I (heart) this sock

Remember my little break down the day before my wedding? I don't either. But here is an artifact of it. It seems that on that day I cast on a sock, and knit furiously on it to expend some of my nervous energy. I even made very good progress.

Well, the other day I found that sock, and in my frustration over the never ending hat restarted work on it. It's the +3 Red Sock of Doom, AKA Hedera in Bearfoot Mountain Colors. I finished this one sock yesterday while I was dealing with the very important government stuff relating to starting my business.

Observe.I take crumby pictures, but this sock is beautiful. Perhaps when the next one is done, I'll have E take the picture.

Speaking of E, the poor guy has my cold. And I believe that I've left him alone too long while blogging here. I hear X Box, and I think a large bug just killed his Mass Effect guy.

A yarn is born

It's a birthday today, so I baked a cake.
Today the Amazing E and I took a road trip to the metropolis of Baltimore. This trip was not just for my cultural enrichment (although is was an enlightening experience, driving for the first time through the downtown of an Eastern city).

Baltimore is clearly a government oriented city. If you've ever lived in a state or national capitol or worked in a very important government job, you understand. A lot is going on, very little accomplished for all the show. As we drove into town, I understood all the indications of this; streets don't make any sense. They don't go anywhere, they are impeded by all types of fuckall, and they are lined with buildings disoriented to production. A-a-a-a-nd. The parking meters don't work. Don't ask how I know.

So I left E with the truckster and went to the state office building. After only spending a shockingly short 30 minutes in ineffectual lines, I was instructed to the correct lines where I was able to register Rock Creek Yarns as a business in the state of Maryland.

That's right. I am a business owner. Not that I yet have any wares to sell. Please look for those in about four weeks.

I'll keep you posted.

No news is, uh, no news

Every day this week, I've said to myself, "By tonight I will have done something worthy of blogging about, and I will blog." Each day I have gotten closer to my goals for this week, but not finished anything.

For example, my cold is getting better, but it is not gone.

I cast on this hat late last week thinking that I'd have it done by Sunday. Or Monday at the latest. And then it was Tuesday, and Wednesday. Now it's Thursday. You get the picture. This is the hat that never ends. I keep knitting around and around on it. I'm even doing the decreases at the top now, but I can't seem to finish it.
And then there is the yarn dying business. I think I know what we're naming it. I haven't certainly picked the name, but it really doesn't matter. At least not until tomorrow. Why? Because I can't register the business until I have an address to give them as my premises. And guess what? Until tomorrow, we are officially without a home in February. I realize this is only technical, future, and not-to-be recognized homelessness, but the fact that I do not have an address to put on the legal forms it holding things up. Friday this will be straightened out; we will sign our new lease. Then I can fill out the forms for the business, and we can move.

National Geographic and U2?

Apparently National Geographic teamed up with Bono recently and produced the first live action 3-d IMAX movie. It opened at the Smithsonian this weekend, so I took a break from knitting. (Only during the show. I knitted on the Metro and while waiting in line.) and went on a date with my husband.

This is a very good movie. It was awesome, really. I even saw another knitter there. The music is great, with the typical favorites from the War, Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby albums. It was filmed live at a concert in Argentina, and the layering of the 3D images is spectacular.

If you like U2, go to this. It's opening in other places in the US, like upstate New York on February 15th, and in the UK on the 22nd.

Beautiful things

I'm getting ready to sign off of computers and things for the evening, but first wanted to show you the beautiful things that have bloomed in our home this week.

I've done a lot of work on the Annetrelac socks. Three rows of blocks are done. I love how the yarn was spaced dyed. By some miracle, each block takes almost exactly one color repeat. The result is these nearly uniform striped blocks. This is a beautiful surprise. Wow. One of my orchids is blooming as well.
Oh. Oh. Oh. I almost forgot. The Manly Socks and Crapotee were gifts for Dad-E and Mom-E. They got them yesterday, and are tickled.

Off to finish the Shabbat cooking. I'm trying to make my own bread.

Murmers

Three kinds of news is being murmured around here. It's just not loud enough so you'd know.

First the bad news. Someone who shall remain nameless thinks I have "enough" yarn. The nameless person saw me hunting through my stash for an hour the other night while I was looking for my 9" Denise cable that I needed to start a new hat. I need a hat. I'm the only knitter on the earth without a winter hat, and my sister gave me alpaca. So there. I was going to cast on a hat. But before I could start doing that, I had to find out which UFO the cable was currently holding onto. During the hunt, I unpacked and repacked each box and bag of yarn I have. Yeah, it was in the last one. Anyway, after I found it, this person who I thought understood me so well asked two questions. The first was the afore mentioned "enough" question. The second question was, "how many projects do you have on the needles now?" I think that the answers to the two questions are self evident through circular reasoning.

Don't worry now, I still love this person. Perhaps this problem comes from the fact that his dad has a pair of custom made wool socks, and he does not. He'll change his tune when he is converted. Now, I wonder, where is my other set of size 1.5 DPN's? I have a new project I need to cast on...

The second type of news is the good news. I've found my base yarns. You may be pleased to know that I will definitely be offering a 3-ply ultramerino superwash sock yarn. I'm also thinking of a superwash/bamboo blend and alpaca in fingering weight. I'm also playing around with the laceweight and silk ideas.

This takes me to the third news. St00-pid news. This is my fault. I cannot decide on a name for my yarn, and therefore cannot file the papers. That's right. I am holding up the show. Nah. I'll blame this cold for at least a day more. grumble.

Entrelac socks. This time it's for real.

I'm really gonna finish these. I hope.

Moving around becomes difficult when fresh tissues are needed every few minutes. Oh, well. I couldn't wish for a better excuse to do a lot of knitting. I'll be better soon.Currently, I'm working on the first row of blocks. Entrelac is like magic, really. When you read a pattern, it doesn't seem like it'll work. You just have to take it on faith that it will and move forward.

I hope. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

The socks are dead, long live the socks.

Sometimes a knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do. And sometimes that means turning pretty things into gaily colored piles of ramen.
The Entrelac socks were beautiful, and I love the yarn. But the yarn is not for socks; I picked the wrong thing. Mercerized cotton socks are a bad idea. Mercerized cotton socks with yarn carried inside between entrelac blocks is a terrible idea. Live and learn, I guess. This yarn will one day be turned into something nice. Something entrelac. Just not something for wearing on the feet.

I have cast on their replacement, the Annetrelac socks. I hope these turn out more practical for wearing. Eunny's pattern for the Entrelac socks was clever and stunning, but perhaps not all that great for wearing. I mean, entrelac even on the soles? The new socks are made from one skein of yarn, and the foot part is all stockinette. They are on the needles, but I'm still working on the ribbing. So they're not anything interesting for you so see.

An idea

I was sitting around today looking at my stash and my cats and my husband when I got an idea. I've been shivering with a cold, and probably transferring my desires to others, but my idea looks something like this:I thought that maybe Scott TC would like a sweater. What else am I going to do with that crazy yarn? It would be fluffy and cute. He's almost naked and acts like he's cold this time of the year.

Don't worry too much. I'm kinda sick and have no energy to actually cast anything on. In fact, I'll probably forget all about this by tomorrow.

It's done, done I say!

So I've finally finished a Clapotis. I'll never make another. This was sort of a trial of pain and determination for me since the life sentence of the other one. For some reason, I needed to finish one, you know to prove that I could withstand it. That I was stronger than this knit.

The Crap-o-tee is not a difficult pattern. It's a very, very (seriously and dangerously) boring thing to knit. In fact, this knit was so bored that it fell asleep under my coffee table for two whole weeks nearly unnoticed.

It's a very good thing that I like the yarn so much. I had a hank of Geisha from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in my stash when the mishegas overtook me to start this project. Geisha is a Mohair/silk blend, so it's got a lovely shine and drape. It's also very soft and has a good halo effect. I'm sure this wrap will be put to good use.

One long post about one day

My trip to Chicago was short, productive, and anything but dull. You'll all be pleased to know that I successfully finished that class. It was a close call, though. I was almost late, and late means "YOU CANNOT PASS." Getting halfway across the country via air was as stupid as usual. The plane was late and my knitting caused a small uproar.

Thursday was my first practical lesson on why Chicagoans are awesome. This is not to offend non-Chicagoans, but to pay homage to all of us who are snowed upon and know how to handle it with grace. Thursday it snowed in Maryland for the first time this winter. It does snow here every winter, but not often. There was a bit more than three inches, and the result was mass hysteria. Did you know that they shut down schools for three inches of snow? Oh, and they don't seem to have plows here. Well, I have to admit an exaggeration. I saw a total of six plows on my hour and a half drive to the Baltimore airport. If it had been in any northern city of this type (Like Chicago), there would have been thousands of plow/salt trucks out removing every single flake as it fell so as not to hold up business. Chicago politicians' careers are literally made and broken on their ability to rid the streets and boulevards of snow. On that excessively long drive, many cars had to to turn around in the middle of the road because other cars that could not get up hills. I never saw so many people wide-eyed with terror since the swim portion of my last triathlon. I did make it to the airport in time for my flight, and it was late. We actually pulled away from the gate on time, but say out on the tarmac for over an hour and a half waiting for I-know-not-what. But we did get the excitement of being de-iced twice.

When I fly I am always amazed at the sensation my knitting can cause. On every flight, I get some sort of interesting attention. Most often, it's just women who saw their grandmas knitting, never learned, and are at once curious and amazed to see a young woman going at it in public. Other times, it's worried passengers wondering how the heck I got all those pointy sticks on the plane. (The TSA's guidelines allow knitting on planes, check out this link for details and recommendations.) A few are airline attendants who see KIP'ers all the time and are taking bets on what I'm making. This time, however, was unique. I had my bag seized at the security check and emptied. I was asked what all "this" was about, and explained that it was my knitting. The fortunate resolution was that the guard frowned for a moment and let me go on. Silly muggles.

My yarn and I returned to my little family here in Maryland last night in time for Shabbat dinner of fish and fattah. They were very happy to see me and the Manly Socks.E and Duncan were happy to see me.Scott TC gave me his own type of welcome home.


The Manly Socks did get finished on the plane whilst we all waited for de-icing. The Crapotee, however was not so lucky. It's close, so close, to being done torturing me.

Sheesh!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I've been trying to get my butt in gear and post (almost) every day. You'd think I would have time. Not that I don't have the time. I do. Maybe I'm lazy. Or maybe I want to say something good when I come on here.

Anyway.

I'm leaving for the Baltimore Airport in a half hour for a trip to Chicago. I'm really only going to be there for about 16 hours including sleeping. So I won't get to see anyone but Grandpa. (Hi grandpa! I'll see you tonight after class!) This trip is to be a momentous one for finishing things. One, I'm going to finish my current class. After this there will only be four more until I can get my Master's degree. Two, the manly socks will be bound off at last on the plane. Three, I expect to get done with the second crapotee by the weekend. Yay! It's been a long time since I finished something.

Other activities for this Chicago trip include casting on the Annetrelac socks tonight. I'll be using my Zen String Bambewe in Strawberry Fields. You remember this one:Pretty pretty...

And I'm going to teach a sock virgin the basics. We may have a new devotee by tonight.

Selections

A lot of my mental energy lately is involved in selecting yarns for my business. I feel like the selection of base yarns is the most important supplier decision I have to make. Specifically, I want to start with a really great sock yarn. You know the type, that perfect one. It's soft, springy, and warm. It slides through your hands and feels smooth but firm. It also blooms very prettily, creating a soft halo around your tired feet when you put them on. Ahh, the perfect sock yarn.

I've received several samples of base yarn for socks. I want superwash merino. I don't have the buying power to demand some specially spun stuff, so I have to look at what is readily available on the market. So far I've seen three. They're all the same thing really, and not what I want. So I keep digging. I know I'll find it.

As for the other yarns, I know where I'd get those. There's a mill in India that I've purchased yarn from before, and I like their products. They have single ply undyed silks for sale there. If you've been in my knitting groups, you've seen it. I've done some Kool-Aid dying before. There's also a chance that I could import recycled sari yarn directly from them if any of you are interested.

I'm very excited. This could be very cool.

Hobbit feet

E and I have been enjoying a nice weekend of sitting around the house, cleaning, and cooking. That's my favorite part of being a housewife, the cooking. Today we're making a big chicken soup while he watches the Chargers vs. Colts game. (I can't say I give two shites about football, but the Colts are clearly the enemy.) I am knitting with the downtime.

(BTW, if you can tell me how to make nice fluffy matzoh balls, I'd be forever in your debt. Mine could be used to bombard tanks.)

These manly socks are nearly done. I have to say, making socks for male Weisberg types is a lot more work than I'm used to. I have pretty small and narrow feet. A pair of socks to cover my little hooves are each about 52 stitches around and take less than 300 yards of yarn. Perhaps less than 250 yards. On the other hand, the Weisbergs have feet like Hobbits: hairy and nearly as wide as they are long. These socks are 70 stitches around and will used all of one hank of lightweight Socks That Rock.
This would seem to partially explain why hand pain is delaying the completion of these socks. The thumb problem is better most of the time, but I do notice it after an hour or more of knitting. My other problem is a third (yes, third) degree burn on my other hand that I gave myself over a week ago. It's small but very to slow heal, and will likely leave an interesting scar. I'll spare you the photo.

Like I said before, I enjoy all the cooking I've been doing.

Baby steps

I can report more progress today in all conceivable and bloggable activities.

First of all, I just came from a job interview. It seems like a low stress, low importance government job. Just what I need. And it also seems like I might get it. Yay.

Second of all, I went to the local knitting group and knitted last night. I think I even made at least one friend there. She's another string lady who is owned by Cornish Rex cats. (FYI, Scott TC is a Cornish Rex.)

Third of all is progress on the yarn dying operation. I 'm basing colorways on things I've seen in my world travels. If you want to hear something fancy, I'm finding my inspiration in the wondrous variety of creation. (blah blah, gag gag) I have noodled up about 5 colorways so far. Also, samples of sock yarn for dying arrived today. I am busily fondling them now. After I'm done with that, I will concentrate on thinking up a name and starting the legal paperwork.

Venturing out

Life is starting to become normal, or ehem, regular around here. We're settling into life here together very well. I'm even finding things to do and making friends. The Amazing E and I went to a local synagogue this past Saturday. I have to commend my husband on his bravery. The congregation is a small "conservadox" one (I am most comfortable in this setting), meaning the services are all in Hebrew. E's been to some Reform services before, but he was totally lost at this one. Also, since he was new and was wearing his fancy wedding tallit (prayer shawl), he was asked many times to read from the Torah, carry it, or otherwise participate. He handled everything magnificently, and ended up with many offers of help learning the liturgy and language so he can take part in the future. We also met another young couple who live across the road from us, and plan on having a meal with them soon. Today and tomorrow I will be further venturing out into the local world to find new and exciting adventures. This morning I will head over to the Navy base to use the gym. My husband is an active member of our country's uniformed services, so I am apparently entitled to all sorts of interesting benefits. Use of the lap pool seems to be one of them. Tomorrow I will try to find the local knitting group. I hope they are nice. I've certainly had good luck meeting friends through knitting in the past.

Not much knitting progress can be reported. I've worked a bit on those manly socks, but my thumb is still a bit sore and I don't want to push my luck.

As long as it's the new year

I may as well make resolutions to my knitting projects. Not that these vows usually work, but I do feel a need to try to finish things rather than filling all my needles with half done projects. My vow is to resolve certain UFO's in short order.

1. Item: Manly socks
Status: Down to the flaps
Resolution: These must be finished. Pronto!

2. Item: +3 socks of Doom!
Status: Gusset finished on one sock.
Resolution: I'll get back to these when the manly socks are done, and the +3 of damage to my thumb is healed. They will be done!

3. Item: Rheingold Wrap
Status: 25% done
Resolution: This will be a long term project that will be finished in 2008. I do pick it up and love it regularly. After all, it is a Starmore.

4. Item: Crapotee #2
Status: Down to the decreases
Resolution: This must be finished. Pronto! It may even redeem the entire pattern.

5. Item: Entrelac socks
Status: Both finished up to the heels.
Resolution: I think these are beautiful. I think I should make entrelac socks, however out of this pattern for Annetrelac Socks. I love the colors, I love how these socks look. However, I have a terror of wearing them with their mercerized cotton yarn, entrelac on the feet, and carried yarn inside. Blister city. I think they are destined to be frogged. Perhaps the yarn will be turned into something later.

6. Item: Crapotee
Status: Doomed
Resolution: This project is forever doomed. It is in prison. The parole board has no mercy for it. Besides, the warden has not located the prisoner in the depths of the packed stash.

7. Item: Green Tea Raglan
Status: Only one sleeve to go
Resolution: This will be finished soon in a fury of weekend knitting. After all, there is only one sleeve yet to knit.

8. Item: Oriel Lace Blouse
Status: Front and parts of sleeves finished
Resolution: I love this knit, and I will work on it over the next few months. Probably after Clapotis #2 and project #7 are done.

Get into yarn dying?

I'm wondering if you yarn people who read this blog would help me out with a decision. I've been toying with an idea for about a year. The idea is to start a small dying and yarn goodies operation. I've become addicted to hand dyed sock yarn, and interested in doing it myself since the ladies at Froebe Fibers started up. Now I have time to think about this in real life.

I know my vision and my inspiration. I know what I want my wares to look like. I also know what I'm good at and what I need to learn. I have even found suppliers.

1. I want to sell hand-dyed sock yarn, a selection of hand-dyed fingering weight "luxury" yarns, and fancy-schmancy stitch markers.
2. I've seen yarns that are dyed the way I want. I just don't know what the technique is. I'd say Jitterbug is one that does it well, a someone monochromatic or shaded base with saturated flecks. I haven't been able to produce this with experiments. I think I need a book. Do you know a good one?
3. I am skilled at lampworking. Really. I made a living off of it for about a year once. I could make my own beads for the stitch markers.

What do you think? Seriously. Any suggestions or advice?

Time to start writing that business plan... (Did you think that my husband or I would do this without a written one?)

Instead of knitting snaps, yarn pr0n

I'm still not knitting. E bought me a thumb splint yesterday to perhaps allow me to knit, or at least help me heal, but it's still painful. So no knitting.

In lieu of knitting mishegas, I'll tell you about my recent yarn acquisition mishegas. You see, right before the move I felt like I'd never get to buy yarn again. So of course I bought lots. Here's my December haul. It includes a mill bag each of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere and a fingering weight alpaca purchased cheap on ebay. Also purchased were three skeins of STR. Two here are Silky STR in Dreidel and a skein of lightweight in one of the Raven Clan colors. Not shown is the skein I'm using to make the manly socks. There's also an orange-y bundle of Jitterbug sock yarn. Finally, we have the gift from Tzurriz of the Cascade Quattro highland wool.Oh, and how could I forget. My sister Eileen gave me this:Ooooohhhh. Aaaaahhhh. It's baby alpaca.

I figure I've acquired at least enough to see me through a six month yarn drought, not that it will really take me that long to find yarn here. I've already picked up some fumes.

Distraction

My thumb is still messed up. Boo hoo. In the mean time, I'm trying to keep myself busy. For fun today, I'm going to do the thank you cards from the wedding and shower. This is the first day since the wedding that I'm sitting around with no other excuses or distraction, so I'd better.

I have a question to the coffee lovers out there. Our coffee maker produces pretty sour tasting coffee. At least, I think it's the machine and not the coffee itself. Is there any fix for this?

Yesterday was knitting, today is ice

Yesterday I worked on this. The socks are just plain old stockinette in STR lightweight. Aren't they making stripes?
Gah! The result is knitting injury. Yesterday I knitted and knitted on the manly socks, and now I have pain. It seems to be a sore tendon attached to my thumb. I'm out of commission for knitting for some unknown period of time.

I have learned an important lesson from this incident. It is not that I should knit in moderation. No way. What I have learned is that I no longer know how to watch TV without knitting. What ever shall I do?

Housewife

I know you've been checking here to find out what's going on. I have become a housewife and celebrated Christmas with my family. Both have involved string and happiness.

I don't mean anything bad about that. I'm voluntarily not working outside of the home while I build our little nest out of this bachelor pad. It takes a lot of work! Holy cow. So far I'm spending 8 hours a day at housework. Well, housework and knitting. I'm sure the ratio will change over time to mostly knitting. When that happens, I will go back to work.

As for Christmas, E and I went to Chicago and spent it with my family. We couldn't stay for Christmas day, but we did get to have Christmas Eve with my mother and sisters. It was fun! Really fun. This was the first year in a long time that I can remember the Christmas holiday being enjoyable and relaxing with my family (and not filled with conflict and unhappiness). Thanks, guys!

Along with the general good cheer, we had two new people. Actually, they were two new men, and men are an unusual sight at my family's gatherings. The Amazing E was there, but my sister Eileen's boyfriend also flew in from the UK (Great job, Eileen! He's very cool.)

So what does this all have to do with knitting? Well, let me tell you. First, I've had time to knit. Second, I got YARN for gifts this year. Becca gave me some nice felting wool and a slipper pattern, and Eileen (bless her heart) got me more alpaca to horde. Take a look at the latest knitting:

Clapotis is on the decreases
I have made more progress on the +3 Red Sock of Doom
And finally, it's not a new bra. It's manly socks.

Back in Chicago

Wasn't I just here? Well, I'm here again.

I'm here for lots of reasons. The real reason is that I have to go to class tonight; I have to do this three more times in the next month. The happy reason is to meet the child of Becca and Jason. The fun reason I'm here is for the Tinley knitting group's gift exchange; that was last night and I got Becca's gift of pretty green feltable yarn. The pain in the ass reason is to tie up loose ends at my house; I don't know how I'll get all of them tied, but I'll try. The humbug reason is for Christmas; we're leaving for DC again on Christmas morning.

Drove in alone yesterday. It took exactly 12 hours. That's 12 hours of sitting and staring, and not knitting at all. I'm still tired and dead. Blah.

Perhaps you'd like to know about knitting. There are many things on my needles. So many things that things are sharing needles.

I was going to post more, but I am tired. Back to the bed. Better luck with posting next time.

Safe and sound

The Amazing E and I made it to Maryland in the big truck yesterday. It was a long and stressful drive, with snow and ice storms the whole way. But we made it here yesterday. I am unpacking now and making this little bachelor pad into our home. Lots of stuff to do today. Let's see.

1. Clean up the book shelves
2. Unpack the books and put them on the shelves
   
3. After finding the cook books, make 5 dozen cookies for E's holiday party using the new Kitchen Aid mixer (yay)
   
4. Rest
5. Find the hangers, clothes, and closets and allow them to become acquainted
   
6. Dishes. Ugh
7. Wind the new skein of yarn into a double pull ball and start on that holiday gift
8. Figure out how to use this fancy wedding gift camera
9. Take nice yarn pictures and put them on here
10. Buy toilet paper

I'll let you know what I manage to finish. BTW, the stash got unpacked and put away last night.

Mary Bridget and Elijah Weisberg - December 1, 2007

I really can't recall a time in my life when I was happier than I've been since meeting Elijah this past spring. I'd say it feels like a dream, but it's much better than that because it's real life. We were married just a few days ago at the Westing on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Everything about the wedding and party were better than I could have asked. Here are some of our favorite pictures (taken by Jason and Dad E).

First, it took three women and a cheering section to get me trussed into that dress. Can you believe Becca is on the floor there?
And my handsome groom was looking his best. This picture makes me cry. He looks amazing.

The happy couple.But enough of mug shots. Let's see the action. This is Elijah getting his ring. It was a beautiful ceremony with our loved ones gathered around the chuppah. Mellisa officiated for us, and did a great job. I never felt so loved in my life.Then E put his foot down...And on to the party. Here are my sisters Peggy and Kadie with my grandpa. Look at that view!
Everyone sat at one table. Perfect.Finally, some gremlins got into our room so it would be ready when we got there.

For E...

Looks like the guys had fun.

What a party!

I don't have much to say right now. We just arrived in my new home and unwrapped the gifts you all sent.

It was the most beautiful day of my life. Wow. Thank you everyone who came. Jason took a lot of pictures you can see now on flickr. I'll pick a few to post here tomorrow. In the mean time, look for Jason Froebe.

Buzz

I'm marrying Elijah tomorrow. Buzz buzz buzz. I have too much energy. Almost packed. Almost ready to go. Almost almost almost.

I've been knitting. Furiously. The Monkeys were finished the other day, and it's too risky to work on the Starmore in this state, so I took out that emergency skein of Bearfoot Mountain Colors and cast it on for Cookie A's Hedera sock. This much is done so far today.
What else, what else. I have a list here. Oh. These are my Monkeys.
Hmmm. Hmmm... I don't know what else. I'll get back to you later.

Good days

I've been so busy the last couple of days that I haven't knit much.

Yesterday, Tzurriz and her mom threw me a bridal shower. It was great. I'm so touched. A bunch of the knitting buddies came, as well as my mother, Tzurriz's sister, and some ladies who have been my friends for, oh, 15-25 years. Pictures can be seen here.

I got some great loot. Lots of stuff from the registries that we need, and some very thoughtful and creative gifts. The hostesses also came up with some fun games, and there was super food. For the record, I broke one ribbon. I'm sure E will be happy to hear that.

Today was a good and busy day. It started with going downtown to the spa to take advantage of E's birthday gift. I got a massage, facial, and a no polish manicure. It was all great. I feel very relaxed, if sore from the massage. Thanks, E. After the spa, I met with the catering manager, talked to the florist, picked up my dress and ketubah, and finished up with the backer. It was a long day. Sigh. I'm glad I'm home. The programs are written and ready to print, too.

Now I'll get back to knitting.

The bird is the word

This is my last "visit" to Maryland. After this, I will be living here and visiting Chicago. Elijah and I (yes, that's the Amazing E's name) had Thanksgiving together yesterday. I have to say, it was a nice way to spend our last time together until we are married next weekend.

This is E himself doing his best GQ pose while sneaking more leftovers tonight.


I cooked. E helped. He did! Don't tell him, but he did most of the scut work like peeling things. However, he did make one of the dishes, and it was fabulous. On the menu was an Empire Kosher turkey breast, mashed potatoes (a la E), sweet potatoes, green beans, potato rolls, and home made apple pie.

Let me stop here to thank Elijah. When I make mashed potatoes, they are a shame on my Irish heritage. Mashed potatoes produced by my hand turn into glue and are truly revolting. E's were light and fluffy and totally awesome. Congratulations, E.

The turkey was not so nice. It was juicy and perfectly done. However, the meat had been freezer burned, so it had a funny taste and was a little spongy. Shame shame.

I want to give you to recipes. Well, actually two cooking guidelines. I cook by taste, and don't really measure things. When I took over cooking for my family on holidays a few years ago, I made it my mission to replace a couple of recipes. Those being the gravy (which had for years come from a foil pouch) and the sweet potatoes. I hated both gravy and sweet potatoes most of my life. The gravy was just weird and the sweet potatoes too sweet, like candy. I beg the forgiveness of my family for saying this, and don't ever wish to besmirch the memory of my grandmother, but I didn't like her gravy or sweet potatoes. After trying some other recipes, I've settled on two replacements. Port Gravy and Pecan Sweet Potatoes.

For the gravy:

Pan drippings
1 (or so) cups of water or turkey stock. Use chicken broth if you must, but use canned and not the godawful cube. You can make a weak stock from the neck if you have a free burner.
1 tsp-ish taragon
a little thyme
1/4 cup (or more) of port wine. Tawny is best.
1/4 cup whipping cream. This is not a Kosher recipe.
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour

Take the bird from the pan, draining any juices into the pan. Put the pan on the burner over medium heat, adding a little of the additional stock or water. Deglaze the pan well, scraping the brown bits with a spatula. Allow it all to simmer for a moment.

Pour the liquid, any veggies in the pan, and the turkey schmutz through a mesh strainer into a Pyrex cup or fat separator. Smash the solid things a little to release any good liquid hiding there. Discard the solids. Remove as much fat as you can from the broth. pour the broth into a 1 or 2 quart saucepan and add more liquid to make up two cups. Add the seasonings to taste. Turn on the heat and bring the stuff to a simmer.

Add 1/4 cup (or a little less) of the port. A little really goes a long way here, so you may want to add half, taste it, and add more. Drink any leftovers, if you're a mind. Don't waste good port; it will enhance your appetite for the meal ahead.

Mix a flour and cold water thickening mixture in a separate cup, making sure to break up any lumps. Over low heat, add a little at a time while whisking until the gravy is thick enough. The alcohol from the wine should be gone now. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream.

Serve over your favorite Thanksgiving vittles. Whew, this is rich stuff.

For the sweet potatoes:

3 pounds of sweet potaotes, peeled and cubed
8 ounces pecan halves
1 egg white
1/4 cup plus a little more brown sugar
a couple pats of butter
a sprinkle of cinnamon
a sprinkle of cumin
a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Place the sweet potatoes in a saucepan big enough to hold them, and put them on over medium-low heat. Add the butter 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little salt and pepper. Cover the pot and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the biggest pieces are tender. Stir occasionally during the cooking to keep the bottom from burning and to slightly mash the potatoes. At the end of cooking, you want some whole pieces and some mashed. While cooking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Take the pot off the heat and spread the potatoes in a small baking pan. Mix the nuts, a tablespoon or so of brown sugar, salt, pepper, cumin, cayanne, and the egg white in another bowl until everything is well coated. Spread the nuts over the potatoes and bake for 15 minutes until the nuts are crunchy.

Makes a nice sweet and savory dish.

Laid up

My condo is packed up. The Realtor is coming tomorrow. Mind you, it is not clean here, just packed. Flowers are ordered. Hair-doing is arranged. Dress is ready to be picked up. Cake is tasted. Menu is set. Musicians are hired. Wedding rings are purchased. Almost done. I'm in the home stretch just in time for a really bad flare up of the insidious stomach problem. I'd intended to go to knitting tonight, but I can't seem to get away from the necessary room for more than a half hour.

So I'm knitting from my little sack of unpacked yarn.This is the yarn that will stay with me through the move. Mostly it's the yarn for the Starmore along with the clapotis, my nearly done monkey socks, and an emergency skein of Bearfoot Mountain Colors sock yarn. You never know when you'll need that, and I intend to be prepared. I know you know.

I'm not the only one laid up.

I've had a sick kitty. It's Duncan. He's not been feeling well, and has been to the vet a lot. Poor guy. He's getting nervous kitty pills and some steroids for his problem. I hope he feels better soon.

Something in the water?

Perhaps.

It seems like a lot of familial happiness is going on near me lately. Tzurriz is about to have her baby. I've gotten engaged and will be married in short order. And my friend Ginger just announced that she is pregnant with her and Tim's second child. So much happiness going around. It's wonderful.

And I'd like to put some talk to rest. I am not pregnant, even if I've gained a little weight. Getting married very soon after the engagement has to do with our priorities. And the weight has to do with recovering from my stomach ailment earlier this year.

Any one heard the weather predictions this weekend for hell?

On Friday I dug into my packed stash box a pulled out a monster hank of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha in "Metamorphic". It's 995 yards of fingering weight mohair and silk and I got it for a steal at The Fold. ($28!) I wound that sucker by hand for two hours using my knees as a swift. I sure am glad I'm getting married. I'll have someone else's hands to use for that purpose....

Anyway.

I cast this on. Scott TC has been kind enough to model it for us.
What is it? Try this view.

Anyone seen the weather channel?

Somebody loves me

These are the prettiest chocolates I've ever seen.You see, tomorrow is my 31st birthday. I don't mind saying it. I'm wearing my thirty-dom as a badge of honor. The Amazing E's parents sent me these chocolates as a gift. According to the card, they believe that I need endorphins right now. They might be right.

I've eaten some of them. A few. Not too many. Really. I expect that the two dozen chocolates will at least last until Sunday. They're in great flavors as well. The Black Pepper was especially yummy, and the Chipotle was unexpectedly hot and exciting. Thanks Mom E and Dad E!

The Amazing E's gift came a week ago. He's sending me to a spa for half a day the week before the wedding.

And as promised, these are the finished Bribery socks. I guess the bribe worked.

Sigh....

Haaaahhhhh. Oh my.

I believe I've been sleep deprived for the better part of a year. In reality, I have been getting only 5-6 hours of sleep most nights since January, falling into a trap of trying to get enough done "today" so there might be a chance of rest "tomorrow." But as the saying goes, tomorrow never comes. For the last week, I've been getting 8-10 hours of sleep. If this keeps up, I may turn into a human. I might even resemble myself.

With my reduced wakefulness, I've managed a lot of knitting, to finish the wedding plans, and to finish yet another class towards my master's degree. I have four classes left. Two will be taken out east and transfer back. For the remaining two, I must fly back to Chicago for six Thursdays in each case. I will receive my master's in nonprofit management later than planned, but I will received it in about a year's time.

If my camera decides to work, I will show you knitting progress after I've had my coffee.

Just in time for the wedding

Lots of things are happening.

First of all, I just finished two knitting projects. E's Bribery socks are done. I also knitted him a yarmulke, and that is done as well. Yay. The Starmore will not be done. No way. But I will work on it in our honeymoon little cabin in the woods.

Second, the boxes of gifts have started to arrive at E's workplace. We don't know who they're coming from because we'll not open them until after the wedding. But thank you, whoever you are.

Tonight is the meeting with the wedding planner guy to taste the food.

My home is mostly packed up.

Everything is arranged but my hair. Darn, I need to call that lady.

The registries are not under

Merry Gentlemen or Amazing E. But they are at Target and Crate and Barrel. We also have a little and neglected one on Amazon.

Fancy yarn is also welcomed...

Closer and closer

The wedding and the move are almost here.

I quit my job yesterday. (Well technically, I gave two weeks notice almost two weeks ago.) Working was just not leaving with the and energy to do the important things I need to do right now. I'd been trying to impress them, hoping to arrange remote work after I left. You know, to smooth over the transition financially. But that didn't seem to be working out, and I was running myself ragged. (So ragged that my stomach problems have returned). I became certain that I'd get to the wedding day sick, tired, frazzled, and not ready. Now I have time to get things done, and the energy to enjoy this time in my life. I think they're pissed off, but dude, I was a temp and they knew from the start I would leave. I'm trying not to feel too bad about it. I'm almost there.

So I can breathe again! I have three weeks to dedicate to packing, getting wedding plans finalized, taking care of my health, and saying good bye to my friends. Yay!

Not even a pink fizzy bath helped

for this one.That is my stash. It is packed. I took a pink fizzy bath. It didn't help much.

Alone

All alone. No kitties. Kitties are both with the vet tonight. One kitty seems to have a problem that needs an overnight stay. Other kitty is spending the night with him.

Merry Gentelmen is alone. No kitties. No Amazing E.; he is in his home. I guess a night all alone isn't as nice as I thought.

Sadness.

You see, I'm moving in a month

Well, I'm leaving Chicago four weeks from today. We'll stop for a week in the mountains for a honeymoon and then on to Maryland. I started packing last weekend.: I'd like to have so some more time for packing, but first I have to buy some boxes. I suppose I'll do that today.

Over all, this is a good thing. I'm very happy that I'm going to Maryland. I'm thrilled to be marrying such a fantastic man. I'm excited about the wedding. We did move the date and location, but I think it's for the better. The event is basically planned. In these last few weeks, we have to hire the musician and sign the flower contract. And I have two guests I have to call and invite. But that's it.

What stresses me out is the moving. I should have quit my job, I think. Instead, I'm working until 11 days before the wedding. Our wedding budget is small, but I wanted to make sure we didn't have to go into debt for it. Additionally, we'll have to pay my mortgage, such that it is, until the condo sells. I wish I could rent it out month to month. So I decided to work a little r before the move. I thought the money I earn would help, threfore I'm trying to work out a deal in which I continue working for the bastion of capitalism, even on a part time after I leave. It would help, I think, to have something to do during the first couple of months until I find work. And of course a little extra money will help. So I'm trying to prove my worth and commitment to them for the final two weeks.

But packing seems like an enormous job. I'm only taking less than half of my things, but I have to get rid of a lot of stuff. Some of it can be thrown away. It's junk. But other stuff is still good. I'd like to make sure it goes to use. Today I'm putting lots of thing on ebay for sale cheap. And leaving here makes me a little sad. I own my home. I bought it when I was 25, and have lived here for over 5 years. It's my first place I've lived that was my own, and also the place where I've lived longest. At least since I was 9. Leaving is a little sad.

Happy Halloween part 2

I know you missed it. "It" being the saga of Jeremy Clark-Erskine. It's scary.

I still get hits every week from all over the United States and Canada generated by web searches for this guy. There is news about him.

He's filed a writ of habeas corpus in Indiana. He's in jail there, but it seems like he's not been charged with escape or another crime. I have to ask law enforcement (because I know I'm getting hits from government agencies about him):

What the fuck?

I'm serious. What the fuck? Why is this guy not being charged? I've filed complaints against him for several crimes. Is Illinois or Cook County or even the City of Countryside doing anything? No. I was told by the arresting officer that Jeremy was arrested with the property I reported stolen a month before. But none of my local officials wants to claim jurisdiction. Hey, if Indiana can't seem to charge him, why not file charges here? Bring him here for trail and put him in jail in Cook County with the gang bangers.

And as for Indiana, come on guys! If nothing else, he was in your jail and according to your officials he walked away without authorization. Walked away! First of all, how do you let someone walk away from jail? Secondly, isn’t walking away from jail a crime? When are you going to do something about that? You also know that he left the state. Have you checked out how? I bet he did some bad stuff that you could punish him for. I bet you could find out what. He used credit cards in his name the whole way. Did you look into that?

And Wisconsin, what are you doing? Jeremy Erskine was arrested with one of your driver’s licenses. It’s in the Jasper, AB arrest record. If I could get that record, so can you. I bet you could find out where he got the identification. Could it have been your Kenosha facility? Maybe? And how would he have gotten that? He would have had to use a document proving that he lived in Wisconsin. Since he didn’t live in Wisconsin, could it have been a real document?

Finally, can the Federal government step in? Certainly there’s something here for you to look into. In fact, when Cook County gave me the runaround about Mr. Clark-Erskine charged for what I think he did to me, they told me that that particular thing should be handled by the FBI. The FBI referred me to the Secret Service. The Secret Service told to go back to Cook County. When will someone take responsibility for seeing that this man doesn’t hurt more people?

Based on the number of people who have contacted me through this blog, and the number of hits related to his name I get, I have an idea of how many people are concerned about this man’s existence and potential freedom. I also have an idea of the number of people who believe they have been his victims in the last year and a half. And we are not getting justice. We’ve found the resources to find each other. Why can’t law enforcement and the courts find the resources to investigate what we’re telling you and keep him in jail!

Happy Halloween part 1

First of all, I am not among the dead. Just very busy.

Wedding plans have been switched. The January 20 plan in Flossmoor has been ditched. Instead, we are going to married one month from tomorrow at a hotel on Michigan Avenue. Less stress.

How? About 1/4 the guest list and a professional planner and venue. The only things I really have to do at this point is finish signing contracts and take my dress to have it taken up. There were also some practical and financial reasons for wanting to move sooner.

So that's what's up. Not too scary.

Bad knitting day

Seriously, WTF? I mean I'm used to bad hair days. A little too dry, and I get frizzy stuck-my-finger-in-a-light-socket hair. A little too humid, and I become Rosanne Roseannadanna with a Chicago accent. But bad knitting day? What's up with that.

All day today I've been trying to get something done on the Rheingold Wrap. My quota is 10 rows per day. Some days there are more, and some days less. But today was 4 rows. Nearly every time I got to the end of the chart, which is repeated five times per row, I'd find I'd miss counted and I had to tink back nearly to the start of the chart and redo it. AAAAnd...Usually I made the same mistake every time I came to the same point. Oy. Oy vey.

Now there is no getting discouraged. Tomorrow is another (SnB, not SNL) day.

Weekly wrap up

I thought I'd get a lot done on the Rheingold wrap this weekend. After all, I came to Maryland with the intention of not doing nothing. All weekend. To me, not doing nothing usually involves intensive knitting, and that sounds good to me right now. I'm 2.25 chart repeats into the wrap, and trying to maintain a serious case of finish-it-up-itis until it's done. I thought I could do one entire repeat this weekend, but it turns out that I'm really doing nothing. Not even knitting.

The Amazing E tells me that the wrap is beautiful. However, he read the blog the other night and had to call me.

You bought more yarn!
Yes, I needed yarn for the wrap. It came all the way from Scotland. Besides, I have to have something nice to keep we warm on our wedding day.

But it's a lot more yarn. Look 1, 2, 3, ... 7, 8, 9.
Yes, it's a lot of yarn. And I've already taken 7 other skeins out of that box.

How big is this thing going to be?!
24 " by 56"

How much did you spend? $200?
No.

$300?
No. Not even close.

You spent $400 on the yarn!
No. I spent much less than that. But it was in Pounds.

How much?
Less than the first number, when you convert it into dollars.

You've like...doubled... your stash. Out of the wedding budget!
No. Okay. First of all, this is not stash. That would require the intention of stashing it. As you can see, it is cast on. Not stashed. Second of all you clearly do not have a grasp of the size of my stash. Last, yarn always comes out of the yarn budget....

I think he finally realized he's marrying a knitter, and not just some lady who knits. It's a hard realization, but this conversation had to happen some time.

Calculations

Ok. This is a big project.

The Rheingold Wrap is consists of 12 pattern repeats of 38 rows each. That's 456 rows. 80,712 stitches. Wew. Wow. Oy.

I've completed now 48 rows, so I'm more than 10% done. That's in only 4 days. But I've been on track and motivated. I'm trying to think of this as a labor of love rather than just labor.

48 rows down. 95 days to go.

Pretties

Last Wednesday, my kit for Jade Staremore's Rheingold Wrap came in the mail, and I unwrapped it with the Tinley Park girls. The kit came with the pattern and a box full of the Starmore 2-ply Hebridean. The yarn itself is very lofty and somewhat soft. It's only a little crunchy. The colors themselves are slightly variegated, making them beautiful.
I cast the project on Friday, and have since completed one 38 row pattern repeat. The wrap is knit in the round, 177 stitches per row. I'm doing it on a size 3 Addi Turbo. There will be a steek to make it flat. Only 11 more repeats to go my January 20th! I'm afraid I'm going to have to figure out how to knit in my sleep.In the non-knitting world of pretties, the orchid plant I bought in Hawaii is blooming.
Lastly, congratulations Tzurriz. We all love you.

Its official

The Amazing E and I will be married in Flossmoor, Illinois on January 20th.

I'll post more interesting stuff tomorrow. The Staremore will be a little bigger by then.

Not lazy

Really, it hasn't been laziness keeping me away. I've been playing on Ravelry and knitting a lot and working on the wedding plans. If fact I'm in Maryland now. You can see for yourself what I've been up to on Ravelry. I've gotten through some of my stash. (At least the sock yarn box and the bag o' crap box. )

One Maimuţă is finished. It's Gypsy Girl in in the Winter Solstice colorway and made on Knitpicks size 1 1/2 needles. This sock only took 8 days, and I've got the second cast on already. I should be able to get more knitting done in the near future, as I'll be working in downtown Chicago at a great bastion of capitalism until I move to Maryland in January. And therefore will be taking the train to and from work.

Wedding plans are creeping along. We've tentatively picked a date and a place to have the shindig. We've inquired about the band. I even got Amazing E to come to the store and try registering. This was not an altogether successful endeavor, but it was a start. E also has an engagement ring. Aww. It's made of Tungsten Carbide, and is therefore very cool (to a geeky engineer such as the one I'm marrying).
Yesterday we went to Delaware to order my dress. There's a store there that carries last season's designs for dresses, and happen to have the one I will wear. The great thing is that these dresses are half off. The bad thing is the drive to Delaware. It's a couple of hours. Well, I suppose it's not that bad. I got to see more of the state I'll be living in soon. But we drove there so I could do the measuring and ordering while E stayed in the car. After that, we drove around and went to the beach and then home.

Pretty soon all other projects will be put away in favor of wedding knitting...

This should be no surprise

I am a yarn snob.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Purist. You are an accomplished knitter producing beautiful pieces with a classic feel. You sometimes lament losing half of your local yarn shop to garish novelty yarns. Perhaps you consider fun fur scarves the bane of knitting society and prefer to steer new knitters towards the wool and cotton blends. Some might call you a bit of an elitist but you know that you've been doing this craft long enough to respect the history behind it and honor it with beautiful piece that can last a lifetime. http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

What shall I do about my name?

Most of you know, the name of this blog is a homophone for my real name. In a few short months, my name will be changing. Well, it's not really so passive as that. Fortunately in this day and age, I have a choice. We considered not changing my name, thought about him taking my last name (because it's hilarious), and about me changing my name. I have chosen to change both my first and last name. I've been procrastinating on changing my first name for about 10 years. I want to, but I haven't wanted to go through the paperwork.

My given first name is ridiculously Irish and Catholic for a Jewish woman to have. There is a good reason for this. My father's family hails from such Irish places as the Dingle Peninsula and County Mayo (G-d help us!). However, my married name will be Miryam insertridiculouslyjewishlastnamehere.

So what will I do about the name of this blog? Can I change the name and switch over all the content?