Madison, Wisconsin

Friday
Knit a few rectangles of Lady Eleanor while waiting for our flight to board in DC. We arrived in Madison around noon. Kristina's cousin Vanessa and Aunt Debbie picked us up at the airport. Knit a bit more after lunch. We had dinner with my friend Ray Hsu and his girlfriend Nikki at a Nepalese place, Chautara Restaurant. The food was really good (I had the shrimp and scallop special) and we had a good time hanging out. It's been a long time since I've seen Ray and Nikki was great. They both know Peter and Katie. Ray signed my copy of his book, Anthropy.



Later that night, I finally met Kristina's boyfriend, Bruce. He's funny, generous, understanding, intelligent and I completely approve.

Saturday
The weather that morning was not promising but by noon when Peter and Katie's wedding ceremony started, it was beautiful, warm, and sunny. I almost cried the entire time. Along with the Hylands, Anna Clark and Ben Rimes were there from St. Joe. I met Ben's wife Nikki and his daughter Ella.



Edited to add: Photos from the photographer can be viewed here

We were all seated together for lunch and it was nice to be able to catch up with Ben since I haven't seen him in years. Ella was adorable and charming. The wedding ended sometime in the afternoon. For dinner, Max and I went out with Kristina and Bruce and a few of Bruce's friends. We ate at a place that Ray had recommended, the Kabul Mediterranean Restaurant. The food was good. I had the Duck Strudel special.

Sunday
Breakfast was a big Hyland meal at the Cracker Barrel with Kristina, Bruce, Andy, his fiancee Jackie, Kristina's Mom, Aunt Debbie, her husband Dave, and Kristina's Uncle Peter. Afterwards a bunch of us were leaving and Aunt Debbie started crying, which got me crying, and almost Jackie too I think. Which is funny because we're all going to see each other in three weeks at Andy and Jackie's wedding. It's been a long time since I've spent time with so many Hylands. They're a wonderful family (sometimes I think I love them more than my own) and they're so very lucky that everyone gets along so well. Kristina and Bruce took me and Max to the airport. I knit some more while we waited for our flight to board. Almost finished the second ball of yarn!

Saturday Sky

I'm cheating a little with today's post... since I'm anticipating no computer/internet access in Madison I've picked out a picture that I took during my birthday weekend during our hike up to Hawksbill Peak. At 4000 feet you can see the shadow of the clouds! The black specks are peregrine falcons.

Midwest Wedding

Wedding #1 is this weekend...in Madison, Wisconsin. We leave tomorrow morning and I can't wait! I haven't seen my bestfriend Kristina since last Thanksgiving and although we talk all the time, it's just not the same. Plus I'll be meeting her boyfriend Bruce, having dinner with my friend Ray Hsu from university and meeting his girlfriend, meeting Peter's Katie, and Andy's Jackie. Guess I'll need to tamp down my anti-social side for the weekend.

Lady Eleanor will be coming with me since the airline allows knitting needles. Max is worried about the airport security but hopefully it will be fine if I use circular needles. I've wondered in passing if there is a yarn shop I could visit but since we'll be sans car...

My newest favorite blog to read: The Heathen Housewife

Ever since the Yarn Harlot mentioned it on her blog, I've been reading it everyday. I think what I love most is watching her open her mail. You can think whatever you want about that. Yesterday's post was expecially great since she had all kinds of nice things to say about Canada. And I love watching her blanket grow. It looks like a knitted quilt, all those wonderful little squares.

Take 5

I love candy bars, especially if they have chocolate, nuts, and carmel. On the other hand, Max is pretty picky and doesn't usually get too excited about sweets. But he likes Take 5. I asked him, "So, is it the Greatest Candy Bar Ever?" He says that just maybe it is. High praise indeed. I think it's the inclusion of pretzel that he likes. His best friend Brian who lives in New York worked on the TV commercials for Take 5, so that's a little added cool for us.

Progress on Lady Eleanor

Still love knitting entrelac. I carried this project around with me last weekend while MIL was here and it was great to be able to work on it in the car and while we were waiting around. It's up to 19.5 inches, so that's just over half way through the second ball of yarn.

Saturday Sky

I'm a winner

But you already knew that, right? No, seriously, I won some sock yarn from Knit Girl. She was counting up all her sock yarn and made a contest to guess how many pairs of socks she could knit from her stash. I guessed 78 - partly because it's my birth year but also because, DAMN, she has alot of sock yarn! I'll be going down to Knit Happens to pick up my prize. Then I'll have no excuse for not finishing my pair of socks (poor lonely first sock).

Nothing like winning a contest to brighten your day!

13 minutes

-The amount of time it took me to go "running" this morning. Had to stop a few times to catch my breath. Only 10 days until wedding #1 and I'm still not sure how comfortable I'm going to be in my dress (that I picked out months ago when I was confident I had enough time to slim down).

-Twice as long as it took for my MIL to open the gift box wrapped in red yarn, say "Thank you. You made this yourself?" and then close the box and set it aside. At least she liked it. I think. Does it fit? Don't know. One of her friends did ask me how long it took me to make. I started it in December.

Who's who?

Max and I both took this quiz... so which one am I? You guess! There are only three categories in which we scored the same: interdependence, individuality, and sexuality.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results "A" Extraversion |||||||||||||| 56% Stability |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Orderliness |||||||||||||| 56% Accommodation |||||||||| 36% Interdependence |||||||||||||||| 63% Intellectual |||||||||||||||| 63% Mystical |||||||||||| 50% Artistic || 10% Religious || 10% Hedonism |||||| 23% Materialism |||||||||||||||| 63% Narcissism |||||||||||| 50% Adventurousness |||||||||| 36% Work ethic |||||||||||||| 56% Self absorbed |||||||||||| 50% Conflict seeking |||||| 30% Need to dominate |||||| 23% Romantic |||||||||| 36% Avoidant |||||| 23% Anti-authority |||||||||||| 50% Wealth |||||||||| 36% Dependency |||| 16% Change averse |||||||||||| 50% Cautiousness |||||||||||| 50% Individuality |||||| 30% Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 63% Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 70% Physical security |||||||||||||||||| 76% Physical Fitness |||| 17% Histrionic |||| 16% Paranoia |||||||||||| 43% Vanity |||| 16% Hypersensitivity |||| 16% Female cliche || 10%

Advanced Global Personality Test Results "B" Extraversion |||||||||| 36% Stability |||| 20% Orderliness |||||||||||||||| 66% Accommodation |||||||||||| 43% Interdependence |||||||||||||||| 63% Intellectual |||| 16% Mystical |||||| 23% Artistic |||||||||||||||| 70% Religious |||||| 23% Hedonism |||||||||||||||| 63% Materialism |||||||||| 36% Narcissism |||||||||||||| 56% Adventurousness || 10% Work ethic |||||| 23% Self absorbed |||||||||| 36% Conflict seeking |||||||||| 36% Need to dominate |||||||||||||||| 63% Romantic |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Avoidant |||||||||||| 43% Anti-authority |||||| 30% Wealth || 10% Dependency |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Change averse |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Cautiousness |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Individuality |||||| 30% Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 63% Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 63% Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Physical Fitness |||||| 24% Histrionic |||||||||||||||||| 76% Paranoia |||||||||||||||||| 76% Vanity |||||||||||| 50% Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||||| 70% Female cliche |||||||||||||||| 63%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Saturday Sky

Buttons

Almost done! Tonight I sewed on the buttons (with waxed floss, as recommended by Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book) and then hid all the ends so I could take these pictures.





Just need to weave in the ends... and there are a lot of them. I have to hurry - Max's parents arrive on Saturday. Wish me luck!!

Baked

Although the forecasted high is 90F today, when I woke up this morning, I felt like baking. First I made the crust for Max's favorite pie, "Icebox Blueberry Pie" from America: The Beautiful Cookbook.



Then I decided to bake some rye bread using the recipe off the bag of flour. First time trying it out but so far it looks good.


As with all sorts of baking, there is waiting time... chill dough for one hour... let rise for 45 minutes... and so I've been catching up on my knitting blogs. Later, I'll be sewing the buttons onto the MIL cardigan! We bought some yesterday at G Street Fabrics... Max helped pick them out. What do you think?

Happy Canada Day!

Nicole celebrating Canada Day with some of the Canadian soldiers at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Pancake Breakfast. There were over 2000 people at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC



Max at the Alberta exibits on the National Mall, part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This truck is 1/4 size of the ones used in the Alberta oil sands.

My first knitting magazine ever

Me: "Gasp!"
Max: "What?!? What?!?"
Me: "Look what I got in the mail!!"
Max: (grumble, grumble)
Me: "Ha, ha... when I picked up the mail this afternoon I noticed that there was a magazine but we had so much mail (since I hadn't checked in three days) that I didn't see what magazine it was. I have the best secret pal ever!!"
Max: "Who sent you that?"
Me: "Must be my secret pal. Unless it was you?"
Max: "Wasn't me." (goes back to watching TV)
Me: "You don't understand, this is the best knitting magazine! Every time a new one comes out, everyone is always talking about it on the blogs. Oh, look! Brenda Dayne's article! Oh, what do you think of this pattern? (sees that Max is not paying attention and could care less) Oh, nevermind."

Thanks SP8!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it! I've scanned through all the patterns and will take an in-depth look once I've read all the articles. I've just read the article by Brenda Dayne. Now I'm wondering if you had something specific in mind for that yarn you sent me...?

Gladys

On Tuesday night, Max and I went to see Gladys Knight. When I told my Dad last week that we were going, he asked me if The Pips were going to be there... and there was! One Pip, her older brother Merald "Bubba" Knight, Jr. The two of them together were funny.

Gladys Knight was great, a very classy lady, and a terrific singer. I didn't know most of the songs, but it was all great music. She had the audience participate in one song, Landlord, had us singing to each other "You're the landlord, the keeper, of our love." The performance ended at 10pm with Midnight Train to Georgia and everyone was singing and dancing their way out down the aisles. It was great fun.

More Lady Eleanor

The only difficulty I've had with entrelac is knowing which tier I'm on before I continue. Had a little mishap and had tier 5 on one side and tier 7 on the other. Didn't notice until I showed Max. "It looks lopsided. Is it supposed to look like that?" Umm... no.

The yarn I'm using is Patons Decor in rich grey heather (gris bruyere intense) #01673. Made in Canada. Nothing fancy (75% acrylic & 25% wool) but nice to work with. It looks like I have more than enough yarn to achieve the 70" length with the yarn that I have and make the fringe with the left over. When I asked my mom about it initially, she said it was "fine" and so I'm guessing she doesn't care one way or the other.

Erin says, "It's my turn to use the crochet hook."

The new quilt

Another birthday weekend splurge:


We won't be using it until the fall but I just had to see what it would look like on the bed. It's soft and heavy - and machine washable. I love it! I was just surprised that Max liked it too.

A close-up of the stitching:

Do you know me at all?

Max asks me, "And in what situations are you comfortable that involves meeting new people?"

SJHS Class of '96 Reunion

In honor of my other highschool reunion (I attended ISB for most of senior year but then graduated from St. Joe), which is taking place tomorrow, I give you...

High School Memories...

Thanks to knitorious!

Fill in the blanks about your senior year. The longer ago it was the better.

1. Who was your best friend? Kristina (and still is!)

2. What sports did you play? Cross country, track and field

3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't drive (not unlike now)

4. It's Friday night, where were you at? Usually I was at Kristina's, so I assume I was there

5. Were you a party animal? No, not really

6. Were you considered a flirt? I guess so, probably by some

7. Ever skip school? I don't remember. Maybe on senior skip day? Maybe not.

8. Ever smoke? Yes, but that was in grade 9 and 10, and only a few times

9. Were you a nerd? Sort of, I was part of the chess club and on the yearbook

10. Did you get suspended/expelled? No.

11. Can you sing the Alma Mater? Maybe if I heard the music

12. Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Anderson

13. Favorite class? English.

14. What was your school's full name? St. Joseph High School

15. School mascot? Bears

16. Did you go to Prom? Yes. With Justin in junior year and Peter in senior year.

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you? Yes.

18. What do you remember most about graduation? Sitting in the football field and looking up in the stands... the senior all night party that was supposed to last until 5am but the parents let us go home early since we were all so tired.

19. Favorite memory of your senior year? Not sure, it was an emotional tumble going to Beijing and then coming back in time for graduation

20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall? I don't think we had one.

21. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, I worked as a waitress

22. Who did you date? In senior year, just Max.

23. Where did you go most often for lunch? When I was still in Beijing, Max and I went to the Lido Hotel for ham and cheese croissants.

24. Have you gained weight since then? Yes

25. What did you do after graduation? Went back to Canada, attended the University of Toronto, got my undergraduate degree. Then I moved back to the US.

26. When did you graduate? 1996

Lady Eleanor, tier 3

Only 32 more tiers to go!

The pattern has been easy to memorize, only need to check the instructions for the left and right triangles on Tier 2 (and all right side facing tiers).



I think this will be the perfect project to knit in the car (and waiting around) while the MIL visits.
Still need to get buttons for the MIL cardigan. Really need to get on that.

July 8 will be here much sooner than I would like.

Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole

On Sunday, I cast on a new project - the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole from Scarf Style. I wasn't sure how I would feel about constantly picking up stitches but honestly it's not bad, not bad at all. It's only ever 8 stitches to pick up at a time and that definitely helps. It's for my Mom. The first thing she has ever asked me to make for her. She picked out the yarn while I was in Canada over Christmas... a dark gray wool, all one colour. May end up like this but in dark gray. Not at all exciting but it's nice to knit with and rarely snags on my Brittany birch needles (chewed on by Erin, my cat). I've finished the first and second tier. Hopefully I will start on the third tier tonight. If I plan it right, I might even have a decent picture to show you (like this or this).

Thanks SP8!

My secret pal is GREAT! Here's what was inside the package:

* Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick
* Lana Grossa yarn from Italy
* super cute birthday card
* Lacis umbrella yarn swift

Already I've spend hours looking through the book. I came to realise that I better get started on the projects I need to do (Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole for my Mom) so I can knit something from this book.

I love the yarn swift! It's set up in my living room already. I can't wait to try it out. Such a simple thing but it will make my life (and Max's) so much easier.

Happy Birthday to me!

This arrived on Friday. Thanks Kristina! I love this movie!

That night we went out for dinner at Fratelli II Italian Restaurant. I had the veal parmigiana with spaghetti (really yummy). Max had the fettucine alfredo (amazingly good cream sauce). For dessert we had cannolis. Yum!

On Saturday, we slept in a little, had breakfast at Cameron Perks, and opened my birthday present from Max. He got me a new camera and I love it! After breakfast we picked up my secrel pal package at the post office and then drove to Luray. We went to the Luray Caverns. It was so beautiful. I took lots of pictures with my new camera.



After the 1 hour tour, we checked into the Woodruff Bed and Breakfast and had our Afternoon Tea. There was coffee, cookies, fruit, and a decadent chocolate cake. Afterwards we went for a short walk down main street, looked in the "antique" shops, and then came back for a rest before dinner. We ate in the restaurant downstairs. It was very good. Max had the crab cake and the rack of lamb. I had the proscuitto wrapped shrimp (which were only okay, a little overcooked) and the grilled portabello mushroom. After dinner, we went for another short walk, and then I opened the package from my secret pal. More about that tomorrow!!

Yesterday was my birthday. We slept in, had a delicious breakfast downstairs (fruit salad, quiche, and thick country bacon with coffee and fresh orange juice), relaxed, and then checked out before noon. We drove to the Shenandoah National Park and once inside, headed for the highest peak in the park. A two mile hike on my birthday! We saw a deer (only 3 feet away and not at all shy), some monarch butterflies, a chipmunk, and at the peak - 5 or 6 peregrine falcons.



After we left the park, we stopped at a country store and picked up some locally made apple butter and cherry apple cider - and a quilt! It's beautiful. I'll post a picture later. For dinner we went to Cracker Barrel. It's my favorite place to eat whenever we take a road trip. I had the chicken fried chicken with carrots, mashed potatoes, and apples. Max had the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and corn. As usual, we were too full for dessert!

When we got home, I called my Dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day and he wished me a Happy Birthday. Talked to my Mom and my brother too. Tonight is dinner at the Elephant and Castle with Max, Erin, and Tanjina. Definitely the best birthday ever!

What's new?

Complete and now hanging up in my kitchen:



More progress on the rainbow scarf:



Trying out something new:



And... my package from my secret pal arrived at the post office yesterday. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow morning.

Secret pals

My secret pal is great. I love all the comments on my blog and the fun emails. Plus I'm getting a birthday present! How can I not love that?!? Thanks secret pal! Here's something for you (I've already ordered mine):

Make the Connection bracelet kit

I'm sending out my package to my secret pal so it will arrive for her birthday also. Although I can't blog about the contents right now, I'll post a list when it's all over and link to my secret pal's blog.

Surprise revealed!

"Don't make any plans for Saturday," Max said.

That's because we're going to stay a bed and breakfast. We're also going to see The Luray Caverns. I can't wait! Big points for Max.

Not even a scratch

I had a little accident with the car. I was practicing my driving in our neighborhood and I got a little scared by some cars at an intersection and drove too close to the curb. Max and I are fine. The car is fine, not even a scratch (except on the hub caps), but I took out both tires on the right side. They both had holes in them about the size of a quarter. Getting a tow truck took 3 hours. Luckily it was good weather and only three blocks from our house. Almost a dozen people stopped to ask if we needed help. Max was really upset about the whole thing but he didn't get mad at me, yell, or anything. He said I felt bad enough about it already (crying in public) and he didn't want it to stop me from trying again next weekend. Not that I want to... but I guess I should.

Rainbow scarf

This week has been so busy at work. Good, but busy. And since Max and I have been making a greater effort to get to the gym, only a little knitting has been done. But, the knitting I have done has been on a project that was set aside for awhile - since January. I give you... progress on the rainbow scarf:



The first section is a dark slubby red, then a bright orangy red, and now I'm on a slubby orange. I can't wait to move onto a different colour group! The colours above are pretty close to what they really are.

This picture shows the pattern better but the colours are not right:



Oh, and Max just told me that he's planning a surprise for my birthday and asked if I can leave work early next Friday... what can it be?!?!? Wild guesses abound!

Recap

This was supposed to be yesterday's post but there were some problems with Blogger.

Saturday: The weather was overcast but actually kind of cool. Didn't rain really, just spit a little. Max and I were late getting to the race because the Metro was so slow - waited 10 minutes to get on the blue line! By the time we got down, the runners were already starting and we missed Missy and Eunice since they ended up walking with the runners. They finished 30 minutes before we did too, so maybe next year we'll do that! Picked up lots of goodies after the race - and a good thing too, I was so hungry.

Sunday: We went to the Celebration of Textiles at the Textile museum. I got to try my hand at some cross stitch embroidery. Nothing fancy but here's a picture of the almost finished the piece. We had lunch at CPK in Dupont Circle before heading home.



Knitting: I've been working on something for my secret pal and I'm almost done. Also, I finally finished my first sock! It's not beautiful but everyone's gotta start somewhere.

National Race for the Cure

Max and I will not be sleeping in tomorrow. Instead we'll be waking up early to go downtown for the National Race for the Cure.

This is our second time. We'll be walking 5K with Eunice, Missy, and Tanjina. The race raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrating breast cancer survivorship and honoring those who lost their battle with the disease.

The forecast says rain, 68-70 degrees, 78-81% humidity. What could be more fun?

Celebration of Textiles

THE TEXTILE MUSEUM
2320 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008-4088, 202-667-0441
Saturday, 10am-4pm, and Sunday, 1-4pm (we'll probably go on Sunday)

The Celebration of Textiles is an annual festival of hands-on fun and learning at The Textile Museum. Visitors are invited to explore the textile arts and cultures of the world through a multitude of activities and demonstrations in the Museum's exhibitions, historic buildings and garden. Join fiber artists from Springwater Fiber Workshop, Woodmont Weavers, Capital Crocheters & Knitters and other local organizations to experience weaving, knitting, rug restoration, dyeing and much more. See and try out a variety of looms, including a special loom invented by a local weaver for blind users, based on the Braille typewriter. Make an embroidered textile, inspired by textiles in the exhibition Harpies, Mermaids, and Tulips: Embroidery of the Greek Islands and Epirus Region. Try your hand at creating a hat or resist-dyeing a textile, like those on view in the exhibition Seldom Seen: Director's Choice from the Museum's Collections. Traditional Greek folk dancers and musicians will delight your ears and eyes. Greek refreshments will be available for purchase. A slightly different selection of demonstrations and hands-on activities will be available on Sunday.

FREE; Suggested donation $5; no reservations required.