Sunday, October 30, 2005
jack o lanterns
I watched a little of Food Network's Sandra Lee's Semi-homemade show
and learned how to create artsy pumpkins. Instead of carving all the
way through you use a razor knife to cut a trench and then a paring
knife to cut through the trench. There is another standard jack o'
lantern like pumpkin on the right of it, hardly visible here.
Now we are on a search for my skunk tail. I made the skunk costume in
college and even made a tail out of fleece, faux fur, a coat hanger,
and some of my least favorite t-shirts and towels. But where is
it?!?!?!
and learned how to create artsy pumpkins. Instead of carving all the
way through you use a razor knife to cut a trench and then a paring
knife to cut through the trench. There is another standard jack o'
lantern like pumpkin on the right of it, hardly visible here.
Now we are on a search for my skunk tail. I made the skunk costume in
college and even made a tail out of fleece, faux fur, a coat hanger,
and some of my least favorite t-shirts and towels. But where is
it?!?!?!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
SnB tomorrow- getting loopy with the Magic Loop
Our own knitting wizardess Kelle will be enchanting us with her magical loop powers. Now that is a SnB not to be missed!!!!Ya'll will be there, right?
Thursday, October 20, 2005
knit n' clean
First off, I have to confess what I just did. I am in the middle of cleaning the bathroom. Before I began I decided I needed to listen to something that would be most enjoyable while cleaning. I went to the ITunes thing on our computer, and thought a podcast would be just the thing. OOH- I will listen to knitting podcasts while I clean the toilet and scrub, scrub, scrub our OLD tub. Let me tell you, cleaning the bathrom is never a fun task albeit its instant gratification of cleaness and freshness, but the podcast listening makes it way better.
My job has been keeping me busy, busy, busy. I still sneak in some knitting here and there, but it has become a less frequent activity. That will change soon though, as I have placed an order with KnitPicks. Can I get a shout out for affordable wool!?! I selected Sierra, a bulky wool in grape (because I surely need a purple cabled sweater), and some red and blue yarn for some toasty wool socks made by request for DH, and a cheap splurge- dyeable lace weight yarn. It was like 4 or 5 bucks for about 400 or 800 (can't remember which) yards. Sweet deal. So, I am lurking and hoping for a soon arrival of my own box of yarn. I placed the order Monday night.
Oh- I am also trying to teach myself the Magic Loop sock knitting method. I'm not sure if it's working correctly, or not. We'll see, someday. Unless any of my helpful knitting friends can straighten me out in this realm.
My job has been keeping me busy, busy, busy. I still sneak in some knitting here and there, but it has become a less frequent activity. That will change soon though, as I have placed an order with KnitPicks. Can I get a shout out for affordable wool!?! I selected Sierra, a bulky wool in grape (because I surely need a purple cabled sweater), and some red and blue yarn for some toasty wool socks made by request for DH, and a cheap splurge- dyeable lace weight yarn. It was like 4 or 5 bucks for about 400 or 800 (can't remember which) yards. Sweet deal. So, I am lurking and hoping for a soon arrival of my own box of yarn. I placed the order Monday night.
Oh- I am also trying to teach myself the Magic Loop sock knitting method. I'm not sure if it's working correctly, or not. We'll see, someday. Unless any of my helpful knitting friends can straighten me out in this realm.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Knitting discontent
Every now and then, more than I would like to admit, I get into a knitting rut. Not a "I have too many projects" or "too much stash yarn" or anything like that. Instead I get frustrated by my non-stash stash- in which there is not enough of any types of yarn in my guest bedroom/hobby closet to make anything of consequence.
What I would really like to do is be knitting a sweater- something cozy and warm that would allow me to try out some new techniques. Instead I have been knitting socks. I finished my leaf lace socks and they are great, and match each other pretty well, but last night I started a new pair of socks using my size 2 wooden double pointed needles.
Awhile back one of the 5 broke in half and I glued it back together. I made a little mark on it with a marker at its stress point so I wouldn't re-stress it and have it break again. Sometime recently it did break again after holding together for so many rounds. I don't know where the other half of it went. Have you ever tried knitting a sock with a broken/sharp wooden needle? It's tough since it does get in the way every other time around (when knitting in a circle).
And yes, socks on two circular needles would be a fun trick to learn too, but that would require me to buy 2 circular needles of sock size. But I am trying so hard to save my money so I can buy yarn to make the Vogue Knitting v-neck cable sweater that is pink and orange in the magazine.
As for now, I am in the knitting doldrums. Taunted by the many blogs of the stash-laden knitters busy making their projects. I know my life isn't that rough, but sometimes a girl's got to whine. So I whine I will.
And yes, I know that I am knitting on a sweater for my Mom, and this project will be the lucky accompanist to SnB tomorrow morning. So I should be content with that, but for now I'm in a state of knitting discontent.
What I would really like to do is be knitting a sweater- something cozy and warm that would allow me to try out some new techniques. Instead I have been knitting socks. I finished my leaf lace socks and they are great, and match each other pretty well, but last night I started a new pair of socks using my size 2 wooden double pointed needles.
Awhile back one of the 5 broke in half and I glued it back together. I made a little mark on it with a marker at its stress point so I wouldn't re-stress it and have it break again. Sometime recently it did break again after holding together for so many rounds. I don't know where the other half of it went. Have you ever tried knitting a sock with a broken/sharp wooden needle? It's tough since it does get in the way every other time around (when knitting in a circle).
And yes, socks on two circular needles would be a fun trick to learn too, but that would require me to buy 2 circular needles of sock size. But I am trying so hard to save my money so I can buy yarn to make the Vogue Knitting v-neck cable sweater that is pink and orange in the magazine.
As for now, I am in the knitting doldrums. Taunted by the many blogs of the stash-laden knitters busy making their projects. I know my life isn't that rough, but sometimes a girl's got to whine. So I whine I will.
And yes, I know that I am knitting on a sweater for my Mom, and this project will be the lucky accompanist to SnB tomorrow morning. So I should be content with that, but for now I'm in a state of knitting discontent.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
passed the oral exam!
It was easy. It was more like a discussion, as my advisor had said, and it was not bad at all. It felt great to get a signed original piece of paper that said that I passed. Nice. We celebrated at Buca in Eden Prairie. I had Chicken Saltimbocca without capers. We also had the mozz. cheese salad-like thing, spaghetti with meat sauce, and fettucine supremo. It was a double date with my best friend and her husband. We had a great time until we saw the flooded roadways.
When we made it back home (this was the night of the torrential, non-stop rains) I "saved our block of houses in our neighborhood" with DH's help. I initiated a storm sewer clean-up which entailed scooping out all the wet fallen leaves from the drainage so our street wouldn't flood. I was up to my elbow in such gook and one of the drainage things was plugged, so we fixed it. There was no flooding on our streets because we saved our block.
Knitting. What is that again? Well, every now and then I get a round or two done on my sock, but it's not for lack of desire. I have been a BUSY girl! This weekend DH and I are leading worship at a camp (the camp where my crush on him intensified while doing said activity a few years ago). This year I get to bring him to the dam. I'm excited. I wanted to do it back then, but the timing wasn't right. Now, we're married so we can go to the dam together:)
I am really hoping my meeting starts at 9:30 and not 9. It's a staff meeting, and we haven't had one for 3 weeks. I'm too lazy to go to my car outside and check my corgi planner in the trunk.
When we made it back home (this was the night of the torrential, non-stop rains) I "saved our block of houses in our neighborhood" with DH's help. I initiated a storm sewer clean-up which entailed scooping out all the wet fallen leaves from the drainage so our street wouldn't flood. I was up to my elbow in such gook and one of the drainage things was plugged, so we fixed it. There was no flooding on our streets because we saved our block.
Knitting. What is that again? Well, every now and then I get a round or two done on my sock, but it's not for lack of desire. I have been a BUSY girl! This weekend DH and I are leading worship at a camp (the camp where my crush on him intensified while doing said activity a few years ago). This year I get to bring him to the dam. I'm excited. I wanted to do it back then, but the timing wasn't right. Now, we're married so we can go to the dam together:)
I am really hoping my meeting starts at 9:30 and not 9. It's a staff meeting, and we haven't had one for 3 weeks. I'm too lazy to go to my car outside and check my corgi planner in the trunk.
Monday, October 03, 2005
oral exam tomorrow for grad school!!
Tomorrow is the day- think of me from 1:30-3:00pm when I will be sitting in the faculty office at school with two instructors GRILLING ME on my thesis, and everything I learned while at grad school. I did have a study session with a friend to prepare for it, but that was awhile ago. Just to reduce some of my anxiety I will take another look over my notes.
This past weekend I was in upper penisula Michigan for a wedding. Wow is it a trek to get there! The wedding was held outside on basketball courts, looking into the sun. It was 71 or so out there, so it was nice and warm. We stayed at the camp, and did the camplife thing. That includes eating campy food, staying in a dorm-like room in a lodge, and showering in camp-style water. The water smelled like iron and sulfur. I was overjoyed to shower at DH's aunt and uncle's house while passing by on the way back. I exited the car and said to them, "Your house is my sanctuary" or something like that as it too is snuggled into the wilderness, but full of things that make me feel at home (like chai, gardens, and the best shower I've ever experienced).
Let me tell you about the shower. It was a gray Kohler, shiny sparkling clean like new, and it had a light in it. Yes- you could actually see what was going on in there! It was awesome. And its water was thick and soft all at once. I used it twice. Once on the way there when we stopped to sleep mid-way to MI, and on the way back. Both times it was hard to leave the warm refuge.
But back to reality. Work today, and I plan to make squash and tomato soups tonight. I haven't cooked for way too long, and I have lots of tomatos to use from my mother and father in law's garden. Speaking of them, they were kind enough to submit their house and weekend to our two doggies. Both weasel and buster said thankyou and that they had a great time. They are pretty tired now, and we like that too.
This past weekend I was in upper penisula Michigan for a wedding. Wow is it a trek to get there! The wedding was held outside on basketball courts, looking into the sun. It was 71 or so out there, so it was nice and warm. We stayed at the camp, and did the camplife thing. That includes eating campy food, staying in a dorm-like room in a lodge, and showering in camp-style water. The water smelled like iron and sulfur. I was overjoyed to shower at DH's aunt and uncle's house while passing by on the way back. I exited the car and said to them, "Your house is my sanctuary" or something like that as it too is snuggled into the wilderness, but full of things that make me feel at home (like chai, gardens, and the best shower I've ever experienced).
Let me tell you about the shower. It was a gray Kohler, shiny sparkling clean like new, and it had a light in it. Yes- you could actually see what was going on in there! It was awesome. And its water was thick and soft all at once. I used it twice. Once on the way there when we stopped to sleep mid-way to MI, and on the way back. Both times it was hard to leave the warm refuge.
But back to reality. Work today, and I plan to make squash and tomato soups tonight. I haven't cooked for way too long, and I have lots of tomatos to use from my mother and father in law's garden. Speaking of them, they were kind enough to submit their house and weekend to our two doggies. Both weasel and buster said thankyou and that they had a great time. They are pretty tired now, and we like that too.
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