a southern gal knits in the north

where i am these days

in the garden working...

see here for what's going on.

Kittens

Kittens.



Life has been very busy with the little kittens... they are now moving from the

SLEEP
EAT
SLEEP
EAT

phase

to


SLEEP
EAT
PLAY
TRY TO CLIMB OUT OF THE BASKET
PLAY
FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER
SLEEP
EAT



phase

yikes!

but aren't they darn cute! ?





Oh and they are FOUR WEEKS old today! Happy Birthday!

10 good for you snacks

From the New York Times Marissa Lippert, a registered dietician, her list:

Top 10 all-around picks, in no specific order, to stash at your desk or in your office fridge

1. Raw, unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, pecans)

2. Kashi TLC granola bars, Gnu Flavor & Fiber bars, Lara bars (or check out youbars.com and create your own)

3. Low-Fat Laughing Cow Cheese, Coach Farm Goat Cheese or organic part-skim string cheese

4. Fage 0% Greek Yogurt or Stoneyfield Farms Low-Fat Organic Yogurt

5. Wasa, Finn Crisp, Kavli or Dr. Kracker wholegrain crackers

6. Organic peanut, almond or cashew butter (any organic/natural brand will do, or get the freshly ground stuff at your local Whole Foods Market or health food store or through FreshDirect.com)

7. McCann’s Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal or Arrowhead Mills Organic Original Instant Oatmeal

8. Kashi GoLean or Heart to Heart Cereal; Uncle Sam’s Cereal; Bear Naked Granola (watch portions!)

9. Sweet Riot Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs (for the occasional afternoon chocolate craving)

10. Good Health Half-Naked Popcorn or Glenny’s Soy Crisps (1.3oz – small bag)

and check out Smart Eating at Work - Part 2 and Part 1

Knitters are...

Today on her blog, Yarn Harlot wrote:

Imagine trying to finish the sentence "Knitters are...." and see what kind of trouble you can get yourself into. Can't say old, can't say young, can't say women. Can't say we all like wool, can't say we all knit acrylic. Can't say we all enjoy knitting socks, can't say that all of us see the pleasure in an afghan. We don't all knit for charity, we don't all have cats. We didn't all vote for the NDP, we don't all go to church. We don't all have grandchildren, we don't all go to Knit Night, we aren't all hip - or not hip. We don't even all stash yarn or knit in public. We are almost impossible to describe, and the things we have in common aren't really visible. Now try "Knitting is...." and you'll have the same trouble. What are you going to say? Fun? Easy? Hard? Challenging? Meditative? Cheap? Expensive? No matter what you try to say, a thousand exceptions are going to crop up and ruin your point. The truth of all of it is (I think) that the answers are so complicated because they have to do with what we've learned about knitting and how the practice of it has influenced our thinking and behaviour.

While I agree with all she wrote, I would complete the sentence as thus:

Knitters are creative

Think about it. It doesn't matter what you are knitting - and whether you are following the directions of another knitter's pattern or are making up your own pattern as you go along or a combination of the two above, in all of these instances, you, the knitter, are creating each and every stitch.

You have to choose the yarn, the color, the texture, the pattern, the needles - there are a LOT of choices that go into making an item. And if you don't pay attention to details (the size of the item vs the size of the wearer) you can get screwed; so there are choices there too.

You can't complete the item until all those stitches are knitted one by one, row by row and then piece by piece and put together to form a cohesive unit to be worn or used.

There is no other craft that demands that the creator have as much interaction - from the beginning to the end - you create the fabric thru the knitting shaping it as you knit along. And for those spinners - the act of creation extends back to the creation of the yarn itself - well, we are not sheep but a spinner gets as close as you can to the source.

In today's "instant gratification" society where emails come in seconds over high speed broadband networks and cellphones keep one in constant communication, where online shopping brings goods from around the world to one's doorstep, the art of creation is fast dwindling.

The topic of exposure to arts in schools is covered extensively and widely enough elsewhere for me to start here - but think about whether children are getting exposed to the act of creation - the SLOW process of building step by step , of learning a craft beit painting, sewing, gardening, knitting, playing an instrument, acting, or even in athletics too. (but watch out for competiveness... it kills creativity dead).

In the arts, one of the main lessons is that there is only the ongoing continuum of growth - there is never the FINAL performance or FINAL artwork. For the performer (be they musician, dancer, actor) each performance is a waystation on the road stretching out to the future. The minute a performer thinks they have a set take on a piece of music or role, is the moment of death for that creative enterprise.



Maybe listening to Peter Grimes (Live from the Met on Sirius Radio) this evening has affected me - this incredible work of opera melding so creatively all the aspects of opera available to Britten - an incredible chorus presence, well defined characters, evocative emotionally rich music portraying the sea in all its rage and beauty.

The composer’s self-avowed aim in the opera was ‘to express my
awareness of the perpetual struggle of men and women whose livelihood
depends on the sea’ and anyone who has visited the coastline around the
composer’s home town of Aldeburgh will recognize the uncanny certainty
with which Britten has captured that land- and seascape in Peter Grimes.
Perhaps more importantly, the opera also introduces many of the
fundamental dramatic themes which characterise Britten’s entire
operatic output: the individual against the mass, and the corruption of
innocence.

Who knows where these ruminations come from? Maybe it's the number of unfinished objects of knitting there are in my house right now. Maybe it's the struggles of an artist still searching her muse.

SPRING

courtesy of Getting Stitched on the Farm

Catch up

First about St Patrick's Day - did you know this?

St. Patrick's Day is moved if it coincides with Holy Week, and this year it is celebrated 2 days earlier to avoid a conflict with Holy Monday. The last time the holiday was moved was all the way back in 1940 and the next time will be 2160, so it's definitely a rare occurrence.

I didn't but I realize that is why some of the villages around here had their parades on Sunday (specifically the Sleepy Hollow-Tarrytown Parade) I was wondering. Of course the NYC parade will be Monday.

When I worked in midtown (59 and Fifth) we dreaded St Pats cause that meant Fifth Avenue and the surrounding areas became a sea of mostly drunken folks (unfortunately). The parade was always fun to watch from the windows on high (that only happened when it was on a weekend and the offices were empty) but the crowds are really rowdy.

I will celebrate by eating some Irish Soda Bread and wearing my green (I have Irish ancestry). (I might make some soda bread - here is an easy good recipe)

Happy First Week Anniversary
So we made it thru the first week and all are still alive and thriving! Whew! It's All Eat All Sleep all the time around here these days. Momma Cordelia has really settled in and is doing a great job looking after her babies. By Thursday she had calmed down. Her appetite has returned. It's tough being a new mother - between cleaning the babies and feeding them and eating and making sure that they are sleeping and not getting underneath you!

The kittens are too adorable. It's hard to not take lots of photos - almost everytime I look over at the basket the urge is to take a picture of their sweetness. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when they are full fledged kitties playing and getting into mischief ! Anyway more photos here if you like.

Am going to have to get a larger basket or box for the kitties are getting bigger each day. Also will need one of those "baby screens" you put in doorways - need to keep the kitties in the back three rooms. So on the hunt for that. Freecycle?

Network (the Gates Way)
Hmm its not so easy - at times over the last few days I was ready to convert to Mac - no not really but heavens its a pain! Especially when you have a laptop with XP Pro and a desktop with XP Home - sigh. [and no thanks, I didn't want to upgrade the desktop - at least not yet] But thank goodness for the internets - found a good website with a ton of suggestions and one that FINALLY worked. (It involves IP addresses and permissions and special user accounts - whatever, it works!) And now laptop is mapped to the desktop and the ext drives and the desktop is mapped to the laptop (it already had the ext drives). And all is right in this little network.

Thus I am now moving all the older laptop files to the external drives (The laptop is old and has a, wait for it, floppy drive, yes! I said it was old). However due to my FIOS direct internet connection (100 mbps) and the good Linksys router, the transfer speed is really good. The wireless card is getting about 50mbps average and that is plenty fast. Of course, the moving is being done from the desktop (slightly more processing speed) and from having less than 500MB free, now the laptop has over 12G. Whew, much better! (and there are still 8GB of operas to move over)

After all that work its nice to be able to sit on the sofa and surf and watch cable tv or my netflix dvds. Having to adjust to the trackball again and remember to stretch those fingers!


In other news, in looking at a new apt for a family member - stumbled upon the view and scene in these photos. Pretty amazing - can't even imagine what kind of house would have been there. That's the Hudson River off in the distance. Family member won't have this view but its behind the clubhouse and an easy walk - of course soon the trees will hide the river, but it's still a grand prospect.

A closeup of one of the urns.


Knitting News
Not as much knitting due to the networking troubleshooting (see above) and the kittens (also see above). But did manage to redeem by substantial upgrade discount for the new Knit Visualizer 2.0 which among the many other changes now supports color! Fair Isle here we come!


Image from Knit Foundry where you can purchase the new version. Try it, you will like it!

So now charting will be fun! And since I can't find my copy of the current WIP the Swallowtail Shawl I will just make up the charts from the magazine.

And Brooklyn Tweed does it again - Na Craga is his newest WIP and it looks gorgeous already! Hmm now where can I find me some Skye Tweed....

Kittens and Knitting

Lots of kitten watching and caring for the new mother going on at chez sogalitno.

Mother Cordelia has finally settled down into her new role. The first 48 hours were a little time consuming as she didn't want me to leave her for very long. Each time the kittens feed (and they feed like every 30-40 minutes) she would look concerned for they would take awhile to find the teats.

By today - Day four (they were born midday on Sunday) - we are all in much better shape. The kittens are finding their teats much more easily and Cordelia is acting like a pro. She has regained her appetite too and eating constantly. (Kitten food which has lots of good nutrious stuff).

The "Nursery" has moved to the Den which is right next to the Kitchen and Bathroom where food and litter box are - so Cordelia is never out of earshot of the little ones. Its fascinating to watch the interaction between her and the kitties. And to already see the development of each kitten's personality.

And oh dear they are very cute. I try to analyze what is it about seeing these little bundles curled up sleeping or eating and why I react such... right now the Gray One is sleeping with its little head turned sideways resting on its paws. Oh no, now Gray One has turned on its back and is cuddled up against Cordelia's head and C has her paw on her. Sigh.

I guess its the maternal instinct coming out - and its hard not to - especially when they mew... its a sweet little noise.

Of course there is a lot of mewing during the hourly cleaning rituals by their mom... one of the black ones (Smaller Black One) especially doesn't like to be cleaned and protests loudly (well, as loud as a little kitten can).

I know that these first weeks while they are still tiny and in the basket will pass quickly and then, oi vey, it will be lots of fun with three little kittens playing around - I will have to get one of those baby proof doors to close off the front of the apartment (luckily its a railroad) and confine them to these back rooms until they are much older - no need to have a kitten lost in the loft bed or in the piano!

Knitting has not progressed as much due to the kittens. But the shawl is moving along. SPRING KNITTY came out yesterday - I just happened to click on my link and there it was - even before the email came! A good strong issue and Laminaria is already moved to the top of my Ravelry queue. Along with Agatha which looks so lovely as knitted recently (and of course quickly) by Wendy.

The other major activity this week was setting up my wireless network. I found an older laptop that I thought was dead but voila it's not. Also found a 7 port USB hub online for good price - so when that was delivered and I had to reorganize all those usb devices (two external drives, ipod dock, camera cable, Lyra wireless Speaker terminal, oh and the CueCat scanner) I figured I would set up the wireless network as well.

You know how it goes - you think it will be easy and yet by 3 in the morning I finally called Verizon - and actually got someone who actually listened to my explanation and quickly resolved the problem (he had to reboot my router remotely to get a new MAC address from my wireless router) and voila! I was set to go.

I had set up a wireless network in my Brooklyn apt and already had a Linksys wireless router and a booster card for my laptop... so after updating the laptop with over 100 MS updates (that was all day yesterday) tonight I was able to sit on the sofa and watch my semi daily fix of Gilmore Girls and surf and continue to set up the laptop.

And the other good thing? I am sitting right next to the "nursery" basket so Cordelia has been very happy. She occasionally jumps in my lap for a good cuddle - which she deserves!

Oh and Aunt Katie has been quite the quiet cat - she has come up and looked in the basket a few times but not ventured to poke herself in - Cordelia has only hissed once (when she was eating). To help Katie not feel left out of all the attention, I found a new basket for her and lined it with her favorite item (a wool knitted bag) and she has been getting extra treats.

BTW that is not the NEW basket in the photo but a tray which I use on top of the sink for makeup etc, for as you can see there is no counter space in my tiny bathroom. As you can see it rests on the "we try to disguise this" litter box.
Katie had started spending time here awhile ago - I am not sure what it's about - although she can look out into the kitchen (the bathroom opens off the kitchen) so it must be a good vantage point for her. She is a sweet quiet cat who keeps to herself - she does NOT like to be picked up and rarely lets me pet her - although she loves to eat cooked chicken or tuna etc from my hands.

new life

born Sunday mid day

and the proud mother

more anon...

wips

Swallowtail Shawl
an imminent deadline (ASAP actually)

distractions

Sorry for the lack of real life on this blog in the last few days.   There have been a few distractions:

The most recent distraction was yesterday - and unless you don't watch tv or listen to the radio or read any newspapers or the Internet, you know what happened.

It was close! but She and We Did It! 

I was so nervous during the evening I couldn't even knit!

These last two weeks leading up to yesterday were nail biting to say the least - read my main blog (its the first one over on the right) if you are interested.   There has been so much on the 'nets about what's going on - let me just recommend ONE website - REAL CLEAR POLITICS.  Try em, you'll like em.

And so continuing on.

The other recent distraction was my sudden surrender to the stomach flu that has passed around here - I must have received it from my nephews who adorable as they are had it two weekends ago.  Wed when I was there some little bug obviously jumped on board my ship and by Thursday afternoon I was in quite a sad state.

That meant missing weekly knitting group - and moaning on the sofa all achy all night.  

By Friday evening I was able to eat some toast and drink tea (don't lecture me on tea, if I don't have at least one big cup at the first of the day I am not to be reckoned with - and yes even when sick I drink it).  Although I must have still looked bad as my upstairs neighbor asked how sick was I.  (um, not too much thanks).

Saturday morning was the monthly knitting group meeting for which I took up a kind friend's offer of a ride and put myself together as best I could.  Wobbly legged and fuzzy brained as I was, it was still good to be there with others... the 2+ hours always FLIES by - we have such a good group - varied and full of lively members with lots of interested projects and always good stories and laughs.

Feeling emboldened by my success at sitting up in a chair for a few hours, I decided to try some food - accompanying two knitters to the local diner where I was able to eat a grilled cheese sandwich.  Actually I was hungry - it had been two days since I had eaten.

By the time I returned home, I needed a little nap and was able to listen to the end of the MET Radio Broadcast of OTELLO - the last act wherein Desdemona is killed by Otello.  Renee Fleming sounded exquisite - the best I have heard her in years (although her Traviata at the MET of recent time was superb too ). None of the swooping and excessive portamento that she has exhibited often in the past. 

Then for the first time in days I was able to sit and read my email and catch up on blogs - and to one of the best PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION shows this year certainly.  The Wailin Jennys and The Boys from the Lough were both on - two of my favorite groups and the skits were of high order as well as the monologue.  ( I have tickets to two of the three PHC NYC Live April broadcast shows and can't wait - it's amazing to be a part of the audience during the live broadcasts).   You can listen on line to any of the shows from several years past.  They are usually up by the Monday after the live show.

And yes, I am a huge GK fan - I would love to meet him - but so would everyone else in the audience I am sure.

The yarn I needed to complete the Red Tomten Jacket arrived on Saturday - Oregon Trail Yarns on eBay.  She is great and always gets me what I need very quickly.

However it seems that I have TWO major projects on SLEEVE ISLAND and I am SO NOT inspired to finish them.  Its much more fun to read blogs and play on Ravelry you know?

UGH - so tonight I am going to buckle down and work on one of them - the other is the CPH Variation - its done EXCEPT for the sleeves.

The other distraction in this household is my pregnant cat: yes, Cordelia is pregnant. 

She is about 4-5 weeks I think judging from all the information on the websites that I read recently. 

Certainly she is much more loving . Thank goodness she is showing less interest in going out cause all the research says to keep queens in during the last three weeks which we are very close to being at if not already in.

Basically she wants to be near me no matter where I am. 

Tonight after about a half hour, she got up off the wool blanket on the sofa where she spends most of her days now, came to find me at the computer; jumped up on the desk and promptly fell asleep right in the middle of everything on the desk.

It's going to be an interesting experience - my nephew is excited about the little kitties that will be coming - and so am I. 

So today I did one of those marathon grocery expeditions - I managed to be out of a bunch of those big items - Olive Oil (I buy the big cans), cat litter and cat food.  My research says that queens need to be feed kitten food during the last few weeks - so I got that instead of the usual Iams cat food.  And then I need to find or buy a laundry basket (one site suggested that instead of a box) and some cheap blankets to line so C can start getting her nest ready. 

Knitting wise I am having startitis in the worst way - and crave some lace knitting .  Luckily two gifting projects are looming and both will be good for lace knitting. 

For one of them (the earliest) after a long look around on Ravelry- want to have a go at the Shetland Triangle Shawl by Evelyn Clark - from Wrap Style.  But in looking at the book, see that's the only pattern I am interested in. 

At several friends' suggestions found a copy in the County Library system online and am now waiting for it be sent to my local library.  Upon asking them how long it would take, there was no idea so if its not here by Monday I may have to go with a back up pattern. 

Flowerbasket and Swallowtail are nice and have made both and they both knit up fairly quickly.

The last distraction has been my computer - which is dying a slow death.  ARGH!  

Today spent an hour just getting it to boot up.  Am currently researching replacement CPUs and hopefully will order something soon.  FINGERS CROSSED that it lasts.  (I have almost all of my important files on two external hard drives so only need to copy over a few).