I knit, therefore I am

The results show

2011-01-04T21:41:00.003-06:00

Happy new year and finally happy new house! While we still have a few projects and no house is ever done being made a home, we are pretty much moved in and enjoying our new place. We had quite a bit of fixing up to do as the place was rather sketchy. I've already posted about some of that and will hopefully post a few more before and afters and explain some of our DIY and resale shop finds, but for now take a top to bottom tour of our little home.

Ready for guests.

I have a desk of my own again.

Matt stacked up some old closet organizing shelves to show off family photos in the guest room.

Our bedroom is so calm and pretty now. I love it. We still need new lamps.

Matthew helped me make the really cool earring organizer.

Got this awesome mirror for $10 from the restore.

Grandmas and Grandpas at the head of the stairway.

This arrangement is the thing I am most proud of.

I got the idea for the shelf as sofa table from this post on AT. The idea for reclaiming the old window came from these posts on craftynestand here. The window was a freebie from the restore and Matthew did most of the work, although I did major consulting and the painting.

overview of the living room

This is the final after picture for the powder room. I made the curtains and for once in my life my sewing machine didn't sass me at all and the project was smooth sailing.

And finally: the basement bar. All we did here was clean it up and add some holiday cheer.

perfect fit

2010-09-22T15:00:00.002-05:00

What happens when an avid knitter discovers an inspirational home decor solution that involves knitting?

She blogs about it! (And in theory, actually makes the item in question.) When new passions meet old in a perfect marriage of craftiness, the knitted lamp shade is born.

This DIY tutorial posted today over on designsponge has me thinking cozy knitted lamp shades in lovely colors everywhere. I mean what lamp doesn't want a sweater?

progress is paint

2010-09-12T19:03:00.001-05:00

Today we picked up new night stands at a garage sale for $10! I just need to decide what color to paint them and change out the hardware and they'll be great. They're not even that bad as is. We also painted the bedroom today and it is sooo much better. I love, love, love it. Who knew so much happiness could be purchased with $35 and 6 hours of work?

Bedroom with fresh paint and the furniture moved around. We still need to add some art work and curtains, but it is sooo much better already. The color is Olympic "Going Grey"

Bedroom before. The wall color was vomit, ak.a. Sherwin Williams "Baguette," there is still al gallon left in the basement in case we want to change back to vomit.

rental remodeling

2010-08-31T23:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting lately, but with cooler weather bound to roll in one of these days I have lots of projects I hope to get to. I'm having some ladies over to the new house this week to kick off fall knitting and I'm psyched, because 1) I now have space in my home to have regular knit nights and 2) one of these days I will finish the trellis and vine pullover.

The three seasons porch after all of our (mostly Matthew's) hard work. I wish we had taken before pictures. It was moldy and mildewy with rotting carpet and peeling wainscoting on the bottom. Now it's just lovely (well, except the landlord needs to put in a new floor, but our lovely rug is good enough for now)

So, if I haven't been knitting, what have I been doing? As I alluded to above, we have moved to a more spacious abode and that has taken up a crap ton of my precious time. On top of all the moving, we've had to do some serious updating to this place because our new landlord way over sold what he was going to do to make it livable. For starters the place was filthy. It's pretty clean now and we've tackled two of the biggest projects we agreed to do (one of them because of previously mentioned over promising landlord's inability to do as he promised). I'm pretty proud of our handy work and it reassures me that once we get this place tip top, it will be awesome.

Powder room before. The wallpaper on the right was peeling, which made it easy to remove, of course it only revealed the really stubborn wallpaper underneath.

Powder room after. I was going to paint it a lovely shade of gray, but after the stupid landlord made a stink about paying for paint while we were doing all the work I decided to paint it with the leftover white from the porch. It is a rental afterall and it's still a hundred times better. Now, it just needs curtains.

The next project was going to be to paint the living room (light french gray - a lovely bluish gray), but I think curtains, a rug and some lamps will fix that up okay for now, the real need is in our bedroom, which has walls the color of disgusting bodily fluids. We're thinking a soft gray. There's really nothing wrong with the paint, except for the color, so we can't hold this one against the landlord, well except for the fact that he has bad taste. Anyways, I'll keep you updated as we beautify the new place. Here are some comparison photos:


Our new place (see the need for curtains and rug, also I hate that plant there, but it needs the light)

Old place. This is actually the old arrangement, I don't seem to have picture of it after we moved the little shelf thingy)

Should I even mention the state of our new kitchen? No, I'll just be happy with all my extra space - for now.

Cuteness

2010-07-26T12:41:00.001-05:00

I so want to knit this, but am short on newborns to knit for at present. It's Susan B. Anderson's Buga Baby Bunting in Spud and Chloe Outer. I think it's the adorableness of this photo that makes me crave knitting it, and to be honest, it sort of makes me crave the baby to put in it too. Good thing my husband doesn't read this blog anymore!

Baby Sophisticate in Spud & Chloe

2010-07-13T01:32:00.000-05:00

My good friend had her second child this past January and I just couldn't decide what to make him. The friend is a knitter, very, very crafty, and generous with her awesome crafty gifts, so I wanted to make something a bit more special for her new little guy. When I saw the baby sophisticate sweater by Linden Hefler, I knew it was perfect. I also knew that I must knit it in Spud & Chloe. The knitting was really easy, the yarn was fabulous, and I found the perfect buttons. Then it took me like two weeks to weave in ends, another week to sew on buttons, and almost two weeks to put it in the mail, but I sent it off last week and it has hopefully found its way to its new little owner and fingers crossed it fits. I read that it runs a bit small, but I added a little length all over and my gauge was spot on, so fingers double crossed.

I knit these cute bunny hats for babies

2010-07-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

I'm guessing no one is reading this anymore, since I have all but abandoned it, but I'll just throw this out into the ether and see what happens. After over a solid year of friends having new babies every month in what seemed a steady deluge of adorableness the monsoon has finally slowed to barely a trickle and I can turn my knitting away from all things baby, but I've sort of grown to love making these tiny, fun, cute, and often quick little baby items. Oh well, I am sure there will be no shortage of opportunities to knit more.
I made two of these cute little hats. Both of Matt and my very oldest and dearest childhood friends recently welcomed their first babies, both little boys, and so I knit the same thing for each. One went off to little Graham in Oklahoma and the other to little Noah in Geneva, Switzerland (I think that kid has three passports already and he's only like a week old).

Pattern: Bunny Tail by Susan B. Anderson from Itty-Bitty Hats

Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Treasurer (leftover from my mom's Francis)

Needles: Size 5 Addi Clicks

Olympic knitting

2010-03-01T11:53:00.005-06:00

First, Joannie Rochette, the definition of poise, grace and strength who won bronze in figure skating after the sudden death of her mother just days before is not only Quebecois (love the francophones), lovely and talented, she is a KNITTTER!!!! Woot! She said so in this interview. Love her.

Second, did you see the awesome big chunky sweater jackets that the medal presenter helpers wore? I kept drooling over them all the time, they were so lovely. Well thanks to a little bit a of research over on ravelry, I found photos on the designer's website! Check them out. So lovely. It is called the Heritage Sweater. If only I could figure out what yarn/roving that is, it would probably not be that difficult to figure out how to knit my own. The accent colors are all woven in after the coat is finished so any superbulky roving style yarn in gray should work. They are offering a ready to wear version, but it is not nearly the same. The one above is the original with the giant custom needles used to knit it.

Finally, I did not finish my trellis and vine pullover in Oscar yarn in time for ravelympics. I keep running into problems and am starting to hate it very much, but true knitting athlete that I am I will persevere and finish this race. Hopefully, I will finish in time to wear it this weekend.

Francis Revisited Revisited

2010-02-25T21:11:00.011-06:00

I made my mom her own Francis for Christmas.

Details:

Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk 8 skeins

Color: Bluebell (discontinued)

Needles: Size 9 - addi clicks

Pattern: Duh

Notes: I knit it in Medium, but my gauge was 14 sts over 4 inches so it was a bit more snug than the standard medium. I also added four stitches to the underarms to avoid holes (a trick I’ve learned since making the original FR) I then picked up 3 each side, and added an extra decrease to take care of it.
I also knit the sleeves with a bit less flare. I knit to the 7.25" increase round, knit two rounds (3Xs) then knit even for 5 rounds (so 7 rounds total after first increase). Then I knit the seed stitch.

That was too much brown

2010-02-25T21:03:00.000-06:00

So I think the new look of the blog was actually making me ill and making it impossible for me to post anything, so now it's all fresh and clean. We'll see if it sticks.

Also: I've got knitting news. Finished Haven. Finishing my trellis and vine pullover (i.e. Oscar) for the ravelympics. Stay tuned.

Do you call it a Dlog?

2010-02-25T10:46:00.000-06:00

My dad has a blog! I think you call that a Dlog or maybe a Flog or a Plog, anyways, check out what dad has to say here.

Francis is Famous

2009-12-14T10:53:00.002-06:00

I want to thank Courtney over at Kelbourne Woolens for featuring Francis Revisited on their blog! You can find the entry here. For those of you who don't know, Kelbourne Woolens is the distributor for Fibre Company Yarns. Fibre Company yarns are amazing! Check them out on their website. You might want to consider knitting yourself a Francis Revisited in Canopy Worsted for the holidays.

Bah Humbug!

2009-12-07T10:25:00.000-06:00

I feel like a total Scrooge McDuck this holiday season. The tree is actually up, the lights and ornaments on. The first holiday party of the season has already come and gone, but I'm just not in the mood. I am only knitting three holiday gifts, and not one of them is done despite efforts to start and finish them all last month. In fact, I don't have a single holiday gift purchased or completed and I'm busy almost every single day until Christmas Eve, and Hanukah starts this Friday!!!! Bah Humbug indeed.

New Look

2009-11-17T22:24:00.002-06:00

So the philosoknitter changed her look. After nearly 3 years I've decided to change things up here and go with a bolder, more modern look. What do you think? The new colors are inspired by my recently ordered business cards! That's right the philosoknitter is going professional and apparently referring to herself exclusively in the 3rd person.

Up coming:

Details on the baby knits
Pictures of the first non-scarf item I have ever successfully knit my husband
And a review of my addi clicks!

And please notice that we've gone commercial! Please support the sponsors to the right :)

Baby Knits

2009-10-25T12:24:00.002-05:00

Details coming soon.

Don't miss out!

2009-09-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

Get your fug for free!

Tracy Raver Photos

2009-09-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

So, apparently Tracy Raver's baby photos are all the rage, and I can totally see why, they are adorable, natural and so sweet. But what amazes me are the handknits in many of the photos. They are spectacular, especially the baby "pouches." Where does she get them? And how does one make them? I sent her an email on flickr, so if I am very lucky maybe she'll let me know. Stay tuned.

Update: I found two patterns on ravelry. Baby cocoon pea pod and egg, and hanging cocoon. Also Tracy Raver's site is back up, so here's the link. I'm going to keep working on this mystery. These would make perfect gifts.

no words

2009-09-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

What the fug interweave?

Apparently I will not be buying their new "weekend knits" special edition.

Progress Report: Trellis and Vine

2009-08-23T22:46:00.001-05:00

Sleeves and body separated, now it's a ton of stockinette and a bit more cable and lace! The hard part is definitely behind me.

Knitting Update

2009-08-17T12:33:00.000-05:00

Baby surprise is 5 buttons from done.
Baby Sawyer's gift just needs it's ends woven in. Plus, I think I'm going to add another little piece :)
The Scott Baby's blanket is still here because we can't get a hold of them to double check their address - I'm guessing the baby has arrived and their hands are literally and figuratively full.
I decided to cast on the trellis and vine pullover from the fall interweave knits in the Oscar yarn my mom gave me for my 30th birthday (it was waiting for something special).
I need to finish up the yoga socks that were supposed to be for my sister-in-law's birthday last April (oops).
I still need to knit two little items for the two November babies.
I need to swatch and cast on for my mom's x-mass gift.
I've also lined up several items in my queue over on ravelry, most of which are designed to use up some of my abundant stash. Some of the highlights include: a cleoptis, in the brooksfarm primero that I bought almost two years ago at the taos wool festival; haven in a pretty pink malabrigo I picked up last spring with it in mind; rosamund's cardigan in a pale blue riverstone chunky I bought on clearance; and Owls in cream riverstone chunky that I also bought on clearance.
And then, I still have a January baby and now a February baby too! Keep them coming ladies...

Happy Puppiversary

2009-07-31T17:24:00.001-05:00

We're celebrating two amazing years of puppy loving.

Above: Today; Below: Last year; Bottom: The day we brought her home

I think we have a winner

2009-07-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

The fall 2009 interweave knits preview is out - and it's gorgeous! I am no longer subscribing because of too much dissapointment, but I am actually going to go out and buy this issue. It is filled with loverly knits and items to inspire. Drool:

Baby Knits

2009-07-24T15:33:00.001-05:00

Apparently I am in the midst of another baby deluge. Everyone I know is pregnant, again. And apparently I am obsessed with garter stitch - so squishy, it just screams "wrap me around a little teeny tiny person!" My first baby project is all finished except for those pesky ends to weave in and a quick wash. It's the log cabin above in knitpicks swish bulky. I really like that yarn, especially for a superwash. So squishy. I need to get it all finished and off in the mail because that little one will be here any day now.

And now, I am on to my first attempt at EZ's baby surprise jacket (ravelry link). So far I like it. It's odd not really understanding the construction, but I'm trying to just go with it. I am happy with my yarn choice as well, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton Whirl in a fun pink/orange/purple mix called dusk. It's for my cousin's baby girl due in October, who's parents are the artsy creative type. I hope it turns out, because I think it will be really cute.
I still need to pick up supplies for Emmet's little brother Sawyer's present. He's actually next up for arrival, but I didn't have the yarn on hand and the project shouldn't take too much time. After that there are the two November babies, one boy, one girl, and another baby in January. Luckily no December babies because I have special project for my mom for x-mass this year. With all this knitting, school starting back up next month, and my dissertation trucking along, I should be able to keep out of trouble - mostly.

More Garden Eats

2009-07-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

The giant zucchini plants continue to churn out zucchinis. I'm still trying to figure out something to make with the two larger ones... Below, are three of my beets. I'm not sure if I harvested them at the right time, but whatever. The baby carrots are thinnings. The green beans were more plentiful than I expected from our relatively small little plants.
I blanched the beans. Sautéed the smaller zucchs. And did this with the beet greens. It was all really tasty.
The beet greens were a new thing for us. I really liked the recipe (linked above) and would make it again, although I may skip the bacon and go for olive oil. It's been fun trying out all sorts of new recipes to accommodate our fresh garden goods and I have to say that the zucchini from our garden is the best I have ever had - the flavor is just amazing. Now I'm hungry again.

Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

2009-07-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

Our garden has several giant zucchini plants. We have already harvested and had a full dinner of zucchini fruits, but I was looking for more recipes for the delicious veggie, when I came across recipes for fried zucchini blossoms. Apparently they are quite the delicacy and so I decided to try it.

Above the zucchini plants in our garden and below the lovely zucchini blossoms (one girl, up front, and the rest boys)
I followed the this recipe and tutorial to make the ricotta and garlic stuffed zucchini blossoms . Matt helped, and it was really pretty easy. They were really delicious with a nice zucchini taste, but we're thinking the next time we'll just batter and fry the flowers instead of stuffing them because the filling sort of overwhelmed the delicateness of the blooms. The batter in this recipe is awesome - light and cripsy. We used the leftover batter and oil to make fried cheese and onion rings, yummy. (It's salads for the rest of the week - we swear).

If you have zucchini in blossom in your garden I would strongly recommend frying up and eating the blossoms, both male and female are edible and really what else are the boys good for?

Matt turned 30

2009-07-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

On July 1st my lovely husband turned 30. At the end of June there was a party, there was cake, the in-laws came. A good time was had by all, and it was not blogged. Oops.

Door County

2009-07-20T14:03:00.001-05:00

For the first time in 4 years I was able to join my mother's extended family for their annual trip to Door County (the thumb of the mitten that is Wisconsin for those who are unfamiliar). We had a great time. The weather was fabulous and the sunsets were decent.
While the picture of myself below is not at all flattering, it does prove that this was not a knit free vacation. I cast-on for my first BSJ in mission falls cotton. I'll update that soon (or so I say).
Fun for everyone:

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies

2009-06-21T11:00:00.001-05:00

baby blanket

2009-06-19T21:39:00.001-05:00

I need a present for our friends baby and I need it fast, so it was time to dust off the old knitting needles. I used my new swift and ball winder my husband got me for my birthday to wind the newly purchased knitpicks swish bulky into perfect balls. Then I started building:I love the log cabin concept. It's so fun for baby blankets and it's even better with bulky yarn - instant gratification! I sort of wish I'd of done something different, but with each of these I do I learn something new and I'm pretty sure I'll never get sick of making them. I need to catch the knitting fever again, I've been such a slacker.

Garden Goods

2009-06-19T21:36:00.001-05:00

Things are going well over at our little garden. We've harvested a ton of spinach and many radishes. The carrot tops are looking lush and the pea plants are growing like weeds. By next week we'll have to cut down the lettuce. Tomato and pepper plants are in and growing. Stay tuned.

I heart Cyndi

2009-06-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

Friday night I went to Milwaukee's Pridefest to see Cyndi Lauper. She is AWESOME! Plus, pridefest was a perfect place to see her - you get the full force of songs like time after time and true colors.

Facebook ate my blog

2009-06-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

Here's what I've been up to:

Starting a new knitting group - we're calling it "knit lit" because it's a hybrid knitting/book club - we're meeting on Sundays.
Gardening - we have a CSA plot over at the Urban Ecology Center just a block from our house. We're growing spinach, lettuce, radishes, peas, carrots, cucumbers, and zucchini; we are failing to grow green onions (not enough sun?), beans (perhaps a squirrel or bird ate the seeds?), and beets (damn rabbit or gopher or deer); we are about to plant peppers and tomatoes; later we're going to try growing ochre.
Going to California to visit friends and family and important dissertation advisor people.
Going to Colorado for a graduation, to see family and have an awesome time.
Reading, writing, revising, repeating.
Wishing I were knitting more.
Taking Scarlet to the dog park to hang out with Sprocket, Pearl, Mogli, and her myriad of other dog friends and their parents, who are fast becoming our friends.

My personal thanksgiving

2009-05-13T14:33:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. Birthdays, unless they are big ones (like last year's), have for a long time been less about parties, cake, and presents and more about quiet reflection for me. When I lived in CA, Matthew and I would spend my birthday quietly at the beach. Today's not so much beach weather here in Milwaukee, it's more misty memory weather. So I wanted to make a list of people I am thankful for.

1. My husband - who despite not being perfect, is the perfect husband.

2. My mother - who is my best friend.

3. My father - who is an eternal optimist.

4. My sisters and my girflfriends - I don't see them enough, call them enough, tell them enough - I love them

5. My dog - who is the best damn dog a girl could ever want

6. My family

7. Anyone who still reads my blog after such neglect and such self-indulgance

Happy Mama's Day

2009-05-10T19:13:00.001-05:00

Let's review some fun times with all of the "moms" in my life in celebration of mother's day:

Beers at the ballpark with my mom:
Drinks with my sisters and step-mom:
Too much drinking with my mom-in-law
Happy Mother's day to all my favorite moms, including all the ladies above, the grandmas Alyce, Rita, and Margaret, to my sister-in-law and all of the Aunties too; and too all my fabulous mommy friends out there. I hope you all had days as wonderful as the one's pictured above.

Best Knitting Book Ever! (or at least really good)

2009-05-07T19:29:00.000-05:00

Our household has been busy using up gift cards. We went to Crate and Barrel and bought a bowl and a glass to replace ones we've broken, a salad spinner to wash the lettuce and spinach we will be harvesting from our garden in a month or so, and a cookie press for me; Bed Bath and Beyond found us the owners of many new kitchen gadgets; and in that same spirit I used a Barnes and Noble giftcard I had for forever to buy myself Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits and it is the BEST KNITTING BOOK EVER!!! There are some really nice basic patterns and two simple recipes for top down sweaters as well as all sorts of good information on customization (duh). She also tells you how to make a dress form out of duct tape! So much excellent information and so perfect for making sweaters I'll actually wear. I can tell I will go to it over, and over again.

I'm a terrible blogger, but...

2009-04-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

I have really cute nieces!

Iowa Pride

2009-04-03T11:34:00.000-05:00

I lived in Iowa for six years! And I am proud!!! Go Iowa!!!

For the record, I have also lived in California (proud, and then embarrassed and disappointed), and New Mexico (indifferent) and Wisconsin (embarrassed and disappointed).

This is a knitting blog right?

2009-03-29T15:51:00.001-05:00

Beautiful hat on otherwise pretty girl making stupid face:

Pattern: Spring Time Beret by Natalie Larsen

Needles: size 6 and 7

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Jewel Blue .75 skeins

I went over to Loop yesterday to check out their sale, which was pretty lame as far as yarn sales go, but they carry so many lovely colors of malabrigo - lace, worsted, and silk blend - that I couldn't leave without just one skein. And since it was snowing I decided to make a winterized version of the spring time beret. I finished it last night, wore it today, and love, love, love it! I still plan to block it to open up the lace and de-bump it a bit, but overall I am very happy with this easy, quick, and ever so practical knit.

Nieces!

2009-03-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

We spent a few days down in Oklahoma with the family last week and it was awesome. Below is a picture of the whole fam minus Kevin who had too work, poor Kevin.

Above: What Matthew's life will look like in 5 or 6 years.
Above: Sweet baby, Cora Jane, and Below awesome little girl Evelyn Rose.
Below baby Cora models her moderne log cabin baby blanket.

my year of austentatiousness

2009-03-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

It all started last June. I had recently watched Becoming Jane and the newest movie version of Pride and Prejudice and could no longer hide my shame at having never read any of Jane Austen's novels. I had tried Emma several times since highschool, but it had never taken. Someone suggested I try P&P for my first go, and so I picked up a copy from paperbackswap and took it along with me on my train ride from Santa Fe to Riverside. I started reading and within 24 hours had gluttonously finished the whole thing. I spent the next four weeks re-reading the book at a more reasonable pace and decided I was a true fan. This January I spent an entire day watching Jane Austen themed movies (P&P, Emma, and The Jane Austen Book Club) and knitting - it was pure pleasure. Then my sisters bought me the BBC version of P&P and I spent another day in January gorging on Jane Austen and knitting - more pure pleasure. I had recently been given a copy of Sense and Sensibility and so a few weeks ago I began reading that. As soon as the Dashwood sisters were happily settled I decided to try Emma for the umpteenth time and was delighted to find myself finally finishing it. I'm now ready to go pick up a new book and I cannot decide which to choose: Mansfield Park or Persuasion. I'm putting off Northanger Abbey for a bit. Thus far P&P is my very favorite as Elizabeth is the perfect heroine, and there is no sexier Austen man than Mr. Darcy, but perhaps I will change my mind once I have read them all, which I plan to do before this June - and thus complete my year of living Austentatiously.

Things I wish I were knitting

2009-02-24T23:09:00.001-06:00

Owls by Kate Davies

Little Birds by Ysolda Teague

I just noticed the bird theme. I must really want it to be spring. I also have two non-pattern based sweaters that exist in my little brain that I wish I could knit-up and maybe make patterns out of, but alas, I have no time for knitting and no money for yarn just now.

In Memoriam

2009-02-15T18:42:00.000-06:00

Fernando Silverstein

1998-2009

My friend Erin sent me this story from a veterinarian some time back, I think it helps:

“Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.' Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'"

spring is in the air

2009-02-11T18:01:00.001-06:00

First, I found this image over at craftgossip, and I thought to myself what do I love more than knitting? That's right, cupcakes.

Second, the new spring interweave preview is up and it's a real snooze fest. Even Norah Gaughan's design seems uninspiring. The design I like most is a lace weight cardigan, but who has the time and patients to make a lace weight cardigan? Anyways, I am once again disappointed, and hoping for some good articles. Yes, I read the articles in my knitting porn, especially when the visuals leave a lot to be desired. Or maybe it will be better in person... One can hope.

In other news we are at 3 weddings and 5 babies for 2009 and counting... I guess I'll be spending the spring and summer knitting for the expected little ones, which I will very much enjoy. Knitting little things is always fun. I think this may prove the perfect opportunity to finally make an EZ baby surprise jacket or a February sweater on two needles, or maybe a baby kimono from Mason Dixon, or perhaps practice a new top-down technique for a future big girl pattern. And let's not forget a baby blankie or two. I'm thinking bulky yarn for the blankies...

UPDATE: Here is a link to vegan yumyum who made those boss cupcakes. Apparently Martha Stewart is a fan. The imbedded video shows you how to make them!

February?!

2009-02-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

How did this happen? How did I only post 4 times to my blog in January? Why have I not put up any pictures of FOs? Oh, that's right, I don't really have any for January. I've been so busy with the new semester starting up that I've been sort of MIA, and I cannot promise that this won't be a trend until spring, but please be satisfied with a beautiful picture of our new niece, Cora Jane sleeping under her majorly modified modern log cabin baby blanket (from Mason Dixon; yarn is knitpicks crayon).

Coming soon: My knitter's "To Do List" and the much promised photos of December FOs (I'm way behind - I know!)

Change Has Come To America

2009-01-20T11:41:00.000-06:00

Best Wishes Mr. President.

a rose by any other name

2009-01-18T20:36:00.000-06:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged: A knitter can never be satisfied. It is all yearning and yarn.

I am now the proud owner of Kim Hargreave's gorgeous Heartfelt: The Darkhouse Collection (thanks TC!!!) and am most of the way through one of the sweaters in that lovely volume, when today I run across her Amber: A Winter Gathering, which includes many loverly designs all gorgeously photographed and knit in luscious Rowan yarns. The above design is aptly named Beth and I believe I must knit her. As some of you may know, my very first attempt at knitting a sweater was another KH Rowan pattern also named Beth. The yarn from that sweater eventually became my shopping tunic (my actual first sweater). While I failed at my first namesake sweater, I believe that this Beth and I are just meant to be. Or perhaps not, as my queue of to be knits is longer than the line to get into Barack Obama's inauguration.

What I'm doing in the New Year

2009-01-12T12:39:00.001-06:00

1. Resting more than I should be, but I'll need it. I don't see much rest in my future until mid-May.

2. Preparing to teach three new classes in the Spring (just two more weeks!) Fine tuning the syllabi over and over, creating powerpoints, reading...

3. Avoiding completing a draft of a chapter for my dissertation - I am resolving here and now to get to work on that, just as soon as I finish this up.

4. Clicking everyday to benefit 6 different charities. You can help too! Go here and click, then go to each of the tabs across the top and do the same. It's that easy. I dragged the url to my bookmarks bar so that I remember to do it everyday.

5. Puppy snuggling

6. Updating my winter wardrobe with generous Holiday gift money, and also stimulating the economy. Can't you tell what a good job I'm doing?

7. Waiting for my new niece/nephew to arrive. Come on baby! (S-I-L is almost a week overdue, poor Jess)

8. Knitting a sweater - Calm by Kim Hargreaves

9. Finishing holiday knitting that did not get done

10. Trying, and failing, to stay warm in Antarctica, I mean Wisconsin

Belated Birthday Wishes

2009-01-05T12:08:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday was our little Niece Evelyn Rose's 2nd birthday. We hear her mommy was in bed with a bad cough and resting up for the arrival of Evelyn's new brother or sister but that she had a good time with her Oma and Papa.

A Christmas Story

2008-12-30T18:51:00.001-06:00

That's what was left of a 25 pound Christmas Ham after our very own version of the Bumpus's dogs, pictured resting post-ham with yours truly below, gorged themselves on porky goodness. While I was at first frightened because Scarlet looked like she had swallowed a barrel after consuming over 10% of her body weight in salted pork, I can now laugh histarically about the whole affair, epsecially since they devoured the ham before the stores closed on Christmas Eve so we didn't have to go out for Chinese food for Christmas.

snowday

2008-12-19T13:29:00.000-06:00

We're still at home. We finally dug our way out of our driveway, but we're waiting for the roads across north central Illinois to be clear of ice before we head out towards Tulsa. We're planning to stop along the way at a motel 6 (classy, I know, but they are everywhere, cheap, and let pooches stay overnight) and arrive at Tulsa by lunchtime tomorrow.

"ho,ho,ho"... uh oh..."snow, snow, snow"

2008-12-18T15:51:00.000-06:00

We are those lucky holiday travelers who are planning to leave tomorrow. "They" say the worst of it should be past Milwaukee by 10 a.m. tomorrow, but only after dumping feet of snow and blankets of ice in our path from Milwaukee to Tulsa. Fortunately, we are driving, not flying so hopefully we can control our own destiny and find a little window in which to safely drive the twelve hours to be with our Oklahoma family for the holidays, because there is yet another storm behind this one, although fortunately for us it seems to be coming from the north.

Subversive knitting in the news

2008-12-15T13:21:00.000-06:00

Winter Knitty

2008-12-10T14:34:00.000-06:00

The winter knitty is now available. I realized this when this design (pictured above) caught my eye over on ravelry. I was so excited that the new issue was out I immediately went over to knitty to check it out without looking at any of the details. When I found "Surface" on knitty I realized why I love it so much - it's by Nora Gaughan. Her designs are so unique and beautiful, like wearable art. While this piece doesn't scream practical and I will likely not knit it, I think it's pretty inspirational.

chicago and old friends

2008-12-09T15:09:00.001-06:00

Above: At home with Scott, Sadie, and Gracie. Below: With Susan and Danny at Cafe Iberico
We went down to Chicago to have dinner with our friends from California, Susan and Danny who now live in Normal, IL. On our way to dinner we stopped by to see my friends from college Sadie and Scott and their adorable little girl Gracie. We were able to celebrate Danny's 40th birthday and Sadie's 30th all in one trip! It was so wonderful to see everyone. It makes me want to see all of my old friends more often. I love and miss you all.

can i get an upgrade? upgrade...

2008-12-08T22:46:00.000-06:00

Good news: I got a new laptop. Bad news: It wasn't by choice.

My beloved iBook G4 came down with a rapidly progressing terminal illness last Wednesday after showing some signs of distress the night before. She served me well for over three years, and it was sad to see her go, especially since we weren't really planning a major purchase just now. But, I was able to procure a new MacBook, not the fancy newest, earth friendly MacBook, but an early 2008 white version with the same specs. It is so much faster and nicer than my old one, and it has a built in webcam so now I can use my own computer to skype with my adviser, so that my husband won't have to give up valuable work time every week. Thanks to the geniuses over at the apple store all of my files and programs from my old mac are happily on my new one despite the uncooperative of the mostly dead older laptop.

Uptop is a pic of a MacBook like the new one currently on my lap. Immediately above is a much cleaner and newer looking version of my dead iBook G4, which is currently sitting on the dog's kennel until we decide what to do with it.

wine in wisconsin

2008-11-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

Above: Last Sunday; Below: Five years ago (Five years?!)
Last week Matthew and I drove out to the Wollersheim Winery in Prarie du Sac, WI (just west of Madison) to meet the Vedras (aka Mom and T-Bone) to do some wine tasting. It was our first trip there since January of 2004. Both the winery and we have changed quite a bit. The Wollersheim's have put on a huge new addition and really fancied up the place, and we, well we seem to have gotten older but cuter. The winery actually makes some really nice wines, including several estate wines. Apparently the Sauk river valley creates this perfect environment for certain varietals. It's no Napa or Sanoma or even a Temecula, but it's nice.

random and assorted

2008-11-22T11:17:00.000-06:00

First, my new IK came in the mail this week. I must say I am very happy with it. There's a feature on Norah Gaughan, and I've decided I just love her, maybe even enough to try set in sleeves. Besides, the yarn shop that is just minutes from my house has a knit clinic of sorts to help with that kind of thing. I was a bit disappointed in the man sweater, it's constructed strangely (i.e. not in the round) and has unfinished edges, making it far less appealing that I originally thought. But, the welt and rib raglan is even more fabulous than I imagined. It too has sort of a strange construction, but one that I'm actually excited to try. I found the yarn over at Jimmy Beans Wool and added it to my wish list in a gorgeous grey color called Pewter (pictured above). It's delicious. I recognize that the yarn will cost $80 - that's why it's a wish list. I also decided I really like the Sweet Honey Beret (pictured below - I will be going sans fleur), and would like to knit it for my winter hat (because Wisconsin is a cold bitch). The yarn for the hat is on sale over at webs and so I added two balls in this pretty grayish blue called "chalky" to my webs wish list. I must say I am a big fan of the wish list.

I've also gotten started on the holiday knitting. With the economy in the crapper and money tight, I'm thankful that I can turn something I love to do into something nice for the people I love. As it is holiday knitting time, that means fewer pictures of WIPs and FOs on the blog, because I don't want to ruin any surprises.

Finally, I had a brain storm this morning. I figured out a logo for my blog and possible future knitwear design stuff. I am envisioning a ball of yarn with two knitting needles sticking straight up and down in it such that it makes the greek letter phi (pictured above, the one on the left is the capital letter, which is what I had in mind), which is the symbol for philosophy. Clever right? Now, I need someone with mad graphic design skills to bring it to life, hmm graphic designer friends? Who wants a nice new knit hat and gloves set?

Francis Phenomenon

2008-11-18T15:33:00.002-06:00

When I decided to wing it and make my own cowl neck sweater out of the Frances (Francis) alpaca yarn my mom got me for my birthday a couple of years ago, I could never have guessed what an amazing experience I was in for. Today, thanks to a beautiful green version of Francis by Lolly for National Knit a Sweater Month 2008 (NaNoSweMo), Francis Revisited is now in over 1000 queues over on ravelry, and has been downloaded 139 times and counting today. That's a new one day record by quite a few (like 80 or so). Watching other people knit Francis and love it as much as I do has been an amazing experience. The support and feedback over on ravelry warms my heart. I'm hoping to find the time to add a few more designs this year, but time is limited with teaching, writing my dissertation, and holiday knitting, but the success of Francis inspires me to want to make more sweaters and write more patterns.

Go Pack Go!

2008-11-15T13:21:00.000-06:00

I'm off to Lambeau. Hopefully my handknits will keep me warm and the team will win.

IK winter 2008

2008-11-14T11:30:00.000-06:00

I have been nervously awaiting the winter 2008 Interweave Knits preview and today I got the call (or email, whatever). I was a bit frightened at first because Sandi over at knitting daily had picked out some real fuggy grandma items to show off in the email, but I hurried over to the website and checked out all of the designs, and I am happy to report at least two items that I really like and an assortment of cute hat patterns! Yay.

The first awesome pattern is this man sweater that is knit with Cascade Ecological Wool, which is so inexpensive! Hana Jason's Woven Bands Pullover is definitely going on "the things I want to knit for my husband" list (along with the "Hana Jason designs" list - gathered pullover I did not forget about you!)

And for myself, how about the Welt and Rib Raglan (yay raglan!) made in Manos del Uraguay silk blend (oh joy of joys! No yarn substituting here)

So Interweave Knits, you redeem yourself, for now.

heartfelt

2008-11-12T15:35:00.000-06:00

I have been lusting after the Kim Hargreaves' Heartfelt: The Darkhouse Collection pattern book for forever or at least since I saw my friend Anna's Haven. Even the name is sexy. I probably would have gotten it long ago if it weren't so hard to find and spendy. The only way I know of getting it is to order it at the link above, and it is wicked expensive (17 pounds = almost $40! and that's before shipping it all the way from jolly old England). I have another Kim Hargreaves Rowan book that I got for my birthday, and I'm thinking I could maybe figure out how to make some of these on my own without the pattern, so I can make do for now. But the book just looks so inspiring, and a girl can dream....

Wait! I just found it at an american distributor for only $30! Maybe dreams can come true.

knitterlust

2008-11-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

Pattern: Eastlake by Norah Gaughan from Berroco: Norah Gaughan Vol. 3

So purty. Knit in a merino/silk blend. Yummy. Of course, I'll probably never knit it because I don't believe in set-in sleeves, but an exception may have to be made.

Yes We Can... get a puppy

2008-11-05T13:56:00.001-06:00

Now that we know that Barack Obama will be our 44th president, only one questions remains, what kind of puppy are Malia and Sasha getting? And what will they name him/her? I only hope their puppy is as sweet as ours and is allowed to sleep on the pillows on the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom.

vote!!!!

2008-11-04T14:40:00.000-06:00

VOTE

Preferably,

for OBAMA

but either way

just vote!

done

2008-10-31T16:54:00.001-05:00

These were the FO I had been dreaming of. They were easy, fast and the end result was perfect. There was no ripping, no frogging, no unknitting of any kind, and I never want to take them off (although it is actually very warm here today, almost too warm for these). Unfortunately, they have been a bit camera shy so far, so these are the best photo I have. It's a pretty accurate representation. Here's the facts:

Pattern: Evangeline (ravelry download here)

Yarn: Cascade 220 - slightly less than 1 skein

Colorway: 9454 purple heather (from stash)

Needles: US 5 dpns

Modifications: reversed the cable for left glove,

did one last repeat of row 3 before finger ribs,

picked up a couple extra stitches for thumb gusset

John McCain hates Milwaukee

2008-10-29T18:47:00.000-05:00

Apparently John McCain was quoted in the Washington Post saying he'd hate to live in Milwaukee, and in response someone made this video that quite rightly proclaims all of the greatness that is Milwaukee.

Please: VOTE FOR OBAMA

Just so everybody knows, come November 5th - no more political posts - I promise.

knits

2008-10-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

At long last - A knitting update!!!

I finished the shruggy surprise for the wedding and I am still debating whether or not to write up the pattern, whether to sell it or give it away, etc. Then I started working on the Mrs. Darcy Cardi, which I am knitting in one piece, because I hate seams. I sarted knitting this and had gotten most of the body done, when I realized it was enormous. I had swatched, but made a stupid mistake, namely my gauge was too big and I thought it was small, silly me. I went down a needle size (two from what the pattern suggests) but still couldn't get gauge, so I cast on fewer stitches. Hopefully, all will go well. The yarn is lamb's pride in aubergine but in this picture it looks reddish and in some light looks brown, but its more of a deep purplish burgandy:And then on Monday when I was wearing my beloved Francis, my arms were cold. I said to myself, you need something to keep your little arms warm when you wear three-quarter length sleaves in winter. After a little pop over to ravelry to puruse my options, I decided to caset on the Evangeline fingless gloves. I finsihed the first one that night and I LOVE it. The pattern is so easy and gorgeous. I am also in love with the billion year old Cascade 220 from deep within the stash that I am using to make them. I am a happy knitter!
Evangeline - I love you.

Terri got married

2008-10-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

On Saturday my cousin Terri married Andrew and I served as the maid, ahem, matron of honor. It was an amazingly beautiful wedding and an incredibly good time. Unfortunately many of our pictures didn't turn out but here are a few of the good ones. The couple and their cake:

The cousins not getting married that day: me, the bride's brother brian, and cousin paulie
The newly weds and the old married couple:
Time to go home:

Solid - Solid as Barack

2008-10-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

I have many things to post: a wedding, new knits, cute dog pictures, but I want to share this with you because it is so hilarious and we can't get all of the catchy tunes out of our heads and keep singing them, which sort of sucks, but now you can all share in our joy/misery.

Winner 2008: SNL

why so fuggy?

2008-10-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

Why is Interweave Knits turning into a fugfest? Photos of the projects of this years special ""Gifts" issue are up here and they are fuggerific. I mean for bejeezus' sake look at the cover? Who would put that snowman poop impersonation on their head? Last year I rushed out to buy the issue, because it had some really cute things, but this year you couldn't pay me to put that thing in my house. I seem to recall that last year the winter issue was a little craptastic and I thought it was because they put all the good stuff in the "gifts" issue, so maybe this year they saved all the good stuff for the winter issue, which I get at no cost with my subscription, so I should be happy. Or maybe the problem is that with the dawn of ravelry people are less likely to submit their designs to Interweave, and the really talented designers choose instead to sell their designs on their own. I mean why let someone pick up the pattern in a magazine when if they really want it they will pay $7 directly to you for just that one pattern? Just a thought. Here's some fug for you:

UPDATE (Nov 31, 08): Turns out that when a design is popular and it goes in the Knitting Daily store, the designer gets a big cut of the sales there, so keep sending your fabulous designs to Interweave, because it really works out for everyone. No one really wants to knit necklettes, do they?

first house guest

2008-10-15T12:24:00.001-05:00

This dude is going to be staying with us for the next 8 days:
His name is Max. His family, my cousins Allen and Christy, are going to be out of town, and so the little guy is going to come and play with Scarlet at our house. It will be interesting to see what life is like with two pooches. I figure it's just more barking for barack.

bark for barack

2008-10-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

Next Saturday at noon is the Bark for Barack walk here in Milwaukee. We're planning to take our little Obama supporter down to Bradford Beach next weekend to hang out with other politically like-minded pooches and their owners. Here is the T-Shirt design I came up with for little Scarlet to wear:

Won't she be just adorable? I'll be sure to share pictures of her in the final product.

knitters for obama

2008-10-09T16:22:00.001-05:00

I found this on the webernets:

Isn't it awesome?! That lady has mad skills. I'm thinking about knitting an obama hat and will definitely be ordering this knitters for obama t-shirt, but that sweater is beyond my patience, but I so admire it.

Please - Vote For OBAMA!

the secret is out

2008-10-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

Milwaukee is the coolest. Read all about it here. They actually go to places we love, like the Knick for brunch.

my favorite existentialist

2008-10-06T17:28:00.000-05:00

No it's not Heidegger; it's Opus. Yes, he's a comic strip character, but he's brilliant. I love that penguin and today it was officially announced that Opus will be no more, although it's been obvious in the strip for weeks. I'll share one of my favorites from a couple of years ago (and hopefully not be sued for copyright violations):
This one from last sunday conveys a similar message (and makes fun of Sarah Palin - bonus!):

I need an FO

2008-10-03T18:33:00.001-05:00

I haven't finished a knitting project in months (unless you count two baby hats, and I don't). I need a sweater, a scarf, a beautiful sense of accomplishment. But no, I've been working on shruggy surprise to wear to my cousin's wedding, which still isn't done and is not extremely satisfying. Worse, the wind has a brisk chill and on my way through the park I saw a maple all ablaze in red and orange glory. I want a big, yummy, hand-knit sweater. I wore Francis yesterday. I really love her. I need to knit more perfect sweaters that take no time and come out fitting perfectly. My ears have been sucking in freezing air as I glide about town on my new bike and I so I have been trying to make an ear warmer from my stash, but to no avail. All I have is just lots of frogged yarn and cold ears. People, I need an FO. What should I knit? Please tell me.

best day ever

2008-09-28T22:34:00.001-05:00

Today Matt and I road our bikes the almost 7 miles from our house to Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers to tailgate with my mom and her husband before they went to the Brewers final with the Cubs. It was not only the last game of the season, it was do or die for the Brew Crew. They had to win (and the Mets had to loose) for them to cinch their first play-off birth in 26 years.

The ride to Miller Park was super nice, with great bike paths and an easy go of it. By the time we got there we decided we couldn't live with just listening to the game from the parking lot and visited a nice scalper man who sold us two seats in the bleachers for well above face value (it would prove to be worth every penny, and then some). The picture above is of me and my mom before the game. The one below is of Matthew and I after Ryan Braun came through in the clutch to put the Brewers ahead, and shut up the a-hole Cub fans who insist on coming to our stadium and shooting their mouths off. That was the first time the stadium went nuts.

The picture above was taken after the Brewers won and the place went nuts a second time. But, we still had to wait to celebrate because the Mets game hadn't finished. They put up the Mets-Marlins game on the big screen and we all held our breath while the Marlins held onto a 4-2 lead. When the last out was made Miller Park went nuts for the third time. There was screaming, yelling, hugging of total strangers, singing, dancing, in two words: pure joy:

Our hero, CC, on the big screen:
The players come back out with the champagne:
We pretty much moved back to Milwaukee in the most perfect September we could have. To have missed this would have broken our hearts. Now, it's onto Philly! (for the brewers, not us, we're staying in Milwaukee)

Why Sarah Palin is a bitch

2008-09-27T19:42:00.000-05:00

It was brought to my attention that in her interview with Katie Couric Sarah Palin insulted every person who ever worked hard to take a vacation abroad, especially college students who work two jobs to study abroad or take internships in other countries.

Quoted from this latimes blog:

In her second "CBS Evening News" interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin was asked why she didn't get a passport until 2006. Did it, as some of her viewers wonder, show a lack of curiousity and interest about the world and other cultures?

She told the CBS newsperson that she had to work, sometimes two jobs, and that's why she didn't backpack around Europe like privileged kids do.

"I'm not one of those who maybe come from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduated college and their parents get them a passport and a backpack and say, 'Go off and travel the world.' Noooo. I worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life, until I had kids. ... I was not part of, I guess, that culture."

Look, bitch, I graduated from college in three and a half years so that I could spend four months living at home with my mother, working full time, and saving money so that I could experience other cultures so that I wouldn't become a xenophobic idiot like you! Let's not forget my husband and cousin who participated in study abroad and internship programs in other countries. And what about those who volunteer their time to help those in the developing world? Snobby rich kids, I'm sure. And what about all of my students who work two or three jobs to save money to participate in study abroad programs, all the while going to school full time? I don't judge the average person who's never been out of the country, because many people just don't have that desire, but I just think that if you're going to be next in line to be comander in chief of the united states, you should probably not be that kind of person. Furthermore, I really don't appreciate her passing judgment on those who do enjoy traveling abroad and characterizing anyone with a passport as an elitest.

Okay, that's enough political rant on my otherwise knitting and cute dog focussed blog.

Please, VOTE FOR OBAMA!

once in a life time

2008-09-26T00:26:00.000-05:00

I just witnessed one of twenty six walk-off-grand slams in the history of baseball. I rock and so does my team. Go Brewers!

vogue

2008-09-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

I just noticed that on this here blog that purports to be a knitting blog, I have not blogged about knitting since July. For shame.
Right before we left Santa Fe I headed over to the Borders to work on the old dissertation as I did a couple of times a week. On the way out I decided to pick up a copy of the fall issue of Vogue knitting, because I had seen a few patterns over on ravelry that looked intriguing. Now, I'm a devoted Interweave subscriber. It has good articles and elegant and inspiring designs (most of the time). When I first started knitting Matthew bought me a Vogue knitting (the one with the twinkle shopping tunic, before it was the shopping tunic, on the cover) for Christmas, but at the time my lack of skills made me wary of the magazine. Now, I think maybe I'm ready for it. I like that it has some very fashion forward designs and present a way to own afordable designer clothing. However, it is vogue and as such it has some really crazy crap as well, things no real person would ever wear or knit, but with over thirty patterns to choose from there is bound to be stuff I like. So, I am seriously considering getting a subscription to another knitting magazine. Here are the patterns I am planning to knit from the fall vogue (patterns 10,18,23):
The Nordic Traditions sweater above would not be worn with a belt by the philosoknitter.

oh puppypants, you are so cute

2008-09-24T10:38:00.001-05:00

I have yet to take pictures of the new place, which we love (it is small, but so cute!), but I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of our favorite pooch lounging in the new house.
And no, she's not drunk, she's just silly, and adorable. Scarlett is in seventh heaven at our new location. We are living just a half of a block from the Urban Ecology Center in Riverside Park. The park is a bit of wilderness right in the middle of the city. She loves frolicking in the woods and the oak forest surrounded fields, and occasionally takes a dip in the Milwaukee River (yes, it's gross, but she's a dog). More often than not she runs into another dog, or two, or five and runs around playing with her new friends. We could not have moved our little family to a better location if we had tried.

bridal bonanza (and a baby to be too!)

2008-09-24T10:30:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago we had a bridal shower for my cousin Terri, who's soon to be all growed up and married. She got lots of good loot and we all had a nice time:Last weekend I headed to Chicago for Terri's bachelorette party. We went out for a very nice dinner, and out for a few drinks afterward. It was lots of fun. Terri and I:
On my way back from Chicago I stopped in Lake Bluff to see my old friend Meryl, who, as you can see, is about to have her first little baby. I had brunch with her and her adorable husband and had fun catching up.

brew crew

2008-09-24T10:24:00.001-05:00

We went to a brewers game a couple of weeks ago for a Wednesday day game. At the time they were still leading the wild card race, but things were not looking so good. However, the game we saw was awesome, with the brewers pulling out a win in the 8th inning. Now we are just holding our breath and hoping for the mets to fall on their face over the next five games. The ability to go to brewers games is one of our many reasons for returning to the land of beer, cheese, and bad weather.

go east young man

2008-09-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

After nearly a month, here are pictures of our trip from Santa Fe to Milwaukee. My husband the trucker:A stop in Tulsa to see our favorite niece, Evelyn, and all of our lovely Tulsa family.
Dunkers:
Next, it was on to the St. Louis suburbs to see Charlie Chinnici and his family:
Scarlett and Matthew with the whole Chinnici gang (yes, I know she's on a couch, but it was like 4 a.m. and everyone else was doing it, how could we say no?):
Our good little traveler:

home again

2008-09-04T15:23:00.000-05:00

We're officially moved in to the new place in Milwaukee. The trip from Santa Fe to MKE was great, we saw friends and family along the way. My first day of teaching at UWM went well, and we're working on unpacking and settling in. I want to post pictures of our trip and the new place, but unfortunately we have no interwebs at home yet, because AT&T sucks. I'll update just as soon as I can.

I climbed a mountain

2008-08-25T17:14:00.000-05:00

Not just any mountain, the highest peak in New Mexico. Wheeler Peak is 13, 161 feet high. We drove up to the Taos Ski Basin and hiked in 5 miles to the La Cal Basin and set up camp. The hike was a steep uphill climb. The next morning we woke up and climbed up through the thin air to the summit. Unfortunately our moment of great joy at the top of New Mexico was a bit dampened by some pretty scary thunder clouds over head, so we snapped a couple of quick pictures and made a speedy descent, well as speedy as you can on two foot wide trail 13,161 feet in the air. On the third day we hiked back out. We had a great time, and little Scarlett is still sleeping it off, still unaware of her own accomplishment, she mostly enjoyed the running around in the woods, rolling in cow crap, frolicking in mountain streams, and sleeping in the big, portable, communal kennel (i.e. the tent). Enjoy the photos:
Above: Matthew at the summit. Below: the view from the top of NM.Above: Threatening cloud, Below: Nonthreatening marmot. Above: Scarlett warms up by the fire on her daddy's lap. It was really cold and damp, and she had thought it was a good idea to romp in the freezing water just before the sunset. Silly puppy. Below: A picture of me at the sign marking the boundry of the Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area, with Wheeler peeking in the background. Note: All photos of the hike in and out are on the way out, as the hike in was enough to manage without photography.Above: me hiking out. Below: The sign that proves that the hike was wicked hard .
And of course, the cutest camper in the world:

Yard Sale

2008-08-25T16:58:00.000-05:00

About a week ago we put a bunch of our junk in the front yard and sold it to people who thought it wasn't junk. We were quite pleased with our little profit, but even happier to not have to pack up all of that junk. It was really a win win situation. Friends Frank and Jen came by to keep us company and sold a canoe, while friend Kristin made a tidy profit herself. By the end of the day we were giving it all away for free and drinking the afternoon (and evening) away. Below Matthew and I model some of the items we could not even give away. This is perhaps why one should not drink at a yard sale.
One sale of note was to a woman who came rather late. I had listed "yarn" as one of the items in the sale on my craigslist posting, and had already sold a bag of neglected stash yarn, when this woman comes up and eyes some kntipick's sock yarn that I just didn't really like. I tell her "it's one hundred percent pure merino sock yarn." She sniffs, I had listed it at $2. She get's out the money, and I'm just making small talk, so I say "Yeah, when we were packing up for the move, my box of yarn was so big (see the pic below), I felt I had to sell some." And her response was "I have an entire barn full of yarn, so unless you have a building full of yarn you won't impress me." In retrospect I am so angry that I didn't throw her two dollars at her and demand my yarn back. I was just trying to be friendly and she had to be all uppity. That's Santa Fe for you.
But really, we did meet some really nice folks who came by our sale and it was a really good time. Not everyone in Santa Fe is an uppity yarn barn owner.

where the heck is she?

2008-08-15T15:40:00.000-05:00

Apologies. I've been busy, busy, crazy, crazy, busy. I've been perfecting a syllabus, preparing a class, writing a draft of a chapter for my dissertation, preparing a paper to be submitted to a journal (which will definitely be rejected but one should always dream), looking like a pretentious ass in every coffee shop in Santa Fe reading a book titled "Existentialism" - I think I need a sign that says "This is for work, I swear, really, for work," packing up all of my worldly possessions, of which I have way too many, planning a yard sale, trying to do everything I haven't done in the previous year in Santa Fe before I leave, and designing/knitting/ripping a shrug to wear for my cousin's wedding (that I'm submitting as a design - so no pictures or clues), and to top it all off, I have been indulging in this:

Bandelier National Monument

2008-08-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

The view of the lower village from up above.

Below: Matthew at the entrance to the Alcove House Kiva.
Below: No puppies allowed, but plenty of wildlife.

Since we are soon to leave the New Mexico, we're trying to do a bunch of stuff in a little bit of time. Sunday we headed to Bandelier National Monument about an hour from Santa Fe. Bandelier is home to some wicked old ruins that you get to climb around in. We had lots of fun, but all that ladder climbing in 95 degree heat left me way tired and a bit sore. Enjoy the pictures.

puppyversary

2008-07-31T10:33:00.000-05:00

One year ago today we adopted Scarlett from the Riverside Humane Society and forever changed our lives for the better. Here are some pictures of her from our first year together.

Today:
Having a lick (just a couple won't hurt, right?)
A happy camper:
A sad little fan:
Sharing with cousin Evelyn:
Family photo at tent rocks:
With Uncle Fernando in California:
7/31/07:
We look forward to many, may more years with our beloved little girl. She is pretty much the best dog in the whole wide world.

farmer's market (a jasmine inspired post)

2008-07-26T21:41:00.001-05:00

Matthew and I woke up early today and headed over to the farmer's market, because I had a hankering for a VBLT (veggie bacon, lettuce, and tomato). To my horror, by the time we had finished our breakfast burritos there were only two tiny heirloom tomatoes left in the whole place. We would have to go to wholefoods for a few more later. But we did manage to get some great stuff. Two fresh picked eggplants, butter lettuce just like my grandma used to grow, very spicy radish sprouts, jalapeños, corn, fresh onions, and finally a bunch of beets. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the splendid table on npr and they were talking about beets and how to prepare them. I was intrigued by the idea of topping roasted beets with brown butter and basalmic vinigar, so I tried it out for dinner tonight. It was amazing.

I also made the eggplant. I cut in 1/8ths and brushed it with olive oil, seasoned lightly and baked at 400 degrees for 50 minutes (while roasting the beets). I topped the roasted eggplant with lemon juice and a sprinkle of Parmesan. The eggplant was so incredibly easy and delicious we're planning to do it again next week.
The beets, while amazing, were a tad bit futzy with the peeling and may only be brought out on special occasions.

Home sweet home

2008-07-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

At least for now. I arrived back in Santa Fe last night to my beloved little family, including a rather sick puppy. Scarlett has a bad ear infection, and the antibiotics are just not working fast enough if you ask her daddy and I. Poor little girl. My home is already beginning to fade into boxes. No more books on the shelves (except for a few for work and my knitting library), non essential glass wear, and photos on the wall. Soon, it will all be packed and we will say good-bye to the land of enchantment. But don't feel sorry for us, we're going home. Home to the city where we met, the city where we both became grown-ups and fell in love, the city we were married in, the city we love. We have found a little duplex on the lower, western edge of the upper-eastside to call home for a bit, until perhaps we can find something more permanent. I will be teaching a few classes at UWM and still working on that dissertation, which in our love/hate relationship, I am currently in love. And of course, last but not least, I will have many opportunities for big warm knitted garments, hats, scarves and socks for like 9 months out of the year.

california part II

2008-07-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

The combination of working, spending time with friends and family I see rarely, and general summer stuff, I have been neglecting my little blog, and my knitting. Who wants to knit when it's 100 degrees?

So here's what I've been up to:

Last weekend started on Thursday with a dip in the pool, some snacks and a beer. Later that evening my sisters, my step-mom, and I went out for drinks while my dad played poker (although we did let him join us later).
Friday the parents left for Wisconsin, and the sisters and I headed down to laguna to visit a yarn shop and walk around. I only bought a tiny bit of local sock yarn - I was very impressed with my restraint. After Laguna, we went out for our very first pinkberry, which I found to be the inspiration for my new favorite yogurt shop in Santa Fe, yoberri park. After filling up on frozen yogurt we headed to the H&M, where I picked up two cute tops, a fabulous skirt, and a sexy dress, all for almost nothing. That night we went out for fabulous sushi with my sister's boyfriend. This is a favorite spot of my siblings, who know the sushi chef. We ended up drinking more than we ought, and spent Saturday recovering.

Sunday I headed into LA to visit my friend Jasmine, who I had not seen in forever. We took her Corgis for a walk and had a lovely brunch, before heading out for pedicures. The photo of the Corgis above is from her blog, are they not too cute? After leaving Jasmine's place I headed out to Santa Monica to check out Mandy's soon-to-be-new digs. We walked around her lovely new neighborhood, saw the college she will be teaching at, and Drew's school. Then we all went out for Indian food. I came home exhausted and not quite ready for another week of teaching.

The rest of the week went by quickly with teaching and working. We had dinner with Grandma Rita on Tuesday and Heather left to return east on Wednesday. This weekend has been mostly quiet time with myself, although Courntney and Fernando keep me company from time to time. Tonight I am headed out to Riverside for a potluck with friends and then it's only four more days until I am home with my little family!

In other news we think we found a flat in Milwaukee, so keep your fingers crossed that it works out.

because it's a blog about knitting

2008-07-08T14:05:00.001-05:00

Pattern: Noro Stripe Scarf (directions here)
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden in colorways 246, 264, 211 & 47
Needles: US size 7 (my new latern moons - yum!)
For: Matthew for his b-day
The project is about 50% complete and I LOVE it.

one year

2008-07-07T12:07:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it?
Above: One year ago today. Below: Our desserts on Saturday night at the Compound.
The old married couple:

happy birthday to my dear husband

2008-07-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Today is my wonderful, charming, perfect husband, Matthew's birthday. I wish I could be with him to celebrate, but I'll be headed back tomorrow to spread some birthday cheer his way. In my absence he is headed out to the Santa Fe Brewing Company with friend Frank to fill up the growlers (gallon jug of beer) and have a few beers. I hope they let him man the tapper.

California part I

2008-06-29T23:54:00.000-05:00

I've been here a week and it's been rather eventful. On Monday the power went out, on Tuesday my class was canceled because there was no air conditioning due to the power failure. Wednesday I was finally able to give a lecture, which went pretty well considering I was purty rusty. Wednesday night I had dinner with friends Catherine and Mandy and then went to knit with my old Riverside Stitch N Bitchers. It was uberfuntastic.
Above: Fun Fur! What is it good for? Funny pictures! Below: Stitchers? or Bitchers?
Thursday, I awoke to, guess what? Another power outage, this time at my dad's house where I am currently staying. I had to pack up and head to R'Side to get ready at friend Mandy's house and spend the day plugging my laptop in at coffee shops. Friday I headed in to Riverside to make up the class I missed and then the whole family went into LA to see a a really good play, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie at the Hayworth theater. My cousin Noah was the assistant director and he gave us a tour of the theater and went for drinks with us afterwards. Saturday was spent working and then out for drinks and dinner with friends Caroline and Frank. Sunday was step-mom Debbie's birthday so the family headed to the beach to celebrate:
I really miss my little family, but luckily I have my family here to keep me company. Fernando is happily filling in for Scarlett in terms of puppy duties.
I am looking forward to going back to Santa Fe to see Matthew and the puppypants on Wednesday for a long weekend of birthday, independence day, and anniversary celebrations.

in the dark

2008-06-23T23:51:00.000-05:00

I'm in California. Today was my first day teaching. I started my class promptly at 1 p.m. and I was just about to take attendance when all the power went off. So much for my powerpoint presentation. I struggled through, only to find out that a waterline in an underground steam tunnel full of electrical hooha for half of campus had burst because of an early morning earthquake. The campus shut down, my students couldn't get their books, all was chaos. They say it will all be fixed by 8 a.m. tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I hope this is not some sort of horrible omen.

UPDATE 6.24.08: The power was turned back on, but no air conditioning, so class was postponed.

for ravelers only

2008-06-19T12:16:00.000-05:00

Frecklegirl queued Francis Revisited!!!! She wrote in the notes: so cozy! I am such a dork, but I can't tell you how thrilled I am. For non-ravelers Frecklegirl and her husband Casey are the creators of ravelry! Oh, and your queue is just what it sounds like, a list of to be knit patterns.

a river runs through it

2008-06-18T22:34:00.001-05:00

I currently live in the parched southwest in the middle of a drought, but I'm a midwestern girl to the core and many of the places close to my heart have been effected by the flooding. I thought I'd share a few photos.Above is a picture of what remains of the Sutliff Bridge in Iowa, a place with many fond memories. When I was in college, just down the road, we used to head to the little store/restaurant/saloon next to the bridge on Sunday mornings for greasy fried food after a rough Saturday night, heathens that we were, we called it church. And now, it's gone. Below is Hwy 1 between Mount Vernon and Iowa City. MV is where I spent 4 years at Cornell College, and I called Iowa City home for two years after that. The home I lived in my second year in IC is located just a couple of blocks from the Iowa River and was located in an evacuation area. Matthew and I drove down this very highway last year on our way back to California after our wedding:
Finally, my home town has faired better, but the mighty Rock River still rose high enough to flood streets and scare residents real good. Below maintenance workers fill sandbags to protect my high school, which is located on the river.
According to Cornell's website the campus has been turned into a red cross center. The campus sits on a very big hill and was never in any danger. Disaster relief workers are staying in the dorms, as are a number of women and children who had to evacuate a Cedar Rapids social services shelter. In all the tragedy, I'm glad that my alma matter is opening its doors to help. I only wish I could do the same.