I'm a Little Teapot... I mean, not really

I've never thought of myself as the type of person who would knit a tea cozy; and yet, I did. (Although I prefer to think of this as a "teapot jacket.") My mother-in-law gave me this little teapot for my birthday this year, and I thought a little more insulation might make the tea stay warm longer.

It's basically a garter stitch rectangle, with crocheted loops and wood beads for a closure. I made sort of a huge button hole for the spout to go through. I know, not too exciting, but all of my other knitting looks like blobs right now.

Stupid Wind

Well, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was just not to be. The weather did not cooperate, and so the balloons were unable to launch. It also seems that death followed me from the Grand Canyon, because another sad death was reported at this year's Fiesta. (Coincidentally this same accident also happened last year, killing a California woman.) Pretty much all that went up into the sky were kites.

But, Jason got a Navajo taco, and was quite happy about it.

We did get some shopping done; its always fun to be in the big city. Albuquerque has two stores you must check out if you are ever there: Jackalope and Talin Market. Jackalope is sort of a world-trading type of store, with cool things from India, China, Mexico, and many other countries. It's fun to step inside and be assualted by all sorts of colors. I just discovered Talin Market on this trip: it's an international grocery store, and every isle contains food from a different country. (Insert angelic songs.) So tasty - there was even an entire room devoted to tea! If you live in a city this might not be all that exciting to you, but considering I live in a town that contains nothing but Mexican restaurants and a Walmart, this was heart-palpitations-inducing stuff.

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Back to the Grand Canyon - I ended up walking more of the Rim Trail, which proved to be pleasantly deserted (between Pipe Springs and Mather Point.) There must have been a fire at some point, because the trees were bare. It was a pretty neat atmosphere. Here are some more pictures:

The Grand Canyon

It's hard to take pictures of the Grand Canyon. You get the sense that it's big... just not how big it really is. A photo only captures a portion, when in reality it goes on and on in panorama.

On Monday I took one of the convenient shuttle buses out to the Visitor's Center (which is located by Mather Point, if you've been here before and remember enough geography) and then walked along the rim trail to Canyon Village (less than 4 miles, probably.) The rim trail I would recommend for everyone, since it is both flat and paved. There are multiple viewpoints to stop at and take pictures, although really every point along the trail is photogenic.

Because all of the park's employees live on site, the park has a lot of conveniences that other park's don't, including a bank, full-service post office, full-size grocery store, and even a library. There are also shuttle buses, as I mentioned, which will take you to various points around the park for free. This is a system Yellowstone has failed to utilize, but really should! It greatly cuts down on traffic congestion and tourist confusion.

There is also a network of paved bike paths that snake through the woods. I have always thought every city should have "bike roads" which would only allow bikes, to encourage more people to ride without having to battle traffic. At the place where I'm staying, I can rent bikes, and so this morning took a tour through some raven-infested woods. It was like a scene from The Birds, except the birds were huge ravens.

Unfortunately on Monday, while I was enjoying views of the canyon, a man committed suicide by jumping off the edge. I didn't see it happen, thank God, but through a sequence of events I came in close proximity to his body (after it had been retrieved from where he had fallen.) Although I didn't actually see the body, the experience was enough to make me now terrified of going near the edge. I may go out to some additional viewpoints, but I don't think I'll be hiking into the canyon. I've hiked on an earlier visit, so I don't feel like I'm completely missing out. I would rather return home alive!

That all said, if you haven't, go see the Grand Canyon. Seeing it for the first time is breathtaking - you cannot imagine how big it is until you see it.

This weekend: the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! I will not be riding in a balloon however, since that is both (a) expensive and (b) deadly.

Le Slouch - Round 2

I knitted Le Slouch this past January, but I never wore it because it just looked weird on me. It was too slouchy, and had too much drape. It sort of took over my head and made me look like I didn't have any hair. So, I decided to just re-knit the thing rather than let it waste away.

I went down 3 needle sizes for the ribbing, and 1 for the rest of the hat. The fabric turned out much firmer, and now better holds its shape. I also didn't knit as much before I started the top decreases, so it has more of a beret shape. And, this just might be my favorite hat yet!

I don't usually knit a pattern more than once, but I will definitely make more of these. Coincidentally, I finally found the best lighting in my yard - I didn't have to edit these pictures at all.
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I'd like to thank all of you who have faithfully commented over the past few months, particularly Heather, Joanne, Kristin, Lolly, Mick, Veronica, and Hassna; of course, I appreciate each and every comment, and will always visit your blog if you leave the link. Thank you to the lurkers as well!

Happy Socktoberfest!

This year, Lolly is hosting the 4th Annual Socktoberfest! This is a month-long celebration of socks, and I fully intended to follow all of the festivities this month. Every time I finish a pair of socks, they are put into circulation and squished into the sock drawer. I have never counted up how many socks I've knitted, nor have brought them all out to revel in all the colors and stripes. Until today, of course!

As it turns out, I have completed 10 pairs of socks (that's 20 socks, for those of you who are really, really bad at math). But, I did make one jaywalker that was subsequently ripped out, so technically, I've made 21 socks. My first ever pair is the solid blue ones you see below, made in Lion Brand Wool-Ease that I got from a thrift store. My, have times changed!

Unfortunately, at least three of the pairs I knitted early on have become unwearable due to repeated machine washing and me being an inexperienced knitter. I have since learned to make my socks slightly bigger, and am working on putting forth the effort to hand wash them, so they will last for-ev-er. The sock drawer is now full, but I seriously doubt that will stop me from knitting socks.

How many socks have you knitted? Do I have a lot of catching up to do?

Trash Collections

Many people have collections; so in this, I am not unusual. I, however, have collections of... trash. I've always been drawn to items which serve the same essential function, but have infinite variety. For example, I collected different tea bag packages for over a year to create a collage for my kitchen.

Also, I've trained Jason to always put his beer bottle caps in an empty pickle jar on the counter top. Over the past year and a half, I've accumulated almost an entire plastic freezer bag full of bottle caps. I didn't have any plans for them, until the other day when I had the brilliant idea of hot-gluing them onto a framed bulletin board.

I love getting postcards in the mail (yet another collection - I have every postcard ever sent to me. Ever. Plus a lot that I bought myself.) But, they usually sit in a basket until I put them away in a box. I've been wanting a way to display them, so my beer-cap bulletin board has been officially been dubbed "The Postcard Art Gallery." Perhaps later in the year it will become "The Christmas Card Gallery."

In my craft room, I also have boxes of keys, maps, slides, and corks. I don't know what I will use them all for; I'm just waiting for inspiration.

I also started quilting my t-shirt quilt this weekend. I mostly hate quilting, because you have to drag a whole hot, heavy quilt through the sewing machine, constantly rearranging. Now that I can see the end, however, I hope to have it finished within the next few weeks. Only 14 more squares to quilt! Oh yeah, and the binding too.

Bunny

Ever since my sister saw the first bunny I knitted about two years ago, she has wanted one for herself. The original was given to a tiny baby, who is now past his second birthday and talking! So, for her 26th birthday, I decided to knit up another.

I used Lion Brand Microspun, which is quite soft, and the pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The pattern is easy to follow, but this is one of those projects where the finishing takes longer than the actual knitting. There are arms to sew on, four ear parts to put together, and stuffing. Even so, this only took me about 3 days to put together. I really like the result, since it has a sort of folk art feel.

Some good books

Because I am waiting for my latest yarn order to arrive (I will soon be knitting the Cropped Cardigan and the Drops Jacket), knitting has ground to a halt. I do have a yarn stash, but it consists mostly of 1 or 2 skeins of a particular yarn; certainly not enough of anything to make a whole sweater. This is how I like it - I want to be able to pick out the exact yarn I need for a sweater, rather than the other way around.

Meanwhile, I'd like to mention some good books I've read recently. As you might remember, one of my goals for this year is to read 50 books - as I've just finished #45, I'm definitely going to smash that goal!

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I have wanted to read this book every since it was recommended to me in middle school, even though I had no idea what it was about. When Ravelry's 20th Century book club picked it as their first selection, I had the perfect reason to finally pick it up. As it turns out, this book is about the second wife of a rich man, who moves into a mansion populated by all sorts of creepy servants who obviously resent her. All the new wife (whose name is never given) hears about is how her husband's first wife, Rebecca, was the most beautiful and classy woman who ever existed. When Rebecca was killed in a sailing accident, the whole household knew she could never be replaced. As the new wife struggles to make a place for herself, she learns that perhaps Rebecca was not so perfect after all...

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi

There are a lot of people who won't watch scary movies because they just get too freaked out. I'm not this type of person, but after staying up late reading this book about a serial killer, I have to admit I half expected to find a schizophreic Italian hiding in my bathtub as I slipped into the bathroom in the dark. Written by a crime novelist and a journalist, this non-fiction work describes the case of a serial killer who stalked the Florence area from 1968-1985, murdering couples who were parked in the country, um, "getting it on" in their cars at night. While the book does have descriptions of the actual crimes, it is mostly focused on the police investigation. Apparently in Italy, you can be arrested even though there is no direct evidence against you, and you even don't have to be informed of the charges against you. During this circus of an investigation, hundreds of people were accused of being the killer, and one was even sentenced to death for crimes he obviously didn't commit. The killer has never been captured, but Preston & Spezi present a pretty convincing case for the guilt of one particular suspect. This was an excellent book, particularly because it revealed much about Italian society that is not immediately apparent to outsiders.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Three seemingly unconnected cold cases appear at the beginning of the book. Years later, a private detective begins work on solving these three cases. The actual detective work is not the focus of the book, but rather the lives of the people involved. At the end, the three cases come together in a way that really blew my mind.

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

This is a long one, over 500 pages, but I really sped through it. In turn-of-the-century London, Fiona Finnegan bascially has every possible bad thing happen to her: her boyfriend gets another girl pregnant, and most of her family members die. Oh, and since she has figured out that her father was murdered, the murderers are after her. She has no choice but to flee to America and start a new life for herself. At times, the events seemed pretty far-fetched, as Fiona is only 17 but acts like she's 30, but this book was tasty brain candy.

Writing book reviews is hard! If you look over on my sidebar, there's a list of book bloggers who make it seem so easy. 

Mmm, beans

I was prepared to let my bean plants die off while I was gone for the summer, but someone graciously offered to babysit them. When they came back a few days ago, there were beans on them! Six beans isn't exactly a feast, but they are home-grown and organic and oh-so-tasty. One day, when I have a more suitable yard, I hope to plant some things in the actual ground and reap a higher yield.

I've planted some more spinach seeds, with the hope that the cooler temperatures will produce something that looks hardier than grass. However, I might have washed all of the seeds out of the soil today with over-aggressive watering. Whatever happens will be a surprise...

Home Sweet Home

Ah, home. Even though all of the toilets broke, and the roof is leaking again, it's good to be home among all my worldly possessions. I was so excited to be back in my own kitchen that I immediately whipped up these chocolate chip muffins. Now that I'm back at a reasonable elevation (3,100 ft instead of 6,667 ft), my baking resembles actual food rather than hockey pucks.

(Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion... the best baking cookbook EVER. Seriously. This recipe is also online HERE.)

In addition to my mixer and baking pans, this was also hanging around to greet me:

This is the second centipede that I've found in the house, although luckily this one was a little more dead. I also encountered a huge spider, but instead of dealing with it, I just put a jar over it with a post-it on top that said "Giant Ass Spider." My plan must have worked, because it was gone the next morning after Jason had left for work. (I don't usually pawn off the disgusting creatures on Jason, but since I had dealt with both centipedes, I thought it only fair.)

I've also been back to the gym. There is a disconcerting new sign above the water fountain that says "NO Spitting in the Water Fountain!!" This means that people have been spitting in the water fountain all along, and I didn't even know! Blegh.