why is it...

...that when I am behind in knitting, blogging, reading blogs, housework (basically everything not work related), it seems I stumble into things that threaten to eat more of my seemingly non-existent free time?



Fantastic Contraption is a game that appeals to my problemsolving brain...though I warn you now, if you like solving puzzles, you may not want to click if you have things to do :D

(coming soon, finished socks. Really. I got sucked into working on the cabled ones yesterday and I've about 2 inches left on the leg, or so the pattern tells me)

Is it Friday Yet?

...or a wee glimpse into my mundane life.

Last weekend was good, spent some quality time with the husband and cats, went out for Dim Sum and met up with Raquel and Chad, down from Oregon to run the Skirtchaser race :) Everything was going great til the car decided to go "click" instead of "vroom" upon insertion and turning of the key.

So I attempted some amateur troubleshooting - and learned how to swap out a car battery:

(yeah, I'm wearing gloves - it makes for less grease everywhere and also protects against acid burn if there are any crystals on the battery). Unfortunately, the battery didn't do it - so I've been carless the last couple days while the car was running up a rather unfortunate bill at the repair shop...the bad news is we're not done yet and I need to schedule a followup appointment *sigh*

Hasn't been a great week as far as food or exercise goes - I've "hired" a health coach to try to help keep me more accountable. After all, I do know what I need to do...it just falls apart in the execution is all. Tonight when trying to figure out what was for dinner, the husband submitted a request for "good pizza". Realizing that I need to try to get back into the swing of preparing food properly rather than resorting to takeout or convenience items, I churned pair of pies out with the help of Trader Joes ready made dough...

And they came out quite nicely if I do say so myself - this one is laden with spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic and pineapple bits. Very tasty :) I baked it in stages to get the veggies to cook down and dry up some before I added the cheese. And with all those veggies on there, it was plenty filling - there's still plenty of pizza left over for tomorrow's breakfast...or lunch...or dinner even.

There has, of course, been knitting going on, but most of it is of the stealthy variety. I'll be back with more sock photos shortly, I'm sure...

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day ;) We're not huge on celebrating here - my only requirement really is that we spend time together. drat. Maybe I shouldn't post that where my husband can read it ;)

A little sparkle...

...to brighten your day?

Uh yeah, those would be gold flecks (actually a gold metallic filament plied) in the yarn - it's not one of mine, but a commercially available yarn that looks an awful lot like a handdyed one. Yes, I know - sparkle? And that colorway? Not really what you'd expect to find me playing with...but that's the whole idea :)

Several of us have decided to do a knitalong for these Uncertain Times...the idea is that in times of uncertainty, you sometimes have to do things a little differently. So here I find myself, knitting with sparkly yarn (to brighten the horizon) and in a colorway that is pushing my comfort zone.

And here's a preview of the socks in progress :)

Twisting and Turning...

Look! Progress on my New Year knitting :) These are socks from the Wollmeise sock club - the pattern is called I Mog Di and it features all kinds of twisted cable stitches. I think the fact that the sock is worked up on US1s (rather than 0's) has made it so I have been able to knit these up happily (unlike Bayerische, who I am still somewhat determined to revisit sometime down the road...maybe)

Unfortunately, the colorway has proven to be the devil to capture properly - like all Wollmeise, the colorway is dark and saturated. The dark regions are accurate, but that color that pops out is nowhere near that bright and startling in person. Because of the dark colors, capturing the detail on these socks has also proven to be a bit challenging.

Anyhow, I've just turned both heels (hello, twisted cables via the wrong side!) and have rejoined and am knitting away on the legs now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I have finished socks to show off!

Just a bite...

In my continued quest for a delicious cupcake, this weekend I stumbled across these at a small cafe in Phoenix - Bertha's Cafe - each one of these adorable mini Red Velvet cupcakes is a large bite - the papers remind me of the peanut butter cup papers for those pb cups you can get at Trader Joes. This trio is sitting on a small dessert sized styrofoam plate, in case you're having a hard time figuring out their size.

Delicious, the frosting was very rich (and there was a bit much of it - I'm one that prefers a more sparsely frosted cupcake), and the cake was tasty and moist. This one wee cupcake was just enough to satisfy. Thanks much to Mel's Chris who bought the lot for the table to share :)

I should say the food at Bertha's is also very tasty :) I had the Asparagus, Havarti, Pesto Chicken Panini and it was fantastic.

Motivation....

....by way of toys.

Yes, this would be my 2nd HRM. My other is a Polar RS200 (red!) - it works fine, the strap is comfortable enough - and I've even got a few special bras that accept the Polar transmitter - these eliminate the need for the strap!

Anyhow, for regular every day wear, I'm a timex girl - and I was forever having to remember how to flip thru the settings of my Polar. Seems Timex is upping their HRM line - this is a Race Trainer model (mens unfortunately, apparently they do have one that looks like a bigger Sleek) - it's obviously built on the Timex platform, and as such, seems a lot more intuitive to me. The extra fun part? it comes with a USB thingy, so I can download my workout stats to my computer and upload it to the timex trainer website...much easier to slice, dice and analyze my data :D course....now I just need to get out and start gathering workout data...

But before I even get to that part, I have to figure out the target zones....any advice? Way way way back when I first injured myself I figured I should try giving the Maffetone method a try, but the target zone is quite low...I did the suggested sub-max step and chair tests....and came up with a MHR of 179 BPM...of course, I can tell you right now that I know my heart beats faster than that...I pegged it out at 189 BPM during a portion of my half marathon last year....suggestions? I intend to start training in Zones 2 & 3 to build my fitness and strength, then I might re-attack C25k depending on what my knee tells me.

Information Overload.

Have any of you noticed a drop in "regular" blog entries? I know my blog has suffered a bit over the last year. I blame business and lack of content...and now I add social networking and micro blogging to the "blame" list. Between the 2 365 projects I have going, facebook and twitter, I find I leave my blog for when I have longer things to write about. Anyhow, just thought I'd let what few regular blog readers I have know that no, the blog is not dead, I just try to wait until I have real content to post about is all :)

Sunshine and Camoflage

While the winter has been doing some really crazy strange things across the country, it's been nice and sunny for the most part down here in the desert...

I spied my first lizard of the year on my hike today - he's a lot darker than most of the lizards I usually see - but his coloring is perfect for the rocks he's hiding out on.

Seeing as my knee appears to be plateaued in its improvement through physical therapy, I figure I'll be shifting my attention to my general fitness and health - with that in mind, I trundled myself off to the local park for a short walk this morning.

The trail I tackled sees a lot of traffic and unfortunately suffers from poor design that has resulted in significant erosion.


If you look carefully as you walk, you can spot some rock art. This one happens to be well signed, but I know there are other petroglyphs to be found at this park.

I'm suspecting this one isn't real - considering the location of the rock in question and the appearance of the other petrogylphs in the area, this one is simply too distinct and to clean in its appearance. And yes, I do happen to both run and hike in a skirt :) I find it just as modest, and much more comfortable than shorts!

Here's to hoping that a fitness improvement will also drive further healing of my knee :)

Knitting? Yes, but nothing really looks like its making much progress and I'm having a devil of a time capturing an accurate shot of one of the projects on the needles...stay tuned!

Mostly Dead...

I've been a big fan of Canon Cameras since I went digital years ago...and since we tend to be a bit hard on our cameras (what with all the sand and swimming around etc. etc) we tend to purchase the camera and a waterproof case for protection each time. In order to get the most use out of a case, I'll usually try to pick up some spare cameras if I notice them at a good price...

Here's my small family of Powershot A-series cameras (there was one other, but it was sent back to canon in exchange for my current point and shoot, an SD900). You're looking at one A60 and a pair of A70s. Not too long ago, I had sent in their waterproof case for replacement/repair since we had managed to scratch...of course, once I got the case back, the cameras started acting funny.

So there they sat, all by their lonesome selves, scattered across the shelves - neglected, in favor of the newer and shinier cameras...On the advice of my brother, who visited recently, I decided I'd go ahead and ping Canon customer service and see what they had to say. Of course, none of these cameras are within the normal warranty period, and I kind of figured that they might wind up telling me they aren't worth fixing...but lo, apparently there is a known issue with the ccd sensor for these cameras...and Canon is going to send me paperwork and shipping lables to send them back for repair! Here's hoping they still have CCDs on hand, and will fix them up (as alluded to in their email response) at no cost. Worst case, perhaps they can recycle the cameras for me if they aren't worth repairing.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy New Year everyone :) It's the Year of the Ox! And since I've not been so good with the diet and exercise portion of my whole "everything in moderation" plan for the year, I figure this is another reminder to buckle down and focus on little steps. I've managed to work my way up to doing 27 pushups before my arms turn into noodles, so I am making some progress!

Slow progress

Look! Another long-time WIP! It was supposed to be done for a knit along, but I wound up setting it aside - for whatever reason I was having some difficulties following the pattern back during the KAL. I put it into a time out, and when I picked it up recently, it seems I'm getting along better with it now - though I'm finding the purl rows really slow me down - I guess that's courtesy of all the circular knitting I've been doing lately! Current progress: most of the way through chart 3 of 8...I guess I'll be knitting on it for a while yet...

We have a Winner!

Congratulations, Angela :) I look forward to reading about your Gingerbread adventures next holiday season with your little one!

Endless

Meet Frolic - a lovely Rowan design by Kim Hargreaves (from Rowan 29). She's endless 2x2 ribbing with a wee bit of shaping thrown in to make you realize you are indeed making *some* small bit of progress.


Thank goodness for Ravelry - apparently, I've had this project on my needles since October 2007. Without Ravelry, I probably would have forgotten what size I'm knitting! I'm knitting out of a very lovely shade of old-school Southwest Trading Co Bamboo from the stash. The knitting is probably taking forever since this has been designated my "carry around" knitting, and I generally only knit a row or two (or four if I'm lucky) every week or so (I carry different knitting when I go out specifically to knit). The good news is even at the snail-like pace I'm going on this project, I'm nearly to the underarms and should be able to finish it off to wear once things start heating up again down here!

Have I lost my mind?

Here we are, in the middle of January, and those personal New Year Resolutions around health and fitness are proving elusive. I'm having a heck of a time getting in the habit of weighing and writing down what all I'm eating (so far, I've been very not successful in that front) - and as for the getting back in cardio-vascular shape? Well that's proving to be quite the struggle too. I need to figure out how best to block time out and just get it done. I've discovered with the lack of activity over the last year has really cost me in fitness, and I need to start from ground zero....

In other fitness news, one of the things I have stuck with so far (though my body is begging me to stop) is this 100 pushup quest (I'm starting out the quest by doing these girly style on my knees...If I make it to 100 girly kind, I'll go back and do it again in full plank)

It doesn't take much time, and I can squeeze in the reps in a few minutes no matter how frazzled I am. Unfortunately for me, my body does not seem appreciative of myh efforts - its safe to say that while I'm not far in my quest, every single time I do the workout, 24 hours later, I either awake to serious muscle soreness (esp in my forearms, what's up with that??) or I feel like someone has battered my triceps and back. Seriously. This has happened Every. Single. Time that I have done the pushup workout. I can handle regular muscle soreness - but whatever these pushups are doing are far and away much worse than "regular" workout soreness. *sniff* I've actually had to resort to the advil...though I suppose if I was smart I'd get with the ice too...

Here's to hopes that eventually my body just HTFUs and gets with the program - then maybe I can go on that six pack quest...though the thought makes me feel faint (and I also realize that proper six packs are made more in the kitchen rather than via crunches...)

Houses for Hansel and Gretel...

I've always had a fascination with Gingerbread houses - both from the gingerbread baking and the building and decorating aspects. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to indulge in my creativity this holiday season. Had I been able to do so though, I probably would have attempted a variation of one of the houses found in this book: The Gingerbread Architect - it contains recipes and instructions (and blueprints!) for twelve different gingerbread houses...it all begins with an introduction, a 7-day schedule for the building of your gingerbread home (I had no idea it would take 7-days - but this is also why I didn't get to it this past holiday season) in addition to tips and commentary on the use of the templates, making the dough, assembly, and decoration. While all the houses in this book are 100% edible, there are also some tips on preservation, should you opt for saving your gingerbread house rather than nibbling away at it as did Hansel and Gretel.

House styles represented in the book range from relatively simple projects like the rustic adirondack, classic cape cod, and old west dawson-city houses to the very intricate classic carpenter gothic style house. The book has designs that are suitable for all range of bakers. Simply flipping through the book was a pleasure, seeing all the fine details on the roofs and yards of each of these homes brought a smile to my face - a particular favorite yard decoration were the pink flamingos of the South Beach house.

Now then...since I'm guessing next year may well be just as crazy as things were this year, I'm not sure that I'll be able to take advantage of the great ideas in this book. If, however, you are game to take on the challenge, I will offer it up along with my copy of Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse. Just leave me a comment before January 18th - make sure there's a way to contact you if you should be the lucky winner. Shipping only within the US though, I'm afraid.

Mimicry

Seeing as I always knit my socks two at a time, from opposite ends of the ball, I sometimes get different flashing to appear...

These socks aren't handknit - they're from Keen....but they sure do flash as if they were handknit - and the flashing doesn't match from right to left - it's like they try to mimic the individuality of handknit socks :) I wonder if someone at Keen is a knitter....


(yes, they are really labled R and L and they really do have a handed-ness to them)

Fours!

I've been tagged by Cayli for this meme - and a good thing too, as it seems I'm low on blog fodder ;)

The rules:

* go to your 4th picture folder
* go to the 4th picture in the folder
* tell everyone 4 things about that picture
* tag 4 more people

Course, I have photos in several places on various computers...and several online photo accounts too...so I decided to pick whichever one seemed the most interesting - which happens to be my ancient snapfish photo account...


This photo harkens from 2004 - when my husband and I took an extended vacation to Europe. It was taken while we were canyoning in Spain, while participating in an International Canyoneering get together - the name of the canyon is Consusas Inferior (and yes, that's me in the photo). The water was frigid, as the canyon is fed by snowmelt. Apparently, this was the 2nd canyon we hit on the trip...at least according to the trip report :) Mmm. Fond memories. I'd love to head back to that part of the world again!

Who to tag - how about Angela, Mel, Raquel and Pam?

Over 25 lbs...

...of fresh fiber and yarn are now available at the shop!

First, let me introduce 4 new blended batt colorways :) Those would be Chocolate Varietal (Merino-Alpaca), Peppercorn Blend, Grape Jelly and Zinfandel (all merino blends)...

Then there's the yarn:

45 limited edition colorways....including some that are dyed on the brand spankin' new Naiad base :) I was going to try to come up with some new "regular" colorways....but I figured it was the holidays and I deserved to have my fun to just play :) so all limited editions it was :D

Reflections

Pools in the Grand Canyon, photo by my husband

2008 has gone and 2009 has arrived - and this year I find myself wondering where the time went so quickly. It flew past even faster than previous years!

The year started out with an appearance on the Stitch n Bitch calendar, followed by a feature in Spin Off...in addition to plenty of dyeing, blending and spinning. Spritely Goods marked another successful year, and can now be found at a LYS in addition to the Loopy Ewe. We celebrated the shop's success by donating generously again to our charities of choice. Especially enjoyable this year, I managed to squeeze in various yarn related field trips, meeting various knitterati along the way!

Knitting-wise, I didn't quite manage to get the steeking in this year - perhaps I'll manage in 2009 (venezia is still on the needles (and not much further along than in that blog post)). I was stumped by a few projects....but was quite successful with others. From knee high socks, fancily cabled socks/cuffs and a pair that had a pretty neat stitch pattern, mitts in various styles including cabled and lace varieties, a camera case, a blanket (which has been put to good use this winter), and even a sweater!


In addition to all the knitting, I read a bunch of books (have you discovered GoodReads yet?) - and reviewed quite a few too. I trained for and ran a half marathon (though unfortunately that milestone benched me for the rest of the year) and late in the year, I discovered Facebook and started the 365 Self portrait project.

On the home front, the husband and I celebrated our 10 yr anniversary this year :) While the time has flown by, it has been a pretty good year.

For 2009, I do hope to work more on that whole "everything in moderation" thing - along with working on improving my balance (both for the sake of my knee and my sanity ;) ) January promises to be exciting in more ways than one - but more on those things as they pass.

I do hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and new year celebration - I wish you all health and joy in 2009! Happy New Year!

Something New

Happy New Year!

While I have been diligently working on some of my older projects, I do feel compelled to cast on some new projects...this is for a knit-along I'm doing with Blogless Erika. :) We're both knitting up some Wollmeise into a lovely sock featuring plenty of twisted stitch cables...it seems I still require some practice with that magic cast on...here you see my yarn going everywhere while I work on getting both socks cast onto my single circular needle....


In other New News, I've named the new fingering base, it's called Naiad - it's a fantastic merino-nylon blend, and so soft you can't even tell the nylon is there! I've only just finished with the skeining, but you can be sure there will be a shop update shortly...

Something Old....

Now that I'm all mittened out, Ive discovered that I am apparently in a "finishing" mood - I've found myself picking up old projects, knitting away...of course, it helps that there isn't a mitten amongst the projects :) While some of the projects might take a while to finish (never ending miter squares and delicate lace stole), these, at least, seemed to fly right off the needles.



More photos here.

Cutting it close...

...in more ways than one. I cast on for these mitts last friday, and basically did little else but knit on them through the weekend - the ball of yarn is all that's left of the skein. Not bad, right?

of course, the finished mittens are much more interesting to look at than a ball of yarn - go check them out here.

Holiday Knitting Revealed

Now that all the presents have been opened, I can show you what I've been up to since just before Thanksgiving....

I've been a Mitten Knittin' machine. Not included in the tall stack above are the ones I knit for my husband (will share those next) - piled one on top of the other, the stack is as tall as a container of one of my favorite juice blends - Cherry Cider, from Trader Joes.

More Mitten details can be found here and here.

Happy Holidays!

A moment of rest

Holiday stuff is done - either that or it's too late ;)

It's been a crazy crazy month, and I've finally got some time to sit, relax and wind down. What better way to do so than on the couch with the cats, some books, some knitting and hot cocoa :)

No, I'm not.

But it sure seems like there are plenty of others who are :)


And seeing as I don't have any wee ones (not of the human variety anyhow), and I like to go for a handmade gift when I can, The Expectant Knitter comes in handy when I'm short on inspiration. Targeted towards the expectant knitter, the patterns are broken into the three trimesters of pregnancy. The thirty projects in the book range from blankets, to toys, accessories and apparel for the whole family and are suitable for a knitters of various skill levels.

Each pattern offers a wide range in sizes from newborn up to 24 months for the baby, and from 2-8 yrs old for the big bro or big sis in the family. In addition to lovely photos of the finished projects, each pattern includes clear schematics and instructions for completion. The wide variety of projects in the book certainly give me more ideas for other projects to knit for the next wee one due to arrive - or even as gifts for families with little ones who arrived a while ago.

Cat and Yarn, who could resist?

Not me.



It's just like Snood. But that much better because of the yarn and cat.

Goodness, between this and wastebook it's a wonder if I'll get anything done while I'm away from work!

ps. Happy Solstice!

Just a wee bit behind...

Yikes. Anyone else notice that the year rolls over in less than 2 weeks? Things this last month have been a little crazy, thus the absence of blog posts. As you can see, I'm ridiculously far behind on my blog reading...most of that is probably Cute Overload or I Can Has Cheezburger. You know you're in bad shape if you can't even squeeze in your daily dose of cute.

I'll have more interesting things to share next week (stealth knitting, at the very least!) And of course, the regular year end summary.....sadly, the steeking still didn't happen this year, and I'm trying to decide if I need to re-plan/re-start Venezia....I've gotten no further than about 4 inches on the sleeves. The fact that my yarn is superwash has me concerned for the steeking process, and I'm also slightly paranoid over having enough yarn...oy. the dilemma.

Weather Delay....

....well, not really. But it seems there are some pretty serious weather systems moving around the country. I was supposed to be up in Oregon today, but the week seems to be full of snow and sleet and ice....so rather than risk getting stuck up that way, I opted to stay down here with the rain.

Normally, you would be able to see an antennae array on this range of mountains - but as you can see, the clouds are settled in quite low. Such a shame it's hitting during the week, I adore weather like this for curling up on the couch with either a good book or some knitting, a cup of tea and a pair of cats...instead, I'm consoling myself by wearing handknit sweaters to work.

Not much to show in the way of knitting, it's all been stealth projects of late! December is speeding by, I can't believe it's just a week til Christmas!

It's Electric!

Just be thankful I haven't figured out how to upload an MP3 to accompany the blog post (yes, I realize I could probably filch something off YouTube)....but I figure several of you would want my head for posting the Electric Slide on here....

Anyhow, if you happen to have the urge to dance the electric (slide) then you might want to gig yourself out with an original design or two from:


Switch Craft! Conveniently bound with a spiral binding, (so it always lays flat!) Switch Craft is a book that combines sewing and alteration skills with a little bit of electricity in twenty unique projects from household accents, to toys, apparel and accessories, there's something sure to perk your interest.

Each project is rated from 1-3 in each of three categories: craft, tech and cost - that way, you can pick and choose your projects accordingly. Each project includes a clear list of materials and tools, along with a pattern schematic, assembly instructions and a nice clear photo of the finished object. I personally really liked the various bags in the book - and if I was clever enough I'm sure I could merge the tech ideas into one single bag!

Great for gifting, there's even a chapter dedicated to projects that would make great gifts - probably not appropriate for the holidays, I especially like the vibrating Voodoo doll (it wiggles when pinned!)

For the not so technical, there is a basic materials section at the back of the book to help get you on your way. Included information includes stuff on batteries (and holders and snaps), wire, LEDs, Conductive fabrics and thread, and of course switches. There's also information about the basic tools and skills required. Of course, if you need some hints for online resources, a handy list is available at the back of the book.

A wee gift

A great idea if you happen to be gifting a handknit to another hand knitter this season...or at other times too....

A magic yarn ball:


What exactly is a magic yarn ball? Well, you take little trinkets in one hand and your yarn in the other....and start winding, hiding the little trinkets inside the yarn ball as you go. If the little surprises are prone to snagging the yarn, you might opt to wrap it up in some tissue before wrapping the yarn over it. Gifting the remaining yarn along with your hand knit will provide the recipient with some spare yarn should they have to mend the gift later...or if there's enough yardage, they might knit up an accessory or work it up with other stash yarn.

The yarn ball above was received in a recent parcel and has been unwound and rewound into a ball for easier knitting - the cute little stitch marker is what was inside :)

Diamonds....

...are a girl's best friend, right? :D Wound up rescuing this poor little one from certain smooshing while on the way home from a hike (don't worry, we didn't bring it home...simply shoo'd him off the side of the road). The little fellow (clearly a juvenile based on the rather ridiculous and pathetic excuse for a "rattle") was probably trying to soak up the weak December rays - unfortunately he was sunning himself right along a dirt road that sees a fair bit of traffic.

Speaking of rescuing...if you happen to have a Trader Joes nearby and you're as addicted to those Almond Snowmen cookies as I am, you might want to go and stock up...my local Trader Joe's tells me they are already sold out for this season!

You know it's the holidays when...

...the Almond Snowmen Cookies make an appearance at the local Trader Joes!

Yes, I am fully aware that I could bake my own randomly shaped almond shortbread cookies (and I have, too!) but it's so much easier to just get them from Trader Joes. They're just about as good as home made...and so addictive, what with the sparkly and satisfyingly crunchy dusting of sugar on them....

And just in case you're wondering how I eat them? Why head first of course...


...the same way I eat gummy bears. You have to put the poor things out of their misery quickly you know.

It's bound to happen...

...to the most well loved of hand knit gifts.


I've been long battling holes in my first ever pair of felted slippers...but since I gave up trying to patch them, I've been wearing my handknit socks exclusively in the house since the temps got cooler...the first to succumb to the wear and tear were these socks, a birthday gift from a couple years back. Unfortunately, I failed to catch the wear and tear until too late, and now I'm going to have to brush up on sock mending skills - right now I'm thinking I'll pick up some live stitches and reknit the heel a la the "afterthought" heel method rather than doing actual "darning"...until they are fixed, they will be out of the rotation.

In the meantime, I think I better start looking for some slipper soles to better mend the fuzzy feet , because I'd hate to wear through all my handknit socks and have to spend my knitting time mending instead of knitting!