Go, Suzy, Go!

currently on hold with belkin

2010-06-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

...trying to get a replacement USB hub. This is turning out to be more of a pain than the product is worth. I have to say that I probably won't ever order a Belkin product again, based on the customer service alone.

The hub that I got wouldn't turn on when I plugged it in (which I usually like my electronic devices to do) so customer service told me I had two options: give them my credit card number and have them charge me for a new hub and shipping, they'd send me a new one right away, I'd send them the old hub back (paying for the shipping myself), and they would refund the hub price when they received the broken one. Or, send the old hub back (paying for the shipping myself) and they would send out a new one when they received the broken one. I picked option 2, not wishing to be charged a second time for a hub that also might not work.

Well that was on the 19th and I still haven't received a replacement. Plus, it cost me nine bucks to ship the old one back, and although UPS says it was delivered, the Belkin support site does not list it as "received" when I log in and check the status of the replacement. When I call customer service directly, they can't seem to find my RMA number, even though I can log in and look at the replacement status while talking to them. And still, no hub.

I just typed all this while still on hold with them and they still can't find my order. They're going on UPS.com to see if it was delivered. Screw that.

Cats + box = drama

2010-05-23T11:53:00.002-04:00

When I got home from Baltimore I had a package from Amazon (a USB hub, which I then had to return because it wouldn't turn on. Thanks a lot, Belkin.). Cardboard box = best present ever for cats.

However, one box + two cats resulted in some skirmishes. Eventually Banjo was victorious.

Annikki decided to pout a little bit. When she sits like this she looks like a sea lion, I think. Exhibit A, sea lion courtesy of CuteOverload:

And just for good measure, here's one more picture of Banjo, in the process of waking up from a nap / begging for dinner. This stretch is usually followed by some very dramatic reaching with one paw up into the air.

The universe and I are at odds.

2010-04-25T15:52:00.000-04:00

There I was, settling in to knit and watch some tv online, ready to have a relaxing night of doing nothing, when suddenly:

The computer freezes, mid-video, totally unresponsive, accompanied by a clicking noise the likes of which I have not experienced with any laptop. Kind of like the sound a remote control car would make if you tried to drive it into a wall repeatedly.

I shut it down manually, stopped for a moment to hyperventilate at the thought of how many things I had not backed up in several months, and (probably stupidly) turned the laptop back on to assess the damage.

Actually, it seemed like everything was fine -- it turned on as though nothing had happened. Of course I felt somewhat betrayed, as though the laptop had been planning some kind of mutiny for months. But at the very least this gave me enough time to back up everything onto the external hard drive and take the time to have a proper panic attack about it. (Especially when google searches for "macbook" and "clicking" automatically filled in the words "of death." Not especially comforting.)

The next day I brought it in to the Genius bar at the Apple store on Boylston, which is kind of like walking into an Apple computer -- you have to give them credit for sticking with the theme. Everything is either white of made of glass, including the translucent spiral staircase that goes up to the third floor where the genius bar is. Can I make a suggestion though, Apple? For people coming in with hardware issues, the sensation of falling three stories down a glass spiral staircase is not very helpful. Just FYI.

When I booked the appointment the night before, the website said it would take 15 minutes, which I was skeptical about. But it actually did take exactly 15 minutes. The kid at the bar opened up the computer, listed to my description, said "Yup. You need a new hard drive. Sign this waver.... initial here and here, sign there. OK bye!" and I had to put the brakes on the whole situation just to get an assurance that the backup that I had was ok and find out exactly how to restore the system later, before they took my laptop away from me. Dear Apple, I know your whole thing is about being hip and easygoing, but can we just stop and be serious for a second, because this is all of my data we're talking about. Can we just acknowledge the gravity of this situation before taking my laptop to the back room and sending me on my way?

24 hours later I picked up the laptop and brought it home again. I didn't open it for another day -- I gave it the cold shoulder to teach it a lesson. Then I set about trying to restore it. A few hours and two pots of coffee later, and I think everything is basically back to normal. Nothing was lost.

Anyway, there are a couple silver linings of this whole thing, at least. First, I was very pleased to remember that I had shelled out for the extended AppleCare Protection Plan, which at the time I thought was probably a waste of money. So the repairs were free. Secondly, they decided to upgrade my hard drive from 120GB to 160, and upgrade my operating system from 10.4 to 10.5 so that I would have TimeMachine for future backup purposes. Bonus. Thirdly, having to move everything over to the new hard drive is making me stop and reorganize my files, and purge a lot of crap that was on the computer, which will be good in the long run.

But now I'm considering whether to get a second external hard drive for the TimeMachine stuff, because at this point I view my laptop as a wild animal that I've taken in as a pet. It seems like a nice companion right now, but at any moment it could turn against me and attack. I'm going to end up obsessively backing things up all over the place.

I'm really looking forward to having a couple months of boringness with no drama. That sounds nice right about now. I'll write again with a real update, when I'm sure that this animal has been sufficiently tamed.

Successful baking experiments

2010-03-28T12:36:00.008-04:00

I've been continuing to experiment with vegan baked goods. I like not having to buy eggs, milk, and butter, and to be honest I'm happy to eat less dairy and substitute plant-based products if they'll work just as well. Milk is kind of gross, when you get down to it. At least compared with soybeans. Also, I like that whenever I make something vegan, it usually ends up being low fat and pretty healthy (as far as cookies and pastries go). There are certain things that won't work vegan (e.g., flaky pie crusts, brioche, etc... although I suppose you could use shortening). But I feel like, if it will work then why not?

Also I've been using agave nectar instead of sugar because I ran out of sugar a while ago and keep forgetting to buy more. (Not because I'm turning into a total hippie, although at this rate, who knows.) I bought the agave at Trader Joe's, and I had been using it for baking bread instead of honey. Supposedly it has a low glycemic index, which is nice, but the real reason I like it is that it's as sweet as honey but is cheaper and has a little bit of a maple syrup flavor to it. Awesome for muffins and bread.

So I made dessert last night and breakfast this morning and both things came out great! Here are the recipes:

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

(because peanut butter + chocolate = bliss)

Ingredients:

1 banana

2 T plain soy milk

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 t vanilla extract

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 bar of semisweet or dark chocolate, broken into squares

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

Mash the banana in a small bowl, along with the peanut butter and soymilk. Then add the agave and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Mix the remainder of the dry ingredients (everything else except for the chocolate) and add to the banana mixture, folding in until evenly moistened.

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, then press a square of chocolate on top of each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown on top. Makes about 16 cookies.

Raisin Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

1.5 cups wheat bran (about 5 crumbled Wheetabix biscuits)

1 cup plain soymilk

1 cup whole wheat flour (half pastry and half regular)

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 mashed banana

1/4 cup agave nectar

1-2 T molasses

1 T olive oil

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 cup raisins

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (optional)

Turbinado sugar for muffin tops (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a muffin tin (mine has six large cups).

Mash the banana in a small bowl, then add agave, molasses, olive oil, and vanilla and stir to combine.

Add soymilk to wheat bran in another bowl and mix. Add the banana mixture. Mix the remainder of the dry ingredients together in a measuring cup before adding to the wet ingredients, and mix until evenly moistened. Divide evenly into muffin tin, sprinkle with cinnamon and turbinado sugar if desired, and bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

More kitty updates...

2010-03-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

The kitties had their first night out in the apartment together last night, completely unexpectedly. Last night Alex got home from being out and the bathroom door was open with Anni nowhere to be found! When I got home from work soon after we looked in every possible place and finally found her behind the couch, behind some picture frames -- an excellent hiding spot. We’re not sure how she got out of the bathroom. It’s possible Banjo was the one to open the door. But Banjo was ignoring her completely by then and just begging me for dinner as usual, so we figured it would be better to just let her come out on her own rather than trying to get her out. Who knows how long she had been out already anyway! I put some tuna near the edge of the couch, which she ate after a while, and she stayed behind the couch all evening. Right before we were about to go to bed she decided to come out though, and she hasn’t hid again since!

She and Banjo are doing really well -- they chased each other around a lot last night and wrestled a bit but weren’t mean to each other. No hisses or growls, just the occasional puffy tail, and one of them would walk away when they got tired of it. Sometimes they’d just sit and stare at each other for a while, or Anni would flop on the rug and Banjo would sit nearby. We went to bed assuming that we would be awoken by any major drama, but there was only periodic running around. So we’re just going to let them be, since it doesn’t look like they’re going to fight and apparently they’re busy engineering daring escapes from the bathroom anyway, despite our best attempts to contain them.

This morning Banjo was fast asleep in bed with us, Anni came over to say hi when I got up and was looking out the windows later while we ate breakfast (not sure where she slept, maybe the bathroom), and both of them had eaten a lot of their food. I guess they worked up an appetite! They still seem a little nervous when the other one comes up to sniff, but as long as there’s no outright aggression I guess that’s fine. So much for a carefully planned introduction though! I guess they made the decision for me about when they were ready.

Here's a couple photos of them from this morning.

new kitty updates!

2010-03-22T09:51:00.003-04:00

I figure it might be a good idea to keep people posted about my new kitty, Annie. I had posted in a cat-related forum for advice over the past few days, so here's the info from there to catch everyone up to speed:

Saturday, March 20:
Tonight’s the big night! My mom is bringing Annie up from my grandmother’s house, with all her things. I say “big night” but really I’m hoping it’ll be very uneventful. My plan is to put Annie into the bathroom straight away, with everything that she’ll need. Then I’m going to give Banjo some REAL tuna fish (i.e., the only thing that he will do ANYTHING for) outside of the closed bathroom door, and try to ignore Annie for most of the evening and pretend that everything is totally normal. I also plugged in a Feliway diffuser today near the bathroom. Fingers crossed that there’s no drama at this stage…

Sunday, March 21:
Well, last night went very well. Banjo is VERY curious to know what’s in the bathroom, and actually has taken to sitting directly outside the door for a half hour a time, especially if he hears Annie meowing in there. But after a while he goes about his business again. He didn’t want to eat the tuna near the door yesterday because he was so preoccupied with knowing what was going on in the bathroom! But he ate it all eventually in his normal food spot. He caught sight of her when I was leaving the bathroom once, and he just froze and stared at her and then moved back away from the door, but didn’t hiss or growl or anything.

And Annie is not hiding at all! She stayed in her carrier for about an hour and then ventured out and explored the bathroom. She really wants to have people around and goes head over heels in love for both of us when we go in the bathroom. She heard Banjo meowing and didn’t freak out too much, just moved away from the door where he was. She’s bored of the bathroom already after one night and is meowing to get out. I think we might let her explore the apartment and put Banjo in the bathroom this morning, so she can see what the rest of our place is like before she meets Banjo for real. But they both seem to be relatively calm and curious about the whole thing. Yay!

Alex and I have been nicknaming her Annikki, which is the sister character in the Kalevala. Adding the "-kki!" at the end of her name sounds cute and she seems to like the high pitched sound of it. I'm hoping she'll be a good little sister to Banjo eventually.

Monday, today!:
Last night Banjo and Anni had their first face to face meeting! Anni makes it until about 6am in the bathroom before she starts meowing. I got up and went to visit her, and of course Banjo sat outside of the door. She wanted to play so I put a ribbon under the crack of the door, and she and Banjo started pulling on opposite sides of it. This meant that whenever Banjo "won" the game and got the ribbon all the way on his side, I had to crack open the door to put it back. After a few times, Anni stuck her face in the crack when I opened it and she and Banjo just stared at each other. Banjo sat very tall and still and calmly, and Anni tilted her head sideways and tried to wedge herself through the door, but I didn't think they were ready for that yet. I opened the door a little bit more and held Anni across the chest so she couldn't go all the way out. Banjo stayed very still, and then stretched his neck out to sniff her. She stretched out her neck too and they sniffed noses -- no hissing or growling at all. I was shocked! I gave them both a bite of tuna right away for being so good!

This morning I decided it might be good to continue the slow face to face introductions, so I took Anni out into the apartment in her carrier and let Banjo check it out. He hissed once, but in general he's just scoping it out, walking all around the carrier, staring at it, sniffing it, and then walking away and going about his business, looking out the windows and stuff, like nothing is going on, or watching the carrier from the opposite side of the apartment. When he comes up to the carrier Anni puts her nose right near him and even sticks one paw out of the gate towards him -- I think she wants to be friendly. He did venture into the bathroom and I caught him using Anni's litterbox -- maybe he's marking his territory or maybe he just had to go, I have no idea. I put out some tuna and eventually he went and ate it in sight of Anni. She got some in her carrier and ate that up too, and now she's falling asleep. Indifference is a good thing, so I'm really happy about this!

Lentil Burgers

2010-03-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

These came out great -- made about 20 veggie burgers. We had some of them right after I made them and froze the rest. SO much cheaper than store-bought veggie burgers, and they actually taste a lot better too.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a baking sheet with some olive oil (and sprinkle with cornmeal or soy grits if you want).

Veggie Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 3/4 cup red lentils
1 small red onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms (about 6-8 shitake or baby bellas)
1 chopped jalapeno
3 1/2 cups water/stock

Spices:

Chipotles in adobo sauce (be careful with these -- really spicy!)
cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, oregano, pepper.... whatever else you want. These would be good with curry powder, or with fresh parsley and cilantro as well.

Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add lentils and stock and bring to a boil, then turn heat to low-med, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils are just cooked. Add mushrooms and jalepeno, and spices to taste, and cook for another 10 minutes, until lentils start to get mushy.

Then take off the heat and add:

2/3 cup quinoa flakes
1/3 cup quick oats

Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Add 2-3 T ww flour as needed until the lentil mixture is very sticky and thick (should stick to the spoon even when it's flipped upside down). Drop big spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup) onto the baking sheet and press into a patty.

Bake patties for 15 minutes on each side at 400 F.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Squares

2010-03-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

Got the basis of this recipe from FatFreeVegan. Changed some things based on what I had around.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix:

1 c oats
1 c ww flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 t salt

Add, and mix until combined:

2 T olive oil
1/2 c soy milk, plus extra as needed to get crust to come together into a ball.

Press crust into a greased 9x13 baking sheet.

In a separate bowl, mix:

1 15-oz can of pureed pumpkin
1/4 c soy yogurt
1/4 c agave nectar
1 T molasses
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 t salt
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 t lemon zest (optional)

Add 1/4 c oats to pumpkin mixture.

Pour pumpkin mixture on top of the crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle top with oats, nuts, brown sugar, and/or crystallized ginger, if desired. Bake for 30-35 minutes until pumpkin is set.

Chocolate banana spice cookies

2010-03-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

Took a couple of stabs at some vegan baked goods.... these came out really yummy! Next time they need dark chocolate chips too.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a cookie sheet.

Mash:

1 banana
2 T soy yogurt
1/4 c peanut butter

Add:

1 T molasses
1 T olive oil

In a separate bowl, mix:

1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 t black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Place 1/4 c turbinado sugar in a small bowl.

Add banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the turbinado sugar and toss to coat, then space evenly on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before eating.

A picture of loveliness

2009-07-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

The other day I was wearing an orange dress to work. The dress is rust orange jersey and has a v-neck with a big 70's collar, and cap sleeves. It's pretty awesome. I was wearing it with a red belt and red sandals.

I'm walking home from work and this 70 year-old man stops me on the street and says, "Can I tell you something?" I say, "um, sure?" And he says, "I just wanted to say that it's so wonderful to see a lady in a nice dress! All the time nowadays you see these ladies and they have on their dungarees -- and I mean, that's ok! They can have... if they want to wear it that's fine -- but everything in moderation, that's what I say! When I see a lady with a dress, I think, now that's what I want to see. Like in the old days, they always had nice dresses. And now it seems like maybe the young ladies are wearing dresses again, and I think it's just great."

As he was wrapping it up, he said, "and YOU my dear, are a picture of loveliness!" So he won me over in the end, needless to say.

This dress is a handmedown from my mom, who had a ton of awesome clothes back in the 70's, the types of things you cannot find anymore. Fortunately for me, a lot of this stuff fits me now, and since she has no plans to wear these things again I basically have free reign over anything from this era that I find in our closets at home.

I went a little crazy with this for a while, supplementing the handmedowns with stuff from thrift stores, the majority of which was made of 100% polyester and had prints that usually combined geometric shapes and floral patterns. I still have an impressive collection, which, if I sold it online, could probably buy me a pretty new computer with a nice big monitor or an impressively sized tattoo. But I should probably just cash it in for a new wardrobe, because the fact is that I cannot wear any of those things when I am actually going anywhere to do anything that is not totally climate controlled. 100% polyester is not suitable for supporting life. And as much as I hate to admit it, my wild and crazy days when I could wear whatever the fuck I wanted with no consequences are rapidly drawing to a close, causing me to rebel in more subtle and work-appropriate ways. Which makes the impressively sized tattoo (peeking out from under a v-neck sweater or pencil skirt) a little more appealing than a day at Macy's.

What's stopping me from selling it all is that I'm still basically the same person as I was, and so these objects have burrowed into my psyche and made themselves nice and comfy. It's hard to kick them out now. To sell the evidence of my teenage existence and to use the money for something so mundane as department store clothes.

But when I finally get my degree, this will be a rite of passage for me that should not go uncelebrated. I've worked for five-plus years on my own, taking care of myself, and I'm finally almost done. This is something I have to think about.

A product of my procrastination

2009-07-13T17:40:00.000-04:00

While reading over some of my academic writing, I realized that sometimes I sound as though I'm consulting a magic eight ball with five or six transitional phrases. I keep repeating the same ones over and over, even when they're not entirely appropriate. "O, wise manuscript eight ball, which word should I use?" .... the little die in the purple liquid spins around and then lands on "Therefore" for the sixteenth time that day. So after some excellent googling and cross-referencing, I made this, and anyone who wants to use it is more than welcome. I'll update it if I think of any others

Apparently I learn nothing

2009-07-09T20:54:00.000-04:00

...because despite the fact that the following words have left my mouth on more than one occasion: "I should not drink as much beer as Alex does at parties because then I feel like death the next day," guess what I did on the 4th of July?! That's right! There's something about when he says "I'm getting a beer --do you want one?" that I just can't say no to. I'm just a hopeless romantic I guess.

Although I did learn that fireworks WILL explode underwater. Someone is not going to have fun cleaning out their pool this week.

I have been writing from home this week, and I've completely lost all concept of time. I wrote a ridiculous amount today and then finally took a break to walk around outside, all bleary eyed from staring at my computer screen. Why am I staring at my computer still? I have no idea. They have some kind of power over me, those evil websites. I'm breaking the spell starting now.

Ten CCs of chocolate chip cookies, stat.

2009-07-01T17:33:00.001-04:00

I just spent all day buried in data... and in the end I made ONE usable graph. In eight hours. FML. Seriously. I think I need a rootbeer float just to remind myself that there is something to live for. On the plus side, there is another manuscript that I might be first author of. On the downside, I think that if I have to read it one more time I might throw up all over my office, which would not be good for anyone. I'm putting it away and going home. We'll talk about this tomorrow, paper! You hear me? This isn't over. (I like to threaten my papers. It keeps them in line.) Want to hear about how behind the times I am? This month I am doing two things for the first time: a) learning to drive, and b) listening to podcasts. I haven't succumbed to twitter yet. But seriously, am I 70 years old or something? "Oooh, podcasts! Fun!" like they're new or something. "Well, I'm 27 now, I suppose I should do what high school students normally learn to do and go drive." I just never had to learn. It's embarrassing. Even more embarrassing will be when I drive into a telephone pole or a pedestrian. It's great too -- my first lesson is just far enough away that I can spend a week and a half working myself up into a nervous frenzy about it. I'm sure that'll really help. Well, anyway. You win some, you lose some. But speaking of winning some: my boyfriend is now embroidering. Yes, you read that correctly. The other day we sat on the couch and watched TV, and I was knitting, and he was embroidering a little bee onto a piece of fabric for an art piece. It was pretty cute. These are the times when I realize that somehow, against all odds, I managed to find a good one. Maybe I'll bake him some cookies tonight. On that note, it's out into the rain again.

Ok, crazy lady...

2009-06-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

I recently made a purchase on amazon that included a pet fountain and eight pairs of underwear. Whoever was packing stuff to ship that day probably paused for a moment to consider my strange and sad life. Thankfully Banjo actually likes the fountain, which means that I don't need to add this to the list of things that I wasted money on for the cat. After repeated UTI's I would rather spend money on something that places me firmly in the category of "crazy cat lady" than risk having to clean pee off of my stuff again. It really makes you appreciate how perfectly evolved housecats are, when you find yourself lysol wiping every inch of your apartment and still stopping to get your camera when they take a nap in a particularly cute position. I swear it's a defense mechanism. Once, when I was a kid, my little brother wrote on the wallpaper with some crayons. However, my mom could not yell at him because he had written "I love Mommy". This just goes to show that my cat is as intelligent as a 4 year old boy. He has been using this strategy for years now. Perhaps this speaks very poorly of 4 year old boys. My cat also tries to eat packing tape...

Dear Massachusetts: Please stop sucking.

2009-06-22T19:54:00.000-04:00

I love you. You know I do. I grew up here, and even when people bash you as being puritanical and stuffy, I stick up for you. When people complain about how bad the weather is, I remind them that it's really not that much better in other places. But seriously, this argument is getting harder and harder to make, when you insist on raining for the entire month of June. And not just rain, but gales and gusts, and downpours, and mists that make my umbrella useless (and turn it into a dangerous weapon, when the wind is blowing hard enough), and humid air that's still cold even though it makes me sweaty. I am tired of being damp. My boyfriend wishes you would fall into the ocean so that we would have an excuse to move to a sunnier climate. I vaguely remember something kind of yellow and bright that used to be up in the sky, but the memory is so foggy now (the humidity has seeped into my brain, it seems) that I can't even remind him of what that was like. I have lost all concept of time, since everything is an equal shade of gray, whether it is morning, afternoon, or evening. I find myself curling ever closer to desk lamps, like some kind of human beanstalk.

Please. For the love of all that is holy. Stop raining. All of the vitamin D supplements in the world will not stop me from getting rickets at this rate. Is that really what you want? I'm short enough as it is and you know it.

I'm willing to forgive you this once if you admit that you were wrong. You have my number.

xo,

suzy

The "can I help you?" approach.

2009-06-18T16:42:00.001-04:00

Alex went into both Windsor Button and Winmil Fabrics this weekend to get supplies for an art piece. I should specify: he went in to both of those places By Himself. He said he got some of the weirdest looks he's ever received from people. I told him, now you know how I feel when I go to metal shows. When I go to metal shows and don't take the trouble to change into all black clothing first. p.s. I learned that knitting with size 1 needles on the bus might be more frustration than it's worth. I also learned that there are a surprising number of potholes along my commute.

Rock Opera Gloves

2009-06-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

I had made a pair of these for fun a while back, but just got around to making them again in order to write up the pattern. Last time I fudged the hand in order to get my knuckles to fit, but this time I put in a proper gusset, but stretched it upwards all the way to the middle knuckles. Really, you only need to make one of these, I think, because at an actual rock show, you'd probably need your other hand for holding your PBR. Even better for using up leftover yarn anyway. Pattern will be up soon!

Vendetta gloves....finished!

2009-06-03T08:13:00.000-04:00

I finished both the "His" and "Hers" versions this weekend, and I'm formatting the pattern as we speak! Hopefully it'll be up on Ravelry by the end of the week. In the meantime, here are some pictures!

p.s. Like the paring knife? It cracks me up. Totally NOT threatening. But hey, these are based on Sweeney Todd so I had to have some kind of picture with some kind of sharpened weapon, right?! Believe it or not, this is the shiniest knife we have. Being vegetarians, we don't really need cleavers and such. Anyway, I'll update again when the pattern is ready to download!

You know what would be great?

2009-05-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

If I had a little button on my desk at work that I could push, and out from the sides of my desk would spring two long spindley Dr.Seuss-like robot arms with little white gloves on the ends that would massage my temples when I have spent too many hours looking at tables full of numbers. Also, if there was another button, and a couple more robot arms that would make me an espresso, that would be killer. You could press these buttons whenever you have that "I'm all alone in the world" feeling that comes with realizing that you are the hardest working and simultaneously the lowest paid person on your little office totem pole. It's a totem pole that's kind of shaped like an upsidedown triangle, I think. It teeter-totters from side to side, but the bottom is always on the bottom. Meanwhile, if I were in a movie I'd be digging a hole in my office wall and covering it with a poster of Racquel Welch so no one would know. One of these days I'm busting out of this joint.

Vendetta Gloves in the works

2009-05-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

I have two new patterns I've been working on lately. One is knit in Cascade Fixation sock yarn in eggplant -- I like this yarn so far. It's got a really nice shine to it. I'm not sure if I'm going to submit this pattern anywhere once it's done, so I'm going to have to keep you in the dark for now on the details. Anyway this pattern has gone through about 18 different versions already, so even if I put up a picture, it would be irrelevant in about 24 hours anyway, once I've changed my mind for the thousandth time. I took pictures a while back but I think the pattern is totally different now than when I started. Is it even the same pattern at that point? At what point have you basically scrapped your original idea, and when does it become a completely a new thing?

The second pair is a men's fingerless glove (or I guess you could call them gauntlets, but if I called them that, probably a lot of guys would be like, "you're making me a what, now?"... or who knows, maybe they would be like, "gauntlets! I don't know what that is but it sounds awesome! Is that something ninjas wear?!") Anyhow, like many people, I was struck by some of the knitwear in Sweeney Todd when I watched it, and I got a good closeup screenshot of Sweeney's fingerless gloves. After testing a lot of stitch patterns I decided that I didn't really care about duplicating the stitch exactly. I was really interested in the diagonal bias in the sitch, rather than the exact stitch itself. So I'm playing up the diagonal lines by making the gloves in a rib, and having it merge to form a V at the sides. I'm calling these "Vendetta gloves", and I think I'm going to write up a pattern for his and hers versions of it. Hopefully these will be available on Ravelry in the next few weeks! P.S. on the gauntlets: Nevermind that I'm working with DPN's that are entirely too long! It's a little ridiculous, but I can't help it. My grandmother gave me most of her old knitting needles, including a ton of aluminum DPNs in really great colors, and I use them even when they are totally unwieldy, just because I love them so much. Thanks, Babci!

A note to SPSS 17.0

2009-05-15T16:51:00.000-04:00

Dear SPSS, One thing you might not be aware of is that I prefer instantaneous cutting and pasting, rather than a process which takes approximately the same length of time as an inning in baseball. Also, the very last thing I like to see is a bunch of question marks where my data used to be. Call me crazy. Finally, although I appreciate that you are "processing" my request for an ANOVA, I would also appreciate it if you would finish "processing" it so that I can actually view the results. I don't ask for much. I really don't. [If this entry makes sense to anyone else I'll be thrilled that someone else understands my frustration, but at the moment it's just here for venting purposes.]

I'm on my 3rd pan aux raisins of the morning. No regrets!

2009-05-03T11:08:00.001-04:00

Pan Aux Raisins, originally uploaded by Go Suzy Go.

I made these last night/this morning and they came out SO good. Usually I don't have my act together to start a breakfast pastry the night before (which usually means that I make a lot of scones and muffins that take about a half hour total). But I've been itching to try to make some brioche pastry.

All in all it was actually really easy, despite the time commitment -- the recipe came from The Fresh Loaf website. The ingredients get mixed just until combined, then it rises for an hour and a half on the counter, gets punched down and put in the fridge overnight. The next morning you roll up the swirls with raisins and cinnamon sugar, put them on the baking sheet and let them rise again for an hour. So it's a lot of rising time, but they only bake for 15-17 minutes at the end of it all so it's over quickly.

And thank god because I really, really, really wanted to eat them by the time the apartment started smelling like cinnamon sugar.

And now I'm on my third and I don't even care. I'm making another pot of coffee.

Cardigan in progress

2009-05-03T11:01:00.001-04:00

Cardigan in progress, originally uploaded by Go Suzy Go.

Here's the Lucy in the Sky, so far. Actually, I've gotten about half of the other sleeve done too. The body is the slowest going.... it's a lot of stitches and for some reason my hands keep aching while I'm knitting it. I think the yarn, and the nylon circular needle, are really slippery, and so I'm trying to grip the yarn really tightly to keep my tension. I'm playing around with holding the yarn in a few different ways to see if that fixes the problem.

But regardless, I love this pattern! The little diamond stitch pattern is really cute and simple. I think this sweater will see a lot of use once it's done. I'm always complaining that I don't have enough plain, versatile cardigans.

Sadly, it won't be done until it's too warm to wear it, but it'll be ready for the fall, anyway.

Spring cleaning

2009-04-28T18:34:00.000-04:00

Alex and I completely reorganized our whole apartment.... This involved basically tearing the whole thing apart and putting it back together. It started with us complaining about all the crap that's just in the way, and ended with all of the furniture being moved, bags and bags of recycling being taken out, and the entire layout being changed. Later on in the evening, it also involved a trip to our local convenience store, where we purchased a case of bud light and a pint of chocolate fudge brownie fro-yo (possibly our classiest purchase ever). But now the clutter is gone. It's a big relief. I'm hoping this will renew my optimism and motivation to get all my other work done. A little change of scenery (subtle as it may be) can only be a good thing when I feel like otherwise my work life has become a pretty monotonous chore. It's not, really, but it feels that way. There is not nearly enough time to do all the other non-work things that I have been meaning to get done for ages. I cannot wait to be done TAing. This is my last TAing gig possibly ever, and it will be done next week. The sad part is that I do like teaching but I just don't have time to worry or care about it right now. One day I will (both worry and care). It is 89 degrees out. The trees are blooming. I just saw a huge redtailed hawk swoop down out of nowhere in the middle of a college campus. I won't lie -- I was kind of hoping it would fly away with an undergraduate in its talons. It didn't.

Surprises, disappointments

2009-04-20T18:56:00.000-04:00

The nerd show was less of a spectacle than I was anticipating. The science students partied respectably -- way to go nerds! High five! I did come up with a new category of nerd: the smelly nerd. Which sometimes overlaps with other types, but deserves its own category because it is so easy to classify. In fact, this classification can be done from several feet away with one's eyes closed, as I have discovered at some lectures. Should I be flattered or offended that instead of wanting to talk about my work, one professor would rather discuss breasts? Not mine specifically, but just in general? I wasn't even really sure how to direct attention back to my poster, short of pointing toward it with my nipples. I wonder how many male students had professors discuss penises at their posters. I'm guessing none. I didn't get into either summer intensive course that I applied to, even the one that I have applied to for three years in a row. A little confused about that one since last year I was placed on the waitlist. This year: Flat out rejected. How did I get LESS qualified in a year's time? Not exactly a confidence booster. I am so close to having enough data to finish this dissertation that I can taste it. Oh wait, what I'm tasting is my 14th cup of coffee today. But if I could taste it, I'm pretty sure it would taste like victory. MMmmm sweet victory. You will be mine. Oh yes. You will be mine. (The annoying part is that I really can't do a hell of a lot of work until I have enough subjects because the results would be meaningless. Until then I just gaze at my half-full spreadsheets the way I imagine women long ago gazed at the open sea while waiting for their husbands to return from some voyage to god knows where.) Meanwhile, sweaters are being knit. Gloves are being knit. The Lucy in the Sky cardigan is going faster than I expected! A trip to San Francisco, a trip to Philadelphia, and multiple trips back and forth and back and forth to the lab... all that time seems to have added up. The body is almost up to the armpits, one sleeve is done up to the armpit, and the other is about a quarter done. It'll be nice to join it all up and see it coming together into a garment at the very end. Doing sweaters from the top down is nice, but I always poop out finishing the sleeves and the bottom of the body because it gets boring and you have an entire sweater hanging from your needles the whole time. (Hello, Glee sweater that has been mocking me for months now. I see you over there, laughing at me.) I'm also changing this glove pattern to use sock yarn because why not -- everyone has sock yarn lying around anyway and I like thinner, fitted gloves better. For some reason my hands have been aching lately though, and the size 1 needles in the round aren't helping matters. I think I need to play around with different ways of holding the yarn in order to let my hands relax more. I hope I'm not getting arthritis -- You'd think I would be too young but that would TOTALLY be my luck. I saw some videos of Portuguese style knitting and purling. Kind of like a magic trick. I might give it a go. SPSS is beckoning to me from the minimized window (I'm coming, my love...) so I believe this particular bout of procrastination must come to an end. Starting....Right........ now.

Welcome to the nerd show.

2009-04-14T12:41:00.000-04:00

I'm going to a neuroscience retreat tomorrow, where graduate students, postdocs, and faculty will mingle and determine whose nerd power is the strongest. There will be epic battles and fights to the death over computational models and fruit fly genetics. There will also be "music and dancing" although I am picturing a junior high school dance with all the boys on one side and the girls on the other side. However, the program of events informs me that alcohol will be served! So perhaps in addition to being awkward, some people will also become belligerent! It should be a good time. The BF and I came up with an idea. You've all seen dog shows. There's best in breed, then best in group, and finally best in show. I think you could do the same thing with types of nerds, if you could call nerds a breed (and I think most people would agree that you probably can). There's the typical bookish computer nerd, characterized by thick glasses, pleated trousers, maybe a pocket protector (although that's a little cliche, now isn't it?), maybe a TI-83 stashed away somewhere on his person for easy access. But there are other types of nerds as well. The long haired nerd, or sci-fi nerd, who plays D&D and dresses in black, usually some kind of computer programmer or at least a gamer. We're all familiar with that one. There's also the nerd who is the coolest among his circle of nerds and so thinks that he is cool among the general population. The hipster nerd, or the nerdster. He is probably not that cool at all, but usually has a wardrobe that suggests that he thinks he knows what's up. An ironic screenprinted t-shirt, say, and Electric Six on his iPod, and he thinks he is worldly and edgy. We came up with another new category that I think is a new one: The nerd-bro. This is a nerd who tries to be a dude-bro, or thinks he is a dude-bro. Who uses his intellectual powers to be a complete jerk. Usually nerd-bros also think they are incredibly suave with the ladies (also a complete illusion). This category of nerds usually results from a lifetime of being picked on by actual dude-bros, and the desire to prove one's superiority in any way possible. Tragically, the nerd-bro turns into the very thing that he once despised. This is the worst of all nerd breeds. Most nerds are harmless and even lovable, but the nerd-bro is deadly and should be avoided at all costs. We tried desperately to come up with female breeds of nerds but came up somewhat dry, except to note that there are also female sci-fi nerds. Sadly, other female nerds tend to be somewhat nondescript. Or perhaps female nerds just end up more well-rounded or well-adjusted, and don't separate themselves out quite so nicely when dumped into a social setting. So now I have totally lost my sense of identity, being a self-proclaimed female nerd. I guess I should be pleased not to be so labelable, but really I'm just sort of sad that I can't be best in show. I'm also sad that I can't come up with a category to fit the word dominerdtrix that I just came up with just now. Because that would be awesome.

If at first we don't succeed, give us more of your money

2009-03-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

This post is going to be an extremely off topic rant. You have been warned. There is one commercial on television that I hate more than any other commercial that I have ever seen (with the possible exception of the idiotic freecreditreport.com ones that make me run as fast as I can away from my television set, and maybe the commercials for high fructose corn syrup), and that commerical is for Abilify. The commercial goes something like: "2 out of 3 people with depression are not helped by depression medications. For them, there's Abilify. Taken along with an antidepressant, it can help ease the symptoms of blah blah blah blah..... buy this medication. Oh and p.s. you can get chronic dry mouth, uncontrollable muscle movements, and possibly fall into a diabetic coma. When your antidepressant alone isn't enough, there's Abilify! Talk to your doctor now!" Thanks, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Are you serious? First they go ahead and tell you that antidepressants don't work for a lot of people (in fact, the majority). Then, instead of saying "stop taking the antidepressant if it's not helping you" they say "in addition to taking the antidepressant that isn't helping you, ALSO BUY this other medication, that ALSO may not help you." What's next? "Are you currently taking Zoloft and Abilify, and your depression symptoms persist? Try Buymorasol. When your other two useless medications aren't enough!" Have you seen The Wire? During the first season, a drug dealer is discussing how, if they want to make more money, they water down the drugs so that they get junkies less high, so that they have to buy more. "Funny thing is, the worse we do, the more we make" was the line, in a nutshell. Sound familiar?.... the worse antidepressants work, the more medication you have to buy? Also, in the technical documentation buried in their website they refer to Abilify as an antipsychotic. I feel like most people who end up taking this might be surprised to find out they are on an antipsychotic. Don't get me wrong, I totally support antidepressants, and they are remarkably helpful for many people. But seriously, if an antidepressant isn't working for you, try a different one, or try a different kind of therapy. Don't keep taking the medication that doesn't help. It's a waste of money. So having a commercial advertising a waste of money that will benefit large corporations makes me want to throw my remote at the screen. End of rant.

Knitting nostalgia

2009-03-16T20:35:00.000-04:00

I'm working on adapting a ballet sweater I have into a knitting pattern. Although you see ballet sweater patterns all over the place, they're always the wraparound kind, and strangely I never had one like that in all the years I was taking ballet. The kind that I had, I've never seen a pattern for one like it, so I'm keeping everyone in the dark for now until I work it out! It'll be cute though. Ballet warmups are so great for knitting inspiration though -- there are so many specialized accessories that you never see anywhere else but are completely and uniquely functional. I have a knitted pair of boy shorts: why? well, they keep your hips warm. But they've also come in really handy under a skirt in New England fall weather. I also adore all the legwarmers that were bought from dance supply stores way more than any I've tried to knit thus far. I think for a while I'm just going to de-engineer all these pieces to make up patterns. If they ever get lost or (more likely) eaten by moths in my apartment I will be so sad not to have a replacement. The only crummy part is that they're all knit with what looks like lace to fingering weight yarn on what looks like size 2 to 4 needles so it may take my lifetime just to make one piece. *sigh!* I need more hours in my day.

Just MAKE the damn gloves already!

2009-02-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

I designed a new pair of gloves for myself, made almost a whole glove, and decided that I didn't like how it looked after all. I've since been swatching and swatching and swatching stitch patterns, trying to get the motif right for the back of the hand. Somehow this is more challenging than I anticipated. My swatch keeps getting bigger! Also it's a little embarrassing when people are like, "so what are you making?" and I have to say "Well, eventually I will make gloves. When I'm ready. But that day is not today." Or "Arrgh, I don't even know anymore! This thing is such a mess! It's a disgrace!" Yelling like that in public is just unbecoming. But slowly, very slowly, it's getting better. One day I will have an actual garment.

DPNs and hotness

2009-01-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

I think the probability that people will ask me what I'm knitting while I'm on the train increases by a factor of 20 if I'm using double pointed needles. Something about seeing 4 needles instead of 2. Although, I successfully explained what knitting in the round is to a random dude who asked about it today, so hey. I made my brothers gloves and mittens for xmas -- some mittens for my older brother, some fingerless gloves for my younger brother, and some convertible fingerless gloves/mittens for my youngest brother. I was pretty burned out on making thumbs and fingers for a while. But it made me realize I need some for myself, so I'm designing a pair. I have some gray sport weight wool that just won't die (I've made a hat and some fingerless gloves for Alex out of it, and I still have 132 yards left. Weird). Speaking of which, Alex got me a niddy noddy for xmas. My pile of yarn is now transforming into pretty little skeins with labels saying exactly how many yards there are, which is how I know that I have 132 yards of gray sport weight wool. It's a beautiful thing. Normally I just look at the leftover yarn and wonder if it would be enough to make anything out of. And then when I'm not sure, I just go and buy more yarn for whatever the next project is, and the stash goes unbusted. No more! I made some chipotle hummus using some Goya canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. FYI, those things don't mess around. I used half of the can and it's wicked spicy. I like spicy though, so it's cool. But damn. This happened once a few weeks ago too -- we got a jar of chili black bean sauce from the Cmart in Chinatown and dumped 2/3 of the jar into a stir fry. Yeah. We were not very happy campers the next day. Oh, we ate it, for sure. We even huffed and puffed and blew our runny noses and exclaimed how hot it was, but we did eat it quite happily. The next day was a different story. Then a couple weeks later we decided to make some more stir fry with it, and thought "well, we used 2/3 of the jar last time, so if we use the rest that will be half as much. So that should be good, right?" Wrong. Still kicked our asses. So anyway, I'm glad I didn't dump the whole can of peppers into the hummus because burning myself this way three times would have been pretty pathetic. Now I'm hungry... gotta go!

Worse than I remembered

2009-01-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

I think it's funny that my last post was a year ago, and in it I mentioned how bad I am at blogging. Ha! No kidding! My main problem is how many different sites I'm now required to update on a regular basis.... I gave up on MySpace. Not really awesome at updating Facebook either. I joined LinkedIn but I'm still not really sure how to use it. There's a new site called mybostonscience.com that's a social networking site for scientists and educators in the Boston area. I just joined, but already I don't really have time to do much with it. My photos go on Flickr, and I usually do manage to keep up with that. I had another blog somewhere else that I used to update more, but that sort of fell by the wayside also. And then in addition to that there is a knitting website called Ravelry that I like a whole lot, but also requires updating with pictures and whatnot. Fortunately that one integrates pretty seamlessly with Flickr so I actually use it more regularly. Then I have three email accounts: work, school, and junk addresses that need checking. Seriously it's just too much. But I'm going to update this one so that I DON'T have to update the others. We'll see if it works! But man, I don't know how people have time to blog and network all the time because for me it just gets ridiculous. Am I really that busy? I can't be....

I'm bad at this game.

2008-01-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

This whole, keeping up with your blog thing. Already. I kind of thought it would take a few months before I got lazy, but I even out-lazied myself this time. I have had a cold for a week straight. Actually, correction: I have had two colds for a week straight. My boss had cold in her throat from her family in North Carolina, and Alex had a head cold from his family in upstate New York, and I think what happened was that the two cold viruses both ended up in my body and mated to form some kind of supervirus. I spent thursday coughing, then friday I felt better so I went to an opening and got drunk at a bar later (mistake), then spent saturday feeling ok but kind of tired and achy. Then Sunday through Monday it was back to coughing and sore throat, and then for the rest of the week I couldn't breathe through my nose for more than a half hour at a time, and I had a headache that no amount of over the counter medication seemed to fix. However, I did discover that I have not been keeping up with tissue technology, because not only can you get tissues with lotion now, you can get tissues infused with Vicks Vaporub. Yes of course I bought them. I also bought some medicinal tea called "breathe easy" which was really helpful. In sum, I hate being sick. I have not been very good company for anyone this week. In fact, I have pretty much complained nonstop, whenever I'm not busy swallowing pills, drinking herbal tea, or blowing my nose with fancy lotion tissues. Please pray, for my boyfriend's sake, that I will get better soon.

Excitement!

2007-09-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

My iPod came in yesterday! It's so pretty and silver. I haven't even turned it on yet... I think I'm going to wait for my new computer to arrive. I haven't bought any stuff like this in so so long -- it feels so luxurious and even embarrassingly excessive. But I keep reminding myself that my current computer is 7 years old and I have been listening to music off of my cell phone for a year. It's going to be such an improvement in my life.

Also, here's a picture of the finished Pea Pod Baby set! I'm giving it away this weekend at a baby shower. I hope it goes over well.

Pattern: Pea Pod Baby Set, Kate Gilbert (free from Interweave Knits), size 6 months.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto, shade #23009, just over 4 balls total. (I did a test wash of this in the washer and dryer, see my post below for results... the main point is you can wash and dry it!)
Needles: Size 5 Denise circulars for the body, Size 5 dpn's for the hat.

What else can I put buttons on?

2007-09-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

New favorite animated series: Afro Samurai. I just netflixed it, and seriously, just imagine 300 as an animated movie with samurais instead of Spartans, cross that with blaxploitation films and Quentin Tarantino, and add a dash of Samuel L Jackson kicking ass yet again. It really does not get any better than that. Go add it to your queue. Now. I'm seamed the pea pod sweater together and added some super cute buttons and I'm good to go for this baby shower. I'll post pictures soon. It was my first trip to Windsor Button, and it did not disappoint. Seriously, could purchasing buttons get any more efficient? I really don't think it could. Me: I want some wooden buttons for this sweater. [I produce sweater from my bag.] Windsor Button guy, standing in front of a huge wall of drawers filled with buttons: OK [turns around for half a second and comes up with great wooden buttons] How about these? Me: Those are nice. Do you have them in a lighter color wood? WB guy: [turns around for another half a second] Yes. Here you go. Me: Awesome. How much are they? WB guy: $2.09 each. Me: That's kind of a lot... Do you have some that look like these but are cheaper? WB guy: If you don't mind plastic instead of real wood. Me: Ok let's have a look. Wb guy: [turns around for another half second and appears with perfect buttons that look just like wood but are one third of the price] I actually like those better than the wooden ones, personally. They're shinier and you can use either side. Me: Yes! I'll take them! It took about 1 minute to get this whole thing accomplished and I didn't have to stand there in front of a display of buttons pondering which ones would be best. I have a couple other projects that will require buttons, and I'll definitely be doing it the same way. Who knew it could be so pleasant? I'm also working on a deconstructed hoodie made out of some cheap acrylic. The hood is taking for freaking ever to finish. I had no idea the hood would take longer than a whole sleeve, but it's true. And I ordered a new computer (MacBook. Drool!) so I'm spending my days obsessively tracking the package on the FedEx website. When it gets here I think I'm just going to hug it for a while before I even turn it on. You have to start these things out on the right foot, after all.

Note to self...

2007-09-05T12:40:00.000-04:00

Mercerized cotton + aluminum needles + bumpy bus rides = suzy yelling obscenities in front of strangers. Please, suzy, switch to bamboo immediately, even though they're expensive and you'll complain about it. My grandmother kindly gave me a huge supply of knitting needles a couple years ago. I have every size, just about, and most of them are really pretty colors of shiny aluminum. Of course I choose these needles based on the pretty color, rather than their appropriateness for the setting or project. That is, until I feel like my stitches are careening off the tips without warning and the people around me are wondering if I have some kind of psychological disorder. Instead I brought the pea pod hat on the bus today, which was better. But dpn's + my messy bookbag = also another bad combo. So knitting needle shopping I must go. This drop stitch tank is really a perfect commute project because the stich pattern is so easy and there's almost no measuring needed -- just two rectangles. I love finishing things on my commute because it seems almost magical when they are suddenly complete.

Some minor complaints

2007-09-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed with Magknits lately. They only have like 5 patterns per issue and most of the time there is nothing that I would wear among them. This month they have one cute 3/4 length sleeve top, but they don't have a decent picture of the sweater with the pattern! Not one picture that shows the entire sweater. How do I know if I want to make this if I can't see where it falls on the hip, how long the sleeves really are, or how the waist shaping looks? What the hell, guys? Can we have some standards, please? Secondly, and on a completely unrelated note, I recently watched an episode of "the pick up artist" on cable, and I can't help but feel sad for these guys on this show because they are being fed total and utter crap. Some dude named Mystery (which should be the first warning right there that it's all bullshit) throws around weird slang that he seems to have invented (e.g., "you have to open up sets and throw out some negs" -- excuse me, WTF are you talking about?) while wearing a furry top hat and eyeliner. This is the best expert they could find? The goal is to pretend you are variously interested and not interested in the woman (whom Mystery refers to as the "target"), and this is supposed to make her want to give you her phone number, from what I understand. I never knew that that's what I wanted in a man, but how could Mystery be wrong? Then the "experts" teach these loser guys about how to tell if women want them. "She's touching her head -- this is a sign women give that they're interested," says Mystery. Um, what is this, a nature program -- like mating signs of the european sparrow or something? And anyway, perhaps the woman just has a headache from your stupid pick up lines and that's why she's touching her head. Thirdly, I remember some dude coming in to the coffee shop that I work at and bragging about how he was going to be on this show, apparently in an effort to pick up some of the girls that work there. I believe the response he encountered was, "Yeah ok great here's your coffee k thnx bye." I don't know why you would want to admit A) that you signed yourself up for reality television, B) that you participated in a show meant for guys who don't know how to behave around women, and C) that all of your embarrassing secrets will be broadcast in the near future. None of these things are promising for your romatic life. You really should keep this stuff under wraps. Worst reality television ever. This whole "having cable" thing, combined with the "wanting to knit a lot" thing has caused me to watch some really bad tv though. I don't regret it. It gives me fuel for appalled rants such as the one you have just witnessed.

Yay! I love finishing things!

2007-09-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

Oh wait, I'm not really done yet. But almost! I finished all the pieces of the pea pod sweater today and did a 3-needle bind off on the shoulder seams. Then I knitted on the collar so it's just the sleeves left to sew on. So close! I want to get this done so I can move on to other projects, although it is a really fun little sweater to knit. The color is going to be super cute with the right buttons. I hope this isn't too "girly" for a boy baby.

Off to cook some stirfry and rest my fingers for a bit. Then I will face the dreaded red cotton for a few hours. *cue dramatic music*

continuing progress, in the face of banjo

2007-08-31T16:58:00.000-04:00

Despite my cat's best attempts to prevent me from knitting by sitting on every piece of knitwear as soon as I turn my attention towards it, I am making progress on the pea pod baby set and the drop stitch lace tank.

Here it is on my mini ironing board.

In order to take that picture, I had to distract Banjo with a legwarmer. He fell for it, much to his chagrin.

The pea pod sweater is working up really quickly! Both sleeves and most of the body are done. The yarn is great to work with, and my plan is to go to Windsor Button for some cute buttons to finish it off. Upon seeing this sweater coming together, Alex's comment was "Babies are freaking small." It's true. They really are.

Then, the drop stitch lace.... it's going more slowly, partly because I want to get the pea pod done in time for the shower. Also because the cotton is not NEARLY as nice to work with as the merino. But it looks really pretty already and I love the color.

I think dark red is one of those perfect colors that manages to go with everything. I don't have enough of it in my wardrobe.

Not moments after that photo was shot, guess who came to sit on it. I pulled it out from under his furry butt just in time.

I turned my back for a second and he managed to squeeze his entire body onto the little piece of knitting. And yet, when I knit him something specifically for him to lay on, he will reject it. Why, Banjo?

He's all "Wots this? no cat furz on thees sweters yet. I will fix eet." Thanks, Banjo. Without you I would not have that flattering orange and white glow about me.

pea pods, tanks, and ADD

2007-08-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

I'm currently working on the Pea Pod Baby set from Interweave Knits for a baby gift, using some delicious Debbie Bliss Rialto (100% superwash merino). For anyone who's thinking about using this stuff: It's beautiful to knit with and not scratchy at all, although it is a little splitty. I found a perfect shade of green, and the other colors in the line are soft but still saturated and not too pastel. The label recommends washing in cool water and drying flat or tumble drying only. I put a swatch in with the rest of my laundry -- in the washer on warm, and dryer on medium heat -- and my gauge was the same when it came out of the dryer. Actually, it may have grown about a half a stitch widthwise over 4 inches, but no biggie. The fabric looked a little fuzzier on the surface afterwards, but it felt softer and more fleecy too. There weren't any pills, just a halo on the surface. So go ahead and toss it in the washer. I think it'll be great for baby clothes. All the research on what kind of baby gift to make made me realize how different baby garments are from adult garments. There are garments that only exist in baby sizes that would be totally nonfunctional for adults. I'm going to explore this a little more and design some garments to knit for an art piece. We'll see... it may mean knitting NOTHING for myself for a while -- I don't know if I'll be able to take it! I'm making the drop stitch lace tank from Fitted Knits (Stefanie Japel's pattern book) as well, out of some Takhi cotton classic in blood red. It's going to be pretty hot, I think. That's if I can get through the back piece, the pattern of which reads something like "cast on x number of stitches. K2, P2 until you can't take it anymore. Cast off." Not the most entertaining. But the front is fun to make at least. I'd like to finish it before it gets cold again. Lace + New England winter = bad, bad idea.

I am just so freaking hilarious.

2007-08-22T13:52:00.000-04:00

Here is a motivational poster I made of my cat Banjo, during one of his 15 minute foot-cleaning sessions. Cleaning your toes is serious business, apparently. I never knew. His fortitude and perseverance are lessons to us all.

Blog, Suzy, Blog!

2007-08-22T13:37:00.000-04:00

I realize how out of touch I am with not even a single blog to my name. Having thoroughly exploited the information available on other people's pages, and with people constantly inquiring about the name and location of my nonexistant webpage, I am reluctantly agreeing to spend more time in front of my computer. Yay! I knit, I study, I knit, I study some more, I watch crappy tv, I cook, cook more, and bake. I play bass and guitar, I have a cat, I have danced for 18 years or so. Details to follow.