We should all google hummus three times daily so that we get flagged by the government for suspicious activity. (I know, I know, hummus is a docile chickpea dip, Hamas is the militant anti-Israeli group). I have a hard time with the government wanting access to google’s search records. One million random search terms and web addresses for any specified week in 2005…why? I know I’ve googled some pretty suspicious stuff over the past year just out of curiosity. If I don’t know what something is, I google it. If I’m curious about Hamas, I google it and visit wikipedia. So all curious minds are going to be flagged? Sounds like the new McCarthyism. I suppose curiosity breeds questions, and questions are dangerous in society today. Does it really hurt for us to get more information about certain topics? If we have a so-called “enemy” shouldn’t I be able to learn more about what they are all about? I suppose not. Are terrorists going to be sitting around googling terrorism? Probably not, although I’m sure they could google how to make improvised explosives or where to get the nearest cup of starbucks coffee.
I know this is a knitting blog, but this has been bugging me.
Google Hummus January 26, 2006
Long Day Away January 18, 2006
Wednesdays are my marathon days this semester. Tonight is the first night of classes and I had to be at work early because the Beetle is kaput yet again. This is the umpteenth repair in the last two years. I am getting tired of taking my car to the shop every 6 months. First it was a clutch that literally “fell out” according to the dealer. The it was a brand new compressor, now its a hole in the radiator hose and something about a gasket cap. I haaaaate cars! If I could use public transportation i would be all over it.
So I came into work this morning at 8 and I’m hanging around here until 3, then I have office hours until 5, clients from 5-7, and class from 7-9:45. It is going to be a loooong day! Jered is stuck at work until I come pick him up after class tonight, so his day is equally long, just more boring since he doesn’t get to leave work for over 12 hours.
So I brought along Adamas to try and knit on if I get a free half hour. I am getting close to being done, another 3 repeats and I’ll have it wrapped up. Of course the further along you get, the longer each repeat takes, so…it could be a while!
I am considering joining the Knitter Olympics and challenging myself to finish a pair of socks. Not just one, two whole socks. I don’t know if I can do it. I always get sock ennui. I think I will have to start them both at the same time to keep me from giving up. Any suggestions for a not too frilly pattern?
Specs January 9, 2006
For my brother’s green hat I used the Cable Cap pattern from Stitch and Bitch Nation. The yarn is Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in Lettuce.
Speaking of finished projects. I finished Clapotis a long long time ago (last March, I think!) and I finally blocked it out. This was knit in some wool that I had in my stash. I don’t remember the name exactly, but the color I do remember: raspberry. Not too hard to remember.
It’s a lot longer than it was before blocking:
I’ve been steadily knitting away at Adamas. I got some new wooden circulars that have made it so much easier to knit. I was working on it with my Denise needles, which otherwise are my very favorite needles to knit with. With lace, they just don’t work as great. I kept getting stitches stuck in the joins, and I would have to stop and move stitches back up onto the needle every 20 or so stitches. Not with the new circs! Our Ben Franklin’s here has an awesome needle section. They have just about every circular and double pointed needle size you would ever need.
While I was there, I also picked up a magnet board. It has helped so much. No more squinting to remember what row of the chart I was on.
Just for fun, here are a few more pictures from Christmas:
Here are Jered and Clayton (my little brother) hamming it up for the camera, demonstrating their amazing synchronized eating abillities.
And Floyd striking a pose and looking quite sophisticated on the couch:
Leo! January 6, 2006
My first really nice sweater!And I waited until after we were married to give it to him. Okay, well really it just worked out that way because I took my dear sweet time finishing it up!
Strike a pose:
Now I’m all ready to knit up a sweater for myself. I made Salt Peanuts about a year ago, and it turned out allright, but I want something less heavy and more fitted. I got the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book from Jered for Christmas and I have been thinking about starting the hourglass sweater. It’s knit in the round (always good!) and I really like that it is fitted throughout the body. Now that I’ve finished Leo and took my time seaming it up (and actually learned how to seam, after all these years), I am much more ready to do big projects that require lots of seaming.
Maybe that’s why I’ve fallen in love with lace…no seaming!
I went over to my friend Dani’s house today and taught her to knit.
She is an incredibly fast learner. Her mom knits, and she had learned a long time ago, but had gone to just crocheting until now. She is expecting twins in August and
thought she had better learn to knit now so that she can start cranking
out double blankets, sweaters, booties etc.
Christmas was good to us this year. Before we left for Alabama we had to take the ornaments off the tree, but here is a shot of it in all its glory before it started being deconstructed.
This weekend Jered and I are going to try and go on a bike ride with the new bikes we got for Christmas. We picked them up on Tuesday but haven’t had a chance to ride yet because the weather has been sooo cold and wet out. It is supposed to clear up on Sunday and I’m really hoping it does. I want to break in my new bike. I’ll post pictures if we do get out and ride.
I am looking forward to this weekend, it’s been a little boring being at home without Jered all week.
Christmas Knitting January 5, 2006
I promised pictures of the holiday knitting i did this year, and I still haven’t figured out how to blog directly through Firefox, but here is one of the photos of the cable cap I made for my little brother. He’s 12 and a little picky about what he wears, but lucky for me, this was a quick knit, and he ended up liking it just fine.
I am enjoying my last few days of freedom before I go back to school/work/clients. It is nice to have time to just do what I want. I had a little bit of work to get done, but I finished it up this morning after my morning walk (and sleeping in until 9:30, ahhhh). I have one client tonight and then I am free until Monday when my life officially starts again.
I’ve been working away on Adamas, and it’s coming along really nicely. I will post pictures of that with some action shots of Leo this evening when Jered gets home and shows me how to do multiple photo blogs (blogger acts weird on my Mac).
If you are looking for a good show to watch on tv tonight and you’re into comedy, I would highly recommend The Office. I think it will be on at 9:30. I think its the funniest show on tv right now. I’ll be tuning in.
Orange hair January 3, 2006
So Jered thinks my hair is orange… He took this picture to show me, and I kind of see what he means. It’s funny because my hair doesn’t look like that from the front. Must be all the sun I’ve been getting 
I uploaded all of our holiday photos and the pictures of Leo and the new Cable Cap. I’m trying to figure out blogging directly through firefox, so I’ll post those when I figure it out.
Hiatus January 1, 2006
Okay, that was a loooong break!
So much has happened since I last blogged. Jered’s parents were here for Christmas and we had a really great time spending the holidays with them. My parents live in town so we were able to gather everybody together for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner.
Jered and I got new road bikes for Christmas from his parents. We were really surprised and weren’t expecting the bikes at all! We go and pick them up this Tuesday, I will be sure to post pictures of them once we have them. We’re planning a small 20 mile ride out to the Parkway on Tuesday if the weather holds up.
After Jered’s family left we headed down to Alabama to visit my grandparents with my parents and my little brother. My parents rented a van and we drove down together. My cousin is pregnant and has about a month to go, but everyone thought she might go into labor while we were there. It was an exciting trip. Got to see my grandparents and spend a little time relaxing. There isn’t a whole lot to do in Alabama, especially in Enterprise (it’s almost like time stands still down there), but I really like that because I rarely have an excuse to just sit around and do nothing. We had a nice visit with my grandparents, and our first trip to see family as a married couple (sharing a room was a little weird the first night!).
For Christmas Jered finally got Leo. I have plenty of pictures of Leo on Jered. It fits perfectly and I can’t wait to post the pictures. I also knitted my brother a limr green cable cap from the Stitch n’ Bitch book. Other than that I did no holiday knitting. Although, I did finally block Clapotis (which has been done almost an entire year!). I learned how to really seam with Leo. I did the best seaming job I’ve ever done on Leo because I took my time and sat down with instructions. Now that I’ve got the hang of it, I won’t be as scared to do it in the future. I had a mild case of seaming phobia.
All in all it has been a great holiday season. I started trying to lose weight in early December and so far have lost over 7 pounds. I have a jump start on my New Year’s Resolution which feels good! Jered and I rung in the New Year by sleeping. We got back from Alabama yesterday at 9, and we were out by 11
Hope all is well for everyone out there who reads this. I’ve resolved to blog more this year and to upload my pictures more often, so things should be a little more regular around here.
