Welcome to 2015

Robert and I have been doing a read-aloud each night of things that we wrote on that date in India. It's reminded me that having this here blog is a wonderful chronicle of our lives, but only if I, you know, use it. So I'm going to try to do that more, even when we aren't living in other countries.

Today was a very mixed bag. On the plus side we had a pretty relaxed day. The sun was shining, Rosie had a nice walk, I made scones and sausage for our New Year's breakfast. Robert and Zion played LOTR Risk, and we Skyped with my parents.

On the minus side, Liel woke up sick (and ended up throwing up a few times), Rosie tore her dew claw about halfway up (and into the quick), but only tore it half off, so it's hanging there. It clearly bothers her some, but no way can we cut it off. She hates having her nails trimmed under the best of circumstances. The internet tells me this isn't a rush to the vet thing, and if her nail breaks the rest of the way off I'll be pretty pleased. If it doesn't, I'll take her to the vet so they can do the honors.

Furthermore, when I went to block the amazingly gorgeous sweater I finished yesterday I was met with the worst smell I've ever experienced while working with wool. NO idea what it was about, but trust me, it was awful. The yarn company was incredibly responsive, but equally confused. I tested yarn from another skein of the same dye lot, and it was fine. Guess I got a bad one?? Anyway, that turned out OK, once I rinsed the crap out of the sweater, so to speak. Now it just smells like a wet sheep.

And the other things will turn out OK too. Liel will be better, and hopefully soon. Rosie's nail will either fall off or the vet will remove it.

After the kids went to bed I decided that what I really needed was some kind of tasty potato snack. So I made a super small amount of potato salad. Robert said he didn't want any, but he ended up eating half of it, since "super small" is apparently relative and I couldn't actually eat it all.

So to sum up: delicious breakfast, sunshine, sick child, mildly injured dog, rescued sweater, potato salad, 2015. 

You know I rock because I'm wearing wool!

I haven't had a give away on the blog in ages and ages-- mainly because I wasn't really using the blog anymore. But India got me back to it, and I'm thinking to try to keep it up for a while. And since we could all use a little more love in our lives, I figured to combine the two and give away some knitting on the blog! Plus, now that summer is here, what better time than to give away something warm, hand knit, super fly, and made of wool?

No better time. Clearly. You'll be preparing for the cold (winter is coming, amiright?), looking cute, and making someone smile. 

Here's what's up for grabs: a pair of fingerless gloves, knit by me from soft, squishy merino wool yarn in a color that's a cross between orange juice and gold-- in other words, these gloves are made of happy. 

They're perfect for cozying up to a mug of coffee or tea!

Or, because they are fingerless, you can write in your brand new, blank journal without fear of cold hands! Also great for reading books, playing video games, posting on Facebook, watching cat videos, or otherwise wasting time on the interwebs. And remember: summer time is overly air-conditioned time! 

Here they are in all their glory, along with my fantastic props.

So now you know what I'm offering. But how, HOW do you get them??

It's simple, really. Leave a comment (by, say, June 2) telling me who you'd like to give these gloves to, and telling me why that person is awesome/needs some love/should be cheered up/is in desperate need of fingerless gloves. Assuming I have more than one comment, I'll probably use a random number generator to choose a winner. And then I will pop them in the mail to that person, and, because you were such an great friend to nominate them for such a nommy prize, I will send you a matching pair. Because I made two pairs :) And because I love you. 

Green cardigan! Now with pockets!

Well folks, here it is...the last of my knitting projects completed in India. Of course the pictures, as you'll probably notice, were not taken in Bangalore! I finished this little cardi that I was test knitting just days before we flew back to New York and didn't have the time to get it photographed right then. So finally tonight Robert gave me a hand and now my project is really complete!

Another sweater

I think I went all of February without finishing and entire project! Crazy. Of course, I've long known that hot weather makes me much less inclined to knit. I do have two partially done projects from February, and another that I finished weeks ago, but only just got pictures of this morning.

This sweater was a test knit, meaning that someone came up with the design, did the maths to make it fit different sizes, wrote it all up, and then asked for volunteer test knitters to make sure the numbers were correct, the instructions were clear, and the finished product fit. It was a fun knit, and constructed in a way I don't usually make my sweaters, so that was definitely entertaining! And I like the kind of 80s dropped shoulder look.

I'm wearing it here with churidars-- a type of Indian pants that are very, very long, very closely fitted below the knee, and then quite loose in the hips/waist. They're meant to be worn with a long tunic type shirt (a kurta, for instance), and not something this short. All of which is my way of drawing attention to them, and then asking you to please not pay attention to them ;) Because they're so narrow in the lower leg they're a bit of a hassle to get on and off and I was feeling lazy this morning!

Another sweater

My knitting pace has slowed in the past weeks. The shawl I'm currently working on is challenging enough that I can only work on it after the kids have gone to bed so that I can give it my full attention. I need another mindless project to go at the same time, and I'm thinking about knitting another sweater based on the same model as this one: top down, round yoked, simple. I'm pretty sure this color isn't the most flattering on me, but I like it anyway. It's outside my comfort zone for sure!

Pictures from our week

Here are some pictures of the things we've been up to this week :)

I took an artistic picture of my fruit bowl, sitting on the otherwise useless induction cooker.

Zion noticed this cool black and white butterfly on campus.

We saw some "cows in outfits" (as the kids called them).

We went to a really exclusive park ;)

We had several lunches at our favorite (and always crowded) restaurant (spot Robert in the background!).

Liel finished Fluffy's new dress, and made her a necklace and a circlet besides.

And I finished this shawl, and took a blurry picture of it with my iPhone.

I hope your week was colorful and fantastic as well!

Yarn shopping in Bangalore

Today I bought yarn! Silk yarn. Gorgeous yarn.

My friend B grew up in Mangalore, went to college in Bangalore, and now lives in the US. We met on Ravelry, so we share a love of knitting and yarn! She is in town visiting family, and we arranged to go yarn shopping today. India doesn't produce a lot of natural fiber yarns for resale, and this store is rather special and beloved of knitters for their high quality pure silk yarns.

B's brother lives in the complete opposite side of Bangalore from me, but luckily for me the yarn store is on my side of town. I felt a bit badly that she had to travel all the way to me though, because it's a long way! It took her nearly 90 minutes to get here. Eeeep. It only took us 10 minutes in an auto rickshaw to get to the yarn store though. It was my first auto ride! Thank goodness B was there though, as the store proved rather difficult to find, requiring 3 phone calls (one between the owner and the driver) and, once we got close, a moped escort. I was very grateful to have a native Kannada speaker with me, let me tell you. I think there's about a zero percent chance I'd have gotten to the place on my own.

Silkindian is a family business, and they mainly sell wholesale for export. They don't have a proper shop, but if you arrange with them you can come in their office in a residential apartment building, and buy from whatever stock they have on hand (they'll also custom dye yarn for you, but you have to buy a kilo of the same color to make it cost effective for them). It was so much fun! My only regret was that a majority of their stock was multi-colored yarn, which isn't great for lace knitting as it obscures the pattern. Since I had three custom shawl orders I was buying for I needed solid color yarn! Luckily I was able to get everything I needed- a teal color for Mel, dark blue for Julie, and purple for Becka. They didn't actually have the purple out, but when I asked they found some for me (and bonus: it was already wound!). Phew! I couldn't bear to disappoint Becka. We've been friends our entire lives, and she really appreciates hand made items (and does amazing sewing work herself!). Of course, she's about the easiest person to please in terms of color that I know, so I'm sure I could have found something that suited her, but I was really glad I could get her first choice. She is going to look stunning in this shade of purple!

I also got a gorgeous peridot green skein of yarn with no particular purpose in mind (I just couldn't leave it behind!) and at the last minute two skeins of multicolored yarn. They are dark blue, light blue, and teal and I'd been trying to figure out what I could possibly make with them. It occurred to me I could make a gorgeous lightweight pullover with them, but I wasn't sure I was up to handwashing a silk sweater, so I finally put them down with regret. Then we found out that that particular base (which I loved- super soft and not slippery!) was actually cheaper than the others. "Oh", said B. "Well, at that price how can you say no??". What could I do? I was a sitting duck! I fell for her logic immediately (it was, after all, impeccable) and bought that yarn too.

After that B and I took an auto back to campus, and met Robert and the kids for lunch. I was sad I didn't get more time to hang out with her, but it was an excellent day and an immensely satisfying yarn shopping experience!

Now I'm super eager to get started on some of these custom shawls!

Golden

Sort of a mixed day so far today. My third Big Basket order was delivered, which was mostly good. Having ordered from them a few times I am still a big fan, but I've noticed that they list things as "in stock" that are not. There are items I've tried to buy 3 weeks in a row that are consistently listed as in stock, but which are not in stock. It's not a big deal-- certainly not enough to deter me from ordering-- but I'm thinking maybe there are a few items on their site that need to have their status changed. Their customer service is lovely however. When my zucchinis arrived too bruised and battered to use they immediately gave me a credit for my next order. Anyway I got nearly all of my order today, including a HUGE bunch of organic basil, so I'm content. I think I'll use the basil to make basil chicken! And then, if it's any good, I'll post a recipe.

I also cast on a new cardigan today, out of a pretty, brassy colored yarn. I'm still trying to dream up a way to make it exciting, but maybe a few plain sweaters are what I need. I'm not sure the color will look anything but awful on me, but since I sell or trade most of my knitting anyway I'm not too worried about that.

The down side of the day is that shortly before lunch Zion started complaining about how hungry he was. I basically ignored this (just said placating things like, "OK honey. I'm cooking lunch, it'll be ready soon".) because, hey, he's an 8 1/2 year old kid. Of course he's hungry!

As I was putting rice and lentils into bowls he started saying that his throat hurt. So I gave him some water and told him to eat up. About halfway through his lunch he threw up. Luckily I had a bowl handy, so clean up, at least, was a breeze (ha- I sound like a commercial for some cleaning product! A gross commercial, involving vomit). After that I felt vaguely guilty that I hadn't taken his complaints more seriously, and he went and lay down on my bed and played a game of Archon.

He seems to be feeling much better at this point, so I'm feeding him slowly and giving both kids some schoolwork. Apparently puking only gets you a day off if you don't feel better afterwards!

Snack lunch and a green shawl

Happy New Years! I hope your New Years Eve was all that you hoped, and that 2013 is beautiful for all of us.

The Center for Contemporary Studies hosted a New Years "snack lunch" today. We weren't sure what that meant, but guessed it was probably a light lunch, which proved to be correct. There were two cakes, a kind of sweet that is apparently famous in Karnataka (but which I did not catch the name of), pongal (a kind of savory rice porridge), samosas, a few chutneys and a salad. I was really sad we couldn't eat the salad! We're a month in and salad is pretty much at the top of my "foods I miss" list. But I digress.

I got to meet a lot of people at the Center, and everyone was so incredibly kind and friendly! There were even a couple of other kids there-- a 14 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. They came into Robert's office while Zion and Liel were in there taking turns spinning on the chair. Liel hid under the desk and wouldn't come out until Zion came to tell me about it and I came in. At that point she'd been under there a while; Zion told me the kids had come in twice and one of their mothers had come to take pictures. Nice. So Liel and I had a talk about how her shyness (which is almost exclusively an excuse at this point) does not extend to being rude or making other people feel badly. I was totally mortified to think that she HID when other kids came in! That kind of behavior is one thing for a 2 or 3 year old, but something else entirely at her age. At any rate, she came out and we went and she introduced herself to the other girl. They didn't end up playing together, but the girl and Zion raced around the library for a bit, trying not to be seen. Zion said this was difficult because he was wearing a blue shirt and the girl had on an orange dress and orange bangles so they were both bright and loud. Who they were trying not be seen by remained an open question, but I hadn't seen them at it so I was able to tell them they'd been successful.

And on this New Years Day I got to wear the emerald green shawl I completed a couple of days ago. I adore this color so, so much. Sadly, I don't think I can ever get more! Wollmeise calls experimental shades, or shades that are accidents "guinea pigs" and this skein was a guinea pig green. It makes me very happy...and calm. Even winding this yarn was a joy, and to be honest, yarn winding isn't usually my favorite. But I was happy just to watch this color pass through my hands as I wound it into a ball.

This first picture shows the pattern best, but the other show the color better :)

A few food norms

A few nights ago at dinner I commented that I never feel more American than when I'm traveling out of the country. I'm sure this feeling is not unique to me-- there's nothing like being immersed in difference to make you aware of your own cultural practices and beliefs, even (especially?) the ones you've never noticed or thought about before.

For instance, I've noticed that there are rules governing when certain foods are eaten, and therefore when they are available to buy, in India. Of course this is true in the US as well, but unless I were at a diner it wouldn't even occur to me to try to order breakfast at dinner time, and I certainly wouldn't expect to see eggnog in July. Which foods are eaten at which times isn't even something I have to think about when I'm at home. It also helps that for the most part in the US restaurants have different menus for different times, or mark their menus ("Breakfast items only available until 11am" or what have you).

Here in India I don't really know which foods go with which times, and the menus do not guide me. Every restaurant we've been in has a single menu, with no indication of time on it. As a result, we find ourselves regularly trying to order things that aren't available. And the language barrier means that we're often in the dark as to why a particular item might not be available right then (are they out? is it a breakfast food? do they only serve it on Sundays?). Instead the Indian waiters and staff just look at us, shake their heads, and say, "No dosa/Indian food/poori/kesari bath".

None of this is a particular problem, of course. If we can't order one thing we try something else! It's just a small daily reminder that I do not understand this place (yet? I don't know...I might never!).

Anyway, I made some socks out of leftover yarn :)

First Indian FO

This FO (finished object) was started and completed here in Bangalore. I'd had the yarn for ages, and I knew I wanted to use the two colors together, but couldn't quite figure out how. Then, shortly before I left New York, it hit me. The yarn wanted-- no needed-- to become nerd chic video game sweater! So I put the yarn in the "must bring" pile, and lugged it along across the oceans. Luckily for me, the fabulous lisseut on Ravelry had already charted out the Space Invaders aliens, so all I had to do was build a sweater around them. Colorwork (using two or more colors to create pictures in your knitting, for the non-knitters out there) is not my strong suit. I've only ever completed two colorwork projects before this, and they were both really small. I've learned a few tricks along the way for dealing with things like long floats, but it's slow going, and kind of hard on my brain. Which is really a longish way of saying: this project was challenging for me! Be impressed! I'm growing as a knitter!

So, without further ado, I present you with my latest creation. The pictures were taken by Robert, on our teeny little balcony :)

The colors in the close-up are not accurate, but you can see the cute little aliens a bit better in it :) I'd say our old skool inherited iPhone camera is performing pretty admirably, wouldn't you? Oh and I don't have a close-up of it, but can you see the dot matrix-y color transition on the sleeves??

So there you have it my first Indian FO. After I finished it I spent most of a day trying to decide what to knit next. Limited yarn supply = limited options! Eventually I settled on a shawl (I won't say more about it right now, so you can coo over it when it is done), and set about winding the yarn. I was pretty stressed when I started winding, but just winding the yarn, becoming absorbed by the beauty of the color and the feel of the wool in my hands, helped me to feel more peaceful. Of course, most of the credit has to go to Robert, who listened to me talk while I wound yarn, gave his own opinions, and was generally the best EVER (as usual), but still. Yarn has magical healing properties, I know it.

Finally, Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate, and a happy what would be 104th (ish) birthday to my great-grandfather!

Dot Matrix

You remember the old dot matrix printers, right?

Of course you do. If you don't, then take a stroll down to my parents' office, where they still actually have one in use! It's a relic from a bygone era, still zipping along with noisy abandon.

At any rate, despite having had the flu and a raging sinus infection in the past 3 weeks, I've managed to find a little bit of time and energy to knit. To be honest, I think it's one of the things that's been keeping me sane. I already wish I'd brought more/different yarn, but some of my dear Ravelry friends are working on that for me, so I really can't complain!

But the dot matrix printer. The sweater I'm knitting has a few things in common with ye olde dot matrix. First of all, it has sections where the knitting actually kind of resembles dot matrix printing, and secondly, it has some of these guys on it. And they're from the same era and resemble dot matrix printing :)

I take no credit for the awesomeness of the space aliens-- I used a chart that lissuet over on Ravelry created-- but I am going to have one super fly old-school gaming sweater in a few days! And don't worry, I'll put some pictures up then.

You were worrying, weren't you?

Preparatory knitting

Right now I'm doing something I wouldn't normally associate with getting read to go live in south India for a while.

I'm making slippers.

See, it occurred to me a few days ago that the floors in our apartment will almost certainly be tile. Winter temps in Bangalore can dip into the high 50s at night, and there's no heating. This = cold apartment in the morning and night, and even colder floors!

Luckily I'd made Zion a pair of knitted/felted slippers a couple of months ago, so he was all set.

Pretty cute, right? It was a dead simple (and fast) pattern, so I decided to make Liel a pair of the same. But she didn't want the cuffs on them. Instead, she wanted buttons for decoration. And she wanted one slipper to be gold and the other to be green. The different yarns I used felted somewhat differently, but she's happy with them (and honestly, she'll only use them for a month or two before it becomes quite hot!) so I'm happy too.

Yes, those are bat buttons. I'm so proud of myself for buying those when I saw them a couple of years ago!

Now I'm working on a pair for me. I'm running out of feltable yarn, so mine are going to be mismatched as well. But they'll be light, warm, and take up very little suitcase space, so I love them already!

So it begins

I started packing today. Not in suitcases (it's too early for that yet), but my yarn and knitted items. I've been fretting about the ones I'm leaving at home (mostly knitted items as I cut my yarn stash way down in preparation for this move), worrying that they would get munched by bugs in my absence. So I decided to put everything in ziploc bags, in the hopes that this would minimize or avoid this problem. I may even put the ziplocs in some plastic tubs, but I'm not sure that'll actually help.

At any rate, Robert bought me a bunch of huge ziploc bags today, and I packed all of my knitted items that I'm not planning to bring to India or wear in the 17 days remaining to us here in New York. And I put all of my yarn in bags, other than the stuff I'm currently knitting with. It was oddly satisfying to seal everything up! And I felt productive, like I was actually making progress towards being prepared, so that was nice too.

Less nice was trying to decide which shawls to bring with me. I expect I'll get more use from shawls than from sweaters, but I also don't expect I'll wear a lot of wool shawls, even very lightweight ones. But I love them so! I really wanted to bring 5 or 6, but I'm limiting myself to 2-3. Sigh. Probably 2. I must be practical! And I am bringing yarn to knit more while I'm there, though I'm not sure how (or if) I'll be able to block them.

Zion and I are both still sick- snot, coughing, asthma, the works. So glad we're not driving to Chicago tomorrow, even if I do get sad about not seeing everyone there when I think about it. I've been making and taking a tonic with apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and hot water, which I really think has done wonders for my throat. When I got sick I lost my voice pretty much right away, and my throat hurt like crazy, even drinking water made me wince. A day on vinegar tonic and my sore throat was gone and my voice started coming back. Two days and my voice is totally back to normal.

Huh?

It's come to my attention that people actually read this blog. From time to time ;) So for you, oh best beloved, I will post. Now and then.

Look! I finished a sweater! If you're not on Facebook, you might not know that. Or have seen it (*cough*mom*cough*).



I finished a *different* sweater today. No pics yet tho. I'll post them here tomorrow, most likely. Rest assured, is very cute.

Also, Facebook may be becoming sentient. I've now heard two reports of it suggesting friends for people who they actually KNOW but have no friends, workplaces, or schools in common with. Watch your back, yo.

Potterwatch, over and out.

I haz socks!

I finished my first pair of socks today. I never had any interest in knitting socks- sock yarn can be quite pricey, and the stitches are so tiny (usually around 8 to an inch) that measurable progress is slow. And frankly, I like my progress quick!

But then one day, as I was innocently browsing yarns on Ravelry I came across this gorgeous Chewy Spaghetti sock yarn for sale in someone's stash. I mean, isn't it just beautiful??



I had to have it. So I bought it and vowed to make socks. Or something. And here they are! Aren't they spiffy? Comfortable, too. I didn't time it exactly, but I figure they took me around 12 hours total to complete. You can see why there's not a big business in hand knit socks, despite their awesome awesomeness!







I even have enough yarn leftover to make a matching pair for Liel. I don't have the sock knitting bug (yet?), but I like it well enough. Which is good, since I've somehow managed to by several more skeins of sock yarn. No, really, they just fell into my cart! And they were on sale! And they looked up at me with these big weepy eyes! "Don't put us back tonight, Jovi! Hold us a little longer, Jovi!" What was I supposed to do??

Keeping up

That's about what I've been doing lately. I'm still working on my dad's sweater vest and I'm kinda anxious about it since I don't know if he'll like the color, or if it will fit. It's coming out a bit bigger than I'd intended, but Robert says it's a little tighter than he'd like so hopefully it won't be huge?? Robert's chest is a few inches bigger than my dad's. I also made it too short so I need to rip back a row or two. Not a big deal, but more than I want to do at the moment!

A couple of days ago the kids and I were out weeding in the "garden" (right now its a strip of dirt on the south side of our house. In the summer we optimistically try to grow vegetables there. Its literally about 18" wide and 10 feet long. I'd much rather dig up a bunch of grass but as this isn't our house....) and we found a tiny salamander under a rock. He's about 3/4" long and black with red on his back. Turns out he's a Redbacked Salamander. Zion really wanted to keep him, so we set up our aquarium with dirt from the garden, and a rock and some dead leaves and moss and sticks. This afternoon we're heading to the pet store to buy him flightless fruit flies, one of the only bugs that will be small enough for him to eat. We've named him Newt, just for kicks.

In food news, I haven't baked in like 3 weeks! 3 weeks! I might go insane, but I'm making some kind of attempt at better health. I feel my resolve cracking however, and might make a banana caramel upside down cake tonight, if we pick up bananas while we are out. Yes, I know bananas are totally unlocal. But it's realllly good and frankly, I don't eat many bananas. In the dinner department I'm planning to cook up some Shredded Beef with Sweet Peppers from the ever-popular (at least at my house!) Land of Plenty cookbook. I lusted after it on my blog last summer and my badass brother got it for me for my birthday. Love love love it.

Yarn dying and blue shawl

Here it is! My second completed shawl. This one is done in a fingering weight merino wool- very light and drapey. And, I must say, very beautiful.



Also, here are some pics from my yarn dying experiment. Over dying, really. Dad's yarn had too much of a "pink" look to the lighter parts, so I packed up the kids and headed to Shop Rite for some Kool Aid. I wanted Black Cherry flavor, but they didn't have it so I bought a bunch of Cherry and Grape, hoping to get something close, colorwise. Unsweetened, in case you weren't sure.

So I bopped 3 packets into some water and added my wet yarn. Then I heated it to nearly boiling, put the lid on and turned off the heat. About 15 minutes later the water was clear and the yarn had absorbed all the dye. Sooo cool! And the finished product is color safe, too. Neat-o. Probably best not to think about what parts of you may have absorbed some of that lovely Kool Aid dye...



Here's the finished product, held up next to an un-over-dyed skein. No pink, right?



I'm pretty pleased, and hope it'll work for dad's vision when it's all knit up. I've started the sweater vest he wants and I gotta tell you, this yarn is amazing. It makes the most incredible fabric, so smooth and soft and squishy. Really quality (which is a damn good thing as the skeins took me forever to ball they were so twisted and knotted in on themselves. I thought I was going to go insane, but oh, its worth it!). Heh. Look at me go with the over use of italics!

Yarn money

So, it turns out that I knit more than I can wear. And I'd like to buy more yarn. So from time to time I'll post stuff here that I'd like to re-home. If you're interested in buying, leave me a message and we'll chat!

Tonight I'm offering up this sweater I designed. I love it! It's cozy and warm, and the (hand spun and hand dyed) wool yarn is soft enough to wear next to the skin. I think it could fit a bust size of anywhere from 33"-38" depending on how you like to wear your sweaters (for reference I'm about a 36" bust). Totally one of a kind!




I'll send it to you for $60, including US shipping!!

Seashore Sweater

I've created my first finished object from the lot of Handpaintedyarn.com handspun bulky that I bought from another Ravelry member! It's also my first self-designed sweater. I used 3 different colorways in this sweater. For the main body I alternated every other row in two different colorways (remember that I only have 2 skeins of each color of yarn!), and the lacey edging in the third color. It all came out very beachy looking, and reminds me of the sand at home, and the teeny tiny shells we'd occasionally find, with their pale pink and purple interiors. Hence, the Seashore Sweater.





As usual, the pictures aren't the best, but eh. We're neither of us photographers!