Catch-up Post - January, Finishuary, and early March

 So, here I am, and it's almost 3 months into the year, and no significant blogging. How sad is that? I really need to work on leading that life of luxury I planned on as a child. This whole working-for-a-living thing isn't so good for getting shit done.  

Ah well, it was a nice thought.

I'm finally getting back into a more regular podcasting schedule. With the wedding and everything else that was going on last year, I fell out of my usual routine. It's nice to be getting back to it. However -  I do have a little bit of a bone to pick with those people who told me how amazing garageband is. You see, I bought a Macbook Air (the smaller size) for Christmas. It was my hope that moving to a more media-friendly machine would up my game and make my podcast a smidge better. 

Instead - I was faced with a highly counter-intuitive program which is still plaguing me at least 5 podcasts later. I managed to cut out the evil echo that my listeners were being terrorized with. And I even managed to figure out how to add music. In the last recording session, I figured out how to control track volume for the music. But editing overall in garageband is still a mystery to me. I'm not pround of this, but I was so frustrated with the program last episode that I googled "garageband sucks" just to vent some anger. And you know what? MULTIPLE SITES popped up, which not only made me feel vindicated, but also reassured me that I'm not a total moron. I may still be a bit of a troglodyte when it comes to all things tech, but at least I figured out how to do the very basics that will allow me to publish a decent podcast. 

What else? Oh yes, I'm leaving for India in a few days. This time I only have to go for a week, which will almost be fun. Almost. No business trip where you work +12 hours a day is actually fun, but it does beat being stuck there for 3 weeks like I was before my wedding. Given that, I can't really complain. Well, I can complain about being stuck on planes for more or less a full day - and being stuck in economy class at that - but that's relatively small. Besides, it gives me a chance to knit more socks! I already have the yarn and needles for a new pair of sasquatch socks. Thankfully, a 24 hour trip each way won't be quite enough for me to knit a full pair of those. Remember when I went to India last time and knit myself an entire pair of socks just on the flight there? These will have more knitting time needed than that.

Of course, I know this begs the question - what if my needles get taken away? Well, last time I managed to keep them on all my flights. The time before I did have them taken away on my trip from Dubai to US (God, that was a nightmare without knitting). This time, I'm back on the 1st Airline, so there is a risk. However, I'm taking wooden circulars and I've packed some great leftovers from two sweaters I made last year to make a new Daybreak into my checked luggage so I'll have something to do in the evenings once I hit India.

What else can I say? I'm planning as best I can. I just wish there was some other craft I could take.

But enough about that, where am I with my knitting?

As far as I can remember, I have completed:

• 1 pair of socks in January for me (purple, blue, and white colorway)
• 1 Sweater in February for me.
• 2 pairs of socks in March for a friend of a friend
• 1 Pair of socks in March for Lorien (not featured)

Total this year:
5 completed projects
Selfish ratio: 2/5
Mending: 2 pairs of socks for me, 1 pair of sasquatch socks

 

 Arianne sweater - front (no collar)

Arianne sweater back (no collar)

Ariann sweater inside button band

 Ariann sweater, button!

Into the breach!

Well, today it finally started raining. Living in mid/northern California is a little confusing at times. For example, it's been dry, but cloudy off and on since October. It's also been very brightly sunny and hot enough for tanktops. Last time I checked, it's Winter. While I know it doesn't generally snow where I live, I would like the weather to take some notice. Of course, that's easy for me to say, isn't it? 2 hours north of me it's been pouring. And, well, I think last winter there were record rains where I was. But this year? This feels like a really mild summer.....for months.

Still, it could be worse.

Bear in mind, your fearless heroine is typing this from inside a work cafeteria. I had blithely determined that a break in the weather meant that I and my umbrella should high-tail it to a cafe at work which has Pho (noodles and meat or veggies in hot broth). So, I did - and I took a detour to get some extra walking in as well since I missed my workout in order to sleep in this morning, something I hope will help me convince my body that I don't really have this cold that has been threatening me. About half-way through my detour - at literally the farthest point from any buildings, it decided to pour. Classic. In fact, so classic that I had my umbrella prepared. However, that simple umbrella did not stop me from being soaked from the knees down - with spots on my back and chest, on my face, and in my hair.


Needles to say, even though I've finished my lunch (I smartly worked while slurping my soup), I'm in no rush to go back outside any time soon........... but I didn't bring a charger, and that means that my working from this cafe must needs come to an end. Shivering in my soaked jeans, this seems incredibly cruel of fate. What was so compelling about the Pho that I started off on this foolhardy adventure anyway? I can only imagine that it has to do with the fact that my usual dinner Pho-buddy, J, has been busy with things like having a baby and I just wanted a little taste of our old treat. In the scheme of things, getting your legs soaked when you've got a cold and forgot your jacket on a windy and rainy day just to have a little nostalgia isn't really that bad of a tradeoff.

But I'm totally going to make myself a latte when I get back to my building and desk. Just sayin'

The Husbean and the Pea

So, it's February, about time for my usual flurry of posts before I go dark for the rest of the year.

Today's post is about my Husbean (Husband). Some of you might recall that I got married in October last year, so he will henceforth be called the Husbean. I like adding the word bean after people's names, so this seemed like a natural evolution.


Ahem, anyway, there was a story here somewhere, oh yeah:

The Husbean and the Pea.

- This is what I was muttering in irritation against my pillow as I dug back under the blankets around 4am this morning, prior to a wide-eyed insomnia which lasted about a half hour. How did he warrant such a title? Well, are you familiar with the story The Princess and the Pea? In this children's story, a Princess proves she's truly a princess by her finiky sleeping habits. She can literally feel a pea placed underneath the bottom mattress of 40 she's sleeping on (Note, I think the actual number of mattresses isn't pertinent. The point is there are TOO MANY for her to know there was a pea beneath them). She proves that not only is she a pain in the ass, but that she's a ROYAL pain in the ass.

Last night, or I guess it would more accurately be this morning, I awoke because my husband had awoken and was galumphing about. Once awake, and after asking what he was doing and receiving his sleep yet intelligible answer, I could barely hear in the distance a recurring beep. Apparently it was the alarm system telling us that one of our smoke detectors had quick. The alarm in question was squeaking a louder, yet less often manner - and was impossible to locate as it was being over-come by the alarm system beeping. I mused sleepily: WHY DOES THIS ONLY HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE $&*#ING NIGHT? It was approximately 5 minutes later that the Husbean's cell phone rang. It was the alarm company wanting to let us know that one of our fire alarms was out and were we ok.

It was at about this point that I decided to get up and figure out where the damn thing was. The alarm company did call a second time, by the way. And we did eventually find the "hallway" smoke alarm it was trying to warn us about---in my fiber room.


But why is this called the Husbean and the Pea? I sleep closer to the alarm (if only by a few feet), I sleep with nothing in the way, no ear plugs, white noise, etc. I slept through the alarm and the alarm about the alarm. My husbean - who sleeps with earplugs and sometimes cotton in his ears (yes, literally), who also has a CPAP mask strapped to his face and a machine next to his head woke up the second it started going off. Much like the Princess and that fateful pea....he sensed the disturbance in the force and was awake.

So why can't he wake up when his alarm goes off at 6:30?

Playing Catch Up in 2012

Well, would you believe that my BFF had a baby? Early, no less! And to top it all off, I'm barely catching my breath after the whirlwind of getting married, going on honeymoon, taking more work, and doing Dicken's Fair.


First off, to make sure that everyone is happy, here is a picture of the Christmas Wheel:

And one cool thing that I thought I'd lost, but which finally showed back up! It's a doiley for your head. I wear it during faire. It doesn't make up for the handknit Ribbi Cardi that was lost/swiped at fair this year... but it's a good start!

Oh, and be proud of this! Look at the stash closet! Look at it's reorganized glory. The goal is to either find more storage space, or to use so much stash that it all fits in this closet.

This is the shawl I've been working on. Doesn't look like much right now, does it?

And then there's my glorious first re-entry to sewing project.  It's a baby blanket for Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls Podcast, also known as my BFF. Jasmin loves rainbows and the color orange. There's a lot this girl loves. Well, I wanted to make something she could love. Yes, it's for the baby technically, but Jasmin is the one who is going to have to see it all the time.

Here's a close-up of the batik-style fabric:

And here's the back (the threads are embroidery floss used to hold the layers together. There are 8 pieces, 4 orange, 4 black.

And here are the socks in progress at the moment. This is the second pair in this colorway. The first pair was given to my friend Nessa for her birthday. This pair is for me.

Here's the handspun leftovers blanket. Growing nicely, isn't it? It's kind of square now. I need to knit more handspun so i can see more growth on it. Lumpy, made from different weights, etc. - but I love it.

And here's a random upsidedown picture of the sweater that I started......It's a lovely teal. One of these days I'll even have time to work on it---- maybe after I get time to work on the shawl. :)

And this has been your catch-up post. Hopefully I can swipe a couple of wedding pictures and some honeymoon shots for you soon.

Wedding post 1

So, you know I haven't been around a lot lately. And you know that it's pretty much because of this whole wedding thing that's been taking all of my non-work time (and I don't exactly get a lot of non-work time!)

So, this will be a little of a scattered post, but I'll try to briefly tell the story (since I just got married and now I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks on my honeymoon)

So, remember a year and a half ago? Well, this guy I was really into got me one of these and so I got engaged.

And then I did some of this:

which is basically spinning this:

And somewhere along the way we bought a house.
(That's its own long story!)

And then my friend on the other side of the country spent some time making me a dress, which I had pinned on by a different friend...

And the person who pinned it happened to be my "Maid of Science" so I wove her a scarf.

And then I had to make some centerpieces for the wedding. This was the original proto-type, but we eventually decided to lose the feathers...

And then my friend Snoopy had some fiber he needed spun for his mom's friend:

Oh, and then my friends lovingly did my hair and makeup on the big day and I had to make my garters talk to my mom. [Oh, were you expecting me to post pictures and be all "I'm so pretty la la la"...? Nah, first you get the funny one :) ] [besides, this cracks me up everytime I look at it. I was litterally talking in this weird low voice like my garter was a lounge singer.....don't ask)

India post 3 - 2011

This post is going to be about Traffic in India. If you've never been there, it's hard to explain what traffic is like in India, but let's start with the cars. Or should I say Cabs? The parts of India I visit are commuter societies. People are always walking, running, driving, GOING somewhere. And the cars and traffic support this. For example, below I've linked some pictures of the cute little 3 wheeler cab that is very prevalent. I've never been in one as my drivers always drive either little SUVs or sedans (the luxury of a company driver). 

So, here are some basic observations about Indian Traffic:

1. Lanes don't mean anything. Neither does right of way. If there is space, take it, or someone else will. Whoever noses in and pushes ahead deserves to be there.

2. Honking is required. Oh yes, Required. Honking is not rude in India - like it is in the US. I asked an Indian with whom I was sharing a cab home from work late one night what was up with all the honking. He said that it means "here I am" or "I'm coming up on you" or even "warning, I'm here." One big truck I saw had "please honk" written on the back. So go-figure.

3. If a pedestrian looks at you motions with his hand, he will walk in front of your vehicle.

4.  If a pedestrian motions with his hand, he will walk in front of your vehicle.

5. If a pedestrian is anywhere near the road, he will walk in front of your vehicle.

And here is my work volunteer project - chemo caps. Work allows us to take a half day to volunteer every year, the knitting group at work decided to put our skills to use. Sadly, I couldnt be there for the knit-in - and I also couldn't afford to take the half day off since I was on business travel. So I did it on my own on the weekend. We made more than 30 hat!

And here were some socks (yarn is flat foot) that I was working on during the trip (I finished them already, this pic is from the trip).

India post 2 - 2011

Alright, I promised more posts about India, so let me continue the saga with the First Hotel I stayed at. Below are some pictures of my little apartment, (you know, before I found the roaches and had to go somewhere else.......and thow away my toothbrush)

First up - the living room. You may not be able to tell from this distance, but that's a really nice leather love seat. The furniture was pretty nice in this place, overall - it did seem a little spartan, plain, but I was only there for sleeping, so that didn't really matter.

Here is the little kitchen which is in a nook next to the living room. I had a fridge, a sink, a microwave, and a toaster. There were also some plates. I had no washing supplies, though. This is where I cooked my easy mac at midnight to keep me from getting sick off the Malaria pills.

 

This is easy mac - my dinner approximately 5 nights in a row. I can't bare to really even think about it right now. It's not real food. Real food is not that color. Thank you, easy mac, for keeping from getting sick, but please wink yourself out of existence until I need you again. You are seriously grossing me out.

Here is my bedroom. I had two twin beds pushed togther - not quite sure why.

 Here is the view from the other side

 Here is my bathroom - note the bucket and pitcher where you would normally expect, oh, I don't know, shower curtain.

Here's me on my way to work in my Indian clothes

And here was a little slice of heaven after lunch. Mango Cheesecake.

And here are the famous socks, toes kitchenered.

India post 1 - 2011

Well, I may be back from India, but I had no time to blog while I was there. That's the trouble with business trips - you think you'll have all of this time, but instead you end up working the full day + in meetings and trainings, etc, and then working some of the day for your normal time-zone. In India, that equates for me to working from 8am Indian time to about 7pm Indian time, taking half an hour to grab dinner at work, and then working until around 11pm (or 10:30am my office time). At that point, it's the hour cab ride  back to the hotel so you can fall into bed in order to be able to get up for cab again at 7 am. That's how it goes. It's good, but doesn't leave a lot of time for other things. 

Speaking of other things - do you know what my main amusement was while I was there? KNITTING. Actually, let's begin with what I did on my way to India. That's right, I knitted an ENTIRE PAIR of socks!! See below for the progress pics during my 26 hours in transit. 

The Beginning.

Showing that I am at Heathrow Airport with the heel flap done and the gusset started.

Interesting aside: did you know that in England, women wear poofy mini-dresses, and have two legs (according to their bathroom signs)? I guess this is one of the big differences between American and English women. American woman (according to our bathroom signs) have one central leg and a-line knee-length skirts. According to both signs, neither group of women has any arms or feet, and all shave their heads.

Back to the sock pictures. ere is my foot with the mostly done sock in super comfy economy class. See, I could almost manage to stretch out my entire foot.

Here we are at landing. Note, I am calling these "Done" and saying that I knitted an entire pair of socks because the knitting was done. As some of you know, you cannot take a tapestry needle on the plane. So, I had to wait to kitchener the toes. If only I had learned the knitted kitchener that Gigi tried to teach me....

I leave you with a couple of pictures of the Indian countryside from my window.

I may secretly have taken a bunch of pictures, so expect a few more posts about my trip to India - provided I get the time to blog!