boogaj

100 Things About Me

This has been done to death, but here goes:

1. I am married to Pete and have a daughter named Madeleine.
2. I was born in 1970.
3. I am an atheist.
4. I have a very high IQ.
5. I am an avid reader.
6. And an avid knitter.
7. I have 2 cats.
8. The oldest cat is 11 and is named Mud (after the band Mudhoney).
9. The younger cat is 6 and is named Spike because we were thinking about getting a dog, but get him instead.
10. I met my husband at IBM where we both worked as financial analysts.
11. I own an online rubber stamp store.
12. And a knitting pattern business.
13. I buy almost all of my clothes at the Gap.
14. I love coffee.
15. My favorite coffee is Oromo Blend from Intelligentsia Coffee.
16. I graduated from U of I with a degree in English Literature.
17. I minored in Architectural History.
18. I went to DePaul to get an MBA but quit when I started working in NY.
19. I went back to DePaul to get a masters in computer science which is where I met my very good friend Theresa.
20. I quit DePaul again after I had Maddie and moved to Joliet.
21. I worked at Dairy Queen for 8 years through high school and college.
22. I went to an all girls Catholic high school.
23. I run the Knitting Blogs web ring.
24. I play Scrabble almost everyday online.
25. I "sell" Longaberger baskets, but mostly just buy them for myself.
26. Two years ago I lost 50lbs and now I work out 5 days a week.
27. I am the oldest of 4 girls.
28. I eat a Mesquite Chicken with Bacon from Quizno's every Tuesday for dinner.
29. I love ER.
30. I love my house which was built in 1928 and is a yellow brick colonial revival.
31. I drive a Honda Civic.
32. I have Eagle's Syndrome which sometimes causes me a lot of pain.
33. I used to take jewelry making classes and I know how to use a blow torch.
34. I was named after my grandfather on my dad's side, whose name was Julius.
35. I'm homeschooling my daughter.
36. Every year for my birthday, my whole family goes to P.F. Chang's for dinner.
37. I had my hair cut very short this past spring and I hate it.
38. I had my head partially shaved and my hair dyed purple when I was younger.
39. I love alternative rock/indie bands/punk rock.
40. I always said that I would never move back to Joliet, but now I live here and really enjoy it.
41. I was diagnosed with clinical depression when I was 23.
42. I'm crafty and have tried just about every craft at one time or another.
43. My favorite colors are red and green.
44. I wish that I had more time to cook.
45. I went to Alaska for my honeymoon and no, we did not take a cruise!
46. I have been to two countries besides the US, France and Mexico.
47. I would love to visit Canada.
48. I will not shop at Wal-Mart.
49. I am a democrat.
50. My wedding reception was at an old theater in Joliet.
51. My first apartment in Chicago was above a Mexican restaurant and to this day I can't stand the smell of fajitas.
52. I started programming computers when I was about 10 years old.
53. I like science fiction.
54. I love lemon verbena scented soap and lotion from L'Occitane.
55. I wear 5 rings everyday but I almost never wear earrings or necklaces.
56. I drink a lot of water every day.
57. I don't like red roses because they remind me of my father's funeral.
58. The person in my family that I am most like is my dad.
59. I'm very proud of my daughter.
60. I love my husband -- a lot!
61. I am frugal.
62. I really like dark chocolate.
63. Every night before I go to sleep I read in bed.
64. I'm a night owl and usually stay up until midnight.
65. I have to get 8 hours of sleep a night or I'm miserable.
66. I dislike team sports -- playing them and watching them.
67. I am a terrible speller.
68. I sing in the car.
69. I like to listen to NPR.
70. My favorite appliance is my Saeco Espresso machine.
71. My favorite food is crab.
72. I like to go to antique fairs.
73. I have a hard time relaxing, but I'm learning.
74. I love the library and have loved going there since I was a child.
75. I love learning new things.
76. I want to have another child.
77. I had surgery on my eyes when I was a child and now I sleep with my eyes partially open.
78. My eyesight is terrible.
79. I like spiders and couldn't clean the windows in the fall until the spiders that were living inbetween the window and the screen had left.
80. I hate cleaning.
81. I like video games.
82. I'm 5'6".
83. I have coffee once a week with my mom.
84. I love working from home and being my own boss.
85. I have hundreds of books.
86. I have probably about 100 cookbooks.
87. I was a vegetarian for several years.
88. I sleep with three pillows and 4 blankets.
89. I was close to my uncle, and he committed suicide when I was 13.
90. I was born in DeKalb, IL.
91. When I was in college, I planned to get a masters in English lit and become a professor.
92. When I was a child I wanted to be an astronomer.
93. I like the winter.
94. I don't like hot weather.
95. I was in labor for more than a day when I had Maddie.
96. I had a Vera Wang wedding dress that was terribly expensive, but I loved it.
97. I'm very happy with my life.
98. I'm becoming very interested in women's issues.
99. I don't really care what other people think about me.
100. I love cookies.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it would be. I would really get on a roll and think of 10-12 things, then I would totally get stuck. Kind of interesting to see what random things pop into your mind.

Thankful

I'll tell you one thing that I'm thankful for -- that I wasn't standing in my backyard Wednesday evening! One of our big old maple trees lost. . . what shall I call it? It's certainly more than a branch. This first picture is taken from my office window. Here's another look:

That purple & yellow thing that is being crushed is Maddie's sandbox.

Poor tree. (These last two photos, which are much better than any that I could have taken, were shot by Pete.

I knit a scarf for my mom this past week, but I forgot to take a picture before giving it to her -- doh! And I've been knitting a scarf in charcoal grey Cascade for Pete all week. Basic seed stitch. Pics when it's finished.

Third time's a charm. . .

I would recommend Scarf Style if for no other reason than Annie Modesitt's "Backyard Leaves" pattern. Here's is the beginnings of my scarf after one full pattern repeat. I've never done any lace other than the extremely simple pattern of the Charlotte's Web shawl and the Keepsake shawl, so this pattern is a real challenge. And I love a challenge!

My first attempt was late at night when I was quite tired. After only a few rows I had gone off course and had to frog the whole thing. The second attempt was much better, but I was still having trouble following the pattern. Reading a lace chart is new to me and I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing. This second attempt gave me a good feel for the pattern and an idea for reading the chart.

What was my idea? Well, it really isn't original. I simply bought one of those magnetic boards and I can't even tell you how much it helped me! The scarf is coming along smoothly and I love the look of the leaf motif.

Off to knit a few more rows. . .

Whack-o's & RAOK's

Okay, so Theresa & I are driving up to Milwaukee on Saturday.  I'm minding my own business, cruising along & chatting with Theresa.  I'm in the middle lane of the highway, driving at a sensible speed.  Suddenly this car speeds up next to me in the left hand lane and starts beeping over and over.  First thought -- Is there something wrong with my car?  So, I turn to look and this whack-o has a newspaper from the day after the election which he/she (couldn't see the coward behind the newspaper) has held up to the passenger window.  He continues to honk his horn madly and then speeds up and takes off.  So, what prompted this?  Well, I have a single John Kerry bumper sticker on my bumper.  Can you believe this?!?

The universe balances itself out.  So, I'm at the grocery store today and the Dominick's where I shop also houses a Starbucks.  Through the end of the year, whenever you purchase $50 in groceries you receive a free beverage coupon.  Well, last week I popped in for a few things and my bill came to $48 or $49.  I mentioned this to the checker today and he gave me an extra free drink coupon.  It seems that another customer before me earned a coupon, but told him that she had no use for it, so he gave it to me.  So you see, there is Karma at work  :)

Goddess Yarns

I've visited the Goddess Yarns website numerous times and drooled over the different fiber combinations and gorgeous colors, but I had never seen the yarns "in person" so I was nervous about making a purchase. This changed on Saturday when Theresa and I went up to Milwaukee to visit Ruhama's.

Ruhama's carries many of the Goddess Yarns in a variety of colors. As you can see, I brought home some Julia in the Spring Green colorway. The plan is to turn this yarn into the "Backyard Leaves" scarf by Annie Modesitt from the Scarf Style book which was sent to me by my Secret Pal.

One quick note on Scarf Style -- this is a great book! Okay, you're thinking, "Another book of scarves? Who needs that?" But I am here to tell you that there are some great scarf ideas in this book. Without even looking at the book I can think of three that I am planning to knit. If you have a few holiday gifts to make, or if you just want to knit up a little luxury for yourself, I highly recommend this book.

I am here. . .

I've just been busy assembling these:

That's the Heidi Tote that I've been working on for Black Sheep Bags, my pattern business.

I'm also test knitting a new design and I'm feeling a little too lazy to take a picture right now. Besides, my husband taped my favorite Thursday night shows and they are waiting for me downstairs! I had a "bridesmaids meeting" for my sister's wedding last night. Ya know -- bachelorette party plans and such :)

This weekend Theresa and I are heading up to Ruhama's, so I'm sure that I will have some new acquisitions to show you on Monday!

Another Book Report

A while ago I read Brick Lane by Monica Ali. A very good book about a Bangladeshi woman subjected to an arranged marriage which results in her living in England.

This past week I read a book with a similar theme. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, is the story of a couple from Calcutta who moves to America after their arranged marriage. The book follows their son as he grows up torn between the American life which he wants to belong to and the life of his parents which is still very much tied to India.

I could not put this book down! There is a good reason that Lahiri won the Pulitizer Prize for fiction. Her writing style in extremely engaging and her characters are so real. I highly recommend this book!

Now on my nightstand -- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

Keeping to the sock theme. . .

Here's what I was working on during the election nightmare. Finished up the socks during Kerry's concession speech and Kitchenered the toe last night. Here's part of the beautiful thing about the Mountain Colors Bearfoot:

No pooling -- at least on the visible part. There was a bit created by the heel/gusset, but nothing too weird. And the colors are just beautiful. I din't wear them today because I wanted to take a picture, but they felt *so* soft when I tried them on last night. I see more Bearfoot in my future.

Since the sock needles were free, I started Pete's pair which I'm making using Trekking XXL in color 66. He picked this sock yarn out the last time I visited ThreadBear. (Back in IN! It's been too long!) Maybe you can see the subtle striping from the picture. Just enough of a stripe to remain interesting during the knitting process, but still very manly. He seemed happy with the progress so far.

Sock Yarn Report

Here were the favorites in order of most mentions:

1. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
2. Opal
3. Tie!
   • Mountain Colors Bearfoot
   • Koigu
4. Regia
5. Tie!
   • Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
   • Meilenweit Cotton

Other Yarns of note:

• Interlacements Toasty Toes
• Lanna Grossa Merino 2000 Print
• Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters
• Mountain Colors Mountain Goat
• Trekking
• Regia Stretch
• Spirit Trail
• Regia Silk
• Wool Ease
• Sockotta
• Handspun
• Tess' Yarns Super Sock

Whew! That's a lot of different sock yarns and I haven't tried even half of them. Most notably, I haven't knit with the #2 yarn -- Opal. Can you believe it? I don't even have any in the stash.

And my favorites? Well, I love the Regia's that I have knit. They are always the first ones to be worn after they come out of the wash. I also love my Lorna's Laces because they have become very soft but I find that they stretch and lose their shape with wear. A trip through the washing machine shrinks them back up though. I have also knit a pair of socks with Koigu and then put them through the wash (and they didn't felt!) but I think maybe my next pair will be hand washed only. They got a little rough after washing. And finally, my current SIP is being made with Mountain Colors Bearfoot and it is *so* soft. If it washes nicely, it may be my new favorite.

Cinderella

*Here's Maddie as Cinderella. She was so excited to put on this fancy dress! After I got her dressed and put on some make up (just like mommy!) she looked in the mirror and said in disbelief -- "I can't believe I'm a real princess." It was so cute.

And here we are ready to trick-or-treat. We only went to about a dozen houses, but she got enough candy to last her a month! We always go trick-or-treating in my Mom's neighborhood and all the neighbors (many of them grandparents also) love to give the kids *way* too many treats. My Mom made us a big pot of chili and all my sisters, their husbands and kids were there. It was a lot of fun. I never thought that I would move back to Joliet, but now that I have, I really love being able to get together with my family for things like this.

Oh yeah, I have been knitting too. More on that soon! Now stop sitting here reading this and. . .

Go Vote!

Thank You Secret Pal!!!

Secret Pal, thank you so much!!! I really wanted to get Scarf Style after all the good things I had heard about it. And that Salsa yarn is so soft, and the colors are just perfect! And you know how much I love the hand-stamped notecards. And the Halloween goodies are much appreciated too. I'm already snacking on the candy :)

And Maddie says thank you too! That was *so* sweet of you to include presents for her! She's already playing with the baby doll and look:

I really appreciate everything! But I still have one question -- who are you?!? I didn't see anything in the box that told me your identity!