Knitting in Transit

I'm not really going to camp. It's more like I am going to Day Camp. Today I signed up for this workshop: Fibers and Fabric Structures: An Intensive . It is offered through the Split Rock Arts Program at the University of Minnesota. I'll learn about the histories, origins, and properties of different fibers. We'll be doing burn tests! I'm very excited and a little apprehensive. I do not consider my self an artistic person, so I hope I am not getting in over my head. It sounds like a wonderful class. And for those of you shaking your head at the cost, one of the many perks of working at the University of Minnesota is that I am able to take this at a significant discount. Even better! The Lombard Street Socks are coming along nicely. I have finished Sock 1 and it is so beautiful. I can't wait to show pictures, although I am sure they will not do the lovely sock justice. I've start on Sock 2. Last night while watching 30 Rock I realized I forgot to...

My Grandpa O recently turned 98. Here he is with two apple pies he baked from scratch. My step-mom didn't say how they tasted, but they look yummy. He uses my Grandma O's recipe. She was quite the cook and baker. She made the best green beans, and a delicious pineapple upside-down cake. I think I also developed my love of German Chocolate cake based on her baking as well. Grandpa would always make pancakes when we visited. My favorite were the pancakes with bacon inside the pancake. He would pour the batter over the piece of bacon. Every few bites of pancake you'd get a bacony -goodness treat. I'll have to try this myself. I hope when I am 98 I'm still baking pies.

Or at least the bus stops are. Last night after tap class, I decided to try a different route home. I took the 50 to Vandalia where I waited for an 87. I got home at about the same time as either of the other two bus options I have. It really all comes down to: Where do I want to spend 15 minutes standing around? I've only taken this route home twice before, and this third time didn't give me a lot of confidence that I'll do this again in the future. The first time was a day the U closed early due to a snowstorm. While I waited for the 87, a belligerent , bordering on hostile, drunk guy showed up. Eventually he wandered across the street to McDonald's. Last night, two guys came in the shelter. They were loud and foul-mouthed, but not scary. They were joined by a young woman who was equally loud and foul-mouthed. I was a little uncomfortable, but I was pretty sure the bus would show up soon. Down the street comes a fourth guy, tall and lanky. Tall and lanky ...

You must check this out!

Well, Valentine's Day is over. As it turns out, D and I didn't really do anything "anti-Valentine's Day" or otherwise. We went over to my sister's for dinner: salmon with leeks and the yummiest fingerling potatoes ever (the leftovers made an appearance at breakfast) and watched some old Duran Duran videos. So, when I comes down to it, I spent the day with the people I love best (yes, Duran Duran falls into that category), which is as it should be. I gave the Little Guy some stickers, which he then stuck all over himself. They all fell off in about 10 minutes. D and I are planning to go to the volunteer fair at the Mall of America next Saturday, so we will be using Orinda5's suggestion. We just couldn't find anything to do yesterday. I am working on two new knitting projects. One is Matilda , which I am knitting from some lovely red Peace Fleece . The other is the Lombard Street Socks which I am making using my Pagewood Farm Chugiak Handyed Sock ...

Yesterday at the Little Guy's daycare, the teachers talked to the kids all about different sounds. I imagine the conversation was something like, "There are so many beautiful sounds in the world. Birds chirping, babies laughing, your mommy or daddy singing to you. And there are loud sounds! Jackhammers and jet planes. And irritating sounds like nails on the chalkboard and whining". The teachers then asked all the little kids if they could be any sound, what sound would they want to be. The Little Guy wants to be the sound of a... fart . I laughed all morning.

This weekend was my second Winter Cabin Weekend with D and his friends. You can read about my first Winter Cabin Weekend here . This year, D and I took Friday off and headed to the cabin early. D arrived at my apartment Friday morning with Bruegger's bagels and OJ (promising start to the weekend) and soon we were on our way to Chippewa Falls. One of the first things we did when we got there (after turning on the heat) was to have an impromptu photo shoot for the Ribby Cardi. Thank goodness it is finally done! It's been so long, I don't even remember when I started it. It is made with Peruvian Highland Wool, which is very warm and very itchy. I love the sweater though. The only thing I would change if I did it again would be to make it slightly longer. We spent the first day lazing about. No one else showed up until about 7:30. We went grocery shopping, I started knitting a hat, D read and napped, we baked cookies. It was lovely. Winter Cabin Weekend was a bit mor...

Last night, a small miracle occurred in my apartment. In between doing two loads of laundry, cleaning the bathroom, washing the dishes, and reading a few chapters about the life of Barack Obama , I managed to sew on half of the zipper for my Ribby Cardi! What Ribby Cardi you ask? Why, the one I finished a year ago. The one I intended to wear to a Super Bowl party LAST YEAR, but bought the wrong kind of zipper. The one that has been sitting neglected over the back of my green chair for a year now. THAT Ribby Cardi . I am amazed at how much I can get done in a small amount of time when I really put my mind to it and am not totally exhausted. I also told myself last night that I would not begin anything new until I had sewed the zipper on that sweater. Hopefully I'll get the other half done tonight! I am still looking for ideas for my Anti-Valentine's Day . I like all the ideas so far...well, maybe not the ones that involve babysitting. I really like Meema's idea...

I'm not wild about Valentine's Day. Why designate one day of the year to show people you love them? Why not just do that everyday? D and I have never really done anything special for Valentine's Day. I can't even remember if we saw each other last year on Valentine's Day! This year, I want to do have an Anti-Valentine's Day. I want to spend the day with D, but do things that are the opposite of what you might do on Valentine's Day. So far, the only thing I have come up with is watching a horror movie. Since neither of us like horror movies, we probably won't do that, but I am looking for things in that spirit. Please help me. Leave any ideas you might have in comments. If you leave an idea and we do that, you'll get a special treat. Probably chocolate. Or Gummy Bears if you prefer that sort of thing.

I finished the Stripey Socks last Thursday, my fist socks using the Magic Loop. They are a little baggy, and I wish I had made more of an effort to either make the stripes match perfectly or not at all. As it is, I feel they are off just enough to look like a mistake. No problem though. I still like them! The yarn is Cascade Sassy Stripes. In other news, I spent yesterday with The Little Guy. We hung out while his parent's attended a Bat Mitzvah, then we headed to the Como Zoo and Izzy's Ice Cream. The lions at the zoo were actually awake (first time ever I've seen them awake), and the male lion looked so majestic. Absolutely beautiful. This was The Little Guy's first ice cream cone. He seemed to really enjoy it. After ice cream, we headed down to Choo Choo Bob's Train Store , which he loved! He used his cute two-year old act to get a little train out of mom and a t-shirt out of Auntie Mimi. Gigi said when he got home, he was most excited about the Dum-Dum lo...