21 socks

This weekend I finished yet another pair of socks, most likely destined to be a present. As I was taking photos of them I had the thoughts that, maybe I’d knit 10 pairs of socks by now. I went to check, and lo and behold this was my 21st pair! Knitting roughly 3 pairs a year since I began in 2010.

Clockwise:
1. Birthday Socks in Plymoth Yarn Happy Feet
2. Winter Quarter Stress Socks in Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn
3. Matt’s Diamond Socks in Knit Picks Stroll
4. Crazy Socks in Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball
5. Belated Charade Socks in Knit Picks Gloss

 

6. Never Ending Sock in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock
7. The Bees Knees in YorikoHand Dyed
8. Monkey Business in Malabrigo Yarn Sock
9. Vanilla Tree Fort in Knit Picks Stroll
10. Mother’s Day Socks in Malabrigo Yarn Sock

11. Grey Skies Socks in Miss Babs Yummy
12. Brunch Socks in Malabrigo Yarn Sock
13. Grandmother’s Socks in Malabrigo Yarn Sock
14. Vacation Socks in Anzula Squishy
15. Everyday Socks in Anzula Squishy

16. Red Charm Socks in Unkown
17. Winter Travel Socks in Knit Picks Stroll
18. Purple Monster Socks in Malabrigo Yarn Sock
19. Vanilla Dipped in Anzula Squishy
20. Rose City Rollers in Anzula Squishy

21. Fika in Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock

Some socks didn’t fit right, others were not machine washable… but went in the washer anyway. Some lost their mates, but continue to wait anxiously for their return. Some were gifts, both by choice and because they maybe came out the wrong size. All are well loved, and worn on the faintest chance of a chilly day.

But what would 21 socks be… without some d3 powered metrics?

Pairs of socks knit per year

Most popular yarns

 

Last year in knitting

Two hats

Two pairs of socks

Three scarfs

A love letter to a memory

There are places in San Francisco that hold special significance to me. Places that reinvent themselves, places that refuse to change, and places that are hardly recognizable anymore. Bernal had fallen into the black hole of out of sight, out of mind for almost a decade, but it’s where I learned to fly my first kite. It’s where I volunteered on the weekends picking up trash and weeding out invasive plants. It’s where I’d go in high school to sit in the sun and drink not coffee out of coffee cups with people I no longer know. It comes back in drips and drabs, here and here. For a while, too long probably the hill was monotone, brown on brown on slightly more golden brown. Burnt plants, screaming for water, trails all but indistinguishable amid the rocks and dead grass. But then it rains, and all those paths reappear. The plants we had al but given up on, spring back into life. The hill that I remember comes back.

People often ask my what I think of the changing city, and I almost always disappoint. Should I be outraged? Apologetic? Have some words of wisdom? I can tell you for a fact that it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve seen someone get shot on muni. I can tell you that there are far less needles littering soma, and that all of the abandoned warehouses in the mission where we used to throw parties have been rehabilitated. I can tell you that warm water cove still exists, but that the canvas is gone. The city isn’t the same, but nor should it be. Everything grows, but the roots, that magic that makes it what it is always remains. It might show itself differently, and you might need to look harder for it in drought, but eventually the rain does come.

For all the purposes Bernal has filled for me, it is now where I walk my dog, actual coffee in hand. All the vistas have memories on display, they are inescapable, and irreplaceable. I am thankful for what the city has been, what it is today, and what it will be; always my home.

A Year in Knitting

Sometimes I wonder if people buy yarn to look at or actually knit. My collection has been growing steadily over the past decade, and while it’s beautiful to look at, there hadn’t been much knitting movement this year. Busy with getting married and changing jobs, I haven’t had a whole lot of free time. So what have I knit this year? Two hats and a pair of socks.

Traveling Cable Hat in Misti Alpaca. 

This is one of those projects that probably should have been done in a solidly solid colorway, but did I mention I have a yarn problem? I’ve had this yarn sitting around for years, so I’m feeling pretty proud to have successfully used it all up! The hat itself is squishy and soft, it will be very cozy on cold windy days.

Bodhi Brim Hat in Kinit Picks Stroll

Another successful use of stash yarn. This hat called for worsted weight yarn, but I didn’t have any in a color I wanted to knit this hat in, so I doubled up some previously abandoned sock yarn, win! This hat came out a little large, but fit the recipient perfectly.

Simple Socks in Malabrigo Sock

Sometime you just need a project to get you out of a knitting rut. I hadn’t knit in almost 6 months when I picked these up while on vacation. There is really nothing like wearing hand knit socks in the winter.

CSA – March 20th

It’s starting to look a lot like spring around here. This weeks box contained a lot of the winter staples we’ve been seeing for the past few weeks, but there was one very special addition, pea shoots!

First with the greens. This week contained spinach, kale, and lettuce. Along with pea shoots, beets, and radishes. This week we had both leeks and green garlic. In the herb department there was tarragon and chives. I’m not sure I’d ever seen chive blooms before, but they are gorgeous. I almost wanted to put them on display in a vase instead of eating them. And of course no box would be complete without cabbage and carrots.

I plan on making an miso ginger kale, cabbage and soba noodle salad for work lunch. I’m still not a huge fan of radishes, so I’ll probably leave those all for M. The beets will also become a work lunch option, roasted in the oven and tossed with a little olive oil and lemon. The spinach was this mournings breakfast, lightly wilted and served with a poached egg on top. I still have some leeks stockpiled from the previous box, so it may be time to make leek soup, which would also use up the tarragon. Chives and eggs are breakfast. Which leaves me with lettuce and carrots, which seems to do just fine disappearing without a plan.

Book 4, a peek into the future.

I’m still behind, but I did finished week 3’s book, The Power of Habit last week while on vacation. I found the book to be informative, but a little slow at times. I enjoyed parts 2 (group habits) and 3 (societal habits) the most, possibly because I knew the least about them prior to reading the book. Now I should be more prepared to make this book a week reading thing stick? I think instead of measuring by weeks, and always feeling like I’m behind, I will measure by book count, and try to make it to 52 by the end of the year.

Next I started reading Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery which is set in the not too distant future. I’m about halfway through now, and am still a little unclear on what the big storm is about. It’s obvious that global warming has happened, and massive weather events are destroying the nation, but the war makes no sense to me, although I’m pretty sure that’s the way the author intended, only telling bits and pieces of the larger story at a time. 

 

Book a week update, stagnation.

Big surprise everyone! As soon as I returned to work my reading pace stagnated, and I am still on book 3 well into week 4. M and I are going away this weekend, and I’m hoping to use our vacation time to play some catch up. Ironically, book 3 is about habits.

Week 3 – The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

CSA Week 2

Yesterday was CSA pickup day, and this time I did not forget the eggs! Fresh pastured eggs are one of my favorite things to eat these days, which is saying a lot because up until two years ago, if I could so much as taste the egg in anything, I did not want to eat it (I’m looking at you overly eggy waffles). But after trying pastured eggs, my whole world changed, now there is not a single meal I wouldn’t add a soft cooked egg to.

This weeks haul was impressive as usual, I even took the Mei Qing Bok Choy home this time. Hopefully it wont go to waste. Winter boxes seem to rotate around a common theme, citrus, hardy leafy greens, and squash. This week was no exception. My fruit bowl is nothing but citrus these days, this weeks box added more lemons, mandarin oranges, and two pomelos.

On the green front, there was red mustard greens, celery hearts, green leaf lettuce, and leeks. I used to panic when I got mustard greens, everyone said to cook with garlic, in a manner similar to collards, but it was always too much garlic for me. Then I found a gem of a recipe in Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen for mustard green and yam soup. At first I was pretty skeptical, but the long simmer really mellows the mustard green bite and produces a delicious and addictive soup. I may try subbing the yams for squash, as I can’t seem to get rid of my squashes fast enough before more come in. As for the celery hearts and leeks, I feel awful saying this, but it’s time to make more veggie stock. (I’ll sneak some of the carrots in there as well).

Which leaves me with broccoli, bok choy and red cabbage. The red cabbage is easy, I’ve been in love with traditional german red cabbage since I was a kid. I could probably eat that as an entire meal, although I’m sure I’ll make potato pancakes to go alongside it. The broccoli will most likely get roasted with some chili flakes, or perhaps a stir fry is in my future, which would give me a lazy way out of using the bok choy.

 

2014 Book a week challenge

One of my goals for this year is to read a book a week (or at the very least, hit 52 books by the end of the year). So far I’m on track.

Week 1 – The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Interesting read about a group of individuals working at an English language newspaper in Rome. I found the book a bit confusing at first, as the characters are not strongly linked until you’re halfway through, and even then, there was still some bits of stories that I wish had been finished.

Week 2 – The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up by Jacob M. Appel

I had read the summery of this one beforehand, but even then, it really took until part 2 for the scary post 9-11 terror state to really stand out. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

CSA Week 1

After a month hiatus, we’re back on the CSA gambit. This weeks box was mostly citrus. lemons, oranges, and mandarins. On the veggie front, there was kale, savoy cabbage, daikon, leeks, butternut squash, lettuce and celeriac.

What I’m thinking of making

Butternut squash and celeriac soup, which should use up all the squash, leeks, and celeriac.

The kale and savoy cabbage will get roasted with a little olive oil and sea salt to become healthy snacks.

which leaves me with daikon and lettuce. other than sneaking it in salads here and there, I have no idea what to do with the daikon. The internet seems to think I should pickle it for sandwiches, but that seems time consuming, so we’ll see.