Year in Review (yarn version)

I feel like I should post something before we trade in 2009 for 2010. Some sort of retrospective account of the rollercoaster that was the previous twelve months, progress made, hurdles cleared, that sort of thing. To be honest, though, I'm not feelin' it today, so instead I'll give you a retrospective of a much more narrow scope: That Which I've Knit in 2009.

2009 was less prolific than 2008 (the sweater-a-month year), but the sweater obsession continued. I finished Thermal early in the year, so I suppose it should be included in the tally, even though that feels like ages ago. Francis Revisited has proven to be one of my most wearable sweaters, as the pilling along the sides of the torso shows (sigh). On days that I'm not likely to be eating or drinking anything that would stain if/when spilled, Surface, in white, has been getting some time in the wardrobe rotation.

Two sweaters were knit to the very end, never to see the light of day and be worn out of the house. Picovoli, knit in black cotton with long sleeves, was probably my favorite knit item ever, were it not for the neckline. The yarn drapes beautifully, the shaping and fit were perfect, but the neck edging curled too much even for me. It's been ripped out, and I'm halfway through a second attempt. Camden is suffering a similar, unwearable fate: the raglan cap sleeves are too... roomy, for lack of a better word, and the fabric bunches where it should be snug. I'll either rip this out too, or attempt some sort of sewing/steeking/hail mary rescue project.

Towards the end of the year, I knit this version of the Mrs. Darcy cardigan, and I wear it as often as I can get away with. I heart it. I also heart my second Coachella, but there haven't been too many opportunities to put it to use since it was finished at the end of the summer.

Right, and there was the Waist-Cincher Top, which I've already told you was a feeble success at best, to put it diplomatically.

So. That was my year of knitting. For the forseeable future (well, not really, but it feels that way), I'll be working on a surprise knitted gift of epic proportions -- we're talking 4500 yards of yarn here, people -- so the knitting updates will be nil for a while.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to take a nap so I'll be able to stay awake and ring in the new year by dancing my tail off this evening. Best to you all for a happy and healthy 2010!

christmas highlights

Yesterday was a pretty fantastic day. To wit:

- we hosted brunch for eleven without running out of food, plates, or silverware;

- the main brunch dish, spinach strata, was like heaven (if heaven is full of eggs and bread and cheese... and I sort of suspect it is);

- there was much laughter and merriment, and lots of groups of people mingled splendidly;

- the gift we gave with the lowest price tag generated the most heartfelt appreciation, and possibly a little tearing up;

- and we are the proud new owners of a kayak cart, which should allow us to go paddling more often next summer without breaking the muscles in our arms.

Here's hoping all of you fine folks have been enjoying the season just as much.

Excellent Timing

Just yesterday, SuperFiance and I realized we need to figure out the menu for our second annual Christmas Brunch, a festive and delicious opportunity for us to bring our families together and celebrate the holiday. Cue merriment and conviviality and carols and joyous togetherness.

Right, so we'll need food. And what should Google Reader send my way, but a headline that fits the bill almost precisely: How to Host Brunch (and still sleep in)." I prefer to read it in my head as "How to Host Brunch (and still have time for opening presents and frenetically cleaning one's house before guests arrive)," but the point remains that the advice is greatly appreciated this week.

I take issue with the formulation of a fruit salad (which should be be granny smiths, underripe bananas, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, and orange juice, thank you very much), but otherwise I think the brunch guide is spot on. Thank you, Smitten Kitchen Deb! I see chive-buttermilk biscuits in our future!

Homemade successes and, well, non-successes

I've talked a bit here about our (selective) efforts to grow and make foodstuffs in the interests of steering as far as possible from processed items. In theory, that's all terrific, and we'd never go to the grocery store ever again. Or something. In reality, there simply isn't time to maintain a pantry entirely comprised of homemade goods. More importantly, some items are simply better (however you want to define that) in their store-bought forms. Here's what we've found...

- Mayo - We made a couple batches, and the second one languished in the fridge, takin' up tupperware. This, I think, is the ultimate death knell for a recipe's chance of attaining a spot in the kitchen rotation. There's a lot to be said for reducing the preservatives in one's diet, but a there's a lot to be said for creamy mayo, too.

- Bread - Delicious when made the (time-consuming and) traditional way. Not so good out of the convenient bread machine. Fresh baked whole wheat bread has become the stuff of long weekends and vacations.

- Yogurt - Homemade fail. I tried this three times. I'd been assured that milk + a bit of yogurt + heat would equal more yogurt, but all I got was warm milk with some yogurt at the bottom of the bowl. Ick.

- Cake - Surprising success! I had convinced myself that I was a box mix cake kind of girl, the thought of a recipe involving too much measuring and potential failure for me. But after making three birthday cakes from scratch in recent weeks and not ruining any of them, I think I've been converted.

- Salad dressing - Overwhelming success. I don't see us buying salad dressing ever again. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and brown mustard shaken up in a tightly sealed container, with either honey or garlic, does quite nicely, and we know exactly what we're ingesting.

So we're doing what makes sense for us. What I really need to do is find a suitable replacement for flavored coffee creamer. You ever read the ingredients list on one of those things? Scary.

It can be done!

I promise not to turn this into a full-fledged wedding blog... or anything close to it. But I saw something recently that inspired me.* And I don't mean "inspired" like "inspired to now require [xyz] element at our wedding" or "struck with the sudden desire to create an inspiration board" (they're great if you like them, but no, inspiration boards are not on the list of things I do).

What I'm talkin' about here is inspiration in a different sense. Like, "wow, that's inspirational!" "I didn't think a certain thing could be done, or I wasn't sure I could accomplish said thing, but now I believe it to be within my reach" kind of inspiration.

The Budget Savvy Bride (I may not create inspiration boards, but I do read some wedding blogs) featured a gorgeous wedding this week, with a stated budget of $7,500. (For those of you not planning or financing a wedding these days, that's, shall we say, near miraculous. Particularly given the results, as briefly evidenced below.) The budget isn't itemized, but that's fine, it still gives me a calm, happy feeling of hope that our budget friendly (partially out of necessity and partially on principle: we just don't think any one day should cost an exorbitant amount of money) nuptials could potentially be this lovely and enchanting.

To be fair, no, the ceiling at our reception won't look like that.

By all means, if you're so inclined, go check out the other beautiful photos from this beautiful wedding that cost $7,500. It's impressively affordable and just plain impressive!


*Err, two things. Stay tuned for the second one, and lots of other non-wedding-y things!

Not every item is a success.

So, that project I mentioned I was working on recently? The Waist Cincher Top? It's been done for a few weeks now. I've put off posting about it because this is the only remotely acceptable picture I could finagle.



... and even this is the result of some careful contorting of my torso and cropping of the photo.

I definitely love the pattern concept. And I love the yarn. They even might work well together on someone else's frame. On mine, I'd need to find some other combination of accompanying garments before I'd be convinced I can wear this out of the house.

Hopefully the next sweater will be more flattering. It might be a while, though, because I've got some pretty extensive gift knitting on my plate. The yarn I need for that is set to be delivered at the end of this week, so I've been hesitant to get my little knitting heart set on a project for myself.

Priceless and Adorable

As you may have guessed, The Awesome Fiance and I are planning a wedding that will, in many ways, depart from some of what we see as somewhat antiquated marital traditions. We've been joking about how quick the ceremony will be, what with the lack of the pomp and circumstance associated with organized religion. Don't blink, you might miss it! Folks paying attention might hear the words "cherish" or "honor," but certainly won't hear either of us saying "obey," for instance.

That said, we're not veering overly far from the traditional format -- minus the churchy stuff -- of a marriage ceremony. Which is what makes the following exchange that transpired in our house yesterday so very entertaining. To me, anyway.

Me: ... so I was talking to [friend] about wedding stuff and how we're going to have such a short ceremony, and she asked whether we were going to have anyone do a reading...

The Awesome Fiance: You mean, like, with tarot cards?


I stopped laughing about ten minutes ago.

30 Rock is Dead to Me Now

I've never been a big fan, actually. Its lead-in, The Office, is a favorite for sure, but I've never gotten into the 30 Rock thing. Today, I will stop trying to appreciate the quirkiness and instead accept the fact that perhaps I'm not trendy-nerdy enough to *get* it. The writers crossed a line that's near and dear to my heart, and thusly I have given up on them entirely.

One of the characters, with not nearly enough -- or any, really -- sarcasm, just slung at Tina Fey's character a scathing insult: "big-hipped." We're talking about Tina Fey here, who is my height and who used to weigh what I weigh, then "hit it big" and proceeded to lose thirty pounds. The woman is not, by any definition, "big-hipped." Thanks, 30 Rock writers, for contributing to the ridiculousness that is our culture's body type expectation. And for making it acceptable to use disparaging body image comments in nonchalant banter. I am not impressed.

Roar.

Like Magic

If 15 minutes of beating with an electric mixer constitutes magic, then yes, it helped me turn two egg whites, half a cup of water, and a cup and a half of sugar into what you see above. I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised that the icky, viscous combination I started with turned into glossy, fluffy goodness.

The cake inside? Oh, that was (relatively) healthy chocolate cake, as evidenced here:



Hopefully the fact that the lion's share of the cake was devoured at a birthday celebration is a good indication that it didn't taste "(relatively) healthy."

Ahem.

would just like to let you all know that I'm blogging from my phone now. which means, of course, that I got a new phone. and that I haven't mastered the art of capitalizing sentences on it yet. you can take the girl out of the dark ages, but you can't take the luddite out of the girl, it seems.

As I was saying...

Super-Fiance and I had a lovely dinner with lovely people last week, and a part of our conversation got me thinking. We were chatting about how our wedding planning process is going, and I sort of ungracefully fell all over myself in apologizing for what I felt was a blatant takeover of the conversation (in hindsight, I think it was really ok). I fear I've been a bit hyper-aware of talking about wedding stuff, not talking about wedding stuff *too much*, and making sure nobody gets annoyed that there's so much talk about wedding stuff. In case you didn't already know, I can worry with the best of 'em.

Anyway, in my zeal to shield those around me from All Things Wedding and to maintain my status as a well-rounded individual (not a whole lot would make me more sad than the prospect that someone thinks I, in my bridehood, want only to discuss my own nuptials), I've been saying a lot of "... right, so that's going well, but how are YOU?" and "oh, it'll just fall into place. how's things with your [job, kids, spouse, whatever]," and other phrases of deflection. In the conversation over last week's dinner, though, I didn't get away with it, and as it turns out, I'm so pleased.

I realized that, rather than shying away from the topic as a glaring mark of conceit, it can actually be embraced as a way of connecting with people. If we hadn't been talking about our wedding and how we're trying to create the day and celebration that's right for us, we wouldn't have heard about our companions' wedding, what made it special to them, and how they arrived at some of the elements they remember most vividly. I mean, really, in most ordinary conversations, it would be more than a little odd for someone to interject "so, hey, our wedding four years ago was so much fun. let me tell you about the best parts..." but in the context of a discussion of marriage that's already begun, it's a really nice sentiment of advice and commonality, and it's perfectly logical. Almost everyone has either had a wedding or been in a wedding or been *to* a wedding, and all of those experiences -- and resulting commentaries -- are fun to hear about.

This is a fun time that we're in, Super-Fiance and I. For several months now, we've been lamenting what feels like forever of a wait until we'll be married, but on the way home from dinner last week, we talked about how lucky we really are that various circumstances conspired to give us a 17-month engagement. Never again will people be so delighted to hear what kind of flowers we like to look at and what kind of music we like to dance to and what kind of cake we like to eat. Never again will people be compelled to share so much of themselves and their thoughts on their own relationships. Well, I suppose they will, but not in quite the same way. We've decided to listen and ask questions and learn and enjoy it all.

Inspired!

Aha! I've got a real, substantive idea for a post that I need to write up! Not a to-do list (however ambitious it may be), not a picture of a sweater (though that's fun, too), and not a little mini-paragraph apologizing for having nothing to say. On the contrary, it's a topic that I hope will be realitively interesting to people other than me.

But for now I have to get ready to go to work. (Work! Yay!)

Yep, still here!

Well hey there, everyone! I'd like to assure you, because I'm sure you were ever so worried, that I'm still alive. Working during the day and thus unable to blog whenever the mood strikes, but alive.

I've been knitting a bit here and there, and am just wrapping up my version of Joan McGowan-Michael's Waist Cincher Top, in a cotton/angora blend. This, too, has slowed dramatically with the shift in my weekly schedule, but I should have a photo of the finished piece later this week.

I'm also noticing that our social pendulum is swinging back to slightly-hectic, after a couple weeks of relative quiet. This is great for the part of me that thrives on and is energized by good conversation and catching up with friends and that sort of give-and-take. It's less great for the part of me that needs time for solitude and peacefulness and general recharging. Thankfully, the quiet is sure to return soon enough, hopefully only for about as long as it takes for me to be wishing for more excitement again. That's usually how it ends up working out. Good job, universe, way to be balanced. I approve.

Real Weekend

I've been saying for a while now that the days of the week have been blurring together for me. Weekends haven't felt all that different from weekdays for several months, what with the whole not-having-a-workplace-to-go-to thing. Saturdays and Sundays have been consistently great because of the additional time to spend with Mr. Terrific, but my own schedule hasn't fluctuated all that much. Laundry? Yeah, I can do that any old day, whenever I get to it. Big elaborate dinner? Sure, I can start mincing garlic at 3:00 if I want to.

This Monday, though, I'll be rejoining the work force (hooray!) and my weekdays will once again be workdays. This weekend coming up is a real weekend. I'll need to ramp up the time management in the future, but for now, I have three days in front of me to get things done. Things like, oh, these:

- Bake a batch of bread
- Rake the leaf-filled yard
- Investigate and acquire fall-planted flowers
- Organize the chaos that is our basement storage (well, start on that, anyway)
- Caulk the gaps around all the interior window trim to keep heat in and cold out
- Savor last opportunity to go to the gym at a non-peak time (6:30am gym trips start next week!)

As Promised

I promised photos, and hoo boy, do I have photos. Engagement photos, to be exact. Our photographer, who is awesome talent-wise and awesome personality-wise, threw an engagement session into our photo package. Not only did it put us at ease with the concept of having so many pictures taken of us, it made me more confident that yes, I'm perfectly capable of doing my own makeup when important (read: wedding) photographs will be involved. Oh, right, and we got some pretty fantastic photos out of the bargain, too, as evidenced here:







If you aren't sick of looking at us, there's more photo-y goodness over here.

Oh right, that too!

As it turned out, Closing Day last week was even more eventful than I'd thought it would be. Somewhere in and around trying to figure out the logistics of removing an old, decrepit, annoyingly-too-big-to-fit-in-a-car picnic table from the yard before the closing, I got a phone call that ended the employment search I've been on for the past too many months.

Yes, it's big news. Yes, I went a whole week before blogging about it here (in large part because there isn't a whole more to say, as I'd prefer not to share further details with all of the interwebs). But yes, I'm very excited about it, and I'm looking forward to starting this new chapter.

And yes, I promise to have a fun post for you all soon with a favorable photo to text ratio. Well, soon-ish.

Closing! Finally!

It's a big day around here. In about 6 hours, I'll be signing legal documents to sell my house once and for all. The Awesome Fiance and I will have an appropriate combined number of mortagages -- one -- for our household. My bank account will have a respectable(ish) amount of liquidated equity deposited into it.

I'm trying to avoid focusing on the fact that I'll be losing the opportunity to be reminded of happy memories by turning a doorknob or washing a countertop -- though of course in any collection of memories, there are less than pleasant ones as well, so I'm glad to leave those behind. Most important in the silver lining category (well, other than financially) is how happy I am to hand over my house keys to the buyer, a single 20-something woman who's excited to make this, her first house, her own. I had so much fun going through that process with this house, and I hope she does too.

Goodbye, First House. *air kisses*

What I've been up to, book-wise...

As I alluded to in a recent post, I've been reading again. Wonder of wonders, three years of lengthy case law assignments didn't ruin the written word for me forever... I, apparently, just needed two years of distance and the lion's share of a year's worth of unemployment to turn it around for me.

So. I'm super excited about my recent library finds. Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth has been accompanying me to the gym lately, short stories being perfect for the amount of reading time one can get through in a bike workout.

That one might have some competition, though, becuase the books I picked up yesterday (oh, how I love the online request feature of my local library, complete with online notificaiton when items from across the state are ready to be picked up at the branch a mile from my house) are callin' my name. I've got Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, not only because I've heard it's well written, because it feels like it should be required reading for me, being engaged, as I am, to Mr. Outdoorsy. For a rare foray into nonfiction, I've got Tom Hartmann's The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which looks fascinating (though, I hope, not too depressing). In case it does turn out to be all doom and gloom, I've thankfully also picked up Christoper Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Christ's Childhood pal, Biff. Heh. Biff. Even the title makes me laugh.

What I've been up to, knit-wise...

I don't have any finished items to show you (like I said, the last thing I completed is a gift, so can't be blogged about yet), but I do have projects to tell you about.

I'm knitting a long sleeved version of Picovoli, in Patons Grace (100% cotton), in black. Yes, I've already done this. I made the mistake, though, of knitting the picot facing on the same size needle as the body of the sweater, and because that issue presents itself at the beginning and end of the pattern, ripping out a small portion wouldn't fix it. Complete re-knit, it is. One project, of course, not being sufficient at any one time, I've also cast on for the Waist-Cincher Top by Joan McGowan-Michael, in a cotton/angora blend.

Also on the theoretical horizon are hats and scarves and mittens (mittens! I'm going to learn how to knit mittens!) to get ready for upcoming frigid temperatures. Bring it on, winter!

Random updates come in threes, too.

- I've discovered puttanesca sauce. Just had some restaurant leftovers for lunch, actually. All the pasta was gone, but the sauce was just fine on its own. Mmmmm, sodium. Puttanesca might have to be added to the list of menu items I order reflexively when it's available, along with eggs benedict and chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

- The Cold has arrived. Weather-wise, not health-wise. Car windshields have been scraped on more than one occasion. The pepper plants in the garden are all wilty and forlorn. As it turns out, though, geraniums are suprisingly hardy; there are new flower buds waiting to open, though whether they'll get the chance to do so is in doubt, what with the forecasted low temperatures in the 20s tonight.

- The latest knitted gift I've been working on is done. I can't blog about it yet, in case the intended recipient is a reader here, but I'm happy with it and I hope she will be, too.

Does pouting count as cardio?

I love autumn for lots of reasons, but the one I'm most acutely aware of right now is the fact that it brings fantastic running weather. This week, we're supposed to see temperatures in the upper 40s, and I adore running outside in those conditions.

Except... that thing I mentioned before about how my knee was hurting? Well, it still hurts. And it hurt noticeably more the last time I tried to soldier on, ignore the achiness, and put in a couple of miles. I'm going to give swimming a shot with a friend of mine who insists that it'll be fun. I've gotten used to bringing a book to pass the time while biking to nowhere (oddly, the angry music doesn't help me too much when I'm pedaling). And I might finally get around to checking out yoga. It's not the same though. None of it. I'm still kind of amazed (after, what, eight years?) that I'm a person who'd be jonesing for running in its absence, but yep, I am.

Astonishing. Impressive. Awesome.

This qualifies as all three:



I don't even know how to play the guitar, and I can tell that this guy's skills are over-the-top impressive. The part where he twists the strings over each other and creates some sort of fusion-y harmonic effect? The part where he stretches out the low string to make it sound like a bass, then retunes it in intervals as he's playing? Yeah, it's all pretty awesome, in the truest, awe-inspiring sense of the word.

His name is Peppino D'Agostino, and he apparently has a CD out titled "Made in Italy." Anyone this good deserves some publicity, and I'm happy to spread the word to the extent I can (hello, loyal readers!).

By the way, unlike me, Senor Lovely does in fact play the guitar, and his reaction was something along the lines of "[silence] ... [silence] ... that's not fair." Astonished. Impressed. In awe.

Something interesting better happen soon. Seriously.

Man, my life's been boring the past few days. Rather than subject you all to another list, be it "Things I've Learned Recently" or "Flowers We Might Grow Next Year" or an "Ambitious To Do List," I'll leave you with just one item, from the "My Favorite Things Ever" category:

- Watching Mr. Wonderful's face scrunch up in uncontrollable laughter because I've just done something silly. Like impersonating the smoke detector. Or pretending to be a ninja. The scrunching up is more than worth any injuries that could potentially result (ninjas are, of course, infinitely more coordinated than I am).

Lessons from the weekend...

- Making yogurt in a crockpot doesn't work. Or, at least, it didn't work for me.

- Homemade mayonnaise, on the other hand, is surprisingly simple to make.

- Law school did not, as I'd feared, ruin reading for me forever. Novels are my friend again!

- Ripping out an entire sweater, to be re-knit over again, isn't completely demoralizing if one focuses on the fact that it'll be more wearable when the process is re-completed. Corollary: when one is working a knitted hem, one must, must, must knit the facing on smaller needles. Must.

- Evening primroses are invasive! I should have planted them in buried containers from the start; digging them up to do so after the fact wasn't horrible, but I could have done without it. No, wait, it was actually a very interesting opportunity to see how prolific and determined this plant is to take over more land. So, I suppose, thank goodness I didn't plant them properly this spring.

- Some sort of fencing or other barrier is going to be absolutely necessary for the garden next year. Once those critters learn where the buffet is, man, they're not deterred by much.

- We need new oven mitts. Zero to ouch in under five seconds is a bad sign, methinks.

Uber-Homemade

I'm oddly motivated to make foodstuffs from scratch today. Maybe it's the recent successes egging me on (apple-bran-whole-wheat muffins, pumpkin risotto, heavily modified pesto), or maybe it's the fresh ingredients needing to be used up (apples -- so many apples -- from an orchard adventure a few weeks ago, leeks in the garden, minimal amounts of spinach and lettuce in the garden).

I think the underlying culprit, though, is a continuing desire to eat affordable, wholesome foods. We aim to steer clear of processed foods in our household, mainly for health and mindful nutrition reasons (pricing differences usually don't hurt, either). Even in trying to make smart grocery choices, though, it's easy to fall into the "wow, that's a lot of unnecessary ingredients" trap. There are lots of high-fiber options in the bread aisle, which is great, but it can be tough to find one that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, or any number of other substances I just don't need in my system, and doesn't cost four dollars. Our bread machine and about three minutes of measuring time does the trick splendidly (though I'd also like to try one of the many versions of no-knead bread out there). Pasta sauce? For years, I steadfastly stuck with the one brand I'd found that offered an option without added sugar, until I realized that the sodium content was through the roof. Canned tomatoes + herbs and spices + red wine + immersion blender = problem solved! And don't get me started on salad dressing (if you add mustard to oil and vinegar, it acts as an emulsifier and is darn tasty to boot, yo).

So, getting back to today: I've got a batch of yogurt -- which I've never attempted before, so cross your fingers for me -- going in the crockpot. Next up, I'll set up that bread machine I was talking about, once I decide whether to make regular whole wheat or cinnamon-raisin whole wheat. I'm also hoping to attempt (another first go!) a batch of homemade mayo this afternoon.

I do not, as yet, have any desire to venture into the homemade-protein arena by raising livestock. Awesome Fiance, if you're reading this, you can rest easy there!

Craftosaurus: now with more photos!

Howdy folks. We've just returned from a very nice weekend in the woods. It was a great trip, with good camp fire conversation with some of the Awesome Fiance's nearest and dearest, hiking through some of the most wonderfully balsam-y trails I've ever smelled, and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at a remarkable array of wildlife. There was the moose couple that meandered through a marshy area about 100 yards from our campsite, and a bald eagle that flew even closer than that. The fox, chipmunk, and heron we saw were (perhaps unfairly) less exciting to see, and the bear that apparently visited the campground under cover of darkness was, to my great relief, not actually seen at all.

Sadly, I've got no photographic proof of the moose or the eagle, or, really, of any of the wildlife... only of the beautiful surroundings and the fact that we had lovely time.

Setting up our campsite. Note the awesome proximity to the water.

View from the site, toward the river and mist.

There was lot of photographizing.

Also, the coining of the term "photographizing."

Some of the shots even came out all artsy and cool.

Fall has definitely arrived.

We did some hiking, but not *that* much hiking. Mountain was for aethetic purposes only.

This is us having fun and, for my part, at least, being thankful to've avoided any direct encounters with bears. Yay!

Yeah, that's pretty accurate...

Le Fiance and I had some engagement photos taken yesterday. Our awesome photographer, Clare, suggested that we do some uber-casual, outdoorsy shots, then some slightly fancier stuff in an area of the city with some cool architecture. (How'd she know that that's a nice representation of Le Fiance's love of camping and hiking and fishing and my love of, well, an opportunity to wear a cute outfit?)

First day of autumn that it was, we ran out of daylight after the outdoorsy photos were taken, and Clare -- have I mentioned that she's awesome? -- insisted that we'll set up a second day to meet for the downtown shots. Seriously, how great is that?

She also managed to get a couple of sneak peek photos up on her blog an impressive two hours after we wrapped things up for the day. Awe.Some. In one of them, we're bustin' a move (to no music, I'll note), and in the other we're laughing ourselves silly. So I've got dance-face in one and crinkled-up-laughing-face in the other, but it's ok, because that's presumably what I look like the majority of the time when I'm around Le Fiance anyway. Awesome and accurate.

List-Fest

Flowers I *think* we might be able to grow on our property that would be blooming, in light pink, at the right time to be able to use them for our wedding (how cool would that be?)
- chrysanthemums (the big, showy kind)
- phlox
- dahlias
- zinnias
- cosmos (if they're available in true-pink, as opposed to lavender-pink. must research.)
- dianthus
- begonias (LOVE them, but suspect they're not good as cut flowers)

Possible knitting projects to cast on for this weekend, in light of the fact that I'm pretty sure the scarf I mentioned has defeated me for now
- Hew (good opportunity to use up yarn remnants from a previous project)
- Trina (could actually be season-appropriate when it's done)
- Owls ('cause it's just plain cute)

Dinner ideas for the upcoming week
- Greek turkey burgers with black bean salad and sweet potato fries
- Martini Chicken
- Homemade butternut squash ravioli (well, everything here would be homemade, but I mean, seriously, the real deal, homemade pasta)
- Pesto Pasta
- Leek and Mushroom Quiche (I won't even bother linking to a recipe, because I won't follow it anyway)

What am I missing, in any of these categories?

Running +/-

+ Went running outside yesterday.
+ Went running outside today.
+ Remembered to wear new running shoes today.
- Spent the second half of my workout trying to keep a blister from forming along one of the shoe seams.
+ Used new mp3 player that actually works...
- ... but that isn't fully stocked with music yet.
+ Still had enough peppy and/or angry tunes to keep me motivated.
+ Ran farther today than I did yesterday...
- ... but less than I was used to a few months ago.
- Knee ached in the first quarter mile (this is why I haven't gone running much in the past few months)...
+ ... but didn't hurt much after I got going (does this really mean it's ok to run on it?)
- Local race listing website changed their format and no longer includes location on first glance.
+ Found some possible 5ks to run on October 10, October 18, and November 22.

Knitterrific

In case you've been wondering, yes, I'm still knitting. Right now I'm working on a scarf that's actually holding my attention. And by "holding my attention" I mean "is complicated enough that I'm now on my third attempt to get going without errors." When you're using size 2 and size 3 needles and fingering weight yarn, and when each row has 400 stitches in it (the scarf is knit lengthwise), starting over three times is decidedly unfun. That, and I hate casting on. Hate. Thankfully, though, I'm a few rows in and it looks ok. Fingers crossed.

For those of you who have no idea what fingering weight yarn is or why size 2 needles can be infuriating, I'll be much less technical in discussing my other recent project, a modified version of this pattern. All there is to say is that it's done!

Warms my bleeding heart...

Did anyone else happen to catch the health care reform conversation on Meet the Press this morning? To summarize:

1. Rudy Giuliani stoops to inane fearmongering in the use of the phrase "pulling the plug on Grandma."

2. Harold Ford Jr. picks up his pen and crafts a reasoned, logical, scathing response while Tom Brokaw speaks.

3. Ford maintains his composure and gets several valid points across while Giuliani tries to interrupt with objections of varying degrees of substance. Ford points out the holes in Giuliani's argument and generally appears the more intelligent and rational of the two.

4. Senor Wonderful and I raise our coffee mugs in delight and cheer out loud from the comfort of our couch. Yes, we really did.

Watch numbers 1-3 here:

Update

Oh, hi there. I thought I'd stop by and let you know that I'm still here. I've been distracted and ponder-y and focused on a hundred different things, but I'm still here.

There's one watermelon on the vines that's bigger than a nickel (it's at about softball stage right now), and our second batch of lettuce has sprouted -- here's hoping both will grow to a respectable size before the first frost.

Oh, and I knit up a sweater. A highly, highly modified version of Coachella. Pictures later (probably).

Thank you, tourists!

No, seriously!

Mr. Wonderful and I went out for a fun evening on the town over the weekend and landed at an establishment known for its views of the city from arrangements of couches and armchairs.

(Side note: for those familiar with the place, their recent redecoration involved swapping out the leather upholstered seating with, well, something that sure ain't leather. Mr. Wonderful and I had a fun time trying to place what it was and why it felt familiar. "It's like... fancy raincoat material. No, I've got it, it's a reincarnated backpack!" And so on. We surmised that they must have been going for a more *sleek* and *modern* atmosphere. Or something.)

Anyway, we were ensconced in the latest that fabric technology has to offer, apparently, when a group of fellow patrons asked if the remaining seats around our coffee table were free. They settled in, and, because they were quite friendly (and I'm nosy), we learned they were out of towners. Out of towners spending their tourist dollars in our fair city, and not, as far as I could tell, the kind of out of towners who would amble across a busy waterfront thoroughfare, oblivious to the traffic gathering on either side of their crosswalk. But I digress. They were lovely people, we chatted about the sporting event on the TV in the corner of the room, and their plans to attend a wedding the next day at a location the could describe only as "at a lighthouse." (Oh, how very Maine!) They laughed and joked that our next round was on them, and we laughed back, not only to be polite, but I think a little bit because we've become the type of people for whom more than a drink or two before heading home to the comforts of bed is in itself laughable.

So, our eyelids getting heavier than they should have been at 10:30 (oh, for shame! we are old...), we asked our server to bring us our check. Lo, the lovely out of towners were in fact not just being polite and making smalltalk, and had somehow, magically (telepathically? in any case, extremely slyly) added our bill to their tab. Mr. Wonderful and I stumbled all over ourselves with ineloquent gratitude, exited a bit embarassed by said ineloquence, and walked to our car with an extra spring in our collective steps.

Thank you, friendly folks from Maryland and New Jersey, wherever you may be today. I hope you enjoyed a wedding free of monsoon conditions, and that your travels home were safe. I'll stop cursing the out of state license plates on all the extra cars clogging up our roads from now on, as they may be filled with people as lovely as yourselves. At least until next summer.

If you were a plant...

...what kind of plant would you be?

This question brought to you courtesy of a conversation I had with My Favorite Man the other day over dinner. We were eating yummy but thoroughly inauthentic mexican food.

MFM: I think black beans might be my favorite kind of bean.
Me: *blink* Okayyy...
MFM (earnestly): Do you have a favorite kind of bean?
Me: *uncontrollable laughter* Thank you so much for not asking me that on our first date.

Honestly, it would've changed the entire trajectory of our relationship. Or, more specifically, there's the distinct possibility that it would have severely shortened the trajectory of our relationship. With this far superior timing, though, we ate dinner and had a fun conversation about bad first date questions.

"If you were a plant, what kind of plant would you be?" definitely qualifies. But, yes, I'll admit it, the thought occurred to me while I was watering the garden this morning that I'm becoming more like (am trying to be more like?) a watermelon plant. In some respects, anyway. In the wildly healthy, unapologetic, "oh, I'll take over the whole yard if you'll let me" sort of sense. Not as much in the "looks impressive but really has not much to show for it" sense, though.

But yes, I'm apparently feeling a yearning to take the world by storm these days. Or "by vine," if you will. This is new and different. But fun.

Best part? We didn't capsize!

This weekend was a whirlwind and a half. I'd tell you what we did Friday evening, but it feels so long ago that I don't even recall.

Saturday was canoeing day. Canoeing and fishing, specifically. I maintained my perfect record and still have not caught anything more than a lily pad to date. But it was a lovely day out in the rural part of the state, and I saw plenty of fishes jumping around near the surface of the water. That must count for something, yes?

Sunday morning (read: Sunday before the sweltering temperatures arrived), we did yard work. Irises were divided and tulip bulbs were planted. I'm antsy to see how they'll look in bloom where we placed them, but for now the vivid crimson dahlias will have to tide me over. They're gorgeous, but no, I didn't remember to take a picture.

And then... guess what we did? We kayaked in the OCEAN. For reals. Oh, it was so much fun. Even when we ventured a little ways away from the shore and encountered a bit of chop (after which we promptly turned around), it was exciting and relaxing (yes, both) and not as scary as I'd thought. We paddled around near some adorable little sailboats on moorings, and pointed and exclaimed at nearby waterfowl, and just generally enjoyed being on the surface of the Atlantic.

Off Season

Hi! Hi hi!

As you can see, the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan is done! The pattern is here, and I also used the modifications outlined here.

I'm so very antsy to wear this for longer than it takes to snap a couple of self portraits. Alas, the forecast for alternating mugginess and just plain summer heat makes me think it'll be a while.

In the meantime, another photo, to give a better sense of the twisted rib waist section:

Knitting and gardening and day-trips, oh my!

Whoooo boy, that post on flowers apparently depleted all of my introspective wit and eloquence. Today, you'll have to deal with scattered randomness.

- The Mrs. Darcy cardigan is maddeningly close to being done. I mean, the ends are even woven in. It's blocking right now, so I have to wait for it to dry, then sew on the buttons. I'm so excited to wear it. (Fingers crossed for a stray cold day in the next few weeks.)

- Watermelon is the best ever. Have you noticed? Yum and a half. On a somewhat related note, the watermelon plants in the garden are doing well-ish. So far it looks like one of the dozens of flowers on the vines has an itty bitty watermelon growing under it. It's super cute, about a centimeter across, and already stripey. Who knows whether it'll ever be edible. Probably not if the summer continues in this cold and un-sunny fashion. (Err, strike that weather request above. I can wait to wear the new sweater.)

- Mr. Awesome was extra awesome this weekend. We set out for a bit of a picnic and hike (well, hike-ette) at the local wooded-island-reachable-via-causeway (why yes, we ARE super lucky to live where we live), and the gatekeeper staff person there was a bundle of negativity and inexplicable fury, directed specifically at me. We left and found another locale for lunch instead. On our way home, Mr. Awesome decided to take a detour back to the island to (calmly, rationally) talk to Ol' Crankypants about why he'd treated me so poorly. I don't think the message really, really got through, but I was pleased to've voiced our concerns rather than squelching them as would a doormat, and Mr. Awesome adamantly wanting to "fix" it for me was lovely to see.

No roses or orchids for now. Let's not push it.

Senor Wonderful and I have been engaged for just shy of four months now (wow! seriously? holy speeding passage of time, batman!), and I've noticed one unexpected way in which my outlook on a (slightly) related topic has shifted.

[Still value sustainability and conservation and frugality and being considerate to everyone around me. Still love food too much to eat less of it. Mmmm, food.]

Anyway, the new point of view relates to gardening, in which category my approach has thus far been almost exclusively utilitarian. If I'm going to put in the time and effort to plant and grow something, I've always thought, it'd better be for a purpose. Our vegetable garden is full of plants we like to eat frequently, with a focus on items that are difficult to find or are typically pricey at the grocery store. Voila, kohlrabi. Hello, leeks. What's up, baby spinach? I can't wait to have asparagus ready for harvesting (um, in about two years) in our backyard.

Flowers and landscaping have always been an afterthought for me. Several years ago, a balcony container garden of mine was adorned with delicate pink flowers only because I mistakenly thought the sweet pea plants I bought would produce, well, peas (lesson learned). Most of the perennials I've enjoyed have been holdovers from previous gardeners. The few I've planted have been gifts from family and friends. There was a small purchase of tulip bulbs last year, but, while I do love me some tulips, my motivation was partially to make my house look extra cute for future sale. For the most part the rule has been as follows: if the flowers are in place and they don't need any attention from me, they can stay.

In trying to figure out what role flowers will play in The Nuptials, there was a window of time during which I'd hoped to procure a wedding's worth of flowers (however many that is...) right from our very! own! yard! Or, because there's not a heck of a lot of floral beauteousness in season at the right time of year, from our very! own! house! in the form of forced tulips (Future Mister has adroitly steered us away from this particular plan). In trying to figure out what we could plant around the property and -- fingers crossed -- harvest the morning of our wedding, I looked at an awful lot of pictures of flowers. And ya know what? They're really, really pretty. Pretty enough, even, to perhaps justify some time and effort solely for the purpose of aesthetics.

I still want to focus on those that work well as cut flowers, though. Can't take the practicality out of the girl, I guess.

Sheepish

Apparently when one has a row of lush string bean plants, covered in flowers just waiting to become string beans, and those plants subsequently get decimated by four-legged suburban pests, one might still get some edible string beans out of the bargain.

How many, you ask? Oh, about this many:



Or, put another way, "more than can be comfortably carried in one hand," or "more than two veggie-loving adults needed for dinner," or "enough that I feel foolish for ranting so fiercely about the death of the string beans."

Right. Will remember to rant less fiercely in the future. Or not, and simply prepare myself to feel foolish at a later date. Either way.

ATDL

It's been a while since I've posted an Ambitious To Do List. Time to bring it back, and increased productivity shall ensue!

- Laundry
- Vacuuming
- Clean fridge
- Groceries
- Mow lawn (weather dependent)
- Organize Dresser of Chaos
- Write up sweater pattern as knit; calculate pattern for various sizes; proof and edit; submit for publication. (Easy-peasy, right?)
- Plant second round of lettuces and spinach, also marigolds as a pest deterrent (please work! please work!)
- Job sitch: make it better

Annnnd.... GO!

Oh, that's right!

Aha! I've just reminded myself that I can, in fact, post knitting updates. Not all of my current projects are super-secret, will-someday-be-submitted-for-publication new designs. I'm also knitting Mary Weaver's pattern for the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan, in Rialto Aran merino wool by Debbie Bliss. This, I can show you (though it isn't very exciting).



All the waist shaping is accomplished with ribbing instead of decreases and increases, and I quite like the extra crispness of the twisted rib stitch. I'm also using the modifications detailed here by Wakenda Knits. After about a week, I've knit about half a sweater, so it should be done in time for the hottest days of the year. Sweet.

Phoning it in? Yeah, maybe.

Once again, I notice it's been a while since I've broken up the text of my ramblingness with some photos. Because there's not a whole lot to tell you about today (guess what? baby string beans attached to plants with no remaining leaves don't turn into full-sized string beans. sigh.), today's post is heavy on the pictures (if you consider two "heavy," that is) and light on the narrative. Or relevance, really.



This one was taken at a recent festive gathering. There are some lovely shots from the day in which we're smiling normally and neither of us are blurry, but I like this one the most because it's how we operate more often than not. Hearty laughing pretty much every day. And, come to think of it, eating and flailing, respectively: that's pretty accurate as well.



Too perfect. The best part is that immediately following this expression, she likely found herself scurrying away from something terrifying. Like an ant. Photo credit: Mr. Metabolism.

Happy weekend, everyone!

A bit of a departure

Emphasis on "a bit," to be sure. This is a tiny, almost imperceptible departure. Insignificant, really. And yet, here it is, takin' up space on my blog.

I noticed the other day that I've knit a disproportionate amount of pieces in lavender. Can I get a collective "huh?" It isn't the worst color in the spectrum, but it doesn't strike me as particularly craftosaurus-esque. Even the most springtimey, Easter-loving, parasol-carrying lady strolling through an English garden doesn't need four lavender sweaters, and neither do I.

So, for a bit of a departure (from my subconscious color selection process, apparently), I've cast on for a new project in navy. Nothing I've made so far is navy. Oh so new and exciting.

The knitting of long-sleeved cardigans out of wool in the middle of the summer, though? That continues.

Carnage

We've got a "Next Year's Garden" lesson in the making, folks. I think that's a clear sign that this topic should get bumped to the top of the posting queue.

[Note: what a cool word that is, "queue." I mean, really, how often do you get to use the "ueue" combination? "Banana" is notable for a similar repeated-letters reason, but the vowels really add that extra somethin' if you ask me.]

Ok. Where was I? Right, I was about to tell you what I found when I watered the vegetable garden today. I noticed the beet greens first. Most of them are still ok, but there's a smattering of red stalks blatantly missing their green leaves. Then I saw the kohlrabi, which had been lush and healthy to the point of shading its neighbors; about half of them are decimated. And the lettuce. Oh, the lettuce. The last head of looseleaf yet to use for salad had measured maybe 15" across yesterday. Today, well, I don't really want to talk about it (*sniff*).

I'm not -- and I shouldn't be -- surprised that some form of small, adorable, somewhat evil, furry creature has been using the garden as a buffet. We live next to the woods, basically (not really, but enough that it looks like The Woods are right next to the yard, and enough that I'm sure we're got plenty of furry creatures as neighbors). And I'm sure the garden is delicious for them. But they'd completely ignored it up until now (pea plants notwithstanding). Why now? Does a mid-July chow-down start date shed any light on why particular type of furry creature we're dealing with? Next year, we'll have to use some sort of strategy to keep this from happening at any point during the growing season and avoid the complacency that apparently was this year's downfall. Any suggestions?

As I insinuated, though, there are other lessons I've already gathered this year for use next spring. I've incorporated Thou Shall Use Tomato Cages Instead of Stakes from 2008 with great success, so if I can add some of the following into the mix as well, I'm hoping continued progress will abound.

1. When the maple tree drops its hordes and hordes of seed "helicopters," clear them right away. They are not just nature's confetti. Each and every one will germinate, on a staggered schedule, resulting in the plucking of miniature maple trees every single day.

2. Certain plants don't play well with others. They hog the sun and refuse to share. Namely, we're talking here about kohlrabi and beets, and we're really talking about string beans. They need lots more space. Surprisingly, cucumbers and melon do not. Their vines might trail out a ways, but that can be controlled and the actual dirt space needed is more modest than expected.

3. When the books tell you to plant leeks in trenches so you can cover their stalks with dirt as they grow, they mean trenches deeper than a few inches. Whoops.

4. Peas won't climb a post-style fence as they would a trellis. Seed packets insisting that a particular variety doesn't need to climb any sort of structure are lying. Buy some netting.


Any awesome strategies you've learned over the years through trial and error? (Bonus points for ideas pertaining to furry creatures with healthy appetites. :))

< /radio silence >

Ok, so it really hasn't been an exceptionally long time since I've written, but it feels that way. Part of it might be that I've been thinking of particular topics I'd like to cover -- I was all geared up to write an examination of Sarah Palin's resignation comments, which now feels irrelevant thanks to the nature of the modern news cycle -- but life has gotten in the way.

By way of saying enough to acknowledge the situation at hand, but not so much as to violate the privacy of those around me, I'll simply say that there was a tragic, untimely death in the Awesome Fiance's family. The world lost a wonderfully open, joyous person. I'm sad for me, for everyone involved, and really I'm also sad for those who never had the good fortune to meet her.

Inching down the continuum of events from the difficult to the mundane, the Awesome Fiance went under the knife last week. Day surgery, with general anesthesia. He's fine, all of his internal organs are happy again, and he's impatient to be a fully functioning and productive member of the household, as I knew he would be.

I hope you'll understand, then, when I tell you you'll just have to wait for "Things I Must Remember When Planting Next Year's Garden," or "I've Been Knitting, Really I Have, But I Don't Have Pictures," or "The Cure For Running Ennui: Possible Looming Injury." Soon, my dears. Soon.

Networking and Good Karma

I'm hoping for -- and indeed, have been getting -- some awesome networking help in spreading the word about the house I'm selling and the open house I'm holding for it this Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. (Information about the house here.)

In the hopes of gathering a little more good karma, and in appreciation for that which I've already received, I figured I'd let you fine folks know about some local small businesses who, I suspect, rely heavily on word of mouth recommendations.

If you're in need of a photographer, I'll direct you to the two final contenders Senor Wonderful and I found in our recent search (yes, we're taking the way-in-advance approach to wedding planning). Kate Baker and Clare Norton are both exceptionally talented, and lovely people to boot. They primarily photograph weddings, but I'm fairly certain they do family (and kiddo and pet) portraits as well.

If you don't need any fancy photos done but would like to be fancified all the same, check out KMS Jewelry Designs, offering quality, unique, handmade beauteousness.

For graphic design beauteousness, head on over to Brushfire Media. Logos and websites and production services, oh my!

I figured I'd go all out

... and try to do a garden photo post that's actually (somewhat) interesting and (somewhat) aesthetically pleasing. I'd resigned myself yesterday to posting some photos no matter how boring, but I reconsidered and tried to see what I could do with the heretofore unexplored settings on my humble camera. Hello, depth of field. Nice to meet you, macro setting.

So. The garden's progressed quite a bit since the last time I took you on a tour. The closest little seedlings in that shot were kohlrabi, and today they look like this:

Hi, I'm kohlrabi.

I'm awesome but I insist on shading everything around me.

The beets are doing really well, too:

Some day soon, they'll be turned into delicious and somewhat nutritious chocolate cake.

The tomato plants, yellowing and puny as they were a couple weeks ago, are now starting to flourish:

The tallest leaves there are actually from the string beans one row over. They're flourishing, too.

As always, the peppers are the slowest to show any progress at all. This picture is a little misleading; without a lot of perspective, it's easy to miss the fact that this plant is only a couple inches tall, tops. Peppers might get cut from the list next year.

Macro setting, yo.

Finally (because the leeks, raspberries, peas, scallions, cucumbers, and watermelon are shy today), we've been eating lots of salad lately and haven't used store bought lettuce for at least a month. The full grown lettuces aren't very photogenic, but my favorite shot of the day is of some romaine seedlings hanging out in a container at the edge of the driveway. They need to pick up the pace a little in order to be ready for salads when we run out of the other varieties, but for now they're pretty darn cute:

Weekend Highlights

This past weekend's been all about celebrating the nation's birthday with good company, good food and drink, and good weather (hooray), and a few small victories.

Small Victory 1: five ripened and edible raspberries on the sickly looking transplanted canes we were given last month. The trip from Vermont and the subsequent drenching with rain for the better part of June hasn't killed them, apparently. Woot woot.

Small Victory 2: the ability to ride a bike (as in bicycle, not motorcycle, gah!) approximately five feet in a row with my feet on both pedals. My first bike-riding lesson (no, I don't know how. yes, I'm thirty. shut up.) lasted about twenty minutes and consisted mostly of me hemming and hawing and trying to keep from going too fast whilst keeping my feet near the ground to serve as training wheels. Mr. Terrific assured me I did an excellent job, because he is wonderful and supportive and a very good white liar. Excellent isn't really the most accurate term, but I will say I'm happy to've avoided tumbling onto the ground at any point.

Small Victory 3: I learned that I'm not atrociously horrible at golf. Well, at the driving range, anyway. When I'm able to make contact with the ball, it travels in a straight line like it's supposed to. No major hooking or slicing!

Small Victory 4: progress on the out-of-season sweater.

By the looks of the blog lately, I certainly owe you all some photos. Soon. Not today, but soon, I'll put an end to the boring paragraphs of text as far as the eye can see. Unfinished knits or plants in the garden: neither option is super exciting, I suppose, but it's something. Soon.

Enough Already

That's it. I'm jumping on the Bandwagon of Grumpiness. Call me trite, call me unoriginal, whatever.

But seriously, enough with the rain. I know everyone's complaining about it, and it doesn't accomplish anything to whine about it, but my gawd, this is ridiculous. When unripened raspberries start turning mushy on their branches, you know it's bad.

Also, enough with the Michael Jackson coverage. There's other stuff going on in the world, I know there is. Let's hear more than a few seconds about all of it, eh?

Grump.

I knew I could do it!

I've done three 5ks so far this season. The first was pretty darn slow, even for me. I like that I run and it makes me feel healthy and awesome and all take-on-the-world-y, but I'm sure not the fastest person ever to don sneakers. Slow for me is, shall we say, just above a shuffle. I chalked it up to (which is to say, rationalized it as) getting back into running after a hiatus, using it as a baseline for the rest of the year, et cetera, et cetera.

The second outing was similarly slow, and I was actually a little baffled, what with my time for 3.1 miles of solid running being slower than 3.1 miles at the gym with some walking thrown in. Obviously, gym treadmills aren't necessarily calibrated with the utmost precision, but still. Strange. I think my poor showing had a lot (well, at least some) to do with my being way the heck in the back of the pack (where I should be!) at the start line, and so not actually starting when the clock did. Seriously, the thousands of people in front of me took a while to clear out.

Race three was slow, too. I walked parts of it. Mainly because I had the realization about halfway through that I'd forgotten to eat breakfast, and, oh, that's why I was feeling all weak and weird. Whoops.

Anyway, I've been pretty sure all along that my legs have got it in them to run a slightly more respectable 5k under good conditions (that is, with adequate training, nourishment in my stomach, more accurate timing, shoes tied to just the right amount of tension, hair affixed properly and out of my face, and any number of other peripheral factors working in my favor). And lo, on the day that my mp3 player batteries failed me (horror of horrors!), I was able to run not one... not two (as was my previous maximum)... but THREE POINT ONE MILES at a ten minute mile pace overall.

And I didn't even feel pukey from sprinting too hard. Rock!

Anti-procrastination, for a change of pace

I've said it before, but this time I mean it (maybe): I'm knitting a sweater of my own design right now, and I'm planning to write up a pattern for publication or mass distribution when I'm done. Like, a formal pattern with different sizes and everything. Wish me luck.

To be fair, I have plenty of time. The project in question is a long sleeved cardigan in a wool/mohair blend. Not really usable for a few months, at least. It'll probably be another couple weeks of knitting, then however long it takes to turn that into a pattern. Hmm. I've never done that before, so really have no idea how long it'll take. Less than a few months, I'd hope!

If I can tackle the patternifying like I've been approaching wedding planning (which is to say, in a manner entirely out of character for me), I'll be all set. Who on earth would have the venue, food, dress, and bridesmaid dresses all figured out more than fourteen months in advance, with a pretty good (and hopeful) idea for photography? We do, apparently. Yes, we're ridiulous. We know.

Garden Update: Surprise Addition

Yes, I'm in New England and I'm blogging about the rainy weather we've had. I'm ever so original, aren't I?

I can at least offer some evidence of just how relentless the wet weather's been this week. I don't have pictures, but hopefully you'll take my word for it when I say that we now have a bumper crop of itty bitty mushrooms. Volunteer mushrooms, to be sure. I'm hoping they won't be detrimental to the veggies that we've planted on purpose, because it's supposed to be gloomy and dreary for another solid week.

I was pleased to see, though, that four out of six tomato plants are substantially bigger than they were several days ago. Whether it's a matter of them thriving during monsoon season or simply that by not obsessively checking the garden every six hours, any progress appears magnified, I'll take it.

Good things come in threes, too.

I'm choosing to take the successes I can get this week. We will not discuss the un-successes, because that isn't very fun, now is it?

Success #1:
Rocked out the culinary skills and made ravioli. Specifically, homemade whole wheat spinach ravioli. The pasta itself was a pretty standard recipe, rolled by hand, with white-whole-wheat flour used in place of all-purpose; the filling was sauteed onion, wilted spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. Served in a sauce of diced tomatoes, white wine, and garlic.

Success #2:
Made extra sure that I'll be ok for this weekend's 5k by running three miles and change yesterday. A total of maybe four raindrops hit me, but I managed to avoid full on precip. Looming storm clouds are good motivation for running a little bit faster, too.

Success #3:
Finished Camden.

The pattern calls for long sleeve attachments that are affixed with buttons. I think this is a great idea, but I doubt I have enough yarn. Instead, I've moved on to a cardigan to be knit sans pattern, shaped improvisationally as I go. I'm using a wool/mohair blend. Yes, yes, it's June. I know.

kool stuff. we haz it.

Namely:

- two varieties of raspberry plants in the backyard
- basil, strawberry, and dahlia plants ready to put in the ground
- enough evening primroses ready to plant to fill half the property (well, maybe not quite)
- awesome idea for where to place the asparagus I've been pondering for the past couple of years
- wedding location chosen and booked.

Hooray!

Craftosaurus Hits the Media

One of my knitted items is featured on Knitting Daily TV, a production of Interweave Press that, I believe, is broadcast on public television stations in some markets. The segment discusses how the Frock Camisole pattern by Katie Himmelberg can be modified, and how various knitters' versions can differ. Mine is the light green tank being worn by the mannequin to the right of the host (and, apparently, in the still screen shot that appears before you hit play).



Also, contrary to the impression this blog might give, I've been continuing to knit new items. Specifically, Camden. I'm not sure if I'll have enough yarn to do the detachable sleeves, but I'll at least do the cap-sleeved t-shirt component. I'm halfway through the yoke right now, so not far from being done. Woot!

More of the Same, and Something Completely Different

It's been another great weekend in Craftosaurusville. My, what a boring blog this has become: "we did this fun thing, then went to this fun place, and blah, blah, blah." I suppose it's better than being boring and pessimistic, no?

Anyway, this weekend's adventure was kayaking. Wait, did I forget to tell you? Yeah, we got a kayak. A 19 foot tandem kayak with lots of storage space (all the better for storing camping gear, one of these days). We didn't camp this weekend, just paddled around a lake for a couple hours. Thankfully, there were no spills into the drink (inanimate objects or ourselves). Thanks to some... shall we say "zealous" jetski and motorboat enthusiasts creating sizeable wakes, we had a chance to practing riding out a bit of choppy water, which will come in handy when we graduate to ocean kayaking. (The vessel's designed for it, but out abilities, as yet, are not.)

I'll tell ya one thing, though, this kayak is heavy. And carrying half of it at your side (rather than up close to your torso) is tough, to say nothing of lifting it over your head and onto the top of a car. Well, it's tough for me, anyway. I looked up the specs, and apparently it weighs in at 88 pounds (sans paddles and nalgene bottles inside). My arms are not designed to lift 22 pounds each -- half the kayak, using both arms -- over my head. Yet, anyway. By the end of the summer, I'll be pretty darn strong. That, or injured.

The other news of the day is that I'm officially selling my old house (*single tear*). It's adorable, it's charming, it's updated, it's easy to heat, and it's got a great yard on a quiet street. If you happen to know anyone looking for 862 fantastic square feet of house just outside the largest city in the northernmost New England state, please have them visit southportlandbungalow.blogspot.com for more information, lots of photos, and an address by which to contact me for further details. Go interweb networking, go!

I'm back! And I have pictures!

Lesson learned: When one is embarking on a project to track one's sodium, sugar, and saturated fat intake, perhaps a camping trip might not be the best way to kick off said project. Camping food wasn't over the top unhealthy, but it isn't representative of my typical diet, and the campsite certainly wasn't the most convenient place to carry around a pen and paper to log the consumables of the day. Mindfulness begins tomorrow.

Being decidedly un-mindful about nutrition.

Getting to the very obvious point of today's post, then, Senor Lovely and I adventured to the wilderness this week. To be sure, "wilderness" is a relative term, but considering we were half an hour from the region's Big City, our surroundings were impressively wild.

Half an hour from the Big City. True Story.

There was hiking, which was fun, and a realization that my pant legs were covered in ticks, which was not. I don't have pictures of that moment (disappointing, I know) as I was a little too focused on getting the insidious things the heck OFF me. Seriously, there were at least ten of them. No more tan pants in the forest for me!

Focus on the positive: three lady slippers!

Much lovelier than ticks. Much.

Far preferable to the tick walk was a short jaunt to a pond about a quarter mile from our campsite. For the most part, it was murky and muddy and too dark to see any wildlife under the surface, but along one small, sandy shelf we spotted a school of minnows. They'd swim up to the edge of the sunlight and hang out facing the water's edge, and then I'd wave my arms around and they'd dart, perfectly synchronized, back into the darkness. Rinse and repeat... for about 45 minutes. Yes, really. They were that cute.

Less cute, but still pretty: pine tree roots on the shore of the pond

Overall, it was a great trip. Honestly, I spared you all from the full onslaught of photos. I'm guessing you don't need to see the pretty, pretty sky! and brook! and trees surrounding our campsite! You get the idea. And you also get one more picture:

On Nutrition and Mindfulness

I've been mulling and contemplating and gearing up to try to begin to modify the way I think about food. Hmm, tentative much?

As a caveat, I'd like to state up front that this is not a lose-weight-before-the-wedding endeavor. I could gain ten pounds in the next year-and-a-bit, and The Future Mister would still find me gorgeous, I'd still have a fantastic dress and awesome hair, and enough beautifying happiness radiating out of my very pores to knock you over from twenty paces, thank you very much. If I happen to be ten pounds lighter on my wedding day, it'll be a byproduct of a healthier approach to life overall, not some specific effort to fit in a dress or an internal, theoretical idea of what a bride "should" look like.

With that rant out of the way, I'll add that what this is about is a realization that I've been commenting way too often lately that my stomach is "wonky" or "feeling 'off'" or just "meh." I suspect I'd have more energy and motivation to do the myriad of things I need to do every week if I wasn't unconsciously spending part of my energy on tummy woes. And, hey, who wouldn't love to have less discomfort of any variety if that's an option?

Obviously, there are a whole bunch of ways to start rethinking about nutrition, and I think for now I've narrowed it down using a process of elimination. A friend was talking recently about juice fasting, and I'm a little (or a lot) wary of that. I'm unsure how beneficial or harmful it might be to limit one's food intake to broth and juice for three (or however many) days. I've just got a gut feeling (heh, cue the rimshot) that this isn't what I should do.

I'm less concerned about the advisability of avoiding certain types of possible culprit foods. Dairy, gluten, that sort of thing. I don't think this would be unhealthy -- as long as I take some "fake" calcium, for instance -- but I'm ruling this one out too because, honestly, I just plain like those foods, and I'm choosing to be stubborn and keep eating them for now. Why take the overzealous step of banishing bread and cheese from my diet on pure speculation? That would border on tragic, methinks.

So. What I've decided to do in the meantime is to pay attention to what I consume in established nutrition categories. Namely: sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. I've never paid much attention to them in the past; I avoid them as a matter of general mindset, and I don't eat a lot of processed foods as it is, but I'm sure there's some of each lurking where I wouldn't expect it. There's no question that less of each is preferable, so I figure now is the time to start paying attention, assessing what I consume as a matter of habit, and making improvements moving forward. I'm guessing (or hoping? speculating?) that in making those changes, my overall food intake will be higher quality nutrition. If that, the path of least resistance, happens to resolve my low-level but relatively constant stomach wonkiness, so much the better.

And in a few weeks, I should be able to incorporate some uber-healthy sustenance straight from the garden!

Hello, lettuce!