May 2007

…and it looks like this:

Yup, that’s my brand new Nikon D40, a digital SLR camera!  Many thanks to my father for this exciting gift!  I finally figured out what was in the right price range and not too big — the D40 gets rave reviews for an inexpensive entry-level DSLR.

My old standby-workhorse Canon Powershot S400 won’t be going into the dustbin, as it still takes nice shots as you’ve seen around here, but I’m hoping to develop my own creative style with more control on the DSLR.  It will be a learning curve but I can’t wait!

And yes, the first shot with the new camera had to be…

  Mr. Cooper!

I kind of rushed things and paid a few dollars more than I could have on-line, so that I can take the camera on my visit to my sister’s in Arizona.  I’m heading out tomorrow morning with my mom for a week in the Sedona area.

Come on baby let’s do the Twisp
Come on baby let’s do the Twisp

As in, Twisp, Washington. We recently spent a sunny spring weekend in this wonderful small town for Jeff’s birthday weekend (we spent a burning hot, dry, summer weekend there back in 2003 and had been longing to return).

The drive itself, over the North Cascades Highway, is beautiful and relaxing–the road winds through the green western farm-filled valleys, up past dams and turquoise-green lakes, across the snowy pass, and down into the much drier Methow Valley, in which the gem of Twisp is situated.

While small, with just under 1,000 inhabitants, Twisp boasts some big pleasures. Its quiet peacefulness is well balanced with a vibrant arts community which includes a great art gallery, a playhouse, and live music at both the local brewpub and the Italian restaurant called Tappi’s (formerly the Fiddlehead Bistro).

We stayed at the gracious Methow Valley Inn, a beautiful old home with friendly hosts — including a knitter! The Inn’s large porch holds a number of rocking chairs and a swinging chair just perfect for knitting on a lazy springtime Saturday afternoon; in the summer they hang two hammocks under a big tree. We couldn’t have found a better place to stay, but sadly the owners are retiring and selling the Inn. So, if you have the chance, get there now before it changes ownership! The current owners’ daughter is a musician, Leah Larson — check out her music if you like bluegrassy-country with a sometimes Irish influence. Larson’s fiddling is vivacious!

We were again blessed with views of many animals (wild and domestic), including lots of deer (apparently they are a nuisance to locals), magpies, other birds, two foxes in a field, sheep, goats, an alien… The hillsides around were covered with those beautiful yellow wildflowers.

I have to admit that I had some definite Northern Exposure moments — I’ve been watching that old show which is set in small-town Alaska but actually filmed in Roslyn, WA. I think they missed their calling — it should have been filmed in Twisp! The locals are so friendly and quirky and have all these unexpected talents and interests. It made for a fascinating weekend!

(Full photoset here.)

Jennifer Louden, author of the Woman’s Comfort Book and other comfort classics, declared today Freedom from Self-Improvement Day. So today, accept yourself!

You are okay just the way you are.

You are enough.

You are beautiful!

Finally, an FO! My first since February.

The socks facts and nothing but the facts:

• Pattern: My own version of the Cable Rib Socks (designed by Erica Alexander) from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.
• Techniques new to me: Adapting a pattern significantly. Toe-up. Two socks at once. Turkish cast-on. Short-row heel.
• Yarn used: Regia Tweed 6-ply in grey with specks of red, green, yellow (color #53) . The yarn has a bit more blue tone to it than these photos capture. Yarn is 70% new wool, 25% polyamid, 5% viskose.
• Yarn quantity: two and a half skeins for size US 11 men’s.
• Needles: Two Addi-Turbo circulars in size US 3.
• Time to knit: 1 1/2 months.
• Knit-Along: Favorite Socks KAL.

The story:

I started these as basic toe-up socks, and decided after an inch or so to use the Cable Rib pattern. All I really followed from that pattern was the Stitch Guide. I also utilized several on-line resources for toe-up socks; the most useful was Hellchick’s pattern. The short-row heel was a real struggle for me, and I’m still not satisfied with it. It looks messy to me. I think I’ll stick with the heel flap, which also adds extra padding in that well-worn area. I had 62 stitches around the foot and cuff. I could have decreased a little bit, I think. To help them stay up, I added an inch or so of K2P2 ribbing at the top of the cuff.

In any case, I knitted a pair of socks in substantially less than six months! Woo-hoo! These are for Jeff for his birthday and I was only three days late. Last year he got only one completed sock on his birthday and received the other one months later.

Knitting content will return soon. I’m on the home stretch of Jeff’s socks.

This posting comes under the category of blogging to remind myself of stuff, a scrapbook of sorts — and some of you might find the links fun too! (Thanks to Jeff for most of these.)

1. In environmentalism, World Wildlife Fund presents Black Cloud: a visual representation of carbon dioxide released from one car in one day.  Drive one less day and look how much carbon dioxide you’ll keep out of the air we breathe.

2. I’ve never understood all those cousin lables. This cousin tree could be helpful. But are you telling me that I call my cousin’s child the same thing I call my great-uncle’s child? And my cousin’s grandchild is called the same as my great-great-uncle’s child? No wonder it’s never made sense to me!

3. In my favorite linguistic realm, here’s the real etymology of OK. (I think we should also bring back OW.)

4. Visual DNA - Respond to various photographs and get a horoscope or fortune-type thing told from it:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

5. Some interesting installation art by Mark Jenkins in NYC and DC. Also, how he makes the plastic casts can be found here.