Knit-Nerd-Rant

So, this year, one of the things I did was to learn how to cross-stitch, and did I ever! I've discovered it's a lot of fun, and a great way to incorporate my love of all things nerdy.  I've already made two things - both of which I am so ridiculously proud of.  One is a Firefly quote sampler and the other is a portrait and quote from Chewbacca.  I made the patterns myself, based on the same process I have described to create intarsia patterns .  These are more difficult to document, I've discovered, but just as rewarding! As a result, I've decided to create share-able pattens and try my hand at selling them via my new Etsy store .  Right now, I've got a couple patterns for the stitch works I've already done, and interested to add more as I can.  I'll admit that I've never done anything with Etsy before, so I'm interested to see how it goes.

For my friends, it's no surprise that I have a very dark sense of humor. This video HAD to be shared because it is quite possibly the most amazing thing to ever happen in a Thanksgiving Day parade. Barney gets shanked by a street light and is then destroyed by Lilliputians that look kinda like maggots. It really reminded me of those time-lapse videos of animal corpses decomposing in the woods. In other news, our Thanksgiving with the boyfriend's family was fun, lots of rest, lots of food, lots of opinionated conversation, some knitting, and some bonding.

Last night, I tried to see the rocket launch in Virginia, but managed to miss it. However, I had taken my camera with me and was going by the National Cathedral on the way back and decided to take advantage of the moment.  It's a really gorgeous building, and majestic at night. However, with the wrong settings on a DSLR camera, it can turn into a truly disconcerting, spooky experience. This one is my favorite: And then suddenly, I found the right settings. But it still quite spooky, or I was already in a fairly spooky mood. Plus, as an added bonus, a shot from near 30th Street Station in Philadelphia:

Apologies for any regular readers who have come along, things have been crazy this summer, and that's really my best excuse.  I have a sweater pattern that I need to go back and write because the sweater is super-duper cozy and snuggly, and I've taken up cross-stitch, and have a couple nerd-tastic samples already mostly completed, so more on those once they are web-picture ready! So my inspiration for today's post was my reaction to seeing the amazing movie, Pacific Rim . (Don't worry, nothing here will reveal any spoilers beyond the basic premise of the movie. I hate spoilers, and refuse to add to them!) First, I had so much fun watching that movie. It was totally amazing and fun and hilarious.  I am constantly in awe of Guillermo del Toro's magnificently warped mind and the way that he can create such imaginative monsters.  While the kaiju are both traditional in their size and fierceness, the shapes they take and the faces (particularly the mouths) are ...

[ Source ] from April 1 2013 People Magazine So, while waiting with family in a hospital room with now windows, I was flipping through a People Magazine and found the recipe here (which someone else decided to save as well to provide me with this lovely picture). With the recent online meltdowns involving certain bakeries that had had some interaction with Mr. Ramsay, it makes the timing even better. Anyway, since Lala the lavender came to my home, I've been hoping to find a way to make lavender shortbread cookies. It seemed perfectly natural! So, why not adjust this recipe for what I wanted to do. I didn't monkey too much with the ingredients, but had to make some adjustments. 2 1/2 cups flour (kept the same) 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (kept the same, luckily had some on hand) 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (reduced from original to make room for olive oil) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (not in original at all) 2/3 cup superfine sugar (confectioner's worked for me)...

To celebrate the 4 year anniversary with the boyfriend (has it really been that long?!?!), we went up to Montreal. We had some help from a friend with an abundance of airline miles who was appreciative of help finding a job recently. The boyfriend had never been there, and it had been over 10 years since I had been, so we were in for a treat. We picked up a Fodor's guide and even had a paper AAA map on hand. I found the Hotel Ambrose on Hotels.com, and it was a pretty sweet deal for being located right in downtown (on the advice of a coworker who had lives there ages ago). Right by McGill, which was almost my undergrad alma mater, was an interesting neighborhood full of English-speaking students and tourists from all over.  then it was a question of trying to prepare my brain to start back up in French (though it's definitely possible to get around with just English, having the ability to do both makes things a lot easier, and some people a lot more friendly). Begi...

A small shop near the hotel with an amazing Mardi Gras display So I just recently returned from a business trip to New Orleans, and I am officially a convert!  The city at the time was in the early throes of Mardi Gras, and also preparing itself for the upcoming Superbowl.  The French Quarter was covered with police, who justifiably expected a lot of crowd to control between Mardi Gras celebrants and Superbowl partiers.  It was a bit of a head trip.  Jackson Square and the river front area were covered with different stages where the CBS folks were filming interviews and talking heads.  Despite the growing insanity, I had an amazing time, and made sure to keep a food journal. It was such an amazing culinary adventure.  Some of the highlights include Crawfish etoufée Coconut custard bread pudding, chocolate bread pudding, and Mother's bread pudding Poboys: Sammy's - roast beef poboy Red Fish Grill - bbq fried oyster poboy Mother's - turkey, roas...

So after an amazing and desperately needed vacation with the boyfriend's family in the Caribbean, we came back to DC for a quiet Christmas, just the two of us. Then, my parents decided to swing by for a small belated celebration with them, just as both myself and the boyfriend were coming down with a plain old awful cold. We have both been nearly bed ridden for a couple days. I discovered the joys of watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights while sick. It is awesome. Given our enfeebled states, "midnight" happened at 10 pm, and all was good. I have completed two of the delightfully cheesy jigsaw puzzles I got and all Christmas cookies have been consumed. Returning to reality may hurt.  With that in mind, I present one of the many pictures from the vacation in the tropics. Since then, it's been a pretty intense week and a half - work has been taking over a lot more of my time, but there is a possibility for promotion if things swing the right way... we shall see! ...

So this funky little thing is a Moebius plush that I decided to make for my father, a geometer. I had some difficulty wrapping my brain around it, and reached out for help to Ravelry when my brain felt overwhelmed.  Got some great tips that went straight into the pattern for this little guy. Materials: I used size 6 double-pointed needles (4) Ancient, mind-bending green worsted-weight acrylic yarn (less than 1 skein) and about 3-4 feet of a contrasting darker green for stitching. Using a very thick yarn for this size needles meant that the piece is fairly stiff and sturdy.  If you're a looser knitter, try a smaller needle or thicker yarn to get this combo for yourself! Cast on 33 stitches on dpns (I used slingshot/long tail cast-on). Transfer 11 stitches to each of 3 needles for knitting. Row 1: knit, join into round Row 2: [knit 1, slip 1 stitch purlwise at end of dpn], repeat [] 3 times Continue rows 1 & 2 until piece is about 30 inches long an...

[ via ] Ok, this one has been brewing for a while (there are more long-standing grievances to file, but this is sufficient for now).  I have a deep and abiding hatred for Pinterest.  It's unabashedly gender-role enforcing.  It's basically a place where straight, white women go to collect pictures of aspirational interior design, fashion, recipes, saccharin inspirational quotes, and they accumulate. More accumulation - as if that's what we need to cure the ails of society.  They tack up meaningless quotes that they think are insiprational that are usually historic/literary quotes taken out of context or meaningless drivel. They decorate homes they can't afford, select outfits they will never be able to buy, find makeup tips they will never use, and pin recipes they will never bother with.  It's the ultimate way to feel like a domestic goddess without ever actually trying anything. There are some snarky pins that I run across, including some I don't underst...

So, the great thing about living in DC is that we have such a strong relationship with politics. Particularly the (mostly white) professional population that comes from all far-flung parts of the US to work in federal government, non-profits, think-tanks, and the like tend to be very highly geeky and obsessed with politics.  The rest of the city natives (mostly black) have shown wholehearted support for Obama, in keeping with the traditional support for the Democratic party in DC for ages, and have been energetically vocal.  DC went for Obama with 91.7%.  I'm surprised it was that low. Conversations in coffee shops, on the Metro, in bars, and on... blogs... have obsessively followed every detail of the campaigns.  Some of it is definitely connected to individuals hoping that their jobs will be secure - from political positions to non-political civil servants afraid of politicians pushing federal spending cuts that would jeopardize their positions and career traj...

These are my M&Ms as they came out of the bag. I am convinced that they are segregationists. I could not stop myself from sharing.

So, this year, I turned the age of my birthday! Most people I know it's happened when they were 5, celebrating their birthday on the 5th - what a waster. Now I'm in my late 20s and had been looking forward to the celebrations for years! I remember thinking when I was young that it would be so cool to have my golden birthday, and that anticipation was sitting in the back of my mind for decades. It finally happened at the end of September, and it didn't disappoint! I was able to take the day off of work (through a last minute change of a couple schedules) so I went for a 6.5 mile hike through Glover Park on a gorgeous day. Got home a little muddy and a lot sweaty, washed up, and watched a classic English film with the boyfriend. Then I opened my cards and a present from an old friend to reveal the Dr. Who TARDIS mug that you see above! It's perfect for work, once we get a coffee maker set-up, since the lid will hopefully keep it warm until I get a chance to actua...

[Image Source: 1 , 2 ] **Seeking to avoid all spoilers for folks who have not read even the first one** So I have finally finished the full series, and I've made plenty of jokes about how this series is like crack. I got the first one free, but once I started, I couldn't stop. The stories are written with lots of action constantly, so that as a reader, there's always an anxiety building about what happens next. While it's not a challenging read, given that it's intended for the "young adult" crowd, it's definitely well-paced.  New and unanticipated consequences from the ending of the first volume continue to surprise and intrigue, and when one might be lulled into thinking that the danger is about to be over and both protagonist and reader might get to enjoy a rest, *BAM* some new twist totally changes the situation. It's a different way tot look at the typical coming of age story - how does a young woman define herself while ot...

So, I go to the library to pick up the final Hunger Games book, and I was in for a surprise. Theory is that crack dealers always give their clients their first hit for free, knowing that they will simply be so addicted and the dealer makes his/her money back many times over. Such is the case with this series. I got the first one free through a Kindle loan and have read that one and the second installment in a week each. This is a normal week, just reading it while commuting or at the gym. Back to the story with the story of the library book, I had two surprises waiting for me on Monday when I stopped at the DC Public Library by my office. When I first walked in, it turned out to be Irish Book Day, and they were handing out free copies of Irish novels, so of course I pick up 2. I can never turn away a free book. The second surprise was waiting for me in my latest hit.  I opened it up and within the first few pages, I noticed something. **Spoiler alert** The...

As with the millions of other self-indulgent blogs out there, this is simply a means for me to gather some random portions of my life. Topics of interest may include but are not limited to: Knitting, quilting, sewing, reading, pop culture, music, religion, international relations, science, space, feminism, philosophy, consumer finance and credit, disability rights, human rights, gay rights, civil rights, fantasy novels, fantasy novels other than Harry Potter, computers and software, movies, tv, science fiction movies and tv, automotive engines, cooking, fresh produce, psychology, football, the other kind of football, and yet the other kind of football, hiking, kayaking, sunburn, and dealing with family. If your interest continues beyond four hours, you should check with your doctor, because clearly there is something wrong with you. Also, I'll probably want to be your friend. So, a bit more about me so that you have some idea who this particular self-indulgent and at least m...

So, my mother has always been able to grow anything that came her way.  If it came to her sickly and limp, she'll have it full, lush, and strong within a month.  Sometimes I wonder if she's part wizard, and maybe I'm just a squib of sorts.  Over the past few years I have been finding my own way to horticulture, and have managed to kill very few plants!  I'll admit I've started small, with hardy plants that can take a bit of abuse. Today, I finally went out to my local small business garden store , and finally got some new, larger pots for some of the newer plant babies, some more potting soil, and some special soil for the new lavender plant, as well as some long over-due fertilizer.  I also picked up some small plants for the new office.  My employer is moving to a new location, and we're all very excited to have windows, and great big windows right near our desks, too! Southern and eastern exposure means we can have some real plants around! I'm starti...

[ Image Credit ] Note:  I am making a serious attempt to keep this spoiler-free, so just about everything included here is limited to what is set out early in the book and my general reactions to the book.  It's a fun and interesting read, so I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone! ___________________ So, I finished the Hunger Games  within a week, which is pretty quick for me.  It's usually too hard to find really solid amounts of time at once to sit down and read for hours, as much as I'd like to.  It's a quick read and it's a really gripping read.  It's fun and fast-paced, and I found that it created a lot of anxiety for me as I read it. I found the main character, Katniss, very easy to relate to, being a brunette from what is basically the East Coast in the Appalachians, she's tough, she's determined, and she's practical.  She doesn't leave a lot of room for softer side of life because she doesn't see the value...

As I was trying to find an intarsia pattern for the back of my planned cardigan, I wanted to find something that would be unexpected - not something sweet and wholesome that someone's grandmother would make.  I combed through the internet looking for something, then I realized I could create my own pattern! So I found an image that was from a color-in page for a kid's pirate-themed party of a skull and crossbones.  I increased the size of the image and set it as the background on an Excel spreadsheet.  I then re-sized the cells so that they would resemble that of knit stitches (while now I realize my error, I should have aimed to make them square, but mine were a bit more narrow than that).  Then I carefully formatted all the cells that would be the contrast color for the pattern by selecting them and using the "Check Cell" pre-fab formatting.  This meant that the contrast cells were all dark grey and had an extra border.  Then I took the full field (...

So, with the long weekend stretching out before me still a day away, I'm gathering a list of things that I want to do over the 3 blissful days: Sew 3 new skirts that are office-appropriate Watch my current Netflix (Melancholia) Go hiking! Clean the apartment Do laundry Find the fridge light bulb (Someone accidentally un-plugged the fridge, making me think that the light had burned out, since it was still cool and so I removed the light bulb thinking that I needed to replace it. I put it down somewhere and have completely lost track of it.) Knit (specifically the socks from yesterday's post) Make pancakes with the blackberries that thawed in the night of the wimpy freezer and re-froze into a solid mass of frozen-berry-goodness (see fridge light bulb story above) Limit my poking around online so that I can actually get things done! Find a way to get rid of the collection of old books I need to give away, and find a way to get them to any related location Perhaps some...