Random thoughts while treading water

At 3 months, 14 hours to retirement, I think a lot about saying goodbye to a 27+year career. Having a virus also makes me grumpy and somewhat negative. Maybe it's time to take those blues CDs out of my car, heh. And now that my Pakucho is done, what next? So I decided to take Kim up on doing the Random thoughts meme. Everyone who happens by this post is also invited:)

5 Random Thoughts
1. Really, I don't need a $200+ knitting book, even if it is Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting. It's pure indulgence and there are more worthy causes.
2. I think about that 35 year old man who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. He was a patient assigned to me by the health plan who(m?) I never met. He was single. Who was he? I will not miss worrying about patients at 3 in the morning or on holidays and weekends after I retire but no doubt I will still think about them. I still think about Mr. H from medical school days.
3. I want so much to knit the red Fleece Artist Marina. I just don't think anyone I know, including me will wear a tube scarf.
4. Is there a secret to cooking pancakes? Why do mine cook too fast or too slow, heh. I'll have to get my sister, master pancake maker to share her secrets.
5. I think about all kinds of other hats I might try on in the next chapter of my life...librarian, prison doctor, etsy store keeper, substitute teaching. All dreams so far. I have no experience in retail. I suspect there are a million other jobs I never even heard of. It constantly amazes me at how small my world is.

Hmmm, I just remembered, I gave up thinking for 2008...I'm supposed to be living in the NOW. So much for resolutions. But then again, maybe random thoughts are not the same as thinking. I think I'll just let the mystery be.

Pakucho Treasure, just about FO

Pattern: Centerpiece Treasure Afghan, Lion Brand Pattern
Yarn: Pakucho Organic Cotton 6 colors, about 2 skeins each
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 9
Mods: Finished up with a picot bind-off. With the last color, I knit one row, then purled one row the did the picot bind-off, casting on two and binding off. I think that last purled row cut down on the curling.
I have yet to block or wash this thing. It's not quite a square or circle, and small like the the baby it's for. The yarn is very cushy. The stockinette is just the thing for mindless knitting while catching up on the netflicks.

Nautie, FO

Pattern: Nautie from Knitty (ooh just noticed the Spring issue is up)
Yarn: The last of the Classic Merino Peacock
Mods: I knit the face directly on the body, by picking up the bumps behind the bind off row so I could avoid seaming. Instead of casting off on the face I knit two together and used the last 3 stitches to knit the first tentacle. I have yet to make a eye as I can't locate my white felt so I cheated and used pelon for the photo shoot.

This strange critter is a fun, fast project. I don't know what to knit next. The Jo Sharp Soho I got for Cherry just isn't speaking to me. I wanted to do IKs Flutter sleeve cardigan, but the gauge was way off. Maybe the yarn really wants to be Cherry. I have reservations about the neck line, but may just make it for one of my tiny relatives.

The Totoro were a little disappointed that there wasn't a Peacock Totoro, but have let it go and moved on, heh.

My Lillehammer

Pattern: Cider Moon, Lillehammer
Yarn: Cascade 220 scraps and left over peacock Paton's Classic Merino
Needles: Size 5 circular/DPs

The Feral Knitter suggested I try holding both colors of yarn in my left hand when I complained about what a poor thrower I was so I watched a couple of you tube videos and off I went. This method of fer-alling suits me better:) Thanks Janine!

I had difficulty with the first row so I used a different method for it, doing one color at time. I was thinking this made the first row curl, but after reading about it discovered this is faq! A twisted German cast on was suggested, so I watched the you tube of this and will have to try it next time around.

I ran out of cream at the top and substituted peacock and so I have a big blob of it on top. It is a bit habit forming, but hard on my hands for now. I'm sure to run out of the peacock classic merino soon, but maybe there is enough for a Totoro:)

Bar Harbor Shell Bag, FFO (finally finished object)

Pattern: Knitting Dream's Bar Harbor Shell Bag
Yarn: Lamb's Pride worsted, 2 sk khaki, 1 sk pine shadows, 1 sk onyx.
Light felted to preserved stitch definition
Mods: I cast on 7 stitches for the strap and did 3 st attached i-cord on both sides to make a wider strap.

The lining was challenge. I used two layer Timtex on the bottom and one layer of thickest sew in interfacing which was not as stiff as I was hoping. I thought adding the lining would stiffen it more, but it still is a little flimsy. My bag came out tall instead of inverted bell shape, stands alone, and all in all I'm quite happy with it. I may make one of those removable pocket things for the inside.

On another front, it finally happened. I knit a hat that actually fits me. Hah. Miracles do happen. I give you heart hat, top down beanie, in Peacock Classic Merino.

Wednesday Sunset

This portion of tonight's sunset was so fleeting. A real wow moment.

The lining for Bar Harbor Shell Bag is proving challenging, as is the closure. I found a lovely button to use,but the loop I used was too thick. Sigh, I feel more i-cord knitting coming on.

Oatmeal Nut Scones

I adapted the scone recipe from Joy of Cooking to use the stuff my friends Margaret and Betty had in their kitchen. I love scones, I like them sweet and buttery and I like them to have oatmeal and whole grain flour. I need that fiber to counteract the sugar, don't you know;)

scones
Originally uploaded by acornbud

1 cup coarsely ground oatmeal
3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
2 eggs sl. beaten
1/3 c milk
1/4 c butter
1/4 c chopped almonds

Mix the eggs and milk together. Add the ground oatmeal and allow to set while preparing the dry ingredients.
Mix the flower, sugar and baking powder together. Cut in the butter until the size of small peas. (a pastry cutter, two knives or a food processor all work well!)
Mix everything together gently until just well blended. (other nuts work just as well). Add a teaspoon of vanilla if you like. If the dough is too wet make drop scones, about 6. If it is drier, shape into a 6 inch round and cut into wedges. Sprinkle sugar crystals or brush with egg wash if you like.
Bake 400 deg, 12-15 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. A lot depends on your oven.

To make glaze, start with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Add lemon juice or Grand Marnier or maple syrup, and mix until it is smooth and flows slowly from a spoon. Apply to scone as soon as it comes out of the oven.


I think the flour can be replaced by ground nuts. I may try it.

Madrona, Part 2, the Stash Additions: A Mosaic says a thousand words, or All that glitters is not Koigu

The Market place at Madrona had a lot of great vendors. I walked through once or twice every day and found new things.


1. koiguheaven, 2. Fair Isling on Blue Moon, 3. assortment, 4. Knitting Languages, 5. Black Water Abbey Marilyn, 6. Red, 7. FleeceArtist Green, 8. STR LW

My plan was to enhance the reds in my stash. The reds include Fleece Artist Marina (oh so soft!), STR LW in black and red, and Black Water Abbey worsted. The Marilyn pattern was knit up in this red it was love at first sight.


It was tempting to fill my bags at the Koigu Wall, but I managed to hold myself back, remembering I had some already in stash at home, so I bought the red, for project Spectrum, and some sensible black.

The regrets...the cashmere/silk scarf kit, the Fair Isle Bag Kit, the Kitty Kat shawl pin, Shibui, the Rowan books...it goes on. Sigh. I'll just have to save up for another time.
Question. If I paid my Visa bill twice and now I have a credit balance, is it money I already spent? Hmmmm...guilt free Amazon shopping! Creative budgeting?

Madrona, Part 1, The Classes

My first Madrona Fiber Retreat was a lot of fun. I started off with a visit with my sister who lives in Tacoma. I fed her squirrels (her hubby says they are rodents) but being from a place with no squirrels makes us both go ga ga over them. She had a bowl of claybabies which intrigued me as well. She dug them up herself. The socks became my first FO of the trip and were gifted to her for her BD. Yarn-Koigu, size 1 shortie clovers, pattern open cable rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Her petite snowbells bloomed while I was there. Lucky me!

The Retreat was held in the Hotel Murano which is undergoing renovations. We shared the space with hard hats. My room was very new and the bed was most confortable. I loved the glass canoes hanging in the lobby.

I took 4 classes. Kakishibu, or persimmon dyeing taught by Chris Conrad was most interesting. What really interested me was the fact that mordants are not needed. Even more interesting I learned that the dye is made from tiny green persimmons which are pressed for the juice. The juice is then fermented for 3-5 years! Who made this process up?
I'm showing some of the class projects made my some of the very talented ladies there as mine were not as dramatic, heh.

I also took Fun Funky Beads taught by Darla Fanton. The beads are felted on to a styrofoam ball. All that stabbing with the needles was quite therapeutic.

The two other classes I took were Beginning I-cord taught by Margaret Radcliffe where I learned some handy i-cord techniques such a a bag handle and starting a top down beanie with i-cord with no run away DPs, and Beyond Finishing taught by Sue Ewen, in which I learned to knit curly cues and such.

Another FO was Koolhaas hat, in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. It's a bit large even for my big headed son, but a very fun and addicting knit indeed. I used size 8 unknown circulars. 7s would have been better.


I really enjoyed sitting in the lobby watching some very incredible knits walk by and talking with all the talented and friendly knitters, especially Norma. I'm so thrilled to have met some Feral Knitters, Janine who had an impressive and colorful pile of yarn for her Fair Isle color class and Weebug as she got out and I got in the slowest elevators in the world;)

My sister picked me up for dinner every night so I missed the evening group sessions and my opportunity to meet knitting celebrities, sigh. If I have a chance to go again, I will plan for them.

I won a door prize though, which is great since I lost 40 of my yarn stash dollars at the Emerald Queen Casino.

Bagus interuptus

The Bar Harbor Shell Bag will just have to wait until I come back from Madrona. At least it dried completely in rainy cool Nuuanu. As it was drying I thought it would make a lovely bucket to have besides my knitting chair. Anything to avoid making lining, heh.

I'm looking forward to getting away from the hell hole work for awhile and dye with persimmons.

Of Watercress, Hat and Lilikoi

The cool weather has been very good for the watercress. Most of the watercress on Oahu is grown on a farm in Aiea, Sumida Farm. My mom used to make namool which I never cared for growing up,or watercress soup with abalone, but now makes salad using the wilted lettuce salad dressing.


2 bunches watercress
3 strips of bacon, chopped and fried crispy
1/4 c. vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon brown sugar.

After frying the bacon, remove bits and set aside. Add the rest of the ingredients to the oil and heat to boiling. Pour over the chopped watercress and toss with the bacon. For the "fat free" variation, use the precooked bacon bits and therefore no grease. It is fine with the veggie "bacon" bits, too.


A little small project, Utopia Hat from http://smariek.blogspot.com is a free pattern. She shares them on her Yahoo group.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: size 8

I love the way the cables come together at the top. The cables are fun and the project is very quick to make.



Megan herself, shows us how a Lilikoi Knits and wears the Bar Harbor Shell Bag turban style. She allowed a photo modeling it if I promised to stop weaving in ends. The group vote was that I don't have to weave them in if I'm going to felt the thing! Hmmm. Food for thought, but scary to me...all those what ifs.

Tomato Boot Socks, FO

Project: Boot Socks
Pattern: from 220 Projects for Cascade 220, designed by Mary Lou Egan
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824, color 26
Mods: accidental, forgot the knit row in the rib knit pattern
Size: Made the smallest
Needles: my short size 3, wood DPs

This was a fast quick reprieve from sewing in ends on my Bar Harbor Bag. The Mission Falls was okay to knit with, but a bit splitty. These socks are very nice an cozy for these cool Hawaii mornings and count as a Project Spectrum project (except of course, it doesn't start until Febrary)! I have yet to wash them.

Life seems busy now. My recollection is that I used to get more done in a day. Could it be that sitting on my okole at home in front of the computer reading my bloglines, surfing Ravelry and virtual shopping, or watching my Net flicks are sucking up the time? Or am I just slowing down, period! It's scary thinking I feel "old" now and I may have another 40 more years to go! Yikes!

I ran into the Roosevelt High School Class of 1969 Alumni planning committee at Hiroshi's last night. They all look grown up now, heh. They are planning their next Las Vegas trip. I have yet to go to one reunion. Hmm, maybe it's time. I'll put that on the "What to do after I retire" list.

Other then, 5 months 16 days 15 hours and 12 minutes to retirement, what's going on?

I was happy to read here that pollution is not the cause of a brilliant sunset. Lately, the dramatic sunsets have been frequent on those days it is not pouring rain. How to photograph them with a point and shoot digital is another story.

Blogless Michelle has enabled me to share this bit of yarn porn in all it's Pakucho, organic goodness. She knit the Tetris Blanket modifying the edge by knitting on a garter edge. It is soft and comfy, and fit for the future new human.
I was a little daunted by the several balls she had hanging off her work, although she assures me, they are no problem. I have been browsing other patterns and even some crochet!







I have 3 WIPs. One is lace and it is much neglected. I suspect it will visit the frog pond soon. The other is a shrug of some wooly stuff from the 78% hippie Kim . I won it guessing the birth time of the unblogging and therefore technically blogless Termite Queen's 3rd child, but I'm not in love with this project so it's fate is unknown. The trials and tribulations of a serial knitter. Now the Bar Harbor Shell Bag is actually moving along.

I decided to go with the Lamb's Pride in two shades of green as somehow sacrificing 10 skeins of Kureyon just seemed wrong. Secretly, though, I lust for the multicolors. I'm not sure I got the instructions of the point correct, but hey! it will be felted and hide everything! And of course all those ends for the color changes are disheartening. But hey!, felting will fix it all. If the Secret is real, then it will happen! The colors did not come out well in the photo.

The Aloha Knitters have had several visitors. Kris ex pat local girl from Germany, and RandomKnits from Australia. Opal has the scoop, profusely illustrated, on her blog. Thanks Opal:) It was fun seeing their projects and sharing stories.

Peacock Must Have Cardigan, FO

Pattern: Paton's Must Have Cardigan, from Street Smart
Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino wool in Peacock, 7 balls
Size: Made the largest size and added 4 stitches on each side of back and on armhole side of fronts as the ladies on Ravelry all said this pattern runs small. I followed the length directions for the small for this cropped cardigan as I'm short, but think perhaps another inch might have been better to cover the sins. I like the length of the sleeves.
Needles: Knit Picks options
I'm still looking for the right buttons. The ones I have on are too small.

It's been a busy season with two sisters visiting with their families. I admit I missed the fireworks New Year's Eve as I fell asleep, but my son managed to catch a few aerials. I received a huge Totoro Tissue cover for Christmas as well as a Cat bus and a pile of acorns:)

The "girls" had dinner at the Prince Court Buffet New Year's Day while the "boys" hunkered down for all day football. The food was lovely and the carved veggies were so cool.

Next up? The Bar Harbor Shell Bag

Here's to 2008! Happy Knitting, creating and crafting everyone!

Totoro's Awed by Giant Acorn

Totoros, on the Eve of Christmas were awed by the large acorn brought as a gift by giant Korknisser.

Tree Pattern: Fuzzy Mittens Wee Tree Pattern with Through the Loops Fun Fur Variation

Merry Christmas!


Not sure what kind of flower this is, but it sure jumped out at me in all it's orangeness.

Must Have Haiku

Knitting Must Have sleeves,
The mind wanders to Clapotis
and lusts for Noro.

Sleeves just seem to go slowly. But of course there are the holidays, too what with all the cookie baking, shopping and parties. I took off a week from work but it's just not enough time!

Must Have enabler Kim praised me as "prolific knitter" but I don't hold a candle to Opal who I think has knit enough garments for a small country since I've met her.

I still want to knit Kirsten's Thorpe and some of Barbara's cute Christmas trees but will there be time?

It doesn't help that I'm easily distracted by stuff like Bumpy Doink's Japanese meme link. I have to work on the music meme she tagged me on, too!

I managed to crank out some more stitch markers, maneki neko (shown in black but also in white and gold) and apples. I recycled some turquoise beads and added some silver leaves. I'm also trying to use up some of my pearl and Swarovski crystal stash and go big with the earrings, as the younger girls seem all be in to huge dangly things.



And then of course there's the angst of work. I found out one of the ladies I walk with also put in for retirement. It was suggested by the walking group that when I feel a whine coming out I just call her up and quack. Maybe I'll try it!

Time to get out that Acorn Tree

The dried starfruit with li hing powder was a hit a work. I still think these are a bit strange tasting, but as the neighbors tree is all ripe at once I decided to make a really big batch. I found slicing them thicker works better as the first batch came out like potato chips. These take a little over 24 hours. I coated them with lemon juice and a little honey before drying. Tomorrow, the powder!

Having succumbed to Ravelry, I found a small group of Miyazaki fans and one knit a very cute Totoro. My version came out quite plump as I took the instruction "stuff firmly" seriously. He is posing under the Christmas Acorn tree with his new found friend. The yarns are Cascade Pastaza and Malabrigo. The eyes and chest markings are needle felted on.


Must Have is chugging along. I have two fronts going on at once. I find myself flirting with new yarn. Never mind that I have sock yarn in my stash. I'm trying to save up so I can splurge at Madrona, since it's so much more fun to buy yarn I have been able to meet in person.











The rain let up enough for a walk. It was so green!
Which reminds me. I have officially tendered my resignation, effective 6/30/2008 and I am happy about that:)

While Knitting Must Have...

1. The hats got modeled. Baby hats are so much fun to knit and even more fun to see on.
(click to make the picture bigger)
Hats:
Black Orange and White, fisherman's rib in Big Wool.
Cascade 220 Pumpkin Hat.
Modeled by Marcus and Adam, photos by their talented dad. Marcus is such a big boy now and so curious about everything. I love the way Lou caught the colors of autumn.

2. I pondered what to do with starfruit. They smell good, they look so interesting, but what the heck does one do with them other then float them in the punch bowl?

My sister's answer: Photograph them, heh.

3 Mess with the Thanksgiving photos. In this photo, light is streaming to the windward side of the Pali Lookout. The story goes that the King of Oahu was pushed over that cliff (from the townside) by King Kamehameha when he conquered Oahu and united all the islands under one kindgom.

shh! wip

i'm whispering about this one, must have cardigan from street smart, in peacock, paton's classic merino wool. yarn is being swapped for cash from the original knitted brow. The pattern has a cool 3 stitch wrapped cable.

The skulls are a belated birthday present for the knittybird. I got the beads on my trip to Chicago, but they only had 3 :(

Pride Goeth before a Fall

River Grass Gansey is a lofty project and really want to knit it. I don't like to commit to projects on the blog...it's one of my idiosyncrasies. And here's why. Cast on 272, join for knitting in the round, MAKING SURE NOT TO TWIST THE STITCHES. I knit merrily along, never noticing my lovely mobius until I had enough to measure. See? Bachi! (Japanese for curse) It makes me want to knit a cardigan. And really I'm still not sure it's the right pattern for the yarn. It is rolled up nicely in a little yarn cake now until it speaks to me again. The gansey is still calling to me, but the yarn keeps whispering "lace". Yikes, I hope not.


So I made some earrings and a hello kitty key chain, working on the bead stash.


I've signed up for a couple classes at the Madrona Fiber Festival. The classes really went fast so no FairIsle beginning class for me. Instead I will be dyeing with persimmons. Also no Yarn Harlot. Oh well. Just being in the same town will be enough:)