La petite tricoteuse

The time has come

2010-05-26T06:45:00.002-05:00

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things: of shoes and ships and ceiling wax, of cabbages and kings!

The time has finally come to say goodbye to blogger. It was a great first experience, but now it is time to move to my own place on the web. I had all these dreams of a perfect website where I did all of the graphics and it looked totally professional. I learned a great deal about vector graphic design and was really proud of my drawings, but they just weren't 'me'. So, even though I spent the last month or so honing my La Petite Tricoteuse persona into some sort of graphical representation of what those words mean to me I realized that it is better just to let me nerdy fantasy side show through. I am much happier with the look of the new site now. Maybe it doesn't really match my name anymore, but it matches me and I suppose that is all that matters. The site is going live in a few hours. It will still be majorly under construction over the next few weeks, but this will be my final posting on blogger. Please come join me at www.lapetitetricoteuse.com. Don't forget to bring your knitting and some tasty snacks!

Sorry, it has been too long

2010-04-28T04:30:00.006-05:00

I apologize, dear reader, for not posting as often as I would like, but big things are going on in the La Petite Tricoteuse household. The Captain and I have been in France for three months now. We are settled in, and are quite enjoying our time out here. I also am happy to report that La Petite Tricoteuse is getting a makeover. We have bought a domain name and I hope by the beginning of May www.lapetitetricoteuse.com will be live. I will keep you posted on the transition date. This current blog will remain open with a pointer to the new site for a bit. The new site will have knitwear patterns, cooking recipes, and techniques. I am really excited about this new endeavor. It will be much more structured and contain much more frequent posts on all sorts of topics. I hope to see you over there soon. Now to do more vector graphics for my logo. Here is a sneak peak of one of the images I have been working on for the new site. Do not ask how long the ostrich plumes took to freehand with Inkscape.

Break out the Champagne

2010-02-19T07:35:00.002-06:00

We have a lease on an apartment! We have been in Europe for a month and a week and a lease was signed about 30 minutes ago. It was a long hard battle. Not quite as stressful as graduate school, but it was up there. Of course now we have to try to get our belongings through customs, health insurance, and eventually a car, but for now we are so happy.

I can start focusing totally on getting a job next week. I have also decided to start designing knitwear. I am really good at pattern writing and construction, I just need to get some good design ideas flowing. The likelihood of scoring a job in the next few weeks is probably small, but this way I have another venture to keep me busy.

I promise some pictures will be coming in the near future. The yoke of the baby sweater is done, one knee high sock is done, and one beaded sock is done.

Did I mention the sleeping bags?

2010-02-03T11:48:00.003-06:00

The Captain and I have now been in Switzerland for 3 weeks. We have been apartment hunting for 2.5 of those weeks. We have 3 'demandes' in and I hope one of them goes through so we can move into our new place and at least get that transition step off of our plate. Luckily we are not living in a hotel or a dorm. Thankfully The Captain's job has a furnished place we can stay temporarily until we get more permanent lodging. The place is nice. The kitchen is fully stocked with all types of pots and pans. I am still not used to thinking in celcius for baking things, but I am getting there.

Probably the most hilarious bit about being here is the washing machine and the bed situation. The washing machine was confusing at first and I was not quite sure what to think of it, but all in all I think it is pretty swell. It is like a top loader side loader combo. The drum is horizontal like in a front loader machine. However, you put the clothes in from the top through a trap door in the drum. The apartment also has a decently sized and sturdy drying rack. Now, we hung many clothes to dry back in Chicago. Somehow the ones here get much more crunchy. At first we thought it was the spin cycle speed. I did a few loads on different speeds to no effect. It could be the water. I know it is pretty hard here. It could be a combination of that and the detergent. My handknits which were washed with Soak are not quite as crunchy. Once we get an apartment I can make my own detergent and see if that makes the crunchiness go away.

The bed situation is amusing. So, since this is a company apartment that visiting scientists use when they come to Switzerland, it is shared by several people over time. As a result each person has their own towels and sheets. Well, luckily we had one towel with us from Cali. We bought one more at the store- as cheap as we could find. We have towels being sent here with the rest of our stuff, so I did not see the point in spending money on getting a nice one. Luckily our box from Cali with all of our camping equipment in it arrived by mail right away. In this box was a large blanket that my grandma had bought me, my pillow, some camping pillows, and our sleeping bags. So the two newlyweds have been rocking it girl/boy scouts style for the last 3 weeks. It is pretty funny to have to worm your way to the other side of the bed to tell your sweetie goodnight. At least they are warm.

In other news, it looks like we may have a bank account. According to the Poste, our cards are being sent in the mail. We still can't put money in or take money out, but at least a step has been made in the right direction.

Chilling in the Alps

2010-01-31T12:04:00.003-06:00

It has been just over two weeks and things are getting less stressful around these parts. Ok, we still have no bank account and no apartment, but we have gotten to hang out with some friends and that is what is important. This photo is the view outside our front door. It really feels like we live in a ski chalet of some type. You can see the Alps (the Jura side) through the clouds in the distance.

Since it is a bit snowy and we still have only our California winter clothes with us (hopefully this will change in the next few weeks) we have not ventured out too much. As a result I have been knitting a bunch. I am running low on projects, but I should have just enough to get me through until we find an apartment. Right now I am working on the Little Bubbles Baby Set. It is so cute I almost can't stand it. And the colors are great. I refuse to dress any of my future progeny in pastels. Well, maybe refuse is a strong word. If someone I love gives or knits me something in pastel that is from the heart, I would probably make an exception, but I don't plan on running a cupcake factory here, so the frosting colors are on notice. Plus babies can't see those colors anyways. But, I digress. My main bit of revelation here is about knitting needle sizes. I have decided to go metric. The US system of measurement makes no sense (chalk up one for Europe). Some companies call their 2.75mm needles a US size 2. Some don't make 2.75mm needles and only make 3mm needles, but also call these US size 2. Still others make both sizes and call one a size 2 and one a size 2.5. After much frustration with my needle gauges today I thought good grief and have decided to completely ignore US sizes from now on. Now I can knit in peace with my 3mm addis. Let's hope this conversion goes smoothly. For some reason I am good with grams when it comes to yarn, and vegetables, but not weights of people. Also I am pretty good with yards when it comes to fabric, but not walking distances. Hopefully the transition will be smooth. C'mon America- transition with me!

An American Girl in Switzerland

2010-01-22T07:10:00.004-06:00

Well folks, it has been a whirlwind week. I had great aspirations to walk you through our first days as expats (dear reader) but it has been way too crazy for that. The flight over was awful, so I am not noting it for posterity. Our first few days were frustrating, but now that it is all over I think some sense of sanity has been restored and the blog will hopefully make sense.

Some observations so far:

Everything is expensive here. Rent is going to be a couple of grand for a one-bedroom apartment. Meat averages $8-10/pound depending upon what you get (steak can be up to $30/lb). Regular groceries are not so bad if you bought mid-to-fancy groceries in the states. For example, the cheap butter here is about $3 for about 1/2 pound. Which is good since the same butter in the states would be $5 (president buerre). So, you may be thinking $3 for butter, that is highway robbery, but really this is the best commercial butter I have ever had in my life (handmade is still better). So $3 for luxury butter does not sound so bad. Same with the bread. Again about $3 gets you this impeccable artisnal loaf. Sure it is like 5 times the price of Hill Country Fare white bread, but that is not an option here. (ok, they have American style bread, but it is a niche market fancy item and so is super spendy). And the cheese. In what would be the 'regular' cheddar, jack, provolone cheese aisle there is now brie, gruyere, and parmesean. The fancy cheese aisle has such delicious looking stuff I can't wait to try it. So, all in all, I think we are getting much better quality for our money. Since there is just not the option of cheap food to buy, you have to eat well. After only a week I don't think I can go back to Land-O-Lakes butter again.
Apartment hunting is brutal. I have high hopes for Tuesday, where we should put in a few more applications. Please keep us in your thoughts that they will accept us. Unlike the US, just because you meet the income requirements, applied first, and pass a background check does not mean you will get an offer. They get to pick who they want to lease to. The market is tight and they have good reasons for being picky. It just stinks when you are the one on the other end of the deal. We looked at one apartment in Geneva. We thought it was great since it was near the train station. The inside was wonderful. Not as big as we were used to, but certainly workable. BUT. While we were walking from the gare to the address I started noticing random women pacing the street. The Captain was too embroiled in his navigation task to take much notice. We passed a few lingerie shops and bars before we came upon the building. The apartment was above a sex shop. This was obvious because of the 10 ft tall letters saying: SEX across the building, and the cadre of working girls huddled in a nearby doorway smoking to pass the time. Considering that a one bedroom apartment in a not so desirable part of town was still going for $1800/month, you can see what we are up against. No worries though. Tuesday I am feeling good about.
The concept of Right-of-way. This is a theoretically very good system that is in practice in most of Europe. The person on the right has the right of way unless explicitly stated. This is seamless and makes total sense. You get rid of almost all of those pesky stop signs that people roll through anyways and it is consistent so people know what to do. Unless you are on a highway or super busy road, then as you drive you slow down at intersections and look to see if anyone is coming. If they are you stop and let them go, if not, you continue on. It makes sense, but it is a bit overwhelming the first time you have to actually do it. Not that I have been driving mind you. The car we have use of is only in The Captain's name for insurance purposes, so he has been on his own for that.
Banking and the phone. We could not get a bank account with an actual bank. I have no job and The Captain is not Swiss, so they would not deal with us. We did manage to get one at the Post Office. That is right. We have a bank account at the Post Office. I will try to let you know how that goes. For the moment we are waiting for our cards to come in the mail. As for cell phones, it is way too complicated to deal with right now, so we have a pay and go card. Incoming calls are generally free, but outgoing calls are generally like 30 cents, unless it is a landline, then it is different, or you can get a minutes plan, but those are more spendy. Ahhh. Anyways, that shall wait until we are in super need of one.
Did I mention the butter? Seriously. The fridges are not set super cold here and the butter is minimally processed so it is quite spreadable and decadent right out of the fridge. Amazing.

So I hope that gives you a taste of our first week in Geneva. Hopefully I will have more exciting things to post in the weeks to come.

The Kissing Hand

2009-11-30T20:59:00.003-06:00

We just bought our tickets to Geneva; the day of the move is nigh. (Well... maybe not nigh, but six weeks from now sure seems soon.) This move emotionally reminds me of when I moved to New York all those years ago. These moves are different from the others some how. When I first moved out of my parent's house at the ripe old age of 18 it wasn't a huge deal. I wanted to prove I could be independent and, well, they would only be like a half hour drive away, so it wasn't such a huge life change. Moving to Chicago was an awesome excuse to get away from the harpy of an advisor I had on Long Island. I still like to go back to visit New York, but in terms of living there at the time, I could not get away fast enough. San Francisco is more like a holding pattern. We don't really 'live' here. I have no bills that come here, no lease, nothing to even take to the DMV to get my license changed even if I wanted to. We have some friends here, so it is not too lonely, but bottom line- we are only here for 4 months.

Which brings me to the move to Geneva and why it is so like my past move to NY: my whole life is going to change. I will be leaving my country for at least a few years. I will be a resident alien in a foreign land. What brand of dish soap will I be buying? Will my tea kettle work with just a converter or do I need to use the transformer too? How on earth am I going to tell the hairdresser what sort of cut I want. It is not like 'I would like long layers' is something that routinely came up in french class that I have a good handle on. Luckily we have some friends there. Luckily my French is pretty good. Luckily I have a job interview already set up (send good vibes please). And luckily there are some expat bars and a knitting group around so that if it gets to be too much I can seek sanctuary there. But it still feels like that trip to NY. That build up. That sense of shock- a combination of excitement and fear. I have six weeks to go, lets hope it doesn't get worse. I survived the trip to NY and actually came out better for it. All will be well and my sister will still be my rock even though I am miles away.

Just to reminisce a bit though.

My sister came with me on my trip to the east coast. We drove a ton, stopped in shady hotels, saw the Statue of Liberty, and did the obligatory Target run (oh no! how will I run to Target in Geneva for those new house accessories?). Anyways. By the time we got to NY and had the house sort of set up with my clothes and air mattress, it was almost ready for her to leave. I did pretty well being calm while taking her to the airport. When I got home though, the sense of loss really hit home. The end of an era. I was alone in my apartment, alone except for a book. The book was the Kissing Hand. My parents had bought it for me and my sister had cunningly hid it in my room before she left. I was really sad to read it there all alone. In a different state. In a different time zone. With different people. With different stores. After a few weeks I got my routine set. After a few months I had a good friend set. After a while I really had fun. So with this chapter that is about to begin, I just have to remember that it will take some time, but new adventures are always scary, but many are well worth it in the end.

Hot Thermos, repaired laptop

2009-11-20T18:35:00.002-06:00

They are seriously not kidding when they say that a thermos stainless steel vacuum container will keep your tea hot. I put some hot tea in my new fashion mug at 1pm today. I just poured myself some more tea (4:30 pm) and it is too hot to drink. Which is good because I needed some tea after my iBook crashed for the second time in 2 days. My Mac never crashes, that is why I bought a Mac in the first place. It looks like some permissions were wrong. This has now been fixed and I hope it starts behaving better. Not too shabby for a laptop that is over the hill at 6 years old.

In knitting news... I have no photos yet, but you can find in progress shots on ravelry: frenchkitten is my ID. The Manon cardigan is done and looks pretty great if I do say so myself. The second baby book is blocking and I am transitioning to working on socks and my never finished Babette blanket full time. There are 2 more months until I leave for Geneva and I promised myself I would put a concerted effort towards all the projects languishing on my needles. So far so good.

Hodgepodge

2009-11-19T21:45:00.002-06:00

Hodgepodge.

That is the name of my cooking show that I have yet to star in. The Captain came up with the name after eating several dishes I concocted out of ingredients I found in the fridge. Maybe I shall never be on Food Network, but I can at least get some great recipes amassed.

Tonight's dish was inspired by the cauliflower and dinosaur kale I got at the farmer's market. I put tofu in this dish. If you ever wanted to experiment with tofu, this is a good dish to do it with because it is really masked by all of the other flavors. If you are tofu averse, however, it should be just as good with chicken.

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower (med sized)
1 bunch dinosaur kale chopped
1/2 package of extra firm tofu
1/2 lb fusili pasta
~5 oz soft italian cheese (mine had truffles in it- quite tasty) shredded
~1/2 cup pecans
olive oil
2 cloves garlic
small bunch of fresh sage

Preheat oven to 350 F

Boil pasta, drain, and set aside. Make a pesto by grinding the garlic, pecans, sage, and enough olive oil to form a paste in a food processor. Cut tofu into 1/4 cubes and pan fry in about 2 tbsp olive oil until golden brown. Cut cauliflower into about 1 in pieces and put into pan with tofu once brown. Add about 3 tbsp of the pesto mixture to the pan and mix well to help the cauliflower cook a bit. Sautee together and add the kale after 5 min. Keep cooking until kale is slightly wilted. Add about 3 tbsp water and cover to help the process along.

In a large bowl, mix the pasta, veggie mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese. Put into a baking pan. 8 x 10 or so should be fine, 11 x 13 is probably a bit too big. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake for about 10 min, just to get the cheese bubbly- we are not looking for a crust or anything here.

Bon Appetit.

Volunteering

2009-10-08T17:53:00.002-05:00

I had gotten a job as a tutor for math and science when we got to San Francisco. Alas, I have yet to have any students. So, in an effort to use my skills for more things than cooking and knitting, I am trying to do some volunteer work. The first museum I applied to was all full up due to summer students. Luckily some further poking on the web landed me at a website for another science museum- pretty cool. I have submitted my application and hopefully they can find a spot for me. I am more hopeful this time; the coordinator already got back to me and said she was looking for a spot for me. Yay. I think working full time in a museum would be great, so this could be one baby step towards that goal.

I know I promised...

2009-10-07T14:41:00.005-05:00

A post about our trip westward. However, we seem to have misplaced the cord that connects the computer to the camera, so all of my photos are held hostage. I kept thinking that I would get the pics off of the Captain's computer (since he can read the memory card), but well... we can all see how well that plan has worked so far. Suffice to say that I am just going to opt for text in lieu of pictures for a while (with the exception of the random crappy cell phone footage). So far Cali has been good. We got to see a few old friends, Shakespeare in the Park, and went to a dinner theatre. I love old vaudeville style shows, especially when you get to eat good food while watching. This weekend we plan to head on over to Yosemite state park with the Captain's sister who is flying in for the occasion.

Last night we had our first dinner party here. This was comical, but quite successful. Comical in the sense that we are renting a furnished apartment from someone who does not cook, so making moussaka and baklava was like being on Survivor: kitchen. I think I am probably becoming a better chef because of the improvising I am having to do because of the lack of my 'usual' pots and utensils. I had never make baklava before (ok, I bought the phyllo pre-made), but it was a rousing success. They ate it all. Like way more dessert than I thought a person could put down in one sitting.

I am enjoying taking some time off. I am looking for jobs in Geneva, but mostly focusing on playing my guitar (which I stink at) and finishing up some knitting projects that have been in stall mode for quite some time. I purposefully brought only these projects to Cali so that I would have to finish them up before I start on the kagillion other things I want to knit.
First is my Sheherazade stole. It is officially half way done. I really like this project, but working the combination of mohair and really really thin yarn means that I can only work on this for so long in one sitting. I am going to try and finish up one more present for another pregger friend before I take out my provisional cast on and start knitting the other side.

The Babette blanket is also 50% done. It is a small lap blanket (just for curling under on the couch), so it seems like not too much work. All the color changes, seaming, and weaving in ends makes this quite the task though. I only have 2 out of the 10 sections left to crochet, but these are the biggest sections and therefore in terms of area I am just past the half way mark. I am starting to worry that I am going to run out of yarn, but I shall blissfully keep going and decide what to do about that later.

The trek westward

2009-09-10T18:47:00.004-05:00

We are now comfortably located in our new sublet in Pacific Heights (San Francisco). It was quite the journey getting here- a journey I intend to take you (dear reader) on in the coming posts. Before we had a chance to go to the wedding, before the movers came, before even my last day of work we were in a car accident. We are all ok, which is quite surprising considering we thought we were going to die. No really... they did a Mythbusters episode on this- I think it was episode 80- totally crazy.
So we were driving home at about 9pm one night before our big weekend (I think it was Wednesday) and were coming up to our left exit off the highway for Oak Park. All of a sudden we see a big Semi truck wheel fly through the air from the other side of the highway towards us. Since it was so dark it took a while to register what it was. And no, not just the little flimsy rubber tire part, but the rims and all were hurtling towards us at about 60 mph. Luckily the Captain slammed on the breaks- we were probably only doing 20mph by the time the wheel bounced on the road in front of us, skidded across our hood, smashed in the windshield, bounced off the roof, and headed for its final resting place of I have no idea where. The car behind us had just enough time to pass us on the shoulder before the shoulder ran out. We were still moving; we had not had time to come to a stop yet. By this time we are basically on the exit ramp.

The Captain had about 4 inches of windshield to see out of at the bottom left, so we threw the hazards on and made our way the last mile home. There really was no good place to pull over and hardly any traffic, so it seemed sensible at the time. There was glass everywhere. You can't see this from the front view, but the windshield in caved in towards the cabin a good 6 inches in the middle. All I could think of as I was crouching down with my hands on my head bracing for impact was 'I saw a Mythbusters about this. I guess we are going to die now.' Surprisingly there was no life flashing in front of my eyes, no stress, just the fact of death. Strange that. Anyways, we are not dead, but fine in Northern California. Geico was super nice and helpful and got us a rental car by the next morning. They fixed up the car good as new with no hassle on our end. Way to go Geico.

I have to say that having to drive cross country just a few days later was a bit much. Luckily I-80 has little to no cars on it most of the time, but it was a stressful week. I am happy to report that now we are in San Francisco I have not had to drive since Saturday and I love it. I wish I could say the same for the Captain. He still has to drive to work everyday, but he seems to be holding up better than I am anyways, which is ironic since he was the one driving! Peace and love to everyone and new days ahead.

Childhood memories gone wrong

2009-07-26T08:32:00.005-05:00

It is sad when one's childhood memory of something gets tarnished by reality. I have been eating organic yogurt for years. We were in the store last night just getting a few things, when I saw some yoplait whipped yogurt sitting on the shelf. I remembered having it as a kid and thought I would buy two for old times sake. This morning, while waiting for my banana bread to bake, I thought I would try one as a snack. This was a bad idea. Right away I noticed that the texture was really weird. It was like overly fluffy, not like whipped, but foamy. Then was the taste. It was cloyingly sweet and tasted more of strawberry jolly rancher than strawberry jam. It was so gross I had to stop eating it. Why oh why had this happened. What went wrong with my yoplait? It is not a dollar store brand and should be pretty legit- no? Then I read the label. Staring at me from the not so dark recesses of SECOND INGREDIENT. Yep. You guessed it. High Fructose Corn Syrup. I suppose one could say that it is not a childhood memory gone wrong, because most likely it did not contain HFCS when I was a kid. I mean, even Coca Cola did not start using HFCS until 1985 (I was 6 then). So when you think that the products you consume have always been this way- they haven't. It is amazing to me, though, that having removed HFCS from my diet almost completely, when I am faced with it somehow my body throws a red flag.

In better food news, we got to try out our new mini fryer and food grinder the other night. We ground about 3 pounds of chuck steak for hamburgers. There is a marked difference between a coarse ground steak burger and a regular hamburger. Delish! The grinder was gifted to us by mom and dad and uses the motor from my kitchenaid stand mixer to work. I felt a bit like Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd. I kept chanting 'Benjamin Barker' to the Captain. I think he was amused and mildly disturbed by this at the same time.
The mini fryer was also a wedding gift. I love this thing because it only uses 1Qt of oil, takes up very little counter space, and has a carbon filter on the top to cut the smell of the smoke. We don't fry stuff too often, but when we want to make pommes frites Belgian style (which is the proper way) it is nice to have. I would probably make beignets more often when guests come over now that I have temperature control. Frying french doughnuts in a tiny pan with a candy thermometer takes over an hour- not good when hungry guests are chomping at the bit.

Wedding bells have come and gone

2009-07-23T17:45:00.002-05:00

The wedding is over, but boy was it fun! It was so nice to see all of our friends and family together again. The beach luau was surely a success and I hope to find some good pics to show off. Right now I am nursing a cold, so I just popped in to say hello briefly. This weekend we are off to the Renaissance faire (as long as I get better that is).

Spring Cleaning

2009-07-03T15:11:00.003-05:00

Today is the day that the super dooper spring cleaning begins. Since the small family ceremony for our wedding is going to be held in our living room (I said it was small), it needs to be in top shape. It is a long and tiring battle, but I think I will win. The living room is almost done. I have vacuumed each couch and chair cushion individually and on both sides, vacuumed even the inside of the sleeper sofa. I have cleaned more dust in more random cracks that nobody ever sees than I really thought possible. All that is left is tidying the coffee table and oil soaping the wood floors. There is the dreaded rug cleaning, but I need the Captain for that and he is currently lost in thesis land right now. Hopefully the other three rooms won't be so tiring. My one bit of anxiety is that I am going to get this super clean this weekend only for it to get dirty again before the festivities next week. Here is to hoping.

In other news, I have just about finished my first baby gift of the season. I have 4 friends that are preggers right now. I don't know if I can get hand knit gifts for all of them (I am going to try) but at least one of them is in the bag. I don't want to divulge the surprise right now (since we are not shipping stuff off until next month) but I only have 600 more stitches, weaving, and blocking left. Yay.

One more week

2009-07-02T10:32:00.004-05:00

Ok, I know it has been a while since I have posted, but I have been drowning in wedding plans and science paper writing. Two weeks ago we had my bachelorette party. It was great. The girls and the moms (mine and his) came over and we had chalupas and margaritas for dinner. After opening gifts of the naughty variety, we played a game. My sister had emailed The Captain a bunch of questions- like 'what is your favorite childhood memory? What is your pet peeve?' He gave her all the answers and I was quizzed! For each answer I got wrong I had to put a piece of double bubble in my mouth. There were like 2 pages of questions; I only missed 8 answers but that was still a lot of gum in the mouth!

After I regained my speaking ability, we hopped on the El and headed to a Drag Show (all in matching pink shirts made by Muffy.) I had never seen live female impersonators before, but it was a hoot. From there we went to karaoke in Lincoln Park. This karaoke place is the best because each group gets their own private room, so you don't have to deal with weirdos (except for the ones in your own group- ha ha). We were rocking out all the great tunes we could when the boys crashed the party. The men folk threw the Captain a bachelor party at a friends house and they all came to join us later in the evening. It was a super way to end the night- everyone together.

Now we have one week to go and everything is coming together so nicely. For all my talk about not having a big wedding, we may not have numbers, but it will be an event! I am so glad that it has turned out the way it has. I think all of the family got to add their own touch to it and it is perfect.

-The soon to be Mrs. Captain

Dr. Tiller

2009-06-04T16:00:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to give a shout of support for the family of Dr. Tiller- may he rest in peace. I hope that others will come forward and pick up where he left off. Reading the stories of the women he helped makes me happy and angry at the same time. I am happy that in these women's time of need (mostly women who desperately wanted a child, but whose foetus was terminally ill) there was someone who had the courage to help. I am angry about the lies which have been spread and the frenzy that it has created. I know that education and social help are the best ways to avoid the need for many procedures, but there is no way to control for late term diseases and fatal conditions. It makes me sad that one of the few who held a hand out to these women is now gone. Who is going to help the next mother?

40 days and counting

2009-06-01T18:57:00.002-05:00

The message in a bottle invitations have been sent. My dress is being hemmed. The song list is being compiled and the photographer is ready. I think we are doing pretty well for being 40 days out. My mom is coming to town this weekend to help me pick out centerpieces for the tables and make something for my hair. So far this has been pretty stress free (I say almost because there was the JOP incident).

Right now we are listening to some Billie Holiday. The first hour of the reception is going to be full of cocktails and jazz. I hope my mom remembers to bring her Dean Martin CD. We have opted not to have a DJ and instead set the music up ourselves. So far so good. We are certainly up for music suggestions though.

I am a biking beast

2009-05-08T09:44:00.002-05:00

So, last Saturday was the wedding shower for my friend L. LusciousLuka hosted the shower and all was set to go down at 3pm. Plenty of time right? So in the morning the Captain and I had some breakfast and I started baking crackers for the party. After about an hour I realized that something was wrong and they were not rising. It was 10:30 at this point, so we decided to bike the mile to Whole Foods and get some backup brownies. I outfitted my bike with my new green panniers and myself with my new clipless bike shoes. I had been practicing a bit strapping myself onto the bike, but was still afraid of splatting onto the road. This was the first morning that I went out with both feet secured to the pedals. So far so good.

We loaded up the bags and biked back home. By this time it was 12:30. I had planned to bike to the subway, take the El, and bike to Luka's place since it was only 2 miles total riding time and only 30 min on the train. The car would have taken 20 minutes, so this seemed like a great plan. Of course, this is Chicago, and there is always some sort of incident with the El. I left at 12:45 so that I could get to the house by 1:30 and take a shower in plenty of time for guests to get there at 3.

Well... Firstly I had never taken my bike on the subway. I got to a 'mini' station that had no guard, just turnstiles. I made the mistaken decision to raise my bike vertically and try to go through the turnstile- big mistake. I got stuck. I wanted to both laugh and cry thinking that the Captain would have to come and save me from the metal contraptions evil clutches. Luckily for me, you can go backwards through the turnstile with no problems. I biked around a bit more to try and find a normal station. Two blocks away- great. I am still pretty much on time. I got on the El just before 1pm and it was supposed to be smooth sailing into the Loop and up to Logan Square. Just then- Oh noes! The Blue Line is closed from the Loop up to Western. Well I was supposed to get off at California (which is the stop after Western) so basically the rest of my ride is gone.

I briefly debated biking from the Loop to Logan Square, but after calling a much stressed out Luka, and realizing that I have no GPS, I decided to attempt riding a bus with a bike. Luckily the bus driver was much nicer than any other Chitown driver I have had, so he walked me through the proper procedure to get my bike on the rack. Of course I am only 5' tall, so that makes lifting your bike onto a bus rack much more difficult for me and comical for the people on the street. I put my bike in backwards the first time and had to redo it as more people filed onto the bus. By this time it is 1:20. Ok, I can still make it yes? Let us not discuss how sweaty I am at this point (due to lifting a bike more that I thought necessary and the fact that my jersey does not breathe) and how desperately I need a shower before greeting people.

The bus finally nears Western after being in traffic for 40 minutes. Of course I know the directions to get from California to her house, not Western, so I had to phone the Captain to direct me. According to Google maps I really only need to be on one road. That road dead ends and splits near Luka's house, but that was the part of the directions I knew, so I should have been fine no? Wrong. Google maps lied to my honey. The road dead ends, disappears, and reappears about 5 times before it even gets to the split which I knew about. I was biking down alleys, avoiding traffic, biking through mud and potholes all while trying to keep track of where this magically changing road was going. I almost lost hope at one point when I merged onto the giant road Milwaukee Ave. Just then... what is that I see... why it is the California Blue line stop. I knew where I was now horrah. Only one more mile to go. (I had gone about 2 miles so far from the bus to here). I had no idea what time it was, but that I was surely late. I rounded the corner, ready to make my made dash through that last mile when the wind kicked up. I had a huge headwind this late in the game. Honestly. That was ridiculous. I was biking through dirty puddles and sweating up a storm when I finally made it to the house. Just in time to see the Bride and Groom pull up. Oh no! It was only 2:30. I technically still had time, but everyone was early!

The Bride and Groom drove around the block a bit. Many guests had already arrived, so I hustled through the hall to the shower. Oh that felt so nice. I was battered and bruised, but I think they might notice the wet hair more than the bruises, so that was ok. We finally settled into the party and ended up having a nice time. The best part of the whole day (besides learning to put my bike through the El stop and on the bus) was my bike shoes. I was so lost, so nervous about being late, and all around focused on my current predicament that I did not even realize that I had ridden all that way and done all that craziness with my feet strapped to my pedals. I didn't have time to worry about splatting on the road, so now I am a biking beast.

I got my ring!!

2009-04-21T13:36:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the blurry camera phone pictures, but I can't seem to find our real camera. It is exactly the size and shape and color and everything that I wanted. Pretty darn classy if I do say so myself.The camera really refused to play well for the side view, but you should get the general idea. From here you can see the cathedral setting. Faintly visible through the blur is the circular diamond set directly under the base of the princess cut stone. There is another one on the opposite side of the ring. Such a nice subtle detail, which makes this ring pretty unique. I am super happy with it and it was well worth the wait. Thanks Captain!!

Oh phooey

2009-04-07T13:19:00.003-05:00

I have not knit a thing in a week. Today during lunch I decided to work on my scarf from my first WoolGirl club shipment. I am really behind on this project and the next yarn ships in 3 weeks- oh no! Much to my chagrin, I pulled the needles out of my new knitting bag and one of the tips was gone. Now these are interchangeable needles, but the tip did not come unscrewed- the screw was still there, but the bamboo part was separate from the screw. Luckily we had some epoxy at work and it is reassembled and drying for now, but I am really sad about these needles. I may have to start slowly buying the Harmony interchangeables to replace the defective ones. I wish the new Addi clicks came in wood or bamboo because I would buy those in a heartbeat. For now I shall just have to make due with frankenneedles.

Love conquers all

2009-04-07T11:12:00.002-05:00

I would just like to send out a word of thanks to the states of Vermont and Iowa who have boldly chosen to join the ranks of Connecticut and Massachusetts to legalize gay marriage. I know that there may be amendments and the like that crop up (though that seems unlikely in Iowa at the moment) but I hope they can stay strong. We are up to 4 out of 50 now- can we go for 5?

I believe that our world and our time needs as much love as we can get. Since my wedding is coming up soon, I am glad that some of my friends are one step closer to being allowed to say I do themselves. C'mon Illinois- I know you can do it.

The Cheerio Story

2009-03-31T19:32:00.005-05:00

So for those who have asked, here is the Cheerio Story. The Captain and I spent some much needed vacation time in the Bahamas. I thought we were vacationing to A) avoid the frigid Chicago transition from winter to spring and B) to celebrate my 30th birthday. That is a big milestone you know and a trip to the beach sounded like a good way to celebrate.

We packed our bags and headed to the airport at an ungodly hour (3:30 am to be exact). Unfortunately at 3:30am it seems like a good idea to put most of your stuff into the big duffel bag to check. Carry on is always easier, if possible, but those pesky bottles of sunscreen were foiling our attempts to fly without baggage (ba-dum-cha!) Anyways... the fog was thick flying into Charlotte, North Carolina. We circled the airport for about an hour before our pilot made the wise decision to land in Greensboro instead and refuel (fuel is good). By the time we got more fuel, waited for the airport to open up again from the fog closure, and headed on our way back to Charlotte we had only 15 minutes to run from our current gate to the departure gate.

Needless to say, our bag did not make it to Freeport, Grand Bahama. I spent the first night and the better part of the second day wearing a sweater, khaki pants and flip flops. I looked quite out of place in a beach resort, but the people in town were still happy to have me shop and everyone commented on my hat, which I got from the Captain's Maman when she was in Argentina.

By Friday, we finally had our stuff and we were off to the beach. I think my new bathing togs are quite retro looking- just what I wanted! We spent the next few days relaxing on the beach (when the sun was out) and chilling in the hot tub (when the sun hid behind a cloud). As Saturday drew to a close, we knew that Sunday was our last full day to do fun stuff. The Captain suggested that we get up super early to watch the sunrise on the beach. Heaven knows I love my beauty rest, but since the Captain was so nice to take me on this trip, I thought the least I could do was wake up early one day.

Sunday morning we woke before the sun, grabbed various and sundry towel like items, and headed for the shore. We wrapped ourselves in warmth and tried to surmise where the sun would actually rise. We picked a spot and eagerly waited for the sky to brighten. The clouds were heavy and low, so as the sky grew bluer, we still were waiting for the glowing orb to arrive. The Captain started getting up, so I figured that maybe we missed the sun and we were going back in. But then he stopped by my chair and started fishing in his pocket- what on earth was he doing? Then he said, (I paraphrase of course) 'I tried to go to like 7 jewelry stores, but they didn't have anything in a size 3.5, so for now you get a Cheerio. Will you marry me?' Folks, I was shocked! I just sat there looking like a Cod. I asked 'are you serious?, is this for real?' I was so surprised. I sat there in shock for about 5 minutes. I was so happy I couldn't even go back to sleep. Of course once I got over the initial excitement, we looked over to see the sun blazing in it's glory right where we thought it would be.

I now present to you the future Dr. Captain. Nothing says love like whole grain. We have now gone to an impeccable local jeweler, Stanley Brown Jewelist and picked out a cheerio replacement. This store has been in business since 1912 and I highly recommend it to anyone in the Chicago area. I will post picks once it gets back from sizing and assembly.

The Cav

2009-03-31T13:02:00.002-05:00

The Captain and I sold the Cavalier last night. It was a good car- the first one I ever bought actually. It got me through grad school safe and sound. It was in remarkably good shape considering where it has been and how many miles were on it (over 140K I do believe). I felt a bit weird having to call the insurance company to cancel the policy since I have been with them for so long. Now I need to get transferred to the Captain's policy. Now if we could just work it so we could get rid of the Toyota as well. It is super reliable, mind you, but maybe one day...

I am happy that the dream of being car free just got one step closer to coming true.

Hallelujiah

2009-03-10T20:10:00.003-05:00

I should really know better than to look up guitar tab for songs I love that happen to be sad songs. All this is going to lead to is hours and hours of learning beautifully sad songs so I can then spend hours and hours playing them for myself and singing through my tears. The song Hallelujiah by Leonard Cohen. Go check it out here (don't worry... I will wait). I love the cover by Rufus Wainwright; even better than the Jeff Buckley version, though that one is damn good. Rufus is just so visceral.

For those who don't know the song references a bunch of relationships in the Bible- Bathsheba, Sampson, King David. It is about broken and messy love still being a Hallelujiah. It is about the struggle between the romantic and the spiritual. About the crazy things that you will do for love. About how you can love someone so much it hurts.

I decided that I really want this CD. Then it occurred to me. (sorry I am listening to it on repeat.) Since everyone had a really hard time thinking of what to get me for my 30th b-day and since I am terrible with coming up with a list on short notice, I am posting a list on my side column. That way I am still surprised and everyone is happy :-)

Honey in Italy

2009-03-08T21:19:00.002-05:00

My honey is in Italy skiing the Alps this week. The week after he gets back we get to go to the Bahamas- yeah! Luckily that leaves me some time to practice my new guitar and try to get into some sort of shape before I put on a bathing suit. I am adding weight training to my weekly yoga schedule to tone up a bit. I know it is probably a lost cause, but I am at least trying. I did crunches, curls, squats, and leg lifts with 4 lb weights while listening to a stand-up routine by Russel Brand. I can't tell if he is trying to channel Eddie Izzard or not. Tony is always really fascinated when I work out. Downward facing dog makes him really excited. I think he can't figure out why I am holding myself upside down, lowering myself to the floor, and going upside down again. He runs from my feet to my head and sometimes tries to jump on me or crawl under my yoga mat. He is crazy.

As for the guitar. I wish I could post a photo, but I didn't get around to taking one before the camera flew to the Alps, so you will have to wait. For now here is an official photo from the Cordoba site. It is a Cordoba Dolce and I love it. It is a nylon string guitar, which works great for me since after 15 years of trying to play properly I am just not a strummer. I love to fingerpick and nothing sounds better fingerpicked than a nylon string. I have also busted out my old classical guitar textbook, found an online metronome, and have started working on my technique. The technique practice is boring, but I think it is important. The fretboard is rosewood, which gives it a really comfortable grip and warm tone. The color of the guitar is almost copper. Warm and shiny. It even came with its own case. It is a soft case, but not a gig bag- i.e., it has backpack straps, but is heavily padded not just 'a bag'. This turns out to be not only great financially, but sanity-wise as well because I have no idea how I would find a normal case for a 7/8 size guitar. Oh yeah- this guitar is petite just like me. Hopefully in a few months I will get some tunes up here so you can take a listen at how good it sounds.

I also got my first ever sock club package, but that post is for another day.

Zelda Marie

2009-02-23T13:53:00.003-06:00

I have finally managed to figure out how to get photos from my Windows-based phone onto my Mac computer. This photo is old, but adorable. This is Zelda Marie my new Boxer puppy (which lives with my parents). She is about two months old in this photo and I am sure she has grown a ton since then. I will have to have my mom send some new photos soon.

Bahamas, bikes, and chicken feet

2009-02-11T13:41:00.004-06:00

In 25 days the Captain and I will be jetting off to the Bahamas for my 30th birthday (belated). I can't wait. I could really use some beach weather after the months of freezing Chicago weather. This weekend I am going to get a new summer haircut and hopefully some new bathing togs. I want to see if I can find some vintage or vintage like duds. Something Bettie Page would have worn.
It was a bit warmer here the past few days than it has been. I was hoping to start training for the 25 mile bike ride we are going on this summer. I have new bike shoes (courtesy of the Captain) that I need to learn how to use. 17 miles is my longest ride ever, so I have to add quite a bit to that. I have a new saddle which should help. I also got some panniers from the folks that I need to try out. Maybe a trip to the farmer's market is in store.
As to the chicken feet. We went to dim sum on Sunday with a bunch of friends. Dim Sum is quite and experience in and of itself. Luckily we had a girl with us who spoke the correct language. I have no idea what we would have done without her. We got one order of chicken feet just to try. They were not bad... The sauce was very nice and the flavor was good. The feet are squishy- not crispy or tough like I had imagined. The biggest annoyance was the number of little tiny bones. I felt like it took me 10 minutes to get all of the bones out of my mouth. So, I wouldn't order them again, but if I was served them at a dinner for some reason I would probably eat them. It doesn't hurt to try it once.

Sock Club Ahoy!

2009-01-31T15:32:00.005-06:00

My my. This has been an exciting week. The weather keeps flirting with the idea that 8 degrees F is not an acceptable temperature and maybe, just maybe it likes the idea of spring coming soon. We are still mired in 20-30 degree weather now, but I will take any temperature increase I can get.
Since the weather was a bit better, we ventured out this morning instead of hibernating indoors. The winter farmer's market in our neighborhood was quaint (in the 'it was small' sense of the word). We got some mango salsa, dried chantrelle mushrooms, ground beef, and some yummy cheese. I was hoping to get there by bike instead of car (since I wanted to use my new panniers), but the Captain had un torticolli (that is your french word of the day) and therefore could not turn his head well enough to check for cars, so we drove. From there we sauntered over to Chix with Stix to get buttons for my new hat. I really like this hat. It is the Robin's Egg Blue Hat knitted in Noro Iro. This was done in just 2 days and the wool/silk blend is really luxurious. If you want to knit this hat, I suggest adding two stitches before you do the decreases. That way you will have 70 stitches to go around and thus will get an even number of decrease divisions starting with K8, k2tog all the way around. (And yes, those are Christmas decorations still up. We got rid of the tree, but it seems me always leave at least something up until my birthday every year.)
The biggest news of the week though was a double whammy. I got a raise at work (yeah!) and the Captain suggested that I use the first month's raise amount to get myself something nice. I thought that this was an excellent idea, so I started poking around the interwebs for ideas. It did not take me long to decide on the Woolgirl sock club. I am so excited! I have always wanted to join a sock club, but since the up front cost is steep I had always just had it in the back of my mind as a 'someday' thing to do. But now someday is today! I can't wait 'till February for my first shipment. Of course, this means that I need to get the singleton sock (which is currently hogging my most precious ebony sock stix) and his mate finished before my new sock yarn arrives.

Pretty in Pink

2009-01-27T19:40:00.004-06:00

I have been working on my Scheherazade stole for almost a year now. It is a beautiful pattern and I have been remiss to keep it in an unfinished state for so long. This stole has been to Texas, New York, Tennessee, and Poland. You would think that a stole this well traveled would have something more than '1/3 of the way done' to show for itself. I hope that the picture here shows up well enough on your monitor to demonstrate its beauty. I promise to finish this by 2009. I must.

I did manage to quickly knit a pair of fingerless mitts for the winter season. These took me only a couple of days, but have been worn 5 times already. They are the wine and roses mitts from the winter 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. I love this issue. I have already knit the Equestrian Blazer from this issue and plan to one day make the Nantucket Jacket for my mom.

New Year, New President, New Blog Layout

2009-01-20T14:57:00.001-06:00

I hope y'all like the sassy new blog layout. I felt it was time for a fresh start. Let me know what you think.

2009-01-20T13:26:00.002-06:00

Today we usher in the 44th president of the United States. I found the moment inspiring and uplifting. I believe that American's can rise above our troubles, that we can pull ourselves out of the mire of economic depressions, surmount people who do not want peace, and embrace our fellow humans to bring about a better tomorrow. I am hopeful for what we can become and where we can go. I know that it will not be perfect. I know that every choice which is made may not be something I agree with. But I have to think that hope and love are the greatest things of all.

I would also like to say a few words about our 43rd president, George Bush. I voted for him the first time. It was my first election. I was new and naive. I didn't research as much as I should have. Four years later I realized that he was not the choice for me and I voted for the loosing party. I have not agreed with him much over the past eight years, but he was our president. I respect him for the office he held and I respect him as a person. I genuinely believe he did what he thought was best with the information presented to him. Though I think he was wrong on many accounts, I don't think he is a bad man.

So, good luck to you President Bush wherever your life takes you. And good luck to our new President Obama. This is the first election I have truly been an active participant in. I hope for the environment, I hope for a bright future for science, and I hope for the longevity of our great nation. I also send hope to our troops that they may be the best they can be until they return safely home. Thank you to the veterans and the volunteers; to the teachers and the parents. Our message going forward has changed from 'yes we can' to

YES WE WILL!

Fitness

2009-01-14T22:31:00.000-06:00

My resolution for 2009 (not a strict resolution, more like guidelines) is to get into shape. The Captain is taking me to Nicaragua for my 30th birthday, so I want to actually be beach ready for one time in my life. I have my google calendar all set up to track my fitness. I got a late start this month because of the flood and sinus infection resulting from said flood. Apparently your body does not like it when you stand in freezing water for an hour (Oy!) Last night (against protestations from my rear that likes to stay firmly seated on the couch) I did 30 min of yoga. Tony finds yoga highly amusing. If I move to the right- he follows me. He sniffs my feet and hands. Then I move left and he runs to the other side to investigate. He has still not learned the asana sequence which transitions from downward facing dog to upward facing dog. He runs under me during down dog and then has to high-tail it when I start the transition to my belly. Of course as soon as I am back to down dog he is right under me again. I suppose I get an extra work out holding poses mid air to avoid a ferret collision.

Since the wonderful city of Chicago has found it in its heart to bestow us with a high of 5 today, I am frantically reknitting the fingerless gloves that I started at the beginning of the year. Lusciousluka got me some lovely yarn for Christmas. I started knitting a certain lovely pattern from a certain company that will not be named. The pattern looked lovely. I started knitting it however to only find that the right mitt is actually a left mitt and some of the decreases were wrong. I just went along with it, finished the right mitt and started the left. That one is also a left mitt!!! With the amount of errors in the first one and the fact that I would have to rework everything to get a stinking right mitt I decided to frogg the whole thing and find a new pattern. It is super cold outside. I need mitts!

Now, the pattern is free, so I can't complain to much. C'est la vie. I just find it amusing that errata has already been published for the pattern. They caught the error on the ring finger but not the fact that you get 2 left mitts. I am trying to decide how best to tell the company about this so that a) they don't get offended that I am complaining about a free pattern and b) no one else has to deal with this. I am experienced enough to know that the pattern has errors, but some other knitter might get so frustrated thinking that they are the ones that are reading the pattern wrong.

2009 Begins

2009-01-07T10:20:00.002-06:00

Happy 2009 everybody! I know I have been slacking with the blog, but I hope to change that in 2009. We had a super awesome time visiting our families. I think my dad should get the hero of the holidays award. He was sick all week and had to handle some super crisis at work. He still managed to make it to our new years eve bash- go dad!

This years resolutions are:

1) Make at least weekly entries on the blog
2) Get into a better yoga routine (It comes to mind that last year's routine of working out twice a month is not going to cut it)
3) Knit through more of my sock yarn stash. I have not a terrible amount of sock yarn, but I have a pathetic amount of actual finished socks. Considering that I am a pretty decent knitter and my goal is to have mostly hand knit socks at some point... the fact that I currently own a mere 4 pairs is silly. So my friends, I hope to show you more socks in the future.

Knitting and resolutions were put on hold for a while due to the small flood that was in our apartment last week. I shall not go into details here, but suffice to say I almost have the house back to normal.

Blah Tuesday

2008-11-11T16:49:00.003-06:00

Today is blah Tuesday. It is cold and rainy and grey. Winter stinks, but at least I can wear my nice knitted items. It is now 16 days till thanksgiving. I need to get my menu together and order my turkey. I tried to order it yesterday, but they were not yet set up. I shall have to go back.

I had a good weekend before blah Tuesday though. We got to go to a housewarming party, which was fun, and we watched 'Zach and Miri make a porno'. It was hilarious. I thought it was just going to be funny, but I almost fell out of my chair a few times. I highly recommend it. Though, if you are squeamish about naughty bits, you may want to sit this one out. I got more of the Full Monty than I was expecting, but it fit with the story.

In knitting news, I have casted on for the Manon cardigan. The yarn I am using has more of a halo, so the stitch definition will not be as great. I love the yarn though- so squishy.

The Bachelor

2008-11-03T16:31:00.002-06:00

When left to my own devices I turn into a bachelor. Not socially, but in terms of cuisine. I am home sick from work. I am mostly lying on the couch watching bad tv and sleeping. I wake up to mainline tea and alka seltzer cold. Now I have been told by the Captain that I am not allowed to not eat when I am sick. I have maintained the HFCS challenge through the haze, thankfully. So far today I have eaten:

Breakfast
3 wasa crackers with plain cream cheese

Snack
a persimmon

Lunch
a cup of tomato soup

Snack
a can of ranch style beans with a slice of cheese on it

Not at all the lovely meal I would normally fix for the Captain and I. At least I have been trained to keep more than vodka and mustard in the fridge.

Pot Roast

2008-10-28T16:29:00.003-05:00

Today I had the afternoon off from work to go to the dentist (what fun). I got home and started putting a pot roast in the crock pot. This is my first ever crock pot meal, but it looks great so far. The recipe follows, but before that I want to clarify some things in the HFCS 30-day challenge. Birthday cake is certainly exempt as is food you get at a restaurant or party. Basically anything you buy or have stored in your pantry that has a label you can read is what we are focusing on here. Luckily I have a head start on the pot roast. No way we can eat 3 pounds of meat in a week, so I plan on freezing half of this bad boy for the first week in November. And now back to the recipe :-)

Crock Pot Roast
(in progress photo)

3 lbs of beef round
0.5 lbs of oxtail
4 turnips
2 parsnips
1 white onion
1 shallot
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 potatoes
a few cups of vegetable stock

spices: flour, bay leaves, sage, coriander, salt, pepper, olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic.

Take the 3 lbs of round and coat with a light layer of flour, a bit of salt and pepper. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in an iron skillet over medium heat. Mince one garlic clove and the shallot and put in hot oil. Sear the meat on all sides so that it is a bit brown, but not cooked. Put the meat on a plate to rest and throw out the now very brown garlic and shallot bits. Chop and peel the rest of the veggies. we want big chunks here and ballpark to have stuff roughly the same size (impossible with the carrots and celery, just break these into thirds). Add a few more drizzles of olive oil to the pan and saute the veggies and oxtails just till they are a bit caramelized. Again, don't cook, we just want color.

Add meat to the crock pot fat side up (this will help the fat melt downwards and yield juicier meat). Add the veggies and oxtails, 2 bay leaves, 2 dashes each of coriander and sage. Add the remaining garlic clove whole. Fill the crock pot about an inch or so deep with the vegetable stock. Set on high for about 5 hours.

HFCS 30 day challenge

2008-10-27T16:34:00.003-05:00

I am using this blog post to instigate a HFCS 30 day challenge. If you can, read the whole post before deciding I am a nutter. Please feel free to use the comments section to comment on the challenge and how you are doing on it should you choose to accept. But first, a bit of background.

High fructose corn syrup is the go to sweetener in the US because of ridiculously high tariffs on imported cane sugar (which makes our sugar cost more than sugar globally) and subsidized corn production (which makes corn much cheaper). HFCS is also not processed in your body the same way as cane or beet sugar. The jury is still out on whether HFCS is the root of all evil, so I am not indicting the entire industry here. HFCS has only been around since the 70s, so it is not like you grew up eating it (well my generation maybe has, but then again my mom cooked for us a lot so I may be exempt). HFCS has become so pervasive as a cheap sweetener that it has found its way into food that has no business having sugar in it. Check a can of regular old non-organic sweet corn and look for the sugar. Why does sweet corn need sugar added? Well because HFCS is also and excellent preservative.

There is no doubt that this stuff is not good for us. The corn lobby has started a ridiculous ad campaign which may indicate that sales are suffering due to consumer awareness. They may be correct that it is fine in moderation, but since it is in everything it takes some effort to only get it in moderation. I know that many of you reading this blog think that the organic hippie in me is a bit over the top. But, I think if you take this challenge with me, you may learn a thing or two.

The Challenge (if you choose to accept it).

Starting November 1st you will not eat or drink anything containing HFCS until November 30. Restaurant meals are excepted because you can never be too sure and I don't want to spoil a birthday or something. This should give you a week to alter your menus and get your pantry prepared. Then just start reading labels. Don't buy or eat anything with HFCS in it. You have to check every label- even bread can be hiding some. You don't have to go all organic, but you may have to change brands on some things.

There are plenty of soda companies still making cane sugar sodas (Jones, Blue Sky, Dublin Dr. Pepper). I am not a big fan of splenda or sweet and low (for other health reasons), but for the purposes of this challenge, you can drink diet soda if you like.

I will be taking this challenge as well. I have been trying to rid myself of HFCS for some time, but sometimes the snack attack gets to me. I just have to be smarter about my choices. More Pirate Booty cheese puffs for me!

I hope this challenge goes well. My goal is to get people reading labels and trying to get people to eat additives in moderation. You don't have to give up coke for your entire life, but you may just find that a splash of OJ in seltzer water tastes much better.

Bike extravaganza

2008-10-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went on my biggest bike ride yet. My rockstar bike was in the shop, so I borrowed the green monster from luscious luka. Lauriebee and the Captain were also there to round out the pack. We biked to the lake and then tried to locate some grub. My chain got jammed while trying to cross a large road. I hoped off and ran across the street. Luckily the Captain was really prepared- first aid kit (which was thankfully not needed), bike pump, and chain repair tools. We were back on the road in no time. We ate, said goodbye to the Captain, and then biked up town to our Sunday knitting group. There were a bunch of new people there- great to have so many friendly faces. We only got to stay for an hour and a half because we still had to bike back across town. On the way, Lauriebee and I were accosted by a very large dog that was trying to jump out of the car next to us and eat us. The dog was barking, we were screaming, Luka had no idea what was going on because she was ahead of us and the Captain had already headed home way before. Well I don't care if the driver of the car was laughing, we just walked our bikes across the street and got out of his way. My legs were tired, but I am not sore. That is either because a) I am super hard core, or b) Luka made us eat magnesium. Ok, so it is probably b.

All told we rode 17 miles. The seat on the green monster was so much better than my too big squishy one on the rockstar, so I need a new saddle. My new tat is also holding up well. No puffyness, no itching, no oozing. That could all change later, but right now all is well.

Big Update

2008-10-12T08:37:00.007-05:00

I have not posted in a while (apologies), so I have a ton to show you. First up Tony: I went to water my plants the other day and found this in my watering can. Silly ferret! He is getting more playful every day and can't wait to have everyone visit for thanksgiving.

Last night, I also got my tattoo. My friend called me up in the morning and said we were going (her and her husband were getting their own as well). I thought we were just going to check out the place, but really we were there for the real thing. Glad we did it that way though, because I just kept putting it off for no reason. Hope y'all like it.

And finally a knitting update. My mom's green socks are almost done. I hope to have them done before she gets here for the holidays. I also hope to post a pattern for the Captain Hoodie to link in to ravelry. I have the hoodie done, just resizing it is going to be a pain.

Bye Bye summer

2008-09-09T14:41:00.002-05:00

Well it looks like summer is over. The autumnal equinox is not for another 2 weeks, but it looks like we are done with 75+ degree weather. Either that or the hurricanes are just tricking us and we are going to get one last summer fun in the sun.

In knitting news, the Captain's hoodie is just about done. I hope to upload photos of a finished object tonight.

Tetanus Booster

2008-09-08T15:56:00.002-05:00

Today is sort of a dud. It has been pouring. Buckets. I was supposed to take a new postdoc to lunch today, as part of the welcoming committee, in the rain... to the not so tasty cafeteria. Well, since we had no internet at work all day, I didn't get the memo that the guy was not going to make it. Oh well, at least they had mac and cheese on special today- yum! I finally got internet in just enough time to head on over to the medical department to get my tetanus booster. Did you know you were supposed to get one every 10 years? I didn't. I only thought of it since I was poking around the net to see what sort of things I should do before getting a tattoo and the up to date tetanus booster was one of them. Luckily they give them out free at work. I actually have to say that was a highlight of my day. Super long needle, but skinny so you barely felt it. That or the lady giving it was super good.

So I am going to head home soon. Maybe tomorrow will be less random- though the random days tend to be the most memorable.

My Sister

2008-09-02T17:11:00.004-05:00

My sister is the best woman in the world. She is strong, independent, smart, caring, supportive, and an all around good soul. I tried to convey how much I love her in my maid of honor speech and I think she got it. She got married on Saturday to a great guy. I think she will do well by him. So I have a bunch of officially new family members. (I thought of them as family before, but I guess now we are legally family).
I had so much fun at the wedding. I have known all of her bridesmaids for years and years. They are all warm and friendly people. It was really sad to leave my hometown, because the wedding reminded me how much I miss everybody. I am happy with where I live and my new life, but I miss the family and the girls. I guess that is what growing up is all about though. At least I know that these people will always be in my heart. So, a toast to the bride, a toast to the groom, some cake for the family, and a dance floor for friends. I am blessed to count all of y'all as my own.

The Tattoo

2008-08-24T08:04:00.003-05:00

I had a few questions from real life and in the comments about the tattoo. I still plan on getting it. I went to Tomato Tattoo in Lisle, IL to set up an appointment. The guy suggested that I wait until after my sister's wedding to get it (6 more days!). He didn't want it still to be itchy during the ceremony. Well, I got caught up in all of the move and The Captain being out of the country, soI haven't scheduled the appointment for September yet. I should get to doing that!

Home Alone

2008-08-14T10:54:00.004-05:00

The Captain has been in Prague for almost a week now, but never fear dear reader, I am managing to get the house unpacked. I present to you a sneak preview of our new apartment. It is a 4th floor walk-up super close to the L line (like 4 blocks). I really like all of the hardwood floors. This shot is the back half of the living room. My knitting corner is there as well as our plants. I think the cucumbers will have to be uprooted shortly to make room for some pinto beans. The tomato plant has 4 green tomatoes about the size of golf balls. I hope they turn out well. The lettuce has seen better days and the peppers, well, they are kindof duds at the moment. In between unpacking and going to work, I have had a break to paint ladybug toenails and participate in the Ravelympics. I have entered the sweater sprint competition. I am attempting to make a short sleeved sweater for my lovely sister in the time between the opening and closing ceremonies. I have so far managed to knit from the neck to the underarms. I obviously have a ways to go.

Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Plan

2008-07-20T10:31:00.004-05:00

Photo courtesy of Tölkin Palautus

Do you have a Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Plan? Did you know that you needed one? Ok, so maybe the likely hood of a zombie apocalypse is only high if you live in a sci-fi fantasy land, but the likely hood of our economy going fire sale is a bit higher. Thankfully I have thought this through.

What you will need: a Plan, a buddy, and some imagination. Hopefully you will never need this, but it could come in handy, even if it is just for a natural disaster. The key to the plan is sustainability- for the long term. We plan on loading up the car with camel backs full of water, an extra jug or two. Some canned food (don't forget the can opener), one pot, 2 plates, 2 cups, a spoon and a knife. Most important though is the seeds. You aren't going to live for long on a bunch of canned goods, so we need to think ahead. Next we have a flashlight and a lantern with gyros- i.e., they don't need batteries. Batteries will probably be scarce, so plan accordingly. We pack the fencing foils/sabers (they could be used to catch game). We get Tony sequestered somewhere. We also need to get all the bikes hooked up to the car, winter clothes, summer clothes (only one set of each), some soap, a toothbrush, baking soda and vinegar.

Once we have all of that packed we grab our emergency bag. This bag contains first aid materials, a parka, citronella candles, a lighter, and rope. We then grab our tent and sleeping bags and head out. Our plan is to drive south, most likely to the rio grande river valley. We plan to follow the Illinois River south west and then the Mississippi river south as long as possible. In the likely event that the car runs out of gas and there is no electricity to refuel it, we will then take to the bikes and continue south. It is important to follow the river as close as possible, so we don't run out of fresh water.

From there it is just a manner of meeting up with family and friends and establishing a commune in the south. The southern location is key because a)less need for heating b)longer growing season c)fishing on the beach.

So start planning.

Gerbera Daisy

2008-07-09T10:44:00.001-05:00

I have an appointment for August 6th. That is the day that I go and get my tattoo which will represent my sister and myself. Daisies are my favorite flower and it just so happens that my sister chose those as her wedding flowers. I am pretty nervous about going, but I am so excited to get it done. It will not be too big, but it should be really pretty. Lets just hope I don't chicken out.

Tag- You're it!

2008-05-19T13:23:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by the lovely and yarn dyeing talented Merry Gentlemen. I will try to play along. She broke the rules by only tagging moi, so I feel justified in only tagging a few people (not the 6 originally required). Answer the 4 questions, leave a comment to the person you tagged, and let the originator know that you have responded. Here goes

1) What was I doing 10 years ago? In May of 1998 I had just finished my first year as a physics undergrad at UT Austin. I had scored a paid internship at UTIG and that lead me on to my PhD in physics.

2) What are five things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order? 1. go to knitting- there is rhubarb with my name on it. 2. create restraint macro for a least squares refinement. 3. Kiss my honey. 4. plant strawberries. 5. try to stay awake.

3) Snacks I enjoy: Trader Joe's fruit bits, chips and salsa, cheese and crackers (especially chevre)

4) Places I have lived: In Texas: San Antonio, Lakehills, McDade, Austin, Georgetown. In New York: Bellport, Shoreham, E. Setauket, Huntington, and Port Jefferson Village. Illinois: Aurora and soon to be Oak Park (keep the fingers crossed)

5) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Buy a house and a farm co-op. Work on some experiments in my spare time. Travel the world.

I shall tag: luscious luka and theoriesofstring

Book List

2008-05-14T10:34:00.002-05:00

This book list is reposted from Miss Luscious Luka

These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by Library Thing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you’ve read and italicize the ones you own but have not read.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

Looks like I have some reading to catch up on.

Belated photo

2008-04-22T13:36:00.004-05:00

It has been quite a while since I finished the tree jacket. I have worn it so many times it has even been washed already. (Don't mind the streaky mirror, it is clean mom- just streaky.) The pattern was from the Zephyr girls and I used 3.5 skeins of Dream in Color yarn and my Plymouth Bamboo sisters needles in size US 7. I really like this project and the yarn. I do however recommend that you take care with the garter stitch sleeves. I had put the yarn in the dryer for a bit while blocking the first time. I did not do this the second time and ended up with sleeves that were a bit too long (garter is stretchy). One pass through the drier fixes it, so no worries.

I also spent the day with my cousin Courtney's Flat Stanley. He came to the beamline with me and helped me load samples. Tomorrow we are going to go to our garden plot and till a bit. We also need to spread compost so that the ground is prepped for the planting season. Most of our seedlings are doing well at home and they can't wait to be in the ground. Well, at least that is what I think they are thinking- they won't talk to me.

New York, New York

2008-03-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

We just got back from Easter weekend in New York City. It was great to see the family and just veg-out in general. I didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it. I am still recovering from my shoulder problems, so the father of the Captain did a bit of acupuncture on me. I have to say I feel a bit better. My first time with Eastern medicine was a success. Now I am back at work, sleep deprived, but hopefully productive. Oh and a shout out to my friend's new yarn store. Go check out rock creek yarn.

TJ update

2008-03-10T09:59:00.002-05:00

The tree jacket is being worn as we speak. Blocking it did help greatly. It passed muster with the Captain, lets see how it goes with the girls at stitch tonight. As soon as I get a hold of my camera I will send pics.

Tree Jacket Complete

2008-03-09T15:59:00.002-05:00

The tree jacket is busy blocking itself on the table. I am either going to like this sweater or throw it heavily and with a vengeance into the frog pond. It was all going so well: the fit was nice, the yarn was nice, the color was nice. All until those pesky sleeves. For future knitters of top down raglans I have a warning for you: it is not a good idea to knit the sleeves and graft them onto the sweater. Do not attempt this. I feel that I am a decently capable knitter. I have gotten myself out of snags before. This one was heinous. One side I finally beat into submission. The Captain made me take a break before I frogged the entire thing. The other side was grafted a wee bit too tightly, and I am afraid that this side will be the sweater's downfall. I am afraid that it will bug me to no end and a large ripping party will come to pass. I will attempt to wear the offending garment tomorrow. If it makes it through the day unscathed, I will keep it. If not... rip it... rip it...

It does look nice sitting on the table though.

We just don't belong here

2008-02-28T17:09:00.003-06:00

Moving to the Midwest has been an interesting experience. I have never been so cold in my life (well except for that -20 day skiing in Vermont). It is so windy sometimes I have trouble walking. On the flip side, the summers are hot hot hot. The city is bustling and vibrant. There are museums, planetariums, and did I mention a gigantic lake? I think things will be much better when we move to Chicago proper, because there will be more diversity and therefore we won't feel like we stick out like a sore thumb. Food is my main issue. Unless I go to Whole Foods (which I only do on Mondays, since it is near my knitting place) we are in a pickle. I can't bring myself to buy meat at any of the stores nearby (no organic). I tried to ask the dude at Jewel Osco for rhubarb the other day and he looked at me like I had three heads! Dude it's not that hard!! It is a vegetable. Last night we made the mistake of trying to find falafel mix at Target. That was a no go. We hoofed it over to Jewel Osco and found one teeny box in the kosher food section, which itself was only a foot wide. Ground up chickpeas people- its not like I was looking for morels or quinoa or something. Seems that a lot of the food that I think is normal is not consumed by the good people of the midwest. If it is not a tomato, iceberg lettuce, or a chicken nugget, well... they just might not have it.

I really hope there is a Whole Foods near our next apartment :-)

Melting Pot

2008-02-20T18:48:00.005-06:00

I was about to update my blog (apparently I have a loyal reader in San Antonio that I have been neglecting) when the Captain said- put on your new shoes and your coat. I looked at him quizzically and said- "why?"- to which he replied: "because we have reservations at the melting pot". Yeah!!! I have never been there, but my sister claims that it is awesome. Whoo-hoo.

Valentines day was fun- I got two valentines from my cute cousins and one from my best friend. I also surprised the Captain with a box of chocolates at 7am. (what? he stirred in his sleep and I decided that he was awake enough- I couldn't hide them any longer, I was too excited.)

Tony has been growing and having a blast. If this video works, then you can see him in action! I think he is trying to wrestle his skein of yarn into submission. Too cute. (Ok the video is too big- we will try again later).

And finally, the knitting. This new project is not knitting, but crochet. It is the babette blanket and I love it. I have quite a bit more to go, and I may have to order more yarn, but it is really colorful.

The holidays are upon us

2007-12-21T13:45:00.000-06:00

Wow that went by quickly! I know I haven't posted in a while and I have tons of things to report, but that will still have to wait. The Captain and Tony Danza are doing well. I have to figure out a way to post the video of Tony playing in the yarn- too cute. I finished up the infamous Christmas Stocking for mother, which is good considering Christmas is next week. I will post a pic later in the FO parade I have scheduled for the new year, but suffice to say it is nice and I lined it with cashmere from an old sweater- tres chic. I also finished the Equestrian Blazer (well mostly). I have 1.5 sleeves left to sew to the body. I am trying to decide wether I want to do the cuffs on the sleeves and body or not. They already have a bit of reverse stockinette there, so I don't know if the extra 3 rows of cuff are really going to gain me anything. Hopefully I can finish the seaming tonight so I can wear it over the holidays.

Happy Holidays. Stay warm, be safe, and hugs and kisses for a happy new year.

It's A Girl!

2007-11-28T14:32:00.000-06:00

At 1pm today my aunt had a little baby girl. Weighing in at 8lbs- no idea how tall though. So hello new baby!

Happy Belated Turkey Day!

2007-11-26T15:08:00.000-06:00

This year was the second annual family thanksgiving at the Captain and I's house. We had lots of food and I even managed to make my first from scratch pie crust. Delicious! It was loads of fun and I can't wait till Christmas/New Years to see everybody again. As promised, here is a photo of Tony Danza. Isn't he a cutie? He had a ton of fun playing with everyone this weekend.

The good and the bad...

2007-11-12T13:58:00.000-06:00

I will start off with the bad news, just to get it over with. My Angel fish Isis is no longer with us. I had her for 2 years. She got a little ill. It is almost impossible to cure and ill fish and I think the trauma of moving to a new tank was too much for her. But, the good news is that we picked up the Captain's Christmas gift early. I got him a ferret. He named him Tony Danza. Who's the boss? Tony Danza! I swear that will never get old. The Captain built him the first story of his ferret condo last night and is supposedly working on the mezzanine and second story today. I will try to get pics out soon. He is such a cutie. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get used to having a wiggly little thief living in the house, but he is so adorable that you just have to laugh. We had him in a large cardboard box while the finishing touches were being put on his cage. We gave him a smaller cardboard box to play with. Well little Tony figured out that if he stood on the small box he could jump out of the big box. Ferret on the loose!

Fishies!!

2007-11-08T10:05:00.001-06:00

I got my new fish tank on Tuesday night! I was upgrading from my 5 gal Hex to a 10 gal tank. I got some new decorations and two new fish. The angel fish is Isis, which I have had for 2 years. There are two serpae tetras named Wallace & Grommit. You can see one of them on the left in front of the coral rock feature. I don't know where the other one is in the photo though. They seem to be really happy and I am sure Isis enjoys having more space. I think I am going to put my 5gal Hex up for sale since it is such a nice tank, but if anyone wants it- let me know :-)

There is not a ton going on in the knitting front. I am in the middle of too many large projects. I am focusing on the Equestrian Blazer, since that is the closest to completion. I messed up on one of the waist increases and made a decrease instead, so I am two stitches off. To ladder or to frog? Hmmm... The pattern is a bit confusing for the two front panels. I know that the designer/editor could not write out all the directions for all the sizes because the pattern would end up being 20 pages long- I concede that. But, with 4 paragraphs worth of 'do this at the same time' I am getting lost. Maybe I should just write it out for my size and go from there. I was doing so well up to that one mistake though!! Grrr!

A very belated haloween

2007-11-06T16:14:00.000-06:00

I do realize that Halloween is long past, but since I did not have time to post with the wedding in Ny, you are getting it late. We decided to go as Jack Skellington and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas. The Captain's suit was a Goodwill find and I pounced on the remnants bin at JoAnn's to get the fabric for my dress. I opted to not get a pattern, since I was making a dress for a rag doll. I drew out a sketch, as you can see, and then laid on top of the fabric trying to trace what I wanted the patches to look like. My strumpet dressform helped out while I was in design mode. Luckily the fabric was stretchy enough that I did not have to put a zipper in. The party was fun, though it would have been better if the Captain was not ill. He is doing better and hopefully will be back to health in time for the holidays.

This past weekend was really fun. We got to attend the wedding of two good friends :-) To top it all off I caught the bouquet! It came to rest right at my feet. The look on the Captain's face was priceless! Great food, great people. Actually we got to see a few people we haven't seen in over a year. The favors they gave out were really cute too. They were small terra cotta pots with dirt and basil/chive/parsely seeds. I can't wait to get mine started growing. All in all it was a great time and I managed to finish one of the plain jane socks while I was there. Oh, and I can't forget the fun we had with the Captain's parents!

I will triumph!

2007-10-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

The plain jane socks decided to conduct a mutiny while I was in Buffalo, NY attending a diffraction conference. Luckily I have a stronger constitution. After a brief stint in the brig, they were frogged back to the end of the toe increases and re-knit. I was only up to the heel turn, so technically I have only had to frog 1.5 socks worth of this ungrateful yarn. While it was doing hard time, I briefly toyed with the idea of sending them to another ship's brig. They meekly apologized, however, and now they seem to be behaving. Let this be a lesson to you- mutinous yarn can be redeemed.

In other news: the Captain and I have just finished Stage I of farm preparations. We are the proud renters of a nice plot of 'farm land'. We mowed down a 20'-40' swath of 6' tall prarie grass, raked up the leavings, and tried to uproot as many large plants as possible. The hands, calves, and lower back hurts, the Captain has come down with something, and we still have to till before the frist snow. Wish us luck.

My dress form is a strumpet

2007-10-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

A while ago I mentioned making a dress form and the ensuing panic attack and other tomfoolery involved. Well I took the strumpet out today to see if I could get her to model my in-progress tree jacket. Did she behave? Noooo... She decided that putting her arms through my sweater was too plebian (which is ironic since being a strumpet sort of qualifies as below pleb status, but I digress). To that I said: Off with her arms. The Captain took the dremel to her and now she is arm-free. Take that strumpet!
Anyways, now that she is behaving, I tried the sweater on her and -voila! C'est magnifique.
The join of the body under the arms was a bit too high. Instead of continuing with the increases, as the pattern suggests, I simply added a few rows of garter. The fit was nice, just not long enough. I also ended up switching needles once I got back to the YO portion. I like my sweaters to be fitted. I understand that the designer wanted this to be loose and fun, so I did a compromise. Down one needle size for me, no additional shaping to please them. I am still on track to finish this by Thanksgiving, lets see if I can make it.

I love my dog

2007-10-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

Charlie is such a good little puppy... well...er...largeish puppy, but I do also really like my new pink kitty cat. This is a kiddie sized Sigg bottle. It is made from recylced aluminum and doesn't leech crap into your beverage of choice. Since I have a small tummy and cannot fit all of my liquid requirements into a single meal sitting, I can keep this in my purse to partake of throughout the day.

I do know that you came here for some knitting though. I hope to post some pics soon, but for now here are the updates. The Captain's hoodie is done to the armpits and I am just about ready to do the math for the sleeves. I think this will be cute-uh, I mean, really manly- so I will try to post the pattern here once I finish it. I also just started the left front of the equestrin blazer. More info later!

Ode to Summer

2007-10-10T14:59:00.000-05:00

On a still morning I awake to the fluttering of leaves. A light breeze rustles the tree tops- a harbinger of more biting breezes to follow. Autumn has settled in the heartland. Once lush and verdant foliage begins to tear asunder. What was once a lush container garden lies fallow. As I mused whether a scarf was required for the days adventure, I realized we had breached the threshold. Winter is coming. My lustrous summer days are over.

Good thing I love to knit...

Working hard

2007-10-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of dcassaa.

Time for some updates. I have been working hard this past week in preparation for my first ever invited talk! I have to get my data in better order and some results ready... I think (hope) I will make it. As a result I spent a nice relaxing weekend with my honey to decompress. We played way too much FFXII, but I don't regret it at all. This is seriously the longest game we have ever played. We are about 61 hours in and are not quite 2/3 of the way done with the game. I love it!

In knitting news, the tree jacket has moved past the neck and onto the shoulders. I think I am going to end up knitting an extra small as my gauge is a bit on the larger side. The Dream in Color yarn is just great and the color is so nice that I can't put it down. The Captain has decided that he would like raglan sleeves for the hoodie, so I will have to get the math figured for those shortly. It would be nice to get it all finished for our trip to NYC for our friend's wedding, but I shouldn't delude myself.

Tree Jacket

2007-10-05T13:53:00.000-05:00

I have just transitioned from lurker to participant for the Sexy Knitter's Club Tree Jacket KAL. I had actually voted for the Cherie Amour pattern, which I may still knit up, but the Zephyr pattern started really piquing my interest. With no regard for time or sanity, I rushed over to my LYS and bought some lovely royal purple Dream in Color. (Truth be told I was in the store for 30 min with DIC in one hand and a burgandy Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in the other trying to will myself to make a decision. One was shiny, but the other was purple- what was a girl to do?)

I got gauge right away on my super duper bamboo interchangeable needles. I am a bit concerned that the wool may expand upon blocking, but I will just have to take that risk. This will also be my first opportunity to use my homemade dress form for sizing.

What Kind of Knitter are You?

2007-10-03T13:14:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!

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I just took this quiz over at Marnie Maclean, seems that I am a Knitting Guru. Maybe I should get the Captain to address me as The Guru from now on! What results did y'all get?

Les Dents

2007-10-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

What a lovely weekend of lazing about the house; I suppose it was more lovely for me than the Captain. He had his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday (he is fairing well), so most of the ensuing two days were spent making soup and playing Final Fantasy XII. Yes, we are game junkies, no we have no intention of cutting back. I made some almond soup, which is nice as an appetizer, but not so much as a main meal. The butternut squash soup was very nice indeed. I thought I would follow a recipe, but decided I didn't like the recipe much and so came up with my own:
1 butternut squash
2 potatoes
*some* carrots
celery salt and coriander

Boil all in pot with water. Puree the snot out of it and add pepper :-)

I did manage to get some knitting done, however. The Captain's hoodie is coming along nicely. I am up to 12" for the back and front sides. At 15" or so I need to separate the fronts from the back and start doing some math for the shoulder decreases. Most progress was made on the Santa Stocking- the end is in sight. I have a reward system going with myself to keep me on track and cruising along to completion. Thank heavens for the Knit Picks Chart Keeper- I wouldn't have made it this far without it.

Le Slouch

2007-09-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

The Le Slouch hat is almost finished. I have only one more inch of seed stitch to go before I start decreasing (i.e., I am a bit farther along than the picture indicates). This is my first skein of Malabrigo chunky. After much debate/swatching/investigation I have determined that this is definately chunky yarn. I know, I know, the 4 stitches per inch should have been the most obvious tip off, but I am a scientist, I like to be thorough. The yarn is super soft and squishy-perfect for a slouchy beret. My other projects have been put on the back burner because of beret obsession, but hopefully that will subside tomorrow and I can get back to the Captain hoodie.

Plain Jane socks

2007-09-26T15:23:00.000-05:00

The socks that had been frogged, drowned, and rewound are now being made into standard plain jane toe up socks. This time I aim to work a reverse engineered heel flap à la cybersocks. Sorry to have no photos, but really I am only a couple of rows into the big toe, so frankly there is not much to see. I started with 8 stitches on each of 2 needles and increased at each end every row for a total of 24 stitches. I am now moving on to the increase one row do one row flat routine until it fits my toesies.

Happy Anniversary

2007-09-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

Today marks the second year of the Captain and I's blissful togetherness. So here's to you my love (imagine a champagne glass salute!). We had such a packed weekend that we haven't quite decided what to do yet. Incidentally the Captain had plans which may/may not work out. I for one had completely forgotten and thus had no plans working or not. Gotta love him!

This weekend was packed as I said. The cavalier broke, so we had to take it to the shop. That was after our lovely before breakfast bike ride to Harner's Restaurant for the best pancakes in town! The ride there is cruel due to lack of breakfast. The ride back is almost worse because your body is tired from the first leg and your stomach is fighting your muscles for blood supply as it wants to make use of the yummy pancakes. Sigh. From there we jumped the car and took it to the shop. A sore pocketbook later, we picked it up and began the massive spring cleaning/cooking/cleaning and waxing of cars. I somehow managed to finish the Watchcap for my dad, cast on Le slouch in Malabrigo chunky and play an inordinate amount of Final Fantasy XII.

Cher Baudelaire

2007-09-21T20:43:00.000-05:00

The Baudelaire socks are done! I got to wear them to work today. I really liked the pattern, but was not too jazzed by the heel and toe. They are not bad, just not my style. My heel is narrow, so I think I have to pick a construction that pulls in a little more in that area. They are very comfy though. Specs:
Pattern- Baudelaire by Cookie A (Knitty 2006)
Yarn- Rowan Classic Yarn cashsoft (bit of cashmere on the footsies)
Needles- US size one Clover bamboo

I was at Fringe for their knit night on Tuesday and they were having a 2 for 1 sale. These are the minds behind Dream in Color so I had to take a look. I managed to snag a skein of Malabrigo worseted (on the right) and a skein of DIC (left). I was informed that the DIC was a colorway that was not ultimately sold, so I guess I have a unique skein. As it has no color name or ball band, I am assuming these are sock weight and thus a pair of socks will be made at some point in time.
I also got my Ravelry invite! I signed up, ordered my super cool Beta tester special t-shirt ('I swatched Ravelry'- it cracks me up!). I am slowly adding pictures on there, so hopefully my sorry photography skills will start improving.

Concert weekend

2007-09-16T19:59:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun this weekend. Friday we pretty much hung out at the house, but saturday I met Luscious Luka in the city for the Renegade craft fair. Silk screen t-shirts and wacky stationary is really not my thing and the fiber artists were not really representing, but I did get some nice au natural artisanal milk soap. That night the Captain met up with us and we went to go see Ingrid Michaelson at Schubas tavern. I had only heard a few of her songs before, courtesy of the Cast On podcast, but she was really great. I love it when you can go to a concert and hear a wonderfully in tune singer. So many people these days only sound good with severe corrections to the vocals, that it is so refreshing to hear a true voice talent. So far today we have made a major dent in Final Fantasy XII. Sundays are awesome.

Super fun Trip

2007-09-10T13:36:00.000-05:00

We had a blast in Belgium. The vacation was realaxing, fun, and we even got a few really nice weather days while we were there. I got to eat my firt mittraiette (sp?), which was about as good as a Wendy's burger (basically french bread, mayo, chopped meat, lettuce, and french fries- yes on the sandwich). I ate steak, fries, tasted a vol au vent, drank great wine and went to a superb birthday party replete with homemade jam and crepes. That's me in front of the Basilisc for the Da Vinci exhibit. I have to say I was a bit dissappointed at the exhibit, but to be fair it had been really hyped to us by the paper and we went with too high expectations. If you just go to learn about his life and see some good works from his contemporaries, though, it will not dissappoint.

Once we got back we had some friends up for a baseball road trip. We saw the Cubs play as well as the Brewers. It was really good to see all of the Long Islanders again. Now it is back to work, which is good- I have more things to scientifically discover :-)

Camping Trip

2007-08-16T22:12:00.000-05:00

We went to Chain of Lakes State park with our new gear and bikes in tow. It was pretty cool. We got to see nature and ride our bikes with working restrooms and a place to get coffee nearby :-). The Captain got a nice fire going so we could cook the corn, potatoes, and lamb burgers. I worked on the watchcap for my dad and then we packed in for the night. I could not sleep well. I had a mat under my sleeping bag, so the old hips were doing alright. I know it 'looks' pretty tame and civilized in the photo, but it was much more wilderness than one petite tricoteuse is used to. The problem was that our neighbors were pretty near and nature is loud. Every few minutes I thought some beast (human or otherwise) was coming near our tent. I finally started drifting off when I noticed the fire had lit itself again. I roused the Captain and he put it out. This happened twice. It might have happened a third time, but at 2 am what appeared to be a MONSOON struck. The wind was blowing our tent sideways. The Captain had to rush out and collect the chair and blanket that was blowing away. We were at the lee of the tree so we didn't get too pelted with rain. (Boy am I glad that we decided to put the cover of the tent on. Even though it was sureley excessive since it was sunny and couldn't possibly rain *sheesh*.

To top it all off, there was a mosquito in the tent. We were so diligent about keeping the tent closed, but the Monsoon distracted us. I had 33 mosquito bites from the mid thigh down. The official count was made 2 days after the fact because my left heel was so puffed up that what appeared to be a giant bite was actually 7 individual ones. I am thankful that I have neither West Nile or Elephantitis. The nature seemed to love the rain storm. The caterpillar on our tent roof seemed quite pleased with himself.

It's summer time...

2007-08-08T21:51:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we helped Miss Luscious Luka move into her new apartment. It was really cute! Unfortunately the Captain had the graveyard shift the night before and was really sleepy- so sleepy, in fact, that he managed to impale the LCD of his phone into a dresser. Luckily he is way savvy and took the phone apart himself. He is waiting for the new LCD to arrive in the mail and will put it all back together- good as new. Most of the rest of the weekend was spent recuperating from the move.

Last night we went on a bike ride/picnic. Word to the wise: don't try to put a full size picnic basket on the back of your bike. It does not leave a bunch of room for your heinie, which is needed to cross-duh duh duhnnn- the bridge. I got my basket for my birthday from the Captain. We hadn't had a chance to use it yet, so when we decided to do a bike picnic I was very stubborn and we just had to take it with us. I think we are going to have to find another picnic spot to walk/drive to. (On a side note: while riding I kept thinking I was Miss Gulch and that Toto was going to jump out of the back of my basket. Oh and yes. I do know how white my legs are. I actually have a tan. Honestly!)

In knitting news... I have finished the toe on the second Baudelaire sock and am almost ready to begin the gusset increases. This second one is going a bunch faster because I have the chart memorized. Progress is being made on the hoodie for the Captain as well. It is being knit in KnitPicks CotLin in Nightfall. I cast on 198 stitches on US size 6 needles and did 2" of K2P2 ribbing. I switched to US size 7 needles and have been stockinetting ever since. I need to get to a total height of about 14" before I start deciding what to do sleeve wise. I am doing the back and the two front sides of the zip up hoodie as one piece for now and will separate it out when I get to the sleeves.

Bike Ride

2007-08-01T11:42:00.000-05:00

We are back safe and sound from NYC. I won't go into detail about the absurdity of domestic air travel. It really makes you appreciate Southwest Airlines when you have to fly on a different carrier. The sheer stupidity of their corporate machine makes me ill, so I will focus on better things instead.

First, I got a new CamelBak LUXE (courtesy of the Captain's parents) and so last night we went biking along the river to test it out. It was awesome. I did the best I have ever done on- duhn dhun dhun- the bridge. And I even managed to keep up with the Captain. We did a bit of exploring along the river and found a new path. We mapped our route when we returned: 15 miles in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not to shabby.

In knitting news, I cast-on the toe of the Baudelaire socks using Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On. She is right, worked perfectly the first time (unlike the figure 8 cast on which I re-did like 4 times on the airplane!) I hope to be able to start on the Summer Shawl tonight. I have the yarn, needles, and pattern... now I just need some time :-)

Ny, Ny

2007-07-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

Well kiddos, we are off in about 7 hours to New York, Ny to go see the Captain's parents. The bags are packed (as are the Baudelaire socks and the cross stitch stocking). I am very excited to go, but the icing on the cake is we get to go first class! I don't understand how the frequent flyer miles/trip/seat works- there are many levels and I feel mostly it is a craps shoot, but ça y est. Luckily I finished book 7 of Harry Potter last night, so I don't have to lug it around the airport. It was great- quite pleased with the ending and that is all I am going to say about it in case folks haven't finished yet.

My shawl yarn arrived from England. I am having trouble calling it yarn, since it is about the thickness of the embroidery floss I have been using. It is very pretty- check out the Colourmart website in the UK. They have some really nice stuff at great prices. I didn't want to start the Summer shawl till I got done with the mitts, but then Harry Potter arrived and I got sidetracked. Hopefully when I am back from NY I can get it started. A bientôt!

Boho Babies!

2007-07-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, I realize that I do not have a child and don't intend on having one at least until the Captain graduates. That being said... many ladies at SNBWB are knitting baby items- most of whom are not yet with child. M made a good point that when you are pregnant, you are probably not going to have time/strength/emotional stability to pick out patterns and yarn and knit in a timely fashion. How many baby sweaters can you really get done in 9 months? So what is wrong with a little proper prior planning? In an effort to have the coolest little cupcake on the block, I have pre-ordered the Boho Baby Knits book by Kat Coyle (the pic is the book cover). I can't get enough of the bobbled baby soakers- and the matching hats, which we will need a bunch of since we will probably go the cloth nappies route. In all honesty, this is my second baby purchase. I got the crochet patterns for making Winne the Pooh and Friends- I should probably get cracking on those as well.

Le premier c'est fini

2007-07-22T13:12:00.000-05:00

All three bookshelves that the Captain hand built are finished, and one has been fully sanded and stained. The other two are awaiting their turn. We only have a limited space on the balcony, so we have to do them one at a time. Number two should get started staining this evening. We didn't get much work done on them yesterday since we went to a BBQ at Jab (the place where the Captain goes to box). It was a really good time. All of the people there are super nice and friendly. It was just a pleasure to be there- we ended up staying for about 7 hours just chit-chatting with everyone and eating. There was so much good food that kept coming in every 20 min or so. I didn't know I could pack so much food into such a small belly.

I did get a bit more work done on the stocking before we left for the party. I hope to work on it a bit more today, but I just got the new Harry Potter book in the mail. I am trying to really pace myself on this one. I read the last one cover to cover in one day, but I knew there was a seventh book coming. Now... well this is the last one. I don't want to rush it because then it will be over. I guess then I can get back to the Song of Fire and Ice series (which I highly recommend). I just finished the reread of the second book to get me up to speed for book three. I guess it will have to wait till I finish HP though.

Endpaper Mitts

2007-07-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

I got a bottle of the Eucalan Lavender wool wash at my LYS the last time I went to try out. This stuff is great! It smells good, conditions the fibers, cleans them, has lavender as a natural moth repellent- and it is no rinse! To top it all off, it is an environmentally friendly product. The Endpaper Mitts I made for Mom took a refreshing dip in the Eucalan and now they are blocking to encourage all of the colorwork stitching to even out. This is my second colorwork project and this one turned out quite well. I figured out how to get my tension even (basically I had to make my right hand not behave like a total spaz). I hope she enjoys them and can keep her hands from freezing at work. Endpaper Mitt info:
Pattern: Eunny Jang
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss in black and serengheti
Needles: size 0 and 2 Clover bamboo DPNs

On the Needles

2007-07-18T13:15:00.000-05:00

Since my posting is erratic (I hope to get better) and my knitting projects get worked on in cycles, I thought I would give a simple update on progress.

Socks: One Baudelaire sock is almost complete-I need a few more inches on calf. The Diagonal Rib sock has been brutalized by the sink and has ceased to be. I have to figure out what to make out of that yarn now-probably another sock, but time shall tell.

Endpaper mitts (by Eunny): I only have about 10 more rows to knit, so I will hopefully post an FO soon.

Captain's hoodie: five inches in. I have about another 9-10 or so of stockinette before I have to do some math for the sleeve cap design

Equestrian Blazer: Back is done, sleeves are 1/2 way done after a frog and reknit due to a missed increase early on.

Spring Shawl: I have the pattern and needles... now I just have to wait for the yarn!

The Christmas stocking is nearing the 1/2 way done point. T-5.5 months left.

We got caught up last night on a few missed daily shows from when our pal was in town for a neutrino workshop. Well that and we got to the 1/2 way point on Prince of Persia Sands of time- I do recommend this game. Decent story, lots of things to figure out. The chick can be a bit annoying at times, but that is not unusual sad to say- at least she is wearing clothes.

Spring Shawl

2007-07-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

As you can see, the diagonal rib sock had a very difficult evening. It was very naughty. It stole 2 grams from its twin and therefore had to be frogged and washed out with soap. I still maintain that the diagonal rib is a beautiful pattern, but will it work with this yarn?

I got the pattern for the Spring Shawl in the mail. Really nicely written and I got a yarn sample card to boot. I ordered some cashmere/merino/viscose yarn today as well as some addi turbo lace needles. I can't wait to get the yarn in the mail and start on it!

In other non-knitting news, last weekend was the pitchfork music festival here in Chicago. Two days of concerts and surprisingly good food. We got to see the New Pornographers, Of Montreal, and De la Soul, among others. Hopefully we can go again next year, it was definately worth it.

Diagonal Rib Sock

2007-07-13T16:16:00.000-05:00

Sock #1 of the diagonal rib sock (Pattern is found at Knitting Daily) is completed. Obviously ignore the DPNs- I haven't kitchenered-off yet- oh and my computer cable (I am obviously not great at portraiting my shots). I don't know how I feel about this sock. It looked really nice in the photos, but on my foot it leaves a bit to be desired. I think it makes my foot look short and squat- ok this photo looks ok, but in real life... It is just a bit too big, i.e., it fits, but is not snug like a sock should be. I wear a size 5 1/2 really narrow, so it *shouldn't* make me look squat. I think the second problem is that the rib pattern stops too quickly. If you wear a size 8 or something, I am sure that the toe decrease section with lack of pattern is really nice looking, but on a size 5 1/2... As you can see in the evidence photo, almost 1/2 of my foot has no pattern. I feel that I may have to frogg- yes- frogg and entire sock and start from scratch. Hopefully the yarn will play nice after it has a bath .

P.S. Incidentally I am really digging how the sock looks in the photo. No ridiculousness, or big socks, or 1/2 my foot has no pattern antics. I think I have worked too much this week (but got alot done and I love my job) and I need to rest the eyes.

I have succombed

2007-07-05T18:27:00.000-05:00

I didn't want to do it. I have been fighting this for weeks. I fought getting a blog for some time but some people who will remain anonymous got me started. I told myself- 'no more of this internet crazyness'- I am on the computer enough as it is at work (physicist- go figure). I fended off the urge to sign up when M went on about it at Stitch the other night. I even managed to stave off insanity when The Harlot posted about this 2 days ago. Unfortunately I got on the computer at home: innocently to send an e-mail to a corporation that I value highly: Bare Necessities (they carry great stuff for my petite self) when BAM! My fingers slipped on the keyboard. Somehow the apple button and the T button are proximally too close. Well what am I going to do with a new Firefox tab? Well lets just see there- oops- how did this page load? And why am I signing up? I don't even have enough stash to post as pictures? Aren't I OCD enough without online organization charts and other bits of tomfoolery? Oh gosh- they will be sending me an e-mail when it is ready. Quick- take the laptop from me- no wait give it back- ahhhh.
Ravelry I think you should go to your room and think about what you have done. Oh but then you will just figure out how wonderful you are going to be with all the pretty photos and people to read about. Oh gosh. I am in trouble.

Happy Birthday America

2007-07-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this is a day late, and I have no photos, but Happy 4th! I got so much done yesterday while having a much appreciated holiday. Hemmed some pants, took in a skirt, got 1/2 of the other Endpaper mitt finished (see previous posts), and got a good chunk of the #1 priority Christmas stocking for mom done. The Captain and I had 2 friends over for a BBQ in the evening and we all popped in the car to watch the fireworks in downtown Aurora. We tried to catch the shuttle at the Aurora pharmacy, but there was so much traffic we knew we would never make it even if the shuttle came. We drove down to the hospital where there were a bunch of people staking out areas of grass. I had a feeling the view wouldn't be so great, so I persuaded the men folk to walk a few blocks towards the center of town. That ended up being a great idea (thank you, thank you, you're too kind) since we could then see both the Aurora and West Chicago fireworks at the same time. The West Chicago ones had many more of my favorite palm fireworks, but the grand finale for Aurora was really cool. Well... until all of the smoke started obscuring the view- they went a bit crazy! All in all it was a good day.

Back from France

2007-06-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

The trip to Grenoble, France to attend the first ever Protein Powder Diffraction workshop was splendid. I really learned alot, got to meet some great people, and eat great food to boot! I have a bunch of new ideas to try over the next few months at work, plus a new collaboration. It took me just about 24 hours to get to France, with a combination of late flights, ground crews on strike, and thunderstorms. I was soo tired and lost all of the spiney-goodness from my massage. I will just have to go back to get another one this week. On my way back, I bought a nice neck pillow in Munich- very large and squishy. I slept like a baby almost the whole way.

I was a bit worried that in my and the Captain's absences, our vegetables would not make it. But, behold- my first little bell pepper has decided to come into the world! It is so cute- I could just eat it, well I suppose I will be eating it when it gets a bit bigger. The lettuce is doing wonderfully as well and we should be set on that until the fall. The little grape tomatoes are also starting to pop in. Next year I will attempt to grow more veggies from seed to aid my cost/benefit ratio.

Unfortunately I don't have much on the knitting front to report. I had words with the wachman cap that I am making for my dad. I was trying to double knit the thing, but double knit in rib is a bit confusing. This being a watchman cap, it should be warm enough by virtue of the fold-over brim, so I think I will frogg it and begin again.

Shetland Lace

2007-06-19T11:03:00.000-05:00

Last night we had an impromptu Bachelorette party for M. She is getting married on Saturday to a real cutie, so to send her off in style we went to Houlihan's for martini and dessert flights. We broke off our normal Monday night stich group early, so everyone went to the restaurant with knitting in hand. Once we had our drink orders in, the stitching continued. Luckily our waitress was a crocheter, so she wasn't too weirded out. We had waaaay to much fun- knitters and 1/2 price drinks are a hilarious combo. We all took the quiz in the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules book (I am a sensei) and laughed so hard I feel like a got a great ab workout. Seriously I am a little sore today.

In other knitting news, I have finally found the perfect shawl pattern. After scouring the web for something that matched the picture I had in my head I found the Spring Shawl. It is perfectly beautiful, intricate, challenging, delicate, yet not 'I'm wearing a doily' tacky. Plus it is triangular and not square. The square shawls are pretty, but if I am going to spend all that time knitting something ornate, I don't want to have to fold it in half to wear it- thus obscuring the design- and I certainly am not the type to use it as a beadspread (well, that and the Captain would kill me if I even joked about putting lace on his manly side of the bed). I got some beautiful Skacel Italian Merino Lace from The Fold in grey. My overreaching ridiculously unattainable goal is to have this ready for my sister's wedding next summer (cf. the santa cross stich goal- I have a problem, I understand this, I seem to enjoy it in some macabre way, but really the patterns with copius fiddly-bits always seem to look the best, I don't set out to pick the most complicated thing- it just happens). The grey will go nice with the black&white bridesmaid's dress in case it gets chilly, but seeing as this is a Shetland lace pattern knitted on size 1s I am not going to hold my breath.

Christmas in June

2007-06-17T17:12:00.000-05:00

Today is a scorcher, but it is Christmas time indoors. I have put the cross stitch Christmas stocking for my mother in the #1 priority spot, since I have only 6 months to get it done. Progress is being made-lets see if I make it in time. Luckily I have not made too many mistakes to set me back.

Yesterday the Captain and I went to the Highland Games held in Oak Brook. Once we got into the church parking lot I heard a 'fancy seeing you here'- why it was Merrygentlemen!

She had pulled into the parking space right next to ours, which incidentally was a good thing since she had left her phone at home and we would have thus been unable to call her to find her among the droves of people there. We listened to some great music (one of the vocalists ate a cicada on stage-ewwww), had some meat pies (no cicadas there), and Merrygentlemen and I participated in the Women's Haggis toss competition. Luckily for us the epicurian monstrosity was mostly frozen and in a plastic bag. I had by far the shortest toss of the day at 17', but since I thought all I would be able to muster was 5', I was quite pleased. The winner was a big show off with a throw of 72', but I still have my ribbon for participating. The men's caber toss was nuts- though not really since almost all of the athletes had bike shorts on under their kilts. Shouldn't they be disqualified for that? There was even a 122 lb, 21' challenge caber that got flipped for a bottle of scotch. And to round out the day, the ambulance had to come 3 separate times during the rugby sevens competition- ahh rugby.

The New Bond

2007-06-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

Last night we finally got around to seeing Casino Royale (we had bought it, just never watched it). I have to agree that it is probably the best Bond flick of all time. I am glad that it finally put to rest my curiosity over who was behind James' durable emotional armor. We also found a cute little cantina with a patio near our place to grab some dinner and margaritas. We have both been swamped with work for the past week and a little salt and lime sure helped ease the stress. I really hope my refinement starts behaving at some point. I don't find its antics amusing.

WWKIP day

2007-06-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

I have a bunch to catch up on. The trip to Texas was awesome, even though it rained and we didn't get to go tubing. I got to see my parents and sister, my aunts, uncle and cute cousins, little Ayden and his family, and I got some really nice diamond earrings! Oh and Nancy Lou was there too. We even went to see Pirates of the Carribean at Alamo Drafthouse which is by far the best place to catch a flick. The trip was too short, but Labor Day is coming up soon.

This past weekend was World Wide Knit in Public Day, so the girls and I went to Millenium Park to represent. It was really nice and there were about 60 knitters/spinners in attendance. I really wish that it had been more widely advertised- we surely would have had more of a crowd. Maybe next year. Merrygentlemen, Lunar Llama, and I waited at the train station for the others and then we headed to the park. Some people were really interested in the knitters, whereas others were openly mocking. What was really nice was seeing a few crumb snatchers go up to the woman who was spinning and staring in awe. They were about as tall as the wheel and totally mesmerized by the color. After getting some sun (and some ice cream) we went on one stop of the Yarn Crawl to Loopy Yarns. I got some nice Bamboo yarn for some socks and an adorable lady bug tape measure.

As for updates: the Baudelaire socks are pretty in pink, but make me angry. I don't see how I can screw up a simply charted pattern so regularly, but it happens. I would like to blame the follow chart 'while at the same time' nonsense, but really that should not be too much to ask. To keep me motivated in periods of Baudelaire sorrow, I started the Diagonal Rib socks. I love the color changes on this yarn (Artful Yarns) and will have to get some more eventually.

Finally to round out the week, The Captain and his ingenuity managed to fit a rear rack on my non-standard but beautiful Raleigh Passage 4.0 bicycle. Now we can make use of my picinic basket some lazy Saturday.

Mahalo

2007-05-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

Aloha eveyone. I just found a new search engine (via a posting on Digg) that may prove quite useful: Mahalo. Unlike google, which is my mainstay, this search engine is more directory driven. Hard to explain, but you should check it out. More updates on the weekend in Texas later.

A tribute to Chris Jacobsen

2007-05-24T11:30:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to post in honor of my dissertation chair Chris Jacobsen. I arrived at work today to find a package waiting for me. Inside was a copy of the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony Program. He snagged me one to give to my parents because I couldn't make it there myself. The people in the Physics Department at Stony Brook University are so great. I wish I could do more for them than just sending a gift basket, but that will have to do for now. My last year of grad school was full of emotional ups and downs. It would have been all downs except for the great people in the Physics Dept., my family, and my rock: The Captain. I wouldn't have made it without their support, so I dedicate my 'Dr' to all of them.

Dress Shopping

2007-05-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

Miss Luscious Luka, LB and I went shopping for a hot little number for Luka to wear to a wedding this weekend. She was smokin' and I am sure she will catch the eye of a certain someone. Along the way we picked up some shoes- how did those get in our bags? (LB's were really cute- I should have gotten a matching pair.) I wish I could say I made a nice addition to my collection of cute heels, but the ones I bought are for tubing. That's right- tubing. I needed some good throw away shoes to wear while drifting along the Comal river while I am back home in Texas this weekend. Add to that getting to see the folks and my graduation party (Dr. Dr.)- I can't wait.

On the knitting front I am in the middle of the Baudelaire socks. I am still on the first sock- these toe up socks are different enough from cuff down that I am getting all befuddled. I never thought 5 DPNs were unwieldy until now. I feel like Edward Knitterhands, yet not as cool (hey, Johnny Depp is Johnny Depp in any costume). I am nearing completion of one project though(which helps distract me from the never ending Baudelaires). In honor of The Harlot and her love of yarn porn, here it is: the inside of the Endpaper Mitts. One mitt done, one to go- more pics to follow. (Ok, I know... I have a few more rows of ribbing to go, so it is still on DPNs, so this is a 'half of the inside of the mitt folded over', but you get the picture.)

Fall hoodie

2007-05-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that my new 'Bamboo Sisters' interchangeable needles arrived by post today- or at least that is when I went to the mailbox and found them there. They are really cool and come in a small portable case. They went on a crazy journey from Japan to America and were stuck in customs for a week, but they have arrived just in time to start the Captain's fall hoodie. I am going to try and use the new CotLin yarn from KnitPicks and a chimera of the Avast cardigan from Knitty and the Kangaroo hoodie from Purl Stitch. We will see how it goes. I have high hopes at the moment, but I know that much frogging may take place over the next few months.

I also stopped by Borders today and picked up Vintage Knits (along with a book for the Captain). The patterns are really well tailored and well accented with bits of embroidery. The Captain claims that most of the men's sweaters are a bit on the professorial side, but there were a few he was keen on. I will have to stop by the thrift store and see if I can scrounge up some wacky patterned skirts and pillbox hats to wear with some of these sweaters. I need to work on the sweater backlog before I get to any of those though. The back is done on the Equestrian blazer and one sleeve has been started, but I still have the 2,000 pound pink gorilla that is the Simple Knitted Bodice to contend with.

I have been tagged

2007-05-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

A big hello to Heather who tagged me for the 7 random facts list. I have seen this going around the blog-o-sphere and have thought: what would I write about. I suppose it is high time to stop pondering and start listing. Without further ado, here they are.

1) I sang at Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in my younger years. My dream was to become a professional performer, but I ended up a physicist- life is sometimes strange like that.

2) I have the same hip malady commonly found in Golden Retrievers: I was born with bilateral hip dysplasia. I am still waiting for suped-up bionic hips to come on the market, then my nickname Cylon 6 would be more apropos.

3) Speaking of Cylon 6, I love Battlestar Galactica. Adama Rocks!

4) We had a yellow-cheeked amazon parrot when I was little that used to sneak down the hall and steal my little sister's Barbies when she wasn't looking.

5) I used to live in a very small town in central Texas right on Medina Lake. We had a taxidermist, a veternary clinic, and an ice house (convenience store for all you yankees), but no grocery store or school. We had to drive an hour and a half into San Antonio for anything else we needed.

6) I have taken French lessons since I was 5 and have met the man of my dreams, who just happens to be Belgian. It looks like my life-long ambition to live in a French speaking country for a few years just might come true.

7) I am terribly afraid of heights. I abhor gondola rides, I dread wooden roller coasters, I don't even lean on the rails of our 2nd story balcony. Sure, the engineers did a good job in the initial design of said safety mechanism, but how can we be sure that over time it has not become structurally unsound? You could not pay me enough to step onto the glass observation deck over the Grand Canyon. I would probably pass out before I plummeted to my demise.

And there you have it- aren't you glad you asked? MB- you have been tagged.

All Done

2007-05-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

I don't have a pic for this one, but the kimono is all finished. I ripped back the bind-off and made both sides even (it is a gift after all). I did whip stitch seaming on the inside and turned it inside out so there is a finished seam on both sides which looks quite nice. I am opting out on the ribbon idea. I don't know if she is going to have a boy or a girl and I would hate to put ribbons on a little boy. I am going to go to the craft store and see if I can find a bit of velcro to sew on there. I also took Nadia's suggestion and did not seam all the way to the end of the sleeve. That way there is a 'decorative slit' and, quite frankly, it will be easier to put little baby fists through.

Kimono

2007-05-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

The baby kimono (from Mason Dixon Knitting) is nearing completion- probably and inch or two still remain on the right side. It seems that my measuring was off on the left a bit, since the bottoms don't line up too well. I have to decide whether or not to take out the bind off and add a few more rows, or to know that that is the piece that goes on the inside and let it be. This will be a gift for my friend Pam who is expecting in June. I hope the kid does not come early! I managed to get a good bit of it done today being hopped up on pain meds and muscle relaxants and therefore unable to go to work. I wish I could attribute the measuring error to being on flexerol all day, but alas, that mistake was made on Saturday in the car. Hopefully my neck will be all better by this weekend: I am being visited by Jenni, my friend from high school and I have to be in tip top shape to show her around Chitown.

The Fold

2007-05-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

Saturday the girls and I went on a knitting field trip to The Fold. It is a little shop in the middle of nowhere-Illinois, but they had a lot to offer. I came back with 2 skeins of socks that rock yarn from Blue Mountain fiber arts, a pink and green skein of miscellaneous sock yarn and a bunch of lace weight for a soon to be determined shawl. The best part of the whole trip was the button: I got a beautiful hand blown glass button, which will be the finishing piece for the Interweave Knits blazer I am making.

I went, later, to pick up a kitchen scale at the suggestion of Kris. I want to maximize the amount of sock yarn used per hank, but I don't want to run out mid sock, so to the scales it is. Incidentally, bringing two physicists to the store to buy a non-scientific scale is a bit of a fiasco. We were running conversion factors through our heads and even busted out the calculator at some point. One box claimed to measure 1/8 oz or 1 g. The other claimed to measure in increments of 0.05 oz or 2 grams! This did not compute of course since 1 g mathematically is equivalent to 0.03 oz. After about 15 minutes of frustration we realized that they were speaking of machine increments and not precision, which evidentally on different scales for the grams versus ounces. We thought it was funny.