Shaken, Not Stirred

Despite being only 15 miles from the epicenter of yesterday's earthquake, we are all OK. A plate broke and a tile was chipped, but the most affected were my nerves. It was a good reminder that we need a plan for such things. It took me most of the time of the quake to figure out that it wasn't just a big truck driving by. I now feel like a real Californian.

I'll Have The Congealed Salad Please

Recently I was going through an old cookbook I picked up while visiting my home state, Wisconsin. The book is called Cooking Wisconsin Style and was published in 1980. I don't know that I'll ever make anything from this cookbook, since it has that distinct '70s vibe. You know, lots of processed cheese and jello. Also, many of the recipes just sound really unappealing. How about some sauerkraut balls? Never heard of them? Why, they are ground pork combined with sauerkraut, then deep-fried. Yum. Then there's the cranberry congealed salad. It might actually taste good, but who on earth would ever want to eat something with "congealed" in the name?

RJ is one Wisconsin product that definitely turned out OK (well, she's half Wisconsinite anyway). Here is her 4 month old photo. She really knows how to flirt with the camera. If only I could get her to stop moving her legs for a couple seconds!


The knitting projects are coming along, but with all the guests recently they are not coming along very fast. Friends from Rhode Island left earlier today, and the in-laws should be arriving any minute to fawn over their new granddaughter. I had just enough time to wash the sheets. More posting to come, I promise.

Sock It To Me

Summer is such a difficult time to keep focused. In my old school-age days the summer reading list got dusty (with the library over 20 miles away that would have been a bit difficult anyway), while I found sewing and craft projects to occupy my time. In a similar fashion, this summer the things I thought I would do have gone to the wayside only to be replaced by new projects. So what have I been doing?

1. Our next round of guests have arrived. We will have visitors on and off right up until classes start again in the fall.

2. I am working on reading several books on balancing a successful academic career while still having time for things like family. Many people probably don't realize it, but college professors get very little training on how to do the many of the day-to-day aspects of our jobs. We all sort of figure it out as we go along, muddling along as best as we can. It's nice to get some insight on ways to do things more efficiently and it's easy to read while RJ is sleeping on my lap during the day.

3. Most importantly for blog purposes, I started my first pair of socks. These are a tiny pair for RJ made of some leftover sock yarn (thanks for the yarn Anne, Zona, and Marie!). I will have to stripe this with some other leftover yarn, but since I'm just experimenting I figure it's better to use free yarn.



I also started a pair of fingerless gloves to go with my Le Slouch. Yay for the freedom of summer!

Very Expensive Lingerie

As I walked into the living room the other day I got this information from my husband:

"Did you know that there is a $30 million diamond bikini?"

Here it is. Be sure that no young children or bosses are present. For that much money you'd think it would cover more than just the necessities, but maybe that's just me. What prompted him to even look for such a thing? I am guessing that he caught part of one of those list shows on cable. You know, like the "25 Sexiest Couples," or "50 Most Embarrassing TV Moments." Perhaps this one was "20 Most Revealing and Expensive Swimsuits" or some such thing. Maybe Ravelry should use this as a model and start a "20 hottest knitting patterns" list?

The winter holidays are still several months away, but, prompted by the Loose Knit Group on Ravelry, I'm trying to plan out my gift-giving in advance. My hope is that making many of our gifts will mean they will be more appreciated by the recipient, save money, and use up some of the stash, all positive things.

For my youngest brother I plan to make fingerless gloves to go with his hat. Below is my gauge swatch. I just got the right size dpns and am ready to start.
For my sister-in-law I want to make a cool crocheted handbag, like the fat-bottom bag or granny's no square from The Happy Hooker.

For the middle brother I plan to make a gaiter (basically a tube that can be worn as a neckwarmer or a hat; pattern can be found in "One Skein Wonders"). I have some forest green wool-ease that should fit the bill:


You may recognize the gray and green yarn. They are emerging from the frog pond after a time as the collegiate scarf. It was too wide, the colors not so great together, the pattern was hard to follow, and I didn't really have anyone in mind for it, so I finally ripped it. The light green is a chunky yarn that I think will be reincarnated as a beret. Anyone else starting to think of holiday gifts yet?