Adventurista Knits

Some New Socks

2008-06-10T10:26:00.002-06:00

The long and the short of it is this: I decided to take a summer class so that when I took the fall semester off to go to Bhutan, I could be ahead of the game. The summer class is a pre-requisite I need for two spring semester classes. So, I’m in week five of a double-time, eight week course. And then I found out last week that the Bhutan trip will be postponed a year. Hmm….

Miraculously, though, I’ve been able to do some knitting. Some really fantastic knitting, on a project I’ve been dying to make since I saw it last year on Ravelry: Becca Compton’s Vinnland socks. I love the way the leaf motif sort of twists and weaves down the sock, and I searched high and low for the perfect yarn, which just happens to be Sundara’s sock in Black over Emerald. I am officially obsessed with Sundara’s yarns, after discovering them late last year. Absolutely obsessed!
This was my first time doing toe-up socks, socks on two circulars, and of course, using Sundara’s yarns. I loved everything and am converted! The toe-up construction is really neat, because you can get a perfect fit, and try them on the whole time without much trouble. The two circular method is fantastic, and while I even tried the Magic Loop for a few rounds, I prefer the two circs. My next lesson will be knitting two socks on two circs, although I will say with this pattern and yarn combination, Second Sock Syndrome was never a problem. In fact, I knit the second sock faster than the first.

I couldn’t really figure out the short-row toe, and the links on the Ravelry page for the Vinnland’s didn’t work, so I just did a Figure-8 cast on, which was really easy to figure out. The only problem I encountered was in the cast-off, because you need a REALLY stretchy end to the cuffs. After three separate attempts, I finally found the Modified Russian Bind-off, which was the perfect trick.So, today is June 10, and we’ve been having all sorts of freaky-cold weather. In fact, there is actually snow predicted for tonight. At least I’ll be able to wear my toasty-soft Merino socks!

Grad School is Sucking the Life Out of Me

2008-04-26T07:55:00.002-06:00

Oh wow. Doing my undergrad was never like this. I never had to study and stuff. Now? Heavens. There is no time for anything else!

It probably doesn't help that I've completely overbooked myself in many areas, I suppose. But there are only two more weeks left, and then I'm done for two semesters. I'm taking the fall semester off so I can go to Bhutan.

I have been knitting some, and I've been organizing a lot. Good things! More to come next week, I promise!

The Urge to Purge

2008-03-14T21:56:00.004-06:00

Is everyone in the world suddenly getting the organization bug? It sure seems like it. Or maybe it’s like when you buy a new car, and suddenly it seems like the whole world is driving the same thing. The more I get on with my organizational aspirations, the more I notice others’ blogs, books, magazines, articles, etc. about the same.

This weekend, I am tackling one of the biggest issues hanging over my head: all the stuff I moved and never unpacked. Well, never officially unpacked—I’ve been trying to find things here and there and it’s become a big disaster. A big disaster that is supposed to be my knitting/studying/office area, except that you literally can’t walk into it.

I’ve had really good intentions. I’ve thought about it a lot. Maybe I just needed that little carrot? Well, the carrot found me, in the form of a gorgeous black lacquer desk. Here's a photo, from a magazine:
I was browsing/shopping a couple of days ago in lieu of studying for my math exam, and found this amazing desk. It’s a secretary style with a pull-down panel, and the inside is full of little drawers and cubbies all in the most brilliant RED! I knew from the moment I saw it I had to have it. I talked to the saleswoman about it, and she mentioned offhand that it was a really good deal. I went home and looked it up online… It was originally $2400—yikes, this one was $249. I bought it, and we’ll pick it up sometime this weekend.

As soon as I (ahem) make some room available for it. And so, my weekend of de-stashing, purging, de-junking has begun!

Reminisce

2008-03-12T23:00:00.005-06:00

I promise I have some knitting and adventures to show you, and if the sun would just come out for a few minutes, I could take some pictures of the knitting! Until then, a little wedding inspiration for Åsa, who wants an American-style wedding in Sweden. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, Åsa!

September 30, 2006
Mountain River Ranch, Idaho, USA

New Knitty: Sophisticated Spring

2008-03-11T23:07:00.002-06:00

Amy published the Spring 2008 issue of knitty.com today, and I have to say, this may be one of my favorite issues yet. The designs are so sophisticated and polished. I think that knitwear design is really starting to come into it's own lately. The bar seems to have been raised quite a bit in the past several months as knitters want more and more wearable designs, current but classic pieces in luxury fibers.

I've also never been one for a lot of summer knitting, preferring rich wools, cashmeres, and tweeds for fall on winter to settle on my needles, but lately, I'm getting excited by some of the possibilities in design as well as some of the fantstic yarns. I'm considering a few of knitty's newest:

Yosemite is a very sexy, form-fitting little knit, isn't it? The mini faux-cable/rib is nice and looks like it would have a lot of stretch (and designed with seven inches of negative ease, I suppose it would!).

I also really like Honeycomb, though maybe for something to knit for the fall. I am in love with Silky Tweed and Silky Wool anyway, so this could be another possibility and looks like it would be a quick weekend knit.

The Salto socks are interesting...still trying to decide if the pattern grabs me. They'd be great with some really tweedy yarn. Again, more for fall than spring.

I think I really like Marjorie, too. For my body type, this would provide all-important waist shaping that sometimes gets lost with boxier designs. I like the slight throwback to retro without seeming too "costume-y" and the alpaca looks so soft and luxurious.

Well, these will all have to be on the back burner for now. I have a big weekend project planned, and in the meantime I also have to study for a math test (ugh). Besides that, I have a few lingering UFOs that really need some TLC.

Two Lipsticks, a Lover, and Don’t Forget the Matching Knickers

2008-03-06T21:05:00.003-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to interview Helena Frith-Powell, author of, Two Lipsticks and a Lover, Ciao Bella: In Search of My Italian Father, More More France Please, Armas De Mujer/ Be Incredibly Sexy, and Everything You Need to be Impossibly French. Helena has a new book coming out soon, entitled, To Hell in High Heels, which will be released soon (and can currently be pre-ordered on Amazon).

Helena began her career at a young age in modeling and fashion design, later working as a journalist for a financial magazine and then as a recruiter. Helena began writing again after her move to France, and Is a regular contributor to The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and other magazines and newspapers.

While you may recognize her as a best-selling author, what you may not know is that Helena has just opened a rejuvination spa in the south of France, aimed at providing a restful retreat for women. The spa, called Renew Retreats, caters to a vacation-style setting, and is the result of Helena’s partnership with yoga teacher and psychotherapist Anna Cooper and holistic dermatologist, anti-ageing expert and nutritionist Tina Richards.

Helena says about the spa, “This is a different kind of retreat because it takes into account not just your looks, but your diet, your mindset, your everyday skincare routine, your style, grooming and exercise. It is designed for your well-being on a mental and physical level. But unlike superficial anti-ageing treatments like Botox, these therapies go deep under the skin to renew and revitalise.”

Given that Helena and I live about as far apart from each other as two people possibly can, we conducted our interview via email. Even over the written word, I could immediately tell how witty and funny Helena is, and how calm and centered, too. It did make me wonder if this part-time Pilates teacher needs to leave to full-time rat race and work in a spa, too. Below are the results of our interview:

Q How has your perception of French women has changed since you wrote your books, “Two Lipsticks, etc.” If you were to write the book today, what would you add/remove?
A Yes, my perception has changed in two rather different ways: One, I realise that they are even more perfect than I first thought they were in the major cities, but also that they most of them simply couldn't care less in the countryside. They even wear slippers to the shops!

Q Is it really that difficult to make friends with French women? How did you meet with the French women she knows today? What do they do when they get together?
A It is very difficult. Where I live, I have one French friend. I met her through her husband who makes a wine I became addicted to and wanted to introduce to a friend who runs wine bars in London. French women don't tend to get together in the way we do, they don't really seem to enjoy each other's company on the same scale.

Q Have French women approached you about your books? If so, what have they had to say about her description of them?
A All the criticism I have had has come from French women! They don't like to be pigeon-holed and hate the cliche that they are faithless and obsessed with they way they look. But as I always point out, cliches start somewhere!

Q What would you say the biggest pitfall or misconception American and British women have about French women?
A That they are rude. This is of course true of some of them, but really at worst they can be described as haughty.

Q How would you define that certain je ne sais quoi that French women seem to possess? Can it be taught? How (if at all) can it be achieved outside France ?
A I would define it as an inner confidence that comes from growing up in a country where women are revered. The symbol of France (Marianne), is a woman, for example. I also think it comes from knowing you are making the best of yourself, mentally and physically, and yes of course anyone can do that.

Q What misconceptions do women outside of France have about the slimness of French women? How do you feel about this slim reality/ideal?
A The slim ideal is changing, sadly. But still, French women are much thinner than their UK counterparts. I once asked an Englishman who lives in Paris what the main difference between a French and an Englishwoman is and he said "about 10 kilos."

Q This is the “desert island” question: if you had to leave France for an extended period, what would you stock up on before you left? What types of skin care, food stuff, clothes, underwear, something else?
A Matching underwear! That's the first thing. Then some of the wine mentioned above, lots of sunblock, moisturizer and bath oils. As I write about beauty, the products I use are not by any means exclusively French. My total favourites are both American: Philosophy and Laura Mercier.

Q What is your favorite piece of clothing or outfit? How has your wardrobe changed since moving to France ?
A My favourite piece of clothing at the moment is a small furry waistcoat my husband bought me in a local underwear shop for Christmas. I think you're meant to wear it in bed over your pyjamas but I wear it all the time. Yes my wardrobe has changed radically! I was told I was eccentric when I first came here so I think I am more classic now, I tend to look at Elle every week to see what's going on.

Q What are the advantages for her children of attending French school? what are the disadvantages?
A The advantage is discipline, the disadvantage is that they grow up thinking Napoleon was a good bloke!

Q What are your favorite French film(s)? French actress, actor and/or director?
A I have to admit I find most French films totally incomprehensible but I do love Jules & Jim and Belle de Jour. I think Juliette Binoche is my favourite French actress, she is so naturally beautiful and difficult to deal with - very French.

Q What French traditions have you and your family taken up since moving to France ? What traditions have you dropped? What French traditions do you not bother with/understand/ dislike?
A We always eat at midday now and we have bread with every meal. We no longer have a traditional English Sunday roast every Sunday. I quite like the French rhythm of life, how everything shuts for lunch, some expats find that infuriating but I think it's very civilised.

Q What are your favorite Parisian shops/department stores/food havens? What do you buy when you visit them?
A Galleries Lafayette - the biggest underwear space in the whole of Europe and thousands of creams. Chantal Thomass (also underwear) very Parisian and intimate. The classic food haven Hediard near the Place de la Madeleine, an Aladdin's cave of goodies.

Q What do you miss about the UK/British culture?
A The sense of humour, flexibility, friends, M&S, Waitrose.

Q How difficult was it to move to France? In general, the logistics of it. Is it easy to be a resident of another country and take up residence in France ?
A Very easy, now it is even easier, there is no need for a carte de sejour even.

You can find out more about Helena’s spa here:
www.renewretreats.co.uk

Helena’s blog and more information about her can be found here:
www.helenafrithpowell.com

© Anna Larsen 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Au Revoir, February!

2008-02-29T19:19:00.005-07:00

I do not heart February 2008. It was a bad month. I think I had five separate floods at the Pilates studio to deal with, the furnace at our house went out (on a Saturday night, no less, when they charge $120 just to pick up the phone), work was completely overbearing, graduate school is kicking my butt, and an old friend from college passed away.

I found out about my friend in a strange way: she works for the University, and as I was downloading some slides for my Operations Management class, I saw an announcement that the flag had been lowered for the students at NIU, and also for the woman who was one of my best friends when I was an undergraduate. It was quite a shock, and I have to say, I didn’t fully believe it until I found her obituary. Our lives took different directions in the years since, and I hadn’t actually talked to her for a long time.

It’s a strange thing to have an old friend suddenly die, especially one who is so close in age. These kinds of things always make you think a little, about your own life, where it’s going, and wondering what her life was like in the past few years as well.

Turns out that she and her husband (I knew them both in college) were in the finishing stages of what could only be described as building their dream home. I found the house after a Google search, and it was remarkable, especially for two people with rather modest jobs. Absolutely no detail was left to chance; you could see that every room, door, wall, floor, and fixture was carefully planned around their tastes and styles. With a fantastic view and special touches, it will be a beautiful house.

I am so sad for her husband; what a tragedy to suddenly find their dream shattered. As I said, the circumstances have really let me reflect on my own life. Not so much in that “I must start living” thing, because I really do feel like I live my life to the fullest extent, but in the way that I want to think about how I live, and be somewhat more purposeful about that. I know that I wouldn’t want that particular “dream home,” because for me, part of the dream is not being at home so much. My tastes are really much simpler-sparser- than those of my old friend. When I really think about where and how I want to live, I feel more comfortable in monastic surroundings. I like whitespace. Or maybe just space.

The problem with this scenario is the fact that even after multiple moves (and subsequent purges) to increasingly smaller living spaces, I have so much stuff. Maybe it’s a symptom of being so busy and doing so many things (I think we have seven or eight pair of skis between us, not to mention equipment for beer making, cheese making, soap making, all the accoutrements for knitting, sewing, and other hobbies and enough of my clothes to outfit a village), maybe it’s that my mom keeps giving me stuff or I keep getting stuff, but whatever it is, it doesn’t fit my preferred style of living.

So, I’m giving myself a deadline: I really need to get rid of everything I don’t want or use anymore by June. Considering that school is on overdrive until the first part of May and we have a major audit coming up at work in June, the next three months are going to be crazy. Hopefully I’ll have some spare time for stress-relief knitting!

A Valentine Tradition and New Project!

2008-02-17T20:30:00.002-07:00

I don't remember exactly when this tradition started, but probably the second year that my husband and I were dating: he took me snow camping for the first time, and it just happened to be Valentine's Day weekend. Now most people proably wouldn't consider snow camping to be at the height of a romantic getaway, but we kinda like it. We go to our favorite hot springs, Gold Bug, which means that if you get cold, you just have to hike "upstairs" (it's quite a huff, actually) to the most beautiful hot pools.

Sadly, this year my knees just wouldn't cooperate. I thought I'd be okay, but three months and one day after surgery, I guess I expected too much. I couldn't even carry my backpack the whole way (and I'm sure having crampon's on my feet didn't help). Thank goodness for my wonderful husband who not only carried my pack, but stayed with me in the tent while I just slept and slept. Bummer, but at least it was a good hike and a fun time in the tent. This is Kodi and me, looking out the next morning:
And now, for some knitting. Well, as you might expect, there's been a fair amount of de-stress knitting going on amidst all the school and studio-flooding mayhem (I think I've had three total floods so far, although I'm losing count...not to mention a power outage and THEN the furnace in our house went out Saturday night...sheesh!). So, I've been doing a lot of knitting that I haven't told you about, and I've been buying yarn like there's going to be a shortage soon, but this is a much-anticipated project. Ever since I saw the Interweave Knits Spring Preview and the Auburn Camp Shirt by Chrissy Gardiner, I've been waiting no-so-patiently for the issue to come out.

I love the pattern, and was actually thinking of hand-dying some yarn especially for the project (see, there's something else I haven't told you about!), but when I actually saw the yarn, and saw the exact color I wanted, well, I was sold! The yarn is Naturally Dawn, a 50/50 blend of merino and silk, and is a soft, floppy, totally gorgeous pile of fingering-weight bliss that I'm about to use for a sweater. Well, leave it to someone who brilliantly designs socks to make a sweater out of the same weight! But, oh, is it lovely!
The color is so perfect for a summer knit--with a bit of a tan, it will make my eyes just pop. I can't wait!

Where does all my time go anymore?

2008-01-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, where does the time go? I have a few posts about the Bahamas almost written and the pictures almost ready, and it seems like old news now. I have a special present to show you, new yarns to share, and some exciting and fun adventures to tell you about, and still, it seems like there's no time!

Today was spent recovering from a fun weekend, only to find that my Pilates studio FLOODED due to a leaky roof. Apparently my landlord spent his weekend spreading ice melt all over the roof...brilliant. Darling husband wet-vac'd everything while I taught a class at the local college, and now I just want to fall into a hot bath and a soft bed. Sigh....

Breathless, but back!

2008-01-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well, after a whirlwind trip to the Bahamas (I'm still trying to get all the photos in order), it's back to reality. Ugh. And reality it is: working a full forty a week again, and happily, teaching Pilates again; I missed my students! My MBA classes start again this week, too, which puts me in full swing.

I did some Bahamian-style knitting while I was gone (you know, on the beach, frosty beverage in hand), but I still haven't taken pics yet of the finished product. We ended up getting back Sunday night at midnight, then to work the next day...of course I caught the obligatory plane cold on the way back which put me out of it for the rest of the week. I'm finally feeling like myself.

There is going to be a lot of knitting going on, too. I've used some Christmas yarn money on a bunch of different stash-enhancements, and I still have a gift certificate for KnitPicks that I haven't made a decision about, but I'm leaning toward the options needle set. Maybe. It's so hard to choose, isn't it?

I do have a complaint about some of the sites I've been buying from. I placed three orders with three separate stores who showed stock on hand, but then came up empty. In this day and age, I think that's just lazy, and really irritating to boot. One company showed 72 of something I wanted for weeks...and then when I ordered 8, suddenly they'd sold out. They tried to tell me that they sold out that day--I doubt it. Of the eight separate lots of yarn I ordered, they only had one in stock...which they informed me about two weeks after I ordered. Grr.... Same thing with the two other places. I'm starting to get really grumpy about trying to order yarn.

In the meantime, while the yarn I was actually able to procure is on it's way, I've been making myself happy with a little scarf project. I've been seeing so many great versions of "My So-Called Scarf" that I just had to try it, and I found some great yarn while out doing some shopping the other day. It's just the thing to cheer me up, unfortunately, there's only about twenty minutes of light these days, so I'll get a picture posted tomorrow.

Don't worry, lots of great Bahamas stories to tell, and some more knitting coming, too!

New Year::New Promise::New Fun

2007-12-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love New Year's Eve! Like most Americans, the promise of a fresh start is just too much to resist and I always make resolutions. I think it's such a great thing, because how often do we really sit down and take inventory, decide to make changes, and often, document them in some way (even if it's just on the back of the bar matchbook while swigging down champagne).

I had a pretty good year in 2007, and kept a lot of my resolutions. I had a goal to knit more, and I sure did. Wow, what a great year for getting back to my knitting! It really started during my kayaking trip to Lake Powell, Thanksgiving 2006, when I took a couple of balls of yarn and some random needles to make a hat and scarf. Then, during our honeymoon in January I knit the Sunrise Circle Jacket and some fingerless gloves. After a mini-hiatus during the spring semester, things really took off. I even designed my first pattern, Powdered Courage. So, yeah, the New Year brought some great things.

I have so many things I want to do in 2008. Knitting, is of course, at the top of my list, as well as more designing (so hard to find time for both!). I'm starting to gett into my coursework for my MBA, and I want to start the advanced certification for Pilates (having taught mostly matwork for two years, and really getting into the equipment). I also want to write more, and start some other crafts like woodworking and yarn spinning and dyeing. Speaking of spinning, I also want to get in great shape now that my knees are finally healthy again, and my husband and I are talking about starting a spinning class together. There's also a Pilates studio in Pocatello that has a spinning studio that is geared more toward mountain biking, and even my physical therapist is talking about joining me. Oh, and behold: my surgeon is impressed with the Pilates and wants private lessons starting in January. Wow.

One of the biggest knitting projects I have planned for the New Year is my Elizabeth Zimmermann Almanac project. After reading the book and seeing how brilliant the projects are, not to mention wanting to expand my own skillset, I kept wanting to start a year long project. I hemmed and hawed for quite a while, but when I saw others on Ravelry wanting to do the same thing, I went ahead and made the jump. Our group is here, if you're a Raveler, and to date we have over 160 members, just chomping at the bit for January to start!

There are other things I want to do, specifically travel, and I'll start that out with a bang spending the New Year holiday in the Bahamas. I'm also planning an October trip with a woman I met in Thailand--we're going to Bhutan. I can't wait for that trip--we're already starting our planning, and I'm reading a lot of books. And I've got a few knitting projects lined up for the trip, natch. Among other things, I want to change or improve certain areas of my life, such as:

I need more sleep. Going to be at midnight and getting up at four probably isn't good for anyone. My goal is to go to bed at the same time as my husband (around 10)

I need to take my contacts out each night. Supposedly. In eighteen years I haven't had even the slightest hint of an eye infection, and I wear them 24/7/90-ish, but nevertheless, it's not a bad idea to take them out (or will my eyeballs go into shock?!)

I need to get my VMO's and knees in shape for trekking the Himalayas. Lots more Pilates, lots more biking.

I want to get over my perfection streak with knitting, so I can actually get some projects finished instead of constantly ripping them out because I find a little mistake.

I want to reduce my level of consumption (sounds so earthy-trendy, doesn't it?) and start making many of the things I normally buy, and start buying services instead (thinking specifically in regard to housekeeper and masseuse...)

There are other things too, which I'll have to get to later. I've already blown the "go to bed earlier" and "take out contacts" resolutions. But hey, it's officially 11:40 pm on December 30...I've got a whole day and twenty minutes to get it right!

Have a wonderful New Year, and I'll see everyone in a week!

Hot and Cold

2007-12-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Or maybe that should be cold and hot...anyway, those are the adjectives of the week for my vacation! We spent some very cold days at my in-law's cabin with seventeen (17!) of his closest relatives. My heavens, it's a lot of people. There are two things that constantly confound me when we have these little (big?) get-togethers: first of all, how little food they eat. It's not as if everyone is on a diet or anything, and I'm sure it's just that I'm used to feeding, two people, four at most, so I imagine that we need some kind of medieval banquet table set up, but it's still somewhat amazing to me, nonetheless.

The second thing that I just don't get is how much hot water is in that place! Showering 17 people takes an amazing amount of hot water, I would think, and with half of them being teenagers --what is it with teenagers taking 45 minute showers, anyway? Never mind, I probably do NOT want to know-- well, anyway, it's pretty cool that I was able to get hot showers.

The best part about the cabin trip this time was that my niece wanted to learn how to knit. I brought some sock yarn and some other wool and needles to start the swatch cap for my Elizabeth Zimmermann Fishtrap Aran, but Katie asked if I could show her how to knit, so I gave her the wool for it instead (I mean, who wouldn't, after all!). I worked on my sock.

I didn't have a pattern book with me, so she got to learn the "real way." I had her start a swatch, and she did both knit and purl, to test her mad knitting skillz. She actually did really, really well and seemed comfy with it, so I went bold and after we measured her test swatch and head, had her do a little cabled hat. Cables! In the round! Look at the girl go!

It took her two days, and we stayed up until about midnight, finishing it with a twisted rope and tassle (both her idea, because she wanted the rope to repeat the cables--brilliant!)

When we were just about finished, she looked at me and said that she hadn't been this excited by something in a long time. Woot! A knitter is born!
Kodi, meanwhile, spent nearly all his time outside, completely in his element. He even stayed the night outside (he wouldn't come in at night--although I suspect he didn't sleep, and hasn't gotten up since we came home last night!). He even caught a Pine Grouse, much to the admiration of the other three dogs (don't worry, it got away and only left a couple of feathers behind).
Here he is, waiting for the kids to come out so he can chase them down the hill on the sleds. I love it when he gets all squinty-eyed in the snow. Such a handsome boy. He was actually even sleeping--not under any shelter, mind you, but in the snow, with more snow falling on him. The other dogs are a bit more fair-weathered types, and stayed indoors as much as we'd let them.
So on to the hot part...tomorrow, we're off to the Bahamas! Yea! I picked up a couple of new swimsuits and some sunscreen today at Tahr-jhay, and have been frantically trying to find my shorts, tank tops, and sandals. I'll post some sun-and-sand when I get back, since the resort doesn't have wireless Internet. I kept joking that the best part about a trip to the Bahamas is that all you have to do is run home, grab your bikini bottoms, throw 'em in your purse and you're off! My husband laughed and said that as long as you have your passport and a credit card, all you have to do is get on the plane. Good point, I suppose. But what about lip gloss? Hmmm...

One More Day to Go...

2007-12-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Just one more day, then I get holiday vacation until January 7! I can't wait. Work just killed me today--same old mundane, annoying stuff, but I felt like I almost couldn't take another problem. Everyone pushes everything off until the last minute. I remember last year, working on Christmas eve for two rush issues, trying to call people and finding out that they were on vacation. Ha! That won't be happening this year.

I also have my Econ final tonight (at 8:00 pm...strange time). I'm halfway not even really studying. I'm tired, I'm pouty, and I'm tired. But just one more day...

My fabulous husband is trying to find a little vacation for us, since we can't ski or snowshoe or go snow camping or anything fun right now. Might as well go lie on a beach. The travel agent just called and is trying to find us a nice little bungalow somewhere, so our fingers are crossed. My ultra-white body could use some sun anyway.

Sometimes I just crack myself up...

2007-12-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about something I wrote the other day, about making Christmas ornaments for everyone at work. Huh? Who do I think I am? Did I honestly believe that I could make little miniature stockings, hats, sweaters, and mittens? Now?

Oh yes, I did. I even bought the yarn for them. Which was promptly exchanged today for sock yarn...for a marvelous sock pattern that I thought of last night. But I have plenty of time for those.

You know, Elizabeth Zimmermann was right: Christmas "Fiddle Faddle" should be made in August. Mittens should be made in April. It's just too stressful to think about making something when you actually need it.

Which brings me to my Bird in Hand Mittens. They haven't been worked on in at least a week because I've had to write two term papers, work, teach Pilates, study for two tests...what else? Oh, my husband has the flu, so I've been on soup-and-crackers patrol, too (not that it's too hard). And I thought I'd have time to make Christmas ornaments! Boff!

Mitten, Mitten, Who's Got the Mitten?

2007-12-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

I lost my mitten! Actually, I think I know where it is...

Today was my first day back at work (boo!), and so I had to go to medical to make sure that my leg hadn't fallen off in the past two weeks, and that I was truly fit for "light office duty." Apparently, I'm only fit to do it 4-6 hours of it per day, which is terrific, because I have so much more knitting to finish before I will allow myself some new projects! And so, I took my mitten with me because I knew I had a two-hour wait to see the doc, and I think I left it there in the exam room. At least I'm pretty sure. Hoping. That mitten is almost finished, so it better be there.

But I started working on my stripey sock again, and I love it this time! The ribbing gave it that "K-Mart" quality (not that there's anything wrong with that), that didn't quite accomplish what I had in mind, but straight stockinette is much better:
I'm a firm believer in having two projects going at all times: something interesting that takes some concentration, and something mind-calming that you can do it the dark, if need be. Ah...socks in stockinette. Perfect.

My only problem right now is that Ravelry can really cause some sensory overload! I'm going bananas thinking of all the projects I want to do (and I haven't even taken pics and posted the ones I have done!). So many things....so little time. And it's about to get littler, for the next couple of weeks, too. But then we get our Christmas break (17 days! Woohoo!).

This week is about to turn crazy-busy, too. I have to run a board meeting tomorrow morning, Christmas parties Thursday and Friday, birthday party out of town on Saturday, then Saturday night is a fundraiser for a new climbing gym on the OTHER side of the state. We'll be driving about 550 miles Saturday, all told. Oh, and I need to make cookies for the annual Christmas cookie/ornament exchange at work. I'm planning to make little tiny mitten ornaments for everyone, but I have a back-up plan to buy stuff, too.

The Christmas exchange cracks me up. Every year, we all make these grand plans at around Halloween to have a handmade cookie/ornament exchange. Then every year, almost everyone buys their ornments and a few even buy their cookies. Two years ago, I was up until 3 am, making Petite Pains au Chocolat, after having driven to the store for the fourth time buying more ingredients and glue (for the ornaments). My then boyfriend (now husband), just looked at me the next morning, all bleary-eyed, and asked, "Why on earth are you doing this?" I screamed, "Because it's FUN!!!!" We still laugh about that.

Congrats to Marsi for naming Ferris Beuhler's Day Off! If you email me your address, I'll send your prize!

Oh, the Temptation...

2007-12-03T20:13:00.001-07:00

Oh, look! My Beaverslide wool came today, and it's luscious!
I so want to start a new project right now. I've been petting and smelling it all afternoon (it smells so good and wooly). The brown with that very light green is amazing...and the yarn is so soft and so light for being so rustic and tweedy. "If you have the means, I highly suggest it." (name the movie that belongs to that quote and I'll send you a prize!). And then go here and get yourself some of this luscious tweed.

Is That a Frog in Your Pocket?

2007-12-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

I've been in a bit of a frogging mood lately. Actually, I've been making a lot of mistakes lately! Remember this sweater? With the really difficult braided cables? Guess which part I kept messing up? The basketweave panels on the sides. The heathered yarn really covered it well, but then it started bugging me, and when I did get one of the cables wrong in the second big repeat, well, I frogged the whole thing. I guess I just want it done right.
And then these socks...sigh...I loved the yarn. Loved it! Until I started knitting it...I put some ribbing in, just a little subtle rib, but it completely messed with the yarn striping. I'm one of those people who just doesn't like color verigation with pattern. For me, it's either/or. I started noticing the problem right away, but figured it wouldn't bug me, until I finally did get to the straight garter stitch on the heel and sole. and really loved how that was turning out. So, I asked some opinions (it looks fine! all that work!), took a picture, and will be frogging this afternoon. There's not all that much work in it, and isn't it better to have something I actually like instead of something that "could've been?"

And not only that, but I actually LIKE knitting! It's not a race for me to see how many things I can finish, it's a process that relaxes and inspires me. Ripping something out, in a way, is like a fun "do-over." And it's sort of like getting a yarn freebie. Besides, I just found out that I don't have to go back to work today! Yea! It was supposed to be my first day back after knee surgery, but darn it, the medical department is booked and can't schedule me for a re-entry interview. Rats. What will I do?

Bird in Hand Mittens!

2007-12-01T15:38:00.001-07:00

Yea! Kate Gilbert's new "Bird in Hand" mitten pattern is ready, and not a moment too soon. We've had a skiff of snow for the past couple of days, but man, is it cold outside! Brrr.... Aren't they cute, though? I love the colors and the graphics, and they're fun to knit, too. I've heard a few comments about people wanting to make them but being put off by the colorwork, and I have to say, with worsted yarn at this gauge, it's nearly impossible to get it wrong. The stitching is super-tight, so you don't have to worry about gaps between colors, and the interchanges are close enough that you're not carrying colors forever across the back, either. Just be sure to keep it loose on the "corners," if you're using DPNs, and you should be fine.

Another great thing about the colors and the gauge is that these mittens will be warm and toasty! And they're so fun too look at, too. I can't wait until I can start my blue/white pair (as if I need another project, what with finals coming up and all).

But I've also been working on more of these:
Aren't they fun? I love all the colors and the wooly-felty-ness about them. I'm trying to make five each day so I can make some necklaces out of them. They're just the kind of thing you need to warm up a grey, mid-winter day when the snow starts to get all bleh. They should be ready by then.

I'm going to cozy up tonight and drink some Wassail. If you want to join me, here's the recipe:

2 cups apple juice
2 cups apple cider
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
3 cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
1 whole allspice berries
dash mace

Mix everything in a saucepan and heat to simmering. Ladel into mugs and sip while sitting under blankets, knitting and/or watching movies. Or snow fall.

Patience...

2007-11-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

So, it's really hard to be patient, though, when you have all these colors just begging to be these mittens! Aren't they cute? I love them! I can think of about ten of my friends/family who would love them, too. Kate says she'll have the pattern ready soon, and thank goodness because we have a long, grey, snowy weekend ahead of us here. Perfect weather for knitting!

Her Loss...My Gain!

2007-11-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

A woman who takes my Pilates classes mentioned the other day that she has a bunch of yarn left over from when she used to weave and would I be interested in any of it? Um....that's like asking Kodi if he wants a chewy! Yes! So, I got to go over to her house last weekend and peruse the stash. I picked out a few things:

Really rustic, pretty tweed wool. The color is sort of a greyish-brown, and the yarn is very coarse. I do think it will soften up a lot with washing, because just swatching it made it softer. I think it might make a nice hat or something.
And this gossamer silk is so beautiful. It's handspun, and just gorgeous. I have no idea what I might do with it, but I love it.

She had a few skeins that would be perfect for some raggy-wool socks, too. It's handspun, from a company in New Hampshire that I have no idea whether it exists anymore (this stuff is about 20 years old). It smells soo good, though, with all the lanolin. This is the forest green:
And then there were a couple shades of purples, this one being a true purple:

And a little bit bluer purple with tweedy flecks:
Not only that, but I have two shipments of yarn coming, one from Beaverslide and one from Bare Sheep. Yikes!

Powdered Courage! A Felted Chalk Bag

2007-11-22T23:22:00.001-07:00

I just finished the pattern notes for this project and have to share--it's a felted chalk bag I like to call "Powdered Courage." I was sort of out for the climbing season this year, but I went along and took my knitting with me, and came up with this little bag for next year!

I made it so the draw cord also becomes the loop to attach the bag to your harness. Pretty convenient, huh?
The size is perfect for anyone's hand, and the inside is all nice and felty so you don't even need a fleece liner in it.
It knits up pretty quickly, and is also a great stash buster/scrap buster. Perfect for a little Christmas gift, too--just stuff some passes to the local climbing gym inside and voila! No Black Friday 4 am shopping for you! If you want the pattern, I'll send it to you for free. Just email adventurista_knits AT yahoo DOT com
(And for the Paul Harvey fans, here's "the rest of the story." So, I had knee surgery in May, which completely blew out my climbing or just having fun for the season, but I went to most of the climbs and just took knitting along. Hence, the knitted chalk bag. Okay, so I wanted my husband to model these pics for me, and we went to the Pocatello Pump, which is a local climbing competition, for the shots....the DAY after he completely tore his shoulder out of the socket. So, climbing fans, there's no rope and it's not because he's free climbing, it's because he's about a foot off the ground, probably screaming inside, while I'm trying to get my "bad" knee into position on the ground so I can take the shots. Not too heroic, but pretty funny. Finally.)

Cables in Tweedy Shetland

2007-11-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

I've started a new project, something that caught me a little by surprise. I was getting some fabric cut a few weeks ago and was browsing through a Patons booklet. I found the most adorable cabled vest. I didn't buy the booklet, but thought about it several times and finally went back for it. I want to make the vest into a little tee, adding some sleeves, and I found the perfect yarn waaaay back in my stash for it:
I love the tweedy/heathery color, and it's sooo soft (real Shetland). I have a couple of Aran sweaters that I bought when I visited Innismore and Innisfree in 2000, and I remember watching the Aran women knitting, completely impressed not just by their skill, but their speed! These women rivaled machines! I like Aran sweaters and Aran wool, but I wanted something a little softer and more colorful for this project. So I cast on last night.
It's a tricky pattern. In an effort to save printed space, the directions are a little more than "pithy," as EZ would say, but you really have to wrap your head around the five panels, two with four-row repeats, two with eight-row repeats, and one with a thirty-two row repeat. So I get through the first four "set-up" rows and THEN I read that you're supposed to decrease on row three. Screw it, I'll decrease on row five (being constantly bugged by this fact, of course), and then when I got to about row seven or eight, realized I'd done a cable backwards! Aggghh! So I frogged back to the ribbing and now things are going better.

I started making notes on each row, then just on the odd numbered rows (since the evens are just reverse of the previous row). I just set up the start of each so I know which row of each of the five panels I'm doing, because it's pretty easy to forget. But I'm getting the hang of it, and also starting to memorize the patterns, which makes it a lot easier.
So far, I'm totally in love with it, and can't wait to finish. I'm debating on the sleeves though, and how to do them. There's a great article in the Winter IK about set-in sleeves that I plan to use, but I'm still trying to decide whether to do cables on them. Hmmm....something tells me I have a while to think about it!

Oh, hi....

2007-11-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

So it's not like I forgot I have a blog, it's just that I've been busy. Doing stuff. Doing stuff, like:

1. Taking care of my husband who had shoulder surgery
2. Having knee surgery
3. Trying to revive choking Kodi because neither of us could carry him to the car to take him to the vet....okay, it wasn't totally that dramatic, but there was a point where we were looking up the vet's phone number at 10:00 at night, imagining how it would look for one family to have all members in the hospital in one month!

But I've been doing lots and lots of knitting (since there's not much else to do with a bandaged up leg!) and lots and lots of Ravelry-ing. I love Ravelry!

I've made a little knitting-circle of friends already at the physical therapy office, one of which owns a sheep/goat farm and has invited me out, and another to who it going to teach me how to steek sleeves! This is totally cracking my husband up and impressing him at the same time.

I also took a bead-felting class the other night, which was so much fun. I love the bright colors and the perfect little balls of felty wool. I just ordered some more roving to make a bunch for a necklace.

I taught my mom to knit (and purl) while we were in pre-op for my knee. DH wanted to take pics of me knitting in my hospital gown, IV quite firmly inserted into my hand (ouch!), but darn it all, we didn't have the camera. Anyway, my mother, who "couldn't knit," is now knitting. She wants to make baby hats, so I'm sending her to these cute Kate Gilbert patterns. And for whatever reason, I've been making lots of socks. Socks look funny without feet in them, but right now they'd look funny with my feet in them. Note that all were photographed in my little cocoon-world of brown quilt.

Red Cables and Ribs (BFF Socks by Cookie A)

SexyTweed Socks of my own design--I really like this, and they do look really kinda sexy on a guy's foot. I'll post the pattern if anyone's interested.
Stripey socks that are now much further along than this. I love the blues and browns of this self-striping wool. Gorgeous!

And that's about it for now. I'm swatching a bunch of new things, and I started one other pattern that I'll post maybe tomorrow. Until then...happy knitting!

The Importance of Being Decisive

2007-11-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a quote I found a couple of days ago, which seems particularly poignant right now (and from what I've been reading on others' blogs, not just to me):

Because we don’t know what is really important to us, everything seems important. Because everything seems important, we have to do everything. Other people, unfortunately, see us doing everything, so they expect us to do everything. Doing everything keeps us so busy, we don’t have time to think about what is really important to us.
-Anon

That was fast!

2007-11-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it--I just got my Ravelry invite! Wow--wasn't it only...yesterday...that I was 1200th in line? Woot!

I have a couple of new projects I was going to post, but I'm going to play on Ravelry instead. If you want to see me there, I'm AdventuristaKnit (the "s" didn't make it). Woohoo, woohoo, woohoo!

Holy Hectic!

2007-11-02T23:27:00.000-06:00

My gosh! I just realized how long it's been since I've posted. The last couple of weeks have been crazy--mid-term exams for my MBA, working like a dog, at least three trips to the yarn store(s), two new pets...oh, and big huge shoulder sugery for my DH, which turned out to be a lot bigger deal than expected, so my knee surgery is postponed for a couple of weeks (thank goodness!).

The surgery stuff did mean a couple of days off playing nursemaid (and lots of knitting!). I started some socks, finished a present for my swap partner, and swatched up a ton of stuff. I've got a few new designs I'm working up, which is so much fun to watch something take shape. I actually love the swatching process---it's almost like painting or sketching, just in yarn. I also like how the ideas change and evolve during swatching--something I thought might work suddenly doesn't, while something else magically takes shape. And the yarns I've been finding lately are deee-vine.

Oh, and I found out that I'm still in the Ravelry queue. The bad news is that there are about 1200 people ahead of me. The good news is that there are 11,510 people behind me! Holy COW!

More tomorrow...it's nearly midnight and I should be sleeping!

Fall Inspiration and Stashing

2007-10-14T14:18:00.000-06:00

My husband and I went for a gorgeous fall hike yesterday near the Teton Range, on the Idaho side. The colors on the drive up were amazing, and nearly all the trees are in full-fall-force. The sky was cloudy and a little grey, which set the muted colors off against the hills, and really highlighted the brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds of the aspens and maples.

Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons: the colors, my birthday (and now my anniversary, too!), wooly sweaters, tall boots, the smell of bonfires and the crispy-sweet taste of freshly picked apples. Mmm. It doesn't get much better than fall.

On the way to our hiking destination, we stopped at Mountain Knits in Driggs. I promised just a half-hour, but probably took a whole hour. It's not the biggest yarn shop, but it does have some wonderful treats, including some gorgeous cashmere sock yarn that I kept picking up, squeezing, and then putting back down again. I can't really justify $88 for a pair of cashmere socks right now! As it is, I kinda spent the grocery money for the week on yarn...ooops. I'll have to forgo my morning coffe shop lattes for a couple of weeks to make up for it! So, here's what I found: This incredible merino is spun very nicely--solid, almost springy. The colors were to die for, and I was able to find these and some others for swatching out a few projects spinning in my head right now.
These colors reminded me of the aspen trees we saw on the way there. The taupe looks like the trees that have already lost their leaves, while the orange and green are the leaves going and almost gone. I love the play of the colors against the neutral.
This sock yarn is very soft in wool and polymide, and looks just like the fresh persimmons I saw at the grocery store yesterday. I love, love, love corals, oranges, greens, yellows, and vibrant blues, and this orange is to die for. These socks are going to be mine, just have to find the right pattern.
And this, from Mountain Colors in Montana, looks just like the evergreens that set off all the colors around them. The wool is very soft and kissed with just a hint of mohair, making it ever-so-slightly halo'd. I love it, and hopefully it will make some nice socks for my dad.
There were many more beauties, of course, but I have to limit myself to projects that are do-able right now. I have too much "wishing yarn" laying around that I thought I'd have a project for, but once I've finally gotten around to it, I've realized that it's not my thing anymore. eBay, start your engines...we gotta make room for the new stash!

Lazy Friday and My First Swap!

2007-10-12T18:36:00.001-06:00

Today was lazy, lazy, lazy. I didn't have to work (yea!), except to teach one Pilates lesson first thing this morning, and I've mostly been just sitting around knitting. There are about a million things I should be doing, but...

I did run a few errands: went to the LYS to get some Bambou Soft I ordered, and then grabbed a skein of Trekking XXL, too. The fall colors (which don't show up so well in the photo) are very inspiring right now, and so luscious. I immediately cast a sock on, and the color knits very nicely, too.

We did a little shopping today, because we found out this week that DH will also be having surgery (on his shoulder). His is two days before mine. I'm kind of excited because if we both have a good recovery, it could mean a lot of fun free time together, but I'm also kinda nervous...it could be a very exciting test of a very young marriage! Can you imagine? Don't worry, I'll keep ya posted on how this progresses...

I also made my favorite things tonight for dinner--Thai roasted pork and sticky rice. I remember in Thailand, when we were getting ready to go out to the sea for five days, our guide had a bag of food. I asked him what it was and he said it was lunch for "the guys," meaning the crew. I asked again what it was and he showed me: roasted chicken and sticky rice. I was very jealous of the crew that day, even though our meal was excellent. I love, love, love sticky rice, and after so much trying, I've finally learned how to make it properly. You just need one of these cool rice steaming basket things, which I tried to find all over Thailand, and ironically enough, had to buy at the Asian market back home.
So, I'm also doing my first swap! I am so excited! I've always been so jealous, reading other people's blogs and seeing all the fun things they've sent (and received) from their swap partners, and finally, I'm in! I found Chara Michele's blog last weekend and saw that she was having a swap sign-up, so I joined. I can't tell you how happy and inspired this makes me...I'm already thinking of what to make and send. Woohoo!

So, the sock is really coming along nicely. It's been a while since I've worked with sock yarn, and at first I was getting frustrated with how slow it was, but it seems to really be taking off now. The colors are amazing; they remind me so much of our sea kayaking trip to Lake Powell last year, which I've been thinking about a lot lately. It was amazing--I'll have to dig up the pics and post about it (that was pre-semi-regular posting for me, and actually right about the time my knitting flame was re-ignited).

Tomorrow should be an exciting day. First, I heard it's going to snow (again), which will make three Saturdays in a row with snow. We're tentatively planning a hiking trip with Kodi-Woo in the Tetons, which includes a yarn scouting trip for me at Mountain Knits in Driggs. I can't wait! I need to find some really wonderful cashmere or something cuddly and soft for a project I'm planning. The sock thing is going pretty well, too, so I might find something lovely for another pair. Happy Friday! We're off to drink wine at our LWS!

Some inspiration, please!

2007-10-08T21:37:00.000-06:00

For the past several years (maybe ten years, actually?), I feel like I’ve gotten away from my creative side and much more into my analytical side. Both are “good” sides, I think, but it’s been interesting to look back and see how they haven’t really been working in concert as much as one-or-the-other. The creative side definitely overpowered anything else for the first twenty-five or so years of my life, but gave way, I suppose, for a need to have a job with a 401(k), benefits (hello...two knee surgeries in one year ain’t cheap, y’all), etc. My art buddies gave me a lot of flack about this, as you can imagine (who needs a 401(k) when you’re young and your soul is hungry?), but in recent months, many of them have confessed that they’d sell those souls for some retirement stability. However...

I’m feeling a need to feed my creative side these days. I’m not sure what or how this happened, but I’ve been feeling a little restless lately. Maybe it’s travel that inspired this, or maybe it’s been my recent bout of frenzied knitting in as a desperate need to unwind and de-stress, but the creative sparks are starting to come out of hibernation.

I’m sure my old art buddies back home will be thrilled (and gosh, it’s a hard question to answer all the time, “So, what are you doing creatively, though?).

So, what am I doing, creatively? Well, I’ve been knitting and thinking and dreaming and designing. When I first started knitting, I was about six years old. Knitting was dorky, and it was even dorkier when I was a teenager. I would knit on and off throughout my teens and twenties, but the patterns were nothing if not dorky—well, we call it retro now.

Then this big knitting emergence/renaissance thing came, and I refused to join in—hell, I already WAS a knitter, and I didn’t need to prove how “cool” I thought it was by naming myself something edgy, I guess, and I just kinda stood back and watched for a while. Yowza.

But I can say that I was delighted at the fantastic, modern, and exciting patterns coming out of this rennaisance. Then I started a blog that I never kept up with, then I joined a couple of email lists (not specically about knitting), and then ...well, I started talking and meeting other knitters and I discovered that you can buy yarn –really cool, gorgeous yarn—and it didn’t have to come from a mass-chain retailer or a knitting shop that had inventory from the ‘70s. Wooohoo!

Then I started noticing how all this women who started knitting, like, ten minutes ago were designing really cool, wonderful stuff, and well, why couldn’t I? I guess it never occurred to me in all the more than 25 years of knitting that these patterns didn’t just land on earth somehow, that someone had to actually create them. So, why not me?

It’s strange, because I think that once you open the door, the flood just starts pouring in. My head is full of ideas, my brain is soaking up techniques, my hands are knitting furiously. It’s almost as if there’s too much going on (well, with school, work, teaching Pilates, and now, knitting, there is just way too much going on!), but that’s not really the problem—the problem is how to get it all down—how to start without forgetting. How to knit the patterns I want to knit and at the same time create the stuff I want to create, and frankly, how to get my brain to control the scroll bar on the computer so I can read blogs and knit at the same time (I’m trying now, but it’s a little awkward, LOL!).

So, here I am with my little knitting blog, joining a few groups, and trying desperately to find out certain things, such as:

It’s a “blogosphere,” not “blogland”

What the heck “frogging” is (I now know, but can’t tell you how dumb I feel in retrospect, thinking it was some technical knitting term)

What the heck “Ravelry” is (and now I know that, too, and just signed up for my invitation, Lord only knows how long?)

How to do a KAL, and how to sign up

How to take really great photos of my stuff (obviously, the fact that we’re now moving to winter isn’t helping with actual daylight)

I'm in the WSJ!

2007-10-06T14:24:00.000-06:00

Woohoo! I have a quote in the Wall Street Journal about kayaking! A couple of months ago, the writer emailed me and asked me a bunch of questions about kayaking in Asia. Only one of my quotes made it in (and none of my pics) but how cool is that?

Check it out: Anna's Thailand Kayaking Adventure

(Almost) FOs

2007-10-06T14:10:00.000-06:00

I've got a few things that are just about finished and ready to wear. It always seems like I have a few things going at once, but nothing totally done! I've also been hard at work on a lot of swatching and sketching for some of the ideas that are going on in my head.

And then of course, work, school, and teaching my Pilates classes gets in the way of knitting every time! (Housework, you ask? Pah! We don't have no time for no stinkin' housework!! LOL!). Thankfully, I'll have all the time in the world in a couple of weeks, because I'm having knee overhaul number two! I was so freaked out and scared for the first one, but it wasn't bad at all, and I'm just relishing the knitting time.

So, here's what I'm working on today (which is a good thing, because it snowed again today. As in inches.) I love, love, love this sweater, the design, the yarn, everything. Love it! The original pattern had 3/4 sleeves that kind of rolled on the ends, but I really wanted long sleeves that repeated the decreasing rib at the top. It's almost finished! Just a couple more inches at the neckline, then just have to sew the sleeves. I love knit-in-the-round stuff for that reason, and this is my first sweater I've knit this way.

Here's kind of a closeup of that ribbing. I wish I could explain how soft the yarn is...so amazing and just makes you want to....sleep in it!
I finished the Sunrise Circle Jacket and entered it in the Eastern Idaho State Fair (and got a stinkin' honorable mention!!!), but then after I blocked it, it was fitting a little bigger than I wanted it to, so I reblocked it...and now it's a little wonky! I'm not sure if I should just wear it and see if it works out, or re-block again. Hmmm...
And so I finished the Coachella in time for...yeah, the snow. Lovely. So, she really needs her ends woven in, but I'm in turtleneck mode, so she may go into storage with the rest of the summer clothes!
Here's the back. It's such a cool design, and I can't wait until next summer!
So, that's what I've got going on now. My LYS called to say that the Bambou Soft I ordered is in, which is for something I'm designing, and then I've got to find some other yarn for another idea I've got. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Pass the mittens, please

2007-09-29T12:32:00.001-06:00

Winter comes early here...and by early, I mean September 29! Holy cow, it's real snow. Thursday and Friday were in the 70s, and today we have knitting mittens weather.
We've been meaning to make a coldframe for the salad garden, and so today's the day! DH has made two trips to the hardware store already today...
We'd better hurry!
I tried to get some pictures of the little husky boy running around in the first snow of the season...
...but he was just too excited!
Today's obviously a great day to catch up on some ironing, knitting, and for making some spicy Italian sausage soup and beer bread. Mmmmmm.....

Power Weekend!

2007-09-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

I had a total power weekend! I can't believe how much I got done. It started off pretty slow, actually. I had a hell-day at work (I am so tired of being so constantly crazed/pushed/rushed that I could scream!), and so I came home at 4:00 on Friday and just slept...until my husband woke me up around 7:30 or 8.

We went to our favorite wine store/bar and had a glass of wine and a beer on the patio (just about the last night we could do that!) and then went to a little sports bar a few blocks down for dinner. It was all I could do to drag myself home and get to bed! But I was also feeling kind of wired and wanted to work on some knitting or something. Thankfully, I just gave in and went to sleep.

Saturday was fun: went to the Farmers' Market for some grape-starter bread, sausages, and fingerling potatoes (I still have no idea if the ones in my garden actually made it), and then I passed around some flyers for Pilates for Pink. My studio is hosting a few classes to raise funds for breast cancer research, and if you are so inclined, check out this link to see if there's a class in your area: PilatesforPink.com. It's great, and all the money for the classes goes to the foundation.

Then I started cleaning like a mad woman! I got so much done: about 10 loads of laundry (apparently I haven't done laundry in a while), srubbed the bathroom top to bottom, completely reorganized the linen closet (and DH made new shelve), did a bunch of grocery shopping, made a King crableg feast for dinner, made cookies, and made--yes, actually made food for our doggie, Woo. Oh, yeah, I'm the housewife-hellion!

We also went to my B and SIL's for dinner last night and had a great chat with them and with my other BIL, who was visiting from Alaska. We had breakfast with the family today, too, which was really nice.

So, on to some knitting news: I finished the little mittens, but I was going to put fun cables on them and then in the middle I realized I'd just been knitting away (stress):

I think I might tuck them into the felted bag I'm planning to make for my sister as a birthday present. They were fun, and they gave me the inspiration to try a braided cable around a chunky hat:
I love the hat! I'm going to make some fingerless mits with the same braid. So fun and bright, and will be perfect for skiing at Targhee this year.

And then I finally started making some progress on the body of my cashmere/merino sweater (which is just like heaven to work!). This is probably the third attempt, and I put a little 2x2 ribbing at the bottom so that it wouldn't curl up. It's supposed to curl, but for some reason, I don't like the curling.

I also made a few swatches for some new designs that are swirling in my head. And now I see that it's 10:30 and I have to get to bed and go to ...ugh... work tomorrow!

Soup Weather!

2007-09-17T22:27:00.001-06:00

Yea! It's finally time to start getting serious about...mmmm...soup! I love soup, almost as much as cozy cashmere and wonderful boots. I've really been wanting to put some soup recipes together lately, and tonight was the perfect night--cool, with a hint of rain that is supposed to last all week and maybe even into next. With the Indian Summr weather that is so typical here, it's kind of a nice taste of fall.

I found an interesting set of soup recipes over the weekend, that is apparently pretty popular: it's a "soup diet" that Good Housekeeping magazine does in the fall. Truth be told, it looks like a great diet and a healthy way to lose weight, but what really excited me was all the soup-y possibilities.

You just make one big batch of basic vegetable soup, then add different things to it to make about 20 or so other combinaions, each one unique. Brilliant! The soup isn't difficult to make, and apparently freezes well, so I dug in!

The basic vegetable soup begins with the classic French Mirepoix trinity of celery, onion, and carrot:
And ends with a delicious soup packed with vegetables. I added imported French haricot verts, fire-roasted tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, zuchhini, etc. The recipe is fantastic already!
I'll keep you posted on the progression of versions. And the progression of cashmere....mmmm. There's nothing quite like soup and cashmere weather! You can check out the details for the recipe at http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/soupdiet

Catching-Up Weekend

2007-09-16T12:30:00.001-06:00

Our weekend was a little boring and unadventurous, probably because last weekend was a little too fun and adventurous! We went to the City of Rocks for a rock-climbing/camping advenure, then to Miracle Hot Springs where my husband went kayaking with our rafting buddies. In addition to sustaining a flat tire, the dog eating a chipmunk (whole), and then acting like a crazed chipmunk in the tent all night (no sleep for mommy and daddy, that's for sure), my husband also suffered a really bad shoulder blow in his whitewater kayak. Man!

So, this weekend has been pretty subdued, but nice for catching up on things. Supposedly, that is. Mostly I've just been sitting around and knitting! The weather has been great, though...those crisp, sunny days where you know autumn is just imminent. It really makes me want to dig out my boots and sweaters, which I'm planning to day this afternoon, after we run the dog's buns off at the Sand Dunes.

The weather also puts me in the mood for wam, cozy fall projects, and I started a great cashmere-merino sweater this weekend. I did a ribbing mix on the sleeves, starting it out with a 1x1, then adding a purl to every other purl rib, making it a 1x1x1x2 sort of rib, that I took about seven inches up the sleeve.. I really like it--almost gives a Victorian quality to them.

The project is stalled for a couple of days, though, because I realized I didn't have the right size circular needle. I need a 24-inch, and all I have is a 29-inch, which isn't working at all (the body is knit in the round, and having tried the larger circ, I can see that's just not going to work). So, hopefully my LYS will have the correct size and I can back to that tomorrow.

The little Woo-Woo got to play with his "cousin," Moose yesterday. This is him questioning whether I'm serious in my suggestion that we get ready to go. He's such a suspicious little brat...too dang smart for his own good! A few weeks ago I was sick and my brother-in-law called to say he was going to pick Woo up to go play at their house. So, I got him all ready with his leash and collar, and then they didn't come over for nearly an hour! I thought the little guy was going to kill me. Since then, I think he wonders if I'm just messing with him. Twerp.

So, while I'm waiting for the right circular needle, I went to get my morning latte, some sushi for lunch, and found this sort of roving-style yarn. It's wool with a little acrylic in it, which I would normally turn my nose up at, but I've been craving some really chunky mittens and a hat for when we go hot-springing, and hopefully that acrylic will keep the wool from felting in the hot steam. Either way, the colors are really cute and I love how chunky-monkey it is.

The lack of a really good yarn store around here is about to kill me, though. We have our little shop that's been here forever and I love the owner, but I really crave having miles and miles of yarn to design around. I can go to Salt Lake City or Boise and get some good things, but I wish I could have a whole pavillion at my disposal any time I want. There are tons of designs swirling in my head, and without having the tactile ability to see what it's really like, the stuff on the Internet is great and all, but...

I used to have a subscription to a fabric mill that would send me swatches every season. I've been looking for something like that with yarn, but it doesn't seem to be a common service. I need that! I'll keep looking, and in meantime, happy Sunday!

Kayaking in Yellowstone

2007-09-06T20:23:00.000-06:00

We decided to take off Friday night for a weekend in Yellowstone! Living so close, we do end up in the parks a lot, but we did a couple of new things. First of all, we paddled on Yellowstone Lake to the shoreline geyser basin. We actually attempted this little trip a few weeks ago, but the winds were a bit fierce and I was only three weeks off knee surgery, so much to my surprise—I couldn’t balance my kayak. Yikes! We had to turn around, but my husband actually went back out a week or two later and explored. So, now we were going together and it was such a worthwhile trip!

You start on a launch point of black volcanic sand on the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, and start paddling to the point on the left of the lake. This is about as far as we got last time, where we saw an elk feeding along the shorline. A little later, we were lucky enough to see her twin fawns, resting on the beach. Poor little babies...they were kind of scared but were very good and kept their heads down just like they were supposed to.

Around the point you start to see the boardwalk (full of tourists) who are looking at the fishing cone and other mini-geysers around the shorline. The fishing cone has some neat stories attached, where visitors in the early 1900s would catch a fish on a line in the lake, then dip it in the boiling waters of the fishing cone and have a freshly-caught-and-cooked meal, right on the shore! Getting to see the fishing cone up-close and personal is a bit of a rare treat.

Around the point you start to see the boardwalk (full of tourists) who are looking at the fishing cone and other mini-geysers around the shorline. The fishing cone has some neat stories attached, where visitors in the early 1900s would catch a fish on a line in the lake, then dip it in the boiling waters of the fishing cone and have a freshly-caught-and-cooked meal, right on the shore! Getting to see the fishing cone up-close and personal is a bit of a rare treat. Going around, you get to see all sorts of things from the water that you can’t see from the shore—lots of little geysers and run-offs that pour hot showers down into the lake water (which is very cold). One section has a run-off that must be really hot, because it makes the lake water feel like a bath, but then just dip your fingers down another four or five inches in the water, and it’s freezing again.

We paddled along the shore to the end of the basin, stopped for some lunch, and then turned around again. I wanted a nap so bad—the combination of the hot sun, the cool breeze, the water, and a good lunch really got me in nap mode. We sort of forgot the tent poles this time, so we had to sleep in the back of the Bronco, which was sort of different, but hey, you just have to roll with the punches, right? To tell you the truth, it was kind of fun—sort of had that “pillow fort” quality to it!

The next day we decided to get out a super-secret map to the petrified forest on Specimen Ridge, near Norris, that a friend gave me a couple of years ago. The hand-drawn map has some sort of cryptic directions to it, and a neat commentary on petrified trees by Dr. Erling Dorf. The map and directions were drawn up in 1989, and from what I was told by my friend, it was a big secret that the park rangers didn’t even want anyone to know. Woohoo! A secret map to Yellowstone. So, we started off on a steep slog up the side of the hill, then cut over to the ridge, off-trail. Suddenly, a petrified stump appeared! It was so cool—then, just up a little, another, and then several others. Very neat.

Here's a picture of me, from the top of Specimen Ridge, looking down over the valley.

Dreaming in Tongues?

2007-08-23T21:35:00.000-06:00

I must've had a really fitful sleep and been fretting about not winning the lottery, because apparently I was talking in my sleep. When I woke up this morning, my husband asked if I remembered asking him about the plywood. I didn't.

Apparently I was telling him that I needed a bunch of 8x4 plywood. Except, he said, that you would normally want to say "4x8." I looked at him and asked exactly how big is a normal sheet of plywood. He replied, "Four-buh-eight."

Weird. I have no idea how I knew that in my sleep, because if you asked me any other time, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

Fingers Crossed...

2007-08-22T13:34:00.000-06:00

It’s Lotto Fev-ah, baby! So, since my desperate (and thus-far unrequited) plea for grant money earlier this week, Gina (http://lumay.blogspot.com/) and I have decided to become lotto partners. From now until the end of 2007, we are going to take turns buying a ticket for the Wednesday night lotto drawing, and split the winnings. There are 19 Wednesdays between now and New Year’s Eve...nineteen chances to make it big (or at least afford yarn!). Woohoo!

I mentioned it to my husband who started going off about how stupid the lottery is and something about a “Welfare 401(k)” and such, and how if I just put the money in a savings account instead, I could have all the yarn I wanted, blah, blah. So, just to make things interesting, I will also be putting the same amount of money into a high-yield/low minimum savings account at the same time. So, I guess it’s just a little stand-off between ING Direct and the Idaho/New York Lotteries. Gentlemen, start your engines!

This whole lottery thing reminds me of these office lotto pools we used to do at work. One of the secretaries, Julie, would organize these elaborate pools and collect everyone’s dollars, logging the results into spreadsheets, etc. It was kind of interesting how the winning tickets were often the ones she purchased “for herself” and weren’t part of the group lotto anymore, despite the fact that there only seemed to be one spreadsheet. At least it didn’t cause any of those office riots—we just sort of wrote her off as being silly/eccentric.

And she was eccentric! I remember one time we all went out to lunch in my car, and Julie wanted to get the lottery tickets on the way back. I needed gas anyway, so as we were going back to work I stopped at the gas station. I was filling up and reminded Julie that she was going to get lotto tickets, but she looked at me, shaking her head and said, “No...not here. I don’t have a good feeling about the tickets here.” HUH?! She was serious, by the way.

Not only that, but she would also take them (the tickets, that is) to church on Sundays to have the priest bless them. Hmmm...either God didn’t care about her winning the lottery and donating a portion to the church, or he felt the church was already swimming in money, or.....hmmm.

Okay, so here are the numbers for this week. I’ll be at a CAbi party tonight, then joining my husband and his rock-climbing buddies for pizza after, so I probably won’t get to check in until late. You can check the numbers yourself here: http://www.idaholottery.com/PBnumb.asp

Wish us luck!

Ooops du Jour! Finished!

2007-08-21T18:03:00.001-06:00

The Ooops du Jour is finally finished and made its debut today (thank goodness it was cool and somewhat rainy out...maybe not so much for the pictures as for the fact that I could actually wear a sweater in August!). The Ooops has had a history, actually, and started it’s existence as the Scoop du Jour from Chic Knits. I found the yarn at a craft store of all places (but then again, in my town there’s only one, very tiny, LYS) and fell in love with the stretch, slightly shiny, totally chocolate aspect of it.

I wanted it in a nice cardigan with a modern, sort of boxy shape. Something you could wear over your bikini when the air gets a little cool at night while you’re lying on the pool deck (okay, so this never happens, but that’s the “feel” I wanted). I searched high and low for a great pattern and found the Scoop.

Loved the design, ordered it, and began whipping it up. I love the design, but there were things about the pattern writing I didn't love, and it was just plain irritating to follow at times. Times like decreasing the armholes---you go through this rhythm of decreases for a while, and then you get this, “oh, and by the way, you should have been counting rows all along because now you need to get to XX number of rows since the beginning of the decreases.” What?! If I wanted to go back and count rows, I could just make this up myself! Grrr....as if she couldn’t have just said something like, “knit X (X, X, X) more rows even,” and saved her knitter having to break out of the forging-ahead rhythm.

Anyway, as I was going along with the back, the front panels, and almost through the first arm, I noticed something strange...I didn’t have enough yarn! Agggh! I thought for SURE I’d bought much, more than enough (because I was planning to make something else with it, too) but couldn’t find it in my knitting bag, basket, backpack, under the seat of my car, in my desk drawer at work...nothing! Gone!

So I decided to step back and rework. I thought about it and decided I could fashion the Scoop du Jour into an elbow-sleeve pullover instead of a long-sleeved cardigan. Voila! For fun, I started calling it the “Ooops” du Jour. It worked out pretty well, the ripping went fast and after some figuring on the arms, I got them at just the right spots with enough ribbing to balance everything out and make it look “on purpose.” And that’s just about the exact moment when....you guessed it! I found the rest of my yarn! Yeah...fate can just go screw itself.

I honestly took a look at frogging the whole thing out again and doing the cardigan, but I started really falling in love with the Ooops. I think I actually like it just as well, if not better, and the shape and sleeve length work really well in my wardrobe. So, the Ooops is a hit! Oh, and I got a great compliment within an hour of donning it: I was at the coffee shop this morning (of course!) to get my morning latte and as I was walking out, my friend (and bridesmaid) was walking in. “Oh, wow! LOVE your sweater!” she says, and she didn’t even know I was knitting it. Thank God I didn’t get the dreaded, “Oh....did you make that?”

Knitting Update

2007-08-20T20:36:00.000-06:00

Okay, so the knitting. Well, the Sunrise Circle Jacket was done...mostly. Truth be told, it was done last week, it was just done wrong. You see, for whatever reason, I made the foldy-over part smaller on one of the panels. Strange, and I didn’t really notice it until after I got the whole thing sewn together. Grr.... I kept telling myself that it didn’t matter, that no one would notice. But then I hung it up and kept looking at it and every time I would just get annoyed. I also decided to enter it in the fair, and so it really does have to be perfect...Mormon ladies do the judging around here, and those ladies really know their handicrafts. And their white bread (white bread is the fiercest competition going at the Eastern Idaho State Fair!).

It’s actually pretty fortunate that I decided to enter it in the fair, because otherwise it would probably take me another eight months to rip that section out and redo it. It’s also fortunate that I’m dying to start the Coachella, which uses the same size needles at the Circle Jacket, because otherwise I would have launched headlong into Coachella and then been up until 2 am this Thursday, getting the Circle Jacket ready for entry on Friday.

As it was, I was up until 2 am this morning with a little insomnia and wandered into blogland for a while before finally getting the surgical scissors out and re-opening the Circle Jacket. Again. Counted, added another three rows and for some weird reason only known to the knitting gods, now it was bigger than the rest. Wha...??? So, rip some more, bind off, and .... perfect! Phew! Now I just need to resew and block. Pray the blocking works. I’ll show you the real results before it goes to the Fair on Friday. I totally love this sweater, though.
In other knitting news, I did allow myself a little swatch of the yarn I’m using to make the Coachella. It’s a fun, wobbly silk and cotton mix I bought eons ago, and it was really always just waiting for something like Coachella. The swatch is awesome, but a little bigger than the specified gauge, so I’m going with a smaller size and hope it kinda evens out because the yarn is so wonky that I think it would be hard to knit it in a smaller gauge. Yeah, it’s a kinda risky tactic, but we’ll see what happens. I’m not so afraid of ripping stuff out as I used to be.

And the Ooops du Jour is completely finished. I really like it, but I’m not sure I love the yarn as much as I thought I did when I started. It’s pretty heavy, and it does sort of give me that “big girl” look that I don’t like. I would think the ribbing would help accentuate my waist, but I guess having been a former “bigger girl,” I’m still a little sensitve to that. Anyway, I’m going to debut the Ooops tomorrow, so I’ll get some pics to post.

I’m revelling in the fact that this will be my last free Monday, once school starts next week. I’ll be revellling on Wednesday, too, for my last free Wednesday. It always seems like I have something to do, and while I really like that, it is nice to have a night where you can just come home and do...nothing every once in a while. I’m seriously considering cutting back on some of my nighttime Pilates classes for that very reason. It’s so hard to do that, though, when you have people wanting (and many, needing) to work out with you. But since fulfilling my New Years’ Resolution to “knit more,” I’ve really been enjoying that and wanting to keep that momentum going.

It’s also starting to feel just a little like fall outside. We had some terrific thunderstorms this weekend, with practically torrential downpours. I loved it! I went over to Jackson Hole to pick up my hubby and his climbing buddies (and let him take me to dinner at the Mangey Moose), and it just poured! They were soaked to the bone.

It’s actually cold today too. Well, not cold so much as cool. It’s wonderful. I had my little heater on to warm my bare toes and ankles under my desk, which is a far cry from sweating my brains out last week!

Now Accepting Genius Grants

2007-08-19T17:36:00.000-06:00

I used to watch this show called "Flying Blind." It was completely brilliant, and it was on Fox about fifteen years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Blind My best friend at the time, Michael, and I would watch it ever week and I loved, loved loved the main character, Alicia (played by Tea Leoni). But like all my favorite Fox shows (Arrested Development), it got canned because there were only 14 or so of us who could see the utter brillance. Okay, so on "FB," the character Jordan just hung out all day doing nothing, and finally Neil (Alicia's nerdy boyfriend, star of the show) just asked Jordan what exactly was it that he did. Jordan looked at him kinda funny and just said, "You mean you don't know? This! This is what I do!" and pointed to himself, lounging on the couch in his bathrobe in the middle of the day.

So, of course, Neil goes on about how in the world can he do "this," and Jordan explains that he has a genius grant. Neil is astonished! Jordan is a genius?! And so Jordan replies, "Well, I was that one night in bed with the woman who gave out the grants!"

So, I've decided that I need a genius grant. I'm not so much into my job lately, which doesn't really pay all that much and gets in the way of Pilates and knitting anyway. I found a passel of new projects that I want to make, and they're all expensive. So between the $$ and the time, I need a genius grant. Or I need to win the lottery. What is that about not winning if you don't play? Hmmm...they might be on to something. And why is it that everyone who talks about wanting to win the lottery never actually buys lottery tickets?! I'm buying a lottery ticket tomorrow! I'm sure you can't buy them on Sunday in Idaho. You can't even buy beer until 10 am...speaking of, there was a guy in line behind me this morning at the grocery store, buying beer at 10:01 in the a.m. I totally cracked up!

Okay, so the stuff I want to make (and I feel totally justified because I have just finished the Ooops du Jour AND the Sunrise Circle Jacket...more on those later). First, up, the Somewhat Cowl by Wendy Bernard. Love, love, love the design, the fact that it's knit in the round, the yarn, everything! A must-do, and soon! Am wondering if I can get away with knitting during my MBA 610 class, given that it's over a video feed? Hmmm....

Okay, and then the gorgeous Coachella, which made me gasp the first time I saw it on knitty.com. It's the cutest thing ev-ah, and I think the design is totally smart-hot. Love it! And I have some great nubby cotton-silk in my stash that'll be perfect.

I just found this one today and about died. It's the Ellie Sweater from Rowan, and knit in super-bulky yarn. I'm hoping that I can do it in brown instead of black. Isn't it delicious? Can't you just see me strutting around Park City next February at Sundance, being mobbed by Paris Hilton because she's so freaking cold she'd kill me for it? Can't you see me stradding the couch like this model (well, as soon as I get all the magazines and ironing and stuff out of the way), being ravished by my stud-muffin of a husband?

And then the Union Square Market Jacket, that I remember loving but not realizing that it was a Kate Gilbert design until last week when I was trolling for new patterns. I have say, I think she's an amazing designer. Amazing! I think I might save this one for a vacation to Greece next summer.

So there you have my little wish list. If you have a grant or want to be a yarn sugar-daddy, sign me up!

C'est la Rentrée!

2007-08-17T08:53:00.000-06:00

Yea! It's back to school time, which is always my favorite time of year, whether I'm actually going back to school or not. This year, though, I am going back to school--my first fall semester of my Master's Degree. With two semesters down (I started in the spring, and the took summer school because I was already ruining my summer with knee surgery anyway!), I feel like I have a solid start.

This is such a great time of year for everything, though. You always feel so healthy and maybe even a little wild after a summer of sunny hiking, boating, paddling, and being outside (and I'm finally able to get out enough to pick up a little bit of a tan!), and ready for the polish of new fall clothes, the possibility of a fresh start in a new semester, and the promise to be very organized and always do your homework on time (which goes to complete hell by Labor Day!).

The French call this time of year, "la rentrée," which means time "re-enter" classes. When we were in France two years ago, we saw kids all over the place, buying their books and school uniforms. It was so cute to see them in their little outfits, taking it all very seriously but also looking little bit annoyed at the same time.

Well, today is a "Friday Off" for me (and yesterday was really only a half-day, since we had an "offsite" meeting that was really a picnic and everyone went home after!), so I'm doing some of my own "la rentrée" activities. I'm going to hop in the bath in a minute, then go to get my daily latte (the only reason for getting out of bed!), and then go to the University bookstore to pick up my books, which I'm sure will be ridiculously expensive.

After that, it's a trip to Pocatello (my hometown) to get my hair low-lighted (the sun bleaches it out in the summer), super-conditioned, and cut. I'm thinking about taking six or so inches off, because it's been so long since I've had a trim. Then a little shopping, bopping over to my parents' and my Pilates teacher's studio for a chat, and then off for a manicure/pedicure. Yea, yea, yea!

Tonight, my fabulous husband was supposed to be leading a climb up the Grand Teton but it got muffed up, so I think we're going to do a little organizing and straightening, then he's doing a big hike with them tomorrow instead. So, I will have the whole day to do stuff....what? I'm not sure just yet.

Post-Op Adventure: Stanley, Idaho

2007-08-06T05:51:00.000-06:00

Yea! I finally got to go out and have a little fun. My knee is feeling well enough for a little sea kayaking and hiking, so we went to Redfish Lake in Stanley, Idaho this weekend. It was so gorgeous--I love Redfish, and Stanley is truly an old Wild West town. the weather started out nice and lot cooler than the 100+ temps we've been having.

We paddled to the far side of the lake, to a camping area called Inlet Campsite, where we woud spend a couple of nights. It only took an hour-and-a-half of paddling to get there (or you can hike in), but we were the only paddlers there; most people had power boats.

Well, there was one guy who swam, actually. It was pretty amazing to see that--he was training for the Navy SEALS. Once we got there, though, there were so many tents set up--we were afraid we might not get a spot! But we found one at the back--secluded from most of the others, and right along the fenceline/trail to other parts of the lake area. Very nice!
We spent most of the afternoon getting everything set up, then napping. This is why I love getting out so much--all the lazing around, reading, knitting, and napping. We slept so hard, then got up and my husband went for a little hike while I worked on my Ooops du Jour sweater. Dinner was chicken fajitas over a campstoves (there's a fire restriction right now), wine, and fruit.
The next day we went on a hike (see next post for amazing berry footage), then down to the beach for some sun, water, and more knitting (for me). Husband looking very hunky!
Sunday morning we slept in a bit and then packed up the boats and headed home. Sorry there aren't any pics of me--I guess I was hogging the camera the whole time! It was so much fun though, and I was so happy to finally get out and play a little. It kind of makes me not want to get my other knee done, because I know it just means more down time. The good news? My new knee didn't hurt at all on the hikes. Woohoo!

Berry Hiking: Stanley, Idaho

2007-08-05T22:24:00.000-06:00

Our hike at Redfish Lake on Saturday had some unexpected treats: miles and miles of berries! I couldn't believe how many berry bushes we saw--usually when we hike, we see a few, but most have already been claimed by the bears. This was so much fun!

We saw Oregon Grapes (which we didn't eat, but I hear are good cooked, not raw):
The quintesential wild huckleberry, and there were miles and miles of huckleberry bushes everywhere! Huckleberries are best right from the bush, but also make great pancakes and jams.
Grouseberries, which are a close cousin to huckelberries, only in miniature (both the plants and the fruits). They are the cutest things, and often get overlooked because they're just a few inches high.
Here's a size comparison between huckelberries and grouseberries.
We also saw wild raspberries, which are kind of rare around here.

They're a bit smaller than domesticated raspberries, but just as sweet and flavorful.
And then we saw some thimbleberries down lower.
The fruits don't tend to last very long, and are best for eating right from the bush. The flavor is a bit like a rapsberry, but the texture is "denser."
We also saw three types of currents. These are golden, which have a very mild flavor, and we also saw red and black, which are much more sour.

Closet Porn

2007-07-22T20:15:00.000-06:00

Inspired by recent closet postings by Gina as well as several from my French Chic group, I decided to take a photo of my newly cleaned out closet. Much has gone the way of eBay, the thrift store, and the consignment store. Not exactly down to just ten pieces, but it's much better, and I can actually wear everything AND I actually like everything. All my workout clothes are in the bins on the left, which will make it much easier to pick something out at 4:30 in the morning!

I'm pretty happy with it, and plan to continue the weeding process. I have my eye on a couple of things for fall, including some new boots and a new purse, both in cognac leather. I'm really falling in love with that color lately. Anyway, it's the end of the weekend, so I'm going for a little bike ride.

Woohoo!

2007-07-21T21:37:00.001-06:00

I think I understand that funny phenomenon where people lose a lot of weight when they start getting rid of stuff. You suddenly start feeling a million times freer and lighter just by the sheer acting of unloading. I know this probably sounds like I have truckloads of stuff, and I guess in some ways I do: I get gifts, I give myself gifts, I get stuff and for some reason, I have stacks of magazines from a year ago because I was always going to go through them to rip stuff out for my Style File.

So, then I realized--I have ripped out a few pages for my Style File--because they were actually my style. These are the ones that are actually in my Style File, by the way, the rest are in a box waiting to go IN the Style File. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think I may have actually found my style. Which is also making this process of getting rid of bunch of clothes and stuff a million times easier!

So far, I've made about $125 on eBay (although the final bids aren't in), I've sold six books on Amazon, I have a box of things for the consignment store (and I can take fall stuff starting in August) and about three boxes ready for the thrift store. My darling husband will be so excited!

I also still have a bunch of things sitting here waiting to get their pictures taken for eBay, so I'm going to stay up late tonight and finish....then tomorrow will be a couple of organizing projects (and cleaning all the huskey sheddings out of the car...ick).

And I'm finally getting over my horrid cold, too. Found a new doctor, who gave me another round of mega antibiotics (so now there shouldn't be one germ in my body, good or bad!) and a decongestant that's making me drier than a dustbowl, so I'm just chugging water and tea. But feeling good for the first time in three weeks! Now maybe I can start riding my bike and finally get this knee on some serious re-hab.

More later, and hopefully a soap lesson soon, too!

A Little Shopping to Round the Day Out...

2007-07-14T13:19:00.000-06:00

The last part of my adventure in town was technically part of my de-cluttering fixation of late: I took a few more summer things to the consignment store (the rest are going on eBay starting tomorrow). Well, I guess it's okay that I took a boxful in and only came out with three things, right? I had a credit in there anyway, and even after my three purchases, I still have a credit. I was also directed to go home and get all my fall consignments ready for August....whooopee! I have a few gorgeous fall things that are too big now (yea!) and have to go, which makes even more room for my pre-fall purchases. First up, this great silver ring on a suede necklace. I love it---just so "me." Oh, and sorry for the rather ambiguous photo...I was in post-heat shopping and gardening mode, not quite ready for prime-time.

Next up are these fantastic pants, and I couldn't quite get a photo to do them justice. The fabric is an amazing kind of heathery-fawn color, with a subtle sheen to it almost--almost as if it were gold but it's not. They're awesome except for the high-waist (how do people wear stuff up to their belly-button anyway? Sheesh!), so I'm going to have my seamstress try to bring that down. If it doesn't work, I'm making a clutch out of them. Yeah, the fabric is that good.
Okay, and then last is my favorite. This mohair sweater in green (I love green) that'll tie so much of my wardrobe together. The bell sleeves are to die for, and while the button has to go, the shawl collar is one of my favorite things. It's long without being too long, too. Love it!

Farmers Market & Garden Day!

2007-07-14T12:05:00.000-06:00

The garden is coming along pretty well, considering I got a really late start this year and have sort of been out of "gardening commission" for a couple of weeks. I rotated some things out last night and replanted, then got a little "four-legged help" on the corner there while we went out for a glass of wine. I keep trying to get the nasturtiums all the way around, and the little WooWoo keeps digging them up! We had probably the third talk this summer about how doggies aren't supposed to help in the garden!

The French Breakfast Radishes are ravishing!And the nasturtiums and mesclun will make a great spicy salad tomorrow night at my in-laws.
The plums are coming in, too, and we have two kinds and some apples. Can't wait! I broke down and got some more basil and another tomato plant after the heat killed mine, and also got a couple of French Lavender plants for the front porch to console myself since I didn't get to go to the Lavender Festival last weekend.

Yea! I also got to visit the Farmers Market today because my husband went kayaking and I'm not quite up for action and adventure just yet (still feeling kinda sick, still working on my knee). The day started out just blazing hot--even at 9 in the morning. I saw the guys off on their adventure and got my morning coffee, then headed downtown to the market. I was a little bummed because the lamb lady wasn't there with her lamb sausages and I was going to get a couple skeins of wool, too. But I did get some great Idaho potato sausages and some smoked buffalo sausages from Lost River Meats in Mackay, ID, a few of the first crop of fresh Idaho peaches and some Idaho bing cherries. I've been practically living on cherries for two weeks!

Also found some beets and potatoes, and got three baby baguettes (asiago, walnut, and something else that I can't remember) and a loaf of Cranberry Orange bread, too. The company that makes the bread brings it up from Utah and uses a grape starter. A friend gave me a grape starter recipe that I really need to experiment with, but not while the weather's so hot!

I also picked up a container of fat little blackberries and some hot garlic cheese curds. Mmm.... off to make myself some lunch! It looks like a rainstorm is heading in, too, thank goodness. Although it might ruin tonight's plans for going to the races, it will be so nice to have a little break from the heat.

Ooops du Jour

2007-07-14T11:47:00.000-06:00

So I found some great Patons "Katrina" yarn, on sale. Like really, really on sale....I think it was a dollar a skein. Love it--chocolate brown (mmmmm), sorta shiny-ish, stretchy. And I needed a nice, plain little cardi, so I started whipping up the Chic Knits Scoop du Jour. The design was exactly what I was looking for, but the designing left quite a bit to be desired, and I kept making all kinds of changes to it. The more I consider designing myself, the more I appreciate patterns with forethought.

But anyway, yarn substitution is just evil, because no matter how good my remedial math skills are (and yea, by the way, I did pass my remedial summer math course and can now move up to just above remedial math!), I calculated wrong.

So, my Scoop du Jour just turned into a big Oops du Jour. But it's going to work out just fine, maybe even better as a great additition to my wardrobe! I ripped out the sleeve-and-a-half, and the two front pieces, then I started reworking the sleeve into an elbow sleeve and the front will now become a pull-over style instead of a button up. Voila!

Sick Day

2007-07-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

So, I've had this wretched cold/flu/whatever thing for a week now, and I'm pretty well ready to be over it. I'm so not good at being sick. I hate being sick more than anything! Ugh. Everyone teased me after my knee surgery that I couldn't stay down---my husband couldn't believe that I was still busier than he was!

This cold is kicking my butt, though. I started getting sick last Saturday, which was the worst possible time: I had three tests, one 20-page paper, a presentation, a bunch of stuff for work and a full load of Pilates classes! Well, I've made it through everything, but my Fourth of July sucked royally: I just slept all day, then tried to study for my math test while everyone else went to watch fireworks. Yesterday was just the bare minimum: taught Pilates at 5:00 am, went to work for a couple of hours, took my math final, worked a little more, dropped of a FedEx, then helped my husband install my new (woohoo!) Cadillac Tower at the studio.

I slept for a while, but it was really too hot to sleep. That's the other problem with being sick in the summer: the normal remedies like hot baths, hot tea, and down comforters aren't exactly summer-friendly. Bleh. So we got up and went to Driggs to see the Clumbsy Lovers. They were doing an outdoor concert last night and it was super-fun. People up there breed like rabbits, though! I can't believe how many kids, babies and pregnant women we saw. Holy cow!

So today I taught a private lesson and then I'm taking the rest of the day off. My husband went kayaking with his friend, and I'm going to catch up on some knitting (almost have my Scoop du Jour finished!), some shopping, and finally getting my closet organized. I'm also going to try to not talk too much...afraid I might lose my voice!

Oh, and I'm getting stuff ready for the August Fire Sale, too. I'm thinking of making some batches of soap and lip balm for it---I used to have a little skin care company, and in the last six months I've had seven or eight people request stuff again. Wow!

Midnight Paddle on the Lake

2007-07-01T08:42:00.000-06:00

What a fun night---I love it when the unexpected happens. I was home studying all day (have to do that today, too....ugh) and my husband and his friend climbed Dissapointment Peak in the Tetons. He got back and we hemmmed and hawed about going to a Bluegrass concert at the art museum because I also caught cold yesterday. I HATE being sick more than anything in world, in fact.

Anyway, after a few phone calls to see where our friends would be sitting, a peppermint and rosemary bath where I mostly sat pouting about my cold, and finally getting dressed and out the door, we made it just in time to see the last group, a fairly reknown fiddler from here. She was so cute and had tons of personality, too. Then my husband noticed a guy that we paddled with in the Tetons last October, and I went over say hi. He's pretty amazing to me, because despite being blind, he's an excellent paddler who thinks nothing of carrying his own boat over steep or rocky terrain, hiking around rocks and trees, etc. Okay, so there was the unfortunately incident where my husband walked him straight into a tree, but we won't discuss that any further (thank God it's at the "funny now" stage).

Anyway, I went and said hi to Todd and he asked if I wanted to paddle Gem Lake, about four miles away...tonight? Well, yeah! Of course I do---the news has been reporting a giant full moon for this weekend (not that it mattered either way to Todd, of course), and the chance to do something so fun and unexpected was too much temptation. I ran back to tell my husband and to invite the four friends we were with. Two weren't so sure, but the other two were ready to go load their kayaks. The not-so-sure's hadn't ever paddled before, but we convinced them and ran to get our kayaks: the sea kayaks for our friends and the whitewater boats for us (I hadn't been in that hated whitewater boat since I almost drowned).

After a mad rush to grab boats, floats, paddles, life jackets, and sweaters, we were at the launch ramp exactly at 10:30. Todd and his wife weren't there yet, but we got to meet their friends Jana and Bonnie. Jana's deaf and I got to practice my (really remedial) signing with her. She was a lot of fun and invited me to their ASL study group, which I just might take her up on. I feel like my sign is as bad as my French at this point...wow, use it or lose it, huh?.

Anyway, we jumped in the boats and launched. It was gorgeous, calm, warm, and so much fun for a bunch of people to just suddenly meet and instantly have so much to talk about. Until the cops showed up, of course....the park closes at 11. So, by midnight we were on our way home, somehow feeling like kids again....we almost tried to find an all-night diner for biscuits and gravy!

Valentine's Day Picnic

2007-02-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love Valentine's Day! This year, we actually celebrated a day early because I had back-to-back Pilates clients on the "actual day." I ran by the store after work and picked up some favorites: three pounds of king crab legs, a par-baked baguette, a bottle of wine, and a couple of gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries. I mean, looking at these beauties in the display case, could you pass them up? Mmm....

While my husband was at the gym, I started a huge pot of water to boil and clicked the oven on. As soon as he got home, the crab went in the pot and the baguette in the oven. By the time he'd showered, we had a nice little picnic all set out on the floor (the better for just lying around and cuddling). Other may have fun going out in the cold, teetering in their heels in ankle-deep slush and snow, dealing with impatient waiters trying to hurry you out before the next table arrives? Pas du tout!

My darling husband sent me a bouquet of roses on Monday, since we will be leaving for a wonderful Yellowstone weekend on Thursday morning and he wanted me to enjoy them. I gave him a ski joring set so that he and our doggie can drag each other around in the snow. Seems to be the hardest part so far is getting the durn thing on the dog! We'll see how that progresses.

Tea and Toast

2007-02-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

"With just a little extra effort, something as simple as bread and water becomes tea and toast."

Mmmm....simple pleasures, eh? And making a little seemingly heaven out of seemingly hell, as one of my marketing profs would say. Although there's hardly any hell in homemade bread and fresh springwater, but the point of this post is that with just a little bit of trying, we can make our lives exponentially better, nicer, more elegant.

This little nugget of wisdom isn't my own necessarily, but the thoughts came to me when a friend of mine (yes, even though we've only "met" over the Internet, I'd consider her wonderful enough to be someone with whom I love to be friends) said something recently on a chat group. It was a quotation, although I liked her version of it better than the original quote, which was attributed to "anonymous," I think, and so I'll attribute it to her instead. Check her other stuff out here:

http://ponderingsofapackrat.blogspot.com/

Gold Bug

2007-02-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is relax in a hot bath. The warm water, the peace, the splashy sounds...and the fact that you usually get to be all alone (unless you get a dog--then for some reason your bath time turns into a hysterical event with lots of bath water-drinking, barking, freaking out, and frantically running from the bathroom to the kitchen to the den and back again).

Anyway, soaking in hot water is even better outdoors, of course. But not in a hot tub (unless it's the Boat Box, but I'll get to that another time), in a natural hot springs. Yeah, comercial hot springs are nice for the therapeutic effect of naturally hot mineral water, but they were only created so that tourists would have a place to pay for such a treat. I'm lucky to live in an area rich in sub-surface volcanic activity, the kind of place that just breeds hot springs.

One of our favorite places to go is called Gold Bug, and on a sub-zero, gorgeously sunny day like today, it's a little piece of heaven on earth. You hike about 45 minutes or so in--although starting at the trail head and looking up to the mountains you're about to climb, you'd probably never guess that heaven is less than an hour away. First of all, it's friggin' cold. Walking up the switchbacks that lead the trail, your nose starts to hurt--but just for a minute or so until it goes numb from cold. Then your lips go numb, so forget about trying to whistle for the dog. You start thinking that you don't care how warm the water looks when you get there, you're not taking your clothes off for one second in this frozen wilderness.

Then, just when you think you can't take the frigid cold anymore, you start the hill climb. This is where you earn your treat, but it's also where your body starts warming up enough that you begin thinking that yes, you could take your long undies-winter hiking pants-three pair of socks-two jackets-parka-heavy boots-hat-hood-and both pair of gloves off long enough to get in the water.

The steam starts rolling over the rocks and you know you're almost there. There's a strange juxatoposition that starts taking place along the stream you've been following: instead of cold looking rocks and frozen trees, you start seeing green plants with steamy water lapping over them, along with frosty-white branches where the steam rises over the water, coating the plants and trees above for just an instant before the frozen air kisses it. It's a gorgeous place, and today, it was almost all ours.

A couple of guys and their dogs got there first, and of course, got "the good pool," as it's known. Gold Bug is a system of several pools, all fed by hot water falls, each linking to the other. Some pools are hotter than others, some deeper, some bigger. There's usually enough room for everyone who makes the hike, but weekends are always busiest, because a lot of college students come to de-stress.

The guys left after a half hour or so of our sitting in a smaller, though much hotter (a bit too hot?) pool and we immediately packed up, heading for "the good pool" before anyone else could come up. We had it all to ourselves for a little while, until a local guy came up with his dog. Kodi was so excited to have a friend to run around with, and we continued soaking for another three or so hours until hunger started to get the best of me.

We made a little dinner, and between the three of us, had more than enough for everyone. Some hot sandwiches, smoked gouda and ham jerky, a little booze...and the doggies got to have special doggie power bars. After a bit more soaking, we finally got out and headed back down to civilization.

The drive home was beautiful. If the moon wasn't full, it sure looked it. Doggie and hubby fell fast asleep while I drove. The moonlit landscape looked almost sunny it was so bright, but everything was so calm and peaceful. I felt a little like Isabella Bird might have, cruising along and feeling like the only person on earth. I even got to see a small herd of deer, a couple of bunnies zooming across the road, and an owl. The perfect beginning of a perfect weekend.

Cooking for Cravings

2007-01-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

It's definitely comfort food craving night at my house! I cooked up a big batch of rice the other night, making extra on-purpose for fried rice tonight, and the thought of it has been eating at me ever since. I can't wait! I bought some big, fat shrimp for the rice, plus a little chicken and vegetables for some honey-garlic chicken stir fry. Yum....and now I need my wok. I have no idea where it is--still haven't moved in quite yet, but I'm getting to it...sort of. It's okay, I'll make do without the wok, but I have a new wok--a real one--on my list along with a Thai sticky rice steaming basket and pot. I've never been able to hack the sticky rice thing, but I am determined.

I also had a terrific craving for Peanut Blossom cookies, under the supposed idea that we really need something with a lot of peanut protein in it for our Big Sky ski weekend...right. Hey, it's a pretty good excuse, really. And after I finally lost the six pounds I gained in Thailand (plus two for good measure), well...oh, hell. I'm going to have to be careful if I'm ever going to wear the bikini I'm knitting. I bought two bags of Hershey's kisses for the cookies, and while I am so very not a Hershey's kisses kind of girl (I like my chocolate dark, rich, and expensive), that didn't seem to stop me during the annual Christmas cookie bake-off and swearing until midnight ritual. Yeah, ate a whole bowl of those suckers. Okay, any extra kisses are going to work with me for the guys to eat.

And speaking of knitting, I got a bunch of new yarn today! Woohoo! It was a huge haul--18 balls of Cascade's Fixation and a couple balls of Peruvian wool for a felting project. Gorgeous colors...I'm in love! But I have to discipline myself too--there's a paper to write for my marketing class Tuesday and a math test on Wednesday. Bleh.

Big Sky Skiing

2007-01-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I'll be here...hopefully skiing. If there's snow, that is, so please, make a little wish for snow for me! Then again, if it's really bad, there are three hot tubs and of course I'll take some knitting. I really wish it were possible to knit in the tub. That would be combining two of my very favorite things, but it's not (trust me).

Oh, and speaking of knitting (heh, heh)... the yarn for my first-ever really, truly design project is here! Well, it's at the yarn store. I'm so excited, but also nervous, and if the pattern doesn't work out...well, I don't want to jinx it by telling anyone what I'm trying to design (hopefully!). So it'll have to stay a secret for a while. But I'm so excited. It's stretchy yarn. Actually, I found some other stretchy yarn (Patons' Katrina) on sale the other day when I was looking for leather cord for my rock necklace. It was on a clearance sale, $1.49 a skein, so I decided to grab some. I didn't even know it was stretchy when I bought it, but suddenly all sorts of possibilities came to mind, and now I'm working on a little cardigan and bikini set. Very resort-chic. Will be perfect for a mid-winter trip to Hawaii next year!

Knitting

2007-01-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Knitting in Thailand

I took my knitting projects practically everywhere on our vacation. Trains, planes, boats, autos...I love to pass the time with knitting, and I had a few projects that I really wanted to complete during the trip. A pair of alpaca fingerless gloves for knitting when it's cold, a pair of cable socks designed by Cookie A. in gorgeous ivory merino (didn't get to start these, so they are tucked away for a future adventure), a felted bag to replace the disaster that I made for my mother (sigh), and my favorite pattern, the Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert. The girl is a genius, by the way, or she made some sort of pact with the devil in order to create such a brilliant design.

Anyway, as any travel knitter will tell you, knitting attracts a lot of attention. Especially for these women, who'd never seen anyone knit. We traded tips (knitting for weaving), and even though we didn't speak a common language, it was completely unneccessary. Nassah, the village leader's wife, seemed pretty dissapointed to learn that I was married. She was ready to wed me away to some guy in her village!

Here I am, knitting on the boat. It looks like I'm concentrating really, really hard, but I think I was just trying to keep that hair out of my eyes. It was pretty windy. So windy, in fact, that my Sunrise Circle Jacket pattern went flying into the sea!
But dear, sweet Been, God bless 'im, was on the case and got them back for me. Yes, we turned the boat around to save the knitting directions.

Travel

2007-01-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Thailand

Our Thai honeymon was amazing--just amazing. I knew I would have fun, but I couldn't believe just how much fun I had. I fell in love with everything: the food, the people, the landscape, the warmth, the sea, the mountains...everything. Well, actually, I could do without the "squatch toilets" (as our guide called them) and the humidity. We took well over a thousand photos, and there are many stories to tell, but here are a few highlights:

An offering of lotus and roses

Riding an elephant to one of the villages

One of our island campsites (ours is the camo tent...you probably can't see it)

Buddha statues

A hilltribe girl

Village puppies

Travel

2007-01-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Thailand
the funny pics

Okay, so we took this picture because it's obviously hilarious...little did I know what Thai massages were really like...and that's pretty much all I'm gonna say.

So, meet my new friend Mary Ellen. She's awesome, and we wanted a picture of us together next to this waterfall

And so my darling huband snaps this shot. Nice.

Here's me on the elephant again, arial view. But my butt looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Christmas Shopping

2006-12-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Oh my heavens...Christmas shopping. Next year, I'm getting it done in July. No, really. I swear, not only are people very un-jolly at this time of year, but there are just too many of them, the lines are way too long, and why does it take forever to find the right thing? At least I knew what I was looking for!

Now, all I have to get are things for my Pilates students. Thank heavens I'm just about finished. I've got packing and thinking about my honeymoon to do!

Paris and Brittney vs. Sophia and Jayne

2006-12-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist. As someone whose fascination with Paris Hilton astounds even me, I just loved this recent picture of her with Brittney Spears, and it's striking resemblence to another favorite of mine.

Thanksgiving: Beach Knitting!

2006-12-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Knitting at Lake Powell

This is me knitting on the beach at Lake Powell during our Thanksgiving kayak trip. Great day!