I survived Death Valley

That's what LSU calls it's football stadium.

GP is a grad student at LSU and managed to procure two tickets for us to go and watch the LSU Tigers beat up on the Auburn Tigers. Tigers versus Tigers. GP tells me that the LSU Tigers are the Bayou Bengals. Oh, honestly. Real tigers don't live in bayous! Alligators do, and you can catch them there and then roast them while tailgating for the LSU v. Florida Gators game.

Speaking of tailgating, we did. Wow. Just wow. These people know how to do it right. But, to properly set the scene, let me tell you a little about my college experience. GP and I met at a small, private, liberal arts college out in west Texas. Our senior year there were 1152 full time students; I know this number because I was the student body treasurer that year. Our school wasn't so much big on the football. In fact, our poor team didn't win a game at all until my senior year. Well, I suppose technically we one a game my junior year, but only because our competition had to forfeit for some reason. So. Very few people went to football games, no one tailgated, and people certainly did not come in their RVs to tailgate and watch the game.

But they do at LSU. Every parking lot was turned into a purple tent city. People dressed in purple and gold were swarming like ants all over campus (some more than others, depending on the level of inebriation). People were blaring music, cooking good food, and watching other games on the TVs they had set up in the back of their SUVs. GP and I hung out with some friends in one of the dedicated RV parking lots.

I saw a lot of people wearing purple and gold striped pants or overalls, one guy wearing some sort of LSU themed fringed pajamas, and a woman drinking good wine through a straw. To each his own, I suppose.

After a bit of fun at the tailgate, we trekked on over to the stadium to watch the game. This place is huge. And loud. And people don't sit down.

And despite having a lot of fun, I realized that I definitely no longer fit the undergrad mind set. It was the cheers that got me. One starts with the typical chanting of "L-S-U" while the band plays, but then ends with the most glorious sentiment: "Kick their ass!" Charming, no? The second cheer goes with some music from The Wizard of Oz. You know the bit where the bad guy army is marching and singing "oh-we-oh, we-oooh-oh"? Right, so at LSU, you sing along and inject some words like this: "oh-we-oh You suck! we-ooooh-oh You suck!" Fantastic. Apparently, the powers that be have been trying to change it to something less immature for awhile, but it just doesn't stick. I wonder why drunken college students would be averse to yelling something else?

Also, things get spelled a bit differently down in Cajun Country:

The game was great (LSU won 31-10), the halftime show was a bunch of Van Halen songs (I couldn't help but wonder how many in the band had ever heard those songs before playing them), and we had some fun friends around us. We're going again next week, on Halloween, and we're expected to be in costume. I have no idea what to do. Suggestions?

Accomplishments (sort of)

I feel so accomplished. Here are the reasons why:

1. My diploma finally arrived! I now have the official proof that I did in fact graduate and can refer to myself as Dr. Gena.

2. My Tangled Yoke cardigan has been favorited 100 times on Ravelry. That's just crazy.

3. I finally took pictures of the finished Clapotis. I went to the local park and sat under this tree for awhile, then took some pictures.

Pattern: Clapotis
Needles: US3 Addi Lace needles

Yarn: Knitting Notions sock yarn in the Aubergine colorway, 2 skeins. I bought this yarn last year at SAFF (which I'm incredibly sad to miss this year) because I had this really strange desire for some deep purple yarn. I don't even like purple that much but I was seized with the need for a purple wrap. This yarn was perfect and after scouring every other booth for potential yarns, I came back and bought this.

Notes: The pattern is really meant to be knit with larger yarn, but I love how it turned out with fingering weight. To make it longer, I knit the middle portion twice (24 repeats of the straight portion instead of 12). It is nice and long and can be worn easily as either a scarf or a wrap. I love it. Now the weather just needs to cool off so I can wear it somewhere!

Pictures from around here

We live in a small town here in southern Louisiana. Fall weather, as I mentioned before, has yet to hit. In fact, the indoor/outdoor thermometer says its 85F right now, at 9:51 in the morning. No leaves are changing colors. No cool breezes brush past our arms and faces while we're out walking the dog. So what does October in these semi-tropical regions look like? I'll show you.

Just outside of town is a very pretty little area built up around a small river. It's my favorite place to run here, and is lined with beautiful houses and trees full of Spanish moss.

 

North Carolina was full of beautiful colors in the fall from all the tall trees. Here, though, we are back in the land of live oaks, with their huge trunks and sprawling branches. That cow is standing even with the tree, not behind it.

The trees get covered in these vines that grow straight out of the trunk and branches. They don't creep up from the ground, but sprout like fungus directly from the wood. Whole trees can become covered, and I think it must be a parasite like mistletoe.

This last picture reminds me a bit of home. On the road to Mom's house, several trees completely reach across the road and form a canopy over you. It's very pleasant to drive or walk under a canopy of trees, especially when they're so decorated by the silvery Spanish moss.

 

So that's what fall is looking like down here. I looked up the average temperatures for our area:
for October the high is around 80F, the low at 56F. The lowest it usually gets in December and January is around 60F during the day, 40F at night. And just for kicks, our elevation is 25 feet above sea level.

Non-changing of the Seasons

Ah, October. The time of year when leaves start changing colors, the air gets cooler, and the smells of baking pie fill your house. Well, unless you live here, that is.

I got spoiled living in North Carolina. The autumn was so beautiful there, with all of my favorite colors painting the trees and shrubs throughout the city and countryside. Just driving on the highway on the way to work was an experience in color and beauty. Here in Louisiana, though, everything is still wonderfully green and the weather is just now dipping into the 70s. I imagine the fall here will be much like it was in Texas: everything stays green until one day you wake up to find the leaves have turned brown and fallen off. We're still running our air conditioner for most of the day.

Picture from our NC balcony, last November.

On the bright side, I think we might be able to go without turning on the heat for most of the year.

Anyway, something about the changing of the seasons (whether they're changing or not) combined with the sounds of football on TV make me want to eat warm soups and breads while knitting wooly hats, gloves, and scarves.

My sister-in-law has requested new hats for the kids this year. They don't really need them often in Texas so I'm making adult sized hats for the older two, giving them more years of wear. Of course I've taken my job in selecting said hats very seriously and started one yesterday while listening to yet more rain outside.

This one, the Freyja hat (Interweave Knits Fall 2009) is for the middle child who reminds me very much of myself. As a two year old she is loud, bossy, and likes to get her own way. Once (maybe more than once, who knows?), she threw a temper tantrum in a group of people. When someone asked my brother who she got that from, he promptly replied "Gena." However, I'm entirely sure I never behaved quite so reproachfully. Also, I wasn't there to defend myself.

This is only my second attempt at Fair Isle colorwork, and it's going okay so far. My floats are a tad on the loose side, but better too loose than too tight. The best part? I'm using the rest of the yarn from these. No trips to the store, no money spent, and clearing out some space in the yarn drawer.

P.S. Does anyone know why Blogger keeps randomly changing the spacing in my text? It's been doing it for ages now, and I have no idea how to fix it.

Ripple blanket

First off, thanks so much for the hair compliments! I'm loving it so far, and actually get to try different ways of fixing it, something I haven't really done since, oh, 1996 or so. The last time I had short hair. Back to the subject:

In may, my brother and his wife had a third child, another little girl. I said I would make a baby blanket for the cute darling (the first of their 3 children to have brown hair) like I did for her big sister. So, I finally did. I know, I know. She was born in May and I am a slacker aunt. In my defense, they live in Texas and didn't really need a wool blanket for those first few months. Truthfully, they probably don't need one right now, but one will be sent their way!

I followed the ripple pattern tutorial here; it's a really clear and simple one to follow, with a lot of pictures to help the newer crocheter out. Be warned! If you go check out the rest of Lucy's website, you will decide that crochet needs to become an integral part of your life. Her stuff is just that beautiful.

I really enjoyed crocheting this blanket. It was fast and fun, didn't require a whole lot of attention (although you do have to count and focus a tiny bit), and gave a lovely result. I used a size J hook with worsted weight yarn, but I think I should have gone down a hook size. My loops were just a little too open for my liking.

I may have to make one for myself now.

Before and After

Sometimes, I can be a really bad blogger. It's not that I forget to blog or have been to busy to post. I haven't been blogging because, well, there really hasn't been much to blog about. I still haven't started work, although I'm hoping to within the next week or two. So I sit around and clean the house and watch movies. Which was great for awhile, but I'm ready to get out of the house on a regular basis!

Finally, though, I have something worth blogging about.

Before:

During:

After:

I donated 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love and lost another 1 1/2 during the styling. I've never really considered cutting my hair off before but the heat and humidity, combined with the fact that my hair was so long I could do absolutely nothing with it, led me to cut it off. I'm really really happy with how it turned out! It's different and cute, and a whole lot cooler and lighter! And to top it all off, since I was donating the hair, the cut was free! Now I just have to get used to actually fixing my hair and dealing with bangs for the first time in oh, 13 years.

Long time coming

Once upon a time, a sock was knit. This sock was high in cotton content for wear by the knitter's mother in the not-so-cold state of Texas. The sock was lonely, however, and desired a mate for itself. Thus, the knitter endeavored to create a mate of equal beauty and even striping so that the two socks would be interchangeable and equally lovely.

As it turns out, the knitter was a dunce. She started toe decreases too early and mangled what was once a pair of perfectly matching striped socks and instead wound up with this:


Naturally, the knitter did the only thing she could do. She banished the socks to the bottom of the knitting basket for nigh on a year. Finally, in a fit of boredom and guilt, the knitter rescued the socks from banishment, fixed the error of the second sock, and completed the pair. There now exists a pair of matching striped socks from cuff to toe and a happy knitter.



There is also a happy dog.

Pattern: boring old socks

Yarn: Plymouth yarn Sockotta Fair Isle Effect

Needles: US 0, done magic loop

Started: October 1, 2008

Finished: September 5, 2009. Dang!

Notes: I really did not like this yarn. It's 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, and 15% nylon. It has very little stretch and the cotton content made it rough and caused my hands to dry out. While I am pretty pleased with the finished product and love the faux fair isle look, I probably won't use this yarn again. Which is too bad because it only cost about 12 bucks to make this pair of socks. Now I just have to pop them in the mail and send them off to Mom!

Speaking of mail, look what showed up in mine today, addressed to Dr Gena:


That's my printed and bound dissertation! I spent about 5 minutes looking over it and think it's just beautiful. The pictures printed up so lovely and shiny and the cotton pages are so soft...If I hadn't written the damn thing, I think I might just read it. Now, if only my diploma would arrive.

Homemade ciabatta paninis

The ciabatta bread turned out fantastic! I followed the recipe here, and had no problems whatsoever. It does take a bit of time, as you need to make a starter one day, then let the loaves rise several times the day you bake them. The bread didn't get those huge air pockets that you see in bread from a bakery, but who cares? The taste is great, and that's really what matters most to me.

On Tuesday I baked 4 small loaves of bread instead of the two recommended in the recipe. I had one for lunch that day smeared with some plain yogurt and sprinkled with black pepper and sage. It was wonderful. The rest I wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge until supper time on Wednesday, when I took them out to warm up prior to cooking.

One loaf was sliced up and eaten with butter, and the other two were used for the paninis. We had yogurt-marinated grilled chicken with gouda cheese and grilled bell peppers on ours. I will definitely be making more in the future and varying the ingredients. You just can't beat a quick and delicious dinner!

Chicken marinade:

1 C plain yogurt

2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix well in a jar or blender. Use 1/2 the marinade on your chicken (we only needed 1 chicken breast for 2 paninis) in a bag or bowl for about 2 hours prior to grilling.

Next, grill the chicken until done; takes about 5 minutes on highest heat setting.

Add 3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil to the remaining marinade and blend well.

Paninis

Dress the bread with as much of the yogurt/sun-dried tomatoes mixture as you desire. Layer on the chicken and Gouda cheese, and whatever veggies you would like;I used grilled bell pepper slices. Now, if you have a panini press, go ahead and use that to grill your sandwiches. If you don't, just use your foreman grill/whatever you have and press down on it to smash the sandwiches. Keep going until the cheese has melted a bit and the whole thing is warmed through and yummy.

Eat and enjoy!

By the way, if you sew, please drop your opinions in the comments of the post below!

Sewing Machine Question

Hello! Just a quick post to ask a question of my crafty readers.

My cousin has decided to start sewing! Yea for family craftiness! So, if you sew, leave a comment telling us what machine you use. While you're at it, if you buy fabric online, tell us where and give us a recommendation for a good sewing book.

Thanks a ton! Update on the ciabatta bread tomorrow - we're having panninis for supper tonight.

New job, new socks

*Sigh*

I was hoping to start working today, but it appears that I won't be starting for another week or so. See, I had a job all lined up when we moved down here - it fell through. Funding for my position, which would pay my salary, didn't get approved, and the woman I was really looking forward to working with could no longer afford to hire me.

I panicked temporarily. Fortunately, the woman I was planning on working with took care of me. She took it upon herself to talk to other virologists in the department, and I interviewed with one such person on Friday and was immediately offered a job. Not only that, I was offered a higher level job and at a higher salary than I was anticipating! So instead of being a postdoc, I get to call myself a "Research Scientist" now. Even though they're basically the same thing. Also, I'll get to do a portion of my work in clean rooms wearing space suits - every virologists dream!

So, I've been hanging out at home a bit more than expected. This means, of course, more time for knitting and cooking. I've finished the clapotis (it's blocking - expect pictures soon) and have started a new pair of socks.

This beautiful yarn was given to me by Kristen as a graduation present. It's Malabrigo sock yarn in the Terra Cotta colorway - perfect for me as Kristen well knows! I wanted a pattern that would show off the beautiful sheen of the yarn and highlight it's subtle variegation. In comes the genius of Nancy Bush:

The pattern is the Anniversary sock, which can be found in the Favorite Socks book. Easy, beautiful pattern, done on magic loop, makes the socks fly by. I'm about ready to turn the heel on the first sock.

For the remainder of the morning, I'll be baking my first batch of ciabatta bread (fingers crossed it turns out okay) and getting my oil changed. Such fun, my life. Then, I may watch a movie after lunch, or just continue reading my latest book, Dracula.