I Am Aware That My Yarn is Glowing

Sadly, the fact that I’m working on another project does not mean that my sweater is done. I tried the garter stitch buttonband and didn’t like the way it looked, so I ripped the whole thing out and am doing an applied i-cord. Kate Davies has used this edging to great effect on many of her sweaters, so I’m totally copying her.

Unfortunately, applied i-cords cannot be completed while reading one’s C# homework, so my Ground Cover Blanket has come out. I totally appreciate the project’s focus on machine-washable practicality, but as a yarn snob I am a little sad to know that the yarn is so 100% plastic that Wall-E’s cockroach will be sleeping on this blanket after the apocalypse.

It’s One of Those Days: Lunch Edition

Buttonband and Words Later

(Photographed inside-out)

Chair Hog

I have one recliner, and somehow, it’s not quite big enough for Melba and me to sit on at once. Clearly, one of us is a chair hog.

Melba says it’s me.

I say it’s Melba.

Shine

First visit to Shine Coffee’s permanent home, across the street from the Heard. Although their other coffee shop is an Airstream, this place is way too cute.

Back Online

840 yards of stockinette complete.

Hello again everyone! Analog week is over, and I’m back.

Normally, I’m not into stunts or fasts or tests of endurance, but going analog for a week was pretty awesome. I didn’t go 100% analog: there was a day where I went online to apply for a job whose deadline was within analog week, and I took and made calls on my iPhone. But those things actually made the week harder, not easier, to get through.

Day one, I weirded out a little at not being able to tell the world every single little thing I was thinking. By day two, that wore off, and I was really enjoying not having to mentally juggle more than two tasks at once: knitting + reading. Reading + coffee. Knitting + writing. My new turntable and my old tuner won’t talk, so the only music I heard was music played in shops. Sometimes that was lonely, but mostly it was soothing. Day three I applied for a job. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Job applications represent the worst of the digital world, if you ask me. That experience made me keep the analog going through the weekend.

Analog week did not turn into a massive project-a-thon. I am sometimes guilty of making myself miserable completing a project just to have it completed. By some miracle, I did not do that to myself this time. I worked on a story I began 10 years ago, but didn’t race to finish it. I made progress on my Holla Back Tank and Red (above), but did not lose sleep in an attempt to finish either project. I read a book, but did not attempt to read every book I’ve ever wanted to read. I did what I felt like doing, and tried to focus on enjoying each activity in the moment.

The biggest eye-opener was just how overburdened I’d been these past few weeks. I want to keep from getting to that point again, but without shutting down my computer and phone for a week, I’m not sure how. Recommendations?

School’s Out

School’s out, the job has ended, the thermometer’s rising, and I’m taking a week off. I’ll be taking a vacation from blogging, too. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be back before you know it

Have a great week, everyone!

So Happy You’ll Cry

* Musicians make the music videos posted here. You have assumed the risk of weirdness, non-G content, etc. by clicking play.

These past few days, I’ve been on a total Nordic music kick. Sigur Rós, the Shout Out Louds, and Of Monsters and Men. I’m not sure why–the mood has struck me.

Sigur Rós’ lyrics are all in Icelandic, of course, so I cannot comment on whether they are happy or sad, but their music is excellent “listen to music until (insert name of neverending work project) is done” music. Shout Out Louds and Of Monsters and Men both have English-language lyrics, so a discussion of their music can go a bit farther.

Although Shout Out Louds are dance-y, while Of Monsters and Men channel more of an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes or Decemberists vibe, both of them are alike in that the first thing that got me into these bands was their perky music. Once I had the general tunes, I started listening to the lyrics, and discovered that these upbeat tunes were paired with generally dismal lyrics about death, and loss, and heartbreak.

(As an aside, I heard “Little Talks” on the radio for several weeks and puzzled over why a good song was playing on mainstream radio before standing in the crowd for Of Monsters and Men at Coachella and going Ohhhh. When it comes to pop culture, I am most definitely not an early adopter.)

But this music is dismal in a happy, awesome sort of way. Seriously: the Shout Out Louds rhyme “serial killer” and “Caterpillar” in “Time Left for Love.” To my great sorrow, this song does not have a music video. In lieu, I have posted “Impossible” because it’s my second favorite song off the album (close on the heels of “Normandie”). And I’m going to make a conservative guess and say that all of you are way more with it than I am and have heard “Little Talks” more times than you can count. If you haven’t heard it, or haven’t connected it with the Icelandic 5-piece, here’s the link to all their videos. I considered finishing without the link, but couldn’t bring myself to do it–I am nothing if not a librarian.

What music is making you happy these days?

Last of the Flowers

Most everything is done blooming. Just the palo verde trees and the occasional cactus, like this little guy behind my building.

My job is almost done with, too. I am trying to look at this positively, as a gift of knitting time and time with Melba, instead of The End. We’ll see how well that works out.

Make Your Own Boyfriend

We made it back from Coachella, slightly sunburnt but in one piece. Lots of knitting happened in the car and between bands, but I suffered a bout of camnesia and didn’t actually document any of it.

While I work on remedying that, here is an adorable video discovered by my non-knitted boyfriend:

http://www.noortjedekeijzer.nl/work/my-knitted-boyfriend-2/