GimmeADog

Rainy Sunday

2009-09-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Luckily, I have already been social and productive this weekend, as today is inviting nothing more than sitting around in my flannel pjs with my laptop to keep me warm and entertained.

Friday was for fun:
Lena and Ferguson are in town for Bumbershoot, so we had a BBQ that was mostly not rained out. Rounding out the mob: Rebecca, Jenn, Erin and Erik.

Saturday was for doing:
Although there is much organizing left to be done, the office is coming together. I think it is my favorite room in the house, owing to the bright green walls, my purple files, and the bulletin boards I made yesterday. (Glued 4 cork squares each to oak craft boards, then covered in heavy oxford fabric I had in the stash.) I'm pretty pleased with how the room is shaping up.

If the rain lets up, we may do a little Bumbershoot tomorrow. Time will tell.

I can haz a blog?

2009-08-14T09:35:00.001-07:00

Just sitting here thinking, maybe I should start a blog. Then I remembered, I have a blog! Funny, that.

Update: We bought a house. It's in Shoreline. We move in next week. We're pretty stoked.

And you KNOW what having a house means, right? Aw yeah... Imma get me some dog! The plan goes:
1. Move
2. Unpack
3. Save up enough money to afford the initial outlay for a dog
4. GET MY DOG

There has been a good deal of discussion (and perhaps some arguing) about what kind of dog will be joining our family. I'm all for the medium-to-large mutt variety, my apparently blue-blooded husband prefers the premium variety. As long as it's a rescue, I'm down for most anything that wags. There will be posts as details unfold.

Usual end of the quarter update

2008-03-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Not much to update, but it's the end of the quarter, and I typically manage a new post about this often.

This was actually a pretty smooth quarter. Busy as all get-out, but not too bad, overall. No major student issues, crises, or health trauma. The big class at Big State U was characteristically impersonal, while the small class at Community was wonderful. I had a great group of students this quarter, and I will miss them dearly. It actually felt as though we had some fun - imagine that!

In other news, there isn't much other news. Just a dull few winter months here in Seattle.

I've been working (slowly) on a baby surprise jacket for a friend who is due in a few months.

I'm knitting it from my own handspun, in pinks and oranges. I hope the color scheme appeals to someone else besides me!

I've had no time for spinning this quarter, and Fresh Yarns hasn't been updated in an age and a half. I even got hand-carders for Christmas, and haven't found the time to use them yet. I am a very bad crafter! Hopefully spring will bring a few more hours for crafting!

Speaking of things I should be spending time on, E (sister) and I have registered for this summer's Danskin Triathlon. It will be her first and my second, though the first in 3 years for me. I've got so much training to do - it's unreal. There is a commercial currently playing on tv where a character says "I'm not fat, I'm just unfit!" - and I identify completely! So very unfit! But we've got a few months to train, and this is certainly the motivation I need to get myself back into fighting shape. I'm sure there will be much whining to come.

Stay tuned!

Caucus excitement

2008-02-09T16:12:00.001-08:00

Today the H-man and I were a part of history, along with many other Seattlites. We participated in the democratic caucus!

Since primary votes do not determine democratic delegates in the state of WA (despite the fact that we can vote in the primary), and we feel pretty strongly about our candidate of choice, we decided to participate. It was our first caucus, and it was pretty interesting. I'd say it was exciting, but mostly it was just sort of hot and noisy, with tons of people packed into the gym of a local high school.

It was really cool to see so many people come out to participate, and to be a part of it ourselves. Also pretty cool was that in our precinct, things were incredibly straightforward. The vast majority supported Obama, with the initial delegate counts ending up 5 for Obama and 1 for Clinton. But after speeches were made and uncommitted participants chose a candidate, our precinct ended up going 6-0 in favor of Obama. That was pretty damn exciting.

Also pretty rad was the fact that on the other side of the gym, a precinct made up almost entirely of elderly citizens from a retirement home also went for Obama. How cool is that? More interesting than seeing the candidate that I favor gaining so much support was being present to actually see how people are thinking. I hear the daily news and general punditry, and from that I would assume that my elderly (democrat) neighbors would strongly favor Clinton. It was nifty to see what's going on directly, beyond the national statistics.

So anyway, that's that. Now to wait anxiously for the overall results from around the state.

Annaroni and Cheese

2007-11-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I made macaroni and cheese for some friends. They rather liked it, and have dubbed it, or perhaps me (?), Annaroni & cheese. Someone asked me for the recipe tonight, but I really don't have a recipe to give. I just *make* the stuff. It's never the same twice, and as far as I know, it's really just basic m&c. Having just made it this afternoon though, I thought I'd try to jot down, for posterity, how I make this macaroni and cheese that has garnered me a new identity and probably rushed many friends toward early coronary bypasses.

Start off with a nice big pan. I like to use my big le cruset soup pot (cheese sauce cleans out of enamel well).
Over warm heat, melt some butter. Let's say, oh, 3 Tbsp.
Crush up a bunch of garlic into the melted butter. I usually go for 5-6 cloves. Maybe more if I'm not going to be socializing. But definitely no less.
Now, being super careful, make sure your heat is just high enough to simmer the garlic a bit, without scorching it. If it get's burnt and stinky, start again! There is no recovering from scorched garlic. You must banish it.
When the garlic is just the lightest bit tan, stir in some flour (1/3 cup should do) with a whisk. Make sure the flour and butter really unite into a nice paste, or little butter/garlic/flour balls. No one should be left out of this party. Make sure everyone is mingling.
Keep an eye on the situation. You want the flour to toast a little bit, to get rid of that horrid raw-flour taste, but again - beware the scorching. When things smell sort of toasty, pour in some milk (~3 cups), using your whisk again to get everything nice and even.
Let the roux/milk situation cook for a bit on low/medium heat, stirring frequently. At this point, toss in some dry mustard and ground black pepper. I can't even begin to estimate how much. Keep simmering over medium heat. You want it to get warm, steamy and thicken a bit, but not necessarily actually boil.
Now for the fun part - the cheese! I use somewhere between 2-4 cups of various cheese. Typically, cheddar plays a big part, but beyond that, I usually go for about 4 types of cheese, total. Tonight I used cheddar, gruyere, muenster and parmesan. I also used panarello, but I'll get to that in a sec.
Grate up all your cheeses, and stir them into the milk sauce. Keep stirring until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is uniform and creamy.
While all this is going on, you should also cook a box of macaroni (or penne or rigatoni or whatever suits your mood).
Once the noodles are cooked and drained and the cheese sauce is ready to go, stir the two together. Taste some - you've waited long enough!
Spread the whole shebang into a large casserole dish. Set aside for a minute while you crush up about 20 melba toasts.
Melt about 2 Tbsp. butter in a small frying pan, and toss in the crumbs. Stir around until everything smells toasty, then sprinkle the buttery crumbs over the top of the mac and cheese.
Tonight, before baking, I also dotted tiny cubes of the panarello on top of the crumbs. That was a delicious addition, I must say.
Now, toss the whole thing into the oven at 350 degrees, for about 30 minutes (or until it's golden and bubbly and your house smells divine!).

Enjoy!

Warning: do NOT consume this mac and cheese the night before a blood test. You will fail. Your doctor might try to sue me. No one wants that.

Little update

2007-10-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking I should post something. Then I think I should post some pictures if I do. And then I don't seem to get around to uploading pictures, which seems to prevent me from posting.

I'm sitting here with my computer keeping my lap warm and thinking about posting, so I suppose I ought to just write something.

It's been a seriously busy few months. August was the usual whirlwind of birthdays, anniversaries and wrapping up summer quarter.

The highlight of September was Erin and Erik's wedding. It was perfect! I should have written about this sooner, but... Anyhow, the wedding was absolutely perfection. Erin was radiant. Erik beamed. EVERYONE cried. And cried. And then we all got tipsy and partied. The food, the band, the cake (oh! that cake!), the photographers, the flowers... everything was truly absolutely perfect. It was a beautiful day, and just the best wedding ever.

See how lovely?

Following our return from NY, I headed down to Oregon to do the Canby Flock and Fiber Festival with the lovely and sassy Sarah. (Who is a very good blogger, and probably wrote lots of good things about the weekend.) There may be some pictures of that, but they're languishing on my camera... maybe someday they'll make it out.

After the OFFF, I was ready for a good long rest. Instead, we moved. Oh, wait - I started a new quarter, and we moved. Into a house.

Don't get too excited, it's a rental. And there is a pathologically crazypants landlord in the mix. But still - house! Allow me to share these magic words: my. own. craft. room. Oh yeah - you read correctly. H and I each get our own room to do with what we will. Mine is adrift in crafty material. His is swimming with wires and gadgets and beer brewing equipment. But there's room enough for peace to reign, because of those magic words: my. own. room. It also has a backyard and two decks. Three bathrooms. Lots of closets. It's amazing how much landlord crap you can tolerate when given a ton of space.

We're having a party. You should come!

I think this is supposed to be a blog about teaching and doing crafty stuff, but it's usually just about being busy. I feel I should say something crafty.

I went to Webs! When I was on the east coast, after the wedding, I met up with Adrian and Carolyn and we went to yarn heaven! I have enough yarn for two sweaters that I will never have the time to make. But still... yarn! It was glorious! Oh, and once we were fully yarn sated, Ms. Lisa met us for the yummiest dinner in Northampton. It was glorious beyond imagination. (Marred solely by Mr. Sick E. Pants that came along despite being on his deathbed.) It was awesome to see the east coast ladies!

In other yarn-based news, which is neither new nor notable, I am still working on the shrug that I meant to wear to E's wedding. How long does it take to make a shrug? It's just sleeves! And yet, I persist. I'm getting there. The majority of the thing got done on the plane to and from NY, and in the car driving to see H's family. Definitely more than enough time to finish such a project, but no. Not me. I need to have my fingers checked... I think they're challenged. One day, the shrug will be done. Then maybe I'll finish the socks I started in March. And then on to those two sweaters.

I'll tell you about teaching some other day.

On marriage

2007-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

My sister is getting married in September and recently asked me to write some reflections on marriage based on experience. I came up with the following. It's still kind of rough, and there is certainly more I could say, but I sort of like this, and thought I'd share.

On a day-to-day basis, being married means sharing life with your very best friend - the person who you are closer to than anyone in the world, the person who knows you and whom you know as intimately as you know yourself. This means playing and having fun when all is well, holding each other close and propping one another up in the challenging times, and celebrating the best times. Being married is sharing - all of the moments of life, from the mundane to the very high peaks to the very low valleys.

It also means giving of yourself. Some consider marrying a sacrifice, or a loss of oneself. I don't see it that way. I see it as growing into a more fully developed person by giving up little individual foibles to be more open to your partner. In exchange, you also gain a fuller partner as s/he gives up his/her own trivialities. True, this doesn't always happen without conflict. But when conflict occurs, the ability to step back and recognize what is most important in the larger picture of your partnership will ultimately lead to an improvement in the marriage. We are all imperfect people, and I believe that a good marriage with the right person helps us to become better.

Although I was asked specifically about marriage, I'd like to share one thought on love, within a marriage. Love is so often misconstrued as a "thing." You have love or you don't, and it is a capricious thing that follows its own whims. But this just isn't true. Love is a verb, it is an action. We choose to love. We may "fall in love" during initial romantic attraction, but continuing to love is a decision we make. We all get older and in doing so, lose some of our young attractiveness, in many ways. But continuing to love one another once the romance has faded is a conscious choice. We go on loving because of commitment, because of a shared life and experiences, sometimes only because we vowed we would. The happy thing is that being in such a commitment - a daily, intentional bond - most often results in joy, comfort, contentment, and happiness beyond that first experienced during romantic attraction. It is a happy and joyful existence for the most part. But the reality is that we all have dark times, individually and as partners. Sometimes it is just hard to be good and giving, sometimes we are needy and selfish. Although this is something that will need attention and work, the commitment to continue loving one another is what carries us through these times.

Marriage is an obligation and it is work, but it is also fun and comfort and joy. After earning a Ph.D. and accomplishing several other personal achievements, I can still say that being a part of a strong and happy marriage is my biggest success, and truly the one that makes my life good.

Once again, into the breach

2007-06-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear friends.

It seems I'm down to posting once every 10 weeks. I guess that's how long it takes before I realize that Blogger might cut me off if I don't post something.

There hasn't been a whole lot to say. Lots of teaching, not much spinning or knitting. I did teach myself to tie pearls. It's not hard. I gave away my first efforts before I snapped a pic, so visuals will have to wait until I've finished the one I'm working on for E's wedding.

Oh yes, the wedding! The biggest news since the last report would have to be that E's wedding shower went positively swimmingly! E, fBIL and I went to NY last weekend for the festivities. They were perfect. The venue was great, the guests were marvelous, everyone wore their party manners, and I do believe that fun was had by all. We followed the shower with a barbecue at our mom's house, with all the relatives and future in-laws. It was a helluva time.

Since then, I've wrapped up my spring quarter classes and am about to fling myself into summer quarter, starting tomorrow. One repeat course and one new one - should be a lark. At this point, not having had a week off since, um, December -?- I'm absolutely living for September. Glorious, glorious September. One whole month to recharge. Heh, at the rate I go, my next post probably won't happen until then.

Maybe I'll stop by in August to wish myself a happy 30th.

The Plague

2007-04-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

It's not just a novel by Camus.

It is also the state of things around here. H has been seriously ill for 11 straight days now. Flu (official, hospital diagnosed, flu virus), pneumonia, and ear infection. Fun stuff. He's been out of work and out of commission for a week and a half.

I managed to be the impervious nurse for the first full week. I felt fine. I was not going to catch this nastiness. Clearly I would have been symptomatic early on.

Yeah, right.

Wednesday morning arrived with full-on cough, sore throat, headache and bodyaches. My turn. Uch.

Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to offer next week.

Where is my assistant?

2007-04-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Seriously, where has that twit run off to? Doesn't she know I've got a stack of papers to grade, lectures to prepare, a wedding shower to cobble together, an apartment to straighten up and man, I could really use a pedicure!

The quarter is going quite splendidly, to be honest. My students seem to be rather pleasant, bright, and self-sufficient. For those of you who don't spend time with the college population, this is nothing short of miraculous! This weekend's requisite busy-ness is just making me cranky. I've already graded exams for one class... delaying the article summaries that need to be graded for the other one. If only I could trick someone else into grading them!

*E, don't read this!*

I have to be the absolute worst matron of honor in the history of the world. E's shower is less than 2 months away now, and I don't have a venue for it. Oh, there was a venue chosen and about to be scheduled... with a chocolate fountain and all... but the MoB (that would be the Mother of the Bride, who is my own mother as well, but is being foisted upon others for the time-being until I get over being annoyed with her) didn't like the location. Why, oh why, did I capitulate? All of this nonsense could have been done and taken care of months ago. But no, the whining won and the original locale was scrapped. And now I'm desperately looking for a place to host a fancy shower for my darling sister who deserves the world - not my crap-ass attempts at planning a party from 3000 miles away. Seriously... if anyone out there is just dying to help plan a bridal shower in the Lake George, NY area, do let me know!

/end wedding whining.

In other news, H got a new tattoo last weekend. For those not familiar, it's a line from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Vonnegut passed away on Wednesday, apparently satisfied that someone had tattooed his words into their flesh. RIP K.V.!

You may have noticed that for a blog supposedly about being crafty with fiber-stuffs, I haven't been very prolific in that department. Yes, that's another thing that brings me shame and sadness. I just haven't been very inspired to knit or spin lately. I'm working on a pair of socks, and have been spinning a bit... but I just haven't had the heart for it lately. Hopefully this ennui will be on its way out soon.

I did finish a necklace: The pendant is from gNeebo on etsy.com. (She has great pendants!)

Alas... back to work now.

Not much to say

2007-03-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd try something new... posting without waiting 3 months. Except I don't have much to say.

Went back to school yesterday. I'm teaching my usual lab class this quarter - yea for that. Hopefully my students will relax soon enough and we can all have some fun. Next week I'll start teaching my lecture class at the community college. This quarter I'll be teaching at the CC that's about 1 mile from my house. Sure beats last quarter's 40 mile commute! If my students are half as good as last quarter's students, I'll be happy. I did have a great class.

Remember waaaaay back, last summer, when I got 30lbs of alpaca fiber from a friend? Well, after 5 months at the processor (is that normal??) I finally got my roving back.

Four large bags: tan, brown, black and blended. Isn't it pretty? Sadly, it's full of vm, which makes for VERY tedious spinning. However, once picked over a bit, it spins like a soft and silky dream. I love it! I will take me years and years to spin it all. It's positively yummy!

She's aliiiiive!

2007-03-23T09:35:00.001-07:00

I am, indeed, alive!

Three months, two classes, 1 nasty bout of insomnia, complete social isolation, utter lack of time for crafting or blogging and 9000 cups of coffee later, here I am.

This blogging hiatus was brought to you by the fact that I taught two new-to-me courses this past quarter - physiological psychology and developmental psychology. One each at two different schools, with two VERY different student populations. It was a 3 month long lesson in student needs/demands, the logistics of lecturing to 350 students 8 times a week, and my own personal limits on the need for sleep/proper nutrition/exercise/social interaction. (Apparently I can go for 3 months with none of the above. Who knew?) Let's just say it was an adventure. Perhaps I'll say more when I can think about it without twitching.

To celebrate spring break, darling Sarah came up to visit. It rained, which kept us from doing much lovely leisurely walking or exploring, but we certainly found ways to fill the time.

Thursday night, Sarah, H and I joined my sister and future BIL for the Brewer's dinner at Ray's Cafe. Many tasty beers were paired with tasty plates. The food was lovely and the company delightful!

On Friday we had dinner and cocktails with the lovely and talented Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Jenn. The food was fantastic, the drinks were enlightening, and we all had a bit too much fun. (Or was that just me?)

Look! Sarah brought me a terrarium! I knew that she and some other friends have been on a terrarium kick lately, and I was thrilled to recieve a wee adorable one of my very own. Isn't that just the cutest little container? And it has shamrocks and a snail shell in it, along with some beautiful moss. My very own tiny garden! I love it.

I haven't had time to spin or do much knitting in the past 3 months, but am hoping to catch up with that, now that I'm a little less overwhelmed with lecture-writing. Stay tuned for updates.

The big update!

2006-12-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Happy day after Christmas all!

As promised, I have tons of crafty goodness to post, now that it has been gifted. But first, the exciting news: Nikol's book is out, and my knitting is in it!!

As you can see here the tank and the owl that I knitted made an appearance in the book. I'm so excited (and unreasonably proud)!

Ok, onto more recent creations...

I finally got around to making a Clapotis.
This was a Christmas gift for my sister. I knit it from my own handpainted sock yarn, using the pattern from Knitty.com, modified to make a scarf.
Also for my sister - a pair of pearl and crystal earrings. For my sister-in-law, I made this jasper and leaf necklace. I hope she likes it!

I found this awesome pendant from gNeebo on etsy.com and made this necklace for a good friend of mine.

And finally, I present the project that I was most excited about: The R2D2 hat that I designed/knit for my brother-in-law! He is a huge Star Wars fan, and asked if I could make him a hat like this ages ago. I finally got to it, and am fairly pleased with the results. (Now I have to hope George Lucas won't sue me for some sort of copyright infringement.)

In addition to the glory of having lots of obligatory crafting out of the way, Christmas was grand. We spent the afternoon with my sister and BIL, ate tons of yummies, played games, and generally vegged out. It was a very nice, low-key day. I was gifted with many wonderful things - too many to list, for fear of leaving something out. I surprised H with a beer-brewing kit. We'll see how that goes... hopefully we won't have to sustain too many errors before he gets the hang of it.Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Well then! It's been a rollicking good time in ol' blogland, huh? No crafty pics to post lately, since all of my crafting has been aimed at Christmas... possibly for a loyal reader or two. Perhaps I'll manage an ex post facto update after gifts have been given. And apologies to Shawn, to whom I seem to remember promising a Thanksgiving extravaganza post. I did manage to take this picture before getting too busy & tipsy:Other than that - please use your imagination.

Moving ahead one holiday, here is the Christmas letter we will not be sending out this year:

Merry Christmas!

We hope this letter finds you well and having a wonderful holiday season! It has been a busy year for us.

In February, we went to Austin for the wedding of H’s sister M to P – a wonderful guy that we adore. The wedding was beautiful, and we had a great time in Austin. The city is a lot of fun, and not at all representative of the hellhole that we had been lead to believe was Texas.

For most of the summer, H was left to fend for himself while A devolved into a primitive state as she finished her dissertation. After her defense in August, we had a huge party to celebrate her return to civility. There were cupcakes and liquor! A may just have to get another degree, if that’s what it takes for a party like that.

At the end of August, we spent a week in San Francisco. We saw the sights, met up with a friend, ate lots of tasty things, visited a pirate supply store, and learned the hard way that in SF, all seafood is served with its head intact. We had a blast!

Autumn brought visits from both A’s father and mother. Though blessedly, not at the same time. A great time was had by all, and we just can’t wait to drag visitors through the Pike Place Market ONE MORE TIME!

H’s job is still going fabulously. A likes to joke that he is “curing cancer” – but that turns out to be just the case. We would give you the details, but we’ve learned that most people would rather pull out their own fingernails than attempt to understand scientific procedures. Watch for H on Time’s “Man of the Year” cover sometime soon.

A joined her friend S in September for the Oregon Flock and Fiber festival, where they peddled their handmade wares, including handspun yarn, dyed fiber for spinners, and other yarn-related accoutrements. Upon return home, A opened a small online shop selling her yarn and other handmade curiosities. Sadly, the business did not turn her into an overnight success, and she has been forced to take teaching gigs at the university to supplement the household income.

H has also continued to be very successful with his pipe smoking. He is up to 2-3 smokes per day, and took 3^rd place in a pipe-smoking competition this year. We’re very proud! To expand on his pipe smoking abilities, in October he went on an educational retreat to the Ozarks, where he met up with other pipe smokers. They had a good time smoking and playing banjo.

In the past year, we successfully fought the urges to buy a house and have a baby. It was rough, but we feel triumphant. By not using risky financing options or leaching money from our parents to buy a house, we have gained a tremendous amount of sanctimonious self-satisfaction. It may not be earning us equity, but if you don’t have pride – what do you have? Despite the advice from several well-meaning and all-knowing friends and family members, we have decided against breeding. Those who know us best agree – we are just not fit to breed. Between H’s misanthropic attitude and A’s shaky relationship with alcohol, we feel that this is a sound conclusion.

We’re looking forward to another stellar year. We hope to hear from you, and might even see you sometime soon!

Happy New Year!

Love,
A & H

A Saturday for doing

2006-11-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

Huzzah! Thursday is Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving. I love making a ton of food. Whether I'm feeding the two of us (most years) or 10 of us (this year), I love to make lots and lots of yummy holiday foods. For some reason, this tendency seems to upset others around me (my husband, my sister?), but it's my favorite way to spend my favorite holiday. Plus - leftovers!

This year I got an early start, and got lots of yummy bits made today, including 4 pie crusts (hooray pie!) and sweet potato crescent rolls (many thanks to my friend Liz for sharing the recipe years ago). These are in the freezer now, awaiting the big day. The fridge has also been cleaned and arranged, and the turkey is thawing and dreaming of it's upcoming briny bath.

During rising & baking time, I also got some spinning in. A pretty aqua yarn that I'm pleased with. Pictures are forthcoming. And I've been knitting and knitting, but only on Christmas gifts, so no pictures for a while.

I managed to pursuade H to see "For Your Consideration" with me tonight. Although the ensemble was funny as always, especially ad libbing most the movie, the writers really ought to have outlined a plot for the movie. Despite lots of giggles, I spent the whole movie waiting for it to start. Such a bummer, given how much I adore the Christopher Guest troupe. (Note to said: Please stop re-making "Waiting for Guffman" - it wasn't strong in the first place, and certainly does not bear reenactment.)

Halfway through November already?!

2006-11-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy several weeks, without a ton to report.

In addition to the biopsych class I was planning to teach, I've also been asked to teach a developmental psych class next quarter. Against my better judgement, I agreed, and am currently prepping 2 brand new classes that I've never taught before. Awesome-o!

I've been a bit behind in the crafty department, but have been able to make a bit of yarn and a few baby gifts, as shown below. (The blue blanket in the upper left hand corner, and the yellow bonnet on the left, middle.)
Other than that, we're just looking forward to having a full house on Thanksgiving. Family + friends + wine + pie = FUN!

Gratuitous crafty post

2006-10-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

In and effort to keep up the appearance that I occasionally turn something out, here is a pair of socks I made.

(Shhh, don't tell... I actually finished them in July.) I just forgot to take a picture of them until last week, before they finally flew out to their intended feet.

They are made of handdyed, handspun, superwash merino, using Adrian's Afterthought-heel recipe.

Mmm, pie!

2006-10-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

After I mentioned taking some comfort (over our recent home-buying let-down) in an NPR report on delinquint mortage payments and the idoitic borrowing practices that have lead to such a state, H sent me a link to this: Schadenfreude Pie.

Yes indeed, Schadenfreude pie is just what I need a little slice of these days.

As my mother would readily tell you, I'm a rotten person. But, aren't we all, at least a little?

I don't want to talk about it.

2006-10-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Rather than erase half of my last post, I'm just going to say this - plans have changed and we are not going to be buying a house, condo, etc. at this point in time.

Yeah, I'm sad about it. But life goes on.

Progress

2006-10-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

A completed project - finally!
I've been working on this pinwheel baby blanket for months now, on and off. I finally finished it the other night. Washed and blocked, it's very soft and a reasonable approximation of what I was going for (i.e., a round baby blanket). Since the little person I started it for is now virtually in college, it will go to a newer little person, who shall remain nameless for surprise reasons.

This leaves me with approximately 25 baby gifts left to make. *sigh*

It's been quite the week, with plenty of emotional ups and downs. These mostly stem from the fact that we are slowly beginning to wade into home buying. On one hand, this is just plain old exciting. We're going to buy a home! But on the other hand, this proposition is fraught with lots of worries and pitfalls. For one thing, we are looking for a home in Seattle, WA. For anyone reading this in the rest of the country, thinking "but home prices are coming down!" - no, in Seattle they are not. Which is why I keep using the term "home" and not "house." The likelihood of finding a house in our price range that is actually habitable is slim. So, while owning *anything* will be good, my dreams of a cute little cottage are being killed by the reality of the situation. At least I have H's promise that I CAN get a dog, even if we are in a condo, to keep me going.

And then, of course, I also feel stupid that we are only just now approaching home-ownership. At 29 & 30 years old, I feel like we are totally behind the curve on this. Getting my degree was what kept us in limbo for so long, and now that I have it, that should be of some comfort, right? Unfortunately, teaching one class while I deperately scramble to find "real" academic employment is not exactly the fulfilling situation that one might imagine. (And then, let's not even get started on what kind of big fat loser "drops out" of science to teach...)

Alas, I'm such a whiny pile.

The good news is that, at the rate that I update this blog, chances are pretty good that I might actually have a house and a dog and 2.5 kids by my next post! On second thought, let's scratch the kids...

Making stuff

2006-10-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking "I should post some stuff." Which is rapidly followed by the thought "Just let me finish one more thing, then I'll take some pictures." Ok, so at the rate that I work, I'm never going to post anything if I keep that up. So here's what I've been up to lately. Besides school.

After the OFFF, Sarah and I swapped hand-dyed fiber. This is what she gave me:

And here it is, all spun up and plied:

I call it "Sarahndipity" - the colors are so perfectly Sarah's colorway. I just love it. I'll post a picture once it's knitted up.

I have also spun up a bunch of thick and thin for my etsy shop. And in other craftiness, I constructed a lightbox in which to take pictures of my yarn. I fear the colors actually come out truer when photographed against a blanket or sheet on the couch. Meh.

Oregon Flock & Fiber Fest!

2006-09-25T19:29:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was my debut, along with Sarah of Maisy Day Handspun,at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR.

Yes indeed, for the past month, I've been working like crazy to get ready to sell my wares at this great festival. And now that it's over, it's safe to say that we were quite successful for first-timers! We had a blast, made lots of contact with great people - both shoppers and other vendors alike, and sold a whole buncha stuff!

Here are some pictures of our booth while we were setting up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take more pictures the next day, when things were in full-swing!
This table has a basket of Maisy Day hand-dyed sock yarn, a selection of my hand-dyed fibers, and my needle cases.
And this table (as yet uncovered in this photo) has more of my hand-dyed fibers, my hand-spun yarn, and a basket of my sachets. Oh, and those are my hand-dyed sock yarns up on top.

The third table featured Sarah's hand-dyed fibers and handspun yarns, along with another basket of my sachets.

Here is a closer view of some of my hand-dyed superwash and regular merino.

These are my hand-sewn needle cases.
And these are 2 of the 3 tote bags I brought along. Although they garnered much attention, none sold. Alas!

We also featured a variety of Maisy Day handturned tools (nostepinnes and drop spindles). Those were a big draw, as they are lovely, and impossible not to touch!

We had such a great time. This was my first time selling my handmade goods, and it was incredibly rewarding to see that people were interested. I am definitely planning to go back next year!

If you are interested in my handmade goods and couldn't make it to Canby, I am happy to announce that my Etsy shop is now in business. Please check it out at FreshYarns.etsy.com. It will be updated with more goods very soon!

Girly

2006-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very pearls-and-Chanel today. Perhaps it is the new eyeliner I bought yesterday... so dramatic and swoopy on my eyes. Perhaps it is standing on the precipice of adulthood (on the eve of my 29th birthday - I'm a bit late in coming). Whatever it is, I'm feeling terribly girly, in that Audrey Hepburn, classic, sexy, demure way.

Too bad my jeans and flip-flops betray me.

Done

2006-08-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Writing a dissertation does not make for a very bloggable life. Hence, my recent silence.

However, I am now here to shout from the rooftops: I'M DONE!!

Yep, I defended last Thursday (8/10) and turned the thing in yesterday (8/15). I have a little signed receipt that says I'm all done! It was fairly anticlimactic. The defense went exceedingly well. My committee was great, and I feel like I performed pretty well. I was close to done with my revisions then, so I polished the manuscript up over the weekend, did a final check Monday, and trundled it over to the grad school Tuesday. That was it.

There were no choirs of angels, the clouds didn't part... I was just suddenly done being a graduate student. After 7 years. The nicest thing, I think, is the feeling of relief and amazement that floods me when I stop and realize that I'm done. I did it. I successfully earned my Ph.D. Sure, that was the whole goal, and I said I'd do it. But now that it's done... whew! I can hardly believe I did it.

And now, onto life as a grown-up. I'll be teaching the same class I've been teaching for the past year again this fall. But I get all of September off. Despite the lack of paycheck coming my way, I'm very excited for a whole month off! I am planning a grand month of cooking dinners, exercising, and being as crafty as I can possibly be.

Woot! I love being DONE!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2006-08-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks 8 years of marriage for H and I. It's been a very good 8 years, with each one better than the last. I owe H so much, but most of all, I thank him for the happiness that he brings me day in and day out. I could go on and on and get sloppy, but I'll just say that we make a very good team.

Today also kicks off August. I took a very deep breath yesterday, as I don't anticipate breathing until mid-October now. In the space of one month we will celebrate our anniversary, turn 30 (H, not me!), defend our Ph.D. (me, not H!), turn 29 (me again!), go to San Francisco, and play host to my father. September promises to be about half as busy, which is still busier than most months. My head is spinning just thinking of it all.

Work on the dissertation has progressed (devolved?) to the point where I can no longer make sense of certain sections of it. I've read it so. many. times. I think it's going well, although the anxiety dreams have been coming full force. Last night I showed up for my defense and realized I had to take a written test that I wasn't prepared for. Awesome! I can only imagine that the dreams will get worse as I start to freak out in waking life as well. Wait, did I say "start to"? Yeah, that's begun as well. There are moments where I feel calm and ready, and then there are the moments when I remember that defending one's dissertation does not guarantee passing. I'm close, but with no promises.

9 days to go... we'll see what happens.

Awesome Saturday

2006-07-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic day!

I turned in a draft of my dissertation on Wednesday - what a relief! I have plenty of work yet to do on it, but took today for myself and H. It was perfect in every way.

We went to a favorite fish 'n chips stand for lunch, and also stopped by Ms. Laura Bee's store while in the neighborhood. It was my first time visiting her shop... I am now in soooo much trouble! Her website totally does not do justice to the plethora of goodies all in one place. If you are in the Seattle area, go see her! Get yourself something cute and support a local artist!

We then headed over the lake and through the hills to visit some good friends who we hadn't seen in FOR. EVER. R & M, and their kidlets O & M, are wicked rad. It was awesome to see them, and hopefully it won't be so damn long next time. They have 3 CUTE alpacas, who were recently shorn, and I am now the owner of about 40lbs of fresh alpaca fiber. Dude! I have to find someone to prep it for me... and then I will be in alpaca spinning heaven! I totally have to teach R to spin too - this is a ridiculous wealth of fiber and she just handed it over to me!

On the way home we passed a little cherry stand and stopped to buy about 8 lbs of cherries for $8. Crazy! Apparently it was "get fantastic stuff for nothing or next to nothing" day. Woot!

TA DA!

2006-07-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate the power of having a dissertation to write as a motivating factor to finish anything and everything else that might need doing!

As you can see, I finally finished the tank. I'm very happy with it. Here's the front:

And here's the back:My tattoo looks blurry there - it's just the picture. I had to do a two-mirror/camera acrobatic act to take the picture... so, you know.

Anyway, my two small issues are that the back V isn't quite as low as I'd meant for it to be, and that I forgot to bind off with bigger needles, so the bottom is a bit snug. Hopefully it will give a bit with wearing. I'm forgiving myself those two details, as this was the first thing I designed for myself.

I've been meaning to post a bit about writing my dissertation, but a) I've been too busy doing it, and b) that's just boring. I'll try to spare you as much as possible. In exchange, you can know that that's what I'm up to when I'm not posting here.

I'm here... really!

2006-06-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Just a brief update, since it appears that someone does actually read this, and wonders about my presence on the earth when I vanish for a bit. I recieved an email from an old high school chum who asked about my tank progress. It seems that Mr.F gets bored enough to follow these things from time to time.

So, for SF, and anyone else checking in... I'm here. And the tank is still on the needles. It was done at one point, but trying it on lead to ripping out the straps to make them longer, and ripping out the bottom hem to make that A LOT longer. So I'm still poking along on it. (The whole project lost it's velocity when I didn't have it done by Solstice.)

Speaking of Solstice - it was fantastic! Sarah came up to join us in the festivities, and we had a fabulous time. Someday I'll get around to posting pictures, but if you're wanting to see them NOW, click on the Sarah link and look at hers.

OK, so where the hell have I been? Right here, typing away. It seems that a completed draft of my dissertation is due to my committee on July 12. Yikes! Yes, I've been working on it for a looooong time now... but I've been poking along. Now I am in the fast lane, trying to speed along. (It feels like I may be driving a 4-cylinder up the fast lane in the Alps, but I'm definitely leaning on the gas pedal, and not coasting anymore.) So, I'm a bit out of touch these days. But the good news is: I really can see the light. I have a list of deadlines, and I will meet them, by god! And then? Then I will be done, my friends.

And when that happens, you are all invited for drinks!

Tank progress

2006-06-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

If the micrometers of work I'm accomplishing on a daily basis constitute prgress, I'm making it. Goodness, this is getting boring. If anyone ever reads this, I'm sure they have fallen into a boredom-induced coma. But I shall persevere, just as I shall finish this tank. See, the back is openning up nicely. That's something.

Unfortunately, I keep finding little mistakes. These things happen, right? Ugh - they drive me crazy. Nothing major, like dropped stitches (which I would definitely fix) - just little visual oopses. They displease me, but I'm ignoring them in the interest of time and sanity.

Tanking along...

2006-06-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest:

As you can see, I've begun the back split. It's going well, except that either side of the V is in a completely different stitch. I simply could not replicate the lovely slip-stitch pattern from the knit side over on the purled side. Oh well. I am satisfied for now that the stitches on either side are consistent. I'd muck around with it some more if I wasn't in such a hurry. But alas, I am rushed, so this will suffice.

The Tank Rolls On

2006-06-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm making progress... almost done with the waist decreases. Once the decreases are done, I'll start the divide on the back. Last night I managed to knit in not one, but two bars. I'm on a mission, a mission to knit.

While knitting in bar #1 (a wonderful local joint specializing in potpies - YUM!), a friend and I were discussing our crafty endeavors. She said that she tried her hand at sewing, figuring she should be able to do something "domestic". That got me to thinking... isn't being "domestic" about running a household efficiently? If that's domesticity, by definition, I have to think that crafting is no longer a domestic activity. Spending $75 and 3 weeks to make a sweater that you could buy at Target for $15? Not efficient. No, I do believe that being crafty may now be considered a luxury, in more ways that one. What would our foremothers think?!

Today I met with a glorious, unbelievable windfall. Unfortunately, it was the direct result of the company my sister works for going under. She's in merchandising for a chichi company that makes party dresses for little girls. Apparently the soccer moms aren't doing their capitalistic duty, as the company ceased to be financially viable and was dissolved. The upshot of this is that the now-former employees were given permission to help themselves to the leftovers. So today my sis pulled up with a trunk full of huge bolts of silks, satins, and all manner of fancy fabrics. For me! She's doesn't sew, so in exchange for a promise of a skirt or two... the fabric is all mine! Oh my. I am now swimming in miles of luxury fabric... I just can't believe it!

Tank mission: day 2

2006-06-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

I have this sense that by doing a daily update, I'll get more done and finish this project quickly. Bear with me!

I have finished the pattern rows at the bottom of the tank and started on the decrease rows. You can see the pattern in this picture:

I'm designing as I go, and trying not to be scared. Why must I be so obstinate about using patterns?

Tank challenge!

2006-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

A little background... every year, there is a huge festival to celebrate summer solstice here in Seattle. It is kicked off with a big crazy parade, featuring all manner of talent and insanity, followed by 2 days of street fair extravaganza. In a city full of summer street fairs, this one is the pinnacle. I love the solstice fair. It's a big, fun deal, and I look forward to it yearly.

Also yearly, I have some sort of pre-solstice freakout about something that I absolutely must make. 2 years ago, I NEEDED the perfect bag to carry (I finished it the midnight before the fair). Last year, I think it was a skirt. I know it needed to go with the tiara I would be wearing. This year, I have determined that it is imperative that my tattoo be visible for the fair. Now, when getting my tattoo, a part of location selection was that it NOT be visible most of the time. So it is in the very center of my back, and never visible. This is the challenge. Not finding any commercial tops that are low-cut enough in the back, I've undertaken making myself one. Not only am I trying to whip up something wearable in two weeks (and I am a notoriously slow knitter)... I'm also designing it myself, more or less as I go. So, we shall see. I will post pictures as I go, but right now it's just 5 rows on the needles. I'm knitting it in Brown Sheep cotton fleece, in a color called "Nymph" - seems a fitting color to showcase my knitting pixie. Here's a swatch:

I really hope this works! Stay tuned...

2-ply Sunshine

2006-06-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Remember this?
It's now this:
At some point in the *hopefully* near future, it will be a pair of socks for a friend of mine. For now, it's a big squishy skein of delight.

In other spinning, I finished up the remaining fiber from my first attempt at dyeing. I am so enamoured of this yarn! Perhaps everyone feels that way about their "firstborn" fiber.

I finally got a bunch of sachets whipped up this weekend. Some will go to a friend, as promised a month ago, and some will be saved for a project Sarah and I are working on. Shhhhh, we'll talk about that later.
Don't even ask about knitting... I'm just as behind on that as I am on my dissertation. Perhaps someday I'll figure out how to wedge 18 more hours into a day... then I'll be just about set!

Much school, little crafty

2006-06-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been remiss about taking pictures of my latest work, which should be remedied this weekend. Of course, I also haven't had much time to get much craftiness done lately. This weekend needs to see some sewing happen. I've got curtains to hem, and satchets to whip up. (C.K. - I haven't forgotten!) Hopefully a bit of spinning will transpire as well.

Today is the last day of classes, which means I've been up to my eyeballs in grading and student emails. But, things are winding down, and now I'm getting a bit weepy over saying goodbye to this quarter's crop. (Well, maybe not weepy.) It's been a good quarter, and this group of students has been fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive bunch to have during a quarter that saw me disappearing not once, but twice, for funerals in NY. They've been great!

In small but mildly exciting news, I'm narrowing down a date for my dissertation defense! Should be the 2nd week in August... though picking one actual day is going to be tough. 5 committee members, 5 different schedules... this could get sticky. But, it'll happen, and I should (*hope*pray*) be a doctor by my 29th birthday.

Little bit of crafty

2006-05-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a slow few weeks. There was lots of catching up to do at work after the get-together with the girls, including a big talk last Thursday. It went well. Or as well as a talk about salt appetite to a room full of kind but bored people can go. For the first time in 7 years, I didn't get nervous and choked up, so that was something.

Around the ranch, I've been busy grading papers, but managed to find a few minutes to make myself some new necklaces.
I've been wanting a garnet necklace for a long time, and finally found some garnet chips that I liked. (Not being dyed purple was my main criteria.)
And I had been wanting to do something with this blue pendant that I got at Parts & Labour in Austin. I love the pendant, but hated it on a plain chain. So now it's on three strands of tiny blue goldstone. It's an improvement.
I think there will be more necklaces to come, when I find a bit more time.

Look at my new toy! This beautiful nostepinde came from Sarah, at Maisy Day Yarn. Actually, her dad made it. If you'd like one, you can put your hot little hands on one over at Hello Yarn. It is beautiful - made of oak and purpleheart. So smooth and shiny... I love playing with it!

Last weekend I dyed some roving, which I haven't had time to spin up yet. The yellow and blue rovings are superwash merino, and the red/purple one is regular merino. I'm dying to spin the superwash... it's sooo soft and silky.

Fun Fun Fun!

2006-05-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

Whew - it's been a week of recovery after last weekend. A week ago today, several friends descended upon us here in Seattle for a fantastic weekend of shopping, knitting, eating, and general merry-making.

We started with dinner at Bamboo Garden,a yumtastic Buddist-style veg Chinese restaurant, then moved onto some pool at a nearby bar. We later made it to "my" bar, but not until after a mile-long walk that nearly got me lynched!
Saturday found us knitting, knitting, knitting -
first at a picnic in the park (freezing!) then at Zoka, a local coffee shop. After a strenuous day of knitting, we fancied up, and headed down to the Pink Door, for an evening of excellent food, drink, company, and naughtybadfun.

(Ok, the busboy didn't REALLY get deflowered...)

The night wound up with more excellent drink & company (followed by girly slumber-party style chatting with my inestimably fabulous guest Sarah until the wee hours!).

On Sunday, we headed to the Market for a bit of shopping before most of the girls headed down to Sarah's homestead for a real slumber party. So much fun - but I had to miss out, due to work on Monday.
Everyone but Sarah returned on Monday evening, and Tuesday we rounded out the get-together with dinner at Cutter's, a seafood place near the market, followed by "Fame!" starring our own dear Rebecca.
What fun!

Aside from the flurry of activity, it was just really fantastic to see all of the girls. To see Jen and Carolyn again (they were both at Kansas), Ali, who I haven't seen in 2 years, seeing Sarah is always fun, and getting together with my neighbors here in Seattle that I NEVER get to see - Danica, Rebecca and Jenn... It was just a great weekend.

Time for some good news

2006-04-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Back from NY and posting from my brand new laptop! My shiny new toy comes coutesy of my research grant, which exprired in March. Apparently I had a bunch of money that needed to be spent... they didn't need to tell me twice!

I came home on Wednesday to find, nestled in the midst of an inbox full of student questions and pleas for attention, an email asking me to teach a course here at UW next year! So far, it's only one course (Physiological psychology), next Winter. That means I need to find something else to teach in the fall, then hopefully spring, but it's a start! A job offer I hadn't even applied for! I am so thrilled about this!

I haven't talked to my advisor about this, but apparently she recommended me for it. Knowing that makes it easier to think about the discussion I need to have with her, about my future plans.

A year ago, I was in what I would best describe as a state of grief. I was looking at a fairly miserable run in grad school - having produced, at best mediocre, but in reality pretty weak research. The thought of a career TRYING to continue in this vein was utterly depressing. It was what I had planned to do all along, but I was beginning to come to terms with the fact that I am not great at research, and thus not happy doing it. Who is really happy doing anything they're not good at?? Anyway... things seem pretty bleak when you're faced with the fact that your plans are just not going to pan out. So, in an effort to find something I could at least do to make some money, I took a class on teaching. Not how to teach, but the ins and outs of teaching at the college level. A lot of it was focused on why people might choose to teach (rather than the typical being forced to teach in order to climb the academic ladder). The class was great, and opened my eyes to a lot of the things I value about academics. That lead to me requesting a teaching assistantship in the fall, when I was lucky enough to be assigned to TA for a fabulous teacher who really fostered my interest and teaching skills. That, in turn, lead to me requesting another TAship, which resulted in instructing a lab on my own, which I've done for two quarters now, and will do again over the summer. It's so fantastic... I just love teaching. I get so much out of it, and truly love pouring myself into it. I love my students - every quarter I develop such a deep affection for each one of them. It's strange - I have the usual mix of over-achievers, slackers and average students, but I've been able to get to know all of them, and find something great about each one. That sounds so sappy and disingenuous, I know. But it's really true. I have found what I really want to do.

Ideally, I'll wind up with a full time job at a small liberal arts college. That would be awesome. But for now, I've gotten myself a lectureship, and it's somewhere to start. In the midst of this totally crappy month, where I've just been too tired to contemplate my next move, this happy development has sprouted.

I feel like I'm being given my start on a future that I'm really looking forward to.

Goodbye Aunt Eleanor

2006-04-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Some people have $700 a week habits. Shopping compulsions, fine dining, blow...

Me, I fly to upstate New York every week to attend funerals.

Aunt Eleanor passed away yesterday. I thought I wasn't ready for it. I didn't want her to go. She wanted to live to see 100, and she was so close. I wanted to see her reach 100. But now that she's passed, it's a relief. It's good to know that she's no longer in pain.

I hate to think of the suffering she endured. Instead, I'll focus on the happier times. Here she is last summer, enjoying some cake.

She was the dearest lady, and I will miss her. Be at peace Aunt Eleanor.

A post from the calm

2006-04-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Death has crept into my dreams this week. The normally sweet respite of sleep has turned on me, and my dreams are filled with sadness and suffering. It's been an emotional week, to say the least.

A week ago right now, we were on a flight to NY for H's grandpa's funeral. Lyle passed away last Wednesday, after a long collection of illnesses.

We returned Sunday night and awoke Monday to the news that my mom's kindergarten classroom had been destroyed in an arson fire overnight. -Story and pictures here.- (Coincedentally, this occurred on the 10 year anniversary of my grandma's passing.) As of now, my mom is doing much better, though she was in quite a state of shock and grief earlier in the week. The woman is amazingly resilient... by Tuesday she was back at school, sorting through the few remaining papers, and preparing for the return of students next Monday, following spring break. She's even finding blessings in this... the records that she dearly loved but didn't know what to do with when she retires in June all melted - problem solved. She was hoping for a color printer for her class, and now she can get one. No one was hurt. Many silver linings. I'm just glad she's doing ok.

Next in the inbox on Monday was news that my dear aunt Eleanor is suffering greatly with intractable jaw cancer. As she is 94, there is not much that the doctors can do for her, and she is in awful pain. Her condition is bringing so much sadness to the family - a family who is unaccustomed to expressing sadness. It's a difficult time, and hard to know what to hope for.

All of this has made me restless this week, and it's been hard to concentrate on much. I've been able to sit and spin for a while to calm my nerves and zone out.
Here are some recent results:
This is 2-ply yarn, made from the merino top I dyed a few weeks ago.

Happiness is yarn

2006-04-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here is some of the roving that I dyed on Saturday.
And here it is on the bobbin. I'm so happy with it - the fiber is spinning up nicely, and the colors are coming out great. I can't believe I'm actually happy with my first attempt at dyeing my own yarn. It really is awesome!

The problem with this, however, is that I'm constantly thinking about colorways that I want to dye, and yarn I want to spin and projects I'd like to make. I'm not thinking about the dissertation I should be working on, or the resumes I should be sending out. I just want to make yarn! Is this the beginning of something great, or the first moments of my descent into madness?

P.S. I forgot to say... After washing out the second batch of dyed fiber the other day, I tried the Twisted Sisters tip about drying the wool in the washer on the spin cycle (with the water shut off). It works fabulously! The wool was almost entirely dry after a spin in the machine. Woot!

Comings and goings

2006-04-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

We travelled to Gearhart, on the Oregon shore, last weekend to visit Sarah and Blake and their pups, Maisy and Rufus.
We had a fantastic time - it was very low key and relaxing, with plenty of good pup-lovin' and playtime, excellent cheese, viewing adventures, yarn-spinning and superb conversation. Thank you Sarah and Blake!

I've been keeping myself occupied with some yarn and fiber dyeing. I dyed some sock yarn with kool-aid over the past few weeks.

And here is some of the fiber I just dyed. This was my first attempt at acid dyeing. It turned out much better than I'd dared to hope. Now I can't wait to spin it, ply it, and make some socks!

I've been stymied in my attempts to be as crafty as I'd like lately by the whole school thing. (Still!) The writing, she progresses. *sigh* And I'm now 2 weeks into the spring quarter with a new crop of studentlies. They're a good group - so far they've been pretty tame and quiet. Not much new to report, on the whole of things.

H's grandpa has not been doing well. He's had an assortment of health troubles that have kept him in the hospital for the better part of a month now. It's very hard on the family, and we're sort of at a loss as to what to do. It does look like there will be a quick trip to NY in the near future. *sigh*

This about sums it up:

2006-03-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Natalie Dee.

Fiber Frenzy!

2006-03-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Since I'm posting from work, I don't have pictures with me to post, so I'll do that later. However, I have to record my excitement RIGHT. NOW. I've been spinning a lot lately. Something to do with spring break, a few hours of free time each day, I don't know. Anyhow, I'm all hot about making yarn, but have also been increasingly frustrated with my inability to combine predyed fibers into the creations in my mind. So yesterday, I finally caved and ordered myself a Lanaset dye starter kit and 2lbs of merino top. I will be dyeing within a week!! I can't wait to start painting my own yarn. I have SO. MANY. ideas! I can't wait to make them.

Also, I have to give a huge gold star to The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Although socks are the final product of the book, the whole book is just the best resource, both for practical tips as well as inspiration and the courage to dive into real fiber arts. Although I bought the book back in January, I'd only flipped through it. Oh, how I wish I'd sat and read it right then. I'm now actually reading it, and it is just invaluable. I'm starting to "get" so much about spinning that I just hadn't figured out on my own by just diving in. Sure, practice makes perfect. But practice without some instruction, at least for me, leads to a mess at best, and disaster at worst.

The only bad part about all the reading and inspiration? Waiting for delivery of my fiber and dyes!

*Update*
Here are a bunch of yarns I've spun up recently...

"Amethyst" merino/silk blend. I spun this one much too tightly, and am now having to untwist it as I knit it. Mmmrrfff.

"Gimme candy" merino/tencel blend. I love this fiber! I got it from a vendor at the flock & fiber festival last fall.

"Autumn trails" merino. I'm not wild about this yarn. It's a bit too thick, and the colors don't thrill me.

"Nightshade" merino.

"Pink Sparkles" mystery fiber. Spun in singles (left) and plied (right). I like the singles, but I think the colors are a bit murky when plied. Live and learn, right?

Here's a shawl I'm working on from this pattern. I'm using my Nightshade and Amethyst and MaisyDay's Dainty Bess. (Recognize it? It was the feather & fan scarf, which I frogged since it wasn't long enough.) I will probably throw some of the pink sparkles into the shawl as well.

Look!

2006-03-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

Remember how I went to Kansas last October to knit? Well, Naughty Needles is almost here! I'm so excited for Nikol - I'm sure it'll be a hit! Plus, how cool is it that models *I* knitted are going to be in a book?

So cool!

Turns out, Austin IS awesome

2006-03-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

It's been one helluva busy week, recovering/catching up from last weekend's trip to Austin for H's sister's wedding. But what a weekend it was!

First off, the wedding was wonderful. Everything went off without a hitch, everyone behaved nicely (for the most part), and most of all - M and P were radiantly happy. See?

H and I had a fine time misbehaving during the rehearsal at the incredibly Catholic church. This may have been what prompted the priest to give a very stern warning that no one would be allowed in to the ceremony if they were drunk. Mind you, we were not drunk, just disorderly. (H was making the baby Jesus cry.) And the priest was just so uptight - it didn't help matters. Anyway, we did make it through the rehearsal, and then on to a celebratory barbecue with lots of friends and family.
This is H and his sis, M - the lovely bride.

This is me with my FiL. He looks cute, I look like I need to visit the gym.

The day of the wedding found me frantically knitting to finish the gifty I was making for M for the honeymoon. I'll have to get a picture from M, as I forgot to take one in the frantic rush. Anyway, 45 minutes before we had to be at the church, I hopped into the shower and somehow came out looking like this. I guess I cleaned up ok. That, by the way, is the famous dress that H found for me. He done good - I do love it.

And then we were on to the church. The wedding was lovely. It was simple and heartfelt and absolutely full of love. I sobbed (happy tears!) when Dad walked M down the aisle. It was right about here that the huge tears started rolling down my face. M looked so lovely, P was just beaming at her, and the whole church was filled with an incredible amount of love from the masses of people that were there. That sounds a bit hokey, but it was truly one of the most amazing things about the weekend. M & P both have these itty bitty out-of-town families, but they have an incredibly rich family of friends in Austin and elsewhere. It was amazing to be around this group of people and see what a wonderful life M has cultivated for herself. I'm getting a little choked up just thinking about it now.

Lest it sound like one big mushy love-fest, I should hasten to add that we went out with M&P and their friends for a bit of Mardi Gras on 6th Street after the wedding - what a blast! Not only are all of these folks sweet and kind, they're also a riot to hang out with. So much fun was had!

In non-wedding events, H and I had a lovely time in Austin. On Friday, before the rehearsal, I had an appointment to get my nails done, which gave us the opportunity to wander through downtown on our way. We ate breakfast at Las Manitas and I got the migas fix I was after. It was so good, we broke our travel-rule of not visiting the same place twice in one trip and went back on Sunday! Further on down the road, we discovered the joy that is a Texas liquor store. It gave me great joy to find that you can buy everything from liquor to mixers to glasses all in one stop, here in this great city. (After many stops in other cities, it's nice to see someone making life easy on the traveling lushes of the world!)

By far, the non-wedding highlight of the day was at Bella where I got my nails done. While waiting for my manicure, I had the distinct pleasure of being visited by a small pooch named Didi, who sat on my lap and gave me wee sweet doggie kisses! Puppy lovin' and a fantastic manicure to boot - I'm ready to take up residence in Austin!

On Sunday we had a bit of time to wander before heading out, so we crossed the water (lake? river?) and headed south to S. Congress street, which may be my new mecca. There I found my new favoritest store in the world, Parts & Labour. A collective of local artists, this shop sells the raddest stuff I've ever seen collected in one place. I went into shopping frenzy, and grabbed up a necklace, little pocket wallet, Craft Mafia t-shirt, and a monster glass for H. It's a small miracle I made it out of there without maxing out my card (though all of the arts and crafts are incredibly reasonably priced). I'm eager to shop there again!

Our last meal in Austin was at Guero's Tacos. And a fine meal it was. After stuffing ourselves with tacoey goodness, H and I were barely able to roll ourselves to the airport for our flight home. (A flight of which we shall not speak.) Between the eating and the shopping, not to mention our adorable and expanding family in the region, I have to give Austin two thumbs up. I do believe we'll be visiting M & P quite a bit!

Sunday Boringville Times

2006-02-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, I guess I ought to update.

I've been writing a lot, just not here. Trying to finish revisions on a manuscript and get that out the door, trying to polish up the intro for my dissertation, and trying to teach young minds how to do this writing thing.

The last has turned out to be an unqualified disaster. My teaching skills need some work.

The other two - well, they're just coming along at a snail's pace. But they're coming, so that's something. All of this is taking place in the midst of, and fitted around, a final experiment of broad scope. It's a time-suck if I've ever known one.

H and I are off to Austin on Thursday for his sister's wedding. Although preparations for the trip, as well as the thought of leaving in the middle of so much work are truly stressing me out, I am looking forward to getting out of town for a moment or two, and seeing what I hear is a great city. I'll have to post pictures of the fabulous dress I found to wear to the wedding... it's awesome, if I may say so.

I've been fretting a lot lately over the future outlook. It seems I may have this degree in the foreseeable future... I just don't know what I'll be doing with it. Should I give up the life we really like here in Seattle to pursue a teaching job wherever I can find one? Or do I settle for a less than stellar position somewhere around here where we can continue to live in this place we love? It seems like an easy choice, but it's really not. I really don't want to leave, but I could always go - become a great teacher, then come back when something opens up out here. Or I could stay here, get started, and hope like crazy that I'll be able to move up, should an openning become available. Mmrrrfff. It makes me muzzy and blue to think about.

I really do like teaching, and see it as a realistic career option. On the other hand, I'd also like to fling myself away from academia to pursue something *anything* else. I'd love to make yarn, or run a wee yarn shop or book store. I would love to be able to do something creative for a living... but fear that I would grow to hate it, which makes me too sad to contemplate; and that realistically, I'd never be able to succeed financially. *sigh* I've put off being a grown up for so long now... I just don't know what to do with myself.

I haven't had much of a chance to play with yarn lately. I haven't spun any in over a week, and my few minutes of knitting time here and there are being spent trying to finish up a little gifty for my about-to-be-wed SIL. Hope she likes it! As soon as that's done, I'll be back to working on my cabled vest. I lurve the Knitpicks Baby Alpaca yarn I'm using for it - soooo soft! I can't wait to get back to it.

Other than that, not much has been going on lately. Just a ton of work, and too little play time.

Who'll stop the rain?

2006-01-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

I really should post more often.

It's been a blah week. We've just been slogging along in the record-breaking Seattle rain, drinking our coffee and dreaming of high-carb snacks and napping. This has not made for the most productive week.

This quarter's class is going really well. The students have taken to their projects with a lot of enthusiasm, and my life as a TA is going swell.

In theory, I'm working on the dissertation. I should be spending more time arranging the intro, but haven't been terribly enthusiastic about it. I'm convincing myself that being pokey is ok, since I'm also doing an experiment currently. The pokiness will not be tolerated (by me) for long, as getting this bitch done and wrapped up is my ticket out of here. And as the news crawl in my head constantly reminds me, being done = getting a job = buying a house = getting a dog. And we all know that that's what I'm about, right?

Tonight is to be date night, although I have to admit that I'm looking forward to sleeping even more. It's such a sad state of affairs around here - it's not as if I'm sleep-deprived... the weather has just leeched the will to function right out of me. I am, however, looking forward to getting in some spinning and sewing this weekend. Watch for a pictorial update soon!

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas with my mom and brother visiting. Lots of presents and way too much food. Hopefully everyone had a nice time. I did, but am now tired and feeling hermitty.

NYE was spent with good friends at a party, followed by ringing in 2006 with my sister and her beau. It was a fun, low-key evening... just my speed these days.

I've been busily spinning yarn on my new wheel, and working on a few other projects as well. Here are the first three skeins of yarn I've made on my wheel. The red is merino, the greenish one is a tencel/merino blend and the pinkish is mystery fiber that came in a jumble bag. It turned out much prettier than the bag of fiber suggested it would.

This is a scarf I'm working on for my indomitable Aunt Eleanor. I'm using this pattern from Adrian, and mohair yarn made by Sarah. Hopefully it will resemble Adrian's a bit more once it's blocked.

I also sanded and finished the niddynoddy H gave me for Christmas. I'm rather happy with the results.

In a fit of craft frenzy this weekend, I also made bath salts for a few friends, and got the supplies to make a motherlode of lavender sachets for my yarn stash. I've not dug out the sewing machine just yet though.

School starts again on Tuesday. Although I'm looking forward to teaching again (and my own class this time!), I'm so not ready for this break to be over. I need another week to get back into the swing of things before I'm faced with students. Just a few more days to sleep in, please?!

I've only got one resolution for 2006: I'm going to write my dissertation and finish this degree before the year is over. Oh yes, I will.

Here's to a great new year!

There is a Santa Claus!

2005-12-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

I got my Christmas present from H last night. He wins! He totally surprised me with a spinning wheel. It's so lovely, and I'm so excited! I can't wait to start spinning. Unfortunately, this means I may never finish that pesky dissertation.

I was dreaming of a wheel, but didn't logically expect it. I was planning to wait until we have a house. But H decided that the "someday" for owning a wheel should come sooner, so he did all the research, even contacted darling Sarah for advice, and got me an Ashford Kiwi wheel.

I am such a lucky and happy girl!

Fresh Ink

2005-12-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

I took the plunge on Saturday. This is my first tattoo. I had been waiting for the right idea to come to me, and it finally did - inspired by my weekend knitting with the awesome broads in Kansas. Thanks ladies! Not only is it about knitting, it is to remind me of the inspiration to live a full and meaningful life - to pursue dreams and not settle for a boring life. Just getting this was taking a risk for me... and I'm so happy I did.

1/7/06
Here is an updated picture, all healed up! Isn't she pretty?
I should mention that this was done by Darcy Nutt at Slave to the Needle in Seattle.

Non-update

2005-11-25T12:09:00.000-08:00

Seeing as it's been over a month since my last post, I suppose I should update things before they close my account!

The big news around here is that my sweet and wonderful sister recently got engaged to her sweet and wonderful boyfriend! I'm super happy for them both, and couldn't imagine a better guy for a BIL. I'd say welcome to the family, Erik, but you've been a part of it for a long time now. So, welcome to being legally bound to the insanity.

Life has been boringly busy with school and work. I've been wrapped up with the near-constant grading of papers and tests for the class I'm teaching. And on top of that, I've also been working on a manuscript. Although it presents it's own pile of headaches, this is a much-needed step in my quest to get out of grad school. Sadly, getting the greenlight on manuscript only came from my advisor's wrath with another scientist, rather than complete faith in my work, but at this point I'll take any chance I can get.

Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with my sister, soon-to-be BIL and his parents. There was a massive spread, with way too much good food. I believe I may have actually injured myself by eating too much. I am now officially ready for the holidays.

Craft-wise, I've been working on a baby gift for the imminent arrival of a friend's little one, as well as a scarf made from yarn from the ladies at the Kansas knit-a-thon. The scarf is coming out poorly. It was so nicely conceived in my head, and yet now looks like a fiasco. Oh well. I will wear it and love it because of where the yarn came from. Also, the baby gift is coming out gigantic - and will probably fit the kid when he/she is 5. Oh well - I guess there's no rush to get it in the mail.

So that's all the news that's fit to print around here. Hopefully something post-worthy will come up soon.

The other shoe drops

2005-10-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well, that didn't take long. Did I forget to knock on wood when I was going on about how I love my students?

*sigh*

Yesterday I caught one of them red-handed, cheating on a paper. An entirely cribbed (verbatim!) paper was turned in for credit. At first I felt foolish, like I had been taken. But over a manhattan or two, I did realized that I was not duped. I caught the fraud and was not the fool here. However, I do resent being played for a fool. And by a very ingratiating student, too.

Rrrrrgh.

Although it is a heartbreaker to realize first hand that this stuff does happen, and that trying to be a great teacher won't always prevent this nonsense, I can't say that I'm any less enthusiastic about my position. The same day, another student told me I am "the bestest" for a silly little favor I did. Not that I really am the bestest, but that at least one student appreciates a kind gesture makes up for the bullshit that scamming assholes will pull.

There will always be both types of students. And as long as that is the case, I'll still love what I do.

Those who can't?

2005-10-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

Today was my long teaching day. Lecture (the prof, not me) in the a.m., then 2 hours of discussion sections (mine) in the p.m. Long because there is lots of other business to attend to before, in between and after all of this. Anyway, having spent the day with students, I was given my weekly reminder of just how much I love teaching. I really really do. Maybe it's genetic - my mom's a damn fine teacher. Maybe it's just right. And I love that I love it.

I'm in my seventh (yeah, I said it, seventh) year of graduate school. I've been doing research for that long. And you know what? I'm really not very good at it. Actually, I'm a technical whiz in the lab. I'm really good at all the things a trained monkey could do with practice. But the ideas? The big picture thinking? Yeah, it turns out I pretty much suck at that stuff. The stuff that scientific careers are made of. I say all of this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because I'm finally really ok with it. But it is true, alas.

The good thing, and point of all of this, is that eventually I will have a Ph.D. And what can one do with a Ph.D. when one is cognisant of the fact that they make a crappy scientist? One can teach! I took this TA position with the hopes of honing my teaching skills, bulking up the ol' C.V. and testing the waters as far as this teaching business goes. And I must say... it's going well. I love meeting with my students. I love hearing their ideas and seeing them discuss and learn from each other. I love getting to know them and being there to answer their questions. I really dig what I do.

It's really cool. After last weekend, I've been so energetic about doing the stuff I love. And loving the stuff I do. So I'm really thrilled with how much I dig this teaching gig. How rad!

If I had started this blog a few years back, one may have been able to chart my progression from diligently spinning my wheels to deep depression with the full realization of my mediocrity to the present. I've gotta say... all that other stuff was pretty crappy. And not that it can't or won't change, but I'm so happy with where I am right now. It gives me hope for the future. That I'll be happy with my career, and will make a difference and mean something to someone.

How awesome.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

2005-10-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'll begin an update on this weekend's trip to Kansas, though it may take several edits to complete...

As the title says - it really was the best weekend ever! I met up with Marissa and Sarah at the Kansas City airport. We then set out in our posh Cadillac for Harveyville, home of Nikol and her magical schools. After a few mishaps that I maintain were "short cuts," we found the schools and got the grand tour.

The schools are absolutely fantastic. Built in 1955, they have all the great architectural designs of the era. I'll get some pictures up at some point. There are lots of lovely wood built-in cabinets, one of which houses Nikol's mammoth yarn stash. There are tons of other fun details too, and we had fun exploring the nooks and crannies of the buildings.

Everyone else arrived as we were looking over Nikol's project designs. Everyone else included Jenn, Carolyn, Adrian, Amber, Rebecca, KellySue and Jen, who brought Brian to play with Ron, Nikol's man. I was meeting Adrian, Amber, Marissa, Rebecca, KellySue and Jen for the first time, and seeing Sarah, Carolyn, Jenn and Nikol again. It was an amazing group of fabulous women... I really can't imagine a more fun group to spend the weekend with.

When everyone had arrived, we ended up on the front porch for drinks and chatting, which brought the opportunity to meet the locals. At the risk of sounding terribly derrogatory, the locals in Harveyville, KS, are an exact charicature of what you would expect of rural yokels. Oh my. We were first schooled in the absolute dearth of entertainment for rural youth. Having discovered the presence of a large gathering of people (mainly female people!) - a carload of teenagers proceeded to drive up and down the road in front of the school no less than a dozen times. Lest we not notice their presence, they were thoughtful enough to alert us, using duck calls. Perhaps this is a local custom in Kansas. Perhaps teenagers are idiots everywhere. The hooligans were treated to Ron's high-powered spotlight, which, it seems, is not a teenager-deterrent. It did, however, work to draw more local youth, who arrived in a pickup truck. Yes, cars are indeed a rarity there. The two guys, one in a Bud Light shirt, and the other in a shirt that simply said "Rodeo" (and I suspect this did not refer to the Copeland symphony) got out and postured up the sidewalk toward us. Upon reaching the stoop, they stood there for a seemingly long time, with their arms crossed, looking for all the world like bouncers at a roadhouse. Finally, one drawled "Y'all live here?" To which Ron replied, without missing a beat, "Yeah, but I'm only married to these three." Ron is my hero.

Apparently a gathering of people signifies an invitation to the public in Harveyville. The two visitors soon summoned more of their ilk, which drove us inside. We retired to the gym with our projects, where we talked and laughed and knitted until way into the early hours.

Saturday brought more knitting, along with an abundance of excellent eating, drinking, giggling and fun. It also saw us embark on a mission to Topeka, for booze and tortillas. Marissa and I accompanied Amber, who braved the roadkill-riddled roads to get us to our appointed task. Topeka is an unfortunate place to have to go, and we were glad to get back to the happy coccoon of the school. Nikol made the endeavor well worth it however, with the astoundingly yummy enchiladas she whipped up on our return. More eating, laughing and drinking ensued.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the silent star of the weekend, Nikol's ancient pup Herman. Miss Herman was the most lovely hostess, seeing to it that we always knew where the food was, helping to untangle yarn, and generally providing love to all. She also does the cutest doggie trick ever - the stealth dog french. When you least expect it, she'll slip you the tongue. I suspect this is born of interest in whatever you may have just eaten, rather than a desire to be intimate. Although I would not tolerate such tongue-related behavior from most, Herman was such a lovely charmer that it was entirely adorable.

The weekend continued in this sublime vein until we all departed on Monday. The conversation, food and general atmosphere was never short of sublime. My recap here certainly does not do justice to the fantastic time I had. It was just so good to meet and spend time with all of the lovely ladies who were in attendance, as well as the two fine gentlemen. I had wonderful conversations and full-on hysterics with everyone. It was wonderful to get to know most of the ladies, and to spend time with those I already knew. Again, I can't imagine a lovelier group of people to spend the weekend with.

Since returning, I've been floating along in a state of bliss rather unatural for me. I was so inspired by everyone. It was such an experience to be around people who are really living life, doing things outside of the mundane existence. While I suppose anything would become mundane if repeated enough, I found inspiration in being around people who are open to the fun and magic that life has to offer. And every person there was an example of this. From Nikol and Ron who ventured out of the ordinary and bought schools in Kansas to turn into an artist retreat, to everyone else, who were all willing to jump in the car or on a plane to be a part of this weekend - every single person was a reminder that there is lots of stuff to do in life, and the regretable thing would be to miss it.

So thank you Nikol, for having us and for being such a lovely hostess and for making me a fat and happy piglet, and thank you to Sarah, Jenn, KellySue, Carolyn, Amber, Jen, Rebecca, Adrian and Marissa, for being such wonderful companions. It was the best.

In other news

2005-10-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened in the past week worth updating. I finished one sock, but haven't had much time for any other craftiness. I've been really busy keeping up with my teaching assistant position. It's going really well, and I adore my classes. The students are really great for the most part, and even the so-far unspectacular ones are way better than most. So, although it's time consuming in the biggest way, it's going really well. Yea!

H starts his new job tomorrow - another yea! He had this past week off and made much of his time. But now it is time to rejoin the working world (lest I really start pushing the housework thing!). Not only will this job free him of the EVIL that was his former supervisor, he is also now free of having to be at work at 7am. He has to be there at 9am! After 5 years of rising at 5:45am, I am giddy with this development! I can only think that this is a harbinger of very good things at the new job.

The other biggest thing in my life right now is my upcoming trip to Kansas! Although this may not be something that most would get their panties in a twist about, I am over the moon! A friend has written a knitting patterns book, and a bunch of us are converging upon her converted school-home for a weekend of testing knitting patterns and general girly fun. It should be the best time... I absolutely can't wait!

Stash from the Fest

2005-10-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

It's now been a week since I went to the Flock and Fiber fest in Oregon, and I have finally taken pictures of the treasures procured there.
This is a "mystery batt" of various fibers. It has very soft shading to it, and will be nice to mix in with other fiber, or make some very humble yarn with.
This is sheep wool, dyed a lovely red with steaks of greens and blues. I'm envisioning mittens, perhaps.
These two lovelies are merino/tencel blends. I couldn't resist the colors, and they feel wonderful.
This is some natural yak's wool. It is so much softer than you can imagine. I thought yak would be coarse, but it's very fluffy and soft. I only got a little bit to play with - I should have bought more!
And this is a cotton/hemp blend. I was interested in spinning some plant fibers, so I got just a wee bit to try out.

Though it doesn't look like much, this will keep me plenty busy! And though I certainly didn't NEED it, I came across some unbelievably soft baby camel fiber at Weaving Works today and just couldn't resist that either. So I got some to toss into the mix. Stay tuned for LOTS of forthcoming yarn!

In related news, I finished spinning the fiber that Sarah dyed and gave me. It came out so much nicer than my green crap. What a difference the original fiber makes! I will take pictures of that once I have washed it and made it all nice and bouncy.

Annigan goes to the farm

2005-09-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

Forget a weekend at a swanky spa, the three days I spent with Sarah on her homestead were exactly the relaxation and inspiration I needed. I had the best time there!

Of course, I got to meet Sarah's darling husband, who is an absolute dear. And then there were all her critters. Since meeting Sarah I have been anxious to meet her boys - the pygora goats.
Here are Darwin, Spike, and Mr. Nibbles, ready to greet us and hoping for treats.
Nibbles is clearly the self-appointed star of the show, and is eager to make friends. He gave me a good tasting, including testing the rivets on my jeans and trying out the zipper on my sweatshirt. He is a huge ham and attention hog, and is a gregarious bundle of fleecy friendliness! All three goats are absolutely cute and charming, and I am now completely certain that I will one day fulfill my longstanding desire to have some fellows of my own.
I was also won over by the chickens. Her flock includes several breeds, all of whom are perfectly lovely ladies. I had a great time feeding them and watching them do their cute chicken thing. They are much friendlier than I ever thought chickens to be!
And her muscovy ducks are perfect examples of sweet duckiness! Here are the three grown-ups, Mopsy, Cottontail and Flopsy,
and these are the three babies. All are just the bees knees, and the most puppy-like birds you can imagine! They loyally follow their people around, wagging their tails and hoping for treats and affection.
Clearly, affection is something that is generously handed out on the homestead, as all of Sarah's animals are gentle, friendly, and absolutely sociable.

Truly, I have been re-inspired to pursue our dream of one day owning our own small farm; now that I've seen that it can be done, and in such a charming way.

On Saturday, we drove down to Canby, OR, to the annual Flock and Fiber festival. It was a fiber extraveganza! There were tons of fiber-bearing animals, including goats, sheep, alpacas, llamas and bunnies, all looking lovely in their finery. There were lots of people spinning, on wheels and hand spindles. And there was ample opportunity to buy all manners of fiber, from raw, unwashed fleece all the way to lovely hand-dyed and spun yarn. I bought several types of fiber to spin, including some vibrant merino-tencel, some yak fleece and a cotton/hemp blend in their natural colors, some basic wool, and a "mystery batt" of mixed ends. (I will photograph all in the near future.) Sarah gave me a refresher course in spinning, as well as some gorgeous fiber to practice on, and I am well on my way to spin-tasticness!

At the festival there was also a show of fiber creations. There were everything from basic scarves to this - a life-sized family made of felted wool. It was amazing, as well as a bit puzzling. (Yes, the woman is breastfeeding.) I don't think that project would have ever occurred to me. Anyway - it was quite the display. While the fiber-arts show was very nice, with a few impressive pieces, I was firmly convinced that Sarah needs to submit several of her creations - most especially her yarn! - next year, as she would definitely clean up the competition!

It was a truly fantastic weekend, and I enjoyed every moment. I am so grateful to my lovely hosts, and hope to be able to visit again!

You spin me right round

2005-09-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend, when I wasn't blowing my nose, I worked on some yarn with my hand spindle. I've been trying to learn how to spin, and it seems like practicing from time to time is a good idea. This green yarn is what I'm working on right now. It's a little tight, and very thin. I know it'll puff up a bit when it's washed, but I'm not sure I like it so thin. It's the neurotic control freak in me that leads to work coming out too tightly wound, but it's also that lovely characteristic that prevents me from being pleased with my first attempts and their sorry results. Meh.
This pink yarn was my first attempt at spinning. I used some roving I had left over from a needle felting project, which is how I came to make hot pink yarn. It was fairly tight to begin with, and washing puffed it up, so maybe I'm on the right track. If I can just give up the idea of making yarn of a consistent thickness and be happy with thick and thin yarn, I'll be all set.

I'm going down to Oregon this weekend, to go to a Flock and Fiber festival with my friend Sarah. (Of Sarah's Homestead fame.) I'm thrilled that I'll finally get to see her homestead and meet all her critters! And we're sure to have a blast at the festival! Since it's my first one, I'm not sure what to expect. But I do believe I'll be coming home with more than a little fiber and/or yarn to keep me busy for a while.

In the knit of things

2005-09-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

I finished my first pair of socks yesterday. Whee! They don't match exactly, but whatever. Live and learn, right? Now I'm working on a little cozy for my camera, so that it doesn't get scratched when I'm toting it around without its bulky case. Next I think I'll be working on another pair of socks, this time with fabulous yarn from Hello Yarn. I can only wish that I had this much drive and energy for doing my school work. I would have been done years ago!

Remember my dumbness

2005-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while at a flea market, I found a little book of autographs. It belonged to a Lucille Winifred Corson, and contains notes from her friends and commrades in high school. She was in the Everett, WA, class of 1930, I think.

In contrast to the half-witted nonsense scrawled in the high school yearbooks of the present (unless I am mistaken and things have improved dramatically since 1995), this little book is full of charming little poems. There are a few "roses are red..." lines, but most look to be either original, or passages that have fallen out of common use.

Here is one I particularly like:
"Isn't it strange that princes and kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings
And common folks like you and me
Are builders for Eternity?

To each is given a set of tools
A shapeless mass and a book of rules
And each must make ere life has flown
A stumbling block or a stepping stone."
- Annabelle Giloery February 18, 1926

Another of my favorite entries:
"Dear Lucille -
Just remember me is all I ask.
Your friend,
Della Eisenman
Remember my dumbness" May 18, 1928

I hope that if Lucille is still alive, she remembers fondly Della's dumbness.

On the bright side

2005-09-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

This is me with my husband, back in June, at the annual Solstice celebration. H is the most wonderful husband, and my best friend. We've been together for 13 years now (married for 7), and each year seems to get better. Oh, we've had up years and down years, but as far as our relationship goes... through a combination of luck and devotion, we've continued to grow together through the years.

I found H at summer camp when I was 15 and he was 16. We've been together ever since. Really. In case you haven't heard this charming story before, we were long-distance for 6 years. We grew up on opposite sides of NY and then went to college on opposite sides of PA. Got married after he graduated from college, 1 semester before I did. While being a virtual child bride was all well and good, there really should be a law against letting 19 year olds register for housewares. Our marriage is great, we just hate our dishes with a virulent passion.

Anyway, he's a keeper, and it's a darn good thing. We're much too interdependent to ever try to navigate these waters alone.

Then again, maybe not

2005-09-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Being a graduate student for the past 6 years has left me with one defining and undesirable character trait - I am completely unsure of myself. I just cannot trust my own judgement on anything. This has come from years of conditioning to question everything, and that most things I say are just plain wrong. Nevermind that this is mostly subjective wrongness, as determined by my advisor, wrong is wrong. I have developed a loud and omnipresent voice in my mind that questions the veracity, factual basis, and certitude of everything between the moments of conceiving of, and voicing, a thought. As such, I am left with few opinions that I am certain of. This is probably a good thing - as being too hard headed about anything is probably a dangerous position to take. But I also don't trust myself enough to make many definitive statements or take decisive action. This is bothersome. Take this morning for example: I have already emailed back and forth with my friend Adrian a half-dozen times simply on template questions pertaining to this blog. She, incidently, is the same guru that I turn to with knitting questions that I should be able to answer for myself. She is a saint and hasn't refused an answer yet, but I certainly feel like an ass for having to ask for instructions for every little project I want to do. *sigh* Will I ever learn to trust my own judgement again? This, and other frustrations stemming from being an eternal student, will probably surface quite a bit here. I'm feeling particularly wobbly today.

A Reasonable Likeness

2005-09-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

After a nightmarish struggle of herculean magnitude, I was able to produce that fancy little icon of myself. I think I'm supposed to notify you, for legal purposes, that I used the illustrator at Abi-Station. It wasn't so hard to make, just to deal with once I had. Anyhow, now you know, so go make yourself one!

Latest creation

2005-09-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is a baby sweater I made for a college friend's new little one. Hopefully it will fit him, as I kind of winged it in enlarging a pattern for a newborn. It's got lots of love in it, which I figure will cover a world of other ills, right? Welcome to the world, little Ben. Be warm!

Genesis

2005-09-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

This being my first blog post, it's mostly just a test. I thought I'd start this for several reasons. Primarily, I'm the only person left on earth without a blog, so y'know... Also, I figured it would be a good spot to stash all of those thoughts I don't have another place for. We'll see how this goes. I'm not good with journalling, so it will probably be spotty at best. Here we go...