Someone Tell the NFL and Bridgestone That Women Watch Football Too

Sigh.  Apparently this commercial debuted during the Superbowl last year, but I must have missed it when our cable froze.  I just saw the ad during tonight’s Sunday night football game.  I wonder what the message is supposed to be here?  That the right tires will shut up your nagging wife?  I suppose I’m just not in the target demographic and too much of a humorless feminist to get the joke, but I hope this feeing of annoyance with Bridgestone (“official tire of the NFL”) resurfaces the next time I need to buy some tires.

What Do You Do With a Snow Day?

Well, if you’re the students at UW-Madison, you organize a giant snowball fight on Bascom Hill (a huge central hill on campus topped by a statue of Abe Lincoln).  I may not be a fan of the snow myself, if you recall yesterday’s post, but I sure do admire the effort.  This Isthmus/Daily Page has an article that has more videos from the fight.  Channel3000 says that if all the people who RSVP’d to the event on Facebook actually attend, it would set the world record.

The snow day was such a big deal that it was mentioned in the NPR news story about the storm that I heard on the radio this evening.  Here’s to hoping that the students did set the record.

No Snow For Me, Thanks

Photo "Madison got about 9 inches last night" by Flickr user GobberGo. Used by Creative Commons license.

I just read that UW-Madison (where I went to school and lived for six years) has canceled classes tomorrow due to an impeding snow storm that is expected to leave twelve to sixteen inches of snow.  Yikes.  The closest we came to a snow day in the entire time I went to school there was canceling classes at 3pm during my last winter, 2007-2008.

I can still vividly recall struggling across library mall to get to the #80 bus with the wind blowing snow in my face so hard that I could barely see.  And then, there was a bus stuck on the curve that goes around Bascom Hill, so the bus I was on spent 45 minutes waiting at the Union to see if we’d even be able to get home.  There was a pregnant woman on the bus who was a TA for an English class.  She had two of her school-aged children with her because Madison public schools had been cancelled for the day.  That day was exhausting for me, but I can’t even begin to imagine schlepping two kids out to the campus on the bus, taking them to class and then struggling home in the middle of a blizzard – while pregnant, no less.

Photo "Snow Football" by Flickr user Ann Althouse. Used by Creative Commons license. (Students playing football in the snow on Bascom Hill)

As much as I miss Madison, I don’t miss days like this, especially since my last winter there was so brutal.  While the weather in Athens can be less than delightful (Ice Storm 2009, anyone?) we definitely haven’t had the same level of snow and other awful weather that Madison seems to be getting walloped with in the last few years.  Of course, I’m probably now dooming Athens and Southeastern Ohio to an icy morning from the rain and wind I can hear outside now, which is probably the southern end of the storm that is bringing all the snow to Wisconsin.

Pasta with Swiss Chard and Tomatoes

One of the best things about living in Athens is the weekly farmers’ market that runs year round.  This past weekend, the weather was wet and cold, yet there were still a number of hardy local produce growers selling their products.  For under $15, we were able to get a bag of Swiss Chard, a box of small onions, a head of garlic and a bag of tomatoes.  I’m not sure how the growers manage to produce tomatoes in December, but they were pretty good.  I didn’t really work from a recipe, but here’s about what I did:

Ingredients:

• Swiss Chard, stems removed and cut into 1/2 inch wide ribbons (not sure how much – see picture below)
• Tomatoes, chopped into about the same size.  You could also used diced canned tomatoes, though fresh are usually better.
• Olive Oil, about half a cup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
• Yellow onion, minced.  (I used two small onions.  One medium or half a large onion would work as well)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parsley, about a teaspoon
• A dash of red pepper flakes (careful, these can get spicy quickly)
• 1 box of linguine pasta
• 1 cup Italian blend cheese, Parmesan cheese or any other cheese you prefer (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the linguine in a large pot of water with a dash of olive oil and a dash of salt.  When done, drain and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan
3. Add the garlic and onions and cook until fragrant.  Don’t let the garlic brown.
4. Add the tomatoes to the pan, followed by the Swiss Chard.  The chard will look huge, but will wilt down quickly.  Start to stir it into the other ingredients in the pan.
5. Continue to cook and stir until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes cooked.
6. If you think the sauce wont be sufficient for the pasta, add a bit of the pasta water to the pan.  I added one ladle full of the pasta water.
7. Mix the pasta into the sauce and stir until well-combined.  Add the cheese and stir again. Serve while still hot.

Large bowl of Swiss Chard

Fresh tomatoes

The chard, just after going into the pan.

Tomatoes and chard cooked down, just a few minutes later.

The sauce mixed with the pasta and cheese.

Thanksgiving Recap

Jake and I were really fortunate to be able to head to Madison for a long holiday weekend and spend time with our families.  We traveled to Madison on Thanksgiving morning.  I thought the holiday might be a busy travel day, but it was a ridiculously easy trip, possibly the easiest flying experience I’ve ever had.  We made it to Jake’s parents for early in the afternoon and were still able to join in all the festivities, since they have their big meal later in the day.  I don’t have any pictures of the meal, but here’s a shot of a very 2.0 holiday event – they used Skype and two video enabled laptops to talk with family in Michigan.

So 2.0!

After dinner, which was delicious, of course, we played cards, a game called Nerts, which I’d never heard of before meeting their family.  It’s a fun game that quickly gets extremely competitive.  I wont even bother to try to explain the rules – check out the link above.

On Friday, I made a trip to the Sow’s Ear, a local yarn shop in Vernoa (just outside of Madison).  I’d never been to this shop before but had seen it mentioned on several Madison-area knitting blogs, so I was excited to check it out.  It was quiet when I got to the store, but quickly got very busy as knitters came in to eat lunch and have coffee with their knitting.  I liked the selection; there were lots of yarns that I’d never seen in a shop before.  With unlimited time and resources, I could have done some serious stash enhancement, but decided to just go with two kinds, some Marisol Tupa, a Merino wool and silk blend in a gorgeous gold color and Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, in color 108 Neptune Rainbow.

Stash enhancement!

As you can see, I’ve already started playing with the Mini Mochi.  It’s a beautiful yarn, but I’m a bit flummoxed about what to do with it.  When I started to knit it up, the yarn seemed too weak for socks that would get any wear.  I’m thinking of making some sort of striped hat or scarf with a contrasting yarn that shows off the color changes, which are gorgeous, but not well suited for a lace scarf or something similar.   I purchased this yarn primarily for the great color, but I kind of wish that I had seen the comments on Ravelry about the yarn before purchasing it, which indicate that it’s fairly weak.  When I tried to start a mitten project with it, I found that it is pretty thin in places and I was worried that it would break if I pulled too hard to tighten up the stitches between DPNs.  I’m sure I’ll figure something out eventually, but this yarn might have to wait for some inspiration to strike.

Over the rest of the weekend, we met up with a number of friends in Madison that we hadn’t seen for a while.  This included a trip to Lazy Jane’s cafe on Williamson Street, a restaurant that I’d never tried before.  I had a delicious lemon cream scone and I heard that the other scones and breakfast items were great as well.

Lemon cream scone deliciousness (+great coffee!)

The table we used was an old desk that still had drawers.  I discovered them when we were nearing the end of lunch.  Apparently we were not the first to discover it – it was full of notes and other miscellaneous items from previous patrons.  We had a lot of fun shifting through the notes to see what people had left.  Here’s a note from “Hans!”

Is "crossbar" code for something I don't know about?

On Monday, I went to Baraboo, my hometown to meet another friend for lunch.  They had fried cheese curds on the menu, a treat that we don’t have in Ohio, so I had to get them.

Cheese curds!

It had been a really long time since I’d been to Baraboo.  The downtown area is really beautiful, and it was sad to see it so deserted at holiday time.  There used to be a Santa house in the square area, and I remember there being a lot more holiday decorations when I was younger.  A lot of the stores have gone out of business leaving many of the buildings empty.  There’s still the old Al Ringling theater, though it’s currently under renovation.  When I was in high school we had lots of band concerts in this theater. I don’t think I’ve been in it for at least eight years, but it’s a really great theater from the days when going to the theater really was a big deal.  They show movies too, though and had Where the Wild Things Are playing there on Monday.

So many band concerts...

Today we finally had to return to Ohio.  Thankfully the travel was pretty easy again.  I had a really great Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m so glad we were able to go up for some extra time this year.  I’m looking forward to heading home again for Christmas in just a few weeks!

I’m An Aunt

My (little!) sister had a baby this week, and Jake and I got to meet her on Friday. Her name is Leonna Marie, and as you can see she’s a beauty:

She's got a cute hat too!

We spent a little over an hour at the hospital with my sister as she prepared to leave and head home for the first time in a few days. She was sleeping for the first half-hour or so and I happily held her while she slept, as did Jake.

I can't believe I'm an aunt!

Aw!

Then the nurse came in and asked if we’d had a chance to see her pretty, dark brown eyes. We hadn’t seen them in person, since she’d been asleep. So the nurse decided that it was time to wake her up.

It's not a *real* smile, of course, but cute nonetheless

Leonna was a little confused:

"Seriously, you're waking me up?"

But then we did get some great pictures of her awake:

Look at those eyes!

Starting to get upset.

Yawn

Of course, now I want to stop what I’m knitting and work on adorable little baby hats and booties.

Cat Lady

Not much to say, except that this post makes me feel a little like a crazy cat lady. Good thing they’re not just my cats. They were super cute this weekend, especially on Sunday when they spent most of the day sleeping.

The doctor will see you now

How cute is this?

What do you want?

Tuckered out

"Why wont you just let me have the cord on that camera?"

Snoozing

Fifth nap of the day?

Again, too cute.

"We're sleeping here"

Knit Picks

Last weekend, I made my first order to Knit Picks and my order was delivered on Thursday.  I ordered several balls of the Palette yarn to use for Heather’s Mittens (Ravelry) by Spillyjane.  I’ve wanted to knit these since I first saw the pattern last winter, but I lacked the knitting talent and proper yarn until recently.  One of my co-workers asked if I’d make her green mittens and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

My first Knit Picks order

Naturally, I had to start the mittens right away. I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be enough contrast between the two green colors, but the Edamame and Rainforest Heather colorways actually work really well together. I was a little surprised to see how much red/blue tint there is in the Rainforest Heather. It looks really neat though.

Closeup to show the colors in the Rainforest Heather colorway

It’s a little slow going to knit mittens with fingering weight yarn and size 0 needles, but they’re turning out really great so far. I can’t wait to see what they look like finished. I’ve struggled a bit with the double stranded color work, especially since there are sometimes ten stitches between colors. This is especially awkward when the color changes from one side of the mitten to the other. I think I’ve read there’s some sort of twist you can do to hold these strands down, but I don’t know how to do that. Any suggestions?

Progress about twenty rows into the color work

Almost FO: Pretty Thing Cowl

This pattern (Ravelry) definitely lives up to its name.  It’s certainly a very pretty thing.  The pattern is gorgeous, but was actually a pretty easy knit.  Unfortunately, it seems that this yarn (Ravelry) + this pattern is not a great combination.  I’ve tried on the cowl and it just seems to flop over, completely.  I’m not sure if it’s the yarn, or it just the size of my neck.  Here’s a picture of the cowl pre-blocking.

It certainly looks pretty

I’ve got it soaking right now and am hoping that will block out to stand up a little stronger, but that may be putting too much faith in the power of blocking.  Even more disappointing, the yarn, which feels great in the hands, actually feels a little scratchy on my neck.  Weird.  I’m hoping that someone else will want this since I don’t see myself wearing it much, and it’s just too pretty to frog.  I’ve still got about a skein and a half of the Buckingham yarn left.  I’m thinking of making some delicate hand warmer/mitts with the rest.

As a bonus, I’ve got another FO today.  I actually made this over two days back in October and didn’t even think to blog about it because it was such a quick project.  It’s the Calorimetry (Ravelry) pattern from Knitty, which is a sort of half hat/headband to wear on those days when you wear your hair up in a ponytail.  This one turned out great and I’ve been wearing it ever since.

It's been a bit warm to need this lately

The yarn is Plymouth Galway Worsted in a gray color that has some amazing color when you look at it up closely.  I bought this a while ago at Spinning Turtle, and don’t have the band anymore, but I think it may be one of their Highland Heathers (Ravelry).  I’d like to make a sweater out of this stuff.

Look at those colors!

WIP Inventory

Knitters, do you ever look around at all the works in progress and be amazed at the effects of the ailment known as startitis?  Check out this pile of WIPs:

Yes, those are all my WIPs, why do you ask.

There are, not one, but two sweaters in that pile, including the Twickenham Hoodie that I’m making for Jake.  I made good progress on the front left side of this sweater, but stalled once I got to the arm hole.  The pattern isn’t particularly exciting and even with the size 10 needles, the long rows mean that it takes a long time to see progress.  Which is a long way of saying that I haven’t made much progress on this in the last month.  I did say I’d get it done by Christmas though, so I’ve been taking it to my knitting group meeting on Wednesdays.

About 15% of a Twickenham Hoodie

The second sweater is a plain raglan cardigan that I’m making for myself using the Incredible, Custom Fit Raglan pattern.  The yarn is Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool, which has a very rustic feel right down to the bits of hay in the yarn.  It’s not very soft, but I’m going for more of a jacket-style garment, so I think it will be fine, especially after a good wash.  Believe it or not, I started this just last Friday.  The plain stockinette makes for a quick knit.

My first adult-sized raglan sweater

The pile of WIPs also includes a completed sock.  I’ve yet to start the second sock, but I’m still including it in the WIP list.  The pattern is the Express Lane socks and they’re made out of Cascade Heritage, a plan wool sock yarn. The first sock ended up being a little big, so this might end up being a gift pair of socks should I ever finish the second one.

Bad photography makes this single sock look extra lonely

Along with a single sock, there’s also a single mitten in that pile.  A few weeks ago Jake came back from a trip to the Farmer’s Market with two skeins of some alpaca yarn from a local vendor.  The last week it’s been pretty warm, but the few weeks before that, it was pretty cold, which turned my thoughts to mittens, especially for the early morning trip out to the car. There’s no pattern here, just a basic mitten structure with a thumb gusset.  I thought about adding a cable or some colorwork, but ended up just going with something that I could finish quickly.  Once it gets cold again, I’m sure this mitten will get a mate.

Dead simple alpaca mitten

 

Two more projects to go – are you counting? This scarf is made using the Leafy Lace (Ravelry link), with a few extra repeats thrown in since I’m working with Malabrigo Lace rather than a weightier yarn as in the original pattern. I think the scarf is about two feet or so at this point, so I’ve still got a ways to go for something this narrow and light. I’m expecting this to be a holiday gift as well.

Autumnal Leaves lace scarf

Finally (!) we have the Pretty Thing cowl by the Yarn Harlot, made out of the Buckingham alpaca/silk blend that I got in Monterey a few weeks ago.

It really is a Pretty Thing

 

If you’ve made it through my inventory – congratulations. That’s a lot of knitting. I’m hoping to finish something soon because it really does stress me out to have all these projects going at the same time.