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Time Addict

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:45:19 -0500

So I love wearing watches. I find them comfortable, convenient and aesthetically pleasing. The first watch I really remember wearing was a Swatch watch with a pink edge and an neat pattern in the face and on the original strap. (Holey crap I found it!) I wore it for many, many years. One of the times I needed to get a new strap I stored it somewhere in my room for safe keeping, and then by the time I got a new strap, it was lost like buried treasure. (I am pretty sure one day I or my parents will come across that watch.)

Then in high school, because I was on the track team, I got a simple black Timex watch with a multiple lap memory and split function. It was super easy to use, very reliable, and the buttons were easy to press but did not get pressed accidentally. That became my daily watch for about 8 years or so, of course with strap and battery changes over the years. (Older modal, similar to this, but older model was better!)

After college, in my first good job (the same one I am in now), I treated myself to a really nice watch. A Victorinox thin officer’s watch with brushed metal and a navy face (here-ish). I wanted something that would be very accurate, that would make me feel more grown up, and that I could wear to nice places (because generally a grimy, beat up, black timex watch is not considered appropriate with a nice dress).

Eventually my Timex kicked it at the beach. Too much salt water I guess. I had to replace it, because I still use a digital for timing runs and sports. (And the one I have now is not near as good and I will probably need to replace it after negligible use in 3 years. Also I do need lap capability after all.)

Here’s the thing, that’s probably an account of my watch wearing history over the past 19 years at least. So, slowly I have become extremely used to wearing a watch, and I feel incomplete when I don’t wear one. (Occasionally lazy weekend day exception.) I have also become very aware of time (some say obsessively) in my daily life. I use my watch to gauge my walking speed from place to place in case I am dawdling, or in case I have time to dawdle. I use it to check the date when I am signing paperwork at work. I use it to see if it is almost time for lunch, a meeting, to make coffee, etc at work because I am often away from my desk and I do not carry my phone with me at work. (No reception in most places anyways.)

So, when I forgot to wear my watch to work yesterday I seriously considered for a brief minute turning around and going home to get it! (I also tried to see if my sweet, darling, handsome and considerate fella had any errands that would bring him my way. Nope!) I complained over twitter a bit, but mostly jokingly. It was very disconcerting and uncomfortable to be without a watch. I really like being punctual, especially when cookies or people waiting are on the line. Maybe my friends are right, maybe I am too obsessed with time. Certainly I can cope and figure out timing when I don’t have a watch. However why take a chance when there are potentially cookies on the line?!

Oh well

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:56:20 -0500

My goal was to complete a pair of cabled mittens between February 12th and 28th. I figured with about a week for each one how could I go wrong.

Well, I went wrong. It turns out I just didn’t push all that hard and often opted for not knitting instead of tired knitting. (Which is more of a problem with a complicated pattern on little needles with little yarn. Tinking sucks. I avoided it.) I am only just now ready to put the thumb stitches of the first mitten on a holder!

So I’m a Knitting Olympic non-medalist. Next time. I did manage to watch a lot of olympics, finish my shawl, and just enjoy myself overall. I also managed to not need to tear out any part of my mittens. I made it there, I participated. Not everyone gets a medal.

To make up for it, here are a few pictures of my lovely shawl. It’s the Citron pattern from Knitty! (Which I am sure I have mentioned before.) Ta-da!

Miles to go before I sleep

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:27:32 -0500

I am fully immersed in the Knitting Olympics! I have been watching the actual Olympics, I have been working on my mittens, and I have been up on knitting olympics/Ravelympics forums. However I still don’t think I’m in the full swing of things. (If I were I would be much farther along on my first mitten.)

So it is the 4th full day of the Olympics (both kinds) and I am tired. Not of knitting or watching people do amazing things, actually sleepy tired. (From staying up too late watching skating and knitting.) And as I was sitting here, thinking about how it is only now the end of the workday, my favorite poem popped into my head. At least the last couple lines did: “but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” (For those not in the know: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost) And it is true.

Here I have ahead of me my French class and then heading home, normally to bed, but probably to watch some Olympics and knit before bed. However, in a longer sense, I still have not finished my Citron shawl (only about 10 rows to go) and the deadline is Friday if I want it for NYC and I am only on round 47 of my first mitten (this includes the cuff… the main mitten is 81 rounds before the joining and I am only on round 7). The possibility of finishing these things seems impossibly far away, though the timing seems impossibly close. Yet I promised myself that I would achieve these things, and I plan to keep that promise.

Still, the whole prospect excites me, and like in the poem, I feel like it is ok to sometimes pause and take a look at where you are and the amazing sites around you, even if for me it is only my knitting or mug of tea or (currently) the snowy evening and the sound of snow shushing off the roof at work and thunking onto the ground below. It reinvigorates me for the journey ahead and the promises I have to keep. I may have miles to go before I sleep, but I’m ready to be on my way.

Note 1: You can be assured this poem will come up again in future posts so you might as well memorize it if you haven’t already. Note 2: I promise my next post will have pictures of knitting if I am going to talk about knitting. I have none with me right now though. Sorry.

V Day

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:25:35 -0500

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!

Wait, who’s Saint Valentine… well, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the holiday was founded in 496 AD and was in reference to more than one martyr named Valentine. (Apparently we can blame good old Geoff Chaucer for making it about romantic love, maybe.) We are perhaps celebrating the Valentine of Rome and the Valentine of Terni. Ultimately though, it is not known what Valentinus’s acts were and romance did not enter into the equation till the 14th century, and in 1969 the feast day was removed from the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints. Apparently most of the thoughts linking Valentine’s to love with the story about the priest marrying people against the law, which is part of the Legenda Aurea.

Ok, so what does all that mean today. Well to me it means a lot of nothing, especially with the over-commercialization and the pressure to spend money. I think remembering to tell people you love them is good, and making Valentine’s cards as a kid was fun (or for co-workers in past years). To me it also makes me angry that the commercialization also makes many people feel like it is wrong that they are single. Wanting to be in a relationship is wonderful, but feeling like you are supposed to be on one is not. Sometimes it is great to be single!

So, on to V-Day! Happy V-Day! Thanks to playwright Even Ensler and her work The Vagina Monologues (which you can also get the book and read) the there is an additional meaning. It is the celebration of being a woman. It is a recognition of our biology and sexuality. It is about our fears and societal pressures. And it has turned into a movement to stop violence against women and girls. If you have a chance to go see a performance (they are performed on many college campuses as well as other places) do go and see it. Be prepared to feel shocked, embarrassed, uncomfortable, proud, and angry. Possibly even to feel like now you want to try to make a difference in the world.

That too is love you know.

Olympic Dream

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:59:32 -0500

I never thought I would get to take part in the winter olympics, but it turns out 2010 is my year. I am going to officially participate in the Knitting Olympics that were founded by the Yarn Harlot. See this year’s announcement (and over 600 comments) here.

What are the Knitting Olympics? What types of events am I planning on competing in? Am I just plain nuts?

Well, you can go and read about the knitting olympics at length, as well as about the version done on Ravelry, the Ravelympics. I was interested a little, but it was really the Yarn Harlot who inspired me. The Knitting Olympics are when, during the Winter Olympics you, during the course of the games, you canst on and complete a whole project that you find difficult or challenging in some way. Be it a large project, a complicated project, new techniques, etc. More skilled knitletes are taking on things like full stranded Norwegian style sweaters and Alice Starmore cabled sweaters. On Ravelry events are names things like “Cable Cross-Country,” “Nordic Colorwork Combined,” and “Sweaterboard Cross.” But basically there are event types for anything you might want to do, and it also doesn’t need to be conceptualized in such a formal way. Some people even take on multiple projects/events… like knitting 2 sweaters!

What kind of olympian do I want to be? That took some thought. Since the Olympics start 6pm PST on the 12th and finish just before midnight PST on the 28th (almost 3am for me!) it is a compact length of time, and I am not too fast a knitter. Part of my decision was around what I have in my stash, part about patterns I have been meaning to knit, and part about choosing something challenging. It came down to socks vs. mittens. I have yet to finish a pair of adult socks, but I also have been planning on knitting the Jared Flood Druid Mittens for over a year. Both would be challenging, both give me an easy halfway mark to get to, both would be a real achievement. My event: the cabled mittens!

This I think answers the third question: I am totally nuts. (However so are hundreds, if not thousands of other knitters.) Then again, if you think about it, so are olympic athletes. think about it.

So, now I have until Friday to finish the Citron shawl I have been working on (15 rows to go! over 200 stitches per row…) so I can wear it to NYC. And I need to work in some other “training” for the Olympics. Some stretching, some rest, and the little bit of pre-olympic limbering up (read gauge-swatching so I know what size needles to use). Also, unlike an actual olympic athlete, I can drink either tea or beer while participating in my event. (Unless there are actual olympic events you can do this in…)

Also, it just so happens, that I love to watch the olympics and have had the schedule on my desktop for a few weeks now. I mean with things like luge, bobsled, the biathlon, downhill, halfpipe, hockey, speed skating, and curling who wouldn’t be excited?! I mean, my guy might not be thrilled by the amount of time I will want to watch things that are not video game related, but he’s very understanding and we’re finally going to set up the other tv, so it should be ok.

So, 9pm this Friday it all begins. The opening ceremony: The lighting of the torch OR The cast on! Who wants in?!

Plants Are Scary

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:01:31 -0500

Plants Are Scary:

I recommend following suit if you too feel threatened by plants.

Nosta-fail

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:43:04 -0500

I have a lovely nostepinne made of walnut wood that matches a beautiful handmade swift I got from my parents for my birthday last year. I love both. I love slowly hand winding a center pull ball of yarn and getting to feel the fiber as I create something to knit from. It’s a slower process than using a ball winder, and it has taken practice and reading instructions on the internet, but I now wind a lovely ball of of yarn. Specifically a ball of about worsted weight yarn of a manageable length.

I have discovered that when it comes to winding thinner weight yarn, either I need a lot more practice or I really need to use a ball winder or just make a plain old ball of yarn. This is what happened to my Malabrigo sock yarn, and it actually got worse before I have now started to rewind it.

This isn’t slippery with silk in it even, just happy soft merino wool. No knitting tonight for me, just slowly fixing the mess I created. Perhaps it is time to give in and put a ball winder on the list of knitting things I would like to have.

Best Present Ever

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:52:19 -0500

The other night a good friend of mine dropped off a present for me. The best. present. ever.

So, there is some back story here, in case you found the force of the sheer awesomeness a bit random. (Though why would you really)

First, my friend is a great and wonderful person who also has a baking and pastry degree and is expaning her portfolio. Second, I really really love Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is one of my (fictional) heroes. Not the T&A Wonder Woman, but the original one created by William Moulton Marston in 1941. The one created to be a symbol of feminsim and freedom and encouragement. The one who saved people and who told little girls they could be whatever they wanted. Also the one written and illustrated by some of the great women comics artists in the 80’s.

At one point years ago I decided I should look into getting a good costume to wear under my clothes in secret on those days you know are going to be really hard, to help get through them. Instead, a couple years ago I opted to get a WW symbol as a tattoo for my birthday. (You may not see pictures. It is hidden away most of the times in a tasteful spot because I got it for ME, not to show the world.) It helps to represent things I feel are important as well as be some extra personal support and confidence.

So yeah, chocolate, baked goods, WW and hours of love end effort pretty much combine to make the best gift in the history of the universe. That’s right, the UNIVERSE! (And if you disagree then you certainly aren’t invited over to share in my dessert.)

New Year?

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:19:12 -0500

Technically, thanks to our man JC (Julius Cesar), January begins the new calendar year. We’ve entered the future here in 2010. While picking any arbitrary date to start fresh is perfectly ok, I think I am going to start the new year in the spring. So no big changes from me till then, and even then, very likely, no big changes.

In the mean time I have managed to make very slow progress on my Citron shawl. The pattern is a joy, the yarn is a joy, the color… you get the picture. I just haven’t been very speedy. Actually, because it is so simple in some ways I tend to pay less attention and then realize I have messed something up and have to go back! Gah! Soon (as in after participating in the 2010 MIT mystery hunt, since there is no way to knit and solve mind-crushingly difficult puzzles) I will make a renewed effort! I want to have the shawl complete, maybe by the end of February to wear to NYC, and I really need to pick up speed on the afghan again!

The rest of my time has been absorbed by holidays, friends, TV series on DVD, sleeping, Professor Layton and the Curious Village (just recently, and very addictively), and Glee! Have you not seen Glee? Oh the horror! You’ve only missed the first half of the season, which resumes in the spring. Go Catch Up! and thank me later.

Joining the Citron Masses

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:49:43 -0500

I cast on and have started Citron! So as of now I am one of 312 knitters on Ravelry who have started this project. I’ve only managed to get the center set up finished and am working on the first part of the shawl body, but am loving every second. Between the pattern, the lovely Malabrigo sock yarn, and the excellent colorway of Rayon Vert I am essentially in heaven!

Right next to heaven is the afghan which is a pretty darn close second, and is also nice because it is warm on my lap!

Wonder how fast I can finish this shawl so I can wear it. The real test will be if I can manage to knit and role-play later. I aim to try!

Self-Inflicted Knitting Torture

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:11:49 -0500

I was being so good for the Christmas holiday! I packed light and was off! My handsome fella and I did the Christmas Day run-around to see everyone. We say his Dad & crew, his Mom and family, and eventually my parents as well. He went back to spend more time with his family and I then stayed with mine.

The next morning I headed down to LI to do Christmas with the Mom’s-side clan. Sweet, a 4 hour-ish car ride to work on the lovely cabled afghan. And as we were getting everything in the car that’s when it hit me, I didn’t have the notebook with the pattern in it. Nooooooo

Turns out that the combination of weening myself down to one project, having had the notebook with another project I wanted to do some charting for, and hurried Christmas morning packing left me with a bag of knitting and no way to execute it. (There was no way I was going to wing it, not after managing the last fix when I made a mistake!)

So can you believe it is now the 28th of December and I have not knit at all starting the 24th (at least). Gadzooks! Then again, I think we all know what I will spend some time doing today!

(Hint: cabled afghan, maybe the pirate hat, winding yarn and swatching for Citron, and maybe working on the chart for the hat for a buddy of mine)

Meringue mushrooms I made for the holiday party this month. When...

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0500

Meringue mushrooms I made for the holiday party this month. When I get a few minutes to myself I plan to make a whole bunch more. Thanks to my colleague Choi for the photo!

What a Butte

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:08:57 -0500

What a Butte:

Rotten Bananas Butte in Arizona. Wonder who names it and what was in their knapsack that day?

Reve-slipper-lation

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:33:00 -0500

So for many years I have been very stubborn about my slipper footwear. I get Isotoner black spandex ballet slippers with a leather sole. I wear them till the seams start to come undone and then wear them some more. My first pair was one I stole from my Mom many years ago. They always make that slipper sound and once they are worn in you can slide across the floor in them.

I decided last year it was time for new slippers and set my heart on the L.L. Bean Hearthside ones. And then they sold out and were not going to restock till next year. So this year I ordered early and lo and behold they did not fit. So Saturday there was a family trip to the local L.L. Bean. Turns out the slippers I thought I wanted were just no good for my feet. I was sorely dissapointed. I was going to get warm slippers for once. Maybe my feet would be less cold this winter, but no. All the other slippers were the big puffy ones. Ugh.

Then between my man and my Mom asking just why it was that those puffy ones were no good I decided perhaps it was time to be a bit adventerous and at least try a pair on. Let me tell you it was love as soon as my foot was in that slipper! And now, having owned them for less than 48 hours they have quickly risen to one of my prized posessions! I probably have not been this excited about footwear since my Frye boots were purchased in January 2008. (I mean Frye boots, what could top that?!)

Anyways, this is my new found love (L.L. Bean women’s Wicked Good Moccasins)

And yesterday even before we had the heat up my feel never got cold while they were on, even while the snowstorm raged outside! Woo Hoo!

Nude No More Christmas

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:26:38 -0500

It’s been a little hard getting ready for the holidays. I’ve been excited and ready (which is pretty unusual) but getting all the pieces together takes a lot of work! Now I feel like I have reached a turning point, which in the next couple days the man and I will push one step farther. That’s right, ORNAMENTS!

For now I am happy the tree has lights, because it sat naked in the living room for just over a week!

Next step might be cookies. Oh cookies

Woah There

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:16:43 -0500

A lot has happened since the Celtics game and I just haven’t been able to mentally catch up.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving and managed to see all the respective immediate families. Dinner was with mine and my sister managed to cook us a terrific meal. She really knows how to cook, and with Mom and I helping out I would say there couldn’t have been a better meal. (Also I really love my family so spending time with them is always great.) I, of course, baked a pumpkin pie and everyone still loves me till next year.

Then, the following day, I had my 10 year reunion! Good Grief! We had a nice group come over first and then we took the T downtown to Felt where we grabbed dinner before heading upstairs to the party. There are a lot of things I could say here. I could wax poetic, make then vs. now lists, or even go on in detail about tons of people you aren’t likely to know. The sort version: it was super fun, it was great to talk to all different people and catch up, found out a bunch of people are in the area and we plan to hang out (boardgames will probably be part of that), and in the end I got to have some of my favorite people in the world in the same room as me again. I might have gotten teary, but it was probably the lighting.

Saturday I missed the fellas’ annual alumni high school ultimate game, but went out to brunch with an old friend and his lovely lady. After that though I caught up with all the rascals and adventures were had involving Blue-Ray players, Chinese food, and board games.

Somehow it is now the 2nd week in December. I have been knitting up a storm and having tea and cookies at night. Later I’ll share more on that and hopefully get the lights on the tree (YEAH TREE!) and post some pictures. At least now I don’t constantly feel like I am trying to show up time so I can catch up with all my thoughts. (Keep your slow comments to yourselves… especially you Dad!)

Celtics

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:14:00 -0500

So last night I went to my first Celtics game courtesy of a good friend with his family and my fella. Since I hadn’t really watched basketball since I was a kid I was actually a bit nervous about the whole thing. I mean, I’d heard some names of new players but I probably had not seen a game in over a decade. (Keep all those comments about being old to yourselves)

It was GREAT! The game was fun and fast paced, it was easy to know what was going on, there were some good plays, and we won!

Here are a few choice photos:

I of course wore my Chucks… the original basketball shoe. It was thematically appropriate, which made my sweetie laugh.

My fella, our charming buddy, and his Dad behind who actually was responsible for all the tickets. Thanks again!!

Garnett may be a giant, but Pierce is an animal! (Cannot believe I caught this!)

Oh yeah, you all had to know this was coming.

JimHension Rhapsody

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:31:30 -0500

JimHension Rhapsody:

This is just too good. Way too good.

Can't Believe It Worked!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:27:32 -0500

So back a few posts ago I showed how I had messed up on the blanket I am knitting for a couple friends who got married. I had missed a cable and was fraught on what to do. I decided to follow the good advice and instructions by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee on her Yarn Harlot blog. I quickly discovered that I had to drop back more than the 5 offending stitches but the whole center panel! *Gasp of terror!*

So, I dropped and managed to pick up all the correct stitches. (I did some of this on the commuter rail where a lovely Irish gentleman that works for the New England Aquarium commented on how beautiful my work was and that it must be hard to do in dark colors compared to his sister that has won awards at home but usually knits in white.) So this is what I ended up with:

Deep breath looking at all those dropped rows

However, once I finally had all the stitches picked up from the same correct row, and once I figured out which row I was on, it really wasn’t so bad. I knit it back up over a couple of sittings so as not to get too tired and make another mistake. (Oh the horror!) and finally made it back to where I started on Saturday night while playing a role playing game with some friends that cutie is running. (Insert nerd/geek jokes at will.) I am pretty sure this again makes me my own superhero. (FYI that superhero is always either early or 80’s female empowerment Wonder Woman)

And now I’ve continued along, good as new, and have even now added the 4th ball of yarn. I think it looks pretty darn good, and I may have lost 2 weeks but I probably didn’t loose reknitting about 2400 stitches! At this point it would be fair to say I have knit about 18,200 if you don’t include mistake fixing! Whoa!

Feeling Famous

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:34:12 -0500

So back when my handsome fella was living in Philly I used to frequent a magnificent yarn shop called Loop. Oh the selections! Oh the fair prices! Oh the great light, sofas, and great staff! (We visited in August, and we’ll visit again!)

So it turns out on their blog they like to post photos of projects people have knit with yarn from the store. They have a great flickr page. So I sent a few photos, and Craig asked if he could post them (to what I assumed would be the flickr page). Sure I said, and meant. Lo and behold, they wrote a blog post with my pictures!

Wow! Totally psycehd! Thanks Loop!

Later, more on that cable trouble with the afghan… with pictures!