Books and Such

I've been reading a lot more lately. I've finally jumped on the vampire bandwagon and started reading....
Dracula.

That's right, Dracula by Bram Stoker. I've never read it before, and I decided to participate in an online read-along/knit-along that's reading Dracula for the book and knitting something red for the knitting portion. It's technically not supposed to begin until January 3, but I'm cheating and starting early. So far I've read the first four chapters. It's intriguing and suspenseful and nothing like I expected. Although, my expectations were not very clear, anyway, as I'm not a big aficionado of the vampire genre.

My limited exposure to vampire stories includes watching the movie Interview with the Vampire while in college (which is also a book, but I haven't read it) and reading the books Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck by Christopher Moore (both subtitled A Love Story). I never had a strong desire to watch Interview with the Vampire when it originally came out, but one night my room mate and I walked into our dorm lobby and people were watching it. We saw enough to get intrigued, but didn't finish it then since we'd come in about half way through the movie. We rented it at some later point and watched the whole thing. Good flick, but not enough to make me obsessed with vampires. I read the Christopher Moore books, because I'm a Christopher Moore fan. If you've never read him, I highly recommend Fluke and The Stupidest Angel. I also thoroughly enjoyed Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal, but that one might put some people off more than the others. It is very tongue-in-cheek, but I didn't find it offensive in a personal-attack-on-my-religion kind of way at all. Just remember--it's fiction. It's not meant to be an accurate representation of history.

I know the current vampire book craze is Twilight and its attendant sequels. I haven't read them. And I really have no intention of reading them. I've heard lots of people say they're wonderful (I've also read some not so complimentary reviews), and they just don't sound that interesting to me. Part of it is my natural inclination to resist things that seem overly hyped. I resisted Harry Potter for a long time for that same reason. Anytime a bunch of people come up to me and say, "You have to read this book!!!!" my response is, "No I don't; and you can't make me." I did eventually read the Harry Potter books after seeing a couple of the movies and enjoying them. And I liked Harry Potter. But, I saw the movie previews and thought the movies looked good. I liked the movies, and so I read the books. The previews for the Twilight movies don't interest me, and so I don't feel compelled to read the books. I'm just not that into the whole vampire thing.

Anyway, while poking about online, I discovered the blog Words, Words, Words. The author of said blog is hosting a Victorian Literature Challenge for 2011, and since I'm already reading Dracula, I thought I'd participate. Here are the details:

This challenge will run from 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011.
Participants can sign up at any time throughout the year.

Read your Victorian literature.
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901. If your book wasn't published during those particular years, but is by an author considered 'Victorian' then go for it. We're here for reading, not historical facts! Also, this can include works by authors from other countries, so long as they are from this period.

Literature comes in many forms.
There are so many Victorian reads out there, including novels, short stories, and poetry. One poem doesn't count as a 'book': pick up an anthology instead!

Choose your books.
List your books before you begin, or pick up titles along the way. It's up to you! You can review them if you choose to, but it's not necessary. If you don't have a blog, that's fine! Link to a Facebook, or a page somewhere where you can list what you've been reading. If you can't link up, no problem - feel free to just comment and enjoy.

Spread the love.

Post the reading challenge on your blog - make your own post(s), or stick the button on the side of your page. The more the merrier, after all. Let's build a big community of Victorian literature lovers!

Choose from one of the four levels:

Sense and Sensibility: 1-4 books.
Great Expectations: 5-9 books.
Hard Times: 10-14 books.
Desperate Remedies: 15+ books.

I've decided to participate at the Great Expectations level. Here are my books:

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
2. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
3. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
6. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
8. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
9. The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Depending on how things go, I might bump up to the Hard Times level, but for now I'm satisfied with this list. Anyone want to join me? To participate officially you can sign up at the Words, Words, Words blog (linked above), or you can just read some Victorian Lit with me and post comments around here. I think I'll make Wednesdays my book update day. I'll post about what I'm reading or just finished, and you all can contribute your thoughts and suggestions as well. Happy reading!

Christmas Recap

Michael and I agree that this Christmas was one of the best ever. Beginning Christmas Eve with a busy buy enjoyable day attending church and spending time with Michael's parents and continuing through Christmas Day, which was relaxing and full of laughter, love, and good food at my parents' house. The only downside was that Michael's dad came down with something and couldn't make it Christmas morning. We both got loads of great stuff, including iPhone4s, new Ariat boots, books, shirts, nice cookware (to replace my old, not so nice cookware), books, candy, and a big Longaberger basket. The gifts I made seemed to go over very well. The only thing that wasn't a perfect fit was Allyson's hat, which was a little small (it seems she may have inherited the Bruner big head gene). Fortunately, it can be remedied by attaching an elastic band that will go under her chin to secure the hat on her head (like a large party hat with flowy fabric attached to it). On to the photos!

Opening our iPhones on Christmas Eve:

My basket (which is now full of yarn):


Our new boots:


And now for everyone else's presents:

Mom's Socks:



Dad's Socks:



Donna's Socks:



Mike's Socks:



Amy's Socks:



Justin's Socks:


I don't have pictures of Justin and Amy with their socks because those were delivered to Colorado yesterday by my parents. I have been assured that they fit well, and the recipients like them.

The rest of the day was spent talking, laughing, eating (lots of eating), and enjoying each other's company. So, that was my Christmas. How was yours?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! It's nearly 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve, and it's been a fairly busy Christmas Eve at that. But, it's been good. We spent the evening with Michael's parents. We enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve church service this afternoon, went to dinner, and walked around downtown enjoying the Christmas lights. Last night Michael and I drove around looking at Christmas lights around town. I very much enjoy Christmas lights.

I think the fascination with lights around Christmas has to do with the fact that it's the darkest time of the year. The Winter Solstice has just passed, and while the days are getting a bit longer, the return of the light is barely perceptible. The little lights that we string around our houses and adorn our trees are little symbols of hope. Knowledge that the light will return, and it will once again be warm. The tiny lights are comforting in the darkness of winter.

I think that fascination with the light is why I like that we celebrate the birth of Jesus this time of year. While he wasn't actually born in December, he was the coming of the light. He is the personification of the hope represented by the tiny Christmas lights. The Light was here and will come again. And when it does, we won't have to worry about the darkness anymore.

So, enjoy your Christmas. Spend time with your loved ones, enjoy your presents, have a few cookies, and reflect on all of your blessings.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Random on a Wednesday

It's currently snowing. Unfortunately, the highs during the day are above freezing, which melts the snow. Then it gets cold at night and freezes, making the roads slippery. This morning, the leafless trees were outlined in frost. It was very pretty.

Michael and I went cross country skiing on Sunday. We purchased our equipment from thrift stores for a grand total of $35. It's perhaps not the greatest equipment, but it's cheaper than renting. We went up to the cross country ski trail on the Fourth of July Pass. The snow was only a couple inches deep at best, so it wasn't actually groomed, and all the natural topography of the trail was obvious through the snow. This made things more difficult than if there's been a good base that was groomable and even. We went for about two miles. I keep hoping we'll get enough snow to go again on Christmas Eve or the day after Christmas, but the forecast is not in my favor. Anyway, here are some pictures from Sunday:





I've finished my Christmas knitting! As of this morning, the last toe was grafted, the last ends were woven, photos were taken, and all of the socks were lovingly laid on tissue paper, placed in boxes, and wrapped. They're all under the Christmas tree, where they've been since this morning. I also put the finishing touches on the princess hats for my nieces. I felted them on Monday and let them dry for the last couple days. All they lacked was the fabric veil to drape down the back. This afternoon my mom and I went to the fabric store and picked out some sheer fabric with sparkly things all over. Very pretty, and quite the perfect finishing touch to the princess hats. Mom hemmed them for me so they wouldn't fray and they were attached to the hats. And here they are!





All I have left to do is Michael's hat, which may or may not be done by Christmas Day. I started it this morning, but had to rip it out and start over because it was turning out too big. So, I restarted and completed one row. I'm also making some little toys for Allyson's birthday, which is a few days after Christmas. They're quick and cute, but they have to be done before Mom and Dad go down there the day after Christmas, so I've been working on them a bit more than the hat. In any case, it's only Wednesday and the important Christmas things are done. That means I won't be up until all hours on Christmas Eve frantically finishing things. What a nice feeling.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I saw this last night when I was driving home. I'm sure it actually says "Peace on Earth," but it sure looks like it says "Peace on Farth." I was wondering where or what Farth might be.

Anyway...

Christmas is officially two weeks away. The Christmas knitting is progressing. I got the yarn for the rest of my projects in the mail on Tuesday and immediately cast on for the hats for my nieces. I finished the knitting for them in two days per hat. They're going to be felted, but that hasn't happened quite yet. I'll be doing that in the next couple days. For now, here are a couple pictures in their unfelted glory. I've included a normal hat that I made for Michael for scale comparison.



The pink one is for Allyson and the blue one is for Lauren.

After these I have two pairs of socks to churn out. I hope I can manage a pair per week. We'll see how it goes. One pair might end up being finished on Christmas Day. I also still need to wrap the presents that are finished. The socks for my parents and my mother-in-law are done. My father-in-law's socks are on the needles. At least, the first one is. I need to go get a good book to read while I knit. His socks and my brother's socks are both going to be plain stockinette (based on the assumption that men don't really want fancy looking socks), so they're not particularly exciting for me to knit. Reading while knitting makes the knitting go faster. My sister-in-law's socks are pretty much done. I still need to close up the toe and weave in the ends of the second sock, but that won't take long once I get to it. Speaking of that, I still need to weave in the ends of Allyson's hat as well. You'll get to see official photos of all these things in just over two weeks. Even though pretty much everyone knows what they're getting, they don't know what they look like, and aren't allowed to see them before Christmas.

A few days ago my friend Juanita invited me over to her house to decorate gingerbread houses. She'd gotten a couple of kits and hadn't gotten into them yet. When I told her I'd never decorated a gingerbread house before, she decided that I needed to be initiated. Here are the results of my first attempt:





Here is Juanita decorating hers:


And here is her masterpiece:


I have to admit that Juanita's skills are far superior to mine in regards to gingerbread house decoration. But, for my first attempt, I think it looks cute. I also managed to burst the frosting bag that I used for piping on the frosting. It was fun, and we decided to bake and decorate a cake for our next adventure in pastry decorating. I'm not sure when that will happen, but be sure I'll take and post pictures when it does. (Given my unfortunate lack of prowess with the piping bag, it might be an interesting looking cake.)

Our Christmas decorations are up. All we lack are some presents under the tree. Soon enough, that will be taken care of as well.

Carpet Cleaning

Michael decided that tonight he is cleaning our carpets. He went to Home Depot before I got back from teaching in Athol to get the carpet cleaner. Pretty much all of our living room furniture is packed into our kitchen, and we are effectively barricaded from entering said kitchen. I'm currently in our bedroom while he cleans the living room carpet. I suppose we'll have to frolic barefoot across the small expanse of carpet that separates the bedroom from the bathroom. Hopefully I won't be experiencing an insomniac episode tonight. If I do, Michael might just have to deal with me having the light on, since he will have rendered it impossible for me to go hang out in the living room until I get sleepy. I suppose I could scamper to my studio, but it's not very comfortable in there, and the desk (the only thing from the living room not in the kitchen) is in there. The plan is that we'll be able to let the living room carpet dry over night, then move the stuff from the studio and the bedroom into the living room (after replacing the living room furniture) to clean the rest of the carpet. This will make for an interesting couple of days. At least we're leaving some of the larger, more unwieldy items in place, such as our king size bed, the entertainment center, and the book cases in my studio. But, in the end, we'll have clean carpets at least.

Letters

Dear Weather,

The rain was really not necessary. We've had lots of snow, and I, for one, would prefer for it to stay cold and continue snowing. Warming up enough to rain really only makes things worse. All the packed snow turns to slush, which makes the roads dreadful. And you know you'll only make it freeze overnight, which makes the roads even more dreadful the next morning. And then you'll make it snow some more, so the nasty icy stuff will only be covered with snow, making things yet more horrible for driving. Apart from the unpleasant driving conditions (and the fact that my car is beyond filthy now), it's just miserable. You can go outside and play in the snow, even when it's actively snowing. Who wants to go outside and play in the slush and rain? No one. It's not fun at all. Dry cold is much more bearable than wet, nasty cold. So, shape up, please. No more of this nonsense. At least not until spring. Then, you can rain and make the snow go away. Preferably overnight.

Sincerely,

Jessica
_________________________________________________________________

Dear Man Who Plows Our Parking Lot,

I appreciate that you did eventually plow the slush for us tonight. It would have been appreciated if you'd done so earlier in the day. The fact that there were 6 to 8 inches of slush on the ground at any given point today made getting up the hill that is the driveway quite difficult. I'm just glad no one was trying to get out while I was trying to get in, as the snow/slush/whatever was pushing me around, and I had difficulty controlling my car. And if I stopped, I doubt I would've been able to get the rest of the way up. In the future, please be a little more on top of things.

Sincerely,

Jessica
_________________________________________________________________

Dear People In Charge of Plowing the City,

Plow! The residential streets especially need it. I should not be scraping the underside of my car on huge mounds of slushy snow as I'm driving. Please see to this immediately.

Sincerely,

Jessica

Finishing

Today is November 30, and I am officially finishing NaBloPoMo 2010. I'm not sure how entertaining it was for anyone else, but I tried. Last night I was reviewing the beginning of this blog and noticed that my posts were simply my musings on the mundane details of my life. Perhaps I should do more of that.

I've finished a couple other things recently. My friend Michelle is a photographer and commissioned me to make a hat for a photo prop for her newborn sessions. I finished it on Saturday, and I'm quite pleased with it. No photos of it yet, but it's cute. I've also finished my dad's Christmas present. And started my sister-in-law's. So far all of the yarn for Christmas presents has come from my stash. I finally ordered yarn to complete the rest of the presents yesterday. Hopefully it will get here soon. So, that makes three down, four on the needles, and five more after that. I predict some marathon knitting sessions in the near future.

Today is also my brother's birthday. He's finished being 30 and is now 31. I called him this morning to wish him a happy birthday and we had a nice conversation. But, for the official blog-world, Happy Birthday, Justin!

The thing with finishing is that once it's finished you must begin something else. Once I've finished one Christmas present, I must begin another (until they're all done, of course). Once one month is finished, the next one begins. So, this blogging challenge is finished, what shall I do next?

Latest Accomplishment

I finished my first hank of Suffolk wool today. I processed it from raw fleece to yarn. It's a two ply yarn. I started plying last night and finished this morning. It got a bath this afternoon (to make sure it's nice and clean and to set the twist), and now it's drying on the door knob of my studio. I've done a couple of tiny test samples, buy this is the first full hank I've done of this wool. I haven't measure the yardage or anything, but here's a photo of my latest accomplishment:









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cookie Dough

I made chocolate chip cookie dough today. I didn't actually make cookies, just the cookie dough. Michael wanted to eat some, so I made some. We didn't eat all of it, of course. The rest is in the refrigerator. I'll probably actually make the rest into cookies tomorrow. I just didn't feel like it today.

The first time I ever made cookie dough with the express purpose of eating cookie dough was in college. Before that, eating cookie dough was a guilty pleasure - a side benefit of making cookies. Only a spoonful or two was allowed. At the end we could lick the remains of the bowl, but we never just made cookie dough to eat. There was a group of us at someone's house and we decided to make cookies. Someone suggested that we just eat the dough and not worry about the actual baking aspect, since it was the dough we were really interested in. That was a bit of a revelation for me. I'd never participated in making cookie dough without the goal of making cookies. We did eventually make a few cookies. There is a limit to how much cookie dough a person can eat. So, after we'd all eaten our fill, we baked the rest into cookies.

Today's cookie dough will eventually end up the same way. I will make cookies out of it. Just not tonight.

Lazy Day

Today was the first lazy day we've had in a while. It was very nice. We've watched movies, taken a nap, and generally lazed about. We did leave the house to go to Target after my brother tipped us off about a two terabyte external hard drive on sale for half off.

Anyway, just thought I'd check in for today. Nothing too exciting. Back to watching movies.

Adventures on the Farm

I've mentioned before that on Fridays I pick up milk from a farm a little ways north of here. I also usually teach a violin lesson, but my student and his family were out of town for Thanksgiving, so I just went to the farm today. I went earlier than normal because I wanted to make it home before dark. As I said last week, I'm not a big fan of driving around up there in the dark. And I wrote about that before we got a bunch of snow. I called my mom and asked her to come with me to keep me company on what is not a terribly exciting voyage, but also to be there in case something bad happened.

I'm glad I had the foresight to do that. And I'm glad she said yes. Thanks, Mom.

I'm also glad I wear layers in the winter. And I'm glad I wore my snow boots today, instead of my tall leather boots that I sometimes wear around town in the snow. I knew I was going to the farm, so I thought, "Hmmm...I think snow boots are a good idea." I had no idea how right I was.

So, we got to the farm no problem. There is a long gravel drive that winds through the farm, back to the house where we get our milk. The drive loops around in front of the house, making turning around normally very easy. However, you have to go down to get to the house and then the loop goes up hill to complete itself. The first inkling that all would not go quite as swimmingly as usual was when we started slipping a bit as we came around the top of the loop. So, I stopped at the top and walked down to the house, retrieved my milk and came back to the car. I figured going down the first hill would give me enough momentum to get back out so we could go home. I made it about halfway up the hill, then couldn't go further and when I let off the gas we started slipping backwards. And no matter how I turned the wheel I couldn't control where we went. Mom got out and tried to push, to no avail. The car was more or less sideways across the driveway, but we managed to get it straightened out. I backed up again, put it in low gear this time, and tried again. I got a little further, but the same thing happened again. And the car was rather stuck, once again sideways. Mom asked if I had any cardboard or anything in the trunk that we could put under the tires to gain some traction to get unstuck. I popped the trunk, and Lo and Behold! Chains!

Mom: "I don't know how to put chains on. Do you?"
Me: "Nope."

So, we tried a bit more to get unstuck, but were unsuccessful. It was time to learn to use the chains. So, we got them out, and they had a little instruction pamphlet. Mom read the instructions while I did the dirty work. And it was a bit dirty. Tires, even after being used in the snow, are not clean. And all the slushy gross stuff gets built up in the wheel wells. After much wrangling and sitting and lying in the snow in my jeans I managed to chain up my tires. We got unstuck and tried going up the hill from there. Unfortunately, the chain on the passenger side tire was not secured very well, so it came off before we could get very far. I fixed it (more sitting in the snow) and backed up for another running start. Before we tried again we said a prayer.

This time I made it a little over halfway up the hill, when the driver's side chain came undone. Fortunately, I was able to stop, fix the chain, and keep going without having to start from the bottom. I made it to the top, Mom got back in the car, and we went a little further before one of the chains came off again (it's a good thing we didn't have to go very far with them - and that there weren't any other cars around trying to get past us). Since we were past the worst of it, we took them both off (more sitting/lying in the snow and dealing with dirty, slushy tires and wheel wells). My hands and mittens were by this time quite filthy. I took off the mittens and gave my hands a brisk wash in the snow. It was unpleasant, but cleaned off the worst of the gunk. We made it the rest of the way down the drive (it was a little dicey getting going again, but we managed) and made it out on to the highway without further incident. My jeans were soaked through, my mittens were filthy, and my cuffs were quite wet, but we weren't stuck anymore. At least I was in a warm car, so the wetness didn't matter too much.

It was a rather tiring trip. I feel like I was in an epic battle with my car and the elements.

I won.

And now I know how to use chains (more or less).

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have all spent an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day feasting on turkey and mashed potatoes and pie. We spent the day at my in-laws' house, and my parents joined us there. There was much eating and playing with dogs and general festivity. We had a good day and brought home leftover pie to feed our sugar addiction. I finished the hat I started last night. I'll post pictures later. In honor of the day, here are a few things I'm thankful for:

• My husband. He's pretty awesome. Need I say more?
• Having family close by with whom I get to spend the holidays.
  
• Having in-laws and parents that get along with each other and us.
• The snow! I'm looking forward to playing in it with Michael this weekend. I missed the snow last year when we barely got any.
• A warm home.
• Warm clothes (e.g. wool).

There are many more things that I am thankful for (like the fact that I have tons of yarn, and the ability to make more, my violin and getting to play it, my students, my teacher, I really could keep going), but I think I will stop with that list. Even though I do get stressed out about things sometimes, I am thankful for the things I have and the people I have been blessed to have in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Yarn Management

I'm currently sitting next to a pile of blue yarn. It's just one hank that I've completely unraveled into a pile. This is in preparation for winding it into a nice ball so that I can make something from it. Tomorrow I will be taking a break from Christmas knitting. So, I'm going to work on a new hat for me. This hat will be the same color as the scarf that my mom knit for me. The pattern won't match, but the color will, and that's good enough for me. It's a very pretty blue. I'll post a photo some other time. In a moment I will get out my nostepinne and wind the yarn into a nice center pull ball. It's actually more of a yarn cake when I use the nostepinne. I do sometimes wind things into actual balls. Sometimes center pull is nice, but they get floppy as you get to the end, and that can be annoying. When that happens, or when I want that to not happen at all, I make a sturdy outer pull ball. And it's an actual ball and looks like a ball.

Background: I meet Michael for lunch at his parents' house most days of the week. It's close to his work, and forces me to get out of the house during the day. If I didn't do that, there would be multiple days that I wouldn't leave the house at all. I'm a bit of a hermit that way.

A few days ago I was at my in-laws' house for lunch. I'd gotten there a bit early to get lunch cooked, and the food was in the oven. My in-laws have two dogs, Bentley and Lexi. While I waited for the food to cook, I was preparing to cast-on for the second sock for my dad's Christmas present. The yarn I was using came wound in a ball already, but it's the kind that will get floppy as you go, regardless of if you start from the outside or the inside. I'd been dealing with a floppy ball of yarn with the first sock and was tired of it, so I decided to rewind the ball into a nice, solid outer pull ball to make my life easier. I was accomplishing this while sitting on the couch. Lexi decided her presence was necessary and proceeded to jump in the middle of the pile of yarn I was making in preparation for re-winding it. I pushed her off to the side and quickly grabbed my yarn up and moved my operation to the breakfast bar. Of course, in doing that the yarn got tangled. Anyway, I managed to untangle it and wind it all up. While I was doing that, Lexi came over and was staring up at me rather pathetically


and making funny noises to indicate that she wanted what I had. Apparently, she thinks that balls of yarn make good dog toys. I would have to disagree.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

According to weather.com, it is 12 degrees outside and feels like -6. That's pretty chilly in my book. So, I am staying inside today. We've gotten a bit more snow now, and it's been windy since last night, so there are snow drifts all over. The state police are advising people to stay off the roads, so I'm taking their advice. I normally go to Spokane on Tuesdays, but I canceled today and haven't left the house.

Yesterday I put some of the wool in the garage into a garbage bag and put it on my back patio. I covered it up so the snow wouldn't get inside. I did this so I could continue to scour the wool in the garage through the winter. I've moved the wool scouring operation indoors, using my double kitchen sink. The premise is the same as using the outdoor tubs, only I don't have to haul the water around. The downside is that I can't wash as much at once, and I can't just throw the nasty bits and stuff I don't want (hay, grass, dead bugs, tiny bits of fluff that aren't worth saving) off to the side. Well, I could, but that would be gross since off to the side would be at the kitchen table instead of into a large swath of gravel outside. The upside is that I'll likely end up getting a lot more done since it's far less labor intensive. It also means that I'll keep the sink relatively clear of dishes if I need it to scour wool. I scoured some wool yesterday and was going to do more today. It seems like a good use of my time, since I'm not going to go anywhere. Sadly, the sliding glass door that lets out onto the patio is frozen shut. So, I guess I'll have to wait until the temperature is a bit higher before I can do more. I'm not willing to put on all my snow gear and traipse around to the back to get a bag of dirty wool, then have to repeat the process to put it back. Having a bag of dirty wool in your house is fine for a short period of time while you grab hunks of it to wash, but I don't want dirty wool in my house for long term storage. It smells like a barnyard. Which is fine if you're in a barnyard. My kitchen is not a barnyard.

So, instead, I will work on my dad's Christmas present. I'm halfway done, and it shouldn't take too long to finish the second half. I'd post progress photos, but since it's a Christmas present, I can't. Instead I'll show you the mittens that I made last winter. I knit them last winter but didn't weave in the ends until now. I have no reasonable explanation for why that happened.



These mittens are superior to the first ones I made. The first ones weren't bad, but I was totally winging it. So, there are a few imperfections. Some are design flaws, some are unforeseen happenings. First, the first pair of mittens don't have a thumb flap. This is okay, but I like to use my thumb on my phone and I can't do that if it's encased in wool. So, my second pair has a thumb flap.


Also, when making the first pair, I didn't pick up enough stitches for the flip-top part, so it doesn't go all the way across to my pinkie.


Also, I didn't allow for enough overlap on the palm. When I made them, they were fine, but with use the hand part felted down a bit and now the flap no longer meets the hand. As long as my hands are closed it isn't too bothersome, but sometimes they come apart right where I grip the steering wheel, and that is definitely unpleasant when it is cold!


So, now I have a new pair of mittens to wear that are much improved over the first ones. The new ones also have a longer cuff, which will help keep unwanted drafts out of my sleeves. Sadly, my mittens will no longer match my hat, but I'm planning on making myself a new hat soon, anyway. Right after I finish all the other Christmas presents.

A Few More Tips

As I was driving around town today, I thought of a few more tips for driving in the snow. Here they are, for your reading pleasure.

• Remember, having four-wheel drive and/or studs doesn't make you invincible.
• When your car is covered in snow, you need to brush it off. This includes not only your windows, but also your lights and license plates. It's also a good idea to brush off the hood of your car so that the snow doesn't blow into your windshield while driving (making it difficult to see) and/or falling forward and covering your lights (making it more difficult for others to see you). Cleaning off you car's roof is also a good idea, particularly if it contains a lot of snow. While driving the snow will blow off the back and create a smoke screen effect for other drivers. While this might make you feel cool, it's kind of annoying if you're behind someone like that and can't see. Now, I realize it's cold outside and it takes longer to fully brush off your car than it does to just brush off the windshield. However, if your windows aren't cleared off or your lights and license plates are obscured by snow, you will get pulled over. It takes far less time to just brush those off first than it would to get pulled over and made to do it by the police.
• Turn on your lights when it's snowing. It's so other people can see you.
• Try not to spin your tires. The quickest and easiest way to get going is to gently step on the gas pedal and slowly add more pressure to increase your speed. Stepping on it normally, or harder than normal, causes your tires to spin. This creates ice. Ice makes it more difficult for you to get going, and makes it more dangerous for other drivers to stop and start at the same intersection.
• If you are sliding, turn in the direction you are sliding. This will help you regain control of the car. Also, take your foot off the gas. Don't brake until you again have control of your vehicle.
  

Winter Weather Advisory

We are currently experiencing a winter weather advisory. It keeps getting modified, so I'm not sure how long it's supposed to last anymore (originally it was until Tuesday night or something). Anyway, what that basically means is that it's snowing and will continue for the foreseeable future. I have to admit that winter weather advisories make me snicker a bit. When weather services feel the need to warn me about something, I expect it to be a big deal. Not a few inches of snow. A few inches of snow is not that serious. Or, at least, I don't think it is. Don't get me wrong. I like snow. I like it to snow a lot and stick around for a while. I don't think it's really necessary to advise people that when it's below freezing and it's going to precipitate it will come down as snow. In my mind, that's pretty self-evident. I mean, this is North Idaho. It gets cold here. And it snows.

However, driving around in the snow (which is probably not even a full inch deep at this point) makes me rethink my stance on the necessity of winter weather advisories. Not for me, necessarily, but for the other citizens of our fair city, who apparently forget how to drive in the snow each year when it goes away. (According to the state police as of about 5:30 this evening, they have responded to over 30 accidents and slide-offs and the snow started around 1:00pm. That's 6 or 7 accidents an hour.) I'm not sure how that works, really. Do they not realize that it will snow once again after we've gotten through the non-snowing seasons? We live in a northern climate. This is not California or Arizona or Texas or some other place that never really gets snow. We get snow. I'll say that once more. This is North Idaho. It snows here. Some winters, like last winter, we don't get a lot of snow, but it still can be icy on the roads. Other winters, like the one the year before, it dumps loads of snow. There's no telling how much we'll really get from one year to the next. They (whoever "they" are) are saying this will be a wet, snowy winter. So, here are my tips for safe driving in the snow and ice:

Things to do:

1. Get tires with traction. Studs are not really necessary and only tear up the roads when the roads are not covered in snow. Tires with good tread that are siped are just as, if not more effective than studded tires. If it's icy, you're likely to slip a bit, studs or not.
   
2. Allow more time to get from one place to the next.
3. When stopping, give yourself plenty of time to slow down.
4. When starting, give yourself plenty of time to get up to speed.

Things not to do:

1. Don't slam on your brakes. This will only make you slide into things.
2. Don't cut people off. It takes more time to get up to speed on slippery roads, so you need to allow more space between cars when pulling into traffic. Cutting people off makes them slam on their brakes, which will make them slide into things, possibly you.
3. Don't drive like the roads are dry. They're not. They're covered in ice and snow. These substances are slippery.
4. Don't feel the need to go the posted speed limit. Drive a safe speed that allows you to control your vehicle. Sometimes that is the speed limit. Sometimes it's slower than the speed limit, and that's okay.

So, if you have forgotten what it means to drive in snow and ice, hopefully the above list was a nice refresher. If you have not forgotten these things, feel free to pass this on to your friends that may have forgotten.

Also, it's cold outside. Wear a coat, scarf, gloves, and hat. These things help you to not be so cold.

Holiday Expo Take Two

This year we put on our second annual Holiday Expo. We had a great time! I made brownies and pumpkin bread to snack on. We had three giveaways, which we will announce tomorrow on our Facebook page. We are donating the profits from today to the local food bank. We are going to be putting on fund-raising parties about once a month (the next one will be in January). Each party will benefit a local charity. We decided to do this so that we can benefit different organizations in our community and help support them. Plus, it's fun to invite a bunch of people over to hang out. Hopefully, you'll be able to make it to our next event!

Fridays

My Fridays are mostly uneventful, usually. The morning and early afternoon is generally relaxing. I usually practice at some point (which I did this afternoon), and knit or spin or card some wool. This morning was spent carding wool, as I had used up all the previously carded wool for that project. It's a bit zen, but we'll talk about that more later. Around 2:45 I pack up my things and head north. I teach a student up in Athol at his house on Fridays at 3:30. With traffic it takes about 40 minutes to get to his house. After that lesson (and the reason I'm willing to drive out there to do it), I head a bit further north to pick up the milk from the farm. (For more about getting milk from a farm and why I do it, see this post.) By the time I'm done with all this, I usually get home around 5:30. Now that we're in the Dark Time, this means I leave when it's daylight, but the rest of my driving on windy state highways in the middle of nowhere is done after dark.

Usually this routine is not to big of a problem. I'm still getting used to driving around up there at night (which is very different from driving around town at night), but last week wasn't a big deal. This week the whole ordeal was a bit of a comedy of errors. It started out with me running a few minutes late, but not so much that it should've been a big deal. Then, I hit nearly every light red on the highway. With the new timing of the lights, traffic gets waaaay backed up, and it's terrible. So, I finally get north of the lights and we're going along fine, then I see a sign on the side of the road saying Highway 54 is closed at the railroad crossing and to take Brunner Road for a detour. Let me just say that I am not overly familiar with the back roads north of town. I can get around town just fine, but once I get very much north, all I know is the main highways and whatever Google maps can tell me on my iPhone. Up there it's all Edge network, so it takes forever for anything to load. Highway 54 is what I take to get to my lesson, so I took the detour. Unfortunately, I decided to take the wrong road north. I made it to Highway 54 just fine, but still on the wrong side of the closed road. So, I had to go all the way back down to where I'd gotten off the highway and try again. The second time I did fine and made it to my lesson. Only 25 minutes late. The lesson is only 30 minutes. I was a bit frustrated. Fortunately, I had called ahead and let them know what was going on. They were flexible enough to just have me do the lesson when I got there. So, after the lesson I had to take the detour all the way back south, then go north again to go get the milk. On the way back I once again got stuck behind the slow person who likes to go 15 to 20 miles below the speed limit. And the passing lanes are always start on a curve going uphill, which makes passing difficult. Add to that darkness, difficulty seeing the lines, and lights from oncoming traffic flashing past and it makes trying to pass the slow poke extra fun. Especially when the person behind me is tailgating me hardcore and I can't go any faster because there's someone in front of me not going super fast, but fast enough to pass the really slow guy. Grrr. In short, I did not have a very nice drive tonight. But, I only got home about a half hour later than normal. So, I suppose it could have been worse. It'll be fun to see what things are like once the snow starts sticking...

First Snow of 2010

We woke up to this outside this morning. Snow! I'm a firm believer that if it's going to be cold, it might as well snow. Plus, when it's cold enough to be almost snow, but not quite, it's miserable. When it drops just a couple more degrees to be full fledged snow, it's great to watch, and when enough accumulates, you can go outside and play in it. What's not to love. Sadly, it warmed up to about 40 degrees, so the snow melted by this afternoon. There's more in the forecast for tonight, and it might stay cold enough for it to stick around a bit. This made today great for snuggling under blankets, watching movies, and knitting. I started my dad's Christmas present yesterday. I'm about a quarter of the way done. It's going much faster than mom's present. I think I'll make some hot chocolate and snuggle up with reruns of Monk on Netflix for the rest of the evening. I hope you are all snuggly and warm wherever you are as well.

What to Make for Dinner When You Don't Want to Make Dinner

Something that can be thrown together and stuck in an oven, requiring little prep and no attention. For these nights my go-to dishes are roast chicken (yummy, economical, but it takes an hour) and what I call Parmesan chicken. For roast chicken, get a fresh bird from the store or your local butcher, bring it home, rinse it and pat it dry with paper towels. Turn your oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle pepper and salt all over the chicken and put it in a roasting pan, uncovered. Once the oven is heated up, put the chicken in the oven and set your timer for an hour. For Parmesan chicken you don't even need to thaw the chicken, especially if you use chicken tenders. Put the chicken in a pan and sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese all over the chicken, then add 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Put it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes (if you use frozen breasts, it may take a few minutes longer) then serve over rice. Or just eat it by itself. Whichever you prefer.

Tonight I did neither of those things. I made the easiest thing ever. Pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese. Yup, boil up some pasta. When it's done, dump it in a bowl, put in a tablespoon of butter, add salt to taste, stir it around and enjoy.

Two Down...

Seven more to go. I finished my mom's socks that she's getting for Christmas. The ends are woven in and everything. All that's left to do with them is take a few pictures, wrap them up, and put them under the tree. Since I can't show you a picture of them until after Christmas, here is a picture of the leftover yarn from this pair of socks:



It's blue and pretty, but there's precious little of it left. Normally I have enough left that I wonder what to do with the scraps. This is really only enough to save for the possibility of darning the socks. Toward the end I was getting a bit worried about having enough yarn. I did, though. With just a bit left over.

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Unfinished Objects

Unfinished Objects, or UFOs, often take up residence in the house of a knitter. I currently have three I can think of off hand. UFOs are different from Works In Progress because progress has not been made on the UFO in some time. Works In Progress still count as in progress if work has been done on them in the recent past. I suppose different people would have different standards for when something crosses the line between a Work In Progress and a UFO. For me, it's something I have abandoned and have no intention of returning to in the foreseeable future. For example, my Works In Progress list includes one purple lace cardigan sweater, one red pullover sweater, a pair of socks for me, and a pair of socks for my mom for Christmas. I have been working on all of these projects concurrently. I mostly work on the socks for Christmas, as those have a specific deadline. I alternate to the other projects for different reasons, including my hands getting tired and needing a change of pace, being in a room that contains one project and not another, and hanging out at my parents house, making working on my mom's Christmas present not an option.

My UFO's have ended up that way for various reasons. My UFO list is shorter than my Works In Progress list. For my UFOs I have a half-sleeve white lace cardigan, a lace cashmere scarf, and a slipper. The white cardigan only has to have the collar knitted and attached and it will be finished. It's silly that it's not finished, actually. But, I didn't feel like doing the collar when it was time, and it's not a cold weather sweater, so the urge to finish isn't particularly strong.

This picture was taken before I grafted the two halves together. Like I said. All it needs is a collar.

The slippers were abandoned last year in the winter. I made a pair for my sister-in-law and decided to make some for myself as well. I got tired of them part-way through and still haven't finished. I really should, though. They'll be warm and cozy and I only have one piece left to knit. The cashmere scarf just got pushed away when I started working on the socks for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Then I started two sweaters. And my mom's socks for Christmas after I finished my mother-in-law's socks. It's not high on the priority list, even though the yarn is yummy and soft. I'll get back to it soon. But, I really want some sweaters. And Christmas knitting needs to get done before Christmas.

If Sock Knitting Were a Race...

If sock knitting were a race, then turning the heel would be like rounding the corner for the homestretch. Unfortunately, a heel flap and gusset take a while. And so does the home stretch. In that way, comparing sock knitting to racing doesn't really work very well.

Colds

I have a cold. I got it from my darling nieces who were here last weekend. My nose is raw, my head hurts, and I've gone through lots and lots of Kleenex since Thursday. I'm glad I have a large stash of the Kleenex with lotion, or else I think my nose would be in much worse shape. For the record, I'm taking my vitamins, trying to get plenty of water, I made chicken noodle soup yesterday, and taking medicine. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon. In the meantime, I've not done very much. I have gotten further on my mom's Christmas present, but still have a bit to go. At this rate, it should be finished in a few more days. Otherwise, I've mostly been sitting on the couch blowing my nose and watching shows on the internet. I hope your weekend is a bit more pleasant. Mine would be great if it weren't for all the nose blowing.

The Dark Time

This time of year is what I think of as the dark time. We've set our clocks back and now it gets dark before 5:00 pm. Soon, the sun will come up even later and go down even earlier. There are more hours of darkness than light. And even the daylight hours are often gray and not particularly bright. There are days ahead in which we will drive with our headlights on all day long, not because we are so far north that we don't get sun, but because the clouds and rain and snow will be so thick as to obscure the sun.

There are things I very much enjoy about this time. I like cuddling up under a blanket with some hot chocolate and a book or a movie. I like knitting lots of warm cozy things. I like wearing the warm cozy things I've knitted. Or seeing other people wear them (if they're for them of course. I don't want other people wearing my hats and sweaters). I like sleeping under warm blankets. This is a dark time, but it's a cozy time.

Veterans' Day

Today is Veterans' Day. If you live in Canada, today is Remembrance Day. Last year I spent Remembrance Day in Canada. I think I like Remembrance Day better than Veterans' Day. This is not because I think veterans are unimportant. Quite the contrary. But I think Remembrance Day does a better job of things. It is a day to pause and remember the past wars and soldiers, as well as thinking about the current soldiers enduring conflict abroad. In Canada and England and possibly some other countries people wear poppies on their lapels in honor of Remembrance Day, to provide a visible symbol of their remembrance and support. This is a reference to this poem:

In Flanders Fields by Lt. Col. John McRae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This is a poem written by a soldier in World War I. That war is the reason we have a holiday today. Originally November 11 was known as Armistice Day, because World War I ended on November 11, 1918. I learned this from the prologue to the book Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Here is the excerpt from the book:

"When I was a boy...all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God."

So, in honor of the history of this day, let us pause for a moment and remember. Let us remember the sacrifice of our countrymen. And let us remember what that sacrifice costs us all.

On Wool

Wool is often maligned as itchy and difficult to care for. While wool does require specific handling, it is not always itchy. That is not to say that there are not itchy wools, but there are many breeds of sheep and many of them produce wool that is soft and lovely. Merino is the most famous of the fine wool breeds. Merino is the wool of choice for soft, next to skin wearing garments. Personally, I love wool. It is warm, it's forgiving, and it wears well.

Let us discuss the wonders of wool. Wool is warmer than polar fleece. This was proven to me last year when we had a couple weeks of very cold weather. One week I wore a wool sweater every day except one. On that day I wore a fleece. That day was warmer (by a about 10 degrees) than any other day that week, and I was colder in my fleece than I had been in my wool sweaters. Wool also emits heat when wet, which is something neither cotton nor polyester can say. It is moisture wicking. It is self extinguishing (this means when the flame is removed wool does not continue to burn). It has a certain amount of elasticity. It can range from ultra soft for next to skin wear to sturdy for outerwear. It is versatile, natural, and renewable.

Wool also comes in superwash varieties. This means it can be washed in your washing machine. Usually it needs to be air dried, but some types can be dried in the dryer as well. While this is very nice, wool that has to be hand washed is not that much more difficult to care for. Hand washing is pretty easy. To do it, all you need is a receptacle large enough to hold your item and water to cover it. Put a bit of laundry detergent in the basin, fill with water, then submerge your item in the water. Leave it for 20 minutes or so. Remove the item and drain the water. Fill with clean water and submerge your item once again and leave it for another 20 minutes. You can repeat the rinse to make sure all the soap is rinsed out. After the rinsing, gently squeeze as much water as you can from the item, lay it on a towel, roll up the towel and stand on it to squeeze out as much water as possible. Lay it out to dry.

So, there are some of the reasons I like wool, and some ways to wash it if you're so inclined.

Tuesday

Today is Tuesday. It won't be for much longer, but right now it is. My nieces are gone, so I have no more pictures of cute little girls. I'm not really sure what to write about, so I'm giving this stream of consciousness style a try. But here is a random list of things currently available for discussion:

1. We're watching Lie to Me right now. I enjoy this show. I particularly enjoy Cal Lightman's pithy dialogue. He makes me laugh.

2. I've started my Christmas knitting already. I've finished one present and am halfway through the second. I have six more presents to go.

3. I found a homeopathic remedy that is helping my sinus headaches. It's called Kali bichromicum. Anyway, it's working, which is good since I had a sinus headache that nothing else would help for about three weeks.

That's about all I can come up with at the moment. So, leave a comment and let me know what you prefer: photos of things I'm working on or random stream of consciousness rambling?


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Saying Goodbye

My brother and family left this morning to return to their home in Colorado. We hung out with them yesterday and said goodbye last night. Michael and I spent quite a while last night getting to play with our nieces before they left. We don't get to do it very often, so we like to take advantage of the opportunity while it's available. Much of the evening was spent playing hide and seek, which is quite entertaining when playing with a three and a four year old. They are very cute little girls. Here are some photos of our last night with them.





And it must be said that Uncle Michael is a big hit.

Google-J

According to Michael, I'm his own, real live Google. He can ask me a question and I'll spit out the answer (without the paid advertisements). This, of course, is not entirely accurate. There are many things I do not know (though I do have pretty good Google-Fu if I do say so myself). In any case, Michael has now dubbed me Google-J (for Google-Jessica), and will call me that whenever he wants an answer to a random question. Behold, the wonder of Google-J!


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A Day at the Beach

For a November afternoon, it was actually pretty nice. The sun peaked through the clouds and the temperature was just above 60 degrees. We spent part of the afternoon downtown and at the lake. Here are some pictures from the beach.