Tulsa time

Matthew and I are headed to Tulsa this Friday to visit our favorite little person: Baby Evelyn. We are also looking forward to spending time with her mommy and daddy and grams and grandpop. Evelyn's mommy expressed interest in learning to knit and so I am taking along instruction booklets, bulky yarn and comfy needles to show her how it's done. I am sure she'll get the hang of it fast and be knitting up hats, booties, blankies and wash-clothes for little evelyn in no time at all.

Attention Target Shoppers

Tonight at stitch-n-bitch cynthia was telling a story about a friend of hers who went into labor at the target store located on arlington ave. here in Riverside. Not only had this friend gone into labor at target, but she had an extremely quick delivery; and a short time later the same exact thing happened to another friend of cynthia's at the same exact target store. My friend jessica, who is 9 months pregnant and due to deliver her baby, emmet, any day now (actual due date = march 4th), was also present this evening. As you can imagine, jessica was intrigued by this story. So, at 9:25 pm pacific standard time jessica and I departed stitch-n-bitch and headed to the target store on arlington.

Jessica and I waited out the many announcements and chastisements that came over the loudspeaker stating: "attention target shoppers the store will be closing in 15min, 10min, 5min...now!" just hoping emmet would attempt to make his entrance into the world, but alas, when jessica got into her car in front of the darkened target on arlington ave. the labor had still not started, but there was a bit of promising pressure in her lower abdomen. I'll keep you all updated on the arrival of little emmet - who is by the way betrothed to little evelyn.

the happenings of a very busy blogger/knitter/philosopher/niece/daughter

So one of my reasons for entering the blogosphere was to show my beloved matthew a thing or two about keeping one's blog up to date and not neglecting the blog by posting regularly, perhaps even every day. Yet it is I who has been shown a thing or two, and I apologize to you, my poor neglected readers. How could it be that I have not logged on and updated my readers with the happenings in my life, both on and off the sticks?

We have had an incredibly exciting week, with not one, but four guests! One of whom came all the way from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. My uncle jim was our very first out of town guest. On wednesday I took uncle jim to visit UCR's botanical gardens and the historic mission inn before we returned to our house with matthew and had dinner. It was great to have him here and we hope that he and auntie dianne will be out to visit us in santa fe next year.

Last night we had my dad and step-mom out for dinner to celebrate my father's birthday. They brought along our favorite little furry friend, fernando and a good time was had by all. I tried out a new recipe from the vegetarian bible and it was delicious and will definitely be made again. The dish was called "cottage pie" and was a vegetarian version of shepherds pie with lentils, and what I believe to be the key ingredient - parsnips. Mmmmmm parsnips, who knew?

Saturday was the GSA's third annual research conference and it took up most of my day. I was able to sit back and enjoy the presentations this year and that was wonderful. Last year I was one of the coordinators and although the experience was one of the most rewarding of my life, it was pretty stressful and exhausting. That night we hung out with good friends and ate the most fabulous onion dip you've ever even thought of eating. I plan to try to recreate the recipe - I will update you if I am successful.

I spent today working and trying to felt the unfeltable yoga mat bag. I am not so sure about felting anymore, but I will write more about this if I ever finish this stupid yoga mat bag.

So that is the news from the home front. I finished another hat for baby Evelyn, this time in purple and have started another in cream. I am expecting a new shipment of yarn any day now, and then there is no telling what will appear on the blog. Mmmmm yarn, even better than parsnips.

Tent, sweet tent

Many years ago my mother used to pitch our tent in the backyard and let me have outdoor sleepovers with my friends.

Today, Matthew and I purchased a new tent from REI. We got a super sweet deal on the Sierra Designs Hyperlight AST 3. We had been in the market for a tent for awhile, we had a REI gift card that my dad and step-mom gave us for chrismukkah, and REI was having a huge sale, so we got a cool new toy. Of course, we couldn't help but set it up, and as we have no yard, we pitched it right in the middle of our living/dining room.

We hope to get many years of use out of it and cannot wait to use it as soon as possible.

alpaca, merino, and peruvian wool. oh my!

I am going in with the ladies from my stitch-n-bitch on a knitpicks order. I have been obsessed with the webpage. Figuring out yarn substitutions, day-dreaming about color combinations, fantasizing about gifts and projects... Oh the joy of the anticipation of a project not yet started.

And then the wonderful man with whom I now share a bank account turned to me with love in his eyes, and asked, "so how much are we spending on yarn?" He's so practical. So I had to decide on the projects I would really knit, and when I would really knit them, and bring the whole knitting delusion back down to earth. So I am ordering enough yarn to make the cable-knit skirt that so far exists only in my mind, some yarn for various baby projects from "lmnk" and a truly beautiful yarn in moss green to knit he-who-shares-my-bank-account the "men's cashmere scarf" from "lmkg", but instead of $50 dollar a ball cashmere, we're going with a beautiful blend, which is ever so much more affordable. I am thinking that if the scarf is wonderful enough (and I have no doubt it will be), matthew will continue to support me in my responsible yarn habits for many years to come.

I have even made a list of yarn for holiday gifts for next year - it's never too early!

Go Team!

Yesterday my friend Mandy donated her sunday to the completion of a long neglected project here at casa de mattandbeth - our redo of two old couches that my grandparents made around 1963 that I rescued from their basement a couple years ago. Mandy is a philosopher and knitter, but is also a supremely talented and efficient sewer and together (I use that term loosely) we finished the couch cushions. Yay!!!

Thanks again Mandy!

Now matthew and I just need to find time to refinish them - we'll see what happens.

The Curse of the Blue Purl

It is sunny and 85 degrees here in the Inland Empire. Perfect weather for photographing my beautiful new "Purl" scarf. I made it per the instructions in "last minute knitted gifts", using Manos del Uruguay (possibly the most delicious yarn on the planet) in a heavenly shade called "heliotrope". I mixed in two strands of GGH "soft kid" in deep purple and light blue. It's only a 1x1 rib pattern scarf but the color combination (my own creation with a bit of help from "lmkg") it is stunning (if I do say so myself) and it only took a few hours. Now, if it would only get cold enough to wear it!

Happy Birthday Evelyn!!!

Our little niece, Evelyn Rose Paul (Matthew's sister's little girl) turns one month old today! At left she is pictured wrapped in the basket-weave blanket I knit for her with Misti-Alpaca Cotton. Green is really her color!

Bellow she is wearing "one hour" baby booties in Taki-Stacy Charles, but she was born with such long toes they were a bit too snug in the newborn size.

In the months and years to come I will be knitting many items for this perfect little girl! For example: This little hat from my absolute favorite knitting book of the moment - "Last minute knitted gifts":


Like I said: Green is really her color.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

Distinctions without much difference

Last night as I lie awake in bed due to an overdose of diet pepsi and chocolate covered espresso beans, I began thinking about my new baby blog and what I wanted to say. I knew my focus would be knitting and philosophy, because these are the things I do. They are in essence, who I am - well maybe not, if that were the case I would also be chocolate and cheese, and that just sounds stupid. So anyways, my focus is knitting, philosophy, and anything else that I feel like writing about, because it's my blog and I'll do what I want with my blog. It's amazing how the internet gives us this over-inflated sense of self import.

Okay, getting back to knitting and philosophy: It occurred to me in my caffeine and sugar fueled sleepless haze that I am a continental knitter and I am also a continental philosopher. I thought this was very profound at the time and tried to take the analogy even further. You see, there are two ways or "schools of knitting": continental and english. Continental knitters knit with the yarn held in their left hand and "scoop" the yarn, where as english knitters hold the yarn with there right hand and "wrap" yarn. The end result is the same, it is just the method by which one makes their stitches that differs. I tried knitting english, which is the standard way to knit in this country, but I found it awkward and difficult. Continental knitting just seemed more natural and intuitive. This is where I start to see the parrallell with philosophy. Philosophy also has two styles or "schools of thought": continental and analytic. Continental philosophy is normally associated with French and German philosophers such as Satre, Heidegger, Nietzsche, DeLuze, Focoult, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Oddly, continental knitting is also called "German knitting". Coincidence? I think not. Furthermore, analytic philosophy descends from the thought of jolly old englishmen like Moore, Russell and Popper (this is an over simplification - let us not forget Wittgenstein and Frege, but alas I digress).

Now, I am not strictly speaking a continental philosopher. I am actually fairly analytic, but not in the boring stuffy old english sense of sitting around analyzing language usage - yawn! Instead my interests bridge the gap between continental and analytic ways of thinking, which is interesting because I just found a video that explains why it is better for the health of your hands and joints to know how to knit more than one way!

It turns out that what's good for the philosopher is good for the knitter, and vice a versa.

we'll see what happens

I keep asking matthew, the fiance extraordinaire, to share his blog with me, and he keeps telling me:

"get your own blog"

and so today,
I got my own blog.

I am either officially super cool, or super not cool.
We'll see what happens.