JawsKnits

Colors and Names

2007-06-24T17:43:00.000-04:00

After reading about Grumperina's new colorway, Clara Barton (red, of course), I had to see what other colors were being named. I was delighted to see that the Schaefer Yarn Company has a colorway called Virginia Apgar!

Who, you ask?

Dr. Virginia Apgar was the pediatrician who developed a scoring system for projecting how babies would fare immediately after birth, taking into account color (pink or blue), crying or not, etc. The colorway was fittingly baby pinks and yellows.

. . .I wonder what colors they would use for Golda Meir?? (It sounded less stupid before I typed it. They'd probably use blue and white, of course.)

Crazy Busy

2007-06-18T21:20:00.000-04:00

It's been over 2 months since I last blogged. I was trying to wait out Eunny but failed, alas. The reality is that nearly every aspect in my life has claimed priority over knitting since April 1!

Today I got braces! Yup, braces again. So much for any potential love life. It's part of the "finishing touches" following my surgery, but that doesn't mean it was optional or purely for looks' sake. Basically, my teeth are straight, but they no longer fit into each other to chew efficiently. I complained to my mother that this is going to make me look 13 all over again. She said that if braces take 15 years off, she wants them, too!

I'm making progress on the green sweater, more than I thought I would, and an impressive amount, considering what else I've been doing. It's not worth photographing yet, though! I'm going by the pattern in Vintage Knits (Knitting?) by Sarah Dallas, but I'm modifying it a bit through the length. I'm using my favorite cardigan (courtesy Target, props to Merona!) as a template. I'm really optimistic about this. This is the first time I've used US 3's or smaller on an entire sweater, so if it works, it will be quite a feat for me.

I've seen so many excellent knitted scarves lately. I'm enamored with the Morning Surf Scarf. All I can think about is winter and wearing scarves, and it's 95 degrees here! I don't think scarves will work with the stethoscope, though.

More later. . .

Up to something

2007-04-01T19:38:00.000-04:00

With as little as I've posted, you may think I've walked away from knitting.

Not quite, but I'm paring it down a bit. I'm gearing up for resuming my surgery residency in July, which means I've started nightly reading again. I'm out of school, but the learning never stops.

After Salina, I've got some cream wool to use up, and I've been dying to make a cardigan to go with a few dressy T-shirts. For professional clothes, I steer away from blouses, mainly for the wrinkle factor and the un-comfort factor. I'm always switching into scrubs and then back again to street clothes, reaching over patients' beds, etc., and blouses don't lend themselves to this. I prefer twin sets, or a dressy T-shirt with a cardigan. Plus, they travel so much better. But well-made cardigans can be hard to find, at least in the colors I want.

I've been enamored with this book from the get-go, but with designs using discontinued yarn, it's difficult to know what to do. I fell upon a yarn from Hobby Lobby that I think I can substitute with. . . .Yes, it's acrylic (gasp). Are you noticing a pattern with me?

This swatch on US 3's knits up at 27 x 34 = 4 inches. I'm not sure if I'll use this color or not.

This pattern from that book

calls for a gauge of 28 x 36 = 4 inches. I think I've found a substitute.

And in case you're wondering, it will be MINUS the FairIsle knitting.

Incognito. . .sort of.

2007-03-24T20:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, in quick succession, I encountered three people who did not recognize me.

The first two were acqaintances from other labs in the building, and the exchanges went something like this:

Are you in Dr. ABC's lab?

No, I'm in Dr. XYZ's lab.

Really? Are you new?

No, I've been here for almost 2 years now. [insert big grin here]

Ohhhhhh, it's YOU! You look really different for some reason!

And then came the explanation.

The third encounter was with a colleague/peer in the surgery residency program here, also doing research. She knows me fairly well, compared to the other 2 individuals (I'll cut them a break for not recognizing me). In the five weeks since surgery, this marked the third time I've passed her as we shuffle from one building to another. The first 2 times, I grinned and I might as well have been a brick wall, because it just didn't register that this was me. This time around, I waved, and she finally caught on. She was amazed at the change the surgery has made to my appearance.

And the funniest part of all is that I don't notice a big change in my appearance!

Lara, the Specs

2007-03-18T18:15:00.000-04:00

I totally forgot this part.

Pattern: Lara, from Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Coll.
Needles: US8s, circs for required # of stitches
Gauge: 18 x 24 = 4 in (same as recommended gauge)
Yarn: substituted with Bernat Super Value in Navy (lest you be jealous). No swatching needed with this stuff. And it really is soft (despite being acrylic)!

Now for the good part. . .

Recall what they did to me and. . .Take a look now.

Perhaps I don't look that different to you (which is kind of the point), but the real difference is on the profile shot. My upper lip is still swollen, a la Marge Simpson, but that will go down. Every day I look a little. . .better? More like me? Call it what you like.

I ended up bleeding enough to win a blood transfusion, and lemme tell ya, it was rough going after that. I'm on loads and loads of iron supplements now, and we just did some bloodwork, so hopefully I'm back in the game as far as hemoglobin goes.

Update: Just got the bloodwork results, which are kind of funny. Retic count (immature red blood cell count)--OK. Hemoglobin--11.9 (12.5 is the minimum normal level). And ferritin, which measures your iron stores (which you can mobilize in cases of hemorrhage like mine)--12 (minimum normal is 50)!!! Obviously, I'm behind the gun and I'll stop taking iron, oh, say, in 10 YEARS.

Most importantly, I seem to be sleeping better (soundless and snoreless) now. We'll see what the next sleep study in a few months shows. But I'm definitely making it through the day now--and on a LOT less caffeine.

I'm hopeful.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2007-03-17T19:16:00.000-04:00

No, that's not radioactive waste.

My apartment building is situated along the city's arguably best-known and most beloved waterway. They tinted it green for SPD. And I do mean GREEN. This photo doesn't begin to capture how green it is. It probably glows in the dark.

Speaking of green, Lara is done (for about a month now), and you all should be green with envy! She's wonderful! I will probably wear a hole in this one. Soon.

I made several modifications to the pattern. Lara is supposed to be knit from side to side, starting at the left wrist. That's part of what turned me on to this pattern--the minimal seaming involved. This side-to-side method is also what turned me off--the cast on edge at the L wrist was different from the bind off edge at the R wrist, and the ribbed front edges were also different in this aspect.

R BO edge

L CO edge
See what I mean?

So I knit the sleeves separately and seamed them to the rest of the body (which was knit in one giant piece). I decided I could live with the difference in the ribbed edges, since I could just wrap one side over the other.

Another modification--since it was knit from side to side and therefore the "width" was actually the "length"--I added 26 stitches to each "side" (front bottom and back bottom). And an inch to the arms.

And I knit a little belt, 10 stitches of 2 x 2 rib.

Eat your hearts out, suckas! :o)

I'm still here

2007-02-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

Four days later. . .

One blood transfusion, one small chipped tooth, four episodes of projectile vomiting (despite a naso-gastric tube and every possible anti-nausea drug), and nearly a foot of snow later, and I'm still here.

I've mentioned to some that I never underestimated the invasiveness of maxillomandibular advancement surgery (with genioplasty, we opted for it after all), but I seriously overestimated my own recuperative abilities.

Folks, I'll be the first to say that I totally got my rear kicked.

Fortunately, I'm not wired shut. I could have had to vomit through a wire grill. I'm very swollen and you would not recognize me yet. I'm plated 'til Kingdom Come, but I can get my mouth open far enough for ice cream. :o)

That's all for now. No pic. It's too gruesome.

Headline commentary

2007-02-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

I have taken out 2 bags of trash, cleaned out the fridge, done 2 loads of laundry, ran the dish, and scrubbed the shower. Tomorrow I clean the commode (I have to mentally prepare myself for that). It can mean only two things: either I'm going away for a while, or Mom's coming to visit.

Actually, it's both. I leave Sharkville Saturday and go home and go under the knife Tuesday. I'll be home for 2 weeks and then Mom comes back with me. Hopefully we are both alive by the end of it (this statement has many levels of meaning here).

I'm working on Lara, Take III. It's a long story and I'm not ready to show pix yet.

But I *did* feel compelled to comment on the crazy NASA atronaut love triangle diaper thing. How much of an ego boost was it for that guy to find out one of his love interests was willing to kill off the competition and keep him all to herself?? Any wonder why guys think we (single) women will just fall all over them?

And what's up with calling Nowak a "homewrecker?" (Not that I condone her supposed actions, just bear with me here.) Last I checked, her love interest had already been separated or divorced for several YEARS. He wrecked THAT home himself. And HOW MANY MEN do you hear being called "homewrecker"? Why is it always the woman's fault? Doesn't it take two to tango?

I don't consider myself a feminist, but I WILL point out the double standard when I see it.

Another Finished Object!

2007-02-04T00:09:00.000-05:00

Another skill I wanted to try while redoing Aunt Mem's scarf was the Russian join. I really, really hate loose ends, and I'm never happy with how they get woven in for a scarf. You just can't camouflage them any way you try. So I did my homework on the net and this is what I got: Try to find it now!

(Hint: It's in the upper right-hand corner!)

The Russian join is a revelation! I love it!! As Jess says, I luuurve it!

Some fringe to finish it (and me) off. . .

And a very smug me.
Pattern: None, really, just a basic texture stitch.
Measurements (no gauge needed!): 53 stitches wide (9 inches) by 60 inches long, knit on US6s.
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, about 3 skeins, color "petal pink"

In case you were wondering, Mem is NOT her real name. We'll just keep that a secret to protect the innocent.

My thoughts exactly

2007-02-03T00:44:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this post and wanted to share it with you because it articulates so many feelings I've had lately.

I suppose it helps to tell you my story of how I became a knitter. I feel like I'm in church giving my testimonial or something, which is another rant altogether. Anyways, like most of us knitters, my darling mother knit and was the one who taught me to knit. My mother was raised in a strict Mennonite family (I should post a picture on this but that will be another time) and somehow never caught the quilting bug, so knitting it was! When I was nine, she taught me to knit, purl, and cable. One day, I actually took my knitting on the bus to school. Yes, I was a full-blown nerd.

Knitting fell by the wayside as I progressed through college and med school and now that I have some "spare time" (a really funny phrase to me) while I'm doing research in the middle of my residency, I decided to pick knitting up again. It was now, or never. I basically had to re-learn everything, not having Mutti handy. I completed my first full-on cable sweater from IK a few months after that (it required reading a chart, which I basically taught myself to do by trial and error).

Knitting is hard, but it's NOT impossible. I think the biggest secret out there is that cabling is hard (i.e. "Cables Untangled")--I personally think it's the easiest thing out there, easier than lace knitting, easier than sock or glove knitting. It's deceptively simple, because it looks so amazing when done right. Lace knitting took some work to wrap my brain around (after 6 months of knitting) but I did that, too. I have no desire to do socks or gloves--they are too time-consuming and will ultimately be full of holes.

I'm tired of seeing books titled "quick and easy" or "I can't believe I'm knitting" or "funky chunky." Because even beginners can do the tricky stuff. It might be challenging on occasion, but it's not rocket science, so stop making it seem like it is and that we aren't capable of doing it!

And what's up with the plain oversized bags-comme-sweaters?? I want something intricate and well-shaped. I want it to look professional, like I might have bought it at a store, but better than that, because store-bought items often cheat you out of details on the arms or the backs of sweaters. I really want to blow people's minds away when they compliment me on a sweater, and then find out I made it. I don't think I do that very often, but I may have come close with Pam.

So there you have it.

Aunt Mem's Scarf, Take 2

2007-01-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

Remember this??

Take another look. . .It's baaaack!
I've reprised Aunt Mem's scarf. I totally frogged that sucker and refreshed the yarn. (How did I do that? Well. Wool is made up of proteins in alpha-helices, and I figure this is probably how my curly hair is composed, so I unraveled the yarn and just spritzed water and scrunched--just like I do to get curls in my hair! The yarn seemed to plump up just fine!)

Aaaaaat any rate, I changed from a seed stitch to. . .I don't know what it is called! Seed stitch filled the requirement for something reversible with texture, but it didn't have a nice drape to it. I think Aunt Mem would have felt like she was wearing a neck brace and not a scarf! So, I changed from alternating every wale and every course with knits and purls (i.e., seed stitch) to alternating every wale and every other course with knits and purls (stitch name, anyone?). Still reversible. Still has texture. But it has a muuuuch nicer drape.

Only four more feet to go!

Opening the Floodgates

2007-01-29T10:39:00.000-05:00

Kristina and I have moved the Salina KAL site--see my link at the side.

And we are officially open! Feel free to stop by, sign up, and join the fun (which starts March 1, just enough time to gather materials).

Introducing Salina!

2007-01-24T18:10:00.000-05:00

Here's our new KAL! Link coming soon!

Bidness

2007-01-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

Kristina and I are orchestrating a Knit-along! We plowed through patterns like Simon goes through American Idol contestants. What kills us is that designers don't show the garments well in the photoshoots. What a concept, right?

We both had our specifications. She--doesn't do turtlenecks (that is my entire winter wardrobe). I--love texture and shaping and a little extravagance. I--need something still simple enough to work on in my vicodin-enhanced post-op state and something that I already have yarn for. I guess I'm the picky one in the relationship!

We've officially decided on a pattern, but I'm not saying anything just yet. There is still business on our end of things to take care of.

Here's another item of business: How well does acrylic yarn block? Lara is nearly complete, but as always, the garment is short through the waist. Such is life [sigh].

Under the Wire

2007-01-21T17:15:00.000-05:00

I finished Fleur with only a few moments of daylight remaining.

Pattern: Fleur, from Rowan Vintage Knits

Needles: US3s, circular and straights (edgings only)

Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, color Peacock, under 6 skeins

Gauge: 28 x 36 = 4"

Mods: yarn substitution and edging changed from 9 stitches to 20 for the body and 14 for the neck and wrists.

18 x 24

2007-01-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

Hey, look! It's a giant knitted uterus!

No. . . Actually, it's a little over 24 hours' progress on Lara, first the right sleeve, and now the right body. Life is great at 18 x 24 gauge on US 8s.

I will be traveling home for more pre-op workup things and to donate blood (yikes!) for the surgery (double yikes!). The minimum BP allowed for donating is 110/60, and since I can consistently be 100/58, this could be tricky. I'm hoping a lot of caffeine and adrenaline will bump it up enough. All this to say that I may not be posting again anytime soon.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

2007-01-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday! And trust me, I'm feeling EVERY DAY of my new age. (Don't even ask, you know better.)

I think I'll take a nap now. . .

A New Project

What is it?? Any guesses? I've dropped some hints, so if you're astute, you'll nail it!

More Vogue feedback

2007-01-09T18:01:00.000-05:00

I've updated my Vogue review. I just got my copy today and saw more details in the pix. I've placed the updated comments in italics in the old entry.

2007-01-08T23:04:00.000-05:00

I've included a few links on the sidebar regarding obesity and cancer.

Just click on the "begin manual download" link once you get to the page and the PDF of the scientific article will appear.

It's just more motivation to get in shape!

2007-01-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I came across this. I lose it at the part about the rake.

I'm going to be on a no-chew diet (I have a booklet called "Dinner Through a Straw") for at least 2 weeks, perhaps I should get this.

Vogue in Review

2007-01-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

I've actually been asked to provide a review of the new issue of Vogue Knitting! I can hardly believe that SOMEONE wants lil' ol' ME to provide a perspective on fashion.

With that said, let me explain what I look for in a pattern--I'm fairly modest and will NOT wear low-cut necklines, plus, those sorts of garments don't avail themselves as work apparel. I want to knit something I can wear to work. Furthermore, it has to have some shaping, some highlighting of the waist, to it. Knitted garments have the potential to be so bulky, and if they don't have any waist shaping, just plan on looking 15# heavier than you really are. I consider myself to be a girl's girl (despite working in the Old Boys' Club), so there has to be something feminine yet strong about it. No frilly things that can get blown around in the wind--sort of a negative metaphor for me not holding my ground. I think Vladimir Teriokhin has mastered the feminine-but-strong combo pretty well. And to top it off, the pattern has to have something unusual, something you can't find in the store, to it, without practically making you stand on your head to acheive it. Simple but elegant. And NO novelty yarns. I want to show off my Skillz, not some frou-frou yarn. Combine this with my basic stance of NO intarsia, NO flowers, NO socks, and NO Fair Isle. . . And I'm left with practically nothing to knit!

All that being said, here we go. . .
No woman should be knitting these. First, if she's single, it's not applicable, and second, if she's committed, it will be her undoing. As someone who advocates gender equality, I will say it was kind of Vogue to include something for the fairer sex (oops, I mean the men) to knit for themselves. But I do have to say that the middle design is iffy. What man would actually wear something asymmetrical? Really, now. Update: the middle design, the

asymmetrical number, was done by Vladimir Teriokhin, I am SOOOOO disappointed in him! He always does good work, but this is nasty.

Given the background setting of white and rococco furniture, I'm guessing the section called "Northern Lights" is meant to be an homage to Scandinavia, and not necessarily a knitter's interpretation of the aurora borealis, considering none of them look like the Northern Lights. I'll discuss them L-R, top to bottom, numbered 1-6. #1: I can't see the detail very well, but it looks promising. If it requires knitting thru the back loop or into the loop below, count me out, cuz I don't know how. Update: yarn is too "novelty" for my taste. #2: Boring. Uninspired. Remember, changing yarn colors = lots of weaving in ends! #3: A definite possibility. I would have to see what kind of yarn they use. If it's really expensive and I can't find a cheaper alternative, forget it. #4: Beautiful, but look at how fine that yarn is. One snag and it's all over. I'm not putting that kind of work into a garment to have it destroyed in the first 5 minutes I wear it. #5: Fits my "simple but elegant" requirement. Not a whole lot of shaping, but that collar is positively yummy. I would change the color combinations, but you have to stay subtle with it or you'll look like a medieval harlequin joker. Update: I don't like the change in yarn texture at the collar and cuffs. They should have used the same yarn as the rest of the sweater. And I don't like the Fair Isle knitting in the pieces. . .I couldn't see that in the photos online. Not keen on all the seaming, but I like how they did it inside-out. . .I think. #6: Love the shaping and cabling. I'm not sold on the bobbles. They are distracting. I'd knit it without the bobbles, do you think it would work? Update: It's very short, sort of cropped. It would need some lengthening.

From the New York Noir category . . .

"Noir" means "black" in French. None of these are entirely black. #1: Looks suspiciously like the camel jacket from Teriokhin in last year's Vogue holiday or Vogue winter. I can't find a photo of that online to compare, but trust me. I would knit either one. Update: This one is NOT by VT.#2: IT'S A DRESS. No $@#%ing way. Repeat after me girls, No $@#%ing way! #3: See Northern Lights #2. #4: A definite possibility. Update: what is it with seaming multiple pieces in this issue? #5: What is it? I can't see the whole thing, or IS that the whole thing? COME ON VK, if we're going to spend hours and hours on a garment, at the expense of other important things in our lives, at least give us a decent photo before we commit! And it has ruffles. You know how I feel about ruffles. Update: That really is the whole thing, one giant ruffle.#6. Ruffles again. . .

And now we move on to roses. I guess the VK people were thinking, "English rose, English tea, let's stick her in a kitchen to make it really sexy." No offense to the housewives or chefs, what you do is entirely necessary and appreciated, but let's face it, it's not really sexy. At least not when you wear sweaters with knitted flowers, or anything at all, for that matter. I suppose the Cleopatra-like hair and eye makeup are to be a hard contrast to the softness of the flowers. It's not working for me. #1: Is that a peacock I see? Out of the three here, this one I sort of like, but would never actually knit. #2: Gosh, I really hope the tunic-and-leggings thing passes quickly. #3: The sweater might be cool without the intarsia, in a sort of 1920's art deco caftan sort of way, but I don't think I would knit even that.

Update: I haven't commented on the cover piece yet, because I couldn't get a similar photo to the others here. I like it. A lot. It continues to grow on me. I suspected it was by Norah Gaughan because it had that "Knitting Nature" look to it (and I think this is the most sophisticated example of her knitted pentagon technique). Not keen on all that seaming, but the overall effect is super cool, don't you think???

To summarize: A few conditional possibilites, but Vogue fell way short of the standard this time. I've had better.

2007-01-07T01:33:00.000-05:00

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it. . .

VOGUE

Who's excited about the new Vogue Knitting Winter 06-07 coming out on Tuesday???

The Northern Lights section has piqued my interest. . .

I really could do without the section on roses. I will NOT knit intarsia, especially when it involves flowers. (Flowers "magically" appearing in lace knitting--OK.)

Props on including a section for the gentlemen.

And who would really knit a dress? A dress! That's like a 3-sweater project! How would you seam that sucker?? (But it does look nice)

MOVING

I've got my finger on an apartment in the building that just opened up. It's just down the hall and down one floor and right by the elevator. Perfect, I think. The only catch is that I would have to move right after I return from having surgery. I think I can swing it. I got people.

And yes, I'm having trouble calling it a night.

Relief and Resignation

2007-01-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

Fleur

Welp. As you can see, the art nouveau border idea bit the dust. In my effort to pre-emptively pack for moving (when? where? who knows. . .) I stumbled across an entire skein of the yarn. I guess I miscounted how many I had burned through. The new extra skein, plus the discovery of Fleur being waaaaaaay too short and flippy in the back took me to the drawing board once again. I decided to go for the recommended ribbed border. It just wasn't worth it to try and fight it.

I *did* add a few stitches. The recommended edging was 9 stitches and this is 20. And NO BEADS. No way. I'm not putting THAT much work into this thing.

It puckers along the sharp part of the curve (under my ba-zoom) but I think I can live with it.

The beautiful thing is, once I seamed the border on, the flippy thing in the back went away! It's pure magic, I tell you! I hate seaming, but this week, seaming became my new best friend.

I'm still not looking forward to tucking in all the ends.

Again, sorry for the blurry pix. I tried. When you don't have someone available to help with the photo shoot, you improvise. In this case, it included a hand mirror as well as the door mirror to get the job done. I was practically sea-sick by the end of it. Where's the Dramamine?!?!?

Running

Well. Now the color of the font will likely change. I should have added all the bells and whistles (like colored fonts) once the entry was all packaged up.

So I read Kristina's post about running 100 miles before 01/04/07 literally before I walked out the door to our complex's gym, which, by the way, I've visited 4 times this week (yes, hell has indeed frozen over). I used to run 6 miles every other day (4th year of med school is ridiculously light, even for a gunner such as I who packed in more electives than she should have). And then all of a sudden I had to graduate, research and buy a car (I had never had one at that point), and apartment shop in Texas, and move to TX, and start residency. So of course running fell to the wayside. I managed to stay buff and toned and lithe in residency thanks to slow elevators--I distinctly remember taking 8 flights of stairs by 2s and 3s to take care of a patient whose heart rate had dropped into the 20's. (In case you were wondering, it turned out the guy was having seizures. When you're 70 and Indian and don't speak Engish, it takes a while to figure it out. The funny thing was, his nephew, a neurologist, was never happy with how the team managed his uncle, but even HE didn't know the man was having seizures.)

I was hooked on running and had even started to prepare for a marathon and had all these books about running. Now that I'm FINALLY scheduled for MMA surgery, the prospect of getting a decent night's sleep and getting my life back has me so excited, excited enough to do a mini self-makeover (the surgery will take care of the face and the sleep, why not do something about the rest of me?). Excited enough to eliminate the pudge I've accumulated in the lab and eventually run again. Excited enough to go to the gym.

I've been doing the elliptical thing. I like the no-trauma-to-the-knees thing now that I'm approaching 30 (but I will run again, don't worry). Problem is, my stride is bigger than the machine allows. It bugs me every time. I was on it for 30 minutes and gung-ho about clocking 100 miles by 01/04/07 in my own special way (not running-- too intensive, too early)--and then I saw the display doesn't record mileage! What kind of exercise machine doesn't record the distance you've covered? Good grief, even the stair climber lists flights climbed. WTF???

So I moved to the treadmill and did 2 miles on top of what I already did. I'm guessing I got about 4 for the day.

I resolve

2007-01-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

I resolve. . .

1. To take my vitamins. I have jumbo bottles which accompanied me from Texas nearly 2 years ago, and they're mostly full (Fergon, B complex, C, and a multi). Why did I buy such massive bottles? Why did I pay to ship them here, when all they're doing is taking up space? I could have the glow of a pregnant woman by now.
2. To exercise more. I don't like to formally exercise, unless you consider running in the park formal. I don't like gyms. I guess I view gyms the same way that George Clooney views marriage: too confining. But I've turned into a pile of pudge here in the lab. Really, I have. The photos on this site lie. I airbrushed them all. :o)
3. To de-clutter. I am suffocating in this apartment, and nothing is opening up in this building anytime soon. Something has to give. I have to give. Give away, that is.
4. To try all the recipes in my cookbooks (French Cooking, Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey, and some random but good book my mother gave me). The exception: I won't eat organ meats. Do I really need to explain why?
5. To read the following books: Lincoln's Melancholy, Under a Marble Sky, The Tipping Point, Mayflower, 1776, HRH, The Red Tent, Zippora, Lilah, Sarah.
6. To watch the following movies: The Pursuit of Happyness, Queen, The Holiday, A Good Year, MI-3, Dream Girls, The Good Shepherd, Proof, The Black Dahlia.
7. Take Step III of the USMLE exam. (this involves shelling out I'm imagining about $500)
8. Knitting: Use up the yarn I already have. No more new #&$*.
9. Learn more Spanish (this includes proper grammar) so I can communicate better with my patients. . . Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!
10. Have major surgery in which my face is splayed open. Yes, we're on the dockett!! February 13 is the big day. Don't worry, it's not a Friday. I told you I would find a way to Make It Happen. What I want, I get, one way or another. My stubbornness is my best quality.

The no-title post

2007-01-02T19:02:00.000-05:00

This, as highlighted by the lovely Kate, is great.

Fleur progress

2007-01-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

Fleur marches on. . .Try to ignore the fact that only half of it is seamed. (Try to ignore the blurry pix, too.) I decided to hold off on the edging until I tried the thing on, and now I see that it is impossibly short! It didn't look like this in the picture! No, indeed. They must have made it for dwarves! It practically grazed the waistline of that dwarf model's skirt.

That won't be happening here in Sharkville. Case in point:

It barely comes to the small of my back! To add insult to injury, it doesn't even hug the curve of my back in that cutesy sort of way. It does a little flippy thing.
I'm not sold on the seams over the arm, either.

Well. The edging I started is getting scrapped. I have to come up with something else now that I see it is so very short. I'm thinking of working with it as a bolero, instead of going against the grain and devising an edging to make up the difference in length. What do you think?

Just a teaser today. . .

2006-12-29T16:40:00.000-05:00

I'm finally doing the edging for Fleur.

I hope you like it.

(I hope I like it.)

My mother is in town until the New Year so I was in the lab for only a half-day. It feels just like one of those post-call days in Texas: I came home at 1pm and went straightaway to bed. I awoke at 4pm with my makeup on and contacts in and feeling beat-up. It's so weird to wake up and see the world clearly immediately, and be ready to walk out the door with your "face" on. I opened a window and have been watching the sun slowly fade away from my east-facing apartment over the courtyard. I have no idea what the evening holds but I hope it's really low-key.

6 Weird Things About Me

2006-12-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged! Now it's time to pull out 6 weird things about me.

1. I licked the bottoms of my shoes as a child.
2. I hate eggs. I suppose there are weirder things out there, but I absolutely abhor them. Once in a rare while I'm in the mood for a spinach and feta omelette, but that's about once a year. Even as a child, I hated eggs. The first time I got a Cadbury creme egg, I was nearly hysterical because I thought the yellow creme inside really was the yolk.
3. As a child, my parents bribed me with dried, salted fish. To this day, I remain an addict of pickled herring and other similar goodies.
Hmmm, so far most of these revolve around food. . .
4. I'm nearly 28, and I don't really care to have children, and have never had that yearning. Don't get me wrong, I get along well with kids. I babysat the same family of 3 girls through high school and they were quite attached to me, but I just don't want to have kids. Even growing up, I NEVER had those fantasies of "2 girls and 2 boys, and their names will be . . ." yada yada yada. I can't explain it.
This is harder than I thought it would be. Plenty of people have told me that I'm more than a little quirky, but to enumerate things is another matter.
5. I have freakishly large hands and "knuckle-draggin'" arms. Kristina and I have kvetched at length about our struggles in this area when it comes to knitting sweaters and finding gloves that FIT. Oftentimes, I wear larger gloves in the O.R. than my male counterparts (they don't typically like that). It turns out Kristina and I both shop in the men's department for gloves.
6. I can't come up with a 6th one right now. We shall save it for a rainy day. *Update* Alright, here it is. . . I have ZERO desire to 1)knit Fair Isle and 2)knit socks. As for the socks, I prefer none at all, but if I must, they must be the finest, thinnest available, preferably in a lace or pointelle. And as for Fair Isle, perhaps I'm missing out, but changing colors every 2 seconds just does NOT appeal to me. No WAY, Jose. There you have it.

My mother, who is visiting until the New Year, would like to add to the list of weird things that I love to visit museums and wear (what she considers to be) ugly glasses. I think these say more about my mother than me. . .

Proposition

2006-12-21T14:50:00.000-05:00

Anybody out there want to design a motif for my Fleur that has art nouveau influences and peacock imagery???

I just don't have the wherewithal to execute my ideas.

Fleur edging

2006-12-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about Fleur's edging all day. I checked out the link from Laritza and decided it was too. . .stagnant? Predictable. Calculated. What I want is fluid, scrolling, undulating, alive. A little Eunny Jang circa December 17. Throw in a little Rivendell. What it really needs, though, is some art nouveau. And there is plenty of peacock imagery there.

While I was revising my research paper, I was doodling motifs on old drafts.

I'd like to include the "eye" of the feather at the center back of the edging, and have sinous feathery strands wander from it to the top front of the edging. I thought about embroidering the eye.

I don't know how to chart something like this, let alone take into account the increases I need to make this garment LONG ENOUGH. I think I'm in over my head.

The ribbing option would be SO much easier. . .

Alternate edging option

2006-12-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

Here is the other option I'm considering as far as edging goes. I like the effect of the ribbing--how it curls over on itself for a nice collar and hugs the body. I think it would be a lot simpler than a cable, a lot easier to add stitches, etc.

On the other hand, the ribbing lends a "sporty" look and is better for a "deconstructed" garment like this. Fleur, in contrast, seems a little more "constructed" and has a neckline closure. I wouldn't be able to repeat this ribbing exactly as below because of the different neckline, either.
I think overall I should stick with some sort of cabling option, perhaps something more intricate (i.e., more "strands" to the cable). I thought also about a traveling stitch/Bavarian stitch pattern, but I've never done twisted stitches before and I'm not sure this is the time/place to learn.

Suggestions?

Fleur

2006-12-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

Whaddaya think? I'm going to alter the edging from the beading option to a sort of cable option. I'm going to knit one long cable starting at one side of the opening and going aaaaaallll the way around to the other side. Then a neckline and 2 cuffs. I think I'll go for the larger cable swatch.

Game on.

weekend photo essay

2006-12-18T23:34:00.000-05:00

wrapping gifts and fashioning bows. . .

Documenting the appearance of Aunt Mem's gifts, so she knows how pretty they were before the mailman smushed them. . .The scarf is getting revamped. I don't like the drape to it. More on that later.

Note to self: round cookie tins are impossible to wrap.

And because I just don't have enough drama in my life, I've decided the apartment is too small and I must G.T.F.O. So I'm packing.

Fleur marches along. . .I may run out of yarn before I can do the finishing. In the event of the worst case scenario, I'm lining up color options for the borders/edgings. I have a camel riding skirt I'd like to wear it with. I'd also like to wear it with my heather grey skirt. I've ruled out black, heathered tan, or grey (not one of them can be worn with both skirts). I'm leaning towards purple, navy, or a fern green (like in the scarf on the couch in the above photo, that is also nearly the mallard/peacock color of Fleur you see, and I think the combo is great). My first choice is the fern, because I can get the most flexibility with that color combo, what do you guys think???

Moth update: Good news: I haven't seen the sucker (you may substitute the first consonant there if you wish) since I bought mothballs. Bad news: the mothball scent has overtaken my piney, Christmasy air freshener scent. Can it harm people in large doses?

Breather

2006-12-16T22:29:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a break from Aunt Mem's scarf. I'm nearly dizzy trying to finish it. It's long enough to actually stop--she could wrap it over her chest when she dons her coat, but I'd really like for her to double it and pull the ends through the loop, which will require at a minimum the rest of the third skein. I plod on.

I'm working on Fleur again to rest my fingers and mind. Mind > fingers. I think I may have discovered a typo:

Oh geez Louise, there's no typo! I really didn't figure it out until I circled the numbers! I told you my brain was fried. How embarrassing.

I was going to throw a question into cyberspace, ask for help, but it's all so anti-climactic now.

Aunt Mem's Scarf

2006-12-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

It's reached the "plop" stage.

I've reached the "stall" stage.

Disaster

2006-12-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

What a disaster today has been. It's only been in the last few minutes that I've managed to pull myself together.

The pre-op workup didn't happen. I've never had a good feeling about this surgeon from Day One, but he IS the chair of the Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery department, and my sleep doc highly recommended him, so I figured, What the heck.

I've never met a surgeon who has dragged his feet when it came to operating, especially on a really cool operation like this one. But for the last six months I've met a brick wall. Every time I went to clinic, the studies were never good enough. It was always Just one more sleep study and then we'll operate. The first time he said this, I already had 3 studies in the span of 5 months under my belt. Because of this man, I've been to the Mayo Clinic and Stanford, and had to fight my insurance company tooth-and-nail for coverage, and am still fighting. Shoot, I've had to fight my surgeon, too. He wants to do some lame-a$$ one-jaw procedure that involves extracting some teeth, having me in braces for a YEAR, and then coming around to operating. He knows that is unacceptable given my timeline for returning to residency, and besides, it's not even the standard of care for my problem.

The pre-op workup can't happen until I see the orthodontist. Braces must be mounted to get a proper mold for a proper fitting splint for post-op. I made appointments for early January, and then found out my dental insurance doesn't cover any adult orthodontia, not even when it's needed for surgical reasons. So I'm eating it all. And never mind that the surgeon waited six months before giving me the name of the ortho guy. I could be all prepped by now.

Then, I get a call from OMFS that after Dec. 31, my insurance company no longer covers the surgery! This surgeon stalled for too long! That means that within 2 weeks, I have to meet the ortho, have braces placed, have molds made and a plan ready for splaying open my face, and the surgeon who has a 6-month track record of stonewalling me has to operate. Yeah, right.

I'm hell-bent to have this surgery. I've got a plan up my sleeves. It involves my mentor from medical school. He hooded me at graduation:
He's a plastic surgeon. Not exactly on-target, but it's a starting point. Because it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know.

Surgery

2006-12-11T20:26:00.000-05:00

So. Tomorrow it's a pre-op workup for Jaws' jaws. Oh, the irony. If you've been a faithful reader, you know that 'Jaws' was the nickname given by my uncle, because I got all my teeth at a very young age (get it, jaws, shark, teeth?). You would also know that I've had some sleep problems (that's putting it mildly) that we think now are related to a somewhat underdeveloped jaw (mandible, actually). I'd like to think I wear it with grace, but when you wake up nearly 300 times every night because you can't breathE, something must be done.

This was the reason for the San Francisco trip. I went to Stanford, the mecca of the sleep medicine world, for a 5th and hopefully final sleep study before we proceed to the OR and advance both upper and lower jaws. The fight with the insurance company for coverage came down to the deadline. If it wasn't December, the next available time Stanford had was March. March!

This is what they plan to do, if they will actually commit to it, as for some reason 4 other sleep studies weren't convincing enough.

Just ignore the little bit about the chin. We're not doing that. Yes, they make a cut in the bone around the nose level and advance the upper jaw (you have to advance both because of the whole bite/occlusion thing) and plate it back together. They also make cuts in the bone behind the teeth and advance the lower jaw. They fill in the gaps with bone from your hip or skull or synthetic stuff. I'm hoping for the skull option--no scars, no foreign materials.

I'll be wired shut for a month once we set an OR date.

Lovely, eh?

Rantings

2006-12-11T19:31:00.000-05:00

Why is America obese? (I'll avoid using "fat" so no one is offended--unless it's referring to actual fat.) And the corollary, why are we so sick?

1. America's egalitarian principles have gone too far and have made obesity socially acceptable.
2. Clothiers have accomodated it with sizes nearing triple digits and elastic waists. There would be no obesity if the alternative were going naked.
3. We have simply no clue what healthy eating is. I have had patients inform me that they are vegetarians because they eat vegetables with their meat and potatoes. I have overheard patients waiting for CT scans talking about their diets, and the one asks the other incredulously, "So what made your husband decide to eat vegetables?" The more I read up on it, the more I am convinced that this is why they are patients and I am not--although this is not entirely true, because tomorrow I go in for my own pre-op work-up! (This will require an entirely new blog entry. Don't worry, I'm not terminal!)
4. We are not active. These days, everyone has a car and drives everywhere, even if it's just down the block. Cars equal wealth, that you have made it, and if you walk anywhere, you must be short on cash. I'm not advocating that we all hit the gym--heck, I can't stand that and don't go there myself. But what's wrong with WALKING to the coffee shop around the corner? I myself walk nearly a mile to, and then from, work every day. Why do we go back the parking lot to move our car closer to the next store in the strip mall, or circle the parking lot at the gym to find the closest spot to the door? Why? Why?
5. People think that "healthy" living equals self-deprivation. Far from it. There are so many foods that the typical American diet excludes because they are "yucky" for some reason. Remember that saying, "Black is Beautiful"? Well, I say Green is Beautiful. And yellow and red and purple and orange--basically anything NOT (animal) flesh-colored. There are hundreds of cancer-fighting chemicals in just cabbage and onions alone, really and truly. Celery has been shown to lower blood pressure. And what about brown rice? You lose a few coatings of the grain (where all the anti-cancer and constipation-fighting goodies are, I swear, if I have one more patient tell me about their constipation, I'll scream) in white rice. And eating too much animal protein has been proven to cause you to lose calcium in your urine. Osteoporosis anyone? Have an EXTRA steak! I don't think the problem lies completely in our high-fat, high-animal protein diet, and I'm certainly not advocating vegetarianism, although it is the ideal. The problem is what is lacking--all the high-fiber, anti-cancer, antioxidant goodies in vegetables and whole grains that vegetarians embrace and that may just balance out the high-fat, high-animal protein diet if we would simply eat them. So you tell me, who is really being deprived?

Keep in mind that this comes from the chick who, as a toddler, ate brussels sprouts as if they were candy. (I also licked the soles of my shoes.)

Also, I want to make it clear that I really do care about my patients. I try to enlighten them without passing judgement. I'm very passionate about their health, and it really irks me that for some reason they cannot or will not see that incorporating some minor changes may really improve their lot or keep bad things from happening in the future (yes, they really are minor, when you consider the alternatives--the surgeries I can perform to remove a variety of vital organs or limbs, in any combination thereof).

That's all for now. Carry on.

Pet Peeves

2006-12-11T01:17:00.000-05:00

Two of my pet peeves have come to the forefront this Christmas season. OK, make that three. . .

First, "Holiday" v. "Christmas"---I understand that there is more than one religious holiday going on around this time of year and I have no problem with that. But when stores use red and green colors to decorate, and reindeer and sleighbells and decorated evergreen trees and they speak of "visions of sugarplums" and the sales only last until December 25th and the stores STILL REFUSE to use the word 'Christmas' despite employing every tactic to evoke images of it in the mind of the consumer with the express purpose of making money off of it, then I have a problem.

#2, inappropriate use of the apostrophe S. Folks, please learn the difference between plural, possessive, and plural possessive, in particular if English is your first language. I hate shopping at the store and seeing, "Watermelon's, $4." I discovered the latest setback in our country's collective intelligence just the other day: "Happy Holiday's!!"

And #3, I'm just too tired to remember it now. 12-11-06: I remembered as soon as I stepped away from the computer: Obesity! Mind you, I'm coming at this from a purely medical point of view. I read somewhere that 80% of healthcare costs are due to behavioral issues (using psychoactive substances, not wearing helmets or seatbelts, not being active, overeating, bad eating, staying with the man who beats you, etc.). And obesity is a major risk factor not only for hardening of the arteries and heart disease, but contributes to congestive heart failure, sleep apnea, arthritis, diabetes, and poor venous return in the legs (which leads to nasty, I repeat nasty skin infections). And as a surgery resident, I have seen waaaaaay too many incisions get infected and never heal for MONTHS because fat has bad blood supply and easily harbors infections. And yet, somehow complications like this are always the doctor's fault (this is why I'm mad). When I was in France, my penpal's friends came up to me and grabbed my arm and asked (in French), "Is it true that over 60% of the US population is overweight or obese?!" with the tone of urgency normally reserved for discussing natural disasters or sudden war. Yes, my friend, it is. Unfortunately, we can't all be supermodel thin (also an unhealthy extreme), most people have a pound or two they would like to be rid of (I'm in this category), and I'm not talking about these people. I'm talking about extreme cases here, and even these are too prevalent.

Why do I bring this up at Christmastime? So I'm in the store looking at Christmas decorations and see a stuffed reindeer toy that talks and snores. I press on it to hear what he says: "Oh boy [yawn], am I tired! I do all the work, and you're just a fat passenger!! [mumbles and begins snoring]" I swear, I thought I would fall down in the aisle.

Typos and corrections

2006-12-11T00:48:00.000-05:00

OK, make that KwanzaA.

And it's rennet, not rennin (rennin is just one of many digestive enzymes in rennET).

This is what happens when you blog after midnight.

It's just like Mama said, nothing good happens after midnight. . .

Mothballs and homemade cheese

2006-12-11T00:08:00.000-05:00

These should do the trick. They are actually mothballs, not real lavender. Somehow I don't have faith in that Provencal blossom (by the way, does anyone know how to get the cedilla-I'm hoping this word translates from the French-on the 'c' on Blogger's site?). At least not for this job. Maybe for wooing Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome, but not for killing moths.Look at her go! Here we are, one day later. Kristina apparently thinks I'm the world's fastest knitter. She's doing pretty well herself in that area, check out all the hats!! I prefer to approach it as Eunny does--not necessarily fast, but squeezing in a row here and there while the water boils, another while the cheese sets. . .

Yes, this weekend I made homemade cheese! It was delicious and is nearly finished off. I bought Cowgirl Cheese (Red Hawk, holy crap is it good) while in SF and was inspired to read up on it on Wikipedia. Apparently there are 2 basic kinds of cheese (here is where it gets a little gross, don't say I didn't warn you!)--the kind where the milk is curdled by using rennin, which is composed of a number of digestive enzymes found in mammalian stomachs, or the kind where it is curdled using some sort of acid (yogurt, lime juice, lemon juice, vinegar). Feta, queso blanco, and paneer (yum yum and yum!) fall into this last category. This is the kind you can make at home. Unfortunately, it also spoils a lot more quickly. I made paneer. Then I made Palak Paneer, one of my all-time favorite foods (right up there with dolmathes) with it.

Anyway, there is your cheese primer.

The weekend is never long enough. Ay, off to bed so I can FUNCTION at work. . .

Christmas gifts

2006-12-10T01:23:00.000-05:00

Whelp. It's that time again. Time to make Christmas gifts (or Hanukkah or Kwanza or Diwali, although I think it's passed already, or whatever holiday you celebrate---winter solstice?).

When I started knitting, I vowed I would never knit a gift for anyone. I kind of broke that last year with some smaller but incredibly soft scarves. This year, I'm going all out (DON'T LOOK, AUNT MEM!!!)---

61 stitches of seed stitch across in merino wool yarn (it's left over from Henrietta). I took 3 skeins and Wrap Style with me on the plane to San Francisco--I had grandiose plans of knitting up a storm on this cross-country flight. I was so wrong. I began and frogged a number of patterns from the book, most of them the "grand plan" wraps by Ann Budd. What a mess of instructions they were. It didn't help that my circular needle was too long, either.

When I returned, I thought I sorted out those instructions and thought I needed more yarn, which I bought in a delicious "mushroom" shade. Well. This attempt, too, failed.

I'm now doing this scarf in the Henrietta leftover yarn. I love seed stitch. it's fun to knit, keeps my interest, and has a nice spongey springy feel to it. Plus, the scarf is reversible with this kind of stitch. It's a wide scarf, nearly a foot, something sumptuous Aunt Mem will be able to wrap her whole head with. And still, the whole thing is uninspired and feels a bit contrived and I feel inadequate for not being able to decipher the Wrap Style patterns.

So. On to Fleur from Rowan Vintage Knits.

The back is finally done and packaged away. The front sides will have to wait while I do the scarf for Aunt Mem. To top it off, I FOUND A MOTH IN THE APARTMENT!!! Fortunately, it's not as bad as for Sigga. But now a moth with several unfinished *WOOL* projects around the place has upped the ante. . .

City by the Bay

2006-12-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

I had to make a half-impromptu, half-inevitable trip to San Francisco, which explains the recent silence in Sharkville.

I stayed with my mother's cousin Boots and her husband Bob, an artiste, who live in the *heart* of SF. Boots is a character. You have to be, with a nickname like that, worn with the conviction as if it were the name on her birth certificate.

The household motto is:

Here's what Boots has been up to.

Boots and Bob live 2 blocks away from Robin Williams. Yes, THE R.W. Here I am stalking RW as I walk the dog. (I did NOT let Perky make a deposit there.)

Here's the back:

Here's the front:

Woops, they left the door open!

And a half-finished brontosaurus topiary on the side:

The requisite shot--three blocks from their house.

This really sucks

2006-12-01T07:34:00.000-05:00

Five inches of 366 stitches per row on US3s is killing me. I've done about 3 1/4 inches. It's the freaking knitting doldrums.
It's a good thing this arrived yesterday!

This is number one on the list after Fleur. Nothing outlandish, just a simple silhouette with a waistline. I think I'll knit it in navy. And yes, more stockinette! But this is different somehow.

A Bland Update

2006-11-26T23:26:00.000-05:00

My mother drove 4 hours on Thanksgiving Day to spend it with me after backing out of a commitment to spend it with some of her friends (I'm so thankful for that!). She drove a thawed, seasoned bird in the passenger seat the whole way. After a late dinner and several hours of post-prandial unconsciousness, we awoke to her realization that she forgot the pie crust for pumpkin pie. Meanwhile, the filling had sat mixed in the fridge all day.

Something had to be done. We are a bit nuts about trans fats and hydrogenated fats, and the crust she was to bring was homemade. We simply don't do "boughten" crusts. Continuing the health food trend at my apartment, I only had whole wheat or rye flour--not exactly crust-worthy. So at 9 pm we made a grocery store run for all-purpose flour, made the crust, and had pumpkin pie by midnight. It's just not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie!

I have officially scrapped the Teriokhin braid. Don't get me wrong, it will happen again. With much different yarn. This is 100% merino and WARM (I think I've explained my problem before) and for some reason, the armholes are a bit binding. So I have started Fleur from Rowan Vintage Knits.

I'm not thrilled about more stockinette stitch. My philosophy is, if I'm going to knit a sweater, I'm going to knit a sweater. That is to say, it will be textured and adorned as much as possible without looking stupid. If I'm going to take all that time to knit, I expect to turn some heads with the finished product. The exception to this is that I will knit stockinette if there is some other enormously redeeming aspect about the garment. For the Teriokhin braid, it was of course the neckline.

With Fleur, there is nothing there. This is mainly an excercise in utility and a testament to poor planning. I have yarn to use, not enough for aran knitting, but enough for something small. I've already blocked and have no desire to refresh the yarn (AGAIN), and this can be knit on needles one size smaller than Teriokhin, so there is no wonkage from the un-refreshed yarn.

The ivory blob you saw in previous posts will meet a similar fate. It's not fitting the way it should. It's too short and makes me look pregnant. Looking pregnant is fine, but only when you are pregnant. And I didn't like the collar and couldn't think of any way to spice it up and perhaps redeem the whole thing.

I have an idea what I'll do with the ivory yarn (again, 100% merino). I bought Phildar's Best Irlandais booklet. Problem is, it's in French. Which is OK, I think, because I know that language well. Just not the words used in knitting. I've been so unhappy lately with patterns being offered (Vogue Holiday being the exception), and everything I do like requires learning a new skill--intarsia, Fair Isle, knitting into the row below, knitting into the back loop, etc. I'm really not in the mood to stretch my brain.

Once a comedian asked an Ohio senator, "Senator, the state of Ohio has produced more astronauts than any other state. What is it about your state that make people want to flee the Earth?" It's kind of the same way with knitting patterns. What is it about the current pattern offerings that make me want to try something with a foreign vocabulary that I don't know?

The cowl neck sweater from Knitting Nature has been haunting me. I desperately want to knit it. A wave of panic washed over me when I read through it and learned that steeking was required. I just don't think I can cut my knitting. Maybe I can knit it as if it were cut. This is going to require some strategy before starting. But seriously, is this not the best design in the whole freakin' book? How clever!!

The riding jacket from Loop-d-Loop has been haunting me, too. That one will be happening sometime in the future. It's totally me, all English and paneled libraries and hunting dogs. I'd really like to use up the (used) yarn I already have first, though.

Oh, and I bought a Debbie Bliss booklet! The alpaca silk collection. I doubt I'll be using alpaca silk. I found some ghetto yarn with the same gauge. :o)

Thanksgiving Turkey How-To

2006-11-22T20:48:00.000-05:00

I think a college roommate's boyfriend taught me this. My family and friends have always been pleased with this turkey.

For a large Cornish hen/small fryer, use a hand towel. For a regular-sized turkey, use a bath towel. Best effect obtained with a flesh-colored one.

Roll each end towards the middle.

Fold it in half with the "cleft" made from rolling it on the OUTSIDE.

Orientation is crucial here. Note the location of the "cleft" and the "septum" on the inside running top to bottom.

Tease out the corners from the inside of each of the four "jelly rolls." Be sure to keep it rolled tightly.

Keeping the orientation correct, pull the upper left and right towel corners in one direction, and the lower corners in the opposite direction. You may encounter some resistance from the terry material; keep pulling.

Secure the drumsticks and wings with safety pins.

2006-11-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm probably late to the party on this one, but WHO LOVES THE BALENCIAGA SWEATER?!

Me! ME ME ME ME ME!

And then my offering in cream. Hardly any comparison. (Do you see the color variations now?)

Happenstance

2006-11-17T20:33:00.000-05:00

I just happened to find it like this. This conch twin has drawn out carefully tucked away memories of Gulf coast Florida, the cliche salt and sun and sand and surf, everything golden and comfortably warm and just so happy. . .

Meet Pam!

2006-11-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

She's beautiful! She fits like a dream! I love her!

(Sorry for the dirty mirror.)

She's really H-O-T, too. By the end of the shoot, my ears were burning. Although that might just be my excitement.

In case you didn't know, I'm thrilled.

I ventured out in the bluster and drizzle to score the new IK Winter 2006-07. I'll post on that another time. I don't want to ruin my high.

progress

2006-11-13T00:20:00.000-05:00

Anyone see anything out of place here? Yeah, me neither. That bag of dark stuff in the front? The most incredible rye bread. The recipe is on the Hodgson's Mill Rye Flour bag (I won't steal their thunder, go buy it yourself! BTW, I added sunflower seeds.)

The latest project is #5 from Vogueknitting Winter 05-06. It's progressing rapidly (foot for scale here).

I've burned through 2.25 skeins of Patons 100% Merino Wool in a week. If you've ever used it, you know the stuff has freakin' great yardage.

I altered the method of decreasing from SK2P to k3tog. The decreases are more prominent now, but I like the appearance better. I don't know what I was doing wrong, but the loop I passed over always appeared to be streched out and kind of. . .saggy?

I couldn't get the lighting right to show you that there are some funky variations in the dyeing. Mostly it's at the end of each skein, but I don't notice it until I've started the next one and knit 10 rows (which, as you can see, would not be fun to frog). I can't decide if this is my obsessive-compulsive self in overdrive--are the variations that noticeable? Can I let sleeping dogs lie, or do I need to buy dye? (From where? What color for cream?)

Please indulge me in a nerd moment here. . .Ed Bradley from 60 Minutes has died! I'm really disappointed. I liked his work. Even more, I appreciate the fact that he didn't adopt the stereotype appearance of a journalist/reporter. (He had an earring and shaved his head.) I'm in a profession where we *think* we have to "walk the line" appearance-wise, especially as a woman in the Old Boys' Club. But Bradley showed that it's possible to do excellent work and not simultaneously become the stereotype of the profession you love, and that you don't have to sacrifice your image to prove your dedication to that profession. I don't want to be a stereotypical (woman) surgeon. Ed Bradley has been a sort of inspiration for me in that area. I'll miss him.

2006-11-08T07:28:00.000-05:00

Please, someone help me.

I'm sick.

What possessed me to start THIS thing when I'm not finished with Pam?! Right now it looks like it belongs on the Christmas tree, but I have high hopes for it. I think I'll do a crochet collar, shell stitch or something, and make a little belt to match. The pattern doesn't offer a belt, and I think having the collar in the same texture as the belt will bring it all together nicely.

Pam is on the homeward stretch! But weaving in ends night after night (ad nauseum) doesn't make for an exciting photo shoot. Besides, I need to keep something a surprise for the big finale.

I briefly considered knitting another Pam with the cream yarn. But I'm afraid a double dose will leave me bored and "chasing the dragon." I don't think I'll have the same glee about this one again, and I'll always be comparing the versions. And when I noticed that I have the exact yarn the pattern specified, well, that made it a done deal.

So. There you have it.

odds & ends

2006-11-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

10 things about me:
1. I have a birthmark shaped like a footprint. You will never see it.
2. I have been to the Dominican Republic 3 times--all of which were 2-week surgical mission trips to a privately (and Dominican)-run clinic.
3. I lived in Bordeaux, France for 3 months and did research on creating and characterizing fluorescent glass for fiber optics applications at a solid-state chemistry lab. I lived in a college dormitory and there were no other Americans around. I fulfilled the research requirement for my biochemistry major this way (no, it was not biochemistry-related at all).
4. I spoke French, not English, in my lab then. No one I met could recognize my accent--they all thought I was scandinavian, Dutch, or German. One person thought I was Greek (???)---helloooooo, blonde hair, green eyes, freckles? I have had a pen-pal in Nantes, France since I was 13. Sometimes, I still dream in French.
5. I think nearly all the male characters in movies look alike. Plot lines are kind of hard to follow, and I'm sure I annoy everyone with my questions.
6. I'm 5'10" and I've been told I have "knuckle-draggin'" arms.
7. I have no brothers or sisters, and my father died when I was 17.
8. I am right-handed but prefer the fork in my left hand.
9. I can put both feet behind my head at the same time. You will never see this, either.
10. I have a horrible temper, but most of the time I hide it well.

Favorites (this is the same list as the Survivor contestants, sorry, I'm a fan):
Colors: muted teals, black, chocolate brown
Scents: for perfumes--Chanel Mademoiselle, United Colors of Benetton Femme, Beyond Paradise, Eau d'Issey Miyake, Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily. for random smells--cut grass, coffee percolating, my mother.
Flowers: orchids (I collect!), white calla lillies, lily-flowering tulips (pointier petals)
Board Games: Monopoly, Parcheesi
Video Games: don't play them
Sports to Play: As a child I took figure skating lessons. I took up tennis in high school and was a runner (6 mi every other day) until surgery residency.
Sports Teams: Duke Blue Devils Basketball! I've been a fan since the days of Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, Tony Lang, and Grant Hill. I have all but one of Coach K's books (it's no longer in print, but I've read it-- A Season is a Lifetime).
Outdoor Activities: just strolling these days
TV Shows: Survivor, NCIS, Numb3rs, This Old House, Mystery! (are these last two even on-air anymore?)
Movies: Man On Fire, Memoirs of a Geisha, Indochine, Great Expectations, Ray, Girl, Interrupted, Ponette
Actors: Johnny Depp
Actresses: Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoire Thivisol
Music: Anything by the Eagles, Eric Clapton, U2, or Diana Krall. LOVE John Mayer's Continuum (was never a fan before). Chopin or Beethoven classical piano.
Mags: InStyle
Books/Authors: Oddly, oriented towards Judaica (this from a goy). Chaim Potok--My Name is Asher Lev. Elizabeth Wurtzel--Prozac Nation and More, Now, Again. Elie Wiesel--The Night Trilogy (I read it before Oprah popularized it!). The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods--it's totally legit and really scientific.
Cereals: oatmeal with cinnamon, vanilla, and cloves. homemade granola.
Fruits: apples, pears, honeydew
Snacks: vanilla yogurt, rosemary and olive oil Triscuits, black pepper potato chips, mint chocolate chip ice cream. As a rule, I don't buy manufactured cookies or pastries (everything is fake and they are loaded with bad fats).
Cookies: homemade chocolate chip, no nuts!
Candy Bars: Reeses, Butterfinger, Snickers, Dove dark chocolate, and the Dove truffle eggs at Eastertime.
Alcoholics: not a huge fan of the taste. Fell in love with pastis (51) in France. Never cared for the wine, although I do cook with white.
Non-alcoholics: Perrier water (they had it in the dorm's vending machines in France!), coffee with cardamom, espresso
and my own addition--3 things always in the fridge: yogurt, olives, onions.

Bravo!

2006-11-02T19:10:00.000-05:00

I just took my Addi Turbo circulars up the vacuum cleaner.

53 + 43 = 98

2006-10-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Don't cha know??

Yeah, math was never my strong suit. I managed to get As through school, I even managed to stumble through Calc III in college (goodness, what was I thinking?!? And why didn't anybody stop me?!?), but it always required superhuman efforts to do it (let alone understand it). And adding in my head was always my Achilles' heel. Not that I always use calculators--- but fingers, pen and paper (clearly not effective here), beans, whatever, I need a crutch.

And with the math issues addressed:

A foretaste of what is to come. (You should see the underside! Hoo-boy!)

Oh, and in other news, I made a $600 dollar mistake today in the lab. The cost is not what upsets me; rather, it is the lack of progress, but the cost adds insult to injury. For the next few days, you can probably assume any knitting progress is to compensate for the lack of it in the lab.

. . .Will probably die tryin'

2006-10-30T06:44:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I woke up and set about sewing on buttons, but it was quickly obvious that this was not going to happen. All of my tapestry needles were too large to fit through the button, and I didn't have a small enough crochet hook to improvise. So some errands were in order.

(Sidenote: I'm not caffeinated yet and those five lines took me FOREVER to type because of all the typos I had to go back and correct. I'm tempted not to correct them; it may be amusing to read)

Of course, with me, I can never go out and just get ONE THING. I have to nose around. I have to see the inventory of that entire store and adjacent stores. And after getting a call from my mother, angry that I didn't tell her about Daylight Savings Time and sitting in the church parking lot an hour before everyone else (I totally forgot at the last minute and I haven't found a church in my new town yet, I've kind of given up, in case you're part of the Church Police), I figured I really had time to nose around.

So I come out of Target (no purchases) and get back to the car and see a glove under my windshield wiper. Funny, I didn't bring in my gloves. . . Well, apparently one got loose when I got out of the car and some really sweet person stuck it on my windshield! Who does that these days? I was stupefied. Still am. I guess what goes around comes around. A few months back, at this same Target, I came upon a crowd of people gathered around someone having a seizure. The person was breathing fine and not actively convulsing and the paramedics were on their way, so I felt stupid to hang around and advertise myself as a physician (#1, seizures aren't really a surgery resident's specialty, and #2, what more could I do when the ambulances were coming?). Apparently I could do something--the woman was on her back, a BIG no-no (you can choke on your own tongue, or vomit and breathe it in, charming, I know) so I butted in and helped get the woman on her side. A long-winded story, but my point is (what is my point? Coffee, need more coffee) that what goes around comes around. A little karma, if you will.

After spending all morning browsing, I realized when I got back that I was totally under the gun and tried to seam the edging, but I miscounted. Given all I had yet to do yesterday, I put it aside. I won't sacrifice quality for speed. But at this rate, I'll still be working on it on my deathbed.

Newsflash--Newsflash--Newsflash

2006-10-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

Leftie's done!

And the best part--she looks just like Rightie! (actually, that's a lie, do you see the diff???)

I'm going to decompress now and block the edging and while that's beginning to dry, I'll weave in the rest of the loose ends (Rightie's already pretty on the inside, just Leftie to do). And tomorrow, on go the edging and buttons!

Get finished or die tryin'

2006-10-28T16:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry if I offend you with a nod towards gangsta rap.

I have too many projects cooking, both in my personal life (knitting) and at work. I was under the impression that my research advisor was revising my abstract one last time, and then the entire paper, which has been festering for nearly ten months, would be out the door. I was so wrong. I now have to look at 4 other pathway intermediates before we send it out, and they aren't things anyone in the lab has looked at for other projects, which means I don't have the supplies or even know what to order, so this is practically a 2-3 month setback.

With this being Friday's big news, I have thrown myself into finishing Pam, hence the post's title. Along that line, I offer you some photos of a seamed Right Side.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Deep breath.

2006-10-26T06:14:00.000-04:00

Sunday's post was practically prophetic.

Two hours later, I get THIS email:

My good friend from college and her husband of 2 years (or so) are expecting their first child! Try to imagine, if you will, that it's wearing a knitted hat and booties. . .

The word on the street is that they'll know the gender by the end of the month. That at least gives me a little time to finish up some of my &%#@ ---oops, I mean, projects--before I start something for Baby.

Switching gears, here are my faves from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006. I took photos of them--I didn't scan them (I think I did OK). Hopefully I won't get busted for breaking any copyright rules.

Vladimir Teriokhin did 6, 7, and 9. Where do I start???

A pre-seaming fitting session

2006-10-22T22:55:00.000-04:00

Everything is safety-pinned while I try it on for size. I'm pulling down the front because the ribbed edge/collar appears to pull it up. From what I know, you're not supposed to block ribbed parts, but I may do so.

I think the fit will be perfect. Perfect, I tell you! The gloating has started a bit preliminarily here.

After all the flailing on the collar/edging's buttonholes, I ended up doing the ribbing exactly as directed. When I set out to knit this thing, I wanted to make the collar more "voluminous" but I opted to keep it simple after all. It looks more voluminous than in the photo Rowan provided, at least. And if it were any more so, it would look stupid to wear a coordinating scarf I have with it. So there it is.

And because it's always sexy to pose with the vacuum cleaner in the background. . .

And a detail shot.

Drooling yet???

Cheers, y'all.

2006-10-22T13:09:00.000-04:00

Baby's first buttonhole.

The Pam sweater is still stagnating. I attempted the ribbed edging/collar twice before I broke down and swatched a buttonhole. Knitting five rows of 330 stitches each before discovering that the buttonhole directions Rowan gave yielded a hole which barely accomodated my pinky, let alone for a 5/8-inch leather button, was NOT cool. Equally not cool was the second go-round, when I experimented with buttonhole sizing and creation after knitting those same 330 stitches another 5 rows. That's when I broke down and swatched. And it still took me a while to figure out something that the button could fit through.

I modified the pattern from a yo, k2tog to--- binding off 3 stitches, and on the following row, yo 3 times. It's perfect, lemme tell ya. So if you have decided (perhaps foolishly) to follow my lead and knit this sweater, dear reader, this blog entry is the key to the kingdom (as far as the buttonholes go).

The edging/collar is finished now. It's a matter of seaming the shoulders and attaching the arms (already seamed), and seaming this latest piece on. Oh, and the buttons! Let's not forget those.

I'll eventually make one last groan and get this baby out. . .

Lucky No. 13

2006-10-09T18:20:00.000-04:00

Our hotel room is beautiful! I'm especially enjoying the window seats. Our room has other issues, however. . .

I met my roommate at the parking garage last night (she's a med student and pres of the surgery interest group) and got confused in the elevator: Did they put all the buttons for the even floor in one column and the odds in another? No, wait--there's 14 right above 11, that can't be right--and there's 12. . . Ohhhhhh. . . We're on the 13th floor! No button! Now I get it.

I guess this explains my near-mugging in broad daylight in a good part of the city yesterday. Don't worry, I'm safe, and I'm carrying my mace with me now (I didn't have it, it was on my car keys, and I didn't think I needed them). That sucker shoots up to 10 feet. Look out, people!

I guess this explains why my roommate broke her foot last night. Yep, that's right. We come to a strange town and she breaks her foot walking through a construction zone (with no beer in her system, ironic). She managed to hobble back to the hotel (we were already on our way) but it was pretty swollen already. We thought ice and elevation and Ibuprofen and a little sleep would take care of things, but this morning--no such luck. First spot I touched on examining her foot put her on the ceiling. We suspected the worst at this point. We ended up taking a cab to the convention center and sought the First Aid folks. There's nothing like needing a doc when you're in a room full of docs and you are one yourself.

They took one look at her foot and recommended she get to an ER.

So our morning was spent in the ER, and sure enough, she broke it (the 5th metatarsal, through-and-through, in case you care). As we would say to our students during morning rounds, "Strong work!!"

She's as fine as she can be, all vicodin-ed out on the bed, and I'm OK, so all is well. Just a few misadventures to re-tell now.

More later. . .

2006-10-08T19:56:00.000-04:00

make that motOr.

2006-10-08T18:48:00.000-04:00

Crap. The Holiday Vogueknitting is out.

From the looks of my blog, I dropped off the planet for a while, which isn't far from the truth. I've been preparing for a presentation at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, finishing experiments here and there for certain papers by people who have since left the lab, and taking care of and sacrificing the lab animals (of course, some crucial sacrifice timepoints just had to land during the week of final preparations for this presentation). And I was in the lab until just a few hours before I left for the ACS convention pulling a few things together for my presentation. Nothing like taking it to the wire, eh?

So now I'm at this convention, with a little time on my hands (I did not bring the knitting, apparently I cannot handle even stockinette stitch in the solitude and calm of my own home, so how the heck can I knit competently while on the road with strangers?) and a Borders only 2 blocks away. Bad combination. There's also a Staples a few more blocks down the way. And a Macy's! Bad, bad, bad. Of course, I ended up at the Borders, and discovered the Holiday issue was out.

It wasn't supposesd to go down like this. I have 2 projects stagnating at home. They should be done. My goal was to have a whole week's worth of apparel knitted by moi for this event, maybe even to wear with my suit for the presentation, because this surgeon can do more with string and needles besides suture. Yeah, right. Didn't happen.

And now, this magazine comes along and I'm drooling over almost every project!! Good ol' Vladi has my moter going with a few of these projects. I really seem to have taken to Teriokhin's designs (#7, 13, 14)--they were the first I marked.

Speaking of which, I've started seaming the Teriokhin braid and I think it's going to fit like a charm. I still have the collar and sleeves to do. Don't wait for me to finish, Kristina, it's gonna take a while! The yarn supply is questionable, so I may make the sleeves 3/4 length, just in case. The last thing I want to do is re-knit anything on this sweater (again). Plus, I seem to have developed a heat intolerance (this from the girl who studied through med school in flannel pajamas, wool socks, fleece robe, and sat on a heating pad to stay warm.). I think residency flipped some sort of temperature control switch in my pituitary. I can't wear much more than scrubs these days. . . .And WHY am I knitting in wool???? Because this is what knitting should be: sumptuous, luxe, enveloping, cozy.

I have zero idea when I'll have pix ready. Don't hold your breath, folks.

hale-frickin'-lujah!

2006-09-20T19:01:00.001-04:00

Right side of the neck with the cable decreases.

Left side of the neck with cable decreases. Can you see the pattern error???

My solution: avoid the (s)uckers altogether.

I wrangle past neckline issues and begin blocking on corkboard, only to discover it's really wonky. I had been considering marking lines on the corkboard, but was concerned about where the ink would end up, so I bought a fabric cutting board for more accurate blocking:

Wonkage remains.

I frog back to before the neckline split.

I refresh the yarn, having absolutely no idea how to do this, but someone else (?) mentioned on their blog that they did it, so at this point, why not????

Weekend in Review

2006-09-18T14:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend FLEW. It went so quickly that when my alarm went off this morning, I thought it was only Sunday and rolled over.

Remember that book by Richard Scarry, "What Do Busy People Do All Day?"?

I dusted every flat surface.
I dusted my car's insides.
I vacuumed.
I made cilantro chutney, pork vindaloo, indian-style rice pudding from scratch, and a chicken dish with tomatoes and cilantro (my own concoction. They say the best chemists are also the best cooks.).
I began drying fresh mint bundles.
I rearranged the front closet to make room for winter gear (rearranging leads to the domino effect--my place is small, so if I rearrange one part, I usually have to rearrange everything). I then rearranged my closet, under the bed, bathroom cupboard, and cupboard under the kitchen sink.
I bought a mortar and pestle--I've been waiting a year to find one.
I visited a new international food store, where everything is in a non-English language.
I administered drug to my mice in the lab.

Did I knit? Um, sort of. I began blocking (the zillionth incarnation of) the front of the Teriokhin braid and discovered a split stitch, oh, a good TWO-THIRDS of the way down the front. Reason #457 why I HATE stockinette stitch, you don't have to pay attention to your work. Deep breath: I repaired it. Does that count as knitting?

Letdown/Let Down

2006-09-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

Well #$*@.

Why didn't I think of that? Laritza took the logical approach and just shifted things 2 stitches on the offending side. Rock on.

I was hoping a project of mainly stockinette stitch would be easy and calm(ing) (that I found the pattern in VogueKnitting should have clued me in otherwise, but I digress). I've been in the lab until nearly 1 am on several occasions this week (and every weekend for the last 4), so my brain was too fried to troubleshoot this neckline issue. I'm sorry I let you down, Laritza. Hopefully you can throw me a bone here.

I'm feeling a bit. . . inadequate that someone will actually be knitting the garment exactly as specified, and I'm not!! I feel like an artist painting a shoddy copy. My only snippet of solace is that the yarn color does not show cabling well, so the small neckline cable decreases probably wouldn't show up anyway.

Sure, that's it. Shut up. Don't say a word, this is the only thought that is keeping me from becoming a pile of snot and tears.

Holy my Cow!

2006-09-14T17:16:00.002-04:00

Laritza writes, "I see you are knitting the cable pullover in VK Fall 2006. I started the neck cable decreases and find that the CR dec is different from the CL dec. One crosses 2 stitches from the border, the other one AT the border. Any ideas? or is this the way it should be? "

Wow! This is the first time anyone has EVER solicited my knitting advice. Allow me to bask in the moment just a sec. . .

OK. Thank you, friend, for thinking I'm knowledgeable enough to consult. I noticed the same thing and have been meaning to post pix and get help (for the knitting, not me). Work in the lab, however, is coming out my ears and other body orifices, and my internet access at home seems to be questionable at best, so this has been delayed.

Bottom line, I haven't figured it out. I'm avoiding those CR(L)-dec 2s and improvising with simple decreases slanted right and left (slanting towards the neckline). I'm still decreasing the rows by 2 stitches (are these called dec-2 or dec-3? losing 2 stitches, but three are on the needle, how is the nomenclature?), and I've convinced myself that the simpler edge keeps the focus on the braid around the neck (which I haven't knitted, have you? how is it?).

Readers, let me speak on behalf of Laritza when I say that we will appreciate any input you may have! Thanks in advance!

Blocking 101

2006-08-31T12:03:00.000-04:00

OK, I have some questions about this blocking thing. I took the first sleeve of Pam off the blocking board and it slowly lost its length, although I have still netted over one inch (whew!!). The yarn is 100% merino wool and I steam blocked it.

So, a number of questions arise:

1. Is this just the way it will be due to the amount of yarn used?
2. Is this typical behavior for wool?
3. Should I have wet blocked for a more definitive blocking?
4. Can I re-block it now using the wet block method (if that is indeed the solution)?
5. Can it shrink with steam blocking? Please tell me no!

Thanks for any answers!

Updates

2006-08-31T09:49:00.000-04:00

My leather buttons arrived in the mail and I'm terribly disappointed. One, they are very light (in weight, not color). Aren't leather buttons supposed to have some weight, some heft to them? My mother has 1 or 2 such buttons left over from some overcoat from the seventies, and if I recall correctly, they felt heavier than mine (I've already called her to see if she might have six of them, but no). Two, they don't have a patina to them. Obviously, this comes from use, but I was hoping to buy some with that antique look. Three, I just don't think they were made very well. They are getting sent back.

While we are on the subject of the Pam sweater, I was at the mall running errands and browsed thru Eddie Bauer. They have a brown sweater there almost like my Pam! Same background stitch, same main cable pattern, cardigan, shawl collar. EB's has pockets and plastic buttons. And no cabling on the sleeves! What a rip-off. The clerk saw me eyeing it like a hawk and approached me, "Isn't that sweater just beautiful?!" I replied, "Funny, it is almost exactly like the one I just knit, only I put cables on the arms too and leather buttons." :o) I tried to find a pic of it from the EB website but was unsuccessful.

The back of the Teriokhin braid is finished and the front started! I'm thinking about eliminating a stitch from each strand of the neck braid to make it less bulky. What do you think?

Pix only

2006-08-27T16:00:00.000-04:00

I'm posting pix from a wireless hotspot while I eat an early dinner/late lunch before heading into the lab. In between my apoptosis assay, finishing my Western blot, gavaging 2 sets of mice, and feeding my cell lines, I should have some down-time to say more.

Edit/update: Ok, so I had ZERO downtime yesterday to blog. I staggered my projects to spend the minimum amount of time in the lab (it still ended up being four hours), which is why. First pic--I get the blocking thing now!! Maybe it's because I'm finally using natural fiber now. I got a little desperate when I saw the sleeves on Pam were going to be just a tad too short yet AGAIN, so I gave it another whirl. I gained 3 inches in arm length! Second pic--the whole sleeve. Third pic--the beginnings of the Teriokhin braid sweater from VK fall 2006. The thing has already "grown" since I showed off the picture. Kind of like little kids (not that I know about that). The color is "peacock" and has a greenish/mallard blue look to it. This photo doesn't illustrate that very well.

buttons

2006-08-22T09:57:00.000-04:00

Found 'em!!

Henrietta

2006-08-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

Here she is! Henrietta has been finished for about 3 weeks now, but I've been so swamped that I haven't had a chance to blog about her.

Pattern: Henrietta, from A Treasury of Rowan Knits
Needles: US 3 and 6, straight
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, color Petal Pink (more like an orchid color), 8 balls
Mods: None.

This sweater is a tunic style fit. I don't think it was a sizing issue, as for once the sleeves are JUST RIGHT. . . .Well, in that case, maybe it was a sizing issue!!! (An old research advisor once said I had 'knuckle-draggin' arms.)

The bum-around-the-house factor here is huge. But it's still dressy enough to be work-appropriate, which is usually the goal of my knitting. Here's a photo sans manches:

I found an old scarf a roommate from undergrad (nearly 10 years ago, I'm feeling old!) was ready to pitch from her closet. I love scarves. It's part of the whole francophile thing. Matches pretty well, huh?

And oh, how I love the sleeve slits. Just enough to show off my watch. And my wrists. I think I have a rather lovely ulnar stylus. :o)

I was going to post progress photos of Pam, too, but the computer is acting up, as always. Perhaps later today.

Out

2006-08-09T16:56:00.000-04:00

Last night I ventured out to get the Fall '06 Vogue Knitting, and----lo and behold, IK had their new issue out, too! The customers milling 'round the magazine racks must have thought me odd: I marched up to the rack, grabbed both magazines without missing a beat, and marched up to the cashier. There was no hesitation, no turning back.

Here's my favorite from each:

I'm calling it Teriokhin Braid after the designer, in VK, and

Northern Lights from IK. If and when I knit it, it will be a pullover. Is it me or does Lights look like a face?

OK, I'm throwing this pic on so I can update the avatar (I think that's what you call it).

Love/Hate, II

2006-08-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

I was forced to use the lab camera yesterday. Never mind that the camera makes the color look like pus. It's actually a rich maize, and I chose it for a reason, which I'll explain later.

I love cabling!!! I'm actually getting excited for winter for once. I was so proud of myself until I noticed the mistake--Do you see it?

It's in the topmost pattern repeat, center cable. I crossed it backwards. I was faced with 2 options: One, frog back 16 rows (2 hours' knitting, yes I know I'm slow, but CSI was really good even if it was a rerun) to the mistake, or Two, drop 5 stitches down 16 rows and manage to re-knit the "filling" without leaving any "tracks." Cabling is great until you @$%* up. Then it's an absolute bitch to correct.

I opted for the former. Since then I've made it to the armhole bindoff.

So, the color choice was inspired by a sweater Gwyneth Paltrow wore in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Here's the pattern, from a Treasury of Rowan Knits.

G's is almost completely stockinette stitch, boxier, and with a zipper, though. The other commonality is the shawl collar this will have. Depending on my yarn supply at that point, I'm planning on making the collar more. . .voluminous? Is that the right word? Anyway it will be cozier than the pattern. I think leather buttons (or faux leather), the kind that look woven, might be nice.

Love/Hate

2006-08-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

I was going to wax rapturous on my latest project when: One, I discovered a huge mistake in my work, and Two, this technology stuff would not upload the photos after I took the time to type out my woes.

In other news, who's excited about the new Vogue Knitting today???? Woo-Hoo!!!!!

While

2006-08-01T11:48:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since my last post!

I've assumed a multitude of new responsibilities in the lab and went to Mayo for a another opinion on maxillomandibular advancement surgery (and coordinated all the insurance paperwork and records scavenging from 3 specialists and the radiology dept). Plus, I've been having a difficult time accessing the net.

But I've been knitting, too! Pix coming soon.

I bought a new knitting book. . . and checked out a few from the library as well.

I'll let you know more shortly. . .

Sweetie

2006-07-10T06:50:00.000-04:00

I feel like the latest Kennedy congressman/addict with this one--

I was unaware of what I was doing till it was too late.

This was a cinch to knit, and fun, despite being mindless stockinette. I suppose the beads helped mitigate the monotony.

Pattern: Beaded Sweater, from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas with Yesterknits
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby, less than 2 balls, pink
Beads: Czech glass from Hobby Lobby, purple
Needles: US 3 and 4 circulars for the body, straights for the arms
Modifications: Minimal swatching here. It's rather comical, my swatching. I cast on the body for the smallest size and quickly saw I would have to decrease through the waist. I adjusted the number of stitches from there on. Only one row of increases through the bust, a total of 4 stitches. I like my tops to be form-fitting. The drawback to this is that it may end up too small. The benefits is that I use less yarn! Again, I'd make this one about an inch or two longer. I'd definitely knit this one again!

Apologies for the blurry pics. I don't have someone readily available to take pics for me.

In other news, it seems my nickname is coming full circle. I was given this moniker by an uncle, because all my teeth came in before I was one (lots of teeth, sharks, jaws, get it???). Now, though, it is looking like I will be having surgery on my jaw (maxillo-mandibular advancement surgery). Apparently, after three sleep studies and a multiple sleep latency test, trying steroids, getting a CT of my head and undergoing a minor ENT procedure, the issue at hand is that I have a relatively under-developed or under-advanced jaw (retrognathia) which falls back even more when I sleep, causing me to have low oxygen levels all night, which leads to literally hundreds of nighttime awakenings (no, this is not sleep apnea, I don't stop breathing, I just wake up a lot). The next step in the workup is to see the oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS), which I did, and they want to operate. They want to advance my upper jaw (maxilla) by 1 cm and mandible by 1.3 cm. This, as you can imagine, is a fairly major operation and will require having my jaw wired shut for about 3 weeks. E-medicine has a good article on this, complete with a step-by-step list of intraoperative procedures.

I'm getting a 3rd opinion on this in a couple of weeks. My doc said the only other places in the country that would have more expertise would be Stanford or Mayo Clinic. So off to Mayo we go. Which is rather odd, because I interviewed there for my general surgery residency, and now I'm going back as a patient.

Ghetto Knitter

2006-07-06T06:46:00.000-04:00

Yeah, baby, that's me.

Finito!

2006-07-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

I love, love LOVE it!

Pattern: Short-sleeved ribbed lace sweater, from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas with Yesterknits
Yarn: Red Heart Luster Sheen, approx 3 4-oz skeins
Needles: US 2 and 4 circulars and straights, for body and sleeves, respectively
Modifications: I shortened the ribbing on the sleeves. Also did the body in the round. Knitted 14 inches of body instead of 11 1/2 inches before binding off for armholes.
Would I knit it again? Heck, yeah! But I'd make it slightly bigger and longer (just a liiiiittle)

It looks fine with a dressy wool crepe skirt, since this was cut with a normal waist, but my casual clothes have lower waists and I'd be baring my belly wearing this. Apologies for the blurry pic.

A close-up of my mad seaming skillz.

Another close-up of the texture. Did I mention I love it?

Slowly but Surely

2006-06-30T07:31:00.000-04:00

. . . Who's Shirley?

Actually, surly is how I'm starting to feel after knitting this thing. It's giving me an attitude. The wrong kind. Where to start?

First, it is not as long as I expected. I'm hoping it is not midriff-baring, but initial reports aren't promising. Since I wung the neckline, I wasn't sure how long to make the armscye (not sure if I'm describing this properly), so I partially seamed in a sleeve to ge an idea of how much I would need there. This then allowed me to seam the shoulders and try it on.

Which is how I'm thinking it's too short (no photo for now). This is despite modifying the pattern from 11 1/2 inches until armhole bind-off to 14 inches. Mind you, this is the largest size, and they want 11 1/2 inches! Who the heck is this small? I don't consider myself particularly large. I'm 5'10'', 135-145 lb (depending on the season and if I'm operating or in the lab-active v. sedentary) but I can easily take small sizes in tank tops. Go figure.

Seaming the shoulders also now allows me to pick up stitches along the neckline for the ribbed edge. This has to be the least graceful aspect of knitting. Pick up???? Give me a break. It's more like DIG UP.

And there were some minor glitches in the ribbed eyelet pattern, thanks to increases. This was the best I could do.

The garment *does* have its redeeming qualities. First and foremost, it's utterly feminine, yet entirely work-appropriate (as long as it's not too SHORT). Second, the ribbing makes it oh so comfortable. Third, I love the textured pattern, both in terms of appearance and because it was fun to knit--it actually held my attention!

This morning I have a doctor's appt, to which I would love to take this piece and work on it (because there will likely be substantial waiting time involved). But given the nature of this appt (NO, it's NOT what you are thinking, don't even go there!!) I'm likely to be highly distractable and I don't want to %$^& up this thing. Plus, I'd be a bit of a spectacle with an entire sweater in my hands, free yarn ends waving about (I managed to hide them for the photo shoot).

I *do* have another project up my sleeves, which is at the 1x1 ribbing in the round stage, perfect for waiting room knitting. More on that later....

2006-06-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

Remember this gal? Well, here we go again! An initial sleeve proved too small (I was smug about substituting yarn and not swatching; I guess that sleeve WAS my swatch) and I re-knit it and its mate in the largest size, mostly on the flight home for the wedding. My mother asked me if the sunset on the flight was nice. I told her I had absolutely NO IDEA--I was knitting!

I cast on for the body in the car going to the airport for the return flight. The check-in line was e-frickin-normous and a half-hour's wait sped by in 2x2 ribbing in the round.

I was concerned I would be short on yarn until I tried it on--

Suits me just fine! Things went swimmingly until it was time to bind off for the armholes. Despite all my education and degrees, I learned I can't count. I also learned how much one stinking stitch can throw off the whole thing. Uh, yeah, I figured that out after about seven rows of knitting after I bound off. I was off-center. @&$*!!!!! Frog, frog, frog. At this point, I was near-meltdown after another busy weekend and I decided there was nothing a long nap and some double fudge brownie chocolate ice cream couldn't cure.

Refreshed post-nap, I got the armhole shaping done and decided to make the neckline a bit more decollete. But not before I saw I missed a pattern repeat in one of the ribs:

I bound off too soon on the neckline.

I'm so proud of myself for winging the neckline!!!! Despite being too short, the curve turned out really nice!

Questions

2006-06-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

Everyone out there--I have many questions. Please reply with answers if you can!

1. I saw some Ebay yarn described as 10/1 and 11/1 cc. What the heck does this mean??

2. Is there any place online to buy Omega Sinfonia?

3. I'm really digging Eunny's knitting on finer gauge needles. What's the best book that encompasses finer gauge knitting? (I'm planning on buying Eunny's, but it doesn't release until Fall 2008! Argh!) Recently I bought Vintage Knitting, by Sarah Dallas with Yesterknits. Love it. Any other suggestions?

4. From reading some of Eunny's posts I gather that coned yarn has a sort of oily finish to it. Is that true? For all coned yarn?

These are the ones I can think of while here at work...
I hope someone out there can help me!
Thanks for the replys!

Weekend at Home

2006-06-19T23:33:00.000-04:00

Beaded black chiffon dress: check.
Peep-toe heels: check.
Hose, fake pashmina, and lipstick: check, check, check.

It can only mean one thing: It's wedding season!

Yeah, that's how I feel about it, too.

In addition to his regular job, my cousin's new husband is a volunteer fireman. I thought this was a cute idea.

For once, I'm happy with how I cleaned up.

With my cousin (she's only 66 days younger) AKA "The Little Mexican" for the obvious reason (although we're entirely German).

Sleevie Wonder

2006-06-15T23:51:00.000-04:00

I was ruminating on the new ribbed lace top and finally decided the sleeve I knitted was too small. By itself, it fits fine. But to do the whole garment in this size is likely to present problems, and since I don't like to complicate things by doing sleeves in one size and the body in another, I reknit the sleeve in the next biggest size. Instead of increasing to 94 stitches, I started out with that many. I also made the initial ribbed cuff only 1 inch high.

Tomorrow I'm flying home for my little cousin's wedding. I thought a good in-flight project would be this capelet/shawl from spring 06 Vogue, so I cast on for it tonight. It's a mobius cast-on, something I've never tried and never seen in books. Not a whole lot out there to confirm or correct my progress. NO SAFETY NET.

Is this right? I think so. . .

Love the colors. Unfortunately, the Mobius strip cast-on proved to be more than I can handle. Frog, frog, frog. I'll have to give Eunny a holler.

Maybe I should pack now.

Chai, y'all!

2006-06-11T23:01:00.000-04:00

I have an idea rolling around in my head. Somehow, without looking tacky or too Kabbalah-ish, I'd like to incorporate the Hebrew word for "life" (chai) into a project. I'm not Israeli or Jewish, but I *did* take Hebrew in college (I have a knack for languages. I also took German and French simultaneously in high school and was near/at the top of my class in both) and my favorite authors are Jewish (sorry, Katrina Firlik--I only consider authors who have MULTIPLE books as my faves among my favorite authors). Here is my pattern of the letters. Now that I take another look, it could use a few revisions. Sigh.

Hebrew letters, in case you don't know, have a numerical value. In this case, chai has a value of 18. The 1s could serve "double duty" in framing the word, and the 8s add a little decoration and look like the sign for infinity. But it needs more. Any ideas? Maybe incorporate the 8s into Aran knots at the corners?

In other news, Henrietta is really progressing. The pattern is from the book "A Treasury of Rowan Knits" which seems frumpier (neologism here?) now than when I bought it. But Henrietta is rather nice. Using Patons Classic Merino Wool, color Petal Pink, knit on US 6s. Those things could be a deadly weapon they are so sharp. I guess you could say the needles are "vintage." They were passed on to me (along with many others) from my mother, who used them in the 1960's. Hoo boy.

No shaping through the body has made for a really quick knit! It's a beatiful thing.

Curl up and dye

2006-06-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

That's actually the name of a salon.

But that's how I felt when I discovered this:

30.60 grams. That's all that remains after about 7 inches of knitting Henrietta. At that rate, I'll knit myself out of yarn. And I bought up the last of that dye lot (hence the significance of the homonym)! A quick trip to the LYS remedied that--I bought a dye lot differing only in the last number. I can't tell the difference, can you?? (My lab mates must have thought me odd to weigh my yarn in the lab, the only place I could find an accurate scale. Well, that's me, just odd.)

Uh, what's that? Uh, yeah. Great. I forgot the other purl row in there. Eight rows of tinking! Another reason to curl up and die.

Problem solved.

I started another project:

You can probably figure out what it is from this photo. If you know of any errata, give me a heads up! I love the color combinations of the yarn with the needles (purple = US3, green = US4). True to form, I substituted yarns and didn't swatch.

Will I make it???

Perfect! It has a little negative ease, which is how I prefer it. I prefer zero ease, perhaps slight positive ease, through the torso though. Hmmm, this may require some strategic undergarments. We shall see.

Up and Running

2006-06-06T15:08:00.000-04:00

I'm baaaaack!

In a flash of grit and determination several weeks ago, I managed to get the entire front panel done on a Saturday .

I promptly started in on the sleeves.

They were a bit more slow-going. And they are still going, despite my valiant efforts to the contrary.

So, Jaws, what was the exciting news, you ask?

YARN SALE!!!

I know, I know--it's nothing terribly special, but it's my first legitimate foray into the world of natural fibers. I *did* buy a ball of Omega Sinfonia mercerized cotton once, and made a cheesy 1x1 rib scarf, but it doesn't really count. I bought enough to make the sweaters from the Spring and Summer IK magazines (sweater under the associated yarn). The rose/lavender is pretty true to color here, but the "peacock" looks like it's electric (otherwise true to color).

I started the "Aran Rose" sweater (the lavender one) but discovered I can't figure out the rice stitch. Purl through back loop? What the heck?!? It wasn't in any of my reference books, and I browsed Borders hoping to find something illuminating, but alas, Aran Rose was bypassed for something simpler but perhaps more exotic. Meet Henrietta.

I love the slits and panels at the bottom. They remind me of something medieval, but I can't put my finger on it.

It deviates from my MO in 2 respects:
1. No turtleneck. I think my entire winter wardrobe consists of turtleneck sweaters.
2. No cables. All of my projects except the No. 4 from Vogue's KnitSimple have had them. This one is just K and P, pure and simple.

3. (Yes, I know, I said 2 respects, but this is an afterthought) The slouch factor. Looser and more relaxed, yet refined (I think, at least).

More pictures soon. I obviously made it to Staples today.

Troubleshooting

2006-06-05T22:15:00.000-04:00

I checked with our in-lab computer guru today, and the problem is likely not as serious (translate: expensive) as I was dreading. The problem is most likely in the cable, since I cannot upload photos onto my work computer, and my laptop's USB port recognizes my flash drive. I still could have burnt out something in the camera, but it still takes pics and I can circumnavigate it all with a memory card.

So tomorrow I'm going out to find a memory card. Which is probably a good thing anyway, because my little cousin is getting married in a couple of weeks and I'll be taking more pics than the internal memory holds. I should have gone out tonight, but I started a new project. . . which I can't show you 'CAUSE I DON'T HAVE A FUNCTIONAL CAMERA. Oy.

I also can't show it because I frogged it. I was burning through the yarn and then discovered despite my calculations that my gauge was off. A lot. How do these things happen?

Still out

2006-06-02T06:34:00.000-04:00

Hi ho there. . .

I guess the title says it all.

I *did* learn that I did NOT blow up the USB ports as previously suspected. (yay! woo-hoo!) Last night I was able to upload my powerpoint presentation on cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts going to and from the gall bladder) to practice for today. I'm a bit nervous to present my research today, but fortunately for my first presentation the group is relatively small and informal.

In other news, if anyone is looking for a good read, check out "Another Day in the Frontal Lobe" by Katrina Firlik, MD (www.katrinafirlik.com). I could not put that sucker down.

And if anyone is looking for a good CD, check out "Harem" by Sarah Brightman.

Ok, I'll keep trouble-shooting this and hopefully have pix soon (I did have some exciting news, but it's about 2 weeks old now, kind of anti-climactic. . .)

Oh Great

2006-05-24T08:19:00.000-04:00

Whelp. It looks like I really did it this time.

In an attempt to upload photos to the computer, I think I blew out two or three of my USB ports. Nothing like this has happened before, and I'm stumped.

So, in the meantime, enjoy some photos of my mother's tulips (from Mother's Day weekend).

Mission: Impossible

2006-05-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

YOUR MISSION: DE-CLUTTER-FY THE COUCH.

Here's a list of some of the things I found:
-Carpenter sweater, still needing second sleeve seamed
-Another Rowan sweater, which I promptly frogged
-A small bag of beads and tapestry needle and MORE YARN!
-Original birth certificate (?)
-Christmas and birthday cards (for me, they are close)
(this is where it gets embarrassing)
-unoped mail from JANUARY
-invite to a memorial service to which I never RSVP'd (thanks for covering for me, Mom!!)
-radio remote (my legs work just fine, thank you)
-financial statements for various accounts from last year
-a chocolate stain that my mother (who made it) said cleaned up "just fine" (WE NEED TO TALK!)

The sweater frogging and yarn resulted in another cache of knitting supplies:

And all the paperwork landed on my desk:

Which leaves me feeling that all I did was shift piles of crap around the apartment.

I'm trying to convince myself that stashbusting-by-knitting is another form of cleaning.

So far, it's working. This isn't as much progress as I was hoping for, but after the first pattern repeat I realized that the sweater was knitting up to be too. . . stiff (no grinning!) so I frogged and switched from US 9s to US 10s. It now has a *lovely* drapey-ness to it! The best part? No shaping! No armscye shaping! No shaping in the arms! (which will require major pattern overhauling, as I ended up with Hadassah arms last time). The pattern, btw, is from IK W 2005-06, Aran Pullover by Kristin Nicholas. Using worsted-weight yarn from stash (originally bought for the ill-fated Knitting Olympics project).

Halle-frickin-lujah.

Hit by the nesting urge

2006-05-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

I rearranged last night. Don't ask me how I moved the armoire by myself. Ignoring the clutter made during the melee (yeah, sure, that's where it came from), it's actually an improvement. For once, the TV is in front of the couch. And, I found a spot for (some of) my knitting--see that basket in the upper left-hand corner?

Ever take something apart and have more pieces left when you finished than when you started? I'm feeling like that, except what I'm left with is more space.

Moved the desk to the bedroom. . .

And a progress shot.

Bit o' Sunshine

2006-04-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

"Sunshine. . . on my shoulders. . .
makes me happy. . ."
--John Denver (or Kermit the Frog)

You'll understand by the end of this post.

When last we left our heroine. . .

I was singing the praises of yarn substitution. I've decided in the meantime that substituting the recommended yarn is indicative of a latent social deviance, despite the knitter's attempts to hide or disavow it. Anyone who substitutes must have a touch of antisocial personality disorder to them, including myself.

At any rate, Tuesday's weather was positively heinous, all rainy and cold, both of which worsened as the day progressed. And I wore little sandals to work, which made it all the worse. I came home and threw myself into knitting a warm, winter-ish sweater with (still more) leftover yarn from the Knitting Olympics project that never was, and decided I was sick to death of blue. Scrounging through the stash of patterns I've acquired, I found the perfect sweater. And I know just the color it needs! What inspiration! Off to the LYS we go. . .

And Simply Marilyn is born.

And then the batteries in my camera died. But I was a Woman Possessed, and kept on knitting, only to buy batteries yesterday at the grocery. I almost missed it--

I was nearly finished with the thing before I got another shot. I didn't think I would progress this quickly; I did my homework and saw quite a few bloggers who loved the pattern, but it never stayed on their shoulders. I read how the masses of knitters knit, frogged, re-knit (take this in a few cases to the nth power), and then said, %^#* it all, I'm making my own neckline!! And I admit, I was a little scared. So, for perhaps the first time ever, I adhered to every stitch in that pattern. . . just to see if it really was that bad. . .

(A close-up of progress on the neckline.)

And guess what? It wasn't!

As usual, the sleeves are a bit short, but, well, what can ya do. . .?

The only modification I made to the pattern was not seaming the neck all the way--I did about half, maybe a little less, to give it a slightly asymmetrical look.

So here it is, the perfect sweater for sucky weather when you can't wait for pretty spring, in the color of sunshine. So even when it's blustery and rainy, you are warm (with this collar, trust me) and happy (with sunshine on your shoulders!).

What I learned

2006-04-24T18:34:00.000-04:00

I made a pleasant discovery this weekend!

This, from Vogue's knitsimple, can be substituted with Omega Sinfonia, which costs over 50% less!

And this, from Vogueknitting, can be substituted with Red Heart Lustre Sheen! (I used this yarn for No. 4, which I just finished, too.) The gauges are identical, stitch for stitch, and row for row.

I realize this is bordering on sacrilege, substituting yarn that is recommended by Queen Vogue for cheaper yarn.....but I'm not going to pay that much. I think you can have beautiful handknitted garments, even with less expensive yarn. I'm not ruling out the "real" stuff altogether, because after all, you can't substitute every kind of yarn.

Ta-Da!

2006-04-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

Here she is!

After ripping out the picot edge and carefully steam blocking, it's long enough.

And modest enough. I was a little scared about that one, too, after seeing the picture in the mag.

And, no, that's not a sunburn on my neck. My entire skin has been itching like a fiend today.

Yaaaay! Wooo-hoooo!!

So I was making a quick dinner earlier tonight when I discovered this:

Yarn. In the silverware drawer. I don't know what the implications of this are, but I don't think they're good.

Next up: ORANGINA! (The Sexy Knitter's Club choice this month, by the way.)

The Home Stretch

2006-04-22T19:37:00.000-04:00

Last night I thought I reached the knitter's equivalent of the runner's wall. And then I rallied! I completed the back and one side of the neck in the front! Yaaaaaaay!

I was on a roll at this point and considered finishing it yet last night, but given that it was nearly 11 pm and the remainder consisted of mindless stockinette and counting decreases and rows, I decided against it. This is a dangerous combination for me. It's so easy to go on auto-pilot while knitting stockinette, which is a disaster if you also need to count things.

She was just as I left her this morning, and I got the other side of the neck done, and then realized I had to tink a little on the back. This is what happens when you substitute yarn and then forget to re-calculate how many stitches to bind off at the shoulders. I'm not too upset, this is no masterpiece. What started as an experiment with variegated (is this the right word?) yarn ends up as a salvageable garment. But I WON'T be wearing it to Morbidity & Mortality conference.

I became concerned that she wasn't quite long enough for me. After all, I'm 5'10" with a small but relatively long torso. So while I generally take a smaller size shirt, it tends to be a little short. So I threw on a crochet picot edge to buy a little length, only to discover over halfway through that the yarn did not match! Argh! (I'm a little worried that it took me THAT LONG to notice this.) Much weeping and gnashing of teeth! But I plowed through it, hoping that since it was at least similar in color, it might be OK once it was all done. . .

NOPE.

And now I've forgotten I need to eat supper. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight!

Dear Glampyre

2006-04-20T07:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Glampyre,

I tried to post on your blog but realized that you are having some issues with that. Unfortunately, I don't have your email, so I'm hoping somehow this letter reaches you through cyberspace.

I'm glad that you are finding relief with the acupunture and herbs. As an MD, cancer researcher, and surgeon-in-training, I will have to say that allopathic medicine has neglected other methods of healing such as these, disservicing many patients in the process. However, please be careful! Many people feel that herbals or "natural" therapies are completely safe, that there are no side effects or consequences for over-using. That is not the case. Herbs have a lot of different chemicals and compounds in them, many of w hich we haven't documented or characterized, and you CAN overdose or have "drug" interactions. For example, you can acutally KILL (yourself or others) with the spice nutmeg in large quantities. First, though, you have hallucinations and psychosis, then you die. It's fairly well-documented in the scientific literature.

So, carry on, but do be conscious that "natural" does not equal "foolproof" (not that I am implying you are a fool....you get the drift, yes?). Read up, consult with pharmacists or other equally trained individuals, use prudence.

Yours,
Jaws

P.S. I highly recommend a book called "The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods" by Michael Murray, ND. It goes through things by food groups and has a section on spices and herbs. It has some neat features, such as history and old wives' tales for various foods, plus a bonafide safety section for each food. Cheers!

No. 4

2006-04-19T07:22:00.000-04:00

So this is my latest project. It's from the new knitting mag by Vogue, knitsimple, pattern number 4. I switched yarns (of course, do I ever use the yarn called for?) and it's knitting up with a self-striping effect. I love it. I can stay entertained for hours with the ever-changing colors! It's a good foil to all the mindless stockinette in this pattern.

With all the stripes, of course, the flowers and leaves don't mix. They will remain un-knit. A picot edge might be a good addition--if I knew how to knit such a thing. And as mind-numbing as this pattern is, I may just knit it again in a solid so I can put on the frills.

The yarn colors aren't photographing very well, but here, I'll give it another shot (he he)---

It's a bit crooked, I know--that's what happens when you pose it on your laptop.

Other than that, there isn't much going on in my knitting world. I'm preparing a manuscript of the research I presented in Washington, DC to submit to a high-calibre scientific journal, hopefully by the end of the week. I've never written up my research before. I've always been a visiting researcher (in France, when I made fluorescent glass, and at Duke, when I worked on developmental mice models of diabetes and glucose metabolism) so it was written up by other people in the labs. I've found that writing a scientific paper for journal publication is no easy task. So the stress level is relatively high, having never written one of these before, and hoping to have it accepted by this particular journal.

Plus there is a push to get it out. At the meeting, I was approached by another researcher who advised me to get this info published asap. Why? "Did the Japanese come around and take a lot of photos of your poster?" No. "Well, yesterday, they were taking a lot of pictures, as if they planned to copy the research, and someone complained to the coordinator, so maybe they were advised not to take photos. But you need to get this out before they do." Point taken. My sincere apologies if you took lots of photos, or are Japanese, no offense is meant, but with this kind of word on the streets, I'm going to get the research published asap. I'm not taking any chances.

Here's a photo of what the poster section looked like. This is only about 1/5 the size of the room. It was ginormous!

Wear Thy Knitting

2006-04-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

In an effort to take this maxim to heart, I frogged the project I mentioned yesterday. I just couldn't feel proud about wearing it. I kind of felt like the three-year-old child who thinks he created a masterpiece, when he did was scribble on the wall with crayons.

Photos when there is actually something worth photographing.

2006-04-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

So. I'm here and well. Apparently my posts aren't interesting enough to get people asking where/how I am when I don't post, like they do for Eunny. Maybe it's because I blog while I drink my morning coffee. My humor isn't as dry and my cynicism isn't as acidic when I'm only half (quarter?)-caffeinated. Maybe this will add some punch:

He he.

Washington DC was great-- here are a few choice photos for you. I think they speak for themselves.

Trying to release my inner photographer.

I'm thinking about enlarging and framing this one for my room--it sort of has the same Asian theme as the print of orchids already there.

Bud (not her real name) and I found the neatest flea marketat the Eastern Market metro stop. On the way there, we stumbled across this odd store. This one's for you, Schmidtty!

What the flea market yielded.

My cracked and bleeding heels--a byproduct of winter--necessitated a Born shoe purchase, but alas, the trek from the Capitol building to the Washington Monument became my personal Via Dolorosa. And at the end of the day, fairskinned Jaws was fried like a pork chop. I had no IDEA this was coming.

I've been knitting, too. I'm a little bashful to show a photo yet. I can't decide if I like it or not, but I've knitted quite a bit and feel too committed to frog.