Beautiful Weather

This past week was a gorgeous one here in Maine. Ron had off the whole week (he has tons more vacation time than I do) but I was able to take Friday off for a long weekend. On Friday we spent most of the day working on the small "pond" in the backyard. The pond is a simple round tub of black plastic. Though it's not much to look at on it's own, it was already in place in the ground and we thought we'd see what we could do with it. That basically meant landscaping around it. Though it is not done yet, here is a look at what we have been able to do so far.

This is pretty much the blank slate we started with. However you can see the first part of the rock garden to come behind the pond.


This is a closeup of the first piece that we constructed for the rock garden. It has a mini rhododendron in the middle with some moss fitted into the cracks as well as some 'hens and chicks.'


This shows the same corner, but expanded to include some more plants including a curly-needled mugo pine to the left along with some more moss. There is still some more work to be done, like adding some flowering and/or trailing ground cover. But we'll have to wait until we're sure we're out of frost danger to do that which may be a few weeks yet.


On Saturday, with the sun and blue skies above, we hopped in the convertible and headed a short distance to the nature trails at Bradley Pond. This was the first that either of us had been on these trails even though they are just a few miles from home. It's a nice walk, some of it in the woods, some along hay fields and some along the shores of Bradley Pond itself. Here's a pic I took of Ron resting along the way.


Since it was such an exceptionally nice day and we wanted to get outside a bit more, we headed down to Popham Beach. Well, not to the beach itself, but right 'next door' to Fort Baldwin. The fort, to quote the Wikipedia, is "a coastal defense land battery near the mouth of the Kennebec River" which "was constructed between 1905 and 1912." It was the first time I had been there and it was very cool to see.

Here is the sign that welcomes you to the fort itself. No horses allowed!


Battery Cogan is the first building that you come to after climbing up hill. The room/tower at the top of the structure allowed soldiers to overlook and keep watch on the water below.

Here I am taking a rest. Though the sky was a beautiful blue, the weather was still a little cool, hence the sweater.


Battery Hardman is the third of the buildings that comprise the fort. You can see the chimneys that rise out of the top of the grassed-over roof. Most of the rooms in the fort had a nice brick fireplace.

The tall and imposing looking building below is the Fire Control Tower. While this is usually open to the public, we were there a few weeks before the official open of the site, so we didn't get to climb to the top.


However the picture below was taken from ground level, at the edge of the hill, looking down on the mouth of the Kennebec River and Popham itself.

LISTENING TO: Belly - "Star"

My friend Barb and I played this one to death when it first came out. It compiled most of the three EPs that Tanya Donelly released as Belly after her exit from Throwing Muses. They were all a great indication/teaser for the direction she was taking for the ultimate release of "Star." Despite the consistently high quality of the songwriting and overall catchiness, most people only remember the especially radio-friendly "Feed The Tree."

Looking for Veda Hille

I am sending out a quick post today which is a pleading request for help finding Veda Hille's first two releases. The first is called "Songs about People and Buildings" and was released on cassette. The second is called "Path Of A Body." Both of these are out of print so I am unable to simply purchase them. If anyone happens to have one or both and is willing to do some kind of trade for a copy of one or both, please let me know! Thanks for any help!!

Busy Beavers!

Well, it's been well over a week since my last post, but not without reason. We have been very busy with spring cleanup and some light construction on top of all the normal day-to-day stuff.

To start with, the weather has finally turned warmer (high 50s, low 60s) so we've been out cleaning up the yard...picking up some fallen branches that were knocked down by the winter storms, raking up the last of the leaves from last fall that got buried under the early snow, and clearing the salt and sand that got deposited on the edge of the lawn from all the winter storms. With the exception of some "scars" from the plow digging up some sod here and there, things look pretty good! We also made some changes, like moving the compost pile to another area of the back yard and arranging some low stone circles out front to be used as flower beds.

Last Sunday was especially nice (considering the time of the year anyway...) so we decided on the spur of the moment to tackle a project that we've been thinking of for some time which is adding stairs to the back porch. Well, it already had some, but we removed some things, added others and generally improved everything! Below is a picture tour of what we did on Sunday.


This is the first picture I took, but before it was taken the railing was removed from the edge opposite the door and a set of steps was removed from where Ron is standing.

Here goes the addition of the first set of stairs, the width of the whole porch...


Here they are, complete. Notice the empty ground where Ron is kneeling...


...which will soon have this unfinished extension of the deck on it...


Here it is in place with the new and improved stairs on the narrow edge of the porch.


And here you can see where we ended. All the stairs are done including the diagonal edge which was a pain. Today we put the final touches on the stairs by adding kick boards so you can't see through to the space underneath. Our next warm day off, we'll be power washing the whole deck and giving it a fresh coat of paint. We're very happy with how it turned out and know that we'll get a lot of use out of it...not only for its intended use, but also as extra seating when company visits this summer as well as spots for plants and flowers!

As for the sweater, it's coming along, a little slow but sure. I am probably 80-85 percent done at this point. My goal is to have it done before our trip to visit my parents in PA in three weeks. We'll see how I do!

LISTENING TO: Jill Sobule - "Underdog Victorious"

A great little album from Jill. More of her fantastic melodies mixed with her tradmark wit and melancholy. I love what she does with Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" to make her own song "Cinnamon Park."

Saturday Workday

Today is Saturday, one of the Saturdays that falls into my every other week rotation of having to work. I actually don't mind this and Ron happens to have the same Saturday-On, Saturday-Off schedule. On the weeks where I work Saturday I get a day off during the week which has it's own charms. This has it's advantages and gives me time to pay bills and do errands with businesses that are closed on the weekend. It is also a nice day to go for groceries instead of during the weekend rush.

Then tonight we have been invited to our friend's house for a bonfire. They own a campground on the coast of Maine and during the spring they clean up brush and fallen branches from the campsites for the upcoming camping season. Then in order to get rid of it all, they have a bonfire or two. While it's still a little crisp, it'll be fun to hang around the fire and catch up with friends, maybe have a treat (er...drink) or two...

LISTENING TO: Paul McCartney - "McCartney II"

My friend and co-worker Sandi is a big music fan like myself, but she is especially and without a doubt a huuuuge Paul McCartney fan. She has loved him since she was a wee lass and The Beatles hit it big. She's even gotten to see him live three times! Over the months that we're worked together we've gotten to indulge in lots of great music talk and music sharing. So it was inevitible that I would eventually give Paul a try. She recommended I try listening to a couple of his solo albums. So I started with "Ram" and "McCartney II," two of her favorites. I'll be honest with you, I wasn't sure I was going to like them as I usually tend to steer away from anything overtly commercial (with a few exceptions, of course...). Plus I have tried listening to The Beatles many times and have never gotten into them. I certainly appreciate their undeniable impact on music as a whole, but sitting down and listening to a Beatles album isn't for me. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I'm enjoying these two albums. They both feature a lot of experimental and just plain odd tracks which is right up my alley. I imagine songs like "Temporary Secretary" and "Check My Machine" annoying the hell out of the general public (which is always an endearing quality for me when it comes to music. Hence my fascination with music that would generally be considered Uneasy Listening and would send your average Joe running from the room...artists like Diamanda Galas, Melt-Banana, Happy Flowers, Droop, and God Is My Co-Pilot are long-time favorites in this category!).

Update...

Kylie did not show up on Ellen yesterday, but I've heard that she will be on April 7th instead...we'll see... And she is apparently going to be on American Idol on the 9th! Her appearance on Craig Ferguson by the way was great. She and Craig bantered playfully and "All I See" sounded much better (and she looked more comfortable) than she did on "Dancing With The Stars."

Ron and I made a trip to Bangor yesterday to go to the dentist. For those of you unfamiliar with Maine, that's almost two hours from where we live. But when you find a good dentist, one that has a great demeanor and staff, you're willing to travel! All went well, and from there we had lunch at Bagel Central and did a little shopping before heading home. Then we took a nice walk in the sun(!), did yoga and settled in for a movie, "Monster House." A nice day off!

Kylie all over the place!

(the above picture, from the Homecoming tour, is not a great shot of Kylie per se...however it does show off some of her scantily clad male dancers, and was therefore chosen as a nod to Sean...if you frequent his site, Wool Gatherer, you'll get why...hehehee)

Well, this is a big week for Kylie fans as she is in the states promoting the US release of her tenth album "X". For those fellow fans out there, I've done a little research and found the following shows that she'll be appearing on.

3/31: The Today Show: This one's a little late, but Kylie was interviewed this morning by Matt Lauer. Why she didn't sing we may never know...

4/01: Kylie performs on tonight's "elimination" episode of Dancing With The Stars. I don't regularly tune in to the show, but from what I hear the musical guests get to do two songs? If that's the case I'm betting on the first US single, "All I See," and hopefully "Wow."

04/02: In what seems to be her only Late-Night appearance, Ms. Minogue will be on The Late-Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Yeah, it's on late-late, but he's funny and she's worth it!

04/03: On Thursday Kylie shows up on The Ellen Degeneres Show! Should be big fun!

If you know of any other places she'll be showing up, please leave us a note in the comments!

LISTENING TO: The B-52's - "Funplex"

In other music news, I picked up the new B-52's album, "Funplex". It's a nice return to form for the B's, and as a long-time fan, it's SOOO nice to hear Cindy back in the mix, harmonizing with Kate!

Moviemania

Has it been two weeks? Wow, time has certainly flown by.

So what all has been going on since then? All kinds of things...from the usual work-sleep-eat routine which takes up most of our time...dentist appointments, visiting friends and relatives, projects around the house including cleaning out the basement (and it's a big basement!), making old furniture new again (more to come on that soon...) and knitting...to our favorite cold weather activity, movie watching!

Though we are not TV watchers at all, it does seem like during the winter months we both really enjoy sitting down after dinner and watching a movie, either from our collection or a rental. Over the past two weeks, we've watched quite a few. Here a couple of the most recent.

I AM LEGEND: This one we saw in the movie theater when it was first released. We had both read Richard Matheson's short novel on which it was based and the book was better...surprise!...but that being said, they did a pretty decent job of making a movie that for 80% of the running time has one character and almost no dialog. We just watched it again with the "controversial" new ending which Ron liked better. I guess I just saw it as a different end to the story, not better or worse.

AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION: We were shopping at Bull Moose Music in Brunswick and came across this one. We are both big zombie fans so this was an easy choice. It was heralded as "One Of The Best Zombie Movies In Decades" across the front, had a disturbingly creepy cover and was hyped as being a truly disturbing zombie experience, so how could we lose? Well, we lost because we spent $13.00 on a dumb movie that looks like it was made by a bunch of high schoolers that we'll never watch again. Ughhh!

INTO THE WILD: This is another adaptation from book to film and another one that Ron and I both read before seeing. I actually thought they did a great job with this one, capturing the feel of the book and therefore the life of the young man on which it was based. Even the soundtrack which features Eddie Vedder on vocals was the perfect backdrop for the spirit of the movie. I'd definitely recommend this one.


We've also been watching episodes of DRAWN TOGETHER. This show is terribly wrong in so many ways and yet also incredibly smart and funny. If you're not familiar with it, it is a cartoon version of a Big Brother type show, bringing together different types of cartoon characters to live in a house and be "on camera" all the time. There is an egotistical Superman-type character called Captain Hero, a Josie and the Pussycats-type character called Foxxy Love, and a Disney-type Princess named Clara among others. The show tackles all kinds of jaw-droppingly, politically incorrect topics and frequently has us rolling with laughter. Thanks Royce for the recommendation!

And though we've been having a lot of fun with the video watching, we are both definitely ready for warmer weather so we can get out and hike, bike, go four-wheeling, etc... Here's to no more snow!

The Sweater in Progress

Thought I'd share another pic of the sweater. I'm well over half way there, in fact maybe 65% or so. Having finished both front and back panels, I started the first sleeve a couple of days ago. Since Ron had to go to the dentist yesterday, I spend that time working on this...

The picture is a little dark since I needed to use artificial light to take it. But you can see the ribbing and the stripe that will carry up the length of each arm. While at first I wasn't sure I was going to like working the stripe, it turned out to be ok. Especially after I decided to detatch myself from the main yarn and make some of these center-pull "butterflies" which hold yards worth of yarn at a time.

LISTENING TO: The Wolfgang Press - "Queer"

This band is an old favorite. They are no longer around, but were a fairly notable part of the British 4AD label's roster for quite a few years. This is by far their best, drawing on the best parts of their obscure back-catalog while showing us the direction in which they were headed. "A Girl Like You" was the first single from this album.

A fun and relaxing night...

I guess Ron and I were feeling a bit stereotypically gay last night, so we sat around and knitted and watched a Kylie Minogue concert video! LOL... As for the knitting, Ron finished up his first sock and started on number two and I came close to finishing the back piece of the sweater. I'll finish that this weekend and hopefully get a good start on one of the sleeves. As for Kylie, we watched the Live In Sidney video which was from the tour to support her Light Years album.

A note: I feel almost guilty about my newfound love of Kylie because she is not my usual cup of tea musically. I am usually drawn to the underdogs, the alternative music crowd, the dark and dreary. But in learning a bit about her, I respect the fact that she is involved in the creative process (she writes or co-writes most of her stuff), she isn't too cool to have fun with her image and camp it up, and her stuff is just plain catchy as hell. So I have come to terms with the fact that I don't have to give up on my alterna-roots to make room for a little Kylie in my life!

Tonight we'll be heading to some friends house for a visit. We haven't seen them in a few weeks, so it'll be good to catch up. Just have to watch out for Misty's drinks...she's a little heavy handed when it comes to pouring!

LISTENING TO: Meat Beat Manifesto - "Original Fire"

A long time favorite...Jack Dangers is certainly the creative mastermind of the MBM sound which is big, danceable, electronic music. They don't happen to be all that radio friendly though with their music usually having an ominous, nosiy and/or dark quality to it. They are effectively the anti-Kylie...hehehee.

Much better...

Well, it's been a week since I was off sick and I'm feeling a LOT better than I did. That being said, I still have some lingering bits hanging on...sore throat being the worst...and a bit of a cough. But if this is the worst I end up with this winter, I'll consider myself lucky!

Ron's doing well with his socks...they became a joint effort with me turning the heel for him, but he's currently working on doing the decreases at the toes with minimal coaching from me. How cool is that?!

And I'm moving right along on the sweater. I'm closing in on finished the back piece. Once that's done, it's just the sleeves and then piecing it all together. I never thought I'd have the drive to finish a sweater. I imagined starting it, getting less than halfway through and thinking, I want to work on something else now. But the only other project I'm daydreaming of is another sweater, one for me this time!

Sicky McSickerson PART 2

Well, here I am, home sick again. Whatever fluish-type-thing that's hit me has knocked me right out. The weird thing is that I definitely felt like I was improving last night and even went out for a bit with Ron. But I woke up this morning feeling worse that I did yesterday. Hmmm. The good thing is that tomorrow is my normal day off for the week, so if I'm still feeling ooky I'll be able to rest and not have to worry about calling in again.

On a totally different topic...

After watching me knit for a while, Ron decided that he'd like to learn too. So a few weeks ago he picked up the knitting needles for the first time and taught himself (from a book) how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch. I was surprised but excited at this development....would I end up with a knitting partner?...how cool would that be!

To keep the scale of his first project on the small side, he ended up making a garter-stitch scarf for a stuffed bear that we have. I thought that might be the end of his knitting career. But a few days later he cast on again and kept practicing, not really having a projects in mind, but just to practice his knitting. I finally said to him, you should probably learn how to purl, too. So we got him going on that as well.

Then a few days ago, he said that he wanted to learn how to knit in-the-round and asked if I would help him cast on for a sock. I said sure though I was a little apprehensive. On one hand, I wasn't sure if he was ready for socks yet, but since making a pair of socks was the second project that I took on after learning how to knit, how could I say no? So up to this point he has cast on, distributed the stitches and has knit a good inch and a half of the leg of a sock. Pretty impressive for a guy who is usually out tinkering with one of the cars or the 4-wheeler!

LISTENING TO: BLONDE REDHEAD - "23"

Blonde Redhead's sound is similar to a mix of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth (at their most atmospheric and dreamy). Listening to them makes me go all weak, from the gorgeously off-kilter melodies to the unusual, girly voice of lead singer Kazu Makino. Sample a bit of "Dr. Strangeluv" to see what I mean.

Sicky McSickerson

I've been fighting off a cold/flu/sinusy type thing for a couple of days now and I had to give in, stay home and rest. So what better use of my time than to post a new entry!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm in the process of making a sweater, which is the first I've ever attempted. It will be for Ron, but I'll have exclusive borrowing rights! I didn't want to make anything too fancy for him, so it's very basic, mostly one color with the exception of a stripe down each sleeve. The pattern is the "Speed Racer" from Debbie Stoller's "Son Of Stitch 'n Bitch."




Here's a shot of the progress I've made so far, which surprisingly has gone much quicker than anticipated...

This shows the front panel about 75-80% done. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll start another identical panel for the back, and lastly, both sleeves. That being said, I suppose I should wrap things up here so I can go get curled up on the couch with my knitting and a good movie!

LISTENING TO: Camera Obscura - "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi"

Though often labeled as a Belle And Sebastian knock-off, repeated listens reveal that Camera Obscura are very much their own band. From the sweet vocals to the depth and humor of the lyrics, there is so much to like about this band. Give "Eighties Fan" a listen and see for yourself!

Painting the weekend away...

Over the past couple of weeks, Ron and I have been talking about how we would like to change the color of the kitchen. It has nice white cupboards and a sharp looking faux-granite counter, but the walls were battleship gray and it made the whole thing feel very cold. This picture shows the wall color right before we started to paint, after we had spackled and as we were taking off the cupboard doors.



So after much discussion on what color to go with (we started with shades of blue and then yellow), we settled on one called English Toffee. There are flecks of this same color in the counter and it give the kitchen the warm feel it had been missing. And despite the fear of "am I really going to like this color once it's on the walls" syndrome, we do both really like it! Whew!

Ron installed a new light fixture with three pendant lights as well. You can just see one of them on the left in the picture above. Here's one more shot so you can see them, and another view of the kitchen (and all the junk in our cupboards!).

So next weekend it's one more coat of paint and we should be done. At this point everything is taped off which takes a lot of time, so the last painting session should go pretty quickly. With all this going on, I really haven't done much on the knitting front, but I have started a sweater that I will show you the progress on soon.

LISTENING TO: Kylie - "X"

For those of you that know my music taste from past posts, you may be surprised at this choice. However, when you want to hear some pure dancey, sexy pop, you just can't ignore Kylie. As the title suggests, this is her tenth studio release and it served as the soundtrack to our painting this weekend. If your only recollection of Kylie is her kitchy 80's cover of "The Loco-Motion," clear your mind and take a listen to her new single "Wow". It's catchy as hell and will be going through your head for days!

Pillow Talk

I recently took a little break from knitting to tackle pillow making. We needed some accent pillows for the black couch we have and while perusing Joann's, we found some nice, canvas material on sale. The last time I sewed anything was in high school Home-Ec class, but I rememebered most of the basics of the sewing machine (that was gifted to me by Ron's Mom). So after a little online video help (Expert Village), I was ready to go. I'll ultimately end up making a pair of these, but here is the first of the finished pillows...

This past weekend we went to see Cloverfield. We had been meaning to go before this because I didn't want anyone to spoil the plot! All I really knew was that it was filmed on hand-held cameras and that people were getting motion sick! I ended up really liking it. It had a good number of scares and there was one point where I almost jumped out of my seat!

LISTENING TO: KELLY - "Shoes"

I was JUST introduced to Kelly by watching some videos on uTube (linked from Wool Gatherer's blog, thank you!). They were funny enough that shortly thereafter, I ended up heading over to iTunes and downloading the album. It's totally silly, has a good beat and it's a lot of fun! Go get it!

Robbie

Here is a quick post to show Robbie the Robot. I finished him up a few weeks ago for Ron, who collects robots. The pattern for him is from Jess Hutchinson's book "Unusual Toys for you to Knit and Enjoy." He was a lot of fun to knit and didn't take long to do, at all.

Too much going on!

I've been hesitating posting lately as I've fallen into a sorta non-knitting routine. I'm not exactly sure why, it's just happened. It's not that I don't have the desire, I'm just lacking the follow-through. One culprit could be that we've made a couple of new friends recently and have been spending time hanging out with them. And with the holidays there's always less time, plus work has been exhausting. I've just finished working the third of four 8-hour shifts in a row where I'm manning our optical department by myself. The office I work in is just not conducive to one optician taking care of a four-doctor work-load! Ah well, what can you do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...


Tomorrow should be a fun day. We're going to drive down to Belfast and have breakfast at a cool vegetarian resaurant. We'll check out the shops in downtown Belfast, too, along with heading to Ocean State Job Lots which is similar to a Big Lots, Odd Lots or Ollies. Lots of cheap junk to sift through and hopefully lots of bargains to be found.




A friend has recently introduced me to the Happy Tree Friends. Have any of you seen it? It's shown on the G4 network (which I'd never even heard of!), but thanks to the internet we can all enjoy this super-twisted cartoon. Yes, it's a cartoon, but it's for NOT children or the faint-of-heart in any way! People I've shown it to have either thought it was hilarious or totally sick. Think of the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon on The Simpsons, but more violent and gory. Each episode starts out with one of the cute Happy Tree Friends characters (Giggles, Nutty, Cuddles, etc...) doing something as innocent as attending a magic show, getting a hair cut, or going bowling. But in no time at all, things go horribly, horribly wrong. If your interest is piqued, head over to the website and watch an episode or two. But don't say I didn't warn you! Hehehehee...

LISTENING TO: OVER THE RHINE - "Snow Angels"

Over The Rhine are a wonderful, down-to-earth, super-talented group headed by real-life couple Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. They live in a big, old farmhouse in Ohio where they recorded this album of original "Christmas" tunes. Though this album is about Christmas, it doesn't always sound like it. Which is why I think I like it so much...it's not preachy about it's holiday-ness! Karin's voice is a revelation and a welcome relief from the traditional schlock out there this time of year. Take a listen to the beautifully melancholy "All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue."

Christmastime is here...

Well, we've finished all of our Christmas shopping for friends and family, with the exception of one person. What a big relief that is! And as a present for each other, we're going to take a step into the present (or maybe I should say past...) and get cell phones! We've been putting it off for years, complaining everytime we see someone in a restaurant, a movie theater or in their car gabbing away like there's not tomorrow. But I think we just can't deny the sheer convenience of it anymore.

We got our Christmas tree up and it's lit, but undecorated. We are in no rush to decorate it because we both love the simplicity of it as is. But the decorations will no doubt find their way onto the tree eventually! Our house is a gambrel style and has vaulted ceilings over the living/dining area, so we were able to get a fairly tall tree. We weren't, though, able to get one with much width. We managed to find one on our land, out behind the house...after much trudging through the woods and hoping we hadn't crossed onto the neighbor's property!

Ok, well I'm off the do some knitting (gasp!). Yes, for the first time in a couple days I'm going to sit down and knit and hope to show some actual progress. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll actually have something to show by next post!

LISTENING TO: KATELL KEINEG - "O Seasons O Castles"

I first heard Irish-born artist Katell Keineg when I worked at the record store in the local mall back home in PA. We had gotten in a copy of her first album "O Seasons O Castles" for in store play and I was hooked. She has an amazing voice and is one hell of a storyteller. She falls into the folksy singer/songwriter category most easily, but is much more than just that. Get a taste by listening to "Hestia"

A late, post-Thanksgiving post

Thanksgiving!... Being vegetarian we had everything but the turkey. All the good stuff that would normally go with it (and a few non-tradional things) became the star attractions instead. We made stuffing in the crockpot (thanks for the hint Mom!) which came out gloriously tasty and moist, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, sauteed kale from our back yard, veggie gravy, and a yummy butternut squash and apple bake. Oh, and pumpkin pie! How could I forget dessert!


On the Friday after Thanksgiving, our friend Diane came over for "Movie Pants Night." What's that you ask? Well... I'm not exactly sure how it started, but somewhere along the line, we started calling our flannel PJ bottoms "movie pants." It had something to do with changing into them to be comfy for watching a movie. So "movie pants night" involved Diane coming over for pizza, some beer and then movie pants and a movie! However, by the time we were ready to watch a movie we had all had a little too much to drink. So instead of a movie, we settled for the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special which is always a treat. The whole thing is so campy and laugh-out-loud hilarious that we often watch it two or three times each Christmas season.


Not much to report on the knitting front. I have been super busy with work and therefore neglecting the knucks. One is completely done so if I can set aside a few hours I can finish the other one. It's getting to be that time of year so I better get on the ball!

I'll leave you with a picture of one of our dogs, Tully. You can see that she's thinking "ME?! Digging in the yard? What makes you think I was doing that?!"

LISTENING TO: BELLY - "King"

This is Belly's second and, sadly, last album. It wasn't as radio-friendly as some of Star was and didn't have a copycat single to match "Feed The Tree." But there are plenty of great moments here such as "Now They'll Sleep." Plus Tanya Donelly has carried on as a solo artist and has a new album coming out in December called "This Hungry Life."

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

...or at least it's getting there. We went from warm and rainy last week to dry and cold this week. Which is why I've started myself a pair of "knucks" as seen on knitty and popularized by Matt and Micah. This pattern is made from the fingers (which only go to the first knuckle to allow you to use your fingertips!) down to the cuff, the opposite of the only other pair of gloves I've made. So far I like this method much better.

The first thing the pattern calls for is making all the fingers individually and putting the stitches on scrap yarn until ready to use. So here is a picture of my hand with only the "fingers" in place.

Doesn't look like it'll add up to much, huh? From here you have to take each individual finger and place it on two needles in preparation to join them all together. Here's what that looks like...

From here you knit in the round down the length of the hand, stopping along the way to add on the thumb that's been waiting patiently on the side this whole time. Here's what mine looked like a few rounds after adding on the thumb. (Look Jaci, I'm using the lovely stitch markers you made and sent my way...thanks again!)

I just started this one last night and hope to have it done before bed tonight. Then I can start on the other one tomorrow and hopefully have the pair done by Thanksgiving weekend. If you're looking for a slightly challenging (but not hard) and fun to make pair of gloves, I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.

LISTENING TO: TYRO - "Audiocards"

Tyro is made up of Katie and Skip, both originally from the now-defunct, but ever-terrific Toenut. Tyro carries on the basic themes presented by the first band with a bit more electronic manipulation thrown in for fun. If you like early B-52's, you may like these guys too as they have a similarly twisted sense of humor and off-kilter harmonies to boot. Here's a sample of the Tyro track "Blameless."