Waterfront

I had a job interview today.
In a very strange area, the old free port, which is still a huge wastelandish port area.
With many big, big trucks and containers and rusty metal barriers everywhere you look.
And I am slightly afraid of big trucks.
Every adress there is something-kaj. And did I mention it was huge?
And so I got lost. Completely. Lost.
To me the rule is that if I'm not early for appointments I'm at least punctual. Always.
But no rules without exceptions, as they say.
I had, of course, given myself a 10-15 minutes margin to find the place.
But 7 minutes before the meeting I realized I was lost and called the recruitment firm for a confirmation of the adress and hopefully a bit of guidance.
And I was guided back down the long and winding road towards the outer end of the port area, and was told to just keep walking.
And it was raining. And windy. And cold.
And an old port is in all its photogenic decay really not the most charming place. Especially not in high heels in the wind and rain, feeling very small as the only pedestrian with huge big trucks rushing by, squirting even more water everywhere.
I ended up looking at nothing but a single shivering seagull and the big grey ocean in front of me .... and then turned back and in slight panic spotted a taxi down the road and ran to catch it before it went away.
And the very nice driver drove me back past starting point, not far from where I was standing when I called the recruiter, and then down a few more quays and around a bit, and then, there it was.
After bloody 45 minutes of determined walking hither and dither with no clue whatsoever.
At arrival I was reassured that noone could ever find it.
And the interview went well. For a full hour.
Fluid conversation, clever questions and answers, much knowledge displayed.
I'm just afraid that no matter how eloquent or insightful or very qualified you are, it will rarely outweigh a whopping 35 minutes of sheer lateness.
And the carefully applied discreet make up had of course been ruined by rain and wind, which left only freckles and fresh air cheeks and wet curly hair and a general mess.
Which was me.
However, going home I listened to Simple Minds' Waterfront.

Get in, get out of the rain
I'm goin' to move on up to the Waterfront
Step in, step out of the rain
I'm goin' to walk on up to the Waterfront
Said, one million years from today
I'm goin' to step on up to the Waterfront
Get in, get out of the rain
Come in, come out of the rain

So far, so good, so close, yet still so far
So far, so good, so close, yet still so
So far, so far, so far

It had already been rumbling at the back of my mind while I was searching for the right place, but I could not waste precious time fiddling with the iPod.
Oh, the worst thing is: I really would like that job.
But the lesson learned:
Next time I'll take a taxi to start with rather than do the full port area sightseeing first.

More snow

Is it snowing again?

It looks like it.

Dinner preparations part one

I have been happily playing in the kitchen this afternoon preparing as much of tomorrow's dinner as possible.
So far we have marinated goat cheese to form part of the anti pasti nibbles.
The recipe is from the amazing ZantiMissKnit.
I realized I only have white balsamico, and since that meant I was already straying away from her directions, I decided to add a bit of shredded lemon peel and lemon juice (organic).
Two logs of goat cheese are hiding here:
Then we have tomatoes, to be baked slowly, and yet more garlic and basil. A third of the batch is represented here:
Completely garlic free is the tiramisu.
I wish I had not test-tasted the mascarpone cream - now I don't feel like eating anything else.
And we have dough resting over-night before becoming focaccia and grissini.
And chickpeas happily soaking.
So there is very little work to do tomorrow.

The orchid

My birthday present for myself was an orchid.

A huge orchid.

Bought with the special Green Eyes discount.
I cannot stop looking at it.
While, luckily, the cats couldn't care less about it.
And, of course, I've decided to cook Saturday.
Only things which can be prepared in advance to minimize mess and stress.
Some antipasti nibbles, oven baked chicken, chickpeas, salad, tiramisu.
It will be lovely.

Why?

Why did I think it was a Very Good Idea to invite 14 lovely people for dinner, when this is the Full Extent of my kitchen.


Is it considered Ok to just order Something Nice from the Indian TakeAway when celebrating your 35th birthday?

Snow and sunshine

I love snow.
And I love sunshine.
And now I have both.

Uh, Winter Wonderland

Maybe not so much Wonderland, but we do have snow! The very first snow.

And while it is not much snow, what there is has arrived while I was sleeping.

And it feels like a bit more, when it blocks all windows.

The Pledge

I have taken the pledge!
And not just any pledge, but:
The Wardrobe Refashion Pledge
I pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing for the period of four months.
I Pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle pre-loved items for myself.
I Pledge that I shall create and craft items of clothing for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium.
I Pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings!
And that for a four month period to start with.
Of course there is the Good Old Old Fur Project which has remained unfinished for so long. After cutting apart the fur, it came to a standstill.
Mainly because the sleeves were narrow to start with, and even had a strip of not too delicate black leather adding to width, and that has left me a bit puzzled as to what to do and how to do it.
And then there has been life in general, and knitting and cats and exams and work and things.
But now that I have taken The Pledge, things are going to change around here!
It is such a wonderful and inspiring idea.

Big Mouth Strikes Again

This is how I found my carefully wound up sock yarn this morning.

Very bad Vincent with his great Fondness of Yarn.
I will have to find a box for yarn storage.
However the first sock is finished.

The second will follow as soon as possible.

Past the turning point

I love this pattern.
And it has proved a wonderful distraction from the Dreaded Writing of Exam Paper.

And for once I feel like diving into the world of variegated sock yarns, as I cannot help but think it would look even more wonderfully fishy in a shimmer of greys, greens and blues.

A very good day and more Big Plans

Oh, this has been a wonderful day so far.
The cats have been cuddly and somewhat well-behaved.
I have actually done a very thorough synopsis for my exam-paper, so now all I have to do is fill out the blanks.
Which is still a lot of work ahead, but the framework is in place and that's important.
I have been to two yarnstores fondling mohair-blends with the Knitted Robe of Insanity in mind. Yet went home empty-handed. The abundance of available colours and variations on the theme of softness always overwhelms me beyond purchasing-ability.
And now:
I have a bread in the oven, already filling the house with lovely fragrant bread-ness.
And somewhat more importantly:
Earlier today I picked up my very own copy of Jennifer Stafford's Domiknitrix.

My very first, very own knitting book. The other's have to return to the library, but this will stay with me.
It is brilliant.
I think her articles on techniques and how-to are among the best and most clear I've seen.
Her writing style is precise and very pleasant to read - charming, and a bit tongue-in-cheek, which is rather refreshing.
The layout is beautiful.
Even if the title may turn some off, it reflects her attitude and personality (I think), while the book itself reflects her creativity and skills.
And the patterns are wonderful, and surprisingly classic yet original.
Which has added more Big Plans for 2007.
I do not think I can live much longer without the L'il Red Riding Hoodie or the City Coat.
And I dream of having the skills to knit the Elphin Goth.
Maybe next year.
Then:
I remembered, that some time in December I cast on for the Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. And while pondering the exam paper I managed a few more repeats.

And now it's dark outside and raining, making it just the perfect thing to sit here, with a paper to write and very nice cheese to go with fresh bread.
With the cats all soft and snuggly.

Great plans for 2007 (with insane number of pictures to prove I'm serious)

I have great plans for the new year.
Now that I am finally getting used to the idea that 2006 is another thing of the past.
1. Hand in exam paper in Digital Aesthetics.
Hey, I did that yesterday.
2. Hand in exam paper in Digital Communication Theory
To be done next week. I picked up the questions today and then have a week to do my cleverness. Hopefully.
3. Quit smoking.
Was done surprisingly easy when reading Allen Carr was combined with being very hungover from insane flood of champagne on the first day of this year.
Two out of three are down. Almost cheating. Yet all done in 2007.
4. I will finish Vigdis.
I am more than halfway through. Plan is to have "her" done come February.
5. I will finish the Simple Knitted Bodice.
I have finished both sleeves, but picking up the stitches for the neckline is killing me.
Still there is evidence of progress.

Including bottom-sleeve detail. I did not like the purling, so I chose to do 1 1/2 lace pattern repeat instead. And I like it.

6. Once these two are done I will knit Alice Starmore's Elizabeth I from Tudor Roses.
I have even splurged on some long-desired gorgeous merino/silk from Nydal for this.
These charming creatures have delivered the merino:

And as if my crush on the happy sheep wasn't enough:
7. I have fallen head over heels in love with this thing:

A knitted robe.
I think it is one of the most insane yet most beautiful knitted things I have ever seen, from "Romantic Style" by Jennie Atkinson.
And it has been chosen as my Big Project for 2007.
I have yet to get the book. And to find the yarn. (It takes a LOT of worsted weight wool/mohair.)
But come this time next year, I swear I will be deliciously enrobed. (And Vincent had better keep from the mohair in the future.)
8. I will finish the Old Fur Project.
9. I will do ashtanga yoga every day. Except Saturday.
So far not so very good. Hungoverness and exam-busyness has been in the way.
10. I will dance more.
And
11. I will do something about the state of my wardrobe.

This is embarrassing

And now I have the evidence

The cats are bad.
First Vincents "eats" my lovely, red mohair (which has been reduced from Branching-Out-to-be to cat-chew-toy).
(You will have to imagine the loud, happy snorting and grunting)

Then Laurenz eats the cake I bought myself earlier today to soothe my underslept mind with a bit of sugar (and forgot about).
And so, even I got a YouTube account. Having cats make you do strange things.
However the bad quality makes me consider a new mobile....

The Powerbook

Last week I bought myself a gently used PowerBook G4 15".
And I love it.
I've been in love with the PowerBook since it came out years ago.
(The backlit keyboard nearly made me cry)
However, I was a bit lazy when I got it and just deleted the user-information from the previous owner.
I did not want to reboot for several reasons: I only have the OS X 10.3 disks and the OS X has since been upgraded to 10.3.9, which would make a reboot useless.
Besides it had Microsoft Office installed by same owner, who held on to the disks, and a cleansweep reboot would erase those as well.
However, after moving my iTunes library and photos and files from the faithful little old iBook, and working like a dream, it started acting up.
One thing is the machine literally screamed like a banshee when Vincent jumped upon the keyboard (I rather appreciated that as he will not do that again), but it started freezing.
And in my little world Macs do not freeze. Ever.
My iBook, after nearly five years has never once frozen or crashed or acted unpleasant.
Not even with a pint of green tea tipped straight down into the keyboard (thank you, Laurenz), or half a glass of red wine in same (which did cause a need for a replacement keyboard as the spacebar and the n and m stopped functioning).
So I do not like a PowerBook freezing.
And I know I should have done the clean reboot from start.
I do not know how the previous owner used it. Or what he has deleted and uninstalled - or how.
(I noticed that the security updates were not updated, for one thing)
Or how that would interfere with my use and my programs.
So I have spent most of today playing with Disk Utility, veryfying and repairing, and verifying and repairing, and veryfying and repairing - and being puzzled and close to panicking.
And intensely stubborn.
Even ended up using fsck.
And now I can finally install OS X.
And my beautiful machine is humming merrily next to me.
I still love it.
And the brilliant simplicity of Apple support.

And this is how the cats have spent today.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I will be working tonight. And tomorrow night. And the day after.
And I do not mind at all.
I have no family and no relatives to spend Christmas with.
And after 10 years that no longer causes the same grief it used to.
Instead I have a nearly stress-free December, and tonight a quiet evening at work, with nice colleagues, a nice dinner - and I can bring my knitting with me.
I attended the Winter Solstice Service at the Unitarian church Friday evening.
Celebrating the beginning of a light curve that takes us from the darkest heart of winter, and leads us right on through to the doorstep of spring.
And while, to me, Christmas is no longer what it used to be, it is still the celebration of light.
Be it the solar cycle, the glittering fairy lights - or the arrival of a saviour.
And the cats will be treated to a bit of the special wet food.
Without medicine.

And when I come home tonight, I will light a candle for each of those I miss.

A box full of hamsters

Earlier today I went to visit a friend, bringing along a fresh-baked apple and fig pie.
As it was fresh from the oven, and very juicy, I had wrapped a sheet of baking paper around it before placing it in a box lined with a towel, which I then loaded carefully into big, black, plastic bag with holes punched in.
I wanted to be sure it survived the bus and train ride without spilling over. The bus ride went well.
The train ride even better.
The seats across from me were occupied by a father and his young son, a beautiful, quirky little boy, 5 or 6 years old.
He stared at the box-shaped bag.
Quirky boy: "What's in the box?"
Me: "Hamsters"
Quirky boy: "Hamsters?! Oooh, I want a Hamster!"
Me: "Well, these hamsters are all spoken for"
Quirky boy's father: "They smell nice".
Me: "They eat only baked apples".
And then it was their stop.
Next time I WILL bring her a box of hamsters.
Apple pie is rather dull in comparison.

The python pencil case

One of the Christmas presents I made this year was a python pencil case, lined in silk.

The python I had bought at some time, without much other purpose than mere owning, and it was longing for a reason to be (somewhere else than around a snake).
I was also lucky enough to find a beautiful plaid silk remnant in the same box as the python skin.

The past year I have been very appreciative of my store-bought,slim, black leather pencil case. Big enough for the pencils I need and use - but not much else.
And so the python and silk pencil case was born.
I cut one strip for the bottom, and another two, each half the bottom width, for the top, from both the python and the silk.
I sewed in the zipper between the two top strips, and I added the lining for the top before sewing on the bottom. I then sewed the ends closed and turned it out, grateful I had remembered to open the zipper before adding the bottom.
The bottom lining was sewn in by hand.
And for at bit if a finishing touch I cut a narrow strip of python to knot around the zipper-pull.
And it turned out much more delicious than my own pencil case.
I hope he'll appreciate it.

Very fancy fairy lights

Sinus infection, Simple Sleeve and very amateurish yarn p0rn

I'm in bed with a nifty little sinus infection.
But the cats keep me greatly entertained as do the books, I picked up from the library on the way home from the doctor.
Alice Starmore's Tudor Roses.(Oh, how I want to knit Elizabeth I - and oh, how I want a man to knit Henry VII for. Sweater curse be darned.)
Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and Scarf Style - which greatly makes me reconsider my own "invention" for the Knit Your Bit KAL. And some more literature much needed for the exam paper I really should be working on. But my head is not working quite right with what feels like 24 kg of excess fluid oozing around in my head.
Instead I have made great progress on the Simple Knitted Bodice. It now has a sleeve!

I had read, here and there, that the sleeves are killers! So I thought I would switch to them after finishing the lace panel, leaving me some nice belly-knitting to do after the killer-sleeve knitting.
But either I didn't pay attention in the process, or it wasn't that bad.
I have started on the second sleeve now, hoping some mindless staying warm in front of the telly tonight will bring it forth.
And, oh the wonder, on the way to the pharmacy to get some very special antibiotics reserved for weaklings like me, who are hyperallergic to penicillin, I found this.
The Monster Clock Radio.

Not only does it show the time in a terrifying large manner (once I've figured out how to set the time), it also tunes into my favourite radio station (or I managed that) and while it will wake me up in the morning, it will also let me fall to sleep listening to Harry Potter read in the soothing, somewhat sexy voice of the brilliant Stephen Fry.
It has a CD player!
Hence the size and the ugliness.
And the postman brought some longed for yarn.
A lavendarblueish cosy wool meant for a cardiganny jackety thing for Katrine, hopefully as a real Christmas present, otherwise as a birthday present in January.

And some green silky tweed from Elsebeth Lavold, as greed quickly got hold of me once I started on the SKB and realized I could not live with just one thing knitted from the Silky Tweed.

The great IKEA bed side table assembly task force

I did get a new bed side table when at IKEA Thursday last week.
However I was not much in the mood for assembling it until Saturday.
And once again I'm reminded just how helpful cats are. Especially these two.
What would I do without them?

We had better help her. We do not want another rickety scratchingpole incident.

Hmmm, it does not look like the super deluxe 7 storey cat tower we ordered...

What can it be....
it could be a hammock
I've counted the screws for you.

It seems solid enough

Can I please go take my nap now?

And the bedside table with lamp and books in all its IKEA glory.