The Times We Are Living In

FO: Windchief

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

When my mom and I were knitting up cute hats for Julian and ruminating on even more hats to knit for him, my brother said 'STOP...Julian has enough hats to fit him now'. And asked so innocently 'Why not knit a hat for dad?'. Which then prompted a discussion of what he wanted...which was 'a running hat like Marc's'. I finally figured out that while he liked the pattern that I had knit for Marc's hat, what he really liked was the fabric. Acrylic. Meaning not too warm for running through Seattle in the winter (Marc can't wear wool on his head so that's why acrylic was chosen for his hat originally).

Now Marc's hat was a koolhaas...I've knit 2 of those already and while it is one of my favorite hats, I have no plans to knit another one anytime soon. Quite tedious even without using a cable needle. So I went searching for a cool 'boy hat' that I could knit up last minute. Stephen West came to mind first and he met my expectations with Windschief. A quick and simple design, but interesting enough to be more than just a plain hat. I followed Melissa's suggestion and picked up a skein of Lion Brand Vanna's Choice acrylic. I knew I was knitting with acrylic but I agree with Melissa...it's pretty nice for acrylic.

I don't have a modeled picture (well, I do, but we sort of have an unstated rule that he doesn't post pictures of me on his facebook page and I won't post pictures of him here) but it looks great. Fits better with the rim rolled up as it is a little long (cuz he wears his hat like a normal person...not pulled down over the ears and eyes so one can't see...like I do) but should work perfectly for its intended purpose. Ravelry project page here if interested.

And in return? My first ever hand-made gift from my brother.

He loves woodworking and in my opinion is pretty talented with it! And now that he is a stay at home dad, he has more opportunity to practice it. His specialty is inlay technique...which he added to my box. His intended purpose was maybe a button box, and he bought a few buttons to show me how that would work. ;)

I'm not sure yet what I'll use this for...perhaps a button box is the best idea. Not the ordinary, 'buy for a project' buttons, but the special ones (like ones I've gotten from my grandmother's collection).

Seems appropriate that I finally finish rounding up my Christmas craftiness at the end of January. Next up, the first finished knit of the new year!

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Now playing: Little Plastic Castles by Ani Difranco

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Friday: A Week in Review

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

I consider two weeks in a row to be 'on a roll'! Now that the template is set up, I'm having fun with this and it really doesn't take a lot of time.

This week, same as before with one addition at the request of Melissa and Kate: Ungulate of the week. Either a picture I've managed to capture of wild ungulates or an introduction to one of 'my girls'. This week, it's a little bit of both...

Making me happy this week:

(clockwise from top left) taking advantage of a rare warm day with no rain and going for a short, but 'senses-clearing' bike ride...stash enhancement of a different kind (totally Jacey's fault)...2 of my girls that have been sick seem to finally be on the mend (Melissa the person, meet Melissa the elk!)....good friends near and far

Crafting:

picked Lara back up which is challenging to my brain (the main body works off 3 charts at one time!)...testing my limits

In the Kitchen:

baking more bread (it may not be pretty but it is darn good!)...
made a super healthy Saturday night dinner in order to indulge guilt-free in this...I used leftover home-made baguette bread and raspberries frozen from this past season...so so delicious. Only modification was to make 2 single servings (quartered recipe and then split into 2 ramekins).
I was never a fan of meatloaf until mom pointed me to a recipe from this cookbook. I make it once every couple months from local, organic/grass-fed beef, local organic eggs, and when I've got it on hand (I did this week), home-made bread. If you are interested in the recipe, shoot me a message...

Reading/Listening/Watching:

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee...so far quite interesting although I doubt it'll be as comprehensive regarding Lee's life as it claims to be.
Mel sent me to this song...immediately realized I needed to explore the group more
probably the last to watch this...mixed feelings about it actually

Ungulate of the Week:

My backyard buddy...she was there with one other doe and their 3 fawns. Posing for a beautiful portrait...

Around the web:

this looks like a good use for some of my frozen rhubarb...dessert next weekend?
a reminder that one day i really need to knit ishbel...and oh, the color of this one!
this post spoke to me about finding your individual voice in photography...'Every image is sketched out in my mind before I shoot it and they may not all work or have meaning for others, but to me, they tell my story and share my voice.'...on many days, this is how I feel about my photography...and that makes me proud of what I shoot.
if only I had the skills...this is an amazing knit
two simple things...to improve your mood and care for yourself
hmmm...maybe an interesting read?
I so want to see this movie and this movie
what a cool and original idea for a special birthday...could be tailored easily
one reason to convert digital into prints
a new-to-me food blog...I actually haven't explored enough to know about the food...I've just been taken in by her writing...scattered, yet comfortable
morbid, yet an interesting, thought-provoking read

Flickr Faves (highlighting outstanding photography from others):

So....what was your week like?

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Now playing: If There Was No You by Brandi Carlile

FO: Silver Squares Necklace

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas gift for mom. But a shorter story...

She asked, I knitted.

Silver Squares Necklace from AlterKnits. Ravelry project page here.

While I had every intention, after the last silver squares I knit, to explore this medium a bit more, I haven't yet. Knitting this necklace again has renewed my interest. I've got some ideas brewing that use a mix of wire, yarn, and/or beads. We'll see if I make it happen!

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Now playing: One Good Reason by Lucy Kaplansky

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Friday: A Week in Review

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

The new year always brings with it new ideas for the blog. Often these ideas evolve as a way to get me posting more regularly and a way to encourage me to pick up the camera to just document every day life more often. I start strong but rarely follow through more than a month or two. One day an idea will stick. Or maybe not. Either way, it's okay! With that said, what new idea did 2012 bring?

Every time Phoe posts her 'what I've been doing' along with a link soup, I am reminded how much I love that idea. A review of the week mostly in photos...what she's reading, knitting, listening to, cooking etc. As well as linking to some cool things she has seen around the web.

So here's my first attempt at doing something similar...

Making me happy this week:

(clockwise from top left) playing with my new lens...a decent snow finally...delicate blooms in winter...fresh from the oven baked baguette with home-made pear butter

Crafting:

(clockwise from top left) working on something warm (Melissa, does this look familiar?)...10 minutes a day (more to come on this startling development soon!)...a couple more inches of border to go...finishing up a knit made from very special gift yarn

In the Kitchen:

as per Jacey's recommendation...made this...go, make it yourself
outside of the above, not many new recipes this week...instead, with a busy work week, relying on staples like this and this and this
baking easy, quick, delicious bread

Reading/Listening/Watching:

almost finished When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson...the 3rd and final (?) in her Jackson Brodie series. Even before finishing it, we watched Case Histories, a PBS/BBC mini-series portraying all 3 books.
listening to The Civil Wars...a music recommendation from Jacey
obsessed with this video/song
watched and enjoyed this series and this movie
gave in to the hype and started this series...like it so far.

Flickr Faves:

1. me, 2. Day 280/365 ~, 3. Happy New Year! - EXPLORE, 4. Home, 5. Snowmen!, 6. "Trees", 7. at dusk, 8. Crows II

Around the web:

i don't bake many cookies but these may be in my future...i'm drawn to citrus in the winter
denise convinced me with one sentence to read this
and Kate convinced me to read this
decadent
helpful stretches for knitters
absolutely beautiful knit collections...cable-ishous. my favorites? this and this
these words about the origin of a blog spoke to me...'follow through on all things intriguing'
beautiful sentiments
made some of this and some of this for christmas gifts...now it is my turn
i really want to make this using the same modifications (and i have that yarn in stash!

So....what was your week like?

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Now playing: I Know, You Know by Babes With Axes

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FO: Denature (Modified)

2012-01-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

This knit was a long time coming...which means settle in and listen to the story of a knit.

About 2 years ago, I saw a pattern that I thought would be perfect to knit up for my mom's birthday. They were DNA socks (or 'Biological Clock Socks') from The Eclectic Sole (my mom used to be an AP biology teacher so I thought the DNA pattern would be perfect). I drug my feet because I wasn't completely taken with the pattern. So her birthday came and went with no socks. During this same year, Elinor Brown and some others held a sock pattern contest and this pattern (Denature) was one of the contestants. I loved it at first sight and thought it would be perfect. Christmas was coming up and I was bound and determined to knit Mom socks. But I didn't think I could get Denature done (pattern called for a huge amount of yarn [over 500 yards] and I didn't have any in my stash that would work...searching for, buying, and waiting for shipments takes awhile when you live in a town with no yarn shop). And by this time, I decided I needed to know if she would even like these socks...I am loathe to knit something that complicated without knowing for sure she would like them. Her and Dad came for a visit that October and I showed her the pattern. And oh, by the way, the pair of oh-so-much-easier Kai-Mei's that I had just finished up. I asked her which she wanted.

Bad plan. She wanted both.

Of course.

So I set out to do the Kai Mei's for Christmas since I already had yarn that would work and already had the pattern basically memorized. With the plan to do the DNA socks for her birthday last year.

Not only did I not even attempt the socks by her birthday, I even forgot her birthday. I called her that night because I hadn't talked to her in awhile and she told me that they just got back from a dinner...I asked 'what was the occasion?'. Yeah. I had just done my defense, give me a break!

Anyway...next holiday up...Christmas 2011. Now, I don't normally procrastinate on a knit quite this much. But I had a mental block with these socks and I simply didn't want to start them. I appreciated the idea of the DNA denaturing when it hit the heel, but in reality, I wasn't completely sold on that design. Nor was I sold on the number of charts and how often you had to knit off 2 different places on the same chart at the same time.

So I decided that to get the darn things knit I needed a new plan. I went to knit night with a couple ideas in hand and asked for advice. In the end, I went with the favorite idea which was running the DNA strands down the front of the leg over the top of the foot but nowhere else. Sue and Meg suggested adding in a rib on the back of 5 or 6 stitches in case removing an entire cable panel caused a fit issue (which in the end, I loved as a design feature). With this plan, I was mentally prepared to cast on the knit.

I took it to Alaska and since I had a day with nothing to do and it was 40 below outside, I happily sat in a warm hotel room, knitting and watching old movies. Happy story right? No.

I don't swatch. I know. I know. However, because I was changing designs and because I was concerned that the pattern was going to be too big anyway given the number of cast on stitches, I swatched for these socks. Did you hear that? I swatched for these socks. And knit half a sock. All the while thinking that with the stretch of the fabric, they would be too big. Finally I took them off the needles to try them on and yes, swatches lie.

Normally this would cause me to throw a tantrum and not pick up that skein of yarn for a year or more. But I so wanted this gift off my plate that I immediately regrouped, recalculated taking into account that stretch and cast on right away. Maybe I'm maturing. Anyway, no further problems and I had a beautiful (in my opinion) pair of socks for mom to open Christmas morning.

The true color of the yarn is actually sort of in between the dark purple shown just above and the color shown in the pictures I took of mom's feet.

Details on the specific changes I made are on my Ravelry project page.

A final note...I'm not completely sold on this yarn...Cascade Heritage Sock. The price and yardage are great...the colors are great. And it feels super soft in the skein. But knitting with it felt a bit like knitting with cotton (several reviews on Ravelry had the same comments). In addition, as I've mentioned, it is super stretchy. I was knitting to both the gauge of the pattern and the yarn label (8 stitches per inch) but with the stretch, I think a smaller needle with much tighter gauge would have worked better for this yarn. I just don't have the experience yet to really know if this change would work. They did soften a bit after soaking but I need to remember to ask Mom how they feel when she wears them for a long duration.

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Now playing: These Old Wheels by Mandolin Orange

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FO: Elijah the third (for Julian)

2012-01-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Even though I had already made an Otto for Julian, I couldn't resist whipping up an Elijah as well. I love these little elephants more than is probably normal. However, as I was ~~cussing~~ knitting through the last few appendages, I wondered if maybe I could have done one this Christmas and the other for next Christmas. You know, spread out the love before I started losing ideas of what to make a baby that doesn't involve clothes they will grow out of. Once knit though, I couldn't not give it to him (cuz you know, if I kept it even with good intentions, it is likely Julian would never see it...I never want to give these little guys up). Besides, I've got some more ideas up my sleeves for future gifts...

There is really nothing more to be said about this pattern that I already haven't said here and here. After I knit Otto, Rue asked me to convince her that toys were actually fun to knit (as opposed to annoyingly fiddly) as she was deciding on a baby vest or a toy for a future project. They are fiddly...there is no denying that. But I think they get less fiddly the more I knit them. Either I know what to expect so am more prepared for it or my continued fascination with the pattern overrides any (or most) irritation I feel at double pointed needles going everywhere! Or maybe a little bit of both. I also think that because so many people shy away from knitting toys, they are a unique gift that will last for years. (by the way, it sounds like I convinced her to knit a toy!).

One final comment on Otto versus Elijah (it's embarrassing how much I love this photo of my two knitted toys together!). Julian is only a hair over 4 months old right now. I know nothing about babies, but he seems to be just starting that phase where he is showing awareness of things put in front of him. And he is grabbing onto items that he can get his fingers around. For that reason, I think Elijah works better for him because the size I knit has appendages small enough that he can grasp them. Otto is too big and will likely stay on the sidelines until Julian gets a bit older (and his hands grow).

Deets on my Ravelry projects page as usual.

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Now playing: Unsophisticated Heart by Joe Pug

(another amazing one from Mel)

FO: Papercut of Morgan

2012-01-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, let's start the new year right by documenting some finished objects...

I figured I'd start with the one that Kate and Jacey seem most anxious to see!

Throughout my summers in the field, I often make up lots of lists. Things I want to do when I get out of the field (cooking, art, knitting etc). On occasion, these lists help me push through abnormally tough days (I'm all for being in the moment...but sometimes it is the promise of greener pastures in the future that we have to focus on). This summer, one of these ended up being a list of hand-made Christmas gifts. I had no idea if I could get them all done, but it was fun to think up what I wanted to do for each person.

For my dad, it was a no brainer. I had started a colored pencil drawing for him years ago (I think it may be 3 years now, but maybe only 2). Anyway...I am about 75% done and I wanted to finish it (you'll likely hear more about this soon). But shortly after Thanksgiving, my dad's beloved dog started declining rapidly and had to be put to sleep.

My dad is a great supporter of my art but he has never really wanted anything 'pet-related' even though he has been close to every pet they have had. This particular dog, though, was special and we decided that he would greatly appreciate anything I wanted to do in remembrance of Morgan. I didn't really have the time to start and finish a drawing....so I thought that a black lab with a lot of grey was perfect material for a papercut. I put the colored pencil on the back burner and started working through how to turn Morgan into a papercut.

The few papercuts I have done in the past, I've really enjoyed doing but there were elements of my technique I thought could be greatly improved upon. Basically I didn't know how to go to the next level so to speak with the tools I had. So I started communicating with a guy who does some amazing pieces to get tips on tools, paper, etc. I bought a new knife (which was discontinued a couple years ago and it is likely I bought the last available!), new paper, new adhesive, and started working on a different surface. Once I got the feel for the knife, these changes, actually simple and cheap, made a ton of difference when I started this piece for my dad.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out and I think my Dad is too. It's definitely the most complicated one I've done but I SO enjoyed working on it...trying to figure what to cut and what to leave so that the end result most resembled Morgan. Of course I couldn't just cut out the grey or his other features (being all black) wouldn't shine through...so it was a challenge, but one I enjoyed. For those not sure what a papercut is, I'll leave you with this process picture so you can maybe see a bit better how the paper is cut...

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Now playing: That Moon Song by Gregory Alan Isakov

(Mel sent me some music that has been on play non-stop recently...I love every single song she sent but the music by this artist stopped me in my tracks...)

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A Word...

2012-01-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays, my dad commented on how bad 2011 was and decided that there were only 2 good things about it: me getting my doctorate and welcoming Julian into the family. Funny (and a bit disheartening) that I didn't even remember I had gotten my doctorate.

I think 2011 was a bad year for many...and it certainly was for me and J, my family, and many of my friends. There was a lot of loss and a lot of heartache. And probably the predictable response to such a year is to give it a few choice words as it goes out the door...or at the very least move on without ever looking back. But as I've been reflecting the past few days, I've come to the conclusion that is the wrong approach...at least for me. Time moves so fast in my world. Probably in yours as well. So fast that I'm hesitant to wipe a year away no matter how bad it was. Because there was good amidst the bad that I want...need...to remember. In fact, in some cases, there was good that came from the bad...and maybe those things wouldn't have happened otherwise. It's easy to come up with a list of things I want to forget. But it's also easy, I found, to come up with a list of just as many things that I want to remember about 2011. I won't do that in this space...some are too personal...but for anyone still in reflection mode (or even if you aren't), I'd urge you to think of what would go on that list. And embrace 2011, as hard as that may be, before moving on to 2012.

Last year, I chose my word of focus as 'deliberate'. Maybe not a lot of evidence on this blog but having that word did help me immensely this year. When I wasn't in the field, I slowed down and enjoyed what I was doing. Evidence of that was most prominent this holiday season when I was able to give handmade gifts to everyone on my list without going into a total panic mode about it. I enjoyed each step of each gift. It actually was so helpful to me I considered choosing that word again. But a new year should bring a new word...

This year I am choosing 'Self'. I don't take very good care of myself either physically or mentally and as I approach the big 4-0 faster than I care to admit, I feel more urgently that needs to change. I need to pay attention to what my body, mind, and soul needs to be healthy and happy. And then purge (almost my word for this year!) things not helping me reach those goals. Self does not automatically morph into self-ish...the trick will be finding the balance.

Looking forward to seeing what 2012 holds for myself, and my family...and for each of you.
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Now playing: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond ... and a story to accompany...

One of my fondest memories of the holiday season: The last night J and I were in WV, my family was spread throughout the house...dad, M, and I in the kitchen watching a cheesy movie...B and J (and Julian) in the living room reading...mom in the family room napping/watching TV. I was the first to join Mom and saw she was watching The Kennedy Center Honors and so I settled in (who wouldn't...among the line-up was Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma and Neil Diamond). The next up when I joined Mom was Neil Diamond. We turned it up and as his music floated through the house, it drew, one by one, everybody together. I love that...

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Ushering in the New Year...

2011-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

with stripe study! Yup, I'm a sheep. And proud of it!

Back soon with musings, reflections, a new word of focus, and a whole slew of FO posts! In the meantime, I hope everyone has a happy and safe time celebrating the end of 2011 and the possibilities of 2012!

See you in the new year!

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FO: Requisite Ballband -- 2011

2011-12-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

I am almost finished my holiday crafting (just a couple more legs and ears to knit!).

Wait, what? It's only December 19th?

I actually had a decent list of things I wanted to get done and I started 'in advance' working toward those goals.

Wait...what?

See, I decided to approach things differently this year. Sometimes (often) I have a list a mile long and get so stressed...which in turn makes something that is supposed to be fun (crafting and knitting) into something that isn't. When I'm in that place, I tend to not craft or knit at all in January and February...taking a break from it if you will.

This year though...there were some things switched around last minute, some things dropped, some things added. But I came at it with a different attitude which has made a world of difference. I'm not stressed, I'm enjoying the moments spent with needles or cutting tool etc in hand and I don't think I'll need that break after the holiday season. Anyway...I'm almost done all I'm going to do but like so many of you, can only share one more small thing until after the holidays when all gifts have been received.

Every year I knit some ballbands for family members. In particular my brother and his partner since they now flat refuse to use any other cloth besides the knitted cotton ones. I've stuck with ballbands every year despite wanting to experiment with other designs. I think this is because it is 'tried and true' and because I've made so many, when time is down to the wire, I can pop one out without hardly any thought or effort (don't tell anyone but this one was knit during a caribou conference call...I paid attention to the call, I swear!). This year, I went with a slightly different look...a few rows of neutral color with the rest a solid color. I like the simplicity and will probably make more like this in the future.

This will likely be my last post until after Xmas when I'll be able to share the rest of the gifts I've been working on. I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season celebrating with loved ones and reflecting on the past year.

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Now playing: Library Card by Judith Edelman

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{this moment}

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Soulemama: {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

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FO: Otto

2011-12-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

Even though Rue, Melissa, and Claire constantly tempt me with baby knits, I'm standing firm on my 'no baby clothes' policy. I just have a gripe with how freakin' fast babies grow and I guess I'd rather knit them something they may enjoy for much longer than 2 or 3 months. Why yes, I can be a scrooge.

I've knit Elijah twice in the past and while I love that pattern, I did want to try some of Ysolda's other toys (though never fear, Elijah is still on the radar to be done for Julian as well). Otto in particular. Not just a bear, but a polar bear! Like Elijah, this pattern is detailed and easy to follow and produces a super cute knitted toy. And now that I found a much easier way to cast-on (see this link), I don't fear and procrastinate the casting on process...and there are way less curse words involved. By the way...if you go to that link, it says it is a more time-consuming process than the way Ysolda suggests. However, if you are like me and simply can't seem to stop dropping needles during those initial 6 stitches (I really need some bamboo dpn's for that rather than metal) so it takes more than an hour just to start...well, this new approach actually takes less time!

While there really is nothing negative I can say about this knit, I would comment that I think I like the way Ysolda designed the legs on Elijah better. For that knit, you pick up stitches off a completed body for the legs. For Otto, the legs are knit as a continuation of the body and you do a crotch gusset (never thought I'd use those words). It's fine in terms of knitting for the first leg, but the second leg, until you get a couple inches, is a complete bear to do (oh, look at that...an unintended pun). When I knit this again, I may do the legs differently...not sure.

Also, I wish there were more pictures/guidance on how/where to stitch up the nose. It turned out more difficult than I thought and I had to rip a couple times. The final version still isn't near as nice as Ysolda's but the best I could do.

Project deets on my Ravelry project page as usual...I would say that I used Knit Picks Organic Cotton and really enjoyed knitting with that yarn. The label calls this yarn worsted and the recommended gauge would suggest that it is. However, my Otto knit on size 6's was about 6 inches shorter than the pattern shows...much closer to the one knit in DK weight on smaller needles (size 4's). I honestly don't know enough about variability within the 'worsted weight' category to know if this was a gauge issue with me (though I actually tend to knit to gauge) or if this cotton is on the light side of worsted (in fact, the Ravelry page for this yarn actually calls it aran). For this project, it doesn't really matter but for someone looking at using this yarn in the future, it is something to consider (maybe swatching would be in order...gasp!).

I hope everyone is having a stress-free holiday crafting season (if those even exist for the crafter)!

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Now playing: Simple As It Should Be by Tristan Prettyman

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{this moment}

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

FO: Astor

2011-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

I told you I've been knitting up a storm since coming out of the field. Making up for lost time I suppose.

Like others, I probably never would have thought to knit Astor if I hadn't seen it modeled by Leslie in this post. A bit later Jane popped up with another amazing one. Then my mom saw Leslie's and fell in love so we decided that a mother-daughter knit-a-long was in order. She gave me the yarn and pattern for Xmas last year, bought some for herself (yeah, good deal right!) and it was official. Both of us cast on fairly quickly but life gets in the way and there they sat for months. Then in October I decided I needed to finish something for myself before holiday knitting began...and say what you want about bulky knits but they are instant gratification projects. It only took about 1.5 weeks of knitting a bit in the evenings (and one long car ride) to finish this up (mom's still working on hers...hopefully one day I can get a shot of us both with our sweaters on).

About this knit...I love it and I loved the yarn. Very lightweight and soft for a super bulky yarn. I get that lots of folks don't like to knit with bulky yarn because either the discomfort of big needles or let's face it...most of us don't need added bulk. But outside of the instant gratification aspect, I think there is definitely a place for big, comfortable, warm sweaters. Though not too big...which leads me to the sizing on this. I didn't have a clue!! The model is stick thin and was wearing a 44 (!!!!) (ETA: actually, she is in a 48!!!). Leslie is also stick thin but made the 40. I'm not stick thin but I didn't want something that would swamp me. So I went with a 40...it looked bigger on Leslie than I wanted so I hoped I got something that allowed me to overlap the front if necessary, but 'fit' otherwise. It was the right choice.

No modifications outside of seaming. I kitchener'd the neck band together rather than seaming it and for the rest of the garment, used a matching sport weight yarn to seam rather than the bulky yarn. Otherwise, there were a few errors in the pattern that I reported on Ravelry. All, I'm sure, were picked up by others although errata is not indicated on the pattern page or on Berroco's site.

I thought I'd show a close-up of my necklace which in my opinion is a perfect accessory for this knit (although in the end I couldn't seem to get a shot without glare). I have a good friend who makes me jewelry...and seems to have a knack for knowing just what suits me. I don't wear jewelry frequently, but when I do, more often than not, it's one of her pieces I pick up. Isn't it perfect?

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Now playing: New Soul by Yael Naïm

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{this moment}

2011-12-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

FO: Tea Leaves Cardigan

2011-11-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I predicted it pretty well...about a month to put buttons on and block and blog. I know my procrastination tendencies well! Although, in my defense, a lot of other knitting has taken place in that time.

Thank you all for offering up button opinions. The winner based on comments was the middle silver ones with the matchy colored ones a close second. In the end, I took the sweater and buttons to my knit group and once they saw them in person, the overwhelming choice went to the colored buttons (the photo I posted didn't show how well they matched). I was leaning that direction as well and went with it. Even in this photo with natural light, I'm not sure you can tell how well they match, but trust me!

Tons of people have knit this pattern for good reason. It's a beautiful pattern that flatters many body types...and while there is interest the first few rows, the rest involves miles and miles of stockinette. Sometimes stockinette is a necessity in life...almost a comfort. Which makes it a great 'first sweater' pattern for someone wanting to make the leap into sweaters.

I knit with the recommended yarn simply because I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So as a gift to myself for finishing up pre-lims last year, I splurged. I love the colors Madelintosh has to offer and I love the yarn itself...so very soft. It did grow on blocking but I counted on that based on comments on Ravelry and thus ended up with a perfect fit. The only downside to the yarn is how every skein is different. I didn't alternate skeins (that would have taken this from a nice, easy comforting knit to an annoying knit) and I think I got lucky. On the back there is a spot of dark that doesn't really match the rest of the sweater, but that's all within one skein. And there is some evidence of a slightly lighter skein around the middle of the sweater. I personally think it's just part of knitting with hand painted yarn and it's not enough to bother me. But other folks on Ravelry haven't been so lucky. Something to consider.

I only made minor modifications. I added more stitches under the arm and didn't do the chest decreases. The only change I'd make if I did this again would be to add even more stitches under the arms to increase the upper arm circumference. I'm realizing that many of the patterns being produced now seem to be made for women that don't have arm muscles. I actually have biceps people! So this is a modification I'll likely have to make for many patterns. Also, I think I'm going to end up crocheting a chain stitch around the neck before much use to keep it from stretching any more. Again, a common modification for folks using Madelintosh.

All in all, I love this knit and I have fond memories stored in each and every stitch. I apologize I don't have modeled shots. Somehow I lost my remote for my camera (guessing it may be in my truck or sitting out in the mountains of SW Oregon) and I'm still waiting for its replacement to come. Next FO waiting in line to be blogged about will have modeled shots I promise.

_____

Now playing: How Many Times by Rocco DeLuca & The Burden

(this is the best youtube version I could find of this song but head to itunes and check out the live version available...beautiful song)

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{this moment}

2011-11-25T17:07:00.001-08:00

Sometimes a PhD isn't enough (FO: Pikku-Pete)

2011-11-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

I have 4 (!!) FOs to document in this space over the coming weeks. Shocking I know. So let's start with the smallest shall we?

Recently my brother and his partner adopted a little boy. As I'm sure you'll be seeing more knits made for him in this space...blog, meet Julian.

A couple weeks ago, the call came out that Julian needed some warm hats for being outside. My mom answered the call with this one...

And since I had just bookmarked a new pattern...I had to answer the call with this one...

This pattern has to be one of the most adorable baby hats I've seen and though I was taken aback that a little hat came with 7 pages of pattern, it was addictive and quite fun to knit. I made no modifications to the pattern except to embroider a rainbow rather than a sheep on the hat (and don't look too close at my embroidering skills...or lack thereof). The sheep is darn cute...true. But I think the rainbow is cute too and fitting for this little guy. Full details on its Ravelry project page. (and darn blogger for trying to out-think me again...what's up with changing the orientation of pictures lately?).

Now...the funny part and the reason for the title. When my brother received the hat, he tried it on Julian. I had been concerned that the hat was going to be too small. When I called him from the Fairbanks airport, B reported that it indeed was too small...I was so upset...and a little confused. My friend helped me measure it and it fit the measurements that B had sent me without any stretch added...and this pattern/yarn combo is quite stretchy. So as I'm listening to B explain to me where it was too small, I started wondering if he had put it on right. I sent instructions for care, but didn't think about sending instructions for wear. I mean, my brother has a degree in aeronautical engineering and a PhD in material engineering. And it has a bill for pete's sake.

This is the picture I got showing me it was too small...

Notice anything? Yeah, it's on backwards. Sometimes a PhD is just window-dressing.

Even Julian is saying...come on Dad, something isn't right here!

Luckily, I had a long layover in Seattle on my way back from Alaska and my brother picked me up so I could meet Julian and spend a few hours with them before catching my flight further east. Though blurry (B was taking these with his phone), you can see that the hat fits when put on correctly (actually a tad bit big) and in my opinion, is very cute. And see how much happier Julian is now that his hat is on correctly?

The one thing that doesn't fit are the ties. I made them too short (a problem with not knowing anything about the size of babies heads). B is working on a solution to that problem though which I'm sure he will be successful with. Once tied, I think this hat will be perfect and will last through most of the winter!

Anyone looking for a relatively quick, interesting baby hat, I'd highly recommend Pikku-Pete.

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you all have a wonderful day with friends and family. If you aren't, I hope your day is just as wonderful! ;) Back next week with another FO.
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Now playing: Mayhem by Imelda May

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{this moment}

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've been in Alaska for work (more on that later)...I'll be back to the internets soon to catch up with your spaces...and to share some FO's.

Soulemama: {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

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{this moment}

2011-11-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

{this moment}

2011-11-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Your opinion please...

2011-11-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Why is button selection so hard? I never thought I'd put up a post asking for opinions regarding a button but here we are. Which one would you choose? Left, middle, right or keep searching? Okay, apparently blogger thinks it's smarter than me and wants this picture to go vertical so lets change that to top, middle, bottom or keep searching?

If it's not obvious, I've been knitting again. Having needles and yarn in hand has, not surprisingly, proved quite therapeutic. Things are slowly returning to 'the norm' (whatever that may mean) around here. Tea Leaves (the one requiring buttons and a block) has been 'finished' sans one button band since early spring. I'm not quite sure what my mental block on finishing up one button band was but apparently I couldn't spare the hour (actually less) that it took to finish it up. One button band?!? I mean I've been busy but seriously, sometimes I wonder about myself.

Anyway...though it is completely likely that it will take me a month to put said buttons on, block the sweater, and post it here, I'm still pleased it is finished. And if you can believe it, I'm only a sleeve and a half plus seaming/blocking from being done Astor so needles have been a'flying!

Do you have any projects that just need 'a little bit' to finish it up but have been procrastinating for whatever reason?
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Now playing: Gillian by The Waifs
(I've forgotten about this album for far too long...if you haven't checked into The Waifs, I'd urge you to do so)

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{this moment}

2011-10-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

An Understatement...'glad to be home'

2011-10-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hi friends.

Another field season done and I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to be back home.This one was a doozy. The first half of the season went amazingly smooth considering how nightmarish the logistics of this particular study were. Then 'the event' happened and everything just seemed to go downhill from there. The first night after taking the elk back into the field, J had to go to the emergency room when he slipped down a rocky slope carrying the water pump and crushed his finger. I use that word correctly here. Crushed...as in what happens when you take a hammer to a grape. (He's okay...was stitched up and given instructions to keep it clean [HA...HA HA HA] and it has healed albeit with no feeling in the tip of his finger). This was the high point of that final session if you can believe it. Quite telling is my reaction, when, 15 miles from having the elk back safely at the end of the season, something blew into my windshield and shattered it. I couldn't even muster the energy to be angry or upset...instead, the only thought that managed to go through my numb brain was 'How fitting'.

But it's done and I am finally home and recuperating. And beyond what I have written above, I really don't want to relive anything that happened this summer. But, as you can see, I am willing to share just a few pictures I managed to squeeze in between data collection bouts...these are the good memories!

As is typical, it will take me some time to decompress and to get back into the swing of things. I've been home for only 3 days but have already started to cook again (this is important after eating fried egg sandwiches and pasta with canned sauce EVERY DAY for months on end...15 pounds lighter, I'm itching for other tastes!). I haven't yet picked up my needles but hope the desire to knit returns soon. And while I've been 'pinning' away some recipes since I'm even more food obsessed than normal (see note above!), I haven't been able to face blogs yet.

So I'm asking for your help. For the sake of my sanity, I need to 'mark as read' all blog posts so that reentry into blogland isn't quite so overwhelming. But I also don't want to miss all the craftiness, the thoughts, the activities of you all over the past 5 months or so. I would love if each of you posted a link or two (or more if you've been busy!) in the comments to blog posts you want me to read. Either a project you are especially proud of completing, a post that you think will speak to me either with the words or the pictures, or a vacation/outing that you think I'd enjoy reading about. I'll make a point to visit each of those and then I'll be starting afresh.

_____

Now playing: Say Goodbye by Girlyman

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The Therapeutic Nature of Yarn

2011-08-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had promised a post of field pictures and stories but I can't keep that promise. Here's the thing...last week, what I fear the most relative to field work happened. I can't share more than that right now (or possibly ever)...having this event happen traumatized me in ways I can't explain and left me non-functional for a number of days. I'm slowly coming out of my hole but I just don't feel like sharing anything regarding field work right now...not even the positives. I'm leaving for the woods again shortly and all my energy is going into not panicking about that.

So instead, how about a story about some yarn...and the ways yarn and a cool pattern have helped ease the panic/pain a bit this week?

I am not a birthday person. For longer than a decade, I've been in the field for my birthday working 16-18 hours on the day and it has passed without much in the way of hoopla. I get a phone call on my cell from my parents (and a gift when I'm back out of the woods to get it)...J acknowledges it if we are in the same place...and I get a couple gifts/cards from my closest friends. This is enough for me. Thing is...this traumatic event, it happened on my birthday. And while it is normally just another day for me, I felt maybe an extra punch because of that. And fear I will forever associate my birthday with this event.

Where does yarn come into the story? The day before, I got an email from Knit Purl offering 15% off a single order during your birthday month. I deleted it because I'm not knitting at the moment and I do not need yarn. Sometimes though, buying yarn, whether I need it or not, is therapeutic. I don't have many consumerism tendencies, but have been known to splurge on yarn from time to time. And in an attempt to help ease some pain, I found that coupon in the 'trash'.

I purchased enough for 2 projects...some malabrigo chunky for Entrechat (rav link), and some tosh dk for Lara (rav link). Impulse buys all the way which is out of character for me. But really, how can you go wrong with malabrigo and madelintosh? When the package arrived (2 days later!!!!), I fell in love with the color of the madelintosh. So when knit night came around earlier this week, though I had planned on simply sitting and chatting since I wasn't sure I could knit, I decided I must get that gorgeous yarn on needles. In 15 minutes, I bought and print the pattern, wound up a skein, grabbed the right needles and took off for Anne's house. Only to find a pattern with 2 pages of charts. Oy. But, the yarn called and so I cast on hoping my brain could figure out how to handle the charts. And found exactly what I needed. I was lost in the pattern, in the feel of yarn and needles again, in the gorgeous color of that yarn...and in the companionship of some amazing friends. For a brief span of time, life was okay again.

Since that night, I've continued to knit in spurts when I've felt panic or sadness threaten to overtake me. I've almost got a completed band and am tickled with this unique pattern. Alas, it won't be finished until I get out of the woods, but that's okay.

Sometimes it needs to be about the process rather than the product.

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Now playing: Nolstalgia by Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo

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Blankets for Birmingham

2011-07-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from the woods for a few days trying desperately to 1) catch up on urgent work stuff left unattended for a couple months and 2) not completely crash cuz I don't have the time. In a couple days, I go back in the field for a week, home again for about 7 days, and then to the woods for the last long field stint of the year. Apologies that I won't have time to catch up with your spaces right now...hopefully before I leave for the last stint but I make no promises until late September!

I'm planning a post with some field pictures and stories but for now I wanted to shoot up some knitting I was able to do before I left for the field...and have since finished up since being home.

Elizabeth at Trailing Yarn put out the knitter call a few months ago to help families in Birmingham Alabama after tornadoes caused a huge amount of disaster and devastation. The request was super easy...8 inch cotton squares knit in any pattern. Elizabeth would collect them all and turn them into blankets for those families needing it the most.

While I wish I had the time to do more, I was able to get 4 done in time to meet her September 1 deadline. Originally I was considering the log cabin pattern but somehow got started on miter squares and became a little bit addicted. So all 4 of mine are the same pattern, but in colors I hope would be considered 'cheerful' by most. There is still a month before the deadline so if you haven't already considered knitting for this cause, please do. You can find all the details in this post.

Thanks Elizabeth for your heart. These will be heading your way as soon as they dry!

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Now playing: Little Fire by Patty Griffin with Emmylou Harris

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Babies...

2011-06-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

No, not those kinds of babies!

These kind:
Okay--let's step back a moment. First, I want to thank you for the encouraging comments on the last post. I wish I had time to reply to each of them but until fall, replying to comments probably won't happen very much. And I'm trying to get around to visiting all your spaces while I'm home these couple days but I may run out of time to get to you all.

Second. So I lied a teensy bit. I wasn't actually 'in the woods' the last month. But I was away from home doing something equally exhausting and stressful (though also fun and cool) and thus while I had access to the internet, I didn't have the time or energy to do more than 'pin' a couple things here and there. If you've been reading for awhile or know much about my work, the research I do with nutritional ecology in ungulates involves a lot of data collection from bottle-raised animals (in other words, very tame such that we can get close enough to watch what they eat etc). Most of you know 'the girls' by now, but I also raised 30 caribou for this type of research 2 years ago while in Fairbanks, Alaska. At the time, we were restricted from sharing pictures or verbiage relative to the project so I haven't talked much about that experience (but I'll sneak in one of my favorite pictures...Mona giving me caribou kisses...so you can see one of the cuties).

This year, I've been raising 15 black-tailed deer fawns for nutritional ecology research to begin understanding why these populations are declining across the Pacific Northwest. No such restriction exists for this project and so I figured I would share a few pictures of our little girls (and boys...we need a couple to breed). We got all but 2 of our animals from rehabbers...folks pick up fawns thinking they have been abandoned or something happens that they do actually get separated from mom...rehabbers get them and while they can return some to the wild when they are old enough, it doesn't always work and thus our use for these animals is just as noble in my opinion. It takes a lot of work to tame them down enough for the type of work we do but so far, all but 2 of the fawns are pretty tame kids. One of these was 2 weeks old when a dog chased her and her twin (killing the twin) away from the mom. The rehab place was too busy to work with her and so to feed her, they jammed a tube down her throat 5 times a day. I got her after 4 days of that and worked for only 1.5 hours before she'd take a bottle from me. Which makes me very angry at that particular rehab place. But I digress. Trying to tame a wild animal that has been suckling from mom more than 4 or 5 days old is pretty hard...and she'd been on mom for 2 weeks and her first few days exposed to humans was not exactly pleasant. She's so much better than when we first got her but still pretty timid.

Now--a couple things to note as you look at these pictures. First, these little guys move constantly, especially when we are in the pen with them. So taking pictures is quite hard. I got some decent ones but often I miss the focus since I have 1 second to get it before they move again! But you still get the cuteness! Second, regulation dictates that we have to put in ear-tags...and big ones that can be seen from far away at that. I hate it but it's the way it goes. We had a learning curve with some folks learning how to do this, so placement is a little wonky on some.

Little Sara Sarah (or Sara(h) or sarah 'squared')

Quincy -- one of the boys...and you can just see his orneriness can't you!

Madrone -- our second youngest...still quite shy

Xena -- our youngest. We call her Xena the Warrior Princess because she is fearless.

Mayah -- same animal as the picture at the top of the post...a couple weeks older...very 'deer' in the face

Dora -- another beauty and such a sweet animal

Dora has the coordination down.

Sweet, sweet Gail -- probably our best personality

Gail again

And again...I love this photo..typically hate fences in shots but this one is cool...almost portrait like

Sara(h) again after a fun romp in the play area! She's a happy deer!

Daffodil and Mayah pre ear-tags...and trying to get some sleep!

Me getting snuggles from Sara(h) -- which actually means she is giving me deer hickies on the neck hoping milk will come out of it...very needy children.

I hope you enjoyed...Now off to the woods where poison oak apparently awaits me. Two technicians have had to go to the hospital already for steroid shots they are reacting so badly. And so it begins...
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Now playing: 99 Problems by Hugo

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Changes

2011-05-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking that I need to put up a post explaining that my online presence both in this space and yours will be greatly reduced and pretty sporadic over the next 4-5 months because of field work. But then I realized that it has been pretty minimal and sporadic the past couple of months as is! So maybe not much will really change from your perspective....although there will be months that you'll see no evidence of me online at all.

For about 8 years, I worked on projects that put me in the woods for 6-8 months at a time. I lived out there, coming in town for a few hours to shower, grab some more groceries, and check email once every 10 days to 2 weeks on average. And while I've still done some of the same work the past few years, it's been since 2006 that I've done it for any extended duration (more than a couple weeks at a time). In March, I found out that we got funding for 3 new projects which require those intense, extreme field seasons again. So starting here very soon, that is my future for the next 5-7 years...this year I'll be in SW Oregon working with elk, next year in western Washington working with black-tailed deer, and beyond that, if all goes according to plan, in Canada working with caribou.

What this means for blogging, I'm not sure. I will continue to maintain this space for the time being but posts for at least a few months may be more geared toward work since crafting time will be non-existent while in the field...unless I can sneak in some knitting out there (but I doubt many will complain if I post more animal pictures!). This year, because of my commitment to other ongoing projects, I'll be back and forth more than other years and will have a chance to post maybe once a month over the summer. Next year and beyond, I'll be dropping off the face of the earth for months on end and at that point, it may not make any sense to try and keep up this space. We'll just see how it goes...who knows, maybe we'll spring for some gadget that will allow us web access wherever we can get cell phone coverage? ;) I never thought we'd resort to that but sometimes one needs to change with the times I guess.

Being in the field this year and next was fairly unexpected...without these grants though, my husband and I would have both been out of a job. So that's a positive. And I do enjoy the work and being outside all summer rather than stuck doing analysis and writing on the computer. But it's also very stressful, very intense, with no days off (or really even hours) for months on end, and just plain exhausting. Often it'll take me weeks to recover when I return in the fall.

I'm now in acceptance mode which means that I'm just focused on figuring out how to get all the work done and make the projects successful, rather than focusing on the negatives of this type of project and lifestyle. I'll be honest and say it took me a bit to get there since I thought I had 2 more years at home. So I'm trying to find positives each day rather than just focusing on the negative...which is sometimes so much easier.

So a positive for today...despite torrential downpours and more snow and cold temperatures, spring is definitely here. The tulips are out, deciduous trees are leafing out and blooming, the wild elk are in evidence almost every morning in the flats above town where they tend to calve...it's a magical time of year is it not?

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Now playing: I Should Go/Thinking of You by Good Old War

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FO: Elijah for Tadpole

2011-04-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Normally I don't put up posts for gifted items until they are safely in the hands of the recipient. But in this case, though it may surprise her it actually got done, Rue knew it was coming...eventually. Now comes the hard part...packing up this cute little guy and sending it to her rather than keeping it for myself! No, really, I will...tomorrow. So be on the lookout Rue.

When I found out Rue was pregnant, I knew I wanted to knit 'Tadpole' a little something. Deciding on a green Elijah was a no-brainer. Green is Rue's favorite color (as well as one of mine), elephants are one of my favorite animals, toys aren't grown out of near as fast as clothes (and thus can be gifted months late and will still 'fit'...which truth be known is the main reason I love them). And geesh...I'm not sure Rue can fit any more hand-knits on little Tadpole anyway...so the only thing missing in that picture? A knitted toy. Check!

This is my second Elijah and I know there will be at least one more if not two. I can't say I enjoy knitting these toys...oh, it's fine until you get to the front legs and the ears. Then it's a freakin' bloodbath...needles going every different direction stabbing the poor elephant in the most inappropriate places! And then there was that day where all that 'intuitiveness in my knitting' failed me and I knit the first ear upside down. Um yeah...wasn't feeling the love on that day. But it truly is a genius design with no seaming and the end result is just the cutest thing. My Elijah is fairy small due to the yarn and needle combination I use (about 9.5 inches standing), but it seems the perfect size for a wee little one. More deets on Ravelry.

One day I will try some of Ysolda's other toys...Otto and Sophie in particular! In the meantime...I hope little Rowan 'Tadpole' Tinks and Frogs enjoys her Elijah!

Spring is finally coming to NE Oregon. Though these pictures were taken in between snow showers, some flowers are brave enough to show their beautiful faces this early!
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Now playing: Keep on Tryin' by Poco

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Something to consider...

2011-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it seems daunting just how many organizations/countries/people need financial help from folks like you and me. And because we can't donate to them all, we have to make our own personal decisions about where to offer up the resources that we have.

Cancer, in all its many forms, has impacted and continues to impact my husband and I as more and more family and friends are diagnosed with this terrible disease each year. Some have survived its attack, others have not. And so each year I make a donation in their names because though it seems wholly inadequate, it is at least one thing I can do...and because it is heart-breaking to me that the list for whom I donate gets longer each time I make it.

There are many ways/places to make donations, but for me, making that donation to help a friend in her quest to promote awareness and raise much needed dollars for breast-cancer research seems a no brainer. The completely amazing Melissa of knitting sandwich fame will walk 60 miles again this year to raise money for breast cancer research. If breast cancer (or any form of cancer) has affected your life in any way, I'd ask you to consider sending a donation her way. If just donating to a great cause isn't enough, she is also offering 3 beautiful skeins of Malabrigo to a lucky donor. You can find the information here...and there are still a couple days left for a chance to win.

If you are already stretched for the dollar this month, consider purchasing her 'breast coaster' crochet pattern where ALL proceeds go to the susan g. komen breast cancer 3-day. Or, if other organizations take priority for your resources this year, maybe just head over to her training site and offer some encouragement as she trains for this grueling commitment.

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Knitting, Stress, and Enablers

2011-04-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

Alternative title: FO: Tetsubou

I knit a hat. And I love it.

It could be left as simply as that. But this hat has a story. A story of family, of gifts, of stress, of blog friends who are 'horrible' enablers (and oh how I love you for it!)...

My brother has a knack for picking up amazing yarn for me. He never goes overboard and will usually just get a skein or two here and there. But always they are beautiful colors and good quality. My brother and I are quite opposite in personalities...he is personable, social, and outgoing...while I am...well, the opposite. So despite knowing nothing of knitting, I can see him at ease in a yarn store, browsing for colors, and relying on employees to make sure the skeins he likes are good quality and have enough yardage to make something small. It's always a pleasure seeing what he has chosen. And he didn't disappoint with his latest gift.

Two, 2 ounce skeins of 100 percent wool, hand-dyed Lopez Island fiber. He bought it for the color. Wouldn't you? I, too, fell in love with the color almost immediately, but wasn't quite as taken with the texture. I think it is sport weight but too rough for socks...so my mind starting thinking of other options for 360 yards. When I made up my knitting basket this January, the wound skeins were placed in there in anticipation of becoming Larch, designed by the talented knitter, Rue. But I was never quite comfortable with that decision...the color would have been perfect but I still feared the texture of the yarn for anything around the neck.

Then a month or so ago, Sarah posted the start of a project and asked her readers to guess what it may be. I guessed correctly because the design feature (a double hem) is fairly unique and I had fallen in love with the project as soon as I saw it first posted...but with limited time and way too many other things on the needles, I had refrained from buying the pattern. Then she selected me to win a copy of the pattern. Which meant I had to cast on the darn thing, right? Thanks for enabling me Sarah (and see her beautiful version here)! However, pattern in hand, I was at a loss what skein from my stash to use. And then it finally dawned on me the perfect use for at least one of the gifted skeins...the rough texture of the yarn seemed to fit the unique style of Tetsubou perfectly. And I can tolerate a little bit of 'rough' around my head more than I can around my neck or on my feet.

In a fit of stress the weekend before my defense, I cast on and finished it in just over 2 days. I could knit and think about how to prepare my defense presentation.

Despite the double hem giving me fits (and it is far from perfect), I love this hat. It is very much 'my style'. The texture and thus 'slouchiness' is a bit different than Kirsten's version...and of course I'll never look as cool as she does, but it's a comfy, unique hat that I know I'll wear often. And maybe more importantly, I will always associate the stress and subsequent joy of defending my dissertation with this hat...weaving our lives into our knits. More details on Ravelry.

Now I just need to find a perfect use for the second skein!

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Now Playing: Box of Cedars by Marissa Nader

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Doctorate?

2011-04-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Check!

(well, after incorporating a few minor edits that won't take more than a couple hours)

Thanks so much for all your support!! More on that later but for now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go crash for the rest of the day...and most likely tomorrow!

Back soon with a completed hat. It's funny how certain types of stress will cause me to put down my needles for months on end while other types make me knit frantically on a hat (which I finished in two days when I should have been working on my presentation!).

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FO: Japanese Vines

2011-03-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Is this really my first finished object post of the year. Finally right?

Since I last posted, I turned my dissertation over to my committee members and to all my co-authors, have gone through all the hoops required for the graduate school pre-defense, have gotten a very good start to my presentation slides, and have filled all the positions for our summer field season (quite possibly the part of my job I hate the most...hiring technicians!). That may sound like I'm bragging and maybe I am a little bit. But mostly just stating it as fact to show that after accomplishing so much I've finally been able to take a few hours off here and there to do something enjoyable. So yesterday and today I allowed myself time to block, photograph, and blog this scarf that I finished knitting more than a month ago.

This is Japanese Vines by Michelle Molis...after Rogue, probably the second pattern that I queued upon joining Ravelry back in 2007.

I had a false start with this project once before. There are a couple unclear details in the pattern instructions that wouldn't have caused problems for knitters with more experience, but I just wasn't able to make it work at that time. So I set it aside for a couple years, worked on other things and when I picked it back up last year, found that I could figure out the unclear details quite easily. As a tangent...I'm sure you've seen postings this week following along the knit and crochet blog week...yesterday's topic was something along the lines of 'what have you learned this past year'. Kate's post made me realize that while I may not be able to pick out a specific skill if asked that question, I feel like I learn and grow a little bit every stitch I knit. And this scarf proves that I think. Nothing changed in the pattern and I didn't pick up some skill the past year that allowed me to knit the scarf successfully this time, but my knitting is becoming more and more intuitive the longer I knit. This allowed me to figure out those details, which in reality, weren't that difficult.

The verdict? I really love this scarf and the pattern. It was a pleasure to knit. The lace pattern wasn't challenging, but it kept my attention repeat after repeat and I looked forward to working on it. I don't say that about many scarves! Now comes the challenge...learning how to incorporate things like this into a wardrobe that is quite unsophisticated (that's an understatement!). Little by little I'm learning. See more project details on Ravelry.

I'm also happy to report that after going almost 6 weeks without knitting more than about an hour, I am feeling the itch return little by little. I'm 36 rows from finishing the sleeves of Tea Leaves leaving only the button bands and buttons. Of course, it may still take me weeks to finish that up considering there is that pesky defense coming up...but then again, maybe not.

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Now playing: Something in the Water by Brooke Fraser

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Um. Yeah.

2011-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I must admit when I get out of the rhythm of blogging 'regularly' and reading blogs to find out what you are all up to, I feel like something is missing. My 'excuse'? I'm making a big push to defend this semester...nuff said. I hope I can soon catch up with blog reading and commenting since I've neglected it the past 2-3 weeks. But I can make no promises until after April 7...defense day. So bear with me a bit longer. And as usual, some pretty elk pictures to distract you.

I spent the last week in Wyoming on a capture...winter has not released it's hold on Wyoming yet let me tell you. For parts I was trudging around in thigh-high snow with wind chills well below zero. I must admit though that life is different in Wyoming. We had a couple sunny days and by about noon, though it was only mid-20's, the sun made it feel ridiculously warm...I feel cold easily and even I was stripping down to only a thin long-john shirt. In the wetter northwest climate, I'd be bundled up with 4 layers and still shivering at those temperatures.

This capture effort was fairly unique...we were working out of the Pinedale area and were doing a mix of feed-site captures and winter range captures. For the former, darting off a hay sled, and for the latter, using a helicopter. If you know that area, this may not surprise you, but Wyoming feeds hay to 25,000 elk in the winter. I can't even wrap my brain around that. A third of these animals are fed on the National Elk Refuge site at Jackson...which was initiated in the early 1900's. Since then, feeding has grown to more and more sites mostly because of political reasons (prevent starvation, keep elk off agriculture areas, and most importantly to prevent inter-mingling of elk and cattle since there is a high prevalence of brucellosis among elk in the state) and the state spends 1.4 million annually on hay to feed these animals. Once one starts these feeding programs, it is hard to turn back. Anyway, we were working with a graduate student doing some comparisons.

In order to access anything this time of year, the targeted feed-sites included, one must snowmobile. Our first ride, bright and early Saturday morning was a 60 mile round trip ride through some beautiful country but also fairly rugged. Oh yeah, it was about 10 degrees when we started which is warm for this time of year apparently (I didn't get cold amazingly enough even with my helmet visor up since it was so scratched I couldn't see anything out of it down but the grad student got frost-bite on her face)! I've not been on snow mobiles much and after spending hours and hours on one this past week I have to say I still don't see the attraction. So much noise, so many fumes...sure they may be fun, but I'd like to see the country the old fashion way...quiet, fresh air, and without an engine.

Once to the sites though, we are ferried around in a way that I can appreciate. Each site has a pair or two of draft horses that pull the sled around for feeding. Beautiful animals.

Back in a bit...

Oh--if you want to see something pretty cool...check out the following two live cams. One is on a bald eagle who just hatched one of her eggs and the other is on a pair of barn owls with a number of white snowball, cute babies!

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Now playing: Tangled Up in Blue by Mary Lee's Corvette

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February?

2011-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of February. How did that happen? Hmmm...must remember my word for the year so March doesn't rush past without notice as well. Although I suppose when one is writing a dissertation, one should expect that.

Mom and daughter visiting our backyard last week.

I figured I'd sneak in a quick post while I take a short break from the mind-numbing thing that is discussion writing and offer some food/cooking links for the recipes I tried this past month that I thought were excellent. And then give a short update on how I did with our January/February crafting challenge...which just so happened to be knitting. I ran out of time to do my photo challenge but I'm hoping to go out later this week or this weekend and consider that still February!

First, the links...all I'd highly recommend:

Pork with paprika, mushrooms, and sour cream ... I served this over some brown rice with veggies piled on the side and it was amazing
Lemon Sponge Pudding ... there is something about eating lemon in the winter that makes life feel brighter
PW The Mushroom Soup ... VERY good, VERY rich, and VERY decadent...I exercised 1.5 hours a day each day I ate this soup so as not to feel guilty eating it but it was worth it!
Jalapeno Butter Shrimp ... for such a simple dish (I didn't add the optional wine or lemon/lime), we were surprised by just how good this was. Served with some veggies and home-made applesauce from our own apples, it was perfect.

As for our knitting challenge, my goals were ambitious given the work commitments and the field stints I had planned for the last two months...but I knew that going in. So I didn't accomplish as much as I want (typical), but I found that even if ambitious, these goals focused me and I did enjoy working on the projects.

In particular, I had wanted to finish Tea Leaves and White Russian. I definitely focused my knitting on those projects and you can see how much I did accomplish...before and after pictures.

I have one sleeve and button bands left on Tea Leaves and about 6 more inches of the body and 1 sleeve left to do on White Russian. Maybe I'll wrap those up in March...maybe.

I also wanted to cast on Astor. Which I did and have made it about halfway up the back (this picture is not current). My mom and I are doing a knit-a-long for this project. She got me the yarn and pattern as a Xmas present and bought the same for herself. I've had to stop myself from working on it because it's so fast that I'd love it as an instant gratification knit right now. I'll definitely be working on it when the other two sweaters are off the needles.

And I wanted to buy the yarn and cast on my mom's birthday socks. I did finally settle on a yarn. It's one I haven't worked with yet but seems to get high reviews from Ravelry users...Cascade Heritage Sock in dark plum (Color chosen by mom). I actually can't wait to try knitting with it because it seems very soft in the skein. These are destined to be Denature once I get brave enough (or have the mental clarity) to face all the charts used in this sock..so they haven't been cast on yet!

Finally I wanted to make progress and possibly finish my Japanese Vines Scarf. While I didn't finish it (only 3 repeats left), I did make substantial progress on it and am very pleased with this scarf. Can't wait to get it finished and blocked.

Those are all the positives...but it wouldn't be complete without also mentioning the goals that I didn't get to: cast on a colorwork project (picked a small project but haven't cast on yet...need my needles from Tea Leaves to do that) and I wanted to knit Elijah for Rue (well, actually it will be for 'tadpole') who is about to have her baby any day now (didn't do but still on the horizon...which is why I always choose toys for baby knitting...I am ALWAYS late and I know they won't outgrow it anytime soon).

Though we switched to a new craft for the next two months, I'll definitely still be knitting away on these projects and hope to have some FO posts coming over the next several weeks. Next up? Drawing. A separate post on that one later this week or next.

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Now playing: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

I dare you to listen to this and not tap your foot, move your head, or just smile. It's making today feel better than it is.

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The Addictive Nature of Pillowcases

2011-02-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

I've been in Montana this week doing elk work (and before you ask, I walked out of the house without my camera...can you tell I have too many things on my list!) and will be in the field next week as well so catching up with comment replies and your spaces may take me a week or two. In the meantime, I've had this post written and ready to go for awhile now...was waiting until the gift was received and then I got all carried away with posting my challenges so forgot about it until now.
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Last summer, a package showed up at my house containing a set of pillowcases that my mom had made for me. At first, the OCD part of me that is quite near and dear (albeit obnoxious) was concerned because they wouldn't match anything and now I'd have to go buy a set of plain sheets to match. Reality took over at that point when it dawned on me that nothing in this house matches so why should my pillowcases. Besides, they are so pretty and fun! See? (sorry mom, didn't feel the urge to iron them before taking pictures!)

Onto the bed they went. Since then, mom has gotten just a tad bit addicted to making these and told me I'd be getting more around the holidays. I requested some flannel ones since we have no heat in our bedroom and flannel sheets are a must from about October through May! So I got these before the holidays...

and then these just recently.

A few months after receiving that first set and embracing how cool they were, I saw a camera fabric that I simply had to have on Jacey's blog when she made these awesome pillows. I bought some with the intent of making a set of pillowcases for a friend's Xmas gift and a set for myself. Of course I waited until Xmas when mom could 'help' me (this time it was more mom doing than helping but that's just a technicality!). I learned a few things during this process:

1. It's hard to buy matching fabric online unless it's in the same 'line'. Matching colors on a screen is basically impossible. We have one decent fabric store left in town and it's part of a hot tub shop so that tells you a little something...I was starting to get a little stressed come late December trying to find matching fabric that wasn't so busy it would blow away the main fabric! I need to remember these facts in the future when I buy fabric online.
2. The camera fabric was pretty thick and made sewing it together with the thinner quilting fabric rather tedious...matching weights was something I hadn't considered before.
3. I didn't realize that lines on fabric most likely aren't straight. Using this fabric, I had to embrace the imperfections and accept that the lines would never match on the seams. This was hard for me.
4. Pillowcases are fun to put together. The directions mom had used this nifty rolling trick where you do some pinning and some rolling but only sew 3 lines and it turns into a pillowcase with no selvage visible on the outside or the inside. I personally think they make cool, fun gifts, are quick to make once you get into the groove of it, and the fabric possibilities are endless.

The result of all this learning? A set for my friend which matches her bedroom colors/themes.

And a set for me (which matches nothing).

They were well received and I'm already making plans for more in the future!

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Now playing: Once in Awhile by Kasey Chambers

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Mmmmm....bread

2011-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

On a roll with posting about these challenges...we'll see if I can actually keep this up over the year. Good thing I never really considered this solely a knitting blog! (although I am knitting frantically on White Russian whenever I can take a break [and also will be taking Tea Leaves with me on a couple field stints with long drives the next two weeks...long stockinette sections will be perfect] so knitting posts will come back soon!).

I love to cook but so often find myself in a rut cooking only the same things each week. You know the dishes...the ones you have practically (or actually) memorized because you make them so often. As I'm sure you'll understand, I do this out of convenience, time constraints, and in some ways, cost. Yet I have a full shelf and a half of cookbooks as well as binders full of recipes I've printed off from food blogs...I either needed to start using them or quit buying cookbooks and printing off recipes! So another challenge is to make a few new recipes each month following a few 'guidelines'. First was to try and pick at least some recipes from cookbooks I own but rarely use or from recipes online that I've already printed off and filed. Second was to focus on recipes that use things I've canned or frozen or 'in-season' veggies. Third, was to challenge myself...a recurring theme in all these posts.

In cooking (among other things), I have certain fears and sometimes these drive what I will attempt and what I won't. These fears are a bit nonsensical because most of what I try, I figure out and have pleasing results. An example is bread. Now, I can and do bake bread but I've only done a few kinds so far...a wheat bread recipe from my mom (which is kneaded and has several rises), and several of the no-knead recipes popular across the internets. But some breads can be tricky so I haven't experimented much beyond that. For Christmas, my mom got me The Breadmaker's Apprentice. I'd love to bake every bread in there so getting this book was a kick in the pants. I won't make a new bread each month or I'd weigh twice what I do now (I LOVE bread), but probably at least every other month. How much I document the results of my cooking challenge for the blog depends, but I would like to post some commentary on whatever recipes I choose just because of the perceived challenge of making them.

This month I chose the potato rosemary bread because it was fairly simple and I knew it would be delicious (and I have a rosemary plant potted inside that was in dire need of some trimming!). It's a 2-day bread where you make a biga on the first day and refrigerate it overnight and then make the bread the second day. Somewhat time-consuming but mostly it's just waiting for all the rises. I did notice I need to get better at turning the dough into a boule...these loaves are a little flatter than shown in the book.

The verdict? Oh my. Don't get me wrong...I love no-knead bread and think it's great for making up loaves effortlessly to go with soup or to top with butter and jam. But the breads in this book...they are the kind that you just sit and dip in olive oil just for the sheer pleasure of eating them. I savored 2 slices right from the oven and then we had some with soup for dinner. The rest of that loaf was eaten the next day. The recipe makes 2 loaves and I had to wrap and freeze the second as soon as it cooled for fear I'd consume it in one sitting.

My other new recipes for January? Huckleberry Creme Brulee (um, seriously, seriously good and also challenging because it was the first time I cooked a true custard baked in a water bath), Tortellini Soup (quick and easy for a weeknight meal and so yum with garden canned tomatoes!), Soprassata Panini (I won a panini grill several years ago and have never used it (!)...I challenged myself to dig it out and start making paninis...this was the first and it's delicious with home-made pesto and fresh mozzarella!), Chicken Tortilla Soup from this cookbook, Penne a la Betsy, and Garlic and Kale Soup (the only one that was pretty 'meh'...not bad exactly but not near as flavorful as I hoped especially using home-grown kale and garlic).

What do you do to challenge yourself in the kitchen?

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Now Playing: Fearless by Cyndi Lauper

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January Photo Walk

2011-01-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, our crafting (/enjoyment) challenge for 2011 has a variety of components...photography being one. I needed to come up with something which would help me take time to pick up the camera for the sole purpose of enjoying the process of taking photos (an aspect of being deliberate) at least once a month but would also challenge me. I knew it couldn't be anything major giving all the time constraints I have with my job etc...otherwise I would be setting myself up for failure from the start.

I remembered how much I loved taking my photo walk last fall...where for at least an hour I restricted myself to only a few blocks and tried to find interesting and unique things to take photos of...and I had my monthly challenge. I live in a rural town so can still get nature shots even with restricting myself in that way, but for the most part, it forces me to look at and photograph things I may not typically notice.

For January, I'm getting it in just under the wire. I took off on foot yesterday with a particular location in mind to spend my hour. Except I never made it there...I found so many things along the way I only got about 6 blocks from my house. THAT's what I love about this challenge. I had so much fun finding these splashes of color amongst all the winter grays and browns (both the plastic flowers and the brightly colored birdhouses made me laugh out loud!). I've included some of my favorites in this post...

if you are interested in more of the images I took, take a look at my flickr set. Look for similar posts each month.

Oh, and for a couple blocks, I picked up a friend to keep me company...

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Now playing: Lonely are the Free by Steve Earle

(I wish I could find this tune to download legally...for now listening to it on youtube. I heard it on Leaves of Grass...a Tim Blake Nelson film (hilarious and smart movie though probably not for everyone!))

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The New Year...A little late.

2011-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

Sick of reading new year resolution posts? Don't worry, this really isn't one of them. But I didn't want to get too far into the new year without publicly declaring at least a few of the goals and challenges I have considered for this year.

Following the example of many of you, I picked a word for the year to focus on (I know this started somewhere specific on the web, but I'm too lazy to find it to link to it). Last year I chose 'positive' with the hopes that I would quit focusing on all the bad, all the problems...and instead focus on what is good. I wasn't exactly successful so almost chose that word again. Until I read Carrie K's word...Deliberate. And immediately knew I would steal it.

Deliberate: Done with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects... Unhurried in action, movement, or manner.

I have no concept of time anymore...the days, the week, the years fly by often without so much as a notice from me until one day I bring my head up from under the piles of work and months have passed, we are in a new season, and I haven't even been aware. Deliberate says to me...take time to not only focus on each and every moment, but enjoy what those moments bring. If you take that a step further, it says focus on the things that you enjoy.

With that in mind, I started a 'challenge' of sorts with a friend of mine. We are queens of being too ambitious given the realities of our work/life situations. So this year we worked hard to come up with something truly manageable but would allow us to focus on things we enjoy. Parts are as simple as fixing a few new recipes each month and sharing them with the other and parts (like some of our crafting goals) are a bit more challenging. In general, the challenges revolve around health, crafting, photography, and cooking and change monthly or every two months to try to keep things from going stagnate and to allow those things we both enjoy, but have let fall by the wayside to varying degrees, be brought back into the rotation. If all goes as planned, I hope to be posting some of these challenges throughout the year.

In terms of crafting, January and February were our knitting months (don't worry, this doesn't mean I won't knit the other months but the full focus was on knitting this month and next). One of the challenges I put forth to myself was to take a beautiful hand-made basket I received from a friend for Xmas and fill it until overflowing with yarn I plan to knit up this year. This achieved a couple goals. First, while I tend to not want to be so rigid in my knitting plans (meaning planning a years worth of knitting in January!), I have a lot of large projects on the needles right now and I want to focus on finishing them all up this year. Winding all the yarn for each of these plus a few small projects that will be cast on along the way (for some reason I dread winding yarn and procrastinate sometimes to the detriment of a project), puts everything in one place and pushes me to focus each and every day on those projects and not dream of others. I deliberately chose each of these projects and each of these yarns and I want to make sure I enjoy the process of working on them throughout this year rather than daydreaming about projects I haven't started and yarn I don't have.

The rest of my knitting goals for these two months...well, you'll just have to wait and see them as I meet the challenges! ;)

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Now playing: Leader of the Band by Dan Fogelberg

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Wait...

2011-01-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure it wasn't one of my 2011 goals to post less than 2010!

Remember that mad scramble to get everything done by the end of the year...you know, that completely unrealistic expectation of mine to have some of these huge work projects completed at the end of the year. Well, the mad scramble continues. I've just been swamped with work and ignoring pretty much everything else (making good progress so there is that). I hope to take some time out soon to post at the very least about some knitting/crafting goals and challenges for this year...and it would be great if that post came during the first month of the year rather than the fourth or fifth or...

But not yet. Until then, I'll distract you with some pretty pictures. Up until last week, we were having a pretty harsh winter which means deer and elk are pushed down in elevation and you see a lot more of them. These 'mulie' shots were taken before 'the big melt' (where we got about an inch of rain in a 24 hour period over the 1.5-2 feet of snow already on the ground...and then a couple days of mid-50's temperatures....rivers overflowith and everything is a mess!).

To make the post a tad bit more interesting, a challenge. How may pairs of ears can you count in this picture? ;) Click to embiggen.

Back soon with crafting content.

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Now playing: A Place Aside by Beth Orton

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The Last of Them

2010-12-31T13:48:00.000-08:00

It seems fitting to end the year in this space with the very last FOs that I managed to squeak out for holiday gifts (minus one that hasn't yet reached the recipient)!

Probably the gift I most enjoyed doing (despite doing it last minute Christmas Eve and I had neck pain for days because I was so intent on getting it done that I didn't look up for hours), was a relatively simple contact paper cut to decorate a promised gift for J. Every year he buys a yearly planner but doesn't really like the style or setup. So I showed him what I use (a 3-ring 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 binder with day-planner date and notes pages that can be removed and replaced each year) and he asked for one of those. All along I thought of decorating the front but didn't know if I'd get the time before the new year (I've had the same intention for my own the past 3 years and still have not done it!). At the last minute, I grabbed a couple design ideas and cut out some contact paper squares to shove into my bag as I left for WV.

It's not my design I'm sad to say (to get it done, I didn't have time to make my own design) and while I would have preferred an elk over a caribou, the only quick designs I could find of elk were bulls...we don't work with bulls so I didn't think he would like that. So caribou it was. I love how it turned out although it ended up being far more tedious than expected. I did not take my cutting tool home, hoping my mom would have something that would work. All she had was an exacto knife which was quite the pain to use and I had to regroup after only a few cuts and work differently than I normally do. There is still one thing left to do...contact paper does not stick to the plastic of the binder very well and since I know this binder will get abused as he travels, I'm still trying to figure out a way to make it more permanent. My best idea right now is to peel up a number of the pieces (easy to do) and use gorilla glue to stick them back to the binder. Not sure yet if that will work (so if you have any ideas, please shoot them my way!). Anyway--though quite tedious to do with an exacto knife, I say it was the most enjoyable gift because it was a little taste of getting back into some of the other craft areas I enjoy working in. Some of you may have no idea I do anything besides knit, take pictures, and work...I'm hoping this year I can work on some drawings, some gourds, and some paper crafts again. This piece got me excited to try.

The 3 knitted items I managed to get done:
For mom, Kai-mei socks. Though not my first choice for her (those will be a birthday present hopefully and I'll explain why they weren't done in time for Xmas at that point), mom loved the ones I made for myself and I knew I could knit them up in time for the holidays. The yarn is by a local dyer, Sue of Heritage Needlework, and is a gorgeous color. I'm pretty happy with these and amazingly enough, still not tired of the pattern. I find it ingenious and now that I have it memorized, these are a quick, satisfying knit that I'm sure I will do again!

Second, for my good friend, V....Merion Mitts. I've always wanted to knit her some mittens but struggled with what pattern to choose. Earlier this year, when I posted my own Malabrigo Merion Mitts, she responded with high praise for them and thus I knew I had my pattern. After asking color preference (sage) and finger/thumb lengths, I was off and running. I'll say again that I think this is such a beautiful pattern...and though fiddly with cables, bobbles, and twisted stitches, well worth the effort.

And finally, only 2 this year, but the always requested ballbands...one for mom's stocking and one for my brother's partner. I love the ballband but I think 2011 will be about expanding...both in my creative endeavors, but also in my knitting...which means in part trying out some other dishcloth patterns!

And with that, I'll say goodbye to 2010. Happy New Year everyone!
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Now playing: The Shipping News soundtrack

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End of Year Housekeeping

2010-12-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Winners of my giveaway: On the one hand, I love giveaways...on the other hand I hate them because I want all who comment to win. I sincerely wish I could print out enough calendars for everyone since you guys have been so supportive of my photography (and of this little contest!). Alas, this year I can only give away two...maybe next year I'll be able to print off more. So leaving it completely in the 'hands' of the random number generator: Anne, I have your address but CarrieK, shoot me an email with yours and they'll be put in the mail shortly!

I was so impressed to see that many of you already comment on the blogs that inspire you (check out the comments on the contest post to find some very cool online sites across a variety of topics). Kudos to you! I'm better than when I first entered this online community but I'm ashamed to say that there are still many that I read but have neglected to comment on. So as promised, a few sites that often inspire me which will get a comment before the end of the year:

Chookooloonks -- inspiring photography and projects (The Beauty of Different)
Tracey Clark and her I Am Enough series
SouleMama -- just everything about this site
Knitted Bliss -- talented knitted and love her modification Mondays
Days By The Water -- extremely talented knitter/designer/artist
Stash, Knit, Repeat -- extraordinary designer
Baby Cocktails -- another extraordinary designer
Heather Smith Jones -- incredible artist
Shivaya Naturals -- love her writing, lifestyle, ideas, projects
ScratchCraft -- amazing husband/wife knitting team

Current online obsession: Pinterest. Probably considered by most to be yet another online time suck, Maybe, but I think this is an ingenious site. We have such amazing organizational sites for many things...Ravelry for knitting, Goodreads for books, Netflix for movies. But for everything else, I bookmark a site or star a blog post and then these get lost in oblivion because I never have time to go back through all those things. Losing, in my opinion, many inspirational ideas! Pinterest solves this problem. Instead of bookmarking, I can 'Pin It' to a board and have a quick visual reference for later...as the site name implies, a virtual bulletin board! Ingenious I tell you. If others decide to venture into the site, look me up, I'm Rachel C.

Knitting and Crafting: I actually have been knitting in spurts and am almost done with my holiday knitting. But I'm going to wait until after the holidays before I do an FO post. I just don't have the time to give them the proper attention. Besides, photographs with the items on the recipients is better no? ;) Otherwise, despite how much I wanted to finish White Russian and Tea Leaves before the holidays, I made no progress the past 2 months. Look for them during January though!

Fieldwork: Finally, I figured I'd share a few photos from some of the fieldwork this month. I was in Colorado for a couple trips working with mule deer but amazingly enough didn't take my camera. So more elk shots from the final year of a study in central Washington (we work out of a windmill farm)...and don't let that blue sky fool you...the wind was 'knock you off your feet' wind and bitter cold! Par for the course for this capture!

With all that randomness out of the way, I want to wish everyone a safe, happy holiday season however you may celebrate it. Me, I take a glorious 5 days off with my family in WV each year...I refuse to take any work so it really is a 'holiday' for me. See you in the new year everybody!

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Now playing: Hot Stuff by Diane Summers

A Giveaway is all I can Manage...

2010-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

What is it about this time of year that always makes one feel like there is just no possible way to get everything done? Where each day seems to bring with it a new panic attack? I wish I could blame the holidays but this year I seem to be ignoring that they even exist...only a few things being knit, no decorations, no baking. It's always a busy time of year with fieldwork (I'm gone a good portion of the month) and I guess that's part of it. But I also think that as much as the beginning of a year feels like a fresh start, the end of the year reminds me of deadlines and pushes me to finish things that are hanging over my head (dissertation I'm looking at you). Of course I can never meet those unrealistic goals despite working myself to exhaustion and yet every year I try anyway.

That's an awful long way of saying that like everybody I know, I've been busy and outside of a few trips to Ravelry for sanity reasons, my online time has basically been nonexistent the past few weeks. Unfortunately, it will most likely continue to be that way until after the first of the year. I'll try to catch up with your spaces in spurts here and there over the next couple of weeks but expect my space to be quiet until after the new year.

Except for...

What may become an annual tradition...a chance for two of you to win one of my 'Beauty in Nature' calendars. This seems especially fitting this year since I received so much support on my 'photography intimidation' post...think of this as a thank you (since I have yet to do that individually!).

Here's a mosaic of the pictures included this year...

and if you go back to this post, you'll see some more detail on size and what I use to hang them.

I only want one thing from you to enter and it's very similar to last years request. Think of a blog that you read that inspires you...if you are anything like me, I'm sure you can come up with a long list. Now think about which of those you've never commented on. Maybe you were too intimidated. Maybe that person already has hundreds of followers who comment and so you didn't think one more would be noticed. All I want you to do is share the name of one of these blogs (or more if you are so inclined) in the comments and then go to that site sometime this month and leave a comment letting the author know what it is about their space that inspires you (and while I so appreciate anyone that may include my space in their list of inspiring blogs, I want this to be about others). I'm only asking for the name as a chance to find new inspiring spaces...not to check up on you! I'm all about the honor system here!

I'll leave this post open until midnight PST Monday, December 20th when I'll randomly pick 2 winners. And since I wouldn't ask you to do something that I wouldn't, at that point I'll also include a handful of blogs that inspire me...with the promise that before the beginning of the year, I'll leave a comment in those spaces. Fair is fair!

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Now playing: Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24 (Instrumental) by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Speaking of Photos

2010-11-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

I want to thank you all for the comments on the last post...sharing feelings of intimidation and offering encouragement. I will respond to each of you individually as soon as I can (have some self-imposed dissertation deadlines coming up and online time has been sparse while I work frantically toward them!).

But in the meantime, another photography related post. At some point this year, the company that I work for apparently hired a media specialist. Part of his job description was to go around to different projects and photograph the research, the team, and video-tape some interviews with the main scientists involved in each project. At the time, we weren't in the field for anything in particular, so we just took him up for a very laid-back visit with the girls allowing him to take whatever video/photographs he thought may be appropriate for his project. For me, this was perfect. I spend a lot of time with the girls but normally it's while I'm working with them and I can't carry around a camera...also very rarely do I have 5-6 hours to just sit and 'be' with them. So while I do have photographs (13 years worth!), I don't have a ton of good 'profile' pictures of each elk...and there are a number of elk that I have no pictures of whatsoever.

Before you consider this neglect on my end, understand that photographing the girls is very similar to photographing any other animal that is either curious or just wants to be close to you.

Exhibit A:This is the media specialist trying to get a picture of 'Happy'. Very typical and the resulting picture as you can imagine is highly distorted with a huge elk nose as the only thing in focus!

Exhibit B (click to embiggen):Media specialist again trying to take a picture of someone laying down when Cujo realizes there is something she can sniff and slobber on. So often you get set up for the perfect picture and all of a sudden, half the image is covered by an elk nose whom you weren't paying attention to.

I know these girls well...their expressions, their actions. Let me translate...picture one she is wondering what that big contraption is (by the way, totally not appropriate for anyone other than J and I to be 'kneeling' by the elk...very dangerous...but I was close and watching Cujo carefully for warning signs). Picture two is a battle of wills between Cujo who by god will slobber on the camera and media specialist who is trying not to allow her to do it and naively thinks he can win this war (apparently forgetting she outweighs him by at least 400 pounds). Picture three was snapped the second before I got up to remove Cujo from camera space...her ears and attitude showed that she was going to win and I didn't need a damaged camera or media specialist in the process!

For me, the problem is that they want my attention...so I can run a few paces from them, turn to shoot and I get a blurry shot as they chase after me. What solves this problem is hanging out with them for hours at a time (which I don't get to do unless working)...they get enough adequate attention in the first few that they'll move off and not pay as much attention to me. So 6 hours later, 500+ pictures later (!), I had a blast shooting and now have at least one good shot of every single girl. I've not come close to going through them all, but as I do I'll share a handful here.

A few of my favorites that I've run into so far (and some introductions):

Jingles -- the sweetest animal you will ever meet. And a true pain to get decent photos of since she has to be attached to my hip as much as possible. I absolutely love this shot. I was finally able to get a decent one because she had laid down and I positioned myself behind her...this is her 'why are you this close to me but not actively petting me' look. Which she received immediately after the shot because how can you refuse this face?

Georgia -- less delicate features, less delicate personality (friendly but very cautious)...but this particular photo may be the favorite I took all day composition-wise.

Sammy -- perhaps not displayed in this photo but to me, she is our most beautiful animal...and it's all in her eyes (this is the girl I'm with in my profile picture...the close-up). She's a very cautious animal and typically will only allow me to collect foraging data on her...we have a pretty special bond.

Daisy -- another sweet girl, this image to me captures her perfectly. She's a nervous girl in the field and follows me everywhere until she gets more comfortable with her surroundings.

Chilli -- high-strung (can't you just see it), but highly loyal. She produced wicked crazy female calves year after year when we were breeding (I prayed to the elk gods each year she'd have a male so I could take a break from dealing with her crazy females!).

And finally, my favorite that media specialist dude took...me and my girl Kanga. Kanga is another sweetheart and with a very dark head and mane, just a beautiful animal. Often when I pet her, she'll lay her head on my shoulder and just close her eyes.

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Now playing: Thirteen by Big Star

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