on the bandwagon

Let's add one more post to the sea of year-end re-caps crowding the interwebs right now, shall we?

2008 was an interesting year. In January, I set several goals for myself, with varying degrees of success.

To review:

1. Begin and complete renovation of the Rustic Attic
Yup, the attic itself is completely renovated. The stairs leading to the attic are another story and they need to be painted, but the attic is finished. Yay.

2. Decide on and implement new look for the kitchen
Hmm. Nothing's been decided for sure (so, obviously, not implemented either), but I'm thinking of using a striking, rich blue on some of the walls. I'd also like to have one wall in black chalkboard paint, and I think there's a way to make that look really awesome with a rich blue, but also a way to make that look really horrible. The one thing I'm pretty sure of for now is taht any big overhaul-type renovation is a ways down the road, and that a spuce-up coat of paint is on the table for a sooner timeframe.

3. Purge house of unnecessary clutter (or at least reduce said clutter)
I got rid of a few bags of stuff over the Thanksgiving weekend (aren't you proud of me?!), but that's about it. There's still a lot more storage space in my house to sift through. Much of what's there can easily be removed; it's just a matter of setting aside the time to do it.

4. Get a knitting pattern published
This didn't happen. I have one garment that I designed and finished, and one that I'm currently designing as I knit it, but I haven't written up (or started to write up) a pattern for either of them. I did, however, knit a whole bunch of sweaters in 2008. Not the 12 in as many months that I'd hoped, but almost. The scarfy gift knitting derailed my progress on my final sweater, chosen for its purported speed of knitting. Oh well. Stay tuned for a post (with pictures!) on how that and the other current projects are going.

5. Be able to run a 5k again (am signed up for one in March), then improve my time (will sign up for at least one over the summer
Another item that's gone unaccomplished. I will say, however, that over the past month or so, I've gotten back in the habit of at least getting myself to the gym more often than not, which in my mind is at least half the battle. My running abilities aren't where they once were (and they were never in an impressive place, to be sure), but I'm making incremental improvements in the continuing effort to ignore the internal voice reminding me to stop running when I get bored just because I can. And the goal for 2009 remains the same, even to the extent that I've again signed up for the very same 5k in March.

4. Cook and eat real dinners, even if I'm eating by myself (heavy emphasis on soups and vegetables)
Aha! I am cooking real dinners, even though I'm not often eating by myself anymore and thus didn't have to conquer that cook-for-just-yourself issue. Regardless, the point is that I'm eating better food (where "better" = healthier, tastier, and so forth) and being more conscious of what I'm consuming. Usually.

5. Have a rockin' vegetable garden
The garden went pretty well this year. I was able to harvest some food, and I'm looking forward to using some of the mistakes I learned from to ensure that next year's garden will be even better. Particularly important are to plan better, add more space, use tomato cages, and be extra patient when waiting for the danger of frost to pass.

6. Figure out what the heck to do with the decorative garden beds around the house
I started this! I gave away a few hostas that were taking up space in front of the house, and in their places planted a bunch of tulip bulbs. Will have to wait until spring to see if they fill up enough visual space, or if I need to add something else.

7. Bust out the sewing machine and use up some of my languishing fabric
Technically, yes, I did this. I did indeed use the sewing machine, and I did indeed use up some fabric, but the end result was by no means usable. I don't think there will be any sewing in my near future, and certainly not until I de-clutter enough to have a place in my house allocated to it.

8. Decide on and pursue a volunteering opportunity
Well, yes. I did a little bit of political volunteering, and a brief (read: six hour) stint with the local Habitat branch. It was fun, I'm glad I did it, but the personalities I dealt with didn't leave me super excited to sign up for another day. I'm debating how much I want to incorporate it into 2009.

9. Start up an IRA again; look into other investment approaches
No IRA, although I have until April of 2009 to make a contribution for 2008. I also became eligible for my employer's 401(k) plan, so I've been contributing a lot to that. Need to assess for 2009 whether it would be better to keep throwing large overpayments toward my student loans, mortgage, etc, or whether I should focus on building up my account balances.

10. Update blog consistently and hopefully more interestingly
More consistently, for sure (ignoring, if you will, the last few weeks). More interestingly, I hope so!

Lest you take my dismal rate of success above as an indication that nothing much happened this year, I present to you...

Other Big Changes and Occurrences in 2009 (said is booming, movie-announcer voice, of course):

- Suffered near-daily headaches. Had eyes examined; got prescription for glasses. Got super-cute glasses that I love. Warily noticed that headaches returned several months later.

- Bought a lawn mower! An electric corded model. Managed to prevent rioting among my neighbors in reaction to vastly overgrown eyesore of a yard. (Also bought a charcoal chimney - these things are the best! - so as to more easily cook food on the grill in my not-unkempt yard.)

- Went on a *real* vacation. Three time zones away. Via air travel. Saw touristy things, ate nice food, went dancing.

- Met the most wonderful man, who, luckily, thinks I'm the most wonderful woman (not to be confused with Wonder Woman).

It was a good, good year.


... Will jump on the Goals for 2009 bandwagon in the coming days!

Obligatory "Wow, it's snowy!" Post

So it snowed a lot yesterday. There was lots of shoveling this morning, and I got to work a couple hours late. Halfway through the afternoon, I didn't feel well, so I packed up some work and went home. When I pulled onto my street and up to my house, though, I found that the 15+ feet of snow we got, plus, apparently, ALL of the snow from my street, stood between me and my warm, cozy house. Couldn't park in the driveway. Couldn't even get to a shovel without walking through a snowbank the height of half of a car window. As I climbed through it, I was, quite literally, up to my ass in snow. Yes, I live in a snowy part of the country, but it isn't even Christmas! For crying out loud.

Anyway, yes, here's a shot of the monstrosity.


Cross your fingers for melty weather for me, if you please.

Not-quite-, but almost-, Insta-Sweater

So I've finally cast on for the Francis Revisited sweater I've posted about relentlessly for weeks. Over the course of the weekend, I've gotten to the decrease rows for the waist shaping (it's a top-down raglan, for those of you not already familiar with the pattern). And in fact, it would be going even faster if I was following the directions precisely. Which is to say, the yarn and needles I'm using are giving me somewhat finer gauge than is called for (4.25 stitches/inch, rather than 3.25), so I'm knitting about 25 percent more stitches than I would have had to, were I capable of following directions to a T. While I'm pleased with the finer gauge -- and the greater certainty that I won't need to layer the finished product over another shirt in order to wear it appropriately -- I should probably state for the record that the modification is more accurately related to the fact that I'm using the largest circular needles I own, and this is the gauge I got, so this is the gauge I'm using. Buying new needles would have caused a delay, and I'm impatient like that. But also, finer gauge = wearable sweater without layering. Yes.

So anyway, at the pace I'm going, I should have this thing done by the end of December. Which, I *think*, will mean that I'll have accomplished my goal of knitting twelve sweaters in 2008. I'll have to count again to make sure. If I'm one short, though, I'm totally blaming Thermal, the (wonderful, cute) tiny-gauge sweater that's half done at this point, but which has already taken up about eleventy trillion Francises worth of knitting effort.

Happy Sigh

As the lovely Brenda pointed out, the busy upcoming weekend I posted about last week had the potential to be wonderful, and indeed it was.

The awesome boyfriend and I - with electricity restored to our respective houses after last week's ice storm, hooray! - went to the restaurants that comprised our first dinner date (which, admittedly, was a few months ago... but it's never too early for nostalgia, right?). First was sushi (miso soup. yummmm. albacore and avocado roll. yummmm.), then a cute little dessert bar a couple blocks away. On the prior date, we each had a mug of the most potent, rich, and wonderful hot chocolate that has ever graced the earth with its presence, I'm sure of it. This time, though, I opted for tea, so as not to overpower my half of the slice of cappuccino cheesecake (oh. my. gawd. so so so good.) that we split. And THEN, we went to catch a local band at a free live show. I'd heard of them, caught part of a song or two on the radio, but hadn't really paid attention too closely - but wow, people, Sidecar Radio (might come back and add a link later, might not) is flippin' awesome! They're talented folks. Seriously. Check 'em out.

The weekend also involved the awesome boyfriend's birthday, so much cooking ensued. Dinner was:

- steamed spinach with honey/dijon/balsamic dressing
- pork (are they still pork chops if they're boneless?) with onions and a balsamic apricot glaze
- butternut squash ravioli (made with wonton wrappers, not real pasta dough!) with a bechamel cream sauce
- bottle of wine we'd had at a restaurant a while back that was really, really good (found it for his birthday as a surprise)
- spice cake decorated with lemony frosting

Phew! A lot of effort there, but it was fun. I'm planning to use the rest of the bechamel with a bunch of veggies to do some sort of primavera thing over wheat pasta, and I need some ideas on how to use up the remaining wonton wrappers in a recipe that doesn't involve frying.

(In the meantime, though, while I'm on the topic of cooking, the plan for tonight's dinner is my self-created cannelini and kale stew concoction. Here's the recipe just for the heck of it:

- lots of kale, cut into inch-ish pieces (enough to fill a stock pot when raw)
- chicken broth, one or two cans (could also use veggie broth to make this vegan)
- cannelini beans, one or two cans, drained somewhat but not meticulously
- coupla tablespoons of some sort of tomato product - paste, sauce, canned crushed, depending on what you have on hand or as leftovers to use up
- garlic powder to taste
- cumin to taste (but seriously, use quite a bit)
- rice vinegar, several generous splashes

Kale goes in the pot, chicken broth gets poured in, lid goes on, heat goes on, maybe medium heat.... When the kale is all wilty, everything else goes in and it simmers for maybe ten minutes. Super simple and super tasty. I like to add an extra splash of the rice vinegar to my bowlful upon serving, but to each his or her own.)

Anyway, so the really great weekend. The awesome boyfriend and I also went to a hopelessly adorable, quaint, New Englandy farm to choose and cut down a Christmas tree. The place was out in "the country" in terms of ambience, but thankfully was only about 20 minutes away. Perfect! The tree is up now, and all lit and decorated and wonderful, which is great, except that I want it to be Christmas right now!

So yes, it was a really fantastic weekend. Happy sigh. The yarn I ordered *still* hasn't arrived, and the tracking number and shipping history *still* indicates that it was delivered on Saturday, but at least the company has offered to re-send the order via complimentary express shipping. Well, I should think so. :) If it arrives in time, I miiiiight cast on for the Francis Revisited sweater I posted about, in the hopes of having it ready to wear to holiday gatherings, but we'll see.

This concludes today's loquacious rambling. Carry on.

Impatient

So that yarn order that's being shipped? That was projected to arrive on Thursday? The FedEx tracking page shifted it to Friday, then Saturday. And according to the status log, my yarn has been hangin' out at the FedEx facility in Northborough, Massachusetts for the past three days. That's just great. I mean, thankfully, this isn't destined for holiday gifting, and goodness knows I've got enough yarn and projects to keep me busy until, oh, 2012, but I want the new yarn, already! Much pouting and stomping of feet.

Honestly, though, immaturity aside, there's no point in being upset about the yarn delay, because I won't have time to use it even remotely soon. Today after work, there's a gathering with Mr. Terrific (he's not really a "New" Guy anymore so the acronym doesn't really work, and I shall henceforth be using any and all silly, random, complimentary monikers for him) and some of his friends. Tomorrow after work is the annual Family Tree Decoration Fest & Singalong (yes, really). Saturday, we've got assorted errands and house projects and holiday prep and and and, followed by a date night involving dinner out and catching some live music. Sunday's plan invovles more of the holiday/errand craziness, tree acquisition and decorating chez Monsieur Terrific, and probably lots of mug-fulls of cocoa and cider and the like. Mmmm. Annnnd a birthday dinner for Senor Terrific (details omitted for element of surprise purposes). He's chosen spice cake, so add "bake and decorate a spice cake" in there somewhere, although that'll be fun, too.

Oh, also, trips to the gym. Yes. And sleeping. So, really, no time to knit with new yarn, anyway (she said begrudgingly).

Harumph/Hooray

Harumph:

- an order of yarn I placed on Monday apparently didn't get shipped until late last night, and its projected arrival date isn't until Thursday of next week

- upon realizing that my version of Thermal is probably a little bit too roomy, I ripped back about a week's worth of work, which may or may not actually solve the problem


Hooray:

- went to the gym this morning

- have a new recipe to try out tomorrow that I'm super excited about

- have several ideas for holiday gifting, am filled with generalized holiday spirit and joy

- despite above issues, can knit to my heart's content over my four day weekend


:)

Stash-erriffic

I may have bought more yarn. Possibly. I might, perhaps, have bought 6 skeins of this silk and wool blend in the color "latte." When it arrives in about a week I am soooo casting on for the Francis Revisted sweater I posted about before. Oh yes.

Until then, I'm still plugging along on Thermal (also known as the sweater that will never end, argh). I've divided for the button placket and the armholes, so at least there's some progress.

As far as a general update, I'm still recovering from a very good but very, very, very busy Thanksgiving weekend. Five family gatherings over the span of three days. Oy. And there was a sixth gathering that was, unfortunately, missed, because... man, five gatherings was quite enough as it was. I was sound asleep by 9:00 on Saturday. Sad but true. And necessary.

Sunday was blessedly unscheduled. Political coverage, then a movie (in a theater! exciting and different!), and a quiet dinner with vegetables (so as to balance out the umpteen servings of pie and cheesecake at the aforementioned family gatherings).

... and Monday morning included a trip to the gym. Huzzah!

Where is the time store?

Seriously. How can I acquire some additional time in the day, time in the week, and so forth? Surely not by sleeping less, because, hello, not sleeping enough/well has not been, shall we say, effective in making me happy and productive. There's been lots of harumph-ing of late. And muttering. And wishing I could take a nap. That sort of thing.

But! After the next two work days, there's the long holiday weekend, like a gloriously comforting light at the end of a tired and grumpy tunnel. [And no, I don't care that tunnels themselves can be neither tired nor grumpy. I like my sentence and I'm keeping it. Harumph.]

I've got three, count 'em, three Thanksgiving dinners to go to in the span of about 36 hours. I won't be travelling anywhere over a half hour away, so I'll (thankfully) be able to fit in a few trips to the gym as well. In the meantime, I need to figure out what contributions are in order for each of the gatherings, and what items, specifically, will fit the bill.

On the knitting front, I bit the bullet and finally revamped the neckline of my Hourglass Sweater. Now the raglan neckline is an appropriate width, rather than threatening to fall off my shoulders if I sneeze. I took the path of least resistance, working the re-knit sections in the round even though the sweater was originally knit in pieces and seamed. I suppose I should have taken out the seams, re-knit each section, and seamed everything up again, but I'm lazy. And the sweater doesn't look good enough on me to make me think I'll wear it anywhere remotely important, so it's ok if it looks a little wonky around the neckline.

I've been plugging along on Thermal, too. Good lord, that's a slow sweater. Fingering weight yarn, tiny needles, and waffle stitch. Yeah. I'm knitting it bottom-up, in the round, and I'm almost ready to divide for the armholes... or rather, more accurately, trying to be patient and not divide just yet because I frequently make my sweater torsos too short out of impatience, and this one here is a prime candidate for that particular affliction.

As much as my opinion on Thermal is essentially "man, this is going to be a great sweater, but I just want to be DONE with it, already!" I still managed to tear myself away from it and put in a few rows of work on one of my new designs under cloak of mystery. Which, no, is not a cloak.

Annnnd, despite having two sweaters on the needles and a relatively lengthy mental list of people I'd love to give knitted gifts to in theory (depending on a whole bunch of factors), my attention has been pulled in the direction of a new sweater pattern that looks simple, very wearable, and -bonus!- quick to knit. Seriously, how cute is that? The examples up on ravelry all look lovely as well. Yet another sweater I want to knit RightNow!

Sigh. I really need to find a time store.

Well, look at that!

See, I can promise pictures of a new sweater and post them before an eternity has passed. Huh. I didn't know I had it in me.

Without further ado, here's the Lace Cardigan, in short-sleeved form:



And here it is with, as promised, a view (sort of) of my recent haircut.



I should note, too, that the hair looks a little horrific there because (a) I did nothing to it this morning, save for letting it air dry and brushing it, (b) this is after a full day of work and general succumbing to gravity on my hair's part, and (c) I'm not wearing any makeup. Yes, my hair looks better when I have makeup on my face. I don't know why, it just does.

Anyway, so now I'm freed up a little, from a mindset perspective, to drool over new patterns. For the knitters out there, have you SEEN the latest issue of Twist Collective? I want to knit at least half of those patterns, and I want to knit them right now.

Pictures soon, I promise...

So I finished the lace cardigan yesterday! And by finished, I mean finished. I've woven in the ends and blocked it and everything. I'll take a picture soon, although I'm not sure how flattering the garment itself will ever be, as it has a distinct lack of waist shaping.

I also planted those pesky tulip bulbs, finally. A row of taller white ones behind a row of shorter red ones, along the front of the house, on either side of the porch. They should, I'm hoping, go well with the yellow house and white trim, and with the orange day lilies that are already there. With the hostas gone, the only thing throwing a wrench in the color scheme is the bluey-purpley iris, but I like irises too much to get rid of it, and I'm too lazy (right now) to transplant it elsewhere.

Oh, right, and I also have two potted peonies that need to go somewhere, in the hopes they'll survive for next year. I think they're some sort of miracle variety, because I didn't get around to addressing the issue last fall (they're pink, and I don't know where to put pink things in my yard yet), but somehow they still managed to create new growth this past summer. I think the early snow we had last fall/winter provided some extra insulation for them. That, or they're just miraculously indestructible plants.

Anyway, I didn't - and won't - take pictures of the newly planted tulip bulbs because the visual right now is just a bunch of tamped-down dirt. Boring. Kinda like this post.

And as a quick final note, I've signed myself up for a 5k next year. Yes, this is the same 5k I signed up for last year and bailed on (I forget whether it was due to an injury or just plain low motivation and lack of training...), though at least my registration fee went to a good cause. This time, though, I'm determined to follow through. I. will. get. back. into. running. I will I will I will I will.

Yes.

Successes (complete and partial)

1. Complete: Thanks to the inspiration and guidance of a recent smitten kitchen post, I figured out how to make a really good batch of home fries (a key element of breakfast-for-dinner, which one really must incorporate into one's life at least quarterly to ensure a proper level of contentment and whimsy). Helpful tips were the pre-cooking of the potatoes, so as to equalize their cooking time with that of the onions, and the use of butter, so as to create a crispy potato exterior. Addition from my own mind: a dash of cumin. Complete success.

2. Partial: The sleeves on the lace cardigan are done. Only one of them, however, has been sewn in place. Copious ends need to be woven in. Blocking must occur.

3. Partial: Tulip bulbs have been purchased (and have subsequently ridden around with me in my car for about a week). Hopefully there'll be a day with neither rain nor work in the near future so I can plant them. Relatedly, I've obtained the materials for weatherizing my windows. Unlike planting, this process doesn't require a rain-free day, or even daylight, but it does have a much higher motivation hurdle to address. Oh, motivation, how elusive you are...

weekend highlights

This weekend was a whirlwind, lemme tell ya. Or, I should say, I had things to do this weekend, and as a result am tired now, because I am apparently old. With a side of insomnia. Anyway.

I got a haircut. Nothing fancy or different from what I've done in the past, but much needed. In a couple weeks it'll be perfect and I'll wish I could make my hair stop growing at will. No pictures right now, but if I can finish up knitting the lace cardigan (ooh, haven't heard about that one in a while, have ya?) before my hair grows back to the length it was anyway, I'll try to get a decent shot of the cardigan and the haircut together. Two birds, one stone.

I tried to buy shoes for Awesome Friend's wedding (I triiiied, I really did!), but the store I was sure would carry them... didn't. Le sigh.

At the other end of the footwear spectrum, I wore my beyond-broken-in pair of sneakers to tromp through some mud and go urban hiking. No, really, there's hiking within the boundaries of my (very small) city. I know, it's just barely a city. But still, it's really cool: there are acres and acres of marshes and wooded trails (and a waterfall!) a stone's through from residential streets and a shopping center or five. And you'd never know it when you're in either setting. My (mini-)city rocks.

A fair amount of time was spent taking a putty knike to old wallpaper and a rake to old leaves. Thankfully, a fair amount of time was also spent eating delicious food and laughing with lovely people.

Oh my gosh, and I re-watched one of my favorite movies ever. Crash. It won the Oscar for Best Picture for a reason, folks. So good. So.so.so.so.good. I'd already seen it, so I already knew what happened, and the two best scenes were still amazingly powerful. Tears rolling down my face kind of powerful (and I don't cry at movies, like, ever). If you haven't seen it yet (why the heck not, I ask you?), get your hands on a copy posthaste!

A Month of Wednesdays

I'd realized sort of vaguely that I'd been posting less frequently lately, but imagine my surprise when I scrolled down through the last three... four... FIVE... posts to find that they were all dated on Wednesdays. Huh. I'm a creature of habit, always have been, and am well aware of said trait, but that much? Really? I guess so!

Anyway, let's cross something off the most recent ATDL, shall we? Yes, we shall.

Progress on Thermal so far

As for the rest of 'em, let's roll out the accountability fanfare. Dah, de-DAH:

- Get a pair of prescription sunglasses
Not yet. In fact, might wait a while to see if my prescription is where I need it to be (headaches again. argh.)...

- Find a pair of brown boots to replace the current pair, which has seen better days
DONE! Brown, heels but not too much, zip up, cute square-ish toe. Approx $50. Thank you, Bass outlet!

- Buy tulip bulbs
Um, not yet.

- Plant said tulip bulbs
Clearly, no.

- Purchase housewarming gift(s) for TNG
DONE! And he lurved them.

- Go. to. the. gym.
Yeah, I went. For 25 puny minutes on an elliptical machine. Went for a two mile walk with the CraftoMom today. Tomorrow's activity will be brought to you by renovations, no doubt. Gym again on Monday. Yes.

- Take and post a picture of my progress on Thermal so far.
Oh yeah!

- Stop working on Thermal and get some progress done on a neglected new design
Oh. Yeah....

- Make hotel reservations for the weekend of Awesome Friend's wedding
DONE! Just now! Thank you, ATDL, for reminding me.

- Buy dress and shoes for aforementioned wedding
Next weekend, I swear.

- Prep windows for winter
Sigh. No.


But I *did* carve a pumpkin. (And TNG did, too, a cool cyclopse jack-o-lantern, but my camera batteries fizzled out before I could get a shot of it.)

Ghostie's got a little case of osteoporosis, it seems. Carved pumpkins don't last forever, ya know...

Back by popular... well, by necessity

It's time for another Ambitious To Do List! True, the weekend is still a few days away, and it isn't even a long weekend at that, but the tasks hovering over me continue to accumulate. So, ATDL it is.

- Get a pair of prescription sunglasses
- Find a pair of brown boots to replace the current pair, which has seen better days
- Buy tulip bulbs
- Plant said tulip bulbs
- Purchase housewarming gift(s) for TNG
- Go. to. the. gym.
- Take and post a picture of my progress on Thermal so far
- Stop working on Thermal and get some progress done on a neglected new design
- Make hotel reservations for the weekend of Awesome Friend's wedding
- Buy dress and shoes for aforementioned wedding
- Prep windows for winter

list format: heavy on the information, light on the creativity

- I've cast on for Thermal, of Knitty fame. It's slow going, folks. Slowwwwww going. Thank you, tiny gauge.

- Terrific New Guy (hereinafter "TNG") met a bunch of my friends this week at various social events, all of which seemed to go swimmingly.

- Used up some leeks for yummy soup (bonus: lunch with a friend!)

- I went fishing. Yes, really. There was no bait involved, only fiberglass lures, and I miraculously managed to get through the day without injuring myself on the hooks. I caught (drum roll, please)... a leaf. Yeah. There are pictures, but I'll spare you, lest this blog turn into The Adventures of Craftosaurus and TNG ("look, another self-taken shot of us in front of some scenery, with a vast expanse of the photog's sleeve! whee!").

- Went to the local quaint retail-centered touristy area, intending only to windowshop, but ended up getting a new suit (much needed, and this one was cute and fit well) for sixty bucks. Oh yeah.

- Had a fab, fab, FAB dinner following said retail excursion. Wine and entree were delish, but ohmygoodness, the chocolate stout cake with peanut butter frosting? Wow.

- Backyard at Chez Craftosaurus is FULL of leaves from the resident chestnut tree. Must rake this weekend.

- Also this weekend, have got plans to sit outside in the crisp fall air and watch the song stylings of area marching bands. Ooooh, the nostalgia.

- Flu shot tomorrow. Healthy, healthy. Also, must remember to wear an outfit with roll-able sleeves.

I *heart* long weekends.

It's a Wednesday, but it feels like a Tuesday because the real Tuesday was the Monday of the week, Columbus Day having turned the real Monday into an extra Sunday.

You still with me?

Anyway, yes, I was one of the lucky few who had Monday off for Columbus Day (although, fear not, I'll be cursing the other Lucky Few when I sit at my desk on Veterans' Day). That third day is key, I tell you, KEY. There was much sleeping and cooking and knitting of sweaters and watching of movies. And there was apple picking! While there are no actual apples in this picture, the leaves are leaves on an apple tree in the middle of an apple orchard, I promise.


So I just have to get through this Wednesday-that-feels-like-a-Tuesday, then a Thursday-that-feels-like-a-Friday (because it will. you know it will...), then a Friday-that-feels-a-thousand-hours-long, and I'll find myself in another long weekend, because I'm using some vacation time at the beginning of next week. Hooray, long weekends!

In the category of Various and Sundry Other Things to Post About Quickly, I've reached the end of the yarn on the Lace Cardigan. I'll need to rip out the unfinished sleeve caps, for sure, and possibly a fair amount of the sleeves themselves, because I don't think there will be enough yarn to get to a 3/4 length. The alternative, in my mind, will have to be cap sleeves, as sleeves to the elbow just don't sound like they'd be a pretty sight.

Also, debate tonight. Save for the feeling that I could fall asleep any second and the fact that I've still got hours of wakefulness to conquer, I'm really excited!

Oh right, and a picture:

So here's the body of the Lace Cardigan I've been working on. Not the best picture, because the fronts and back are all one piece, so it's tough to display the lace, and the stuff hasn't been blocked yet. Still, it gives a sense of it.



I'm knitting the sleeves now, at the same time on the same needle (primarily because I don't feel like keeping track of the rows to knit a duplicate second sleeve). Length of the sleeves to be determined based on the amount of yarn I have left. Thankfully, I won't have to keep much in reserve for seaming.

Having watched the second presidential debate...

Dear Senator McCain:

I am not your friend. Please stop calling me that.

If you insist on thinking of me as your friend, perhaps you could act accordingly and stop lying to me.

Many thanks,
Craftosaurus

Looking forward to good things

The body of the Lace Cardigan is done! I wrapped up the knitting of the back and the front sections yesterday, using a three-needle bind-off (which I *heart*) for the shoulder seams. I need to knit the sleeves, then sew them in place, weave in the ends, and block the thing, and it'll be done. Will post a picture soon if I have time....

Made my favorite potato-leek soup last night and I have leftovers for lunch today. Yum.

Going to see one of my favorite bands play at the end of this week. I need to get through three work days first, but then, man, awesome music, here I come!

Will theoretically get a solid 8 hours of sleep tonight. It's sorely needed. I'm tired, yo. Painfully tired. (Says the girl affectionately cradling her mug of past-its-prime coffee.)

Blessed, blessed three day weekend on the horizon.

Holy caught-off-guard, Batman!

I have no exciting knitting updates for you. Mystery Project 1 is still unflattering, still cowering in a corner of my dresser and awaiting its imminent demise, to be reincarnated as a wearable garment made with a pattern. Mystery Project 2 is still in that long, painful stretch of mindlessness (after the armhole shaping but before the collar. ugh.) that causes one to simultaneously want to keep working so one can get to the fun part again, already, and also to throw up one's hands in utter disgust and abandon it in favor of a project that's at the fun part already. The Lace Cardigan has recovered from the unfortunateness that was "ripping back 20 rows" (shudder), and I realized last week that I probably need to backtrack again, though to a much more manageable - and less demoralizing - degree. I thought I was being so slick with the increases I put in for shaping purposes. "Look at me, using increases in lace!" But as it turns out, I was just messing it up. Sigh.

But really, there are no exciting knitting updates to give you because the needles have been sitting idle for most of the past couple weeks. I've been too busy going hiking and going to dinner and the like, and just generally being swept off my feet. I know! I'm in disbelief, too!

All the news that's fit to blog...

Right. So. New Knit Design Under Cloak of Mystery #1 is teetering on the brink of being done. All the pieces are done and seamed, so all that's left is to weave in the ends and block it. I'm hoping against hope that blocking makes it more flattering, because right now, well, it just isn't working. It fits and it's comfy, but yikes, would I not want to be seen in public wearing this thing.

New Knit Design Under Cloak of Mystery #2 has been on vacation (read: profoundly neglected) for the past few weeks. This should be changing soon. Unless it doesn't.

The slow-moving lace cardigan has hit a (proverbial, as opposed to literal) snag. I inadvertently dropped a stitch near a bunch of yarn-overs, and the surrounding three square inches just sort of dissolved into mush. There's no way I'll be able to figure out a workable solution other than ripping out ten or so rows. Sigh. This thing had better be worth it when it's done...

Um, what else? Oh, I get to go dancing this weekend! And I'm having lunch with the Big Noodle today! Hurrah! And... yep, that's it.

Sleepy, Sneezy, and Happy

I appear to be allergic to something that's been in the air lately. I don't mean this in a sarcastic way, like I'm "allergic" to work or "allergic" to mainstream media political coverage or anything like that. Rather, literally, I've been sneezy and sniffly and congested - and it's been waking me up at night, which is ever so lovely, and has been causing the sleepiness.

Notwithstanding the above, it's been a pretty good week. I put in about 5 hours of my best construction efforts (ha!) volunteering with Habitat for Humanity on Saturday. I learned that I'm not very good at hammering nails, but that using an electric drill is within my capabilities. Good to know.

I've had sushi for dinner - always the mark of a good week - and a cup of the best hot chocolate you ever did see. Also got to catch up with a dear friend and give her a birthday present that appeared to be a hit (yay!). Went to an event where one of the most intelligent, successful, inspiring, and all-around quality people from my state gave a brief but wonderful speech. Annnd, I get to look forward to hiking this weekend (weather permitting) with nice people.

Knitting-wise, I've been distracted by the lace cardigan I linked to in my last post, so the two items I'm working on as new designs have been languishing for a while. But there's been definite progress on the cardigan (lace is so FUN, with all the yarn-overs turning into a pattern as you proceed), and the new knitty is up, with a couple of things that have gone directly to my Must Knit list.

All of the above = happy.

But wait, there are four more dwarves, right? Hmmm. Grumpy? That was last week. Dopey? Still feeling the learning curve at work, but hopefully not THAT much. Doc? Um, no (unless my wearing glasses is enough of a parallel). And Bashful? Well, yes, actually, I guess I have been. But mostly sleepy, sneezy, and happy.

Liberal

And proud of it!

That link is to a fantastic New York Times op-ed piece by Bob Herbert. Read it. Forward it. Own it.

As for a knitting update, I'm nearly one lace repeat into this sweater. The yarn is fingering weight wool so it's kind of slow going, but I'm hoping it'll be worth it. Also hoping the wool won't turn out to be too itchy. And that I don't run out of it before I've at least knit cap sleeves...

Is it nap time yet?

First, let me say that I was so impressed with Joe Biden's speech last night. I'm sorry to say that I don't know as much about him as I should, but MAN, did he seem like a genuine, quality human being. While I ordinarily find personality to be less important, theoretically, than ideology in a politician, for a vice presidential nominee, I think one's perceived personality takes on greater significance. Also, if that's what (a lot of) voters are going to base their decisions on, so much the better that a man appearing to be of great intellectual substance is also going to be able, it seems, to tap into that "I have to vote for someone I can connect with" sentiment. [Which is not to say that I think the media's portrayal of Obama as suffering from connectivity problems is accurate... rather that a ticket with two, count 'em, TWO intelligent, genuine, likeable people is a good, good thing.]

Bottom line: when I was watching Biden, then Biden and Obama, I couldn't stop smiling. And I'm typically pretty unemotional about politics.

But for crying out loud, do the powers that be need to schedule the big speeches for 10:30 at night? I am old, apparently, and can't handle a week's worth of this up-past-ten nonsense. I know, I could probably find the footage after the fact via the interwebs, but it just isn't the same.

Must go and forage for some caffeine...

What the frock?

It's a newly finished Frock Camisole!



What's that, you say? You think I may have modified the pattern a little? Well, that goes without saying, doesn't it. :) I cast on fewer stitches than were called for along the bottom because I didn't want a loose-fitting tent-errific type top. By the time I'd done some waist shaping, I made sure to end up with the required number of stitches at the armholes. I also used seed stitch instead of reverse stockinette in the top section, because seed stitch doesn't roll at the edges. I made the straps 12 stitches wide, rather than 8, as well.

I need to re-knit part of the top of the back (sigh), but other than that, I'm verreh verreh pleased. Annnd, I finished it quickly enough to still be weather-appropriate. Hooray!

Gettin' back to my roots...

Once upon a time, I used to blog about knitting, didn't I? The garden and the baking and the general life commentary are all well and good, but I'm a knit blogger in my heart of hearts.

I currently have two projects going, but they're both new designs, so I'm keeping them supah-secret in case I'm sufficiently pleased with them to write up patterns and submit them for publication. I think I may need to cast on for a third project, if only to have something knitting-related to post about consistently.

Oh, right, and the Frock Camisole is technically finished. I say "technically" because it doesn't fit *quite* right, and I'm trying to decide whether that would be fixed by adding a few rows to the straps, or blocking, or neither. You might end up with yet another garment-on-hanger picture in the interim (or if I fail at all my readjustment attempts).

Anyway, so a new project is in order. I have 400 grams (a rough estimate) of fingering weight wool to use up, and I'm contemplating (a) to what extent that limits the type of garment I can knit before running out of yarn, and (b) whether I should knit something designed to be layered over something else, to keep itchiness to a minimum. Pattern suggestions are welcome!

Borscht Cake

... So named because there are beets in the batter and sour cream in the frosting. Yes, I know there are other things in borscht, and that two similarities do not a clever recipe name make, necessarily, but I figured I'd go for it.

Anyway, if you haven't gathered, I did in fact turn the beets from my garden into chocolate cake! And it was really quite good. I read a couple of recipes for research purposes, and, as is my wont, used them as inspiration but veered off in my own direction.

So, without further ado, the recipe for Borscht Cake:

3 medium sized beets
1 splash vanilla extract
1.25 c sugar
1 scant c vegetable oil (by which I mean, a cup minus a tablespoon or so)
3 eggs
1 c all purpose flour
.75 c whole wheat flour
.25 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (fahrenheit). If you want bonus points, go ahead and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. I didn't, and it was fine (although I didn't take the cake out of the pan and decorate it for show).

Boil the beets until fork-tender. Drain and cool, then remove the peels and coarsely chop. Mash in a large bowl. The large bowl is key, both for addition of subsequent ingredients, and because the sides of the bowl will shield you from at least some of the spattering purple beet juice.

Add to the mashed beets the vanilla, sugar, oil, and eggs. Mix until well blended (I used an electric mixer on the highest setting, so as to get some extra air in that sucker and counteract what I feared would be the Whole Wheat Density Effect, but stirring with a spoon would probably work, too.)

In a separate bowl (I know! I never make anything that involves a "separate bowl!") combine the flours, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Add this to the beet mixture gradually, whilst continuing to mix (or stir, as the case may be).

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the frosting, use the mixer (yes, it's probably a requirement here) to whip together the following:

8 oz. neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese)
.75 c sour cream
.5 c confectioner's sugar

Frost the cake once it's cooled.

It may be my child-of-two-lapsed-Catholics guilt talking here, but I feel compelled to apologize for frosting the cake without removing it from the pan. This was NEVER, EVER done in my house when I was a kid. EVER. Without fail, every single cake for every single birthday/holiday/observence in my house was (1) made from a box, and (2) painstakingly decorated with homemade frosting. We're talking rosette flowers at a minimum, people. One year, the Crafto-Mom made an Easter basket cake, complete with frosting made to look basketwoven, and a handle. Oh yes. So, even though this Borscht Cake wasn't served to anyone else but yours truly, I feel as though I've brought shame upon my family by taking the shortcut here and - *gasp* - frosting the cake without removing it from the pan!

But I digress. It was deeeee-lish.

Harvest

Today's (very small) harvest:



It's the first ripened tomato of 2008! All of the others are uniformly green still, so it's kinda weird that this one took off all on its own. Oh, that zany unpredictableness of nature.

There are beets in the ground that I'm planning to turn into chocolate cake over the weekend, and a few cucumbers that, based on their shape, are about ninety percent seeds.

Insignificant randomness

I remember hearing somewhere a while back that, from an evolutionary biology standpoint, there's a reason why little things are cute. Something about how kittens and puppies and foals and baby humans are designed to trigger an "awww" reaction (and/or our brains are designed to react in that way), in large part so that the baby whatever-it-is will be more likely to be taken care of. (Forgive my ineloquence here; I'm a little tentative when the subject at hand involves science.)

Anyway, so there's some sort of underlying reason why small living things are so cute. That makes sense to me. What baffles me, though, is why this would translate to inanimate objects. Yes, I have a specific example in mind: teeny tiny binder clips! You know, binder clips, the black plastic things that hold packets of papers too big for staples or paper clips, with the metal pieces that you flip to the sides and use to open the black plastic part, like a mandible* hinge. You know what I'm talking about, right? They're usually maybe an inch wide or so; sometimes you'll also see larger binder clips on really big stacks of paper... but apparently, they also come in itty-bitty, teeny-tiny size. Maybe a centimeter wide, or only slightly more than that. And they're so! darn! cute!

Obviously, there's no biological reason for this - I mean, it isn't as though there's an evolutionary need for wee binder clips to be taken care of so they can continue to thrive and eventually grow up to be big, strong binder clips. Is the small-things-are-cute notion so fundamentally hard-wired in our collective psyches (um, or just mine?) that it's transferred over from living creatures to pieces of metal and plastic? What gives?

See, I wasn't kidding with that post title up there! Very random, and entirely insignificant.



*I should note, also, that I am incapable of seeing a bunch of snapdragon flowers without pinching one by the sides and making it "talk." [Oddly, they never sound like you'd think a dragon would (that is, "roarrrr," or the like), but usually more along the lines of "mawh mawh mawh mawh"...] So maybe the thing with the binder clips is less about inanimate objects that are very tiny, and more about inanimate objects that can look like they're talking... hmm...

Anti-rant

Enough of the ranting, I say! Here's a list of more positive recent events (where "events" is a term to be used loosely). Negative aspects omitted for the sake of optimism.

- Cell phone magically healed itself.

- One of the tomatoes in the garden is starting to transition from green to orangey-red...

- Three cucumbers have presented themselves so far, and there are plenty of yellow flowers still on the vines.

- The canteloupe plant looks like it has four or five tiny canteloupes, though I've no idea how many of them I can expect to be successful.

- Made some progress on the Frock Camisole, and am nearly to the arm hole shaping. Expect to have it wrapped up by the end of the week, depending on how my schedule pans out.

- Started reading a novel. Reading! A novel! For fun! I very nearly couldn't remember what that was like...

- Running is becoming a habit again; the tide is turning back to "exhilerating" from "dread-inducing and painful."

- Have got plans lined up for super-fun dancing over the weekend. Woot!

Smaller scale rant

My cell phone appears to be broken. Which is to say, regardless of whether it's easily fixable, it ain't workin' right now. When I push the power button, it sputters and makes several valiant attempts, but ultimately gives up. In the past when the phone's been wonky, I've seen it brought back to its former glory through removal and replacement of the battery, so I figured that's what I'd try. Well, I would if I could get the battery cover off, anyway. I've even gone to the Verizon/Motorola website to make sure the battery-cover-removal button is what I think it is. Yup. The battery cover just happens to be permanently fused to the rest of the phone, is all. [Note: this, clearly, is not true, as I've seen others remove the battery cover in the past, as I said above.] Suffice it to say, I can't get the *&!# cover off my phone to try and reset it. At the very least, I'll be without phonage through the end of the work day. Not a huge deal, but annoying. And it goes without saying that a trip to the Verizon store was NOT on the list of Things I Want To Use My Precious Weekend Hours For. (I know, preposition at the end of the sentence. Don't care right now.)

Rant

I've been spending most of my Sunday mornings lately tidying my house while half-watching (or watching, depending on my level of interest) the networks' political analysis fare. This past Sunday, George Stephanopolous interviewed John McCain. I just found a transcript of the interview here.

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I disagree with the vast majority of the McCain platform. That, however, is not why I'm all ranty (well, today, anyway). What irks me is the blatant avoidance of difficult questions, redirection to topics he preferred to discuss, and failure to apply logic or intellectual sincerity to his responses. Ya don't like the fact that economists don't think a gas tax holiday will be effective, so you slam economists en masse as being out of touch with lower income Americans? Seriously? You respond to a question on how to solve the mortgage crisis by swivelling over to Congressional spending and dependence on foreign oil? For real? You're asked about your previously-stated opposition to gay adoption, and all you can muster is a robotic repition of the phrases "two parent families" (which, really, doesn't serve your argument, methinks) and "traditional family values," resulting in a distinct neither-confirm-nor-deny undertone? Come on now. I'll give Stephanopolous credit for calling him on some of this stuff, but I also think he let too much of it slide.

I know a large segment of American voters have resigned themselves to the notion that politicians are, by nature, evasive and unresponsive when asked about difficult policy matters, but it still infuriates me that they get away with it... and they get away with it because so many of us don't think carefully and critically about the logic employed in answers like these. I know there were heads nodding all around the country Sunday morning, people agreeing that of course, those "elitist" economists must not have any understanding of what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck, without stopping to realize that Senator McCain didn't answer the question he was asked.

[Along the same lines, the rampant use of "elitist" as a negative label - and smokescreen - to distract the public from substantive issues? Maddening! Remind me again, when did being intelligent, eloquent, and well-informed become a bad thing, particularly for a potential leader of our country? That is an important job, people! I for one would like the person filling it to excel in all three of those areas.]

Grrr.

Paragraphs, Shmaragraphs!

- Still working on the ambitious knitting project that I can't blog about.

- In the interim, have also cast on for Interweave's Frock Camisole. I'm using a silk/cotton blend reclaimed (read: unraveled) from a store-bought sweater; am hoping it knits up all soft and drapey like I'm envisioning. Also, modifying the heck out of the pattern, as always.

- Harvested and ate beets from the garden over the weekend. Yum.

- Noticed this morning that there are three (three!) respectable green peppers in the container garden (where "respectable" = bigger than a golf ball).

- Have learned that I must must must use tomato cages next year.

- Lawn is mowed, yard furniture is set up, umbrella spoke still needs to be splinted. Need to address that so I can really use and appreciate the yard again, especially for those rare days when it's cool, breezy, and rain-free outside in the evening and my house is still warm from the afternoon.

Who waaaaants.... garden pictures!

As I said in my last post, I'm knitting something at the moment that I can't blog about in great detail, which certainly means no photographic updates. The vegetable garden, however, is not in the least bit secretive, so here are some shots of it, boring as they may be:

One of two cucumber plants. They've got plenty of flowers so far, and I'm hoping they're getting pollinated, what with the dearth of bees everyone's been talking about.

The beets are doing well! I think they've been attacked by some insects and perhaps some small mammals, but they appear to be holding their own.



String beans don't need any sun or anything, do they? In other words, the garden is crowded.

...Hence the driveway garden annex.





The leeks and onions, respectively, appear to be thriving.



The butternut squash does not. I think if you lean in close and listen very, very carefully, you can hear it screaming "stop raining on meeeee!"

I also planted two containers with one pepper plant each. One is taking off:


... the other one, not so much:



Oh well. I've never had any luck with peppers, anyway, so I'll take it as a victory that I've got something potentially edible on the healthier one. The sickly one is more like what I usually end up with.

Also, I'd like to offer my apologies for the hideous formatting here. Let's just say blogspot and I aren't getting along right now. If anyone knows if there's a way to caption photos here, by all means, please tell me.

In which I prove that reverse psychology can be used on one's self.

You might recall that my list of goals for 2008 included designing and writing a knitting pattern to (hopefully) get published. You might further recall the goals assessment at the 2008 midpoint a couple weeks ago, wherein I resigned myself to knitting from patterns for the time being, as I was devoid of inspiration for any new designs.

Following the Thermal moebius debacle of last week, I decided to shift my focus to something more summer-appropriate and landed on the Drop Stitch Lace tank from Fitted Knits. Finding no suitable yarn for that in my stash, I ventured forth to acquire some. Yes, I know, I'd said previously that I was "committed to reducing the stash" this year, but apparently such commitment was not overly strong. In fact, the commitment was really downright spineless when I got to the store and found a bunch of dk-weight (I think) wool on sale for $2 a skein. Um, I may have bought six of them. I'm not sure whether it's helpful or unhelpful in justifying the purchase, but I found nothing to use for the DSL tank.

Rather than detouring to another store in search of summery, cotton-blend goodness, I made a beeline home so as to avoid further hits to my bank account and anti-pack-rat efforts, repeating to myself "I will use yarn I already own. I will use yarn I already own. I will use yarn I already own." When I realized that my new bargain wool would be, I suspect, perfect for a type of garment for which I've not been able to find quite the right pattern, I broke out the pencil and paper and measuring tape. That's right, folks, I've found ye olde inspiration and will be designing something for which I'll hopefully be able to write up a formal pattern. I'm not saying what it's going to *be* just yet, though, lest I jinx the whole thing. But in my head, it's beauteous and lovely.

Seriously, though, who knew? All I had to do was tell myself I was uninspired, and my subconscious apparently took the challenge. Reverse psychology on myself, I say! I wonder if I can use that for other things: my hatred of dishwashing, perhaps...

Moebius, Of Course

Right, so I mentioned I had no knitting projects on the needles. I'm committed to reducing my stash yarn this year, but at the same time don't have a lot of summery yarn that's calling out to me with inspiration, so I cast on yesterday for Thermal. That's right, people. I cast on for a waffle-knit, longsleeved pullover in 100% wool on a hazy, hot, and humid day in July.

Further evincing my brilliance, I knit about three rows and realized I was the proud new owner of a moebius strip. *grumble, mutter, wipe sweat from brow, grumble, grumble* Moebius strips are the bane of my crafty existence, so I always knit back and forth for at least two rows before joining, in order to see more clearly whether all of my stitches are facing in the same direction. Here, though, it was no use. Le sigh.

Other highlights from the week have included unsuccessful attempts (yes, plural) to unclog the drain in my bathtub, as well as a battle to remove my washing machine's agitator (in the hopes of cleaning the lint filter). The latter caused an injury and was, of course, unsuccessful as well.

Ah, Summer

I'll start by saying that I am infinitely and profoundly grateful that I live in a part of the world with less than its fair share of dangerous or frightening pests. I can begrudgingly tolerate a racoon or skunk wandering through my yard in the evening if it means I won't be seeing bears or mountain lions or poisonous snakes. And on the small pests front, I'm truly appreciative of the lack of scorpions, black widow spiders, and so on.

But I still hate the bugs that have infiltrated my house this week. It's summer, so sure, there are going to be a couple of ants. Fine. The fruit flies, though, are truly maddening, because just when you think you've eradicated them, oh, there's another one! I've set up a death trap for them (sugar, vinegar, water, and dish soap mixed together in a bowl), and there were several casualties overnight, but I know there are a few still lurking. I've also realized that I'll have to go outside to throw away each individual item of food-related trash, which is just SUPER. I tried bundling up some strawberry remains in a plastic bag, to be taken out with some other things later in the day, and even with their miniscule brains, they still found them. Sigh. Multiple trips to the outdoor trash bin it is.

And then there was The Beetle. The first of quite a few, if last year is any indication. At night, when I have lights on in my house and the outside is dark, and I have the windows open to exchange hot, stuffy air for cooler refreshment, these rust colored beetles get inside. Some way, some how, they get inside. I mean, the windows have screens, people! It shouldn't be this way. Stupid old, rickety windows! Anyway, so The Beetle was flying around the living room last night, mocking me. ... but it was also mocking Moxie, the cat who couldn't actually kill anything if she tried, so at least that was entertaining to watch.

Cute As A BUTTONY Sweater!

Buttony is finished, hooray! I decided to make it short sleeved, because it's summer and I think it looks better this way than it might with even more space taken up with that pinkness.


The bust darts are, shall we say, imperfect. That's whatcha get for guesstimating their placement instead of measuring and doing math. Oh well. I don't think it looks horrid, and I won't be wearing this anywhere too important. I've also not blocked it yet, so it might be somewhat fixable. The cotton might also stretch and lose its shape, so it might look different after wearing it a couple times.

I now have no projects on the needles. *cue horror film music* Must remedy that soon. Oh, gauge swatching, how I hate it so.

I must be having fun...

... because time has been flying. Can you believe 2008 is half over already? Let's do a little assessment of progress on this year's goals, shall we?

1. Begin and complete renovation of the Rustic Attic

Success! It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but Attic Renovation 2008 is complete, and I'm very pleased with the result. Would be even more pleased with the result if I was better about keeping it tidy every day, but that's another issue.

2. Decide on and implement new look for the kitchen

Hmm. I don't know if this is going to happen during 2008 after all. Several reasons, really. My energy, creativity, and bank account were pretty zapped as a result of Attic Renovation 2008. Also, I think the next house expenditure will probably involve getting the windows replaced throughout the first floor. Less exciting, but probably more necessary. Also a better investment from an energy efficiency standpoint.

3. Purge house of unnecessary clutter (or at least reduce said clutter)

Um. Sort of. When I've found time to sort through my stuff, I've been more ruthless and honest with myself about things I will likely never ever ever need in the future, and reassuring myself that if I do ever need said item in the future, I'll likely be able to obtain another one. Yes, this goes against my anti-consumerism and conservationist ideals, but at a certain point pragmatism has to take over. Besides, that which I don't need right now could be better put to use if I hand it off to Goodwill, etc.

4. Get a knitting pattern published

Nope. I've been knitting from patterns lately, not making up anything new, and this is not the sort of creativity you can force, I've found. I'm also a little discouraged because magknits is now defunct, and I had sort of pegged them as the publication I'd submit to, knitty being much more intimidating and inspiring in me a constant, faint refrain of "I'm not worthy..."

5. Be able to run a 5k again (am signed up for one in March), then improve my time (will sign up for at least one over the summer)

Well, hmmm. I didn't run the 5k in March, and I'm not signed up for any to date. I've been running a leeetle bit, and I could get back to 5k abilitiy if (a) I had more time, (b) I had more motivation, and (c) it would stop raining all the freakin' time. Really, though, those are all just excuses, and I should just make myself do what I know I can do. I also need to FORCE myself to go to bed at bedtime so I can get up early enough in the morning to go to the gym. Seriously.

4. Cook and eat real dinners, even if I'm eating by myself (heavy emphasis on soups and vegetables)

Eh, yes and no. I haven't been making elaborate dinners, but definitely incorporating more vegetables (mmmmm, asparagus simmered in garlicky tomatoes), and there have been fewer cereal-as-main-course incidents.

5. Have a rockin' vegetable garden

I have a vegetable garden! It isn't rockin' yet, but hopefully that's only because it's still a little early. Even if I don't harvest lots of veggies, it's still fun. And I can say I'm a cool chick with a vegetable garden. :)

6. Figure out what the heck to do with the decorative garden beds around the house

See above re: raining all the freakin' time.

7. Bust out the sewing machine and use up some of my languishing fabric

Sewing machine is out, and has been used in recent memory (to make curtains). Additional use pending transition of what was the MiniBedroom to Office/Guest Room/Craft Room. It's taken a detour to Storage Monstrosity, so we'll see.

8. Decide on and pursue a volunteering opportunity

Gah! I know, I should totally do this. I feel like I never have enough time for the things I want to do as it is, but I know logically that I could find time if I really tried. *guilt*

9. Start up an IRA again; look into other investment approaches

Still need to do this. Was going to at the beginning of the year to get a contribution in for 2007 as well, but Attic Renovation 2008 took all my money. I've decided that I'll consider this a success as long as it gets done by the end of the year. In the meantime, I'm also throwing extra money at my student loans every month, to whittle away at the principal faster than my required payments would.

10. Update blog consistently and hopefully more interestingly

Consitently, yes. More interestingly? I hope so! I'm getting more comments lately, so hopefully that's an indication that I'm not putting folks to sleep. :)

So we've got 1, 5, and 10 as possible successes. Maybe 4 as well, if we're feeling generous. Six months left - let's see how many more items I can tackle. Stay tuned...

Potato Salad: A Cautionary Tale

Hello, lovelies! My weekend was so mile-a-minute hectic that I've just now decompressed enough to be able to post about it.

I got a haircut on Saturday. Nothing major, just a trim, but now I'm in that horrible phase where you need to let everything settle down again before a good hair day is even remotely possible. My bangs have been doing this weird flattened thing, though I suspect it may have more to do with the humidity than with the haircut.

Had a chance to (briefly) see one of my law school friends as she was passing through town. She and her dog, who is remarkably well-mannered, stopped by my house for a little bit; Moxie the Cat made herself scarce almost immediately, and was nervously sniffing around the living room for a solid hour after they left.

The rest of the day on Saturday involved me juggling brunch with the Crafto-Dad, a trip to the gym, scoping out the Greek festival (big tent + food + recorded music = festival, I guess), hitting the locally-owned coffee shop chain (chains are ok when they're owned locally, see? :)) for a cup of chai, and baking lemon squares. I'd really hoped to be able to fit a nap in there somewhere, but it was not to be. Instead, I got my tired self ready and headed over to LB's house for a fun - and oh mah goodness, was it interesting - party. Got my second wind somewhere along the way, because I realized as I was leaving that I'd made it to the wee hours of the morn.

Sunday, truth be told, was really only hectic because I slept super late (see above, re: being tired but staying up way past my bedtime) and had to compress the day into far fewer hours than I'd've had otherwise. Finally got up, ran to the grocery store for ingredients, ran home to make potato salad to bring to The Big Noodle's cookout. Discovered that, sadly, low fat mayo is perhaps not the best choice for potato salad. Learn from my mistake, people! Just splurge on the full fat stuff.

Anyway, the pathetic potato salad and I drove to "the country" for the cookout; had a terrific time (though I suppose I can't speak for the potato salad in that regard). Failed to disprove the theory that this area is one big small town, and that in any given group of people, you WILL know someone through someone else.

Got home, went out for a beer, managed to get back to my car about two seconds before it started pouring (yes, again!), drove home, fell asleep nearly immediately.

The observant among you will note that nowhere in the above narrative did I mention mowing the lawn. The hay field surrounding my house remains intact. I'm sure you all were wondering anxiously about that. :)

Shortz vs. Dowd

A week ago I spent my entire day taking mass transit from New Jersey, where I'd been for my grandfather's funeral (sure, he played professional basketball in the 1950s, I already knew that, old news... but he went on to work at the Pabst brewery? where they make PBR?! no way!), to Maine with the Crafto-Dad. When we were in Port Authority in New York, with our respective overstuffed backpacks that could take out a couple of strangers with a swift or inadvertent pivot to either side, I commented that it was like we were on the Amazing Race. Sort of.

Lesson learned about myself from that day: my particular brand of intelligence does not lend itself well to crossword puzzles. I know a lot of words, but once I've thought of an answer, it's tough for me to think of other possibilities. Also, I'm impatient, have a short attention span, and am not competitive enough with myself to really care whether I leave half the squares blank. I tried to waste away some of the travel hours by crossword puzzling, but I lasted maybe half an hour and went back to the knitting.

Anyway. The whole week has been lackluster and lethargic, which goes perfectly with (or might be caused by) the weather lately. Enough with the rain every day! There's been just enough rain each day to make the whole city, and particularly my house, feel musty and stuffy and just ick. Also enough rain, maddeningly timed for the end of the work day, to keep me from mowing the lawn, or weeding the garden, or planting the two potted peonies next to the porch (alliteration is my friend, oh yes it is). I think it's supposed to be precipitation-free tomorrow, when I've got a thousand things scheduled, and then not again until Wednesday.

On a more positive note, the Buttony sweater is coming along well. I'm quite a ways past the point where I connected the torso at the base of the armholes (it's a raglan, knit from top down), and about to where the waist shaping will transition from decreasing to increasing. So I have to knit the rest of the torso until it's long enough, then do the sleeves, for which I'll need to reacquaint myself with the magic loop technique.

Also: go read Maureen Dowd's latest column. I heart her. Which means that she wins (sorry, Will Shortz).

Here I Am

Oh, what a neglectful blogger I've been. T'sk, t'sk at myself.

I finished knitting that sleeveless top, Blush, in bamboo yarn. It's soft and cute... and clings to every imperfection of my torso. If I get my tookus in gear and actually go to the gym regularly ever again, it'll probably be one of my favorite shirts. Partially because I might lose a couple pounds. Partially because I might get less squishy in the torso region. Partially because when I'm active I'm less likely to give a flying fig whether my torso looks the way (other people think) it "should."

Anyway, here it is on a hanger:



I'm also working dutifully on Buttony, the pink variegated cotton cardigan I posted about previously. I tried to find something else to cast on so I could procrastinate, I really did, but I couldn't find anything in the stash that lent itself to a new project appropriate for summer. (I've got a bunch of fine gauge wool lined up for Thermal from Knitty, as well as some dk weight wool that's destined for this cardigan I found on Ravelry that intrigues me, but they're both longsleeved and, ya know, wool.) The Giant Tupperware Bin of Stash Yarn was only offering up a bulky mohair that was given to me and a bunch of skeins of bulky white cotton ribbon yarn (whyyyy did I buy that stuff?), and since I've been on this kick lately where I don't like any patterns at a gauge larger than 5 stitches per inch, I'm stuck with Buttony for a while longer.

Oh, also: Attic Renovation 2008 is thoroughly, officially, 100% complete. Pictures in a photoset here, but here's one representative shot:

Yay!

When I weeded and watered the vegetable garden last night, I discovered that there are flowers on the pea plants already! !!!! YAY! Whoooooooo! Happy dance!

Ahem.

I got a lot done yesterday (and over the past few days), in preparation for having a few lawyer girl friends over for a garden cookout tonight. The lawn is mowed. The front porch is repainted. The living room is de-cluttered. The Curtains of Doom are DONE. I also invested in a chimney charcoal starter for the grill: a metal cylinder thing with a compartment for charcoal over a compartment for newspaper... you ignite the newspaper, it heats and lights the charcoal, and voila, no need for lighter fluid! Tonight will be its debut, so I'm hoping my efforts at grilling/hosting don't crash and burn. (Heh. Thank you! I'm here all week!)

Hmm. This reminds me. Must make sure to locate matches when I get home. Necessary element in the whole grilling endeavor...

Blast!

... as in "confound it!" No explosions around here, thankfully.

So I'm sitting here, and I have this sudden but very accute realization that I reallllly reallllly want to bake a batch of my grandmother's Best Ever Homemade Bread (my name for it. she was far too humble to've called it that.) in the near future. But. I'm at work. And then after I get out of work, I won't have enough time to bake bread before I go out dancing (squee!), and the weekend is out because it's supposed to be the first hot and humid stretch of weather for the season. Ain't no way I'm turning the oven on if it's 85 degrees out.

Sigh. No fresh-baked, empty-calorie, white-bread goodness drool-inducing awesomeness for me.

Dancin' Fool*

One of my oldest and dearest friends, The Big Noodle (that's right. she's got some spunk, yo. you'd love her. :)), made it her goal a few years back to go out dancing every week for a year. Even if she didn't think she felt like it. Even if she didn't have anyone to go with. I don't know for sure whether she hit every single week, but I do know I've heard her say that it was the best year of her life (up to that point, at least), so in that respect she was successful.

I'm not ambitious enough to make the same pledge for myself, but I do love me some dancing, and I've got The Big Noodle to thank for it. I did, after all, tag along on some of those weekly adventures in the Year of Dancing, and I learned how to have FUN on a dance floor, with or without alcohol, and to stop caring so much what a bunch of strangers might think of my sense of rhythm.

So while I've not committed myself to my own Year of Dancing, I was pleased to look at my calendar just now and realize that the past three weekends have involved varying amounts, but at least a little bit, of busting a move. Annnnd, I get to go rock out with some friends tonight, too. Four weeks in a row: it's the Month of Dancing. And it rules.


*Referring to myself there, not The Big Noodle. She can call herself a fool if she wants to, but that's up to her. :)

The Last Two Weeks: A Photo Journal

Let's break up all this text of late with some pictures, eh?



Knitting-wise, I finished Lilian (in the orange) and started Blush (in the blue). I impatiently wanted to be done with Lilian, so I knit the top portion a tad bit too short. It fits in the sense that I can wear it (arms fit through the holes, etc.), but it doesn't look very good. I'm going to try blocking it to see if that helps, but since it's acrylic yarn it may not accomplish much. The bamboo blend I'm using for Blush, however, is fantastic. Sport-weight yarn on size 3 needles = boring stockinette, but pretty stockinette.

And I have gardening pictures, too!



In the container, that's butternut squash. I'm not sure if the container's big enough, but we'll see. And the two rows of peas I planted pre-frost are taking off, thankfully. Probably my favorite from-the-garden vegetable, so they'd better keep doing well.

Hmm. Based on this post, I look like quite possibly the most boring person on the planet. Knitting, gardending, knitting, gardening. Don't worry, I went to a party and danced my heart out over the weekend; I just don't have any pictures to post in the photo journal. But there was dancing. And I now know that I love the song "Spitfire" by Prodigy. Love.

Contained

I finally got around to doing a second round of planting to replace the seeds and seedlings that didn't fare so well in the frosts we had at the beginning of May. There's a big container with melon seedlings, a medium container with butternut squash seedlings (no idea if the it'll be spacious enough for that, oh well!), a big-ish container with leeks, and two medium containers with one bell pepper seedling each. There's also a windowbox in which I planted onion seeds, a container with edamame seeds (that are rather ancient and may never germinate), and I planted a row of beans in the garden proper, where whatever I'd planted - no I didn't map it out, was I supposed to? :) - didn't take off.

I have some leftover melon seedlings, a couple of leftover leek seedlings, and a bunch of leftover seeds that I can't possibly find room for. If any local readers can use them (or not-local readers who could use seeds)), drop me a note and let me know!

Inevitable Accountability

Oh lordy, time to take stock of the weekend and see how I did with the things I wanted to accomplish. Here we go....

Things that have to (or really really really should) get done:
- Finish Curtains of Doom (I found my sewing machine - yay - and sewed one set of curtains, but the room has two windows...) Um. Yeah. Didn't do this.
- Replace closet door handles, using the vintage electric drill that came with the house Nope, not this one either. Was going to, then realized the cord on the drill was too short to reach from the outlet, and I couldn't find an extension cord. Got distracted by something else whilst looking for it.
- Take and post pictures of the completed attic space Wow. Third item on the list, and we still haven't gotten to something I actually did. Hmmm.
- Sand, prime, and paint the front porch steps (Should this really need to be done every year or two? I can't recall ever seeing paint flake off a surface so quickly. Thoughts on how to avoid having this happen again are surely welcome.) OK! I very nearly finished this! Did the primer, did the white paint on all the horizontal surfaces. Still need to paint the vertical surfaces yellow.
- Weed the vegetable garden; re-plant the seeds that didn't make it through those ridiculously late frosts; acquire large containers for that which won't fit in the garden proper Sigh. I weeded the garden, but didn't get around to the planting.
- Weed the crazy-overgrown side bed next to the house, then plant mustard greens there (for lead removal) I *started* this, but hoo boy is it a long process. Super-Invasive Wild Rose Bush is feisty, I tells ya!
- Move garden furniture, remove rocks and sticks from yard, then mow I finished this one! Hooray!
- Channel my inner MacGyver and fashion a splint for the one broken spoke on my patio umbrella Annnd, back to the failure column...
- Use up languishing produce in the form of soup; general cleaning of fridge Nope.
- Dishes (argh) Yes! Another item I can cross off the list!
- Sort through closet and ruthlessly set aside items to get rid of. Found a measley two things to toss, though I didn't actually go through that much stuff...
- Go to the gym (twice minimum) Went running once. Also did quite a bit of yard work, so I'd say it almost counts.
- Make side dish or similar to contribute to holiday weekend cookouts Yup! Done! And it was a hit!

Bonus points for the following: Got around to none of these! Not a one!
- Trip to the mall (ugh) to see if a certain fancy soap store has a certain nearly-discontinued fragrance of shampoo and conditioner (mmm... orange ginger...)
- Trip to farmers' market to replenish produce supply (see above)
- Take and post pictures of sweaters that were knit ages ago and never given a proper photo shoot, the poor things
- Address stack of clothes to be mended/re-hemmed
- Pilates
- Turn house upside down in search of (1) MP3 player, (2) gym membership receipt, so I can apply for reimbursement through my insurance
- Turn house right side up again

I did, however, go to my (one year late) ten year high school reunion. I'd been sort of apprehensive about going, what with the potential involved for reverting to wallflower status. But I managed to keep that potential at bay for the most part, and I had a terrific time. Terrific!

AND, I just learned that I don't need to find my gym membership receipt, because I can just go in and ask for a printout of my payment history! Whooo! That makes my life so much easier. And it makes me happy that I didn't waste any of my weekend searching for the receipt. And it gives me added motivation to go to the gym tomorrow before work. And and and and and. :)