the knitting of the green

I spent five minutes decorating a wreath in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I suppose I'm not really Irish (though my Viking ancestors kept busy raiding and pillaging the Emerald Isle), but Paul is. Plus in a place like Chicago everyone's a little Irish on St. Paddy's.

Some little green projects are underway for upcoming baby showers! Here's the first one:

 

pattern: Butterfly Baby, by pyropagan knits

yarn: Lion Brand Superwash Merino Cashmere (2.5 skeins) ~ green tea

needles: Clover US 8 bamboo circs

on ravelry

 

notes:

Great little pattern! The butterfly details were easier to work than I expected. Next time I might switch to size 6 DPNs for the garter stitch cuffs, as they do flare out a bit, and there are no sleeve decreases. I found the ladybug buttons at JoAnn. The yarn's fine -- I wanted something superwash, and this was on clearance and quite affordable. A slightly thicker yarn would work better for this pattern, though (heavy worsted rather than light worsted).

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Paul and I zipped up to Madison over the weekend for an exciting (and victorious) Badgers hockey game. Protesters were out in full force at the Capitol on Saturday, peacefully assembling and speaking out against Scott Walker's draconian proposals.

The Old Fashioned, a pub on the Capital Square, wowed us with their amazing selection of draft beers from Wisconsin. I have a new favorite -- Ale Asylum's Madtown Nutbrown Ale. A hint of sweetness, and a smooth finish... We had an excellent dinner and cocktails at Graze (the new gastropub cousin of food critic-darling L'etoile). A delightful weekend!  I'd move back to Madison in a heartbeat.

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- Have you seen this NYT piece on Edward Gorey? Apparently I'm not alone -- Gorey's quite the thing right now.

- I'm totally hooked on Holmes Inspection on HGTV. Mike Holmes is a god among men... he's just so capable! He and Damon save people from expensive disasters that their initial home inspection didn't catch. At times it's terrifying to watch!

a handknit valentine

Here's my Valentine for Paul. Knit Picks was sold out of the colors I wanted for the longest time, so the yarn arrived just last week. Not enough time to knit a long garter stitch scarf... That's fine -- this way Paul can pick the length. Lucky for me he wants it to be wearable, not authentic!

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Kylie Cat truly is feeling much better.  Can you spot her in the photo below?

Yep, she's the lump under the down throw. She's back to moderate jumping, and she's getting feisty enough that getting the liquid medicine down her gullet has become quite the struggle!  Kylie's now very sticky, so I'm going to try giving her a sponge bath. I hope to jebus it doesn't come to a full-on bath or (the horror!) shaving her chest and chin.

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on the tube

Bored to Death is slow to start (the first two episodes are almost painful to watch) but quickly becomes pretty awesome. Jason Schwartzman plays a struggling novelist who procrastinates writing by placing an ad on Craigslist as an unlicensed private detective. He's clearly working off knowledge gleaned from old detective novels. Ted Danson is a hoot as his editor ("What's a Subaru?").

the best of what's around

on the needles

In a fit of whimsy I cast on for my Oatmeal Pullover on Thursday. Inspired by Amanda Soule's gorgeous version, I'm using Quince & Co. Puffin in Bird's Egg. It's one of my all-time favorite colors, and the yarn is rustic yet cushy --  "a faux singles composed of two barely twisted strands of fiber that have been plied together into what appears to be a singles," according to Knitter's review guru Clara Parkes. So far it's knitting up very quickly! It may be a bit too bulky to be flattering, but I think I'll be happy just wearing it around home while curling up with a book or typing away at my Mac.

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in the kitchen

I used Williams-Sonoma store credit to buy an ice cream maker last weekend, and yesterday was the trial run! I made a super-basic vanilla ice cream from the Cuisinart manual and then sprinkled in some mint chips and mini chocolate chips near the end of the churning cycle. Yum! You can really taste the vanilla goodness. I did leave the ice cream in the freezer overnight to solidify a bit more -- straight out of the ice cream maker it was still a bit too soupy for my taste.

I'm really excited about trying creative pairings -- cheesecake ice cream, brown sugar-sour cream, goat cheese-fig, lime-basil sorbet, etc.  Jeni (of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams fame) has a cookbook in the works that sounds awesome. Anyone have recipe recommendations?

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on the tube

Downton Abbey is coming to Masterpiece Theatre tonight. Hooray!

decemberists in january

I came home today to find both kitties snuggling in the much-beloved heated cat bed. Kind of a tight squeeze, but what could be cuter? Many thanks for all the comments and well wishes for my sweet Kylie.  She's walking a lot better these days.

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For those of you in the pro-Decemberists camp, here's a delightful array of links:

- The new album, The King is Dead, is streaming in its entirety here. Hear that jangly Rickenbacker on "Calamity Song"? Love!

- An interview with Colin Meloy here -- I don't love the interviewer, but Colin's charming (as usual), and the live songs are marvelous. I was thrilled to hear Colin to talk about R.E.M., another old favorite of mine.

We have tickets to the Feb. 4 show here in Chicago, huzzah, huzzah!

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A very pleasant Christmas was spent at home as our sweet Kylie recovered.  We started off the day strong with gingerbread pancakes (yum!) for brunch. For dinner I cooked up what must be one of the healthiest Christmas feasts on record -- curried vegetable and chickpea stew (sans the cauliflower) with whole wheat couscous and goat cheese and leek focaccia. 

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Not the most flattering photo of me, but I do want to share the scarf and slouchy beret I knit for my mum for Christmas.

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, by Natalie Larson (free!)

Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Merino Worsted, "Golightly," .7 skein

Needles: Clover US 9 and 10.5 16" bamboo circs and DPNs

my ravelry project page

Notes:

My mom's favorite color is aqua, and this yarn is so pretty and soft!  It's just variegated enough to be interesting, and it's just as soft and cushy as Malabrigo Merino Worsted. This hat pattern is a delight to knit.  It's the second one I've knit, and it's most definitely not the last (especially since I'd really like one for myself!).

Pattern: Chunky Ribs & Ruffles Scarf, by Nancy Kleiber (free!)

Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Merino Worsted, "Golightly," 1.3 skeins

Needles: Clover US 10 bamboo straights

my ravelry project page

Notes:

I  cast on 124 stitches since I was working with a lighter-weight yarn than the Misti Alpaca Chunky specified in the pattern. Just fyi, the pattern repeat = (multiple of 4) + 3.

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I'm totally hooked on Freaks and Geeks, courtesy of the marathon on IFC over Christmas weekend.

What a great show!  I didn't really appreciate it when it was new, even though a friend was very into it at the time. James Franco, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, and John Francis Daley all in one show? John Francis Daley, the shrimpy little brother, looked so familiar to me, but I just couldn't place him for a while.  Then it dawned on me... he's Lance Sweets on Bones now! Linda Cardellini is convincing as the former mathlete turned "freak." The only downside is that the adults are all a little wooden and not very finely drawn.

Anyway, I love the show -- it's less melodramatically angsty than My So-Called Life, and it captures just how awkward and painful high school can be, but also how it can be exciting and full of new experiences. Some of the geek storylines can be too painful for me -- I find myself cringing in the most visceral way. So far my favorite episodes are the keg party and the fake IDs.

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Happy 2011 to all! Here's to a fresh start.

socratic

Hemlock Ring in progress.  I learned Emily Ocker's circular cast-on via this tutorial yesterday morning, and it's very neat!  The blanket's speeding along so far, thanks to a fresh crop of Miss Marple episodes on the DVR.  

Julia McKenzie is quite good, isn't she?  Not too namby-pamby.  The production values on the last two seasons of Miss Marple and Poirot on Mystery have been such an improvement -- striking camera angles, great sets, colors that pop.  Very visual in a way that the old ones simply weren't.

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I've been racing through books lately.  I just don't feel like myself when I don't make some time to read novels.  There's something valuable about reading fiction that helps me approach problems from different angles and consider other points of view.  Two highlights:

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
Post WWII, a country doctor befriends the Ayres family at Hundreds Hall.  Landed gentry, the Ayres are struggling to keep up a crumbling old pile, and the financial and emotional strains, as well as their increasing isolation from the social circle in which they once flew, are getting to them.  Waters reinvents the Gothic novel, pitting logic and science against emotion.  The real thing to watch here is the narrator, though.  Unlike Waters' other novels, the plot is very linear, building slowly.

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese
Born from an illicit union between a nun and a brilliant but emotionally stunted surgeon, twins Marion and Shiva Stone grow up in a cross-cultural household in Ethiopia, raised by doctors at Missing Hospital.  This compelling story about family, love, and betrayal is set in a tumultuous time in African history, and the setting really shapes the book.  It may sound a little melodramatic, but it's a great read.

FO: first in a series

Pattern: Verdaia, by Jodie St. Clair
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Sock, Pumpkin, 2.5 skeins
Needles: Clover US 5 bamboo circular
~ my ravelry project page ~

Notes:
Verdaia deserves better photos than these, so I'll revisit it with a modeled shot sometime soon when the photographer (AKA Paul) is free and not busy playing summer sports. The pattern was a delight -- very easy chart to follow, the leaves are fun to knit, and the main body zooms along quite quickly.

The cast-on method didn’t work terribly well for me, but I muddled through somehow. I knit 3 repeats of Chart 2 rather than 2. This was not the best plan, as now it's truly shawl-sized. I prefer shawlettes that I can wear as scarves.

While in progress, Verdaia looked like a lumpy mass, but blocking really worked wonders. In fact, next time I'd block it even more severely, just to open up the pattern even more!

This color is just gorgeous; sadly KP has discontinued it. What fools these mortals be...

All in all, a very affordable and successful project. Note to self: do not embiggen shawls!!

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While almost all of my books have been unpacked (especially my research materials), my knitting supplies have suffered a different fate, sadly. Still in boxes, alas...

I did dig up some cotton yarn (hurray for using up leftovers!), and knit up some quick washcloths:
Two Grandma's Favorite Dishcloths and one Corrugated Cloth. Perfect to knit while watching Miss Marple on Masterpiece Mystery. Guilty pleasures...

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things I'm loving:

• cats + patios = catios

Take a gander at the NYT slide show -- it's even funnier than the article! I'm sure Capricha would love one, but it's definitely not in the cards.

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• Dahon collapsible bikes

I checked out Mary's on Wed. night, and it seemed awesome. Anyone have any experience with them? 26 lbs, collapses in less than a minute, would most definitely fit in the back of my Jeep.

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• The IT Crowd

The BBC has done it again -- something simultaneously nerdy, hilarious, and wonderful. You can stream it via Netflix.