What to do?

I’m at home these days, since well before Christmas. There’s not much I can do at school, I’m waiting for comments on thesis drafts and papers. I’m doing nothing, then when the comments come it, I go from 0 to 100 in no time flat. I’m hesitant to start new things because who knows when the comments will come back, but it’s horribly defeating.

So I’m sitting at home at 2:55 on a Monday afternoon trying not to nap. There’s been a bit too much nappage lately. The cats aren’t helping with that as they seem to nap all day and send inter-species contagious yawns in my direction. Who knew that even typing the word yawn could make me yawn? That’s twice now.

What else have I been doing? Last week I was knitting like crazy. I entered Sock Wars V at the urging of a friend and finished my socks in 5 days. Not the fastest, but I did finish a thesis draft, go biking and live for those 5 days. I did the Jekyll and Hyde pattern, which was the slowest (I believe).

To start off sock wars, I had a cast on party for 3 of the 4 of us in my knitting group who were doing sock wars. Cast on was at 8 pm, so at 7:30 the knitting group met in our living room and started in on the cake and other yumminess in preparation. We knit until about 11:30 and then dispersed. Some pictures from the night include:

Don’t we look diligent? The three with me in the centre (green vest on couch) are the sock wars knitters, the rest were cheering us on and snuggling with the cats.

I knit the Jekyll and Hyde socks using Araucania Ranco in a lovely deep red. The variegation in the colour was gorgeous and showed up really well in the twisted stitches of the Jekyll and Hyde socks. I suppose you really want to see them right? Look for the red socks in the Gallery above. I finished them after dark and had to run them to a friend to mail, so the colour is a little washed out. Envision a deeeeeeper colour!

After my socks, I finished a project I’ve been working on since December. It would have been done in December if I hadn’t knit a scarf for my brother for Christmas and promised my dad a pair of socks for Christmas. It’s the 22.5 degree scarf done in Cascade Heritage Handpainted sock yarn. Instead of the YOs in the pattern, I did M1 because I misread the pattern. I also finished after 369 stitches instead of 389 because the Cascade Heritage doesn’t have as many yards as the Wollmeise the pattern calls for.

If you’ve seen this on Ravelry, you haven’t seen the photoshoot outakes! One of my Rav friends tells me I’m very photogenic… she didn’t see how many pictures we took to get the two I put up there!

The big pick sweater is just that – a big pink sweater! Finished in December, there are still 4 ends to sew in before it’s 100% done, but I think it might remain unfinished for a long time. It’s Mayer from Berocco in RYC soft tweed. Big and comfy, it’s knit much tighter than the suggested gauge to prevent it from pilling and stretching too much.

Long overdue update

It’s been a long time since I posted. I need to get back into the habit of posting more often. I get to the point where I want something big to post, then things pile up and it looks like a really long list.

I also didn’t take many pictures in the past few months. I looked back through my memory card and found these ones but they’re mostly old and very disjointed.

Remember last year I did a big bike ride with Derek (the bottom of this post)? We did it again, but my parents and uncle came along. They turned ff and did a shorter loop, but it was very nice. I got a good picture with my mom this year (at the start line so I’m less sweaty this time!). This was September.

Also in September we went to the cottage for a week to get my thesis written. 9 days, cold weather, biking, eating and writing (and for D, canoing and fishing) . D was plied with many beers to give it a first read through. I came back with the guts of the thesis written and I started waiting for comments from my supervisors. This is biking by the cottage. I was WAY TOO HOT this day in a long sleeved jersey. The next time I wore a short sleeved jersey and was WAY TOO COLD!

In October we dressed up for Hallowe’en, but that posts’ been up forever.

November had a truce declared between the cats. I don’t know what brought it about, but on a few occasions since then, this has occurred.

December I knit Christmas presents and sent off the second thesis draft at noon on Christmas Eve.

Two Christmas presents to show.

First, for my brother who lives in Manhattan (barely!), the brooklyn tweed two row noro scarf. Noro Silk Garden in colourways 245 and 234. He put it on and didn’t take it off on Christmas and then later in the week as well. I think that means it was a hit.

Second, the Whirly Rib Cap by Woolly Wormhead for my mother in law. I’ve had the Mountain Goat by Mountain Colors in night sky for many years, since the first knittyboard SP round I participated in. It looks lovely on J.

So that’s getting you all up date. I hope to post more often now.

Halowe’en costumes

We dressed up for Halowe’en and won a prize – best costume. We were the scariest ones there.

Unpictured are the bottles of hand sanitizer.

boring post

It’s been forever since I posted. I got in a rut – but a good rut. I got most of my thesis written and I’m awaiting comments from supervisor #2. I’m looking around for post docs and trying to stay healthy. There’s something in the air around. Not sure if it’s the H1N1 or just a cold, but it’s gross. I’m tired and achy today. That might be goin to the gym for the first time this fall though. 20 minutes on a treadmill will do that to me.

Knitting wise I’ve done a lot. There are pictures, but I can’t find the energy to get the camera and deal with editing pictures. I guess there’ll a photo heavy post in the near future. WordPress changed it’s way of adding pictures a few months ago and I find it really frustrating to do.

Thanksgiving was this weekend. Did some biking, ate turkey, made and ate turkey pot pie and biked some more. Gotta work it off somehow!

Fred the cat is insane. He hasn’t liked being brushed. Turns out he realised the hoomans get brushed in the bathroom, so he should too. None of this brushing in the living room thing. Good thing to figure out as he has the long fluffy hair that needs it.

Fall has come with a vengance. This summer never existed and now it’s cold. I’m not complaining about fall, I like it, but I didn’t wear most of my summer wardrobe this year. Maybe I need to find a postdoc somewhere warm?

OK, back to relaxing. It’s very important at this point in the process.

I fall down go boom.

I hesitated about writing about my accident. I really do think biking is great and that it’s a great way to get around and to get exercise. I’ve ridden 1877 kms this year as of right now. I’m still aiming for 3500 kms this year. It’s going to be hard to get there with all the school stuff going on.

But when I realised that I had to write a blog post and that it was the major thing that has happened in the past few weeks I figure I should mention it.

We went for a ride last Saturday to get a ride in while the weather was good. It was hot for the first weekend this summer, highs in the 30s and really humid. My cousin’s wedding was at 6pm so we set out early so I could nap and paint my toenails in the afternoon.  Apparently the gods decided my toenails are pretty enough and they didn’t need painting.

We went out from the house, up the mountain and over some pretty big hills. We stopped for a popsicle about 35 kms in and started heading home. We passed a field of harvested cabbages and were discussing the stink and if broccoli would stink as much as the leftovers rot in the field. I noticed that I had drifted off the road and onto the shoulder. Drifting off was so easy and it was level, so I thought I’d just drift back on. Unfortunately there was a drop between the road and the shoulder where I drifted back on and I ended up flying through the air like superman.

I remember flying. I remember hitting the ground with my body and thinking “good, I didn’t hit my head”. Then my chin hit.

For the cyclists out there, the bike is fine.

I scraped my left knee, elbow, pointer knuckle and finger, thigh and my chin.

I sat on the road and caught my breath. Then got back on the bike and road the remaining 25 kms home.

I spent the afternoon getting drugged up, then D scrubbed all the dirt out in the shower. Owie! Then off to the drugstore to get one of every typeof bandage to find something that would cover up my wounds.

Off to the wedding where the bandaids dida good job of hiding the worst and we had a great time.

Now for the pictures… look away if you are squeemish.
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My chin is almost healed 1 week later. Just a tiny scrape in the middle. The new hydrocolloid bandages really work.

I’m a PhD level pouter. See that lower lip in action? The cuts on the knuckle were the deepest and hurt most. They also are taking th longest to heal.

This is what the thigh wound became on Wednesday. It’s Sunday now, the cuts are 99% healed and the bruising is almost gone. Wow, I have great quads at this angle.

So it’s been a week and a day. I’m still wearing bandages, but I’m sleeping well now finally.I think by the middle of this week I’ll be back to normal.

D and I have been biking together for 8 years. This is the first major incident. I think that’s a really good record.

For making it through those pictures, I present my cousin G with his big catch from the cottage trip I mentioned in the last post.

There’s a lot going on at the Casa MP. I’ve got my thesis outlined. D’s working on a present/bribe for graduating. I’m also knitting up a storm. Hopefully I’ll have pictures this week if it EVER stops raining.

OOps

We just got back from a weekend at the cottage. The second time at this cottage in under a month.  We’re very lucky to have access to 3 very different cottages. the last one I put pictures up from was on Lake Huron. It’s a boat access only, not electricity place.  This weekend we were at a place with a toilet and electricity. What a difference, but still very relaxing and just as nice.

I have posted many pictures from up there before, including many FO pictures.  This time I had great plans to get pictures of the shawl I finished knitting last week.  I forgot the shawl at home, so you can see some of Derek’s FOs.

I wasn’t fast enough to show you that fish, so I’ll show you one from our first trip.

As a good knitter, I had a tape measure handy, so I can tell you it’s  14.5″ fish. I can’t remember what type, but it went back into the lake right after the picture was taken.

The one picture I have of the shawl is pre-blocking.

but what does lace look like preblocking?

Apparently it smelled and felt good…

but the Icelandic lace is still a bit itchy post washing/blocking.

While at the cottage this weekend we had a visitor.

This is the aftermath. We were sleeping in the cabin about 50 feet from the main cottage until we awoke to my dad screaming.  He was trying to scare off a young bear who was trying to break into the shed behind the cottage. It finally bumbled away when a light was shined in it’s eyes.  We didn’t sleep for a few hours afterwards as the adrenaline was very high. D’s still laughing at me because I got up to lock the cabin door.  He doesn’t think that would do much. I think it provided one more (tiny) bit of something holding the door shut.

So, back to work and school tomorrow. The end’s in sight, I’ve got a lot to do, but I will get it done.

The Scenes from Biking

I’ve had these pictures (and more) on my camera for months wanting to put them up.  They’re ofmy bike and one of the spots on my ride to and from school.

With the nice weather,  biked to knit knite last time. D thought it was worth a picture when I got home.

Dress, lock, helmet, bike shoes, bag with knitting.  I’ve got it all!

Lots more to talk about,but not much time. More sometime sooner than 6 weeks from now!

Scenes from Biking

I bike. I try to bike a lot. I’m at over 600 kms for this year. I had hoped to be further along than that, but it’s a good number.

Doing 600 kms means I’ve spent a lot of time on my bike as well. Almost every ride has something to remember.  Last night it was a city bus running a red light. It had waited a long time, but it just pulled forward and turned left on a red. Everyone around was really shocked.

Last week I had my closest call yet with a vehicle.  I was in the left hand turn lane and a truck decided to pass me on the right and then pull into the lane before fully passing me.  I was going fast (~30 km/h) and I don’t think the trucker expected me to be going that fast.  I had to pull right over to the curb and jam on the brakes to avoid being hit.

I managed to remember the truck number, then I caught up to the truck at the next intersection and remembered the company name and street. A little googling led me to an e-mail address so I sent an e-mail. I didn’t want to get the driver fired, I wanted him to be warned that he had nearly hit me.

I am very impressed by the response of the company. I’ve have contact from two people including the driver supervisor wanting more information.  They both expressed that the company wants to make sure theirs drivers drive safely and that they will be educating all the drivers better.

I think I did my little bit with that one.

cottaging 2009

Cottaging 2009 got off to a great start this weekend.  Victoria Day in Canada.  The official start to good food and friends with beer.

We were up at an aunt’s cottage with cousins, friends and babies. So many pictures, I’ll put up a gallery. Never done this before, but I’ll let you tell me what you think.

No pictures

I can’t get up. Fred (the cat) is asleep next to me and he’s snoring and twitching. I don’t want to wake him as it’s really funny. I can’t laugh either, for fear of waking him and getting that “but I was having a good dream” glare.

I have a picture to show of my sister at mile 19 of the Boston Marathon. We went to cheer. We totally forgot to get pictures of the cheering squad. M asked us to have  stash of orange gatorade and shortbread cokies with us so she could have one if needed. The grocery store we found had a 5 pack of 11×17″ very bright poster boards so we also bought a really wide sharpie and wrote all sorts of messages. A few others with her first name were happy to see someone cheering (her name isn’t that common).

If you ever get the chance to attend the Boston Marathon DO IT! Wow. The people. The sheer number of ways that people run. Some people are leaning forwards, others back, some bounce up and down, others float.

A fw other members of my family (*cough* D and Dad *cough*) were very dismissive of my cheering and cowbelling. We were about 100m from the top of the hill before Heartbreak Hill. I was cheering “You’re nearly up this one, you can do it” and “Way to go Patty” or whatever name was on someone’s shirt. I figured if they went to the trouble of writing their name on their shirt, they wanted people to cheer. Many people smiled when I yelled their name or gave me the thumbs up.

The cowbell was also great. Free from a bike race many years ago, I dug it out in the last few minutes of packing. It’s gone into hibernation, but I will pull it out the next time it’s needed.

I’m knitting a blanket for a friend’s baby and yet another pair of socks for D. How’s that for a segue? I’ve got laundry going but the drier is taking forever, hence why I’m still up at midnight on a Thursday. I think school is off for tomorrow.  D’s out partying with my cousins because one is getting married on Saturday.  He’s booked off work, I’ve got nothing to do and the stupid drier is taking forever. Perhaps the sensor is messed up. We’ve had good luck fixing the appliances around here.

Fred just rolled over on his back and is now sleeping like a dog. I think I nearly have him fully converted to dogness.