Domestic Bliss: December 2005

Saturday, December 31, 2005
Countdown.

Syntax suggested that a movie might be in order tonight, so we saw The Family Stone. I hadn't heard much about it, except I knew it had a great cast, so I didn't really have many expectations. I loved this movie! It was a balance of funny and sad, but the funny parts were really funny. I think Syntax was slightly less enamored of it, but that's probably because he was expecting a straightforward comedy, which it wasn't. The title refers to both the name of the family and an heirloom engagement ring; if you click on the link you can see one of the posters that's fairly amusing.

Not much else on tap for us tonight - it'll be lasagna and bellinis on the couch, and at midnight we'll run outside and see the fireworks from City-County Plaza.

::Posted by Bliss at 10:31 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Friday, December 30, 2005
Birthday party.

Tonight we got together with an old friend who's in town for the week. He's the only person from high school I still see regularly - although by "regularly" I mean about once a year, since he lives in Los Angeles. He doesn't usually visit in December, since he's a musician and normally spends the month playing a lot of holiday gigs, but he broke his arm and had to cancel everything this year so he decided to come visit his family instead. Today is his birthday, and his mom had a small party for him. By the time we got there, everyone else his age had already gone and the room was full of his mom's friends; I think he was especially glad to see us.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:24 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Thursday, December 29, 2005
I heart the Harlot.

I just finished reading Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a lovely Christmas gift from my best friend. Her earlier book, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much, is wonderful too. Most of her writing is really funny, but she always manages to throw in a couple of poignant bits too. If you're interested in knitting at all, go read her blog.

::Posted by Bliss at 4:18 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Someone call the waaaaaambulance!

I've been off work for over a week and I have to go back tonight. Waaaaaaa! I want to stay home and knit.

I only have one project on the needles, and I've pretty much lost interest in it. I was attempting the Hourglass Sweater from Joelle Hoverson's book, but I was making a lot of changes; I was trying a different gauge and adding a bust dart. I had to stop working on it when I began the Christmas scarves, and I've just lost momentum. I may decide to frog it and use the yarn to make something similar using the instructions in Knitting From the Top instead - that way I'll be able to try it on while it's in progress.

::Posted by Bliss at 12:26 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
"Er liebt mir, er liebt mir nicht..."

We saw The Producers last night. Most of the reviews I had read were not great, so I went in with lowered expectations; since I wasn't expecting much, I rather enjoyed it. I did agree with a lot of what Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, but while I thought Matthew Broderick overacted and overgestured, I liked Nathan Lane's performance a lot. (He's the straightest man in the movie - go figure.) There were a few moments when I could really see an homage to the great Zero Mostel. I do wish they had cut a few of the gags - things like both leads trying to get through a doorway at the same time are probably a lot funnier onstage than in a film. Overall, we liked it, but I love the original more.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:08 PM :: (1 comments) ::

Monday, December 26, 2005
Photo essay.

We spent today at my parents' house, doing the Xmas thing. My mom always makes a standing rib roast, and I look forward to it all year. Dinner was great and the gift haul was pretty darn great too: I scored a couple of knitting books, several other books, a couple of giftcards, and a china coffee pitcher. The best part of the day was getting to play with my niece, whom I hadn't seen since our wedding last April. She's not quite three, and this was the first Christmas she was old enough to really enjoy. I let her use my digital camera when she got tired of her new toys, so now I present her photo essay.

I have no idea how she got that red one. Camera fluke, or budding artistic talent?

::Posted by Bliss at 8:55 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Sunday, December 25, 2005
Ho ho ho.

Another Christmas is almost gone... but for us it's not quite over. We went to Syntax's family today, but we won't see my family until tomorrow. The gift haul at the family do was modest but good; I got a giftcard to a craft store and the new David Rakoff book, and we got a joint gift of restaurant giftcards (always welcome, as we love going out to eat).

We exchanged gifts to each other after we got back. He gave me an adjustable slicer, a DVD of Howards End, a "Glow Bowling" playset, and The Complete New Yorker on 8 DVDs. (Thank you, honey! MWAH!) I gave him a book, some pajamas, and a DVD writer.

I would really like to go to bed now, but I'm not quite done with my mother's gift. I only have a few minor touch-ups left to do, though, so I think it'll be done within the next half hour. It has to dry thoroughly so I'll wait to wrap it until just before we leave.

Way back in 1991, I created a monster: I painted a little ceramic Victorian house and gave it to Mom for Christmas. Now, every year, she expects another piece of the Christmas Village. Let's see, this is 2005, so that makes this the 15th one of these I've done. And every single year I have to stay up late finishing it, because no matter whether I spend 3 weeks or one day painting the sucker, I will always find spots that need touching up right up until the last minute. I swear, this time I'm giving it one more touch-up then I am going to bed!

::Posted by Bliss at 11:36 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Saturday, December 24, 2005
One of these years I'll plan better.

It's been a really busy day. This morning I finished the Turquoise Splendor scarf (hooray!) and blocked it; it's dry now, so I just pulled out the pins and snapped a photo, and I'll wrap it as soon as I finish this post. I didn't quite get the edges straight, but that hardly shows at all when it's stretched out.

I have GOT to figure out how to take better pictures. It looks so much better in person.

All of the gifts for Syntax's family have been wrapped (except for the scarf, which is for his mother). I still have to do the gifts for my family, but we're not seeing them until Monday. This is a good thing as I'm still not done with my mother's present! (No, she's not getting anything knitted - I have to paint hers.)

As soon as I get done wrapping, we're going to break out the eggnog and the Jim Beam and watch some animated Christmas specials. Then we'll be having a happy holiday.

::Posted by Bliss at 8:47 PM :: (1 comments) ::

Friday, December 23, 2005
Home stretch.

I really thought I was going to be able to finish the Turquoise Splendor scarf tonight. Syntax and I put on the DVD of A Christmas Story, which I love but have seen fifty thousand times so it's not like I have to watch it closely to enjoy it, and I made tons of headway with the knitting. Alas, four inches from the end, I got a cramp in my hand and had to stop. I know better than to keep going once it starts to hurt - the last thing I want is to give myself carpal tunnel syndrome. So, I'll just have to make sure to finish those last four inches first thing tomorrow when I get up so that I'll have time to block it. Fortunately, the Shimmer dries really quickly.

In addition to the power knitting, I made a batch of chocolate fudge with walnuts today. This is the easiest recipe I've ever tried, and it was quite good, although it was a little too creamy. I know most people like soft, creamy fudge; I prefer mine to be firm and slightly crumbly. Syntax says this makes me a weirdo. (Like he has any room to talk.)

::Posted by Bliss at 10:59 PM :: (1 comments) ::

Thursday, December 22, 2005
Politics, booze, and car repair.

Although I didn't get much knitting done today (which means I'll have to do some speed-knitting tomorrow), it was still a very good day. I was really dreading getting my car fixed; it's always so inconvenient, time-consuming, and expensive. But I bit the bullet and called a mechanic that a friend recommended; not only did I get an appointment for today, but the problem only took him about 20 minutes to fix and cost me the grand sum of 28 bucks! I am ecstatic, and the car no longer makes that hideous screeching sound. Since I got out of there so quickly, I had time to finish up the Christmas shopping.

Later, we went to Jack of the Wood to get some dinner and attend the local chapter meeting of Drinking Liberally. I've been wanting to get more politically active (or at least more politically aware), especially on the local level, and I think participating in this will be a good way to accomplish that. I won't be able to attend every week due to my work schedule, but I'm sure I can persuade Syntax to take notes for me.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:58 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
It'll be done by Christmas. Really.

Our Stitch & Bitch group met tonight. I was looking forward to using the time to make some headway on the Turquoise Splendor scarf I started a couple of days ago, but I screwed up twice and spent almost as much time undoing my work as I did knitting, so I only ended up with about three inches of progress. This one is going to be really pretty, though.

I really need to figure out how to take better pictures. The colors of the scarf are so much prettier than they appear in that photo.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:10 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Tales of a fourth-grade knitter.

Today we walked up the hill to our neighbors' house to deliver a tin of cookies and to talk to them about some of the problems on our street. We had met them briefly a couple of times before, but this was the first time we actually got to have a conversation with them. They turned out to be lovely people, and I hope we get to know them better. We had planned on staying a few minutes, but ended up staying over an hour, talking about everything from the neighborhood to our jobs to their kids to our social lives. Their 9-year-old daughter came in to meet us, and I complimented her on her purple fuzzy scarf - turns out not only is she a knitter, but apparently knitting is considered a cool and trendy thing to do by her fellow fourth-graders! How awesome is that? I think I'm going to share some of my stash with her - I have a few novelty yarns I bet she'll love.

::Posted by Bliss at 10:45 PM :: (2 comments) ::

Monday, December 19, 2005
Finishing a hat, part 2.

Well, I felted the hat last night. Compare these pictures to the one I posted yesterday:

Coronet

I was right that I would lose some of the definition of the cable. But that's okay; the sacrifice was worth it in order to end up with a hat that would fit on a normal, non-cartoon-character head. It actually looks a lot better on me than on the wig head. (Probably because my head is bigger.) The hat is still just a tiny bit damp, so I'll leave it to dry one more night, then send it out to its new home tomorrow.

::Posted by Bliss at 3:17 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Sunday, December 18, 2005
Finishing a hat.

Today I got some shopping done. Syntax and I went to see The Ice Harvest. I baked 125 peanut blossoms. And I finished the Coronet hat.

Except that when I blocked it, the stupid thing grew. Way more than I was expecting based on my swatch. To the point where, when I put it on the styrofoam head, it covered most of its face.

Doesn't this remind you of something Dumb Donald would wear?

So now I'm going to try to felt it slightly. I don't want to do it too much, because I'm afraid it will lose the cable detail, but maybe a little felting will help.

I'm very bummed about this. It looked so good when I was drying it flat, before I put it on that stupid wig head.

::Posted by Bliss at 10:45 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Saturday, December 17, 2005
Too soon.

Today was a pretty productive one. I promised myself I would get the Fireball scarf finished, and I did (except for blocking). I also made a lot of progress on the Coronet; the cabled band is done, and I picked up stitches along the edge and have made about half of the length of the main part of the hat before the decreases start. I should be able to finish it tomorrow. Also, I cleaned up the kitchen and made 133 snickerdoodles and a huge pot of spaghetti sauce. I'm hoping I have time to make peanut blossoms tomorrow, in addition to finishing up the holiday shopping and maybe getting some boxes wrapped. Way too much to do, and too little time to do it.

You know you're finally a grownup when Christmas comes too soon.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:25 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Friday, December 16, 2005
Mommy Knows Worst.

This year, I've done about 90% of my Christmas shopping on Amazon. I finally persuaded a couple of people to make wishlists; if I could get my parents to do that, shopping would become entirely too easy. Of course, one of the hazards of shopping online is that it's all too easy to shop for yourself while you're doing it. When I placed my last order, I succumbed to this and ended up with a copy of the new James Lileks book. After reading about 10 pages, I put the book down and went back online to order another copy for my sister, who will probably appreciate it even more than I do, since she has a toddler.

::Posted by Bliss at 11:01 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Thursday, December 15, 2005
I am plastic!

I'm a bit pressed for time - I need to leave early for work because of the icy roads. So this entry will be yet another silly quiz:

plastic

You are plastic.
Futuristic, milky, and silky, you are willing to go
where no crafter has gone before. You can do
just about anything, with strength, agility, and
pretty colors to boot! While you are good at
slipping and sliding out of sticky situations,
remember to stay where and when you are needed.
Don't overdo it on star gazing when there's
earthbound knitting to be done!

What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

That's rather appropriate, actually, since I've been doing my lace scarves on Bryspun needles - it's the first time I've tried plastic needles. I really like them - the tips are good for digging into those knit-several-together stitches.

::Posted by Bliss at 5:48 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Braided cable.

As I mentioned the other day, I'm working on the Coronet hat for a friend. I actually got pretty close to the gauge with the size 8 needle suggested by the pattern (that's highly unusual for me, as I'm a really loose knitter), but after making about 5 inches of the braid I decided I didn't like the way it looked; I think the yarn I'm using is a little finer and the cables looked too open, so I started over with a size 7. Of course this means I'll have to tweak the rest of the pattern to get the size right, but I figure it'll be an educational experience. I think it looks a lot better in the 7. It's a little bumpy but blocking should smooth that out. I also added selvage stitches to either end, which is making my edges look a lot neater. We'll see if it works when I start the rest of the hat; if not, I still have time to start over.

::Posted by Bliss at 5:30 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Books and soup.

Well, today I actually managed to get several things done: I called my dentist to get copies of my receipts for the year, I went to the post office for more stamps (my Christmas cards turned out to weigh more than one ounce, so I had to get some supplemental postage), I got a new 40" AddiTurbo needle, and I made it to the library. It was a pretty decent haul; I was quite pleased to find Son of a Witch was available. I was hoping Wicked would be too, since I would have liked to have read it again before beginning the sequel, but no luck there. I also picked up the new Cassandra King book and a couple of fluffy chick-lit books.

[I just realized I forgot to call my mother-in-law today. Drat! Must remember to do that tomorrow before work.]

After I got home from erranding, I made a huge pot of vegetable beef and barley soup. It had so much stuff in it that after it sat for an hour, almost all of the liquid had been absorbed by the vegetables, so I had to add another quart of beef stock and some water. I'll probably have to water it down again when I reheat it. That's okay - it's better to err on the side of too much stuff in it than not enough.

I had planned on doing some baking tonight, but I don't know if that's going to happen. I may hold off on making cookies until the weekend. If I can just stay out of the big-ass bag of Hershey's Kisses I bought at Sam's yesterday... I bought them to make Peanut Blossoms, but I know a lot of them are not destined to ever make it into a cookie.

::Posted by Bliss at 9:59 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Monday, December 12, 2005
Another project.

I'm starting to get tired of working on the Old Shale scarves, so tonight I started the Coronet hat from Knitty, using Elegance. I wanted to use a cashmere blend, but I wasn't happy with the available colors, so it'll be alpaca/silk instead. I really hope it turns out well, because it's for a friend who I think could really use something soft and warm right about now.

I was hoping to get to the library today, but we didn't make it - I'll try to go tomorrow. I hope I'll be able to find some better books this time; the ones I just finished were rather disappointing. Love, Work, Children was okay, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Cheryl Mendelson's first novel, Morningside Heights. I felt the same way about Kathleen Tessaro's new book, Innocence - it just wasn't as good as Elegance. Maybe my expectations were just too high. It's been awhile since I got totally lost in a good book.

::Posted by Bliss at 10:05 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Itchy.

You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Acerbic? Moi?

Actually, I hate to admit it, but this is rather accurate, except for the "widely respected and even revered" part.

At least I didn't get "You Are Novelty Eyelash."

::Posted by Bliss at 11:19 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Saturday, December 10, 2005
Pizza!

Ack! I need to get ready for work, but must... write... Holidailies... entry...

Syntax made pesto chicken pizza tonight - hooray! It's one of those things you can do with convenience foods, and it always turns out good. Cut up some chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and stir-fry them in a little olive oil, then add a couple of teaspoons of dried basil. While that cooks, prepare pesto sauce from a packet according to the package directions, but let it cook a little longer until it thickens. Spoon the pesto onto the crust, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, then put the chicken on top; bake until the cheese is melted. (Pesto sauce from a jar works great too.) I bet chopped artichoke hearts would be good on this...

::Posted by Bliss at 5:53 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Friday, December 09, 2005
Spicy.

On the needles:

I've finished another Old Shale scarf in the Stained Glass yarn, and now I'm working on one in Happy Dance. I wasn't at all sure I liked the colors in this, but now that I'm knitting it up, I've realized that the colors remind me of the packaging of Atomic Fireballs.

I just heard the mail arrive - the rest of my KnitPicks yarn is here! I ordered some Shine (a cotton/modal blend) on a tip from someone on the Knitting Help forums - she said it's a good substitute for Microspun, which apparently everyone on earth hates but me. It does have a similar feel, and hopefully it won't split as easily as the Microspun does.

For some reason, they included a flyer for a Medicare prescription plan in with my order. I sure hope they're not buying into the stereotype that only little old ladies knit!

::Posted by Bliss at 3:42 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Thursday, December 08, 2005
The fug... the fug...

One of my favorite blogs is You Knit What?? If you haven't seen this one before, check it out. The December 7 entry is particularly entertaining, and the commenter who referred to the scarves as "a tribute to the Flying Spaghetti Monster" was right on the money. The comments on this blog are always worth reading, because some of them are almost as funny as the entries.

Remember: Friends Don't Let Friends Knit UGLY.

::Posted by Bliss at 2:48 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Guru? Really?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I found the link to this quiz on Stacey's blog. Stacey is an amazing knitter who has started spinning her own yarn and selling it on eBay - there's a link on her page for anyone who wants to check it out. She also started our weekly Stitch and Bitch at the Westville Pub. It was a good group tonight - we had six people, which is enough to keep the room from getting too quiet but not so many that you can't hear everyone talk.

I particularly enjoy going to S&B in December, since the parking lot of the pub is right next to the Christmas House on Mildred Avenue. (I don't have any good photos, but check out Ashvegas' December 4 entry.) Alas, it does appear that they've scaled back this year, but they do have a rockin' gazebo in the yard.

::Posted by Bliss at 9:44 PM :: (0 comments) ::

Tuesday, December 06, 2005
New acquisitions!

Look what came in the mail today!

The hanks are Shimmer in Happy Dance and Turquoise Splendor, which are probably destined to be more Old Shale scarves. The skeins are Essential and Dancing sock yarns, so I can try refining my sock technique. I've made a few pairs of socks, but I need more practice. I'm really looking forward to knitting with Dancing, which is a blend of cotton, wool, nylon, and elastic (so maybe the socks will actually stay up).

And just because my stash isn't big enough (yeah, right), I have another order coming in a couple of days. There's no such thing as too much yarn.

Well, I've signed up for Holidailies this year. I figured I might need a little incentive to keep the blog going during this busy month. We'll see if I can keep up with it. Now if I can just get syntax to help me with the button code...

::Posted by Bliss at 4:33 PM :: (2 comments) ::

Monday, December 05, 2005
I'm back.

Welcome to the latest incarnation of Domestic Bliss. It’s been a Diaryland journal, it’s been a Diary-x journal, and now it’s a blog. (Aside to Fletcher: See? See? I told you I’d do it!) This time around, in addition to writing about my exciting life (heh), I'm going to be subjecting you to pictures of my ~~hobby~~ ~~obsession~~ vice of knitting.

I was a good girl today and went to the Y, where I hopped on the treadmill with my iPod mini (her name is Bubbles) and listened to David Sedaris’ piece from this week’s This American Life, then spent the rest of my workout listening to music. The first three tracks Bubbles saw fit to present me with were “Once In a Lifetime,” “Mother Mother,” and “Tarzan Boy.” Gotta love shuffle.

I finished my first real lace project last week, and I'm extremely pleased with it. I've done lace stitches before, but never with laceweight yarn - it's a totally different animal. (The color is most accurate in the photo where it's pinned out on the ironing board.)

This is the scarf in progress. The yarn is Shimmer, a very soft blend of alpaca and silk from Knitpicks. The color used is Flower Garden.

This is a closeup of the work in progress. The stitch I'm using is called Old Shale, which is almost exactly the same as Feather & Fan, except that the stitches are in groups of four instead of six. Since I was working on a small scale here, I thought Old Shale would have a nicer effect. Since it creates a rippled edge, I knitted each half of the scarf separately so the edges would match, then used grafting to sew the halves together.

This is the scarf pinned out to block on a towel on my ironing board. [Note to self: next time use more padding so as not to add to the number of holes poked in ironing board cover.] This is actually doubled, since the board wasn't long enough to pin out five feet of scarf.

This is how the lace looked after blocking. Compare this with the closeup above - the pattern is easier to see now, and the stitches are a lot smoother.

And did I take a picture of the finished product after it was blocked? Why no. No I didn't. Because I am a doofus. I suppose I could just go take one now, but I've worn it and it has stretched out a bit, so I'm going to block it again and take a final photo to post later.

::Posted by Bliss at 4:21 PM :: (2 comments) ::