Monday, January 30, 2006
East Meets West
For dinner last night I make shrimp spring rolls (with my own peanut
butter-hoisin-rice-wine-chili dipping sauce!), and he makes chocolate
chip cookies.
Prey Meets Predator
In the middle of a lively game of cat and cat
The boys get frisky after one finishes his business in the
litterbox. Cat gives away his whereabouts by noisily scratching the
box, alerting the other cat to quickly take low position
behind the doorway or the scratching post. Cat exits litterbox,
and is immediately aware that he is being stalked. He waits, sniffs the
air, pupils dialating a little, and finally puts one tentative paw
forward. That's when cat behind doorway or scratching post reveals
himself with a savage spring and BOING! Eight paws go thundering across
the room!
Conehead Meets Domehead
Look! Knitting! So grumperina
laid the smackdown last week when she posted the nipply conehead
properties of the shining star hat, mine in particular, and in so
doing, exposed my knitting slackness for all to see. I knew something
was iffy about the pattern but chose to let it be. I am not a
perfectionist, at all. Ever. Never. But thank goodness someone is.
Better her than me to improve upon the pattern. I made another shining
star sans nipple and it is sooooo much better. Much more like a skull
cap, which I like.
During this process I've come to the decision that I don't like
cashmerino anymore. While it is very soft and luxurious, it's also very
limp and saggy, and doesn't hold its shape. You should see my bolero
aubergine and how sad and lifeless it is. I blame the microfiber
component for that. The new creme hat I made using 100% wool, and
while the size and gauge is the same, the cashmerino version fits
way too big. It just stretches and stretches.
Rabbit Meets the End of the Rainbow
Happy
Chinese New Year again! I was born in the year of the Rabbit. I
am a LUCKY rabbit who eats CLOVERS all day and...plays with
LEPRECHAUNS. I just received news from the Irish Consulate that my
application for citizenship has been approved - woot - and now all I
have to do is send them exactly 126.97 Euros, drawn from an Irish
bank. What. The lady at the consulate said, "Just get a friend in
Ireland to do it for you." Ha ha what friend?
Filed Under: Life | Shining Star
Monday, January 23, 2006
View from igloo window
On Saturday we went on a hike through the woods in 60F weather, and even got warmed up enough to go in short sleeves. In JANUARY. Now, there's I dunno, 5 feet of snow on the ground. Boston weather is indecisive like that.
Well, it is so nice to know that they are complete strangers out in the world who care about another stranger's welfare. It is week 2 of the Swollen Pinky Saga, and even though it's still plump, it doesn't hurt or throb anymore, enough that I have managed to get a dozen rows or so of knitting the last couple of evenings.
Here's the situation at our house, as some of you have asked, and given the kind of advice (very thoughtful advice, btw) I've gotten as to how to keep warm, I've realized I've been kinda lazy with the details:
- Our house has about 2000 sq ft of living space.
- I occupy 150 sq ft of it during the day.
- There is only one thermostat for the entire house.
- I do have a space heater for the office, but it sucks. Bought a new one. Much better.
- I wear 3 layers of clothing and a hat everyday.
- This is the first winter I've worked from home consistently. Hence this is really the first time warmth or lack of warmth has become an issue.
- The windows are new. (But I can tell wind is seeping through the front and side doors. Must replace)
- We used the plastic thingy for them last year and noticed no difference.
- Our first winter in this house in 2001 led us discover that this house had NO INSULATION. At all. The floorboards were ICE. It's now insulated. (A house in New England without insulation?? WTF?)
- Oil prices back then were about $1.15 per gallon.
- Right now it is $2.50 per gallon.
- I just remembered that part of the heating bill is, and has been, tax deductible. You know, on account of this being a place of business and whatnot. I've known this but it has only now just occured to me. GOD I'm an idiot. TIME TO CRANK THAT SHIT UP.
My parents are despairing that I should have what they call a "poor, old woman's" condition. Here's a conversion between mom and me, spoken in our usual mix of Mandarenglish. Did I just invent a new word?
MOM: Oh I am so sad, that you have this problem!
ME: It's not a big deal.
MOM: But it's like you're too poor to afford heat!
ME: No I'm saving the environment.
MOM: What about yourself? I cannot imagine my own daughter do damage to herself just because she won't turn on heat!
ME: thinking: she has a point. Well it's just not efficient.
MOM: Maybe you need to have the heating system redone. I will buy you some long underwear.
ME: OK
MOM: Tell Ya-Tze ("Duck" in mandarin) that he can turn up the heat a little. Pleeeeeease?
ME: It wasn't really his decision. I'm the one who stays at home all day.
MOM: Well, then tell him he needs to get more flaffy and sit on you to incubate.
ME: HAHAHA!
MOM: HA! HA!
In lieu of having Duck incubate me, I have this new space heater and it kicks ass. I've only had it on a couple hours this morning and the office is still nice and toasty. I have no idea why I suffered with that shitty one for so long. You had to be 1 millimeter away from it to feel any heat, and none of it lingered once turned off. I'm stupid. It clearly sucked.
This space heater is cat and whale approved
I also bought a pair of sheepskin moccasins and oh my god. I cannot believe I have lived in New England for what?! 12 years now! and have never discovered the miracle that is sheep fur. All those winters tromping through the snow without the benefit of sheep? Why do I still have toes? Do they make sheepskin bodysuits?
In other good news...My feline sidekick Kitty is in town today from NYC. We're going to Hamersley's Bistro in the South End for dinner. Their winter menu includes cassoulet. I LOVE KITTY AND I LOVE CASSOULET.
Hopefully more knitting content to come. Thanks for all of your concerns and advice! I'm almost healed!
Filed Under: Life | WTF
Friday, January 20, 2006
My doctor thinks I have Raynaud's Syndrome. Cool! It will likely reoccur as long as it's winter. Bah! I really thought it was ulnar tunnel. She thinks my issues have all to do with the chilly house temperature, and not at all with my job or the knitting. In fact she didn't tell me once to refrain from knitting.
She did tell me to wear thermals, to wear mittens and not gloves, and for chrissakes to turn up the heat. My revelation that our house hovers around 55 F prompted her to conduct a little poll around the office. Most everyone said they kept their house at 65 to 70 F. Dude, we just received our oil bill yesterday right, which was about 5 weeks after the last fillup, and it was nearly $300. $300 for TURNING ON THE HEAT FOR LIKE, ONE HOUR A DAY.
AND! this has been an extremely extremely mild winter so far!
So if it costs us $300 a month just to have two hot showers in the morning, I can't even IMAGINE how much it would cost to maintain toasty all day long.
But, ha ha, the funny part is that precisely due to my maybe overzealousness to save on oil, I have f---'d up my hand and will have to spend gajillions on today's medical fees. My doctor had x-rays taken of my fingers, just in case I broke it without my knowing. I said to her, "No thanks, I'm sure I didn't," when I really meant to say, "No thanks, I dn't want to pay for it." Insurance isn't covering this one.
But I had the x-rays anyway, and of course, everything was fine.
I'm going to be MIGHTY UPSET at myself if the bill for the x-rays (oh and bloodwork! in case I have lupus!) come out costing more than what it might have cost to heat the house at 70F all winter.
PS! I wore Aimee to my appt. and got a few compliments. Tee hee. I didn't tell them I made it.
Filed Under: WTF
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Well, one way to get over your boredom of knitting is to be told that you can't.
Check out the little piggy. If you dare.
Hey wow. Fingers are kind of gross.
On the left: a normal, wrinkly pinky
On the right: a fat, smooth pinky
The right pinky and ring finger are worse today, damnit. I think I might have ulnar tunnel syndrome. It is caused by a pinched ulnar nerve, due to occupational hazards such as sitting on butt and typing all the live long day. And knitting all the live long night. Knitting isn't explicitly mentioned, but I'm so sure it's not helping matters. Also I favor sleeping on my right side. Ulnar tunnel affects the pinky and ring fingers, not the thumb or others. Ding ding ding! The middle and index finger aren't swollen like I thought yesterday. Just cold.
I ruled out Raynaud's Syndrome. Even though I have much of the symptoms, I don't have temporary "attacks" and it doesn't affect the rest of my digits. This is more chronic and relegated to just my last two fingers.
I've taken heed and made an appt with the doctor tomorrow morning. And I was going to let this pass too. We'll see what she says. Who knows, maybe this time tomorrow afternoon I'll be typing a post with 9 fingers instead of 10. On the plus side, I'll have to learn how to knit continental for sure. Or to knit with my feet. Heh heh. Nervous laughter.
Filed Under: WTF
Monday, January 02, 2006
 
Pardon the weak lighting. We're expecting a snowstorm any minute.
Pattern: Electra from Rowan #38, in xsmall
Yarns: Gold - Kathmandu DK; Maroon - Grignasco Tango; Cream - Kathmandu DK and Kidsilk Haze held together; Purple - Debbie Bliss Merino DK
Needle: US 5 for the bottom ribbing, US 6 for the body, US 3 for neck and armhole ribbing
First FO of 2006, ow! It is a little upsetting that I open the new year with an homage to Ronald McDonald, but, snakes on a plane.* The color combination looked more palatable in the yarn store, and now I can't help but think I look like a Chinese member of the Partridge family, or a big tub of nachos, when I wear this.
And yet, I still kind of like it. It works better with a crisp shirt underneath, one that has slightly exaggerated cuffs and collar.
The collar is key. Do not try this at home with a white collarless, long sleeved shirt for example, innocent as a white collarless shirt may be. I happened to be wearing such a shirt when I weaved in the last strand of Electra. I immediately tossed on the vest and showed it off to Duck without first consulting a mirror. It took him exactly half a second too long to answer my "What do you think?" before he said, "It's nice!" And even then there was a slight pause between the "it's" and the "nice."
Trust me, I've asked the poor guy enough What do you think's to know when he really means it's nice or not. In this case, he and not the vest was being nice.
A quick change to a crisp white collared shirt saved the day. If I were to do this again - and I just might! Fairisle is FUN! - I'd go with my initial color choices of foresty greens, blues, and browns, and throw in a dash of pink.
No significant project notes. Just the usual of going down a needle size for a smaller fit. I did not do this in the round. I tried to carry the yarn up the sides whenever I could. This was my first fairisle project, done to break up the same ole knitting monotony, and fairisle definitely kept things interesting.
I love vests. I need to make more.
Thank you everyone who commented in the last post. It's fun to see who's reading, and to find new blogs. More more more!
*Another way of saying "c'est la vie." According to this post anyway.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Rowan | Electra
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