Recapping

When do you start listening to the little nagging, I'm always right, voice in your head? The one in my head is getting louder and louder and more obnoxious with every passing row of the sweater and I think it is right. There is just no way the remaining 2 skeins will be enough to finish off this sleeve, knit a second sleeve, and the turtleneck. No way.

St. Patrick's Day Aftermath

As I've gotten older, my St. Patrick day rituals have become more and more subdued. I'd love to be able to tell you about what I did on St. Patty's while in college, but to be honest, I can't remember. I do know there was a lot of green, there was cheap beer, and I vaguely recall Reggae music one year. Now that I am older, wiser, and more mature, I lean towards celebrating at home.

There is still lots of green. I have a plethora of Irish themed shirts to choose from and these shirts are not reserved for just St. Patrick's Day. They get worn all year round.

From Irish Clover

(If you look hard, you can see the green tee peeking out from under the cook's coat)

There is also still beer, but the beer has gotten better and much less is drunk (you can ignore all those bottles in the back of the photo. It takes more to make a pint of Half and Half).

From Irish Clover

There is also still bar food, but now, I make the food myself and I like it much much better.

From Irish Clover

This year, I tried my hand for the first time in making fish and chips from scratch and I went a bit overboard. Xavier Guy and I cut up 6 pounds of potatoes for the chips. Then, he made the beer batter and I got to frying. After all the chips were safely stowed away in the oven to keep them warm, I proceed to batter and fry the 5 pounds of fish. Then the four of us (yep, four people, 11 pounds of food, and two pints each) sat down for dinner. I'll be making this dish again.

Her gifts

Friday was my mom's birthday and we celebrated with our annual trip to a local Korean restaurant. We ate tons of kimchi, Little Clover tried the Korean pizza, and I had my usual seafood stew, but I didn't post. I had been wondering what I could say that I hadn't said before, and how could I say it to convey my love and longing for my mom. I still miss her, but I realize too she's not completely gone. She's with me always in my memories, in my son, and in what she left behind with me.

For starters, she left me her strength. She raised me by herself for the first year and a half of my life while my dad was on active duty with the Army. She left her country, her customs, her language, her family and moved to a brand new place when my dad's tour finally ended. She watched her husband go off to a war, and she dealt with a very upset teenager will he was gone. She lost children. Her strength helped her through it all.

She also left me her joy. She loved to laugh and her laugh was contagious and always girlish. When she smiled, she smiled with her entire body, and her smile beamed through her eyes. When she was feeling silly, she'd sing and dance. I never had any idea what she was singing because she'd sing in Korean. It was beautiful.

She left me her values. She loved life, she loved her family, and she loved me. Her family was one of the most important things to her, and through all the ups and downs, we were a family and still are. I'm always amazed at how Little Clover feels a strong connection to her even though they never met in person. I believe her strong sense of family comes through and is the foundation of their special bond.

I owe my mom way more than a belated birthday wish and I hope each day to be the person she always believed me to be and to use the precious gifts she gave. Happy birthday, Mom.

Fear

FDR was not a knitter, otherwise, he would have really thought long and hard before saying "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He would have known the terror of the fear of running out of yarn if he was a knitter. The fear of running out of yarn is real and palpable. It is due to this fear that a sweater is languishing from lack of attention. This poor forlorn sweater could have been, nay should have been a finished object by now. Instead, it lies hidden in a knitting bag while I dart furtive glances in its direction calculating in my head whether or not the final three skeins of unwound yarn will get me through two sleeves.

From WIPs

This fear of running out of yarn has not only paralyzed my knitting progress on this sweater, but has also driven me to, dare I say it, finish other things in my queue instead. Yes, there, I said it, I've been cheating on the sweater. I've been working on my travel knitting when I've been at home! I've knocked out a pair of socks in almost record time and a hat, and it felt good. My little fling with quick knits needs to come to an end. I owe the sweater that much.

From 2009 Finished Objects

My clown socks
Pattern: basic generic top down socks
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Needles: US Size 0 DPN
Notes: I call them my clown socks because the ball of yarn looked like clown barf to me. This is not the most pleasant image, so imagine my surprise when I began knitting the yarn and it turned out to form these pretty bright stripes. I loved it and didn't want to muddle the stripes with type of pattern, so a straight stockinette sock seemed perfect. Also, taking pictures of my feet is pretty easy.

From 2009 Finished Objects

Porom Beret
Pattern: Porom by Jared Flood
Yarn: My own handspun (yay!)
Needles: Denise Interchangeable in US Size 6 and 8
Notes: This is a very easy and well written pattern. It makes a lovely beret and Italian loves the way it looks on my. Jared puts together some fantastic patterns, so give this one a try. Finally, taking pictures of my own head is gosh darn difficult and results in some very funny pictures

The best job

A couple of months ago, I was bemoaning the decisions made by corporate executives to a couple of coworkers when one of them told me about The Best Job In The World, a six month job as a caretaker of an island in the Great Barrier Reef sponsored by Tourism Queensland. The job truly did sound like the best job in the world, expect for the requirement to move away from family for six months. Then, I thought, why not live out the concept of the job, but instead of spotlighting Australia, I should promote the great things about the city in which I live.

The idea faded for a bit, but was brought back recently. Italian and I had an evening out coming up and it seemed to be a good opportunity to start. Wouldn't you know it, but a very timely article in the local paper was highlighted in the program book of the Broadway play we were seeing. The article called out for all Memphians to speak up about the many great things our city has to offer, so without futher ado, put on your blue suede shoes and join me as we go Walking in Memphis.

Let's hear it for Broadway

From Irish Clover

Being former theatre people, Italian and I try to do our part in supporting the performing arts. Generally our support is limited to attending shows and plays. This year, we splurged on season tickets to our local Broadway theatre house, the Orpheum. Located on Beale Street in downtown Memphis, this historic theatre has had it's ups and downs. It began life as a premiere theatre of the South, hosting a wide range of opera and vaudeville performances. A fire in 1923 shut down the theatre for 5 years until it was rebuilt and reopened in 1928. In the 1940s, the theatre changed ownership to the Malco movie theatre chain and only showed films until the 1970s when Malco wanted to sell the theatre. The fate of the Orpheum was at a crucial point and the grand theatre was almost demolished.

Thankfully, the Memphis Development Group purchased the building and brought Broadway back to Memphis. The Orpheum also is home to Opera Memphis and Ballet Memphis. In the summer, you can still catch a movie on the big screen with the Summer Movie Series. One of the things I love the most about the theatre is the family series the Orpheum brings. Approximately four shows comprise the family series and these shows are great for introducing little people the joy of theatre. Granted, the Orpheum has brought in the likes of Blue's Clues, but they have also brought Frog and Toad, and Stellaluna, giving children a range of show types. The Orpheum has also been a venue for a wide range of musical and comedy acts, providing something of interest to the culturally diverse Memphis population.

Localvore's Delight

From Irish Clover

A night out to the theatre isn't complet without a night out to nice restaurant, and in Memphis, one has several restaurants to choose from. We decided to try out a new place located between our home and downtown. River Oaks tauts a menu filled with either locally grown or sustainably produced foods, including Arkansas quail and grass-fed filet mignon. When possible, the chef buys from local growers first, but will venture outside of the delta for sustainable goods like the diver scallops. At River Oaks, local or sustainable doesn't mean dowdy or boring. In fact, our dinner was beautifully prepared and absolutely amazing.

We began our meal with an appetizer of foie gras, artfully prepared and served on a cylinder of sauteed apples and onions balanced on a round of toast. The apples and onions themselves were a treat, but when placed with the foie gras, the taste were perfectly balanced and complementary. Then, our server brought over freshly baked zuchinni and olive bread which was dense and hefty and yummy. Our main course of lamb and quail arrived perfectly timed and perfectly cooked. The lamb had a lovely pinky center and was some of the best lamb I've ever had the pleasure of eating. The quail was also cooked well and oozed flavor and tenderness. The portions are designed for multiple courses, so when it was time for dessert, we were ready and not overly stuffed. The desserts didn't disappoint us either. The chocolate souffle was light and the accompanying vanilla bean ice cream was the best partner. Honestly, I can't remember what Italian's dessert was because I loved mine too much to take note of his. We have plans to come back to this gem of a restaurant. There were way too many items on the menu to pass up, so we're going to try them all.

When I grow up

Last night I had an epiphany and realized what I want be when I grow up. I want to be a professional hobbyist. I came to this realization at my monthly fly fishing club meeting where Dave and Emily Whitlock gave a presentation on fishing the White River system in Arkansas. At one moment during the presentation, the thought, "man, what a cool job," popped into my headed and lingered there. Here I was watching a man in his 70s and his wife doing their job of talking about how great it is to fish and the decision he made to become a professional fly fisher. They both exuded excitement for their job and a love of what they do. I want to feel that, and I want to have a job I can do into my 70s, 80s, and 90s, and what could be more fun that living out my hobbies? Of course, my hobbies need to be marketable, and they largely are.

I love knitting and spinning, and the end products are sellable. I also enjoy teaching others to knit and being a knitting instructor is definitely a possibility. If I get good enough, I could even teach others to spin.

From Yarn

I love to fly fish, and being on the river is one of the most enjoyable things. I don't see why I couldn't help others fish as well.

From 2009 January Fly Fishing

I love food and cooking and feeding other people. Who knows, I bet I could find ways to market my love of food and eating.

From Irish Clover

Finally, I love to write and read. Reading, I think, makes me a better writer, and as long as there are readers and listeners, the world will always need writers. Between knitting, spinning, cooking, eating, fishing, food, and writing, I should be able to scrounge up a living of some sort when I grow. I plan on growing up in about 14 years, which should be enough time to get just good enough at something.

Snow take 2

We've had a remarkably cold winter in the delta this year with many evenings in the low 20s and bright fires blazing in our fireplace. The winter has been gray as well with rain when the weather crept up above freezing leaving the grounds soggy with deep mud. I've been trying to will spring to come by not knitting on sweaters and spinning Neapolitan colored yarn and knitting brightly colored socks, and I thought I was having some success in forcing Spring. We had a few days in the 60s. One day, it we even hit a high in the 70s, then this weekend happened and I forgot all my wishes for warm spring flowers and weather. We had snow, and not just a little bit, but a good 6 inches of powdery white beautiful snow.

From Snow Day 2009

The snow was perfect for throwing snowballs

From Snow Day 2009

and making snow angels

From Snow Day 2009

and sledding, it was especially wonderful for sledding. Italian and I marveled at having two snows this year and thrilled that one of those snows spanned two days giving us plenty of time to enjoy it.

From Snow Day 2009

When our fingers and toes were frozen solid, we hustled back inside and warmed ourselves by the fire. Before this weekend, I was wondering where we would store our left over firewood until next season. After this weekend, firewood storage is no longer an issue. We built a lovely fire and sat next to it, huddle together as we watched Muppet's Treasure Island. I knitted away on the second sock of the Trekking yarn I loving refer to as Clown Barf. The skein is not the prettiest in the world, but it sure does knit up into a super cute basic stockinette sock.

From WIPs

Besides snuggling by a roaring fire sipping coffee and hot chocolate, the snow made me want to cook and cook and cook. I pulled a whole chicken out of the freezer and for the first time ever, I roasted a chicken, and it was fun. Between the The Joy of Cooking and James Peterson's The Essentials of Cooking, I muddle through trussing a chicken and identifying the proper cooking temperature for the bird. Although the chicken took much longer than expected to cook, partly due to the cook turning the oven off instead of turning the temperature down, it still came out yummy and golden. We also had plenty left to make a big pot of stock, which will be used for making a classic Southern chicken 'n dumplings dish. Watching the stockpot also gave me time to try my hand at making pizza dough. The dough did not rise nearly as much as I expected, but hopefully, it will still taste good. I'll let you know later in the week when we finally make pizza.

From Snow Day 2009

What I've learned

During the month of February, I've learned many things. Some of what I've learned are actually new, but others have been reminders of things I've learned in the past. I've learned that losing families members is very hard and it hurts for a while. I've learned being melancholy and sad is perfectly ok and part of life. I've learned smiling through the melancholy is ok, too. I've learned that no matter how old you are, sometimes you just really need your mom, and in some cases, no matter how long she's been gone, she finds a way to send her love. I've learned a mother's love never stops even after she's gone. I've learned the importance of family and discovered yet again how amazing of a woman my grandmother is. I've learned that I work for a really cool boss and my vice president is pretty awesome, too. I've learned my company does some amazing things and truly does produce products that improves the lives of individuals, of families, of communities. I've learned that my dad is going to be quite happy once his medical device is turned on and three surgeries is a tiny sacrifice when compared to what he's going to get out of it. I've learned you can get a lot of knitting done in a hospital waiting room, but not necessarily as much as you expect to get done. I've learned that 4:30 am is way too early to be getting up in the morning. I've learned driving 200 miles doesn't seem so bad after the 4 trip in 3 weeks. I've learned sometimes simple stockinette is all one can handle, and that's ok, too. I've learned I miss my spinning wheel, but I can still spin consistantly, and I love it. I've learned knitting really can soothe a soul, heal some wounds, and light the path out of being sad. I've learned my dad has a big head, but not nearly big enough to fill the enormous hat I knitted.

From 2009 Finished Objects

Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby
Notes: This is a great pattern and super easy to knit. The instructions Jared references for a jogless work out well and produce a barely noticeable seam up the back of the hat. I would definitely knit this one again.

How long are your apron strings

Mine are about 200 hundred miles, or roughly a 3 hours drive. Three hours is far enough away from home where I can have my own identity, but close enough I can drive home at the drop of a hat, which is what I've had to do this week. From my from door to my parents' front door is about 200 miles, give a few miles. This is far enough away for me. I was close enough to come home for my dad's first of three brain surgeries and close enough to come home for a double funeral. I lost my uncle and my grandfather this week. My family lost a husband, a father, a brother, a uncle, a grandfather, and a great grandfather. They were not part of the same accident, but two separate incidents brought them to heavens door. Neither was aware of the other's condition, and I think this was a blessing. I lost my uncle to a car accident, and I lost my grandfather to a stroke, Alzheimer's, and old age. To be honest, it's been a rough week, and never have I understood better my Irish heritage the the lyrics of of the Indigo Girls' song "to seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend." My bottle has been a few pints of beer and my friend has been my husband. He's held me as I cried and given me the space I needed to grieve. He's given me the Irish tradition of throwing back a pint as I've looked at pictures and reminisced. He's allowed me to talk freely about what an excellent golfer my uncle Tommy was and about how excited my grandfather was when I came off the plane from Korea. He listened as I retold stories of my grandfather taking bags of chips to his bed after Alzheimer's set in and lost the ability to vocalize our names. Italian listened as I told him how much my grandfather missed my grandmother when she went to see her son in the hospital and how he held her when she finally came home. He listened as I told him about my grandfather's last smile to me. I miss my uncle and my grandfather. I am saddened that my grandmother must bury another child and this time, her husband. Let's face it, I'm just sad, very sad...but like anyone of Irish decent, I'm grateful for the time I've had. I'm grateful for the memories. I'm grateful for the final smile my grandfather gave me. I'm grateful for the times I've spent with my uncle. I've grateful for the family I've been blessed with; and finally I'm gratefully for the many people in my life. Little Clover asked me why I've been to so many funerals. I told him it's because we've been blessed with knowing so many people of all different ages and sometimes that means we have more good-byes. We've had our fair share of good-byes in this family, but we've also had more than our shares of happy memories to soften those good-byes.

Tommy and Grandpa, I miss you already.

In need of good thoughts

Life is happening and it hasn't all been great. Right now, my dad is preparing for a series of surgeries over the next three weeks. The surgeries are a positive thing and we have great hopes for the outcome afterwards. In addition to the surgeries, we've had a couple of family crisis come up. My grandfather is in the hospital and we are unsure at this moment of his condition. My uncle was also in a severe car crash and the outlook is not what we expected, but he did survive the crash and is also in the hospital. If you could, please send good karma, thoughts, and prayers my families ways. We could really use them right now.

Snow and trout

From Family

We finally had our annual snow day this past week. At least we didn't have to wait until March like last year. Granted, there wasn't much snow on the ground, but there was enough. Little Clover awoke early to the news of a school cancellation and waited patiently for us to give him the green light, to go outside and play. I'm fortunate enough to have a job with enough flexibility I could stay at home with him. I spent the majority of the day on conference calls, but during lunch, I did take some time to get in a little snowball fight.

From Family

Despite the small amount of snow on the ground, Little Clover managed to enjoy himself.

Snow Angel From Family

I wanted to have my latest knitting project finished in time for the snow day, but that didn't quite happen. Instead, I finished Cat Bordhi's Mobius Cowl early evening of our little snow day.

From 2009 FO

The pattern is quite easy to follow. I used Jade Sapphire's Cashmere to match the Koolhaas hat I knit last year. The hardest part of the pattern was knitting the first row after the cast on. My stitches were a bit loose, but I imagine everything will even out after a bit. One of my non-knitting coworkers asked if the twist was bothersome, and I honestly answered it wasn't. In fact, I rather like the twist of the mobius. It fits perfectly under my chin.

As if the new FO of 2009 and the snow day weren't enough, we added in an impromptu fishing trip to the week. A few rough weeks, professionally, were coming to an end and we needed a reprieve. Since our jobs didn't look as if they would provide any type of reprieve anytime soon, and our weekends quickly booked up with activity, we took advantage of the relatively open weekend, packed up our car, and headed to Arkansas for a quick weekend trip. Italian and I both had new rods needing to be broken in and we hit the river with gusto. I spent the morning fishing in the freezing temperatures. At one point, the ferrules on my rod, the small metal eyes through which one threads the fishing lines, froze solid with ice. The convertible gloves from October kept my hands warm enough to allow me to stay on the water. Eventually, Little Clover and Italian decided to join me on the water and we headed to a more wader friendly spot. Italian caught a fish on his first cast and Little Clover caught a fish on a fly he made up and tied. We all drove back home well rested and well fished, having a memorable day on the river.

From 2009 January Fly Fishing

Oh, and I just realized, today is my blogiversary. Thank you to everyone who's out there reading.

In which I discover my inner geek

I left for a trip to California and discovered I am a geek, in the best sense I'm hoping. Work called me out west for my first visit to California. I had to visit one of our locations in San Jose, which was a nice sunny balmy 60F when I landed. The two hour time difference between home and the west coast didn't seem too bad until I found my eyes becoming quite heavy at early evening. I rested, met my coworkers in the morning for breakfast, then realized I was in Silicon Valley. To an IT professional, it was like landing somewhere only to look around and have it dawn on you that you are in Disney World.

As we drove to the office, I began to shout excitedly "Oh, there's Yahoo! There's Intel, oh my gosh, was that Cisco?" My exclamations greatly amused my non-IT coworkers. Later, a counterpart at the office offered to drive me around to see the sites. I thanked her for her graciousness and then promptly asked, "Do you know where the Google office is?" Forget the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, or Lombard St in San Franscisco. I spent the next couple of hours driving around Silicon Valley taking in the sites of a bunch of IT company office buildings. Yes, I found Google, and you can google Goggle on Google Maps when you get a little lost, which we did. It was one of the best site seeing jaunts ever.

I did not, though, take any time to get in some fly fishing, which Italian thought was a bit nutty. The guy is great. He was encouraging me to extend my trip away from home so I could trek out to a remote lake or river and catch a fish. I was anxious to get back to my boys, plus, fly fishing without the guys just doesn't seem right; not yet anyway. I did finish the Spey Valley socks on the flight.

From WIPs

They were an extremely quick knit, spanning a few hours over three weeks. If I had actually devoted time to these socks, they would have been complete a while ago. The yarn is from a small indie dyer and the base yarn is nice and squishy. The pattern supplies just the right amount of variance to be interesting but still works well with a self striping yarn. Overall, I'd knit the pattern and this yarn again, which is good, because I have more of this yarn in my stash in other colorways.

From WIPs

After casting off the socks, I picked up a shawl. This teeny tiny mess of lace weight yarn had been languishing in my knitting basket. It was feeling forlorn and looked sad when I packed it for my trip. It began to perk up though somewhere over the Rockies and slowly started to look like an unblocked piece of lace, still messy, but with some life and potential. I have to say, lace is a great plane project. It is compact and unobtrusive, plus the concentration required helps pass the time quickly.

From WIPs

Before I close out for today, I need to wish my goddaughter a belated happy birthday. She had the honor of turning three last week, on Inaguration day. The entire nation held a great big party for little Nay Nay (and Barack Obama. Nay Nay was nice enough to share her day). Happy birthday, sweetie!

A new beginning

On this Inaguration day, the country is buzzing with hope and expectation. People are hopeful in our new, vibrant, charismatic, young president, expecting him to bring forth new life and vitality in our country and in our economy. As Obama is sworn in today, I hope the goodwill surrounds him and he is given the strength and skills needed to deliver on the expectations before him. Today is truly a historical moment and a much needed new start to our beleaguered nation. May this be the start of a new time of prosperity and success.

You gotta have a goal

Even though the Christmas season is technically over, a couple of friends came by this weekend for a little Christmas cheer. We had a hardy winter dinner of purple mashed potatoes (I had no idea that purple skinned potatoes are actually purple potatoes), meatloaf (doctored up with basil, provolone cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes), and roasted carrots (covered in maple syrup and sage). They even brough along something to go with my socks.

From Irish Clover

The scotch was very yummy and had a smoky roasted caramel apple flavor, quite nice. While the girls sipped on our wine, the guys enjoyed the scotch. We all enjoyed the company.

With the Christmas celebrations finally over, the decorations dismantled and put way, and approximately one thirty-sixth of the New Year done, I might as well publically announce the resolutions I will strive to follow, but will not be completely successful in accomplishing. Nothing like an optimistic attitude to start of the year right? In all seriousness, Italian and I know this year will bring some mild stresses but will also have a few large joys. We have some home improvement projects queueing up, and although the end results will be quite nice, the interium mess, disorder, and financial costs will be an experience to say the least. Thank goodness we have wine and yarn.

Resolution 1: Save money and shop mindfully
I have to be honest, the improvements we would like to make to the house will require an investment of capital, so the "saving money" portion of the resolution might be a little harder than we would like. It will really be more along the lines of make the improvements with the lowest impact possible, by eliminating all other forms of discretionary spending. Thank goodness I have a stash of yarn in my closet and plenty of board games to entertain us on the weekends we are not improving our nest.

As for shopping mindfully, I only want to purchase things that have a purpose in my home and bring me joy. I'm pretty picky, so hopefully, this means I won't be buying much, which leads to saving money. I also want to put supporting local business first in my shopping, so my time will be spent at locally owned stores and farmer markets when I can. I might pay more, but helping my locally economy is worth the extra price.

This resolution also means, I'll be knitting from my stash. I have some wonderful yarns in my stash and they deserve my time. I won't completely stop buying yarn, but when I do, it will be something wonderful and heartwarming.

Resolution 2: Organize and declutter the house
Overall, my home is a happy place. There are patches, though, that have more potential for joy, like the ceiling in our bathroom that is missing plaster and paint, and the soffit outside needing replacing, and the mass quantity of things on shelves and in closets we never use. I need to declutter our home and send some things into the wild to bring joy to other people. We also need to help give our home a facelift in some spots to bring out its beauty. I figure I have twelve months, and if we get one thing done a month, we're better off at the end of the year than we were at the beginning.

Resolution 3: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants
The two books I read last year by Michael Pollan, Omnivore's Dilemma and An Eater's Manifesto, made a huge impact on me and how I view what I eat. Because of this, my goal is to improve my family's health through eating foods processed as little as possible and as fresh as possible. There may be a home garden in our future.

Resolution 4: Focus on learning Korean
I will spend sometime on learning Korean each week. It may be two minutes, it may be an hour, but each week, I will do something to further my knowledge about my Korean heritage. I owe it to my mom, to myself, and to my son. This resolution really comes out of Spinning Sundays. No matter my mood, I spend sometime at my spinning wheel each Sunday. The structure seems stifling some weeks, but when I put the wheel back in its place after spinning, I'm always satisfied with the investment I made. My goal is to do the same with my Korean.

So there you go, a little sample of my year to be. My hope is to end this year a better and more thoughtful person, making the world better in some way be spreading good karma.

More than four

Over the last few months, Italian and I have determined that Little Clover is getting old enough to be introduced to some of the small things we share as adults. Since college, Italian and I have used a certain phrase and we believed Little Clover was ready to hear the phrase, "I love you more than four."

The first time we said this to Little Clover, he looked at us as if our heads were spinning. "Four isn't a lot" he responded. It was time to explain to him why four is a lot. Late one night in college, while studying with philosophy majors, someone came up with the theory that four was the answer to everything. This theory basically takes the answer to a question, counts the number of words or letters in the answer, then counts the number of letters in the given number, and continues until you hit the magic number. For example, when explaining this to Little Clover, we asked him what his favorite animal is, to which he replied, a cheetah. The word "cheetah" has 7 letters, "seven" has 5 letters, "five" has 4 letters, and "four" has 4 letters. The answer is four.

Little Clover had little faith, so he started throwing out words and phrases, all of which ended up being narrowed down to four. We were in giggles as we tried to come up with longer and more ludicrous phrases, until we finally concluded that saying "I love you more than 4" really means "I love you more than everything."

He was pretty happy with that explanation, but I'm not really sure it will catch on with him. It may have to remain as just an inside phrase between Italian and I, who have been saying it since we began dating in college, which was a very long time ago. So long ago, we will be celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary this year. Even though we've been married for such a long time, our relationship is not very different than the way it was in college, making my latest WIP, the almost perfect project.

From WIPs

The pattern is Spey Valley from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, significant to me and to Italian for a couple of reasons. Spey Valley in Scotland is one of the homes of fly fishing. Well, it's in the general region of the birth of fly fishing. It is the home of a specific casting method, the Spey cast. Neither Italian nor I can Spey cast, but we both would love to fly fish in the United Kingdom. It's on our list of places to go, and if we ever make it there, these socks will be with me, in the river, while I cast.

The Spey Valley is also known for scotches. I do not drink scotch, Italian does. I buy scotch, Italian doesn't. One could say it is a shared interest.

The best part of these socks, though, is the colorway. It's called Boyfriend, and for some reason, I'm still more comfortable thinking of Italian as my boyfriend rather than my husband, not that there is anything wrong with being a "husband" or a "wife," it's just that Italian to me will always be that guy in my college English classes who was incredibly sweet and cute and who charmed me with his stellar smile. What can I say, he's my best friend, and my boyfriend, before he is anything else.

Holiday Recap

Boy, has it been a while since I've blogged. To be honest, I'm not expecting many readers to still be around, but if you are, Happy New Year! (and I'm very grateful you've stuck with me) We've had a nice, albeit jam packed Christmas break, and I took the time to be completely offline (except for the occasional Facebook status update). Honestly, being offline was relaxing and I rather liked it, but coming back from the Christmas holidays brings with it catching up on emails, Ravelry, and blogging. So, without further ado, here are some favorite moments from our Christmas Vacation (queue in music from the Chevy Chase movie here):

The ghost of Christmas Present
Little Clover insisted on getting a Santa hat a few days before Christmas. He wore it every moment he was awake. I was able to capture a small candid moment as he played with one of his toys Christmas morning.

From Family

A surprise gift
Italian asked for a Bosch chainsaw for Christmas. We've been needing a chainsaw for a few years and Italian finally felt like we would use one on a regular basis and it was time for us to own our own instead of constantly borrowing one. Imagine his surprise when he got one, from his little brother no less!

From Family

The jump
Because we have a temporary "No travel" on Christmas rule, Papa and Nana Clover came down to visit with us. Little Clover was absolutely thrilled, not just because his grandparents were coming to visit, but because they would see him ride a horse. He's been taking horseback riding lessons and has loved it. He's quite proud of himself as he should be and wants to show what he has accomplished. While Papa and Nana Clover were in town, he displayed his jumping ability.

From Horse

The Southern Boy Goes North
For Christmas, Xavier Guy got tickets to the Winter Classic, the now annual NHL outdoor game. This year, the game was played at Wrigley Field, which being a Cubs fan, was special enough for Italian's family. Because Xavier Guy got two tickets, Italian got the second one. We all piled into the car for an impromtu trip to Chicago. The guys went to the game and their aunt AK took Little Clover and I to the Lincoln Park Zoo in downtown Chicago.

From Chicago 2008

While at the zoo, Little Clover pointed excitedly while exclaiming, "Look, look!" AK, her daughter, and I couldn't identify the source of Little Clover's excitement. We finally had to ask him what he saw. He responded with a smile, "It's a frozen pond!" The sweet little Southern thing was thrilled with seeing ice!

Skate
Since we were up north, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for some outdoor ice skating. Not only was this Little Clover's first time to ice skate, but we had the chance to skate in the open air at Millennium Park. Little Clover loved it (and was pretty good, too).

From Chicago 2008

From Chicago 2008

From Chicago 2008

Sue
So, what is a trip to Chicago without a visit to one of the city's most famous gals? After spending some time on the ice, Italian, Xavier Guy, their cousin the Guru, Little Clover, and I all head over to the Field museum. Although the visit was short, we did see Sue in all her magnificence.

From Chicago 2008

Yum
We ended our trip with a huge family gathering at a local Chicago family favorite pizzeria, Aurelio's. What can I say? The company was warming and wonderful, and the food was just plain yum, the best pizza ever.

From Chicago 2008

Yarn
Being away from work gave me ample time for knitting. I had so much time that I made some great progress on the Noro Sweater:

From WIPs

and I even finished a sock (more details to follow)

From WIPs

In the movies

Oh how I am ready for my Christmas vacation to begin, not so much because work isn't going well (it is despite regular ups and downs), but because I have a lot of things to do and work is getting in the way. There hasn't been any Christmas baking at the house, there has been little Christmas decorating, there have been not Christmas cards sent out, and I'm slightly behind in Christmas shopping (only 6 days left, people!). The worst of it, I'm behind in holiday movie watching. Christmas is the only time of year were I love, love, love being glued to the T.V.

I love catching glimpses of Miracle on 34th Street (the original only please), Charlie Brown Christmas Special, and The Christmas Story among others. My love for Christmas movies really heightened when I became a knitter because there are some beautiful sweaters in these movies. For instance, check out the lovely thick stranded sweaters Ralphie wears in the Christmas Story. They have a classic vintage style to match the movie and make me wonder if I could ever get Little Clover into something like that before he grows too big. And of course, you can't forget the long striped stocking cap Schwarz wears. I know Little Clover refuses to wear one, I've asked.

Another great movie for sweater porn is the Santa Clause 2. The North Pole scenes are more extensive in this film than the first Santa Clause which means there are more Nordic sweaters, hats, gloves, and mittens. I love the sweaters Santa and the elves wear while at the North Pole. They are beautifully knitted with some simple and complex colorwork patterns. When Scott Calvin has to go back to St. Paul, MN to drive the plot of the film, his donns intricate cablework works of art. This is Little Clover's favorite holiday movie, so we watch it a lot. You can find me on the sofa with a glass of egg nog and the remote watching, rewinding, and rewatching just for the sweaters. This behavior no longer seems odd to my family.

A Christmas Vacation also has some pretty sweaters, as does Love Actually. Neither movie has many sweaters, but the ones in the films are appealing. The sweater Beverly D'Angelo sports when cooking has a great 80s look and the sweaters when Colin Firth are in Portugual are cozy lacking in high style.

Productivity

From Irish Clover

What you see is a free range laptop. For the last few months, my laptop has been tethered to a power cable due to a faulty battery. On a bit of a whim, Italian suggested we visit Batteries Plus to see if they carried the battery for my laptop and for our cordless phones. I was skeptical and thought an entire store devoted to just batteries was kinda pointless, but agreed to at least give them a try. Now I think an entire store devoted to one thing is wonderful. Not only did they have the right battery, but they recycle them, too. Batteries Plus will be my LBS, local battery store. With my laptop venturing out beyond the office, I can show what we've done this week.

We've accomplished a lot the past few days. We finally finished putting up our Christmas tree. I can now sit back and enjoy the festive glow with a little bit of wine and A Christmas Carol playing in my ear. Having the tree up really sparks the Christmas mood and I'm finally getting into the spirit.

From Irish Clover

A Christmas Carol is also keeping me company while I knit away at the Noro sweater. Since it wasn't ready for Thanksgiving, I am aiming for Christmas.

From WIPs

Granted this is still just the back and the only piece I've knitted, but I think finishing the sweater within the next 10 days is doable. Really, it is. Right?

I've also made a big step in my commitment to eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

From Irish Clover

I cooked a very simple pork tenderloin, roasted on a bed of carrots and shallots, accompanied by mashed new potatoes and mashed roasted sweet potatoes. I love cooking, especially when the dishes are simple and uncomplicated, where the flavors of the foods shine. My plans are to keep cooking the rest of the week and not eat out or serve prepared foods. Tomorrow, we'll mix things up by serving breakfast for dinner.

Indulgence

In the midst of the spinning, reading, and general not knitting, we've managed to squeeze in a couple of our standard Christmas traditions. This weekend, we kicked off the holidady season with the annual local production of the Nutcracker. I think this may be the last year we see the Nutcracker. As Little Clover grows older, the ballet is loosing some of the luster it had in the past, and as Italian summed it up, "he's a plot man." We still had a great time going to lunch before the show at a local Canadian themed restaurant, but I think next year will be the perfect time to find a new tradition better fitted to a growing boy.

After seeing the Nutcracker on Saturday, we headed out hunting for a tree at our locally owned urban garden center and did the urban equivalent of chopping down a tree. Basically, we pointed to one and said "we'll take that one." Little Clover did pick out a beautiful 15 footer right off the bat, and Italian and I then began the annual negotiations, trying to convince Little Clover that a 6 to 7 foot tree would be just as lovely. Plus, we found out this weekend that a 6 to 7 foot tree fits inside my car; yet, one more reason why I love the Honda Element.

From Irish Clover

Little Clover said he felt like he was riding home in front of a hole in a jet plane. I think he loved it.

As we've been slowing decorating the tree a little bit each night, I've been neglecting my knitting in favor of spinning. The Spinning Sundays sessions have been quite fun and productive. After plying up the purple tweed, I was motivated to continue spinning and wanted to try som new techniques. I originally pulled out a 2 pound bump of turquoise merino wool intending to spin it into a sport or dk weight sweater yarn because I need the practice in spinning bigger singles. At the same time, I also need practice on spinning skinny sock yarn singles and there is a bump of lusciously fun merino in my stash. Spinning sock yarn also requires I use the fast whorl for the very first time so I quickly tossed the turquoise back into my stash bin and pulled out the socks-to-be merino. Not only is spinning on the fast whorl very easy and fun, but the fiber warms me up with its hint of summer. Can you guess what the colorway is called?

From Yarn

Yep, Neopalitan. Yum.

Books galore

I've started spinning some new fiber and will show pictures later this week. I'm completely loving the new fiber and have been spinning more than knitting this week. My knitting though is still managing to get some attention. The Noro sweater is growing and the colors are just fun to watch. In the meantime, as the blog waits for yarny pictures, here are reviews on some books I've recently finished.

Book Reviews
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I hungrily hunted for this book when I finally had a gap in my reading list. The bookstore only had one copy left and I'm glad I snatched it up. This book is different than the Omnivore's Dilemma . It does not explore food history, but instead, focuses on eating habits and how these habits impact health and enjoyment of food. Pollan tells you in the first paragraph the entire premise of the book, and then uses the remainder of the book to explain in depth what he means by "eat food, not too much, mostly plants," and how the Western diet goes against this philosophy. Reading this book renewed my commitment to healthy eating and how the time spent in preparing good meals is time well spent. If you enjoy food and love to eat, then this book is for you.




View all my reviews.

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
After discovering Fforde a couple of years ago, I became an avid fan of the Thursday Next series. When the Jack Spratt mystery, The Big Over Easy came out, I downloaded the book, loved listening to it, and then bought a paper copy for my DH. DH actually brought The Fourth Bear home and was the first to read it. I enjoyed the book, just not as much as the Thursday Next series or the first Jack Spratt book. I'm not sure if my reduction in enjoyment is reading it after listening to characterization of Jack in the The Big Over Easy, but the Jack in this book a harsher than I originally expected and Mary Mary is not as strong as in the first book. I'm not sure what Fforde has in mind for Jack and Mary, but I will continue to read the Nursery Crime series.


View all my reviews.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I gained an appreciation for Lincoln after reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. This book seemed to be a logical next step and it did not disappoint. The narrative is engaging and the portrayal of Lincoln seems closer to completion than other books. The book could have gone into greater detail and left me wondering if portrayals on all the figures were as complete as they could be. The descriptions of the historical figures tended to be one sided and supported the author's views of the men and women.


View all my reviews.

Since the Christmas season is upon us, I've picked a Christmas book to read, The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. I find Christopher Moore to be very amusing and funny author. He isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy fluffy dark humor, then give him a try.

Was there supposed to be knitting?

There has been woefully little knitting going on in my life. I'm ok with this, really I am, mainly because I've been filling the time I would have been knitting with spinning. I've been trying to implement "Spinning Sundays" which has resulted in my third full bobbin. The third bobbin was quite a surprise. After filling the bobbin on my wheel, I pulled the other full bobbin out of my spinning basket and then walked to the closet to retrieve my lazy kate, wishing I had enough fiber to spin a third bobbin because I prefer the look of a three ply over a two ply. I reached into the closet, pulled out the lazy kate and lo and behold! a third full bobbin was waiting for me on the kate ready to be plied! I danced a little.

Since no particular day of the week sounds especially snappy with the word "plying," I've been plying the last couple of days. The singles really do even themselves out with plying and I am getting better at analyzing the singles as they zoom through my fingers, knowing what I need to do to improve. I think the yarn will knit up nicely in a tweedy sort of way. I'm hoping I have enough to make a vest.

From Yarn

Plying is one of my favorite parts of spinning, mainly because it goes very quickly and because the end is in sight. Plus, Little Clover seems to always pick up and play with my niddy noddy while I have it out for winding the plied yarn. This time around, the niddy noddy was used as a pick ax while he sang the song "Look Down" from Les Miserable. It was a nice break from seeing him reenact every Sunday football highlight.

Thanksgiving Recap

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over and Christmas is quickly approaching (24 days, people!). We headed to the lake house again this year to partake in our regular holiday tradition of campfires and paintball, and we added a couple of new traditions as well. Stopping by Books a Million seems to be a new part of the trip since we stopped there last year to pick up some reading material for Little Clover and then we stopped in this year to pick up a book for Italian and me. Maybe next year we should just try packing better.

From Family

Xavier Guy came with us this year, and I think he rather enjoyed himself. He was a bit befuddled by the picture in front of BAM, but let it go as me just being a blogger. He quickly got into the mix of things with my family. I was a terrible hostess and failed to introduce him. Honestly, I see him all the time, so I just figured everyone knew everyone else. My family is big enough that knowing names is not expected, so he blended in just fine. He did join in our annual post Thanksgiving paintball tradition and headed out into the woods to try his hand at a little battle. Despite my cousin, Red Head #1, bailing on him twice because she ran out of air, Xavier Guy held his own and managed to come back to the campfire unscathed.

Little Clover being the pacifist that he is, contended himself with target practice, shooting tree leaves, soda cans, and a wine cork. He did venture out to watch the big cousins run amok in the woods, but felt no burning need to play. I sat by the fire the entire time knitting away on Italian's sock, managing to finish one.

From WIPs

The sock is the generic Wendy's Toe Up sock knit in Trekking XXL. I've forgotten how much I love Trekking XXL. The sock will be sturdy, yet comfy and soft. Italian tried it on and it seemed to fit him just right. It knitted up extremely quickly in straight stockingette, which yes, is a little bit on the boring side, but extremely portable. I've knitted this sock on the plane, in the car, in a dark movie theatre, while walking. With the holidays making life hectic, I think I'm going to really love the stockingette.

My knitting sparked stories about my great aunts who were avid knitters. I heard about them teaching one of my aunts how to crochet and knit and how they visited their own LYS every week, on the hunt for yarn. I have no idea what happened to their yarn or their needles, but I now have a few stories and shared memories to keep with me.

I shared with my family some of my memories of the things I loved about my childhood. I reminiscence about camping every weekend in Colorado when we lived there and how I ran through the wildflowers. I heard stories about my mom and what she was like, and I heard the story about my arrival to the States from the point of view of my family waiting by the airport gate. I was surprised by how many memories filled the air this past holiday and the sharing of the stories was more warming then the campfires that lit the conversations. I'm hoping one day, Little Clover will look back on the many things, both small and large, we have done as a family and smile.

I know this Thanksgiving will be a special one I will recall for many years. This was the year we watched "A Christmas Story" out on the deck under a night sky. Papa Clover set up a projector and a bed sheet and entertained us with a Fleetwood Mac concert until everyone arrived for the screening. We all huddled by a fire with blankets and coats to keep us warm. We popped popcorn and watched Little Clover play air guitar to Fleetwood Mac.

From Family

This was also the year Little Clover woke up before dawn to play Wii games with my dad on the screen left over from the previous night's movie screening. He watched the sun come up with my dad. Later when asked what his favorite part of the entire weekend was, he told me playing the Wii with Papa outside, adding one more memory to our collective story bank.