Lightly Seasoned

The Six Month Segment

2009-01-15T02:12:00.001-05:00

Note: This is mostly a rehash of things I've done over the past six months but haven't blogged about. Most of the pictures and happenings I already posted on Facebook but this is a good summary for those interested

I had a full and therapeutic summer full of friendly, warm, smart, creative, open, and supportive people. Most of my time involved getting to know the contact improv community, visiting Malia in Hawaii with my sister, Jackie, and working part time for MonkeyLectric (business seems to be going pretty well).

In the vein of electrical work, I was able to be with Circle C Electric for about a week working at an amazing Stanford theater updating their electrical system for fancy new theater gadgets. I was hoping to stay with this company since they specialized in theaters, but because of the recession they had no work for me so had to lay me off. Thanks to a friend, Stig, I was able to work at remodeling a bathroom in Berkeley for about a month. I can't say I did the best job but I sure learned a lot and loved the working atmosphere.

( "working" at home on my mood lighting)

I took a little side trip out to Massachusetts and New Hampshire for my friends Gwen and Greg's wedding.

(I caught the bouquet)

(wedding gift I made using SPYN)

I was able to take a week in early October to visit my sister in Oregon who was working at the Oregon Caves National Park. She was working as a guide in the caves and teaching school groups that visited the park. She will soon be going down to another park near Arches to do similar work.

(Jackie)

I went to school for two weeks in early October (I think?) studying the world of the electrician and then started a job in Newark with Mega Electric in November. We worked on installing a new fire alarm system for a public high school. Lots of conduit bending!

I finished with Mega Electric late December and managed to fly home for Christmas only hours before the airport in Seattle shut down because of crazy snow! I had a great two weeks of playing with family pets, playing games with the family, snowman building, sledding, sitting in front of the fire, eating, resting, knitting, and visiting with friends.

(As soon as I was picked up, my Dad and I picked up the tree)

I'm now home in Berkeley spending another two weeks studying and shootin' the **it with my fellow green electricians.

Still doing tons of knitting and dancing!

I finished a large project that I had agreed to about a year ago. Wow, that feels good! Ale had found me while I was working at Stone Mountain and Daughter last February. She brought in several hundred little crocheted pieces that her passed mother had made but had not incorporated into anything. I made them all up into two twin bed size blankets that her twin nephews received for Christmas.

My performance group had a successful Dia De Los Muertos performance this year in several festivals. We also performed at Illusions 7 at the Mission Cultural Center in SF. We are in a small holiday season hibernation but still cooking up some future plans. (I have one I haven't proposed to them yet).

That's the gist of it. I'm finding myself super busy and engaged in life and loving it! I have so many other plans brewing as well!

Sailing etc.

2008-07-21T14:08:00.001-04:00

Here are a few pictures that I took on the recent Solaris sailing excursion.

Solaris in her LED glory



The people













Awesome Brass band I saw with Becca after sailing:



And something completely unrelated:

The shipyard where I work with Dan

(you can see the wings of the butterfly van amongst other oddball sculptures)

over and out -Meg

dance, dance, dance

2008-07-03T13:22:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I spent flying and bouncing off walls. I took a workshop with Project Bandaloop in their new location in Oakland. I had a blast and acquired a few bruises from the harnesses that we used. Basically it involved using a Grigri (self belay device) and an ascender to gain a little height before playing around against walls. We did flips, cartwheels, leaps, and pendulum swinging all in a horizontal plane. It's amazing the way you have to adjust to having gravity pulling you sideways.

This week the West Coast Contact Improv Festival starts, and I'm hosting a few out-of-towners for the festival. I'll write more about that after the festival is under way. Oh yeah, and I had a little Tango and Salsa dancing this week thrown in for good measure!

MonkeyLectric

2008-06-12T02:15:00.001-04:00

So this is a company I've been working for since last December. I wanted to let people know about my work here in Berkeley and promote this awesome company. I've been building prototypes, modeling, testing, shipping, and doing other odd jobs that Dan, the owner, comes up with.
I feel pretty stylin on my bike at night! Let alone safe from blind drivers!
Check out the website:

MonkeyLectric.com

Oakland Improv Collective

2008-06-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

Check out the blog page that my performace group has. Oakland Improv Collective. I just had a performance last Friday and it went really really well. We had a great audience and it all went smoothly. The sculptor of the stautues that we danced with, Stephen DeStaebler, came. He seemed very greatful to have his art join with another art form to bring this empty and cold space in downtown Oakland come to life. Thanks to my friends who came to watch me perform. There should be some good pictures posted in the blog soon.

My Return

2008-06-02T23:44:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, when life isn't going exactly the way you want, sharing with the world wide wibe isn't high on the priority list. I'm transitioning (word of the month) into new work and out of a relationship. I'm still in the angry phase, but not one tramautic event caused the seperration, just a long drawn out tension that was finally released. Work, electrical apprentiship, may start up sooner than I had feared. I'm back from vacation in Hawaii with my sister and an old friend of mine so having my new job start soon will be a relief from reliving the recent past over and over in my head. Sorry I'm being so roundabout with this conversation but it's still a sore subject and I want to come back to posting. With that taken care of...
I had a great relaxing trip to Oahu. Bonding with my sister Jackie and my childhood friend Malia and making a new friend Clara.

Beach+Camera+Malia's Mac=

Sweater Wizard

2007-12-04T01:29:00.001-05:00

This may look like a decent sweater with one sleeve unfinished but really its a very sad sweater because I've decided it may not live for much longer. The Sweater Wizard is a computer program that lets you plug in the dimensions and choose from several styles to create your very own sweater pattern. Great concept but this monster is what came from it. It's way too big in the upper part of the sleeve and too baggy around the waist because of the excessive length. You would think that my problem is the gauge from the overall hugeness but you would be wrong. I protest! The sleeves fit perfectly in the lower arm and the shoulders fit nicely. I know the gauge is right! Anyhow, this is a very sad sweater that the so-called-wizard created. I love the yarn too much to let it stay a monster so when I gain the courage to frog it....

In other news I'm knitting away on x-mas presents (sorry, that's not really "other" news)...

Dav and I moved to our own little spot. No more roommates! You don't realize until you got it (or I suppose just lose it) that it's nice to be in control of your home. Quiet, clean, and organized the way you want it! I do miss the company when Dav is busy but I'm still more comfy in my own little place. We went to the old stompin' grounds for Thanksgiving. Yummy food.

Can't wait for my little x-mas get-away. I'm taking off two weeks to visit my extended family in Illinois and Indiana and then back into the northwest to be with the close family for a few days. Dav is meeting me there and then we will drive back down to Berkeley in the pick-up that my parents are selling to us. Lots of ground covered but I think it'll all be pretty pampered and relaxing.
(Sorry, no other exciting pictures other than the monster wizard sweater).

Upcoming Activities

2007-10-07T00:24:00.000-04:00

Starting in December, I'll be helping out with a class called "Draw The Feeling (DF)" that was developed by Pamela Davis at Stanford University. Don't know what all I'll be involved in, but I do know I'll be modeling movement for artists to draw.

Here I am

Also, in other news: I'm officially an electrical apprentice waiting to be dispatched. It could be up to two months before that happens though. Winter months are slow and there are 20 people ahead of me on the list.

On the knitting front: I'm working on boring scarf samples for the store so I can have free yarn/store credit. Also working on "Snickets" knee high version socks and the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits. I really need to start a sweater 'cause it's getting chilly and it would be nice to have something warm I've made to wear to work.

Part of the Workforce Again

2007-10-02T15:01:00.000-04:00

(grrr. computer freeze so this is the second time writing this)

I'm back in the system. I'm working at a fabric store in Berkeley called "Stone Mountain and Daughters". The store is gorgeous and the workers there are fun to be with. Mostly what I've done in the past week is organize yarn and re shelve bolts of fabric. It can get a little tiring, so I'm excited when I get to start working behind the counter this weekend, ringing people up, cutting fabric, and answering phones. It seems that my boss will be able to give me a decent amount of hours/week. I'm working 36hrs this week.

This Thursday I'm going in to ABC (American Builders and Contractors) for an orientation. I've officially been accepted into the program and now this orientation is for me to decide if this program ~~still seems like a good idea~~ is right for me. After that step, I wait for a contractor to pick me up as an electrical apprentice. I have no idea how long that will take, but I feel that the sooner the better. Financial stability and work satisfaction sound like good things to get going on!

This previous weekend I went with Dav and some of his Feldenkrais friends, Michele, and Amber, to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice to have a long relaxing walk with nice people on a beautiful day. However, the bridge is not something I would enjoy walking across again. Once is enough. The view is spectacular and the bridge is classic but the traffic noise was ~~deafening~~ not fun. I had to talk like I was in a crowded bar. It was still a nice walk though. I'm such a whiner.

sorry about the sideways pics
my computer hates me

Chashama

2007-09-17T21:37:00.001-04:00

This performance was a while ago (July 23) but now I have nice pictures to share with you. This was with Human Kinetics Movement Arts directed by Yana Schniztler in New York City, Manhattan.

In the knitting front I finished this awesome sweater! The pattern is called Sahara by Wendy Bernard and published by Stitch Diva Studios. I used four balls of Be Sweet's new Bamboo yarn. The yarn bled a lot when I washed it so I put a little bit of vinegar in the wash but it still seems to be coloring the towel a bit. Hopefully it will get over it's need to bleed and not make my shoulders red after wearing it. Besides this new discovery I find that this yarn is the most soft and beautiful I've worked with yet ~~(I tend not to spend too much on fancy yarns, although I have a substantial amount of sock yarn lying about)~~. It's drying as I post so I only have this crappy picture of a damp and flat garment to share with you. I will soon take a picture with it on and in good lighting.

technorati tags:chashama, human, kinetics, yana, performance, dance, be, sweet, bamboo, sahara, stitch, diva

Progress

2007-09-05T16:11:00.001-04:00

Things are progressing. I've had an interview at an ~~old folks home~~ retirement community and the lady I would be working under has kept in touch with me and wants to schedule another interview with me so I can meet her boss. Good sign! If I end up working there I will basically be planning fun stuff for old ladies all day and being happy and dressing up in silly costumes and taking them to the movies and out for dinner. Sounds good right? It seems pretty emotionally demanding at times though. I think I can handle it with my super human powers of patience. I will still apply for the electrical apprentiship program and just see how things pan out. Hopefully all will come out happy in the end. Especially me.

technorati tags:plant, good, luck, bean, job, search, interview, retirement

Slow Progress

2007-08-28T18:48:00.001-04:00

Finding a job sucks. I feel like I've filled out a million applications. I haven't received any replies yet and I'm hoping it's because they aren't hiring until the college students are busy (next week). Anyway, my "Good Luck" bean is growing well. Thanks Grace!

Home (picture heavy)

2007-08-16T13:17:00.001-04:00

I am finally home sweet home. Yesterday was my first day to wander around the neighborhood. Dav and I walked around a bit and purchased a few little things for our place (bath mat from the thrift store, light bulb, copied the key, a squeegee for the shower, and food). We went to the original Pete's coffee shop for breakfast. Yum yum! The train is a little further away than we thought but biking here is so easy that I'll be in super god shape and maybe save a little on train fares. Dav found out that Feldenkrais Resources is literally around the block from us. He will be able to take workshops and teach there soon. If his session in New York is canceled because of low attendance then he can easily join the group that's training here around the block. There is also a nice little cafe around the block that is cheap and vegetarian friendly. We are hoping to conserve money as much as possible so we will be cooking and packing lunches mostly. The place is really weird. I think it'll work well for us. It's a big warehouse converted into a group house of about 7 rooms. Dav and my room is the most removed and has its own shower and sink. I still have to put something on to go visit the toilette in the adjacent room. There are two kitchens and two laundry set-ups and I think 4 bathrooms in total. The skylights in most of the building are great. They let in tons of light! For most of the day I don't have to bother with turning a light on in the room 'cause it's so bright!

Enough with the chit chat and on with the fun stuff. Pictures! For the most part the trip across country was enjoyable but the last part going to Zion was the best part. I have pictures from Arches and Zion to share. We also stopped off in Vegas and gambled away $5 on slots and then had an awesome Japanese buffet for lunch after walking through the dry 118 degree weather! (no pictures from that).

Can you see me? Arches wildlife

The heat!

Angel's Landing trail (all the way to the top!)

Hang on! We're almost there.

Wasabi and a loaf

Check out my flikr page if you want to see more. meghanballog is my user name.

Ciao

Half way

2007-08-07T16:04:00.001-04:00

Dav and I are in Dallas TX with some friends/business partner. We've had a good trip so far. The weather has been fairly mild so far. It got a little hot while going across Tennessee and Arkansas. Lots of mosquitoes one night sent me a little over the edge but Dav was able to calm me down again once in the tent. I think I got close to 40 bites while setting up the tent!

The car has a little troubles with the hills but we took it to a shop today to get fixed. We were afraid it was a bad transmission but it ended up being something much more simple and cheaper to fix. Thank ~~God~~ someone or something! We also mailed the green bins to improve the aerodynamics. DHL was only 70 bucks for the both! These were taken in the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia.

We went to Graceland, Memphis and went through the King's mansion. He was definitely a king of rock 'n' roll. I have a few pictures but they are a little fuzzy because of the prohibiting of flash inside. The jungle room was awesome but I also enjoyed seeing the funky old kitchen.

I'm sure I will have plenty more pictures after the Grand Canyon and Zion. Later.

The Brooklyn Beach!

2007-07-14T19:42:00.001-04:00

I was on a walk with Dav where we had decided to head for the waterfront and we found this little summer phenomenon.

It's a man made beach with a floating pool. It's all free so the the line is incredibly long. You can kinda see it under the white tent in the background. The pictures are a little fuzzy because they came off Dav's camera phone.

technorati tags:brooklyn, summer, beach, foatingpool

The last (probably)

2007-07-09T23:39:00.001-04:00

This is Dance Place. I took the picture after my last (probably) performance there. I hugged co-dancers Ilana, Erika, Roxann, and Nellie bye and waited for Dav to pick me up. I will have fond memories of DC even though I don't feel like the city was the right match for me in the end. Who knows? I may be back some day. For now we are shacked up with Malina in good 'ol Brooklyn (pictured below).

New York activities

2007-07-07T14:56:00.001-04:00

Maybe this is a little extreme for my taste but I'm sure Dav and I will have some fun doing uniquely New York things while we're there.

This is an activity advertised on Nonesense NY:

NYC Chinatown Garbage Taxidermy TourYou're invited on a free tour of the New York City Chinatown garbage.Did you know you could make art out of dead animals? Yes! I am goingto show you how to collect dead animals from the garbage in Chinatownto make your own personal taxidermy. You will learn how to dig in thegarbage for dead animals. You can make art out of these animals. It'sreally cool. I've found everything from sharks to frogs to plain oldunidentifiable crap. Sometimes I find nothing interesting, but thatis what makes it fun. You never know. Rain or shine.My name is Nate Hill, a Brooklyn artist who makes new animals fromdead animal parts. I sew together random animal parts to make a newanimal that doesn't really exist. Many of the parts I have used overthe years have come from Chinatown's garbage. I will be holding an8x11 sign that reads Chinatown Tour.I suggest wearing clothes you don't mind getting dirty. Long-sleeveshirts are also good to keep your arms clean. Also fully enclosedshoes are recommended. You may want to bring a plastic bag if youwant to take a souvenir with you. You may also want to bring aflashlight, though I've never used one. I search by feel. Thefollowing items will be provided: latex gloves, first aid kit, wetwipes, and antibacterial gel.
Are we going to dive in dumpsters? No sorry. We prefer not to getthat dirty. We just dig our hands in trash containers. We're notgoing to be walking far. The tour consists of my favorite spots thatare just within a few blocks of each other.
After the tour is finished, I invite you to drinks at the bar HomeSweet Home (a taxidermy themed bar).
Southeast Corner of Canal Street and Lafayette Street, Manhattan9p; $freehttp://stoproadkill.org/chinatowngarbagetour.html

NOTE: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we know you lift storiesfrom Nonsense all the time. That's fine. We're happy that you readclosely, and most of the people here want the attention. But weactually went out of our way to warn this kid that you'd descend onhim like pigeons poaching rice from one of those old Chinese ladiesat the park. We told him that his event is so absurd that it actuallysounds like a prank -- specifically the old San Francisco Cacophonyprank where they roasted squab in Golden Gate park and told everyonethey were eating, yep, street pigeons. He pointed us to the photos onthe web and said he was ready. So, have at the story. But if youthink about it, maybe send us a note and say thanks, or namedrop usin your story for once. We like to take the high road, but everyonelikes a little nod every once in a while.

So, on a different note, I'll share a few more pictures from the rest of the Ocean City trip.

Beach Critters

Morning ride on the boardwalk

(action shot from the bike)

Mini Golf Medieval style with Dav, Steph (Dav's sis), and Steph's friend Sam.

Dav likes to make fun of my camera toting so this is what he takes when I put him in charge. At least it's proof that I was there.

Thursday matinee at the movies was entertaining but left us both a little less than satisfied.

Look. Real life transformers!

We received a refund the next day but had to leave for DC without seeing the last half of Transformers. Oh well. Now the question is do we pay a full price to see the end in the theaters or wait for Netflix?

sand and wind

2007-07-06T11:56:00.001-04:00

Lots of it! The fireworks were postponed 'till the 5th because of tornado warnings further north of here. This worked out well for us because we were on Assateague Island National Park with Steph, Dav's sister, and we wouldn't have seen fireworks there anyway. The island was beautiful with lots of wildlife. There are wild horses roaming all over the island and we probably would have seen more if the weather had permitted.

The next day we went to the ocean city beach and saw the fireworks show. More later.

1st day away from DC

2007-07-02T20:41:00.001-04:00

I'm in Ocean City Maryland today. Dav and I will be here until Friday morning when we have to go back to DC for a performance I'm in at Dance Place with Next Refex Dance Collective. We're performing the "bench piece" formally called "This Seat is Taken." After that it's on to New York City. For now we get to enjoy the beach and a bit of relaxing in the sun (including some knitting), and a little action for the 4th of July of course.

Temp Tolerance

2007-06-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

I look so shop girlish!

So far this is my favorite FO! At least for the moment. I have made some other things I was fairly proud of, but this piece still has that newly finished glow to it. I'm wearing it at work today to show it off even though it's something like 99 degrees out with 99% humidity. It's just a guess, but I may not be far off. I'm fine now that I'm in the AC at least and I brought a tank top to replace the knit wear later this evening when I have to brave the outdoors again. I would naturally enjoy staying out in the weather more than the artificial environment, but when the AC is introduced to your environment it's hard to turn back to the natural state of the world. Which is boiling. It's also hard to dress nicely when being a natural gal that's one with the elements. I go back and forth between the two, but in the end I think I prefer the natural route. Maybe the bay area will be paradise for me. Cool enough to wear knitwear occasionally but never too cold to be outside year round.

This is what I'm currently working on.

Orangina by Stefanie Japel
with discontinued "Nice" Rowan cotton

Awesome birthday gift

2007-06-24T21:24:00.001-04:00

Even though some of you might be thinking, "She's a little slow with reporting birthday gifts. Her birthday was almost a month ago," I thought I would still have to share this awesome gift that my aunt Jude made for me. I've had a chance to test run it and it's been a good run. It came just a day after I decided that I needed to solve the problem with my old knitting bag falling apart and it starting to make me look a little shabby. Again, those of you who know me know that it takes a fair amount of shab to make me feel self conscious about my attire. Especially bags or purses. *Ick* Even typing the word "purse" is out of character for me. I've never been a "purse" gal. Anywho, I adore this new bag that Jude quilted for me. It's the perfect size and shape and is even an improvement from my well loved dollar-by-the-pound-thrift-store-find of a knitting bag I've been using for 6+ years. Quilt bags only last so long. Here is another one of my talented Jude's project.

technorati tags:knitting, Jude

FO

2007-06-21T20:47:00.001-04:00

Another FO (finished object) that was actually finished a while ago but I never posted. I haven't been in the picture taking mode for forever so decided I would share an old pic with you.

I'm living with our x-room mate's girlfriend, Hope, at the time. Instead of in Arlington, VA I'm currently in Silver Spring, MD. Next week is my last week at Stitch DC.

Busy Swatting

2007-05-30T13:04:00.000-04:00

Millions of flies ocupied most of holiday weekend. I had a very entertaining and relaxing and physically chalenging weekend. It was a good mix (except for the fly part). Dav and I went to Playa Del Fuego to be the with the radical hippies of today. Lots of nudity (including a naked slip and slide) and fire. I helped with a theme camp called Camp Contact. We built a 20' geodesic dome which I really wish I had a picute of. Maybe one will turn up soon. We did contact classes and jams in the dome. Dav also taught a really good Feldenkrais ATM class. Pretty much all the rest of the time we spent lounging in the sun with friends and drinking. At night people dress up and wander around to the other theme camps. I was able to wear my fishnets that I finished knitting in Cascade Fixation a couple weekes ago. They were perfect for this event!

This is Doug...

an example of standard PDF attire.

I don't have access at the moment but I also have an pic of Dav on some funky stilts.

One of a Kind (or non existent)

2007-05-28T13:09:00.000-04:00

This makes me feel special. :)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Weekend activities

2007-05-21T16:50:00.000-04:00

Last weekend:

I performed with Nextreflex dance company in Huntington, West Virginia. (I will have a photo soon). The theater there was gorgeous! I fell in love with it immediately. It was an authentic vaudeville 1920's theater which had been converted into a movie theater for the last 40 or so years. This performance was the first live performance in the theater in who knows how many years. The audience was small in the 500 seat auditorium but very gracious. We had a great show. It's nice to be back home though so I can eat healthy foods not labeled as "American".

Previous weekend:

I traveled out to the bay area in CA. The weather was chilly but sunny and nice at the same time. It seems that weather here is very unpredictable. Dav and I helped with a workshop presented by Draw the Feeling, a friend of Dav's in Stanford U. While we were in CA we also checked out a few neighborhoods in Oakland possible for moving into. It was a very peaceful and enjoyable weekend visiting friends and getting to know the city.

Dad's whereabouts

2007-05-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

This is for anyone who is interested in what my dad is up to. One might ask themselves, "why would she think I would be interested in what her old man is up to?" Well, if you have any interest in the outdoors and climbing mountains then check out the link:

My Dad Climbing Denali (check out the links on the side bar)

Brian Miller, Greg Ballog (dad), and Greg Gilles

I promise I will post something about knitting soon.
Over and out.

Follow up

2007-04-24T17:42:00.000-04:00

This is the follow up posting.

First of all a follow up on my life: Dav and I are moving to California. He applied to grad school at Berkeley last fall and was accepted. We decided that Montreal was just too cold for us. I've never been to the Bay area but everyone I talk to says that I will love it. Dav and I have the opportunity to fly out there in a couple of weeks for free while doing a movement/emotions (probably not the correct description) project with a colleague of his from Stanford. We get the whole weekend to wander around the area, possibly looking for an apartment for August when we pack up all belongings in our beetle and drive cross country. "Yikes, I'm excited," is my general feeling these days.

Second is a follow up on the Brioche scarf:

I've written down the directions so I can send people to them when they ask me about the scarf.

Brioche Bi-Color Scarf

co 24 st in Color A on a circular needle (important)

Row 1: With color B *k1, yo, sl 1, repeat from * to last 2 sts. End with k1, sl1

Row 2: Instead of turning your work, slide the sts over cable to other needle where color A is.

Sl 1, bring color A up to work making sure it doesn't wrap around the first sl st * p2tog, yo, sl 1, repeat from * end p1

Row 3: Turn work, sl 1, bring up color B to work still making sure it doesn't wrap around the first sl st. *p2tog, yo, sl1, repeat from * end p1

Row 4: Slide sts to other needle end where color A is. With color A k1, *yo, sl 1, k2tog, repeat from * sl last st.

Row 5: Turn work. Using color B k1, *yo, sl 1, k2tog, repeat from * sl last st.

Rep rows 2-5

Feel free to post any questions or corrections.

Post for Jess

2007-04-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Jess I have conquered (well almost) the brioche stitch in flat with two colors. Because the stitch requires one row of each color in order for the striping to occur, she sugested that I use circular or DPNs so I could slide my work from one side to the other to retrieve the correct color. Otherwise working back and forth would create two rows in one color instead of the desired one.

I originally saw this striping in hat patterns that you knit in the round so retrieveing colors was not an issue. Overall it seems to be working well. This is my first project ( a scarf by the way) in Brioche and I love the rhythm it creates. *yo, sl 1, k2tog* It gets a little more complicated with the two colors because part of the time you're working from the wrong side so you have to do a p2tog in place of the k2tog, but I've been taking cues completely visually. Sorry I've probably lost the non-knitters (or "muggles" as some knit bloggers like to call you) that may happen to read my blog.

"The Earth is going to crash into the Sun"

2007-04-10T22:37:00.000-04:00

That's what Dav has been saying this whole winter/spring season thing that's been going on. A fellow blogger aptly said, "We had Easter weather for Christmas, and Christmas weather for Easter." Some of these pictures are hard to see the snow in but it's there.

If you look closely the snow is piled on top of the white flowers.

Knit Purl Hurl

2007-04-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

Even though Jess has pestered me many times to join her and other tipsy knitters on Tuesday nights at The Pharmacy Bar, this is only my second time around. This time I managed to do a ton more drinking than knitting. Hurling I avoided. I got to see several skeins of Karida's hand dyed yarn that she sells under the label Neighborhood Fibers. In return I let her try on my newly FO. It's difficult to interpret my cell phone pics, so I'll give you a little guided tour:

Basically the lacy red item on Karida's head is knitted lingerie. On Karida's left is the beautiful happy drunk Libby.

This is also only my second time in the physical presence of Libby. I talk to her on the phone every week asking her questions like, "Do you have color #117 in Aurora 8?" (work conversations). This time we were able to talk about more personally pertinent subjects like birth control and the weather in Chicago and Montreal.
Other highlights of the evening were the vegan margarita cupcakes created by the talented Jess. Yum yum.

To top the evening off, Dav drove by after his circus arts festival meeting and picked my drunk ass up and drove me Laurie's where I was house sitting. He's so good to me.

Lily

2007-03-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

This is what I did today:

(I apologize for the dark lighting but it was getting later in the day)

I went to yoga class this morning and than on my walk home I was inspired to knit a flower for the bug's vase. It's been wanting one for quite some time now. I was just going to slip it into the car so I could get Dav's reaction from happening upon it instead of me shoving another knit item in front of him to ask for aproval. I figured it would take at least a day for him to spot it but it was literally minutes after I came in the house from shooting this picture that he walked in from work and told me he spotted a new knit item. He's a keen one he is!
The weather was amazing all day. I sat on the back porch in the sun with my pant legs rolled up and stripped down to my tank from yoga class. I swear I can see a little tan line but Mr "keen" doesn't see it. I guess he doesn't see everything. I know it's there!
I also made sure to call Mom today. After having two nights in a row of dreams in which either myself or her is terminally ill and can't get in touch with the other, I thought it would be a good thing to settle my mind by calling her. She's fine except for a little cold. Besides I had to tell her about the trip to Montreal and to see if Jackie (sister) liked her birthday hat (she did and has gotten several compliments). I totally forgot to take a picture of it before sending it off. She did get it in time for her birthday! I'll have to squeeze a picture from her wearing it so I can post it.

My "other" Life

2007-03-12T18:45:00.000-04:00

Yippee. I get a mini vacation up in Montreal this week. Dav and I are driving up there to check out the possibility of moving there. He has been accepted to the Universite de Montreal and so we are both visiting while he interviews with staff. Other future living options are San Diego, Berkeley, and Maryland. My top two choices are Berkeley and Montreal but Dav really likes the department in San Diego the best so far and we're still waiting to hear back from Berkeley.

And for the current dance news in my life: (I thought I might share a little about my dancing life and not just the knitting side) A piece that I'm dancing in has an actual blog that the director is posting. Daniel Burkholder's The Playground is a fun company to dance with. It's an improvisation company, so I get to make up the movement on the spot. We have a lot of structures and sequences to remember but besides that I have freedom of movement and no worries about choreography and counts. The piece that we're working on is called "My Ocean is Never Blue" and it's focus is water.

Related to Daniel, is Andrea Burkholder, whom I have been taking aerial classes with. This includes circus arts like silks, hoops, and static trapeze. I have totally fallen in love with flying! Andrea and Sharon's company is called Arachne Aerial Arts.

The other company is Next Reflex Dance Company. We had a showing in the new Joe's Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier this last Saturday. Milestone: Dav gets to see me dance for the third time

Color

2007-03-03T15:27:00.000-05:00

The sun is out and all the snow has melted away. I've decided this is the time for pretty colors so after the knitting class that I taught (by the way it went really well and several people immediately signed up for the second class afterwards) I would get a manicure. Those of you reading this probably know this is not a common past time of mine. I think the last time I went was several years ago after being coaxed by a friend.
The past few days on my walk to and from work (about a 13 min walk) I've seen several bright little flowers blooming. Maybe this far south it's not that uncommon to see flowers this early in March, but it seems a little out of place for me. Regardless, I've been enjoying them. What I'm trying to say in my loopy way is that my fingers felt they needed to be colorful too.
It was then on my ride home on the Metro that I realized it was great fun to watch my colorful fingers dancing around while I knit on my socks. I now have shiny pink spots floating in front of my eyes while I'm knitting. Hee hee! I feel so girly.

Here is a better picture of my socks. The design is called "Monkey" by the wonderful Cookie whose pattern is free on Knitty.com. It's knit in Cherry Tree Hill "java".

And while I'm in the mood of sharing pictures of knitting here is a picture of my first displayed item at Stitch DC. It's nothing that fancy but fun to have people ooh and ahh and buy yarn because of it. It's the ballet T out of Loop-D-Loop with double strands of a worsted hand dyed cotton. Super soft but I don't remember the name of it off hand.

I also have a fun colored hat that I'm working on at the moment but out of caution that my sister might actually read this post before receiving her birthday present (the hat) I've decided to wait on posting it.

Update

2007-02-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

I must post something to keep my imaginary audience attentive and imaginarily (pardon the imaginary word) existent. Well I guess I'll do what any girlfriend would like to do and that's post pictures of their cute guy in their blog. This picture will also conveniently include some of my handiwork from over Christmas. I can take the credit for the crochet part but the machine sewing must be credited to my mom. Thanks again Mom for saving me.

My Heroine

2007-01-16T18:07:00.000-05:00

I was just listening to a song from the soundtrack of Flashdance when nostalgia hit. I used to think the female heroine's were so adult and mature so when I think of these movies that I used to watch when I was a little kid I still relate these adult characters to my Mom's age. I know I'm actually reaching the age where I'm older than most of the romantic movie characters portrayed. This makes me feel like I'm getting old but on the flip side I still picture my Mom as a young heroine.

January Springtime

2007-01-09T14:40:00.000-05:00

El Niño

Shrinkage

2007-01-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

Well it's been a while. Of course for most people the holidays create a bit of a wake in the pattern. That's why we need it though. Starting Christmas early is not about the commercialism for me but rather an excuse for excuses. Drinking more, eating like crap, not working as hard, and skipping dance classes are some of the my excuses that have developed over the past month. They all will come around and kick me in the ass though. Already the eating like crap and drinking more have created a nasty little head cold. Soon to be divulged are the results of my other excuses.

Story Time

On new years day Dav and I took a nice walk on the boardwalk in Ocean City where we had spent our previous night following his sister's drama around town from nightclub to bar. The wind was blowing hard on our walk but we both pushed though without a word to the other. Finally on a decided landmark (the dough roller) we turned back. The wind was now at our back so it was considerably warmer for our ears. Unfortunately a few drops started falling but we kept prodding down the boardwalk.
A little side note: Dav has adopted a "look" that has drawn lots of attention from strangers. This is exactly what he desires and he feels that he has finally found his "look". One main aspect being his handle bar stash that curls quite impressively towards his dimples. The other main aspect being a bowler that I trudged through London this summer looking for specifically to complete his look. The three of them have been inseparable since. End side note.
Being New Years, Dav had packed accordingly and also dressed to impress the entire time we were there including in the living room with his new pink "action pants" and on the beach walk. Bowlers, or Derbies as Dav likes to call his, are made of felted wool.
Second side note: As a knitter I know of the treacheries of wool and shrinkage. Do sheep and goats have this problem when they're stuck in the rain? Anyway, I am super careful now after my favorite hat is now a little too small for comfort. I went through lots of tugging and reworking to get it to just fit me. I know I'm lucky. I've seen much worse. End second side note.
So as you have probably already have concluded, Dav's hat was in trouble after the rain started gradually becoming a pour rather than a sprinkle. Now this is an event which Dav looks back at with frustration because he didn't think to remove the hat. He probably won't appreciate this blog. We got back to his sister's condo soaked and miserable. I was miserable because of my wet feet, coat, mittens and pants but he was mostly gloomy about the hat (he didn't even really care about the wet cashmere sport coat). Long story short (too late) I stuffed the hat after making him wear it wet for a little while. The outcome is a slightly distorted brim and bumpy surface with much less firmness all around. Outcome: I feel great that I could find a gift that meant so much to him. On the other hand I feel really bad that he had to experience the terror of shrinkage.

2006-12-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

I just had a long weekend full of Santas and sangria with a little dancing for good measure.
Dav and I went to Santarchy on Saturday so we spent the entire day wandering around with a hundred Santas through DC. I took a few pictures with the camera phone but they didn't really portray the madness of so much red and white. Dav and I handed out cookies, whipped cream, and radishes. The radishes were actually more popular early on in the day but as it grew later the cookies took the lead. Whipped cream was a bomb only because we left early to see a dance performance at Dance Place. I'm sure it would have seen glory later in the evening.
After the dance performance we went to a birthday party of a friend of a friend and that's where the sangria came into play. Good times with the karaoke and Dav's trombone, that by the way, he had been carrying around the entire day.
On Sunday I was able to spend most of the day recovering with a delicious chai latte, knitting and two hours of rehearsal.

Global Warmth

2006-11-30T20:09:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm a working girl you may not hear from me as often, but I'm committed to keeping in touch. Thanksgiving went well. I met tons of Dav's family; his Mother's husband's family, his Father's wife's family, and his grandparents with close family. Lots of people! Someone of note that I finally got to meet was his brother, Derek. He's been on a sub since the beginning of summer or something ridiculous. He said it was like living in a third world country.
Speaking of the world and in turn thinking of how the end is ever nearing, the weather was incredibly warm today (Not good for the knitting business). It was around 70 F all day so I opened all the doors to let the air come through. I also did a bit of wood chopping for when and if the temperature drops. Wonder how the snowy weather and power outage is going for my folks out in the Northwest?

Party

2006-11-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

Our house party went well this last weekend. It was a fairly long day considering I had a rehearsal earlier. We drank lots and danced wild in the front room. Here are some photos I took during the evening. It was a great mixed crowd of about 20+ and everyone seemed to have had a good time. Dav and I went to bed around 3:30am.

(notice the product placement)

My first day of work was last Thurday and it went well. Along with once again having purpose in the rat race, I also get to hone my craft by helping others with yarn choices and dropped stitches.

Activity

2006-11-14T15:21:00.000-05:00

I just got back home after a successful interview at Stitch DC. Jessica, the person who interviewed me, was around my age which was a bit of a relief. I was afraid I was going to be stuck with a bunch of middle-aged women. Don't get me wrong, I would get along with them really well. I was just worried that their first impression of me wouldn't be great for a conservative yarn store full of women knitting frumpy sweaters. Instead they seem to be a really friendly shop that focuses on the new trends. I may have a chance to teach some classes as well!

On a different note...I had a fabulous weekend in NYC for Malina's concert. It went really well and my piece was well received. Even Dav liked it (he was afraid of what to tell me if he didn't like it). On top of the show being a success overall, I was able to be with a bunch of great friends. We all went out to a Japanese restaurant Saturday night after the show for sushi and drinks. Good times.

Big Stomachs

2006-11-06T18:50:00.000-05:00

I love fall food. The kitchen is filled with the smell of cornbread, baked apple, baked, squash and lentil soup. Lots of warm yummies. I can drink my herbal infusions (herbal tea) now without the worry of being too hot. My hair really needs a trim and I know once Dav is finished cutting it'll be drafty near the shaved section.
Having someone to cuddle with at night is now another huge bonus of cold fall weather.

VOTE

2006-11-05T18:31:00.000-05:00

Frustration Venting: thanks blog

2006-11-03T17:14:00.000-05:00

Today I worked on my solo for Malina's show. I hate making solos for myself! I knew this would be a headache for me but I really wanted to do this performance for Malina. I'm sure it'll turn out just fine but I'm fighting with the music right now. It seems that in my search for interesting and engaging music I picked a piece that was really hard to choreograph to. Maybe it's just me though. I need to stop analyzing every second of movement and worrying if it sucks or not. It's less than a week away!

I'm currently sitting at a comfy coffee house in College Park. It's nice to get out of the house even though I'm still sucked to the computer. Dav picked me up from the subway after a lecture he went to at the University of Maryland. When he picked me up he mentioned that NYU peeps are much cooler than College Park peeps. Who knows where I'll end up? I like the unknown but I hope I can adjust to the new place we end up quickly enough that I don't go batty. I like new places but I take a long time to settle in to a new environment. Have to end up somewhere. Dav and I just need to make it through this sluggish year of uninspired togetherness. The sluggishness and the uninspiredness is lame but the togetherness is great. Not that I'm not looking for inspiration. More on that later.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T17:28:00.000-05:00

The weather is amazing here so I'm excited about dressing up for the DC Guerrilla Poetry mob in the streets of Georgetown tonight. Dav finds these weird events through the DC burner list. Hopefully I won't be called upon to recite much but I can count on Dav spouting and free associating plenty to make up for my lack of verboseness.
My costume was a last minute purchase so we'll see how martian I can be.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaiourackyish!

Community

2006-10-29T21:27:00.000-05:00

I went to a contact jam today in a really nice church parish with wood trimming all around and stain glass windows. There was a huge courtyard garden leading up to the space as well. It's a little far from where Dav and I live but nothing serious. It will be the new permanent home for the jam. Since I've been attending, we've been in limbo with nowhere in particular to call home. In addition to the space being potentially permanent, I was blessed with a nice committed group to dance with this time. It seems like the contact community is very committed in DC. Communities are nice. You end up seeing the same people when you're in a group situation and they end up being your friends, either that or you abandon the group 'cause you can't stand the people. I don't think that will happen with this group.
On Saturday I had attempted to join up with a knitting group at the Murky coffee shop a block away from home. It's a great coffee shop and of course I love knitting so I decided it would be a great opportunity to socialize! One problem. No one decided that it was worth coming that week. It was an online group that I had come across and I guess people don't feel like they're held accountable for things they decide to do in the virtual world. I understand that sometimes I change my mind at the last minute or I become busier on something I'd rather work on, but did that have to happen to all 5 or 6 of the people that had said they were coming? Oh well, I got a lot of knitting done while I drank some nice lychee green tea while Dav worked on his computer.

I think my knitting is calling me right now. I just spent an hour plus trying to renew my anti-virus software so I'm a little computer'd out. Isn't that always how it goes?
Later, Meg

PS for those of you who are new to reading blogs: you can click the highlighted links in my writing for definitions of weird words or phrases I use. The new web page that you link to will have an article or something explaining my highlights.

perseverance vs stubborness

2006-10-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

One quality that I know someone must have when knitting is perseverance! Last night I was working on a cardigan I had started on the bus back from NY when I realized that my new stitch counting method has holes. "2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 2, 4, 6, 8, 20..." caused me to be off by exactly ten stitches. I was in disbelief and denial for quite some time and took a little computer break to come back to it later. Unfortunately I was still ten off. After frogging the entire project last night I am finally back to the point that I had reached previously. Probably about 4hours of work. This time I have the right amount of stitches.
Anyway, just so this isn't a boring knitting blog about mishaps, I thought I would elaborate on my thoughts on perseverance. I feel like most of the time I term this quality negatively by saying I'm stubborn. I'm hoping that my knitting project will turn into something great and not a waist of time. Maybe I can rephrase my stubbornness in life into perseverance with an outcome of "great."
It was out of perseverance that Dav and I are together, so why not feel like my dancing will be great after perseverance and not just stubbornness? I don't know if anyone is able to follow my train of thought with this blog. Give me a break! This is just my second posting and I hated English class.

100's of sour patch kids later...

2006-10-26T12:39:00.000-04:00

It's still early in the day which is a good thing for me cause without Dav around I've been sleeping in later and later each day. At the last minute I decided to get up and dig through my ever diminishing bowl of coins in order to come up with one more dollar to pay for tap class. I think the dollar ended up composed of 2 quarters, 2 dimes, 3 nickels, and 15 pennies. I apologized to the girl behind the desk mainly because I was embarrassed about my pile and not because I lacked confidence in her ability to handle the coins. Was this a status issue for me?
How retarded is our system when pennies are more of an inconvenience than worth anything? At least when I was little a penny was worth a piece of candy. If you had a whole dollar then you were rich and destined to have a sore mouth from sour patch kids. Luke is a true thrifty environmentalist when I see him take the time to bend over and pick up each and every dirty penny he passes. You're awesome Luke! Maybe all my problems will be solved if I come to terms with my relationship to pennies. I need to go back in time to my youthful ways and admire the penny. Or maybe inflation has just doomed us all.
Here is a little trivia for penny lovers or inspired lovers. good ol' wiki