Happy Holidays

Real-world post completed, I can get to the more important stuff. The holidays.

First, I have a lot to be thankful for. And this Thanksgiving brought that home more than usual. I am thankful for so much.
-Love from my friends and family, who are a constantly growing web of people.
-A sister who has faith in God and country, in ways different and yet not so different from mine.
-A Jewish community at the non-denominational Sixth and I synagogue, who so far have been very kind and welcoming. Even if I still haven't made it to any services there.
-A new home that is safe and warm and already full of pleasant memories, and plenty big enough for one woman.
-A job that pays the rent.
-Enough yarn to see me through this economic climate, and enough spending money to support my LYS and online retailers for just a teensy bit more should I desire.
-A local library that is sometimes my solace.
-A gorgeous city only minutes from my door- I am so thankful that I still appreciate it, and want to see more of it.

Second, after my short list of thanks, there's the holidays more generally. I don't like hearing Christmas music between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I think it's ridiculous to rush the year along, just because the weather has cooled down and retailers are doing poorly. But I admit to a hidden love for Christmas carols and festive decorations and tidings the minute Thanksgiving is over. I am already ready to bring on the holiday cheer. One of my favorite movies is Holiday Inn, a silly little thing with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, but it does get you in the spirit of the season. For a Jewish chick, I do love the Christmas songs. The new Stephen Colbert Christmas Special was a nice and funny kickstart for this year- all I need to watch now is the new Muppet special and I should be completely into the holiday mood.

I did a good bit of my gift buying online yesterday, during the Black Friday specials. Part of me wishes I could have done more through my own handcrafts, or purchased from Etsy sellers who handmade their items. But most of what I got, after thinking it through, were games and other things that will bring people together. I hope they will allow my family and friends to remember that real holiday togetherness later on, since I don't imagine 2009 will be much easier than 2008. We are all so geographically spread out, and will be more so once my sister deploys in January. We have so much to be thankful for, the main things we have been provided with. Despite all that, I still wish my family could be a little bit closer.

I have great hope for our new President, but I think he just signed up for an almost impossible task. I think most of us are hoping for the best, but see a long road ahead. What better way to begin the next year than with a truly festive holiday- a celebration not quantified in money or gifts or fancy food and drink, but a holiday of the spirit. Coming together for company, and to spread the love. I think it's worth considering, even for the most bah-humbug of us, to try just a little harder in the next short weeks to express that love, and to really cherish what (and especially who) we have. It's a challenge anyone can win, and I'm ready for it myself.

The worst thing that can happen to a knitter

I suspect that the worst thing that could happen to a knitter is losing the ability to knit. I'm not quite so whole-sale gone as all that... but I managed to pull a muscle in my upper back/neck, or some other cause not yet determined, and have spent the last two weeks knitting very little and taking a lot of pain meds. When the pain still wasn't gone by last Friday, I pulled in the bigger guns- muscle relaxants. Boy are these things weird. When I take them at night, I'm out pretty shortly thereafter. Took them this morning, since the pain and discomfort was pretty severe and I don't need to drive or operate machinery today. As near as I can tell they still make me woozy enough that I don't dare drive, but I seem to be awake enough to surf the web with impunity.

At any rate, all this pretty much explains why I haven't yet finished the darn NaKniSweMo sweater. I've been making an honest effort- I finished the front yesterday, and started the sleeves today. About three inches into the sleeves, in fact. But there's no way I can pull out a marathon knitting session the rest of the weekend to finish it on time. So much for that goal. I don't think I want to mess up my back further by trying to knit when my body tells me not to, but it's a hard hard thing to laze around in front of the tv all day and not have needles in hand!

My Thanksgiving this year was quiet and very pleasant. I did a fair bit of baking beforehand- something about the holidays really gets me in the baking mood. I made blueberry muffins, although I should have made the awfully sweet variety instead of the healthy sort. I like the sweet ones much better. I made a loaf of cranberry nut bread, which is nearly gone already between Turkey Day and breakfasts since. And I also made four dozen pecan tassies. I absolutely adore tassies- they're a bit fussy to make, but come out stellar. The winter edition of Bon Appetit has a recipe for chocolate almond tassies that I may try next- there's something absurdly appealing about little mini tarts with a cream cheese and butter crust. Again- not so healthy, but absolutely worth it.

Toreador, don't spit on the floor

OK, OK, I know those aren't the words. I have seasons tickets to the Washington National Opera this year, through Generation O. It's their club for the under-35 set- they figure if they can get us young, we'll be patrons of the arts when we're older. The tickets are about half price, so it's totally worth it. I missed La Traviata due to work (don't even get me started), but I saw the last two major productions- Lucrezia Borgia two weeks ago, and Carmen tonight. Generation O tickets tend to be available for dates when the alternate cast is singing. For La Borgia, that worked in my favor- the main soprano got panned a bit by DCist but I found the production top-notch and the alternate soprano was superb. The romance between the trouser mezzo and the tenor was a bit overemphasized, but the dude was in love with his mother, too. Who am I to judge. Unfortunately, I missed out on the DC-native Denyce Graves in the title role in Carmen, and the alternate mezzo soprano was ... subpar. She scooped to the notes, missed them fairly often, and worst of all I could barely hear her. The production was fairly banal as well. The sets were uninspired, costumes seemed VERY been there done that, even to a girl who technically has never seen this opera staged before. On the plus side, it really is one of the most entertaining operas, musically, and the orchestra was in fine fettle for most of the night. I adored the soprano, singing the role of the good woman foil for evil little Carmen. And frankly, the tenor Don Jose was pretty stellar also. It's just a bit of a pity when the title role is one of the worst performances I've heard at the Kennedy Center. Period.
I'm skipping out on Peter Grimes (didn't I see that in its first performance at IU?), but I will be sure to let you know how the next operas after that go!

In more craft-related news, I placed an Amazon order last week and I picked it up from the front desk tonight on my way back from the opera, humming Toreador all the way. I'm very pleased with my haul. First up is Jelly Roll Quilts, an excellent book of tips and tricks and patterns for those gorgeous jelly rolls of pre-cut fabric strips. I don't actually own any yet, but I'm thinking the Moda sale going on at my Mom's local quilt store Wish Upon a Quilt might be the kick in the pants I need. I'm thinking of doing a fairly simple nine patch quilt in the Nest by Moda line. It's all little bird eggs, bird tracks, and adorable art deco style birds. Adorable!

Also in my shipment is my favorite new knitting book. It's the long awaited Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. There is one scarf in this book that I don't really care for. Every other project? I want. I want to knit them. I want to wear them. I want to drape them all over my apartment. I want to hang them from the windows, and on my mirror, and the backs of chairs. I want to give them away as presents to everyone I've ever known. In short, this is the best compilation of knitted lace that I've seen outside Ravelry.

And soon after NaKniSweMo, I'll cast on. OH yes. And it will be all lacey gorgeousness for quite some time around here. It's too bad about that holiday gift thing- everyone's just going to have to make do with store bought (or Etsy bought). I can't bring myself to stop knitting myself sweaters and shawls long enough to be a good gifter this year.

Knitting Content! No Kidding!

It's all in the headline. I decided to give up NaNoWriMo for NaKniSweMo, and boy am I ever cracking along on it. I finished the back already. Want proof?



Disregard the crazy coloring- it's not sage, it's actually hunter green. But that is really a finished back to the Perfect Sweater v2, knit in Ella Rae Amity. I know lots of purists get all fudgety about using wool/acrylic blends like the Amity, or Wool-Ease (pills a ton) or my general Plymouth Encore. But so far I'm loving the Amity, and the Encore has held up great in the past. My only issue with the yarn? Why would you bother with 220 yard wound skeins if they have at least two knots in them? I have terrible luck with knots. Those sneaky Ella Rae people. I hate weaving in ends, and I hate having to backtrack nearly an entire row even more. Grr.

On the plus side, this sweater got to go on a field trip to see the Capitals whup up on another hockey team. Sweaters just love field trips. Check the Flickr for more Capitals game fun. My sister, who you may remember is the real hockey fan in the family, texts me the same thing every time I go to a game: "You suck." Thanks, sis. I love you, too.

The knitting photos are pretty bad from the game- I kept laughing. It must be that old man I've been hanging around with.



That, or the beer.

Remember Remember

The... 8th of November... I don't think that's how it goes.

It's November. Well in, in fact. And I have about 2500 words of my novel for NaNoWriMo. And I don't really mind very much. It's a laudable goal, but it simply just isn't working for me this year. I didn't put in much effort, and between trying to keep up the running and the social life and the election craziness it just hasn't happened.

Instead of any self-flagellation about it, I'm just giving myself a better challenge. Why kill myself over a novel, when I could go crazy doing something more productive. Like knitting a sweater. I did it during the Olympics, which was what- 17 days? And there's 22 days left in the month. I still get to race, I still get the feeling of accomplishment... and unlike writing, which requires a laptop and time alone, I can knit while doing my other things. While watching the Daily Show and Dancing with the Stars episodes on my DVR. While hanging out with my friends and boyfriend in the evenings. And I miss knitting lately. Less than I would have expected, for how little I've been knitting... but still.

I have been doing a little knitting. I'm getting close to finishing the second ball of cashmere for my cashmere stole. And I did start the brown vine socks from the Fall Interweave Knits.

So now it's time to pick up my pointy sticks again, and knit myself a sweater. I even know EXACTLY what I want to make. It's the Olympics Sweater, redux! I have the yarn... I have the pattern... and I want to wear it desperately. It's a brilliant plan, really.

As a side note, I went to a Bond celebration at BoConcept, the furniture store downtown where I purchased my sofa. Their furniture was featured in the new Bond movie, so they held this cute little event to celebrate. The martinis were strong, the food was gone before we got there- but it was an excuse to wear some of my grandmother's rhinestones and head out on the town. Not a bad time at all! In lieu of knitting pictures... check it out.

Playing Bond


And me as a Bond girl.

Dallying in Dayton

My kid sister is rocking it out with Guitar Hero (which I'm still pretty bad at). After all those years she made fun of my for playing video games- she's more into the Wii than I am.

This has been a nice visit out to the middle of the country- a last little Dayton trip before she deploys in January. Friday night we went to nearby Kettering, OH to participate in their first annual 5k "Run for Your Life"- a pretty entertaining way to spend Halloween night. It was a super hilly course through the neighborhoods in town, so we were cheered along the way by the locals and the course finished in a burst of fog machine fog and strobe lights- it was adorable. It was the first 5k either of us ran, though my sister has done half marathons before. She stayed with my slow pace, and we ran almost the whole course... except for walking up all the hills. This gave us a pretty slow time of 37'38" but I don't mind in the slightest. I wanted to beat 40 minutes, and I certainly did! Next time I'll aim a bit lower still- and hope the course is a bit flatter.

The best part of the race was our costumes. A few other people raced in appropriate Halloween attire, but we definitely got the most crowd support.



Finishing a race counts as winning in my book.


We also went to the US Air Force Museum today- it's enormous and very interesting. Heather posed in a cockpit for me.


I wrote a bit of my novel last night, slept a whole ton, and am finally nearly finished with On Beauty. And I'm zooming along on my cashmere stole. It feels like a real mini-vacation. I'm thrilled to have made it out here. I'm sad to leave... but very happy to be heading back to Arlington. Funny how that works.

Bad Blogger Time

I have not been a very good blogger. A rather sad correspondent, in fact. I've thought about blog posts (at work, where I cannot write and post them, or in bed, where the laptop is simply too far away). I've considered taking more photos, to have photos to share. I've wondered about what I might like to document- the half-finished sewing projects, and the half-finished knitting projects.

Mostly I've just been busy having a strange new social life. I'm enjoying that, but so much for blogging.

And now I know it's just going to get worse. Social life isn't going away. And now it's November. Last year I chickened out. Last year I agreed to put aside my goal-oriented type-a-ness for the sake of someone else, and spending time with them. Well, so much for that- I should have chosen writing.

Hello, National Novel Writing Month. Ah NaNoWriMo, how I have missed you. I'm hoping to finish my cashmere stole sometime before New Year's Eve, so I can wear it. That's my metro project. But my other free time? Now sacrificed on the altar of bad writing, silly prose, and unedited wanton written abandon.

Join me? It isn't too late. I'm not even 2000 words into my novel yet (though I am close).

Also of note, on the personal and running side. I ran my first 5k this evening with my sister. In costume, of course- both of us were dressed quite appropriately. Photos to come, as soon as she uploads them!