My Boring Life

I finished the hood on the Apres Surf Hoodie so I’m now on to the neck band, the i-cord bind offs, attaching the arms and weaving in the ends. I must say that I’m looking forward to finishing this sweater both to wear it and to just have it done.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:

This Lemon Poppy Seed mix is one of the ones I bought at King Arthur Flour. It was a last minute pick up as I went back looking for something else. I made the dozen muffins yesterday and frozen two packs of four and left out four. I didn’t eat one right away because I wasn’t hungry, but finally had one today. While the muffins were lemony and definitely full of poppy seeds, it tasted  a little dry to me. I mixed the batter by hand with a wisk instead of the mixer so they may not have been quite whipped up enough. When I go to eat the second one, I’m going to try heating it up and slathering it with butter. I have had amazing homemade lemon poppy seed before so I may be ruined to mixes now. Guess it’s time to start investigating full recipes.

Walking the beast:

We walked close to five miles on the Minute Man Trail this morning. The trail is longer than what the hiking book says is the main Minute Man Trail so we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we got frustrated and turned around at the right spot after checking the map back at the truck. You also don’t realize how flat of a walk you normally do until after walking on a mildly hilly trail. We’re all nicely tired out now. Nimitz was cute walking through the dandelions to find “a spot” because all the stuff got stuck to his face and ears. He had a great time!

Just wanted to let y’all know that I’m behind on responding to comments. Too much knitting and reading about drama on Ravelry. I intend to catch up after the hoodie is done though so don’t be surprised to get a bunch of emails from me soon. I also want to let you all know that the No-S diet has been working well for me. I’m doing it in such a way that I can maintain it for long term (I had a couple of small chocolates yesterday and an iced chai this morning, but I also don’t eat when I’m not hungry). It’s been about a month maybe and I’m down four pounds and two and half inches off my waist. I highly recommend this as a blueprint to others trying to get control over eating habits who don’t need specific menus. It’s nice to finally see some results from the two miles I walk every day!

Apres Surf Hoodie:

As I mentioned above, I’ve been reading about different dramas on Ravelry which cuts into knitting time. I did manage to get half of the hood done though. The markers are where I started the hood. I probably won’t get all the finishing today, but I still hope to wear this this weekend. Is it bad when I knit lace patterns in your dreams?

New Stuff:

I had a little free time today so I took some “me time” and browsed at Porter Square Books and a stationary/art store. I’d been checking out the embroidery book for quite some time and I couldn’t resist the creepy crochet book. Then I found the origami craft pad (it’s been on my Amazon wishlist) and I got some inexpensive starter pastels and paper. I’ve been wanting to try pastels for a few years so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with it. Drawing isn’t my strong spot so don’t get your hopes up.

There’s also another project in my future. I’m not going into it yet, but here’s a hint. I’m really excited about this!

Beasts:

Where did my free time come from today? Nimitz went to the groomer for the first time! We went to Pet Spa on Somerville Ave in Somerville and it was great. They let you drop off your dog in the morning and they keep them out in a play room to socialize while waiting their turn instead of individual kennels. You just let them know when you’ll be picking your pet up and they’ll be ready. He did really well and had his paws and face done. I asked them to check his ears, but didn’t check yet to see if they got to it. I said to just check his stress level and do what they could. It sounded like he didn’t really notice I wasn’t there and I got two hours to myself. Wonderful! The groomer said his temperament showed that he’d be fine with them for a full grooming so we’ll do that in another month and see if he wants to spend the day with them.

Callie was sticking her tongue out yesterday while lounging. Can you see it? She’s so funny.

I’m just not in the mood today. Construction is going on next door at the architecture building and it’s pretty loud and causes the house the vibrate at times. It started a month late so they could update permits and is supposed to last for about 18 months. Ugh! Just as the six month construction across the street is finishing. This is one of the reasons why I’m stressed all the time it seems. It’ll all finish just in time for us to sell the condo. Just perfect, right? Can you sense the sarcasm?

I finished the sleeves last night on the Apres Surf Hoodie and started the hood. I still think I can do the hood and the finishing by the end of tomorrow, but I have to get going on it soon. Am I crazy for not wanting to bother blocking the sleeves before sewing them on and then blocking the whole thing at once?

Nimitz and I had a good walk today. I might have led you believe that he’s a bad walker, but he’s really not. 95% of the time he’s great and walks loose leash right next to me. It’s the 5% that he sees other dogs or something frightens him that I’m worried about. We saw three dogs on our walk today and they all either growled or barked at him, but he just kept walking. Although a little faster than usual.

OK. I’m paying more attention to watching The Namesake than writing so I’m off to knit. I’ll have photos tomorrow.

Apres Surf Hoodie:

About three more inches and I can do the sleeve caps. I’m hoping to finish them today and get going on the hood. I have a feeling the i-cord bind off is going to take longer than I think it will, but I still expect to have a finished hoodie for the weekend. Then I plan to lay off the speed knitting so I can rest up for SOS. Hopefully that doesn’t disappoint anyone too much.

Walking the dog:

I took a few photos yesterday during our long walk. There were two water birds that I didn’t recognize and when I tried to get pictures they took off. I’m guessing it was Nimitz’s fault. This lone goose was a little more fearless. Of course he was a good 20 feet into the river which helped.

Does anyone know if these blue buses are new? It looked like it was a 66.

Did I tell you all that Nimitz is still gaining weight? Up to 76.5 lbs. Crazy. I probably said that yesterday and just forgot. Also, I made a mistake yesterday when describing the collars. I said a choke type collar when I meant Martingale. I had no idea what the right term for it was until after posting. It was nice to hear all the suggestions. After thinking about it, I’m not sure he’s a harness type dog. He’s very quick to pick up food/objects off the ground so I’d like to keep head control. Yesterday he grabbed half a bagel and a couple of weeks ago he grabbed a glove. Luckily he drops whatever immediately when I say “drop it”. I’ll bring him to The Boston Dog later this week and have him try on some collars. Should be fun!

Not a lot of knitting happened this weekend as I spent most of Saturday on a trip to Vermont and most of Sunday chatting and eating yummy food with a friend and stressing over life. This morning I took a long walk with the dog and I feel a little less stressed, but I need to make some changes in my life to get through living here. I’m not going into that today. Or possibly ever on the blog. Instead you get some weekend photos. It’s much nicer that way.

Saturday:

We started out Saturday with a truck and a dog at 7:30am. After a quick stop at Lowes to get what we need to install the new dining lights, we headed up to King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT. I love that place. And no, I don’t get anything from advertising for them. I won’t show you yet what I bought, but I picked up several special bakeware pieces and mixes which I’ll be showing over time as I use them. I can’t wait!

Next was a quick trip through Montpelier with a visit to the farmers market and La Brioche. We didn’t have a ton of time so I felt like my enjoyment was a little forced.

Then the real purpose of the trip, TOTB getting to see some of his former advisees getting commissioned. The dog and I couldn’t go so we hung around campus while I knit a little and then we walked around to kill more time. I saw the new student center and caught up with some of the old sites.

I did run into one person that I knew (not through TOTB) so I caught up a little on the happenings in my old office. Before I knew it the time was 4pm-ish and we hit the road home. The trip reinforced that I missed Vermont and the non-big city lifestyle. Though I definitely do not miss my old job!

Sunday:

My friend and I had no idea when we made plans that there was a May festival going on. Lots of booths and people and fun all over Harvard Sq. I saw some things I liked, but didn’t buy anything. Instead I took photos of the chalk art I liked and picked my top two to share. At first I thought this was just a koi pond. Then I noticed the mermaid staring up. Kind of freaky, but in a good way I think.

And who doesn’t like a smiling grim reaper. Wouldn’t this make a neat quilt design?

Nimitz:

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! I have a question for the dog people out there. It concerns Nimitz and possibly a new collar. He has a 1″ nylon collar right now that he wears outside the house, but he’s been pulling so hard at it when he’s excited that he’s making himself gag a little. We’ve been brainstorming the options and I’m curious what you all think.

1. We might use a prong collar for initial training and occasional reinforcement to stop the pulling. I know they look scary, but it’s not that harsh from what I’ve been told and it might take fewer reminders to get him to behave.
2. I’m wondering if just having a thicker collar (like you see on Greyhounds) might help distribute the pressure better so he doesn’t hurt himself. I saw both normal collars and (updated for correct collar type) choke martingale collars in a 3″ width. I’m not sure about the choke collar version as I’m not sure if it would really help or just freak him out.
3. Someone suggested a harness so we’re pulling his upper body instead of his neck. I hadn’t thought about this before, but wanted to put it out there.

While I’m waiting for your thoughts, I’ll be off knitting.

Apres Surf Hoodie:

This stomach bug thing is kicking my butt so not as much knitting got done as I’d hoped. I managed to finish the body of the hoodie around 3:30pm yesterday and I’m happy to say that it fits! The stitches on hold are for the hood which I’ll add after finishing the sleeves. I started the sleeves yesterday, but only have about an inch and half at the most. I’m doing both at the same time, but flat. I’d love to have the first finished hoodie (besides the designer) on Ravelry which is why I’m really pushing myself. I guess I’m just competitive that way.

The Beasts:

I finally picked up some plug-in Feliway a couple of weeks ago and plugged it in last week. It emits pheromones that relax the cat and hopefully stops them from doing whatever stress related thing that they’ve been doing that you want stopped. Callie has been stress grooming her belly since we moved here and I really wanted her to stop. I had hoped that she would stop on her own, but it’s been almost a year with no success. After just a week of the Feliway, she seems to have stopped! I’m hoping that this is for real and she’s done now because rubbing a bald belly just isn’t as satisfying as a furry belly, ya know?

Nimitz is doing what he always does for the most part. The new thing is that he’s noticed the open windows and sometimes sniffs through the screen and watches the neighbors and birds and squirrels. And he also seems to have noticed that watching TV can be fun. So far he likes The Dog Whisperer and The Today Show. He may have also tried a little Law and Order. As long as there’s movement on the screen he’ll watch for a few minutes and then go back to napping.

Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of photos of him are sleeping ones. In case you’re wonder why, this is what usually happens if I try to take one while he’s awake. While the swirls of his movement is kind of neat, it’s a little hard to appreciate his handsomeness.

Even with the rain today and a stomach bug (no cold like TOTB thankfully), I’m in a pretty good mood. About a month ago Knit Picks put out the word that they were looking for new test knitters. I’m just starting as a test knitter for Woolgirl, bit I figured I had the time to take on a little more so I sent in a “resume” a few weeks ago. I didn’t hear anything so I wrote it off last week and forgot about it. Until last night. When I got an email that I’d been accepted. Squee!! I have some paperwork to send back and then I’ll wait and see what kind of projects I get offered. We’ll see what this does to my Summer of Socks goals. And unfortunately this means I’ll have some secret knitting so some days there won’t be knitting to show.

Next, I entered a contest a couple of weeks ago at Cosmicpluto Knits! and I won the book “Classic Knits at Home”. I’d love to make the cover afghan and there are some nice patterns in there. Lauras card also made me laugh. Isn’t it great that she lists “dabbler” as one of the descriptions of herself? Thanks so much for this contest, Laura! Am I crazy for wanting to make a mohair blanket reminiscent of the mohair blanket at my Grandmothers house? Even though mohair can make me itch like crazy?

Apres Surf Hoodie:

Once I separated for the arm holes, I slowed down a little. Remembering where to do all the decreases took a little more thought than my brain could handle yesterday. I need maybe two or three more pattern repeats and one more neck decrease to finish the body so that should happen today. I’m noticing now that the cotton is making this a heavy garment, but that’s fine with me. I’m looking forward to the cotton being a bit more hard-wearing and versatile than the cotton/cashmere the pattern calls for.

House stuff:

Also distracting me yesterday was a couple of electricians helping us to add a track light where no light was before. I was thinking we could do this ourselves, but I’m glad we hired someone now. The wiring was a little funny. There’s a switch there and in another place for the kitchen lights and we were thinking we could just add a second switch for the new lights. Not happening. The previous person did the wiring the opposite of normal so we ended up having to disconnect the kitchen lights from that switch and make it just the new dining lights. Oh well. The other option was to piggy back the new lights to the kitchen lights, but we didn’t want that. Then we found out that the wood used to hang the kitchen cabinets behind the drywall from extended all the way to the end of the wall so an extra hole had to be made. We also found that the drywall had been hung over the old slats that are probably original to the house. Then we discovered that the Home Depot power box wouldn’t fit the Lowes track bar. And finally the dimmer light switch we bought was bad and appears to have been returned and put back on the shelf. Grrrr. But they got the wiring done to the point where we can do the rest after returning the bad parts and buying replacements. And they also seem to have put the circle box a little too close to the wall, but we’ll figure it out. At least the patching shouldn’t be too bad.

The Beasts:

I just love it when all four paws are close enough that you can grab them all at the same time. I’m evil that way.

She only has three paws accessible, but that’s because she’s evil. Last night she wouldn’t let Nimitz drink from his water dish. He was so afraid that by the time he was finally able to get to the dish, he had to keep looking around to make sure he wouldn’t get attacked and then scooted right back to the shag rug where he’s safe. Evil kitty.

Apres Surf Hoodie:

I didn’t make it quite as far as I was hoping yesterday, but things are cruising along. I put in some more work this morning and just did the bind off for the neck opening. What I didn’t think about is that since my row start is at the left side, but I now have a break in the middle, I had to break the yarn on the side, slip the stitches that were already worked between the left side and neck opening and start the yarn again at the neck opening making that the new row beginning. Does that make any sense? Even if it doesn’t, I’m four to six rows from the arm holes and I’m shooting to get the body done today. Can you tell I want a finished sweater?

Even Peaches thinks this is a nice pattern. And in case you’re wondering, I always use a photocopy of a pattern when I know that I’ll want to make notes or highlight the size I’m making.

Nimitz is much less enthralled with the knitting.

For some reason yesterday I just could not focus. I was doing just about anything I could to not knit. I wasn’t sure what was wrong until TOTB got home from class and said he was sick. I had forgotten that his brother in CT that we saw on Saturday was sick and now we both seem to have it. TOTB has it worse than me due to his stress level and lack of sleep because of end of term work. I’m hoping that I’ll be more focused today since I did so much housework yesterday that there’s not much left to distract me. And do you know what else I did? I pulled out the sock yarn I want to knit up for Summer of Socks and put it in a separate bin. But I’m not telling you how much I pulled out because a) I want to surprise you and b) when I don’t knit it all I don’t want to be embarrassed. Lets just say that I’m not going to attempt to break last years record of 42 socks in 93 days even though this years 72 days means that I only need to knit 33 pairs to break it. That’s just crazy. Even for me.

Apres Surf Hoodie:

I finished four repeats of the lace pattern which means I also finished all the waist decreases. I missed a YO here or there, but it’s easy enough to pick it up and fix it the next row. I have about half an inch and then I’ll be starting the bust increases. I think I’d like to get to the arm shaping by the end of today. And now that I’m more comfortable with the lace pattern, it’s probably doable. Just a quick note about the decreases. They do eat into the lace pattern on the edges and there don’t seem to be instructions on this so you have to wing it. I’m making the same size as is in the IK photo so I have a little bit of an advantage. Of course the 100% cotton looks different than the Cashcotton so my stitches have a lot more definition. Harder to hide the discrepancies.

Beasts:

Sleepy dogs are the best dogs. It’s getting warmer out so he’s getting more tired on our walks which is great.

Even Peaches is getting sleepier with the heat.

Between staying in CT longer than I thought we would, how tired the “old folks” were and the rain, the visit from the in-laws was a bit of a bust. We were hoping to walk down to MIT and walk to get takeout and maybe even walk to the river and instead we were stuck inside with the TV and cards and driving to get food. Such a shame. Plus they were here for less than 24 hours. Good for my asthma (they both smoke, but never inside the house) but bad for visiting time. They’re thinking they’ll try visiting again in a couple of months because they have a wedding at the Cape to go to. We’ll see what happens. I think they realize now how small this place really is and they may not be comfortable staying here for overnights.

I was also in a bit of knitting limbo this weekend. I frogged two socks that had been sitting around so I have two on the needles now. Both are patterned and therefore were more than I wanted to deal with with guests around. I’m trying to not start any new ones until Summer of Socks starts because I want to try for the “Most Socks” contest. I pulled out my Cascade 220 and went over the patterns for the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan and the Great American Aran Afghan and decided I didn’t like either much anymore after casting on for each of them and wasn’t in the mood to design a new afghan. Finally on Sunday I pulled out my new IK Spring 2008 and decided to make a sweater. I’ve been craving making another sweater so I finally gave in.

Apres Surf Hoodie:

I have nine balls of Rowan 4 ply cotton from about 2004 and I’ve been hunting for a pattern ever since I decided to not do the Lucky wrap from the SnB book. My gauge is 23 sts for 4″ instead of 26 sts so I’m making the 35.5″ size and should get something closer to the 39.5″. My row gauge is pretty close so I should be fine. The sweater is supposed to have a little positive ease which is why I’m going larger than usual for me. I wasn’t sure if I liked this color anymore, but I’m happy now that I see it knit up.

After a false start knitting the pieces separately and in a smaller size, I’m knitting the body in the round using US 3 lace needles in the correct size. I’m just about to do the prep row for starting the lace which is exciting. The bottom stitches get picked up at the end for an i-cord bind off. I like a lot of the little details on this sweater for the finishing so I’m pretty excited. Hopefully this doesn’t become a total failure!

Beasts:

He barely got in one short walk this weekend with the rain, but I think he’s mentally tired from the traveling to CT and being in TOTBs brothers house with lots of people visiting and dealing with his human cousins. Everything went pretty well on the trip, but he was off leash on the porch and ran away from me to our truck which was parked in the road. Guess he wanted to go home. Luckily we were on a quiet side street with no traffic at the time, but it still freaked me out that he would even come back for treats. And now I know that we can’t trust him at all off leash.

Peaches still thinks the dog is a dork.