kmkat and her kneedles

The Game continues.

Premiering April 1 on a cable network near you.

While Andrew was home for Christmas we watched Season 1 on his laptop. Excellent.

I had clued him in on these books a couple years ago, and he had found somewhere on the web where he could download a pdf of the text. He put them on his iPod Touch and read whenever he had a minute or two to waste -- waiting for an elevator, in the bathroom, wherever.

Last year when A Dance with Dragons, Book 5 of the series, came out I emailed him to let him know. He replied that he already had an autographed copy*, acquired when he went to hear George R.R. Martin speak. Rotten kid, taking advantage of all NYC has to offer.

 * "[He'd] already got one, you know." Name that reference.

Go. Sign.

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

 
Ensure that every child in America has access to an effective school library program.
Every child in America deserves access to an effective school library program. We ask that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provide dedicated funding to help support effective school library programs. Such action will ensure more students have access to the resources and tools that constitute a 21st century learning environment. Reductions in school library programs are creating an ‘access gap’ between schools in wealthier communities versus those where there are high levels of poverty. All students should have an equal opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to learn, to participate, and to compete in today’s world.

 

The librarians need 5,083 5,074 5,073* more signatures on this petition…

wh.gov/Wgd

via http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/

* The first number was how many more signatures were needed when I first went to the website. Between then and when I went back after verifying my account via email, 9 more people had signed. Then I did.

Why don't the traffic cops in Minneapolis do this?

I could show you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Back in the days of novelty yarns, I made a scarf for my SIL. She asked for one in red and purple to wear to her Red Hat meetings.

I obliged.

 

 Did she ever wear it? I don't know (she lives 400+ miles away). Would you?

Thing #4. And the beginnings of Thing #5.

  

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #271 and 279, about 1/2 skein each.
Needle: US#7. Or maybe it was a #6. Or maybe I did the ribbing on #5 and switched to a #6 or a #7 for the stockinette. Anyone? Bueller?
Pattern: A pastiche of hat patterns. I wanted a hat that got bigger after the ribbing, sort of a slouch/tan. This is that, if I rearrange the slouch -- which is minimal -- after I put it on.

Now I have a sort-of matched set of hat, scarf, and mittens. They are all Noro, just not all the same Noro.

 

 

* * * * *

Matthew requested another hat for himself, this time in charcoal and 2x2 rib. He specifically said, No cables, no cuff, none of that stuff that is such fun for knitters. Sorry. Mom. He also does not care for the lines formed on the crown by columns of decreases, thus, the 2x2 rib that can hide the decreases. I sent him links to about a dozen different superwash merino DK yarns in charcoal. He chose Tanis Yellow Label, a yarn I had never used nor even heard of before I googled.

As soon as I ordered it I started noticing all the Ravelry projects made from it. Once the yarn arrived and I cast on, I learned why it is so popular. Nice stuff! Soft like merino but still with a bit of woolliness. The color is tonal, and it looks GREAT in ribbing -- very 3-dimensional.

What is that gap in the ribbing, you ask?

I could tell you it is for the unicorn horn at Matthew's hairline, but that would be... a lie.

Most of you already know this but just in case somebody doesn't: when knitting in the round, it is NOT necessary to join immediately after the cast on. That way lies madness twists.

Knit back and forth for a few rows, then join. You can easily see how the knitting should be joined and avoid that dreaded twist. Use the tail from the cast on to sew up the little seam; no one will ever notice when the garment is worn.

Observe:

In the case of the hat, above, the viewer will be so distracted by the jog in the stripes (does anyone have a good method for avoiding that job when the stripes are only 2 rows tall?) that they will never notice the seam in the ribbing. In the mittens, I defy you to find the seam.

* * * * *

In other breaking news, I tripped over something invisible in my office last night and fell. My can of soda and bowl of popcoarn went flying, and I smacked my hand on a chair. (I know the thing that I tripped on was invisible because after I got up there was nothing there to see.) No huge damage to myself, and Lucy The Wonder Dog was thrilled that I had thrown an entire bowl of popcorn onto the floor for her, instead of the usual few kernels, but the index, middle, and ring fingers of my right hand were very sore. So sore, in fact, that I could not knit.

Wah! It doesn't look bad -- no swelling, no bruising -- but it is sore.

The next day the fingers were still sore but not enough to prevent knitting, only to make it go a bit more slowly. Yay!

 

I made another thing.

 

Yarn: Knit Picks Sugar Bunny (worsted weight, 80/20 merino/angora), ~1-1/2 balls.
Pattern: Slip Slip Cloche, from Boutique Knits.
Needles: US#5

I started this hat in November, but because I had so many things on the needles it didn't get finished until nearly Christmas. It is adorable on Alex.

I made another thing(s).

Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk (worsted weight, 55/22/23 alpaca/silk/merino; discontinued), color Allspice.
Pattern: Vancouver Fog. 
Needles: US#7.

That is Alex's lovely hand above. I made these for her from the same yarn I used for her hat and cowl last winter. Great pattern, fast to knit*, impressive result. I have plans to make myself a pair from the same yarn in my stash but in blue. These are the BEST fingerless mitts I have ever knit -- I loved making them and I will love wearing mine.

* "Fast to knit", assuming the knitters does not miscross cables -- and who among us has NOT miscrossed a cable or three? -- or lose her place in the pattern. I ended up rewriting the pattern to demarcate the cable panel from the stockinette portion, after which I did not lose my place again.

Oh, by the way...

This is democracy in action.

What is it? This is a screen capture of Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board's webcam feed of their personnel verifying the one million (ONE MILLION!) signatures on the Recall Walker petitions. (You may not remember, but the number of signature required for a gubernatorial recall election was 540,000 and change. We blew that out of the water.)

Yeah, it's kinda like watching paint dry, but at the same time it is thrilling.

Doggies.

First, watch this:

Next, watch Percy watching it:

* * * * *

Later, we returned to home this:

Yes, our new dog chewed the tv remote. At least she didn't eat the battery.

Ten on Tuesday, the inside edition.

First of all,I would like to point out that it is NEVER too cold to be outside, unless perhaps you are in Antartica or some similar place where the absolute temperature is colder than -60˚ or -80˚F. The key is enjoying the outdoors in winter is to dress appropriately; the problem is that many of us do not have the requisite long underwear, pack boots, gaiters, face mask, and heavily insulated overalls and parka to allow us to enjoy that brisk -40˚ air (-100˚F with wind chill). But I suspect we do all have what we need to be outside in whatever our own location calls winter.

After all, We Are Knitters.

Ten Things To Do Inside When It Is Too Cold To Be Outside.

1. Knit. Duh.
    
2. Block the things we have already knit.
    
3. Sew together the pieces we have already knit.
    
4. Reshelve knitting books according to author. Or topic or color or size or whatever method appeals to you.
   
   
5. Reorganize the stash.
    
6. Gather up the yarn scattered about the house and incorporate it into the newly organized stash.
   
   
7. Peruse Ravelry for patterns suitable for that really great yarn you had forgotten you had until you reorganized the stash.
    
8. Cast on something new using that fabulous pattern you found on Ravelry that is perfect for that yarn you rediscovered.
    
9. Finish that UFO that has been marinating somewhere since 1993.
    
10. Frog that UFO that has been, etc. Repurpose the yarn.

I knitted a thing.

Another blog I read regularly is written by Jocelyn, a college English instructor in Duluth. Her writing is wonderful -- entertaining and thoughtful and funny. She mentioned recently that she has had to wear a scarf in the house to stay warm. For some unknown reason I pictured her in a babushka -- don't judge me -- and promptly volunteered to knit her something to help the cause of indoor warmth (and to show my appreciation for all the hours I have enjoyed her blog). As I was weaving in the ends last week I realized that she had probably been talking about a muffler-type scarf. Duh. 

But I made her a Calorimetry, which Smokey and Andrew delivered to her on Thursday when they went on a scouting trip to Duluth. Andrew will do a one-month family practic rotation in April at a hospital and clinic associated with the University of Minnesota - Duluth, and he wanted to go check out housing, see the medical facilities, and tour the city.

A sudden attack of camnesia prevented me from taking a picture of the Cal before I sent it off, but Jocelyn blogged it today with awesome photos. Which I stole present here.

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden; #252? #270? Ball band = gone. I fiddled with the yarn, pulling out several yards of black-ish so as to have more blue and green and to make the color repeat more-or-less symmetric.  
Pattern: Calorimetry. Jocelyn measured her head for me -- 23-1/4" -- and I cast on 96 st.
Needles: US#7. Or maybe #6. Memory fails.

Ten on Tuesday, the soup edition.

Ten Favorite Soups.

1. Al Quie's Lentil Soup. Al Quie was a congressional representative from Minnesota, 1958 - 1979, and governor, 1978 - 1982. The recipe was included in his campaign literature. I blogged it here.
   
   
2. Cream of broccoli. Whenever I buy fresh broccoli, I use just the tops of the bunch as a vegetable and make soup from the stems. Slice thinly or chop in a food processor; cook slowly in butter with chopped onion until soft. Puree in the blender with some chicken stock. Return to pan, add additional stock and/or milk and/or cream until it reaches the desired consistency; season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a splash of sherry or white wine if desired, ditto a dash of nutmeg. Heat to serving temperature. I cook the broccoli and onion while we eat dinner and finish the soup afterwards. It generally makes one generous or two modest servings.
   
   
3. Cream of asparagus. Same as the broccoli, above, except that I garnish it with some reserved cooked asparagus tips.
   
   
4. Campbell's chicken noodle. Is there anyone in America who didn't grow up with this?
   
   
5. Campbell's cream of chicken. My mother always served me this after a dentist's appointment when I wasn't supposed to chew for a day. (I had terrible teeth and lots of fillings, the result of non-fluoridated well water and an aversion to brushing.)
   
   
6. Split pea with ham. I made up my own recipe years ago,
   starting from the recipe on the bag of dried peas but using pretty much every herb and spice I had in my spice rack (except maybe cinnamon). It's pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. You can duplicate it -- just make regular split pea soup and raid your spice cupboard.
   
   
7. Creamy wild rice. My recipe came from (what is now) here, but it is not on the new site. This recipe at Cook's is the closest I could find; mine also includes 1/2 cup grated carrots, 1 cup of cooked chicken or turkey breast of ham, and is seasoned with ground sage, thyme, and sherry. And mine only has 2/3 cup of Half-and-Half, not 2 (two!) cups. You can find my recipe here.
   
   
8. Corn, zucchini, and tomato chowder. This is a good late summer recipe, when the corn, zuccini, and tomatoes are fresh. Sometimes I add minced clams and substitute some fish stock for the chicken broth and season it with thyme instead of rosemary. (Typepad refuses to let me link to my uploaded recipe. Shout out in the comments and I will email it to you.)
   
   
9. Tomato-fish chowder. The recipe for this one is in the cookbook that came with my first microwave, and that is packed away somewhere. It uses canned tomatoes and chicken broth and chunks of cod. Mmmm.
   
   
10. Vegetable beef with barley. This was the first soup I learned how to make after I moved away from home. When I eventually used a recipe that called for some tomato paste I knew I had found the secret ingredient; up until then the soup always had tallow-y taste from the beef, but the acid from the tomatoes took that away.
    
    
11. Roasted vegetable. This one is soooo easy. Make roasted root vegetables using carrots, onions, and potatoes (and any others you like). When they are done, puree in the blender or food processor. Add broth if needed. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

That's just the winter soups. There are gazpacho and cold cucumber soups for summer. Was there ever a food as versatile as soup? 

Happy 100th birthday, Charles Addams!

From Google.com.

Books and reading. And libraries.

I read at least 58 books in 2011; "at least 58" because I know there are a few missing from this list.

 

TITLE	AUTHOR
Case Histories	Atkinson, Kate
At Home: A Short History of Private Life (audiobook)	Bryson, Bill
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (audiobook)	Bryson, Bill
Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir	Burden, Wendy
Fool Moon: Book 2 of the Dresden Files (audiobook)	Butcher, Jim
Grave Peril: Book 3 of the Dresden Files (audiobook)	Butcher, Jim
Heartsick	Cain, Chelsea
Sweetheart	Cain, Chelsea
Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate 1) (audiobook)	Carriger, Gail
Changeless (The Parasol Protectorate 2) (audiobook)	Carriger, Gail
The Alchemist (audiobook)	Coelho, Paulo
The Poet	Connelly, Michael
Cathedral	DeMille, Nelson
Vanished	Finder, Joseph
Dress Your Dog: Nifty Knits for Classy Canines	Fredens, Sys
Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn	Friend, Catherine
The Goblins of Labyrinth	Froud, Brian
The Graveyard Book (audiobook)	Gaiman, Neil
American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition	Gaiman, Neil
American Gods (audiobook)	Gaiman, Neil
Same Kind Of Different As Me	Hall, Ron
Star Island	Hiaasen, Carl
The Knitting Circle	Hood, Ann
Through No Fault of My Own: A Girl's Diary of Life on Summit Avenue in the Jazz Age	Irvine, Coco
Full Dark, No Stars	King, Stephen
Breathless	Koontz, Dean
Iron Lake	Krueger, William Kent
My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is the New Black; Or, A Culture-Up Manifesto	Lancaster, Jen
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (audiobook)	Larsson, Stieg
The Stone Angel	Laurence, Margaret
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine	Lewis, Michael
Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street	Lewis, Michael
A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3 (audiobook)	Martin, George R. R.
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 (audiobook)	Martin, George R.R.
A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2 (audiobook)	Martin, George R.R.
Deception	Mina, Denise
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer	Mukherjee, Siddhartha
21 Essential American Short Stories	Pockell, Leslie M.
Knitting for Dogs: Irresistible Patterns for Your Favorite Pup -- and You!	Porter, Kristi
The Complaints	Rankin, Ian
Theater Geek: The Real Life Drama of a Summer at Stagedoor Manor, the Famous Performing Arts Camp	Rapkin, Mickey
Silent in the Grave	Raybourn, Deanna
Vintage Baby Knits: More Than 40 Heirloom Patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s	Rengren, Kristen
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (audiobook)	Robbins, Tom
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry	Ronson, Jon
The Men Who Stare at Goats	Ronson, Jon
Sarah's Key	Rosnay, Tatiana de
The Blade Itself	Sakey, Marcus
At the City's Edge	Sakey, Marcus
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading	Sankovitch, Nina
One Was a Soldier: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery	Spencer-Fleming, Julia
A Dark Matter	Straub, Peter
Shoot to Thrill (A Monkeewrench Novel)	Tracy, P. J.
Moon Over Manifest	Vanderpool, Clare
The Tale of Halcyon Crane: A Novel	Webb, Wendy
Passage	Willis, Connie
Fire Watch	Willis, Connie
Night of the Grizzlies

.

Found at: The Eclectic Bookshelf (thanks to Chris for the link)

The 2012 Support Your Local Library Challenge is being hosted by The Eclectic Bookshelf.

The guidelines are as follows:

1. Anyone can join.
    
2. You don't need a blog to participate. If you are a non-blogger please leave a comment with a link (if you review elsewhere) to your review or with the book(s) you read.
    
3. Audio, ebooks (some libraries allow ebooks to be checked out), bound books are ok. I would have included graphic novels, but I don't cannot read those so it is a moot point.
    
4. No re-reads.
    
5. Create a sign up post and post the link in the linky.
    
6. Challenge goes from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012.
    
7. Levels:
   * Level 1 - Read 12 library books
   * Level 2 - Read 24 library books
   * Level 3 - Read 36 library books
   * Level 4 - Read 37+ library books
   

I already read at least 50 books/year, almost every single one from the library, so I am not going to sign up for this. But supporting your local library is A Very Good Thing, especially in these days of tight municipal budgets when some folks question the needs for libraries.

I encourage you to sign up for this challenge at whatever level is comfortable for you. Knowledge is a good thing; we all need more of it. Please go forth and investigate your library!

 

Why, yes, the dogs had a nice New Year's. too.

On Sunday Matthew came up to the lake for the day and brought along Ser Percival. Percy and Lucy and Misha, our new dog (more on her another day) romped through the house and play-tussled and and play-bowed and played tug-o'-war with doggie toys. They were hilarious and entertaining and overful of energy.

At one point we put the three of them outside onto the deck, from whence they could access the little fenced-in area at the foot of the deck stairs. Misha and Percy wiggled through a small opening and went for a nice runaround across the yard and into the woods and over the hill and across the driveway and through the woods on the other side and through the neighbor's yard and eventually back home. Matthew and I were watching out the window. We saw Misha make a l-o-n-g jump over a gully -- I swear her hang time rivaled Michael Jordan's.

Later, after the dogs were tired and resting comfortably on various soft places about the house, he and I went to New Year's Day gathering of some library friends. We had a lovely time.

We came home. Andrew was visiting a friend in Madison for New Year's; Smokey had worked the night before and would work again that night, so he had slept all afternoon. The three dogs puppies were unsupervised.

::cue ominous music::

What greeted us:

Ruh roh...

   

   

I laughed until tears ran down my face. Sometimes that is all you can do. The yarns had been in a basket on a table in the laundry room, safely behind a closed door (I thought). But one of us (his initials = Matthew) has great difficulty remembering to close doors. I gathered up all the yarn and put it safely out of the way until I could start detangling it.

Oops, I left a tiny bit hanging over the edge of the snack table. Guess what almost happened again.

I spent hours on Monday -- hours that could have been spent productively knitting -- detangling. Still, I was sitting comfortably in my recliner with my audiobook playing (A Feast for Crows, thanks for asking) and playing with yarn, so it could have been worse.

The result.

1. The balls I wound on Monday.
2. The unsalvageable bits.
3. The ball I wound Tuesday morning whilst chatting with Andrew and Smokey.
4. The several yards detangled by Smokey but not wound into a ball yet. (His detangling method differs from mine.) 

The pink and brown yarns are much, much harder because they were still skeined. The other yarns had already been wound into balls; that made them much easier to detangle.

Was/is it worth all the work? Who knows, but I got a pretty darned good blog posst out of it ;-)