? However, I’m the first one in the SnB to test this out, which is how I discovered that having the fishing line meter is all well and good, but if you don’t have something just right to clamp it to, the idea won’t execute easily.

The device in Patternworks catalog comes with a small wooden stand that you clamp to a table, then clamp the measuring device on. I dug around in my basement and found the tall wooden stand above that I had rescued from a neighbor’s trash last year thinking, “Gee, this looks like it will be useful one day.” That day is here, my friends. (BTW, I really had no idea what it was originally until visiting my sister one day and noticing something exactly like it in her dining room. When I asked, she responded that it was the stand for the TV trays in such a way that it was clear I was a total idiot for not knowing, and also pretty weird to be excited about learning the answer.)

My final “gear” acquisition is a cool, old-fashioned kitchen scale.

No, I didn’t get this in the alley, but it was on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It’s displaying 100 grams of Cascade 220 (to be used for felted slippers) that I wound and measured at the same time to test out my new equipment. The meter read 599 feet (just shy of 200 yards), but it could have been my faulty set up. Anyway, the scale is necessary for know how much my X yards of yarn weigh so I use the appropriate amount of dye.

I have some Kool-Aid and I have some Wilton icing dyes. This weekend, I dye…

Cats, dogs and books...oh my!

2005-09-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

I've just returned from the bookstore where I picked up two new books I've been dying to get my hands on: A Breath of Snow and Ashes, the sixth installment of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series; and Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's newest book. Now I'm all set for an upcoming weekend of book-signings. Both Diana Gabaldon and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee are coming to the Chicago area at the end of the week and this is blowing my mind a bit. How coincidental that two great authors will be in town at the same time, hm?

Jamie asked if I'd like to accompany her to the Diana Gabaldon book-signing Friday night, but I had to decline. I'm already signed up for a crochet class at Arcadia that night and would have to kiss my deposit good-bye if I canceled. Plus, as great as it is that Diana Gabaldon is going to be nearby, she will be in Naperville, not Chicago. I just couldn't deal with fighting my way through traffic on a Friday afternoon to get to Naperville.

See, I've learned to figure out what I can and cannot cope with. It's taken many years to get to this point, but at least I'm no longer putting myself in situations that cause me implode. Jamie has kindly offered to get my book signed, however, if I pass it on to her roommate Shannon at work tomorrow. Yay!

I will be going to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book signing on Saturday. She'll be at Arcadia, which is easy for me to get to. Looks like several of us SnB ladies will then be attending the play Hack/Slash:Stagefright in which Jenna, one of our own, plays a prominent role. I'm going to have to pass on sitting in the "wet" section, though; I wouldn't want to get fake blood on my knitting.

Incidentally, I don't think I've noted here how miffed I am that I can no longer get a Yarn Harlot fix during the day! I used to check the Yarn Harlot blog every few days to get a little pick me up whenever I needed it, and usually this happened during business hours. Imagine how ticked off I was one day about a month ago when I needed a little break and found that my company has blocked her website! If there were real people compiling this blocked web site list and not just dumb software then I'm sure they'd realize that just because the word "harlot" is in the URL it is NOT a pornographic site. Sheesh! Now I can only read the blog at home when I don't have the VPN software running on my laptop.

Little Fiona is growing up fast! We went to Mayfair Animal Clinic today for her second set of shots and I brought along the camera to show off some of her "growing up" photos. Like this...

Fiona loves her new cat tree, and I'm quite pleased with it, too. I had priced these things at the pet store and they were pretty expensive, and not at all what I wanted. I found this one on eBay, though, and got a great deal on it. Brand new and in the box, it required only a bit of assembly and it cost me only $66 all total with shipping and everything. I bid on it through the Armarkat store and highly recommend this vendor.

The cat tree works really well for me, too, not just Fiona. I've started putting her food in the little "house" and this way she can get it easily, but the dogs can't. I've found that dogs and cats can co-exist quite well together, and even enjoy each other's company, but we have to come up with all sorts of clever ways to keep the dogs away from Fiona's food and litter pans. Mark has erected a makeshift barrier around the litter pan on the second floor, and we have to keep a baby gate up at all times across the room on the first floor where her main litter pan is located. Without the gates and barriers, well...let's just say very unpleasant things happen and leave it at that, shall we?

Yes, dogs and kitties get along just fine. Monday night, Fiona engaged Hannah in some vigorous play and I luckily had my camera at hand. I encourage this play; it keeps Fiona away from my knitting!

Of course, afterwards she needs to take a wee nap because she's all tuckered out.

...On the needles...

I finished Clapotis on Sunday morning. Yay! Then I layed it out for a quick steaming so it would be ready to wear this week. (Gee it sure is getting dark early these days, isn't it?) Here's a closer shot of the stitch work...oh, and look there's a kitten standing on it! *wink*

My new project is using Knit Picks Suri Dream yarn. Yes, it does feel like a dream. So soft and fluffy! I'm making this bolero from Sweaterbabe.com for myself. It's coming along well, but I'm not really happy with the pattern. I think it could be written a bit better.

I have lots of gift knitting to start, but am having too much fun knitting for myself right now. The shawl from A Gathering of Lace is still sitting on the needles, and I had started a sock that is still on the needles, too. With our vacation fast approaching, I'm having a hard time trying to find the time to fit in all the prep and find time for knitting. I consider knitting this bolero prep for the trip, though, as I'd really like to have it finished by then! I'll bring along the shawl on the trip, and maybe the sock, too.

...In the garden...

Brrrrr! Tonight it's going to get pretty nippy outside, although not cold enough for frost. My neighbor, Karen, has been busy ripping out her tomato plants and basil, but I'm leaving my veggie plants up until this weekend. They could keep going through late October if we don't get a real frost, but I'm tired of the maintenance right now.

It's time to pull out the veggies (except for the brussels sprouts) and sow a nice crop of winter rye as a cover crop. When I get back from D.C. I'll still have time to plant the garlic and then it's on to major leaf shredding and getting the beds ready for winter. I'm looking forward to the winter break this year and spending time planning my landscaping in the front. There are so many shrubs to choose from...

Sox win!

2005-09-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

Chicago Stitch n' Pitch was a rousing success last night. There were knitters galore in the bleachers, and the game was an intense one that had us jumping up and cheering like mad. My throat was actually a bit sore when I got home. The White Sox won in the 10th inning when Joe Crede hit a home run. As dramatic as that was, I think it would have been even more awesome if Jose Uribe had done the same at the bottom of the 9th inning and brought in all his team mates that were on base; it would have been a grand slam home run and my throat would have really been raw then.

Here's Jamie with the last section of her Coming Home poncho. I gotta admire the fact that she can actually work it in Homespun. *shudder*
Jenna proudly displays her SnB affiliation.

Jenna was working on the Clapotis, too, but she is much further along than I am. She has rocket-fueled needles or something, except when trying to make the stitches of her mohair-blend yarn drop!There's this weird thing about my projects and Jenna's projects. For some reason, we have more than once found that we're working on the same project. I will admit that sometimes I see her working on something and pick up the idea from her, but other times we'll just see each other at SnB with our knitting and realize that we're working the same project. Hmmmm.....

Rachael (right) and Sarah (left) were in pretty good moods, despite having to deal with a sick husband and son (in Sarah's case)/roommates (in Rachael's case) for the past week. Oh, and if Rachael passed that cold on to me, I'm going to think of some wicked way to make her pay! Way in the back is Brenda chatting it up with the Sox marketing contact.

Shannon got a bit nutty as the night progressed, but was clearly enjoying the beer. Shannon brought not only her knitting, but a mitt, too, just in case...

Shannon is the die-hard baseball fan of the group, and it's quite funny that her roommate (who shall remain nameless here) was saying that, in her opinion, she was quite sure baseball games only have 8 innings. Well, in this case, the game had 10 innings, J----!

There were many knitters I had never met enjoying the game, too.

Yes, a rousing success and lots of fun!

...On the needles...

I'm happy to be back working on my Clapotis again. It's at that stage where it was too large to carry on the plane, so I had to leave it at home. As I returned home from the airport yesterday, I was happy to see that my latest Knit Picks order arrived safely and was waiting for me between the doors; in it was the extra Andean Silk Twist I need to finish up the Clapotis. It will be done this weekend, I hope. I've finished up Section 3 and am ready to start the decrease section now.

I worked a bit more on the shawl during the flight, but I've determined that I need to work out a way to track which row in the 4-row repeat I'm on and the total row count at the same time before I work on it much more. Rachael suggested creating a simple spreadsheet, which sounds like a fabulous idea. That'll be a mini-project for another day, though, because it's almost my bed time!

I love my husband!

2005-09-19T21:55:00.000-05:00

My lovely, wonderful husband Mark has saved the day for me! I poured my heart out to him last night over the phone about how upset I was with losing my knitting pattern. He offered to take the book to work with him today, copy and fax it to my hotel.

There were problems, of course. The fax wasn't going through, but he kept trying. Over and over again. I finally got it, and now I'm able to work on my shawl during my travels home tomorrow. What a fabulous man I have!

I was really running on empty today, and this lucky break made me feel so good. I had about 3.5 hours of sleep last night and made it to the conference lunch break only through sheer adrenaline and lots of caffeine. There are so many reasons why I may not have been able to sleep last night, but I'm not going to go into them here. Because tonight I am tired and I think I can get to sleep pretty soon.

Tomorrow is a whirlwind with the last day of conference, and me rushing off to the airport before it ends so I can get home in time to attend the inaugural Chicago Stitch n' Pitch night at the White Sox game. If there are no significant flight delays, I should be able to make it to O'Hare, stop off quickly at home to drop off my suitcase and grab my ticket, then hop back on the el to get to US Cellular Field.

Despite all the fuss around the shawl pattern, I don't think I'll be bringing it to the ball game. It will require too much close attention. Instead, I think I will bring the sock that I started last night in a desperate attempt to ward off my insomnia. I can work a K2P2 pattern pretty easily while enjoying the game.

So, it's off to bed with me now!

It could be worse

2005-09-18T16:58:00.000-05:00

I'm having a bit of a bad day. I'm sitting in a hotel in Virginia right now, still mentally kicking myself while trying to forget about my stupid mistake.

See, I'm in Virginia for a conference that came up sort of last minute for me. The opportunity to attend this conference came up just last Monday. While the focus of this conference isn't exactly within my area of expertise at work, it was a great opportunity for me to learn some new things and network with some great people, including a person within my own organization that I occasionally work with and have never met personally. So, when I got a call Monday asking if I was able to fill in at this conference for someone else in the organization who had registered and then had to cancel on short notice, I agreed to do it. And I have no complaints about the conference so far or the accomodations or anything like that.

Besides discovering while I was packing that I forgot to bring home more business cards from the office (duh!!), I got a bit stressed out flying here and that's what led to my stupid mistake. I took the el to O'Hare, as I usually try to do. Sunday el service is reduced (read: s-l-o-w-e-r), so I got to the airport a little later than I wanted to. Then, as I self-checked in at the kiosk, I found that I had to get a seat assignment at the gate and the gate my flight was leaving from was way far away. So, I queued up for the long security line, juggled my carry on baggage while in line, and dashed off to the gate as quickly as possible. (Why do I have to juggle my carry on stuff? Because TSA only allows you to bring 2 bags on the plane, including a purse. With my laptop bag and small suitcase, that means I have to distribute the contents of my purse while tucking my purse itself into my suitcase.)

The flight was totally full and I didn't even think I'd get a seat at all, but in case I did, I shuffled the contents of my carry on items yet again at the gate to make sure I had all my in-flight diversions and dearest valuables in the bag that was going under the seat. Boarding was a bit messy, but I made it on the plane, got my suitcase stowed in a bin, and my laptop bag with dearest valuables and diversions tucked under my seat, and away we went.

Of course my main in-flight diversion was a knitting project. After the flight took off, I started knitting and managed to get into my new project within the tight confines of a full flight. Juggling a soda, (ginger ale, my usual choice for flights) my knitting project, and a book for take offs and landings without being able to use the middle seat for laying things down or the extra tray table for holding my drink while I pulled a pair of nail clippers out of my bag to cut yarn was a bit tricky, but I managed. Then it was time to tuck things away and clean up for the landing. And that's where I made my fatal mistake.

I tucked the pattern in the seat pocket while I was putting my knitting project away into it's bag. And, I discovered when I got the hotel that I had forgotten the pattern in the seat pocket. AAAARRRRGGGG!

But, it could be worse, right? I could have been seated in the middle on a packed flight, right? Or, I could have gone throught most of last week like this:

Poor Hannah! She's been a "satellite puppy" nearly all week. I had noticed last week that she was licking at her feet and the skin between her toes was pretty red and inflamed. The vet's verdict was an allergy of some kind, so we've had to pill her with Benadryl 3 times a day (not too bad, since she rarely chews her food, making it easy to slide some tablets into a "meat ball" of canned dog food that she swallows whole), soak her feet twice a day in epsom salts and warm water, then apply some ointment between her toes. Oh, and we had to keep her from licking her feet, especially after applying the ointment. (My dogs, and I'm assuming all dogs, just love fatty/oily stuff. They will lick the lotion off my hands or body as I'm applying it if I don't fight them off!) So, Hannah was getting this "collar" put on her head every day.

I think we're done with treatments for now (please, oh please, deity of dogs, whomever you are...let her leave her feet alone!), so we no longer have to look at Hannah's sad face, framed by a big cone.

...On the needles...

At home, I still have the Clapotis going, but it's now too large to carry on a plane. So, I have a new project on the needles...that I won't be able to work on again until I get back home. *deep sighs, and a few near tears here* I had started the "Shaped Triangle" shawl from A Gathering of Lace, using a deep red (if I was British, I'd probably call this color "beetroot") sock yarn from Tess' Designer Yarns. (I hyperlinked Knit Picks above as a source for this book because it sells the book for the lowest price of all the on-line or bricks & morter vendors.)

I'd been renewing A Gathering of Lace for ages (it seems like) through the Chicago Public Library, and eyeing up this shawl. I took the step of buying yarn for it at Stitches Midwest. Then, I made the leap to buying the book so I didn't have to keep renewing it. Next, I made photocopies of pattern pages, carefully enlarging the charts (which took me at least 30 minutes to figure out how to do on our new photocopiers at the office, BTW). I read through the entire pattern a couple times; noticed what looked like a mistake; went online to find errata, which led me to download a PDF 5-pages long with errata, including key changes for this pattern and a new set of charts; figured out how to print enlarged copies of the updated charts for this pattern; and, finally I was feeling ready to start the pattern.

I promptly blow all this prep to hell by leaving the pattern, sequestered in its nice plastic slip cover and with the magnetic board backing I use to help me figure out line by line what to work on , on the plane.

I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself.

I cast on in flight, knitted up through the first repeat of the chart, ran a life-line, and there I'm stuck until I get home and can start the damn photocopying, etc. again so I can continue on.

But, I have a back up plan for travel knitting. I also brought along a skein of Jawoll sock yarn, two size 2 Addi Turbo circulars, and Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. I guess I'll start a new set of socks during this trip. Oh, and I've also packed a set of size 2 dpns, just in case I have some problems with using the circulars for socks. Yep, I'm prepared!

Since I've mentioned Knit Picks, I have to note that I'm really impressed with their customer service. I had ordered the yarn for Lillian's shawl through them (and a few other odds and ends) back at the end of August. I waited for the package, and then called them last Wednesday when 15 days had passed without receiving the package. They re-sent it UPS without giving me any hassles and I received it the next day. Wow!

The down-side to this is that I had also put in yet another order with them that same day that I still haven't received. Their free shipping is via USPS, though, and I think that is the problem. I'm afraid that the new mail carrier we have is not as careful as the last one; the last mail carrier would slip packages too large for our mail slot between the front door and the storm door. But, a few weeks ago some yarn I had ordered from another source was just dumped on the front porch. I'm afraid the last Knit Picks order may have arrived and been snatched because it had been left like that, which doesn't bode well for this latest order. (UPS, by the way, tucked the package between the doors.)

Knit Picks ships from Ohio, which is pretty close to me. In the past I've received my orders in about 3 days. Even though I knew something was wrong with the last shipment, I had to wait the requisite 14 days, however. This most recent order was shipped on 9/14 and I'm already starting to get a bit worried. Of course the shipment contains the extra yarn I'll need to complete my Clapotis, and I'm on my last skein...really, as if I don't have enough to stress about!

...In the garden...

The tomato plants are looking a bit past their prime, but there are still plenty of fruits in various stages of ripeness to keep an eye on. Mark's not eating these fast enough, so I'm freezing them whole for cooking use during the winter. I can foresee having to do the same with some peppers.

Beans, beans, beans! I keep picking, steaming, and freezing beans. I'll have a lot to last me over the winter. Last week I hadn't picked often enough so I found myself pulling off pretty mature pods and shelling them for fresh beans, that have also been lightly cooked and frozen. I think they'll make a nice addition to chili and soups.

I've also got lots of cucamelons coming in now. I'd like to pickle them but have to find the time. Plus, I also have to buy canning jars and learn to can the pickles. Oh, there's never enough time! When I get home, I'll take a few photos of these unusual fruits. They're kind of astringent when eaten fresh, but I think they'll make great little bread n' butter pickles.

The asters are finally blooming. Again, something else to take photos of when I get home...

Did I mention that this place I'm staying at for the conference has a spa? I think I really need a massage. :-)

Tragedy and success

2005-09-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

The coverage of the tragedy in the Gulf states over the past two weeks has kept me pretty riveted to the news programs on TV and radio. I made donations to charities (for both people and pets) helping out in the area, but I also was struck with such horror and sympathy that I suggested to Mark that we host a displaced family in our house. We have plenty of room, after all. That suggestion didn't go over so well, and now that the relentless news coverage of people trapped in a flooded city has slowed down, I'm seeing that Mark's decline of hosting a family is quite practical.

I've started thinking that this great dispersal of people from the Gulf region is similar to what happened after the Dust Bowl tragedy back in the 1930's. People displaced from their homes due to catastrophic weather exacerbated by human stubborness and/or stupidity. Poor agricultural practices combined with extended drought brought on the Dust Bowl; poor flood and environmental management practices combined with a mother of a hurricane brought on the flooding of New Orleans. This time, people have the option of fleeing on a commercial flight as well as by car, truck, train or bus. Either way, it is the wholesale dismantling of communities that, for better or worse, functioned for decades.

On our homefront, though, the challenges are small and insignificant compared to those ravaged by hurricane Katrina. I had typed up a wonderful blog entry last week, with lots of photos of Fiona and finished projects, only to have my laptop CRASH just as I was doing a final review. I was so frustrated and angry, I nearly dropped the laptop off the second floor porch! That would have been a pretty costly maneuver, though, especially since the laptop is not mine but is issued to me by my company.

Fiona is settling in well with us and the dogs. My concerns about the dogs -- and Hannah in particular -- treating Fiona like a prey animal have been allayed. In fact, Hannah seems quite attached to Fiona and plays with her a lot. We took a few photos of Fiona within her first few weeks with us. It's not easy photographing a kitten, though! They tend to move around a lot, and very quickly.
We managed to get a few photos of her being still, however. See? What a cutie! I'm waiting to see if her eyes will stay blue. The book I bought about cats says that their eye color stabilizes at about 12 weeks, so we have roughly 3 weeks more to go to see what color they'll be permanently.

I took Fiona in to Mayfair Animal Clinic for her first shots last Wednesday and all the staff were excited to see her. She seems to grow an inch (at least) each week and she's become much more coordinated. She climbs up whatever she can. Yesterday I won a bid on a 68" tall cat tree/scratching post on eBay and I can't wait to get it. While her little kitten nails aren't doing any harm to furniture yet, it's only a matter of time.

...On the needles...

I've finished two projects and made good progress on a third. First, the Branching Out scarf that I was working on:I completed it the weekend before Labor Day, then packaged it up and sent it via interoffice mail to Terry in Cleveland. I made this for her to mark the occasion of her promotion to senior manager. I've worked with Terry a lot over the past 2 years and she is always such a pleasure: very professional, very kind, and a really hard worker. She was quite surprised and happy to receive this. I think "gushing" is the best word to describe her reaction. And, it made me feel all warm and snuggly that she liked it.

Over the labor day weekend I finished this:More gift knitting, this is the Made with love layette sweater and hat from Magknits. I made this for John, another colleague from work, who is expecting his first child in early October. Now I just have to wrap it up and present it to him. I had originally planned on knitting a baby sweater in sock weight yarn, but was having such a hard time with the whole thing that I pulled some worsted superwash merino from my stash and used this pattern on the recommendation of Jenna from my Stitch 'n Bitch group.

While I'm waiting on the replacement yarn ordered for Lillian's shawl, I started the Clapotis pattern from Knitty. I've been meaning to make this pattern for some time now and had ordered, received, and stuffed the yarn in my stash months ago. Now, I've finally made some good progress on it. I'm using Knitpicks Andean Silk Twist, and I'm liking the yarn a lot. The only problem is I'm running out of it. Yikes! I think I'm about halfway done with the Clapotis now, and I only have 3 skeins left. I did make it slightly larger by adding another repeat in the Increase section, but I thought I had purchased enough yarn to do this. I'm going to keep working on it until I get to the last skein and then figure out what to do. At worst, I'll have to order more yarn in a different dye lot, but since this is variegated I don't think it will be too terrible if I have to do so.

Counting down the days

2005-08-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

We're getting pretty close to the day when Fiona gets to come home and join our family. I visited with her last Wednesday when I brought in Sadie for her extraction. Sue reported that Fiona was starting the use the litter pan and was eating mostly solid food, so she thought she may be ready to go home as soon as Monday. As in, tomorrow!

I spent some time at PetSmart yesterday picking out a scratching pad for her and a collar (although I doubt she'll be able to wear it for some time, since she's so tiny right now). I also bought some kitten food, canned and dry, and a few small toys: a Cat Dancer and a couple little balls. We've decided that when she comes home, she'll get her own room for at least a few days if not a week. We have to let her get comfortable with the house little by little and slowly introduce her to the dogs on their home turf.

I'm most worried about Hannah viewing her as prey, as I think I've already noted. On Friday, Hannah captured a rabbit that has been visiting my garden. I say captured, becuase when I dashed outside to see if she had killed it I noticed that it was still alive. Hannah had snatched it as it made a dash to slip under the back gate, and I really thought she had killed it. When I approached Hannah and the rabbit, though, I could see the rabbit was still blinking and alive, even though Hannah had it pinned to the ground under her foreleg. I coaxed Hannah to let the rabbit go and then held on to her and Sadie as the rabbit righted itself, gathered itself together for a minute, then continued out under the gate. When I checked in the alley a minute later, the rabbit was nowhere in sight, but there was a strip of rabbit fur with skin attached laying there. I'm sure that rabbit won't be back nibbling on my garden plants any time soon, even if it does live through the experience.

We're back to cool weather for a few days, thank goodness. It's nice to be able to turn the AC off for a few days and open the windows. Today Mark is going for one of his marathon bike rides while I putter around the yard and work on some knitting.

...On the needles...

I worked on my new swatch on size 1 needles for the baby sweater last Tuesday while I was on an early morning coference call. A first for me! Well, it was 7:30 AM, there were very few people in the office at that time, and all I really had to do was listen and comment. I can do that while knitting! I'm definitely going to do this sweater on the size 2 needles; the swatch with the size 1 needles was much closer in stitch gauge, but quite off on row gauge. For a sweater like this, a cardigan worked from the top down, I figure the row gauge is more important.

At SnB on Tuesday night, I struggled with the 29" size 2 circular needle for a while as I cast on for the baby sweater then worked the first row with all the stitch holder placements and increases. Somehow, I wound up off on stitch count, so I frogged it yet again and put it away.

Instead, I started on the little scarf for a colleague.
I'm using the Branching Out pattern from Knitty, but working it in another of the Tess' Designer Yarns purchases: the blue/turquoise angora and merino wool blend. I like the fuzzy look of the mohair blend used in this pattern, but didn't want to deal with mohair if I had to rip back. This is lace knitting, after all. Oh, and I have had to rip back several times. I put a lifeline in place after I finish each pattern repeat of 10 rows, and it has helped immensely.

The Tess yarn I'm using has only 180 yards in the skein, though, so I'm also keeping track of how many pattern repeats I get in total. One of the yarns used in the pattern was 190 yards and the other was just over 200 yards, and of course there was a variation in finished size. Just in case I need more to make the scarf longer, I did buy another skein of the Tess yarn, but I'd rather not work a join if I don't have to. Speaking of joins, I was disappointed to note that there was one knot in the skein I'm using. I assume that high quality yarns usually don't have knots in a skein.

I found time to drop by the LYS yesterday to pick up a 24" size 2 circular needle, so I can get back to work on the baby sweater again. I can't say I'm terribly excited about the prospect, though. I'm losing my enthusiasm for working with such small needles and such thin yarn.

Ok, these are the last pics of the yarns I got at Stitches Midwest.

I bought 10 skeins each of the Soy Silk Phoenix and Bamboo yarns from Hill Creek Yarn Shoppe. They had this yarn neatly packaged in clear vinyl project bags with handles and zip closures and priced at 10% off if you bought all 10. I've been wanting to try these new fibers, so I snatched up two bags. This was my most expensive purchase; even at 10% off the total came to over $200. What will I make? Probably something for summer wearing like a tank or short sleeve sweater. We'll see. I really liked the friendly people at Hill Creek; it would be nice to stop by their shop if I drive out through Missouri again.

This is a very large skein of hand-dyed yarn from Interlacements. It's a rayon and linen blend in lace weight, and I also got a free pattern for an easy shawl. It will be...a shawl, of course!

Pardon the poor pic here, but I tried several times to get a good shot of the yarn AND the tag, and it just wasn't working for me. Above are six skeins of Malabrigo in color Verde Adriana. This yarn is an incredibly soft, kettle-dyed merino wool from Uruguay. I'm not totally up on the hottest new yarns, but I understand many folks are finding this a more affordable alternative to the Manos de Uruguay, and it certainly was priced lower than the Manos. I bought this at the Mass. Ave. Knit Shop booth because I found they had the best price on this yarn, even better than the price at the Webs booth! Adrienne bought lots of this yarn, too, in a different green color. We were both happy that Mass. Ave. gave us wonderful large, woven bags with our purchase. Mass. Ave. Knit Shop is in Indianapolis, and would definitely be worth a visit, maybe on a short weekend jaunt.

Finally, I purchased the above skeins of lace weight merino wool in "Victorian Plum" color from Kimmet Croft Fibers. Jan Becker was very nice and had a lovely selection of angora/merino blend yarns, too, in worsted and sport weight. She said she raises the sheep and rabbits herself, and does all the dying. I ordered 3 more skeins of lace weight from her in a color called "Pumpkin" to use for another shawl. Unfortunately, she didn't have the lace weight yarn in that color, but it looked like a perfect color for another project.

Lillian (my MIL) told me a couple weeks ago she'd really like a shawl in a sort of orangey/bronzy color. Hence, my order with Kimmet Croft for the "Pumpkin" yarn. Yesterday, Mark and I went over to her place to have brunch and I brought a bunch of shawl patterns with me. We spent time looking through them all and she liked the Faroese-Style shawl from the Spring 2004 issue of Cast On the best. Hmmm...the pattern is made with Lion Brand Homespun, which is a bulky weight yarn, so I certainly hope doubling or tripling the Kimmet Croft yarn will work. And, if I have to double or triple it, I hope I have enough yarn! I guess that's one of the downsides to buying yarn before you start a project. I had to assure Lillian that even though shawl patterns are made with lots of little holes, they are still very warm when made from merino wool. I guess her ignorance of this is why she kept passing over the more lacey shawl patterns.

...In the garden...

Boy is my backyard lawn a mess! It's around the time of year to think about seeding to fix it, but I think I'm also going have to put up some temporary fences around the seeded patches, too, so the dogs don't trample the baby grass as it grows. It is too much for me to think about now...which I guess is why my lawn looks to crappy! Turfgrass just doesn't interest me.

I picked several ripe tomatoes yesterday that I gave to Lillian. Yep, despite periodic visits by the rabbit, the veggie garden is doing well.

A good day

2005-08-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

I think it started with the skirt. Today when I got up (early so I could be at the office at 7:30 AM for an 8 AM phone conference) it was cool outside. While listening to NPR in the shower (a shout out for my local NPR station, WBEZ, I love you!) I heard that the temp was in the 60s with a forecasted high in the low 80s. I thought, "Dressy skirt and hose weather," and decided to pull out one of my specially tailored skirts, tailored shirts, and tailored suit jacket to really dress up today.

Last summer, I spent the entire bonus I received on tailored clothing created just for moi. Yep, we're talking triple digits spent on 3 suits (matching jacket and pants), a couple coordinating skirts, and coordinating tailored shirts. Even though my office has a business casual dress code, I have never regretted spending that money on these exquisite clothes. They fit me perfectly (how could they not, I was measured every which way, even some ways that I never realized I should be measured) and are made of very fine three-season wool. Having these suits and shirts actually makes my dressing in the morning incredibly easy, and as my sister says, put on the suit jacket if you want respect.

The problem is that they are three-season suits: not very comfy or practical in the humid, sticky, copious sweat-inducing weather we've had practically non-stop since June. When it's really hot and humid out, I don't want to sweat all over these expensive suits that must be dry-cleaned; I want to wear long, flowy skirts without hose, chinos, and other items that I can pull off at the end of the day and throw in the washing machine. (Or, in the case of my hand-knit W top, do a quick hand-washing and lay flat to dry.)

Oh, and the reason I had my suits made with pants is equally practical. When it's damn cold outside, I want my legs well-covered, and a pair of hose just won't cut it for me. Also, at the old office it seemed like I often had to duck under desks and tables to connect cords and whatnot, so I didn't want to be wearing a skirt doing that. (In our new office, I can connect my laptop wirelessly anywhere I want, and all power outlets are at "belt level." How nice!)

So...today I thought I'd wear a skirt with hose. I received a compliment shortly after the office opened when a colleague told me how nicely dressed I was and asked if I had a special meeting today (nope, just good skirt weather). No terrible problems to deal with today at work, and I was able to "share the love" by informing my staff about their very good raises that they'll see very soon. I really like passing on good news and positive feedback; I really hate being a manager when I have to give feedback and share news that isn't so great.

The real fun kicked in when I was on my way home, though. My tailored skirts aren't really short (they're cut to just above my knees), but I do get show off a lot of leg in them. And I guess I still have pretty good legs, too.

As I was walking home from the train this afternoon, I paused at a major intersection to assess the traffic flow and figure out if I had the right of way to cross. My eye was caught by a driver who was clearly flirting with me. Flirting. With. Me. Wow!! I'm still flirt-worthy? OK, I'm not incredibly aged or horribly disfigured or extremely weight-challenged or anything, but I don't recall being flirted with for some time. I was so stunned that I missed my chance to cross the street and had to wait through another traffic light cycle. Yeah, this made my day, OK? Is that pathetic?

From that point on, the evening has been one huge happy fest. I put off my weekly grocery shopping until tonight since I was so tired last night, so I had to run out and get milk, etc. tonight as well as pick up cash from the ATM. I'm almost always a pretty mellow driver, and since I was in a good mood tonight I wasn't too annoyed that as I was waiting behind an SUV at the ATM the transaction seemed to be taking quite a while. When the driver was done, she pulled off quickly, I pulled up quickly, and I noticed that the screen was displaying a message sort of like this: Press for another transaction OR press to have bank card returned. Uh, oh. She forgot her card.

There was a guy using the night deposit nearby, so when I exclaimed out my open window, "Wait, she forgot her card!" he looked at me and sort of made some hand motions before he got in his car. There was another car behind me, so I just dithered for about 15 seconds, figured she was long gone, and just slipped her card on my dashboard. (Yeah, I had popped it out of the machine, I just couldn't think of what else to do at the time.) I started and finished my withdrawal, pulled out of the way, and saw the night-deposit guy pull up in front of me. He had found the woman and urged her back. I passed her the card and got all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings as I realized what a good thing we had done together, me and this night-deposity guy. (Hey, and I hadn't even thought about trying that "other transaction" option with her card and draining her account or anything...well, not until afterwards when I realized how totally unsafe the whole thing was; I thought that the cards were supposed to be "eaten" the machine pretty quickly to deter just this kind of mistake from yielding a bonus for the unscrupulous.)

After a not so quick stop at Barnes & Noble to use a coupon and pick up the latest Vogue Knitting that everyone is raving about, I stopped at the grocery store to get my milk, etc. One of the etc. items was some Veggie Shreds soy cheese for our Friday night pizza. Uh, oh, no veggie shreds on the shelf. But the very nice and mannerly produce guy went in the back to check, and was profusely apologetic that it was out of stock today. Well, at least I got the last carton of lactose-free skim milk which I desperately need for my tea tomorrow AM. Then, while checking out, I get politely carded because I was purchasing some wine for Mark. Yeah, I think it's a positive thing to be carded at my age. That plus the appreciative flirting on my way home from the train makes me feel good because it makes me feel young and desireable, not a very close to 40 year-old woman who is past her prime.

...On the needles...

I thought I was done swatching for the baby sweater, but I decided to rip out the 3 rows I had knit and start over. Since I had been knitting on a #2 needle to get row gauge (not stitch gauge this time, just row gauge), all I had was a 29" circular in that size that was kind of long and uncomfortable to knit a baby sweater on; the increases weren't looking quite right, so I was ripping out anyway, I thought I'd just swatch again on the 24" size 1 circular I have and see if I can get stitch and row gauge at the same time. I'm not holding by breath, you understand, as it seems it is impossible for me to get both stitch and row gauge on any given pattern, but it's worth a try. I have at least a month to finish this newborn-sized baby sweater, and I'm confident I can do it well within this timeline.

What yarn am I using for this newborn sweater? I'm using some of this bunch of yarn picked up from the Tess' Designer Yarns booth at Stitches Midwest.

I purchased 6 skeins from Tess' booth: four fingering/sock weight yarns, and two worsted weight Angora & Merino blends. The yarn on the left is a subtly variegated fingering weight in burgundy/garnet tones. I plan on using that for a shawl for myself. The yarn in the middle is what I'm using for the baby sweater. It's variegated with lots of jewel tones and will make an awesome baby sweater. The Angora & Merino in the softer blue/turquoise colorway will be used to make a lacy scarf for a colleague to celebrate her recent promotion. (Any exuse to knit, you know.) I'm planning to use the Branching Out pattern from Knitty for the scarf; I think the fuzz from the angora will look nice and it won't be such a nightmare to tink/frog if I need to, unlike the mohair blend called for in the pattern.

Yeah, I went pretty crazy out of control at Stitches Midwest when it came to purchases. I was quite happy that the Windy City Knitting Guild had a bag check as I made use of it to lessen my load as I worked my way through the Marketplace.

What else did I indulge in? Well, I got some books. I've been renewing Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top regularly from the library, so I decided to buy my own copy. Ditto for Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle; it was a bonus to get her to sign my copy of the book as she had a booth of her own. (Oh, and Adrienne dropped some serious bucks at Cheryl Oberle's booth buying a cabled jacket pattern and yarn. Good for you, Adrienne! We're soldiering on to keep the yarn economy thriving!) Because I've been pretty darn curious about the topic I also bought Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Circular Needles. Although I had Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace on my wish list, I decided to rein myself in and renew the library copy one more time until I can order one through Barnes & Noble and get a better price with my member discount. (Yeah, I buy a lot of books and the membership definitely pays for itself, even if I do "cheat" and use Border's emailed coupons and gift certificates throughout the year, too.)

I realize as I look at my digital camera shots on the laptop screen that some of my new stash-enhancement photos aren't in focus (I guess when the battery gets low, the photos get blurrier) so I'll have to re-take those photos and post more later in the week. But, I'll close with this.

A beautiful hand-crafted drop spindle purchased from Skaska Designs. The drop spindle was the first thing I purchased at Stitches Midwest. I was just working my way through the Marketplace making mental and paper notes to plan my purchases when I rounded the corner and saw the display of beautiful drop spindles. With a snake on the tags. Snakes are sort of my personal totem: I'm always on the look-out for tastefully done snake images and sculptures that I buy and lovingly place in my home.

My eye fell on this one, made with olive wood, and that was it. I had to buy it. It's a work of art and functional at the same time. The roving was not bought at Skaska, but at Interlacements, which had an impressive display of hand-dyed yarn blends, plus this hank of hand-dyed roving for a decent price. I'm going to learn how to spin, but in the meantime this arrangement is displayed in my living room like exquisite work of art that it is.

Busy, busy

2005-08-14T20:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week and I just haven't been able to make time to update this blog. The problem now is trying not to write a super long post. I think I'm going to have to break up the updates a into more than one entry because I also have a lot of photos, too.

First, a family update. Fiona is growing up quite nicely and we may get to bring her home as soon as next week! I saw her on Friday and was happy to see that she is scampering along really well now. When we first met her about 2 weeks ago, she was barely able to walk. It's amazing how fast kittens grow!

Sue reported that she had been eating a bit of solid food every day and that she was ready for litter box training, too. I'm getting more and more excited every day about adding her to our household. Her eyes look very blue in this photo, and I hope they stay that way.

I got to visit with Fiona and introduce her to Sadie on Friday. Poor Sadie will need to have another tooth extracted this week. This is the second tooth she has chipped since we've adopted her, and I just can't figure out how she's doing it. The chipped tooth is one of her molars in the back and there is pulp exposed so it will have to be pulled.

Mark booked our Amtrak tickets and made our hotel reservations last week, so now it's official: we're going to Washington, D.C. in October. We love taking the train and just kicking back and relaxing the whole way to our destination. The standard "roomette," as it's called by Amtrak, is small and we can't sleep next to each other in the small beds, but we still enjoy the journey this way. With these accomodations we get complementary meals and non-alcoholic beverages. I figure that if we add up the cost of one evening in a hotel, airfare, and meals for two adults for a day, we pretty much break even on the cost and experience is much more enjoyable for me than the craziness of air travel these days.

We had the choice of two different routes to take, the Cardinal or the Capitol Limited. The Cardinal route is longer but much more scenic, so we booked our outbound passage on it. We'll be going through the Blue Ridge Mountains right about the time that leaves are changing. On the way back, we'll take the shorter route through Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Not as scenic, but still relaxing. And, I'm sure I'll get lots of knitting time!

Yesterday I went to Stitches Midwest with Adrienne and some of the ladies from SnB. Afterwords, I had a little party at the house so we could kick back and relax and show off our stash enhancments. Let me just say that I went a bit nuts at Stitches and leave at that for now. More to come later and lots of photos, too.

...On the needles...

Yes, I did finish Sitcom Chic and it fits just fine. Another success! I'd say the only major difference between mine and the pattern is that I put the button on the opposite side. The pattern calls for putting the button on the left side and creating a crochet chain button loop on the right. I was working on the front bands sort of late Friday night and thought that I'd left an extra long tail on the right, when I had actually done so on the left. Rather than join yarn on the right to create the button hole, I just decided to switch the button placement. No biggie really, although as women's garments are made with the buttons on the left, it is a bit confusing to fasten the closure. The button is a cute little fishy.

Here I was thinking I really liked working with the Cotton Ease and then I get into skeins 3 and 4 to finish of Sitcom Chic. Lots of knots that needed to be cut and then new yarn joins. Yuck! I hat a lot of ends to weave in, so as it hit 1 AM Saturday morning, I gave up and set it aside. I couldn't wear it to Stitches, but I was able to finish it today and wear it to Eve's party.

I've finished my swatching for the baby sweater and will cast on tonight, then probably just put it aside and go to bed. I'm pooped! I've gotten about 5 hours of the sleep each night for the past 2 nights and had a LOT of wine last night, so I'm ready to fall into bed pretty early tonight.

...In the garden...

Another cucumber! It's crazy that this the second time I've spotted a cuke hanging from the lilac bush when I've been bending over to harvest an eggplant. So, I've harvested a grand total of 3 cucumbers this year. Not a lot. I spotted one cucumber beetle and squished it, but I'm sure that's not the reason the cuke is so slow. My neighbor Karen suggested I add a bit more bonemeal to the soil. So far, I haven't had the time to do so.

More beans! I used beans from the garden to make a salad for the party yesterday: steamed string beans with a dijon vinaigrette dressing. I also used the giant cuke to make another cold salad. I love serving food from my garden! The cucamelon is finally putting out more blossoms so I hope to harvest a few more of the little fruits.

I'm really loving the Nodding Wild Onions, a native prairie plant, that I planted in the front of the house. Isn't this lovely?

The flowers are white when they first open and then as they age they turn light pink. They look so graceful, too. Another native that I added this year is an ornamental grass labled Purple Love Grass. I really like the soft, floating seedheads on the top. They look very airy and light.

The sweet black-eyed susans are just opening now and are looking very good. The bee balm is taking over the bed, though. It is sprawling all over and sort of smothering some of the other plants. I was warned that it could be invasive, so it looks like I'll have to cut it back some.

OK, time to get ready for bed. I'll post about Stitches Midwest later. I could fill an entire post with the experience!

Presenting...

2005-08-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

What will soon be the newest addition to our family. Isn't she adorable? She's about 3 weeks old, and is being fostered through my veterinary clinic, Mayfair Animal Hospital. She was found in an alley at about 2 days old; she still had her umbilical cord attached.

A couple days ago, Sue, one of the staff, called me and tentatively asked if I may consider adopting this little bundle. I lost Mouf just a few weeks ago, and she knew it was rather soon, but they felt I took good care of my pets and wanted to find her a good home.

Well, I thought for about 10 minutes, and I cried for about 5 minutes, and then I called my DH, Mark and asked for his input. Sure, why not, was his reasoning. So, the next day we went to see her after work. And of course we said "Yes, we'll take her." Honestly, who wouldn't? It takes a lot of self-control to walk away from a little kitten.

We have a name all picked out for her: Fiona. (Actually, Mark wanted to name her Esther, as he thinks we should continue giving "good Jewish names" to our pets, but I put my foot down nad insisted she looked like a Fiona to me.) We won't be bringing Fiona home for about a month. She's too tiny right now and is still being bottle fed and litter trained by Sue. But, we can visit her whenever Sue is at the animal hospital, which is most days.

I went to visit her today and it's amazing how quickly she is growing. Just two days ago when we saw her for the first time, she was really wobbly on her little legs. Today, she was scrambling around on the floor with much more vigor, and Sue said she even ran a bit earlier.

We'll have to introduce her to the dogs very carefully. I'm not worried about Sadie as much as I am Hannah. Hannah has such a high prey drive that she goes after any small thing in the yard: birds, squirrels, rabbits, wandering cats, garter snakes, etc. have all been diligently pursued and even killed (the kill count is up to 4 sparrows so far this year -- although to be fair I saw Sadie take one of the four out with my own eyes -- and one garter snake).

I don't think I've put up photos of "my girls," as I call them. Both were adopted from the City of Chicago's David R. Lee Animal Shelter. Here's Sadie.

Sadie's our "sensitive" girl. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but she seems more emotional somehow, and she's not very trusting of men. Sadie's also our guard dog. Of the two, she always barks when someone approaches our house/yard or the next door neighbor's house/yard. She's our joint watch dog, and the elderly couple next door seem to appreciate that. I'm working on getting her to bark only once or twice and then stop, though. We're pretty sure Sadie is a beagle and fox terrier mix, with a beagley sounding bark. We adopted Sadie first at about 1 year old, and have had her for two years now.

Here's Hannah. Hannah is full of contradictions. She's a big couch potato, and an avid hunter. She adores people of all ages and sizes, and is a huge attention hog. We've had Hannah for a year and a half now, and she is just starting to get into the watch dog routine. Unlike Sadie, she doesn't take it to extremes, but she will bark once if she hears someone outside the house if Sadie hasn't zeroed in on it yet. Hannah has an obsession with squirrels. She is the first one out of bed every morning and dashes to the door to go outside so she can get the jump on the squirrels. She climbs into the tree behind the house all the time, desperately trying to catch a squirrel.

Hannah is also our "problem child." During the first 4-5 months we took her to training classes, dog parks, and on lots of walks and she seemed to deal just fine with other dogs. After she settled in, though, she started showing a lot of agression towards strange dogs. We had a trainer come to our house, and have taken her to a behaviorist, too. The consensus is that she does this out of fear and that it will be a looonnnnggg time of training to try to change this behavior. No more dog park trips for Hannah in the foreseeable future.

See Hannah in the tree? Sadie climbed up there once when we first brought her home, but decided she didn't like it. That's Hannah's home perch, though. All we have to do is say , "Hannah, squirrels!" and she's off like a shot jumping up into the tree. Life's never dull around here!

...On the needles...

Sitcom Chic is coming along well. I've started sleeve #1, and if I'm diligent about it today/tonight I can get it finished. I'd really like to complete it in time to wear to Stitches Midwest next weekend. We'll see. I've got so many potential projects right now, it's kind of hard to commit to finishing it.

Next Sunday, Eve is having a b-day party for her little boy. I'm trying to think of something to make a little boy that can be done in about 10 hours. I've also continued to swatch for infant-sized gifts. The SnB gals talked me out of doing a baby blanket and into doing a baby sweater or even a full layette set (sweater, hat, and booties/socks). I think they were also trying to save a cute little baby from this:

Yep, this yarn is fugly, isn't it? What was I thinking when I bought this? Well, you can tell by the label that it was bought ages ago, when I first was learning to knit. Why is it that new knitters are more likely to go for this shit? For whatever reason, I have about 10 skeins of it in a storage bin under the guest bed, and I really need that space for all the Cotton Ease I'm hoarding. I may just knit it into blankets after all and donate them to an animal shelter. The dogs and cats won't mind, I'm sure.

So, I started a baby cardigan using Lion Brand Magic Stripes in Jelly Bean. I just ripped it out today when I realized how incredibly scratchy that feels. I think I'll end up doing the sweater in Cotton Ease, which feels much softer; I certainly have enough of it!

As promised, here's another photo of W. This one shows the stitch details better than that portrait Mark took of me wearing it. It is difficult to take a good photo of knitting, though. I think I realize why so many folks take their photos outdoors in natural light.

I found another LYS today quite by accident. I had an appointment in Evanston today with the chiropractor and happened to park around the block. As I was walking along Grove Street towards Sherman, I was looking at the window displays and all of sudden I see yarn and knitted items. Good thing no one was directly behind me, or they would have run right into me as I came to a sudden halt.

The LYS, Close Knit, didn't open until 11 AM, which was fine with me as I could stop by after my chiropractic treatment. Very nice store with many different kinds of yarns than I see at Arcadia. There was the Manos yarn from Uruguay, Noro, Baby Ull, Brown Sheep, and several other brands that I just can't recall now. I bought some needles and some Jaeger Baby Merino for the baby sweater. Wait, didn't I just say I was doing the baby sweater in Cotton Ease? Well, I have two baby sweaters to complete before the end of the year, so I can do one in Cotton Ease and one in Baby Merino, OK?

...In the garden...

I picked another cuke yesterday, and saw a third one forming on the vines. The cukes aren't coming in fast and furious like they did a few years ago, but I'm getting a few. Really, it's better this way as Mark doesn't really want to eat any, so it's just little 'ol me chowing down on fresh cukes. I made a pasta dish the other night with eggplant and tomatoes from the garden that he seemed to like. Delish!

Yesterday, I also tried my very first cucamelon. Interesting little tidbit; it was crunchy, but juicy at the same time and a little tart. The little cucamelon fruit was about the size of a large almond. I popped it in my mouth, and when I bit through the crunchy outside, there was a little squirt of juice and pulp in my mouth. I gave one to my neighbor Mila to try, too. She said it was just like a cross between a watermelon and a cucumber. The cucamelon vine is really flowering now, so I expect to get more of the little fruits. I'll have to take a photo of the next one before I eat it.

Need I say that I have more beans? Lots and lots of beans.

Party, party, party

2005-08-02T16:53:00.000-05:00

Whew! July was a month full of parties: neice Ashley's graduation, sister Annette's b-day, and husband Mark's b-day. Now that it's August, the party season is finally slowing down, although not yet at a dead halt.

Last Saturday night, we had about 30 people over to celebrate Mark's 50th birthday. No pics, though. I was so busy prepping and hostessing, I didn't think about taking any photos. I'm ever greatful to Sarah for helping me prep. She and Ernie have made the long drive from Ottawa (Illinois, not Ontario!) to Chicago three times in the past month to attend all these parties. She offered to come up early on Saturday and help prep, and I'm really, really glad she did.

We all had a fabulous time, and although the prep and hostessing is stressful, I really like having people over. I also like mingling my diverse friends together and seeing how they get along. Add in Mark's friends, family, and our neighbors to the mix and it can get pretty interesting. There were no arguments or fist-fights, so I'm going to consider it a success.

The dogs were pretty good, too. We had gated them into the basement so our guests could arrive and not get immediately jumped on. At a certain point, Mark checked with guests in the yard and then let the girls loose for little romp. Somehow, they wound up in the house on the main floor, but they seemed to behave themselves after all. There was a bit of jumping, but not much, and I didn't see Hannah wolfing down the baby brie or any evidence that the cake frosting was licked. Yes, I'm quite happy with their social skills during the party.

I did a garden tour at the request of several guests and remembered the name (the common one, not the latin one) of nearly every plant in my extensive beds. I gave a house tour to some neighbors that hadn't been inside yet. I kept the food table full and served cake. And, I got enough food in my stomach at certain points that all the wine I drank didn't end up pole-axing me. I only had a tiny touch of the bedspins when I finally fell into bed sometime before 2 AM (I think).

Now I'm planning a special knitter's party in two weeks: a Stitches Midwest After Party for the ladies of SnB Chicago. Many of us are going to the Stitches Marketplace on Saturday, August 13, so I'm holding a little gathering afterwards. I certainly have enough left over wine, beer and soda to serve an army!

....On the needles...

The promised photo of me in my wonderful W:

Mark took the photo, and he's obviously more interested in a portrait than a true knitting photo! I'll have to do a close up of the stitchwork on my own, I guess. I wore W at his b-day party, and got several compliments. Ooooo...I just eat it up at this point!

Still working on Sitcom Chic, but I expect to finish the up to the armholes point tonight at SnB, then I get to put it aside and start on the sleeves. Last night, I swatched up some old Jiffy yarn to see if it will work for one of the baby blankets I need to make.

Yeah, I know that I previously posted that I planned to use the Cotton Ease, but I have this Jiffy yarn that I bought many years ago when I was first learning to knit, and I'd kind of like to do something with it. I'm afraid it's too hideous for a baby blanket, even. It's variegated with red, green, yellow, white, and blue in both saturated and soft shades. If I don't use it for a baby blanket, I have no idea what I'll do with it. i guess the point is that I really want to get it out of my stash, but am hesitating to foist it onto an unsuspecting colleague. sigh

Anyway, it was really odd that I made a large swatch of this stuff in stockinette and got the same gauge (row and stitch gauge) on size 9, 8, and 7 needles. How the hell does that happen? I was swatching Continental, as I figured for a baby blanket my inconsistencies with Continental knitting wouldn't really matter. I'm really scratching my head over this puzzler...

...In the garden...

I got a cuke! Woohoo!! Here I was bitching that I haven't seen any flowers on the cuke plant, then a day later I spy a large cuke hanging there. I was harvesting some Ichiban eggplants and from a bent-over perspective saw that lovely cuke dangling there all ready to be picked. Yum! I also see some cucamelons forming. They do look like little tiny watermelons!

Getting lots of beans that I'm sharing with my neighbor, Mila. The beans are planted on the fence we share and I told her that anything on her side is hers to keep. She likes this bean variety (Trionofo Violetto) too, and wants to save some seeds for next year. I got the original seeds from Cook's Garden about 3 years ago and decided to try saving a few for the following year. I wasn't sure if they were a hybrid or an open pollinated variety at the time, but thought it was worth a try. So far, so good. I let a few pods ripen and dry on the vines each year and then save them over the winter. This year, I'll give some to Mila, too.

I picked a few tomatoes late last week and put them on a salad for Mark. He was singularly unimpressed. Well, he's just not that into fresh produce, I guess. Peppers are forming, too. Yay! I've got peppers! Yep, consistent watering does wonders!

With the return of some regular rain (two weeks in a row where we've gotten an inch of rain), the Primula that I thought I'd killed completely seems to be greening up a bit. I still will have to move them to a shadier spot, I guess. I'm just hoping they survive the move!