Life's a Stitch

We got a good dinnertime chuckle this week. Our provincial socialized medical system is moving toward systemwide computerized record keeping. A physician has access to EVERYTHING. X-rays, lab results, reports from other doctors, prescriptions filled… you name it, anything health related is going to appear. It could be very helpful, especially in an emergency, BUT, part of my organization's work is in legal advocacy and we're quite concerned with privacy issues. 

Not feeling terribly creative, point form will have to do. My week taught me:

• Quinoa in its raw form, spilt in the kitchen, has the ability to jump and hide in every nook and cranny and will most likely be discovered for years forward.
• Quinoa, cooked, spilt in the kitchen, resists wiping up, clutching firmly to it's landing spot.
• Delivering a comfort shawl: a mother's grief never loses its sharp edge. And rightfully so.
• An example of friendship that went above and beyond normal bounds, one sharing a kidney with his buddy, still in his 20's.
• It feels good to frog a stalled project, 350 meters in.
• It's easier to walk 10,000 steps than to walk an hour and forty minutes. Go figure, they're both five miles.
• Dancing Merengue is a good way to accumulate pedometer steps.
• There are few places more beautiful than British Columbia in a good summer.
• Babette is a cute name for an endless project:

Was My Face Red – it was a column about readers' embarrassing moments. The magazine, from way back when, I'm afraid to admit, was called "Calling All Girls." It transitioned into Young Miss and then to YM. So, have you ever done something so stupid that even you yourself had to sit back and laugh?

Carole recently posted about a monument at Gettysburg. There was a bird, a red headed woodpecker, sitting on the head of a statue. I commented that we, too, have a new statue in town that seems to attract birds. The last two times I drove by it, the naked figure of a young woman, there was a crow sitting on her head. This past week I drove by with a co-worker and asked her if she noticed the phenomenon. "That is the statue," she informed me. The bird is part of it. Was my face red 🙂

And as this is a knitting blog, I will show you cousin Lena's recent FO, Helena from Knitty:

Ahhhhh the best of both. First the comfort. Remember when custom made orthopedic shoes meant thick soles, round toes and black leather with ties on the side? Meet today's orthopedic shoes, custom Naot's. My feet are in heaven:

And the food. Old cheesecake: 460 calories, cream cheese and sour cream. New cheesecake:150 calories, low in fat and sugar. Amazing! As soon as I can taste food again I'm going to make my third in three weeks.

Li Can't Believe It's Cheesecake Recipe

2 lbs ricotta
1/4 C milk or half and half
2/3 C sugar (option for low sugar diets: half splenda and half sugar)
1/3 C flour plus a bit more for dusting
2t almond extract
6 eggs (I use high omega eggs)

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line springform pan with baking paper.Grease the paper and dust with flour.
2. In a food processor with steel blade, whiz the ricotta until very smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
3. Add milk, sugar, flour and extract and process until combined.
4. Break eggs into a jug and while motor is running, pour slowly down feed tube. Whiz for 40 seconds until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides if needed.
5. Pour into pan and bake until set and golden in colour. It takes at least an hour and a half.
6. Top with fresh fruit or pie filling. May be served warm or cold.

Apologies for the abandonment of my blog. I am one sick puppy. Started with strep and bronchitis and without too many details, the combination of illness and antibiotics are heading south.Can you imagine, feeling too sick to knit? There was plenty of time though, since my last post to enjoy some fun with the guests:

Blogless Marsha's David skoals his first Akvavit at SIL Karen's 4th of July birthday:

On her 67th birthday Karen hiked seven miles with us. Here's the proof:

The neighbours were close by:

Blogless Marsha comforts terrified Gracee during the fireworks. Is that the look of love or what?

Off to have my Lipton chicky noodle for brekky,

Spending time with my sisters-in-law has brought back memories of mother-isms, sayings unique to their mother. I remember her saying "Oh dear, bread and beer if I hadn't have married,I wouldn't be here." Nobody knows the origins of that one, possibly song lyrics, but I've been known to say it now and then.

Their other momism were words that were expressed when things went well for while, like a series of green lights when you're driving. Or a 31 row repeat without forgotten yarn over's. She'd say "You must have been holding your tongue straight."

I was listening to CBC Radio around Mother's Day. The
on-the-street reporter asked, "What words of your mother's do you still
have in your head." If you asked my kids, they'd probably say, "Little children
who know how to read can never be bored."

Or "I want never gets."
Remember that one, Auntie Ellen? You borrowed that one from me and I
used your "Ask one more time and you won't get it." My eldest, at age
four, wanted gum. She asked for it over and over again. Auntie Ellen
used her magic phrase and niece replied, "I want…….(long pause)…a
sail boat." It still cracks us up.

Having company here means good food. No bread and beer for us. Cousin Lena from Denmark was responsible for last night's dinner. There's a salmon fillet under the mushrooms, lime, scallions and dill, along with a yogurt garlic dill sauce, and an avocado salad:

For this project, at least. Do you get those, when you hit a sticking point where you just can't go on? Having completed Hanami's 31 row repeat seven times, I was anxious to move on to the simpler straight knitting with y/o's disbursed at a reasonable rate.

It was easy enough but I didn't like it one bit, the y/o's leaving little ladders to form above each eyelet. I know I'm speaking knittish, so if you're here to catch up you might as well move on. This is heavy knitting content.

Paid a visit to Ravelry, that blog quasher, but very helpful in this type of dilemma. Most every Hanami pictured, especially those made with drapey silky yarns, had a severe laddering issue in the eyelet phase. Even the designer's photo illustrates the problem.

Frogged back a ways, about three hours worth, and to tighten things up a bit, tried a twisted stitch directly above the eyelet. Meh. the fabric is so slippy that the background tends to slide into chronic occasional unevenness.

Someone tell me what to do, it's exhausting and headache provoking. I go from picking it up thinking it's not so bad, and it really isn't, to maybe I should stick to the dreaded basket weave for the entire piece. Then I put it down and walk away.

Then I come back with a solution – I'll step up the frequency of the eyelets so there isn't as much contrast against the stockinette. Then I think, maybe I should bite the bullet and buy that new camera so you can really see what I'm taking about. I know, I should follow my husband's advice from way back, when I was his student of stained glass, "The artist is her own worst critic."

Did you know that one definition of dilemma is an equally unpleasant or undesirable choice?

This time vacation karaoke was fun. No Idol wannabes, just people having a good time making fools of ourselves. Picked to sing a duet with a Scotsman in a white tuxedo, I was rewarded with a bag, perfect for large projects:

In Juneau, I increased the numbers in my bag collection:

Not generally a lap sitter, I think my real "red dog" was happy to see me:

Picked up my Hanami, and Chuck observes, "You're working on your 'Oh Crap' again." I guess that's all I say out loud when it's in my hands. Hanami, in silk and toothpicks, is not a knitting while talking, watching TV or drinking wine kind of project.

I reach the end of the row and take in a big sigh, catching a whiff of the yarn. I remark it smells like silk and clean cruise ship cabin. Chuck takes in a breath of it and replies, "No, it smells like you and (Blogless) Marsha ."

"I don't think Marsha and I wear the same scent."

"Yes you do – yarn."

Out of the mouths of men…

For those fellow Oh Crap knitters, you probably observed the provisional cast on in blue. Taking some artistic license, I've elected to repeat Hanami's little ruffle on both ends. Beads, however small, seemed too heavy for the yarn.

More vacation pictures, Blogless Marsha and I in Sitka and feeling Alaskan sunset giddy, all dressed up sporting Eau de Yarn: