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July 25, 2005

moving slowly

Things are moving slowly around here. Even though I have thrown out and donated like a mad woman, the amount of crap that you can fit into a small apartment is astounding. And the knitting is moving so slowly that it might even be unknitting itself.

After spending loads of time carefully knitting myself a stole that would walk down the aisle with me and that I could pass on to future generations of Gilbert-Frogs, it turns out that I missed a stitch while binding off my supposed heirloom. Plus, I wove in the ends securely enough that there is no way I'm going to get them out to rebind off. I'm going to have to secure it with another piece of yarn... I must have some of it around here somewhere since I haven't gone on my yarn stash cleaning frenzy yet (that's tomorrow's job). Thank goodness it's mohair and the stitch didn't drop down by itself and thank goodness I had some easily breakable yarn in my bag when I found this problem on the way to a wedding on Saturday.

There should be a photo of Tonton Guy's monster sock here, but I can't even find the darned thing. When I do, I'm going to rip it out. I'm just not happy with the toe and the way the short rows look and I'm afraid it's not the right size either. Plus, I originally cast on I-don't-remember-how-many-stitches and then was afraid it was too big, but being a lazy girl, I just decreased out a couple stitches after the toe instead of starting over (never mind that the toe is the fun part and starting over would have been the right choice) so I ended up with an oversized toe on a sock that might be too small.

Yes, I read a decent number of blogs, but I don't read as many as lots of people. Still, I have 418 entries I haven't read according to my bloglines account.

A couple summers ago, I was at my parents' house. I had wire. I had beads. I had crappy metal needles. I had jet lag. I knit a bracelet just to see if I could. It was kind of fun and stretchy and I wore it a couple of times. Now, it's just stretched out and the wire is yucky and could probably give you tetanus. I am a woman possessed. I am not moving anything I don't need or I'm not sure I want. So everyone, say it with me, "Goodbye, cruddy bracelet!" It has found a new home in the circular file, a.k.a. the trash.

I have also thrown out an old version of Anouk that used crappy yarn for part of the back since I ran out of the right yarn and I'm seriously considering throwing out a sweater I made a long time ago and don't really like... or maybe even two sweaters. Have you or would you ever throw out anything you knit? I'd like to know, but please, as much as I admire those of you who recycle yarn and sweaters, it just ain't gonna happen so don't even bother suggesting it. The sweater in question is made with a fuzzy, slubby yarn that hasn't worn very well. There would be absolutely no point in taking the darned thing apart when I have gobs of yarn to move already.

Posted by kate at 03:16 AM | Comments (28)

July 19, 2005

things I have done recently

Knit the heel of my koigu sock while chatting with "Tata Lisette" and "Tata Monique" at a family function.

Avoided eating les ris de veau at said meal (baby cow thyroid glands - gag).

Saw a cloud that looked just like the head of Homer Simpson. Frog saw one that he said looked like Santa Claus. No matter how hard I looked, I just didn't see it.

Played poker, which is now, officially, the only card game I ever want to play again and I may even give up my life of knitting to become a professional gambler. Babies like casinos, no?

Ate profiteroles.

Watched a thunderstorm.

Slept the whole way home from Burgundy.

Got told that I am fat for being five months pregnant. It's not true (I don't think) and I don't care even if it is.

Saw a praying mantis in my in-laws' hall.

Watched the Tour de France and made silly jokes with Frog. btw, is it just me or is there always some shirtless idiot running down the road with an American flag around his neck threatening to knock over a cyclist?! I think I saw at least four of them in the two hours of the race that I watched. I mean, sure, be excited. Cheer, fine. But I think they should invent a slapping machine that will roll down the street in front of the cyclists getting all the crazies out of the way so they can actually race and nobody gets hit.

Boring moving stuff.

That's about it. I hope you all are well! Thanks for the encouragement. I actually mananged to get a big chunk of emails answered (but still no comments).

Posted by kate at 09:21 PM | Comments (22)

July 13, 2005

hot dates

It was exactly four years ago today that I arrived in France to live here. Before the plane landed, I started to worry that I might not even recognize Frog since we hadn't seen each other in over four months. We recognized each other, but were so in lala land that he got us completely lost trying to come back into Paris.

Yesterday I worked the last day of my "real job".

Two days ago, Frog and I had dinner with a friend to say goodbye before we leave. This was the first person we said goodbye to. It won't be the last. What a bummer.

In about a week, it will have been 5 years since I set foot in France for the very first time and met Frog the same day. We didn't really think so much of each other at the time.

In a few days, Frog will be thirty.

In five weeks, we will be moving.

A note to those of you who have emailed me recently: I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. Please don't think I am ignoring you or snubbing you. That's not my intention. I'm just over-loaded. I run around like a crazy lady all day, then, as soon as I sit down in the evening, I fall asleep. I just wish my brain could send emails without the use of a computer or my hands to type them. I promise I'll get back to you soon. Please be patient. I have accounts to close, a car to sell, movers to hire, a birthing center to find, etc. etc. etc. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

A note to those of you who are lovely enough to leave me comments: Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I love reading them. I'm sorry I haven't been answering them. I mean to. I think about it. I want to. Someday I will start answering them again.

Posted by kate at 09:10 AM | Comments (22)

July 07, 2005

Alpaca tube of cortisone when I move

I had gone back to posting somewhat regularly and here we are, Thursday, and not a peep out of me for nearly a week. So here's the news:

I finished some projects that had to be done last week, for which I am very happy with myself, but as usual, I can't share them. And as I often do after a deadline, I went into a knitting funk when they were done and didn't feel like working on anything. Plus, my hand is kind of gross again, but I've figured it out. The cause of all of my problems, specifically contact dermatitis, is alpaca. I like alpaca. I like the feel. I like the look. I like it because it makes me think of "me and my llama going to the dentist today" and the llama on the packaging of this yarn kind of looks like my dog would have if he had been much bigger and had a really long neck... and small ears... and forget it - it doesn't look like him at all. Anyhow, after finishing the Union Square Market Sweater and sending that off, my right hand turned into a ball of itchy, flaky, bleeding cuts and I was forced to disguise myself as Michael Jackson circa 1984 in order to knit three stitches. And now, after finishing project number two out of the same yarn, it's happening again. Thankfully, this project was much smaller so it's not so bad, but it's still pretty nasty. So now, alpaca is no longer my friend and as soft as it is and as cute as rabbits are, angora isn't either since I ended up with a respiratory infection after using it last summer. I'm eliminating about one fiber a year. At this rate, I'll be knitting invisible clothing come 2010.

The only knitting I've done lately:

Posted by kate at 10:21 AM | Comments (21)

July 01, 2005

Happy this. Happy that.

Happy Canada Day. Guess what, Canadians! Next year I'll be celebrating with you. Frog and I are moving! We've been waiting a long time for this and come September, I'll be living in the land of Koigu and Celestial Merino. Everybody sing "O Canada" with me!

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans as well. Eat a hot dog for me.

And for those of you who are neither Canadian, nor American, have a great weekend anyway!

I was tagged for the "Questionnaire de cuisine" meme in French, so I'm going to make it a bilingual thing in honor of my future home in Montréal.

Quel est votre premier souvenir de cuisine toute seule comme une grande ?
What's your first memory of cooking something all by yourself like an adult?
Franchement, je ne me souviens pas. Ma mère a toujours cuisiné beaucoup (et bien) et on a des photos où je "l'aide", je dois avoir un peu près 3 ans.
Honestly, I don't remember. My mom has always cooked a lot (and well) and there's photographic evidence of me "helping" when I was maybe 3.

Qui a le plus influencé votre façon de cuisiner ?
Who influenced your way of cooking the most:
Ma mère. Elle est douée pour prendre quelques ingrédients qu'elle a et les mettre ensemble pour faire quelque-chose de bien. J'ai appris comme ça et tout comme en tricot, je préfère ne pas suivre des recettes de trop près. Aussi, Julia Child est mon héroïne.
My mom. She's good at throwing together what she's got to make something good and just like in knitting, I prefer to not follow recipes too closely. And Julia Child is my cooking hero.

Avez-vous une vieille photo comme "preuve" d'une exposition précoce au monde culinaire, et voudriez-vous la partager ?
Do you have old photos that prove your early exposure to the world of cooking and would you share it?
Comme j'ai dit, oui, j'en ai, mais elles sont toutes chez mes parents.
Like I said, yes, I do, but they are all at my parents' house

Avez-vous des phobies culinaires, ou un plat qui vous donne des sueurs froides rien que d'y penser ?
Do you have any cooking phobias or a dish that sends chills up your spine just to think of it?
Je déteste les melons ! Je ne supporte pas l'odeur, ni le goût. Beurk ! Je ne suis pas fan de tout ce qui est fait avec des bananes et je n'aime pas les petits pois et tous les trucs gélatineux. Et le thon. Et les abats. Et la menthe n'est pas mon truc.
I hate melons! I can't stand the smell or the taste. Yuck! I can't stand anything made with bananas and I don't like peas or anything gelatine-y. And tuna. And organ meats. And mint isn't my thing.

Parmi les ustensiles de cuisine que vous possédez, lequel utilisez-vous le plus et lequel est le plus souvent delaissé ?
Among your cooking tools, which do you use the most often and which do you use the least?
Récemment, j'utilise beaucoup mon robot pour faire des "smoothies". Avant la chaleur, c'était plutôt ma grande poêle et mon grand bol. Et je ne les utilise pas beaucoup, mais j'ai un faible pour les fouets.
Recently, I've been using my food processor a lot for making smoothies (I don't have a blender). Before the heat, I used my big pan and my big bowl the most. I don't use them a lot, but I have a soft spot for wisks.

Citez des combinaisons d'aliments amusantes ou bizarres que vous aimez vraiment - vous, et probablement personne d'autre !
What's a weird combination of food that you like and probably nobody else does?
C'est probablement un truc de femme enceinte qui ne va plus se reproduire, mais un soir, je voulais des crackers et je voulais de la guimauve. Je ne pouvais pas décider, donc je les a mangé ensemble.
This is probably just a pregnancy thing that will never happen again, but one night, I wanted goldfish crackers and I wanted marshmallows and couldn't make up my mind, so I ate them together.

Quels sont les trois aliments ou plats sans lesquels vous ne pouvez pas vivre ?
Name three foods you couldn't live without.
Le chocolat, la glace et les pommes de terre.
Chocolate, ice cream and potatoes

Trois questions rapides:
Three quick questions:
Votre parfum de crème glacée / sorbet préféré :
Your favorite ice cream flavor:
Le caramel beurre salé ou Dulce de Leche de chez Hagen Daaz et l'amaretto de Amarino et Abbot's custard's vanilla turtles (une glace à la vanille très riche avec du "fudge" et des cacahouètes, le tout recouvert de chocolat sur un bâtonnet - une spécialité du coin d'où je viens) !
caramel or Hagen Daaz's Dulce de Leche and Amaretto from Amarino and Abbot's custard's vanilla turtles!

Vous ne mangerez probablement jamais... :
You will probably never eat...:
Du cheval et des abats.
horse and organ meats

Votre plat fétiche, celui que vous ne ratez jamais :
Your favorite thing to make that you never mess up:
Je suis assez douée pour les cookies et je fais un bon risotto aux champignons et Frog me dit que mon "fried chicken" et mes "eggplant rollatinis" sont tops.
I'm pretty good at making cookies and I make a good mushroom risotto and Frog says that my fried chicken and eggplant rollatinis are great.

I'm tagging the ladies over at From Rooster to Donkey since they sit around writing in French (but only if they want it) and anybody who'd like to bring this over into the anglophone side of blogland, it's yours. Take it.

Posted by kate at 08:40 AM | Comments (17)