Inestimable Variety

I've moved

2008-06-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

What can I say? I'm fickle.

You will now find me here:

http://www.00queue.wordpress.com

I am also going to only maintain the one blog . . . two was too much work. I'm done here. See ya there!

Contrary to popular belief

2008-06-06T10:26:00.000-05:00

I have not disappeared from the face of the planet, either by natural or supernatural means. Neither have I disappeared from the face of the internet, not that you could tell that from the state of my poor, neglected blog.

I've been fairly busy . . . not as busy as I'd like to say I've been, but busy enough. The biggest problem is that I haven't been good about taking pictures of things that I've been busy doing.

There's the sweater of which I'm quite proud . . .

. . . because it actually fits! And I loves it, it's soft and squishy and warm!

There's also been spinning, which I will go into more detail about some other day.

I've also been working on a website: SJGrayStudio. It's still a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely I think. Go check out the cool stuff in the gallery - and tell Curly how much you love it!

In other web related news, I'm now part of the committee (yeah, there's three of us) working on the church website. We're aiming to revamp it by this fall . . . so I'll give you the address when we're done.

There was other knitting, some of which has been gifted away, other of which isn't finished yet (and I'm shaming myself into getting it all done), so no pictures there.

We made a trip up to Maryland for their sheep and wool festival. Many sheep were appreciated . . .

and much fiber was purchased, including a half Bluefaced Leicester cross fleece I bought, that I sent off to be processed in order to spare our kitchen sink all of the lanolin.

Two years of the sheep and wool fest and I have yet to buy yarn there. It's not the yarn's fault; there's a lot of gorgeous yarn. I just seem to go into the festival with fiber on the brain.

And if the Sheep and Wool Festival has come and gone, then it must be time for vegetable gardening! Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes! And we have a new planting box on the fire escape, which we are filling with herbs.

It has been a fun spring. We even taught middle/high school Sunday school on a couple occasions - that was a trip! I made soap - and it actually cleans stuff. I found a bread recipe that I just love. We almost moved to Alaska (well, almost might be an exaggeration). I'll have to talk about those things in more depth later.

Meanwhile, there's more knitting going on, even more knitting that I want to do, even more books I want to read, more movies to see, more things to see and do, more stuff to write about . . . eventually.

I got tagged!

2008-06-05T09:41:00.002-05:00

Cheryl just tagged me on this one, so here are my answers to the current meme:

The Rules - Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
Since I don't do this very often, here goes:

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was finishing up my sophomore year of high school, starting another summer of swim team practices and lifeguarding.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Coffee, breakfast, feed the kitten, pack my dinner, go to work

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Snap peas, sun chips, oatmeal cookies, cheese, fruit

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

Go and find a small development of McMansions somewhere in farming country, buy them all along with some more land, knock them all down and build a smaller house and a barn and start raising sheep and goats. Might even build the mostly in ground "hobbit" house I've always wanted.

5. Places I have lived:

Norfolk, VA; Wilmore, KY; Los Angeles, CA . . . lather rinse repeat

I'm not going to tag anyone with this - if you wanted a chance to do it and no-one's tagged you yet - consider yourself invited.

And yes Cheryl, I have another post coming, but I need a few more pictures. So maybe tomorrow, when I have a day off, I'll get that knocked out.

Adventure 2008 - #2

2008-02-23T16:23:00.004-05:00

Meet Cecilia.

For the mildly curious - she's a spinning wheel, and yes, "they" still make those. For the increasingly curious - she's a Lendrum single treadle folding wheel and a product of Canada, where, I'm coming to realize, most of the best of wool related things on this side of the pond originate. Necessity is the mother of invention after all.

Here's some of yesterday's spinning. It's about 30 grams of white coopworth that I dyed a couple weeks ago. The coopworth came with the wheel, and after a couple of weeks of practicing with it, I had to dye some, so as to fend of insanity. All that white was getting to me. I dyed this wad to fit into the color theme for this month in Project Spectrum: Fire.

The coopworth is a breed of sheep with a fleece made up of medium length fibers that are somewhat coarse and crimpy. It's supposed to be good for beginning spinners because it sticks to itself readily and the fibers are long enough to make drafting easier. Merino would be softer than this is, but the fibers are also shorter, which is what makes merino pill, and also makes it a bit harder to spin because the shorter fibers are easier to pull apart and need more twist to hold together. Merino is on my to do list.

So I sat and made the wheel spin to the right while I fed it wool, filling two bobbins. Then I let the bobbins sit overnight. Then I took their pictures.

After that I plied them together, making the wheel spin to the left. What I got looks somewhat like this (this is a different roving I spun a couple weeks back), but as the light has gotten worse as the day went on, and the yarn is still soaking in woolwash before I hang it up to dry, I don't have a picture of the actually firey yarn yet. I'll get that sometime soon.

This is 4 oz. of Bluefaced Leicester dyed by Wiley of Sakina Needles in her Mango colorway. Bluefaced Leicester (BFL or Biffle) has much longer fibers that are also finer and softer, it is much like a very long staple merino as I understand it. I really like this fiber, it was lovely to spin and I hope to get my hands on at least one BFL fleece in May at the Sheep and Wool festival in Maryland.

I am trying to make sure I practice for at least three hours a week, and thus far I have had very little trouble finding time. I am really enjoying being able to make something "all by myself;" my inner five year old is very pleased.

Perhaps

2008-02-22T01:37:00.003-05:00

I should begin an adventure in posting more often . . . but seriously.

I need to get some photo's taken so I can show the fun stuff I've been up to, but the light in the apartment has been abysmal, what with winter and all and there being a good bit of rainy days. And I need to take some process shots of things, which is hard to remember to do when you're in the throws of actually doing it.

But beyond that I was having a thought the other day as to this whole adventure thing, and I was feeling a bit ungrateful for some of the "everyday" things I'd been taking for granted. Shame on me. I guess it's amazing what you can get used to, if you let yourself.

For instance, we haven't bought bread in over a year. It used to be that I made bread as often as I thought I had time, and when we ran out or I couldn't keep up with consumption, I bought a loaf. I seem to have settled into a pattern where I can keep up just fine.

Strange thoughts I have at 2am . . .

A sweet scent is on the breeze

2008-02-08T23:55:00.000-05:00

I'm plotting for another adventure . . . but for now all I have are two pounds of beeswax on my desk making the second bedroom smell slightly of honey. Darn!

Adventure 2008 - #1

2008-01-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

The Sweater

Yup, I said sweater.

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan, by Eunny Jang, size: 50"
Isn't it lovely?

After a couple months of hemming and hawing and a couple of failures to acquire the desired yarn followed by a far and wide search of all the places I knew sold yarn to find a cache of enough skeins for the project, I finally located and purchased what I had decided was the perfect yarn. I wanted a lovely tweed not unlike that called for in the pattern, because I could just see a sea of stockinette dotted with cute little flecks.

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, 192 yd's/50g, color 08 Herb

I had intended to have some pictures of my progress over the last two weeks, but between rainy days that failed to provide good light for photography, followed by the sick lappy, I neglected to take any pictures prior to today - exactly the two week mark. So, I'll make up for it with lots of detail pictures.

Now would be a good time to note that I felt that in order to make this a sweater that I would wear, I needed to make some modifications. I love the sweater as written, don't get me wrong, but it breaks a couple of rules for how to flatter my plus sized, pear shaped figure. First off, I don't much wear cardigans, as those pesky buttons tend to leave gaps that make it look like my sweater is too small. So, step one, make it a pullover. I added five stitches, and knit in the round.

My intention is to split for a button placket after joining the sleeves and just before beginning that lovely cabled yoke - making it more of a henley, with 4 buttons or so. The other problem I had was the ribbing, which, while very attractive, looked destined to cut me off at an awkward point and serve to be less than flattering. So, it had to go (and the part of my brain that hates knitting ribbing because it's slow, rejoiced . . . until it realized that I'd be knitting stockinette for.ev.er.). I decided on a hemmed edge.

I also decided to use that hemmed edge to add an extra inch of length to the body, as I am long in the torso, and don't like it when I sit down and my sweater and jeans gap. When I wear a sweater, it's because I need the added warmth: gaps mean drafts kids, and drafts are cold! I intend to do the same to the sleeves, as I also have long arms. Now to the things I love and wouldn't change for the world!

See that? That's a fake seam. I am purling one stitch at each side to give the appearance of seam. That is why I chose this sweater - no seams to sew.

And see that? That's waist shaping. My sweater is going to have a waist! I figure if I have one, why shouldn't it?

Ok, so far that's all I have. I have two more increase rounds to knit on the body and then it will be time to start the sleeves. Thanks for playing along!

I don't often get a good shot of the kitten, as she tends to walk off when I get the camera out, but since this one turned out so well . . . here you go, gratuitous kitty pictureage.

To all those wise folks . . .

2008-01-17T00:53:00.000-05:00

who ever told me to set goals, write them down, and try to meet them:

I am sorry. I'm sorry for every bad thought I had about you, every time I thought you were nuts. As usual, I was wrong. Here's the proof.

Goals for 2008:

Knit myself two sweaters (more would be good, but we'll see)
Knit the boy one
Spin for three hours a week
Knit up all the pairs of socks I have yarn for, or not buy any more sock yarn
Dye more, and take notes
Make soap
Find a pasta roller, and make more pasta
Eat more "good" cheese

Ok, those last two may be product of the munchies, but I think they'll improve my life.

I want to have more adventures this year. To that end I've already begun some adventures. Meanwhile, I got to have an adventure in sick lappy. Thankfully the lovely fruit store folks fixed my lappy right up. Now that the lappy is happy, I will get on to showing you my first adventures for the year. Life is too short to let it get boring - onward!

It was a banner year . . .

2008-01-02T22:40:00.001-05:00

There you have pictures of nearly every project I completed this year. And I can safely say that in terms of knitting, I accomplished nearly all of my goals. The only thing I neglected was my sock club membership - I still have 4.5 pairs of socks to knit.

And while the Christmas knitting got a little hectic towards the end, I really enjoyed working on it. So here you have the "secret" knitting for 2007:

I finished 4 grandma shawls (some of which you've seen before):

Then for the MIL and FIL : a pair of socks and a hat.

For one SIL, a pair of mittens, for the other a wrap, and for the BIL, a manly scarf:

And to top off this show, I have a huge hat.

Ok, you'll have to trust me on this one, but when I tried it on in this state, it hung down nearly to my shoulders. Now this lovely blue hat, has a lovely cranberry colored twin. And I can say now that they've both been felted down to fit a more normal sized human head. However, I was not present for the felting. I have been promised pictures of the finished product, which I will share if I have permission.

We had a great time with our homemade Christmas, a tradition I fully intend to continue for a good portion of my Christmas presents (I hope they don't mind). The other part of our themed festivities was Christmas dinner. The decision was made to wait until after dinner to decide on next year's theme. Suggestions for next year would make a good gauge for the success of this year - the more out there and wild we got, the more we thought of this years theme. And let me tell you, we weren't shy about suggestions for themes and ingredients - and I'm excited!

All done

2007-12-23T12:42:00.001-05:00

It's official, I finished the Christmas knitting at approximately 12:30 this morning. Now to survive three more late nights of work, some family holiday gatherings that are early in the morning, and a little more wrapping. A cookie and some egg nog and I should be good to go!

And another one bites the dust!

2007-12-21T22:57:00.000-05:00

I have only one Christmas Knitting Project left to go. I fully expect to be able to say either tomorrow or Sunday that I am completely finished, though perhaps they will not all be wrapped yet. I didn't think my goals were so out there - and apparently I was right for once. Off to keep chuggin . . .

Well, that didn't take long

2007-12-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

As I partly expected, the plan lasted exactly 4 days. By Friday I was happily deviating from the plan.

But, in other news, the small somewhat neglected project is finished, the sloggy project has gained a lot of ground, and the project that I hadn't cast on yet is moving along nicely.

And apparently I was wrong - there will be more new Journeyman, at least for a while.

An updaty thing

2007-12-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

In my newly acquired age and wisdom I have decided on a plan of action for the remaining Christmas knitting (of which, thankfully, there is a manageable amount).

Mondays and Tuesdays will be for the sloggy project, as I am at work and watching shows* which require more of my attention - thus making the slogging seem much less sloggy.

Wednesdays will be for the small project that I have neglected for a while, as it really won't take me long to finish, if I just work on it.

Thursdays will be for the project I have yet to begin, so I will cast-on Thursday.

Fridays will be for the second half of a very quick project, as my time is not predictable those days.

Saturdays and Sundays will be for whichever projects need to make more progress before the week begins again.

And thusly, I will finish my Christmas knitting.

And upon completion of the Christmas knitting, I will begin a sock marathon as I have amassed a good lot of very pretty sock yarn that I want to turn into socks. Perhaps I will be Sockin' around the Christmas tree, and having a Sockin' New Year.

In other news, it looks very likely that I will have the Fox master control board to myself on Tuesday nights for a good long while, so when American Idol starts back up again I'll be stuck watching it. Sigh. That show pains me.

*Though sadly, there are no more new episodes of Chuck, Heroes, or Journeyman, but Fox has begun airing reruns of their primetime shows that I haven't seen yet, so they're new to me.

An honest to goodness FO!

2007-11-28T01:38:00.000-05:00

I can't spoil the surprise by showing pictures of this one on here, so here you have it!

Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl, by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino Fingering Weight, dyed in the microwave
Mod's: I added extra repeats of the main lace pattern

This one's for my Meemaw . . . I hope she likes it.

The thing I didn't get to say today . . .

2007-11-23T22:53:00.000-05:00

"Gosh, dad, 60. So, how does it feel to officially be old?"

Happy Birthday, Daddy. We miss you. Thanksgiving just isn't the same without you and your chocolate cake.

Winter Evening Soup

2007-11-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

Mom spent a long day in a chilly pool yesterday, so I came over and whipped this up for supper.

Heat in a large pot:

2 boxes Beef Broth (if you have your own stock, more power to ya, I have no access to a
butcher so I have no beef bones) approximately 2 litres

about as much water

1 sweet potato in 1/2 inch cubes

1 bunch curly kale trimmed from the stems and cut into small pieces

A bunch of whole herb stems (thyme, rosemary, oregano)

Simmer for a half hour or so.

About 15-20 minutes before you're ready to serve, add

one bag cheese tortellini

1/3 lb. mushrooms, quartered

salt and pepper to taste ( I like to add "Crazy Mixed Up Salt" too)

Remove the herb bunch.

**Once you add the pasta, try not to stir much, as they tend to burst. Although, if they do, it's not too big of a loss, as the cheese filling adds something nice to the broth.

I needed a break

2007-11-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

All the Christmas knitting was getting to be a bit too much for me. I am happy to announce that I have finished nearly half of the projects, and all but one of the remaining ones are very nearly halfway done.

But I needed something I could finish quickly, and my head was getting cold, so I knit myself a quick hat.

Pattern: Shedir
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino DK, dyed with Jacquard dyes
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony 16" US 3 circular (loved it!)
Modifications: I worked one less repeat of the initial pattern, and in retrospect, I might could have left off another one. I also twisted the knit stitches, for more definition.

It fits my head well, not too tight, not too loose. It might be a bit longer than I needed, but to find that out, I'll have to knit another one. Darn!

Dear Politicians

2007-11-06T01:56:00.000-05:00

for whom I am supposed to vote tomorrow,

Let's just be honest here; if I had my way, there would be an option in the voting machine's programming by which I could vote against all of you. In my opinion, you are all poor representatives for this area and probably humanity in general. I might even go so far as to accuse you of being low life scum parading as decent human beings and doing a terrible job of it.

Honesty hurts doesn't it.

Some pointers, from a voter's point of view:

1. At least begin your campaigning with a positive "this is why I am a good candidate" ad. In a perfect world, no one would need to resort to smear campaigns, but let's at least start on a good footing. The way your campaigns have gone, all I know is that you're all terrible choices and namecallers.

2. It might be a good idea to mention which district you're running in. As it is, I have no idea who's going to be on my ballot tomorrow. I know the reason that there are a lot of you is that it's a state legislature race: all the more reason to identify who you'll be representing.

3. Just so you know. You're frequent and ubiquitous negative commercials are doing nothing for voting apathy amongst your younger constituents. The fact that I don't want to go to the polls tomorrow is entirely your fault. Who would want to, given the same options?

4. Despite what your spin team might tell you - elections are not really about image. Don't make promises or claims that you cannot actually back up just because you think it's what we want to hear. What we want is for you to do something, anything, to make things better. That means actually working.

5. Here's an earth shattering idea - why don't y'all give yourselves a pay cut for once. You've been voting for your own pay raises for years, how about we balance the scales a little, and put some of that money towards something that will actually benefit the state.

6. Enough with the abusive driver fees already. You're spending so much time arguing about them, when you can't make them do what the whiners want them to, that it's really becoming laughable. We CAN'T enforce added fees on out of state drivers - there's really no good way to do that. Let it go. If those fees make a few locals think twice before driving like idiots they'll have done as much good as could be expected.

7. On the flip side, the abusive driver fees were a sucky, slimy, and lazy plan for funding the road projects we need around here. That was a cop out, admit it.

8. And finally, while I am grateful you've been personally stroking my paycheck for the last month and a half, I will be so happy when I don't have to listen to your bull anymore. Sadly that means that half of you will be elected, which isn't good news, but at least you can go to Richmond and annoy each other instead of me.

Be careful what you wish for . . .

2007-10-31T10:51:00.000-05:00

. . . you know how it goes.

I was a tight knitter. Possibly an uptight knitter. For those who are familiar I have an example: I knit myself a pair of Cookie A. Monkeys in worsted weight yarn, on US 2's, and they fit just right. For those of you who are unfamiliar - I tend to have to use a needle 2-3 sizes larger than a pattern calls for, to force my stitches to be the right size.

Well, that may no longer be the case. I was comparing the second part of a project to the first part last night, only to discover that the second piece, which should have been identical to the first, was significantly bigger. Now I completed the first piece a good bit ago, and set the project aside to finish a couple other priorities first. Well, in that time, I seem to have loosened up. Not the best time for that to happen!

So last night I frogged the entire second part, and when I couldn't get the yarn wad apart (it's a two color project) I just cut it from the intact balls. Thankfully, I have plenty of yarn for this project. I cast on again this morning, on needles one size smaller, and my initial comparison looks promising. Onward and upward!

Sadly, no.

2007-10-29T10:17:00.000-05:00

The apartment turned out to be a bit disappointing. The kitchen is the size of my sister's closet, and while she has a walk-in closet she doesn't have to fit cabinets, a refrigerator and a stove in that closet. Also it seemed very dark, and we like sunlight. So sadly, it was a bust. But it was an adventure!

In other adventures, we went to the Bass Pro shop and had a tremendous time looking at grills and camping equipment. I think we may be going camping (as soon as we remedy a lack of sleeping bags). Mmmm . . . . food plus fire . . . good!

This could be very exciting!

2007-10-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

We're going to look at an apartment tomorrow - 2 bedroom, central air, washer/dryer hookup, deck, what sounds like a better kitchen, a cute little neighborhood, water view and a small dock, and a PLACE TO PARK TWO CARS!! It sounds ideal - but tomorrow will be the test. If we like it, and we can have it, we may very well move.

Is it sad that the parking is more exciting than the water or the possibility of having a washer and dryer?

I would like to thank the academy, Curly, and Craigslist!

Ugh.

2007-10-21T18:33:00.000-05:00

And then, true to my nature, I forgot the camera. There wasn't much in the way of decent light at the winery, and we'll definitely be seeing Williamsburg again. So, I'll have to remember next time.

Looking forward . . .

2007-10-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

There will be wine tomorrow! I'm pumped.

My mother and father in law announced this morning that one of the things they wanted to do this weekend while they were here was scope out a winery or two. Sadly, as this is not a greatly winery rich area, too coastal, too flat, we lack many wineries from which to choose that make a good day trip. But we do have one! Williamsburg Winery here we come! From the looks of things, they have a lovely tour and tasting. And if we're feeling up to it, we may go check out Colonial Williamsburg for a few hours.

It's going to be a great day - it might be a bit warmer than I'd like, but I'm excited.
Hopefully, pictures tomorrow.

Seriously?

2007-10-12T22:18:00.001-05:00

This is not going to win me friends; in fact, it will likely make people very mad at me. Any staunch liberals who may come across this might just want to stop reading right here.

But who thought it was a good idea to give Al Gore a Nobel prize? I'm sorry, but that man gives me the willies. Slimy, stuffed shirt, consumate politician. Did I mention slimy?

Like I said, this is no way for me to win friends or influence people. I don't care. I don't like him.

All that said, I think he's done some good things in the realm of environmental awareness. Not sure it was Nobel prizeworthy, but good nonetheless.

He still scares me. Not as much as Hillary Clinton scares me, but he does. And I'm still trying to figure out what it was he won an Emmy for - I honestly thought it was some kind of spoof when I was watching.

What is happening here??

2007-10-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

Working at a television news station can make a person very paranoid. "No news is good news" is alive and well. If all I saw of the world was on the news, I'd never leave my bedroom again. A shooting here, a fatal accident there (and they really are terrible and heart wrenching, I don't mean to sound cold). . . but the recalls can be the worst! Tainted meat, tainted fruits and vegetables, incorrect labels, salmonella, e coli, listeria. A kid could lose her appetite.

Usually, products for children are recalled due to a choking hazard of some sort. We get a little jaded about that after a while. But it got me thinking the other day. Choking hazards are relatively easy to spot. If someone was inspecting the prototypes for these toys for choking hazards they'd never even make it to production. The same thing goes with all of the toys made in China. No one is checking on these things; nobody cares enough about the quality of the products they're producing or the safety of those who buy them. I'd ask where the integrity has gone, but it bowed out to the overwhelming power of the almighty dollar.

Well, that was depressing enough, but now they've hit an all time low. Now they're recalling children's cold and fever medication because of the possible side effects of incorrect dosing. They're pulling kiddie meds off the shelves because of the bad things that can happen if people don't follow directions. Seriously. From one extreme to the other - from neglect to the attempt to prevent operator error.

I'm having trouble fathoming how this even makes sense.

I'm boring . . . but I have a plan!

2007-10-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

I blame Christmas, by the way, and the Hogwarts Sock Swap. I, who hate deadlines, have made myself a bed of deadlines in which I must lie. How is it, I ask, that I repeatedly put myself in this position?? But I digress.

The point is, I have been meaning to post something, more than one something, but when I sit down to type I have little or nothing interesting to say. I mean, the granola was awesome, but if that's the highlight of my postable news, I may be losing it.

Now, I do have some greatly exciting knitting going on; at least I find it exciting.
So, I promise there will be pretty pictures and some really fun FO's (if I do say so myself) eventually. But since they are either Christmas presents or socks for the swap, eventually will come once towards the end of October, and then not again until January. Until then, it wouldn't kill me to engage a few brain cells in discussing something that doesn't involve wool and other assorted fibers.

In other news, I have crafted a plan for keeping myself chugging along on the deadline knitting. When I finish the last of it, I will place an order for the yarn to start my first sweater. And while I'm waiting for that to come, I've got a hank of merino I've dyed for a hat for myself.

Now . . . what to talk about for a while?

Thoughts on the Granola

2007-10-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

It was good! I made another batch this week. This might be my new favorite snack!

Tried Granola Again

2007-09-25T12:46:00.001-05:00

Another adventure in granola - this time in the oven. The skillet variety was good, but this makes more at once, and it just sounded so good!

Mix in a big bowl:

3c rolled oats
1/2 c slivered almonds
1/2 c cashew pieces
1/2 c pumpkin seeds
1/2 c pistachios (shelled)
1/2 c flax seeds
1/4 c + 2T brown sugar

Mix in a little bowl:

1/4 c + 2T maple syrup
1/4 c olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt

Pour the second mixture onto the first and stir to combine. Spread over two baking sheets and bake in a 250 degree oven for an hour and fifteen minutes, stirring every 15-20. Let cool. Snack On!

It's not out of the oven yet - but it smells lovely!

Quote Du Jour

2007-09-21T15:24:00.000-05:00

"We don't need no stinky badgers!"

Points if you can guess how the conversation got there.

Because I needed more fiber in my diet . . .

2007-09-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

(Do I sound like I'm 50 yet?)

I needed something to tuck into my lunch today, to round it out. So I went looking for a recipe for granola, and I think I may have struck gold!

Here's what I did:

2T butter
2T honey

melt these together in a pan until they bubble slightly

1/4 c *stuff

add this and stir for a minute or so

1 c old fashioned rolled oats (long cooking oatmeal)

add this and stir until all the oats are coated in the honey/butter mixture, then continue to stir for another **three or four minutes.

Pour this onto a piece of foil or a cookie sheet to cool. You may want to butter this surface lightly to prevent the granola from sticking.

I think it turned out well. It made a nice little batch, and I could easily double or triple the quantities. This time I used a nonstick skillet, but I think next time I'm going to try the cast iron skillet.

I'm rather excited about today's lunch (dinner, I work second shift). I'm having fresh corn off the cob, chicken salad with celery and apple, carrot sticks and peanut butter, and now granola.

*this could be anything in the nut/seed familiy. Today I used some milled flax seed and sunflower seeds, but the next time I'm at Trader Joes I'm going to find some interesting nuts and seeds.

**all times are approximate, as I don't have a clock handy in the kitchen, and I don't like to be that exact anyway.

A full day . . .

2007-09-14T19:41:00.000-05:00

It's far too soon to use the "f" word (fall), but the temperatures this week were so nice we opened up the apartment - it's a little warm, but comfortable enough.

I'm rediscovering how energizing having a day to myself can be - after the boy went to work, I baked a cake, two loaves of bread, swept and mopped the apartment, cleaned the kitchen, did a load of laundry, saw Mr. Perry and got us some big zucchini, corn, peaches and squash, put clean sheets on the bed, and got some quality knitting done. I see some zucchini bread in my future, but probably not 'til it gets chilly.

It's been a good day.

Tomorrow there's more laundry, some yard work, and more fall gardening. So far we have collards and cauliflower, but I have broccoli, spinach, and lettuce still to plant.

9/7/07

2007-09-07T10:40:00.001-05:00

A large portion of the people around here go out of their way to avoid crosswalks.

2% Greek style yogurt is quite possibly the greatest edible substance ever.

Especially if you have some raw honey on hand to mix into it.

When we find a house, it needs to have a place for me to hang my hammock.

I really need to figure out a regular routine . . . or else I forget things.

A good audio book is far better than the radio.

A good pair of shoes is worth its weight in gold.

Compressed pine cat litter is a beautiful thing.

Dried mangoes . . . bet you can't eat just one piece.

There's something satisfying about working with dough.

Hogwarts Questions

2007-09-07T09:42:00.001-05:00

What type of pet do you choose as your companion at Hogwarts?

A cat, a short haired tabby.

While shopping in Hogsmeade you stop by Honeydukes for some sweets. What treats do you purchase for yourself?

Some nougat, and a sack of toffees.

A potion you are preparing needs an ingredient available only at muggle shops. You don't want to stand out in your wizards robes, so you resort to traditional muggle clothing. Describe your outfit in detail.

Basic blue jeans, hiking shoes, and a printed t-shirt.

What is your favorite subject to study at Hogwarts and why?

It's hard to choose one, I'm torn between Herbology, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. My inner nerd greatly enjoys Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, but the care of plants is very calming.

Likewise, what subject is your least favorite and why?

Divination, because it's just too "fluffy."

Back to the potion you were shopping for ingredients for, what type of potion are you making, what color is it, what are the ingredients, and precisely what does the potion do?

I needed to make up some of Fred and George's bruise removing paste, which among other things contained turmeric and ginger, which were easy enough to find at a muggle grocer while I was out. It's a thick yellow paste which, when spread on a bruise will remove it in an hour. I bruise easily. I don't know all of the ingredients, I bought a base powder for it from their shop, but the powder smells like burnt hair and cheese.

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

As I was still on my Tuesday - Friday schedule at work, and the boy got Labor day off, we took our three day weekend and went up to the Creek with my mom. We cooked out with my Grandparents, took naps, swam in the river (which was delightfully nettle free), enjoyed the breezes on the porch, picked crab with friends for supper one night, picked crab again the next day for lunch, and generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. I got a bit of knitting done, but as I have begun the Christmas knitting I won't be sharing details until after the gifts have been received.

We took the kitten. That was an adventure. She snorts mid growl. Thankfully, I can report that no fur was flung in the taking of this vacation. It just wasn't completely quiet.

Vengence and small victories

2007-08-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

Nora came home with all of her claws intact.

I don't mean she hasn't been declawed, although she hasn't, and she's not going to be. I mean, all of them hadn't been trimmed in some time. Talons might have been a better term. We'll have the battle scars to prove it for a little while.

I knew she wasn't going to like having them trimmed, but it needed to happen. I was right. I got one paw done two days ago, got two claws on the other one yesterday. And she would hold a grudge for as long as I was home afterwards. Once I left for work and came back, all was forgotten.

Finally, the boy held her so I could clip the remaining talons. So then we were both "evil." It's amazing what a couple of cat treats can garner - instant forgiveness.

Changes

2007-08-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

So, as I was sitting with the lappy, checking my e-mail, I overheard the boy in the kitchen say, "No, get out of the fridge." No, he wasn't talking to the milk. He was talking to the fur kid - meet Nora:

We adopted her yesterday.

Inspiration abounds . . .

2007-08-24T22:55:00.000-05:00

Now, I realize that it's only August, and that it's still in the upper 90's most days (not counting the humidity and heat index). I also realize that we have barely touched on hurricane season. That runs from mid August through November here.

But children across the country are beginning to head back to school, and Fall is just around the corner. This is the time of year when I would pull out my sweaters and pet them, and think longingly of the cooler days to come when I would wear them again. I really am a sweater/sweatshirt fan. For starters, they hide a multitude of sins. And, gosh darn it, they're so comfy!

My feelings seem to have adopted my knitting into their pre-fall ritual, so now I'm getting psyched for fall knitting projects. I have nailed down most of the Christmas knitting, some of which I've been working on since last Christmas. No, I'm not that driven; I just wanted to take my time and enjoy the projects. I am now on number 3 of 4 in the Grandma Shawl count. One Grandma already has her shawl, which leaves me searching for something else for her for Christmas, but I'll find something.

I actually bought most of the yarn for the Christmas knitting today, so I can take something other than a Grandma shawl up to the cottage on the river over Labor Day Weekend. See, mom's parents live up there, and I don't want to give even the slightest hint of what is to come. So my plan is to take a couple of small easy projects up there, along with the drop spindle, and try to knock out some stuff.

Don't I sound organized? A complete facade. I think I have enough will power to get me through the Christmas knitting, before I launch into one of the million or so projects that I've been eyeballing. It helps that one or two of the Christmas projects are patterns that I've been eyeballing. I think I can make it . . . I think so.

But I want to knit this . . .

and this . . .

and of course there's this . . .

and this . . .

um, . . . and this . . .

yeah, this too . . .

and this . . . for my cousin who's having a baby

and that's just the ones that have pictures to link to on the web. Let's not get me started on the patterns I've found in books. So much knitting, so little time.

Monday is my day off . . .

2007-08-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

. . . for now. I may just have the best schedule ever, for me. It won't start for a couple weeks, but once it does I won't work Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays! I'm still working in television, I won't have to get up early in the morning, and I get three day weekends, ON THE WEEKEND!! I'm going to hold onto this shift for as long as I can, it's going to be great!

The downside to this is that I won't be able to keep going to the Tuesday and Wednesday night knitting groups I'd enjoyed so much.

In other good news, the boy has started a new job, which he seems to be liking so far. This also means that this was my first Monday off with some alone time. Don't get me wrong, I do love that boy, but a little me time today was nice.

Also, I've tried my first batch of pickles. They weren't bad, but as I had miscalculated the amount of dill seed per jar (it's a Tbsp, I thought it was a tsp) this first batch is mostly sour and not very dilly. The next batch should be better.

There has also been knitting. I whipped up a pair of baby booties and a hat in a hurry, thinking I could sneak them into the auction at camp, but that didn't happen. I need to photograph them, they came out cute, but they need feet and a head - I may need to hit up the thrift store for a baby doll for modeling purposes. There are also socks:

And then there's this one. I am in the process of remembering the benefit of putting one's mind to something (read: kicking myself). It's really moving along now. I'm slightly concerned that I may run out of yarn before I close the toe, but I won't know until it happens.

I really like them, and I'm so glad they fit. I was worried. At this rate I should have a few more pair to add to the rotation soon. Is it sad that even when the highs are in the 90's I wear wool socks to work?

The other thing I'm remembering today? How great milk and graham crackers are!

I'm home, did ya miss me?

2007-08-14T16:53:00.000-05:00

Probably not . . . seeing as I didn't mention I was leaving. But it being August it was time for the annual trek to West Virginia. Well, at least it used to be annual. I have great hopes that it can be again.

We timed the trip perfectly, by accident of course. We left town on a day where the predicted high was 101, and the heat index was somewhere in the one hundred teens. When we reached Alderson it was still very hot. They had been suffering from the same heat wave that we had been. We unpacked the truck, set up the tent, and then promptly donned our swimsuits and submerged our sweaty selves in the river. By the time dinner was over the temperature had started to drop. We had arrived just in time for the first cool night they'd had in over a week.

The boy wasn't sure what to think at first, but it didn't take him long to relax and enjoy himself. We got a chance to visit with folks that I've known my whole life. We swam and tubed in the river. We went to the fair, which the boy pronounced to be a bit small, but inherently cool. (This was the WV state fair, by the way) I introduced the boy to the cultural experience that is the Pig Roast.

Packing up to leave yesterday was not something we wanted to do, but the boy had to go to work today. We had fun on the drive home, and even managed to squeeze in a stop at a yarn store!

But wait! Did they take their camera?? Silly question!

The boy did more of the photography than I did, so I'll see if I can beg him to post some pictures.

But the best part? I actually heard him say "I miss Camp Greenbrier" today . . . it wasn't as quiet and under his breath as he thought. Made my day!

More Knitting, Yay!!

2007-08-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

Just to put it out there, because someone may ask - yes, I've found another job where I can knit at work. When I've finished everything I can do and am just waiting for a show to come down or something, my boss said I can knit, so long as I put it away if a tour group comes through or something. My new boss is awesome, by the way.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled knitting . . .

Zeebee by Schmeebot
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino DK
Size: the boy's head . . . roughly 20" around and 8 3/4" to crown

The boy begged me to knit him a hat out of this yarn the minute I pulled it out of the dye pot. Truth be told, I didn't like the color combination much, but only because it wasn't what I had been going for. When I finally got around to reskeining it to see how the colors blended, I had to concede that it wasn't too bad looking. So when I needed a quick project last week, to break up some knitting monotony I figured it was time to make him a hat. I'd been dying to try the pattern, which is really more of a formula (feeding my inner nerd). Once it was finished he started wearing it around the house. No our AC is not on that strong, he's just adorable like that. He even slept in it a couple of times. Silly boy.

He wouldn't let me take a picture of his face, but hopefully you get the idea, I think it turned out pretty well. Now I want one. Maybe in something tweedy.

Can I kick myself?

2007-08-05T05:28:00.000-05:00

When I started knitting last summer, I decided to try socks, because they were small and looked challenging enough to be interesting. It wasn't until I'd been at it for a few months and had finished a couple pairs of socks that I learned that socks are supposed to be hard. I've heard countless knitters, many who are far more accomplished than I, say that they could never knit socks because they're too hard. Seriously.

I've read all but the latest book put out by the Yarn Harlot, and from the way she writes it would seem that many knitters need to be convinced that certain things aren't really all that hard, and they should try them.

I've even posted to group blogs on the topic of pattern technique suggestions, and not feeling obligated to follow them. I didn't want them to be scared to change things. I wanted them to see that it wasn't hard.

I've lived in the world of knitting relatively oblivious of what was hard and what was not. And it's been working for me.

And yet . . . there's one project that I've been avoiding because it looks hard . . .

Duh duh duh! Sweaters!!

Especially ones that are knit in pieces and then sewn together. It's a love hate relationship - especially with the sweater in the picture. I have the pattern, and I've picked out yarn (just not the color). I would love to knit it, love to wear it. But I'd hate to fail miserably, to be beaten by a sweater. But this is ridiculous - I can do this! I just need to start, and it will all be ok.

Now to noodle over colors for weeks, until I find the perfect one.

My nose was buried . . .

2007-07-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . . . which I greatly enjoyed. I think I will go back to the beginning and read the whole series at once.

Dance Time

2007-07-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

Doin' a little happy dance . . . cuz I made pickles! They won't be ready to eat until August 10th or so . . . so stay tuned for taste testing results.

Getting a Grip

2007-07-17T14:19:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to get a handle on things now, what with the new job, and the new schedule, and developing some new habits. It's keeping me busy (can't ya tell?). I have some garden pics to share - not terribly new ones, but they're pictures.

The cucumbers are starting to come, mostly from the seedlings I'd bought, the vines I planted as seed are really close though. The "True Lemon" cukes are starting to make male flowers, so I'm hoping to be able to show some of them off soon.

The green zebra tomatoes seem to only grow to about the size of a plum, but they have great flavor - AND . . . I've figured out how to tell if they're ripening - the light green bits start to turn yellow (I could also give them a gentle squeeze, but I try to avoid that one). The sad part is that parts of at least one of the green zebra vines seems to be suffering a bit, either from the dryness and heat or from some kind of pest or disease. I've started adding a little milk to the fertilizing mix, which I should have done a long time ago, so I'm hoping to see a little good come of that.

This tomato is growing on a vine that I stunted. (Ooops! Shame on me!) I was picking off suckers, like a good kid, and I accidentally mistook the growing top of the vine for a sucker and snapped it right off. It seems to be recovering nicely, but it took a while.

Growers notes for '08:

Add 1/2 cup milk to fertilizer mix for tomatoes and peppers - use weekly
Add Bone Meal, Granite and Cow to the soil Spring '08
after that just bone meal and cow, maybe some blood meal
Some lime might be good . . . not too much, but some
Make more room for zucchini
Design a layout, making space for all the fun veggies
Start more tomatoes from seed, that was fun
Tomato "patch" needs more nasturtiums, marigolds, basil, and thyme

What's up?

2007-07-10T17:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I had my first day at the new job today. My head is only a little swimmy, and I think that has more to do with being up so early than it does with the training. I've done a lot of what I did today before, though their automated decks and software are a bit unfamiliar.

I played a little dumb today, to make sure I didn't miss anything. To that extent, it worked, but it was a little trying on my patience - so tomorrow, I'm going to be smarter.

No earth shattering news on Seth's job front, but he may have lined up a new interview today. Here's hoping.

Garden Cuteness

2007-07-09T06:08:00.000-05:00

As promised, pictures of itty bitty vegetables! I'll tell ya though, I had to hunt for a while to find a tiny cuke - all the tiny ones I'd been watching have grown up considerably.

For scale comparison - the stems surrounding this baby squash (yellow zucchini) are about as bit around as my thumb, which, it should be noted, are likely bigger around than yours because I have fat fingers. But still - the squash isn't even as big around as a #2 pencil yet!

And this is the baby cuke - he's so tiny! And see? No flower yet - they grow to a point before the flower blossoms to be polinated. I saw a bee making the rounds in my cucumbers yesterday, so I'm hopeful for a decent crop. I want to get a picture of my other cukes - the lemon lookin' ones - but they are not quite to this point yet.

Mmmmm, pickly goodness! Yep, that's right, I'm makin' pickles! Sadly, I don't think my dill will be far enough along to use in making said pickles, but that's ok. I'm also hoping that I'll have cukes late enough into the summer that I can make some hot pickles with a jalapeno or an aurora pepper tucked into the jar. We'll see.

You learn something every day!

2007-07-05T14:14:00.000-05:00

I was wandering around inspecting the plants in the vegetable bed the other day when I discovered something strange. While my cucumber and squash plants had been flowering for a couple of days, now there were flowers with miniature squash and cucumbers growing behind them. Now I expected to see this, eventually, as I knew that's how the squash and cucumbers developed, but the thing I couldn't understand was why the flowers growing on the ends of these tiny veggies were either new, or hadn't even opened yet.

Now, my vegetable growing experience consists mostly of tomatoes - and tomatoes flower, get polinated, the flower dies and a small green tomato forms where the flower had been. So these squash flowers were confusing me.

Enter the internet - answerer of many questions. I hit wikipedia and found this little tidbit:

"the flowers come in pollen-bearing male form, and the ovary-bearing female
form, with both forms being present on the plant."

So there you go - those first flowers were all males, and now my plants are starting to make female flowers. And let me just add that the tiny little yellow zucchini are really adorable. I will attempt to capture the cuteness this weekend.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire - Second Years

2007-07-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Gryffindor - I must be a tough sort, I was a Ravenclaw last time

2. Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference?

Women's 10 1/2 - 10 inches long - 9 inches around

3. List your three favorite sock yarns.

Fleece Artist, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, Knit Picks Bare Superwash Fingering

4. Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand?

I haven't tried any Regia yet, but the silk and bamboo both look really fun. And I want to try Koigu someday. I'm still new at this, so there are lots of yarns I haven't "tasted" yet.

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn?

I like variegated for simple patterns and solid (or heathered, yummy!) for lacy or cabled patterns.

6. What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash?

Oh . . . I dunno . . . blue, gray, green, purple . . . cool colors

7. What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle?

My fair isle skills are not up to snuff - I knit too tight and things pucker, so I'm not up for fair isle socks yet . . . but I'm game for anything else.

8. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.)

Nope . . . bring it on!

9. Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them?

No cigarette smoke, and while we don't have any pets, my mom has two cats and we do visit her house fairly often, but I can promise to never take these socks over there if I need to.

10. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

Absolutely!

So there you go, my Hogwarts Sock Swap answers. Does it sound like fun to you? Want to play too? Take this portkey to the new blog and sign up!

A Knittiversary

2007-07-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

As I was photographing the yarns in my stash for record keeping purposes, I found these two balls from my first pair of socks. I realized that it's been about a year since I started knitting that pair of socks. I can't remember the exact date, so I'm adopting the first of July, since I think it was July when I started.

Sadly, in the last six months or so, I accidentally felted those socks to the point that I cannot wear them anymore. It was a great pattern, one that I really enjoyed knitting and wearing. I will need to knit another pair someday. Maybe this time I'll make them a bit taller.

Like these. I just finally finished these this past week. I started them as travelling socks, good for plane and car trips, but eventually I just wanted to finish them so I could wear them.

Pattern: Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe, from Knitting Rules
Yarn: Trekking XXL, colorway 140? 104? it's blue
Details: roughly 1.5 inches of ribbing, an eye of partridge heel

I've moved on to taller socks as time has passed, although I liked my anklets. I've also discovered some neat knitting things on the web, like swaps.

This is what my awesome Hogwarts Sock Swap pal sent me - lovely socks, awesome sock needles, lavender soaps and a candle, a bit of Eucalan for washing woolens, stitch markers, and a dpn holder for keeping my projects together in my backpack. I was sorted into ravenclaw for this swap. Man what fun that was! They're going to have another swap (part II) and sign ups open July 14th. I can't wait to do it again. It's pretty nerdy - but then again, so am I.

I think I've come a long way in a year, and I look forward to seeing where I go from here.

When you're not looking . . .

2007-06-30T04:25:00.000-05:00

We had supper at Mom's last night, because my aunt and uncle and cousins were in town. Great stories were told, and good times were had by all.

Anyway, I had a chance to step out into the garden while there the sun was still up, and wow, it had been busy while I was gone. Seriously. We found a tomato nearly the size of two fists, that we hadn't noticed at all before. I had to snap off the ends of the bean vines and some of the tomatoes, because if they kept growing they'd be too big for their supports. Sadly we also have one tomato plant that seems to be dying a slow death, but I'm hopeful to get a couple of tomatoes off of it before it goes. And the squash plants are getting huge; they may flower soon. The cucumbers are flowering already, and the beans shouldn't be far behind. It's exciting.

What's been going on . . .

2007-06-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

So, I was hoping to be bubbling over with great news that we've both got new jobs and all is well, but that's not quite true.

I have a new job. I start the 10th of July at WAVY, which is our NBC affiliate, as a Full time (yay) Master Control Operator (also yay). For starters, it's a step closer to engineering, which makes it more fun for me, and it's 4 days a week, and likely, once I'm done training, it's the same 4 days every week. I might just have a regular schedule soon, it's exciting.

The boy on the other hand, hasn't yet secured a new job. He has applied with both UPS and FEDEX, and we're hopeful he'll get a job with one of the two. He's also applied at a Marina, and a bunch of other places that I don't know what they are. He's getting a might disappointed at this point, but he's still hopeful. I would just be nice for someone to hire him in the next week or two.

Anyway, that's where we are. More updates soon, I hope.

Swallowtail Shawl

2007-06-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino Fingering Weight, dyed by me with Jaquard dyes
Mods: Added two repeats of the first lace pattern, which resulted in four extra stitches that I had to distribute into the pattern.

I think it turned out pretty. Still too girly for me, but thankfully it's not for me. And for the record, the purl 5 togethers are a pain in the butt when you knit tightly like I do.

In other news, I reskeined some yarn I dyed a while back - and now I like it! Ok, backstory - I dyed up two skeins of DK weight merino trying to achieve a colorway that reminded me of pansies, and as of yet I still haven't achieved this. In their original hanks with big chunks of color, I didn't like how these had turned out at all, but now that I've seen the colors blending together, I've got some hope for my skills with dye. And for the record, the first skein's color is a bit more accurate, though a bit darker in the picture - the second one is a little washed out in the photo.

Bad Blogger . . . No Cookie!!

2007-06-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

I have gotten an invitation to join the group of beta testers over at Ravelry. I'm very excited about this new resource. If you knit or crochet, and haven't heard of it - go check it out.

Anyway, in the process of setting up my little space on the site, I noticed that I had completed a project, and halfway completed another without taking any pictures of them! For shame! I am now in the process of rectifying that problem.

I've also noticed a habit developing in my posts, wherein I take pictures of garden progress and then allow them to ferment for two weeks or more before sharing them. So, I'd like to note that I took most of these pictures yesterday. It's getting pretty exciting in the rabbit prison.

The tomatoes are getting out of hand, at least as far as green and leafy stuff goes. They're getting a bit thick!

Just for comparison, the picture above was from yesterday, and the picture below is from the weekend after mother's day, when we planted the seedlings. It hasn't really been all that long, only 5 weeks. What you don't see is that there are a lot more weeds in the bed now, but I've relaxed a bit in my weeding, as the tomatoes are shading the soil so much that the weeds seem to be struggling. I just hope the basil, thyme and nasturtiums that I planted amongst the tomatoes and peppers will get enough sun.

There are blossoms all over the place. It seems I'm picking off extra blossoms more often than I'm picking off suckers!

My first Zebra tomatoes are showing their stripes. I had assumed that the stripes wouldn't come in until the fruit was ripe, but aparently I'll need a new way to determine ripeness.

And if ever there was a happy plant, it would be my italian sweet pepper. So far we have 7 decent sized peppers, and they're not done growing yet. When they're ready, they'll be red. No red yet, still time to grow!

A Quick Update

2007-06-23T16:01:00.000-05:00

It is officially "Get A Job" week here in the apartment. The boy lost his job Monday, and has been searching for something since then. Things have gotten decidedly nutty at the station, so I've applied for a position elsewhere - which surprisingly enough, is full time, with regular hours - and I should know Tuesday if they'll hire me.

Prayers and crossed fingers are appreciated. Life's an adventure, ain't it?

So, about that garden update . . .

2007-06-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

Once again, I'm behind, and these pictures are a little old . . . but it's progress.

The bed is shaping up nicely. The tomatoes are filling out; the beans, cucumbers, and squash have sprouted and are coming up nicely. The viney plants will be growing on those three tee-pee's in the back.

This one has two different kinds of cucumbers on it, though they're both supposed to be smallish green pickling cukes.

The green zebra tomato won the race for who was going to set fruit first, and when I checked them this morning, they were starting to show the telltale stripes.

I'm really hoping I've done better by the paste tomatoes this year. Last year they were planted in a spot that got too much shade, and they never really recovered. I really want to can or freeze as many of these as possible for use over the winter.

This is my little herb box. I wanted to get the herbs up higher, both for easier picking and for increased drainage. I've got rosemary, thyme, chamomile, two kinds of parsely, chives, and lavender. I transplanted the lavender from the window box I had at the apartment. It just wasn't happy there - it was getting swamped too often with winter and spring rains. I hope it likes it better in the bed.

But as you can see it bloomed despite the less than ideal conditions. I'm excited to see what the two varieties I have will do if I can get the conditions the way they'd like them. We'll just have to see I guess.

Seriously

2007-06-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

Tell me, oh great blog-o-sphere, what it takes to find a good job.

I'm a 25 (and a half) year old, college graduate with a degree in Media Communications from a school that though smaller than my high school sends students regularly to work for the Olympic Broadcast and ESPN - while they're still in college. I am a hard worker, reliable, honest, and eager to learn new skills. I'll admit I'm highly introverted, and I have a hard time understanding, much less maneuvering the chess game that is "corporate" operations. I'll also admit that I don't think myself much of a writer; however, I am a damn good speller and a bit of a grammar nerd. My current boss seems fairly fond of me . . .

I'm familiar with both Mac and PC platforms, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, ProTools, many DV format cameras, both live and recorded sound production. I could be up to speed on Avid editing very quickly, as well as linear editing. I'm good with a hammer, saw, and paintbrush. I've stage/floor managed television and theatre. I spent four years of college doing theatrical lighting. I actually like soldering cable ends. I'm not supposed to admit to that. I've done field audio work for the Olympic Broadcasting company - and I never even got yelled at.

Why on earth can't I land a full time job???

All I'm asking for is 40 hours a week - and a few more here and there are no big deal - preferably the same 40 hours each week, or at least a relatively predictable schedule, benefits, and a pay rate that acknowledges the fact that I have a college education in my field. It would also be nice if said job made it possible, mostly in terms of scheduling and time, for us to start a family . . . but that's just gravy. Oh, and I would like to achieve said position based solely on my merits and accomplishments, and not on my ability to sweet talk, as I have no such ability.

Meanwhile, I work 40+ hours a week, and this is a vast improvement over when I was only working 25-30, but I'm still technically part time. This week is 52 hours, I believe, or was that last week? They're all starting to blend together. Being still part time, my pay has not changed, and there are no benefits. I never know what my schedule looks like more than a week or two in advance, and my hours vary widely from day to day. And while I knew that this would basically be the case even before I arrived, I'm fairly tired of working in a department that is treated daily like the bastard step child of the building. I should mention, I've been where I am for a year and a half now.

Now, I realize that a large part of my current status is my own fault, as I have made some bad decisions, mostly out of naivete. But to some extent, I'm caught in the classic catch twenty two - everyone wants experience, but you can't get experience without first getting a job. I'm horrible with networking, and schmoozing just makes me feel dirty.

I'm fairly certain that a job that suits me is out there - and that I would suit it quite well - I just don't know where to look.

**as a side note, a large part of this rant stems from the fact that we have a new guy starting at the station. Well, he's only semi new - he used to work there a long time ago. He's since worked in NY and a couple other places. And the basic impression I've gotten from talking to him is that I could go anywhere else, have a far more pleasant and slightly less stressful job, get paid a lot more, and probably work less. Problem is I can't move, at least for now.

Ok, rant over . . . garden update soon, I promise!

He's gone Xanga

2007-06-12T23:11:00.000-05:00

The Boy has started his own xanga - Misplaced_Hoosier when you get a free minute, go check it out. I think he's going to post mostly pictures . . . so far so good.

The answers

2007-06-11T08:23:00.000-05:00

1. "Under a lover's sky, gonna be with you and no one's gonna be around. . ."
(Can't Fight the Moonlight, Leanne Rimes) Galen who even knew the soundtrack it was from

2. "Time to let the rain fall, without the help of man, time to let the trees grow tall, now if they only can . . ."
(Ally Ally Oxen Free, Kingston Trio)

3. "She's got a way about her, don't know what it is, but I know that I can't live without her . . ."
(She's Got a Way, Billy Joel) Stephanie

4. "Pages filled with a holy message, sealed with kiss from heaven on a scroll long ago . . ."
(Red Letters, DC Talk)Galen

5. "I will never underestimate what can be done, don't be fooled, someone is listenin' or watchin'"
(Mind What You Say, Buppy)

6. "She was walkin' in the garden one day, when a snake slipped around her feet . . ."
(The Devil is Bad, The W's) Beth

7. "Pardon me, your epidermis is showing sir, I couldn't help but notice . . ."
(Color People, DC Talk) Kari

8. "Strangely out of place, and there's a light filling this room where none would follow before . . . "
(I Need You, Jars of Clay)

9. "Yesterday, all my troubles seems so far away . . ."
(Yesterday, The Beatles) Beth

10. "This a song for the brokenhearted, a silent prayer for a faith departed . . ."
(It's My Life, Bon Jovi) Kari

11. "A lonely child, alone and wild, a cabinet maker's son, his hands were made for different work, and his heart was known to none . . ."
(The Leader of the Band, Dan Fogelberg)

12. "You can play the game, and you can act out the part, but you know it wasn't written for you . . ." (Shower the People, James Taylor) Stephanie

13. "I was sittin', waitin', wishin' you believed in superstitions, then maybe you'd see the signs . . ."
(Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, Jack Johnson)Galen

14. "All our tears have reached the sea, part of you will live in me, way down deep inside my heart . . ."
(Please Remember Me, Tim McGraw)

15. "The Jordan was waiting for me to cross through, my heart is aging I can tell . . ."
(Elijah, Rich Mullins)

16. "I met a guy on a red eye, he spotted my guitar and said 'What do you do?' . . ."
(Songs About Me, Trace Adkins) Curly

17. "Let me be for I am now free and I can feel so let the children be born . . ."
(Broken, 3rd Root)

18. "This thing called love, I just can't handle it . . ."
(Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen) Beth

19. "It's a saturday afternoon romance between a cowboy and a full moon . . ."
(Cowboy Romance, Natalie Merchant)

20. "I'm strange, and you're strange, don't want you to change, no way . . ."
(You're So True, Joseph Arthur) Ben

Way to go kids! This was really fun!

I totally stole this

2007-06-07T20:30:00.000-05:00

from Ben.

It's a game, the rules of which are pretty simple. I have let iTunes play through my entire collection of music at random. I have listed the first lines of 20 songs (a test of my transcription ability). I skipped any tracks that weren't in English, and any from Carbon Leaf, since I'm usually the only one who knows those. Your job is to guess the artist and song title of each one. As you get them correct, I'll cross them off. And since this is going on both blogs, I'll post the correct answers after 48 hours or so along with credit for any correct answers. In the mean time I may post any humorous guesses I receive.

Now, googling the lyrics is definitely illegal, but searching through your own iTunes or CD collection is acceptable (as it "hey, that's a John Denver song, I just don't know which one), though deeply frowned upon. Making guesses when you don't know is also acceptable, since that makes it more fun.

Here goes . . .

~~1. "Under a lover's sky, gonna be with you and no one's gonna be around. . ."~~

2. "Time to let the rain fall, without the help of man, time to let the trees grow tall, now if they only can . . ."

~~3. "She's got a way about her, don't know what it is, but I know that I can't live without her . . ."~~

~~4. "Pages filled with a holy message, sealed with kiss from heaven on a scroll long ago . . ."~~

5. "I will never underestimate what can be done, don't be fooled, someone is listenin' or watchin'"

~~6. "She was walkin' in the garden one day, when a snake slipped around her feet . . ."~~

~~7. "Pardon me, your epidermis is showing sir, I couldn't help but notice . . ."~~

8. "Strangely out of place, and there's a light filling this room where none would follow before . . . "

~~9. "Yesterday, all my troubles seems so far away . . ."~~

~~10. "It's a song for the brokenhearted, a silent prayer for a faith departed . . ."~~

11. "A lonely child, alone and wild, a cabinet maker's son, his hands were made for different work, and his heart was known to none . . ."

~~12. "You can play the game, and you can act out the part, but you know it wasn't written for you . . ."~~

~~13. "I was sittin', waitin', wishin' you believed in superstitions, then maybe you'd see the signs . . ."~~

14. "All our tears have reached the sea, part of you will live in me, way down deep inside my heart . . ."

15. "The Jordan was waiting for me to cross through, my heart is aging I can tell . . ."

~~16. "I met a guy on a red eye, he spotted my guitar and said 'What do you do?' . . ."~~

17. "Let me be for I am now free and I can feel so let the children be born . . ."

~~18. "This thing called love, I just can't handle it . . ."~~

19. "It's a saturday afternoon romance between a cowboy and a full moon . . ."

~~20. "I'm strange, and you're strange, don't want you to change, no way . . ."~~

** just a note, I let iTunes keep playing while I edited and formatted the post . . . and it played a lot of my "better" music . . . oh well!

** also, the reference from the last post - "You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, right round, round, round." [/BIG DORK MOMENT]

Crazy 80's music and stuff . . .

2007-06-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

Allow me to properly introduce my little friend, he's from Maryland. He needs a name, any ideas??

And this is the booty from that trip - 80/20 Alpaca silk. It's so soft, and since I think it's sliver (or combed top) it spins up into nice smooth thin singles.

Thus far I think I've spun up about 1/3 an ounce of the 4 ounces that came in the bag. I'm kicking myself for not getting two bags, as I'm trying to spin this up as lace/fingering weight to knit myself a scarf/shawl for Spun Stitches (check out the link on the left towards the bottom of the page, we may be insane, but we're all insane together!)

See? A happy little football of yarn-to-be. I hope I like the final product, but if it turns out too girly . . . I think I know where it needs to go.

** points to anyone who names the reference in my title.

JMU Socks . . . for lil' sis

2007-06-05T19:56:00.000-05:00

Here they are, in all their glory (wet and on sock blockers) . . .

I'm definitely in love with this pattern: it's quick, it's simple, the combinations are endless, and it makes for comfy socks.

I think the heels turn out kinda cool - see?

Since I figured these guys out from a looking at them on Eunny Jang's blog . . . I'll share what I know.

Most basically:
Using your favorite toe construction method, make a toe in color 1 for a 64(68,72, however many stitches fit your foot) stitch sock. Work 4 rows in color 2. Continue up foot changing colors every 4 rows.

Do not break yarn in between stripes, just carry the strand up the inside of the sock, the stripes are narrow enough that this shouldn't be a problem. Use a jogless striping method if you like (I used this one - the first one on the page).

When the foot is long enough (in my case, after nine stripes of color 2) make a heel of your choice (I did short row). Work the same number of stripes - or more if you like - up the leg. Work at least 7 rows of 1x1 rib and bind off loosely.

Repeat for sock #2, reversing the colors if you like.

Two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport works great for these. For JMU colors I used Sunshine and Blackberry. Asbury colors would be Blackberry and Natural. Louet Gems Sport would also work well.

Little rabbit prisons . . .

2007-06-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

Be vewy, vewy quiet . . . I'm hunting wabbits!

It's not a veritable vegetable penitentiary - it's rabbit prison.

Ok, so this is a little bit amusing, at least for me. First off, let me apologize, this pictures are at least two weeks old. It rained a good bit this weekend, so no new pics yet, but soon. Just imagine the picture below except the tomatoes are at least twice as tall, there are even more peppers (and more on the way, it's contagious I tell ya!), three bamboo stake teepee's in the back boxy areas for cucumbers and beans, two mounds for squash, and a small boxed in herb area.

There shall be the following goodies in the backyard this year . . . if all goes well:

2 Brandywine tomato vines (pink fruit)
2 Gold Medal tomato vines (yellow fruit)
2 Green Zebra tomato vines (green fruit with light green/yellow stripes)
3 Amish Paste tomato vines (for canning)
2-3 Brandyboy tomato vines (a hybrid given to us by a sweet friend, also pink)

1 Orange Bell pepper bush
1 Sweet Paprika pepper bush
1 Jimmy Nardelo's sweet red pepper bush (long skinny, good for roasting)
3 Jalapeno pepper bushes (we'll likely smoke those, chipotles!)
1+ Aurora pepper bush (only one seed sprouted so far, pretty colors, some heat)
1+ Poblano pepper bush (again, some smoking, anchos!)
**possibly more bell peppers as well, if I feel like it

Pole beans
Fancipak hybrid cucumbers (smallish)
Pickling cucumbers (smallish)
True Lemon cucumbers (small, round, yellow skinned)

Yellow Zucchini (yellow summer squash, really good grilled)
Leaf lettuce in the deep shade - to see if it works

An experiment to see if I can grow carrots - we'll see

Towards the end of the summer we'll put in:
Collards
Snap peas
Spinach
Lettuce
Turnips
Broccoli, perhaps

These are the tomatoes and peppers from Seedsavers - buried up to their necks, as the plants were a bit leggy. Now their thick and lush and strong. I'm imagining many tasty and colorful tomato sandwiches and salads this summer.

As to the rabbit references . . . as some of you may know, I battled with a rabbit last year who successfully killed off my snap pea crop. I even found myself sweating in the back yard two days before the wedding screwing old shutters together to keep the little guy out of the beans. Since that strategy seemed to work pretty well, we're hoping that "our high stone walls" will fend of the bunnies this year as well. I'll keep you updated.

A proper pair of witches socks . . .

2007-05-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

A proper pair of witches socks should be elegant, yet simple in design. They should appear normal to the muggle passersby, hiding that which makes them special for only magical eyes to see.

I had a great time knitting these. I decided what I was going to do when I saw these on Eunny's blog. It's a fairly basic toe up sock, changing the color of yarn every 4 rows, with a short row heel and a bit of ribbing at the cuff. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Sunshine and Cranberry. I used the method Eunny suggested to minimize jogging, and it seemed to work fairly well:

I hope my pal likes them! I liked them so much, I decided to knit some more. I started today on a pair in sunshine and blackberry for my sister to take backpacking in Europe. When I finish those (she's leaving pretty soon) I'll start a pair in jeans and rainbow. I hope to finish my sister's pair over the weekend, since we're flying to Indiana and back. We'll see.

I've been tagged

2007-05-18T18:29:00.000-05:00

by a blue turtle!

Here are the tag rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog the 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you are tagging a note in their comments so they know they have been tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

Seven Random Facts:

1) Many sweet people gave us wine glasses as wedding presents - my favorite use for them? Chocolate milk!

2) I rarely go to the downtown mall without going to the library - it makes the parking free (although I walk a lot) and I love books.

3) I don't pack my lunch for work because it saves money; I pack my lunch because it leaves me with more time to knit at work.

4) I can't have a normal schedule in my current field - my work day either has to start at 4am, 11am, or 3pm, there are no holidays and weekends are basically expected.

5) One SIL is also a friend from college, and I almost had a BIL who had the same name as my husband.

6) I think roast goat may very well be the best meal I've ever had.

7) My current cooking related goal is to make a decent pie crust from scratch.

I am ending this trail here, because I don't know who to tag. If anyone reads this and wants to play a long, feel free to continue the thread.

Life List Update - May 07

2007-05-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

~~3. Master fluffy biscuits~~
. . .
32. Learn three more languages to a 4th semester college level
33. Raise bees and eat more honey
34. Spin the whole fleece of a sheep I've had a chance to meet
35. Own a spinning wheel
36. Collect a few attractive and useful drop spindless
37. Find a job that I don't feel guilty about and do that for a living

On a less lifechanging, yet similarly self-referencing note . . .

Finish your blessed thank-you notes you freakin' slacker!!! For the love!

I didn't buy any yarn . . .

2007-05-15T13:46:00.000-05:00

. . . but I'm getting to be very fond of the spindle. We've been hanging out in the evenings. This is my first two ply handspun, isn't it cute?? All of about 40 yards and it varies in weight from lace to worsted, but I did it.

This is my new project - 80% black alpaca 20% Silk, and thus far I'm keeping it fairly even. I may dye it, once it's plyed to make the white bits of silk have some color, maybe deep greens, blues, and purples. I'm hoping for enough lace/fingering weight yarn to knit myself a lacy shawl or scarf.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

2007-05-07T20:30:00.000-05:00

Man was that ever fun! The boy and I drove up into Maryland Sunday morning to check out the Sheep and Wool Festival. We saw so many different kinds of sheep. Have you ever heard of Jacob sheep? They're cool! They can have 4 horns, two that wind around their ears fairly typically, and two that wind down around their jaw. This one only had two.

And they are so cute when they're little!

This one is a Corriedale, check out those cheeks.

Good times were had by young and old. We saw llamas.

And I think these are goats.

We watched a sheepdog demonstration.

And saw a lady spinning angora straight from the rabbit.

And, of course, we had to check out the alpaca. The one on the left is a huacaya, the one on the right is a suri. They were so soft.

There were also some who'd been sheared. This one is also huacaya - just with less hair.

It was a lovely cool spring day; we had lamb for lunch (gyro for me, burger for the boy), a couple of oldfashined sodas, and a great time. And for the record, I didn't buy any yarn. I did buy a little fiber and a drop spindle, but no yarn.

Mini List

2007-05-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

1. Leaving town tomorrow, little sister's graduatin' (yay)
2. Work has been nuts lately, and way high pressure (boo)
3. I have mastered the biscuit (yay)
4. We're going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival on Sunday (yay)
5. I don't see much of the boy during the week on my current work schedule (boo)
6. I'm tired, and my feet hurt (boo)
7. Tomorrow is friday (yay)
8. Gray's Anatomy is two hours tonight (yay)
9. I broke a sock needle (boo)

yup, that's it for now.

Formula for Summer

2007-05-01T20:53:00.000-05:00

A warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings
plus
hand and power tools yields:

plus
three pallets of cinder blocks, twenty bags of sand, and 30 bags of gravel
plus

plus
another warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings . . . and hopefully it will look like a lot of tasty food growing in the back yard.

Green, Yellow and Pink

2007-04-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard of Project Spectrum, check out the website.

Basically, it began to prompt bloggers who make any kind of art or craft to explore the color wheel throughout the year. This month and next the theme colors are pink, yellow and green. Hmm . . . that sounds familiar . . .

And I found out that the little girl I knit this for was born in the last few days, happy and healthy at around 6 lbs. Congratulations, mom!

To be brutally honest, I'd forgotten about this, so I don't have much in the way of new creations . . . but I thought I might make a photo scavenger hunt of it. So, for your viewing pleasure:

Grr . . .

2007-04-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

I've been stalking a book at the library for over a month. A very cool friend recommended it to me. It was due back at the end of March. Now the library catalog says they don't have any copies of that book in the city library system.

I will find the book, I will!!

You're spoiling me!!

2007-04-24T10:45:00.001-05:00

I have the greatest secret pal ever! Just look at what showed up in the mail this weekend:

My secret pal made my night Saturday. I went to check the mail and there was a cute little box with my name on it. Inside I found the two hanks of lovely heathered yarn and everything else you see there. The little bottle is lavender scented bath oil, very yummy! The bar of soap has a strong sweet and spicy scent; I think it is destined to live with my socks, to make them smell nice. What you don't see is that in the two days that I've had them, the chocolates are all gone. Very tasty. I'd like to thank my secret pal, she's awesome!

In other news, as I am a glutton for punishment, I signed myself up for another swap, for which I'm knitting this:

My pal for the Hogwarts Sock Swap is gryffidor, can you tell?

All in a row . . .

2007-04-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

I had a bit of trouble with this sock. I put the stitches on a holder (read: dental floss) so I could make use of the needles. Once I put it back on, the stitches didn't line up anymore. I must have forgotten something. Or else, the stitches had a dance while they were waiting for me to come back. Either way, I frogged the cuff I had started, and began again. At the time I was taking pictures I had finished one pattern repeat. I have now finished two of the 16 row repeats. I love how organized this sock looks - twisted stitches are so well defined. I'm using Knitpicks bare superwash merino fingering weight that I dyed a while back. I'm just loving the way the colors blend. This is great knitting when you just need life to make sense.

February Sock Club Socks

2007-04-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Inside Out (Rockin' Sock Club 2007, Blue Moon Fiber Arts)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Monsoon
Modifications: A few . . . I knit the toe in stockinette instead of garter stitch, I did not rib the sole, worked an eye of partridge arch support panel, knit the heel with an eye of partridge heel flap . . . I knit the foot on 1's and the cuff on 2's, and while they're a bit tight to get over my heels, they feel marvelous once their on.

I have a bit of yarn left, not much, but I probably could have worked another half-a-pattern repeat at the top of the sock. I'm thinking about knitting baby booties out of it, to keep giving to the crisis pregnancy center. Now to find a pattern.

Shetland Triangle

2007-04-17T22:16:00.000-05:00

I think I'm going to work on making the finished object posts a bit more official. So here goes.

Shetland Triangle, from Wrap Style (Interweave Press)
Yarn: 1 hank Knitpicks Bare Fingering Weight Merino, dyed with Jaquard dyes
Modifications: repeated the body pattern two extra times before starting the border, because I still had yarn left

I love how this turned out. I'm thinking about blocking it again, because I think I need to stretch it a bit more. I can attest that blocking is indeed a miracle process; when I cast off I had a lumpy mass of wool, but after it was blocked and dried, I had a drapey shawl. I'm actually a bit jealous. This is for my grandmother, so I have to let it go. I intend to knit three more - one for each grandmother, by Christmas. Thus far, this is all I have. No idea if I'll finish the other three on time. Thankfully the pattern doesn't take all that long. The other question is whether or not to change patterns at some point. I have found a few patterns that function the same way, but with a different stitch design. I had a great time dyeing the yarn. Perhaps what I need to do is dye some yarn to knit myself one; I really do like the slight variation of my hand dyed "solid" colors. Maybe a thicker yarn, to make it warmer, a bit less frou-frou, and more me. A tanish shade perhaps? Hmm . . .

Days like today . . .

2007-04-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

My prayers tonight go up for anyone anywhere who spent even the briefest of moments wondering where their son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, nephew, cousin, friend, spouse, or parent was and if they were safe, or even alive. And for the young man who was so miserable that he sought to end his life and the lives of so many others.

God is not without a sense of humor

2007-04-15T14:44:00.000-05:00

and I have proof!

"A nor'easter (also northeaster) is a macro-scale storm whose winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. They also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion and gale force winds." -Wikipedia

We're supposed to be having one of those today. I got a call yesterday asking if I could come into work a little after noon to do hourly weather cut-ins (where we update folks on the weather sitch by breaking into regular programming, we're angering golf fans today) because the weater was supposed to be so bad all day. I'm sitting in the control room now - and guess what! It's bright and sunny outside!! What the deuce??

So . . .

2007-04-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

The fellow who runs the station website is thinking about letting me write a craft blog. I'm thinkin' he's crazy. Any ideas? A title? Good topics?

So far I'm thinking of working up posts on (in no particular order):
1.Knitting (General)
2.Crochet (General)
3.Spinning (General)
4.Sewing Clothing
5.Quilting
6.Making soft toys
7.Faux Finishing
8.Furniture Making and Finishing
9.Crafting for Charity
10.Christmas gift ideas
11.Other gift ideas (birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day etc . . .)
12.Good gifts for crafters
13.Sock Knitting
14.Lace Knitting
15.Filet Crochet
16.Mosaic Tiling
17.Baking (General)
18.Bread Making
19.Dyeing
20.Collage
21.Some dish specific cooking (making pasta, pie crust, pesto etc . . .)
22.Making purses and bags
23.Knitting finishing techniques
24.Interviews with some local store owners and crafters

Now, to be brutally honest, I don't know too much about quite a few of these things, but this can serve as a motivation to research and learn myself. I may spend some serious time at the library/on the web. If anyone just loves any of the non-knitting stuff, and wants to share their wealth of knowledge, please do. Suggestions for websites etc . . . would be wonderful.

Am I nuts?? Y'all have read my blog, you know I don't express myself well on the page. I think I may be calling in the services of my mother, as I did in highschool. I might should ask if she's ok with that, huh.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

2007-04-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Women's 10 1/2 to 11

3. Foot Length? 10"

4. Foot Circumference? 9"

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a. Brittany 5" (all I have are US 1.5 2.5mm, but I love them!)
b. Knitpicks 6" US 2 3mm
c. I have a third kind, inherited, as in I think they were my grandmother's

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I would love to try other wooden double points, something between 2mm and 3.5mm, lenght is not so important.

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference? I honestly love them both, no preference.

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Absolutely, That would be really cool!

A plea

2007-04-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

No, not flea.

I have recieved, from the wonderful mavens at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, a skein of their Socks that Rock lightweight in a colorway called Undertoe. For. Free. (soon to be available to the general public, I think) I am so very grateful, and excited. As part of the sock club, they held a colorway naming contest. The theme was tides, and being a pun nerd I thought Undertoe was a great name for sock yarn. Aparently I wasn't alone. My name ended up drawn from a hat for a free skein of yarn. I will take a picture of it soon, still working on the staging area.

That said, I have a problem. I really like the colors in this yarn - it's pale purple/lavender which gets a little pink at times, tan, and a foresty green. My problem is, after seven or so attempts to start a sock on a variety of needle sizes, stitch counts, and stitch patterns, I cannot defeat the striping/barber polling. I just want to see the colors blend together in my finished piece. Aparently, socks that fit my feet are not the answer. And socks that are just slightly larger and would fit my mother aren't it either.

So my question, for all the knitters who might read this, or for anyone who just happens to have an idea, is what should I knit?? I have around 360 yards of light fingering weight superwash merino, that apparently doesn't want to be socks. Anyone else tried something fun with Socks that Rock that caused the angelic voices to start into the Halleluja chorus when you cast off? I'd kinda like to keep this yarn close, since I won it for naming it. I just don't know what to do, but the frogging needs to stop, now.

Fellowship time is precious

2007-04-09T19:55:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's what you really need.

I meet with a group of kids from church on monday nights, but tonight I had to leave early because I had to be back at work earlier than normal. One of the members was apologizing that we hadn't gotten into the meatier parts of our time before I had to leave, but tonight, when I was tired and still had a shift left to work, the hanging out and telling stories and laughing was what I really needed.

God's good like that.

In which our intrepid knitter questions . . .

2007-04-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

. . . everything she learned in driver's ed.

So I'm driving from work to the store tonight, for some much needed grocery shopping. We were out of All Bran (do we sound 70 yet?) and in need of a gallon of milk. Cruising down the street behind a green Celica, I come up to a light going from yellow to red. I stop. So long Celica. Behind me is a silver Scion. Behind me. Traffic on the cross street comes to a stop, but our light hasn't turned green yet. Silver Scion pulls up to my right, as if to make a right turn when the light turns green, but before it does, silver Scion is off in front of me, down the street. Did I miss the light change? No, just changed. Huh. So on I go, now behind the silver Scion. Come to another red light; silver Scion is behind green Celica. Same trick. Silver Scion pulls around green Celica while it waits for the light to change, and heads off having effectively cut in line. Six blocks later, I pull up next to silver Scion in the leftmost left turn lane (I am in the second left turn lane). The light is red. Cross traffic slows to a stop, and silver Scion is off, a full second and a half before the light changes.

Am I nuts?? Green means go, right? Silver Scion had Florida plates, he's going to have a rude awakening when he discovers both that people in this town generally run red lights as they turn red not green, and that his Scion is no match for a "real" car in a colision. Part of me is smug, is that bad?

News on the job front . . .

2007-04-03T18:55:00.000-05:00

So, I started working full time hours this week.

Instead of going in from 2:45 and working 'til 7, then turning around and working 9:15-12, now I go in at 11 and come home around 7. I've been running the audio board for the 90 minute newscast for a couple weeks now, and it's getting easier. I really struggled with audio for the 11pm news a couple months back, and I've had some of the same problems getting accustomed to the 90, plus it's three times as long. My awesome boss moved me to the newsroom camera for the 90 today and the rest of this week, for a break. And hopefully, I'll get to be in the camera rotation from time to time, just to break things up a little. I honestly get really weary of dealing with the craziness of the 90 minute newscast for 5 straight days. Unfortunately, for me to do anything else during the 90 means someone has to run the audio board - and today that was Nathan. He's not completely thrilled, but I think if it's more like one or two days a week, it won't be so bad. And overall, I think it will lead to more clean shows and less mistakes.

Now, bear in mind, I do not have a full time job, yet. I've taken over someone else's duties, and I'm training to direct, so I work 40 hour weeks (or 50, next week), but I'm not a full time employee. All thoughts of that have to wait until the change of hands actually happens. I'm also still making the same hourly wage, but 40 hours each week is a decent increase for me. I hope to have more good news after the sale goes through - so about a month or so.

In other news, I hope to have some sock pictures up soon, but after that it may take a little while before I post more knitting or baking pictures. I have plans to set myself up with a mini-studio for shooting those things. A couple of light fixtures plus a TV tray and some black fabric should do the trick. Maybe now I'll have an excuse to find a pair of 150 watt daylight balanced cfl's . . . toys!

I'm a huge sap

2007-03-31T19:01:00.000-05:00

but this was just too cute!! Happy Saturday!

Change

2007-03-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

I've never dealt well with change that I didn't make myself.

Case and point - when I was about a year and a half old, my parents decided to rearrange the living room furniture one day, while I was napping. When I saw the new set up I burst into tears, and threw impressive tantrums for a few days. So they decided to move it back. Apparently I must have gotten used to it, because I started the whole tantrum process all over again.

I guess I hadn't realized how accustomed I've become to the patterns of my day, but between visiting family and new job stuff starting next week, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

And I'm a cave dweller - when the outside world is more than I can handle, I retreat into my cave until I can cope. When you live in a two bedroom apartment and have house guests - you don't have a cave, or at least, it's not really your cave for a while.

This too shall pass.

Just Three Words

2007-03-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

The rules are simple. Answer each question in three words. No more, no less.

01. Where is your cell phone? left rear pocket
02. Boyfriend/girlfriend? neither, I'm married
03. Hair? growing it out
04. Your mother? quite close by
05. Your father? kinda miss him
06. Your favorite item(s)? wool and cameras
07. Your dream last night? did not dream
08. Your favorite drink? scotch and drambuie
09. Your dream guy/girl? married to him
10. The room you are in? lots of buttons
11. Your fear? sucking at life
12. What do you want to be in 10 years? cool farmer mom
13. Who did you hang out with last night? very cool chicks
14. What are you not? quite awake yet
15. Are you in love? see number nine
16. One of your wish list items? huge canon lenses
17. What time is it? two twenty one
18. The last thing you did? made phone call
19. What are you wearing? my comfy jeans
20. Your favorite book? not just one
21. The last thing you ate? yummy bran muffin
22. Your life? goin' pretty good
23. Your mood? pretty relaxed now
24. Your friends? darn cool people
25. What are you thinking about right now? knitting a sock
26. Your car? George the truck
27. What are you doing at this moment? typing three words
28. Your summer? no summer break
29. Your relationship status? see number two
30. What is on your TV screen? news channel three
31. When is the last time you laughed? five minutes ago
32. Last time you cried? I can't remember
33. School? maybe later thanks

Of Bread and Family

2007-03-26T23:09:00.000-05:00

I did a bit of baking a couple weeks back. I was having a little fun with my knife - see?

Unfortunately, that's the extent of the fun/photographed stuff I have to post about this week. And it may be a little while before I get around to anymore of that stuff. My MIL and SIL have come to visit this week, which is great. There was a mixup with their rental car, which isn't so great, but totally workable. And I'll be coming home over my dinner breaks to hang out with them, so not much knitting (I have mixed feelings about this, is that sad?)

If we have madcap adventures, I'll try to take pictures.

Yarn for a long time

2007-03-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

Remember my big all o'yarn?

This is what happens when you wind the yarn off of the giant ball, soak it in the tub for a while and then convince it not to be so curly. And by convince, I mean hang it from the towel bar in the shower such that it is in long hanks with a piece of PVC pipe running through the bottom of the loops and then suspend two milk jugs full of water to stretch them until they dry.

So now what? I have a lot of yarn from that sweater, and although I've only straightened about half of it, that's still a lot of yarn. I think it's destined, in part, to be these socks. Cute no? It may be a bit too scratchy, but at this point, only knitting them up and finding out will tell.

My pal is awesome!

2007-03-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

I have been completely put to shame: pictured above is what arrive in the mail yesterday from my wonderful pal, meanwhile, I have yet to do thing one for mine. The good news is I have ideas, but I need to get the errands run to have the cool stuff to mail. It's coming, it's definitely coming.

But for now I'm enjoying my goodies. Thanks so much to my pal! The yarn is Cascade 220, which I hear is great for felting. I haven't decided what to make yet, but I'm excited. And once the weather gets warmer, and I can do more outside with them, I'm going to try planting some of the lavender seeds to see if I have better luck with them that way. I didn't do a good job of giving it a prominant position in the picture, but in the back is one of those nifty bags with the collapsable wheels on the bottom, and it's got a pretty cherry pattern on it - I foresee it filling up with yarn soon.

I had mentioned something about not running out of yarn . . . I'm not up for it today, but it will come, I promise.

On another note, the 90 minute newscast this afternoon was hellish - but when it was over and my pulse was still through the roof, my boss said I did a good job. It made my day! There will be more news on the job front soon, but not just yet.

A roller coaster day . . .

2007-03-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

Up until 8pm, this had been a fairly rough day. The morning was a bumbling mess for me. Work didn't go terribly well. I did the grocery shopping after. But when I got home, it began to improve. First I put away the groceries and did the dishes, then I put a couple chickens in the oven. I love the smell of chicken roasting and lemon.

Then I made a quick supper, artichoke tortellini tossed with sausage and asparagus - scraps from the fridge, a bit of sausage from the half we didn't use for biscuits and gravy over the weekend, and the last of the asparagus before it went off. The tortelini is frozen, a less than recent purchase from trader joes. I'd made them once before, and didn't like them - they needed something with them, and at the time I couldn't figure out what, but the sausage did the trick, and hit the spot. It made up for not being able to eat the chicken.

Then it was time to check the mail - and low and behold, the packages I'd been expecting were waiting for me. First a box of yarn from an internet forum aquaintance, she didn't like how it knit up, but I'm really excited about it. Four balls of Knitpicks Essential, two in grass green, and two in chocolate brown. It's a fingering weight sock yarn, machine washable. I think it's destined to be a pair of boy socks, and a hat for me.

The second was a goodie box from my secret pal! She's the best! I'll post about it tomorrow, when there's better light to take a picture of the goodies. Nothing like a box of sweet thoughts to make a dull day a bit brighter. And I have a very sweet pal.

And to top it all off, after all my talk about the sock club I went to check the blog today only to find that in the contest they'd held to name some new yarn colors, not only had my suggestion gathered enough votes to be chosen, but my name had been drawn to win YARN!! I never win things - this improves a what had started as a bad day, considerably.

Now does anyone have a brilliant suggestion for creative ways to prepare cooked chicken?

Sock Club - February Sock Kit

2007-03-20T23:13:00.000-05:00

It is safe to say that I've lost my mind. What started out last June as a hobby to pass the time during my long breaks between shifts at the station, has obviously become an obsession. I find myself making long mental lists of items to knit for myself, for friends, family, co-workers, complete strangers. I have dreams about knitting, and some about just yarn. My first thought when I'm tossing things in my little backpack is "do I have what I need to knit what I want to today?" While my list of unfinished objects is of a fairly reasonable size, my list of to be knit items as yet not begun is gargantuan. I take requests, not that I need any more projects. When I find a pregnant woman in my circle of aquaintances, I immediately cast-on for a pair of socks, bare minimum. I have begun to resent dishes, laundry, even baking at times, when they interfere with my knitting. I've gone over to the dark side, and I like it!

In the midst of all that, and partly to blame for most of it, I've become quite fond of knitting socks, so as a treat for myself, and because it just sounded like a total blast, I joined a sock club. The sock club, for the uninitiated, functions thusly:

1. the addict/victim signs up for the club
2. the addict/victim provides their mailing information and payment
3. the yarn company teases the addict/victim for a month or so
4. the yarn company sends one kit every two months, with yarn and a pattern for one pair of socks

* often this sock club decides on a theme
** generally the yarn company is well known for wonderful yarn

I may have fallen victim, but I'm having a great time. The theme for this years Rockin' Sock Club (from Blue Moon Fiber Arts) is the foot - and appropriate to the theme the first sock pattern was designed to be a very comfortable sock. I made a few changes, due to a difference of opinion on what constitutes a comfortable sock, and what I ended up with makes my foot happy. Only one foot. I've only finished one sock, so far.

It took me at least 8 re-starts to get this sock going the way I wanted it to. At first I worked the pattern as written, then I frogged the whole thing and changed the garter stitch toe (that bumpy fabric you get when all you do is knit on both sides) to stockinette (think the "right" side of your favorite t-shirt). Then I frogged back to the toe and changed the k2p2 ribbing on the sole to stockinette as well, because I didn't like the way the ridges felt under my foot. The designer had put them in there to provide arch support, and while I don't think they really accomplish the job, I did know of something that did.So when I got past the ball of my foot, I knit a tighter pattern for a good 3 1/2 ish inches.

It's called eye of partridge, and it makes a hand dyed yarn like this one make really pretty patterns, see?

That part of the sock was frogged at least three times, while I tried to figure out how long to work the pattern and where to start the increases for the heel gusset. I like working socks from the toe up, but I dislike short row toes, so while the pattern called for one, I had already decided from the beginning that I was going to work a reverse gusseted heel with a flap.

And that is where the changes ended. I still had to frog the cuff of the sock twice to figure out which needle size I needed to use to make the cable pattern fit over my heel when I put the sock on, but I thought it was a pretty pattern, so it was worth it.

It takes a little tugging to get the sock on and off, but I love the way it feels around the ankle, a fair compromise in my book. Now I just need to finish the other one, and a thousand and one other things. It's safe to say I won't run out of projects, though yarn could be more of an issue, but more on that tomorrow.

100 Things . . . or more

2007-03-19T14:13:00.000-05:00

. . . that I want to be able to check off this list:

~~1. Bake bread without a recipe~~
2. Master flaky pastry dough
~~3. Master fluffy biscuits~~
4. Make yogurt
5. Churn my own butter
6. Make cheese (goat brie, yum!)
7. Make shepherd's pie with my own lamb
8. Learn how to best to preserve different foods
9. Put up enough tomatoes and tomato juice from my own garden to last through the winter
10. Develop a set of basic make-ahead-and-freeze dishes that we like to eat
11. Raise dairy goats
12. Raise alpaca for fiber
13. Raise sheep for fiber
14. Raise ducks (or maybe chickens) for eggs
15. Master consistently attractive (nay, gorgeous) hand dyed yarn
16. Sell my own yarn and fiber
17. Learn to spin and ply singles into usable yarn
18. Go through the whole process from shearing to sweater (hooded)
19. Make my own soap
20. Make more of my own clothing
21. Grow "lawn" furniture
22. Enter my photography in an art show
23. Work, if only briefly, as a professional portrait photographer
24. Develop a basic sock pattern that fits me
25. Publish a knitting pattern
26. Write a book (and until then, write more)
27. Find and attend an open drawing session
28. Model for an artist
29. Raise thoughtful and responsible children
30. Work for a college, preferably in a media or theatre department
31. See rural France, and spend a day or two in Paris if I feel like it
32. Learn three more languages to a 4th semester college level
33. Raise bees and eat more honey
34. Spin the whole fleece of a sheep I've had a chance to meet
35. Own a spinning wheel
36. Collect attractive and useful drop spindles

This list is a perpetual work in progress. I intend to add and cross off items over the years, and someday I hope to have more than half of the items crossed off.

Basketball

2007-03-16T09:06:00.000-05:00

After a total of 8 restarts on the project,
a 10 minute abbreviated noon newscast,
Davidson almost beating Maryland,
the 5:30 news disappearing altogether,
Duke almost not losing to VCU,
and the 11pm news not going on until nearly 12:30 . . .

I finally finished my first sock club sock!!

Oy!

2007-03-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a hiatus for at least most of this week . . . I just don't have much to say or much time to say it - I'm working an almost full time week, which while it doesn't really tie up all that many hours of my week, it keeps me away from the apartment for whole days, so I can't work on stuff or take many pictures. I shall return, likely with a vengeance, once there's something to say.

Thursday

2007-03-09T13:38:00.000-05:00

There is only one thing to report about yesterday - I had grand plans for the day. I thought I had to work the 90 and then I'd have the rest of the night off, so I was going to do a little cooking, and knitting, and maybe clean up around the apartment a little. Well, as it turns out, I did have to work the 11, so I came home to grab some dinner, since I hadn't packed any, and tried to accomplish as much of those goals as I could before I went back to work. And after the 11 was over, I was bushed, so I went to bed fairly directly.

I did finish that pesky black sock, pictures to come next week I think.

Enough Baby Knitting For Now

2007-03-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

Here are the final pictures of the baby stuff, right before I wrapped it up. This was fun, and the yarn was delightful, but I'm done with little stuff for a while, and I've had enough pink for the year.

I went to sew the zipper onto the sweater, only to realize that I'd bought a zipper that didn't separate at the bottom (oops), and I didn't want to make the two sets of ties that the pattern called for, because they didn't sound very practical for a toddler's sweater. So I finally decided to knit some icord, and make a button and a loop - just something to hold the sweater together near the neck, but not be hard or scratchy. And I managed to make the labels for the tags - I ironed them onto some ribbon and sewed them into the hats and the sweater. I'm not sure how they'll be as far as being scratchy, but I hope they'll hold up. I only made what I needed for these projects, so at least for now they're "Woolly Ones." I even found a little lamb picture to put on them. I'm such a dork.

Tuesday

2007-03-07T18:59:00.000-05:00

Yeah, no post yesterday . . . I had something else to do when I got home . . .

I had finished my first Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style

And the boy and I had made a pair of blocking boards over the weekend, in anticipation of my casting off the shawl. We stretched some cheap walmart sheet and batting over foam core (we doubled up the 1/4" boards, because we couldn't find the 1/2" board where we were shopping) and stapled it on the backside - we basically upholstered two rectangles.

So I dropped the shawl in a bowl of cool water with a little soap, and let it soak for half an hour or so. Then I stretched it out and pinned out the points to let it dry.

Those striped rectangles are my blocking boards, which proved to not be quite enough space for the shawl, so I grabbed a couple cardboard boxes, of which we have a plenty, to expand my space.

The great part is that after blocking, the fabric of the shawl is flat (it was really lumpy before) and it drapes nicely. This is the first of four, I hope. I don't think I'll use the exact same pattern for each one, but I may knit one more of these, I enjoyed it.

On a green hillside . . .

2007-03-06T00:14:00.000-05:00

. . . in a vast meadowed valley, under the widespread shade of an ancient tree sits a little girl with two braided pigtails, in faded denim overalls with holes in the knees, three rocks in her left pocket, and bare feet coated in dust and dry grass. Sometimes she paces in a ring she's made in the grass beneath the tree. Other times she dances and sings, whooping and hollering, sending out waves of joy felt hundreds of miles away. There are times she sits against the tree and cries, often causing the sky to cry with her, great alligator tears. But much of the time she sits high in the branches of that tree, and watches the birds, studies the clouds, or scratches pictures in the bark with a rock. Tonight she is watching the vast heavens above her, naming the stars and watching the fireflies dance.

She is my inner five year old.

Eye Candy Friday

2007-03-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not feelin' but so great today, but I did bust out the camera to play for a few minutes . . . so enjoy.

K. A. D. D.

2007-03-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

I have evidence of my Knitting A. D. D. - and for the record, I still blame the media communications department for the start of the problem.

I was searching for my tapestry needle in the bottom of my backpack, and I found something wooly and soft. I thought I knew which projects I'd tucked in my bag for the day, so I was curious - it is the second in a pair of black socks that I started OVER CHRISTMAS!!! I don't suffer from second sock syndrome, I like to wear my wooly socks, so I finish them pretty easily - yeah, oops! Looks like I need to get my act together.

In other news . . . I'm having fun knitting lace - figures, doesn't it?