I missed a day, but not for lack of trying.

Yesterday was just kind of busy, what with the dissertation defense, experiment, meeting, and flying out of town. Got back to the southern state around 10 something at night, took a taxi home and tried to hold up my end of a conversation about football, which is sort of the equivalent of asking me to speak fluent Chinese.

Have spent most of today attached to my son, or rather with him sitting on me or otherwise touching me. It's nice to be missed, and it's wonderful to see him, but IT'S HOT HERE, and disgustingly humid. Plus, there are mosquitos. And I'm really not used to it anymore, especially since I have been experiencing pleasant fall-like weather up north. It's good to be back, however, as I missed my family, and my washing machine. I find myself oddly overwhelmed by the size of my house, and it's not big. I guess I've adapted to the city more than I thought, as it was also odd to be driving and to not hear sirens last night when I went to bed. It's strange being here, because I don't live here anymore, and it's decidedly not home. Of course, it's also clear that we're in transition, because my husband isn't really living here either, and my apartment is for the most part, undecorated.

I am not sure what our plans are for the rest of the weekend. Right now, husband is out picking up burgers and fries for dinner. I am still protein-starved, and I'm fitting into my "skinny" jeans again, despite my scale saying that I have not lost an ounce since I moved, so I feel no guilt. Even after the Krispy Kreme donuts and the cookie earlier today. Hah. We're possibly going to go play mini-golf on Saturday, if the weather holds, and I think there's potentially interest in seeing Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. I don't really care what we do, as I'm happy to be with them. Tonight is likely to be movies/TiVO and hanging out with some knitting.

On the way out of my apartment, I realized that I left my camera, so photos will not be happening this weekend. There's also been no knitting yet today, and I suspect that time will be somewhat limited. I did finish another mystery, however. One thing I love about travel is that I essentially have a lot of uninterrupted time to read. I just finished reading Shot Girl, which was a light, but fun read. If you enjoy mass-market mysteries, this one is better than many I've read lately. Food's here, so I'm off.

Day 3.

It's Saturday night, my apartment is clean, and mostly tidy. I have some laundry in the machines downstairs, and the rest of the evening is mine to spend relaxing. I did very little today - I slept in, talked a little on the phone, napped, knit, and watched silly tv shows. It's been very nice. I'm a little blue today. Weekends are harder than the weekdays, and I have a tendency to become overly tired. It affects my mood a lot, and it's easy to slide into a negative mood. Tidying up helped, sort of symbolically moving on and getting ready for the week. A fresh start, I suppose.

Things are, for the most part, good. I like my job, and I'm learning a lot. I still feel behind, and under pressure, but that's going to be true regardless of what I'm doing. I haven't taken the easiest path, but there's still hope that this will all work out. I've met a really neat group of people to knit with, and if I were in less of a hermit mode, I could probably go out and socialize more with them too. I'm trying to do things for myself.

I just started knitting a new project - a Shetland Triangle Shawl. I just finished 2 triangular shawls (no, I didn't take photos yet) and I'm not sure why I really wanted to knit this, but the yarn and the pattern were calling to me. I actually have a few things clamoring at me. The other is a pair of Fiddlehead Mittens, which I'm likely to start tomorrow, and there's a sweater that has tried to materialize on my needles. So far, the sweater hasn't taken, so there's a possibility I can hold off on that until I finish something up. It's fall. I think this is the equivalent of spring fever, and I'm feeling a strong urge to swathe myself in handknits. I know it makes for boring blogging, as I keep starting things and having little followthrough. I knit for myself though - what I want, when I want, with no pressure. It's one of the few things in my life that is like that. Maybe the only thing.

Part of trying this daily blogging is to determine if the blog is something I'm going to continue or not - I know why I knit, but I'm not sure why I'm blogging. I have met some really neat people, friends even, online. However, I'm finding it much harder to connect these days. I like Ravelry, but I don't do so well on message boards. I don't leave comments often, and I don't think I have many readers left. I'm okay with this, but I wonder if it means that I'm done with blogging? On the other hand, I don't email much either, and it is a way of keeping in contact with the friends I have who do read this.

Sorry for the moodiness tonight. Weekends are hard, and I miss my family. Tomorrow is a work day, but hopefully the light will be better and I'll get some shots of knitting.

Last minute post

Ok, so I'm sneaking in under the wire today.

Just finished watching season 6 of Wire in the Blood. I don't know if I liked the series or not. It started out strong, but I think it lost something as time went on. Interesting to see how much grittier of a crime show is put on by the BBC. I hate that the male psychiatrist became the key to solving every crime, and that the female lead police investigator depended on his input way too much. There was more humor and incompetence on his part earlier on. I think the writing got sloppier, but it was entertaining enough for me to watch 24 episodes.

I'm watching a lot of junk this year, since many things are on Hulu and elsewhere online: Heroes, House, Gossip Girl, Castle, Vampire Diaries (yes, I know, it's crap), Bones, Dollhouse. I think that's all, and that's a lot. By the end of the day, I'm wiped out, and don't have much left for anything else.

I finished another scarf last night - that's 2 down. Photos tomorrow, as I got home far too late to take any shots.

Tomorrow will be a better planned and more interesting post than this one.

So I've got this thing...

But it's not golden. (Ok, I thought it was funny.)

Anyhow, when I moved, and left my washer and dryer behind (oh, how I miss them so) I purchased this thing on sale from Target.com:

I paid a lot less than that asking price for it, but I have to say - it's a nifty little gadget. I'm not a big fan of drying a lot of my clothes, and I used a drying rack a lot at my house. I did think this would be a pretty cool accessory for a knitter. Basically, it's just a fan blowing air over the stuff you have laid out flat on a mesh shelf, but it does cut down on drying time significantly. If, like me, you are both cold and impatient, this is a good thing.

At the moment, I'm using it to dry a Simple Yet Effective Shawl. Once it's dry, I'll weave in the ends and eventually I'll take a photo and post it here and on Ravelry. I used less than one skein of Trekking XXL, and honestly had a lot more yarn left over than I intended, but I was ready to move on and at the end it was really about deciding that it was more important to end with a garter stitch section than to use all the yarn.

Next up is another less fabulous than practical knit, which is another triangular scarf-like item that is very close to completion. It comes with a mildly cautionary tale, which I'll share as soon as I am done.

It's October 1st, and I see many of my friends are doing daily blogging. I'm too noncommittal to commit, but I'll take a stab at it without officially joining anything, because for me, joining increases the likelihood of my failing to follow through... Tomorrow's topics may include: "You have no idea how glad I am it's Friday," "E. Coli, or Bacteria really do not smell good," or "I'm so old and out of touch I can't tell if my new friends are hipsters or not and who cares anyhow because they have yarn."

See you then.

Knit critics

I think the knit world needs more criticism. And by that, I mean more constructive criticism, not snark. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good snark, and I certainly think it has its place, however, it's not what I'm looking for. I like praise, as we all do, but I want it to be meaningful. Bells posted about viral knits recently, and it got me thinking. I agree with her that it's absurd to denigrate a knit because "everyone has made one." It's also silly to expect everyone to design their own knitwear, or to talk about how there are no good designers out there. I also can see the value in a cute, quick, 1 skein project that makes a thoughtful gift. What I wish we had more though, is serious discussion about what people liked about a pattern, what they wish was different, and suggestions from readers and bloggers, as to what they'd change next time.

I like socks a lot, and I'm really fascinated by what Cookie A designs. I don't love all her designs, nor do I want to knit some of them. A few I want to make because the construction is cool, or because I want to see how the charting fits the pattern. A few pairs I want to make because I want to wear them. Some, frankly, just don't do much for me. I think Monkey went viral because it was a very clever sock - a simple pattern, neither too big nor too small, that looked good with solids, semisolids, and wildly colored yarn. That was the sock that made me think about how diagonal lines are good for breaking up repeats in handpainted yarn, so that you get less striping. Yeah, it's not an earthshattering concept, but I hadn't quite internalized it until I knit the pattern.

Some designs are classic and universally flattering. I'm going to be a bit of a jerk and suggest that the most popular sweaters (as listed on Ravelry) don't fit that descriptor. Which makes me think that the reason they become popular is due to KALs - I assume people are still doing those. I also think a KAL can be very useful, if people are sharing information about how they are modifying a pattern or finding errors or ambiguous directions. I haven't participated in many of them, as I have commitment problems with my knitting. But the few I have tried, I haven't seen that kind of criticism taking place.

I suspect a lot of my attitude about this comes from my day job, and I know people sometimes interpret the critical eye as being overly negative. The truth is that all crafting isn't equal, yet we dole out praise as though it was. We should celebrate the act of creating something with sticks and strings, and encourage people who are just learning to keep trying. I wouldn't mind though, if could find a little more discussion of things like "Next time I'd consider angling the decreases in the opposite direction" or "Short rows in the bust would fix the pulling problem as the waist" or "I really like it - the only thing I might change would be to start the shaping 1/2 inch higher, but that's nitpicking." If I saw that more, I think I'd take the 5 star ratings on patterns and yarns more seriously, and perhaps the really good viral knits would get the respect they deserve.

Did I mention that my kitchen is small?

For a week after I moved in, I didn't have internet. Work's been busy, and long, and all-consuming, and I just haven't been able to figure out what to say here. The problem with a knitting blog is that it's about knitting, and now that I have no AC, and it's high summer, there's a minimal amount of knitting going on to write about.

But then I remembered that occasionally, I cook, and I thought I'd tell you about the challenge I set myself after moving here. My kitchen, as I mentioned, is small.

(Please excuse the dishes in the sink - I decided to take photos and write this after I fixed dinner.)

That's the bulk of my kitchen, with the photo taken from me standing with my back against my apartment door.

This is taken from the living room, and you can see the entire extent of my kitchen here. There's a closet that I use as a pantry, but I'll be honest and tell you there isn't much in there. The paper on the fridge is a takeout menu from a sushi place.

See? Small. Since I wasn't really happy with using a cutting board on the sink as counter space, I bought this cart from IKEA. By the way, I'm a lousy shopper. IKEA terrified me. Way too many choices. Nice stuff, but overwhelming.

Anyhow. I've set myself 2 goals while living here. First, you might note there's no microwave, and if you've ever followed me on Flicker, you might notice that I can't shut up about how hot it is here, so turning on the oven isn't an option. Thus, a lot of convenience food is out. Second, I'm really trying to limit takeout. Third, with access to fresh food (small farmers markets, a big farmer's market, and Trader Joe's) I'm trying to really limit processed food items. And finally, I'm trying to cook without a cookbook. I can't take full credit for this idea - I saw this blog post, and it resonated with me. So far, it's been an interesting experience. I'll admit to eating a lot of salad, and some basic pasta, but it makes shopping a lot easier. As an added benefit, I think this in conjunction with walking to and from work has resulted in me dropping some of the excess pounds I carry around. Oh, and my final challenge? My kitchen tools consist of one large pot, one pan, and one medium pot, a spatula, spoon, vegetable peeler and a can opener. Knives, a set of mixing bowls, my multi-tool and a George Foreman grill round out the tools.

Tonight wasn't the healthiest meal, but it was tasty - I brought some well salted water to a boil, then added angel hair pasta and about 8oz-10 oz of asparagus trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces. That cooked for about 2 minutes, until the pasta was close to done. Then I cracked an egg and dropped it into the water, and cooked for about a minute more. I drained most of the water off the pasta/veg/egg combination, then tossed it in a bowl with maybe 2-3 oz of herb coated chevre, and tossed everything to combine. To keep it from being too sticky, I finished it with a tiny bit of olive oil and ground black pepper over the whole mess. It was even better than usual, thanks to the addition of the egg.

This weekend I'm planning a trip to the market for more fresh vegetables and for some spices I desperately need. I'm having fun cooking this way, and it's a nice way to shake things up a bit. A friend suggested trying a chickpea and apple salad today, and I'm leaning towards trying that this weekend. Simple ideas are definitely welcomed, so please share if you have a favorite ultra-easy dish that I can try!

Time for changes.

I'm feeling like a lazy blogger, but I want to get back to blogging. Hence, a collection of random bullets.

• It's Friday, and since my ersatz boss is a) on vacation for the next 2 weeks and b) as of 2 weeks from now no longer my boss, I'm taking some extra time this morning. I have almost nothing to do for the last period of time. Mostly cleaning up, documenting things, and transferring a little bit more of what I know. In general - as little as I can possibly get away with.
• I'm not going to say anything more than I'm glad that it's over.
  
• I have a whole weekend ahead of me, and a little less than a month before I start my new adventure. I probably need to get going on the packing.
• One of my biggest tasks has been checking to see that I have PDF files of all the research articles I own and recycling the paper copies. I have 1 file drawer left to go through, but I have reduced my paper weight by at least 1/3 already.
  
• Summer of Socks '09 has started, but I haven't knit any socks recently. I completed another garter stitch square for my ever-growing afghan. I'd like to finish 3 more, then it will "just" need to be put together.
• On my list of things I would like to accomplish before I leave town, I have a sweater that needs seaming, and my tangled-yoke cardigan could easily be finished in a week.
• I'm planning on giving away some of my yarn, either to Goodwill or to the school district for using in art classes. I have some single balls of stuff that I will never knit, don't like, and don't want. And no, it's not stuff I'm going to gift away on the blog - I'm terrible about going to the post office, and trust me, you don't want this either.
• I don't really feel like going to work today, despite knowing it will be much much less stress than usual.
• Thanks to the tutorial on Yarn Harlot's blog, I realized I have been picking up stitches incorrectly in garter stitch. Makes much more sense her way, but I'm completing my blocks the way I've been knitting them anyhow.
  
• I'm running out of things to say, but I've got some ideas for other posts (and photos) that I'll try to get to this weekend.
  

I see squares.

Lots of squares.

At last count, there were 14 of them. I'm knitting #15 now.

I'm shooting for 20, which will require a lot of seaming. This may wait until after I move.

Have I mentioned the move? Slightly more than a month away. I'm ignoring it as much as I can. Did I mention I was knitting squares? I watched North and South, the one with Richard Armitage, not anything starring Kirstie Alley. He's not hard on the eyes.


Does that make up for a not that exciting blog post?

Doo doo doo....

Looking out my front window.

Yesterday I could not figure out where to drop my son off for daycare, which was held at a school we don't normally go to. It was his first day of spring break, and since my boss was away, I decided I'd take the day off and spend it with him. We ran some errands, played outside, and I then started to spend some time on my least favorite yard chore. Raking. This represents a tiny fraction of what needs to come up off my yard - and this is from an area that has already been raked once this season. Ugh. I have a lot more work to do.


I'm hoping to get the piles picked up by the end of this week, but the job never seems to end. My legs are really sore from picking up the piles, but I need the exercise anyhow.

At least you can see pretty flowers out the back window.


So the boys are off for their vacation, and I've got the house to myself. Which means I have been doing my best to be anywhere but home. It's weirdly quiet. I'm going to settle down for the rest of the evening with a movie, some popcorn, some knitting, and some tea. I'm hoping to get close to finishing a sock - I'm not sure how long it should be, and the husband isn't around to try it on, but I know it needs a few more inches of foot regardless.

Tomorrow, in to work to collect my computer and my phone charger. I've picked up 2 new knitting books recently, which will make good blog fodder for tomorrow, I think.

Really Random Friday

I've officially had an extremely odd week, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. If you're one of the few people crazy enough to have stuck around over the past couple years (and if you have, you know who you are), you've seen me finish grad school, work for a while, find a postdoc, and now face a serious career crisis. The current question - should I stay or should I go? On one hand, the economy stinks, and being dependent on government funding isn't a great plan right now. On the other hand, I love, really love, what I do, when I'm interested in it. This week, I had decided it was time to go. As in, I decided that Wednesday, and proceeded to enthusiastically start looking for other career options, and found a few things that really appealed to me, and was starting to make Big Plans.

Then I got my dream second postdoc interview opportunity. The one that fell into my lap, that seriously, there's no way he can want me to work in his lab. Amazing stuff. Incredible, fascinating, really ultra-cool and exciting science with someone who quite honestly may be up for a Nobel prize someday. Add to that a location that I would probably prefer to my current digs, and a surprisingly fewer hurdles for my husband to find a job. Plus - as a final bonus - a great knitting community and a lot, and I mean a lot, of yarn stores around and opportunities to wear knitwear. Plus, proximity to MDSW. Seriously - this is not a bad thing. Oh, and I have friends in the area, and I also kind-of sort-of know 2 knitters in the greater semi-near area.

But this means I have to really think about what I want to do, and I don't know. It's a possibility (interviews usually lead to good things at this level, almost always, but it's not a given) that has suddenly hit me at exactly the point where I was ready to move on, and had really decided I was okay with that. I don't know what I should try to be when I grow up.

So, instead of thinking so much, I'm going to try to finish a pair of socks this weekend, check out a sale on silk yarn at my LYS, and maybe even finally make it to the farmer's market. Oh, and run. Because I haven't gone in 2 weeks, and I might be going crazy.

Go look at this. It's pretty.