Tofu-knits

Small is Beautiful

This is supposed to be a knitting blog.  So here are some pictures of little things I'm doing.

This is a scarf I'm working on furiously for a banquet/auction hubby is taking me to this weekend.  It's handspun llama/silk from Queso Cabeza Farm I picked up last year at Michigan Fiber Fest.  It must have been an impulse buy, as I only had a few ounces, and when I pulled it out of stash, I was surprised to find it was a blend.  But it spun up nicely.  Knitted, it's lovely.  When I work on it for awhile, I can tell where I started the current knitting session, as the earlier sections have relaxed and developed a nice haze.  But I'm into the yarn anxiety zone.  It won't be as large as I'd hoped, and I'm counting on a good blocking to whip it into a size long enough to count as a scarf, not a kerchief.

The pattern is 'Wings of the Swan' from Barbara Walker's second treasury (p. 306).  And it's the second small thing I've made using this lace pattern.  The first is here, hanging in my shower, holding soap scraps.  I made a soap bag years ago, in stockinette, out of a dishcloth type cotton.  It was great, but in that heavy a yarn, and solid stitching, it never dried.  And after a week or so of use, it started to smell like a wet dishrag.  So this time, it's knit in lightweight linen, with a lace pattern.  And it works well to gather up all those annoying little scraps of soap that are too small to use easily.

Can you tell I'm a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to some things?  I like to use fancy soaps.  It's one indulgence I allow myself.  And when I've spent several dollars on a single bar of soap, I like to use as much as possible. (My current favorite is Magno la Toja, which comes in black bars. I've used it off and on since high school, and it has a subtle haunting scent.)  

I've also nearly finished several baby sweaters.  I think some of these have already made their debut in earlier pages of the blog.  But the sherbet colored BSJ I know is new, as it was inspired by a baby born this spring.  I've learned about myself that I have better luck knitting what I feel like knitting, then finding a recipient once it's done, than trying to knit something for anyone specific.  I rarely seem to meet deadlines, lace scarves for auctions excluded.

Here are picture from our Sunday morning.  Now that hubby has his plane flying, he's joined with a local social group that flies somewhere for Sunday breakfast every week.  Last week it was a special trip to Monument Valley.  To the left is the view approaching the airstrip.  And to the right is looking from the parking lot to the lodge.  Having the plane, and going out every week to places that would take hours to drive to, has been special.  Thank you, Pat, if you ever read this.

Another blog I follow is Crazy Aunt Purl.  She's one of the knitting bloggers who has expanded her blogging into a genuine paper and ink book. We're different.  Sometimes I get annoyed with her gushing.  (That's easier to take since I decided I get to eat a treat every time she uses the word 'eleventy' in her blog.) But I'm in awe of her her honesty, and the courage she displays in posting it in public for anyone to read.  The metamorphosis she's chronicled is amazing.  And a lot of it came about by getting rid of things.

About 2 weeks ago I stopped getting email.  I got a few emails here and there, but when I looked into it, I found that my email provider had ceased forwarding all my emails from my old address to my new one.  Tech support confirmed there was a problem and assured me they were working on it.  But in the meantime, I wasn't getting emails.  There was nothing coming through from the big Knitlist, Knitflame, spinlist, techspinning, and worst of all, nothing from SheepThrills.  The only things getting through were the few things I'd signed up for by clicking on a link that provided my new email address automatically.  I thought I would go nuts.

Then after several days the messages started dribbling through.  First just a few, then more, and finally I was getting the full load of them every day.  With a bit of distance, I saw them in a new light.  Most of them were pretty mundane.  A few were really annoying.  I suddenly realized I had been reading, or mass deleting, out of habit.  They really weren't doing anything for me.  So I dumped them.  

I didn't have the heart to unsubscribe from SheepThrills.  At one time that was truly my home online.  On Sept. 11th, in spare moments at work, I logged on and dropped in to the SheepThrills chatroom, where several folks were also reaching out looking for comfort and companionship to get through the horror.  So I've kept my membership, but don't get the messages.  And sadly, I don't miss it.  

With all the Yahoogroups gone, I see how many truly pointless emails I get.  And I've been taking myself off email lists as much as possible.  Goodbye, Marie Callenders updates! (The nearest Marie Callender's restaurant is about 150 miles away.)  So long Teavana!  The worst is Victoria's Secret, that keeps creeping back like, well, poorly fitting panties.  But I have hope they will eventually get the message that I don't want them littering up my email.  And in the future, I shall make up an email address to use when asked for one.

She's Baaaccccckkkk!!!!

It's been awhile. I haven't even looked to see just how long.  I'm not explaining or apologizing for my absence.  That's because I think what's more interesting is why I'm back.

In the interim I've been hanging out over on Facebook.  Lauren got me started by moving most of her action over.  It's quick and easy to post.  And my fears that I would have no friends turned out to be unfounded.  I've got plenty.  (But I wonder sometimes how many of them befriended me out of excitement upon joining Facebook and spotting people they knew who were already members.)  

But Facebook isn't the greatest format for longer, more introspective posts.  It's better for quick updates, links to other sites, snapshots, and videos.  Besides, my Facebook friends are a diverse group of folks who may not have any interest in hearing about my latest knitting or spinning project, or my blatherings on some woo-woo existential subject, and wouldn't appreciate updates on these subjects.  So it seemed time to rejuvenate my blog.  I get the chance to write longer pieces without boring my Facebook crew.  And anyone who wants to see what I've got on the needles or the wheels can come take a peek.  

The rest of this post will be interrupted by random photos of what I've been up to over the last months.

My first post this time back was actually inspired by something that happened over on Facebook.  A friend posted the results of a quiz about 'What's missing from your life?' and the answer was FUN.  I took the quiz.   I'm also FUN deficient.  Then 2 more friends took the quiz, and they were also missing FUN.  These are all women, all with significant educational and professional accomplishments, all well into womanhood, and all lacking FUN in our lives.  That made me think.

It could be a totally bogus quiz.  It was, after all, based on only 4 rather odd questions.  And since no one was lacking anything other than FUN, that may have been the only possible answer.  If the quiz results had been followed by a sales pitch, I would believe that there was only one possible answer.  But all 4 women felt something strongly enough about the results to post them on their pages so their friends would know they were lacking FUN in their lives.  Apparently it stuck a chord.

My husband has been gone for a week at Oshkosh.  When he left, my first thought was, 'Oh cool!  I've got the whole house to myself for a week!  I can do whatever I want!  I can...................' and that's where the thought stopped.  I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do.  Over the course of the week the only things I did that I wouldn't have done with hubby home were watch a batch of Jeremy Sisto movies and eat pizza with anchovies.  (Oh, Yum!)  OK, maybe I wouldn't have eaten take-out food in bed in front of the TV every night, but I might have.  By the end of the week I realized some of my most satisfying time was spent 'puttering' around the house, doing small simple things to make it less chaotic: putting away dishes or laundry, filling the birdfeeders, making the bed every morning, cleaning old papers out of my file, and clearing away some administrative paperwork that has been languishing on my desk for years.

But is that FUN?  I don't know.  I'm not sure what FUN really is, so also don't know how to get more in my life.  And it seems several other women of my acquaintence are also noticing a lack.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

What I've been wondering is whether we, as women, or as people with a certain personality, have devoted most of our time and energy to what we think we must do, always figuring that once that's done, whatever is leftover ours.  It's a startling revelation when it becomes clear that there isn't anything left over, that if we don't make FUN and enjoyment just as much a priority as retirement savings, partnership, and advanced degrees it doesn't happen, and that there's been such a defecit for so long that FUN feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

I admit I'm using we here when it's really me.  But if any readers want to agree with me, feel free to stand behind my words.

Don't where to go with this one.  The first things that pop into my head when I think of FUN are foods.  While chocolate makes almost everything better, it's not the answer to all problems.  I guess I'll just keep an open mind, and pay attention when I get hints of FUN.

Oh, and I'm shopping for a pogo stick.

Nov. 25th

We are finally getting some interesting weather up on the peaks.  This is today, about 3:30 pm.  I had just a couple of raindrops fall on my car an hour ago as I drove home from work.  But up higher, it's a different matter.  The prediction is for rain tomorrow, which will probably mean some significant snow on the mountain.  I just hope we don't have another storm next week, when I'm taking off for a week in Chicago.

Oh, and lookie here.  I have knitting to show.  This is the sleeve of the sweater I'm hoping to have done for hubby by Christmas.  It's plain old Cascade 220.  The cat pattern is from Dale of Norway pattern book 114.  I think it's out of print, as it doesn't show up on their website.  This will be the only cats on the sweater.  It's my attempt at putting something unusual on an otherwise not-terribly-unique sweater.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd been having shoulder pains, probably from some weightlifting.  After chatting with one of our orthopedic PA's, I've figured out that it probably is some rotator cuff irritation, with perhaps a Type 2 or 3 acromion complicating matters.  He said the first thing I should do is find some strengthening exercises, do them faithfully for a month, and if I'm still having pain come in for X-rays to see if I've got a hooked bone end irritating things.  So if you look in my office (HA!) you'll find a copy of this set of exercises along with this precision training aid.  Yep, a can of soup is about all I can do these with without causing pain.  But it is not hurting as much.  And I'm sleeping better, so perhaps it's helping already. 

Nov 22nd.

This was the big event this week.  Hubby has been looking forward to this day for 14 years.  Yep, he started this the same year I started medical school.  He built an airplane, and this Wednesday, and 7:47 am, it took off and flew for the first time.  

He was in flight training in the 90's when I was in college, hoping for a career as a professional pilot.  Then I was accepted to a school out of state, he tried to find training there, but between having to work and weather part of the year that made flying difficult, he wasn't able to continue.  So he started building instead.  The first parts of the project were constructed in our living room.  (Random bit of information: TV remote control signals actually work better when bounced off aluminum airplane wings, even if the wings are suspended on the wall behind the viewer.  I suspect there's some scatter of the beam, so a greater chance of hitting the sensor on the TV.)

The project was put on hold for 4 years in residency, as we had no garage at our apartment.  By then he was up to the fuselage, and it would not fit in a living room.  Besides, we both had commutes of about an hour, which didn't leave much time for fun.  But as soon as we moved to a larger, grownup home with a garage, he started up again.  The plane has moved twice since then.  The first move was to our house, where it occupied half the garage for a couple of years.  Then when the wings went on, it was too big for the garage, so moved to a hangar at the airport.

Last year, he went to Montana to meet with the builders of his instrument panel.  Earlier this year, he spent several days in Texas assembling his own engine.  (Under the supervision of the factory engineers, of course.)  The last couple of weeks he's spent testing instruments, engine, brakes, etc.  Last Saturday it was inspected and found 'capable of safe flight'.  (No experimental aircraft is ever 'airworthy'.  But experimental does not mean unproven.  There are thousands of planes of this design flying throughout the world.)  And everything came together on Wednesday.

I confess, I haven't always been supportive of his project.  It's cost lots of money, which I would rather have put toward debt reduction or retirement.  It's taken up room in our apartment or garage.  He's missed social events in order to work on the plane.  (Heck, this weekend we're going to see 'The Mikado' out of town, and making a one day trip instead of an overnighter so he can stay here and keep playing with it.  That means I miss my chance at visiting a yarn store.)

But this week, I'm so proud of him.  And I'm excited that now he has an airplane, so trips to mid-range destinations will be easier to make.  (Taos Wool Festival, anyone?)

I've read a couple of blogs this week which mentioned trouble with Typepad.  So I'm going to claim less than full credit for some of the formatting here.  I first attempted to post a short video clip of the the plane taking off, but Typepad wouldn't recognize it.  So I deleted it, and posted a still photo instead.  It took 2 tries, and each time it moved down a paragraph, and all the text above it was underlined.  I couldn't get it to un-underline, and don't have the time or patience to re-type it all, so it will post as it is.

Nov. 18th

I am now officially withdrawing from NaBloPoMo.  There's really no need to announce that, as I never signed up for anything.  But I am giving up on the idea.  Maybe someday.........  In the meantime, here's a Saturday picture of the mountain.   We've been enjoying nice weather the last week or so.  But it does make for some pretty monotonous photos.  So I managed to get a more interesting picture of the peak.  

Hubby is a private pilot.  He's building his own plane, which is tentatively scheduled to fly for the first time tomorrow.  In the meantime, he's been hanging out with other pilots at the local airport.  Sunday morning they get together and fly somewhere for breakfast.  This week our choir was not singing, so I was able to tag along.  The weather was beautiful, and I grabbed several shots out the window.

In answer to a question in the comments, yes, the wheel is a Reeves Norwegian style.  It was wheel number 3 for me, bought used, and came with only 1 bobbin.  It took some time to get used to, but now I love it.

Again, I have no knitting pictures.  I haven't done much, and what I have done isn't that interesting to look at.  

Does anyone else remember Biorhythyms?  I have a hard time believing that there is a predictable pattern to your life that is set at the time of birth and can be charted indefinetely.  But I do recognize that various aspects of my life seem to have cycles.  And right now, I can't think of anything that is in a positive cycle.  

Trouble sleeping sure isn't helping.  I had strange dreams last night, but don't remember any of them.  And my shoulders are hurting.  I've spent enough time around orthopedists to know there are configurations of shoulder bones that make one more likely to have problems, although I can't tell you exactly how that happens.  And a swimming coach many years ago told me that the best way to avoid shoulder problems from swimming was to choose the right parents. So I'm afraid I may have to live with this.

 About a month ago I started working out with weights.  I like the changes I'm seeing and feeling.  I make a better anatomy model for regional anesthesia than I used to.  But I can't sleep comfortably in the same position I'm used to because my shoulders ache when I do.  Instead I lie in a position that doesn't aggravate my shoulders, and hope I stay there after I fall asleep.

I'm sure the shoulder pain is also partly because I'm getting older.  I have a birthday coming up next week.  And this year, more than I can remember in the past, I'm feeling as if I'm getting old.  Yes, I'm sure some of this is a reaction to the deaths we had in the family this summer.  Then last week I spent a day caring for geriatric patients, and it reminded me that we all get old.  Some of us just get there slower than others.  But the sore shoulders, the gray hair, the declining eyesight: it's not going to go away.  It'll get more pronounced.  

I do have to wonder, though.  If it feels like a down cycle in my health, work, religion, and even knitting, it it because they're all down at the same time?  Or is it me, looking at my life through a negative filter?

Nov. 14th

No pictures of the mountain today, because I came to work at 6:30 am, it's now 8 pm and I'm still at work.  It's been an interesting day, and not in the fun sense. 

It looks like I get to go home soon.  More stuff tomorrow.

Nov. 13th

OK, here's today's mountain view.  

One thing I'm doing since I'm posting more regularly is try to learn how to do new things.  And it's trying.  It's taken me half an hour to get one picture and 3 lines of text into the post.  Pictures are loading very slowly.  And when they do upload, they are sometimes formatted oddly, so any text I enter is unreadable.

Yesterday I read up on how to add YouTube videos into my blog post.  As an exercise, I opened a new post, added a video, then saved it for today.  Today, editing the post I started yesterday, I couldn't get anything entered above the video.  No matter where I put the insertion point, the video jumped up to the top of the page.  I finally gave up and started over.  So there may or may not be a music video along with this post.

And don't even ask me why some of the text is blue and some is black.  I have no clue.

I've been feeling guilty about not posting any fiber related pictures for a long time.  So here's a fiber supplement.  This is some Cormo I've had for several years, which I'm spinning pretty fine and hoping to turn into a lace scarf or 2 for a charity auction.  I've used this before, and it makes some lovely scarves.  But over time, I've begun spinning it finer and finer, without meaning to, so I'm curious how this will turn out.  I'm going to 2 ply it.  No, not from a center pull ball.  I'm not that masochistic.  I'll wind it off onto cardboard cores and ply from 2 balls.

My taste in music runs toward the loud. This is my most recent 'gotta see it again' video. It is my answer to the claim that Hip-Hop music has no redeeming artistic value. Are you reading this, MaryAnne?

Nov. 12th

And here's this morning's view.  Sorry I couldn't get a picture yesterday.  The quick glance I had out the window at work was stunning, with the peak sticking up through a layer of clouds.  This being November, I'm pretty sure it'll happen again by the end of the month.  I wonder if the people who live in the house behind us have noticed their neighbor outside almost every morning taking a picture of their house.

With some downtime, I looked upNaBloPoMo.  I misunderstood.  Yes, November is the big month, when bloggers make a commitment to post every day for the entire month, and win prizes if you do it.  But you can sign up anytime, and post for an entire month any month.  I could call this a practice, and try again later.  But I know myself and deadlines, and projects that take dedication for that long a time.  So I'll continue on, posting more than usual, and call it good.

That little problem I have with deadlines and organization gets in the way of knitting, too.  I was thinking today about all the things I hope to finish for specific events.  There's a sweater for hubby I'l like to finish for Christmas.  It's going, and I still have hope.  Someone at work is pregnant, and I have an all-but-buttons/wash/block/trim ends Tomten Jacket that will do nicely.  So far so good.  And I agreed to knit something for another pregnant friend, but she's not due until next year so I've got time.  About a week ago I remembered I wanted to knit another lace scarf to donate to a charity auction in February.  I started spinning for that last week, and if it was the only thing I was working on, I'd be safe. Oh, and I'm test knitting a hat pattern for a blogger who shares my birthday.    Now, if I can just focus on these things, and not get distracted by other things, like the domino knit throw I've just got to make with the yarn I bought 20 years ago for a Kaffe Fasset sweater.  Or the baby hats our church is making to support a team of OB/GYN docs who are in Afghanistan training local doctors.  Or the orange and brown laceweight I bought at Stitches Midwest. Or the aqua plain worsted weight wool I bought last December make a cardigan I was going to practice designing myself.  Or the vest that only needs arm bands, the Lily of the Valley stole, the kitty scarf, or anything else that I've already started but gotten distracted from. 

Nov. 11th

Missed another day yesterday. When I left home for work in the morning, it was too dark to get any pictures, and when I came home from work it was too dark for pictures

Today I have no pictures.  When I left home for work this morning, it was too dark out to get any pictures.  I'm still here, and when I leave for home, it'll be tomorrow. 

Consider this a contractual obligation post.

See ya tomorrow.

Nov. 9th

This picture was taken about noon today.  It's now 6 pm, and we have about half an inch of snow on the ground with more falling.  We may get to use the new snowblower tomorrow!

I'm proud of myself for posting almost every day of NaBloPoMo.  Perhaps I should declare a few more months for my self.  Like, NaWriJoMo (Write in your Journal Month), or NaEaHoMo (Eat at Home Month) or NaDoYoLaMo (Do your Laundry Month).

Here's part of the clean up crew for the birdseed on the back porch.  But he's shopping, not dining.  Hubby popped the hood of his truck to get to the battery for a jumpstart, and found a small pile of safflower husks on top the battery.  It makes sense to me.  I'm sure the engine compartment of a truck is warmer and more private than the porch.

Today is my sister's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Sarah!  To celebrate, she planned to cash in some frequent flier miles, fly to Chicago, and Climb the Sears Tower.  By now I'm sure she's done, and I hope she's happy with her time.