Knitting and Crocheting Cyclone

Where am I?

2011-11-09T10:12:00.003-06:00

Quick update here:

Moving into the new house went well, and we're loving everything about it so far. Based on our desire to make some big changes and do lots of urban farming at the new house, I've started a new blog with my husband about our adventures. You should check it out:

youcanteatalawn.blogspot.com

I'm not ready to say that I'm totally giving up on this blog yet, but I probably won't be posting here very frequently.

Backyard Dreamin'

2011-09-22T08:41:00.006-05:00

In a mere three weeks my husband and I will become homeowners. Ok, technically we bought a condo 5 years ago. We've done a great job of making it our own, and I do love the place. A part of me will certainly miss it. But ever since we've become passionate about local food, and started to grow our own vegetables, it has become clear to us that no space could really be our home without room to garden.

So we're going to pack up our things, drag them across town, and settle into a new home. There are so many things that I love about our new house, but I've gotta admit, the backyard is my favorite.
It is large enough to accomodate even our ambitious gardening plans, it has a collection of lovely shade trees close to the house, and plenty of open space in the back for some sun-worshipping plants.

We've been playing around with different arrangements of raised vegetable beds and flower planters. I'm even sketching up ideas for a chicken coop to house a few residents next spring. We've been dreaming of enough garden, patio, tree planting, blogging, and rainwater collection plans to keep us busy for a VERY long time. I suppose we might as well keep dreaming now, because dreaming up ideas is the easy part.

We're Moving!

2011-09-12T13:32:00.005-05:00

Things have been kinda hectic, but I wanted to share a quick post about some big plans. My husband and I bought a house! We're about one month away from the closing date, and we're getting really excited. The house isn't much bigger than our condo, but that's not really why we wanted a house. What we really wanted was a yard; and we sure got it. The new house sits on a 0.40 acre lot, so we'll have tons of room to garden.

We've been spending time drawing up garden layouts, researching plants and trees (and chickens!) to put together our own little urban homestead. Food can't possibly come from a source more local than your own backyard!

The Trouble With Multi-Tasking

2011-07-18T09:10:00.004-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I frequently start new knitting projects before finishing others. I'll set some projects aside, to work on whatever I'm feeling good about that day. I knit for fun, so I try to keep it fun; no rules.

Well, remember this sweater?

I started it long ago, set it aside for a while (about a year), then almost completely forgot about it. Well, I pulled it out again a couple of weeks ago, and now I have this:

Yay! A finished sweater! I love it, but it is currently too hot to wear it. At least I finished it in time for the state fair.

Countdown to the State Fair

2011-07-07T08:48:00.008-05:00

Summer is upon us. This means that I've been busy and my knitting has been sort of neglected. But I can't do that any longer, because it's time to prepare for the state fair!

You probably remember that I entered several items in the fair last year. I really had fun and I'm excited to enter again this year.

I have quite a few works in progress that I plan to finish before the drop off deadline. Last night I finished these two:

Rainbow Wool Eater Blanket - This was mostly finished for quite a while. Unfortunately I ran out of the red yarn on the very last round. I finally bought another skein, finished crocheting, and weaved in all of the ends.

Furry Green Monster - This guy has been sitting around my condo without a face for months. I finally stitched on a face. I think he's adorable!

I'll be finishing up some more items in the upcoming weeks. I don't know how many fair entries I'll end up with, so you'll have to stay tuned!

They Are (Not) Who We Thought They Were

2011-06-21T12:38:00.005-05:00

I've got what you've all been waiting for: Another worm post!

I've been composting for about 4 months, and the worms have been doing remarkably well. The population has boomed, we've taken a batch of finished compost to the garden, and the bin can now process all of the compostable food scraps that we typically generate in our house.

But there has been an interesting development. It turns out that I've got a mixed species worm bin. When I purchased my worms, I thought I was buying a bunch of these guys:

Eisenia fetida (Red Wriggler)

They have a striped appearance and the band around their bodies (the clitellum) is very pronounced. It actually looks like it is swollen. They move around relatively slowly and they are ideal for composting bins because they tolerate temperatures between 40 to 90 degrees F, they prefer about 70 to 80 degrees F, they do well in confined spaces and they eat approximately half their body weight per day.

I've definitely got Red Wrigglers in there but, after composting for a while, I started to notice these guys:

Perionyx excavatus (Blue Worms)

These guys don't have the striped apprearance, their clitellum is flush with their bodies, and they have an iridescent blue/purple shine in the light. They tend to be longer and skinnier than my Red Wrigglers. The biggest difference that I've noticed is that these guys are fast! They also like to be between 70 to 80 degrees F, but they can't tolerate temperatures below 50 degrees F. They multiply very quickly, which is probably why I didn't notice them at first. I probably started with just a few, but now I've got a bunch. They're also good composters, but they are supposedly more prone to wandering. I haven't had this problem yet, so they must be reasonably happy staying inside the bin.

So where did they come from? Apparently worm farmers typically have their worm beds "contaminated" with these little guys. I use the word "contaminated" because there is some debate in the worm composting community (yep, it exists) as to whether or not these guys are good for a worm bin. People who keep outdoor bins don't like them, because they die off below 50 degrees F. Other people have trouble with them escaping the worm bin due to their wandering nature. A few people are just "creeped out" by how fast they crawl around.

So these guys must have tagged along with my worm order. As far as I'm concerned, no big deal. My bin won't drop below 50 degrees F, my blue worms have been staying inside the bin, and people who are easily "creeped out" by some worms probably shouldn't keep a box of them anyway. As long as they're keeping some of my garbage out of the landfill, and giving me free fertilizer for my garden, a little biodiversity is fine with me.

More Gardening!

2011-05-26T12:49:00.002-05:00

I have great news to share! Greg and I will be able to do more gardening than we had expected, because now we have more space in which to grow things! We recently learned that the Community Garden has a limit of two plots per household. Not one, but two! As long as you have the time and desire to garden a second plot, and you wait for your fair turn on the waiting list, you can have a second plot. Oh, happy day!

So far, all we've done is pull some weeds from the second plot. It will still require a little bit of preparation before we can plant things. Then we've got to decide what to plant! We spent months planning our first gardening plot, but now this one has landed in our laps right amidst the growing season. Should we grow more of the same crops that we've planted? Should we pick out some new crops? Too many decisions!

First Harvest

2011-05-17T16:19:00.003-05:00

Sunday was an exciting day. We arrived home from a fun weekend away, then decided we should check on our garden. Things are looking really good and I'm happy to announce that we actually picked a small handful of leaf lettuce. It was only half an ounce, and it's gone already, but it was a wonderful beginning to what I hope will be a productive growing season!

Why I Garden

2011-05-09T10:10:00.005-05:00

As I've probably mentioned, my husband and I live in a third story condo without an inch of soil to call our own. Knowing that, growing a garden doesn't seem like the most logical thing to do. So why the heck are we doing it?

First off, how are we doing it? Well, the Parks and Recreation department of our city has a Community Gardening program. After a short time on the waiting list, we were assigned an 8-foot by 12-foot plot. The garden is about a 15 minute drive from the suburbs, so we make a trip downtown several times a week to tend to our little patch of growing space.

But why? There's plenty of food at the grocery store, right? Of course there is. There is no shortage of produce. It doesn't matter if it's completely out of season or if it's some tropical crop that could never grow in Iowa. There it sits in the produce case, just waiting for us to take it to our kitchen.

If you start examining the stickers on that produce, you'll see that there are some rather well-traveled fruits and veggies out there. Did you know that Chile is over 5,000 miles away from here? Compared to that, driving to a garden downtown doesn't seem so troublesome.

Nothing against Chile, but we've got great soil right here in Iowa! It's capable of producing so much more than grass and commodity crops. So I'm happy that we are able to take 96 square feet of space that used to be covered with grass and turn it into beans, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, spinach, and so much more fresh, local food for our own kitchen.

I can't say that we never purchase produce from the grocery store. But armed with a tiny garden of our own, a great local farmer's market, a pressure canner, and a chest freezer, maybe we'll be able to change that sometime soon.

What I've been up to...

2011-05-04T11:00:00.003-05:00

Wow, time has really flown by since my last post! Let's see what I've been doing.

Work: Too much. We were already short staffed, and then another person quit. Fortunately we'll have a new intern start in a couple of weeks. Until then, I'll be just trying to keep my head above water.

School: My class this semester hasn't been terribly demanding. In fact, the class that I'm taking is down right easy. This is a wonderful thing considering my crazy work schedule. I'm taking the final exam this week, then starting a summer class in early June.

PE Exam: Getting ready to reapply for the October exam date. Then I'll start the stressing out and studying all over again.

Knitting: Mostly socks. Don't really have the attention span for larger projects at the moment. I had some big plans for the state fair, but I'm not sure how much I'll actually get done.

Gardening: We have planted several cool weather crops already. The garden is filling up with tiny radishes, spinach, kale, chard, peas, onions, carrots, and lettuce. Loving the opportunity to go get my hands dirty for non-construction related reasons.

Vermicomposting: My worms are doing exactly what worms are supposed to do. They've been eating, pooping, and making more worms. I've just started filling up my next tier with food scraps and allowing the lower tier to finish decomposing. The worms should start slowly migrating to the upper tier and leave the finished compost behind. These guys have been thankfully low maintenance.

Geocaching: Greg and I have been getting outside to collect a few geocaches a couple of times a week. We're really having fun and getting some exercise at the same time! We're even doing some biking again.

So, as you can see, there hasn't been much time for blogging. Oh well, you all understand, right? ;)

Geocaching!

2011-03-23T17:20:00.003-05:00

So, I’m super excited about a new hobby. Greg and I are geocaching! For a full explanation of what the heck we’re doing, I recommend you go here: www.geocaching.com If you’d rather have the three sentence version, here it is.

Geocaching is a GPS “treasure hunt” taking place all over the world. People hide containers called “caches” anywhere they like, and post the GPS coordinates on a website for others to go find it. The contents of the caches aren’t actually valuable, but the real treasure is the experience of hunting for it.

Anyhow, it’s a really neat way to get outside and see some places you haven’t seen before. We actually bought our handheld GPS unit late last fall, but winter arrived before we had much opportunity to use it. We’ve found about a dozen caches so far this spring and I’m sure we’ll be finding lots more in the months to come. This is so much fun!

Worm Bin Tour

2011-03-05T14:56:00.009-06:00

This is my vermicomposting bin. It sits in our kitchen right next to the trash can. The bin is about 18 inches by 18 inches square and about 16 inches tall, but the tray with the worms is only about 6 inches deep.

The lid on the top is meant to keep light out of the bin. Even without the lid the worms will stay in the bin, because they are much happier inside than they would be if they crawled out. The lid doesn't snap on, so air can easily flow in and out of the bin. When I lift off the lid, here's what you see. That is a pile of moistened shredded newspaper. It helps keep the bin moist enough, and eventually the worms will eat all of this paper.

If I pull the paper back, you can see the layer of food scraps. Here you can see some slices of an apple and a couple of coffee filters. There were some worms crawling around this stuff, but most of them hid as soon as I pulled back the newspaper.

And here is one of the residents of the bin. These worms are called red wrigglers. These are surface dwelling worms, not soil dwelling worms. They are much smaller than a typical earthworm. In nature, you'd usually find these worms in piles of manure or decaying leaves. These worms are ideal for indoor vermicomposting because they are comfortable between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, they reproduce quickly, and they don't mind living in confined spaces.

Things are continuing to go well in the compost bin. I found something that I think is a worm cocoon. If I'm right, one or two baby worms will hatch in a couple of weeks. And I saw some worm behavior this morning that indicates I may have more cocoons fairly soon.

Vermicomposting: Update 2

2011-02-28T10:22:00.006-06:00

The worms seem to be settled into their new home. They spend most of their time amongst the oldest food scraps in the bin. We added some more food scraps, but they’re still pretty fresh. I suspect the worms will let them age a bit before they start moving toward the new food. So far it seems like we produce more food scraps than the bin can handle. As the worms reproduce, we should be able to give them more food.

I’m sure that we lost some of them from their cross-country trip, but the ones that survived look pretty healthy. They’ve rehydrated and I’ve seen them munching on the food scraps. We haven’t had any try to escape the bin, so we must have given them a satisfactory home. Now I just hope that they are happy enough to make some baby worms!

Vermicomposting: Update 1

2011-02-25T12:23:00.003-06:00

Today is my first day of truly vermicomposting! My husband and I purchased a Worm Factory 360 which arrived in our home one week ago. We ordered 1 pound of red wriggler composting worms (roughly 1,000 worms) from a worm farm in Pennsylvania and started saving up our produce scraps. Two days ago we filled the Worm Factory with our food scraps and plenty of moist bedding (mostly shredded newspaper). Then today our worms arrived. We placed them in our bin, and TADA, it's vermicomposting!

It will take a little while for the worms to get used to their new home. They were shipped in some dry moss, so they looked pretty dehydrated. When we placed them in the bin this morning, some were moving around more than others. We gave them a spritzing of water and I'm hoping that they can all perk up and start exploring the bin today.

Their first meal consists of a variety of goodies. There's some broccoli stalk, carrot peels, bell pepper stems, celery trimmings, orange peels, egg shells, used coffee grounds (with the filters), and used tea leaves (with the tea bags). That's all organic waste that would normally end up inside a plastic trash bag then dumped into a landfill. Landfills don't aerate, so the food takes longer to decompose, and the trash bag takes much longer to break down. Inside the compost bin, the worms should turn it into soil in just a few months.

In case you can't tell, I'm really excited about this project! I'll be sure to check in with more updates soon.

Going a Little (Worm) Crazy

2011-02-21T10:21:00.004-06:00

As a citizen of this planet, I like to do my part to conserve the resources that we have available to us. My husband and I recycle our cans, bottles, and paper, even though we have to haul them to a recycling center ourselves. We try to remember to use reusable shopping bags (I can't promise that we don't forget sometimes). We also try to keep our gas consumption low. We own a few vehicles, so we choose to use our more fuel efficient vehicles as often as we can. This includes our Honda scooter (100+ mpg) when the weather permits.

But of course, there is always more that we could do. Our latest conservation adventure is vermicomposting! Vermicomposting is a process that utilizes worms to break down organic garbage like paper and food scraps. We recently purchased a Worm Factory 360. This will be our worm’s home, and it looks like this.

This plastic bin allows air to flow through the unit, promoting aerobic (odorless) decomposition right in your home. The worms live in the bin, eat your paper and food scraps, and leave behind worm castings for your garden or houseplants. We placed an order for 1000 red wrigglers (composting worms) and we are expecting them to arrive this week. I hope they like their new home and enjoy eating my garbage!

So Much for That Plan...

2011-02-07T11:41:00.003-06:00

And the PE countdown is gone. I knew this was a real possibility, but I was really hoping it wouldn't happen. My application to take the PE in April was denied. Thanks to an unfortunate technicality, I'm one month short of the professional experience requirement to take the exam.

I'm bummed, but I'm making the best of it. My grad school has been really great about getting me signed up for a class at the last minute. And I'll just apply for the October exam date this fall.

Countdown with Me!

2011-01-10T15:32:00.003-06:00

If you glance a bit to your right, you'll see that I've added a PE Exam countdown to the blog. Now you'll all be able to see how many more days you'll have to listen to me whine about the exam. Don't worry folks, it will all be over in --->

Feeling A Bit Puzzled

2011-01-07T09:33:00.003-06:00

Well, here it is, 2011. I'm going to keep my resolution post simple.

I just want to pass the PE Exam. That's it. Sure it would be great to become more organized, lose some weight, yada yada yada... But as long as I pass the PE, I will consider 2011 to be a success.

I cracked open my massive review book for my first attempt at real studying this week. I'll admit that I felt a little lost. I've always been a good student, but this is a whole new challenge. Where the heck do you start when you need to brush up on 8 years worth of acquired knowledge in just 3 months??? My current strategy is to just start somewhere, anywhere. I picked a topic, and tried to work some problems. That's ok, but I really ought to have a more systematic approach. Perhaps I'll do some planning this weekend.

Despite it all, I'm still knitting

2010-12-03T07:54:00.003-06:00

It just occured to me that I haven't posted about knitting in quite a while. Well, even though I've been crazy busy, I'm still making time to knit. I can't really concentrate on anything more complicated than a basic 2x2 ribbed sock, but I'd probably go crazy without it.

I can't give a lot of details about what I've been knitting, because it's been mostly Christmas presents for my family. I decided to knit lots of Christmas presents this year because I know that they'll be appreciated. In fact, one was even specifically requested! :)

It started a few months back with one gift. As I knitted it, I thought about how much I care about that person, and the joy she has brought to my life. Then I realized that if I really commited to it, I could probably knit gifts for lots of people that I care about. It's a bit a of drive to visit my family, so I see them just a handful of times each year. If I could knit something for each of them, they'd have a little reminder that I think of them.

And now it's December and I'm making really great progress. Worst case scenario, I give a few gifts that consist of one lovely sock, and a note stating "IOU one lovely sock." Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

2010-11-29T16:43:00.004-06:00

I'm typically a very honest person, with one exception. I shamelessly lie to myself on a constant basis.

I'm about 2 weeks away from finishing classes this semester. I've handled the course load pretty well this semester. My husband has even commented that I'm much more sane than I was last semester. Even though things have been going well, I'm really excited for the semester to end. I keep telling myself that as soon as I'm done with classes for the semester, things will get easier.

But they won't.

I've put off studying for the PE until next semester, when I plan to dedicate several hours each day to studying. This will be a much bigger time commitment than my class work, much more stressful, and have much higher stakes. SIGH...

But after the PE in April, things will get easier.

That's another lie I keep telling myself. That's actually about the time that the construction season will be in the full summer swing. And after that I'll start school again in August.

But after I finish my Master's degree, things will get easier...

Midterm Madness

2010-10-15T08:29:00.005-05:00

I recently completed my midterm exams for both of this semester's classes. That means it will be all downhill from here! I feel like I'm handling the course load pretty well. It's been far less stressful than last semester. Which brings me to my next dilemma... What the heck should I do next semester?? I suppose my options include 2 classes, 1 class, or no classes.

2 classes - I can start by ruling this one out. The aforementioned PE Exam makes that impossible. Even I have limits.

1 class - This is the option that I feel myself wanting to choose. I like making progress. I like knowing that every semester I'm stepping closer toward the finish line. I've already promised my own mind that I'll graduate in May 2013. But I also know that the PE Exam is critically important, and I don't want to jeopardize my chances for success on this exam.

No classes - This is the most responsible choice. I could devote my efforts toward studying for the PE without the added burden of more coursework. I've already checked with my advisor, and he doesn't think it would be a problem to put things on hold for a semester.

I suppose now that I've written it out, my decision seems obvious. There is no point in stretching myself beyond my limits just because of my own hesitation to take a break. I could always "double up" in some future semester to make up for it, and still meet my anticipated graduation date. I've got to focus on the PE in the spring, and then I can get back to this Master's degree business next fall.

Not gonna lie, this thing scares me...

2010-09-24T12:54:00.007-05:00

I knew I would have to face it someday, but I still can’t believe it’s actually here. This week I’ve just started to wrap my mind around the fact that I’ll be taking the PE exam this upcoming April. For those who may not know, the PE exam is a huge deal. You have to pass this exam in order to become a licensed Professional Engineer. For civil engineering, only a licensed Professional Engineer has the ability to design structures for public use.

Once upon a time, there weren’t really any qualifications necessary to design buildings. As long as it had four walls and a roof, people figured everything was ok. But after a few disasters, things obviously had to change. Now there is a very rigorous process to become licensed. First, you have to get a Bachelor’s degree in engineering. Then you have to pass the FE exam. It’s an 8-hour long exam designed to test you on everything you learned in college. Then you have to get a job and actually start doing some engineering work. But since you aren’t a licensed PE yet, you have to have someone who is licensed review everything you do for the next 4 years. After you get 4 years of legitimate engineering experience under the supervision of a licensed PE, you can apply to take the PE exam. The PE exam is another 8-hour long exam. If you pass the PE, then you are considered a licensed Professional Engineer, and considered qualified to design buildings, roads, bridges, and whatnot. If you fail it, then you apparently suck at being an engineer and have to either try again or give up all hope of ever doing your own designs.

I recently ordered a review book to help me prepare for the PE exam. The book is 1,456 pages long and weighs over 6 pounds! The author recommends that you spend at least 300 hours studying for the exam. April 8, 2011 is just 195 days away, so I should try to average at least 90 minutes of studying every single day for the next six months. I guess I’d better get cracking!

Back to School

2010-08-30T16:21:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again. Fair warning - I might have to go MIA from the blog again. I'm working a lot after a coworker left this summer, and now I'm taking 6 credits during the fall semester. I'm not complaining (yet). I'm just forseeing some busy months ahead.

Results

2010-08-16T10:08:00.007-05:00

I've got results to share! I'm completely overwhelmed by the ribbons I was awarded.

Division 55 - Crochet Class 90 - Sweater
Northern Dreams Pullover - Fourth
Division 55 - Crochet Class 92 - Fashion Accessory

City Girl Cap - Second

Division 55 - Crochet Class 95 - Toy
Hep Cat - Second
Division 55 - Crochet Class 96 - Ornaments (set of three)
Triple Crochet Snowflake
My Favorite Snowflake
and Northern Snowflake - Second
Division 56 - Hand Knitting Class 101 - Baby Sweater or Dress

Another Striped Baby Sweater - First

Division 56 - Hand Knitting Class 114 - Lace, any item
Red Hot Mountain - Fourth
Division 56 - Hand Knitting Class 115 - Socks/Slippers (one color)
Monkey Socks - Fourth

Division 56 - Hand Knitting Class 120 - Cap or hat (two or more colors)

Olympic Junkie Hat - First

Division 56 - Hand Knitting Class 121 - Scarf
Drop Stitch Scarf - Honorable Mention

I also got to see some really stunning pieces in the Fabric and Threads department and I'm so glad that I decided to participate this year. In fact, I'm already planning some projects for next year!

Competition

2010-08-11T09:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight is the Fabric and Threads exhibit preview at the Iowa State Fair. This means that I'll find out whether I received any awards on my entries. I'm excited to find out the results, but I'll admit this doesn't feel much like a typical competition to me.

I've always been a competitive person. Growing up I used to participate in tae kwon do tournaments. I placed pretty high expectations on myself at those tournaments, and typically did pretty well. Now I just have to figure out what I should do with those damned trophies.

My job is also extremely competitive. We constantly have to bid against other companies for contracts. We win some, we lose some, but the competition is constantly there.

The Iowa State Fair doesn't feel like that at all. I feel like Iowa's knitters are all cooperating to put on a show. I would certainly feel honored if I'm awarded anything, but I'm mostly interested in viewing the collected efforts of my community of artists. (And hoping that we put on a better show than the quilters!!!)

No Turning Back Now

2010-07-31T14:05:00.009-05:00

I just dropped off everything for the Iowa State Fair. I submitted everything that I mentioned in my previous post. Plus these three:

Division 55 - Crochet

Class 92 - Fashion Accessory
City Girl Cap

Division 56 - Hand Knitting

Class 101 - Baby Sweater or Dress

Another Striped Baby Sweater

Class 120 - Cap or hat (two or more colors)

Olympic Junkie Hat (sorry, I forgot to photograph this one before I took it)

I really don't think either of these hats will win anything, but it never hurts to try!

State Fair Bound

2010-07-20T09:07:00.003-05:00

The deadline for state fair entries is quickly approaching. I've decided to make the most of my entry fee and try to find ten items worthy of entry. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm trying!

Here are the projects I've decided on so far. (Disclaimer: I reserve the right to edit these decisions multiple times before July 31st.)

I'm including Ravelry links, so if you aren't on ravelry yet, you either don't knit/crochet and therefore probably don't really care what I'm entering in the fair, or you do knit/crochet and you really need to get with the program!

Division 55 - Crochet

Class 90 - Sweater
Northern Dreams Pullover

Class 95 - Toy
Hep Cat

Class 96 - Ornaments (set of three)
Triple Crochet Snowflake
My Favorite Snowflake
Northern Snowflake

Division 56 - Hand Knitting

Class 114 - Lace, any item
Red Hot Mountain

Class 115 - Socks/Slippers (one color)
Monkey Socks

Class 121 - Scarf
Drop Stitch Scarf

Class 123 - Shawl (lace)
Zauberball Ishbel

I've got to come up with a few more items to reach my goal of ten. There are some that I have in mind, but I'm not quite sure what I'll choose yet. I want to help the knitting and crochet divisions make a strong showing at the fair. These arts are alive and well here in Iowa and I hope that people come visit the exhibits. We'll be on the second floor of the Varied Industries building. Maybe I'll see you there!

Our State Fair

2010-06-15T15:15:00.004-05:00

There are some Iowans who can instantly tell you how many days are left until the start of the state fair. They are the type of people who can already smell the corndogs as soon as the snow begins to melt. I am not one of those people.

Despite the fact that Iowa may have the greatest state fair in the world (just ask Rogers and Hammerstein) I think I've only been there once in my life. I have vague memories of it from my childhood. I don't remember the animals, the exhibits, the food, or the three-hour drive to Des Moines. All I can remember is sitting on a burlap sack and flying down a giant, brightly colored slide. That might have even been some other fair.

Anyhow, my husband and I have been proud residents of Des Moines for three and a half years now. Every summer we have said that we need to make a point to attend the fair, but every summer we've found some excuse not to go. You see, as much as I might enjoy the fair, I really hate mid-August heat and massive crowds. And every time I picture us going to the fair, I see nothing but mid-August heat and massive crowds. Yuck.

But this year I've decided to get past it. I want to go to the fair. I want to see why people make such a big deal about the corn dogs. I want to "people watch" on the Midway. I want to see if that giant burlap sack slide is still there (if it ever was). I want to see the knitted and crocheted items that Iowans put on display. And I want to enter some of my handcrafted items to be judged in the fair. (I'll let you know what I've decided to enter in a later post.)

I probaby won't ever love the fair as much as some people, and I may even hate it so much that I never want to go again, but I won't really know until I just go.

My Two Jobs

2010-06-07T15:18:00.008-05:00

Ok, so I don't actually have two jobs. But it sure feels like it sometimes. Sometimes I go to work here. I spend time doing things like writing proposals and reports, calculating laboratory test results, making phone calls, etc. Yes, that is a cooler in front of my desk, and no, it's not full of cold beverages. A couple of times a month I have to pack water samples into a cooler and ship them off to a chemistry lab. It's much easier to just leave a cooler sitting in my office than to figure out where I should store it.

Other days, I work at places like this one. Another aspect of my job involves visiting construction sites to confirm that projects are being built the way they should be. I spend my time doing some field observations, performing tests, and getting into (fortunately rare) heated discussions with contractors.

It's fun to work in a variety of different environments, and I don't always know what I'll be doing on any given day. It's also gives me an opportunity to physically see a project take shape. I can take the information that we gather in the field, design a foundation, watch the foundation be built, then see the rest of the building stack up on top of it. It's pretty cool stuff.

If you give an engineer a garden...

2010-05-28T11:50:00.010-05:00

It will probably look something like this!

Well, perhaps not always. But if that engineer happens to be my husband, then that's what you get. Before Greg and I take all of the credit for this masterpiece, I must direct you to Mel Bartholomew's books on square foot gardening. Mel is a civil engineer who developed this efficient method of gardening in grids rather than rows. You are supposedly able to grow lots of food while conserving space, water, and labor. We'll have to see how things turn out, but so far it sure looks pretty.

The basic idea is that you build 4-foot by 4-foot raised beds (we have 6 of them) and then divide each bed into 16 square feet. Then you plant an appropriate number of plants in each square foot, depending on the spacing needs of each plant. In this photo you can see some broccoli with one plant in each square, some green beans with 4 plants in each square, and some carrots with 16 plants in each square.

Want more details? Go here.

We've harvested some spinach and radishes so far. The rest of our plants seem to be making progress as well. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sacrifices

2010-05-25T08:52:00.003-05:00

Hello friends! I'm back. First I must confess. I actually thought I was exaggerating a bit when I said I may not be posting again until May. Well, it's late May already and I have no idea where the time has gone.

Last year I made the decision to pursue a Master's degree while staying on at my full-time job. A Master's degree has been an inevitable step in my career path for a while, and I finally decided to get it over with. All of my colleagues have one, and I assured my boss that it was part of my plan when I hired on 3 years ago.

So I took one class last fall, and started my way down the road toward a Master's of Engineering in Geotechnics. I'll admit that I've been trudging down that road and not exactly enjoying the journey. Sure, I've celebrated some accomplishments, and learned some new (questionably useful) things in my chosen field. When it's done I know that I'll have an even bigger sense of accomplishment. And I'll have earned a great deal of respect from the people I work with. Those things make me feel like a bit of sacrifice now will pay off later. Someday I'll look back and laugh at how reluctant I was to do something good for myself.

I spent the past semester devoting a ton of time to making it through two classes toward my Master's degree. It was a struggle, but now I'm finished for the summer. I wound up with good grades in both classes. By burdening myself with two classes at once, I shaved a full six months off of my expected graduation date. All in all, I think it was worth it.

In fact, I'm currently signed up to take two classes again in the fall, even though I've said that I would never do it again. I'll probably complain about the workload, again. My husband will remind me that it was my choice to do this, again. I probably won't have much time for blogging, again. But when December rolls around, I'll probably feel like it was all worth it, again. Because at that point I'll be 15 credits into my Master's program. Halfway there! And the road will be downhill the rest of the way.

Hanging in there...

2010-02-09T10:36:00.004-06:00

As my lack of blog-posting suggests, I have been swamped lately. Even though work has been pretty slow, I've been putting in a lot of hours in an attempt to make us not-so-slow. Plus I'm taking 6 credits of online classes this semester. Perhaps I'll get a chance to post again in May...

Eureka!

2009-12-29T09:57:00.009-06:00

I have found it! My sweater pattern! I’ve been on the hunt for the last several months to find a sweater pattern to make for myself. I had some pretty specific ideas for what I wanted, so the search took me quite a while. I knew I wanted some cables, but not allover cables. I knew I wanted it to be somewhat close fitting. I was also hoping for some kind of unique construction.

And here it is!

Rib and Cable Cardigan from Vogue Knitting Fall 2009

And with the help of some Christmas cash, I picked up the yarn yesterday and cast on. I debated on the color for quite a while. In fact, I even bought two different colors and brought them both home with me. The contenders were either a creamy, off-white neutral color that I could pair with a brighter tank top or a brilliant, rich teal that I would wear with a lighter tank underneath.

After a little bit of waffling, I decided to “live a little” and cast on with the teal. It’s going great so far!

And I haven’t touched my sock darning project.

Sock Emergency

2009-12-21T13:38:00.005-06:00

Sitting at work today I randomly took a moment to admire my handknit socks. I like to wear handknit socks on Mondays, because everyone needs a little reason to smile on a Monday. Well, as I took a look at my sock, I noticed a reason to quit smiling. There was a hole in the heel of my sock!

The first thing I did was check the other sock. It was wearing thin too! Not a hole yet, but it was headed in that direction.

So I removed the socks to prevent the holes from getting any worse, and started looking up tips for darning socks. I learned that there is definitely hope. First of all, the yarn was a wool and nylon blend, so even in the area where the wool has totally worn away, there is still a tiny nylon thread holding together the framework of the sock. My first plan of attack is to duplicate stitch across that hole, following the nylon thread. Fortunately, I have plenty of leftover yarn. Let’s hope that I can make that work, and I won’t have to resort to more drastic measures.

I’m currently speculating that the combination of the pattern and my shoes are to blame. The socks are only 5 months old, so I wasn’t expecting to repair them so soon. The pattern is Eunice from Sock Innovation. One unique aspect of this pattern is that the cabled design is carried down onto the heel flap of the sock. This sure looks pretty, but it does replace the notoriously sturdy slip-stitch heel flap. The hole is also placed right at the point where the top rim of my ballet flats hits my socks, so that is an area prone to abuse.

I probably won’t get the chance to repair these until after Christmas. I’ll have to post an update later.

Hooray for Progress

2009-12-10T08:58:00.004-06:00

This might be my most productive Finish-a thon ever! And I'm not quite ready to give up yet.

I finished my sister's birthday present. They were a pair of really cute socks using self-striping JoAnn Sensations Bamboo & Ewe yarn. I initially bought this yarn because it was on-sale, I liked the colors, and it was machine washable. I try not to gift items that have to be handwashed (cuz I know my family wouldn't appreciate that). Well, as I worked on the socks, I realized that it feels really nice too. So I promptly went out to buy enough of the yarn for 4 more pairs of socks. I gave her the socks over Thanksgiving break, which is a little early for her birthday (Dec 4th), but we were both home and her feet were cold. :)

I also finished my Mom's Christmas present. I started this project several months ago when I made these grand plans to knit a bunch of Christmas gifts. It's nice to know that it's finished now.

And yesterday, I finished my Glynis socks! I was stuck at home surrounded by 4-foot snowdrifts as far as the eye could see. So I had plenty of time to curl up on the couch and knit. It's a big relief to have these done. This may have been my most frustrating project ever. I didn't really care for the effort required to make the lace pattern. But the finished socks were WONDERFUL! I made up my mind that I was just going to tough it out, and now that they're done, I'm glad I did.

Time for a Finish-a-thon

2009-11-17T15:42:00.004-06:00

As I may have mentioned a few times, I knit a lot of things at once. Well... what actually happens is that I'm easily distracted. I get the urge to start something new, and then I toss aside current projects and conveniently forget about them. When I actually look at all of my unfinished knitting, it's a little overwhelming. I liked all of these things well enough to start them, and I'd like to have them all finished, but the thought of actually doing the work to finish them is scary.

But as I said, I want them to be finished, so I'm going to try to make some progress. Here are some of my more pressing projects.

1 - My sister's birthday present (more details after I actually gift it)
2 - My mom's Christmas present (again, details later)
3 - Glynis socks (I have one finished, just need to make the second)

And here are some of them that I'd like to finish, but I'm in less of a hurry.

4 - Random Lavender Baby Blanket - I started this one because the pattern is really pretty, but I don't actually have a specific baby in mind to receive it.
5 - Rugged Vest - I'm kinda sad about this one. It's coming out too small for Greg, and I really need to just rip the whole thing out and start over.
6 - Ripple Sweater Vest - This is a crochet project that fell victim to my new knitting obsession. But it's still a really cute vest.
7 - Flirty Skirt - Another fit issue. This was coming out too small, so I ripped it out and restarted it a while ago. It's too "spring-y" to wear anytime soon, but I'd like to finish it before next summer.

So, now for the finish-a-thon rules:
I can work on any of the above listed projects.
I cannot start new projects. (Lone exception: If I have an uncontrollable urge to start something new, I'll make an ornament from the Knit Picks Kit.)

I shall continue with this effort until I get totally sick of it. I can't promise that I'll finish them all, but any progress is a good thing.

Itty Bitty Knitting

2009-11-05T16:25:00.008-06:00

My Knit Picks ornament kit is here! Yay! For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, here's a link:

Tidings of Joy Holiday Ornament Kit

So the moment I got home with my kit, I sat down to knit this:

Isn't it adorable? It's a little scarf!

I shall now proceed to set aside all of my current knitting projects (and non-knitting projects), while I happily knit some cute, little, instantly gratifying holiday ornaments! (Socks? Homework? Accordion Effect? What are you talking about?)

Accordion Effect

2009-10-26T16:24:00.005-05:00

Ah, yes. The dreaded accordion effect. To those of you who aren't racing fans (or don't have husbands who are racing fans) I shall explain. The accordion effect usually happens when a race car driver suddenly slows down more than the driver behind him or her was expecting. This results in even more sudden braking, cars bunching up, and shredded carbon fiber. All because of one foot that landed heavily on a brake pedal.

My life has been experiencing this lately. The culprit was a single work project. I won't bore you with the details of it, but it did require some major investments of evenings and weekends on my part. As a result, I fell a little bit behind on everything in my life, and felt pretty drained. Since I was feeling drained, all I wanted to do was make myself happy, so I dedicated a whole bunch more time to knitting pretty things. So I fell even further behind with the not-so-fun things like school assignments, online training for work, housework, etc. Then before I had the chance to motivate myself to do some of those not-so-fun things, I got sick. It started as just a head cold, but it has managed to drag out into a great big pain in the tookus.

So now that I've basically recovered from the cold, I have a huge, accordion-shaped pile of stuff to do that I'm just not excited about doing. Wish me luck!

Blocking Red Hot Mountain

2009-09-30T21:05:00.003-05:00

As promised, I have pictures of the stole! Here it is before blocking. You can still see the pattern, but the edging is completely hidden because the sides curl in. It's about 13 inches wide and 57 inches long.

And here it is blocking. Now you can really see what the pattern looks like, including the edging. With it all stretched out on my blocking board its about 22 inches wide and 63 inches long. That's smaller than the pattern (26" x 72"), but it just wouldn't stretch any further. I'm still satisfied with the size though.

Now I just have wait patiently for it to dry before I can really see the final result.

Off the Needles

2009-09-30T12:29:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, because I've been really busy with work, and I just wanted to spend my precious little free time knitting. But now I've got big news - I officially knit the last of my 54,450 stitches for my lace stole last night. I still need to block it, but it already looks gorgeous. And it's feels really great too. It's so soft, light, and warm.

I'm planning to block it tonight. I promise there will be pictures.

Yarn Harvest

2009-09-18T09:30:00.003-05:00

I'm continuing to make progress on my stole, but I'm about to reach a bump in the road. I've almost used up the sleeves from my recycled cashmere sweater. When I bought the sweater from Goodwill, it wasn't necessarily an unattractive sweater. It was a red, 100% cashmere, long-sleeved turtleneck with a subtle cable pattern. It was a little bit too big for me, and I wanted the yarn more than I wanted the sweater, so it was destined to be recycled. But I decided to use up the sleeves first, so that if I didn't need the rest of it for yarn, then I could take it in a bit and I'd have a red, 100% cashmere, sleeveless turtleneck with a subtle cable pattern that actually fit me. Plus I'd have my lace stole.

Just a few days ago, I realized that there was no way that the sleeves alone would be enough yarn. Well actually, I've suspected that for while, but I just recently admitted that to myself. So yesterday I frogged the turtleneck, washed the yarn, and hung it up to dry. It will take a few days to dry, so I might run out of what I have before then. Hopefully I won't have too much downtime.

Then I have to decide what I'll do with the rest of the sweater. I probably won't try to salvage it as a garment now that the turtleneck is gone. I could unravel the rest of it, but I won't want to knit anything else with it. No matter how gorgeous the yarn is, after 54,450 stitches you would be tired of it too! I could make some throw pillows with the leftover pieces (good idea SJ!) or maybe I'll stash bust the yarn and watch people fight over it. That could be rather amusing...

Lace Stole Update

2009-09-09T10:05:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I posted about the deadline for my lace stole. I'm past the halfway point (yay!) but it's been just a little neglected lately. I was making really good progress for a while, and I was more than a week ahead of schedule. But then I realized that I was almost done with my vest, so I set the stole aside to concentrate on the vest. You would think that after I finished my vest, I'd go back to the stole, right? Wrong. Finishing a project is the ultimate excuse to start a new project. So I cast on another project. No details here, it's another gift.

Then I noticed that the buffer in my stole schedule was totally gone. I wasn't behind schedule yet, but I needed to go back to knitting at least 9 rows per day if I was going to finish in time to wear it to Wicked this fall. So I'm knitting the stole again. And I'm remembering how much I love the stole. And I'm determined to finish it in time!

Eek! Steeks!

2009-09-01T18:23:00.009-05:00

Since every steeking post has to have a scary scissors photo, I’ll get that out of the way now.

Those of you who aren’t familiar with steeking might be thinking that I must have become really angry with my sweater vest. It’s actually quite the opposite; I really love this sweater vest! And this is exactly the fate that the designer had in mind. First you spend countless hours knitting a garment, and then you cut it up!

Before steeking my vest, this is what it looked like. This bizarre lumpy-looking tube certainly doesn’t look like a garment (at least not for a human being, anyway). But there are advantages to knitting things this way. First, you knit the garment entirely in the round, so you can create a stockinette piece using just the knit stitch. I don’t have anything against purling, but when all of the stitches are knits, it’s easier to keep your stitches uniform and your knitting goes a bit quicker. Second, you are always looking at the right side of your garment. This is really helpful for colorwork projects where you spend a lot of time “reading” your knitting.

So to steek a garment, you reinforce the stitches somehow (to prevent unraveling) and then you cut through waste stitches to create things like v-necks and armholes. And then it looks like this!

I’m too lazy to give you a more detailed tutorial on steeking, so I’ll refer you to Eunny Jang’s excellent tutorial instead. If you still think the vest looks strange, keep in mind that it’s a Deep V-Neck. The neckline is supposed to come down below the bust line, with the vest worn over a button-down shirt.

I did the crocheted steeks just like Eunny recommends in the pattern. I used a “grabby” yarn and I think the crocheted steeks looked pretty solid. I cut all of the steeks and I didn’t see any signs that they would unravel. But they still made me nervous, so I reinforced them with my sewing machine. Depending on how gung-ho I get with my finishing, I might sew them again closer to the garment and cut out some of the excess material from the steeks.

Now I just need to add some ribbing to the armholes and neckline and weave in some ends, then you’ll get to see the finished product.

Knitting with a Deadline

2009-08-16T21:27:00.007-05:00

This isn't the first time that I've done this to myself, and it probably won't be the last. I've given myself a deadline to finish a knitting project. Deadlines can do strange things for me. Either they really motivate me to work hard and finish on time, or they pressure me into feeling like I'm tied to one project, which makes me want to knit anything but the project that I'm supposed to be working on. In this instance, I really hope that it's the former.

I started working on my Red Hot Mountain Stole in July. It was my first real lace project, so I was nervous and excited to see how it would turn out. Then my husband and I got tickets to see Wicked when the tour comes to our city. We'll be seeing it in October, so an elegant lace stole is exactly what I'll need to pair with a little black dress for our evening out. Since I'd already started Red Hot Mountain, it seemed logical to try to finish it in time for the show.

So I figured out exactly how many rows I'd need to knit for the stole. (550!) Then I counted how many I had already knit (I think it was about 38...). So I counted days and gave myself a little buffer for blocking and determined that I needed to average 9 rows per day in order to finish the stole before the show. It's going to be challenging, but I should be able to do it.

So far I'm doing pretty well. I'm ahead of schedule by about 4 days. If I can keep that up, then I shouldn't have any trouble meeting my deadline. Here's my updated progress:

Word of caution - There is a downside to calculating the number of rows you should average in order to finish by a deadline. Once you know how many rows are in the project (550), and you know how many stitches are in each row (99), it's hard to resist the temptation to calculate the number of stitches in the project (54,450!!). And trust me, you're better off not knowing.

Works in Progress

2009-08-13T12:04:00.001-05:00

Yep, that’s plural - Works in Progress. I’m a big fan of having more than one knitting project going on at the same time. That way, I’ll always have something that will suit whatever I feel like working on. At least I tell myself that’s the reason. In actuality, I just really love to start new projects. I love to sort through patterns, pick out something that I really want to knit, and choose a yarn that will make the pattern come to life. So I often stray from whatever I’m knitting to cast on something new. And I mean often. I can’t exactly say off the top of my head how many projects are sitting around my condo in an unfinished state, but it’s quite a few.

I’m going to introduce just a few of them. These are the ones that I’m currently spending most of my time on. There are a couple more, but they’re gifts, and just in case the recipient stumbles across my blog, I’d rather keep them a surprise.

This is my Red Hot Mountain Stole:

The pattern is actually called Cold Mountain and was designed by Kieran Foley, but I’m calling it Red Hot Mountain because there is nothing cold about this color. This is my first real lace project. I’ve done a couple of “lacey” projects, but this is the first one using lace weight yarn. The yarn is 100% cashmere, and comes from a sweater that I bought at Goodwill and unraveled to reuse the yarn. I’m a huge fan of doing this, and I’ll probably talk more about it in a later post.

This is my Deep V Argyle Vest:

This fantasic pattern was written by Eunny Jang. I’ve made quite a bit of progress since taking this photo, so I really ought to take another one. This past weekend I set the steeks for the armholes. Yep, I’m steeking. For my non-knitting readers, why I are you still reading this? Haven’t I bored you to tears yet? Well, if you’re still reading, I’ll probably explain steeking in greater detail some other time. For now, let’s just say that it’s kind of a big deal. I have done steeking once before, but it was a teddy bear sweater that I knit for the sole purpose of learning to steek. This is more recycled yarn. It’s 100% wool and the sweater was entirely the off-white color to begin with. I took about half of it and dyed it with Kool-Aid to the mocha brown color that you see here. I guess I’ll have to explain the process of Kool-Aid dyeing in another post too.

And this is Glynis:

Glynis is a sock (obviously). I LOVE knitting socks. Socks are the reason that I learned to knit. My grandmother taught me to crochet a long time ago, and I picked it back up just a couple of years ago. I made some nice things and joined a knitting group where my newfound friends admired my crochet abilities. For a long time, I resisted learning to knit. I guess I felt like I was sticking up for “the underdog” by not learning to knit. But my knitting friends could make socks… And they were beautiful! They were lightweight, stretchy, colorful, and had many qualities that I could not replicate with my crochet. So I learned to knit. And now I love to knit socks.

Yes, I know, you can crochet socks, but they just aren’t the same. I’m not saying that to insult crochet. I love to crochet too. But each skill has its own strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to making socks, knitting wins.

Now this specific sock is Glynis from Cookie A’s Sock Innovation. I think it’s a fantastic book, and I’m currently challenging myself to knit every single sock from this book. This is the first sock pattern in the book, and it’s made of a beautiful yarn called Merino Sox from Sandy’s Palette. Sandy is a yarn dyer from Wisconsin who had a booth at the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival this summer. The yarn is 100% Superwash Merino Wool and it seems to be a good match for Glynis.

So there you have it. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

I Think Too!

2009-08-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

Well, here is - My Blog. It seems like everyone else that I know has a blog, and lest anyone believe that my head is without thoughts, now I have a blog too. I can’t promise that anything here will be entertaining, or even the least bit interesting for most people, but here it is anyway.

I’m going to start out with a disclaimer before you read any further:

I’m going to talk about yarn, a lot. Knitting with yarn, buying yarn, dyeing yarn, even destroying perfectly good sweaters (or not-so-good sweaters) to reduce them to a squiggly pile of yarn.

Every now and then, I might talk a little bit about what is going on in my life, but knitting has become a pretty big part of my life. It’s my outlet to unwind, to create, and to challenge myself. So check back sometime if you care to hear about my yarny pursuits, or if not, don’t bother. I’ll be too busy knitting to notice anyway.