Ride. Knit. Read.

Cotanani

A sample of my internal monologue from last week:

            I love my job! I love walking to work! I love sidewalks!

Yeah, things are a-okay in greeleyland. (A week of 65F sunny days helps, too).

I finally received the Terra yarn that was forever on backorder so I should be able
to finish my Marlo in time to put away all the winter sweaters but in the waiting
I started Rusted Root in Mirasol Cotanani, which is a nice 60/40 cotton-wool blend 
(on sale at WEBS all April). I enjoy working with the yarn even with the cotton content.
The Mirasol project is interesting but wish for more disclosure about proceeds allocation.
I do like top-down raglans but may need to de-poof the sleeves a bit on this one.
Color is most accurate in top photo.

Hanami

Today is the parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. I was in the Capitol last April but missed all the blossoms because of dreary weather. I've had this Sundara sock yarn since then (offered as a special anniversary release of her popular "Cherry Blossom" colourway) and am happy to use it finally for some short socks. I'm reserving half of the skein for a sweet baby knit.

New Job = New Yarn

I start my new job on Monday (feminist non-profit, yay!) so I treated myself to some goodies from Woolgirl.

I had long wanted to try Madelinetosh sock yarn, especially the colorway she designed to benefit the Umoja Usao Women's Group in Kenya.  But, I couldn't resist  also picking out a skein of her "Canary," silver, yellow and white--perfectly springlike.

Even so, the real indulgence was another skein of A.L. de Sauveterre's cashmere. When I started my job search last summer I kept hold of the idea of this yarn as my prize. As soon as I received the offer I added "Japanese Maple" in the Mont Blanc dk weight to my cart.  I've had a fair amount of knitting time between jobs  but I've definitely set a personal record from skein to finished object this time. My parcel arrived from Woolgirl on Monday afternoon, I cast on Tuesday and 5 or so hours of knitting later, I wove in ends on Thursday.

FO: Mont Blanc Cowl
Yarn: A.L. de Sauveterre Mont Blanc in  "Japanese Maple" 1 skein, 200 yds dk
Pattern: CO 85 sts and join with US 8 24" circular. K 6 rows. P 1 row. Switch to US 6 needles. K until piece measures 13" (or approx. 175 yds used). Switch to US 8 needles. P 1 row. K 6 rows. Use stretchy bind-off.  Weave in ends. Wear as single layer, doubled, or inside out.

We interrupt this blog...

I have a job offer! And in the strange way of the world, I may have a second offer to choose from on Monday afternoon. Huzzah!

March Socks, Parallel Universes

Tonight I was treated to an evening with Eels the Band. Before the show there was also a screening of the documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives  that E made with the BBC about his father, late physicist Hugh Everett III. I think making music is a mathematical enterprise in its own way.

March socks are an incomplete pair in the fire colors of Project Spectrum. Above, Cookie A's Mona in Wollmeise. Below, another plain sock in a mystery Hello Yarn from a swap on Ravelry.

FO: Forest Canopy Shawl

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Lawrence
Yarn: A.L. de Sauveterre, Estelle, cashmere 2 skeins ~400 yards
Mods: 15 total repeats of motif

Thanks everyone for your kind words about Byron. It's been hard adjusting to his sudden absence and I don't think we'll be without a MC for long. I've come to think that his death was related to HCM as he had a known heart murmur and experienced hind end paralysis and difficulty breathing in the few days before he died. He was rescued from an unscrupulous breeder and it's unlikely his litter had been screened.

Rest in peace, Byron

After a good interview this morning I was relaxing on the couch at home. Byron was in a nest of blanketing we made for him in the bathroom so he would be away from noise and stress. We had been syringe feeding him all week and planned to be back at the vet this afternoon for a followup because he wasn't improving. I heard a meow and rushed to attend to him. (He hadn't meowed in days). I held him up, trying to tilt his head forward because he was vomiting. He was writhing and seemed to be gasping. Then he was still. After a few minutes, I collected him into his carrier case and brought him to the vet's office where the same doctor who had seen him last Friday at 11am confirmed that he had died.

I miss my soft cat.

Here are some photos from the first day I adopted him through March 13th of this year. It is so surprising how suddenly he took ill.

Byron's decline

My Byron-cat is sick again. He's accepting food by syringe but has lost at least 6 pounds and is laboring to breathe. We are treating for hyperthyroidism and I hope that is all. Ultrasound is next if he doesn't improve by tonight.

***
I had lovely train rides for a visit with Heather in the Hudson Valley this past weekend.  My friends are too far away.  Finished reading Out Stealing Horses. Petterson's spare prose is somehow expansive enough to defend the complex narrative structure without ever collapsing. It's as close to a well-built campfire as I can imagine fiction can achieve.

***
I have a few finished bits of knitting to show once camera and daylight find themselves in the same room together.  I experimented with hair color. It's toned down since this photo but I may go all blonde next time.

Foodstuffs

I spent much of the rainy, rainy Saturday knitting and watching cooking shows on a PBS outfit called Create that I recently discovered on the upper range of the tv dial. Besides spending most of the weekend hungry as a result, I also started wondering about what food or drink others call their favorite. Feel free to share yours in the comments.

Some foodstuffs I hope never to have to live without:

• Andy's home-made tomato sauce
• Ripe brie
• Seared tuna
• Newcastle beer
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Guacamole
• Baguettes (piles and piles, please)
• Sweet peas
• Honeycup mustard

 

I hope to finish a few knitting projects in March. I'm waiting on a skein to finish the Marlo sweater but it should be seamed up quickly once that arrives. In the meantime I intend to knit the remaining elements of the Shawl Collar Cardigan from Jo Sharp's Book 1. My sock-a-month is still going well.  I'm working on a fiery pair now that is well suited to Project Spectrum's theme. In light of all the sweaters in progress I'm allowing myself until April to complete the pair but they have to be done before my first Woolgirl Sock Club shipment arrives.

Friends, I know I have been mostly unavailable lately. Job search 2007-2008 has really taken its toll. It requires so much energy to constantly sell myself and I am the sort of person who has difficulty with any sort of limbo status.

Covered in Bees!

We have tickets to see Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum in Boston on 4/29!