Socks & Plants

Ooh, a sock! I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little sick of these things. I started these last June... nearly a year ago. I finished one, ripped it out, made this one, and am currently working on the third (but really the second) of the pair. I think one of the problems is that I'm not really a hot pink socks kind of girl. When I bought this yarn, the dominant color seemed to be purple - but hidden inside was a whole lotta pink. I'm sure I'll wear them, since mostly socks get covered up by pants and shoes, but I'm sort of tired of looking at them.

In other endeavors, my plants continue to be very tiny (especially the spinach, below.) A few of my bean plants look promising, although a recent Rainstorm Of Death finished off the less hardy plants. I swear, it doesn't rain for 5 months, and then its a horrible torrential downpour. Even though I don't think I'm going to have a huge vegetable harvest this year, I'm optimistic for the future. If I ever live in a cooler climate with ample space to plant things in the actual ground, I'll certainly give it a go.

It's getting hot in here

Last weekend one of my college friends came down from Albuquerque for a visit. This was a good excuse to do some things that I've been putting off... first up was a 5K. This was my 9th race - but the first one in almost three years. Luckily numbers worked for us. My friend (who is an awesome runner) won the women's 5K, I got third in my age group, and my husband got first in his! It's quite possible that there were only 3 people IN my age group, but that's neither here nor there... at least I showed up, right?

Afterwards we drove out into the desert, in search of water. Lo and behold, it exists! This is Sitting Bull Falls. If you look really, really closely, you can see water flowing down the rocks. Nigara Falls is it not, but we take what we can get.


If you hike up to the top, you can see the source of the water... you CAN see it, right? There was a shirtless hiker who we saw coming up quickly behind us, and I commented to my friend, "Hey, he thinks you're hot, he's coming to talk to you!" He passed us gruffly, and I might have said a little too loudly, "Well that guy sucks, we didn't want to talk to him anyway! Shirtless hiker must be too good for us." We turned a corner and there he was, giving us a dirty look. I have a problem with waiting an appropriate amount of time to insult/negatively comment on people. Whoops. This is probably why I have no friends.

Coming up... plant and sock updates. Can't you just feel the excitement in the air? Also, another quilt... even though I haven't finished at least two.

RIP Needle

After several years of faithfully helping me churn out socks, one of my sock needles has given up the ghost. I've been impressed by the KnitPicks needles, but I have to say that these ones are just a little too short for my hand (it's the shortest length size 1). With the needles in my hands, the heel of my hand presses directly on the join. So, it really was a matter of time before one of them broke. Alas, now I must go purchase another one. And $45 of yarn so I can get free shipping.

And in other news, my summer is going to be way cooler than yours. Guess where I will be living for 3 months this summer? I'll give you a hint:

Yes, that is Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park! While I won't actually be living in a geyser, I will be just inside the West Entrance near West Yellowstone, Montana. While I am no longer part of the park service, I did marry into it, which is proving to be a good decision. I can't tell you how happy I will be to leave my current work circus, hike, explore, sleep, and read really long books. And of course my adventures will be chronicled here, so that you can live vicariously through me. Come visit!

Growing

Things are growing slowly but surely. Below, you can see the failed Jaywalker sock, and the crosswalker that it will soon become. I liked the look of the Jaywalker, but the darn thing would not go over my heel. Sorry dude. You're about to be ripped.

This is the first year I'm going to grow my own vegetables. I'm not sure how well this will work, with all the 100 degree temperatures and scorching sunshine and whatnot, but at least I know this Jalapeno plant will survive. This picture is totally misleading, since this pepper is only 1" long. But at least it's not dead.

In other news, I've recently started a second job. It's not really a "job," but just an opportunity for freelance editing. Unfortunately for you all, I signed a confidentiality agreement, so I can't post any horrendous writing here for us all to laugh at. It really is a pity, since I've definitely gotten my share of entertainment at other people's expense. Just know that if you submit your "book" that was based on "your own experiences," your editor will incessantly mock you to family, friends, and co-workers.
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For all you readers out there, did you know that Anne Perry is a murderer? Very interesting.

Goals - 25%

In December, I wrote down a few goals I hope to accomplish this year. First among these was to read 50 books by the end of the year. I'm holding strong at 16 so far:

1. The Modigliani Scandal - Ken Follett
2. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
3. Blueberry Muffin Murder - Joanne Fluke
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
5. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris
6. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
7. Lady Chatterly's Lover - D.H. Lawrence
8. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
9. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
11. The Post-Birthday World - Lionel Shriver
12. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto - Michael Pollan
13. The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho
14. Cavern - Jake Page
15. How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill
16. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life - Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The bold titles are those appearing on the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" list. I didn't count 2 Poe short stories as books, but adding to that the 5 above, I've now read 56 of 1001 (a whopping 5.59%). I understand why the suggested time period for this is "before you die."

Out of the titles above, I'd have to say that Cavern was the worst. The only reason why I read it was that it takes place in the town where I live. Besides the plot being totally ridiculous (pre-historic bear that can hibernate for 50 years at a time and lives in a cave awakens and starts eating people), the writing was horrible. So, do bears have emotions? Page would have you think so - apparently when bears eat someone, they are "enraged" (not, say, hungry?)

Some of the highlights were Wide Sargasso Sea, a book about the life of "the madwoman in the attic" from Jane Eyre. The story was beautiful and haunting in all the right ways. Also particularly hilarious was Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. This isn't a novel, but rather a series of very short essays, alphabetized, focusing on random snippets of Krouse's life. I wish I had written it, since at times I was convinced it was actually about me.

I haven't gotten to the colorwork thing yet. This mostly has to do with not having appropriate yarn... if only I could just walk over to the yarn store and get some. But since there is no yarn store within a 150 mile radius, I have to think up enough stuff to order to get free shipping at KnitPicks.

The Modern Letter Project is currently on hiatus (their hiatus, not mine.) Frankly, I'm glad. Out of the 6 letters I was supposed to receive, I only got 2. I was very close to quitting, since writing letters and getting no reply was annoying. I guess it's back to friends. Do you want me to send you a letter? Say so in the comments!

I love hats

It's true. I love hats. I also love knitting hats: they're fairly quick, and the possibilities are endless. Also, they are (most of the time) knit in one piece, so that when they're done... they're done. Here's my latest hat, just in time for the beginning of our 7-month Southwest summer.


The pattern was a free Ravelry download: Just Like a Peasant Cap. There is also another similar pattern available on Ravelry, which is knit in the round rather than flat & seamed, but I liked the gathered look in the back. (Oh yeah... I used Berocco Comfort, which is an acrylic blend. It is very soft & I would definitely use it again.) I LOVE the double seed-stitch pattern, and will definitely be using it in other projects. I wish I had made the gathered part a tad bit smaller, since the hat is slightly back-heavy. Of course I always have one or two regrets every time I finish something... but that aside I LOVE this hat.

Even Kiska got in on the hat action (she is fond of chewing on the ties.)

Wow

No projects finished yet, but I would like to report that I saw Inappropriate Shorts Man again at the gym yesterday. But, he was wearing gray shorts instead of the red ones. They looked exactly the same - I imagine him coming across a really good sale and saying to himself, "Wow, these shorts are such a good deal! I'll just get one in every color."

In the circus that is my place of employment, another co-worker came to work wearing a chain that connected her ear piercing to her labret piercing (upper chin/lower lip area). I asked her what would happen if someone pulled on it, or if she got it caught on something. She replied, "Well, no one's ever pulled on it." Then I said, "What if I pulled on it?" She hasn't spoken to me since.

Babies

I have reached the age where it seems that everyone I know has started giving birth. Knitting is a rather time-consuming activity, so I've turned to my second love, sewing, for some instant satisfaction. I recently set off two sets of baby bibs:

The pattern is a great one from Bend the Rules Sewing - and I had so much fun picking out the fabrics. Forget cartoon bunnies and cutesy flowers, babies need pirate skull bibs. And ones with flames on them.
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Random things that have been on my mind lately:

1. I read a lot of book reviews, since I don't want to spend time on something that turns out to suck. But I wish people would stop criticizing memoirs by saying they are "self-indulgent." It's a MEMOIR! It automatically is self-indulgent by it's very nature!

2. I also wish people would stop describing things, particularly food, as "nutty." "The butter gives it a wonderful nutty flavor," or "This wine has a nutty taste," or even "Adding olive oil makes it more nutty." Butter, wine, and olive oil are not nutty. Peanuts are nutty. Cashews are nutty. The only way to make something nutty is to put nuts in it.

3. There is a man who works out at my gym who wears the most inappropriate shorts I've ever seen a man wear in public. I'm pretty sure I own underwear larger than these shorts. Think women's boy-short bathing suit bottom. Spandex. Bright red. These shorts leave nothing to the imagination. NOTHING. It's horrible... but I can't look away, like a train wreck.

4. One of my co-workers was recently arrested for biting another guy's ear off. I'm not scared he'll do anything to me, but every time I see him at work I can't help but thinking, "Dude, that guy bit someone's ear off!"

Looking ahead...

With a huge sweater project out of the way, I feel like I can finally start thinking ahead to all of the enticing projects yet to be knit... the other week my mom & I visited White Sands National Monument, near Alamogordo, NM. That place is ridiculous - giant dunes of white, white sand everywhere you look. It's like being at a really big beach... with no water.

While I'd like to say that my quest to experience new places & be well traveled motivated our journey, the fact that there is a yarn store in Alamogordo did not escape my attention. I mean, I didn't drive 3 hours each way to go to a yarn store or anything. I went to see a National Monument. Yah, that's it. I came away with two colors of Berocco Comfort - an acrylic (gasp!) yarn. But its soooo soft, and at buy-one-get-one-half-off, I couldn't really pass it up. Plus I'm all for yarn that doesn't require special care.

(Get off my yarn, bad cat!)

The blue is for the Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits, and the Purple is for Just Like a Peasant Cap (both Ravelry links.) Also in the works is turning my Jaywalkers into Crosswalkers.

Finished!

I finished a sweater! I admire people who can just churn these things out, since it takes me several months to complete a sweater. I started this one last November. Without further ado...


There were several men fishing down by the river when I took pictures of myself in the park during lunch. They probably think I'm insane. But then again they're the ones fishing in a river that you can't swim in for all the disgustingness.

The pattern is from Garnstudio Drops Design, 97-18 Tailored Cardigan. I changed the garter stitch border to seed stitch, and I did the shaping at the sides rather than in the middle. Once again, the sleeves didn't fit. This is the second Drops pattern this has happened with, but then again maybe its just me. I used somewhere around 9 skeins of Elann Callista (Cotton/Linen) and size 4 needles. I know the cardigan looks really short, but that could be because I'm wearing a really long shirt underneath it. But I'm also 4'10", so you taller ladies might want to add length to this one.
Despite some problems with the button situation (they're in a weird place and kind of pull - I used a safety pin to hold part of the button band down), I'm very happy with this sweater. It's one of my favorites so far, and I can imagine wearing this one a lot in the future.