The land of potatoes

I've never been to Idaho before, but from what I've seen, its really nice! The first couple of days I had quite a bit of free time because the workshop I attended was only a half day each day. So, I walked downtown and did a little shopping. Moscow has a really nice downtown area. I found the yarn shop, which was attached to a really nice quilt shop. I went in a few other shops and ate lunch at a little cafe. Yesterday after my class I went to the University of Idaho Arboretum to eat my lunch, knit a little, and wander around. Very relaxing... The weather has been awesome - highs in the 80s and no humidity. As if I neede to be reminded about how miserable summer in Alabama is.

On the knitting end, I am working on my first piece of lace.... it is the Swallowtail Shawl from Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. I saw this picture and I had to try to make one. So far its been going well - its not too hard. The yarn I am using I got at the Needle Nook here in Moscow, ID and is from a local alpaca farm called Top of the Hill Alpacas. I love it. I love the color, how it feels and how it is knitting up. I could eat it up. ..and it's not too expensive for alpaca.

summer in the city

So I know this is sort of cheating since Jill made them not me, but look at my new socks!! A little cozy for this heat we've been having but I really love them and Jill sure does know my colors...
I have been super busy with making up classes and working and my summer class and everything, but I just took my last final and all I have to do is hand in a final cpy of a paper and I'll be home free!

I have been working in the experimental petrology lab more and more and I got my own project to work on this summer which is super exciting. It's a little complicated but I'll give you the run-down: I am going to be using this technique (called MISE or modified iterative sandwich experiment) to try and determine the compositions of equilibrium melts at 3 gigapascals. Basically, I take some crushed up synthetic mantle minerals (peridotite) and I take some powder who's composition I guess ("meat" of the sandwich, if you will), and put them in an itty-bitty capsule, put them in layers of graphite, magnesium oxide, barium carbonate, and lots of steel, and crush them with a piston cylinder to 3 GPa and 1449 degrees celcius and see what happens. I see what the composition of the resulting melt is, and do another run with that composition as the meat. And again and again until I get the same melt every time, at which point I've determined the equilibrium melt for that peridotite at 3 Gpa and 1449 Celcius. Pretty cool huh?


Other than that, I've been seeing this guuuuuuuy, Brian. We're actually going to Chicago this weekend for Father's Day because that is where he is from. Then next weekend we're going to Two Rivers. Crazy. The weather has been gorgeous so I've been doing tons of biking and galavanting around the city and it's marvelous. So, now that I won't be so busy expect many many more knitting updates from me.

Some summertime photos: Brian & I hiking, the Superior hiking trail, views of Minneapolis...

Everything Under the Sun Socks

Sockapalooza sock
Originally uploaded by wickjill

I finished my first sock for my sock pal - and I really like how it turned out. At first, I didn't know how the pattern (Go with the Flow from Favorite Socks) and the yarn (Koigu) were going to go together. And I didn't know if I really liked the yarn that much after all. It seemed too pink. But now that I have one knit up, I really like it. All the colors pop for me, especially the yellow. I like that. I'm calling them Everything Under the Sun, because the yarn has every color under the sun in it. My pal has bigger feet than me, so I hope that they fit her. The rib pattern seems to stretch a lot, so I think they will.

Check out the new addition to the puppy family:

We found him on the side of the road, just about to get hit by a log truck. Its so sad how people just dump dogs out here. I don't understand it at all... I mean, look at that face! How could you just dump that on the side of the road?! Anyway, we picked him up, picked the ticks off of him, gave him a bath, and loved him up a bit. He's adorable, and snuggly, and curious, and all the other things cute little puppies should be. I think Matt & Rachel are going to keep him, as long as we don't see any signs around town that someone is looking for him. There aren't any houses near where we found him and since he was on the road, I'm pretty sure someone dumped him there (we put the collar on him). Oh, and by the way, he told us his name is Jed. So we're calling him Jed.

Blue

Blue
Originally uploaded by wickjill

Since I woke up at 6:30 this morning, I let myself have some sewing fun before getting down to work. I made this purse from an old skirt I have had forever. I actually got it at a flea market in Tasmania, Australia. It was a long, flowy, hippie wrap skirt that I think was authentic hippie (Meaning actual 1960s, not new hippie). I loved the skirt and the fabric, but its not really something I would wear anymore. I think it looks fantastic as a little summer purse. I lined it with muslin and even put a pocket inside for my keys and phone and such!

Holy Crap!

We got our stuff Wednesday:
It's a little overwhelming, but we're slowly making our way through the mess. We went to the DMV today, spent almost $300 getting driver's licenses and vehicle registration. We then went and got our library cards, and I checked out 3 cool knitting books.
I haven't been able to find my skirt yarn yet, but hopefully today sometime. I'm excited that you guys are coming in September....we should have the guest bedroom together by then.
And a picture of a prairie puppy....I just loved them, I thought they were cute too, I took so many pictures of them!

A trip to the past and one to home

Summer is here... it's miserably hot and humid, all day, every day. I really don't know how people survived before air conditioning. I think about the women in the 18oo's wearing those big dresses with all the layers - no wonder they fainted all the time. And all those people picking cotton in the fields - I really don't know how they do it. Ten minutes in full sunlight in weather like this is enough to send me into a grumpy mood its hard to get me out of.

I've been super busy lately and really haven't had time to knit at all. I'm still plugging away at the same old projects.

Jamie - it was great to see you pictures & your skirt looks great! I'm glad you got to make it through Wisconsin and some parts of the midwest. That part of WI is really beautiful - all the rock formations and bluffs along the Mississippi River are amazing. That is all part of the driftless area of WI, meaning that no glaciers went over that land, so it is very different from the rest of the state. The topography, and a lot of the plants and animals found there are unique to that part of the state. Aren't the Badlands amazingly interesting? When I went there I thought it was so crazy how you drive for miles, and miles, and miles, and miles of flat nothingness (but no shortage of Wall Drug billboards) and then these incredibly strange formations pop out of the land, almost like aliens put them there or something. They are very beautiful in a very weird way! And the grasslands have a very subtle beauty. But if you get out and explore them, there is so much to see and explore... Its just not big and bold like mountains or the ocean. Did you see any prairie dogs? They are so cute!

I hope that you are settling into things in Carson City and are having fun exploring your new home. Bill & I are super excited to come visit in September!

Progress on the skirt

Hi ladies,
I wanted to show you the progress that I've made on the skirt. It's on hold for now because I didn't pack enough yarn with me in the car. I should get it by Wednesday, but I don't know if I'll be able to find it! I tried to label my yarn well.

I start my part time job tomorrow, so I'll give you an update on how everything is going.

Hugs!

We're here!

Hi girls,
Just a quick post to say hi, and that we're at our new home. I wanted to send you some picures to chronicle our trip across the miles of this beautiful nation. First, I'd like to say how beautiful Wisconsin and Minnesota are. I'm sure we didn't see the most beautiful portions from I-90, but nonetheless, I'm now very interested in exploring this part of the country. We had a nice drive, Fleece and Flannel have really proven themselves as little road warriors. Some pics:












I realize this collage is a little unorganized, but I'll do my best to narrate: from top right, clockwise, My dad with the kittens in Martinsburg before leaving. He is trying his best to encourage leash training, the Raggedy Ann my Mom made me to help me feel at home in Nevada, Open range of Wyoming, Badlands, Rock formation near I-90 in Wisconsin (Molly, maybe you know what this is), completed cable rib socks, Log cabin I finished right before leaving, the same cable rib socks wip, the "FIBs" coming back from Wisconsin returning to Chicago, Buffalo Gap national Grassland, Mt. Rushmore, Entrance to Wind Cave National Park, Bison bison (scientific name), Fleece climbing tree in Nevada, and Carrie and Jess helping pack the Civic in Martinsburg. So, that's what we've been up to. I promise to post more soon. I have really made some great progress on the skirt, so I'll post on that soon. Jill, the yarn you dyed for my Mom has inspired her to learn to knit socks. She's very excited about it and the yarn is beautiful. You should consider selling it! I'd invest in your company.

Hope you are both doing well. Keep you posted!
Hugs
Jamie