28 posts from January 2007

Via the Vox Knitting Group, I found sockmonkeyfun.vox.com.

So many cute monkeys!

Monkey was my constant companion growing up. Made by my mother's Aunt Jane, my brother and I loved our monkeys to death.

As a result, I tend to gravitate to all things monkey.

Drake made Budapest Coffee Cake Saturday morning...

Later that day, I made an Upside-Down Apple Ginger Cake. I should have shot a video of the "flipover" - it was pretty exciting.

This is my brother Paul and me ready to board at Washington National Airport. We had visited my Aunt Alice, who at the time was living in Alexandria, Virginia; we also visited Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg. Paul (who seems to be squinting) is wearing a tri-corner hat that he got in Williamsburg.

We are both dressed as people used to dress for air travel - in a suit and dress. I've topped off my ensemble with white gloves. I loved wearing white gloves when getting dressed up, but I can't remember whether this was something I emulated from my mom or I got on to on my own.

When I was limping around with my torn calf muscle, Drake insisted that I was walking just like Chester from Gunsmoke. I actually never watched Gunsmoke growing up - or if I did I don't remember it. I wasn't much into westerns.

Drake, library master that he is, checked out the 50th Anniversary Collection of Gunsmoke episodes. And, independently, our grocery store had a 2-for-1 special for New York steaks.

And so, our evening tonight came together. Gunsmoke and steaks. I told Drake I would watch ONE episode.

We've seen this twice in concert, once with the Academy of St. Martins of the Fields (Joshua Bell as guest conductor/first violin) and again Monday night with the Moscow Soloists. In each performance, we heard the Mahler's arrangement for string orchestra (Schubert wrote the piece for string quartet). It's a thrilling piece to experience live.

There was, however, a puzzling interaction between the conductor of the Moscow Soloists (Yuri Bashmet) and the first chair violin. They opened with Beethoven's String Quartet #11, also in its Mahler arrangement for string orchestra. Customarily, at the end of a piece, the conductor shakes hands with the concertmaster/first chair violin. What happened instead, is that Bashmet seemed to be chewing the guy out. No handshake, just a talking to. It was strange.

Bashmet also sports a bizarrely layered long hairdo, which looks particularly bad from the back (note to conductors: we see you mostly from behind). Even Drake (not one to mention hairdos) mentioned his 'do. So, Bashmet, despite the performance, came off as a bit of an odd duck.

Whenever there is a Russian group or individual performing, there is a cute cadre of older Russian ladies that turn out for it and sit up in the third tier (where we sit). They always seem to be having such a good time together.

Same pattern & yarn as the seeded rib stitch scarf.

Needles: Size 6, Addi Turbo Circular Needles, 16"

Start Date: December 23, 2006
End Date: January 15, 2007

What worked well:
Everything! This hat turned out to be super-cute. When I finished this off in my knitting class, a couple of the gals thought this style would work well on almost anyone age-wise - young or older.

What I would do differently:
I was a little paranoid about having enough yarn because after making the scarf I didn't have any extra at all. But, that proved not to be a problem. Two balls was plenty. The next time, I'll make it with a bit more of a "turn over" area.

Yarn Weight: Worsted
Pattern: Karabella Seeded Rib Stitch Hat & Scarf
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 in Denim

Dimensions: 52"L x 5.5"W
Needles: Size 8, 12" Crystal Palace Bamboo

Start Date: November 15, 2006
End Date: December 14, 2006

What worked well:
This yarn is so soft and luscious and it has an almost glossy appearance. It really brings out the seeded rib stitch pattern. This scarf is for me (and I wear it a lot!), but I think the pattern/yarn combo would make a great gift. I would definitely knit this again.

What I would do differently:
Well, I had a hell of a time with the cast off. The first three attempts caused the edge to splay out - probably due to the tight nature of the ribbing (even with casting off in the stitch pattern.). I finally wound up casting off using Size 6 needles (two sizes smaller) - and quite tightly at that - to get the sort of edge I wanted.

This weekend, I've been learning my way around my new Nikon D80. I previously used a 35mm N70, but when we bought a digital point-and-shoot in 2002, the poor N70 sat unused. I had always planned to use the digital for snapshots, but film for "nicer" shots. It just didn't happen that way. I never went back to film once we got the digital camera.

Part of me is thinking, why the hell did I wait so long? to get a digital SLR. But, I am thrilled with the D80. Very easy to learn; a great interface; and my test shots are fantastic -- especially with flash (flash with our point-and-shoot is horrible under most conditions).

There is a user manual online written by a professional photographer with some great suggestions on how to configure the D80 for the best results. His only beef is that he feels the D80 tends to slightly overexpose shots, so he recommends setting exposure compensation at -0.7 (for non-flash shots). I'll probably use bracketing for a while to see what I think here. Interestingly, he is very anti-bracketing ("bracketing is for wimps"). Maybe true if you are a professional, but with a digital camera why the heck not use it, particularly when you are getting familiar with the camera?

So, now it will be time to dust off some photography skills. Really, I've always been more a snapshot shooter - maybe I'll give a go at being a bit more creative.

This is a photo of my Dad, his wife Carol, Drake and me at the (now closed) Lincoln Park Gun Club in Chicago. We've just finished a couple of rounds of skeet shooting. We all look at lot younger, except for Drake, who I think looks basically the same!

My Dad at this point was shooting championship skeet. He still shoots regularly year-round (and is still one hell of a shot) but no longer competes. And we still all go shooting together (except for Carol, who no longer shoots). Both Drake and I enjoy skeet, but there isn't anywhere nearby Seattle to do it so we usually only wind up shooting when we visit my Dad.

Having experienced a chain of sidelining issues (hernia surgery, bronchitis, torn calf muscle) in quick secession, I'm gaining an appreciation for how easy it is to fall off-track of one's fitness routine. I am posting this picture to get myself re-inspired on training.

Here, I'm crossing the finish line, smile on my face, at the Subaru Women's Triathlon this past September. It is such a fun race and I was really pleased with my performance.