Saturday, November 19, 2005
The cat basket is situated sort of behind my desk, right, and at least 6 times a day every day one of the cats is trying to squeeze himself into the basket that's already occupied by the other. Sometimes there's a violent coup; other times a happy kitty marriage.
Just before round 5 began, I decided to record their quest(s)(s)(s) for the basket, and move over Dawson Leary! I've got myself an Oscar-worthy video (viewable on Windows Media Player or Real Player). It's really funny. Perhaps only to me. Ha ha ha. I've watched it like a hundred times already.
Watch this heartwarming film
Turn your audio ON for optimal viewing. Otherwise it's just cat p'nography.
Filed Under: Cats
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
I have another Japanese knitting book that my mom gave me:
New Traditional Basic Casual Simple Sporty by Ondori
ISBN: 4-277-13328-2
Truth be told I'm not crazy about this one. The sweaters are all rather boxy and old-fashioned, which is not the same as vintage. Don't ask me how. It just isn't. More importantly, Duck flipped through this and didn't like any of the designs either. I'm keeping it mostly because of the excruciatingly detailed schematics for each sweater, and for the reference guide in the back, all in the form of easy-to-interpret illustrations. They have illos for every knitting technique, from knitting to purling to tubular cast on to armhole shaping to fair isle to short rows.
Take notes, Debbie Bliss. Mind-boggling schematics.
Oh, a little clarification on any of you who HAPPEN to stop by the SOGO Mall in Taipei, Taiwan, looking for that entire floor of Japanese books I mentioned earlier. My mother tends to exaggerate. It's really just a section of Japanese books, on an entire floor of other things. It may even very well be a single shelf of Japanese books, in a section of other books, on an entire floor of other things. But don't look for a floor.
There is however, a Kinokuniya in Taipei, and NYC. I'll be going there next month, wooooo.
In the meantime, a trickle of Japanese knitting books are coming my way, thanks to yesasia.com, my new Achilles heel. These items out of a million made it out of the wishlist and past checkout:
  
left to right: ISBN 4277113753; ISBN 4529039927; ISBN 4529041662
So exciting! I have no idea what are inside these books, but am banking on only good things. The Japanese collection begins...
Filed Under: Japanese knits
Thursday, November 10, 2005
 To escape the coldness of the house (because we're too cheap to turn on the heat during the day), I headed to some coffee shop downtown to work. After walking up and down Newbury St for WAY too long, looking for that perfect spot, I reluctantly settled on the Starbucks on Boylston St. It was the only place that had electrical outlets.
That particular Starbucks however is one of the nastier places on earth. Floors are sticky, tables are sticky, the store smells of yogurt. And 99.9% of the patrons there haven't even bought coffee, but doing random coffeeless activities like napping, eating sandwiches they brought from home, nursing their babies.
I'm not a hypochondriac but all I could think about while sitting there were the heaps of molded crumbs trapped between the sofa cushions, petri dishes, curdled milk, amoebas, drool, and the bird flu. I didn't go to Starbucks necessarily for coffee but I bought coffee, and now I'll never go there again because you can get dysentery from sitting on their single-celled-organism-soaked couches.
Next door to this Starbucks is my favorite germ-free hangout spot, Anthropologie. I found that cardigan I talked about from my previous post, and boy. In person, that cardigan is no natural beauty. In fact, that cardigan was downright GROSS. The material (acrylic and wool combo) was both scratchy and waxy to the touch, like your cheap high school graduation gown that came with a warning label not to wear in the rain because it might disintegrate. Also it was just shoddily made. I don't know how they got it to hang so nicely on that form for the picture, because it was not hanging at all right on an actual body. $78! We could make something so much better.
I did get that little red cardigan though, which I've had my eye on for awhile. It was on sale. Woo. Constructed like the Debbie Bliss bolero, but with cute crochet scallops for the sleeves. It's something I could easily duplicate. If I had an empty project queue.
Filed Under: Life
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
With the new job, my daily commute entails a short, stumbling,
sleepy-eyed walk across the hall from the bedroom to the office.
The splash of all that oranginess wakes me right up. Its attempt to be
grown-up and professional is thwarted by that relic from college, The
Futon. Will we ever be rid of it. And will we ever decorate the bare,
bare walls.
That's Veebs filling up the wicker basket nicely. Its usual place is
in the basement but since working from home, I have this cat glued to
my side 99% of the day. He's such a little lover. An annoying little
lover. He's on the desk, in front of the keyboard, walking back
and forth, tail in my face, on my lap where he won't sit still, behind
me on the chair taking up space, making work furry and
soft but quite impossible. With the basket in here he has his own
place to sit, and can leave me in peace.
Aimee and Electra are on the blocking board. (Uh, Electra kinda
looks like the rug...) I'm wondering now if I should just finish up
Electra first, since it really only took about a week to finish a
panel. I'm losing focus these days, which is why I haven't been
knitting as obsessively as I used to. I just can't do multiple projects
at once, and yet my mind wants to wander elsewhere...
Anthropolgie cardigan. I like you.
...to this lovely cardigan
from anthropologie. It looks like a very simple construction - the
bottom looks to be knit in one piece all the way around, then you pick
up stitches along the side for the top portion. I could take a
pattern from the Japanese stitch book
for the top...and maybe decrease that bottom part so it looks less empire-waisted... yeeesss... yeeeeessssss... The store has so many other
inspiring knits which I may just have to go out and buy.
I just found this on amazon.co.jp! Books of 200 more stitch patterns, 500 aran patterns, 1000 aran patterns!!!! God help me.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Life | Aimee | Electra
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Old Burial Hill, Marblehead
Yesterday Duck and I took our bikes to Marblehead MA, a yachting
town (rich!) 15 miles north of Boston (short drive away!) that was
settled a decade after the Pilgrims landed (colonial chic!). I love
Marblehead. It was supposed to be sunny and mild but as it turned
out, a persistent fog that looked to be breaking up in the morning grew
thicker as the day wore on.
At Fort Sewall looking over the ocean.
The day started sunny and bright.
No sweat though. I was able to get fabulous, misty pictures from the
Old Burial Hill, which by the way, is my favorite colonial burying
ground in New England, and being a fan of old graveyards, I've visited
many. On a clear day from the top of the hill you can see the harbor,
clogged with sailboats during the summer. I love the style of the
tombstones, the skull and bones engravings, the font of the engravings,
and the stories they tell.
I always seek out the family plot and the telltale,
short footstones lined up in a row that say: children buried
here. You can always find the couple who have
buried 5 children, all under the age of 6, in a span of 10 years. Or
the couple who had a daughter they named Elizabeth Foster who died at 1
years of age, had another Elizabeth a few years later, only to have her
die at 1 years old as well. They share a tombstone, the engraving's the
same - just different dates. Raising a New England family in the
1600-1700's: hard.
I have a million photos of the burial ground but none of the
beautiful colonial houses clustered in this town (too busy biking and
coveting). Marblehead is one of those towns that make me
writhe with envy. It's so full of quaint that it fills me full of
loathing. As soon as I'm a billionaire, I too shall have a 17th century
house overlooking the water and my yacht.
After riding around the village for a bit, we stopped by an
oceanfront dive called the Barnacle for lunch. We had seats with a
view, but the view yesterday was only fog, fog and look, more fog. The
food was surprisingly EXCELLENT. Baked scallops and fish and
chips. So soft and buttery, mmmm I'm still thinking about it. More
please. I nearly ordered the lobster roll but balked at
the price - you never know what you'll get with lobster -
but next weekend when we go I'll order it. Heh.
It doesn't sound like it, I AM knitting. If you've been keeping
up, you know I have 3 items in the queue: Kooch, Aimee and Electra.
Lookithat, all Rowan knits! Well, Kooch hasn't gone anywhere since the
last time I talked about it, I've finished the front and back for
Aimee, and the back of Electra. I'd like a finished product by
Thanksgiving, and decided Aimee would be it. So that's the plan.
Filed Under: Life
Friday, November 04, 2005
Knitting Patterns 300
ISBN 4-529-02071-1
I asked my mom during her recent trip to Taipei if she could bring back for me any "Japanese knitting books". I'm currently on a anything-Japanese craze. The above is what she returned with. A book of 300 mouth-watering stitch patterns, kawaii!!!! with an illustrated section in the back that explains each stitch used in the book. I can't read Japanese but I don't need to. As with all Japanese books the illustrations are simple and clear, easy on the eye, and just fun to look at.
I flipped through the book slowly, savoring each delicious page and then when it was over, I was like, "More? Are there more? Did you get me more?" And she said there was so much Japanese craft books at the mall bookstore she didn't know what I would want. DUH ALL OF THEM. I mean sure you've never seen me sew, but I want all the sewing books, so I can think I'll make a lifetime supply of cute aprons and tea cozies and hand puppets and totebags. Mostly I just want to look at the pretty pictures.
The times I've gone to Taipei I didn't think to look for Japanese craft books, but apparently one of the malls (SOGO, fyi) has an entire floor dedicated to nothing but. Sob. I want them all, I want them all now.
I have two balls of KSH in Dewberry - the free gift for joining Rowan International (yay!) - and I'm thinking of making a scarf or shawl in one of those patterns in the picture. There are just so many possibilities really, I don't know where to begin.
Hey hey! It's that time of year for...
...paperwhites! Aside from leaf-peeping, forcing paperwhite bulbs is my favorite fall activity. I have several bags of these, and just after a few days of securing a group in a shallow bowl of rocks and seaglass and water, these little babies have started to sprout roots. See? Once the roots take hold they start growing rapidly. Easy as pie. I plan on forcing another set in a few weeks so that I'll have an entire season of flowering paperwhites. They smell absolutely amazing.
Filed Under: Japanese knits | Life
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Mmm dumplings...good...
Sad news to report. There's been a decline in knitting production due...to a decline in interest. Sob. I knew this day might come. I spent an evening on the couch last night watching television, and I mean only watching television. The lap was empty, the hands were idle. I could have knit, and I didn't. That has not happened in a year.
 Other things have been going on. First, busy with job, blah blah blah it's too boring to talk about. Second, new baby in the house! This is Duck's first nephew, I'll call him B. He was born a couple of weeks ago and so tiny that it's hard to imagine he will ever grow into that jacket I made him. Til he does I might have to make more, hee hee. I will be the crazy knitting aunt.
This is the first time I've seen Duck hold a baby in his arms without wanting to cry himself. I have never seen someone so uncomfortable in the presence of children, other than myself, and even I'm softening up these days. I have a theory. Baby humans are not like baby cats or baby dogs, for example. With a kitten or a puppy, you are guaranteed a squealing, adoring audience where everyone wants a turn to play with said kitten or puppy. Kittens and puppies are universally cute to everyone, even if everyone's not a cat or dog lover. That is a fact my friends.
Sadly, the same fact cannot be applied to humans. With a baby human, a nod in its general direction might be all one can muster. One may not even feel moved to acknowledge its existence, let alone touch it. That would be me and Duck, fidgeting in the presence of children. Do we have to say hello? If we don't will it go away? All this time I thought I was some cold-hearted wretch, until I discovered that it makes a huge difference whether or not you're in the presense of children who are directly related to you. Suddenly, it's, baby: so cute! Little niece with the pudgy legs: I want to eat them!
Yes blood has bridged this maternal gap. I found it has bridged Duck's paternal gap as well. He held his little nephew with a huge smile on his face, even looked at me once or twice as if to say, "I want one too!"
So, do I? Well. Um. So. Now that I realize I - we - are capable of loving little children afterall, and treating them nicely, it is safe to assume that we will feel the same towards our own, when we have them. Also hello, let's leave the warm and fuzzies aside for a second and focus on the practicality of having children. Who else is going to take care of you when you're all incontinent and toothless? To whom will you bequeath your millions? To run your massive estate? Expand your private art collection? All something to think about. So I don't know exactly when there will be a mini-us, but chances are greater - than anyone has ever DARED to think POSSIBLE - that there will be a when.
Anyone reading this who knows me personally, such as you, Mother, are probably looking out the window for aerial pigs, or squirming uncomfortably in your seat because monkeys just flew out of it.
But read it and try to not to weep too much! This cat is wantin' some kittens! Or one. One will do.
I want to say congrats to Jen and Mike, Paul and Yuting, Michelle and Matt, Kim and Matt, Amanda and Marcus, Miranda and Matt - all of whom had their first baby within like 2 days of each other. Was there an orgy that I missed? Creeps.
Next posts will stick strictly to knitting! Once I pick it up!
Filed Under: Life
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
My first fair isle
My Electra has got some Southwest flair going on, with the colors of yellow corn tortilla chips (the gold), blue corn tortilla chips (the purple), salsa (the red) and sour cream (the offwhite). Hm. I definitely wasn't going for a nacho color scheme. It also reminds me of the 70s. Is that a good thing...we shall see.
I did most of the back on the plane to and from Atlanta. Those were probably the fastest plane rides ever. The fair isle on this is pretty non-extensive, which is good for a novice like me. But it's also been just enough to break up the monotony of working with single-colored yarn. I was starting to get bored of the usual. Kooch is languishing and so is Aimee. Bring on more fair isle!
Warning: badly written pseudo web technical details coming up...
Some of you were asking where I found the link to that Turkish blog. It works like this: Everytime someone clicks on a link to your site from another site, information, such as browser type, where the request for your page is originating, is sent to your server. All behind the scenes. So if you clicked on the link to the blog here, that server will know the hit came from catduckdotcom/clog. This is called the referral link, and my site keeps track of all this information. I'm watching you...
Filed Under: Rowan | Electra
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