Hats

Two hats recently completed:

Wanna see what they look like on?

The magenta yarn is a Filatura di Crosa 127 Print colorway and all of them are gorgeous.  When you’re knitting circular patterns for simple hats or gloves you get this effect:

It’s kinda hard to take pictures of the top of your head by yourself.  Next time I’m enlisting volunteers.  If you’re not watching football today (I’m just going for the food, football bores me to tears), get out and buy a little something local.  Be it yarn store, cafe or whatever, it’s a good time to give a little love to your local small businesses.  We’re all in this economic crap basket together.  And I’m a firm believer in perseverance. 

Project Completed!

And so handspun becomes:

Which looks like this when you put it on:

Pretty cool, eh?  I really liked the buttons.  I should do projects that have buttons on them more often.  Or, you know, finish the projects that I’ve started that are languishing in the land of the half-made.  There’s just something so satisfying about a great big gauge and one skein of uber-simple accomplishment.  And the buttons, of course.

My week has been consumed by learning some basic points of web design.  Even a little dabbling with CSS.  Yay!  Every time my brain seizes on a new interest I’m staggered by the breadth and depth of all there is to know.  I definitely feel that way about design, there’s an impossible amount to know and you’re forever behind even if you’re on the cutting edge.  The nice thing is that you really can go at your own pace as you learn, and it’s easier to teach yourself if you’re working on a project by project basis.  If I’m not going back to school for the time being, I might as well be using my brains for something other than playing Fallout 3.  Hm. 

Stay tuned for a facelift on The Frayed Yarn.  It’s time to abuse my newfound powers.  Bwa ha ha ha.

Handspun Becomes…

My sister got me this lovely yarn for Christmas:

I’m thinking since there’s a relatively small amount of it I’m going to do some sort of scarf/neckwarmer for when I’m out and about hiking or fishing or whatever.  Just a simple ribbed neck thing. 

Speaking of fishing, that’s my goal this weekend.  If I’m not going up to Seattle then I might as well be enjoying some fishing.  The weather is gorgeous for January, though rather cold.  Or maybe I’ll go to Seattle yet…

It was a pretty big week for anyone American (honestly, it was a pretty big week for anyone period).  Listening to the inauguration and seeing history happen was both surreal and surprisingly inspiring.  I’m not a total cynic, but I’m usually skeptical of too much feeling or expectation in general, especially when it has something to do with politics.  I’d like to hope that this can be different though, and that for once we really have a chance to move forward and grow up a little bit as a nation.  Time will tell, but I find myself feeling hopeful.  This is a good thing.

In news a little closer to home, I’m on my way to Mom’s this afternoon for a birthday dinner party extravaganza.  I think a fine time will be had by all.  I may have to make one stop to indulge my latest obsession with fishing bits and bobbins and gear.

My new little Canon arrived and verily, it takes much better indoor pictures.  To wit:

This dog is totally huggable and spoonable.  She doesn’t fetch worth a crap, though.

Go Boldly Forth

The snow has finally melted and we’re making our way in to more windy, wet January storms at last.  Not that it wasn’t fun and all, but I’ve had my fill of aggressive / defensive all weather extreme driving for the year.  All of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington was covered by more wintry precipitation than I’ve seen in all the years I’ve lived here. 

Now that I’m back at work I’m having some serious trouble focusing on much of anything.  Not sure that’s a new problem, though.  A combination of solitude, iTunes downloads, house cleaning and a season and a half of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (nostalgia, you know?) were the substance of my little winter break.  I also did a lovely Christmas with the fam. 

The power went out on Christmas Eve at Dad’s and we played Yahtzee in the dark and I fell asleep in front of the woodstove contentedly full of wine and ham and homemade bread.  The power was restored overnight thanks to the heroic efforts (because it really was quite nasty outside) of the Clatskanie PUD.  Thanks, guys. 

Most of the rest of Christmas were some lovely and useful gifts and a whole lot of Black Books, a great British show that was as hilarious as it was inappropriate for the holiday.  And Mom’s apple pie.   Mmmmm.

So far 2009 seems to be off to a bumpy but far from boring start.  I suppose we’ll see how things unfold.  At the very least, it should be interesting work-wise, life-wise and “big picture”-wise.  Here are some snowy pictures that are far from an ordinary Oregon December.

In my opinion, the St. Johns Bridge is really the most attractive bridge in town.

 

If Winter had a road that led directly into it, it would look like this.

 

Ian and Dad, don’t throw elbows on the way down the hill, guys.

 

Yes, it really was as fun as it looks.  The part you can’t see is the hill that descends for a good hundred yards.  Whee!

All this and I still found time to roast a turkey and cook up some corned beef and cabbage in my shiny new Crock Pot.  My little baby Canon-on-a-shoestring point and shoot camera is making its way to me so hopefully I’ll have a gadget that will actually take indoor pictures that don’t look like murky streakscapes.  No more of this “blame the photographer” stuff.  But they say it’s a poor craftswoman who blames her tools…  Sigh.

Things I Learned Between Exit 302 and Exit 14

There are more pleasant ways to spend your time than driving from Portland to Ashland on the night before Thanksgiving.  I will now encapsulate the things I learned last weekend on a round trip journey over the river and through the woods:

• Christopher Moore audiobooks are the only way to travel for more than an hour in any direction (most recently A Dirty Job and Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff)
• A king size bed at the EconoLodge is not glamorous, but definitely fits two people and a big dog better than our busted queen size at home
• Thanksgiving with the inlaws is best when spent drinking wine and talking books with the lovely ladies and ignoring the blustery uncle-narrated infomercials
• Not getting trampled to death at a WalMart is a good Black Friday goal
• Driving through mountain passes on dark foggy nights sucks
• Ultimately, there is no place like home.  Even when the sink is still full of dirty dishes.

Some projects got finished over the weekend and some others got put off.  More on two new hats coming up next.  In the meantime, here’s breakfast at the Breadboard, Ian, me, and the muffin between us:

I love the guy eating in the background.

Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.

And last but not least, just because they were there, butterballs.

Connecticut and Back

Connecticut was lovely.  Even the travel wasn’t so bad.  I imagine that it had much to do with my solo status, as there wasn’t anyone to victimize during the two long travel days. 

In Connecticut, Lena and I made the most of our rented car.  We drove up to Mystic along the coast and took in the touristy shops and ate some tasty seafood in a restaurant that favored smooth jazz but had an excellent view of the harbor.  In one of the little shops I found some jewelry to fall in love with, something I’m always on the lookout for but rarely find. 

We made it out to one of the local wineries, a place called Jones Family Farms.  We sampled a range of tasty wines and left with a few bottles to further explore back at Lena’s apartment.  I also had the best apple cider I’ve ever tasted from Bishop’s Farm Market.  It was AWESOME.

New Haven is a strange city.  It’s sort of a dump with Yale the shining castle at the heart of it.  The campus is old and splendid and every bit as impressive (and insular) as you’d imagine it to be.  But apart from the downtown area, much of the city is run down and post-industrial. 

Apart from the sightseeing, we ate fusion sushi, swarma, and lots of sweets and vegetarian fare from Claire’s Corner Copia.  We stayed up far too late every night and watched most of the first season of Deadwood.  Also, we managed to transport a six foot long IKEA side table in a convertible Sebring with the top down.  In November.  It was a great trip and it was good to see my friend.

Some pix for your viewing pleasure:

This is the most amazing card catalog I’ve ever seen:

More pictures here.  Enjoy turkey day.  Find some pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce and wine, then take a nap.

50,000 Words

New Prez, big projects and back to work.  I’m hoping everyone is having some success with their WIPs, whatever those may be.  I usually consider myself somewhere between a realist and a dedicated cynic, but I was actually inspired by the events and the words spoken on Election Day.  It seems strange to say something like “we witnessed history” which sounds kind of dramatic, but really that is exactly what happened this week.  Ian made one quip that was funny and horrifying:  Sara Palin ticket 2012, end of the Mayan calendar 2012, coincidence?  Start stockpiling your granola bars and twinkies now, is all I’m saying.

On the horizon is a much anticipated trip to New Haven to take in some New England sights with the infinitely-more-academically-ambitious-than-me Lena.  I’m looking forward to it very much.  The flight time, which usually makes me a raving bitch in short order, will be consumed by NaNo and probably that trashy teenage vampire pulp by Stephanie Meyers.  I like teenage vampires in love as much as the next gal, but it irks me that the author lives in AZ and spends most of the first book pissing on the great green Pacific Northwest.  Yes, it rains.  That’s part of what makes it great.  She makes it sound like the soggy seventh circle of hell.  No accounting for taste, I suppose.  Travelogue to commence anon.