Bad blogger!

I'm a bad, bad, blogger! It has been months since I've written anything and there has been lots going on. My excuse was that it was summer and there is always just too much going on in the summer... well, it is November . I suppose that excuse won't fly anymore. In the past week I've had new insulation installed under my house, so it stays nice and toasty(er) now. To go along with that I also had something DIE in my duct work. My house stinks! In an attempt to find out how/where the thing died, we discovered a LOT of water under the house and a leak in the kitchen drain pipe, which is lead. (Did I mention it rained like 6 inches in the last week?). Tuesday I have a guy coming out to clean out the ducts and dispose of the aforementioned dead critter (and hopefully a lot of dust and allergens) and I have to call a plumber. This will be the THIRD time a plumber has had to visit this house this year. I think we're keeping the guy in business. Add a death in the family, a birth in the family, a new job, and deciding to begin homeschooling my son, and my life pretty much feels like chaos right now.

I'll share a couple of photos while I try to regroup and share more details of the last couple of months.

We spent a week in Kansas (my first time) and this is a photo of me in front of the vast, flat, nothing that we encountered on occasion. I'm too used to all the mountains here... it was kinda eerie.

My sister-in-law receiving the baby sweater I made for my first nephew who was born on October 28.

My grandmother turned 90 years old in September. And yes, there are 90 candles on that cake.

There has been knitting. Quite a bit of knitting actually. I started my Christmas knitting almost a month ago now and I'm moving right along. I made it a bit easier on myself be deciding to give all the kids in the family (4 total) felted clogs. Its a pretty easy pattern. The girls get variations on purple and Ethan gets camo. I'm sure they'll love 'em.

Ravelympics Update

Well, there are just over 2 days left of the ravelympics and I’m sorely behind. I kinda thought I would be after I added on the Clapotis at the last minute. Oh well. I did finish the baby sweater, and it’s very cute! I have the cuff done of one sock and the clapotis is about 30% done…Fortunately we leave tomorrow for 24+ hours of driving 1600 miles for our vacation. This means about half of that time is knitting time for me. I’m hoping to at least finish the Clapotis.

Summer

Summer is a busy time, which apparently means little time for blogging (for me). I finally finished my Monkey socks for Summer of Socks 2008. So, what happens right smack dab in the middle of SOS? The Ravelympics*, of course! I couldn’t resist signing up. I joined Team Browncoat (if you don’t know what a Browncoat is, check out the TV series Firefly) and signed up for THREE events! I must be insane. It took me almost two months to knit the Monkey socks, but now I’m going to knit Spring Forward for the Sock Put, Mossy sweater for Baby Dressage, AND a Clapotis for Scarf stroke? All in 17 days? My saving graces are the fact that the socks double for SOS and that we’re going on road trip in a couple weeks so I’ll have lots of knitting time on the road.

So far, we’ve had a busy summer of hiking, camping, berry picking, local festivals, and all the great things we love to do in the summer. For my birthday, Cliff surprised me with a trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. We managed to squeeze in the Royal London Wax Museum, the Royal BC Museum, and our primary reason for going, The Butchart Gardens. I hadn’t been to Victoria in about 20 years, so this was quite a treat. We even found a yarn shop, which is where I bought the yarn for the wavelength scarf and the Mossy jacket, not to mention my first skein of Casbah Sock in the most gorgeous colors.

*For those who don’t know, the Ravelympics is a Ravelry-base self-challenge knitting event that spans the actual Olympics.

Knitting update

Wow! It’s been weeks since I’ve written anything. It’s amazing how time flies in the summer. There is always so much to do. I’ve been feverishly knitting socks for Summer of Socks 2008 and I’ve completed…. ONE Monkey sock ok, so I’m a slow sock knitter. It looks awesome though, if I do say so myself.
My brother and sister-in-law were up for a visit yesterday and my SIL dabbles in knit and crochet so she can appreciate that I can sit and chat while I knit or crochet and she can appreciate handmade gifts. My brother on the other hand, made a snarky comment about knitting grandmas (to both my mom and me) and I reminded him that family members who make fun of knitting don’t get knitted gifts. I think he got the point.

My Drops cabled bag is still waiting for handles and buttons, and I am sorry to say probably will be for a while. I have a couple of deadline projects to work on, and they’ll take priority right now.

My Fibertrends felted clogs are just waiting to be felted. I am a little apprehensive about felting in my front-loading washer because I have so little control compared to a top-loading washer.

I am finally caught up with my 12-month afghan crochet along. I started my first July square last night.

I have started a Wavelength Scarf, crocheted from Noro Kureyon Sock. This is the first time I’ve worked with Noro and other than being a bit rough on the hands to work with, I’m loving it. We’re taking a trip to Kansas at the end of August and this scarf will be gifted on that trip, so I have about 4 weeks to get it finished and blocked. Fortunately, it’s all chains and single crochet, so it is moving along rather quickly.


That’s all I’m working on right now (she says sarcastically). I still have a baby sweater to make before November, so that will probably be next in the queue.

Cooking and Gardening

I enjoy cooking and gardening quite a bit but haven’t really blogged about it. Grow Your Own is “is a monthly food blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products.” and has inspired me to blog a bit about my cooking and gardening efforts. I’ve been following a couple of food-related blogs, including Andrea’s and A Year of Crockpotting.

Given the rising cost of food lately, I’m glad I decided to plant my meager veggie garden. My yard is tiny so my space is limited, but my mom has a nice sized garden and she likes to share. This year I planted cilantro, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini. My oregano plant managed to survive the move and the winter, but my chives did not. Mom grows artichokes, spinach, figs, raspberries, strawberries, Marionberries, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, basil, and rhubarb and lettuce. I LOVE rhubarb.

Cliff recently went on a fishing trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, Canada and came home with 43 pounds of fish, which promptly found its way into *my* freezer. Included were Red Snapper, Ling Cod, Sea Bass, and Halibut. Lots of Halibut. So, my challenge has been to find new and interesting ways to prepare all this fish. Last night, we had the first of the halibut. I made Grilled Halibut with Cilantro Garlic Butter. I used fresh cilantro from my garden. I served it with steamed green beans. A nice hearty bread would’ve been good too, but I just wasn’t that ambitious. It tasted quite good. The sauce was not too heavy and allowed the flavor of the fish to come through. Ethan only had 2 bites, but I’m hoping that by the end of the summer he will love fish.

I'm published!

I am SO excited! One of my photos of Whidbey Island has been selected for inclusion in Schmap, an online, interactive map guide. If you click on this link: Schmap, the photo that comes up in the upper right hand corner should be mine (or scroll through until you see mine). Its pretty exciting for me! Some of my photos are starting to be recognized. Some time back, I received an e-mail that a forestry exhibit was being developed at Northwest Trek and they planned to use another of my Whidbey Island photos in the display.

These photos are all ones that I have uploaded to various stock photo sites that can be used free, as long as my name is attributed to the work. My goal in allowing my photos to be used in this manner is to get my work out there. I’m still very new to photography and will probably think these are crap 10 years from now… but in the meantime, I’m a published photographer!

I promise some knitting stuff soon! There just hasn't been much to tell. I've been working very slowly on just about everything. The knitting portion of my Drops Cabled bag is complete and the rest is all finishing work. I'd really like to have it completely done for "show and tell" at my knitting group next weekend. I promise photos when its TOTALLY finished!

Woah

Who would've thought that knit or crochet could be used to explain and visualize theoretical mathematics? Thank you to TECHknitting for posting this link: Making Math with Yarn

I love that these scientists are using craft and applying it to their field of study. However, if you aren't a mathematician, the article might make your brain hurt just a little.