The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Part Five

I'd actually been planning to tell you guys about Squirrel over at The Nuthouse in a Copycat Project post with photos from a fun outdoorsy adventure. It'll be a while before Mr. Stupendous and I go kayaking, that's for sure, and even for hiking, I prefer to wait until the trails are ice-free before venturing out (I swear, I must have some sort of inner ear issue that explains my clumsiness). It's snowshoeing season, but who am I kidding, there won't be time for that until we wrap up the bathroom renovation in 2015. (Sigh.)

So! In the meantime, go read about Squirrel's travels. And hoo boy, do you want to check this out: she lived in Alaska, now lives in Australia (I know, right?), and makes a point of getting out and enjoying all the cool stuff there is to do in her area.

Another fun thing Squirrel blogs about -- and I'm looping back to the point of my post, so stick with me here -- is home brewing. She and her husband started brewing beer in part to avoid having to buy it in Australia (apparently it's pretty spendy) and have found that they quite enjoy it. A few days ago she talked about some of the beers they've concocted recently, and that reminded me that I never blogged about our sophomore brewing effort. Ta-dah:




It looks pretty much the same as our first beer, the Dark Horse Porter, but you'll have to take my word for it: that there is Christmas Cookie Ale. And it was good. (Yes, it's gone. Single tear.) We took a kit for a nut brown ale and added a hint of cinnamon and vanilla.* The flavors were more subtle than I expected, but I think that was for the best, and it might be one of my favorite beers ever. We've decided to make a double batch next year and make it our annual holiday brew.

Have I mentioned I'm disappointed it's gone?




* When I say "we," of course, I mean that Mr. Stupendous did all the actual brewing. I came up with the idea to add the cinnamon and vanilla, and the name. That counts as helping, right?

Yes, there was more than flowers and food.

I had kind of a "challenging" day at work today, and I cheered myself up a bit just now by scrolling through some of the photos from our wedding. I also realized that I never blogged about anything post-wedding except for the flowers and the food -- which, yes, are the important points, dontcha know, but not the only things I'd intended to write about.

So. If you're having a challenging day as well, I hope you might be cheered a smidge by


...the fact that The Awesome Husband's phone apparently saved the day:


...a bit of patent leather in two colors:


...an amazingly blue sky (and to think I'd been hoping for cumulus clouds):


...and a whole slew of my favorite people all in one place:



I know they're not necessarily your favorite people, but don't they look happy? Hopefully the cheering effect works of you too.


All photos are the work of the lovely Clare Norton.

Nothing gets done until Item Seven gets done. Ahem.

Over the past few days, I've been reading lots of reflection on the past year and contemplation of the one ahead. Bloggers sure are an introspective bunch.
In terms of reflecting on 2010, suffice it to say that mine rocked.

It's been fascinating reading about others' resolutions, though, and I can't help but think about what I've got on my agenda for 2011 as well.

*Eat more vegetables (quantity and variety), even when the garden isn't churning out deliciousness. From June to October, when I can walk twenty feet out my door and find some sustenance that's not only healthy, but interesting ("look what I grew!"), I'm good. I need to keep that progress going rather than standing in the produce section of the grocery store, staring blankly at the options in front of me and thinking "broccoli again. sigh." CORROLLARY: Learn how to perserve by canning.

*Drink more water. I don't drink a whole lot of stuff that isn't water on a daily basis, but I get to the end of far too many work days and realize I haven't consumed any liquid at all.

*Build on the training progress we're having with our new furry friend. We've got sit, stay, wait, shake, touch (he touches his nose to our hand), leave it, find it, and in your crate down pat (for the most part), but it would be great to have those things mastered even when a truck, cat, squirrel, or other dog is going by. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

*Keep on keepin' on with the running. This one's tough because I'm absolutely motivated to run, but my bursitis-riddled knees and my plantar-fascitis-prone feet are not. I guess the solution for 2011 is to do the boring physical therapy exercises I know I should be doing to keep those maladies at bay. Even though my time is limited and if I only have 20 minutes to work out, I'd really like to use them pumping up my adrenaline with some speedwork and angry music, (pout-pout-pout) the puny little "flex your leg muscles" things will have to win out more often than not.

*Sift through the house to separate unwanted or no longer needed items and send them on their merry way. The lucky survivors from this project should be organized in a more logical manner. The potato masher, for instance, shouldn't have to live out its days in a jumble of whisks and mixer beaters. And scissors. And packing tape. You get the idea.

*Put more effort into wearing outfits that make me feel confident and happy. My workplace is very permissive with its dress code. I could wear jeans and a sweatshirt most days if I so chose (I don't). I do, however, wear jeans and my go-to shirts more often than I'd like. I made an effort toward the end of 2010 to use more accessories, and that was pretty fun, so for 2011 I think I might try to face my fear of bracelets and patterned fabrics.

Woah, six goals, I think that's probably enough. Oh heck, let's make it seven: wrap up Project "Make the Bathroom Less Ugly." Seeing as how we currently have NO working plumbing in it at all, we're super motivated to have that happen as soon as possible.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Part Four

Hey! I've got another blog you should go read! Justin over at The Declining is smart, witty, and observant, and he has excellent taste in music (go read about his self-designed Shuffle Challenge in particular).

In the spirit of Justin's discography analysis and musical comparisons, let's chat today about one of the songs I heard on the radio in the car yesterday. (Unlike Justin with his trusty ipod, I kick it old school and rely on my FM pre-set buttons when I'm driving.) My go-to station served up a nice little surprise for me, a veritable belated holiday gift for my ears: Cake's latest single, "Sick of You."

It's like a treasure trove of what I love about a good Cake song. Trumpet (of course... tug at those band geek heartstrings). Building layers of complexity, with harmonies on top of basslines and a little keyboard action. Awesome, awesome guitar riffs. Even that sproingy, ratchety thing (the technical term, of course). Interestingly, when the first chord left the speakers, I thought I might be hearing the Rolling Stones (odd, based on the radio station). A few bars in, though, the Cake sound was unmistakable. It actually made me happy to be stopped at a traffic light long enough to listen to the end.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Part Three

It's the third installment of the Copycat Project, wherein I steer you to blogs you should peruse whilst stubbornly refusing to maintain an updated blogroll. Check out part one and part two while you're here as well.

So you guys all know that I knit quite a bit, even if the majority of the content around here is woefully off topic for what ostensibly once was a knitblog. Jstrizzy, on the other hand, has a much more respectable attention span. A knitblog about knitting (and some sewing for good measure). What a concept! Plus, she's got skills, especially when it comes to lace. Go read about what she's been knitting these days... and ooh and ahh and pick your jaws up off the floor. She's good.

To take a page from Jstrizzy's book, I'll do a proper post about the sweater I finished last week -- the one that two of you wanted to see in greater detail than just the button bands. There's realio, trulio knitting content today, folks.

Pattern: Maude Louise, by Kristen Hanley Cardozo

Yarn: Lett Lopi, by Istex (Yes, very itchy. This is a layering sweater, that's for sure.)

Modifications: I omitted the seed stitch on the shoulders and stuck with stockinette. Otherwise, I pretty much followed the pattern.

And now for the pictures. The first one highlights the stitches and is pretty true to color. The second one shows off the pattern detail around the waist. There's also a row of those diamonds running down each sleeve, as you'll see (barely) in photo three.

Small victories.

We may not have floor tiles installed... We may not have primer or paint on the walls (skim coat goes up today!)... We may not even have a sink set up...

But our eight guests on Christmas will be able to make the bathroom as dim or as bright as their hearts desire, thanks to our new dimmer switch.

We pull put all the stops around here.

Finished sweater. Bad picture.

It shows the color very well, at least.

This is Kristin Hanley Cardozo's Maude Louise pattern, followed relatively closely... though I did omit a section of seed stitch on the shoulders.  If I had it to knit again (and I suppose I could, but I won't), I'd work the ribbing along the bottom edge with smaller needles, because the bottom isn't as fitted as it should be.  A-line in a sweater is less flattering than it is in a skirt.  I might add some elastic, or I might just wear this one primarily around the house.  It's very cozy and our house is generally on the cold side, so that works.

I can't decide what to make next, which is probably a good thing right now.  If you see me knitting before the end of the year, take the needles out of my hands and give me a taping knife, a sanding sponge, or a paint brush, depending on the day.  I'm hoping we get to the paint brushes soon.