Work In Progress

Kate-a-palooza - Day 4

I had grand ideas for this particular gift.  Namely, I was going to knit it for you.  Until I discovered I needed US15 circular needles, which I don't have. Straights, yes. Circs, no.

I wanted to knit this gift into a specific pattern, the Drop Stitch Cowl, by the lovely SpiderWomanKnits.

I love the life that she is living.  She and her husband are attempting to live a meaningful and thoughtful life (my words, not hers). It is not a life without difficulties, as is the same with all of us.  However, I appreciate her willingness to try, to dare, to risk, in order to have the life she wants.

So, earlier this year she offered this pattern up on her website for free.  I wanted to pay her generosity forward one more step.

While I won't be knitting it for you, to help you make your own oversized hug, today's gift is a copy of the pattern and a skein of 100% Baby Alpaca Grande that I received as a gift in a friend's stash reduction efforts. Folks, this yarn is butter.  If butter were pink and spun. It's is seriously soft and wonderful. 

I had a devil of a time taking a picture of this, because I got to this so late. Here is a super close up of the yarn - it's a bit darker than this picture, but you can see the two tones of pink. 

If you don't win, you should still head over and grab yourself a copy of that pattern - I think it's an instant gratification knit and a super easy way to gift someone with a knitted hug. Also, Abi's blog is a great read, when being self-employed with three kids allows her enough time to post! 

What do you need to do to be eligible for this gift?  Simply share with me a blog you think that I should check out.  These are some of the blogs I really enjoy.  The reasons vary - I consider them friends, their lives are interesting, their yarn or patterns appeal to me.

Melissa

Kate

Rachel

Rue

Nova

Kelly

Tanis (for the record, I really want to try her yarn, but haven't yet!)

Stephanie

Alanis (love her patterns!)

Karin (love her yarn and she's a sweetheart!)

Just leave a comment on this post any time before 11:59 p.m. on May 13th. 

p.s. - I know some people have difficulty leaving comments on the blog - just send me an email at bigblueice(at)yahoo (dot) com and I'll accept that too.

p.p.s. - I'll ship internationally too.

Kate-a-palooza - Day 3

One of the reasons I wanted to do a giveaway is to repay all the generosity that have I've experienced through my blog.

So, this blog post is a small payment forward of generosity I've seen elsewhere.  A pattern I discovered through not one, but two blog giveaways, to help a mother help her daughter.  So, for one person, I'll buy you a copy of this pattern.

Wholehearted

copyright: Erika Flory

If you'd like to get a copy, tell me about a the best birthday you ever had.

Just leave a comment on this post any time before 11:59 p.m. on May 13th. 

 

Kate-a-palooza - Day 2

Alrighty, a bit of a negligent blogger tonight, but still within the timeframe!

So, today is a book giveaway.  I was gifted with two copies of the same pattern book and you are the lucky recipient of this generosity duplication. 

One More Skein

Part of this year's Buy Nothing in 2012 campaign includes patterns.  Kelly was quite surprised by my resolution until I mentioned that, according to Ravelry, I have at least 1,068 patterns at my disposal.  I just checked and last year, I blogged 20 FOs.  Assuming that I only knit new patterns, I have enough patterns for the next 53.4 years.

But, for today's giveaway, I want to know - what book should I add to my pattern arsenal?  Because, let's be honest, I'm not waiting 53 years to buy more patterns!

Browse my Ravelry library and tell me what pattern/book/designer I need to add to my yarn bag!

Just leave a comment on this post any time before 11:59 p.m. on May 13th. 

Happy Monday! 

Kate-a-palooza - Day 1 (FO)

I'm shamelessly stealing my friend Nova's birthday idea.

An eight day celebration of me, that culminates on my birthday! 

And this year I'm celebrating by giving away something each day here.  I missed my blogiversary and thought that this would be a good way to say thank you to all of you.  I appreciate you coming to my little corner of the web.

What are the gifts? Mostly knitting related, but not entirely.  We're a bit cat obsessed and I'm a horrible displininarian. So, I try to keep them away from the yarn, but I can't promise, if you're really allergic.

First up, a loofah, the same pattern I used at Christmas. And a loofah wouldn't be nearly as nice without something to use with it. I discovered Spiced Vanilla scent from the Body Shop at Christmas this year and I'm in love.

 

An alternative use for the loofah would be as a cat bonnet, but Sasha didn't appear enthused. 

So, just tell me - bath or shower?  I'm a bath person every time.  I've turned down apartments because they only had a shower.  I love bubbles but mostly I just relaxing.  Usually I read too.  

Just leave a comment any time before 11:59 p.m. on May 13th. 

Pattern: Loofah or washcloth (and my Ravelry) 
Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream Shade: Lavendar, 78 yards
Modifications: crocheted tie
Knitting yardage total 2012: 1111

Anatomy of a Mud Run and sneak peek

Sorry for the long silence. I intended to post right before leaving for a work trip. Unfortunately I got a migraine that morning that sucked away several hours and so I just jetted away, without posting. But here's a gentle re-entry.

ANATOMY OF A MUD RUN

1. Sign up for 1/2 marathon during late Winter/early Spring.

2. It's more fun with friends. 

3. Run up exposed hill, but after all the fast runners, so it's nice and slick.  Try to get to a 'dry' ridge.  Miss.   4. Crawl under downed trees.

5.  Repeat.

6. Find running buddies. 

7. Attempt to run three abreast on a wet, two-butt trail.

8. Realize staying dry it futile. Unleash your child heart and run through puddles. 

9. Everything is better with aid stations and a support Partner. :) 

10. Commemorate occasion with friends.

11. Get ready for a shower.

12. That it... Repeat! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, for something completely different... I may have been quiet on the blog, but much knitting has been happening.  Proof:

Girls Weekend

Last December I was already thinking that I didn't want to buy any yarn in 2012.  A good friend asked me about going to Stitches West. Obviously, I could demonstrate self restraint and just look and enjoy the weekend.  However, being honest about my lack of self control, I just knew that wouldn't happen.

So, instead we decided to do our own knitting retreat. Her SO is out of town for awhile, so I left Partner and Boy #2 to their own devices (which involved sloppy joes, pizza and John Carter) and headed south for three days.

This yarn went to it's new home (because yarn is my kind of hostess gift!) 

We are both nerds of extraordinary proportions. So, while we did some window shopping in her town, we spent most of the weekend knitting and watching Harry Potter. You can see our Saturday Evening of Indulgence:

I got a lot of knitting done, though I was slowed down by our nerd-tastic drinking game: a sip of wine anytime any character said "Snape" or "brilliant." Fortunately it was only for part of the 3rd movie and we aren't completely lacking in judgement, so it wasn't (quite) as bad as it sounds.

We started the visit at dinner so I cast on for a Beyond Puerperium for a little one that is arriving soon. By Sunday noon, when it was time to drive north, I had this: 

What a great pattern! And I have a story about the pattern I'll tell later.

Also, in an amazing achievement, I took my Mom's birthday present south and one more row than you see here: 

Became a sea anemone worn by my friend's kitty Merlin.

See all those stitch markers? 29 repeats. I haven't done nupps since my ill-fated adventure with Swallowtail.  In two days, I did 145.

Hurray for knit weekends!

Update on resolutions

Forcing my way back into the saddle. :)

Thank you for sticking with me for 30 days (more or less).  It was kind of a fun exercise, but I felt like I couldn't blog and answer everyone's comments.  So, I doubt I'll do something like that again, any time soon.  On the plus side, I had fun coming up with new ways to stage stuff (taking hat pictures in the dark) so hopefully some of that will influence later blog posts.

I've decided that one way to keep honest about my 2012 goals is to provide little updates here. So, here goes.  You may remember the list, I numbered everything so it will be an easier reference. 

1, 12 - Minimizing and reducing has been slow. We did a lot of cleaning inside the house, but kind of stalled out after that. We were going to do a garage sale this weekend, but we weren't ready and wanted to run yesterday.  Our garage frustrates and stresses me.  I really want it to go away.

2, 10 - Stress and anger - I don't know. This has sadly been a tough one for me. I know that there are some things in my life that keep me at a heightened frustration level. I am not sure what to do about that when it spills into other parts of my life. I've become the person that mutters (or yells, if there is nobody around) at the mistakes of other drivers. I'd like to be a more compassionate person. I'd hoped my word for the year would help with that but.... ehhh... kind of mixed results. Partner did send me a quote in January and I've made a copy and put it on my page finder in my organizer since it captures the benefits of calm so well -

When we are angry we are blind to reality. Anger may bring us a temporary burst of energy, but that energy is blind and it blocks the part of our brain that distinguishes right from wrong. To deal with our problems, we need to be practical and realistic. If we are to be realistic, we need to use our human intelligence properly, which means we need a calm mind.
~ HH Dalai Lama 

3. Shredding paper - pretty good. I try to go through the mail each day and either put in in a bills or file folder and then throw the rest in recycling.  I've kept paper from building up, but haven't done much to fix the backlog of paper we've accumulated.

4. Straightening each day - I am doing well on this one.  A few weeks ago, I tried setting a timer for 15 minutes and cleaning something extra each day.  Usually I do okay, but I get derailed easily during the week.

5. Weight - ugh! I ran my second 1/2 marathon of the year yesterday and I'm 5 pounds heavier today! I've been weighing myself on the 1st of each month and I am down 0.5 pound since the year started. That's disheartening.  I know this would be easier if I could reduce my stress level. I have also tried to exercise 5 minutes a day, if nothing else. This I have NOT been consistent on.  I'll try harder this month.

6. Sleep - Nearly every night I get 7 hours sleep. Hurray!

7. 1 project a month, 4,000 yards this year - I didn't get any projects done in January, but finished 3 in February.  My yardage is only at ~400 so that needs to increase. I cast on for a project this morning. It's for my mother's birthday so I need to get it done this month. All I can say is the only good thing about casting on 363 stitches is that at least I know the rows will only get shorter! 

8. I've read 3 books this year! They are all mind candy (read: simple) mysteries, but hopefully I can keep it up and step it up.

9. I will cook and bake more.  Nope, no I won't. Partner has picked up a job with more hours, so I'll likely be doing more cooking, but I've been resisting baking. It's hard to make the decision to do more work for food we don't need - cookies, etc. - when there is always so much else that needs to be done in the house.

11. Yoga - we took one class in January and then... nothing. Hopefully we can do better.

13. House - we haven't made a move on that

14. Run a trail marathon - nope, not yet. I really need to improve my fitness, get more consist in my work outs - I have to run more than one long run every other week - and I think losing the extra 20 pounds would all help considerably in meeting this goal.

15. Write a professional article - ugh.  Not yet.  I've had the idea in my head for years. But can't seem to buckle down and do it!

16. All paper in the filing cabinet - Nope, that would involve cleaning the garage.

17. I will not buy any "wants" in 2012. I had a couple slip ups in January, but February was truly a month of only buying what we need - food and things for the house. I've been very critical and have stopped myself from justifying "nice to haves" for the house.  I hope I can keep it up.

18. Job - well, I've shared a bit of our struggle, and things have not been decided. I probably won't talk a ton about that here, just to be on the safe side. However, I thank you all for your encouragement and good wishes.

Generosity (WIP)

It's early, but seems late to me.  I've been wearing an apron for about 5 hours, cooking and washing up. Normally duties are split up a bit, but in an unfortunate irony, Partner strained his back while we were at a yoga class this morning. You can read his take here.

And we are off early, early in the morning for a race at Stinson Beach and I'm looking forward to beautiful scenery.  You may recall last year that I said this was a hike for the first 3 miles and a run for the last four. If Partner can run, we are both trying to beat last year's times.  Boy #2 is going to try to win.  Boy #1 will hang out at the finish and wonder what makes us do weird things like get up in the dark and drive for an hour to run.

I had a couple plans for a post today.  But the mail came and changed all that up.  I feel so incredibly fortunate to have found some lovely people through blogging and knitting.  Today, I was struck by just how fortunate I am.

Earlier this week, I discovered a fellow crafter at work.  She's a crocheter.  I showed her The Mittens and she said, oh, I've got to bring in some yarn I got in a Christmas swap because I'll never make socks.  I even told her she could crochet socks, but she insisted.
Would you believe, the yarn I use on the (rare) occasions I make my wool-allergic mother socks? And even in a color I know she will like!

And then today.

The mail came.

A package I knew was coming from a friend arrived.  But it was lumpy.  She's not good at keeping secrets, and had said she had bought me a book.  But lumpy?

The yarn is Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Sock.  Not only does my friend buy me a copy of Capitol Knits the week before the official release -just because - but, she also sends me the remnants of a very special skein of yarn.  More on this later...

And, as if all that wasn't enough....  The answer to a cryptic question from a couple weeks ago.  Another package, this one from Kate. Why do you want my address, dear Kate? Because you are a kind and generous person.

A handmade item in colors I love, a lovely little hat pattern, and a truly enjoyable card. I was all set to use the cloth when washing up tonight, and then thought, "Use a gift as a dishcloth? Why no!" Thank you for the idea Nova, I'll be using this as a facecloth! The whole package was so nice, but the card really touched me for it's thoughtfulness.  I'm a fan of the old fashion letter.  I am happy too that we have 'met' through the interesting world of blogging, my friend.

A week of abundance.  I was quite stunned. Gobsmacked, as they say. Generosity is a touching and beautiful thing. What a wonderful work in progress.

Hopping on the word bandwagon

I was just going to title this post, "Hopping on the bandwagon," but figured everyone would think I'd started striped study.  which I may still, just not this time.

No, i'm on the word bandwagon. Yesterday is when I intended to write this post and then decided I wasn't going to join in this year. Then, this morning, I was sitting in a meeting and reflecting on a particularly frustrating situation at work. In essence, a big deal has been made about nothing. It all stems from either non-communication or mis-communication. I'm stuck in the middle. And it's being made worse through more of the same, with a little undermining communication to liven things up.

And, I thought, you know what, I know what word I need. So, my word for 2012 is:

CALM

I'm really not good at letting go of things. I tend to get angry or stressed or angry AND stressed.  What is that angressed? strangry?

Anyway, that is me. The slightly angressed one in the corner. One goal I have this year is to be less of both.

And so, I was thinking this morning, perhaps a little word focus would help. I tried the word "contentment" last year. I have it written a couple places and it makes me happy. But I'm not sure it helped with this particular problem.  I don't know, maybe I have a short attention span and a multisyllabic word was too much for me. *grin*

So, this year, I'm going to try to focus on calm. Both internally - less angry, less stress.  And externally - no frenetic knitting, no waiting to the last minute and rushing to get somewhere. I'll work on being more calm when dealing with Boy #2 (teenagers!).  And that means, either when I'm directly interacting, or just thinking about things that are frustrating/irritating/worrisome about/in relation to/with him.  He's a good kid, by the way, just the whole parenting thing is hard. I'm also going to try to be calm when dealing with the whole job/moving conundrum. 

I also wouldn't mind creating a more calm environment - less clutter, less noise. Oh, and I wouldn't mind being a little calmer when I don't do any of these things and start beating myself up.

CALM.

Wrestling

I'm traveling for work and had great intentions to blog about: Christmas gifts, wedding, change.  I even considered jumping on the "word" bandwagon.  But I managed to find the one hotel left in the world that doesn't have internet connections in the rooms.  There was wireless in the lobby, but for some reason, I never got in the mood while down there.

Perhaps next week.  Maybe by the end of January, I'll have wrapped up showing all that I knit in 2011.  Ha.

Despite the internet, it's been a really fantastic week mentally.  Last time I was here, I ended up in a super-loud, party hotel.  I was so unhappy.  This time, I purposely chose a hotel in the middle of nowhere.  Because of that, I've spent a lot of time focused on myself.  I've eaten almost no processed food all week. Some nut crackers and two things of fries.  But it's 9 a.m and I'm sitting in a Wholefoods eating a salad for breakfast.  It feels good.

I've also spent a lot of time turned inwards, thinking a lot. Boy #2 is in his final year of school. For the first time in a long time, Partner and I can move. And I think we're ready.  But we're not sure what to do. I'm tired of my job. Burned out. But I love the work I do. But there are few places I can do it. In fact, on the west coast, where we want to stay (we think), I'm pretty much at the only place I can do it. (And sorry for being vague, I just don't want to put too much out there on the internet).

We both love the Pacific Northwest.  We even looked around a little over Christmas. But the job situation isn't that great. I'd certainly take a pay cut to move there.  Probably a pretty significant one. This is hard for me to wrestle with; 1) I've been working in this field for awhile and I'm pretty senior. 2) But I lack the qualifications of most of my counterparts. 3) So I'd either have to switch fields, or take a pay cut. 4) And that all assumes I can find a job, which is by no means a given.

While traveling this week, a whole world of new job ideas opened up to me. But they all involve places other than the Pacific Northwest. There are likely jobs in Europe that I could take. I wouldn't take a pay cut and I'd be in a portion of the world where 1) I really like the history and 2) I speak (in the most tenuous definitions of the same) a couple of the languages. I also found out there is a job opening where I'm at now. A part of the country I've never thought of living. And I know in my heart would never be permanent. But I'd actually get a pay raise, something I'd resigned myself to letting go of. And I'd be able to work in a field closely related to what I do now and actually - finally - be able to really apply some of my master's course work.

And Partner even could get a job here (or in Europe).

We've been talking so much about this. We're both ready to settle down a bit. I'd like to explore some of my more domestic leanings (of which I truly believed I had none, until Partner and I lived together.  Cooking more naturally/from scratch. Living more holistically and cleaner. Canning.) I'm kind of ready to nest in a permanent HOME.  Not the home we have now, that we rent from other people.  We want a place we can sink into, to absorb the vibe of the place and reflect it back.  This is something I don't see us doing in Europe or anywhere other than the Northwest. Maybe I'm wrong.  I've been wrong before; I was happy to get back to California, only to realize it wasn't for the person I've become.

But if I move somewhere else instead, we'd be able to save for THE place, when we're ready to finally settle in the Northwest.

So, that's what we're wrestling with.  To move? Or not. To change jobs? Or not.  If so, do what? And where?

Rather than just be silent on the blog while I turned these things over and over again, I decided I'd just put it out here in this space. I would welcome any thoughts on this.  Or opinions.  Or alternatives. Maybe we aren't thinking of something.  Actually, we probably aren't.

In other news, Partner has embraced my thoughts on minimizing. He's even started another blog on the same. Hop on over there to see our physical chaos slowly going away. And he's doing a lot while I'm passing the days here. Nice.

Speaking of here.  Some pictures (sunset last night and sunrise this morning):

There are worse places to consider the future path of one's life.