Fabulous Mr. Fox

A visitor at the dome! It must be denning nearby, I've seen it several times.

Ice Storm

A winter storm yesterday has left everything coated with a scrim of shimmering ice. It makes the trees look pretty, but they are singing & creaking this morning in a very ominous way. We'll lose a few big branches out of this one, I'm sure.

The dome, I have found, grows icicles like crazy. They don't form on the rounded part, of course; but when the sun hits the concrete, the melt flows down the dome slope & out along the dormer overhangs, which grow a rather impressive icicle crop. I've also learned that once the melting process gets a little further along, ice & snow sliding off of a concrete structure makes a loud & distinctive noise inside that structure. Scared the cats half to death the first time we heard it!

Winter Storm

Well, the first storm of the season arrived with much fanfare, but not very much snow here... just a light dusting in this part of the world. So my out-of-state readers can rest easy that we are all safe & warm, despite what the national news says.

If you haven't checked out the dome blog lately, you should really keep an eye on it over the next few weeks. It is finally finished! (or, at least, finished enough to occupy. I have no illusions that there won't be a zillion things still to do once we get into it.) Moving day is this Saturday and there should be lots of pictures. So stay tuned!

Autumn Auburn

I'm tired of the way my hair goes dark & dull in the winter... so I got some natural henna to play with the color a bit. The results were a nice rich chestnut, just a few shades off of my natural color. It's not very noticeable in artificial light, but shows quite red in the sun. Plus the gray has all magically turned to red highlights. :-)

Henna is a major hassle, but the payoff is the next day, when your hair doesn't smell like chemicals. Instead, my hair has a slightly grassy smell, sort of like new-cut hay. I love the color.

Into the Woods

Last night the UCM Theater department staged Into the Woods, one of my favorite Sondheim musicals, just for my birthday! (OK, maybe it wasn't just for me, but I like to think so...) Really fun, well done production. The interesting twist: All the costumes & sets were done with a steampunk sensibility... all pseudo-Victoriana and whimsical brass pressure dials sprouting from the trees. A really enjoyable evening!

Company Picnic

At our annual company picnic, there's always a few things that are a given: way too much food brought to the potluck, a corny speech given by the president, and a fun time hanging out without worrying about the phones ringing for a few hours. We can't always count on nice sunny weather, but we got it this year.

This year's Social Committee (which includes your humble author) chose the usual variety of outdoor team games. The main event, of course, was the tug-of-war. Peter, our president, tapped me for his team, mainly on the strength of my football background, I think. Here the team confers on our crucial fifth pick.

From left: Todd (IT programmer), Shawn (sales), Kirk (marketing director), me (Response Lab programmer), and Peter (president/captain.) Ready to rock & roll! How did we do?

CHAMPIONS! Bragging rights are secure for the year.

Mmmmm.... Bacon!

The Bacon Brothers is a blues-rock band fronted by well-known guitarist/composer Michael Bacon and his kid brother Kevin. Yes, that Kevin Bacon. They were the season opener for UCM's Performing Art Series last night, and let me tell you, they rocked the place. They did a lot of original music, mixed in with a little Beatles & Stones type stuff, some of it a little rough -- it was obvious that they were touring some new material that hadn't quite acquired its final polish. Fine with me! I like the shows that aren't overly slick. I bought the tickets expecting something of a novelty act, but these guys are the real deal... not a movie-star vanity band, but hard-rocking, gritty-sounding, authentic bluesmen with a great live show. Don't miss them.

Kevin Bacon is better known, of course, for his movie work, and for the parlor game that his oeuvre has spawned. I'm willing to bet that my Bacon score of three was one of the lowest in the audience last night. Here's how I get there:
1. I appeared (uncredited) in the girls-football-themed "Fighting Fridas" episode of American Family, starring Edward James Olmos.
2. Edward James Olmos was in the silly baseball movie Talent for the Game, which also featured Terry Kinney.
3. Terry Kinney co-starred in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon. Voila.

Will It Ever End?

The tomatoes just won't stop. I may end up with more sauce & salsa than I can use in three years. AND THEY ARE STILL SETTING FRUIT. I may still be picking by the time the first frost comes around. Plus, we got one pumpkin off the vine before the borer beetles got to work... August may be a little early for pie, but it seems that we have no choice!

Tomato Garden

It is well known that, if one plants six or eight tomatoes in the early spring, and then lovingly tends them, stakes them, weeds them and feeds them, by late August they will supply more tomatoes than the household can reasonably eat, and one will be canning & freezing & drying & generally trying to think of creative ways to use tomatoes.

However, I have discovered that if one plants six or eight tomatoes in the early spring, and then undergoes a difficult time wherein one's husband has a mid-life crisis and takes up with a twenty-something slut bimbo and eventually abandons the family, or some such nonsense, and one ignores the garden in favor of trying to salvage the marriage or dealing with the kids after he leaves or perhaps simply pulling the covers over one's head for a little while, and then one looks out one's kitchen window on a day in late August and thinks "Gosh, I really ought to get out in the garden and see if there's anything alive out there," the garden will supply more tomatoes than the household can reasonably eat, regardless of the astounding degree of neglect to which it has been subjected. The only difference seems to be that the tomatoes, having not been staked, will have sent out runners and will be growing in a big tangled mat that makes it difficult to avoid stepping on a few of the better-looking fruits. And quite a few will have been lost to rot or bugs, but it won't really be noticed in the abundance of the harvest. And there might be a few ignored zucchini that are as big as a well-grown Labrador, but I am calling them compost at this point.

So now I am canning & freezing & drying & generally trying to think of creative ways to use tomatoes.

Snowy Saturday

After the mildest MO winter anyone can remember in a long time, we're getting a bit of a late-winter snow storm coming through. Usually we're sick of snow by this point in the season, but this year it's actually kind of fun to get a February storm. It helps that it's hitting on a Saturday when we don't really have anyplace to go, so we can play in the snow & then come in and lounge around with some hot chocolate afterward, without the driving-to-work worries or any of that.

The forecasters said yesterday that we would get 2-4 inches, but we're already at 5" and it's still coming down. So much for accurate weather predictions.

Entrelac

When I picked up a couple of skeins of Noro Taiyo at the knitting retreat a couple of weekends ago, I mentioned to a couple of other knitters that this would be the perfect time to teach myself entrelac, a technique I've been meaning to try but just haven't gotten around to casting on. I was informed that entrelac is pretty complicated and I should probably sign up for a class -- I might not be able to teach myself.

Well.

If you are reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to realize that no one tells me that I can't do something. So this weekend, I printed off a basic pattern & started futzing with it. Behold the results of the self-teaching.

The Elms Retreat

I am freshly returned from a lovely weekend of knitting, knitting, and more knitting! I went to The Studio's annual Winter Retreat at the Elms in Excelsior Springs. The Studio's staff really put on a wonderful weekend... there were lots of interesting classes -- I took a really neat one featuring Vivian Høxbro's mitered squares technique -- as well as great food, a fabulous trunk show from Interweave Knits, some really awesome door prizes, and lots of cool new people to meet, all at a lovely old grand hotel that just oozes ambiance. The best part of the weekend, however, was just hanging out with friends old & new in the beautiful lobby to knit & chat. Here, Laura & I wasted no time getting down to business on Friday night.

One of the best things about the retreat is the market, where the Studio debuts some cool new things for the next season. One of their new vendors is... you guessed it... Dome Hill Yarns! I had many kind compliments about my yarn from quite a few of the attendees.

One of the regular features is a student fashion show on Saturday night... I determinedly finished the languishing Angelina, the lovely bedjacket from White Lies Designs, in time to wear it for the show. It was a hit! It is really very fun to wear with the dramatic collar and deep cuffs.

Adventures with the Drum Carder

In an effort to avoid the cocooning that we tend to do all too much of in the winter here, we had a very lovely dinner with Chelle and her family last night; it's always nice to get out of the house & spend some relaxing fun time with friends. After dinner, while the guys chatted, we (Chelle & I) couldn't resist some serious goofing around with fiber. She had a fabulous new drum carder from Fancy Kitty, but was still a bit tentative about using it. Now, I'm no expert on drum carders, but I used them a bit back at Yarn School, and the main lesson I came away with from that experience is this: Throw whatever you like into the carder, it's almost impossible to make a mistake. So, we started cranking away on the thing and made a couple of batts.

The first batt was mostly brown wool with a little grey & green thrown in, and some bits of blue/green silk hankies just for fun. We didn't separate the silk nearly enough, which made it a bit difficult & clumpy to spin. I think next time I'll pull the silk into much thinner & shorter bits before feeding it into the carder. We just kept feeding this thing until it was quite fat and lofty; it weighed about half an ounce.

The second batt we tried was burgundy and brown wools, and some burgundy silk bits that were smaller (but still a little too big.) This one was lovely, and a little smaller at 3/8 oz. We could have made it bigger but it was getting late.

Chelle kindly gave me both batts to spin up, which I did... spinning from the batt is a bit different from spinning from a roving strip, but not significantly so. I had a couple of fat spots where it got away from me, but for the most part it came out to a nice worsted yarn when I plied the two singles together. The two colors, so different, worked together in a rather unexpected way! There's not a lot of it, but maybe enough to trim a collar or something. I like it.

Spinning buddies

Chelle and I went to a spinning class over at the Yarn Barn this weekend. We had a ton of fun! We got to test spin several wildly different fibers, some of which I loved (Chelle & I both liked spinning silk so much, we each bought a bag of silk hankies to take home) and some not so much (I'd be happy if I never had to touch cotton again.) Best of all, we got to hone some old techniques and practice some new ones. And we got to hang out with some very cool fiber artists for the afternoon. A great way to spend a Saturday!

A Good Thanksgiving

Three signs of a really good Thanksgiving:

1. You have family & friends gathered around. 2. All of the dishes that you're cooking are finished when they are supposed to be, plus or minus ten minutes or so.

3. There is at least a little dancing in the kitchen. A lot of dancing is better. Hope your Thanksgiving is as good as ours!

Get Phat!

Do you like surprises? (Who doesn't?! When they're nice surprises, anyway.) Jessie from Phat Fiber had the brilliant idea of putting together mystery boxes of samples from lots of different indie fiber artisans from all over the place. Every box is different, and who knows what you'll get? You can get a yarn-only box or a spinner's box, which may have both yarn & roving samples. I've also heard rumors of stitch markers & patterns & all kinds of other goodies to be included. Each month's box will have a different theme... the first box in January will be "Winter". Sounds fun! It's a great way to learn about some new artists you haven't heard of yet & maybe get a sneak peek of the "next big thing".

The Husband Quiz

Today we'll hear from Mike, the Imperator to my Imperatrix. Here's a fun little interview-style quiz -- I borrowed it from Laura.

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Hubby: It's all useful stuff, as opposed to mine [he knits chain mail]

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
Hubby: Never really thought of it.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as good?
Hubby: Everything you knit is beautiful!

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
Hubby: No more so than any other hobby, all hobbies can be expensive if you really get into it.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
Hubby: Yes, all kinds. I knit chain mail and collect knives.

Me: Do you have a stash of any kind?
Hubby: Yes, I have a stash of rings that I've been sitting on for years but I am using them now. [Approximately 18,000 rings for an armour shirt]

Me: Have I ever embarrassed you, knitting in public?
Hubby: No

Me: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
Hubby: No, I have no idea. There's only like eight million kinds of yarn out there.

Me: Can you name another knitting blog?
Hubby: Not for your kind of knitting, but I'm on a chain mail forum right now.

Me: Do you mind my wanting to stop at knit shops wherever we go?
Hubby: No, do you mind me wanting to stop at the knife shops?

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Hubby: Yes, of course. I have to do it too. It's a proof to make sure it's going to look the way I want it to.

Me: Do you read Ave Trivia Imperatrix! (this blog)?
Hubby: Once in a while.

Me: Have you ever left a comment?
Hubby: No

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
Hubby: No, you keep everything pretty organized, so it's not like it's cluttered. [Note, it's not true, but he said it very sweetly]

Me: Anything you'd like to add?
Hubby: Yes, I really enjoy wearing your knitted stuff.

Obama comes to KC

Yesterday, I took the kids down to Liberty Memorial Park to see Senator Barack Obama speak at a campaign rally. We were three of the 75,000-plus who turned out to see him in Kansas City. It was amazing! I'll leave it to the political blogs to do the in-depth analysis on his various policy positions... I'll just say that the man is a flat-out inspiration.

We got there a little before two, and waited in line for a couple hours before they let us into the park. Then we waited for a couple more hours before the speeches started. Of course, I was representing Knitters for Obama. Got a solid four inches of ribbing done on Mike's Antifreeze hat, too.

Obama's stump speech is thoughtful and engaging. He hit all the high notes... healthcare, education, and especially taxes... but he also repeated the story about stopping in a little diner while campaigning in Ohio for a slice of sweet-potato pie. You gotta love a man whose face lights up when he talks about sweet-potato pie.

Missouri is by no means a done deal, and I'll be working my patootie off for the next sixteen days along with all of the rest of the Obama volunteers here in the effort to turn MO blue. But I've got a really, really good feeling here.

Yarn Harlot comes to KC

A bunch of us went up to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot, last night -- she is on a tour promoting her new book. From left to right: Carolyn, Chelle, Laura, Dorothy, and me. Three out of five knitters also blog, apparently. Anyway, it was fun hanging out with a bunch of other knitters, chatting and having a good old time seeing all the beautiful hand knits! And I won the door prize at the end of the evening! Man, I ought to go buy a lottery ticket or something, my luck seems to be running very strong right now.

(The picture was blatantly lifted from Chelle, because I forgot my camera. Sorry, Chelle.)

Back to School

Pattern: Back To School U-Neck vest (Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel)
Yarn: Dome Hill Yarns Worsted in Jaded
Needles: 8

This was a fairly quick knit -- of course, I have done so many socks lately, anything in worsted flies along by comparison. The fitted design elements (ribbing through the midsection, bust increases above the empire waistline) really add to the polished look of the vest. Jaded is one of my favorite colorways, too, so I can see myself wearing this a lot this fall & winter. :-)