Panorama: White Horse Springs In The Evening

Today, I have a photo from the same location as yesterday's photo, but a little later in the day.  I cropped this particular photo to make the current background for the blog title.  Again, I enjoy the dark blues of the sky and the wispy clouds; now the addition of the dark horizon and glowing sunset make this photo a definite winner in my collection.  Again, please click on the image to view it at a more appropriate resolution.

Panorama: White Horse Springs

I have some of my photos that I want to share.  They may or may not already be on my web album, but they are photos that every time I come across them I stop for a moment to look at.  So, here's a stitched photo taken near White Horse Ranch in Oregon, which is near the border to Nevada (see map included below, it is close to the point marked 'A').  Where we stayed is actually Bureau of Land Management land, and has a little hot spring.  This shot was taken from our camp site in the late afternoon.  Oh, click on the photo to get the large version... otherwise you can't really make out any of the detail.  I think what I love most about this photo are the wispy clouds in contrast with the dark blue sky, and the gradients of colour represented there in.  Also, the incredible height to width ratio gives a great overall impression of the surrounding area.  I would say the viewing angle is close to 270 degrees.

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You might also recognize the skyline from the background image in the title of this blog.


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Socks for Nana (3 down 4 to go)

My Nana gave me some money as a Christmas gift and so I decided to use it to join the Rocking Sock Club! This club sends me handpainted yarn and specially designed sock patterns every other month! (seriously guys, it's actually pretty cool!). So as a thank you I'm sending some socks to Nana knit with sock yarn donated by my mum and worked on (partially) during the flight from LA to Calgary. It's a pretty cool pattern called Lothlorein!

In other news I also finished my York and Lancaster Socks!

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars between supporters of the rival houses of Lancaster and York, for the throne of England. The name "Wars of the Roses" is not thought to have been used during the time of the wars but has its origins in the badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.  These socks were designed to represent each house, one being the red rose on a white background and the other, the white rose on a red background. The core of the socks have castle walls designed on them and little turrets at the top!

So this means I have 3 socks done (since the six sock post) although I started another pair (bad rowan) so I'm 3 for 7!

Mittens for a cause... made by a friend of mine :)

Hey Knitters,

Anyone want to make a pair of Olympic mittens and help out some young athletes with disabilities?

My nephew, Micah, is in a swim team called “the Penguins can fly” swim team, it’s a YMCA Aquatics Program for children with disabilities and their able bodied siblings where no one “sits on the bench”. An Ontarian woman (who is actually related to my old Swing friend Peter Bearse) designed a pair of mittens called Olympic Red Mittens after the popular red Olympic mittens being sold in Canada to benefit the Olympic athletes. The pattern is only $5 with all proceeds go to the penguins swim team and you get your self a set of commemorative mittens!

Thanks for the help
Rowan

P.S. some articles about the mittens at:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/olympicpulse/blogs/blog=northoftheborder/postid=384329.html#red+mittens+give+fearless+knitter+idea
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2244122

Things that are new

This weekend we have gotten a few new things....
2 new Succulents for the apartment

And some pretty little buttons so my beautiful shawl that Jason made me for Christmas can be buttoned at the front :)

Good News!!

Things are looking up, folks.  I talked with the two professors at USC that are interested in hiring me, and the paper work to hire me has now commenced.  In case that wasn't clear enough: JOB FOR JASON.  Some specifics, such as when I'll officially start are still up in the air because they depend on how fast administration can move.  Still, this is fantastic news and both Rowan and I are overjoyed.  I'll let you know when I know more.

One down, Five to go...

Kitri socks done!

Lothlorein Socks at 65%

Google Voice

I think we all know that Google pretty much owns the internet, but they are also making moves into the phone market as well.  I'm trying out their Google Voice service.  What does this all mean?  Well, I now have a Los Angeles phone number that is independent of any phone.  It also gives me a bunch of fancy ways to answer calls, take messages, and call people (free* within North America).  Oh, and free text messaging.  I'm still experimenting with it, so who knows what will happen, but if you want to give me a call, just check out this little box:


*Free except for the usual cost of a local call

Dutch Fishermen's Sweater To Be

A little before Christmas, Rowan gave me a book of patterns for Traditions Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters.  Then for Christmas, Serena gifted me yarn to make just such a sweater.  Needless to say, I am very excited by the prospect of making just such a sweater.  I've made some inquiries to the elder Vissers, as I would prefer to choose a sweater that has motifs from a fishing harbour where Vissers once sailed from.  I don't expect this to be a quick project, but I can't wait for the finished product.

Here's a photo of the raw materials (+16 more balls of yarn):

Did I mention that the yarn's colourway is Delft Heather? :D

Sock Syndrome

There is something seriously squiffy with silly knitters who suppose that knitting six pairs of socks simultaneously is smart.

Kitri (90% done)

Lothlorien (50% done)

York and Lancaster (50% done)

Snow Queen  (30% done)

Mannerstutzen Socken (25% done)

Rocking Sock Club Left over Socks (20% done)

And for some stupid reason I have this strong desire to start the sweater in pieces my mum gave me for Christmas... and maybe that lovely rose shawl that I've wanted for a while...

New Flamie Feature: Post Reactions

Assuming all as gone as planned, little boxes with canned responses should show up below posts now.  This will allow people to provide some feedback to what is being posted without having to write a comment.  Though comments are preferred (and you don't even have to sign up to comment), this might be useful for those for whom time is of the essence and the like.

Edit: Perhaps not, this new feature doesn't seem to be showing up, but it has alerted me to something else, that I'll now look into.

Shawl and Duvet: Hurray!

For Christmas Branwen (my lil' sister) gave me some lovely red beads and some beautiful peach coloured yarn to make a shawl! Well, I finished this beauty today and now it is blocking. The colours are just perfect (the edging is even a little darker) and the shawl looks like it will be a great size!

The shawl design is called Aeolian and the motifs are supposed to resemble Joshua tree yuccas, agaves and cactus flowers. I think the peach yarn and red beads look just like some of the beautiful flowers of the deserts out here!

One of our gifts from Serena was a new duvet for our bed. We were in dire need of something as it is a little too cool here in the winter to sleep with only a sheet, and as such we've been forced to use our sleeping bag from camping as a comforter. The new duvet looks fantastic and we look forward to testing it out tonight. One very useful feature is that there are two different insides to the duvet, which are used to control how much thermal insulation it provides. Should be wonderful here in LA, where the "winter" nights are cool, but during the summer only a light sheet is needed. Also take a look at our snazzy new bedside table... now there is one on each side of the bed!

Watch Out For Changes

Just a heads up that I'm fooling around with blog stuff, so who knows what'll happen!

De-icing the plane

So our flight from Calgary to LA was an eventful one! We waited in long lines, went through regular customs checks AND secondary customs checks (Because apparently Jason is a terrorist), we got padded and prodded through security and our bags went through a serious strip search. After that ordeal we grabbed some lunch (last poutine and iced caps for a while) and then headed onto the plane. We had some awesome seats and got to watch the deicing fun! I want that job... seriously, spraying green and pink goo on planes? AWESOME!



If you look closely you can see the green wings on the other plane!


P.S.: Sock, say goodbye to Calgary.

Christmas Puzzle

For Christmas, Rowan and I received a puzzle from Bill. Rowan does not have an exceeding amount of patience for puzzles, so it was mostly up to me to get this finished before we left. If memory serves, we started the puzzle on Christmas day or perhaps the day after, and it was only just finished today. It is a 1500 peice puzzle and though I have not done too many jigsaw puzzles in my life, I would rate this one as very difficult. See for yourself:

Edit/PS: I should give credit where credit is due though: I did have help from all of the Martindales on and off throughout the course of the puzzle's construction. Often just a few pieces here and there, but sometimes they were pieces that had been eluding me for hours and hours :D

Calgary Zoolights!