Last Minute, My Ass

Here we are, a mere five months after I started it, with a completed Hourglass Sweater. This sweater and I definitely have a little love/hate thing going on, but it's allowed me to learn some valuable lessons:
1) I don't particularly like knitting sweaters in the round. I really don't mind seaming, and for me it's faster than having a whole big sweater in my lap on circular needles. I also didn't love doing the sleeves on double points.
2) Non-animal fibers are really nice for ethical reasons, and for sweaters you'll wear mostly indoors, but they suck for weaving in ends. I'm really missing the spit-splice.
3) Knitting miles and miles of stockinette in worsted-weight yarn makes for a boring process, and a finished sweater I will actually wear. Bulky yarn knits up nice and fast, but remember that chunky black number I knit in three days last spring? Never worn it. Not once.
4) I'm getting better at making sweaters that fit me and are reasonably flattering. I'll chalk most of this up to the designer, but I think I'll take a little credit, too. The bottom line is, I'm really happy with how this sweater turned out (and expect to be moreso post-blocking).

The details on this project:
Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Knit in Schoeller-Stahl Micro Cable 100% acrylic microfiber, color Grape.
I did wind up needing more yarn than the pattern calls for. I used almost three extra balls.
I also added two extra decrease rounds to the neckline to bring it in a little.

Oh, a little P.S. to those of you in cold climates: that shrub behind me in the photo is rosemary!

Pass the Goddess Dressing

Another in an occasional series I like to call "Strange Things to See and Do in Humboldt County:"
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so Max and I headed down to the waterfront to check out the first annual Organic Planet Festival. The big draw, at least as far as we were concerned, was that which is pictured above. Yes folks, that is the World's Largest Organic Salad. Somehow, I expected a little more fanfare, like the billboards you see in some states for things like the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I don't know, maybe a really big bowl with really big tongs or something. But it was still pretty impressive, and very tasty.

We also got to hear some music and meet some interesting people. I bought a few seed packets for some greens from a local farmer. He said if I start them now, I should have chard, kale and spinach for the winter!

The big salad, and the vendors and tablers there, made me think about the August Eat Local Challenge that some bloggers are taking. I wanted to do it, but didn't commit due to the move, knowing that comfort food, eating out, and coffee were going to be all too important. But it's been really interesting to think about.

I think all our veggies have been local - that's easy with all the farmers' markets and the great selection at the Co-op (our Co-op even has local olive oil - it's delicious). The potatoes and the zucchini have been so good! Fruit's a little harder, since I'm a big fan of apples and bananas. At least I've been choosing Washington apples over New Zealand ones. And we have blackberries all over the back yard, so that's easy. When a food isn't grown locally, I've been trying to choose locally produced items. We've been buying beer from the local brewpub, and there's no shortage of local roasters offering fair trade, shade grown, organic coffee. There are a couple of places making tofu and miso around, too. Of course, the bread we eat is all stuff I bring home from work.

I think it would be fun to take the challenge in earnest, but it would mean limiting our visits to Hunan, the Chinese place, and Samraat, the Indian restaurant. We went too long without good Indian food (or at least Indian restaurants that didn't slip chicken into every thing you order) to give it up now! I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing. It seems almost criminal to live here and not eat the fabulous local goodies we've found, and I know there are more out there.

Coming soon.....actual knitting content!!!!

Not a Moose, But It'll Do

I've always wanted to see a moose. I've been to Maine four times and I lived in northern Vermont for five years, but I've never seen one.
Today, however, I saw an elk. Not just this one, either. A whole herd. And we got really close to them. This photo isn't great, but it's the only one that gives some sense of their size. Obviously, the elk is closer than the car, but it's still really, really big.
I was downright impressed, I was.

Whaddya mean I'm it?

Purlpower tagged me about a million years ago (maybe it was a couple of weeks, but the last month's a blur) with my first meme/questionnaire thingamabob. These are kind of neat questions to think about, so here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago, five years ago, one year ago, yesterday, today and tomorrow?

10 years ago: Summer of '95 was spent at my parents' house trying to figure out what the heck I was doing with my life. I was a year out of college with no direction. Max was going to grad school in N.C. and I didn't want to blindly follow him. I eventually accepted an offer from my brother to move out to Denver and learn to bake in his restaurant.

5 Years ago: Moving from Pittsburgh to New York. I was really excited to be moving closer to family. I loved Pittsburgh, but I was ready to leave. Because Max had his first "real job" lined up, it felt like we were going to New York to start our lives.

1 Year ago: Happily settled in the Hudson Valley. After many ups and downs, I was contentedly baking again. The garden was kicking some serious ass. It was a fun summer of croquet and swimming hole visits, with no inkling that I'd be leaving in a year.

Yesterday: Sleeping and working. Adjusting to a new life in California and a new night job makes that my current routine. But the job is a lot of fun, and getting to sleep when I come home and not set an alarm clock rocks.

Today: A day off! I got to spend it with Max and our friend Ryan who's here visiting (our second visitor so far!) After a leisurely morning, we drove north through some of the Redwood National and State Parks. We saw huge trees, incredible coastline, elk, a bobcat, and some sea mammals that could've been dolphins, porpoises, or even seals. We were too high up to say for sure and the binoculars are still in a box somewhere, but it was impressive nonetheless. I continue to be amazed that we live here in such a beautiful place.

Tomorrow: We say goodbye to Ryan, but he'll be back soon. Then I'll try to get a few projects done around here before going back to work. And Max has his first day of school tomorrow. I love back-to-school time. Even though I haven't been a student for a long time, I still get excited at this time of year and yearn for fresh pens and pencils.

I know I'm supposed to tag someone else, but I'm still getting caught up on people's blogs, and I don't want to repeat, so I'll just encourage others to tag in if they want to.

Thanks, Purlpower!

This is Where I Live

Okay, this isn't my backyard or anything, but it's damn close. And it's really, really beautiful. It still feels very much like a dream, or a vacation that will end soon. A vacation that involved moving a lot of boxes.

The drive out was mercifully uneventful. I was briefly terrified that this trip would be the undoing of my older dog, Sophie. By the second day of driving she had trouble climbing into the car, and she couldn't do the stairs at one motel where we were on the second floor. But I started feeding her aspirin and glucosamine and soon she was fine. Now that we're here, it's like they're both puppies again. We've taken them to the beach where they can run loose and it's so much fun to watch them run in the waves and chase birds. They also have more room in the house here, and a fenced yard so they can run around more in general. I hope it has erased their ordeal of six days in the car.

The cats fared well, too. They cried a lot in the car, but it was never too big a battle to put them in the carriers (I guess a night in a motel bathroom makes you eager to get on the road again). Now that we're here, they're getting settled, and having almost as much fun as the dogs running through a bigger house.

Max and I are having fun, too, but we've been pretty busy just trying to get the house in order. There's still so much to do. And house progress has been slowed by the fact that I already have a job.

Yes, getting a job was easier than I expected. It just so happens that there was an opening at the very bakery I wanted to work for, and I showed up with my resume almost as their ad was hitting the classifieds. It's exactly the kind of bread I love to make, and made on equipment I'm already familiar with, so the training is going very smoothly. Hopefully smoothly enough to warrant a raise sooner rather than later, since wages have yet to catch up with the cost of living here. The only part that's tricky is adjusting to a new schedule. I go in between 6 and 8 in the evening and work until the wee hours, but it's really not bad. And it's only part time to start with, which is really kind of nice.

All around, this experience is going exceedingly well. In fact, I'm still sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. There have been small snags along the way, like with moving trucks, minor plumbing leaks, and waiting a ridiculously long time to get internet access, but it's all been resolved pretty easily. I can't get over the feeling that there's some trouble lurking somewhere, but until it rears its ugly head, I will try to relax and enjoy it!