You stay classy, San Diego

I lamented to my copilot a few days ago that I had done no proper knitting or proper knitting blogging for a couple of weeks. He assured me that life had just been busy and equilibrium would soon be restored. I'm still dubious, since life has me on the road yet again.

"Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale's vagina." - Ron Burgundy

As far as conferences for work go, it's hard to complain about visiting the ol' Whale's V. It also meant a good 4 and a half hours of uninterrupted plane knitting time (not to be confused with 'plain knitting time', which I assume would involve garter stitch). I decided to finish up the fingerless test mitts, which I had neglected since only one mitt was required for testing purposes. On the first flight leg, I completed the palm section and was confident that I could finish up the thumb with plenty of time to spare. I was planning to prep the yarn I'm going to use for WifeMomKnitter's shawl knit-a-long (a very free-form affair--choose your own pattern and timeline, and receive encouragement from fellow knitters). After boarding the second flight, I tried the mitt on--wait a minute...why is the thumb-hole sticking out of the palm of the mitt??? I willed the thumb-hole to shift to the correct spot. When that failed, I started willing my thumb to regrow out of the center of my palm. When that didn't work either, I sadly started pulling out the previous couple of hours' work. I don't think the woman next to me was a knitter, but she seemed to sense that a minor tragedy had occurred.

I've always been tempted to knit during conferences. I'm one of those people that tend to be able to focus better when I keep my hands busy, but I'm always afraid that the speaker will find it insulting (though personally I think it's a lot better than people whipping out their laptops during presentations, which happens all the time and seems to be perfectly acceptable). Mystery Wedding Project is a perfect candidate for this kind of thing; it's a 'turn your brain off' type of knitting. Unfortunately, it's starting to get a bit cumbersome in size to keep toting around, and damn it, I wanted to finish those mitts! This is one of the most laid-back conferences I've attended in a while, so I decided to test the waters. I whipped out my dpns and started to business, while trying to make it clear that I was still engaged. And...no one cared. Other that one of the conference organizers happily squealing "Look! She's knitting!" to her seatmate, not a soul even seemed to notice. So I learned some cool new tech stuff, and accomplished a little crafting as well:


I'm modeling it here so you're convinced that I actually made the left one, and am not just trying to pass off the right-hand one again.
Another interesting discovery is that what San Dieg-ans refer to as a 'tall boy' beer is substantially larger than what we midwesterners are used to. I was a bit embarrassed when this arrived for me:

Then on the way back to the hotel I even had an encounter with some wildlife:


Eep! American opposum! Not the cute NZ possum, unfortunately.
The only thing lacking? Actually starting on the shawl-a-long. Does picking out a yarn and pattern count?

GREENS!

Now, I have no intention of turning this into a 'food blog'. There are plenty of those already out there, by people with much more skill and devotion than I have. That being said, I got our first shipment for our farm share today, a.k.a. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and I had to dish. If you haven't heard of it, try searching the internets to see if there are any near you and sign up immediately, because it's flipping awesome. You pay a flat fee up front, and then share in the rewards (and risks) of the farming season. We're sharing ours with another couple, so every other week we get to pick up a box of whatever goodies are in season.

Last year, we definitely encountered the risks of farming. Strange weather persisted all summer (not enough rain/too much rain, extra cool temps) and it showed in the shipments of tiny veggies. Even so, we loved it. We got to try many new things, some that aren't available in most groceries (kohlrabi & celeriac anyone?). There's no way I would have even considered buying Brussels sprouts in the grocery, and I've found that they are my favorite vegetable so far (I can hear about half of you gagging).

But after last year, I was completely surprised by this spectacular bounty:


GREENS AHOY!

I'm just hoping that it won't make my forearms huge like that one guy who likes greens:

More moving related blues

Guys, I only posted once last week. I know. Unfortunately, it's like Mom always says "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." although in this case it was more like "If you don't have anything amusing or useful to say or any amusing or pretty pictures to show, don't clutter the inter-webs with your BS." Duly noted. The past days have been rife with travel/move-out/move-in activities. Those of you faithful readers know that I hate the moving process (even though in this case it was two blocks down the street into a nicer apartment. STILL.).

There has been no knitting to speak of, no technique experimentation, no finished objects unless you count half a pair of mitts (also known as one mitt) whose ends I have yet to weave in. Sweet Jebus, I need to get my priorities straight.

I want to give my parents a shout out (heyyyyyyy!) for being awesome movers this weekend. I brought them up here under the pretense that we were just going to move the big items we couldn't fit in the Outback (Subaru, not the desert in Australia, or the US chain restaurant) and I swear I really did think that's all we were going to move, but the copilot had much higher ambitions. Someone who shall remain nameless told me I'd better not slander her moving work ethic on my blog, which reminded me my favorite quote in response to the accusation of slander:

"It is not! I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel."

But there is no call for either! Thanks so much for the help.

And now, to keep you entertained and oblivious to the fact that I've provided no useful information:

Puppies!

More puppies! And the piece de resistance:

Puppies + 80's Hasselhoff!

Mittz test knitz

There was much enjoyable test knitting this weekend. Feast your eyes upon an almost completed fingerless mitt:

That's some Paca-Peds sock yarn, which as the name alludes, is a mix of alpaca, wool, and nylon. So..flippin'...soft. And the mitt itself was a pleasure; I would classify myself as somewhere between a slow to slug knitting speed, but this knit up in a handful of hours. But, more importantly, how does the hand feel about it?

Oh, good. It approves.

Can we talk for a minute about how Bill Nye (the Science Guy) has been on various news TV stations for the past week explaining the technical details behind the BP oil spill & subsequent clean-up efforts? In case you don't remember (or have never had the pleasure, for which I feel pity) here's a refresher:


He was on most recently describing the idea behind "Top Kill", using a plastic tube, rubber bands, and corn starch dissolved in water. At certain points, the little box at the bottom that identifies the speaker and the topic on all of those news channels literally read: Bill Nye: Science Guy. My knee-jerk reaction was "Really? You couldn't get a real scientist?" (which is not fair, because he is a 'real' scientist as well as an entertainer) but as I watched, I became strangely comforted by his simplified explanations and adorable bow tie. Genius who decided to bring the Science Guy on to explain tragic news: I salute you.

I know you're probably tired of playing Where in the World is AC? (Lord knows I am), but I'll dish anyway. I'm in Berkeley on work duty (hehe I said 'doody') for a couple of days. Walking from the BART (light rail train--one of my WI buddies dubbed it the 'BARF' after a particularly turbulent ride) to my hotel, I was getting all verklempt and reminiscing about the dumbest things: "Aww, there's that Walgreens the copilot and I went to for some IcyHot", "Oh! There's the UPS store that was inexplicably never open even during the hours posted on the door", "That creepy guy is still hanging out in front of the free clinic!". Here's something that was worth remembering, though:

Mmmm. Kingpin Donuts. Only a block away from my hotel. Dangerous. And speaking of the hotel, on my nightstand:

Yes, that is a lamp styled to look like a bong. Glad to be back.

Knitting for winos

I've been working on a super-secret knitting project for the past two weeks or so. The only reason it's been classified as 'super-secret' is that I wasn't entirely sure I was going to be able to pull it off. Nobody wants to puff themselves up only to be deflated later like so many euros. However, I think that I've progressed far enough that success is imminent, so I'm downgrading it's status to 'not-so-secret'. What is this mystery project? Three words: wine bottle carrier.



I can't take credit for the Grapes on the Vine idea: that's courtesy of The Knitter's Bible's stitch library. But, I will claim credit for incorporating two colors (however poorly executed). This was another one of those ideas I had while trying to fall asleep, which tend to be pretty hit or miss. I started out working in the round, because hey, wine bottles are round. That meant that I had to carry along both strands of yarn the whole time. Two colors of yarn, and cabling? I wanted to shoot myself in the face. No one is interested in that kind of a pattern, aside from total masochists. I turned to intarsia, which I had previously never tried.

The Knitter's Bible informed me that intarsia wasn't suitable for working in the round. It took a shamefully long time for me to realize out why. Ohhhhhh, right, each time you come around the color you want it's on the wrong side. Oops. Flat knitting it is. I've made a little circle for the bottom, which is at home. The bottom and the first two inches of the tote used both strands for each stitch, in the hopes that it will beef up the strength. No one wants their wine bottle to end up on the ground after it's ripped through the handknits. Intarsia isn't hard persay, but I think I need to invest in some real bobbins. My jerry-rigged version seemed to unravel a lot and then the strands would get tangled and the work would get mysteriously drop-kicked every now and then.

I'm experimenting with a couple of ways to use color in the grapes. First design:


Second design, more green stems:


What do you think? I'm not sure it's a fair comparison yet, since the second design doesn't have it's main stem yet. I may have to ask for your assessment a second time!

Reporting from an undisclosed location deux

Nah, I'm just screwing with you. I am visiting another national lab, though. If it seems like I've been slutting it out to a lot of user facilities recently...that's because I have. I'm the grad student bicycle--everyone gets a ride. This super secret research facility (that is, if you're unfamiliar with how 'The Google' works) is located in Richland, WA. This is my second time here, and it's just a pleasure to visit. It's a gorgeous location--technically a desert, but definitely a temperate climate, with rolling hills/mountains in the distance (they're on that cusp of height where they could be either).

Richland is large enough to have some good food and fun things to do, but definitely small enough to maintain that 'small town charm'. I mean, the hotel where I'm staying gives you a key. A metal key.

When was the last time you saw that happen? The people at the lab are helpful and friendly, again, it's that small town charm feeling. I could foresee working here on a more permanent basis...

I finished my test knit over the weekend. Check it:

WOW. If I were any paler, I'd be transparent.
I received much praise from the copilot when I donned it for the picture-possibly because it's the first garment I've knit for myself that doesn't fit like a gunny sack or a sausage casing. I'm pumped to wear it. It was also fun to be able to automatically get clarifications and give the designer my feedback. My last tester for the Infinite Cabled Hat is just wrapping up, just waiting for the survey. I've finished all the corrections, now I just need some good photos...this and the layout are the hardest parts for me (if I was a REAL designer, I'd have peeps that I could delegate these things out to). I've already signed up for another test knit; I'm finding I really enjoy having the deadline. Now to find US 2&1/2 needles (I didn't know such a thing even existed).

Speaking of deadlines, still plugging away on the Mystery Wedding Project...SO..MUCH..GARTER STITCH.

Please, do feed the animals!

One can't really be sure what to expect when entering a park claiming to have elk, bison, bears, and other various arguably wild animals...where you are free to feed any of them with bread you can buy at the park. When my copilot suggested a trip to the Olympic Game Farm while we were in Seattle this weekend, I was slightly concerned. It seems like a terrible idea to feed a bear, considering it's entirely possible that human flesh is what they really have a hankering for. But I wanted to tour some of Puget Sound, and did I really need both arms? As long as I held on to the right one, I'd probably be OK.

My copilot, a buddy and I set off for the park on Sunday morning. It was gigantor. You pay your entry fee and they give you some bread and basically set you loose to drive around (with the caveat that you should keep moving around the buffalo in case they decide to, I don't know, tip your car over or chew on it or you or something).

There were peafowl just randomly wandering around every part of the park.


I really wanted to take some of these guys home, so that guests would feel like they were in some sort of surreal, Dali-esque dream whenever they came over. Alas, none of them fit in the trunk.

We went through a group of yaks that were very friendly:


They seemed to enjoy petting and a gentle scratch as much as the food.

"Can I keep him?"

The co-pilot made a friend too:


We sallied onward to the bears. My trepidation was in vain--they were safely behind an electric fence, but you could toss bread to them.



That's right--he's catching bread in his mouth.

They seemed to be as entertained as we were. This one would indicate when he was ready for another toss with a wave of his paw.

We moved on to another section--home to a large herd of European Fallow Deer. These guys and gals were aggressive:


They continued to follow us, poking their head through the window and vying for position. Then the car in front of us encountered the big guys:


Uh oh. There was a lot of girly screaming as the bison approached our car, but I reassured my copilot and buddy that I would protect them. I rolled up the window a tad so we wouldn't get the full monty:


Ewwww. It was all slimy, and it's tongue was practically a prehensile hand. It didn't help that we'd watched part of a Star Wars marathon on FX the night before, and an icky Jabba the Hut tongue was fresh in my mind. It slimed the window. Fortunately it's a rental car.

The last group we encountered were some elk, and by comparison they were polite and refined. It was the first time I'd seen an elk and they were impressively HUGE.


They politely popped their head in, retrieved their snack, then withdrew to chomp on it. Definitely a unique experience! Also, some of the largest piles of poo I've ever seen.

On our way home, we decided to check out a psuedo-famous ice cream place on Bainbridge Island--and Google Maps informed me that right next door was Churchmouse Yarns & Teas. Score. A yarn/tea shop is a 'retirement dream' for myself and another good friend, so I owed it to us to check it out. I'm kicking myself for not taking any photos, but this place was AWESOME. So much high quality and hard to find yarn and literature, and teas to boot.

The staff asked me several times if I was on the yarn tour. I was not, I didn't know that such a thing was going on. Apparently it was the 5th Annual 'Destination Yarn' for the Puget Sound area, where 25 LYS were participating. "Why the hell am I not on this tour??" I was thinking, but soon got my answer: my copilot and buddy navigated the store as awkwardly as if they were in Victoria's Secret with their respective moms. Going to twenty-five yarn shops would probably have made me liable for dude-torture (and would have been hell on my wallet), so it's probably for the best. But here's a sample of the goods:


This one actually has a motivation--I'm going to do a psuedo-Knit-A-Long (KAL) with WifeMomKnitter's Stitch n' Bitch group through Ravelry--so this is what I picked. It's virgin wool, so I could dye it any color, but I kind of like it plain...is that weird?

This is just because I've been told Socks That Rock yarn, well, rocks. It's quite tough to find, so I grabbed some while I had the chance. It's a favorite of the gal that taught me to knit my first sock, so there's gotta be something to that.

Shawl inspiration. I'm a sucker for knitting history.