hp's blog

The annual ignition of the Space Needle

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:05:14 -0800

Living near the Space Needle (and with a view of it from our place) means our neighborhood gets very crazy on New Year's Eve. The reason is the huge New Year's celebration at the Seattle Center, but more specifically, the elaborate fireworks display launched from the Space Needle at midnight. The only other holiday that brings so much traffic into our neighborhood is the 4th of July (since we also get a great view of the Elliot Bay fireworks). Both nights are very good nights to stay safely at home, which is what we will be doing tonight.

We had planned to make a special dinner this evening, but my stomach's been off all day, so we'll do that tomorrow instead. It will be a pretty calm and quiet New Year's for us, which actually suits me just fine.

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Seed sitch scarf

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:46:08 -0800

This was my first project since I started back knitting again.

Seed sitch scarf

Yarn Weight: Worsted
Yarn: Lamb's Pride (85% wool; 15% mohair) in Rosado Rose

Dimensions: 60"L x 6.5"W
Gauge: 18sts = 4"
Needles: Size 8, 12" Crystal Palace Bamboo

Start Date: October 14, 2006
End Date: December 7, 2006

What worked well:
I loved this yarn - it was easy to work with; it's soft and comfy to wear as a scarf. I was worried that the mohair might shed on my black coat, but this has not been the case.

What I would do differently:
This was the first time I'd done a long-tail cast-on and it was too tight. I may still try to block out that edge, which is pinched in. Now, I cast-on with two needles together, which gives a nice even, looser cast-on (I got this tip from my knit shop).

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Wild Ringtones

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 08:17:01 -0800

These ring tones of endangered species are kind of fun:

Rare Earth Ring Tones

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Swelling has gone down

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:01:20 -0800

My calf seems so far to be healing up nicely. It's still puffy, but now looks reasonably similar to my other calf. I am limping along, with my doctor-supplied heel-lifts, fairly well. The lift helps takes tension off the muscle.

Swimming with the pull buoy works fine. I need to be careful here not to overdo and stress my shoulders. When I'm able to walk just a bit better, I'll go to the gym for some upper-body weights.

Overall, I am feeling encouraged.

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RadioMacomb's Athlete of the Week

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:02:01 -0800

Macomb High School Athlete of the Week is:
(So.) Jessica Adkisson (Girls Basketball). Jessica scored the game-tying layup to send the Macomb/B-PCA game into overtime. Adkisson added 2 more crucial points in the first overtime, before an eventual Bomber victory in double overtime.

Jess is a great passer, but sometimes is hesitant to shoot the ball. This hopefully will give her a nice confidence boost on her shooting skills.

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Monday night knitting

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 06:59:19 -0800

Having graduated from Hilltop Yarn's Advanced Beginner Class, I'm now ready to move on to the Projects class:

Projects is the class for you if you want to work on your project, try out a new technique, or work on something more challenging in a supportive environment. Students move at their own pace while working on their own project.

What's great about this class is that you can take it indefinitely - there are five 4-week sessions of it running sequentially between mid-January and the end of April. I'm signing up for the Monday evening slot.

They recommend that you work on three projects concurrently for the class to get the most out of it.

My big project will be this Donegal Tweed cardigan sweater.

I also just bought materials for a smaller project, this keyhole scarf. The stitch is something other than basic knit and purl (a herringbone pattern) and I'll be using more of a novelty yarn that I think will be more challenging to work with. It's a brushed suri alpaca and I couldn't resist getting it in pink lemonade. It looks just like a super-luscious cotton candy!

Brushed Suri

I'm currently working on the hat part of this hat-and-scarf set, but I should have that mostly done by mid-January. So I'm in the market for another project - and I have a great idea of something for a friend that will fit the bill. But it's top secret. :-)

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Torn calf muscle

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:31:07 -0800

Yesterday, my friend Karen and I went skiing at Steven's Pass. Snow conditions were fantastic and we had a great morning skiing the front side of the mountain.

On the last run before lunch, almost at the bottom of the mountain, I took an awkward fall. I'm still not sure how or why I fell. But as I went down I felt a painful pull in my calf and thought "well, that probably finishes me for the day."

The snow and wind were starting to whip up. Since we'd started skiing right as the lifts opened, we were both OK with calling it a day at that point. I took some Advil, we ate our lunch, and then traveled on back to Seattle.

Calf

When I got home, I examined my calf. It was kind of freaky-swollen - meaning that it had a large, hard swollen lump on the medial side. My heart sunk. I did some searching online and figured I had a 2nd degree tear of the Gastrocnemius. I called the sports medicine clinic and got an appointment for this morning. Turns out my self-diagnosis was correct.

The good news is that no surgery is required and I'll recover completely on my own. The bad news - I'm on complete lower-body rest for at least 3 to 4 weeks. No skiing, no running, no cycling. I will, however, be able to swim (using pull buoys - no kicking) and do upper-body weights. And, since it's still early in the season, I'll likely still be able to get in some good skiing in February and March.

It looks like I'll be getting a lot of knitting done in January. In fact, last night, Drake (darling that he is) drove me up to the knit shop. I hobbled in and got supplies for a new project. When the going gets tough, the tough get knitting!

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Santa brings food

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:56:46 -0800

Anymore at Christmas, Drake and I wind up giving each other food gifts. They are a lot of fun to buy and then enjoy together. I gave Drake a subscription to HP's Dessert-of-the-Month Club, which will deliver seasonal desserts, well, right to his place at the dining table! I also got him some Spanish Smoked Sweet Paprika from the Spanish Table.

When we were about to open gifts, Drake announced he had one more gift to wrap (HP rolls eyes here). The resulting "wrapping" job was perhaps Santa's more creative moments - a kind of "found objects" theme:

Wrapped?

But inside, oh--the goodies. A selection of artisan salami from Salumi! The reason for the last-minute wrap job is that these were hidden at the bottom of the fridge:

A salami sampler

There was also a fancy balsamic vingar and olive oil. And some chocolates from Fran's. We are looking forward to some good eating in 2007!

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Agenda

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:25:01 -0800

6:00 am - Make a (grocery) list; check it twice
6:55 am - Go to Macrina right as it opens to have breakfast and pick up butter rolls; confusion reigns - they don't open until 8:00 today, turning away several unhappy customers
7:00 am - Do grocery shopping. They are still stocking and just two other people are in the store.
8:00 am - Have breakfast at home (I was starving!)
9:00 am - Arrive at A & J Meats right as they open; purchase their special apple breakfast sausage.

The rest of the day will be spent cooking. My traditional holiday treats:

Apricot and cashew "fruit cake"
Russian tea cakes

For tonight and Christmas Day:

For tonight, an elegant seafood stew - a recipe from my (fabulous cook) cousin Elise.
Christmas Day breakfast will be pink grapefruit, cranberry coffee cake, and apple sausage.
Christmas Day dinner this year is lamb chops, Provencal carrots, and spicy baked potato wedges.

Since we don't have any family here in Seattle for Christmas (my cousin Elise is in upstate New York), it's a just-the-two-of-us Christmas.

Merry Christmas, all!

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A quiet, snowy mountain

nobody@vox.com(hp) — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 06:13:37 -0800

Looks good

I finally got up skiing yesterday, first time out this season. I expected crowds, but it was surprisingly quiet. Guess most folks were getting ready for the holiday (I'll be busy doing that today for sure!)

Because Drake doesn't ski I either go up by myself or with my friend Karen. Karen and I are a good match: she started downhill skiing five years ago (at age 50) and I picked it up again last year after a 26-year hiatus. But she wasn't able to make it yesterday so I went up on my own.

It was snowing like crazy in the morning. I didn't even think about driving the pass - I took the shuttle bus from Sultan, about 40 miles from the ski area.

I am still trying to get on to the "modern" way of skiing. The skis are different now, the turning techique is taught differently; I'm doing my best to learn it right and not fall into bad habits. Yesterday, I took a lesson and stayed on easy terrain practicing drills and slow, studied turns. Really, I just enjoy being out on the mountain, riding the lift in gently falling snow, and overall taking a break from the city.

Karen's going up today with her daughter who's back from college and her daughter's boyfriend, who's visiting for the holiday. It looks they will have great conditions today, too.

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