The secrets of the fire swamp...

Sitting on my cousin's couch in Phoenix, she opened her iPad and started showing me photos she'd taken of this crazy warthog-like animal called a javelina. She has a herd of them that run through her yard regularly, eating her neighbor's roses. I'd never heard of a javelina before, but it so clearly looks to be a member of the pig family. My aunt corrected me, saying they were peccaries not pigs. Yeah, like that's a word I've heard before. Someone said they're actually large rodents.

Seriously? R.O.U.S.es?? That'd be even more awesome. When we were leaving that evening two javelinas ran across the street right in front of us. A few hours ago I never knew they existed, and now I've seen them in real life. Unfortunately, they're not ROUSes any more than they are pigs. They're mammals, but that's as close as the relationships get. I could understand the pig-mistake, but why is there such a strong belief that they're rodents? Now I just need to see wild armadillos and I'll be set.

First World Problems

Every night I excitedly check the weather so I can knit my measly single row on my scarf. I always hope that the temperature stays within the same 5 degree span for more than a single day. A lot less ends to weave in if it's 2 rows the same color. Or even if it stutter-stepped the same color every other day would work. But of course that never happens. Every day is a new color. D shook his head and said "First world knitting problems".

 I love that man.

The weather report

I accept my area is known for unpredictable weather that can change in the time it takes to refill your drink. That the temperature can shift 30 degrees or more in an afternoon. Fine. That's why I have 5 active-use coats in the hall closet. But what I can't handle is what these shifts do to our local flora & fauna. Just look at our 35 year old maple trees:

They're budding! In January. This is wrong. What's worse, I was out running earlier this week (in shorts and a T-shirt, no shoes) and heard a peeper frog. Just one plaintively singing, and it was really sad knowing no other frog will hear his voice again. I wish I could've found him and taken him home to safety. Because 2 days later it's 45 degrees colder.

For an even clearer example of how messed up our weather is, here's my Daily Temp Scarf for January.

Each color represents a 5 degree span, with greys the coldest then purples, blues, then greens. The light grey is below 30, the light green is above 70F. And this is just the daily high temp. Some days that was just after midnight, and the temp fell steadily through the day. And this in no way records the 2" of rain we got in one night this week.

I do love the scarf, every day I can't wait until it's late enough to check the temp and knit my row. And it's always a bit of a letdown when the row is completed and I have to bundle it away for another day. I finally decided to knit the temp. at home rather than my travel experiences. Because the weather geek in me doesn't want this insanely striped pattern to be diminished by artificial changes in temp due to location.

MUST...HAVE...NOW...

How did I miss these socks?? With all my time on Ravelry and Knitty, how did I not see these before? I'm overwhelmed by the cuteness of the colors and clever tricksy pattern. I must buy the yarn immediately, excuse me. . . . . . . . .

It's a Canadian indie dyer, and I went through the entire website in French and CAD, figuring that with yarn this important it didn't matter if I could read a single word on the page. I trusted I'd just know what and where to click. Then I noticed a small box that lets you select the English and USD webpage. Ah, much easier! Of course now I have to wait for my yarn to arrive from Canada. No idea on how long that'll take. If only Zappos could be in charge of yarn delivery too!

Another sign just how insanely I was overtaken by this pattern? This is the FIRST TIME EVER that I've bought a kit for a knitting project. I always change the yarn or something, but in this case the only thing that might be cuter than Finding Nemo socks would be if they looked like Grover from Sesame Street. And I just don't see that being as instantly recognizable. Speaking of Grover and instantly recognizable things, check him out in this great commercial.

Focus, Daniel-san

Today was the kind of day where I had an overwhelming urge to set the house to rights and get nagging errands done. Unearth the dining room table that's been covered since new year's? Drive to that shop across town to return an item that's been sitting in plain view for a month? Change the bedclothes to the cozy winter blankets? I could spend all day very busy and be quite pleased with things come evening. But no. It's a workday, so I have to turn my back on all the chores just begging to be done and accept that not only will they not get done today, but when I do have to face them they will be MUCH less enjoyable than my current mood would have them.

 And this is made all the more difficult by the two dogs luxuriously snoozing under and beside my desk. Long slow breaths amplified through their muzzles, an occasional groan of satisfaction. Their bodies seem to put off additional heat, creating a sphere of cozy snooze waves that make my eyes roll back with the desire to tumble onto the floor and sleep with them. Do I nudge them awake to make it easier on myself? Seems unkind to do when they're both so happy. Maybe I'll quietly get up and see if they follow on their own. If I open the pantry door they're sure to come... especially if I rattle their food bin.

I'm back! I think...

The past year leapt away from me and I never was able to grab hold of it again. I think the last post I made almost a year ago followed by 10 months of silence pretty much says it all. But lately I've been having random thoughts about blog posts, things that need more than a facebook status update to delve into. I may or may not stick with it, but the first step is doing it. So far it feels pretty good :)

One of my problems blogging is that the ones I enjoy always have tons of pictures to make the stories more interesting, and I tended to fall down on that front. Or else I'd be looking for meaningful or interesting topics to blog about, rather than the random ramblings that really make up who I am. I'm not sure where this will go, if I'll get overwhelmed by work again and retreat into doing nothing, or what. Here's your invitation to join me on this trip, however long it lasts.

 And to start us off, here's the super cool year-long knitting project I'm working on.

It's a scarf that records the daily temperature. Each color spans 5 degrees, and every day I check the recorded high and knit a row in the corresponding color.

I've decided to use the local temp. wherever I am, but if I'm traveling I'll work the first couple stitches of the row differently so there's a subtle mark that tells me it wasn't just an unseasonable day. Today is my first row of dark grey, which is a 30 degree jump from the spring green line last week. I've always liked the weather, but this scarf it turning me into a weather nerd.