The Woman in White Read-A-Long (Among Other Things)

Goslings!

I have been off Mae West-ing it in the last few months, but I have not forgotten that I owe you more than a snarky review about a book most of you will hopefully never read (because I read it for you).  I know you are all on absolute tenterhooks to know what I've been knitting, reading, and doing in the regular world. The first two are easy: I have been knitting late Christmas socks for my mens and a shawl for my Nadia, and I have been reading All The Things. But I am house-sitting in San Jose for my friend Auntie Social and thus do not have access to said knitted things to take pictures of, and this kitchen table isn't conducive to a lot of typing which is why I haven't done my homework yet.

Speaking of homework, I am finishing up my LAST CLASS for my Master's degree in three weeks, and then the Real World kicks in. If any of you need an executive assistant/event planner, let me know. Brie: call me when you win the lottery and I will move to Philly and be your nanny and we will have lovely crafty fun all the time instead of that whole executive assistant thing.

And now, the Woman in White RAL, as hosted by the hilarious Alice, with whom I would like to be friends and prowl the Chicago Library looking for sexy nerd men books.

This will be my second-and-a-half time through this book. The half time came first in an ill-judged attempt on my part to take a class on 19th c. British Literature from a professor with a brand new shiny PhD. It was only ill-judged because I didn't know at the time that new PhDs are the worst teachers because a) they have very little actual training in how to teach*, b) they are still thinking about nothing beyond their dissertation, which in this woman's case was in the Romantics - whom I cordially despise because I don't particularly like nature or philandering cads, and c) they have developed a habit of proving they are right, so any deviation from their train of thought tends to be frowned mightily upon.**

Y'anyway. I sorta read the book just enough to pass the essay, so it only counts for half. The first WHOLE time I read WiW was right around when Raych read it for her big project, and those sassy emails were a delight.

Ok. Let's talk about Wilkie Collins, whom I thought was a woman for the longest time.

Clearly not a chick.

I learned from Alice and Contractually Obligated to Like Books that he was dude-bros with Charles Dickens to the point of occasionally sharing women. Now, I have a group of friends who spent the majority of their late teens and early twenties diligently dating everyone else within that group of friends. There were break-ups and make-ups and fights, and now that we're older and mostly settled down (the latest wedding was in December and I just went to a baby shower where I was the only unmarried girl and one of only 3 unpregnant, and the other two were not for lack of trying if you catch my drift) we occasionally play the "remember when you were dating me? That was hilarious!" game.

I borrowed a dress from my friend to wear at her wedding to my ex-boyfriend, at which I sat next to his ex-girlfriend-before-me and the two of us shed happy tears. This wedding resulted in my "niece" Evelyn, who has made an appearance here in the past and who is expecting a baby sister in June (see above re. baby shower).

I really wish this were in focus.

I'm not really one to knock someone for a little trading amongst friends is what I'm saying, although I will throw out some censure for being married while they did it. Jerks. So, Collins and Dickens were buds and clearly somewhat douchey, which we will come back to more toward the end of the book.

Woman in White was published in Dickens' magazine and was a sensation - possibly on the same scale as Old Curiosity Shop, for which people famously lined up at the NY Pier to discover whether Little Nell was dead***. It is considered to be the first "detective" novel and one of the first "sensation" novels, although I think Anne Radcliffe and Catherine Morland would have something to say about the latter.

And that's all I have to say so far because there is a pitcher of mimosas and a dance party of one waiting to happen on the back deck.





* She says, from the lofty tower of an upcoming Master's in education.
** Obviously this doesn't go for ALL new PhDs. But the ones in the humanities do seem to be particularly uppity. Feel free to remind me of this should I ever become a PhD.
*** She was. I just saved you from reading that book, too!

The Progression

First I got a lovely skein of yarn from a friend.

Gifted Helen's Lace, original color

It sat in my stash for a year - or three - and then I got the brilliant idea to overdye it because the colors are just a little too variegated for my taste.

Helen's Lace, overdyed with Jaquard Sapphire Blue

It goes from looking like autumn in Vermont to storm-tossed seas, which inspired its use in a lace pattern called - appropriately enough - High Seas. Then came the inevitable "looking like bubble bath stage."

It is at this point that I always have to go back through my knitting photos and remind myself that I am not screwing up the pattern and to soldier through it. Then I get to the end and I gleefully drop it in a bowl of water to soak; pull out my blocking mats, wires, and pins; squeeze the shawl as dry as I can; then lay it out on the mats to pin.

At this point I usually get "help."

I stretch and pin and stretch some more until the lace creaks. It's a delightfully creepy sound, and it always rides that line between glee and terror that some thread will snap and all my hard work will be for naught. (Homophones are funny! Work with me here.)

Then I chase the cat out, let the piece dry, and get to my favorite part: pulling out the wires and pins. The shawl just stays where I pinned it, all openwork and flat where hours before there was a curled up, bumpy mess.

"Rafting on the High Seas," Helen's lace overdye, 920 yards.

Then I give it to my cousin for her wedding, we go hang out on a boat in the San Francisco Bay, and the whole family gets delightfully sauced while watching the Snowbirds fly overhead during Fleet Week.

Mom, THB, Skye (BFF of the bride), and me. 

On second thought, that last bit might be my favorite part.

Like So Many Things...

I didn't succeed in finishing 7 miles of knitting by October first. I really like lofty goals, especially because when I don't meet them I'm not overly fussed. I really, really would like to finish the 11-Mile Quest by December 31, though. For reals.

I did manage to churn out a bunch of knits, stay project-focused (mostly), and rekindle my love of spinning. I also managed to not buy any more yarn.  I made a very successful Yarn Trade with Spilly Jane in which I gave her my poor unloved Kauni and she gave me some Mad Tosh Merino Light and some Knit Picks Shadow - I'm pretty sure I won that round, but shhh! The overall yardage in was higher than the yardage out, but at least it's yards I'll actually end up knitting. My last September finished knit is my Sacred Scarf, which I cast off and sewed the ends into almost exactly as my train from the Bay Area pulled in to Sacramento yesterday evening. I'm quite pleased with it and will not be giving it away no matter who asks. Unless it's The 4 Closer, because she's effing incredible and I would bribe her with knitting to be my friend if I thought she'd let me. 

Regia Silk/Wool and Cascade Heritage Silk, 652 yds. total

But anyway. 

I have a bunch of things with a good amount of yardage knitted into them already. My High Seas shawl has only 60 rows and the edging to be done, the Tide Pool Pi is less finished but it's been TV knitting, which has to share time with TV spinning (and you know how well that's been going! Yay!). My Rosebud Shawl hasn't seen much action, but a girl can only focus on so many things at once, right? Plus I haven't quite figured out Fleegle's no-purl garter stitch method, so there is a LOT of purling. Ick.

And then there are the bebehs. I'm going to a joint baby shower with two of my good friends on October 29th. They're besties and of course are due right around the same time, but in a fit of pique that can ONLY be aimed at me, one of them refuses to figure out the gender of her baby until it's born. I ask you, how am I supposed to knit matching baby outfits if I don't know whether or not I can make this adorable baby dress?

Evelyn thinks this is SO RUDE. 

And then there's a wedding on December 10th in Arizona that I have to go to, and my Awful Ex will be there so naturally I need to look smashing and have something I can throw over my shoulders that exactly matches my dress and I can say, "Oh, this old thing?" Because that's how you do when you see your Awful Ex at a wedding and you're the only single people there. My secret weapons are: a Groupon for 6 weeks of CrossFit and the 2 weeks I'll be spending in Mexico in November.  And some killer shoes.*

Well, it lacks 50 minutes to October first, so I think I'll plug myself back in to Pride and Prejudice and see if I can knock some of those rows out of the High Seas shawl. I could conceivably finish it tomorrow, and then there would be pictures! 

*Whether they slay him or kill me first is up for debate.

My Favorite Baby

I went to visit Jer and Eliz in San Francisco last week and took full advantage of the time to huff my favorite niece:

Now with more yogurt!

She's now just over 22 months old.

And obviously cute as a button. What does that even mean, anyway?

She's definitely still a tiny little thing.

But that little package holds a whole lot of hilarity.

And also teeth. 

Plus, I've finally graduated from being "N-T Kaka" to being TIKA!

What a Trip

(Formerly) Crazy Sarah and I went to Disneyland in mid-July, where we rode rides

Grrrrr!

Creepy! 

Watched the end of the parade:

It's a jolly holiday with Mary

Had (very strong) cocktails at Ariel's Grotto:

The Bloody Mary's were surprisingly and pleasantly spicy.  

Did the obligatory posing next to statues:

No one carries a watch anymore.

And of course, rode rides:

Do the Disney Muppet!

We also took a day trip down to San Diego where we visited the incredibly talented Jackie Dunn Smith at Flying Panther Tattoo. I've been wanting to turn this image into a tattoo since I saw it at the Wild West Showdown in March, and Jackie took it and created this, which is even better than I had imagined:

This was taken a few minutes after the tattoo was finished, so all of the dark looks black. Now that it's more healed, the book itself is a beautiful blue. I effing LOVE it, and I've been wearing low-backed shirts since I got it. 

The trip was a lot of fun; I haven't done a Grown Up Disney trip in awhile and I had forgotten how much I like it. Here are the rest of the pictures; the crop of Crying Disney Kids was very low for some reason, but there are still a few for your enjoyment. I know I enjoyed it! 

I DO Believe in Fairies!!

This is pretty much how I've felt all day about the book I just bought:

In this scenario, I am Ziegler and the book is Satine. 

I definitely clutched it to my chest, although it's more difficult to overtly grope a book than for Ziegler to grope his Little Strawberry, it would seem. But I tried. Do you blame me? The cover of this book is sexy, y'all.

Now with more Jaime Lannister? Mrowr.

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving my house early and heading down to (Formerly) Crazy Sarah's, where we will get into her car - blessedly air-conditioned as my car is not - and drive to Disneyland! I'm stoked and will get sunburnt and do very little reading or knitting, but I will take both with me in case of downtime. At the moment I'm about 90% packed and already in pajamas so I can make some popcorn and crack open this delicious book. I may raise a toast to it beforehand; 5 years is a long time to wait! 

I Have Had this Congress

Last Thursday I set off for Philadelphia, PA, to watch the Sacred City Sacrificers play in the 5th annual East Coast Derby Extravaganza.

It. Was. Awesome.

I listened to 1776 the Musical in the airport both going and coming home; after all, it seemed only appropriate. The other passengers may have looked a bit askance while I bopped and mouthed the words, but as I'll never see most of them again (Rose City Rollers A-Team, the Wheels of Justice, were on my plane so I'll probably see THEM again), I didn't care at all.

Then I spent a glorious 24 hours with my dear friend Brie. We went to high school together and she is one of the few people from Juneau that I keep in touch with.

Old friends are the best friends!

We went to her local(ish) yarn store, The Tangled Web, where I couldn't resist this particular yarn:

Silky Wool XL in pink and burgundy. WOOT!

I also bought the most aDORable buttons for my Sacred Tempest Sweater (still not finished but much closer!!):

I also rescued a bunch of unloved sock yarn from Brie, who has an aversion to my beloved Lorna's Laces (the horror!). She was going to donate it to charity, but instead she donated it to ME. Hooray!

Then I left Brie and joined up with Sacred. I didn't get many photos of the actual skating, but if you check out Photography by D.E.sign on Facebook, there are lots of great photos. Donalee is the BEST. One photo I definitely stole from her is this one:

Rhymes with "Jones."

My derby name was accepted on June 23, the same day I left for Philly! It didn't take long to break out the glitter paint and get to work. Yea, I said glitter paint; it turns out derby requires more sparkles than a Madonna video from the 1980's. On Monday a bunch of us toured around in downtown Philly. We saw the Liberty Bell:

The crack is on the other side. Oh well! 

And a derby rules sign in the wild:

and generally had a boatload of fun. Then it was time to come home, and I was SO READY. Derby weekends are not known for their restfulness, y'all. Or their healthy effect on vocal cords; I currently sound like a frog, which is a definite improvement over Monday! I managed to get bumped off my flight in Denver despite the text messages from my bed and my kitty about how much they missed me. It got me $400 in United Airlines credit, which will be used to off-set the price of my ticket to go to Puerto Vallarta with the family this Thanksgiving! I got home at noon on Tuesday and it was totally worth every sleepless moment.

On Tuesday night I went to practice and worked out a bit, then on my way home I remembered that my milk had expired and stopped at Safeway, where I wandered around for 45 minutes putting random things in my cart, including the ingredients for the first Caprese Salad of the summer:

Best salad of all time. Final.

I can't wait for my own tomatoes to ripen! I also made creme fraiche using the recipe Brie posted on her blog, but with the addition of 1.5 tablespoons of sugar since I use it exclusively on top of fresh fruit, which for the next few days will be the FOUR POUNDS of strawberries I got at the store. Yeesh. I was a bit dubious about leaving dairy products on the counter for 24 hours, but it worked and now I have 2 cups of deliciousness in my fridge with only 3 ingredients! Science is fun. Next up might be my own mozzarella so that my 6-ingredient Caprese can be 1/2 homegrown!

No Cookie, But Plenty of Yarn

The mailman has been busy knocking on my door for the last few days, dropping off packages from my recent knitting supplies ordering spree. I am now the fascinated owner of Heirloom Knitting, which is more knitting bang for my book buck than I anticipated. I grabbed a used copy for around $40 on Amazon and it is worth every penny!

I've also put my new blocking wires to work today:

Blueblood Island Shawl, Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere

I'm quite pleased with them! They're a little thinner than the wires I had previously, but that doesn't seem to have any bearing on how well they work. Really, this invention makes my life SO MUCH easier. Between the wires and the mats, I am thoroughly happy.

I've also been fiddling around with my Sacred Tempest Sweater, hoping to get it to fit right so I can have it off my UFO list and also have something to wear in the chilly summer California evenings.

Which is good, because the postman has been bringing more than just accoutrements. 

3.3 miles in the door. I have no self control. 

The first 6 photos are of Madelinetosh merino light, which I fell in love with when I knitted this up for my master teacher, Rachel. The next 2 are Regia Silk 4-Ply (obvs.) and were bought together because they are burgundy and pink (also obvs.). The last 3 are super-fine yarns from Fleegle at The Gossamer Web - first Tribble, then Sheherazade, then an orphan yarn that Fleegle allowed me to adopt on account of my unparalleled ability to take wayward yarn into my home. Yes, I realize I just brought in more yardage than I've finished knitting this year, and no, I don't feel (very) guilty. After all, that Blueblood Shawl can't take much longer to dry and I've a fingering-weight sweater nearly seamed. I wonder if I can get it done before I land in Philly on Thursday...

Philly?

Yes. This weekend I got derby-drunk (and maybe a little actual-drunk) and bought a ticket for the East Coast Extravaganza in Philadelphia! I can't wait. I show up on Thursday and get to spend a whole day with Brie - including meeting her kiddos and a tour of the local yarn shops - then meet up with the Sacred Sacrificers on Friday evening for a weekend of derby insanity. It's going to be epic. I'm taking the Tempest to finish (hopefully) and the Rosebud Shawl to work on, plus loading up my iPod with a few more classics. In addition to derby madness, I might even crank through some solid knitting yardage while I'm away!

Paris, Please!

I don't usually enter blog contests because I'm lazy, I usually find out about them the day after the entry closes, and I don't need more stuff like vacuums.

But this is a tiny bit different. Yes, it's still a contest, but it's to go to PARIS. For a WEEK! And it's put on by a woman who might be my role model; she packed up her family and just... moved. To Paris. I don't even have a family to pack, so it might be even easier for me!

Some day, people. Some day hopefully soon. I'm shooting for the next 3 years, I think. In the meantime, I'd wander the streets of Paris humming Les Mis and gawking at unpasteurized cheese just out in the air with no plastic wrapping. Oh, and worship at the feet of Nike.

Also, you should go enter too!

How to Adopt a Human

For Memorial Day weekend, I went up to my mother's house with THB, where we drank wine, watched Megamind (hilarious), hung out with Waffles the Cat

and dug around in the garden. THB was moving cement pieces for my mom and he found all kinds of interesting Garden Denizens, including these two fellows:

You know you wanna kiss it...

Sharp-Tailed Snake. Never around when I need him.

I was tempted to keep the snake as a pet, but that particular breed eats slugs, which I am not willing to forage for. Eeeeeuch.

It's a good thing I didn't bring home a new pet because when I got here there was one waiting for me.

Let the Right One In!

This is the as-yet-unnamed back door kitty that some of you may have seen me complaining about on Facebook. He's very sweet, loves to purr and hug, has extremely amusing fangs that remind me of being in high school drama class, and is at this very moment sleeping on a towel outside my back door. Aside from finding a dry place to sleep in the Very Unseasonable Rainshower Weather that Sacramento has been experiencing, he's been there for a week.

Today I let him inside the apartment to see how he and Mr. Prissypants Darcy got along. Darcy was better than I expected; he only hissed once and meowed in an annoyed fashion while Back Door Kitty showed him his belly and purred as loudly as his little purrbox was able. But after I put BDK back outside, Darcy actually took a swipe at me! Little bastard clearly knows who let the interloper in the door...

He vaaants to saaaack your bloooooood! Or eat Greenies. Either one, really.

We'll see how long this goes on for. I printed up signs that I'll be putting around the neighborhood and at local pet shops tomorrow; hopefully someone will come claim him. He's too sweet to be a feral, and while I wouldn't really mind having another cat I think that Darcy REALLY would. I'd hate to have to start shutting my bedroom door again; Darcy's method of expressing his displeasure at being a member of a more-than-one cat household is to shit on my bed, which is charming in the extreme.

And then on to the knitting! I'm back in Garter Stitch Country with the Rock Island shawl; I fancy that I can sense it getting smaller every right side row, but I know it's just my imagination.

It's going to be lovely, though, and I managed to turn a couple of my Ukrainian immigrant girls back onto knitting today by whipping this baby out and showing them how awesome knitting has become on the internet.

I'm highly amused that I just typed that last sentence. But not as amused as I am by FINALLY having captured this little trick on film (possibly quicker loading link is here):

Oh, it's ON.

Let me tell you, Internet, that teaching is some Hard and Time Consuming Work! And I'm only teaching 3 classes! When I have six you will hear the rending of the garments from wherever you are in the wide, wide world. The more I hear people bitching about how teachers get all this time off in the summer, the more I want to drop them behind my desk and see how long it takes for them to start longing for those three months off. And don't even get me started on how "three months off" isn't even true. 180-day work year, my right toe!

But it turns out that I really enjoy it. There is of course a daily struggle with some of the kids, and for various reasons - today I came to loggerheads with 1) a smart-but-lazy kid and 2) a smart but drug-addicted kid. The first one I won (he did, in fact, Sit. Back. Down.), but the second one I fear is an un-winable battle. In addition, today alone I had at least three pleasant surprises, three "are you KIDDING ME?!?" moments, and two compliments from other teachers at how my kids seem to be "getting it," so I'm feeling very self-satisfied. And all in a unit I've made up myself, from scratch! Reinventing the wheel, that's me.

And there has been progress on a lot of fronts. First, before I forget, I crossed off #16 of my 101 in 1001 list! And my timing was perfect, too; happy birthday to that bartender. I've started keeping track of #4 as of the beginning of March - yet another reason to make it to 2 practices every week!  It also goes along with #5; that one, I'm not sure about - I feel lighter and I'm a different shape than I was this time last year, but I suspect that I weigh the same. Wow, I haven't revisited the 101 list in a long time; it definitely needs an update, an overhaul, and probably its own post! But in the meantime, I've discovered my local library and have been reading more than ever (Education #7). Hooray, books!

Speaking of derby (because I was), I went to my first roller derby tournament this month! It was a boat (& ho) load of fun. Pictures of the Wild West Showdown are here, and here, and probably other places too. MY photos are on Facebook, but they all require explanation. Turns out that derby is a very you-had-to-be-there kind of sport.  To whit: 

That's right, diapers. On the outside. And shirts that say the F-word on them.

and this:

I have embraced the classiness of derby.

And perhaps requiring less explanation than I'd think:

A refreshing post-bout beverage.

Ahhh, it was a great weekend! Even if my awesome Sacred Tempest sweater is suspiciously absent. I managed to finish the knitting, block the pieces, and sew in the ends on everything but one sleeve before the tournament. I should have no problems finishing it in time for the double-header bout on April 16th, though:

Famous last words...

I've also finished the knitting portion of the Aria Delicato scarf. One of these days I'll get some blocking  mats since I don't have a carpet to pin anything to anymore! 

I like this yarn. It does not, however, smell like freshly-sharpened pencils no matter how much I think it should.
Madelinetosh Merino Light, "Composition Book Grey," 420 yds.

I get the yards for this one since I don't know when I'm going to get to block it. One of my master teachers is a composition book fiend, so this may end up being her thank-you-for-teaching-me/please-write-my-letter-of-rec gift. That does mean, however, that I have to make things for my other 2 teachers. This requires more thought...

And finally, I've been knitting away on this, which is discolored in the photo and deliberately dark because it's SEEEEKRIT! For a little while, at least:

No peeking! Or guessing! 

Once this and my Sacred Tempest are done, I should have a hefty chunk of knitting to add to my 11-Mile Quest. A girl can dream!

I Drank All the Tea

Internetlings, it is DECEMBER. Did you know? The weather in California certainly doesn't, although it has been ever-so-slightly colder lately. In fact, it was a grand 36 degrees (Farenheit, natch) when I sauntered off the plane from Chicago on Monday night.

Thanksgiving with the family was lovely. My Grandmother had her final chemotherapy on Monday and managed to stay relatively upright until Friday, which meant she made it down to dinner on Thursday, for which we were all thankful. She did try to direct the Making of the Dinner from her bedroom on the other side of the house (including calling my aunt and uncle on their cell phones from upstairs), and my Uncle Frank worried all day at work that we would forget to put the turkey in the oven, but otherwise everything went swimmingly.

Uncle Tony, Uncle Jim, and Tia Maria

Tia made an apple pie!

At table

On Friday I took a train to Chicago

on which I worked on my mitts, the second Primvera sock being finished already!

to visit two dear friends whom I have known just about an equal amount of time - give or take a few months back in 1999 - but who had never met one another. We rectified that on Michigan Avenue in the middle of Black Friday.

A handsome pair

It was fun and we bought not a single thing (although I did veer a little toward the H&M after we passed it for the 3rd time. The display was shiny!).

Me, Katie, Scott, Jessie, and Brandon, pre-Tangled in Chicago

Then on Saturday I took the train out to Geneva,

The mitts! They are done!

where Meghan and I spent a truly fabulous weekend immersed in fiber, yarn, and amazing food.

We carded batts

And met a certain hooligan in a red suit

We scored a mint green polar fleece blanket for 5 bucks at the thrift store, then took it home to wash and discovered we had bought...

Earlier in the trip, the fmaily took a trip to Michaels where I may or may not have bought some Patons Kroy stretch yarn to make summer socks (I did). I justified this to myself by saying that I had finished the major project I'd brought (the Primavera socks and mitts) and that I could potentially finish a whole 'nother pair of socks before I landed in CA.

Oh yes. It was an awesome weekend. Now if only I could find my scale so I could weigh all the things I knitted!