From the Abstraction Foundry: scraps from the workroom floor

Since I began knitting in earnest, I've become a smidgen obsessed with the craft. In that I think about knitting quite frequently. That is to say, I ponder yarn, projects, needles, knitters, designs, color, patterns, etc., and how they all interact, all the time. Constantly. I'll be writing a work email, and midway through sentence composition I'll be struck by a bolt from the blue. (Knitting-related lightening strikes are, by default, gentle and a bit woolly, but still firm.) This bolt is a grain of sand, a bit of brain grit that my mind will then form a pearl around in its attempts to expel it.

I even think the word "IDEA!" in Simon Pegg's voice.

I'll suddenly need to know all about Bluefaced Leicester wool, and its properties, and how it takes color vs. merino, and what does the sheep look like anyway? and which BFL yarns are commercially available, and look there's a cool indie dyer who does sock-weight 80-20 blend with nylon, and that colorway would look amazing as Kitman Figueroa's Damask shawl, or maybe a more geometric design, and I should try to design my own this time...

(Even if you're not a knitter, you should be familiar with this phenomenon: Wiki-binge and YouTube trance start the same way. You think of X, and must go read about/watch X, and then you click a link to that related thing, and so on, and it leads you further and further from the original source.)

But I'm off, and down the rabbit hole, mentally casting aside my 18 (!) active or partially finished projects and my substantial stash of beautiful yarns in favor of the mere dream of a brand-new project--my shiny new pearl. The truth is I don't have time to knit all the projects I put together in my head. I don't knit quickly or monogamously enough to get through even the handful of actually important knits in my life. (I'm eyeballing you, M&M's wedding afghan. For their fifth anniversary, now...?)

So I have all these cool ideas, and they just languish in my brain, where inevitably they are reabsorbed and their raw materials are reused. It's as if a seed floated in on the breeze, and I gathered a bunch of soil and fertilizer and water around it until it sprouted, and then I abandon the sprout to turn to compost in order to tend the rest of my head forest. No longer! I'm giving the plants/pearls away, documenting the notions here and hoping they find their way to some knitter who doesn't know what her/his/its next project should be.

Final Concept
Arroway Shawl by Stephen West

Primary ingredient: Black Trillium Fibre Studio Pebble Sock in colorway Hedwig

Alternative:
Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn in colorway Newsprint

AND
Malabrigo Yarn Sock in colorway Ravelry Red

The brain grit that spawned this one: seeing a skein of Hedwig by Black Trillium at Vogue Knitting Live! Seattle this past weekend. I loved it but couldn't quite parse out how best to use it.

Last day of summer/autumnal equinox

Spending my lunch break outside! I borrowed a blanket from the office and am sitting in the sun on some grass beside the Burke-Gilman trail. My head is killing me but I can't miss what may be the last of the nice weather for six months.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy T-day, a couple days late. We've been without wifi at home and so no posts have been possible, despite having ample time and interest in posting--can't exactly go to a cafe on Thanksgiving. I spent most of the day after T-day recovering and playing Guitar Hero III at Patrick and Santos' place--even though they are in AZ with Patrick's familia. Nivia finally broke down and got an Xbox, and we spent a few happy hours trying to be rock gods after she tended to Blanche the cat. Mostly I sucked, even on bass, and got booed off the stage, but it's a fun game with great music (when is the last time you rocked out to Sunshine of Your Love and Evenflow on the same day?).


Today Charlotte, Cassie, Adrienne and I are at Cafe Vivace catching up on the Interwebs.
Here are some pie pics, courtesy of Charlotte's mad pie skillz:















Pecan oatmeal on the top, cranberry walnut on the bottom. The pumpkin was amazing--but no pics. Just eating. :) Paul brought Bifröst clone homebrew which was muy tasty. My turkey was the best bird ever: brined, massaged, and butter/herb/smoked salt rubbed, the recipe is available on request.
Attendees: Margaret and Paul from upstairs, Rob (Margaret's bf), David (Charlotte's bf), Cassie, Nivia, Adrienne, Charlotte, Jill & Chris, Sheldon & Amy, and me. Everyone ate too much and in general had a fabulous time.


Highlight of my day, though, was the e-card I got from my Auntie Les. I woke up thinking about her and wishing she (and mes cousins, natch) could be with us for T-day. Lo and behold, an e-card was waiting in my inbox (this was before the wifi died)--with a dancing singing yam. Made me happy and teary and wishing I had international minutes so I could call.

Oh, and I have been knitting like a fiend. Problem is it's all Christmas knitting for people who read this blog, so I can't share details or post pics. I promise that I'll post pics after Xmas.

Crafty Sunday

Status update
Eating: Trader Joe's Mexicaine Quiche
Drinking: Gordon Biersch Märzen
Watching: Mythbusters
Knitting: Alpaca Hat

I spent today crafting and watching movies. The fall weather was beautiful! The electric orange leaves on the trees contrasted nicely with the clear blue sky, and it was not very cold. Yay for the brief break in typical Seattle fall weather. I was grateful that I got to walk to the nearby Safeway (not once but twice!) for Kool-Aid. I dyed a sweater that my roommate Cassie gifted me when she cleaned out her closet not too long ago. Originally the sweater was a not-so-pale baby blue. Not a bad color, but it definitely did not flatter me.

In the sink: two shots of the sweater in it's pre-dye bath (I forgot to snap a shot prior to dunking it).


In the pot: two shots of the sweater in the dye bath.


Waiting for the sweater to dry now to see how it really turned out--so far the color looks pretty good. Will post photos tomorrow.

We had a bit of a shindig at our house last night. Great turnout and lots of good food consumed (two baguettes, two cheese wedges, one bag cheesy poofs, one giant bag of tortilla chips and salsa, a large container of Trader Joe's Mediterranean hummus, 24 devil's food cupcakes, 1.75 loaves of zucchini bread, and,of course, beer...I am actually having the only beer left in the house right now). I woke up this morning and had to face the dishes, which is always the sucktastic part of any party, but housemate Charlotte (A.K.A. Stellaaaaaaaaaa!) kindly assisted. Poor Cassie had to work today.

After dishes it was all about tackling the Netflix pile. Land of the Dead rocked. Not only did the film have anti-Bush commentary with zombies, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright cameos, and loads of well-executed special effects shots, but it was just plain well-written. Good story, well-sketched characters, and a not completely depressing ending means that it earned three stars (out of four) from me.

Today is the first entry of the rest of my blog...

Welcome to TheJenmeister. Here I plan to chronicle two things:
1. My life in Seattle and the associated miscellany that accompanies interacting with other humans, especially when your brain is as pop-culture influenced as mine is, and
2. The Stash Project.

More to follow on TSP in later posts. It's been long enough since I blogged regularly that I barely know how, so bear with me while I get this puppy up and running. For now, enjoy this picture, which truly defines AWESOME for me...