betrayed desires

2009 wrap up

2010-01-01T22:24:00.004-05:00

Wow it's already Jan 1, 2010. Figured I may as well do the year end wrap up Ive done now for the last two years. In case you want to keep track, here is 2008 and 2007. I have to admit, this year has been a bit of a blur, so there may be some things that I have forgotten!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Moved to a new country/continent; drank alcohol at 9 am local time (it was 4 am "my time"); wrote a masters thesis.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't really have resolutions last year, but I have been really bad about getting sleep since I moved to Utrecht. I will make resolutions this year. They are: learn to speak Dutch; complain/worry less about being single; find my equilibrium in the Netherlands - get my confidence back; find the joy in life again.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My best friend Anne (and her husband) gave birth to Noah.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Uncle Tom died of brain cancer.

5. What countries did you visit?
USA, Netherlands. (Kinda Ireland too, I had a beer in the airport there on my layover). No new countries though ):

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Stability. A significant other.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My sister's wedding, the day I moved to the Netherlands, the day Noah Serrell-Dube was born, the 12 days Kevin visited me in Utrecht.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a Master of Health Sciences in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I finished knitting a couple things I have not yet seamed.....

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Oh yes. After moving to the Netherlands i've been sick with all sorts of crazy things. I'll spare the details.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Dutch bike. My Obermeyer winter coat.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My co-worker who let me crash at his place when the trains weren't running and drove me to the airport in a huge snow storm.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Lots of Americans - in general. Many random Dutchies.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Moving. Rent. Moving. Air tickets.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving to Europe. Meeting Noah.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
First taste by Triggerfinger

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?  b) thinner or fatter?  c) richer or poorer?
Sadder, thinner, more debt but also more spending money due to a steady paycheck.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Seen the USA. Seen the Netherlands in the summer.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worry.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent it with my family in Illinois.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I have fallen completely in love with baby Noah. I told him I wont be having kids for at least 5 more years, so he can be the love of my life.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
In the States I watched Lost, Deadliest Catch, How the Earth was Made, South Park. In the Netherlands I watch Weeds and Californication.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope, no hate.

25. What was the best book you read?
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Triggerfinger!! Them Crooked Vultures!

27. What did you want and get?
I'm drawing a blank here

28. What did you want and not get?
too many things this year

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
didnt see many films this year. But I did see some amazing ones this past week: Avatar, 500 Days of Summer, Up, District 9. Also saw Old Boy for the first time, pretty mind-blowing.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 27. It was pretty crappy. I didnt do anything. My sister's wedding was the day before and no one was interested in me. Wouldnt even drive me to the train station so I could go downtown Chicago. No cake either. Why bother? - they had cake the day before at her wedding.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Feeling like I belong somewhere in this world.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Same as 2007-2009: Wear whatever doesnt make me look like a pudgeball - it involved lots of black.

33. What kept you sane?
I'm pretty sure I lost my sanity this year

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one really

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Marriage equality - no reason the States should discriminate. Immigration rights. Now that I'm an Expatriate/Immigrant these things are important for me.

36. Who did you miss?
My friends who are not in the same country as me. My Grampa.

37. Who was the best new person you met? Why?
I met so many new people!! - I cant pick just one! Brent has been awesome for teaching me Dutch; Sue and Tamara live in my building and are great neighbors; the knitters on tuesdays have listened to my immigration woes and offered advice; my Dutch office-mates Eveleine, Marieke, and Axel help me with cultural integration; co-workers Wouter, Bas, Bart, Claudia are fun to drink with; Andras has helped me with all the Dutch animal experimentation laws, regulations, and paperwork; and I reconnected with Kevin after loosing touch for over a year - he really helped me through the bad times when I first moved.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Life as an immigrant is like a sine wave: it's in constant motion, there are very high highs and very low lows and you can flux between the two states very rapidly.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I dont have a song lyric, but I do have a quote I've been thinking about (Amanda posted it on her blog a while back). "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my own ship" ~Louisa May Alcott.

a day in the life

2009-08-30T14:45:00.005-04:00

I really hope I stumble on a good luck charm soon. Some days are such a mix bag of meh. Today seemed to exemplify my life here more than other days. So many things in one day! And more importantly, I had a camera to document all of them!

Here is the blanket I brought with me. It fell apart in the washing machine. Literally. I had to vacuum up the pieces (see picture below). I brought this one with because it is for a twin size bed. I guess that it's age is apparent. I think its over 10 years old, I dont remember when it was bought....

Pieces of blanket EVERYWHERE.
You know its a bad day when you have to vacuum up 1/4 your blanket off the floor. My never-ending Netherlands bad luck continues.

Chickens walking along the bike path!! This is so "Dutch" to me. These are the things that I love about this country (yes, there Are some). I really enjoy the little bits of nature I get when I bike around the Uithof.

Love the tree lined bike paths! And there are many. This was the one I biked down today.

I've Never seen birds sitting on sheep!!! Haha. So Cute! They even switched sheep every couple mins. Hopping off and hopping back onto another. Maybe they were eating something the grazing sheep turned up?

I felt really slow and out of shape when hundreds of bike racers passed by me. Luckily, they were on the real road with the cars so I didnt get swarmed or anything.

Shortly after this I pinched my sciatic nerve when I made a sharp turn on my bike. The ride home was not very pleasant. I stretched a Lot when I got home and so far it's calmed down.

This evening I cooked another recipe from the "Eating for Sustained Energy" book my coworker lent to me. I had high hopes but it suffered the fate of most of the dishes I make: lack of taste. Either I'm not using enough spices, or I'm not using the ones I like. Sigh. Keep calm and carry on.

decisions, decisions

2009-08-23T14:24:00.006-04:00

I've decided where it will go. But, I'm torn between the two depictions. And i dont have the money. Yet. And I havent chosen the studio. Yet. But I have an itch. And it musts needs to be scratched.

I adore the ribbon structure, but I think it might be a bit too complicated for a small tattoo. Plus, it might cost me a bajillion dollars to get something so intricate. Sigh.

I better decide soon though. I finished my masters in May and this was supposed to be my congrats present
to myself.

*In case you are a non-science type, these are molecular representations of Immunoglobulin M, IgM, a pentamer antibody.

beautiful yarn problem

2009-08-05T12:56:00.002-04:00

I'm having a very serious problem. I brought only my most beautiful yarn and yarn i wanted to start projects with soon to the Netherlands. Except, for the beautiful yarn I'm having trouble committing to any one project. I really love the yarn, and I want to knit something with it so that I can wear the beautiful colors, but I'm afraid. I'm afraid of picking the wrong pattern and "ruining" the yarn. I'm afraid to commit to a pattern in case something better comes along. But then it will sit on my shelf forever. And that's not good either. sigh. I should just dive in really.

thoughts

2009-07-31T17:19:00.002-04:00

I am totally supposed to be learning Dutch right now. But it makes my brain hurt! So of course I procrastinate by writing a quick post since I'm usually procrastinating blogging.

I am pretty much through all the difficulties of "settling in." I think. My permanent residence card should be arriving any week now.... But everything else is taken care of and that is a relief. All I have to do now to fit in is learn to speak the language. Sure... Well, it's slow going but I am trying. I've never been very good at languages. Sigh.

I also want to say to anyone thinking of moving to a new country: it's a giant pain in the ass. No really, it is. Since I didnt know any Americans who had done this before me (I know they are out there, I just didnt know any personally) I didnt really have anyone to ask advice. But just so that everyone is aware: countries do not want you to move. No matter where you are from, no matter where you are going, I'm convinced its a shit fest. Everything is difficult. Everything will give you headaches. Just know this and take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.

Once you get through all the initial paperwork crap though, it gets better. It's still not "easy" but hey, life never is. I am starting to actually enjoy my life here. Having a bike really helps. the fact that I love to ride helps too. Here, a bike = freedom. At some point I'll sit down and type out the specifics of the insanity I went through as an ex-pat/immigrant from the US to the Netherlands, in case anyone in the future is curious. But it will have to wait. I should really go learn the question words. And conjugate some verbs and such.

Tot ziens

Potato chips

2009-07-08T12:48:00.002-04:00

About 3 years ago I began an unnatural love affair with potato chips after having not eaten them for over 10 years (not out of dietary concerns, i just wasnt interested). So of course when I moved here the potato chip selection was one of the first things I checked in the supermarkets.
They do of course have Pringles and Lays and Doritos here, but they are really expensive, so I've been sticking to local brands. And they are a bit odd. In flavor choice that is.

Common potato chip flavors here:
Paprika (really? that stuff doesnt really have a flavor....)
Bolognese (A potato chip flavored like a pasta sauce? Weird, but not bad tasting)
Cheddar Onion, or Onion Cheese (again, weird, but not bad tasting)
and finally...
BBQ Ham
wait, what?
BBQ ham???? Sure, real BBQ ham is great if you get it from the right place that knows what they are doing.... but a potato chip flavor? In the Netherlands no less, not exactly a place renouned for their BBQ.... Yeah, I'm going to stay far away from that one. I cant imagine anything less palatable than a potato chip fake flavored like ham. blech.

Sorta FO

2009-07-05T12:33:00.002-04:00

I keep meaning to post about my moving adventures, and I just never get around to it. Soon, I promise. Maybe. But anyway, here is a finished sock. It's not exactly a proper FO as it is only one sock of the pair, however it is my third sock ever, so I'm excited. Even more excited that it actually fits! Even better.
The pattern is Jaywalker by Grumperina and details of course are on my Ravelry page.

weekend away

2009-05-03T20:28:00.009-04:00

After a hellish homestretch, my thesis was printed and submitted on Friday morning. I am so beyond relieved that it is done. Then I packed and took the train down to southern Maryland to visit Amanda and Jason.

I knit them a beer cozy as a thanks for having me over for the weekend. Do you recognize this yarn? (: It's ChOrG! My Kool-Aid hand dyed! I love this yarn. It's so soft and smooshy. It's very pretty all knit up.

On Friday night the three of us went out to dinner, Amanda got her 3rd tattoo (some stars on her wrist), and then we went back to the restaurant (next door to the tattoo parlor) and had celebratory drinks.

On Saturday Amanda and I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool. It was dreary, chilly, and pouring rain when we got there which was a giant bummer. But luckily around noon the skies cleared and it got sunny. I didnt get any pictures of the yarn because the festival was jam packed. I could barely get in some of the stalls to look at the goods!!
Sadly I did not find yarn for specific projects, or a shawl pin that I liked, but I did get some beautiful yarn. I tired to take pictures of it, but it was so bleak today that I couldnt get good ones.

Here are some sheeps for you to enjoy. I didnt see a whole lot of alpacas. There were some bunnies too but all the little kids were crowding around them so, no pictures.

After the festival Amanda, Jason and I went out for yummy Thai food. Here is the appetizer platter - it's a party on a plate! Notice the random party explosion coming out of the shrimp thingy. It was very nom nom.

Today brought more rainy, depressing weather so Amanda and I decided to spend some quality time crafting. Here is Sydney claiming the ironing board as his own while Amanda quilts. I sewed up a new WIP bag.

For the WIP bag, I used this tutorial that I had used before..... But... either we read it wrong the first time or Amanda and I were doing something wrong today, b/c the pattern as written didnt work. The 21 inches of the big rectangle doesnt fit all the way around the 6x6 inch bottom square. Both Amanda and I tried. I ended up having to cut the bottom squares down to 5.5 x 5.5 inches.

It's a beautiful bag though. Muchas gracias to Amanda who let me dig through her fabric stash for this!

And here is the inside fabric.

It's definatly not fabric I would normally buy for myself, but when I saw it today I really liked it. I dont know what's up with me and red lately. But whatevs, I'll run with it.

Here it is next to the first bag I made. I think my sewing today was not the best quality, but I think non-crafters would have a hard time finding fault with it. I really like that it's taller. Now I just need a cord to cinch it up. I thought I had a light blue shoelace but I dont, it's purple. So I might knit a brown I-cord.

All-in-all, a lovely weekend! And as soon as the sun comes back I will post some pictures of the crazy awesome yarn I bought at MDSW!

I also finished one shawl, and made serious progress on the never ending stole of grey. But the damn thing still isnt close to being done and I have 4 days! Yikes! - I gotta run now and go knit some more!

Happy colors

2009-04-26T22:16:00.006-04:00

My thesis pretty much imploded on Friday. I had a reader tear it apart at the very last minute and of course, instead of being productive, I've wallowed in depression this weekend. And a little bit of anger too. I've worked on my thesis yes, just not on her corrections, yet. So on Saturday when I noticed that the grocery store had a big stand with all sorts of Kool Aid flavors (previous weeks it had only 4, yes kids, 4 flavors), I knew it was time to scratch the Kool Aid dying itch.

First I washed the Knit Picks Bare Superwash merino/nylon yarn in gentle shampoo and left it soaking in water.

Then I mixed the Kool Aid packets (black cherry, orange, grape) into cups of water and "painted" the yarn. I found out that my brand new baster does not have a seal (grrr) and had to spoon the dye onto the yarn. Also, I used waaayyy too much liquid and had to sponge it up repeatedly.

But the end result was a beautiful skein of happy colored yummy smelling (and still a bit sticky) yarn. Red and orange are not my usual colors but I just adore this yarn. It produced the desired result and has indeed given me happiness.

Sure, there are some white spots, but I actually dont mind, I think it gives the yarn character. And it reminds me that it's "hand-painted."

I named it ChOrG. Ugly name for a beautiful yarn.

In fact, I just started knitting with the yarn and I adore the colorway even more! None of the pictures really captures the brightness and saturation of the yarn. It's very pretty and complex and somehow manages to self-stripe very nicely, without much pooling.

Happiness all around.

Well, except for the fact that I still have the never-ending stole of gray to finish in TWO WEEKS. Ugh. Cross your fingers! (I'm halfway done).

In other news - the BRUINS swept the Canadiens to make it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs!!!!

Excitement

2009-04-16T17:17:00.003-04:00

I have to admit, I keep seeing Amstel Light commercials on the TV and I get really excited. Like, goose-bump excited. Holey-cow-I'm-going-to-live-there-excited. I don't even like Amstel Light. But the commercials are chock full of Amsterdam, football, and Dutch awesomeness.

It reminds me of when I was in Utrecht last summer and Holland was playing Russia in the Euro Cup. I went to a bar with a Canadian couple to see the game. I had gotten a Holland shirt at a tourist stand and the guy had gotten free lederhosen at the bar (it had a tail on the back for the lion). Here are our best lion grrrs. haha. Too bad Holland lost and the streets were full of madness.

Happy Bobmas

2009-04-11T12:45:00.002-04:00

HAPPY BOBMAS!!

Like gmail, Ravelry is one of those internet inventions I just cant imagine my life without. Well, Ok, I can, but its a pretty crap life.

Also a shout out happy birthday to Stariel!

And now its off to school I go b/c I have serious work to do on the thesis (ahhhhh!)

Ruined

2009-04-09T17:33:00.003-04:00

That's right. Knit Picks Harmony needles have ruined me. And caused me to do something I thought I would never do: alter knitting needles. What am I talking about? Well, you see KP Harmony are very pointy. After I got used to the pointy-ness I started to like it. I recently went back to my Takumi bamboo needles (b/c I only have Harmonies in a couple sizes) and they were way too blunt! I couldnt knit! Well, at least I couldnt do twisted knit stitches fast on a shuttle bus.

So, I sanded the bamboo needles to a better point! Crazy I know. Then I oiled them up with some jojoba oil, but they werent slippery enough. I i rubbed them on a natural candle. The pointy tip is so much better! Except, it is a bit pointier than the KP even, so I have to be careful to not split the yarn.

Here is a pict of the SM shawl so far. The Sea Pearl is super shiny so the flash bounces right off of the yarn - but it's very pretty in person! Cant wait to drop all those sts at the end
(:

Crunch time

2009-04-07T19:28:00.004-04:00

There comes a time in every knitters life where what you want to knit, and the time you have to knit it clash completely and you have to either not knit it, lose sleep, or pick a different pattern.

I'm currently trying to finish one shawl (Woodland Shawl) to wear that matches my bridesmaids dress for my sister's wedding (May 9). I'm also secret knitting a giftie for her and her husband (due May 9). I also wanted to knit a shawl to wear with my rehearsal dinner dress (May 8), b/c it matches the shoes and it would really pull the outfit together. I also have to finish secret giftie for my best friend for her first baby. I want to get it done by the baby shower (May 30), and I have to get it done before I move to Europe (June 16). Just for added difficulty, I'm also working on my thesis and I have midterms and papers to complete for 4th term classes. I've got a LOT to finish by my birthday (May 10).

Right now the baby giftie is started, but on hold. I'm currently dividing my time between the Woodland shawl and wedding gifite. I have not started the rehearsal dinner shawl. But I've realized that the shuttle ride to and home from school is time that could be spent knitting. Unfortunalty, all current projects are just far too big to lug around. But the rehersal dinner shawl.... that could be popped in a bag for shuttle ride knitting.

Originally, I had my heart set on knitting Clapotis with my Briar Rose Sea Pearl yarn for the rehearsal dinner. Except the Clapotis calls for ~800 yards and my skein is only ~500 yds. I could use a bigger needle size, or adjust the patten, but those both take time. I dont have time. I've come to the realization that I just do not have the time to knit the Clapotis with this yarn for this project. So I started looking for something similar and simpler on Ravelry. I found the Sunday Market Shawl - another drop stitch design. And since this pattern is written in a way that you can stop knitting when you get close to the end of your yarn, it's a much more logical project. Also, it's knit on large needles so it should go quite fast.

So, Sunday Market Shawl it is. Cross your fingers that all projects are completed on time!

Here is the Sea Pearl hand wound into the most perfect spaceship looking center pull ball. Hooray for another Rhinebeck 2007 yarn CO!

Procrastination

2009-04-06T22:11:00.004-04:00

Since I'm having trouble concentrating on Anything today (I'm currently watching TV, reading, blogging, and I've got knitting sitting next to me) I thought, why not post about a few of my favorite things in Europe. I've been thinking about Europe "in my spare time" haha considering the Big Move is ~10 weeks away.
These are a few of my favorite things (in Europe):

Really old things randomly interspersed through the cities.
Brick from where the canal used to be, the water has now moved several feet and there's a path where it used to be.
Utrecht, Netherlands

Art. Lots of it.

One of Monet's waterlilies at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris, France

Faces on buildings. Everywhere! I could write a whole post on faces, maybe I will.....
This one is on some historic building in Bruges, Belgium

Chocolate!! Believe it or not, this is the Only picture of Chocolate I have. I ate the rest too fast. Maybe I have this b/c it's the only piece of "special" chocolate I bought. The rest was good stuff from grocery stores. This was from a specialty shop in Gent, Belgium.

Alcohol!! Specifically beer, beer, and more beer, and some jenever. Both are in this picture from Gent, Belgium. No surprise that plenty of my favorite things are from Belgium as Gent and Bruges were my favorite cities.

Bummer

2009-04-04T21:43:00.005-04:00

A couple months ago I signed up for free magazine subscriptions using some airline miles that were going to expire (seriously, expire? that's b*llsh*t. they shouldnt expire. but i digress). One of the magazines was Prevention. There was an article with a recipe for a "Smart cookie," a healthy chocolate chip cookie. Well, I'm always game for new chocolate chip cookies. I've been dying to bake this (well, bake anything) for a couple of weeks but I've been busy with my thesis. I'll give you the recipe and then let you know what I thought.

1 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar (as i type this i realize i missed this ingredient)
2 lg egg whites
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. In another large bowl whisk oil, and sugar. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Stir in dry ingrediants. Fold in oats then chocolate chips. Chill dough at least 15 mins. Heat oven to 375F. Bake 7-10 mins.

Ok, so yes, I didnt see the brown sugar but I dont think that would have made a difference. First, there is a bit of user error on my part. I didnt realize that "Steel cut Irish Style Oatmeal" meant that it was chopped up in little pieces.... I'm not sure if this is what I was supposed to use or not. I'm used to the standard rolled oats. I guess I wasnt paying attention when I bought these.

They look better in the picture than they tasted.
The recipe called for oil instead of butter (its supposedly healthier) it didnt cook the same and the cookies were greasy. Also, the oats didnt absorb any of the oil and were still chewy. So yeah, greasy oaty chewy cookie. And the oats got stuck in my teeth.

In terms of taste they were ok. I def think that the taste of butter is far superior to the taste of canola oil. So, maybe my cookies are healthier, but they are not as satisfying.

In conclusion, this recipe gets a hands down from me.
Bummer.

In knitting news I've re-started the Woodland Shawl on larger needles. I like it bettern ow, but seriously, what's the point of a swatch if it doesnt do you any good in the end? Wasted time.... Wouldnt be such a big deal if I wasnt on a deadline for this shawl.

summary through pictures

2009-03-29T19:17:00.005-04:00

Just a quick post. Some knit FO's I havent posted. And some pictures from this weekend's trip to visit Amanda and Jason in the greater DC metro area. We went into DC on Sat. In other news I think I'm going to frog the woodland shawl I've got and restart on larger needles. SIGH.

Biggest moth I've ever seen - it was as big as my hand!

This butterfly loved Amanda's camera strap

Cherry Blossoms in DC

Blueberry Corn Muffins

2009-03-12T20:36:00.005-04:00

Every month or two I get a new baking obsession. In Jan and Feb it was the Pillsbury poppin fresh grands biscuits. I just couldnt get enough. I loved the pop when you open the canister. And the buttery flaky goodness.

This month, its corn bread. MMMhhmm. But reg corn muffins kinda bore me. So I looked around the kitchen to see what I could add to the reg "Jiffy" box. Wheat germ and blueberries! I've been trying to eat more of both since apparently they help hair grow.
So this recipe is pretty simple.

I dont think the box or the recipe has changed in 50 years.
(yes there is lard in the mix, that's why it tastes so damn good).

1 Box "Jiffy" cornbread. Make as suggested.
Add 2 heaping tablespoons of wheat germ.
Let stand a couple minutes.
add 1 heaping cup frozen blueberries.
spoon into muffin cups cook 20 mins at 400F.

This is what they look like
Yummy goodness
I think that this ratio of berry to mix is the max berries you can get away with. The still have structural integrity, but you can tell they are on the verge of collapse.

And what do you eat with them for dinner? Some ham of course. B/c if there's 1 thing Anthony Bourdain has taught us, its that pork goes well with everything and everything goes well with pork.

WIP Sunday

2009-02-22T12:48:00.007-05:00

Just an update on the progress of a couple WIP. I'm also expecting a package from Knit Picks soon, but that's for secret gift knitting, so it will not be blogged about until gifted (although the person who it is intended for is not a member of Ravelry, so there is a chance you can follow the progress there).

First we have the Lace Ribbon scarf.

Nice detail shot here.

And a picture of the progress here.
I'm really loving this scarf but its a boring knit. So I pick it up occasionally when I have a few minutes to spare. One thing I have to be careful about is that I keep forgetting to do the YO and I have to either tink or add a random stitch. I dont know why I have such selective memory about the YO.
It's a bit dreary today so the color isnt coming out quite right, but the greens are really saturated and amazing and remind me of the trees in Germany. Or emeralds. (:{

Last is the Woodland Shawl that I intend to wear at my sister's wedding in May. It's hard to tell scale, so that is about 8 inches of knitting. Also really like this and the pattern is easy to memorize so if I have an hour I can get quite a bit dine on it. It's become my TV knitting.

Also of note, I knit another bad hair cut hat with some leftover Ultra Alpaca hoping to use most of it up. But I didnt. So I'm left with the same problem that I started with. -->
Except now they are slightly smaller balls, but still just as many of them.
Sigh.

Oh, I almost forgot. You cant see but I'm using Knit Picks Harmony Interchangeable needles for the Woodland Shawl and I just Love them. They have sharp points which I really appreciate for lace knitting. And the colors of the wood needles make me happy every time I knit with them. I will def be ordering more of them!

Expatriate vs Immigrant

2009-02-21T22:40:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking about my Europe move a lot lately. Mostly because there is a LOT to take care of and now that my eyes are getting better I'm finally getting on it. A little late but hopefully still time enough. I've noticed that I use the words expatriate and immigrant pretty equally to describe myself. I was thinking maybe I should pick one so I looked up the definition on Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, foreign born covers both immigrants and expatriates, but doesnt adequately describe either. An immigrant is a foreign born committed to living in a new country permanently and an expatriate plan to eventually return to their birth country. And therein lies the problem. Neither of those define me in the Netherlands. I dont intend to return to the USA, but I also dont intend to permanently live in the Netherlands. That's because I dont Intend to do anything. I cant. Being a scientist I have little control over where I go. Also, being a scientist dictates movement. You cant do your PhD and your post-doc at the same institution. Or, at least, its frowned upon. Also, I havent even decided if I want to stay in academia. And infectious diseases is not exactly big money, so not many biomed or pharmaceutical companies even have infectious disease units, let alone bacterial divisions. So, seing as my career future is so open, I'm not making any sort of commitment to geography. I will however try to integrate into Dutch society and I do intend to learn as much of the language as possible. The only thing at present that I am seriously considering is never permanently returning to the USA. So, doesnt that make me an immigrant? Or maybe, just a nomad? (Nomad, wanderer, roamer, vagabond, call me what you will!!! yeah!) (sorry, random Metallica interlude there). Expatriate until further notice? Sigh. Maybe I'll just settle on nomad.

Also, on Fri I received my official appointment from UMC Utrecht. As of July 1, 2009 I will be a PhD student jointly with UMC Utrecht (the medical school where I'll perform my research) and the Eijkman Graduate School of Immunology and Infectious Diseases (the part of the University that oversees the PhD program). I'm so excited! Its official. It never feels official until you have that acceptance letter in your hand. Oh sure, I have to submit my project proposal to the PhD Board and have it be accepted no more than 2 months after July 1 (sort of like a grant application) but I think that's more like a formality. At least, I hope so.

Sigh, now I just have to find a place to live. Which I hear, is no easy feat in Utrecht. So, keep your fingers crossed for me! Or, if you know anyone living in Utrecht maybe you can ask them if they have any advice? I'm sure I'll have plenty to say on this when I get into the thick of the search soon.

Roast Cornish Hen

2009-02-08T20:50:00.006-05:00

It's going to take a while to write this as I'll be taking "eye breaks" but I wanted to get it down before I forgot it - this meal was really yummy! (until I hit a bloody part deep in the hen) (note - cook longer than 1 hour in my oven)

I bought a little Cornish Hen since they were on sale and I had been craving some sort of roast with veggies since Marty's mom made pot roast for his b-day dinner. I've also been lusting after Pilsbury flaky buttery biscuits in the little rolls that POP open thanks to that meal as well. I suppose cooking inspiration is a good thing right? Esp for me since I'm a self proclaimed "bad cook, great baker." I looked up this recipe and altered it a bit since I didnt have all of the ingredients.

2/8 of Lemon and 1 garlic clove went inside the hen.
Rubbed hen with olive oil and covered generously with sea salt and pepper and celery salt.
Cut up red potatos and carrots and onion - into pot with ~4 whole garlic cloves.
Cook in oven uncovered 25 mins at 450 deg.

Meanwhile make basting sauce.
I heated a chick bouillon cube and H2O (didnt have broth). Then I added a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, and some National Bohemian Beer. (didnt have white wine)

(Go ahead and laugh. It's crap beer I know, but its
the only alcohol I have besides red wine and rum. - neither would have worked for this recipe, but the beer had possibility. still light tasting, still alcohol)

Turn oven to 350 deg and pour basting sauce over hen. Then baste every 10 mins for 30 mins. Remove from oven and use juices and garlic cloves to make a sauce by boiling it down a bit.

It was all very tasty and yummy until I hit some blood while trying to cut off a wing. So clearly an hour in the oven is not enough. I'm not a big fan of blood so I decided just to eat the veggies and callit a night. I had already eaten some of the meat before I discovered the uncooked part anyhow. So I cut up the other half of the potato and another carrot, added some more garlic cloves and covered the hen up and popped it in the fridge. I'll "re-heat" / finish cooking it tomorrow for dinner. It was yummy. And the skin was the best part - and yes, it's good for you. Well, um, maybe not scientifically proven but my Great-Gramma always said to eat the skin and she lived through the Depression and past her 100th year. Therefore, I trust her advice.

Obsession with a water drop

2009-02-08T00:07:00.004-05:00

I watered my plants today as I do once every weekend. I noticed a drop of water dangling from the leaf of one of the plants. It caught the sun and glistened. I then became obsessed with capturing this semi-fleeting moment. Too bad my camera is just not designed for up close high res high mag picts. But it takes pictures of good enough quality that I can crop and enlarge. Here are a few.

I also started another hat to cover up my hideous mullet haircut. This time using random balls of leftover Ultra Alpaca. I hope that I have enough to make it to the end....

can i have new eyes??

2009-02-05T22:11:00.002-05:00

I know I promised to blog more and I really do have a lot to blog about (lots of knitting going on!) but I really can not right now. I'm trying to severely limit my computer time. I've had some pretty serious eye strain and I have to go see a retina specialist on Monday for (5 hours!) extra testing as the reg eye dr thinks there is fluid in my retina (joy). This is in addition to needing new glasses with a stronger prescription And bifoculs for reading. B/c I'm 65 yah know. Ughed. (I'll save you all the bitching about how my body is falling apart far too soon for my liking. I'm not even 30 but you'd think I was 65+ looking at my medical info).
I've noticed that the amount of time I spend on the computer correlates with eye strain and thus the limit. I'm bummed but the eye pain is almost too much to bear otherwise. And of course I'm a bit more concerned that my school work is begining to suffer. I'm hoping this will resolve asap so I can resume my "normal" functions.

New WIP: Lace Ribbon Scarf

2009-01-17T11:35:00.004-05:00

Its amazing what a couple days off from school just hanging out in my apt will do. I should be doing some research for my thesis, but the past couple of days I've felt kinda crappy so I've been taking it easy and knitting / sleeping instead.

I've wanted to knit this scarf with this yarn for some time now, I was just waiting to finish some of the other WIP's I had on the docket. I'm really excited about it so far, I just hope that the yarn softens up a bit after a wash with Eucalan as my neck is pretty sensitive. The yarn is 20% silk and 20% tencel both of which can be soft, so I'm not worried.

Here are some pictures of 24 hours worth of progress: 2 pattern repeats.

I really like the shade changes - they give this pattern a little extra oomph.

Also excited to CO my first project using one of my Rhinebeck 2007 haul. Hooray for stash yarn!

Another swatch for Woodland Shawl

2009-01-16T14:57:00.003-05:00

Swatch using needle size US 5.

Remember how I said size 6 was too loose? Well, I change my mind. I just knit the same size swatch with size 5 needles and it was too tight. Maybe if I were knitting a scarf, this is the size I would use. But for a shawl, I think I prefer some dainty-ness. A bit more lace quality to it. So, size 6 it is. Which means this project will have to go on hold as I only have 16" circs. I need to buy a longer circular before I CO.

I've been thinking of getting some of the Knit Picks Options in Harmony so that instead of piece by piece buying one needle I'll actually be buying 3. And also since there are some things I want to buy from Knit Picks right now and I need needles anyhow (I buy most things online now since there aren't any yarn stores near me and they do not have good selection anyhow).

Swatch: Woodland Shawl

2009-01-15T16:54:00.004-05:00

Seeing as how I am trying to stay on top of my blog posts, here is a swatch of a soon to be WIP. I wanted to knit a shawl to wear at my sisters wedding and I decided on the Woodland Shawl. First, I think it looks good in sold color yarn - I'm using a cone of mercerized gray cotton I have since the dresses are black with beading on the bodice that is outlined in silver/gray. Second, the leaf pattern mimics the central shape on the beading, so I think the shawl will nicely complement my dress. Since the cone cotton is meant to be used for weaving, I had no idea what needle size to use. I ballparked size 6 and knit up a 24 st swatch. I think it looks ok, I'm going to swatch it in size 5 needles and see if I like that more. If not, i'll stick with the size 6.

The yarn is: Valley Cottons 3/2 Mercerized Perle Cotton, 1 pound, in color 8473, lot 81495, and I bought it at one of the Webs tent sales a while back (there may have even been a post on this somewhere).
So in case you ever wondered what needle size to use with size 3/2 cone cotton, size 6 is decent. Its probably about right, I'm just going to try size 5 and see what I get since with all the knit/purl switches in the pattern, my stiches are a bit loosy-goosy and I'd prefer better, tighter definition for this pattern.

Also, my mitts based off of the Pomatomus sock pattern finished drying / blocking today. Its nearly impossible to get nice pictures of mitts while you are wearing them!!

Further also, I've been slowly working on a painting I started in August. I've never been much of a painter, I didn't even take painting when I did my minor in visual arts - I stuck to the 3d stuff like sculpture. So, please, dont be too harsh on me. But I inherited a canvas, and some acrylic paint, so I decided to give it a go. Most of my stuff in in shades of purple and green so I stuck with that theme. My old room in Brookline, MA was this awesome shade of mossy green and I started with that color since I miss it. It's a WIP and I'm taking my time so I can let it "talk to me" and see where it goes. (:{