Bird's Nest Knits

Believe.

Summertime summertime...

I love summer time, especially in Southern California.  Long warm days, cool nights, and the bounty of fruit and vegetables from the garden (or the garden box) are some of the things I love most about this time of year.   My vegetables are doing really well, thanks to the Earthboxes that makes it difficult even for ME to kill everything in sight.  Tomatoes, green/purple beans, herbs, cucumbers, peppers, blueberries (thanks Wendy!) are doing really fantastically.  I'm thinking about putting up a box of corn as well.

They can never ripen fast enough for me, so I often end up splitting a single green bean with Mr. Bird or cutting a cherry tomato in half to share.    We've had a handful of blueberries, a couple of kumquats, and a few beans.  The sweet peas have suffered with the heat but I've been able to break open a couple of pods and had some super sweet samples.  Heidi suggested replanting those after the summer since they are a cool season crop.  The tomatoes are growing so fast that every day I go out there I marvel at the number of fruit and can't wait till they ripen.  They've grown as tall as I am and the EarthBox trellis system kicks some serious ass.  I only bought one trellis and the other tomatoes I put up in a cage and the cage proved to be a cheap and really really crappy alternative.  The tomatoes outgrew the cage really fast and then fell over the top because the fruit heavy sections snapped because there wasnt enough support.

I'm hoping that the tomatoes will produce enough to do some jarring in a few weeks.  Homemade tomato sauce - exciting!  I had some trouble with blossom end rot a couple of weeks ago, but I've added some bone meal to the soil and removed all the tomatoes with any sign of it.  Hopefully the rest of the crop will be ok.  I continue to be amazed by how well I'm doing with the gardening and so excited with being able to grow and eat my own produce.

Oh.

Did you think this was a knitting blog?

Well as a matter of fact I have been doing a bit of knitting.  Somethings here and there.  I will have to admit to breaking my yarn diet, not bad that I held out for six months though.   I picked up some Trekking sock yarn from the Grove and started working it up in the Conway sock pattern from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road.

Meh isnt it?  The color way just does not work well with the beautifully subtle pattern of Conway which just gets lost in the varigation.  I thought so at least, so riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.  Bye bye Conway, I'll revisit you soon with a more solid color sock yarn.

I had told myself I wasn't going to be a lemming and would NOT make a pair of Jaywalkers.  Cause everyone and their grandma's roommate had knit these and they just looked too much like the Broadripple socks that I'd already knit.  Who wants to do the same thing right?  Well - I've proven myself a hypocrite because I went with the Jaywalker pattern.  And sheepishly, I must admit its a pretty great pattern and it works up this varigated yarn beautifully.  I was wrong, it's not boring. 

Isn't that pretty?  I'll be kitchener'ing the toe today and casting on for the 2nd straight away.  The two row pattern is very nice cause I dont have to lug around the pattern. 

I've put Mariah on the back burner since I can't get myself motivated to sit and knit with wool during the summer heat.  I plan to get this one done in time for my sister's graduation from nursing school in December which is when she'll be moving back to Seattle and she'll have good use for a warm cabled sweater.

I've made a couple of modifications to the pattern.  I'm extending the cables up the sides to cinch in the body of the sweater to make it more form fitting.  It also keeps the stockinette section from being so painfully boring now that the lovely cabled arms are completed.  I'm also going to make a fold over collar instead of a hood, but we'll see how that all goes.

Can you see where there is a mistake in a cable cross?  I'm leaving it in, cause I'm too lazy to rip back that far.

 

Have I ever said that Elann is evil?  It is.  Really. 

I bought Elann's Callista yarn (50% Viscose Rayon/ 25% Cotton/ 25% Linen) in a DK weight to work on a summer skirt along the lines of the Indigo Ripples skirt from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits.  It's a much smaller gauge yarn and I'll be doing a leaf lace edging instead of the ripples, but the shaping will be similar and there will be a longer section of stockinette.

I have enough skeins of it in the Burnt Olive color and the Italian Plum for two separate skirts.  Delusions of grandeur?  Considering I've got one pair of socks done and it's June?  Yah probably - but it's nice to dream isn't it?

Oh.  And because I'm a Norma acolyte,  I made up some Rose Petal Jam and it is delicious!  I'll have to call it Rose Petal Lemon jam because the lemon really comes out.  It was incredibly easy to make and I changed the recipe just a bit.  I boiled the sugar, water, lemon juice, rose petal (blended) mixture until all the sugar was dissolved, and then mixed in the pectin (I used liquid) into the hot mixture then poured it into the jelly jars.   

I don't know the variety of rose this is but they are grown in my back yard organically and smell amazing so I figured they'd be perfect for this jam.   I had Mr Bird test out the jam and he's quite the PB & J connoisseur so if he thought it was good that was the stamp of approval.  It's a touch tart but is really nice on toast or with PB.  He really liked it!  I have a jar for Heidi, Crissy, Joelle, Wendy and Yoly.

Thanks for sharing Norma!

Where to begin...

It's been a busy month to say the least, and finally after weeks and weeks, I have the time and the motivation to catch you all up on life at the bird's nest.

The weather has warmed up considerably and with that comes the bounty of spring gardening.  Absinthe had mentioned to me last year that she was growing her tomatoes using EarthBoxes.    I tried to make my own which was an exercise in poor execution so this year I bought myself a few of them and have been absolutely pleased as punch.  The tomatoes and green beans are growing out of control and I'm expecting within the next couple of months to be swimming in tomatoes which will end up being stewed and jarred for sauce.

I've got three Earthboxes set right now, two with tomatoes and various beans and peas, and another that has my herbs, peppers and bibb lettuce.  I tried doing strawberries but no such luck with that one.  I've got two more boxes in the garage that I'm waiting on some seedlings to get a little bigger to plant.

The roses have also been going crazy and I've been cutting flowers almost every day to bring into the house.  Kind of interesting to see how they've grafted on a lovely variety onto the trunk of a cheaper, hardier version.  Which really just means that I have not kept up on my pruning of said roses.  Shocker eh?

Mr. Bird was sad to hear that my favorite flower is now the two color rose as opposed to my standard tulips, which in the greater scheme of things is much more affordable.  Heh.  I'm going to plant some more of the bi-color roses on the side of the driveway so I can have as many as I could possibly desire.

I did a bit of traveling in April, out to Virginia for a wedding, and then up to NYC to visit my brother in law.  I don't get to see my East Coast cousins all that much and we aren't very close.  I did enjoy spending time with Tina and Vu, my dad's younger brother's children who I hadn't seen since my sister's wedding two years ago.  They are quite a bit younger than myself and Mr. Bird, still kids really, but totally great.  We had a chance to get closer with them, and with my cousin Liz and her 4 sisters.  It was her younger sister who was getting married.  They say that all brides look beautiful on their wedding day but I'll have to assert that she looked especially stunning.  Mr. Bird and I were there with my parents and my younger sister.

After the wedding we hopped on the train at Union station and went up to NYC.  It was a pretty quick trip, only about 3 hours there and I was armed with what all travelers should have - ticket, iPod, and knitting.

I made it through the Book Thief which is this month's reading for our little knitters Book Club.  I'm still trudging along on Mariah - moving onto the back now.  I'm going to keep some ribbing and a couple of cables going up the side to the underarm I think instead of straight stockinette.  Would it kill me to strictly follow the directions?  I wouldn't know - I don't think I've ever NOT made some change to just about every pattern I've done.

I have actually finished something - my first finished product of the year.  Considering that it's May that doesn't bode well for my track record so far. 

Yarn: Curious Creek Fibers - Serengeti 100% Superwash Merino
Needles:  Size 5 KnitPicks Options
Pattern: Basic short row toe-up with a short row heel.  The cuff pattern is my own, just a wee pair of mini cables up each side.  Picot bind off for stretchiness.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms and soon to be Moms out there -  And a Happy Birthday to Mary Kay

Gimme a little mouth

Funniest thing.. EVER

I'll be back in a day or two with a real post - promise.

Moral dilemmas

So I own a pair of leopard geckos.  I've had lizards since I was in college and really enjoy them.  Occasionally I'll splurge for them and get them a pair of pinky mice which are baby mice at the mostly hairless stage.  The extra fat and protein the pinks give them is a really good thing once a month or so.  Usually my lizards will eat them up really quick but I screwed up this time and had fed them some crickets early yesterday and they weren't hungry. 

I left the pinks in the tank over night hoping that since the lizards are nocturnal they'd feel more like eating sometime during the night.  This morning? no luck - pinks are still squirming around the tank getting hungry now.  They are too young to survive without their mothers and if the lizards don't eat them soon - they'll die of starvation or exposure.  I found myself left with a really tough choice.  The pet store is closed, I cant bring them back, and I know they won't live till morning. 

I had bargained for a quick relatively painless death - the lizards swallow them whole so that isn't too bad.  I feel that just leaving them in there to expire from starvation would really be wrong, that somehow the quick death of being eaten was better.  How perverse is this really?

After consulting with Mr. Bird on deciding what would be the best way to put them down, I went for the freezer route.    They would lose consciousness quickly and die after just a little while.  So here I sit at my counter with a tupperware of baby mice in the freezer debating on how long to wait before checking to see if they are dead yet.

So.. tie.tiie...

How far do you have to run before you actually start to feel that runner's high thing? 

I'm starting to wonder if that's a total myth.. like blue balls.  (that comment's gonna get some interesting search hits for sure)

I will say that I'm starting to develop the habit, and hopefully it's not just the bloom of a first crush that will fade away after a couple of months.    Just shy of 7 miles so far this week and its only Wednesday.  I should get a nice big push on my stats at the 5k this weekend.  I've become a bit obsessive checking out my progress on the various challenges I've joined.  What's fun too is that I can talk smack during the challenge and that just adds to the motivation.   The fact that I stopped at the gym to run (aka walk/jog) after work at 6:15 is no small feat let me tell you.  I am the Queen Slacktastic and even without the added support of my dear workout partner Yoly, I pumped out two miles before I headed home.  I'm sure that the poor fool on the recumbant bike in front of me was going to turn around and ask if I was asthmatic.

All of this to be able to post such sweet smack talk.  (I'm myriame1973, you can figure out my sister and Mr. Bird.)

I think I'll take a day off tomorrow and go out to lunch.  A girl's gotta eat.

Hell hath frozen over...

So, I'm a bit of a fluffy zaftig sort of girl.  Lots of curves, plenty of cushion, and generally out of shape all around, well, if roundish is your shape I'm all over that.  Recently I've been rather confronted by my age and my lack of activity, and frankly - a little worried about my overall health.  My cholesterol is high, my blood pressure is high and I have an extensive history of cancer in my family.  At a recent checkup my doctor gave me an ultimatum...  Get some exercise, lose some weight, work on your heart health or you are going to be looking up the shotgun barrel at late onset diabetes or an early stroke.

What.
The.
Fuck.

Ok, so maybe I've been deluding myself that getting a little out of breath going up two flights of stairs was just because I was carrying stuff.  Uh.. a latte.  She also said that the extra weight would screw up with my fertility and may make it hard for me to get pregnant when that time comes.    By sheer force of laziness (and the force is strong with me folks)  I managed to put on a LOT of weight after college.  I avoid looking much at those photos of me when Mr. Bird and I started dating 12ish years ago - its just too embarrassing.  With the financial and emotional stability - you start to get comfortable in your own skin, and before you know it - there is a heck of a lot of skin now.

I need motivation.  And I found it in Nike+ .  The thing is freakin brilliant.  It is a little sensor that attaches to your running shoes, and works with the iPod Nano, tracking the number of miles you've run, the calories you've burned, and the pace you are running.   Once you've signed up for an account on the Nike+ site, you can challenge other people to distance or speed contests, look at your own progess, setup your own goals.  The competition aspect of it has made all the difference.  My sister, Mr. Bird and I have a challenge going now with the first to run 20 miles.  I'm in the lead with 14.75 miles, a little over three miles ahead of my sister.

I'll let you in on a secret.  I hate running.  My boobs would bounce all over the damn place, my shins would hurt, and my arches would cramp up before even a quarter of a mile was done.

I. Hate. Running.  (and I hate to sweat)

Until - I discovered that I had the wrong kind of shoes for my feet, that there were kick ass sports bras out there for even my gigantor boobs, and the motivation to leave my sister and Mr. Bird in the dust really kicked in.  I went to RoadRunner Sports to have my feet checked out - I have severe over protenation which in English means my feet are flat and as a result running puts a lot of strain on my arches.  Armed with some nice (read pricey) shoes - I took on the treadmill and lo and behold - dang.. my feet don't hurt.    It's not easy mind you - it's still damn hard to run because I get tired so fast and my heart just isn't used to the work.  It regularly cusses me out like a drunken sailor these days, but I soldier on.    I run/walk on the treadmill with Yoly every couple of days at work, and since March 8 when I got my Nike+ I have gone 15.72 miles and worked off 2188 calories.  Yah I know - damn unbelieveable.  I'm actually excited now when midway through my workout I can feel the sweat on my forehead.  I even have to wipe it away!

I am still firmly in the camp that I am NOT a runner.  But I've started running.  For myself, for my health, and for my rather suck ass body image of late.  I don't delude myself into thinking that I'm going to turn myself into some super model.  I like to eat.  But I would like to see myself being able to wear cute little clothes and such.

Saturday is the annual 5K Race for Autism and I'll be going to that.  I won't be running the whole thing (not even close)  but I'll be jogging till I get tired, walking to recover and jogging a little more.

Oh yah...  I even finished a sock.  I went with a 1 stitch picot bind off that made the cuff crazy stretchy even if its a tad sloppy looking.

I'm on the bandwagon for knit from my stash in 2007 and have not bought a SINGLE skein of yarn all year.  Not even sock yarn!  (although I'm reserving that priviledge cause sock yarn doesnt count)  I've also not cast on a single new thing.  Nothing till the other sock is complete AND Mariah is done.

I think I've been taken over by a body snatcher.

Where to begin..

A blog is a lot like weeding your garden.  A little maintenance here and there and it looks lovely.  But sometimes, life gets in the way, work gets a little busy, the needles start to get dusty, and you realize that you haven't knit a full row in over a month.  You start to forget how much pleasure the delicate stitches gave you, and the comfort a tube of stockinette could provide.  The effort of picking up an unfinished object to figure out where you'd left off weeks and weeks ago seems too much trouble.  You become ashamed.  Reluctant.  The excuse that posting with so little knitting to show for yourself gets in the way of actually writing anything.

If you let it go, a week maybe four, ten minutes of pulling the odd weed here and there turns into a full days work usually involving a machete, the neighbor's weed wacker and 911 on speed dial in case either gets a little out of control.  This is where I find myself.  A backyard filled with 6 foot tall weeds without a machete in sight and the only thing to do my much needed maintenance with is a butter knife.

To say that I haven't been knitting at all is not entirely true.  I have in my brief and sadly rare moments spent time working on Mariah's sleeves, still not quite done yet, and also a pair of worsted weight socks.  The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill worsted weight in this wonderfully plummy color.  I started out planning to make them into knee highs but realized that it wouldn't be all that flattering on me and I didnt remember to put in calf shaping, or a stretchy enough bind off at the cuff.  Definitely a downer when you can't get your socks on.

My sister tried them on and they dont fit her either so its not entirely my chubby feet at fault here.

March in San Diego is the beginning of a long extended summer for us.  With the change of Daylight Savings Time, the longer days have allowed me to spend more time with Lila the WonderDog.  She's starting to grey around the muzzle, reminding me that life is so short, and I've only got a few years left with my darling fur child.  I dread that day coming, and try to enjoy every moment I have with her.

That stuffed animal she's got in her mouth is a hedgehog that she loves with all her little heart.  She'll carry that thing around all day and then bing it to bed with her.  It's lasted nearly three weeks and now there is a bit of a split down the center of it.  It'll have to go into the trash soon but I'll leave it with her as long as I can.

With the longer days has come warmer weather as well, and I've taken advantage of it to start my spring planting.  Tomatoes, strawberries, green beans, radishes, cucumbers, and peppers are all on the agenda this year.  Last year's blueberries are starting to flower, as well as the wee nectarine and tangerine trees I have in pots so I'm hoping for a really great harvest of wonderful home grown produce.

Clockwise from the top: 
Nectarine flowers, Tomatoes, Blueberries, and Tangerines

Does anyone out in blogland know how to get rid of aphids?  They have over taken my roses and are absolutely decimating the buds.  Check out the grossness:

Digging myself out of a hole

My poor blog has suffered of late.  Cast aside in the face of endless hours of work, much shaking of fist at Microsoft over the whole Daylight Savings Time change and the havoc that it wreaks, wrecks?  I've been completely drowned in work, and only today has there been even a hint of an end.   I haven't even had a chance to barely do any knitting, and my mood has suffered for it.  I even missed out on meeting up with the usual suspects at Rebecca's last weekend,  But finally, finally, sweet Jesus Mary and Juan Valdez.. FINALLY - it's time to relax and unwind at last. 

Last night I managed to pick up Mariah - the only big project that I'm working on, and will work on until I'm done with her (socks do not count, and lace might not count either - I haven't decided yet).  I'd forgotten how much I love the cabling, and discovered that armed with my Knitpicks Pattern Holder (love this thing - you must get one) I can actually knit pretty challenging cable while watching TV. 

I am about 2/3 of the way done with the sleeves, all sorts of modifications to the body brewing in my head.  Lengthening, adding short rows at the boobal area, no hood, maybe a button front instead of a zipper, or even a pullover instead of cardigan, maybe a collar - oh the possibilities.    It's going to go to my sister I think, unless I decide that I want to keep it for myself.  Considering I'm significantly more.. um.. ample than she is - I'd better decide soon.

Not content with just knitting - I've taken a stab at sewing as well.  Here is an even more neglected dress - which will probably remain neglected till closer to summer.  It just needs to be seamed up the sides - which is what - 10 minutes?  If even that.  But no - I revel in my slackmaster like abilities.

I think it's going to be darn cute, and the boobages will be flirtily on display.  And you can't underestimate the value of flirty boobs.

As if I didn't have enough junk laying around related to various hobbies, I've also tried my hand at wire jewelry.  This is pretty darn fun.  Note for the day:  The higher the number "gauge"  the thinner the wire.  These earrings were super easy to whip up but the wire I used was a little too delicate so if you yank on them they will definitely bend out of shape.  Purty though - gifts for a few teenage girls I know.

On a more personal note, I found out that my parents were sick when they went to Vietnam.  No it wasnt birdflu.  They both got chest x-rays and the doctor there found a mass in my dad's left lung.  The big C word was whispered about, and my sister and I freaked out quietly.  When he got home he went to his regular doctor, got scanned again.  No cancer - it was pneumonia.

My dad's a crusty old sort - and it's much too soon for him to go anywhere.

I missed you blogland - glad to be back.

New beginnings

With the beginning of a New Year it seems rather auspicious to also be heralding the birth of a new child (a future knitter surely).

Sophie Arabella was born to Heidi and Mr. Absinthe on Friday, Jan 12, 2007, @ 2:58 PM.  A healthy bairn at 8 lbs 11 oz, 22.5".  Mama and baby are doing well and Sophie is the most beautiful wee thing.    Makes me ovaries twitch I tell you.  Parents are tired but happy and so in love with the fruit of their loins!

In the mail was this lovely little gem from the Sexy Knitters Club for the  Sizzle knit a long.  Filled with naughty little knit items.  I don't see myself knitting a cotton bikini anytime soon but there are a few items in there that I have my eye on.

As far as my own knitting goes, Mariah has been resurrected from the ashes and I'm enjoying the cable work.  After some time and much experience - Mariah the second time around is a lot more engaging and I'm looking forward to getting it done soon and have a few modifications in mind.