~ the blacklist ~

For all of you who have been anxiously awaiting another thrilling post about bicycle riding, I am sorry to disappoint. You see, Josh and I had been planning a ride up near Idaho City on some fire roads, but then it rained. Due to the infrequency of rain and the quantity of this particular rain, we had to abort the mission. At about 8:30 on Saturday morning, I texted Josh to see if he would be interested in a Nampa experience instead. Affirmative.

Around noonish, we loaded our persons into the automotive vehicle and went to Nampa. What fun! As it was around noonish, we were both in the mood for a nutritional supplement. Somewhere along the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard, we stopped at a joint called "Blazin' Burgers" and we each procured and subsequently consumed a 'blazin' burger'. Instead of normal fries, I opted to spend an additional $0.60 for the sweet potato fries. Yum! While we were waiting for our food, we noted a number of religious prayers, psalms, and other sayings posted around the place. From this we deduced that the owners were believers. After wolfing down our yummy nonsecular food, we went over to the Flying M Coffee Garage for some coffee and mental contemplation. I believe that we also conversed about topics of great import. We each had two entire cups of joe which caused us to feel a little jittery and over-caffinated. After the second cup of joe, we decided to stroll around downtown Nampa. The rain had temporarily subsided and it was quite pleasant out. We ended up spending a bit of time and money at this new clothing shop, which of course I totally forget the name of...something like the White Pine... The shop featured affordable fair trade and organic clothing, and we both found its selection quite fashionable. Because I am a seasoned shopper, I went directly to the Sale Rack and located some discounted items. During my browsing, I noticed that the shop was selling Toms. Many moons ago, I bought a pair of Toms and have really loved them. Unfortunately, they didn't sell very well and the store ceased to carry them. Which lamed me out because I have wanted another pair. It also lamed out Josh because he has been wanting a pari. So of course, we both went bananas over the Toms. As my previous pair were brown corduroys, I decided to go with something a little more silly. Here they are on some astroturf....

The duration of my weekend consisted of mellow social engagements and BBQs. I attended two BBQs in a single weekend and ate a month's supply of protein and yellow mustard. Also, beer. A BBQ on Friday evening at Amy's featured the cute puppy being extremely ornery, which I was relieved he had gotten out of his system by Sunday morning when Amy and I took him for a pleasant hike in the foothills. Of note on that hike is that we saw a unicycling mountain biker, which I thought was pretty impressive. I've heard about people who mountain bike on unicycles and have seen photos on the blessed internet, but never witnessed it in reality. It was very cool! The other BBQ was at Elizabeth's on Saturday night and it was very mellow. To Elizabeth's chagrin, the torrential rain had pretty much ruined her plans of being outside and the barometric pressure had caused everyone to feel particularly subdued.

The remainder of this post will focus on my latest knitting adventures.

To begin, I am compelled to go on and on about my failure at being a library user. I blame the hours of operation, as the library seems to never be open when I feel like going...like, 2:00 a.m. This is similar to my feelings about going to the gym. I don't understand why more establishments aren't open 24 hours a day, that would be a really good idea and I'm certain would not be an inefficient use of resources. Of course, several of my friends are frequent library users and they occasionally opt to tell me about their latest library borrowings. One friend in particular has borrowed a number of knitting books containing patterns I would like to get my hands on but haven't been able to justify purchasing the entire book. Now, I remember scouring the library's knitting books a few years ago and determed that the selection was total crap. And I haven't really been back. But from what I gather from aforementioned friend, apparently there has been some book acquisitions of the knitting variety in the past several years. Who would've known!!!

Over the weekend, I took some time out of my day to peruse the library's online catalog, and noted a number of titles which I am extremely interested in. My primary interest is a book which I believe is out of print (because the general asking price for used copies is around $220) but contains some intricate stranded designs, called Norsk-Strikkedesign. Contained within its pages is a pattern called 'Season of Darkness and Winter Light' (it is the design featured in the cover photo) and it is one of those designs that makes knitting seem magical. I am thrilled to tell you that I have placed a hold on the book, and am so excited about borrowing it (hopefully in a few weeks).

Speaking of stranded knitting, I am slowly making headway on my Selbu mittens.

For reasons of wanting to avoid the 'second mitten curse' and of wanting to knit matching mittens, I am knitting both mittens concurrently. So obviously, I have twice the knitting completed as featured in the above photo. I have temporarily set the mittens aside, however, so that (1) I can practice my stranded knitting, and (2) to acquire a certain gadget. After all, stranded knitting takes skill. Skill which I currently lack. In my previous stranded projects, I have employed the "drop and grope" method, which is a good method to use if you like knitting to be slow and tedious. It's also a good method if you prefer to have really bad tension. So clearly, I am in the market for improved skills.

Before I really get going, I'd like to mention that I've found a lot of really helpful information about stranded knitting on this blog. If you scroll down, on the right sidebar there is a section where she has compiled her posts about techniques. For anyone else who is a novice strander, I would highly recommend them.

To acquire better stranded skills, I have taken up a new project with easy colorwork (see below). I had been practicing the two handed method, but have frustratingly concluded that I am the opposite of ambidexterous. As a result, I am practicing a number of single-handed methods, some of which are working out for me better than others. In my reading about technique, I have stumbled upon a yarn guide gadget. While it is normally used by continental knitters, I have learned that some throwers (like myself) have had great success with it. And so, I have set down my Selbu mittens until the arrival of my yarn guide in the mail.

The project that I am currently working on is my Tweedy Waistjacket. The yarn is the Jo Sharp I bought in Seattle, which I have tried working for a number of projects but have not found anything very suitable until now. The pattern is in the Fall '08 issue of Interweave Knits, and I am delighted at how perfect it is for this yarn. It shows off the tweediness of the yarn quite well. Also, this is one of the faster projects I've worked on in some time.

I'm sorry to leave you all hanging with such an incredibly brief and short post. I know that you were hoping I'd write at length about all of these rather insignificant topics, but I clearly just don't have it in me. I wish that I could just go on an on, until most of you cease skimming this post and just close your browser, but obviously I am in the mood for sticking to the point and not rambling on about whatever comes to mind. Until next time...

Posted by jennifer at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ bruised apple ~

I finished my first pair of mittens this weekend. They are the "Yellow Harvest" mittens from the Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden (the same yarn from a scarf I knat a few months ago, which I ended up not liking very much...so I harvested the yarn to knit up my "Noro Harvest" mittens). As far as a pattern for first-mittens goes, this is a good one - - well written with several nice details that are fun to work. Morning temperatures have recently dipped into the chilly zone for my walk to work, and so I have had the opportunity to wear these mittens both yesterday and today and have found them lovely.

In mountain biking news, I have been getting in a lot of riding now that the weather is cooling off. Last Friday, Josh and I rode a most awesome foothills 'loop' - - up Bogus Basin, up Corralls, up Scott's , down Scott's, down Trail 4, and down Crestline/Kestrel. The ride was somewhat monumental for me, signifying that I am overcoming my fears about steep drop-offs. I don't believe I wrote about this, but last year when I had the bike with the grabby breaks that exacerbated many of my fears about steepness, heights, and drop-offs, Josh and I went on a ride on Scott's Trail and I experienced something of a total panic attack about the drop-off along a steeper part of the trail. As this year is a different year, with a different bike, and a different attitude, I have been feeling very accomplished at overcoming my fears and anxieties - - which is particularly significant because so much of mountain biking is about mental attitude. I've been riding trails which I had become rather wimpy about, and challenging myself on much more technical terrain, discovering that most of the time, things just LOOK hard, and that when I relax and pedal/roll over something, I find that it is much easier than expected. So anyway, Scott's trail was the final test to myself that I am totally OVER the crashes and negative mental attitudes that got me down last year. To clarify, there's nothing about Scott's that is really hard (it's a nice intermediate trail) but a few sections of trail had qualities that would freak me out. Anyway, so on Friday when we were doing our awesome loop, I was mentally preparing myself to ride down Scott's. I kept giving myself all kinds of encouragement, reminding myself that I've ridden much more difficult trails, and that this was nothing, NOTHING to get a panic attack about. And as I was descending, I told myself to focus on the trail, relax, breath...and I kept thinking that the scary sections of the trail must be around the next turn, so I stayed relaxed, breathed, and focused on the trail in front of me. I was still expecting the scary section of the trail to be around the next turn when I realized that I had made it to the bottom. HUH? The trail on which I had experienced a panic attack, I had now ridden without a single hesitation. I am serious when I argue that mountain biking is primarily about mental attitude, and secondarily about fitness. After descending Scott's, there was still a LOT of downhill left, and I had a blast bonzaiing down the mountains.

On Saturday, we returned to the Owyhees and tried to ride from 'our parking space' to Succor Creek. The previous weekend when we went out there, we encountered a couple on an ATV picking up litter, and had a conversation about how some of the roads we were riding would take a person out to Succor Creek. And so this weekend, we tried to do just that. Of course, I had gotten all complacent in the cooler temperatures and convinced Josh that it would be okay if we left in the afternoon, rather than bright and early in the morning. BAD MOVE. Aside from being a bit on the hot side, I found the roads a tad sandier than I prefer. It was still very ridable, just took a bit more effort to plow through. Before I would feel comfortable giving it an official review, however, I think I need to ride it again. I realize that my being kinda too hot was detrimental to my fully appreciating the ride - - also, I now realize that I did not consume many calories during the lengthy ride, and so I possibly lacked energy that I might have had if I had been more responsible with my caloric intake.

So, it takes about an hour to drive out to 'our parking spot' in the Owyhees. Since joining the modern era with the acquisition of my iPod, I have placed all of my compact discs into a compact disc book-holder-deal, which I have placed in my car (for, you know, road trips). Despite the plethora of music available during this particular road trip, Josh and I opted to listen to the Flight of the Conchords cd THREE TIMES IN A ROW. Needless to say, we have since had the catchy tunes stuck in our heads. In fact, I am pretty much in a constant state of mentally huming the tunes to myself, both awake and asleep, and it is kind of annoying.

Posted by jennifer at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ fall preview ~

This is the latest version of my garden scarf. On its previous incarnation, the center cable panel went the way of the beast and I felt compelled to rechart the blasted thing. While I was bothering to frog, I took the opportunity to cast on for an additional cable panel at either end of the scarf, hence making it W I D E .

As scarves are a regular component of my wardrobe, even in the summer (what with the crazy air conditioning action at my place of employment), I find great joy in having a variety of fashionable scarves from which to select for my daily outfit. To add to the joy, knitting a few scarves a year... Many of you should have noted (what with my constant mentioning of it) that I have become more interested in cables this year. Previously in my scarf history, I was of the rather staunch opinion that scarves ought to be reversible - - and this limited my cabling engagement on scarves, as the options for reversible cables are few. More recently I have discontinued my preference for reversible scarves, and this has opened my scarf world to inifinite and exciting possibilities.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

Below, a preview of Inishfern. A few finishing touches remain to be completed. One, that bad crocheted buttonband that I mentioned....needs to be redone. It is much too bad. Considering the badness of the crochet, I may opt to pick up and knit some buttonholes. This may prove to be my best option, especially to counter what I fear may be too much negative ease at the top.

I wore Inishfern all day yesterday and it was lovely. It fits just the way I wanted, it is wonderfully comfortable, and looks pretty and attractive. You will note the asymetrical neckline, of which I have become quite fond. And the sleeves, which you cannot really discern from the photo, are mostly straight - - not tappered, not bell - - and I love them. Per my joy of cables, this is cables upon cables and cables fusing with other cables. However, I do not feel the cables are over done as can happen when cables are allowed to take over and go totally bananas. Cables, love them, but keep them in check.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

I would like to conclude this thrilling post with a list of projects for which I plan to cast on this fall.

• First and foremost, Brooklyntweed's Druid Mittens. Sigh... I have almost decided which yarn to employ - - a deep-red wool from my stash that I recycled from a thrift store sweater. Although, I may crumble at the beauty of that Jamison shetland wool and throw down the dollars. These would be my first adventure into mittens, and if they go well, I envision myself knitting a lot of mittens.
• I have found Brooklyntweed to design some nice manly items, and so I am planning on knitting the Turn a Square hat for the SO. I have no idea what yarn to use - - as knitted gifts for the SO must be both machine washable and machine dryable.
• And, if I can get up the guts for steeks, Little Birds by Ysolda.

There are plenty of other ideas for improvised projects - - legwarmers, more top-down seamless raglans - - but these are specific patterns which I have a mind to follow.

Fall is around the corner. With it comes school and less time to knit, but more time to enjoy what I knat over summer break.

Posted by jennifer at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ le merde *EDIT* ~

Really, truely, I have no idea why my grand mind is unable to wrap itself around lace. And this is an easy lace pattern. Those of you who scrutinized the previous photo of my shawl were undoubtedly horrified by all of the mistakes. I have since unravelled the whole thing for about the fifth time. And behold, my sixth revision of the Swallotail Shawl. At this juncture, I'm wondering if lace does not go well with beer. I know, I know, how can something not 'go well' with beer??? I, too, am shocked by my statement. I also expect that some of you may wish that I had provided a photo that more clearly depicted the knitting, instead of this one, which shows the lace all bunched up in an indiscernable glob. Normally, knitters tend to want to show off their handiwork, allowing the details to stand out for appreciation.

**EDIT** Gar! Over my noonhour, I brought out the knitting in the hopes of completing a few more rows. Upon completing the second row, I noticed that I had dropped a stitch on the previous row. As any lace knitter should know, dropping a stitch in lace has far-reaching and disasterous consequences. This is to say that I did not merely drop ONE stitch, but the stitch that was dropped had knitted THREE stitches together, and those three stitches were also not composed of a single knit. There is a HUGE hole running down the whole damn shawl. As I can't bear the thought of casting on yet again, I am forfeiting this entire project. Polka Dot Jersey be damned. This project, while most certainly easy for others, has been the antithesis of everything that I find good and joyful about knitting. I am eager to resume work on my fugly Kaffe Fassett-inspired skirt (I am calling it Oolong), or to begin an entirely new project. **END EDIT**

Speaking of beer, I've recently discovered a new favorite brew, the Anderson Valley Summer Solstice which is fantastic. Their Boont Amber is good as well, but the Solstice is truely delictable! Additionally, as evidenced by that above photo, I only recently realized that Mothership Wit is organic.

In life news, I've had a number of fun time adventures recently which I should really get around to aknowledging on the internet. Firstly, a shout out to good friends! I've been spending a lot of time with friends recently which has been lovely. I believe that I mentioned the pool party that was had a few weeks ago - - thanks to Amy for instigating that one. A few weekends ago, Leah and I hiked the Polecat Trails. This past weekend, much fun was had during the 4th of July in which a number of people gathered to watch the City's fireworks display at the park. Elizabeth and Edvin met Josh and I for beers (see above: Anderson Valley Summer Solstice) and then Josh's mom joined us for a bike ride to the park. Ah yes! Josh's mom is in town and because Josh is always working to promote the way of the bicycle, he convinced her to buy a bike! (How she'll get it back to Arkansas, I have no idea)

Then, last Saturday, Josh, Josh's mom, and I took a trek up to Idaho City for the day. Photos from that adventure are available on my Idaho City Photoset. We had a pleasant time walking all around the town and exploring. One noteworthy event was when we were exploring some rusted machinery from the mining era and we found a snake in the process of defecating! It was both fascinating and gross all at the same time. We also had the opportunity to watch a Fast Draw competetion.

Posted by jennifer at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ knews ~

First and foremost, I am currently participating in my very first knitalong. Those of you knon-knitters out there may ask, "What is a knitalong?" In a nutshell, it is when one knits along with others. This particular knitalong is themed after the Tour de France and everyone is assigned to teams that correspond to the actual teams in the Tour. I, for example, have been assigned to Team Silence-Lotto, which obliges me to root for one of the more attractive riders - - Go Robbie! In addition, the knitters are grouped into classifications to determine their knitting project. One of the organizers has developed some nice artwork for the knitters to display their classification (see below). I have the polka dot jersey classification, which stipulates that I must do a challenging knitting project involving a new skill.

For my project, I have chosen the Swallotail Shawl, which was to be an ode to the interplay between bicycle and rider, with each yarn over representing the ticking over of another pedal stroke (or something cheesey like that). Lace (beyond a four row repeat) is very challenging for me. On Saturday, I cast on using Classic Elite Silky Alpaca lace yarn. It's caused me a number of headaches - - I've cast on, ripped out, re-cast on many many times. I even tried another (thicker) yarn, thinking it was the yarn's fault (not mine). Alas, it was not the yarn's fault. I even contemplated casting on an entirely different project. For me, this project has become my own personal Alpe d’Huez. blech.

In other knews, I have completed my first thrift store sweater recycling. From Goodwill, I located this XL-size Alfani sweater for $2.50. The fiber content is nothing spectacular, a cotton-nylon blend, but it was mostly for practice. For anyone who is interested in this process, I would HIGHLY recommend a thorough reading of the online tutorial. For me, this was good practice - - I experienced a bit of frustration that could have been avoided, had I engaged in a more thorough reading of the tutorial. But there was considerable learning involved and I am confident that this will be a good method for me to continue with my knitting hobby without breaking the bank. Below are photos depicting the sweater sections, unraveling the sweater onto my new swift, the ramen-noddley yarn before dunking it into water, hanging the yarn with some weight to get the kinks out, and finally, my three 'cakes' of yarn ready for knitting! I would have four cakes, but one ramen-noddley yarn section became much too tangled and I was forced to throw it away in complete irritation (see above, thorough reading of the online tutorial to avoid aggravation).

In other FOs, I recently finished my Logan River Scarf knit with the glorious Noro Silk Garden. Silk Garden is lovely. I was delighted to locate three skeins in the same colorway that had somewhat subdued colors.

And finally, I have fixed the error in my Ruffled Jacket. Josh was kind enough to take this very awesome photo of it.

Posted by jennifer at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

~ young grasshopper ~

In anticipation of my upcoming mountain bike race, I took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and practiced riding the race course three times - - on Friday and Sunday with Josh, and Saturday with another female mountain biker. While I am not exactly in top riding form, what with all of the not-biking I've been doing, I managed to greatly impress myself this weekend - - primarily in the way of taking in a deep breath and riding those sections of the course that caused me to hesitate out of fear. Those shots above depict exactly that - - sections that I had to work up some guts to ride. Naturally, the photos don't do justice to the actual trail conditions - - I felt as though I was surmounting one ginormous challenge after another.

The first two photos are essentially the same. They show me riding a part of the trail that was very sandy, somewhat steepish, with a tight downhill swooping turn to the left. I took in a number of deep breaths in an attempt to get the guts to ride this - - what I continue to learn after successfully riding obstacles that make me hesitate is that most of the time these obstacles look worse on the approach than they actually are. I hiked myself back up to the top of this part of the trail several times to try and try again - - and as I was finally riding down the length of the trail, I had to scream because I was so excited that the trail was FUN and not horrid and scary. Imagine that! Something that appeared terrifying was loads of FUN!

The third photo depicts me overcoming one of my biggest fears - - drop offs. This particular one begins with a little uphill jaunt over some boulders and then a few step-steps down, all the while with the trail sloping towards the drop off. I successfully took in deep breaths and rode it three times, having fun each time, feeling very accomplished - - though, the deep breath was still very necessary even on the third time.

The fourth photo probably doesn't look like anything. And it's not, really. It's simply the epitome of a scary-looking approach that turns into no big deal to ride. What it was, was a steepish downhill with a sloping trail with lots of loose stuff on the top. But what it really was, was a really fun section leading into a superfast awesome fun downhill.

Anyway, the full course is 10.5 miles and I felt pretty good riding all of it this weekend. I've still got a few more weekends to practice before the race. Speaking of the race, I have absolutely no idea what to expect out of myself. My athletic competition history is virtually none. Though, in middle school, I was on a volleyball team - - we didn't win a single game, so I have a lot of experience being a good loser. Actually, what I gleaned from that experience was to not take athletic competition seriously. So this race, I'm doing it as a goal for myself - - but I have no idea what my attitude will be during the race. Anyway, this year I'm hoping to jump up to the next skill level of biking, and I feel that so far I've done a splendid job of that.

In other news, a photo of my Textured Tunic - - of which I am very fond. I've worn it several times and I love the way that it hangs, I love the feeling of the cotton, and I find it simply attractive.

Then, one of my current projects: Iceland. Here's the start of the sleeve. The yarn is surprisingly easy to work with, despite some reviews that it tends to split, and it is quite soft. I also like the color a lot. The leafy pattern is remarkably userfriendly, even though its a 20 row lace pattern. I began the Iceland about four days ago, so it appears to be a relatively quick knit. Of course, by yesterday, I was needing some good ol' stockinette to relax me away from the lace. So I began another top-down raglan...it will be very similar to the Tunic above, but I'm working it in some fine alpaca and will incorporate some cabling.

Posted by jennifer at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Neaty ~

Finished my Neaty and I love it. As I indicated previously, there was a bit of a snafu with the blocking, but I was able to correct that - - one of the glories of yarn, if you ask me. At any rate, I've worn my Neaty both yesterday and now today, apparently it's my new favorite garment, and I'm delighted with how cozy and comfy it is, the yarn is super soft. While I did not follow the pattern from Rowan hardly at all, I feel that the end product contains the 'spirit and intent' of Neaty, even though the process to arrive here was substantially different.

Posted by jennifer at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ my merry way ~

I engaged in a substantial amount of knitting this weekend, finally completing an entire sleeve. Woo-wee! From this experience, I can assertively state that I am a novice sleeve knitter. I wish that I could spend a week experimenting with different types of sleeves to determine my preference. For the sleeve on my Neaty, I had a vision of knitting it in a certain way that I found difficult to reconcile in practice. I engaged in A LOT of research on sleeve construction and was not able to locate a method that corresponded to my vision. And so, I kept trying over, and over, and over. I'm quite please with what I've come up with, even though my shaping is extremely pronounced - - I think it looks good when worn over an actual shoulder. Below is a detail - - please note, I stuffed the shoulder with some socks, which does not accurately represent the shape or fit. More photos are available on my flickr page.

Regarding the yarn, I don't normally go for self-striping yarn, but the Berroco Jasper is simply glorious. The yarn, however, does not maintain a consistent thickness. According to Berroco, this adds a uniqueness to the knitted garment. I, however, feel that it makes some parts in my knitting appear to have mistakes. Am wondering if a good dose of blocking will settle it down. The ribbing, as I've mentioned, is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and even though I don't excell at matching, I'm pleased at how much the yarns compliment each other.

In other news, I am ready for cycling season! Over the weekend, I brought my road bike over to Josh's place and we did some spinning on his trainers while watching crime shows. It was fun and all, but does nothing to compare to an actual ride. I've been keeping myself up at night fantasizing about all of the mountain biking I'll get to do on my new bike. Josh and I have been discussing possible vacations for this year and many of our discussions have centered around mountain bike-focused trips. I just keep thinking about my favorite road rides, my favorite trails, and all of the possibilities for discovering more biking adventures...it is very exciting!

Posted by jennifer at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD ~

At this particular moment, I feel inclined to share my opinion on what I feel is a bit of a travesty - - when men opt to grow their facial hair in a manner akin to pubic hair. Now, as a woman, I have often thought about all of those things that I physically cannot do...such as grow facial hair. That particular aspect of my physiology I have frequently been bummed about. After all, I feel that I would look quite dashing with some sideburns and a handlebar moustache. At the same time, I am of the opinion that there are a number of men in this world who abuse the privilege of facial hair. For example, if you scroll to the bottom of this page, you will notice a male who has what appears to be a full bush growing out of his face. In fact, it reminds me of that episode of "Sex and the City" when Samatha decides to "grow it out" because "Smith likes a full bush" and she discovers a grey hair and decides to dye it blond. The hair piece that was designed specifically for that episode looks exactly like the thing growing on that guy's face. Not to judge or anything, but my own personal opinion is that men take way too many liberties with the "goatee" and perhaps the best advice would be to just avoid it all together. In fact, I would go so far as to assert that a general rule of thumb for facial hair would be to avoid anything that makes you look like you have a 'full bush' growing out of your face.

In other news, when I'm not knitting or doing school work, I've been reading Real Food. And it's pretty interesting. It contains a number of bodacius claims which I'm eating up (pun intended) like they were butter. Speaking of butter, eat it. Also, grass fed cows, eat those too. The author has a pretty interesting website as well.

In my world of knitting, there's been a change of plans for the cardigan that I'm working on. My new plan involves knitting it entirely without seams. I've been doing some reading about seamless knitting (particularly in the way of sleeves). This is new territory for me and it's quite exciting. It seems as though most of the techniques involve knitting a sweater from the top down, so this will likely be a bit of an experiment. At any rate, so far this project is going very well.

Posted by jennifer at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

~ scattered paper ~

I am in need of the proverbial vacation. The good news is that all of my overtime will be resulting in some extra spending money for this holiday season. The lame news is that I have no time for spending my hard earned money. I have been consistently arriving at work an hour or two early and leaving an hour or two late, I worked the recent holiday and I worked over the weekend. In addition to feeling as though I spend all of my time in the office, I have not had any interest in spending what little free time I have on school. On Sunday, I got into the office at 6 o'clock in the morning and worked non-stop until some time in the afternoon. For the rest of the day, I felt as though I had spent an extended period of time in the presence of some dementors - - what with feeling as though I would never feel joy or happiness again. I was pretty down. That evening, I watched Hotel Rwanda and had a little dose of perspective.

Over the weekend, I did finally finish my revision of the Nantucket Jacket. While I am not 100% satisfied with the way that it fits, I am very very very satisfied with it. As you may recall, I opted to transform it into a pullover and to make it more fitted. I also installed a different collar and made the sleeves full-length. Here I am modeling it, please disregard the strange buldge in the elbow.

I've finally taken a moment to upload some photos onto flickr. As you peruse them, you'll undoubtely note that they have no rhyme or reason.

Posted by jennifer at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ on gloriousness ~

Despite my busyness, recently I've made time for knitting. Months ago, I "briefly mentioned" how I was going to rework the Nantucket Jacket and, well, I'm still working on it. Sweaters can take a bit of work, especially if they have a somewhat elaborate stitch pattern. Anyway, I've become a bit more enthused about my subscription to Netflix (perhaps it's due to the change in weather?) and have been ending the day by cuddling up in my big poofy chair watching some thrilling thing. Last night, I watched the National Geographic version of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which I thought was very interesting. As I always say, "why read the book when you can netflix the movie." But back to knitting. Sometimes I get a bit stressed out knitting sweaters because there's so much pressure to get the construction and the fit right. At the moment, I'm almost finished with the first sleeve. And for some time, I've been wondering if I knat the sleeve poorly with regards to being able to properly attach to the body of the sweater. In the latest issue of Interweave Knits, which I received in mailbox over the weekend, there's a very interesting article about sleeve construction, which I would recommend to any other OCD knitters. So yea, been thinking alot about sleeves. Last night, while I was being intellectually stimulated about why inequality exists, I decided to attach the sleeve to the sweater even though I was not done knitting the sleeve. For whatever reason, I decided to knit the sleeve, contrary to the instructions, from the shoulder to the cuff. After carefully attaching it to the rest of the sweater, I was pleasantly surprised that it was perfect! So now I can continue knitting the rest of the sleeves without anxiety.

Anyhoot, there is additional cause to celebrate in my world (I know, I know - - I, too, have difficulty believing that there is more to life than knitting, but trust me on this one) because I recently had the very rare experience of seeing the candidates for whom I voted actually win the election. Even though there was never much of a chance that they would not win, it is still very exciting for me because I usually vote for losers. On election night, Josh and I popped by the Basque Center to see all of the Democrats congregating around the mayor and city council members and it reminded me of the night, several years ago, when he and a few other local law makers I had voted for won, and how amazing and wonderful it was. Brings tears to my eyes just to think of how awesome it is when progressive individuals can win elections in such a conservative state.

Posted by jennifer at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ the mean tambourine ~

I absorbed a bit too much sun this weekend during the annual beer and bicycle festival. The intoxicating effects of the sun most likely were responsible for inducing me to volunteer to participate in a bicycle race that involved costumery and public displays of sillyness. As my team member was adorning me in a mullet wig and applying mascara to my face in the form of masculine facial hair, I almost fell off of the podium and blamed my imbalance on the multitude of beers I had consumed, which resulted in laughs from the contest coordinators. I also acquired numerous bumps and bruises on my person as a result of my intoxicated efforts to master all of the kooky custom bicycles available. Luckily, I do not have testicles.

In other news, over the weekend I netflixed the film "The Fountainhead" by mistake when I actually meant to netflix "The Fountain." What is up with me and my mixing up of titles.? sheesh! So, I snuggled up with some knitting last night, anticipating some sexy shirtless scenes of Hugh Jackman, and found myself viewing an Ayn Rand adaptation. God, Ayn Rand...blech. Anyway, I'm enjoying the film much more than I was expecting. I only made it through about halfway due to its length conflicting with my bedtime. And even though the sweaty bulging muscles of Gary Cooper in the quary aren't quite as suggestive as a ripped hairy chest, I'm looking forward to finishing the movie this evening.

Speaking of knitting, you may or may not recall my knitting a certain Nantucket Jacket, and how much joy I found in that project. THE ONE THING has been that I haven't really cared for the way that it fit on my person. I recently finished knitting my latest project and found myself at a loss about my next project. I gave some reflection to the Nantucket Jacket, remembered both how much I enjoyed working on it and how much I dislike the fit, and I decided to unravel it and knit it again. I spent a good chunck of time redesigning the pattern, deciding to work it in the round, making it a pullover instead of a cardigan, making it much more fitted instead of loose and baggy, with long sleeves instead of three-quarter length, and with a completely different neckline.

And finally...I get to go back to school tomorrow. I'm not exactly thrilled by the impending constraints on my time, but I'm looking forward to the intellectual stimulation and the possibility of blending of my work with my school.

Posted by jennifer at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

~ disappointment on my knitted brow ~

At the moment, I am super excited about all of these items which I lack the time to pursue. For a time, I have been working on the Nantucket Jacket which I started working on strong, but have had to place aside for days (and weeks) at a time for work and school. I've recently had an opportunity to take up the needles again, and I must say!, this is a very fun pattern to work on. The pattern has enough going on with it that it is plenty interesting and fun, what with the alternating cables and lacework, but is simple enough that I do not have to constantly be reading the pattern. Which is another way of saying that I have had the opportunity to watch numerous quality episodes of Star Trek: the Next Generation. Nevertheless, I still have to finish my two sleeves and then must learn some basic crochet skillz for the edging.

I have also been excited about being able to do some bicycling. Unfortunately, the weather has not been consistently glorious and I've gone to the gym a few more times than I would prefer. Also, I have been a bit disappointed in this female-only mountain biking group with whom I am aligned. There has been nary a group-ride scheduled and I continue to desire more estrogen on my mountain bike rides. I have exchanged several emails with the female who shares my given name, who I went road biking with several times last year, and we are trying to schedule a tough girls mountain bike ride, but scheduling has proven to be an issue. Also, I have received some good news and some not-wonderful news regarding my acquisition of a full suspension mountain bike. The good news is that the bicycle shop owners were feeling particularly generous and have offered to let me buy the bike at an incredible deal. The not-wonderful news is that somehow the bicycle is not currently available and it might be a whole entire MONTH until I can get it. I know, I know! A month! I, too, have no idea how I'm going to survive what I have determined to be approximately thirty days! I mean, what am I supposed to do? Ride the perfectly servicible bike that I've been riding for two years??? I AM NOT A BARBARIAN!

On the other hand, I don't really have time (or, I shouldn't have the time) to do these and other things that I would like to...what with the whole school thing. Boy, am I looking forward to summer break! The best part about school is not being in it! I know that I'm only taking two classes, but trying to have a quality life balance and working full time plus is a challenge. Additionally, I'm simply not all that excited about being a student. I mean, it's neat in some ways, and my program is much more interesting than I was expecting, but I feel very OVER being a student. I hypothesize that my undergraduate experience totally burned me out from academia and I feel very DONE with the whole thing. Of course, part of the problem is that I've got something of a Type A personality and I simply have to do my best in everything that I do. Oh sure, I'm pleased that on all three of the research papers so far this semester that I received the highest grade in the class and the professors were just RAVING about how good they were, but the process that it took to do so well on those papers involved a drastic reduction in the quality of my personal life. Not that I don't think it's great fun to get up at 4:00 a.m. to work on my paper for four hours before going to work and then working on my paper again when I arrive home from work until midnight for a week and a half...but lately I've been reconsidering the important things in life and at the end of the day I don't think that getting the highest grade in the class is meaningful or indicative of a quality existence. Rather, a measure of quality existence would probably involve the successful achievement of qualitative happiness along a moment-to-moment continuum. The happiness that I felt at finding out my paper grade was significantly less happiness than if I had had some fun and enjoyable experiences during the week and a half that I spent writing the infernal thing. And the same thing goes for how I've been handling my work load at the job. In essence, I should abandon my Type A need for perfection and get a life.

Posted by jennifer at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ Knitting Red Caplet & Bicycle Hat ~

Two knitting projects - which I completed months ago - that I wanted to direct everyone's attention to are a red caplet that I made from a pattern in this book and a bicycle hat that I knat during my trip to Portland from a pattern that I developed all by myself. The red caplet isn't anything astonishing, but I did thoroughly enjoy knitting it. It's made from some cheapo very soft and snuggly TLC Amore yarn and on my person, looks something like this

While I was in Portland several months ago, I visited this amazing yarn shop adjacent to a coffee shop, devoted entirely to the practice of knitting. In a bin, I located two shades of green Peruvian merino wool. Because I enjoy the act of knitting and because I enjoy sitting at coffee shops, I knat this hat over the weekend at various Portland coffee shops. The bicycle pattern is fair isle and I modeled it directly from my Gary Fisher Tassajara, which explains why it looks more like a mountain bike than a generic stick figure bicycle. The next time I make one of these (and it is quite likely that I'll make a road bike version, and maybe a cruiser, tandem, unicycle - - hell, I could have a whole line of bicycle hats to sell!), I shall make the tires less pronounced.

Posted by jennifer at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Blue Caplet ~

As I have possibly mentioned previously, this was my birthday present to myself. From it, I have derived much inspiration, which has facilitated my rekindling a thrill for knitting. Based on one of the patterns, I knat this blue caplet. This is one of the catch-up blogs that I have on my list to write, as I finished this project several weeks ago (I refer you back to the GRE studying and the depression for why I haven't been posting much lately).

The project has something of a funny story. ...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I followed the directions in the book exactly, I even checked my guage (two activities which are not my forte: following directions & checking my guage), and after a couple of weeks dilligent knitting, I bound off. I had stayed up well past my senior citizen bedtime to finish the project because I was excited beyond articulation about wearing my caplet the following day. After binding off, I picked up the caplet and held it up to my shoulder area. And promptly found myself naseous...the caplet was approximately twice as wide as it should have been to fit upon my person. I sat for a time, still, thinking about my options until I decided that there was nothing to do but to unravel the entire project and begin anew. So much for following directions

I knat the entire project over, this time utilizing my tried and true technique of "guessing instead of checking", and it turned out perfectly. The caplet is wonderful. I find that it creates this amazing umbrella of warmth along my shoulders and torso, and is a fantastic layering accessory. Now I'm on a caplet kick and have several other varieties in the works.

Posted by jennifer at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Knitting Arm Warmers ~

Over the weekend, I finished a knitting project. The project was a set of arm warmers that I knat in a cheap acrylic variegated yarn. I am unsure if I shall ever wear them in public, as they make my arms look buff and wooly. Not that I am necessarily opposed to buff and wooly arms, but also the yarn I used could technically be called "ugly", and I do tend to operate my appearance in an attempt to err away from ugly. Were I to wear these appendage warmers, I sense that I must wear them in accordance with the rest of my outfit and not in vain.

The pattern is simple. I took a measurement of my upper arms, just below the shoulder, at the fattest area. This I used to plot my guage. I determined that using the particular yarn that I used, and the needles that I felt worked best with the pattern and yarn selection, that I would need to cast on 35 stitches. Thus, I cast on 35 stitches. From there, I employed "moss stitch" for roughly seven rows, at which time I switched to stockinette stitch for two rows, thereby creating a "sinching" mechanism. Thereafter, I selected a pattern from my handy Knitting Stitch Library which was compatible with my guage. I selected a pattern of diagnal rows. On hindsight, I would not recommend using this sort of pattern with this sort of project with this sort of variegated yarn. I feel that the pattern I used merely emphasizes the buffy wooly arm effects of the arm warmers, and having anything but a plain stitch pattern with a variegated yarn is just way too much to handle. I employed this diagnal row pattern until such a point that, upon holding the undone warmer against my arm, I felt it covered my arm. Then I repeated my two rows of stockinette stitch and seven rows of moss stitch. I bound off and sewed the long sides together, completing the finishing by weaving my ends in like the good little knitter that I am. I opted to forego the blocking process because I didn't feel that this was the sort of project that required a good blocking.

My thoughts on knitting appendage warmers in the future are that I would use a single colored yarn and would also use a softer yarn (though sticking with the cheap acrylic, because appendage warmers don't mean that much to me). On Saturday evening, I was at Satchel's Grill enjoying some humus and an old film they were projecting, and my knitting caught the eye of a female who became exhiliarated and we exchanged words and numbers. See, there is a reason to knit besides the experience, the enjoyment, the finished product...meeting people!

Posted by jennifer at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)