I'm Not Dead Yet

If you're a Monty Python fan, you know the bring out your dead scene. It's been a bit busy, and frankly I'm not sure how I'll get what I need to get done in the next week done - if you know what I mean. Last weekend I had a fun slumber party over at Cece's to celebrate her birthday and hang out with the old knitting gang since Lauri was visiting from California. I unfortunately found out that there were more people reading this than I realized. It's very deceptive when you have few comments and is no resulting in a little stage fright I have to admit - I'll get over it, so no worries. Amanda had brought a home-made ice cream cake (my first - who knew you could make one of those from scratch - makes sense) and Cece's mom made a ridiculous to-die-for blueberry pie. We had a great feast and gift openings and of course knitting. I got a lot of knitting done, and between that and the commute knitting, I've finished almost all my projects on the needles (when I say finish, I mean of course just the knitting part - tons to block and make-up). Of course, the one knitting project not done yet was Cece's gift. It refused to get done before her birthday, just reinforcing that me and knitting deadlines are not meant to be.

Work has been going well, although still crazy as we go through these growing pains. But am in a much better place than before, have a plan and am not as emotionally drained by it all. Still trying to not work the long hours.

It's been nice not having as many roadtrips now as fall settles in. It got a bit crazy this summer. I've started driving to pick up my weekly food share, simply because it's gotten heavy. Can you imagine me biking with a watermelon and pumpkin, not to mention all the squaches? I tried it once and it was scary. Actually, this week, when I picked up the food, I was determined to make only one trip - but we had the box, and a pumpking and some extra leeks and extra tomatoes and a pint (or was it a quart) of delicious orange cherry tomatoes and spagatti squash. Well, I had them all piled up and was slowing making my way out when of course the pint of cherry tomatoes tips out, spilling them all over the drive. I scrambled to pick them up and no harm done, but of course this was one of the few times there were other people picking up their share at the same time.

Well, this weekend, starting friday night I'm meating with a friend to see about teaching a course on the side. Then I'm heading off to the Big E on Saturday. It's a local fair... on steroids. It represents all the states in New England and has the food stands and crafts and 4H livestock and who knows what else. To be honest, I am only going to buy this heavenly REAL maple syrup cotton candy. A friend brought a bag back for me last year and I was floating (and not just from the sugar high) for weeks. It's like the maple syrup candies but in a fluffier form. And apparently not too expensive - although there is a $15 door cover for the fair. That's why I invited dad to come along :) It's in Springfield MA (center of the state) so will head up to VT after for a short visit with Dad and Barbro, and then have a dinner party Sunday night that is at a coworkers country house on the way back to Boston (it's an underground house and apparently a little chaotic as multiple construction projects are going on). There will be tons of kids, so I'm excited, but realize that all said and done, Monday will be my day to recoup from the crazy weekend. And next week is really busy. Hence why I'm a bit worried and why you might not hear from me for awhile.

Knitting Updates - More Simply Marilyn

I first just wrote this and it was too random and didn't really seem to say much, so am not switching to list form - got to love lists. Warning - number one is long.



1. Blog Community: Wow, I just thought I'd do a quick google to find the Interweaves image for the Simply Marilyn sweater and stumbled upon people's blogs about their adjustments for the sweater. I really need to learn that there is a community out there that I should use especially as research before starting a popular sweater.



2. Simply Marilyn: Well back in October last year I finished the Simply Marilyn sweater - free pattern here. I didn't use the expensive cashmerino yarn called for, but had a good substitution wool yarn. I plugged along, it was a fast knit and in the end I got a teaser sweater. I call it a teaser sweater because it was almost great. It was too short both in the arms and torso for me. It was a bit bulkier than I would have liked. But otherwise turned out to be a very distinctive, beautiful sweater. However, with those "minor" issues it wouldn't really get worn and sit in the back of the closet - hense a tease.







It's now September, almost a year, and enough time has gone by to unravel all the hard work. As mentioned earlier I carefully measured and made comments on the instructions before undoing the work. The sleeves I only had to undo back a quarter of the way to allow for elongation in the correct area. The front and back had to be undone in their entirity. Well, working on the front, I decided to cast on 8 less stitches (called for 68 - CO 60). And I've been working on the shaping for the waist.






Funny thing, looking at other people's comments: from fig and plum to stacy's there is no mention of need for elongation so think that might just be me. They did comment on the bulkiness and lack of fitting for the shape. I am a bit waifish like the model so don't think I need to do as much as they are. Although I'm starting to wonder if I should have reduced the size for the sleeves as well. Those are quick so will just wait and see.







Anyways, I'm almost done the front - cranked most of it out last night while trying to get sleepy for bed. Done the sleeves, and am not doing the neck until I've stitched up everything to make sure it fits. So really only have the back to do. Good progress - that's whats so nice - it's so simple. The bad news - I don't have circular needles in the right size so have been knitting on the old fashioned straight sticks.



3. Circle Needle Convert: What with the weight of the sweater and the new way of holding things my hand cramped up a bit. I guess I'm a bit of a convert now on circulars - never understood originally. Also I'm dying to bring the project on the road but the straight needles require too much elbow room which I just don't have on the bus/subway.



4. Ravelry Prep: I'm starting to get the yarn in order so as to process it for photographing in preperation for joing ravelry. Frankly, I'm more interested in accessing all the info on there than showcasing my work. But as friends have started documenting their stash and completed projects, I've caught the bug and am excited about it - plus it's organizing, how can you not love that. Granted, all I've done so far is wind some balls of yarn on the winder. Gotta start somewhere.



5. PeaPod Sweater: Still working on yet another Pea Pod sweater for a friends baby - the largest size. It's a good travel project and frankly I seem to only knit it at staff meetings so it's been slow going.



6. UFOs: I've tried to finish up random projects. Not much exciting knitting news to report. I've staved off starting any new projects until these are done. I am stuck on two projects though. One is the orange cardigan from this sweater - need to learn how to knit in a different die lot of yarn. The second sweater I recently discovered and wondered why I hadn't finished it - I ran out of yarn. So need to make an expedition to find something that matches - doesn't have to be exact.



Don't know why I wanted to blog about all of this right now, as I don't usually report on knitting until I've finished something and even then it's a hit or a miss. Anyways, that's the report.

List Catch Up

Ok now it's so long that I've forgotten half the things I wanted to jott down to remember forever and ever. So before the other half have gone, here goes - keeping it short and sweet (well at least trying).



1. Cousins from CT came to visit one weekend in August. I wasn't exactly clear if it was Tyler and Catherine only or if Barry was coming too. I also wasn't exactly clear if they were coming up friday night or on saturday. I was clear that due to the schedule during the week, I had to go grocery shopping on Tuesday and stay up late on Wednesday to clean. In actuallaity, I got the shopping done but the bed won out over cleaning (it always does, especially when tired). So was quickly cleaning friday morning before work (a bit late in as I really haven't cleaned for awhile). And then of course I get the call that they aren't coming until saturday, so instead of finishing I just take a break and put off everything until the last minute. I'm running around saturday morning mopping and vaccuuming and basically doing a spring cleaning. Except I didn't touch the loft area, betting Barry wasn't coming. They arrived - all three, and I had to do a bit more cleaning in the loft area. Moral of the story, I resolved to keep the house a bit cleaner so that this didn't happen again (fast forward several weeks, and although not quite as disasterous, it's on the road back to pre-visitors - no lesson learned).



2. Besides cleaning, we went letter boxing - I'm horrible at entertaining - rather be entertained than figure out what to do. We biked up to the local park and followed the clues. I started my own stamp collecting book. Funny thing was I couldn't find a stamp. I thought I had one of an ant, but nowhere to be found as we were running out the door. Barry suggests I use "one of those". I completely forgot a plaque of architectural stamps a friend gave me from antiquing. If you're interested, check out: www.letterboxing.org. I want to do some near work but most of them have dissappeared. Overall nice and relaxing weekend, just hung out and chilled before they left for camping in Maine.



3. I got to babysit one night. A coworker and his wife were celebrating their anniversary. Jack and I had a great time. They live in this itty bitty apartment in Harvard Square area. I don't know how they do it - must stay neat at all times. After they gave me the run down of all the nighttime ritual stuff they headed off. And it was just me and Jack. Mind you we've played together and hung out before when he's come into visit at work or at other social events. But I was struck after mom and dad left that I was left with this boy who doesn't talk. That didn't stop me from talking though and we had a grand old time playing made up games and splashing in the bath and reading. Granted I did have a pang of "when is it going to be my turn". I wanted to be celebrating the anniversary and having the kid to play with. But sometime. Maybe not exactly that, but something. Patience is a virtue right? That or else I make it happen one way or another.



4. Had dinner with a friend from India that I had met while visiting Nick (she's his friend too) - Swethaa. She is just starting law school at Harvard. It was great to catch up with her and meet her new fiance Jay. I had been working late and was able to meet up with them for dinner - Indian in Harvard Square area. They were kind and kept the spices mild - still a bit hot for me. I remember a funny thing when visiting India is our constant trouble of dinner. We would be famished and ready to eat by 6 pm or so, but most places wouldn't even open until 7 and it didn't get busy until 10 or so. We were always in the restaurants with foreigners as they eat so "early".



5. Last night I had one of my last town committee meetings. I'm on the building committee - we act as the owner and represent the town when building schools and fire stations and what not. I was brought on I think in part because of my environmental background. Except we were working on the tail end of projects so I wasn't really able to do much and now they're about to be closed out. And the town didn't pass the reforendum needed to start the next school renovation project, so we will be on hiatus for awhile. Anyways, it's been really fun - twice a month meeting with this group who are full of local characters - nice thick accents, people who grew up in the town or the next one over. I really enjoyed it as I felt more connected with the community. I wish I could have done more. My major feat was getting them to use low VOC paint for the fire station. Which is such a small small thing in my daily work, but somewhat big for this project - the chief mentioned last night that hte firefighters really appreciated it. Anyways, I'll miss it. ONly one or two meetings left.



6. Speaking of neighborhoods, I noticed another blind person last night on my way to pick up my produce. There's a fellow that I'll see at my bus stop in the mornings. And there was this lady last night crossing my intersection. And funny thing, this morning, there was another fellow on the bus with his dog. Very strange to see so many - at least for me.



7. Speaking of the bus this morning, there was a very annoying person on her cell phone behind me talking fairly loudly. It was annoying. That bad part of it all, as I sat there and knit trying to listen to my podcasts, was that she was also knitting. Very poor representation I think. But I guess I'm reminded that there are all kinds.



8. Can't think of anything else, other then I got to test drive another car thanks to Zipcar. I was impressed too, it was a Nissan Altima. Nothing much to speak about on the outside - form is bland, but inside was nice and luxurious (at least for my standards), and it handeled really nicely. I'm sorry to say, nicer than Sam, my Volvo I favor from Zipcar. Very tight suspenssion and sharp breaks. Also, it had less blind spots. The volvo seemed to have very bulky back corners and small rear window, leaving a lot of the road unviewable.



And that folks is all that this little brain can remember for now.

Lessons Learned from the Moon

This was drafted last night while I was under the full moon. My ode to the moon in 14 parts.



1. The full moon is a glorious thing. Beauty contained in a simple stamp on the sky. It causes one to stop in their tracks on their walk home and put into perspective life's mundane little details.



2. The full moon is big and bright. And although it appears it is coming earlier these days, can still help bridge the divide between a wonderful summer evening where it stays light all night to the cold early pitch black nights of winter.



3. The full moon can help light one's path as they ride their bike to go pick up the weekly food share of produce, because one forgot when they offered up their extra parking spot to friends who are in Cambridge (where there is no free parking), that the tandum parking would block their car and they wouldn't be able to just hop into the car after an extra long day at work to pick up the food before the doors close.



4. The full moon likes to play hide and seek. Although providing light on the town streets - a nice gesture although a bit redundant considering the proliferation of city street lights, it likes to disappear when truely needed along the bike path. Becoming shy and hiding behind the tree canopy.



5. The full moon likes to watch as the slow realization that what once was a simple bike ride is now a difficult/scary/dangerous task and that I really should buy a light. Not to mention, I haven't biked for the last month due to various reasons so add to that list being out of shape.



6. The full moon perhaps watched humorously as one tries to pace themselves the correct distance behind a runner. Close enough so that if an ax-weilding-psycho-jail-jumping-serial-killer-rapist jumped out of the trees they would be able to assist, but yet just far enough away so as not to make the runner think they were being followed by a bike-riding-ax-weilding-psycho-jail-jumping-serial-killer-rapist.



7. The full moon helps at times, trickeling through the trees to provide a scarce amount of light. Just enough, you must note, to prevent ones eyes to fully adjusting to the pitch blackness. And just enought to eliminate mysterious objects - such as abondoned bicycles on the side of the path.



8. The full moon likes to laugh at jokes played on the "blind" biker. Building on the disorientation already created of a familar path transformed in the darkness, the scariest was the apperation of a car without motor heading right towards them - only to discover at the very last moment it was actually two bikers with strong bike lamps.



9. The full moon might have not even been witness to the stumbling upon the town's youth, as it was so far out of sight. It appears that not even the moon is privy to viewing the hanging-out haunts of the bored teenagers that would appear to the biker as dark blobs only when one was a few feet from them causing sudden swerving - multiple times. They seemed proliferic along the path.



10. The full moon definately laughed as the biker realized watermellons are really, really, really heavy if one has to carry them home along with a box full of other produce. After just beating the clock and getting the produce before the doors closed, one almost wishes it was a "light" day for harvesting. No such luck, although it really was just the watermellon that broke the bank. And when I write bank, I mean back of course since teh bungy chords to attach anything to the bike were missing so everything was loaded into the back pack.



11. The full moon watched humorously as the biker slowly made the trek back home, fully loaded like a donkey. And when I write donkey, I really mean donkey, but the kind that might only have a bag on one side, so ends up walking a little crooked. The biker learning that any movement of the body - with the center of mass so drastically shifted, meant an unfamiliar shift in the bike.



12. The full moon peeked in at times to watch the progression home by the biker. Trying to ride as fast as possible to make it home safely, yet being weighed down by food, and coming across invisible dog walkers who insisted on walking on one side of the path while the dog, attached to a leash of course, insisted on walking on the other side of hte path, therefore creating a virtual tire-spike equivalent for any fast moving objects on the path - such as bicyclists.



13. The full moon provides the spot lighting of the biker as they make their way up the last hill across the busy city street intersection to their home, starting to sweat like a dog because of hte weight and too many layers, because it was really cold when they started causing a fleece to be added to the wardrobe but really not needed now, but too close to home to stop to take it off.



14. And finally the full moon is witness to the last of the bikers frustrations of being locked out of the basement causing one to have to run all the way upstairs and then back downstairs and many extra minutes to put away the bike, when all they want to do is drop onto the couch and be done with the bike and nature and the moon.



And that my friends, was my night last night. The moral of the story being: don't be deceived into thinking the moon is your friend simply because it is so beautiful - it may end up leaving you in the lurch. That or simply: don't share with friends.

Happy Half Birthday...

...to me! It's been a bit hectic, so thought I would provide an update in list form.
(I've of course had this sitting in draft form for awhile. With the intent to capture as much as what has happened over the last month, I provide a list of random events in no order, and only part 1 of who knows how many parts).










1. I got a bed to celebrate. Ok, not really, it just worked out that on my half Birthday I finally found, after searching for 21 months and 19 days, a bed frame that I, 1) liked the look of, 2) didn't cost way more than I thought a bed should, 3) was something that I would have for a long time and not just a filler until I found the "real" bed of my dreams. This last week or so has been mixed emotions. I've had withdrawl from craigslist without anything to search for specifically. On the plus side, for the first 4 days I would be itching to go home to my new bed and sometimes would decline social offers - ok not that extreme, but wish I could have. It's really been awesome. The bed is handmade by Vermont artisians from solid cherry and from an expensive Harvard Square store - bought for much less on craigslist of course. I was able to pick it up from two very nice ladies in Cambridge Wednesday night (except for one of the drawers - more on that later) and bring it up and assemble it that night. It's nice and high - which is essential for me, but since no box spring I was worried about achieving. It fits perfect in the room. I wasn't completely gung-ho about the under bed drawers - didn't think the lines were as clean - more cluttered look, plus the more storage you have the more junk you accumulate. Except I didn't realize that the clean lines are still achieved since the drawers are not seen and I already had accumulated the junk. My random piles (not many, but some) in the bedroom, suprsingly fit exactly into the drawers - as if it was meant to be. I picked up the second drawer later that weekend as my little old car is always challenged in the transportation department. Note the head board just exactly fit - if it had been a bit taller, it would have been a no deal. So everyone in the household is happy as a clam with the new situation.

2. I "kinked" back the Monroe sweater last night. Not sure if that's the right term, but I had finished this sweater ages ago (it's somewhere in the archives, too lazy to look and link to). It was too short - both in torso and sleeves. I wore it a few times though - people praised it, but I didn't feel comfortable in it. Felt like a grown woman wearing my favorite sweater from when I was 8. It had been a fast knit (chunky yarn). I had extra yarn left over. So why not get it right. Except I needed time before undoing all that work. Looking at all my UFOs there are none I can work on - really, so started on this. I'm almost done lengthening one sleeve and am trying to make careful notes so as not to have to do it all over again. I'm hopeful I might have this in time for the fall. I have to admit the cool autmn weather triggered this project. But we are back into humidity so will see.

3. Visited Reegan up in NH the weekend before last (three ago now). Got to chill with the girls on Lake Winnepesaukah (got to love google for the "did you mean..." spelling help). I was clueless about the fame of the area, but the following night at home, I realized it's the name of the lake that that kid menitons in the commercial with ellen and sheryl crow and andrea agassi and martin scrosese (again, thanks google for spelling help). The next day we had a wonderful time blueberry picking up Maine at Blueberry Hill Farm (google just failed me, the name is too generic so no link). I think it was near a town named Atkins. I had never went blueberry picking where the blueberries were in bushes - apparently it's only wild blueberries that I've picked (both in NY and in France). And super cheap. I think I spent about $12 for a huge amount of berries. I'm so sick of blueberries right now - completely ODed. We also went kayaking on Salmon Falls River near Reegan's house. So nice and peaceful - meandering in and out of little tributaries. Very relaxing and all around wonderful weekend.

Camping fun

I went camping this weekend at Devil's Hopyard in CT with my cousins Catherine and Tyler. They had gone up Friday night and I joined them Saturday morning for the weekend. It was somewhat last minute as they had gone the weekend before and had invited me, but I was in NYC but mentioned if it was the next weekend, I was free. So they ended up going twice and I got to partake in some camping. Everything came together last minute and smoothly. I borrowed a tent from a coworker who happened to have one at the office. And I still got to go home friday night and crash before heading off to spend the weekend with the monster you see here.



It was tons of fun - really hot, but again, felt like summer. We went swimming at a great little swimming hole, played cards (I taught them the Jungle Board game I just learned the previous week). We talked and hung out and ate and built a camp fire. It was rumbling all Saturday during the day but no rain until after dinner and then, it was only a heavy downpour for ten minutes - the bark was definately worse than the bite. We went hiking and letter boxing. It was tons of fun and you can read more about it here. I'm even thinking of hiding one by me although it seems like the urban boxes disappear. I can't wait to hunt for some of them hidden just down the street from me - under my very own nose.



Sunday we went biking and explored the Gillette Castle. I should be getting more pictures as Catherine's camera seems to perform better than mine plus it had more air time. All and all a great weekend. Relaxing, although tons of activity. I got home at a reasonable time on Sunday but ended up crashing and getting some sleep (I've become soft in my old age). I picked up a tank top I've been knitting that has gotten too big to carry with me. Made some good progress but am stuck on how to finish the top as I have a different numbre of stitches than the pattern as it suggested leaving out the darts for the flat-chested women, but didn't adjust the pattern in any way. Anyways, too tired to think and figure it out, so back on hold.



In other knitting news, I've been working on yet another Pea Pod baby sweater as my travel project. I've already knit it twice before, but different sizes each time. I just realized this morning that I missed a "and at the same time", so need to pull out the weekends knitting and readjust. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon, as I was just handed a copy of the latest Harry Potter book. I was going to be good and wait to read it when visiting VT in a few weeks. Now I must be strong and try not to let it take over my life these next several days. Maybe I can try to knit and read like my friend Cece, but unlikely - too tired for that. And finally, for all of you who have read the book, check out this review. Tons of spoilers so beware. Of course I haven't read it yet, but am told it's hilarious.

Summertime

I feel like it's summer. I know it's the end of July and almost August so we've been in the belly of summer for awhile, but with the strange weather and everything, it didn't really feel like summer to me... until now. This week has been warm, but on top of that I feel like the summer activities have taken off. I've been catching up on sleep and on Wednesday after work had a full night. I went to Ivy with some coworkers and had a nice bottle of wine and I splurged and got some mussels in a wonderful butter and garlic sauce - we had to ask for bread twice, it was so good, sopping it up. Although one mussel was a bit undercooked - didn't like the slimey feel of that. Then off to Shakespeare in the Park, just two blocks up where we met up with some friends. The place was packed, blankets next to blankets, not a patch of grass available. Our neighbors were playing cards and within minutes I was dealt in - great game called Jungle Board. The production was suprisingly good. It was Midsummer's Night Dream, which I have to say I've seen a dozen times and have even been in once (I was Demetrious). Having seen quite a few Shakespeare in the park gigs, I was suprised how well they performed and the set and costumes. However, it was still outside, you couldn't really see the stage being a football field away, and well, I ducked out early and met up with a friend who was celebrating her Birthday. All in all, by the time I got home, it was a classic summertime evening in my opinion. Warm, relaxing, and an evening that seemed to be timeless. Too bad it was a school night.



In knitting news, yesterday as I headed home from work a bit late (having come into work a bit late), I struck up a conversation with a fellow knitter. Pulling out my knitting definately starts conversations with strangers. I've been carring it around a lot more and making a ton of progress on yet another PeaPod baby sweater. It's starting to get bulky, so am already looking for another project to start. That's the problem, knitting, elbow to elbow with my fellow commuters, I need to keep the projects small. It works for awhile until the project grows, and then it gets put aside into the pile that just grows and grows. I need to buckle down and knit more at home. But I have to say I get about 80% of my knitting down in transit. I get a good episode of Fresh Air on the mp3 player and an easy pattern to follow and I'm good to go.



Well, Rosanne, my fellow knitter, pointed out a wonderful hole in the wall knitting store in Porter Square. She swears there are wonderful hand-dyed yarn in there. I almost didn't want to know where it was. And then, as I get on my bus, a block away, where the Indian clothing store used to be, there is none other, you guessed it, a new yarn store. I hadn't really noticed. So, I'm going to be good and not explore the two stores until the fall. We'll see how strong I can be. I'm usually good at avoiding yarn stores because I have to make a trip to visit one. These are on my daily route - not a good sign.



And finally, wrapping back to the summertime theme, I'm making my list of things to bring camping this weekend in CT with my cousins. It should be fun, although I'm a bit worried about the weather, and how to fit my bike in the car. I'm packing tons of sunscreen - three bottles. But have a feeling that the trend will continue, where the weekend wipes me out and I recoup during the week (instead of the opposite). But it's summertime - you've got to enjoy it!