6 Weird Things, Answers and Unventings

I hardly managed to make a single yarn-over in the past week, but now that Holiday Recovery Mode is in full swing, I've picked up the knitting again. I've made a lot of progress on the second Monkey Sock, started another pair of socks for Andy (very simple rib, cast on while watching Happy Feet,) and been working on a baby sweater with some handspun previously earmarked for the purpose. But more about that later, I've been tagged for a meme - and so I bring you Six Weird Things About Loribird: (I'm sure most everyone knows The Rules by now, as this meme has been circulating for awhile, but just in case: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.) 1. I have conversations with my dog. Really. But most Muggles can't hear him answering me, so it sounds (to them) like I'm involved in a conversational monologue. 2. When I'm upset or depressed, I rearrange furniture or cut my hair; both tend to be drastic changes. 3. My hands and feet will often be significantly colder to the touch than the ambiant air temperature of the room I am in. (Long live wool socks and fingerless mitts!) 4. I sometimes dream of things that subsequently happen in reality, though they are usually insignificant events. This has been happening since I was a kid, and back then I thought it happened to everyone. 5. I don't consider myself to be particularly shy, but when I'm in a room with a lot of strangers, my mind goes numbingly blank and I say the dumbest things... 6. I'm married with two kids, but I've never attended a formal wedding or given birth. So, there you go. In retribution, I'm tagging Aija, Spinning Dervish, Kelle, Theresa, Ms. Garter, and Becky. Answer away as you wish. Judy asked in the comments if I had a recipe for the pomegranate liqueur. I mentioned that I got the idea from a post on the Pocket Farm blog, but I also found some information here and here. Basically, I cut open and seperated the fruit from five poms, divided it more or less evenly into three mason jars (I got close to six cups of fruit, so about two cups in each jar,) mashed the fruit with a metal whisk (very gratifying, though messy) and added 1.5 cups of vodka to each jar. I also added about a tablespoon of lemon zest to each, as suggested on one of the websites I visited. I put the jars into a kitchen cupboard, and take them out to swirl once a day. As of today, most of the color seems to have leached out of the fruit into the liquid, but I'm going to let it work for a little while longer. After two weeks, I'll strain the fruit bits out, add the sugar syrup, and let it age. It's my first time making cordial, and though it seems simple enough and I expect it to turn out well, it's really more of an experiment than anything. So, here is a photo of my most recent project: Some of you may recognize it as the Nearly Seamless Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. But wait! I believe I've found a way to make it entirely seamless, a little unventing of my own... I thought of the modification because I'm using my handspun, and I really like the subtle striping that's happening as the plies change color. I didn't want to break that up, as would happen since the pattern calls for the sleeve to be knit directly down from the yoke. So I put it aside for a little while, and then remembered the thumb trick you can use for mittens. Why not for sleeves? EZ knits the sleeves on 28 stitches from the yoke, plus 7 cast on each side, for a total of 42. I knit waste yarn across 21 of the yoke stitches, which will make 42 live stitches (21 top, 21 bottom) when the yarn is removed. I can continue knitting the body of the sweater back and forth in pattern, and when I'm done I plan to knit around in pattern for the length of the sleeve. That should leave me with a completely seamless baby sweater - cross your fingers for me... (And please, if anyone can see any reason why this won't work, let me know...) Weather: Cold, blustery, and snowing. At least I think it's snowing. There is snow blowing horizontally by the windows, and I'm assuming it's not just being swept off the roof... Sunrise was at 10:06, and sunset is scheduled for 16:08 thisafternoon, for a full 6h 2m of winter sunlight...

More like Christmas...

It's beginning to look a lot more like Christmas (or Christmasolstikwanzakuh, if you like) here at the Wool Room Nest. Lacking a mantle, the stockings are hung and waiting on the banister. (Yes, the cat and dog have their own stockings. No, the cat will not be receiving her own yarn.) The ingredients for easy turtles are waiting on the table as an after dinner project. The tree is displaying its full regalia, and the pile of presents underneath is growing steadily.

Oh, yes, and Mama scored a bag of pomegranetes for $0.99 at the store the other day, which can only mean that one thing is in the making... Pomegranete cordial! It won't be ready until 4 to 6 weeks have passed, but I expect it to be quite delicious! I got the idea from Liz over at the Pocket Farm, which is a very cool blog if you have time to check it out.

You want to know about the knitting? What knitting? There's been precious little, I have some spinning to appease the Yarn Ghouls.

These are both sock weight yarns, spun two-ply from some superwash merino I dyed some weeks back. Each skein has about 220 yards in it.

The first colorway is nameless so far, but will be nice and stripey knit up.

The second is called Mermaid, and I think it is my favorite of the two.

The weather has been the same, cold, windy, and snowy. I'm not complaining at all :)

Early Resolutions

So, it would appear my digital camera has hidden its own extra batteries again... so there shall be no pictures posted until I can find them. All in all, we received 8-10 glorious inches of snow in the past few days, and I went skiing three days in a row!!! Very exciting, a lot of fun, but not so great for the knitting and spinning (or blogging) progress. Also, if you are expecting a handknit gift from me sometime in the next week, it will probably be late. Think Valentine's day. So sorry, but the snow...! It probably won't be that bad. But I keep a "gift box" in which I stash knitted goods for other people, and sometimes they make their ways out for unintended purposes. The brown Koigu socks? They were intended for someone in my family, but the last day of school was approaching, and I knew I needed a teacher present or two - and hey, the lady's been teaching Older Squirrel to read for heaven's sake - are you telling me she doesn't deserve handknit socks? And she was very impressed and pleased, too. I saw this Stash-a-Thon thing over at Wendy's blog, and it seems like something I ought to do. Mind you, my yarn stash is not nearly as epic as some I've heard of, but still... The main problem I have is that last year I was working a very well-paying but exhausting job. I was too tired to knit when I got home, but had oodles of pocket money, so I bought lots more yarn than I needed. Now, I don't have the job, so I have not so much money but much more time to knit! I have yarn for at least three adult sweaters, tons of socks, hats, mittens, and spinning fiber everywhere. Downsizing this way seems ideal. I like the idea of the Stash-a-Thon because I'd really like to go to a BIG fiber festival next fall, and if I knit and spin my stash I can feel guiltless about doing so. Here are the rules as Wendy and L-B wrote them for themselves. The personal additions I made are in italic. ***************** Knit From Your Stash 2007 1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months. 2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions: 2.a. Sock yarn does not count. (What? You think we are made of stone?) I will make every attempt to knit from my own sock-yarn stash anyway. 2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift. 2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete the project. 2.d. We each get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card -- we are allowed to fall off the wagon one time. 2.e. Two projects-worth of laceweight yarn may be bought, allowing that the project is specified before purchase, and is started immediately upon receipt of the yarn. 3. We are allowed to receive (but not badger people into giving us) gifts of yarn. 4. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt. Again, I will make every attempt to spin what I have before buying more. ***************** I added 2.e. because I am very interested in doing more lace knitting, for which I have little suitable yarn. For a lace shawl, the yarn-to-cost ratio is generally so reasonable, and lace makes such a nice summer travelling project. So there you go. I plan to make one yarn-related purchase before midnight Dec. 31 2006, because I have been waiting to treat myself until after the holidays, but knowing it will be my last yarn-buying for awhile will make it a thoughtful spend. And then I will have a Fiber Festival Trip to look forward to next autumn! WRWR Windy, cloudy, and cold are the words of the day pertaining to weather at the wool room. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 20s. Winds are 22 mph with gusts nearing 30 mph. Scattered snow flurries are expected this evening and overnight, and the sun rose at 10:02 and will set at 16:02. Lousy ski weather, but great for housecleaning and spinning! All for now.

Highway Robbery

You'll never guess what happened today. I'm still fuming. A little bit of background: I live in a very small town, where nearly everyone you see is an acquaintance. It's nice that way, and reminds me of where I was living before we moved here. Kids from 6th grade and older walk home alone, you don't really have to lock your doors at night, and most people leave their keys in their cars when they run into a store. Your basic safe, friendly, small-town It snowed a decent amount last night, so I went into work (my one day a week) a little early so I'd have time to shovel out the walkway. Before I got inside I noticed a guy across the street in the old library parking lot trying to scrape ice off his windshield, and having a tough time with it. I hesitated, but decided to do the nice thing, and shouted over, "Hey, would you like to borrow my ice scraper? It's a really good one!" And it is a really good one. I'm originally from a very warm climate, and was not at all used to snow and ice. Andy gave me the ice scraper last year - it's got an unbreakable heavy-duty scraper on one end, and a padded rubber grip, an extra long handle, and even a snow brush - the Rolls Royce of ice scrapers. The guy was really happy, held up the folded paper coffee cup he'd been trying to use, and said, "Well, anything would be better than this!" We laughed, I grabbed my scraper and met him in the median to hand my Beloved over. I said, "Well, just bring it back when you're done," waved generally towards my car, and ran back to open the shop and get out the shovel. Good deed done, right? I unlocked the shop door, grabbed the shovel from the foyer, turned around, and the guy had driven off with my ice scraper!!! In any "big town" I might not be surprise by such a thing, but I was simply appalled. For awhile I tried to convince myself he was going to buy me a thank-you cup of coffee or something, and then I figured he'd just forgotten and would remember soon, but he never came back. I was so mad I almost cried. I felt like a complete sucker. My friend Cheryl said, "Well, maybe he needed it that much." Well, now I need one that much, and I suppose I should go steal one from an unsuspecting Good Samaritan? I sat in the shop for awhile composing posters in my mind to put up around town: "To the Mannerless Lout who was trying to scrape your windshield with a coffee cup in the old library parking lot lateThursday morning: I offered my ice scraper out of kindness, and you stole it, which makes you a Heartless Bad Man, in my humble opinion! If you are a decent person with any conscience whatsoever, you will wish to redeem yourself, and should return my beloved ice scraper. Otherwise, I hope your car gets stuck in the snow until spring breakup!" I didn't make up any posters, only because it's obvious from his behavior, and the fact that he didn't have his own scraper, that the rotten pig isn't from around here and wouldn't see my signs anyway. But it made me feel better to think about it. I was so angry I could hardly knit!!! But that feeling passed quickly. (Sorry for the bad photos; the sun has already set here.) I finished Little Squirrel's Cascade Fixation socks, all but for kitchenering the toe, which shall be done momentarily. A really easy knit, 36 stitches on 3.25 (US3) needles, with my first pair of (successful) yarn-over short-row heels. (I've decided against doing wrapped short rows. Ever. Again.) I've also made much progress on the Monkey sock. It looks suspiciously wide around the instep area, but seems to fit well (hard to say with needles sticking every which way...) so I'm going to continue on. Oh, and did you notice my new(ish) Sock Saver? The person who came up with this idea is a genius. Oh, and I picked up a new ice scraper after work. Same model as before, very necessary for this displaced Southern girl in Weather Such As This. Speaking of weather, I believe a WRWR is in order... Today, cold (upper 20s) and cloudy, with a few snow flurries. Accumulation overnight amounted to 4-5" in town, with a good possiblility of more snow tonight. (Be careful what you ask for...) Sunrise at 9:58, sunset at 16:02.

Beginning to look quite a bit more like Christmas...

So Tenar has not been lingering neglected in the corner. In fact, I've been spinning quite a lot lately. Here is the past week's worth, artistically displayed as a "yarn bouquet."

The blue is a blend called "Barefoot" from Paradise Fibers. The roving is 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon. I dyed the roving myself, and there is subtle shading in the yarn, shifting from blue to aqua to purple. It is a little coarser than the Koigu I'd been knitting, and I think I felted the fiber mildly when I dyed it, but overall it spun up rather well into a sport weight yarn. I like knowing it will be stronger than the plain superwash I've previously spun for socks. I plan for it to become a pair of socks for my Sockret Pal, who definitely deserves such spoiling! Next up is some more yarn for a swap. I'm doing a Coffee and Knitting swap, and rather than buying yarn to mail out, I spun up some Blue Faced Leicester I dyed awhile back. I spun it much thicker than usual, and the fluffy BFL rewarded me with a nearly bulky 2-ply yarn that is very soft and fluffy! I'm in love with this yarn, but I have to mail it out... Well, there were about 40yards left on the bobbin, which I'm keeping for posterity (and inspiration) I'll find somewhere to work it in.

Just so you don't think I'm some sort of angel, knitting and spinning for everyone else, I started a new project which is desitined for me alone:

The "Monkey" socks from the new Knitty, done in some Fleece Artist superwash merino sock yarn I've been saving for the perfect pattern. I'm almost done with the leg; it's an amazingly fast knit, as I found the pattern easy to memorize and it builds on itself in such a way that it's quite addictive. (Just one more row, okay, three more, okay, just one more repeat...)

WRWR: Today, a photo tells much of the news about the weather: It's been snowing all day, though tiny flakes (the kind that stick around, I've been told!) and it's forcasted to continue through the night. Temperatures have been in the upper 20's to 30, with a bit of wind. The sun came up at 9:57 and set at 16:02 this afternoon. All in all, a great day for tea and knitting!

Do not disturb: Holiday knitting in progress...

This is the last week before school lets out for holiday break. The kids are dragging through their last few days of school, as holiday excitement mounts, while I (and other mothers) are hurridly trying to get things done before our "free time" is wiped out by a house full of kiddos. That is to say, I've been knitting like mad. Yup, there's a finished fair isle hat, which went through the dryer (on purpose) to make it fit anyones head after wet blocking (I really didn't expect it to stretch that much!) and now it's kidlet sized. There's a tam I knit using the Wool in the Woods yarn I bought at the yarn expo. I'm hoping to make up some mittens to match it. And I finished the Koigu socks with the little cable running down the side. Very nice, and I want to keep them, but must gift them away. I also started another pair of Squirrel socks (*note to anyone who hasn't caught on: the girls are called "Squirrel Girls" or just "Squirrels" by myself and their father.) This pair is cotton, made with Cascade Fixation on size 3.25 (US3) needles (!!! can we say, Fast Knit?) and they are so cute!!! Definitely not a colorway many people over the age of 9 should attempt to pull off, but it will be perfect for Little Squirrel's All Pink Clothing collection. Through them, I think I have finally discovered a short row heel I can live with, so more experimentation on that will follow. Weather Report: I'm in a much better mood about the weather. It finally got cold again, and after a few dangerous days of ice and more ice, it has started snowing, though lightly. Much more wintery, thank you very much. Cloudy skies, a little breezy, and this morning's snow showers are predicted to continues for the next few days. Temps are in the mid- to high-20s, with the sun rising at 9:56 and setting at 16:03. Solstice is fast approaching, but in the meantime it makes for great Christmas light viewing. I'm off to knit some more!

A picture may be worth 1000 words

but I only had two:

BAD KITTY!

Yes, those are two different balls of yarn. Both strung all across the house, the green one both upstairs and down. She's been busy. WRWR: Still rainy, still just above freezing... but there is an end in sight! The online weather forcast has pictures of snowflakes with giant question marks superimposed over them - I hope that means possibility of snow!

Knitting, in its natural habitat!

That's right, I have some actual knitting to share today! Yay! First, though, I need to say thank you to my Knitting and Coffee swap pal. It is a little Swap-bot swap, and Ariella from Quebec sent me a lovely package (which, incidentally, I got while my camera was unable to communicate with Blogger, so I am posting my appreciation later than I'd like.) She sent me two balls of the prettiest colored alpaca you ever did see, along with three types of flavored coffee (not pictured because it is being consumed as you read...) and an exquisite stitchmarker she made herself. It's glass and sterling silver - my poor knitting feels unworthy! It really is beautiful, and I love the yarn and coffee as well - Thank You, Ariella! It seems I was inspired by the little stitch marker. I dug out some yarn last night to play with fair isle. I'm gearing up for Eunny's Anemoi Mittens, which I plan to knit as soon as I'm back in practice. This is to be a hat, and so far I like the way it's coming along. Knit with Brown Sheep's Top of the Lamb sport weight wool, on 3.75mm (size 5) needles, in white and some yarn I dyed experimentally this summer using fireweed blossoms. The dye didn't translate the brilliance of the actual flowers, which I found a little disappointing, but it's a special yarn anyway. As you can see, the Wool Room has been invaded! We have a christmas tree, and so my wool room has temporarily become the Wool Corner. Not that I mind so much. It's the first time I've had a live tree, and the smell is everything I've heard people raving about. Unfortunately, our Feline Mind Control Agent (aka Hannah Cat) seems to think the tree is her personal playground - ah, well. She is a cat. So anyway, I've put the tree to good use as a knit-model. Here are some socks I've been working on using the Koigu my Chocolate Swap pal sent to me. They're very simple, 60 stitiches around on 2.5mm needles, with a 3X3 cable running down each side. My favorite detail is this: See how the last cable twist splits off to the heel flap and gusset decrease? Love it. Finally, here is the first of a pair of socks destined to belong to Birdlet the Elder. They're made up of leftover Lorna's Laces (from Aunt K's socks) and Paton's Kroy (from Daddy's socks,) which Birdlet particularly enjoys, being the sentimental little creature that she is. And for our Weather Report, today, like yesterday, is rainy and cold, with temps starting out the morning at 34, forcasted to stay in the mid 30s all day. Snow on the ground has given way to mud, and skies are generally grey and depressing. Fog abounds. Bleh indeed. I'm amazed my Weather Pixie hasn't gone on strike. The sun rose about an hour ago, at 9:49, and will set at 16:05. All I'm saying is, I moved to Alaska, where is the dagnabbed snow!!???

388 pins later...

Well, I finished my first real lace blocking - the last piece I did I used a string threaded through the points to pull it into shape.

Pi Shawl, from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac Knit on 3.25 mm needles Just over 2 hanks of Knitpicks Shadow laceweight merino, Lost Lake colorway

I started this shawl back in June, and didn't work steadily on it until the past month or so. I'm really happy with they way it came out. I used a shetland fern pattern in the first patterned ring, but otherwise followed EZ's suggested patterns entirely. Just for kicks. In more exciting news, I received a fantastic package from my Sockret Pal! There is a little box of Numi tea (and that box has "knitting gadget storage" written all over it!) a pair of Italian socks that are a cotton/angora blend (soooo soft!) some On Line sock yarn (another brand I've not gotten a chance to try - I think I'll try entrelac with it,) a cute little handsewn patchwork bag, perfect size for a knit project.... Und Ze Chocolate!!! Dark Ghiradelli, no less, lucky me!!! I've got a great pal for this swap too! Okay, that last bit about the chocolate deserves an explaination. Andy was telling his family about all the cool swaps I've been participating in, and was ribbing me about the fact that no matter what else the swap is focusing on, I seem to always get some chocolate in my package. He uses his vocal imitation of the fat caterpiller in the movie "Bug's Life:" "I know! Let us make a swap of ze knitting yarn! Ve vill send our finest woolen goodness, ze Chibi needles, ze local postcard... UND ZE CHOCOLATE! Ya ya, ze chocolate!!!" Ahem. Anyway, I don't mind the imitation, because it's kind of true - but hey, I do share ze chocolate. Sometimes. WRWR: Today the sun came out briefly around 13:30, but otherwise the day was grey and drizzly, with temperatures hovering just above freezing. Sunrise was a 9:47, sunset was at 16:07 (I' ve decided I like using "military" time to avoid writing am/pm so often.) I know I said all the snow has melted, and for the most part it has; the backdrop of the shawl was in a shady part of the neighbor's yard!

Teaser

What is this, submerging into the watery depths? Stretched long to the horizon?

I'm melting, melting! Oh, cruel world!

The title today is a reference to the Wizard of Oz, specifically the Wicked Witch's last words when she was doused with water - but y'all knew that, of course, being the worldly and well-edumakated readers that you are... Why the reference? Well, surely you can take a guess, but all will be revealed in todays WRWR (Wool Room Weather Report) Here is the oft-promised photo of the project bag and travel goodies my SP9 pal sent me. You can't really see the stitch markers, but they're cute (and I can't make them well to save my life, so I'm thoroughly impressed!) and there's a little needle bag peeking out as well.

Told you it was perfect, didn't I? Home-sewn too, did I mention? That Jenn, she's a talented gal. Honestly, this swap has been awesome for me, since I truly like my pal as a person, and can't wait to find out who she "really" is and read her blog.

Anyway, there is no lack of knitting going on here, but a serious lack of camera - Andy took it with him today, and so no mo photo fo yo! Sorry! I'm nearly done with the green lace shawl (which did not, by the way, get finished in time for Thanksgiving, mostly because I neglected to take enough yarn with me...) and working on another couple pairs of socks. The red sweater is on quasi-hold while I work out its pattern - it's a "make-it-up-as-you-go" kind of thing.

WoolRoomWeatherReport: Yesterday I didn't post, but I was awakened by the sound of RAIN. Alaska + December + Rain = only one thing: Higher temperatures! OH NO, goodbye snow!!! No wonder I didn't discover skiing until February of last year! Anyway, yesterday was relatively warm, upper 30's to lower 40's, with greyness and drizzly rain. Sunrise and sunset were a moot point, as they were obstructed by liquid precipitation, so I didn't pay attention to the times.

Today has been partly cloudy, but dry, with temps in the low- to mid-4o's (cue Wicked Witch: "I'm Melting!!!") causing icy road conditions in the morning (read: my driveway is a luge) but lower heating bills over all. The sun rose at 9:43 am, and I'm advised it will set at 4:08pm. I'm actually glade to be keeping track of this before the winter Solstice this year, so I get some idea of exactly how short the days are in winter. (6h. 25 min. today, if you're arithmatically challenged.) Last year I just went with the flow and enjoyed the unusual seasonal changes in sunlight, but it's a curiousity worth writing home about...

All for now.

Quickie

Well, it's been a long day - the Squirrel Girls went to a birthday party at the bowling alley, and much fun was had until another wild partier dropped a bowling ball (kid sized, but still!) on Sunny's foot - her toe is bruised, but it didn't stop her from attending the post-party overnight... With a house to myself (Andy's off doing some holiday shopping) I hardly know what to do... oh, well, why fight the urge? I'll be knitting an spinning. Is it lame that that's the best idea I have for a Saturday night? I stopped by the fair this afternoon, and some of my yarn had sold - hopefully the rest will go tomorrow! Very happy about that. I received a package from my Knitting and Coffee swap pal too, with some gorgeous blue-green alpaca, an exquisite handmade stitch marker, and some yummy coffee... I'd show pictures, but the camera is MIA at the moment. So, tomorrow. As for the Wool Room Weather Report: Cold all day, mid to upper twenties, but clear and sunny. The sun came up at 9:40 and set at 4:10, for an even 6.5 hour day. I should point out that the dawning and evening light we have on either side of the official sunrise/sunset make the days seem longer, but still it's a huge change from summertime! All for now.

Long Day's Night

So, aside from the trip, have you wondered what I've been up to that's been limiting my blogging time? (Of course you have! And you want to hear all about it. Really, you do.) I've been working to meet a deadline, getting ready for the Nutcracker Fair, which is the Big Deal art/craft fair here in Homer. This was me two nights ago, with nearly six hours worth of yarn painting on its way downstairs for a bath. I was SOOOO exhausted!

I could hardly believe I spent most of the day up to my elbows in dye, but the results were well worth it. Each skein is one-of-a-kind. Here is a shot I took this morning, all the yarn washed, dried, skeined up and ready for labeling. (Of course you want to see close-ups. Yes, you do.) 100% wool, 200 yards each

100% merino, 240 yards each

Superwash BFL sock yarn (yummy!!!) 400 yards each

50/50 alpaca and wool blend, 200 yards each

And finally, all the handspun I could bear to part with... Most of it has been shared here before. I wish there was more handspun for the show, but I'm still pretty attached to the yarn I spin, and it takes so long for me to make it I can hardly stand to sell it.

This evening I helped set up the booth where my yarn will be sold along with some other locally made items, and I left the yarns there... tomorrow morning the fair opens at 11, and I am afraid either that none of it will sell, or that it will sell out too quickly! Sunday I'll be helping out in the booth, and I'm taking my wheel with me to demonstrate and keep me occupied during the slow times.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * I remember as a child meeting an older gentleman who kept detailed logs of the weather, and had done so for many years. He was able to look back in his books and tell me all about the weather on the day I was born, and any other date I could come up with. Recording the weather is a habit I'd like to get into, and where better to start than on a blog?

So, for my first entry, today, Dec. 1, started out cloudy but by noon was clear, sunny, and still, with temps in the mid twenties. Snow fell overnight, so we woke to about an inch and a half of fluff. The sun rose at 9:38 am (!!!) and set at 4:11 pm; Andy got a great shot of the sunset overKachemak Bay.

Save a grad student!

Well, I'm certainly not the first person to post about this, but I actually find it interesting... You know how you'll see a cool meme (the One. Word. Only. meme for example) on one or two blogs, and then suddenly it's everywhere you look? A graduate student by the name of Scott Eric Kaufman is doing a study for the MLA (Modern Language Association, read: Big Deal Presentation) about the transferal of information via blogs, specifically memes. So this post is a meme of sorts. Scott's experiment consists of posting a request on his own blog - that readers participate by writing about his experiment on their own blogs, including a link to his original post, and then indicate that they've done so by pinging Technorati (no, I didn't know what that meant until I clicked on it.) The hope is that each blog's readers will also participate, via their blogs, and that the experimental meme will end up in some interesting corners of the web. A program he's writting tracks the pings (and therefore the scope of participation) to give him results for the Big Deal Presentation. This experiment is by no means limited to Fiber Bloggers, but somehow it seems to be one of the fibery Causes du Moment, and it's pretty cool to think that Mr. Kaufman will find the knitterly community to have been so supportive of his experiment. So what the heck are you waiting for? Write a post with a link to Scott's post and then go Ping! Save a grad student!