Winterberry

This weekend I finished the scarf I've been working on since March.  It's a "pass-through" scarf, which means there is a little tunnel for one end of the scarf to pass through, allowing the scarf to cross at the neck, without being bulky.  I did a lot of research on "keyhole" scarves before I saw something similar to this pass-though, and I ended up just making something up on my own.  The wrong side of the pass-through is done in a contrasting color. -吴碧芙

[Insert Owl Pun Here]

Another case of "right place, right time," as we took an impromptu trip to World Market, coupons in hand.  I thought, "There seem to be a lot of owls and owl motifs in here."  They never have owl cookie jars though.

The only specimen on the shelf was cleverly snatched by my husband.  Consider it a 1 year+1 week anniversary gift.

A little smaller than the others, he definitely looks cute alone on the counter while the others are still in boxes.
-吴碧芙

Prereading

I have almost finished my seasonal book selection Bloodless Revolution by Tristram Stuart.  "Seasonal" due to my vegetarianniversary coming up on Halloween (18 years now).  The book was a very boring history of vegetarianism in Europe and America, from scientific advances to medical and theological reasons for vegetarian movements through the years.  It got better around page 372, in which Percy Bysshe Shelley and his second wife Mary Shelley were discussed.  Admittedly, 371 pages is a long time to wait for the mildly interesting Shelleys.  The last chapter looks a bit better, discussing more modern vegetarians, including Hitler.

One of my friends has recently read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, and she has posted on her blog and Facebook extensively on the topic of the book.  Having read her posts, and having heard the author on NPR, I have finally given in and ordered a used hard copy, which hasn't arrived yet.  I'm interested in this book as a Meyers-Briggs INFJ (Introverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Judging, online quiz available). From what I have read, Quiet describes the definition of an introvert, how our society came to value extroversion over introversion, and something about how the introvert-extrovert dynamic plays out in church/religious situations.  There is also, presumably, a section on group work.  My thoughts are the following:

Why are there more introverts in China?  This may be a case of introverts being made.  There is a Chinese saying, "The nail that sticks up will be hammered down," commonly described as similar but opposite of "The squeaky wheel gets the oil."  I suppose, I was more comfortable in China in some aspects, due to this expectation of introversion.  I also suppose that I am likely to be more extroverted in another language because it's not my language, and I don't really hear what I'm saying in the same way as I do in English, and I don't think about the vocabulary and shades of meaning before saying things, mostly because in Chinese, I only know one way to say something, for better or for worse.

Are introverts born or made?  One of my parents is somewhat of an introvert, and the other is somewhat extroverted, but not extremely so.  Based on that alone, perhaps there is something genetic or something about emulating one's parent's mannerisms and relationships with others.  However, I do know the exact moment when, if I was not already, I became more introverted.  In first grade, I was that proverbial nail.  I remember always raising my hand, giving unexpected answers, and receiving the negative feedback that would make anyone try to avoid talking in front of class, or large groups of people, for that matter.

Are introverts essentially opposed to group work?  I have always considered group work to be my friend.  Why?  Because if you can practice your answer in a small group, then talking in front of the large group is not as scary.  So I support small group discussions.  However, I don't like group projects, although pair projects are ok.  Group projects, I kind of hate, but mostly because I don't trust the group, not because the social situation stresses me out.  Group work to me is entirely separate from my introversion.  I don't want to give the control of my grade away to 3-4 other people who don't really care about my grade and may not be as diligent about the work as I would be.

Lastly, what would it take to make an introvert more extroverted?  I've been a teacher...That's weird, right?  Because I don't like talking in front of big groups.  First of all, my aunt once told me that while walking in heels, "Pretend you know how to walk in heels."  So when teaching, or SLP-ing, I pretend I'm an extrovert.  Secondly, I'm able to feel confident when I'm the expert and when there is no threat of someone telling me my answer was wrong or my comment was stupid.  Thirdly, I feel a responsibility to be the teacher or SLP that is affirming to students and children especially.  Affirming to a fault, like my Czech professor, who said, "Right, good job" and then gave the correct answer, even when my Czech was totally wrong.  I don't know if that's the right thing to do, but I almost want to cry when I think about my Czech prof because she was so sensitive to how her students felt, especially in Czech when even the best-intentioned student is likely to get a lot of wrong answers.  And sometimes you need partial credit or a little encouragement before you feel comfortable saying something else in Czech.  And sometimes you need to be told "Good job" even when you did a somewhat ok job, because you truly tried.  I wish she had been my first grade teacher.
-吴碧芙

Finally

If you visited me or I visited you a year ago, you probably saw me working on these socks, made with KnitPicks Felici in the colorway "Afternoon."  I stopped during the first sock because my foot was long, it was taking forever, I wasn't sure the short-row heel would turn out as well on the second sock, and my foot was a lot longer than I thought, so it was taking forever to get down to the toe.  I believe I picked this first sock up again sometime in the spring, but I kept trying it on, and I kept needing to keep knitting.  

In the meantime, I worked on some potholders, hats, and tried starting the swatch for a super cool sweater.  When I gave up on the sweater, even before the 4 in x 4 in swatch was finished (due to gauge issues that I don't care to think about or discuss right now), I finally decided to get over it and just finish the pair of socks, to get them out of my project queue.  I had also bought some new yarn, and needed to get these of the needles.

They turned out ok, but I must've started the second toe a little early or the second skein had a little thicker orange stripe.  Whatever the reason, it always happens to me, one toe has a little extra color, even though the whole rest of the socks perfectly match.  I mean, look at those heels!
-吴碧芙

Modest Harvest

I watched a baby patty pan squash form within the heart of the leaves of the plant in the bucket in our makeshift garden.  The one I was watching is still on the vine, and a surprise patty pan popped up out of nowhere, so big that I had to harvest it as soon as I noticed it.

So far we have gotten two Valencia tomatoes, which are medium-sized, dark orange in color, and full of flavor.  The Valencia plants have already set two more tomatoes, with flowers that look promising for more.  We have also gotten over 2 pints of yellow pear tomatoes, more than we know what to do with, and two baseball-sized round zucchinis.  

We originally ordered seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds.  The squash seeds sprouted and became these great plants that actually produced.  The tomato and basil sprouts did not survive, so on Mother's Day we went to the local nursery, just down the road, and got the basil, Valencia, and yellow pear plants as replacements.  All were replanted in 3 gallon buckets on our little apartment patio.

This little garden was what drove us to look for a house, where we could have a real garden, and possibly enough room to cook our own produce and can or freeze food for quick dinners.  After three months, we found the house that we will take possession of in a little over 1 week.  Next year, hopefully we will have a more established garden, more established roots, and a bigger harvest.

-吴碧芙

Non-Penelope

For once I found a mistake and DIDN'T rip it out and re-knit it.  This is not my style, especially when it comes to my Penelope accessories.  This hat was not the easiest, with trying to cover the lining and figuring out how much the pattern affected my gauge.  While working on it, I noticed the grey purl row around the bottom, but even at the time, I thought it wouldn't be worth it to tear it out.  Over the weeks, it began to really bother me.


I thought, "There must be a way to cover it."  And I came up with this ingenious little 2-stitch attached i-cord that really did the trick.  It's not bulky like a regular i-cord would be, but it was enough to cover the mistake row, and it gives a nice finish to the hat.   

  -吴碧芙

Adaptation

I don't know why I've been very interested in hats lately. After finishing a hat with Jojoland Fantasia, my thoughts turned to some kiwi green Lamb's Pride wool yarn I had hidden away in my stash. I decided to challenge myself by adding a cable on both sides of the same basic hat pattern. I also decided to try a felted flower for an embellishment. I tried two flowers, but the one that looked the best was crocheted and felted with a very easy boiling method (boil in water, dip in ice water, rub between hands, repeat until fully felted).

Before

After

The flower was easy to sew onto the hat, with a large button for the center.  I finally settled on a pattern called "Banana Tree" for the side cables. I had to convert the pattern from flat knitting to in-the-round for the hat.  Since the pattern is asymmetrical, every other row needs to be reversed for the in-the-round conversion.  Secondly, the cable stitch twisting is all the same direction as written, but with purls and knits reversed.  (I found all that out the hard way, so now you don't have to...you're welcome.)  Banana Tree is such a beautiful and interesting cable, which looks quite nice climbing up the sides of this, otherwise plain and basic, hat.                        - 吴碧芙