Katywhumpus

Days 8, 9 & 10

2011-07-10T23:09:00.005-04:00

Every morning when I wake up this bunny is in the yard somewhere. It's such a regular visitor, the cats don't even get excited anymore. On Friday morning it came close enough to the house that I could snap a photo out the window.

On Saturday, Traci and I went to the Farmer's Market - the Saturday Market as opposed to the Tuesday Market mentioned earlier this week. (There is also one on Wednesdays and the first Friday of every month - this town loves its local produce...). There were local cherries this week!
After the FM, we wandered up Main Street and encountered this brass band. These sorts of things just happen here. This one was heading up a wedding parade - New Orleans style.

I didn't do much of anything today, but I did manage to finally photograph a shawl I finished about a month and a half ago. (Details on Ravelry if you're interested.)

Day 7

2011-07-07T23:34:00.001-04:00

Last year we planted sungold tomatoes in the office garden and they went so crazy we couldn't keep up. This year we put in one sungold plant and a bunch of other varieties. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a tomato plant where I couldn't remember planting it. We have a map (somewhere ...), but I thought it was entirely possible we missed marking this one. Today I found 4 other little rouge tomato plants in odd places around the garden. I believe last years sungolds shed the fruit we couldn't keep up with and reseeded all over the place. I can't bear to pull them up, so we're bracing for a bumper crop of the tasty little orange things.

Day 6

2011-07-06T23:28:00.002-04:00

The pole beans in the garden at my office are doing some amazing vining.

Day 5

2011-07-05T20:59:00.003-04:00

Tuesday Farmer's Market shopping list:

raspberries
strawberries
tomatoes
fennel
shiitake mushrooms

I did not buy any of these adorable bundles of garlic scapes from Town Farm because I haven't yet used the ones I got in my Town Farm CSA share last week.

Day 4

2011-07-04T23:05:00.002-04:00

I left town today. But only to go to nearby Chesterfield for their adorable 4th of July parade. I can't believe I've lived here for 14 years and have never been to this event. It's a sweet, small town parade - not too long and full of lots of homemade floats and costumes. The oddest part was a person in a chicken costume wandering up and down the parade route, hugging everyone. Apparently she is there every year. She is both fascinating and terrifying to 2 year-olds.

Day 3

2011-07-04T09:21:00.001-04:00

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Day 2

2011-07-03T10:54:00.003-04:00

There was the arrival of Issue 1 of Lucky Peach. There was a fabulous grilled dinner (if I do say so myself). There was ping pong at Adam and Liz's (and I'm just as spazzy at ping pong as I am at every other sport that involves hitting a ball over a net).

Staying Home

2011-07-01T20:18:00.004-04:00

I tend to travel a lot in the summer. Work trips mixed in with attempts at vacations and mini-getaways. It means that I miss out on summer at home. This year I'm determined not to do that. I have this idea that I can go the whole of July without leaving Northampton. There are so many good things here and there is nothing I need that I can't find locally. I'm going to enjoy just being here. I'm not going to set any hard and fast rules, because I might decide want to see a movie that's only playing in Amherst, or go berry picking, or go to that cute little 4th of July Parade in a nearby town with friends.

Day 1

Fish Fry Friday! A summer tradition started by my friends Bill and GL last year. An easy relaxing end to the week - a bunch of good friends sitting around unwinding and stuffing ourselves. This week included Traci's very strawberryey Pimm's Cups

Red hearts and pies

2011-02-15T14:51:00.005-05:00

There is no reason on earth I should love Valentine's day as much as I do. (Really. It's like this.) I've decided that it has a little bit to do with the fact that I never got over the excitement of elementary school and stuffing construction paper valentines in the handmade (from milk cartons) mailboxes on each of my classmates desks. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I love an excuse to craft and I love gift giving. Apart from Christmas, there aren't any other holidays where you give gifts to lots of people. I can make crafty stuff for Halloween, but I don't (always...) give out gifts. Add to all this the tiny girl in me who secretly still loves hearts and pink (and ribbons and doilies and pretty packages) and come the first couple of weeks of February, I tend to go a little bit nuts.

This year I made lavender sachets using two of my new most favorite crafting supplies: my giant cone of bakers twine (which I ADORE and will last me for the rest of my life) and Stiffy (which I cannot discuss with out hearing a chorus of 'That's What She Saids' in my head). The latter is pretty amazing stuff - paint it on fabric, let it dry and you can cut and applique to your heart's content. No hems or fraying and it makes things, um, nice and stiff.

And, because those weren't enough... I decided to make whoopie pies for the first time in my life. And not just plain old chocolate whoopie pies (not that there's anything wrong with them...), but red velvet ones.

(sorry about the crappy phone picture, but I'd eaten way too much sugar at this point and couldn't be bothered to find my real camera...)

Owls

2010-12-19T09:12:00.004-05:00

(Look at me blogging!)

A while back a friend mentioned that her 18 month old had outgrown the hats I made for her last year and they'd lost a few others, so were currently short on hats. I promptly took needles to yarn (because baby hats are cathartic - quick and satisfying). I had some bright pink Classic Elite Duchess (currently on closeout at Webs) and planned to make a basic hat with the little one's current favorite animal embroidered on it. Working on it late one evening, after a glass of wine or two, I had the brilliant idea to try to give it ears. A little short-row shaping and the owl hat was born.

The original pink one is there on the right with the owl embroidered on as planned. When realized Valley Yarn's Northampton Bulky was the perfect yarn for these (both pricewise and yardagewise), the hats quickly became an obsession. They knit up super quickly. I tried embroidering on a face on the dark blue one, but wasn't completely thrilled with how it looked or how long it took. The felt face with button eyes is much easier.

I love how each one takes on its own personality.

I whipped these two up very quickly for my old friend Heidi's daughters.

A coworker asked if I could do a tiger version of it for his son. No problem, the hat can easily be converted to any sort of cat face. But then he asked if I could do his daughter's favorite animal - a zebra.

It was a bit of a challenge figuring out how to make it look horse-like. Anisa suggested the mane (which runs all the way down the backside) and then the rest of it took shape.

I've written up the pattern and included templates for the felt face pieces. There are 4 sizes ranging from toddler to adult. Some wonderful friends have tested it for me (thanks Tina, Robyn, Donna and Melissa!). It's available for $3 on Ravelry at: Owls and Tigers and Zebras, Oh My!

I'm completely obsessed and cannot stop making these. I have a big bag of Northampton Bulky sitting next to me right now (I think I bought almost every color available) and plan to spend much of my Christmas break cranking out owls.

Nasty little trees

2010-07-23T15:09:00.003-04:00

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

Hi!!!

My brother recently sent me some videos from his new job as the River Restoration Director for the Southwest Conservation Corps in Colorado. I was going to just post the videos here and say a few words (yes, again) about his awesomeness. Just so I didn't say anything stupid and wrong, I checked the SCC website to make sure I had my facts straight first. While there I discovered my brother's bio and was totally impressed. Of course, I knew all of this was going on in his life, but it sounds so much better when it's all put together in one paragraph like this:

Mike grew up in rural Vermont where he grew to love the snow, the mountains and rivers. In the years following high school, he began to explore the varied Southwest and pursue a degree in Ecology and Natural History /Photography at Prescott College in Arizona. Over the summers he labored away, soon leading a trail crew, firefighting and as a lookout in the most remote tower in the lower forty-eight states. Mike finished his formal education by conducting Wild and Scenic river research in the Grand Canyon where his love for rivers really began. Mike was then hired by the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Steamboat Springs, CO, as Project Coordinator where he trained crew leaders and facilitated conservation projects in many stunning locations. Throughout the next few years Mike worked to hone his rafting skills on numerous private trips and worked as head sawyer for a fire mitigation company. Mike has also been carpenter, a snowboard instructor, and an Outward Bound River Instructor. In 2002, he moved to Nederland, CO where he directed the Mountain Youth Corps in Invasive Species inventory, monitoring and treatment. He soon was the Academic Director at the local alternative high school filling the roles of counselor, registrar, disciplinarian, records monitor, independent study facilitator, substitute, and district liaison for Chinook West, a program that serves at-risk youth. He also directed fundraising, coordinated and lead school excursions backpacking in Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, exploring the four corners area, rafting the San Juan River and more. Mike realized that his heart truly lies with conservation work, especially within the canyons of the Southwest, and jumped at the opportunity to reconnect with conservation corps as River Restoration Director.

Doesn't he sound impressive? (I still say the most impressive thing he ever did was to convince Julie to marry him, but that's just my opinion...)

Anyway, here's a couple of videos about the work he's doing on the Durango River. The goal is to remove the invasive species Tamarisk from the river. Tamarisk is a small tree-like plant that grows in dense thickets and has roots that grow 100 feet long and consume a huge amount of water (more than 200 gallons a day). Not only does it choke out native plant species, but the thickets block wildlife (and human) access to the river.

Here's a video that explains the project a bit more:

But this one has my brother narrating at the beginning and he's in it quite a bit - and it includes some of the kids from one of the youth crews:

If you know any young adults who might be interested in joining a crew, info is here.

Full disclosure: I don't knit socks

2010-04-12T17:09:00.003-04:00

But if I did knit socks, I would knit them two at a time . I would knit them toe-up (so I could use up all of my yarn and never worry about running out of yarn). I would buy this book. If you knit socks, you should buy it.

Also Melissa is a good teacher and you should take classes with her. You should ask your local yarn store to contact her about teaching. She taught me to knit two-at-a-time and I've done countless mittens and sleeves that way and it is a good thing.

Another disclosure: I am employed as a marketing and sales manager at a publishing company. But not the company that published this book. I'm just plugging the book out of the goodness of my own heart. (And the fact that Melissa delivers me the best fresh eggs - from happy chickens - on a weekly basis and I'm counting on a big jar of honey from her bees later this year has nothing to do with it.)

Soda can stars

2010-03-30T14:00:00.005-04:00

In keeping with my family's non-commercial gift-giving which we started at Christmas this year, and inspired by this amazing tin can star mural, I made a soda can garland for my mother's birthday.

I followed Anna's tutorial for making the stars. I made a slightly smaller star template and managed to get 3 stars from each can. I used a metal knitting needle to make the scores and punched small holes on opposite points with an awl. Knowing the garland would spin, I decided to put two stars together so there was no right or wrong side. I matched up the colors/patterns on each pair of stars and made some of the stars with the silver side showing.

I had the idea to use fishing spinners as connectors (they looked at me funny in the sporting goods store when I bought 6 packets of them), but realized quickly that, while one end of the spinner opens like a safety pin, the other end is a closed loop. I thought about adding jump rings between each, but ended up snipping the loop close to the join, attaching a second spinner and closing the loop back up with round nosed pliers. Since the garland doesn't have to hold up to any tension or weight (the stars are almost featherweight), this works fine.

I like the muted colors that come from the organic soda and seltzers that I tend to drink. If you look close you can see one star made from a Pork Slap Pale Ale can (left over from my Lost Season Premier party. Because there are boars on the island. Get it?).

Someone asked if it is very 'owie' and someone else predicted I was going to be covered in blood while making it, but I finished without even a scratch. It's a little prickly and stuck to the cloth bag I wrapped it in and I would keep it out of reach of babies, but otherwise it's fine.

Her feet are no longer big

2010-03-28T07:49:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday Mom!On the back of this photo is written, in my grandfather's handwriting, "Tammy. 7 1/2 weeks. She has big feet."

Nor'easter Hat & Mittens

2010-01-25T21:18:00.005-05:00

I have a new pattern for sale on Ravelry - Nor'easter Hat & Mitten set. For those of you who don't live in New England, a Nor’easter is a type of storm common during the winter in the Northeastern US that occurs when cold air coming from the Arctic Air Mass converges with warmer air from the Gulf Stream. These cosy mittens and hat will keep you warm even in the worst snowy weather.

They are a quick knit in chunky yarn and a perfect blank slate for simple embellishments. My embroidery skills leave a lot to be desired, but I learned quite a bit from this book.

100% of the proceeds from Nor'easter patterns sold between now and February 28th will be donated to Doctors Without Borders to assist with their work in Haiti. You can find other patterns for sale on Ravelry whose designers have pledged to donate proceeds to Haitian Relief funds here.

How cute is my colleague Alexandra (Editorial Assistant Extraordinaire) who graciously agreed to model for me?

The white set is done in Valley Yarn's Northampton Bulky which is a nice soft bulky wool (at a bargain price). The dark green set is done in Malabrigo Chunky which is extremely soft (but I have some fears that it will pill up with wear).

Of course the day I finished these, we're having a January thaw and it is too warm and soggy outside for thick woolies. But this is New England and the Nor'easters will come...

Birthdays are such a good excuse to bring out embarassing photos

2010-01-19T14:41:00.009-05:00

My little sister turned 30 yesterday (I meant to do this post then, but I was busy lying feverishly on the sofa and blowing my nose all day). I dug through the box of photos I inherited from my maternal grandmother and came up with this random selection of photos of, and including, sis. Really random. And most don't have any sort of notes on the back (if anyone reading this has boxes of photos sitting around, please label them all. Someday someone else will have to go through them and they will thank you), so I have no clue when or where they were taken. Sis? Mom? Can anyone chime in here with corrections?

Look at Linz in her baggy 80s jean jacket.
I wonder what the pins say?
Not sure what she's watching here. This was maybe at a parade?

A (rare?) tender moment between siblings. I'm pretty sure that's Cricket Magazine I'm reading to them. I had a subscription to this children's literary magazine for many years. They have since branched off and now have literary mags for all ages of kids (even a board book magazine for little tykes) as well as science and archeology/exploring magazines. Some of the best magazines for kids out there (IMHO).

The thing is, I probably dressed her like this.

I include this photo only to show off my stylin' junior high winter look.
And the feathered hair.
Awesome.
1984/85? Was this a family Christmas card photo?

I cannot look at this photo with out snorting.
I don't know why it cracks me up so much that Linz and the
Care Bear have exactly the same expression.

So many questions about this one.
Did she take this of herself?
Did she know then that she would have years of orthodontic work?
Is that a hand knit sweater?
Was the faux paint-splatter OshKosh cap the height of fashion in the early 80s?

I can't believe I slept under the same roof as this.
I'm wide awake now and it's giving me nightmares.

circa 1990 - give or take a year? Clues being:
My hippie hoodie thingy (when did I buy that?) paired with late 80s skinny acid washed jeans,
Mikey is either growing out his asymmetrical, shaved-on-one-side, skater cut
or is working up to it.
What year did Linz get gum in her hair and have to cut her bangs really short?
Who's hair was longer mine or Lindsey's?

This one I can identify. All dressed up and well-behaved on my high-school graduation day.
(Mom that flower bed was a mess - you totally did the right thing tearing it out and redoing it.)
Liking the suspenders and the side braid and the socks with the mary janes sis.
And holy frik I was skinny then!

Throwing up the Knit Signal

2010-01-14T08:16:00.004-05:00

Taking the advice of the Yarn Harlot, I'm throwing up the knit signal for Haiti. The symbol is in recognition of the fact that knitters are a force to be reckoned with when we put our minds to something. Today, whether you are a knitter or not, do what you can for the people of Haiti.

You can donate to Doctors Without Borders here. Quoted from the Yarn Harlot's blog:

The MSF Hospital has sustained damage that means it isn't functioning as a hospital right now. Staff have moved to the courtyard and set up tents and what materials they could retrieve from the building and are doing their best to help people as they can. Doctors who were providing maternity care are now running a trauma centre.

They, and their sister offices in other countries spent all night figuring out who could go and how to get them there, and staff is packing as we read this to get there as fast as they can. They'll be taking inflatable surgery suites with them so they can use that instead of their damaged buildings.

There are directed donation sites set up for Haiti on all of their websites, but I'd like to take a moment to ask you to please make your donation "undirected". Money given to a specific fund can only be used for that area and making sure your donation is undirected helps them a lot. It lets them keep serving other crises that continue to happen while the world watches Haiti, and more importantly, it allows them to be first responders.

On their websites (Canada here, USA here, Other countries can find their site here) when you give there is a drop-down menu that you'll see called "I would like my gift to be directed to..." and you'll see a lot of choices. Please consider selecting "Greatest Needs" or "Emergency Relief" so that they can have the flexibility that they need to do their best work.

You can also donate to the Red Cross which has pledged $1 Million to Haiti relief here. The easiest way to donate is to text the word 'Haiti' to '90999' and $10 will be billed on your next cell phone bill by the Red Cross.

The US State Department website links to this list of many different (valid) charities which are directing funds to Haiti.

Queen of Mod Podge

2010-01-10T16:11:00.007-05:00

My sister wins the prize for making the most gifts this Christmas. She also made many different kinds of cookies and I think she said something about making 6 coffee cakes. And she is in grad school. I'm pretty sure she doesn't sleep. Here's a few samples of what she made:

First off are these bowls she made for my mother and I. They were inspired by these. She says the globe was very difficult to saw in half. The equator on globes is apparently reinforced with very thick cardboard.

She found the globe on Craigs List. My bowl is the Northern Hemisphere half and has the old Soviet Union on it.

She lined the rough edge with aluminum foil and Mod Podged pages from an atlas inside (Note to anyone thinking about what to get Linz for her birthday next week: She needs a new atlas). The feet are glass marbles.

I've always wanted to make my own vanilla extract and sis beat me to it. It's vodka and vanilla beans and I can add more vodka to replenish it.

I've got another week before it will be ready to use. I'm looking forward to baking something next weekend. I'm also thinking, now that I realize it's really just vanilla flavored vodka, about adding a few drops to mixed drinks. Vanilla martinis maybe?

Here is where sis went really nuts. And learned to know and love Mod Podge. These are yarn lights.

She Mod Podged yarn around balloons, let it dry and popped the balloons.

The finished balls were stuck over a string of LED lights.

I have no idea where she got the idea for these, but I love them. Perhaps she'll speak up and let us know where the instructions are.

Update: Sis says,"The idea for the yarn ball lights came from my own little head. There are no instructions. And I was afraid it was all a bust when I tried to paint on the mod podge and found the yarn collapsed when with the popped balloon. Then I GLOPPED mod podge on. That fixed it... but took forever to dry."
These are the perfect accessory for my house. They match the rest of the decor perfectly (since it it mostly consists of balls and skeins of yarns perched on shelves and tucked into baskets).

Up next is my brother's interpretation of the Non Commercial Holiday. Hint: He's a connoisseur of Goodwill stores.

None of us had to go to the mall

2009-12-28T10:15:00.004-05:00

My family decided to have a non-commercial Christmas this year. The rules for gifts were:

1. Handmade - if not made by the giver, then all effort should be made to purchase directly from the creator.

2. Recycled/Upcycled - my mother found a Christmas Card I sent her 16 years ago and wrote a new note in it (below my old note) and sent it back to me.

3. Used - books, clothing, housewares or ephemera.

4. Reusable or recycled packaging/wrapping is encouraged.

I'm going to share some of the results of these rules over the next few days. Since this whole thing was my mother's idea I'm starting with this gorgeous basket she made for me.

In the center is a piece of cherry tree which unfortunately cracked, but I kind of like that about it.
My sister will be getting a similar basket also, but the flu prevented it from happening before Christmas. Sis got a box full of unwoven reed (she also got a not-quite finished sweater from me, poor thing).

Mom makes some amazing baskets and you can see more of them here. She probably wont appreciate the link, but she's talented and she needs to start showing off what she can do.

Keeping with the wood theme, Mom and Dad made sets of these coasters for all of us from slices of Black Walnut. I love them and they make me think that it might be time to buy a real coffee table...

Dad made me this lovely desk organizer. He's handy with the tools. He also made sis a long narrow spice shelf out of some old crown molding.

I'm trying to decide whether to keep it at home or bring it to work where I will find a way to use it every day.

We all received lots of small handmade things that mom bought at the Twist Fair (one of the best craft fairs I've ever been to. The next one is May 7 & 8, 2010 here in Northampton), the Snowfarm Sale (An Artist's seconds sale held over 3 consecutive weekends every November in Williamsburg, MA) and the Vermont Hand Crafters Show (I must try to get to this next year - mid-November in Burlington).

I think this whole exercise made us all think a bit more about what is really important to us. Not only the act of making things ourselves for our loved ones, but supporting artists and craftspersons in their efforts to live off their own creativity. The gifts did not need to be huge, elaborate, expensive things. Little thoughtful things that will make us happy. Like these lavender sachets Mom made. I will distribute them around my house wherever there is wool (take that moths). Months from now I'll be digging through a basket of yarn and the smell will waft out. I'll think about mom and how thoughtful she was to make them. How she knows that my yarn and woolly things are important to me. And that moths suck.

Stay tuned to see how my brother, sister and I interpreted the rules.

At least I saved on the stamps

2009-12-27T18:31:00.011-05:00

I used to handmake all of my Christmas cards, but then one year life was too busy. I'm pretty sure I thought it was just that year and that I'd go back to making cards the next year. I did not. For a couple of years after that I bought cards and mailed them feeling all sorts of guilt about them not being handmade. Then life somehow got even busier. I continue to buy cards every year, but somehow Christmas comes and goes before I've sent them. This year was no different. I bought the most fabulous cards (along with lots of other stuff) at the Crane Paper Sale in August. Really fabulous cards that I really meant to send. But here it is December 27th and it's not going to happen. So I'm writing a blog post instead.

This whole Christmas card thing is one of the few instances when I am jealous of people with kids. They can take a cute photo and have it done into a card pre-printed with their names and just pop that in an envelope. Or they can write a cheesey letter with paragraphs about each kid and which one is in what grade or college or got a new job and the vacations they took and the funny thing that happened that time in August. I considered borrowing some kids and taking a cute photo.

None of these people are related to me.

I considered sending out photos of my cats, but no one wants to see that. And, let's face it, that would just be sad.

Do you see how hard this is?

I could write one of those cutsie letters that people send (or you could read the one my parents sent if you are on their list). I could write about things I did this year, but you can read this blog for that. I could tell you about my job promotion, but I'm not going to talk about work here. I could write about places I traveled, but that sometimes feels a little like bragging (and some of it was boring). I could tell you that there's someone special in my life with whom I will be celebrating a second New Year's Eve with on Thursday. But I'm going to keep that to myself for now.

So, another year and no cards sent. I promise I'll try really hard next year. Until then, happy holidays (whichever ones you celebrate) and best wishes for the New Year. I love you all.

Farmer Dave made me cry

2009-11-24T21:42:00.004-05:00

For the past 12 months I have split a farm share with my neighbors. Enterprise Farm in Whately, MA started their farm shares a year ago this month and we spent last winter enjoying root vegetables, apples, citrus from Florida, squash, the occasional avocado and lots and lots of greens. I ate more kale in those months than the whole of my life prior to that.

Summer of 2009 was not the best summer for local farms, but we got a box of vegetables and fruit every week and managed, most weeks, to eat it all. Traci and Audrey go to the farm to pick up our share every Tuesday afternoon and in the height of summer they brought back bunches of flowers and herbs from the pick-your own fields. This autumn we've found some new surprises in our share including barley and winter berries from a local grain farm.

I can't imagine how I lived with out a farm share before this. I almost never buy produce at the supermarket anymore. I'm eating more vegetables than ever. I've learned to cook new things. Traci and I, out of determination to eat it all every week, compete to cook 'farm share trifectas' (meals that include 3 or more ingredients from the share). I've gotten very good at making soup. I've discovered many many ways to prepare kale.

All of the produce in the summer comes from Enterprise Farm or other local farms. Almost all of it is organic or produced on farms that use minimal pesticides. In the winter some of the share comes from small farms down the East Coast that have a cooperative agreement with Enterprise.

Last week our summer share ended and the farm is taking a well deserved week off before starting the winter shares next week. Today the farmers sent out a touching and heartfelt letter to the members. I sat in my office holding back tears as I read about the effect the farm share has had on their lives and the farm. Up until a year ago they were a wholesale farm supplying supermarkets and restaurants. Just as they started the farm share last year, the market took a nosedive and stores became reluctant to buy organic produce and, instead, looked for cheaper options. Today, while many farms are struggling to survive, Enterprise is thriving thanks to the farm share members. They are fixing up their barn and building larger coolers and creating jobs. I'm so proud and happy to have been part of this. I'm supporting a farm, a family, a thriving local business which contributes to the community in so many ways. This was the line that got me though, "And after 25 years of farming, Farmer Dave says he finally feels fulfilled by his work. Without you, this simply wouldn’t be possible."

Farm Shares and CSAs are available everywhere. There are farms where you can buy meat shares. There are farms where you can buy wool shares (I've been wanting to do this for several years and I just got a raise and it's time). The best place to start looking is at Local Harvest. Everyone should do it. It will change the way you cook, the way you eat and the sense of pride you have in your own community. Plus you'll eat more kale. And everyone should eat more kale.

Cleaning Day Gnome

2009-11-07T10:37:00.002-05:00

I need to clean my whole house today. I resent having to spend a Saturday cleaning (I know it's no one's fault but mine that I didn't do it during the week, but still...). It's difficult to clean around all of my knitting projects and not just grab one, curl up on the couch and knit for a few hours. I also get distracted by organization projects or crafty ideas I have for things around the house. I've found the best way of coping with this is to start the day with a little crafty project, something quick and small, just to get it all out of my system. Something like a little knitted gnome outfit for a wine cork.

Meet the Cleaning Day Gnome. Korknisse Pattern by Saartje (of the adorable booties) done in mystery scrap yarn. The ragamuffin next door immediately requested an army of them for her new birthday doll house. I have visions of whole christmas trees covered with them. Evey Lucy was intrigued:

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T09:15:00.002-04:00

Bat done in scrap yarn has gone to live in New Jersey where they need all the bats they can find.

Just some little knits

2009-10-17T08:31:00.005-04:00

I'm in the middle of knitting a gorgeous sweater for myself, but it's the sort of knitting that requires focus and focus is something I seem to be lacking lately. So I work on it in short bursts and balance it out with smaller quicker projects.

I've had lots of excuses for little projects lately. The weather turned cold and I immediately cranked out a few hats and a lovely pair of mittens for my friend Amy (which I forgot to photograph before giving to her). These sorts of projects are perfect for the mood I've been in lately. Life is busy, you know? I need little projects that I can finish quickly and feel a sense of accomplishment. A few friends have obliged that need by having babies. Baby sweaters are the best little projects because you can crank them out and when you're done you've made a whole sweater - just on a small scale.

This week I finished Roo for Bill and GL's baby Alazne. The sweater is adorable, but, seriously? Look at that face!

I used Berroco's Vintage Wool for this, which is a revelation. This stuff is 50% Acrylic, 10% Nylon, and 40% Wool, but touching it you wouldn't know it's anything but super soft wool. It knits up gorgeously and it's completely easy care - throw it in the washing machine. The only trouble I had with it was a bit of slipperiness when doing the cables without a cable needle (as I do) and when winding it on the ball winder. After winding the skein into a ball, it was a mess from the yarn slipping - straggly loops hanging off that I knew would end up making tangled nightmares while I was knitting. I rewound the ball into a new ball and it was better.

I had some leftover Queensland Rustic Wool (another superwash for easy care) in my stash and when my friend Jill had her baby girl in August (named Kathleen, like me, but they're shortening it to Katie with an 'ie') I whipped out this little top (it's Boheme by Fiddlesticknitting).

Earlier in the summer, I went through all of my unfinished projects (an embarrassing number I wont quote here....) and found this little Tomten that was finished except for one sleeve. I taught this jacket as a class at Webs in the spring and this was my class demo. I've made several of these in the past and it remains one of my favorite patterns ever. In fact, it's a sure sign of autumn when there are Tomten sightings in my neighborhood.

This Tomten has ties to several of my knitterly/fibery friends. The yarn (which I believe is Valley Yarn's Superwash) was dyed by Gail the Kangaroodyer. These were sample skeins which Gail gave to Melissa a few years ago. Last year, a few of us staged an intervention at Melissa's house and made her go through her enormous (I have a big stash, but, folks, this one was unbelievable - literally a room full of boxes stacked to the ceiling) yarn stash and get rid of things. I ended up coming home with these skeins after making a promise to Melissa that I would so something special with them. I think this is pretty special. It still needs a zipper (but zippers scare me) and then I'll be waiting for the right child to come along and claim it.

In addition to little sweaters, I made a little gift for my Dad for his birthday last month. Those of you who know him, will understand why I HAD to make this as soon as I saw the pattern.

It's done in Valley Yarn's Northampton (lovely basic wooly goodness). And the pattern is from an ebook by Leah Sutton which also has patterns for a VW Beetle and VW Bus. The construction is a bit complex, but the instructions are good and I'm impressed by the engineering/construction skills that Leah must have put into this.

I know I've said it before, but

2009-09-10T17:09:00.006-04:00

my brother is kind of awesome. He does very cool things. Early in the summer he sent me this photo of the hutch he built for their tiny kitchen in Nederland, CO. I was completely impressed.

This morning I was amazed to open my email and find photos of the rest of the furniture he made this summer (along with getting married and going on several rafting and hiking trips). It's gorgeous and, as far as I know, made with completely reclaimed and found materials.

I'm in love with this table.

The orange pieces are from a hollow pillar he found somewhere. He's done at least 4 separate pieces using parts of the pillar.

Oh and since I mentioned it, and I've been a very neglectful sister/blogger by not posting about it earlier, he did get married in June. Regular readers will know how I feel about his new wife.

Here are some photos from the trip to Colorado for the wedding.

That's Mikey & Julie by Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, sister Lindsey and I by the same lake and Linz (a fairly awesome person in her own right) practicing her chipmunk whispering.

Mom and Dad at Bear Lake, Linz and her boyfriend Craig picnicking at Bear Lake and signs made by Linz, Craig and I to direct people to the hard to find meadow where the wedding was being held.

And here's a few shots of the happy couple and my folks at the wedding itself. There are tons of photos taken by me and others. If you're related to us or really enjoy looking at other people's wedding photos, feel free to click through and have a look.

Diamond Dave: In which I confess my terrible taste in music at the age of 15

2009-08-18T12:36:00.004-04:00

My friend Eleanor introduced me to The Bird and the Bee last year when they came to the Iron Horse. Just two of them on stage - Greg Kurstin on keyboards and the sweet, darling Inara George on vocals. I was completely charmed. Their biggest hit at the time was probably 'Fucking Boyfriend' which sounds like a cute little synthpop song until you listen to the lyrics. By the time they wrapped up the show (with a cover of the Bee Gee's 'How Deep is Your Love'), I was hooked.

I've been listening to their latest album, 'Ray Guns are Not Just the Futur e', quite a bit at work and it never struck me until today that one of the tracks - 'Diamond Dave' - was actually about David Lee Roth. It should have really. I love the idea that sweet little Inara may have been a huge fan. Because (and I can't believe I'm about to admit this publicly)... I was. My very first concert was DLR himself, live at the Worcester Centrum on his Skyscraper tour. My friend Clare's older sister (for reasons still unknown to me) volunteered to drive three 15 year-old girls to a show two and a half hours away from home. Our parents (uncharacteristically for protective small town Vermont parents) let us go. Poison opened for him. They were nasty and spit on the crowd. Dave was awesome, the total showman we expected. Our little teenaged heads nearly exploded when he rode a surfboard, hung on wires from the ceiling, over the crowd while singing his cover of California Girls. When we got home we plastered our bedroom walls with posters and pages from the program. My obsession didn't last long (teenagers are fickle and I quickly moved on to more broody serious bands), but I still have the t-shirt. And, as cheesey as he is these days, there's a little spot in my heart for Diamond Dave.

Here's The Bird and The Bee doing their tribute to the man himself:

I wasn't sure it really happened until I saw it on YouTube.

2009-08-10T00:04:00.003-04:00

I'm in Chicago, for work, and I had dinner on Friday night with my oldest friend Kristina. She suggested this little Italian cafe where we could sit outside. When we got there, we found that a company called Optimus, housed across the street, was having a big block party for their employees and vendors. They had the sidewalk cordoned off and tents set up and music blasting off the loading dock. The music was actually pretty good and we sat outside enjoying the people watching. We had some wine and some lovely calamari and sometime around when our entrees arrived things got very very weird....

Suddenly a stretch Hummer pulls up and out jumps Rod Blagojevic (the scandalous former governor of Illinois). A few minutes later he is out on the loading dock with a microphone singing Elvis' 'Treat me Right'. We have no clue what is going on, why he is there, why he is singing or if the apocalypse is near. As soon as I unfroze from the shock, I managed to get a bit of video. It's not good. I was sitting at a table eating a nice meal and really Blago isn't worth me abandoning my table for a better shot. But here it is:

Blago sings Elvis from katywhumpus on Vimeo.

You don't have to take my word for it. Better videos have been posted.

It was seriously the most random, strange thing that has happened near me in a long time. But it was even stranger than I've said so far...

At one point, Blago pulled forward another man and said it was Fabio. This person was clearly riding around in the rediculous stretch Hummer with Blago. A hanger-on, if you will. It certainly looked like the Italian romance novel cover model/touter of non-butter products. I had to wonder if Fabio had become Blago's Kato Kaelin. I found out later it was probably not him - too bad because the story would be so much better if it was.

DC on a rainy night

2009-07-26T20:21:00.006-04:00

I'm in Washington DC for work this week. I took myself to a movie last night and when I came out it was raining. By the time I got back to my hotel I was already soaked, so I dashed up to my room, grabbed my camera and an umbrella and went for a walk. The whole city was shiny from the rain and there was almost no one on the streets.

These photos are probably not technically great, but I like to try to push my cheap little point and shoot camera to see what it can do.

Dept of Commerce

I love how the raindrops look like stars here.

Trying to take a photo while umbrella is being dragged away by the wind... I like it though.

This and the following 4 are at the WWII memorial.

Treasury Building

Alexander Hamilton in front of the Treasury Building.

Is it possible to cry from excitement?

2009-07-25T23:05:00.002-04:00

I saw this trailer tonight, on a big screen. As soon as I realized what it was, I was sitting bolt upright with a huge dumbass grin on my face (luckily I was alone...). My eyes started to water from the excitement. Maurice Sendak, Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze. What more can you ask? I, for one, cannot wait.

Also, I have preordered this.

Terrible Yarn Eating Monster or Harmless Wildlife?

2009-07-23T15:20:00.006-04:00

I have a zillion things to blog about including several new crafty projects, my brother's wedding and a trip to England. Sadly I am swamped and having to direct all of my blogging energy into other things this week.

But, I'm wondering if anyone out there can help me identify this crazy-ass moth that has been living on my front door for the past 24 hours? I know it's not actually a yarn eating moth, but it is a bit monster-like and I'm curious about it. It's almost 3 inches across when it's sitting still like this (click the photo for a closer look). It looks like a big piece of tree bark or a dead leaf stuck to my screen door. I'm curious also - if your camouflage was this good, would you waste any time sitting on a surface that you didn't match?

Father's Day

2009-06-21T12:08:00.003-04:00

Some of the best memories I have from my childhood are from the adventures Dad took us on. We hiked mountains, paddled down rivers, took long bike rides, learned to ski and went camping and fishing. He made the best trail-mix (with M&Ms and chocolate chips). He drove a big blue van and sometimes we'd pile in it in our PJs with a giant bag of popcorn and go to the drive-in. Dad had a key to the tiny library in our village so I always had access to books when I ran out. He read to us about Narnia and Hobbits. He taught us the words to John Denver songs and The Gambler - so we could sing along with him on long car trips. He tried to teach me to play baseball (but I'm afraid I was a disappointment). He humored us and mowed special badminton courts when we decided to hold multi-day tournaments. He grew giant overgrown zucchinis in the garden and didn't mind when we used them as baseball bats (He also grew misshapen pumpkins that made the best jack-o-lanterns). In the fall we would spend hours searching out the best tree in the woods near our house and then spend hours the week before Christmas trying to find it again in the snow so we could cut it and bring it home.

My father has been a dad for almost 37 years now and I know it wasn't always easy on him. I was not the worst teenager in the world, but I was the first one he was responsible for. He managed to teach me to drive (and insisted we practice during snowstorms). He panicked when I burned cookies late at night, but was cool as a cucumber when he had to dig the car out of the snowbank I'd run into trying to get home before curfew. I know he didn't know how to deal with my teenagerness most of the time, but he rode it out and I grew up.

Two days ago my father gained a third daughter in the form of my lovely new sister-in-law (more on that later...). We're happy to share him with her. There are already new adventures being planned.

Not without a Trader Joe's Guy!

2009-06-14T21:49:00.005-04:00

I've been incredibly productive over the past week. I have had loads of long term projects on my mental to-do list for months and I finally got around to a few of them. The first of these was sewing up a new messenger bag.

Almost two years ago I took a sewing class with Melissa and neighbor Pete at Valley Fabrics (which is sadly closing it's doors at the end of June). The project was a simple messenger bag. I made a lovely orange, green and teal bag that I gave to my sister that Christmas. Immediately after the class I bought this heavy cotton fabric at Ikea intending to make another bag for me. The fabric sat and sat until I finally pulled it out of the depths of the closet a couple of weeks ago and cut out all of the bag pieces. Last Monday night I needed to hem some curtains (also bought at Ikea many months ago - another long delayed project...) and, since I had the machine out, sewed up the bag.

The bag is super simple, but I am not much of a sewer. I wont invite anyone to look closely at the seams on this, but I think it came out quite well. The fabric is nice and heavy and holds the shape of the bag quite well. And it's reversible!

Tina took these photos today in Trader Joe's in Hadley. One of the clerks saw what we were doing and ran over saying, 'Wait, you can't take pictures without a Trader Joe's Guy!'

If you look close at these photos, you can see Traci behind me looking at soup (with the checkered bag) and if you look in the lower right of the photo with the Trade Joe's Guy you can see Audrey in the bottom rack of the cart. Not sure what's she's doing there. Probably being bored waiting for the best part of Trader Joe's - when they give you a balloon (in your favorite color) at the check out counter.

Euphoria and Walden, a bandit and a monster

2009-06-04T15:39:00.009-04:00

I've found an even better spot for photographing knitting than the porch at my office. I needed to take pictures of some stuff and I needed breakfast and coffee. So Traci and I headed out to Bread Euphoria on the Northampton/Williamsburg line, home of (in my opinion) the best pastries in Western Mass. Their morning buns are sheer perfection. And they are expanding and will soon have a cafe with lots of seating and parking. They're even moving the driveway (Those of you who have experienced pulling out onto Rt 9 on that blind corner know what a good thing that is) and paving it.

We found a little table outside and each took a turn modeling my new Springtime Bandit shawl.

This was totally selfish knitting. After finishing the lace shawl for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law (15 days!) I needed to make something for me. I had this yarn - Cormo, Silk and Alpaca - bought out of the seconds bin at the Foxfire Fiber booth at the NH Sheep & Wool Festival last year. I love this yarn. It feels like your favorite old sweatshirt. I did one extra repeat of the main body pattern of the shawl because my gauge was a bit smaller than called for. It's the perfect size and so comfy I want to wear it all the time.

Also photographed during breakfast was my new Walden Beret. This is the second one of these I've made and it is my own design. This is done in sock yarn dyed in peacock colors by Melissa (it is basically the same as Valley Yarn's Franklin).

The first Walden Beret has left me in hopes of bigger and better things. I'll keep you posted... It was done in sparkly sock yarn dyed especially for me by Gail the Kangaroo Dyer. Gail calls this yarn Twinkletoes because it has thin strands of stirling silver spun into it. I love the earthy tones of this yarn - they were the inspiration for this beret's name.

Speaking of Gail... guess who has a new book coming out soon? Here is a mock up of it on display at BookExpo last weekend.

Finally, here is little Maddox hiding among my flowerpots.

I saw this yarn on close-out at Webs and said, 'That's perfect monster yarn.' And it is.

He still needs proper teeth (that's just a bit of paper in the photos), but I didn't have a chance to go to the fabric store this week.

Dear Nick Hornby, I love you.

2009-06-04T07:30:00.002-04:00

Juliet, Naked: a novel by Nick Hornby

It's been a long time since I read a really good book. I read lots of books and many of them are good. But only a few are really good. This one made me wish my flight was longer, wish I'd taken a shuttle instead of renting a car and had me looking forward to dining out alone.

It's about a couple in their late thirties ending a long term relationship. It's about the internet enabling a youthful obsession with a rock star to last many years longer than it should. It's about the life of a washed up rock star. It's about getting to know someone over email. It's about wanting kids and not wanting kids and having too many kids. It's about music and how it can affect life. It's about life in a small town. It's about the stupid mistakes we all make. Nothing earth shattering here. But it's all in how it's written. Hornby makes it all so real and familiar - sometimes painfully familiar, but somehow laughable at the same time. My only complaint is that it was too short. I could have gone on reading this book all summer.

There was a moment when two of the main characters were ending their relationship and one was moving out where Annie offers to lend Duncan money and he says "I never thought you'd be so... tough." I think I may have snorted out loud (Much to the annoyance of the guy sitting next to me on the plane. But whatever - he did not respect the invisible line created by the armrest and his elbow was in my space the whole flight.), because I heard in my head an ex calling me a cold hearted bitch when I told him he could keep our DVD player. And now I can see that it's funny. The book is full of those moments we've all had. And because they're not actually our moments, we can laugh at them and somehow that makes our own memories more like clever, witty, novel moments.

What happens when Times Square is closed to automobile traffic:

2009-05-31T18:40:00.002-04:00

Lounging.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this

2009-05-14T17:03:00.003-04:00

What? You didn't serve Dharma food at your Lost Season Finale Watching Get-together?

In which I keep a promise that I'd forgotten I made to somone who didn't know about the promise to begin with.

2009-05-12T15:57:00.008-04:00

A few years ago I was at Rhinebeck with Kristen and one of the vendors had a display of Russian Wedding Shawls. They were gorgeous, weightless, cloud-like things made from very fine yarns knit into intricate lace designs. Both of us were in awe, but determined that we would someday attempt to make one.

On the drive home Kristen and I discussed who in our lives we would make one of these shawls for, should they ever decide to get married. The few names that made it onto those lists were women important to each of us. Making the shawls would be a labor of love with wishes and hopes and care knitted into each stitch.

Last June, my brother and his long-term girlfriend Julie got engaged. When I mentioned it in drop-in at Webs that Thursday night, Kristen reminded me of that conversation we had on the way home from Rhinebeck and that Julie was one of the names on my list.

So I spent some time researching the traditional shawls and finally came across a more modern pattern inspired by the traditional shawls from the Shetland Islands. It is the Forest Path Stole out of The Best of Interweave Knits. It combines lace with another challenge - entrelac. I decided that, while the entrelac would make it more complicated, it would also make it easier to work on in short bursts of time. Throughout the main body of the shawl I would only be working on 20ish stitches at a time as I worked each diamond.

I then decided that a cobweb weight shawl might not be practical for someone who lives way up in the mountains of Colorado, as my brother and Julie do. So I looked for slightly warmer yarns. After much squishing and stroking of yarns and discussing the various merits of each with the drop-in ladies, the winner was a baby alpaca and silk blend that I'd found tucked away on a bottom shelf of Webs. Absolutely scrumptious stuff that I hadn't known existed before that - Buckingham from Bristol Yarn Gallery.

Over the past year, I worked on this shawl on airplanes, in coffee shops, in bars, in cars, in movie theaters, while teaching classes, in rooms full of friends and curled up on the sofa with two cats, during snowstorms, watching British costume dramas. Friends and coworkers kept track of the progress and encouraged me every step of the way. So the love of my whole tribe is knitted into it too. Last week, as I was working on the borders (in a bar) a fellow Drinking Liberal asked what I was making. I explained and he said 'Wow, you must love your brother very much!' I replied, 'Well yes I do, but this is for my new sister.'

On Friday, I drove down to Connecticut where Julie was visiting her parents for the weekend. I gave her the shawl and neither of us could keep back the tears. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and walking on the beach by the Long Island Sound. I don't know how my little brother managed to convince such a lovely, warm, intelligent girl to marry him, but I'm glad he did.

Many thanks to my coworker Tara who, once again, agreed to be my model. Thanks also to my employer for housing our office in a building with a lovely porch that makes a spectacular backdrop for knitting photoshoots. I regret that I didn't think to get a photo of Julie with the shawl, but I plan to get some next month at the wedding.

Note: Because I feel I must, I will point out the glaring mistake I made. If you look at the photos of the back of the shawl, you can see where I flip-floped two of the diamonds. The lily-of-the valley looking one and the one that looks a bit like heads of wheat. And I know you will all say that no one will notice but me. But I also know that some of you (I'm not naming any names, but you know who you are...) enjoy the fact that I am not a perfect knitter, so I point it out for your benefit and mirth. Don't say I never did anything for you.

I don't know how you did it Mom.

2009-05-10T23:02:00.004-04:00

An old friend of mine bought a house recently and I teased her about being 'such a grown-up'. We discussed how, at 37, we still feel like kids and are waiting for the day to come when we actually feel like adults. We talked about what our parent's lives were like at our age. I mentioned how odd it is to have very distinct memories of mine when they were 37. I said, 'I actually knew my mother when she was our age. And not just like I knew her because she was my mother, but I was old enough to know her as a real person. It's a very strange feeling.' My friend agreed and said, 'Hell, I knew your mother when she was our age!"

When my mother was my age, she'd been a teacher (in three different states), she and my father owned their second home and she'd given birth to 3 kids (the second one one came three months early and from what I remember and the stories I've been told about that scary time, it's amazing they decided to have a third). She had her hands full at 37 with my 5th grade pig-tailed self, my wild 6 year old brother and Lindsey, the loud, stubborn toddler. I can't imagine. She must have been exhausted all the time. But she was always there whenever we needed her. She still is.

I love this photo of my mother as a child. She clearly has on a new outfit and is about to leave for an event. Posing in the backyard of my grandparent's house. I've looked at this photo a zillion times, but only just now, as I was uploading it, did I notice the shadow of the person taking the photo. I think my grandfather was the photographer in the family, but the shadow looks more like my grandmother. I hope it was. It makes it all the more perfect for Mother's Day.

KamaSuutra Yarns

2009-04-23T14:18:00.007-04:00

I have a huge backlog of things to blog about, but I'm so excited about my friend Rue's yarn I have to move this post up in the queue.

First of all, I'll explain the name of Rue's new business. Käma means love, pleasure or yearning in Sanskrit. It's a word you most commonly see paired with Sütra (which means the rope or thread that holds things together). Suutra (with two 'u's), however, means yarn. So Kama Suutra is literally the love or pleasure of yarn.

In my previous post there is a photo of the self-striping DK Superwash that Rue is handpainting. She's also doing sock yarns and lace yarns in unique and fabulous colorways. Want some?

I have just finished making a Baby Surprise Jacket with the DK.

Isn't it adorable?

It was cloudy and dim when I left my office to met Melissa for lunch (as I often do on a Thursday), but, by the time we were finished eating the sun had come out. We popped across the street to the park to have a little photo shoot.

I had plenty of leftovers from the sweater and have always wanted to make a pair of Saartje's Booties (just because of the cuteness).

There was still plenty of yarn left over. I probably could have done a little hat, but I was worried there wasn't quite enough yarn. Instead I made some Balls.

I've made 4 balls (they are very quick) and I think I have enough for one more. The cast-on instruction is brilliant. It's a 'why didn't I think of that' solution to the hole that you often get when casting on a small number of stitches and knitting in the round. This will make no sense to the non-knitters, but the knitters will gasp 'of course' when they read this: You cast on 6 and do the first row in i-cord. Brilliant.

I would like to give special thanks to my lovely assistant who helped with the styling and holding the props. She's a trooper, and I like her even if she does own a little noisy rodent that she insists on calling a dog.

Wednesday eye candy

2009-04-08T16:51:00.003-04:00

This luverly yarn was created by my friend Rue. I have always been impressed by her color sense. She'll put colors together that I would never even keep in the same room and they look fabulous. She'll grab a ball of some horrible, hurt-your-eyes-and-make-you-nauseous-it's-so-ugly color and toss it in a pile with three other balls of yarn and suddenly it's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

I can't tell you much about this yarn just yet, but it is Merino Superwash DK. And I promise you've never seen handpainted yarn like this. More will be revealed soon. I'm using this scrumptious stuff to make a sample that will appear on Rue's soon to be birthed website.

This woman should be an inspiration to us all. Most of us just dream about quitting our jobs and pursuing more creative endeavors. And, I suspect, most of us are dreaming about it less and less the way things are lately. But Rue has a plan - a brilliant plan - and she's doing something unique. Every time I look at this yarn I am proud.

"Mr. Darcey watched Elizabeth and her sisters work their way outward beheading zombie after zombie as they went."

2009-04-07T14:07:00.004-04:00

Look what just arrived in the mail! Please can anyone suggest ways that I can stop myself from dropping everything and devouring it cover to cover? How am I supposed to pay attention to work this afternoon with this sitting on my desk?

I cannot wait to read this. What better way to spend a quiet Easter weekend then reading a zombified version of a beloved novel? The possibility that Elizabeth might have to behead an infected Mr. Darcey gives me the giggles.

Let's just do a little comparison from chapter one, and then I'll go back to work...

First Line – Pride and Prejudice
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

First Line – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.

Pride and Prejudice
"Do not you want to know who has taken it?’’ cried his wife impatiently.

"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.’’

This was invitation enough.

"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.’’

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
“Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.

“Woman, I am attending to my musket. Prattle on if you must, but leave me to the defense of my estate!”

This was invitation enough.

“Why, my dear, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune; that he escaped London in a chaise and four just as the strange plague broke through the Manchester line.”

Jon Stewart has ruined the Queen for me.

2009-04-01T15:22:00.006-04:00

Seriously. I cannot see the woman without saying "Hellllooooo". Two years ago, during the Queen's visit to the Bush White House, the Daily Show ran this bit:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Visit From a Nice Old Lady

comedycentral.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

I have seen that clip a zillion times and still I laugh so hard it hurts. Ian McShane was on the Daily Show last week and he did the Hellloooo Queen voice out of nowhere. I thought I was going to pass out laughing. (He also danced an Irish Jig for St. Patrick's day. Which was like the best thing ever.)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Ian McShane

comedycentral.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The thing is, all of this makes it kind of impossible for me to look at the photos of the Obamas meeting the Queen today without wondering if Michelle was holding back a Hellllloooo. I'm not sure I'd be able to stop myself.

Also there is this:
During their private meeting Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod while she gave Obama a silver-framed photograph of herself and Prince Philip.

Huh? Did the Queen want an iPod? If so, wouldn't she have just sent somone out to get her one? It's apparently already loaded with songs. Do you think some Obama aide had to research what music she would like or did they just load it with Obama's favorite songs? What I wouldn't give to see the Queen, earbuds on, dancing around Buckingham Palace (à la Hugh Grant in Love Actually), to this song. Go ahead, try not to picture that.

Sticks & Bricks

2009-04-01T14:07:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, while catching up on my blog reading, I saw this entry on one of my favorites - Design Sponge. I love their before and after series and nearly fell over when I saw this one was done by a Northampton artist - Liz Karney - and that that artist had recently opened a new shop in town. Traci and I went in for a visit this afternoon.

First of all the shop is adorable. Second, I wanted everything in it. Liz (whose partner owns the Green Bean cafe) takes old furniture and turns it into beautiful, covetable things. I love the letter table and the little bedside tables she's made from old wooden crates and the shelves using windows and other pieces of things as doors. I love that she uses metal numbers and old keys as latches. She makes terrific jewelry from copper tubing and keys and other bits of metal. If I had to pick a favorite it would be this coffee table. The tree is carved into the surface.

Or maybe the hat rack made from bedsprings.

If you're local, go check it out. 9 Market St. Northampton. Wed-Sat 12-5.

Danke Schoen

2009-03-23T12:43:00.005-04:00

According to Wikipedia Danke Schoen translates loosely as "Thank you very much". I find it strange that I've never questioned the meaning before this. I've heard the Wayne Newton song a zillion times and watched Ferris Bueller at least once a month for about a decade spanning the late 80s and early 90s.

After last Friday night I can add one more viewing of it to the tally. This time around even topped seeing it in the theater in 1986. The tribe rented the local civic center for a showing in honor of the lovely Gina-Louise who had a birthday last week (and once confessed that FB was her favorite film). We had cupcakes (lots of cupcakes), popcorn and some of us even did the Twist.

Traci and I have a tendency to get a bit excessive when planning parties. I think we had close to 100 cupcakes - 4 varieties - all with quotes or pictures from the movie topping them.

I think these were my favorites. Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes from an old issue of Cooking Light. Kind of a pain to make, but yummy.

There was much excitement over popcorn. Those of us who lived through (and discarded) many changes in popcorn technology (jiffy pop, those dome shaped ones that plugged in and were too big to store anywhere, the air popper, and microwave popcorn) forget how exciting it is. When you live with a popcorn purist like Audrey's dad, you never see the popcorn popping because it is cooking in oil in a covered pot on the stove.

Tom and Tina don't mess around when it comes to party food either. They can provide popcorn for a small army if needed.

This photo did not come out as well as I'd hoped. If you squint you can see Mr. Broderick on the screen singing Danke Schoen in the parade scene from FB.

The rest of the weekend was lovely - the weather cooperated well with the ushering in of spring. One of my new favorite things on the interwebs is The Big Picture from the Boston Globe where every couple of days a series of amazing photographs on one topic are collected together.

Check out today's posting "Signs of Spring" to find out what is going on in this photo.

How to cure a geek hangover

2009-03-16T17:01:00.005-04:00

Super Extra Geeky Game Night went off with out a hitch. Bob (the D&D expert that Pete somehow convinced to spend an evening with a bunch of adult novices who very easily might have spent the entire evening mocking the game he loves so much) was a patient and thorough instructor. All in all it was enjoyable, but it's not a game I feel the need to play on a regular basis. Some of the tribe are hooked and I suspect there will be some blogging going on soon about the night from their perspective. I think I may just be slightly too competitive for cooperative gaming.

What do you do after an evening involving a 5 hour role-playing game, lots of snacks and definitely too much wine? If it's spring in New England, you roll out of bed and head to a sugar shack for mapley goodness.

Steve's Sugar Shack in Westhampton was mecca for Pete, Traci, Audrey, Tom, Tina and I on Saturday morning. I get all nostalgic for my Vermont childhood when I go to a place like this. When I was little, we tapped the maple trees in our yard with old fashioned metal taps and buckets like the ones below. After school each day, we would go around and dump all the buckets of sap into a big bin. My father built a wood stove out of an old metal barrel and a stove pipe that he fitted a big deep tray on the top of. We'd spend a whole weekend cooking down the sap on that stove. (I say WE, but mostly my siblings and I played in the mud while Dad kept the fire burning and continually added sap as what was in the tray boiled down.)

These old style metal buckets are just for show around the shack. Most sugaring operations (including Steve's) use hose that connects from tree to tree and empties into one large bin. More efficient, but less picturesque.

All of that steam coming out of the roof comes from this - a great big vat of boiling maple sap:

The roof is wide open to let the steam out.
Steve's is not a fancy place - which made me all the more nostalgic I have to say. They sell the syrup in plain old mason jars.

While waiting for our breakfast to come, Audrey and I did a little meta-photographing.

Pancakes, french toast, bacon and home fries, smothered in maple syrup and washed down with mediocre coffee. Just what the doctor ordered.

The rest of the weekend was spent working on a new project. This is maybe the most complicated knitting I've ever done (geek knitting really). It's entrelac and lace and completely insane. I can't say much about what it will be when it is finished, because the person it is intended for might read this blog (She's going to be related to me in a few months so she really should...). I'm on a deadline with this one and it might kill me before it's finished, but I'm enjoying it so far.

I also remembered to take a photo of these cute little slippers I made in October and wear around the house on weekend mornings. They're the Pleated Ballet Flats from Cocoknits. Really quick knit done with closeout Chunky Cashmerino picked up at Webs last fall. The little pleats are ingenious.

Finally, on Sunday morning there was evidence that spring is on the way. I'm rooting for these little daffodils so much I feel like I'm coaxing them out of the ground.

Geek Week

2009-03-09T15:50:00.003-04:00

This Friday Pete and Traci are hosting Extreme Ultra-Geeky Game night. So geeky it requires me to make a trip to a comic book store to buy special dice before I can participate.

To kick off this Week of Geek I thought I'd share the new Star Trek trailer. I had my doubts about this movie when I first heard about it, but I have faith in JJ Abrams (except for my issues with one of his television shows) and from the looks of this it is going to be awesome. I grew up watching reruns of the original show (and, later, the Next Generation) after dinner most evenings. There's a special place in my heart for William Shatner's brand of campiness.

And have you noticed Star Trek is everywhere in the news this week?

The first story I noticed was this one about the new Star Trek inspired perfumes. Three scents: Tiberius inspired by Captain Kirk; Red Shirt which celebrates the nameless ensigns from on the Starship Enterprise; and Ponn Far, for the ladies, named for the Vulcan mating ritual. To quote Jaz, "I do not want to smell an aggressively horny Vulcan, thank you."

Then I saw this story about Canadian scientists who have developed a crop that was first discussed on a 1966 episode of Star Trek. I guess that's not surprising. If I had to make crazy stereotypical generalizations, I would assume that grown up scientists paid very close attention to Star Trek as children.

The crafting world is also joining in the geeky fun. I'm crafty and I've made some pretty dorky things, but I'm not sure I'd go so far as to knit my own Vulcan ears or do Star Trek cross-stitch. I might just be tempted to knit a full Star Trek uniform for a baby, but I don't know any soon-to-be parents who are geeky enough to appreciate it (and I know some pretty geeky soon-to-be parents...). In case you're interested in trying your hand at more detailed Trekky knits, there are knitting charts for all of the original characters available.

A quick search on Etsy reveals all sorts of items recently posted. After looking at all of this stuff, I have an irrational need to own these earrings from Studiohalo.

My dad is doing Good Things

2009-03-06T14:36:00.005-05:00

My father went to Bolivia in January on a scouting trip for the newly formed chapter of Engineers Without Borders at the university where he teaches. I love this photo he took of a little girl, an older woman and a chicken. The trip was planned by another professor, my childhood playmate, Adam Sevi. There's a nice write up here, with more photos, about what they did there and their plans to bring clean drinking water to a small village.

But I'm still not keen on February.

2009-02-13T09:27:00.006-05:00

As you may have gathered from my previous post, I'm not a fan of February. But it is a month that contains a holiday and a holiday gives me excuses to be crafty. It's a good way to distract myself from the winter dullness.

This little hat (made from the last leftover yarn from Mom's Ugly Sweater and The Very Hungry Scarf), has gone to live with a young friend of mine.

This mobile was inspired by several different projects I'd seen on the interwebs over the past few weeks.
It's made from free origami paper I downloaded and printed out ages ago (So long ago, I can't remember where I found it. edit I found it again.). I cut out various sized hearts, put them back to back and sewed up the center of a pair. I pulled a few inches of thread out and sewed the next pair until I had a few strands with 3 hearts on each. I hung them on a wooden hanger I bought a couple of years ago at Ten Thousand Villages (one of those things I buy convinced that I will someday find the perfect use for it...and I finally did).

I miss the elementary school classroom Valentine's day parties with milk cartons converted into mailboxes decorated with construction paper hearts on everyone's desk. Class Moms would show up in the afternoon with trays of cookies and cupcakes and jugs of red punch and we would all walk around sticking valentines in each other's mailboxes, get all sugared up and then they would send us home to our poor parents. Does this still happen?

When it comes to Valentine's Day, I still act like a schoolkid. Every year I make Valentines for my coworkers and distribute them before they all arrive in the morning. I'm a giant dork, I know. This year, I crafted flowers using an orange wool sweater picked up for a few cents at the Salvation Army. I threw it in my washing machine on hot and let it run until it had turned to felt and then cut small hearts out. I used some old telephone wire I had kicking around for years (and almost threw out more than once) for the stems. These were inspired by these paper flowers (please don't tell anyone I'm stealing ideas from Martha Stewart. It's so embarrassing....).

As always, I would like to thank my faithful Photography Assistant Lily for helping me set up the shots...
And making sure the flash was working...
She's a bit of a camera hog, but I really couldn't do this without her.

A cloak of lead

2009-02-04T11:11:00.004-05:00

I dislike February. Living in New England, where we've already had two months of winter, I'm fed up with snow and ice and being cold. Some of my favorite authors have said some truths about February:

February is pitiless, and it is boring. That parade of red numerals on its page adds up to zero: birthdays of politicians, a holiday reserved for rodents, what kind of celebrations are those?
The only bubble in the flat champagne of February is Valentine’s Day. It was no accident that our ancestors pinned Valentine’s Day on February’s shirt: he or she lucky enough to have a lover in frigid, antsy February has cause for celebration, indeed.
– Tom Robbins

Though February lay about her shoulders like a cloak of lead.
– Tom Robbins

In February, the overcast sky isn’t gloomy so much as neutral and vague. It’s a significant factor in the common experience of depression among the locals. The snow crunches under your boots and clings to your trousers, to the cuffs, and once you’re inside, the snow clings to you psyche, and eventually you have to go to the doctor. The past soaks into you in this weather because the present is missing almost entirely.
- Charles Baxter

I have an ongoing collection of quotes about February and how much it sucks. Anyone know of others?

**UPDATE** Just found another one from old Bill Shakespeare:

Why, what's the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?

- William Shakespeare,
Much Ado About Nothing

Green Squirrel

2009-01-29T16:39:00.006-05:00

I made this hat for my sister for Christmas. I had found this little corduroy squirrel iron-on in a funky shop in Northampton and decided I must knit something for sis that I could iron it on to.

Once upon a time, when my sister was in college, she had green hair. She also carried on conversations with the squirrels on campus. Her friends started calling her Green Squirrel. She's a little nuts, I know, but I love her anyway. I love her enough to design a hat around an iron-on patch. It was going to be a plain green hat with the squirrel on the front, but I love this tree cable and it seemed to be the right thing to put on a squirrel hat.

I've finally gotten around to knitting another one and writing up the pattern which I have named in honor of my baby sister and her crazy hair dying, rodent whispering ways.

The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry, or you can email me and I'll send you a copy.

The original hat was done in some Classic Elite Skye Tweed that was kicking around in my stash. Since that yarn has been discontinued, when I went to write up the pattern I turned to my favorite yarn - Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

The tree cable is adapted from Barbara Walker's Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns - a book I adore. If you are a knitter and don't own all 4 books in this series, go out and buy them now.

The intertwining trees sit on a reverse stockinette stitch background. (And don't you dare moan at me about all that purling - it's not a big deal, I promise.) The cable instructions are both charted and written out depending on which way you prefer to work.

The final version is about 17 1/2" around by 7" deep. Stitches could be taken out of or added into the reverse stockinette section to make it bigger or smaller around. But you'll have to finagle a bit with the crown decreases. (Do let me know if you figure out a good way to do this....)

To shorten the hat, skip some rows in the trunk section of the trees (rows 1-8 of the chart).

Thanks to my coworker Tara for modeling for me. You're a star! And I owe you lunch.

Sunday morning craftiness

2009-01-25T09:26:00.005-05:00

It's going to be a full on craft fest in my house today. The ladies of my tribe are coming over for Crafty Afternoon and Jaz has offered to help assemble the reusable produce bags. I've got all the supplies for the bags: 250 yards of tulle (!!!!), two shoeboxes full of ribbon for embellishing and two sewing machines. I have all the other supplies we need too, including: chocolate, guacamole, tea and the My So Called Life DVD Box set.

I was sitting here, sipping my coffee, considering getting dressed and vacuuming the living room, when I got to thinking about this little paint can. It arrived at my work a couple of weeks ago in the mail. It was a gimmicky mailing that contained some chocolates and an invitation to a workshop (there was some punny sort of reason it was in a paint can, but I can't remember what it was...). I brought the can home thinking it would be a good container for something. It's been sitting on my kitchen table ever since.

The leftovers from my Inauguration Day scarf have been sitting in a pile on my coffee table for the last 4 days. It seemed like the perfect marriage of materials and a good way to start Crafty Sunday. I tied all the yarn scraps together and started winding them around the can. I ran out before it was completely covered, but decided I like it that way.

So simple and completed in the time it took to drink one cup of coffee.

It reminds me of a pencil holder I made in school and gave to my grandfather when I was little. It was a frozen juice concentrate can with twine wrapped around it and seashells glued all over. It sat, full of pens and pencils, next to my grandparents' phone for years.

Atlantic Scarf

2009-01-23T13:35:00.003-05:00

This scarf was inspired by a conversation I had recently with an old friend. Not long after we spoke, the design popped into my head and it became a drop-everything-and-work-on-nothing-else until it was finished sort of project.

The cable I saw in my head didn't exist in any pattern book I could find, so I ended up creating it myself. It has two columns on either side of busy twisted cables. Every so often a part of each cable branches off and intertwines in the center before being pulled back in the direction it came from.

After some thought, I decided it should be done in reversible cable (so that it could be looked at from both sides and all angles), but after a weekend of failed attempts I gave up. The only way to recreate the image in my head was to make it one sided. Better to be true to my original vision than attempt to turn it into something it didn't want to be.

I had planned to make the scarf using one of my favorite yarns, Ultra Alpaca, which is a 50/50 blend of alpaca and wool. It comes in many shades of blue, but none of them was quite right. I wandered around Webs and stumbled on Classic Elite's Inca Alpaca in the exact color I wanted.

It's 100% yummy squishy alpaca. The cables do not pop as much as they might with something with a bit more wool to stabilize it, but this scarf is luxuriously soft. Bury your face in it soft. If it was practical and sensible to wear handknit underwear I would want all of mine made with this yarn soft.

The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry, or you can email me and I'll send you a copy. The cable instructions are both charted and written out depending on which way you prefer to work (I do aim to please everyone...).

Maybe I need to eat more comfort food

2009-01-23T09:09:00.002-05:00

Dear Writers and Producers of Lost,

I’m completely hooked on your show. I have been since the very first episode when the plane crashed on that damn island. I watch every week.

I’m on the bus. Ok?

So there is no reason to end EACH and EVERY episode with a cliffhanger. I’m going to tune in next week no matter what.

And most of the time, you don’t just end them with regular cliffhangers either, but scenes with mysterious happenings or people that make no sense in the context of the episode. Scenes that force me to go to the internets and look stuff up. I get that you've created some sort of revolutionary melding of the medias, but, at the end of the day, I just want to watch TV.

Case in point: This week’s season opener ended with Ben talking to a woman who was facing away from the camera. She kept almost turning around, and the music was building and we waited for a huge reveal. When she finally turned around the music hit a note that made it clear we were supposed to exclaim, “Oh my god it’s Ms. Hawking who sold Desmond an engagement ring for Penny in that store in London the first time he time traveled and told him that he would never marry Penny!” Instead everyone in the room where I was said, “Who the FUCK is that?”

Because? You didn’t include that one little scene from that one episode in Season 3 in the recap episode. Because we watched that hour long recap episode before the season opener. She was not in it. (You also neglected to touch on the themes of time travel in the previous 4 seasons. Information that would have been VERY USEFUL to be reminded of before watching the new episode.)

Jerks.

However..... I do have to forgive you a little because you wrote the terrific line delivered by Hurley after Sayid broke him out of the mental institution:

“You know, maybe if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn't have to go around, shooting people.”

Love it.

It's not over until Dianne Feinstein sings

2009-01-21T15:28:00.008-05:00

Some members of my tribe made the journey to Washington, DC to join in the Inauguration craziness there (Tina has lots of photos). Those of us who were left behind managed to celebrate fairly well in our own way I think....

I donned my Inauguration Day Scarf (all 365 rows thank you very much) yesterday morning and Traci and I headed to Eleanor's house for a champagne toast and a little Obama Dance Party.
From there we walked downtown to join some other friends at PCT (the home of Drinking Liberally). My little town was all decked out for the day:
PCT had put out a good buffet spread, but I couldn't eat once the day's most important activity started.

When the master of ceremonies was announced Traci thought they said Singer Dianne Feinstein instead of Senator. We waited and waited hoping she would burst into song.... She never did.

Our new VP took his oath first:

Our new president (He's really the president!!!!!!) ushered in a new era with a sobering, but somehow, joyful speech (or maybe I'm just projecting the joy I was feeling). In PCT (where we booed loudly when Rick Warren was introduced) a cheer went up when Obama gave a shout out to atheists:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Look Elly is radiating happiness! (Or maybe I need a new camera....)

And, finally finally, the now jobless George Bush left town. I wonder if he understood why 2 million people were cheering there in DC and if he imagined the celebrating that was happening in homes and bars across the world as that helecopter left the ground?

Back outside, we found more decorations had been put up in the center of town. His sign says, "Will work for food."

Everyone on Main Street was beaming. The sun was shining, we have a new president and, right then, nothing was wrong in the world. We walked around grinning like idiots and resisting the urge to hug strangers.

We wandered over to the radio station to visit Jaz (who was busy spreading the good news across the valley) and pick up our commemorative t-shirts. "The world is changing. Are you listening?"

We were late for the after party at Mama Iguana's and most people had gone. We decided to have a few margarita's anyway...

It still doesn't seem real, but all reports are that he's doing good things already.

It's the Best Day Ever!

2009-01-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Inauguration Day!

I woke up this morning with the wise words of Spongebob streaming through my head....

its the best day ever - spongebob
(be forewarned that this song will now be stuck in your head FOREVER).

This week...

2009-01-16T15:05:00.003-05:00

It's cold this week.

It's one of those weeks where I and everyone around me keep asking the question, "Why do I live here?" Outside this morning, it actually hurt to breathe. I decided to quit whining about it though when I received this photo from my Aunt Amy in Maine of her thermometer this morning:

That's 32 degrees below zero. That makes my -5°F seem downright balmy.

This week brought evidence that my fear of flocks of birds is not unfounded.

A flock of birds brought down a plane. I'm glad no one died (I don't think there were any injuries even). And I truly believe the pilot is a superhero. (Apparently, the odds of surviving a water landing are pretty slim. Does that mean I should pay attention to the safety instructions next time I fly or just continue to ignore them?).

For those of you who don't know, I'm not so fond of flocks of birds (or schools of fish). It's not an incapacitating phobia - they just make me feel nauseous and a little afraid. It's a group think thing - it's like they have one mind - and it freaks me out. (Birthday girl) Jaz and Bill discussed my little phobia on the air this morning (the January 16th show starting at about 13:40). Bill tries to reassure me about the odds of this happening at about 15:55. Sorry Bill, the words "The air is lousy with birds" didn't help. Not. At. All.

This week Traci made me cry.

Traci's recession-busting post is beautiful. She made me think about my own life and what really matters in it. I have a fabulous loving family. My parents and siblings do things that inspire me daily. I have my next-door family that means so much to me I'll never find the right words. I have my just-the-right-shade-of-geeky friends. We're a little tribe that formed out of nowhere and now I can't imagine life without them. I have a gaggle of knitters (including one famous one) around to inspire and enable me. I have old friends (those friendships that have been through so much and lasted so long they will never break) in faraway places doing all sorts of inspiring things. I work in a beautiful place, for a good and unique publishing firm, with intelligent people whose company I enjoy. I'm surrounded by amazing, clever, creative, smart and funny people on all sides. The economy counts for nothing in the face of all that.

This week I was surprised by a politician.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi played a prank. On YouTube. This is the person who is third in line for the presidency. She, or some smart person on her staff, under the guise of launching a new YouTube House of Representatives station, RickRolled us. I love this in the same way that I love Obama refusing to give up his Blackberry. Is it strange that their tech additions and pop-culture savvy make them seem more human to me?

My Self-indulgent weekend

2009-01-12T17:16:00.006-05:00

Our Super Supreme Uber-Geeky Game Night was canceled due to a lack of an instructor, so Pete and Traci decided to have a Regular Run-of-the-mill Game Night Friday night. I don't know what was in the air or if we all just really really needed to let off some steam, but, man, we were funny. Everytime someone opened their mouth hysterical things came out. I haven't laughed that hard, for so long, in years. None of it is all that funny in retrospect of course - you couldn't explain to anyone who wasn't there why these things were funny. Jaz did her best to document it (Looking at those photos I may have to reconsider the wearing of berets. Why was I wearing that all night?). What Jaz failed to mention was who won that marathon game of Apples to Apples. Not that it's at all important.... I don't care about these things... It was really all about the group spirit.... But just incase YOU care... I won.

On Saturday I slept later than I've slept in the past 12 months and then got up, made a pot of coffee and sat in my Flannel PJs reading a book until well past noon. Possibly the most decadant morning I can remember. Ok, maybe not, but still it was pretty good.

Over the holidays, I found myself jonesing to make a new scarf. Scarves are a knitter's bread and butter. The comfort food of fiberholics. And it's been a while since I made one. Saturday afternoon, I became obsessed with a scarf design I'd had in my head for several days. It's inspired by a conversation I had recently with an old friend. I could see in my head the cable pattern I wanted and was sure I'd seen it in a book somewhere. I pulled book after book off the shelves of my (unreasonably large) knitting library and scoured the internet with no luck. I even made a trip to Webs for a book that was missing from my collection (after IMing Tina to make sure it was in stock, of course). The pattern in my head wasn't there either, but there was one that would do as a starting point.

I scribbled and sketched and swatched and ripped. Somewhere in the middle I cooked a yummy dinner. All through Towelhead (Does Aaron Eckhart purposely seek out the skeeziest possible characters to play?) I swatched and ripped and ended the evening with a ball of yarn. I was convinced that this cable needed to be reversible and couldn't make it work.

Sunday I discovered the limits of my charting software, switched to Excel and drew what I thought was the final chart. I made a pot of chai and took it next door to swatch the new chart with Traci's moral support. We put on An Affair to Remember and by the time Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr's boat was landing in New York, I'd already started to suspect that it wasn't working (the knitting, I mean, not their affair, that was clearly working very well). I'd frogged the whole thing before the movie ended and we started arguing about whether Deborah Kerr was being stupid for not telling Cary Grant about the car accident or if she was just trying to be a strong, independent woman.

Meet me in 6 months at the top of the Empire State Building.
Just remember to look both ways before you cross the street.

I gave up on the reversible cable then. This thing is not going to be able to be looked at from all sides. It's one sided - my side. The original vision of it in my head. I charted it and started knitting. By the time I went to bed the scarf was 1/4 done.

A full weekend of obsessive knitting resulted in about 15" of scarf. Completely self-indulgent. I did exactly what I wanted to do and I have very little to show for it.

In other news, I am planning a new batch of the reusable (no-more-plastic) produce bags I sewed (Me! Sewing! It's crazy!) for friends and family for Christmas. I have not actually used mine yet having been away basically since I finished them, but apparently they're all the talk at the Winter CSA. I've ordered the fabric and should have more made in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to sell them on Etsy, but I've got no idea what to charge. Any thoughts?

(Picture stolen from Jaz because I've been too lazy to take one of my own....)

The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion

2009-01-09T12:40:00.004-05:00

Thanks, Eleanor, for pointing this book out to me and providing a very unneeded distraction from my work on a Friday afternoon. Not only did I read the whole thing, I then had to go on every book site I can think of and search (fruitlessly it seems) for a copy. If you need me, I'll be scouring the shelves of every used bookstore in a 300 mile radius.

What works on a Wii and what doesn't

2009-01-07T01:19:00.005-05:00

I teach beginning knitting classes. I will swear up and down that anyone can learn to knit (except my mother). But this is going too far. Wii knitting? I will have to see it before I completely discount it, but I can't imagine how it will work. Will you knit a virtual sweater? Where is the sense of achievement in that? New knitters need to feel proud that they've actually produced something. I know I'm a bit beyond the video game generation, but I've never seen the sense in spending hours solving or cracking (or whatever the kids call it) a game. Is this the same idea? You learn to knit on the Wii and complete a project that you'll never get to squeeze or wear? Maybe the skills will translate to actual needles and yarn, but will you ever do it after being bored to death making a virtual hat?

Wii Pole Dancing is a completely different story. If someone (Traci? Eleanor?) could sort that out, I think it would create totally useful skills in the real world and keep you fit at the same time.

Never satisfied.

2009-01-03T01:37:00.004-05:00

I'm currently staying in a big high-rise downtown hotel in San Francisco. My room is mostly adequate - exactly what I expect from a bland, but expensive, chain. The only real problem is the sink. It is really really small. Not a problem in general, but it has a normal sized, and very high powered, tap attached to it. The tap extends most of the way accross the sink making it hard to reach into the basin. If you turn on the tap all the way it hits the far side of the basin and sprays upward like a fountain. If you try to wash your face in the sink you have to lean severely to one side and contort your arms around the tap and you still end up drenched from chest to crotch. Teeth brushing is an adventure in water spray. I understand that it's not the largest bathroom and they were trying to maximize the space, but please, powers that be in the Hilton chain, choose tap in sizes that work with the sink. Don't make me curse you every time I turn on the water For a couple of days before checking in here, I was staying at a crazy funky B&B in Haight-Ashbury. I didn't have a private bath, but there was a sink in the room. Even there, in a place run by a decrepit (but adorable) old hippie woman, in a room that contained artwork made from severed mannequin heads, the sink did not soak me every time I used it.

Nothing attracts the ladies like the smell of fast food

2008-12-19T09:19:00.002-05:00

If the McDonald's "I don't know where Paraguay is" ads haven't completely melted your brain have a look at this.

I'm not keen on mass-produced Lattes

2008-12-15T10:07:00.004-05:00

The huge ice storm that debilitated most of Massachusetts on Thursday night missed the Pioneer Valley. We got mostly slush and rain and the worst that happened was the little stream that runs behind the house overflowed into the yard. There are apparently people all over the state who still are without power 4 days later, but it was a non-event here.
I took Thursday, Friday and today off work to attempt to get Christmas stuff done. With Traci and Audrey's help I finished almost all of my shopping on Thursday. The majority of my gifts are (or will soon be) handmade and Friday was set aside as 100% knitting day, but I got distracted by other crafty ideas. I found a big bag of buttons cheap and bought some jewel toned pins and a styrofoam tree form at Michael's to make this button tree:

Then I saw this project on Just Like Martha and had to try it. Apparently the idea was first published in Readers Digest many years ago as an idea for old issues. I chose an extra fat womens magazine, so the folding took an hour and a half. I'm pleased with it though. The original instructions call for spray paint and glitter, but I like the look of it bare.

I did get lots of knitting done in the last 3 days, but I can't show you most of it until after the gifts are given. There is one large thing blocking on my living room floor now (the cats in their excitement that I am home for the 4th day in a row keep running across it, so I'm having to smooth it out every 5 minutes).

There's a new original katywhumpus design that will be given to (and named in honor of) my sister. I started off taking careful notes, but started tweaking and changing and forgot to write everything down, so I'm going to have to make a second one after the holidays in order to write up the pattern.

I've got a few other projects done and in the works, but I put them aside on Saturday to make this year's Christmas hat. I made the first of these hats in 2005 on a whim. They're dorky long hats that make people giggle. The original is seen below in one of my favorite photos of my folks.
That Christmas the hat was worn by everyone in the family. When someone was grumpy and anti-holiday spirity, they were made to wear the hat. It popped up in lots of family photos from that winter. The 2006 hat was similiar but had thin green stripes like a candy cane. I have no photos of last year's hat as it was done last minute and I don't have it here because I forgot it at Mom and Dad's house and it got packed up with the decorations last year. It was red and green with simple embroidered snowflakes and a tassel instead of a pom pom. Since the hats seem to be getting more complex every year, I somehow decided it would be a good idea to do fair-isle snow flakes around the edge this year. I don't do fair-isle as a general rule, but I thought it would only be a few rows (and it would be good for me to reach outside my comfort zone). But then, once I started, I couldn't stop....I'm finishing a small kitting project this morning and then getting out the sewing machine to make some eco-gifts. I'm not much of a sewer, but I've had this idea in my head for months. I'll post photos after the big day if it all works out ok.

I've been watching a lot of movies and TV while doing all of this knitting. Because my hands are busy I don't always fast forward through the commercials (I almost never watch live TV...). I'm loving the new Ozzy Ozbourne adverts for Sprint. I've always admired that Ozzy is quite happy to make fun of himself.

On the other hand I'm increasingly offended by the new McDonald's campaign. Apparently McDonald's is now serving coffee drinks and are marketing them by poking fun at traditional coffee shops. The underlying message of this campaign seems to line up with the republican attacks during the presidential campaign on so called Latte Drinking Liberals. The first advert shows two guys in a coffee shop, one guy tells the other that McDonalds now has cappuccinos. They are both psyched because now they can shave their goatees, talk about football and get rid of their fake glasses.

But last night I saw the female version of the ad. I couldn't breathe for a few minutes after seeing it. It's so disgusting I don't even have words....

Big questions

2008-11-25T16:15:00.003-05:00

Last night, watching the Daily Show, I found myself mulling over a very important question. It had nothing to do with cabinet appointments or financial crises or even pirates. It's bigger and more complex than that.... Why is it that I find Dennis Leary so attractive? I mean, he's not... But there's something there. Traci has a theory we've discussed before (to do with New England Girls and Irish Catholic Boys from South Boston), but I'm not convinced that's all of it. I'm mystified. Please if someone could clear this up for me it would put my mind at ease.

A bit of politics, some cake and a little knitting

2008-11-10T13:48:00.004-05:00

I cleaned the inside of my car this weekend. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how long it had been. Here's a clue... I found this under one of the seats:

Incidentally, I heard today that Howie is stepping down as DNC Chair. I hope that means there is a job for him in the Obama Administration.

In other political news, have I told you I live next door an outspoken, compassionate, bi-partisan preschooler? Her parents both had birthdays this weekend.

Me: "Should we make a cake for Momma and Daddy?"
Ragamuffin: "Yes! A Barocket Obama cake..."
Me: "Ok, we can probably do that."
Ragamuffin: "...aaannnd, John McCain Cupcakes"
Me: "?"
Me: "ummm, what do John McCain Cupcakes look like?"
Ragamuffin (in a "Duuuhh Katy" tone of voice): "They're purple."

So, I bought a cake mix (I considered for a minute making a cake from scratch but then remembered I was baking with a FOUR YEAR OLD). I went with the chocolate/vanilla marble cake which seemed fitting for the theme. We cooked half the mix in a round pan and the other half as cupcakes. Ragamuffin did well assisting, but she's "a little scared" to crack eggs.

Purple icing was easy, but I wasn't sure what to do about the Obama cake. Pastry bags being a bit unwieldy for a four year old and all. In the end, I bought red and blue sugar and cut a stencil from paper. I held the stencil and she sprinkled. A few sprinkles went on the floor....
While I cleaned up she climbed up and squatted barefoot on my counter and ate large handfuls of leftover frosting.... Her parents love me...

Then we had cake for lunch!

I have a kajillion knitted things to take photos of (and they're not all gnomes). Melissa took some photos (we did a whole photoshoot thing one afternoon) of my favorite recent project at Rhinebeck last month, but I haven't seen them yet. There are lots of other things, but I've been lazy about the photographing. Traci snapped this one of my election day project (knit in the car on the way to New Hampshire and later at the party) because I happened to be wearing it while cleaning out my car and she had the camera out:

It's the Celtic Hat which I have made 3 or 4 times in the past. Really it was just an excuse to use some of the yummy Cormo/Silk/Alpaca yarn I bought from Foxfire Fiber at Rhinebeck. If I could knit a bed out of this yarn I'd sleep happy for the rest of my days.

Looking at the photo, the hat seems a little short. I may need to actually block it and see if that helps.

It's a New Day

2008-11-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

You go will.i.am - way to make me cry. Again.

Did that really happen?

2008-11-05T11:07:00.004-05:00

Voting early in the morning.
A parking lot full of people from my town on their way to New Hampshire.
Obama signs all over a small NH town.
NH residents thanking us for knocking on their doors.
A bar full of friends. Excited but nervous.
Texting my sister in her class that the first state Obama won was Vermont.
Obama taking Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Ohio!
Red states turning blue.
Obama wins! Screaming. Jumping. Hugging.
Image on the screen of tears streaming down Jesse Jackson's face.
Tears on my own cheeks.
Texts from friends around the country (and one from the UK).
A phone call from people I love partying in Chicago.
Obama's getting his daughters a puppy!
Florida! Virginia!
Tears. More hugs.
Main Street full of people screaming, dancing, cars honking at 1am.
Emails from friends around the world.
Call from mom this morning in which she predicted that Prozac use will go down.
Listening to weary friends celebrating on local radio this morning (Bill says 'food will taste better').

What will I do now?

Say quick that you believe! If you believe, clap your hands!

2008-11-03T15:05:00.004-05:00

I'm twitchy and unfocused today. I keep having to remind myself that the election is tomorrow. My little brain somehow cannot fathom that it is almost over. I know that everyone is saying that this election is unlike any they can remember - and I know that it's true. When I think back over all the energy and passion and anger and frustration and hope that I (and the people around me) have expressed over the past year, I can't think of anything that compares.

I thought I might distract myself by trying to make a list of things to obsess about after tomorrow. Something's got to replace all this politicy stuff whirling around in my head right? But I can't think of anything.

I'm crazy nervous. I know the polls look good, but that makes me worried that people will be lazy and assume they don't need to go out and vote.

Please. Vote. The thought that you might not is making me nauseous.

PS. I'll miss you Helen. You've helped keep me sane the past few weeks. Please don't stop.

Dancing a little jig while I type this

2008-10-31T09:13:00.003-04:00

I have just done something amazing. I made a phone call that finished something I've been working on for fourteen years. And it is with you, dear internets, that I'm sharing this news first. Because I know you, dear sweet internets, will say, "Hey that's great!" and "Congratulations" and "We should go out for drink to celebrate." And I will say, "Ok, but I'm buying. I can afford it because I just finished paying off my student loans."

Gnome of the Dead

2008-10-30T11:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkins, Politics and Gnomes... oh my!

2008-10-27T10:47:00.007-04:00

A new little guy appeared in my house over the weekend:

A GNOME YOU CAN BELIEVE IN

The gnome pattern is ready to go and I'm just waiting for the nice folks at Ravelry to add me as a seller to I can upload it.

I seem to be all consumed with politics and the election now that there are just eight days to go. I almost cannot believe that the day is almost here. There are big plans for the big day. I'm going to get up early and go and vote, then Bill and GL and I are headed up to New Hampshire to volunteer to do whatever the Obama people need us to do. We'll head back into town and get over to PCT early to stake out some space for the party. We (Knitting Liberally and Drinking Liberally) are co-hosting with Hampshire County Obama'08,The Northampton Democratic City Committee and the Young Dems. Everyone is welcome! Jaz will be broadcasting live on WRSI from the party. Free buffet with a cash bar. Free WiFi if you need it.

The all consuming, impending election was a driving force at the pumpkin carving party Tom and Tina threw on Saturday night.

Tom and Tina have a cauldron full of pumpkin carving tools.

Tom finished first.

My 'Ooobama' pumpkin in progress.

Tina scraping the last of the guts out.

Lots of guts.

Tom set up for the big reveal.

GL and Abigail waited patiently for the candles to be lit.

Do you think we got our message across?

Meet the Budget Gnomes

2008-10-20T14:33:00.006-04:00

Meet Tax and Spend. They are the little magic gnomes that help John McCain with his math.

Tax is a cranky little guy who isn't happy with the way things are going in this country. He's not afraid to say things that will upset people. He's angry. Some might call him a... what's the word again... oh yes... a maverick. When people tell him his ideas don't make sense or that he's got his facts wrong, he rolls his eyes and turns pink. Sometimes he's trying so hard not to curse he has to write his nasty thoughts down with a fat black marker and then throw the paper away. If he gets really frustrated he might accuse you of being a terrorist (or just friends with one), but he knows that's not nice and eventually he'll take it back.

Spend is a helpful gnome, he wants to help you (especially if your name is Joe and you are a Plumber or you're just someone who likes to drink 6 cans of beer). He knows times are tough and you people on Main Street and in small faraway towns in Alaska are worried about your families and your jobs. He'll give you nice sounding vague thoughts on how he wants to help you, but more often he's going to tell you how he thinks somebody else wants to hurt you and take away your money (even when it's not true). He can be a little mischievous and crafty even though he looks nice. He's a maverick too! Isn't he sweet?

Tax thinks the government spends too much money. He wants to freeze all spending except for stuff like defense (he likes guns and he knows a pretty northern girl who likes them too). He wants to lower taxes (be careful though because he never says he's going to lower your taxes, but somebody's taxes will be lowered). He's not going to waste your money on silly things like the environment or education. What do you need with police and firemen and nurses and teachers and childcare and social services anyway - you're tough, you can take care of yourself! Tax thinks you're a maverick too!

Unlike Tax, Spend likes the environment. He supports alternative fuels like Clean Coal Technology and Nuclear Energy (he can even pronounce it correctly). You'll find he's not clear on how he's going to pay for the research, but if somebody in the private sector wants to fund it he's going to be really super supportive! And if that doesn't work out he'll find some money to pay for drilling off our coasts. Because he cares about stuff! In fact, he cares about you so much he's going to give you some money toward your health insurance (so you don't have to worry your little heads about it). It might not be enough, but he thinks it will solve the problems with health care in our country. He's got other plans too, but you'll have to look them up on his website (or you can just watch the nice people on Fox News and learn everything you need to know).

So everyone can stop worrying now, (doggone it!) Tax and Spend are here to save us! They're really good at making math really confusing so you don't have to bother to try to figure it out. They're going to sort our government right out. They know how to make soup from a stone AND a mountain from a molehill. We'll be alright! You all can stop complaining and go back to drinking your lattes (Tax and Spend like lattes too, but shhh don't tell 'kay?).

Budget Gnomes!

2008-10-16T09:23:00.004-04:00

John McCain keeps proposing a Spending Freeze and then in the same breath talks about his big health care credits for everyone, how much he's going to support alternative fuel research, major tax cuts and funding for education. I just don't understand how his math works. Is it me? Does he have some secret way to lower taxes and not spend anything, but also pay for all this stuff? It has to be magic!

More hometown pride

2008-10-10T19:14:00.003-04:00

My friend Kristina's dad has done it again! From the guy who brought you "Mama's Votin' for Obama" (which I had stuck in my head for days...), comes the fabulous sing-along "Sarah!":

Excuse me Mr. Senator?

2008-10-10T09:15:00.004-04:00

John Kerry was in town last night for what was supposed to be a public forum, but ended up being a typical stump speech instead. At the end, as Kerry was handing off the microphone to someone else, a local character (they call him The Motown Man - he wears a sparkly cape every day) piped up with the question I think most of us were there to ask. He asked why the senator voted for the financial bailout bill. Kerry took back the microphone and started by calling the bill despicable (I suppose he meant the situation was despicable), but then went on to defend it and explain why he supported it. I had hoped to hear a bit of dissent from him, but there was none.

I wonder if the passing of this bill and the support or non-support of it is the new Iraq War vote. In 4 years time, when we are in the throes of our next election, will our candidates have to justify their votes on this bill in the same way that we ask why they voted for the war and then came out against it?

Something random I learned this morning.

2008-10-04T09:40:00.001-04:00

Reading this article in the NYT about making full meals in a Rice Cooker I learned this:

"Japanese cooks, however, consider toasted rice overcooked and highly undesirable. The unwanted crust left stuck to the bottom of the rice cooker is called okoge — the same word used as slang for a single woman who spends a lot of time with gay men."

snif

2008-09-27T11:29:00.001-04:00

"You know, when I was a kid, I always thought I'd grow up to be a hero."

- Butch Cassedy

Things I am doing this weekend....

2008-09-25T15:03:00.002-04:00

1. Watching the presidential debate (or maybe just Obama talking if that other guy doesn't show...) at Lord Malsbury's Plen Aire Moving Pictures (sadly indoors due to the rain).

2. Going to the League of Women Voters Annual Booksale.

3. Brunch at the Bean

4. Doing something with those apples I bought last weekend.

5. Making Chocolate Cake in 5 minutes.

6. Working on the perfect fall sweater.

7. Watching this over and over again.

Hometown pride

2008-09-24T10:20:00.003-04:00

I've got a bone to pick with my old friend Kristina. We've known each other since the first day of first grade and you don't even think to send me an email about this? I have to hear about it from my aunt who read about it in her local paper in Maine?

Whatever...

Your dad is the bee's knees. But how come your mom didn't get a cameo?

Mama's Votin' for Obama:

Lush and Lacy

2008-09-22T18:06:00.004-04:00

I was supposed to go away with my mother this week, but decided I'd been away too much lately and stayed home. I still took today off work though. I spent the morning cleaning out the fridge and the pantry (sorry about that Kevin...). And the afternoon finishing a sweater.I started this sweater back in late May/early June and it knit up super fast. This is my third Sweaterbabe project and I adore them - easy to follow and a good range of sizes. Katherine is a tiny woman, but she knows how to design for the more curvy among us... The yarn is a scrumptious blend of silk and wool that had been burning a hole in my stash for a while. It's Reynold's Rapture that I scooped up at Webs when it was (sadly) discontinued.
The Pattern is the Lush and Lacy Cardigan. I was not convinced until the knitting was done that this was even going to work on me - a short cropped cardigan in bulky wool is not exactly the best choice if you don't weigh under 115 pounds.The sweater was knit and blocked weeks before I found the perfect vintage glass buttons on Etsy. But the buttons proved to be too heavy for the fabric and pulled the whole front out of shape. So the sweater sat for another month.
Finally this week, craving a sense of completion (and the weather has turned fallish and I want to wear the thing....), I brought it into town on a quest for the perfect ribbon. I fortuitously ran into Rue on my way. Rue has a way with this sort of thing. We went straight to Essentials (where they have all sorts of tempting things) and, after some searching (if only that eiffel tower ribbon had been wide enough...), found the perfect ribbon. It goes with the buttons and reflects the diamond pattern from the sweater.
It took most of the afternoon today to sew on the ribbon. Sewing is not my strongest suit, and I was afraid to do it on the sewing machine, so I hand sewed it on. I'm really pleased with the results.

Nobody does.

2008-09-20T09:11:00.003-04:00

The other day I was at a craft fair with neighbor Pete after work. As we strolled past a table selling scratch-'n-sniff clothing, Pete suggested that I should buy myself a pair of the underwear. 'There's a muffin scented thong,' he said. (In my defense, I had not eaten much all day and was in the process of quickly sucking down a beer which was going straight to my head...) I replied, very loudly in a small crowded space, 'NOBODY WANTS TO SMELL MY MUFFIN!'

Thinking this over later, I wonder about the saleability of scratch-'n-sniff underwear. Is that really an area you want to associate with scratching? Scratch, scratch, scratch... 'Mmmm, smell this!' 'No really! It smells good! I promise!'

Promise vs. Fight

2008-09-05T12:05:00.005-04:00

HuffPo has an article today comparing words used at the DNC and RNC conventions. They've got a pretty good visual, but I thought I'd wordle some of the speeches to see what words the individuals used most. In wordles the words are sized based on how often they are used in the selected text. Looking through the galleries on wordle, I realize I'm not the first person to do this, but whatever...

Let's start with the wives. Here is Michelle Obama's speech. The words that stand out are 'Barack', 'work', 'world' and 'people'.In Cindy McCain's speech you see 'John', but 'Country' instead of world. Interesting...
The VP Candidates starting with Biden... 'Barack Obama Change' clearly stand out here. And he mentioned John McCain more often using his first name than his last. Sarah Palin used McCain's surname more often (she is his junior after all and has not claimed - like Joe Biden to be his 'friend'). She also used the word 'Man' quite a bit. I feel like if this was Hilary Clinton or anyother female politician making a VP acceptance speech that would not have been the case.

Then we come to John McCain's speech inwhich his most used word was 'fight' (is anyone surprised by this?)....

In comparison Obama's most used word was 'promise'. And I believe he does.

Could you sleep if this animal lived in your house?

2008-08-30T10:05:00.002-04:00

A Week in the Life of....

2008-08-29T10:05:00.005-04:00

I've had a pretty good week. I started by taking last Thursday and Friday off work (and Monday too!). On Friday afternoon, I suddenly realized I felt more relaxed than I had in a long time. I definitely needed several days of unstructured chill time.

Friday night Bill, Tom and Tina and I went to the Demolition Derby at the Cummington Fair. I filled my belly with hand cut french fries and pulled pork before we made our way up the hill to watch the derby. It was awesome.After the first big crash, I was totally desensitized to automobile violence and loved every minute of it. Tina and I ran reconnaissance missions for mini-donuts, fried dough and cotton candy between heats. And a tiny little slip of a girl won the whole thing! I'm not sure why that felt so inspiring, but we celebrated with her as she danced a victory dance on the roof of her tattered car. Tina has more photos here.We wandered around the late night fair grounds a bit before going home.

And Bill ate Jack's Buns....The whole time we were at the fair we were all a bit twitchy because of the lack of cell phone reception. We waited with baited breath on the way home for signals to come back, expecting important text messages. We needn't have worried though. Early the next morning - 3:13am to be exact - I got the text message from the Obama campaign telling me he had wisely chosen Joe Biden as his running mate.

On Saturday, after a trip to the Northampton Farmer's Market for corn and lots of tomatoes, my parents arrived form Vermont to celebrate my birthday. There was champagne and Mom brought Red Cake. This is a family tradition. We always have Red Cake on our birthdays. It's an old recipe also known as Red Velvet Cake (anyone remember the armadillo groom's cake in Steel Magnolia's?). It's a big pain in the ass to make and my mother threatens that each one she makes will be her last. But we continue to demand them and she continues to make them. I have even demanded them on my brother's birthday on years when he couldn't make it home (I always call and tell him I have done so and that it tasted delicious....).

Sunday was beautiful. Several months ago, when the Tanglewood schedule was released, I mentioned to friends that the BSO was performing Beethovan's 9th symphony on my birthday. Darling GL offered to make the arrangements and planned a perfect picnic. It was great! Lots of friends and my folks. Pimm's cups, more champagne, cupcakes, tomatoes from Tom and Tina's garden and lots of other yummy stuff. My camera batteries died after I took one photo. But Traci has more.

From left to right, that's Pete, my dad in his vacation hat, Tom (who isn't really glaring I don't think), my mother and Andre's laptop (isn't that paper done yet Andre?).

Monday was another relaxing day of doing not much of anything. I made lots of tomato sauce from the case of bruised tomatoes I picked up cheap at the Farmer's Market. I make my Uncle Andy's recipe which is easy and yummy. In the midst of winter it tastes like summer. I froze some, but it didn't make as much as I would have hoped. Not enough to get me through the winter. So if anyone (and you know who you are) has excess tomatoes, I'm happy to take them off your hands.

GL came over for pasta Monday night. We interacted on the internets with Bill (who was streaming video of himself live from Denver) until it was time for him to head into the convention floor. (In fact, we all interacted lots with BillTV this week, but he wouldn't do the chicken dance for me.... I guess I can understand that he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the rest of the important people in the media tent...) After a few glasses of left-over box wine from Tanglewood, Traci, GL and I all got misty-eyed during Michelle Obama's speech.

My evenings this week have been consumed by the Democratic Convention. The Clintons, the Bidens (Beau and Joe) and even John Kerry gave terrific speeches. The highlight, of course, was last night. Northampton Dems held a party at Paradise City Tavern. (Traci and I were delighted to find that they now have Blue Bird Bitter on tap. I adore this beer - I could drink it all day.)

Traci and Eleanor waiting for the show to start.

First there was Al:

And then Barack gave the amazing, inspiring speech we all needed.

There was happiness....

There were also photographers and reporters everywhere. See that guy behind Andre?

Yeah.....

The Omnivore's 100

2008-08-22T11:45:00.003-04:00

Original with wikipedia links (for things you might not know what they are....) is here.

Here’s what you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison (I grew up in Vermont it was occasionally unavoidable no matter how much I objected to eating Bambi)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (Copying Traci I'm saying the fried Alligator I ate in New Orleans counts. Tastes like chicken...)
6. Black pudding (Ugh)
7. Cheese fondue (a family tradition on Christmas Eve - with champagne)
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (I need to try this stinky cheese!)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes (my idea of heaven is a plate full of these with some basil and balsamic)
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (I know it's wrong, but yum)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (no, but the scotch bonnet hot sauce they serve everywhere in Barbados is one of my favorite condiments ever....)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (hate them)
29. Baklava (there's a little greek deli near my house that makes the best...)
30. Bagna cauda (never even heard of it before, but I would eat this in a second)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I've had clam chowder in a regular bowl. Does lobster bisque in a sourdough bowl count?)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (Katy's favorite cheer-me-up drink... besides a martini....)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (have had these separately, but not together. need to try this.)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (dudes, we had this party in college where I made 10 flavors, it was crazy...)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (nope and I'm not gonna either)
43. Phaal (no, but I totally would if someone wanted to challenge me)
44. Goat’s milk (I like it best in cheese format though...)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (if someone could just get me one of these bottles I'd be happy to try it. More than once if neccessary.)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I really don't understand the hype here.)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (see Root Beer Float above...)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (I totally would eat this, it sounds disgustinglicious)
60. Carob chips (but why do that to a perfectly good cookie?)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (no, but I was just reading a recepie the other day for Durian Ice Cream that was intriguing.)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (mmmm Cafe Beignet on Royal St in New Orleans. Best. Breakfast. Ever.)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (but not together...)
73. Louche absinthe (see 45 above...)
74. Gjetost, or brunost (not a big fan...)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (mmm lovely. Brunch anyone?)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Not bad. 65 out of 100. I'm fairly adventurous with food I think. And I'd try almost all of the other 35 things. But I'm not eating bugs.

Seriously Pottery Barn?

2008-08-22T10:11:00.004-04:00

I've searched the entire site and it seems they decided not to use one of the photos from the latest catalog on the website. It is that dumb. It is a large photograph of a barn from the "Pottery Barn Art to Collect" series (hear the dripping irony in my voice there?) hanging off the front of a book case. The book case is full of books that you cannot get to because of the large photograph in the way. It doesn't matter though, because the books are all turned spine in. You would never reach for one of those books because you can't tell which one is which. Why would anyone keep a large bookcase full of books they weren't going to ever need access to? Are they ashamed of what they read, but want people to see that they read lots of books still?

Then there is this makeshift coffee table:Please can someone tell me why you would want to do this? The chances that you could get 6 stacks of giant art books to all be the exact same height are slim. You would drive yourself nuts trying to make it work. And what happens when some kid (or me) accidentally bumps that bowl of candles and spills hot wax on the expensive art books? Or a glass of wine. Or someone puts a sticky juice box down on your favorite book of Mapplethorpe photos? Seriously Pottery Barn?

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I like in the latest catalog. I would die to own this quilt (and the bed it is on...). And the Halloween cocktail party stuff? Yes please. I'll take it all.

I'm also curious about the wall covering in this photo. It appears to either be letterpress letters mounted on the wall or some sort of reproduction of same. I love it. But what a lot of effort it would take to get one paperclip out of those heavy glass jars. Just because it looks good, doesn't mean it's functional Pottery Barn.

More days that I missed

2008-08-20T21:28:00.004-04:00

National Martini Day (June 19)

National Tequila Day (July 24)
National Scotch Day (July 25)
Really, I don't think it's wise to have these two days back to back. I may be happy I missed them and didn't feel compelled to celebrate both.

National Rum Day (August 16) - didn't so much miss this one as accidentally celebrate it on July 26th...

And there is still time to get in on National Whiskey Sour Day (August 29) and National Marshmallow Toasting Day (August 30).

I'll be skipping National Créme de Menthe Day (Sept 15) but you can count on a large celebration here on National Complaint Day (February 6).

That's enough... knitting soon. I promise.

Drat. I missed it.

2008-08-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was National Orgasm Day.

The weather again...

2008-07-28T16:59:00.003-04:00

This wordle thing is becoming an obsession. I could do this all day. Here's what happens when you put in this week's forecast:
Every group of words I've looked at this afternoon I wondered how they would wordle. I'm not the only one. But some are scary....

Google's effect on my brain

2008-07-24T11:38:00.005-04:00

This morning I read an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education called "Your Brain on Google" (unfortunately it is only available with a subscription). This article was in reaction to the longer article which appeared earlier in The Atlantic "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (which you can read without a subscription). The Chronicle article collects quotes from various sources about the effect of the internet on how we read and process information. My favorite was from Andrew Sullivan, Senior Editor, The Times:

"I'm certainly not more stupid than I used to be; and I'm much, much better and more instantly informed.
However, the way in which I now think and write has subtly - or not so subtly - altered. I process information far more rapidly and seem able to absorb multiple sources of information simultaneously in ways that would have shocked my teenage self. ...
Right now, we may be maximally overwhelmed by all this accessible information - but the time may come when our mastery of the new world allows us to gain more perspective on it.
Here's hoping."

Both articles discuss the evolution of the human brain and the concern that people are losing the ability to read anything longer than a blog entry. I don't think that's the case with me, but I certainly don't read as many books as I used to. I'm a book consumer and have a house full and a serious lack of will power in bookstores. I still read just about every night, but I no longer spend large chunks of free time with my head in the pages. Used to be, I would get up on a Sunday morning, make a pot of coffee and sit down with a book for several hours. Now I have to check my email first, and then I'll need to read the headlines (at several news sources) and I might as well check in on the blogs I read regularly. And suddenly half the morning is gone.

I had a conversation recently with a friend about people who are not constantly tapped into the internet. Both of us find it hard to understand those people. Some of these are the folks who have stereotypical (but incorrect) knowledge about the internets. They assume when the rest of us are 'surfing' that we are in chat rooms full of strangers (bad child molester types usually), or we cannot help but stumble across lots of porn, or we have social issues and cannot connect with real people. These tend to be people of an older generation than mine. But you also meet the people of my generation who avoid it (they usually don't own TVs either). They claim to have much richer lives because they connect with people face to face.

I have a large group of friends locally that I am in touch with daily (sometimes hourly). We see eachother all the time for lunch, parties, barbeques, politicing stuff, etc. and it was only very recently that we all realized none of us knew eachother's phone numbers. How could that be when I have conversations with these people every day? We share all sorts of information (instantaneously) and when we meet face to face we all have the same experiences, have read the same news stories, seen the same video clips, and generally have a shared culture that wouldn't exist without the internet.

But look at yourself right now. How many tabs do you have open in Firefox? How many places do you need to go every day to check on things (besides the news)? Gmail, Google Reader or Bloglines, Facebook, My Space, Good Reads (that's my latest), Ravelry, and the list goes on... Every new thing becomes more of a time suck and a responsibility. Do you feel guilty clicking "Mark all as read" when you're overwhelmed? How many times did you watch that dancing guy sponsored by the gum company? How many people did you forward it to?

I love my connected self as much as I love my bookish self. I can't stand to be away from the computer for long periods of time. It makes me twitchy. And I don't think it's making me stupid, but maybe I am more knowledgeable about lots of stuff that doesn't really matter? I think guiltily of the steadily growing pile of unread books in the corner of the bedroom, but I also think that my life right now wouldn't be the same if I didn't spend so much time on the computer. The books will be read eventually (unless I find some horrible reviews of them on line and decide they're not worth reading...) and I can't imagine a day will come when I find I don't have the attention span to get caught up in a good book and stay up reading until the wee hours of the morning.

85° and humid, with a chance of thunderstorms

2008-07-21T14:21:00.005-04:00

The weather has gotten monotonous here in Western Mass. It's sapping the life out of me. My hair hates it. I'm living on a steady diet of iced coffee, ice cream and white wine (with an ice cube in it just like I make fun of mom for doing).

Last night Traci and I sprawled (melting) in front of the TV and watched Broken English. I adore Parker Posey. In this film she plays a single woman dealing with living in a coupled world (huh...). She was much grittier in the first part of the movie than I've ever seen her before. She's played drunk and depressed and downtrodden before, but always with that certain Parker Posey style (chutzpah? audacity? precociousness? something....). It was nice to see her do things a little differently. The second half of the movie is a fabulous modern love story. We quickly got tied up in it enough to yell out loud, more than once (in "don't let her get on the plane" Casablanca style), at Posey's character. She went through all the right transitions and spent time in lovely places. And it had a perfect, not overdone, ending (a bit overshadowed by the horrible jarring popsong during the closing credits, so just turn it off after the fade to black).

After, I immediately declared that I was moving to Paris, like, tomorrow. This evolved into a discussion of the differences between American men and European men. It went on for a bit and somehow ended with everything being the fault of American women. Not really sure how we got there....but the film is well worth seeing.

Also? David Sedaris' new book? Wicked funny. I recommend the audio version.

No place like...

2008-07-18T16:40:00.003-04:00

Portland was terrific over all. I had some really good food and plenty of nice drinks. I spent time with good friends. I got to see Powell's (it's a little overwhelming to be honest). The weather was perfect. My hotel was just right (except for the noisy neighbors who left after the first day). The work part, I think, went well (I have lots of notes anyway... we'll see if they're worthwhile once I've decided I can face them).

But, I'm happy to be home.

The beasties were upset and clingy when I arrived home. They felt the need to check on me every 20 minutes all night just to make sure I was still there.

My ~~family~~ neighbors also came to check on me last night. They were happy I was home. We went out for Root Beer Floats and they listened to my travel tales. They 'oohed' at the good stuff and 'awwwed' at the bad. They told me things I needed to hear. These are good peoples. I thought about them later as I was fading into sleep (there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed...). I thought about my neighbors and my friends and my work and my lifestyle and all of the other reasons I have dug in my roots here. This is home and there's nothing like it.

My hair misses Portland though....

Things I am liking about Portland

2008-07-14T13:53:00.004-04:00

#1. The Welcome Sign
My flight descended into the city at sunset right next to Mt. Hood. When I say right next to I mean I could almost touch the peak. The sunset was gleaming off the snow and it was breathtaking. The man in the seat next to me has lived here his whole life and travels a lot. He said he had never descended that way into the airport. He was in awe and he gets to see that mountain every day.
Side note: We flew over Utah. I didn't realize the Great Salt Lake was so big or so, um, salty.

#2. The Taxi Drivers
I have ridden with two of them and they are by far the friendliest taxi drivers I have ever met.

#3. The Farmer's Market
Huge and lovely. Lots of yummy cheese samples and I tried a marionberry.

#4 A Dear Old Friend
I met my friend Rebecca at the farmer's market Saturday after I finished setting up my exhibit at the convention center. We have known each other since first grade. Her family lived waaaay up on a hill in my hometown when we were little and for a while, during Fifth Grade she lived across the street from me. As Becca said, it was us against the world that year. She moved away when we were in high school, but we have kept in touch (but probably not as often as we should have). Becca founded the Independent Publishing Resource Center and took me by the offices for a tour. It's a great space where members have access to computers and small printing presses. From there we walked across the river to the printshop she owns with her boyfriend and his brother. I loved the back to basics approach they have to printing. I'm used to giant commercial print shops and loved being in a room with trays and drawers full of metal type and the manual letterpresses and thick rustic looking paper. After the shop we went for margaritas and stumbled upon a huge street fair. Later Becca fixed a home grown dinner and we sat on her patio sipping wine and watching the daylight fade over her lovely garden, the chickens and bees.

#5 The Coffee
When I travel for work I almost immediately settle into a routine. It's not uncommon to hear me say to a coworker 'we always meet for breakfast at 8:00 in this little cafe' on our third morning there. The morning after I arrived I asked at the front desk of the hotel where to get a really good cup of coffee. The people at Stumptown have turned making coffee into an artform. I go there every day. It's MY coffee shop.

#6 A Not So Old, But Just As Dear, Friend
#7 Gianormous Pastrami Sandwiches
#8 Pickle Platters
I met Kevin at Kenny & Zuke's for dinner last night. They have pastrami cheese fries on the menu which sounds disgustingly awesome. I opted for the PLT instead. And a pickle platter (A giant plate of all kinds of homemade pickle heaven) which we couldn't finish after our towering sandwiches and is now living in the mini-bar fridge in my hotel room (I'm sure the maid will appreciate the smell....). We've made big plans for the next few evenings. Lots of eating and drinking and various entertainments are on the agenda.

#9 Public Transport
I'm a country girl, I hate the idea of city commutes, but I have a thing about trains. I love them. The MAX trains are so easy and are free in the city center. I get to ride one to and from the convention center over the river.
Side note: The guy sitting across from me on the MAX this morning had a hand-knit (Noro Silk Garden) iPod cozy.

#10 Powell's I haven't been in yet. I'm kind of afraid that I will enter some sort of time warp and find that weeks have passed when I finally emerge. But there it is less than 3 blocks from my hotel. I've walked by several times and managed not to get sucked in. Wednesday afternoon I will go. Wish me luck.

#11 Random stuff

This is a lightbulb store. They sell nothing but lightbulbs. Lots and lots and lots of lightbulbs. It's inspiring that it manages to exist.This building is across the street from my coffee shop. I'm trying to come up with just the right caption for it.
This one doesn't require a caption.

It makes so much sense...

2008-06-21T09:57:00.001-04:00

A Pretty Good Day

2008-06-20T15:42:00.004-04:00

My work computer was in the shop yesterday and I was feeling twitchy without it, so I took the afternoon off. Traci and Audrey picked me up and work and we went to Luna Pizza for lunch. Then we did a little bit of shopping (I got a crazy bargain on a fabulous pair of sandals at Marshall's...). Then we went strawberry picking.

Those of you in the know will ask why I went berry picking for the second time in 5 days. Because the first batch was all gone. Between the margaritas and the shortcake and eating berries 3 meals a day, I had none left. Strawberry season is short and we decided to take full advantage of it. Traci and I picked (and one of us sat smack on a berry....) while Audrey ate her fill and entertained us with her crazy chatter.

After the berries we stopped at Webs so I could pick up this:
It's sparkly yarn (that's real stirling silver!) dyed by Gale the Kangaroo Dyer. I love love love the color and I can't wait to play with it. Lily likes it too.
We traded some strawberries for fresh eggs from Melissa's chickens. I love having access to super fresh eggs every week. And Melissa had this:
It's St Hallett Barossa Gamekeeper's Reserve. They serve this at the Side Street Cafe in generous portions. Traci and I first had it there during the holidays and every once in a while we stop in for a glass as a special treat. I've been keeping my eye out for it in stores with no luck. Finally Melissa asked her friend who owns Ryan and Casey's in Greenfield if she could get some. She could and we ordered a case to share.

This may be the most perfect red wine in the world. And it's affordable. Bottle number one went fast last night (and made us happy). We're going to need to order more pronto.

After Webs we stopped in at the Miss Florence Diner for Audrey's first milkshake and lessons on how to use the jukebox. This one has "Movin' Right Along" by the Muppets AND "Dancing Queen" in it.
(this one's for you dad) Two of the other patrons in Miss Flo's had arrived Vespa style.
All in all it was a pretty perfect Thursday afternoon. Friends, strawberries, shopping, yarn, wine and milkshakes. What more can a girl ask for?

Mikey and Julie sittin' in a tree....

2008-06-17T15:09:00.004-04:00

This picture is almost 2 years old, but it's the most recent photo I have of my brother and his fiancee. Aren't they cute? I can't believe my geeky little brother finally popped the question. He asked in classic Mikey style - totally unplanned, camping in a canyon, looking up at the stars. Then he called my dad and said he had the best Father's Day Gift ever for him - a Daughter-in-Law.

Dad has always said that if they split up we're keeping Julie. She's adorable and sweet and gentle and fun and smart (despite agreeing to marry my brother). I can't imagine anyone I'd rather have join our family.

While my brother was busy being all adult and romantic - I was not.

Seen on my way to work

2008-06-13T10:31:00.003-04:00

I drove past this field on my way home at dusk last night. The light was terrific then, but I didn't have my camera with me, so I stopped this morning.

I have always loved how these round hay bales land all higgledy piggledy in the fields.

Sam

2008-06-12T09:58:00.002-04:00

My dear friend Hilary has lost her nephew Sam.

I've been struggling all week trying to find the right words to say and there just aren't any. He was 13 and it is awful.

I met Sam on my first trip to England in 1996 when he was just a baby. My heart is broken for his mom, his siblings and his grandparents. I keep thinking about Hilary who would give anything she had for her nieces and nephews.

Today the news made international headlines when information was released that he was being bullied on the social networking site Bebo. So now the family's tragedy is going to be paraded around as an example.

Kids are kids and they tease each other horribly. But things are worse somehow when they are in writing. The nicest person you know can send you an email that comes off as harsh and nasty - it has happened to all of us. Maybe the taunts a kid can put up with in the school hallways are unbearable when they are in writing on a screen in their bedroom. I don't know.

Games are fun

2008-06-10T17:09:00.003-04:00

A real blog catch-up entry is coming soon, but in the meantime I had to play this Flickr game:

the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

the questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

specific photo details here.

Victory

2008-06-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

Drinks all around.

More here.

I Heart Ira

2008-05-02T10:33:00.004-04:00

Last night I went to see "This American Life Live". Ira Glass was on stage in NYC in front of a live audience previewing the new season of the TAL TV show on Showtime. The performance was broadcast live to movie theaters all over the country (including the Cinemark in Hadley where I was). I apologize for the lame camera phone photos, but I did not think to bring my camera with me.

I'm a TAL junkie. I've been totally addicted to the radio show (which I get as a free podcast every week from iTunes) for a while now. I do not subscribe to Showtime, but I downloaded the first season of the TV show from iTunes the day it became available. It is brilliant.

Last night Ira was his own sound tech, live on stage, inbetween clips from the new season and some stories that had to be cut from the season due to time constraints. There was a short clip of a story about teens in North Philadelphia (done with out the usual TAL narration). He showed the full story of a young Iraqi man road tripping through the southern US. The concept behind this story is brilliant and it will stick with me for a long time. It was both infuriating and inspiring at different times. TAL followed him from town to town where he set up the booth below and invited passers by to chat.Ira also talked about the process of transitioning from radio to TV and becoming a face to go with his famous voice. He showed several animations that were cut from the new season and a story about pre-teen boys at a stand-up comedy camp that also got cut, but was definitely worth airing.

It was an odd thing and it felt a bit strange to have spent $20 for what was basically a typical TAL show, but it was good to be in a full theater, knowing there were lots of full theaters around the country, sharing the same experience with my fellow NPR geeks.

The new season starts Sunday May 4th on Showtime. If you've got Showtime - watch it.