One Week

It's been one week today since Ashes passed away. It's probably not surprising that I've found it to be a fairly depressing week. We got her remains back last Friday, and that's helped - having something tangible instead of just a lack of something - but there feels to be a hazy bit of gray over the entire world, like Ashes took some of the sparkle from the world when she left. Not surprising. She was a pretty special kitty.

I suppose I am dealing well - after all, it wasn't unexpected so I've had plenty of time to prepare - but I imagine it will be a little bit before I don't feel so very down. Fortunately, I'm already able to remember the good times with Ashes, instead of simply focusing on her absence.

Book Two: I'm So Behind!

Uh oh. Things aren't looking so great for my 24 "real" book goal this year. I should be finishing book four but I'm only on two! Hopefully I'll catch up though.

Anyway, book two was Leonard J. Shoppa's Race for the Exits. It was a pretty heavy book (reading-level-wise, not weight-wise) so it took me a while to get through but I really enjoyed it. The premise was basically that political changes happen through two means - voice and exit. Voice being pretty much grassroots political movements that gather enough support to pressure change and exit being enough people/companies opting out rapidly enough to force the government to see that there is a problem and fix it. Japan, however, apparently has the problem that the exit options people have available are slow enough that an obvious and easily identifiable problem is not created for the government to "solve" yet it releases the pressure valve for people uncomfortable with the current system in a way that leaves them unmotivated to use voice to make change. It looked at two specific examples, the hollowing out of Japan through foreign direct investment and the opting out from either career or family that many women are now choosing.

Okay, I know that was too much information of a lot of folks (namely, those not me) that read this blog. Cause I'm sure no one really cares. But I found the whole thing really interesting. Most of the time, I'm pretty interested in economics and business stuff, especially related to Japan, but this time I found the whole women's issues aspect really fascinating. In Japan, a lot of women are either electing not to get married and start a family or are electing to have kids and no longer work (even if they would prefer to). Given my current situation, I found this topic pretty enthralling.

When Dan and I first made the decision to remain child-less, about 10 years ago, a lot of people seemed confused when they found out. I mean, after you got married, you had kids - that's just what you did. Now, however, it seems more common - or at least people get confused less - to remain childless by choice. As I've read articles and news stories about the "no baby boom", so apparently it's a trend. So reading about something similar in Japan (though arguably caused by greater gender inequality, lack of help from men in child rearing and inability to take time off to have children then continue with a career - none of which I think are the main issues in the US of those choosing to be childless) was really thought provoking. Honestly, I really think I'd like to delve deeper into the subject.

However, in hopes of catching up with my book goals, I think I'm going to aim for book three to be something that doesn't require me to put on my thinking cap quite so often.

(If you want to read an interesting article on the childlessness trend in the US, Detail's magazine has a good one here.

Therapeutic Crafting

I think it goes without saying that I've been quite down lately. I've still got Dan's gloves to finish (just the fingers left, though) but I've felt like that project requires a bit too much thought for me to deal with at the moment. So instead, I've fulfilled my need for distracting crafting by doing something simple: magic potholders.

I've done two other magic potholders and they were quite easy but really nifty and delightfully functional. My mom mentioned when she saw mine that she'd like one, so I figured that this need for simple and distracting crafting would be a good opportunity to fulfill that request.

This is the first crochet project I've done since I taught myself to knit. It was kind of strange... the process felt a bit clunkier and not near as smooth as knitting. It was really weird and a bit unsettling. After all, I've crocheted for years (and years). It shouldn't be supplanted in my craft-love by the newcomer of knitting. And yet...

Due to a variety of factors (the need for more mindlessness, a decent stash of cotton yarn, the urge to go back to the smoothness of knitting), I made a second potholder but this time, I knitted it. I didn't have a knit pattern for the magic potholder, but I figured it wouldn't be too hard to make something up as long as I could get the cast on right. I found a cast on for making socks toe-up, did a couple of kfb increases at each end, knit around and around (and around,) then grafted the open end closed.

The yellow with cream stripe is crocheted, the red/beige/cream one is knit

I think next time I will cast on more stitches (maybe 90 instead of 80) to make the potholder closer to 9" at the corners (it's currently 8"), but I really like the results of the knit version. The material is still nice and thick but it's a bit more flexible and supple than the fabric created with crochet. I think that's just the joy of knitted fabric since the hook/needles were the same size and the yarn is the same size and material. Which makes me think that knitting kind of wins all the way around.

I'm not saying that I'm going to eschew crochet. I actually have plans/hopes to use some of the lovely thread I have to make a doily or two and, while there are some nice knitted lace doilies, I haven't really found ones that speak to me as much as some of the available crochet ones out there. But I am kind of thinking that knitting might be on the way to officially becoming my favorite craft style. I just have to get over the feeling that I'm treating crochet like a red-headed step-child.

My Bathroom is Lonely

It's been almost four years since the primary function of our master bathroom has actually been that of a bathroom. Instead, its main role has been that of kitty-assisted living apartment, complete with litter box, food and water bowls, heated mat and, of course, Ashes. This winter, we also added a heater and several towels (to cover the tile and give Ashes more traction with her fuzzy paws). It was a pretty crowded little bathroom.

Now, it has bathmats.

I'm not really sure what to do with a bathroom that is just a bathroom. It's empty. And sad.

Ashes has been in my life for over twenty years. I feel like her loss should change the world more than just making one small bathroom feel cavernous. Maybe turn the sky purple or something similarly dramatic and noticeable.

I have a picture somewhere of Ashes. I've looked for it today but can't find it, but it's how I want to remember her - sitting regally in the sun coming in the front door, white and fluffy fur puffing around her, eyes blue and bright as she looks outside. I want to remember the sweet kitty that would sit on my chest at night and lick my cheek. The kitty that would follow me from room to room to always keep me in her sight. And the kitty that would express her displeasure at not being allowed into my room when I was a teenager by getting one of my flip flops from the other side of the house, bring it in front of my door and chew the heck out of it.

I miss my Big Girl.

Ashes

August 15, 1991 - February 22, 2012

Field Trip!

Ashes has not been doing too well. She's been declining the past couple of months enough that I was pretty worried about leaving her when Dan and I went to St. Louis.

Fortunately, we have some great pet sitters and the kitties have lovely grandparents - my mom (and dad) spent several days Ashes-sitting at our house while we were gone.

I knew there was a chance of something happening, but I asked Ashes to try to wait until we got back home. I think she listened because she did really good for the pet sitters and my mom, but has really declined in the past couple of days since we got home. I'm pretty sure she's in the last stages of kidney failure but at twenty years old (and with her history of kidney issues), it's not surprising.

So I'm trying to baby her and keep her comfortable. Fortunately, she seems confused but not in any discomfort so we are just continuing on as we have been. Except for one thing.

When Ashes was younger, she used to love going into the yard, walking on (and eating) the grass, squinting into the sun and letting the wind blow through her ear tufts. She's so frail that I haven't felt like that was a safe activity for quite a while. But, if the end is near (as I think it is), I figured there is no real need to keep her healthy (since she isn't) so let's concentrate on the happy.

Since today was a nice, sunny day, we went on a field trip to the front yard. She went across the driveway several times, explored our front yard and mounted an invasion on our neighbor's side yard. All in all, I think she had a fantastic time.

She seemed to get tired after about ten minutes so we went ahead and brought her in, but she apparently wasn't ready to go back to her room yet. She trotted her little self right out of her room and did a couple of semi-laps of the kitchen/entryway/living room before taking a short nap behind Dan's chair. She woke up a little disoriented so I took her back to her room where she's now napping on her nice toasty heating pad.

She seemed like she really enjoyed the outing so hopefully the weather will continue to be nice and we can have a few more.

I Want a Refund

Noro is a fun brand of yarn. It's what I used to make my hat, scarf and mitten set and my colorful wrap. I also have a couple of skeins of it hiding in my yarn cabinet earmarked for socks and slippers.

The norovirus has nothing to do with fun yarn. Or yarn of any type.

I feel cheated....

Yes, I am sick. Which is actually better because what I was before was almost dead. So sick is an improvement. Dan and I went to St. Louis to visit his family and managed to participate in passing around the stomach flu, aka norovirus, which again, has nothing to do with yarn. Instead, it is a big ball of vomiting and stomach cramps and misery.

Other than the sharing of icky germs, it was a good trip. Saw lots of folks, cuddled with some kitties, saw some serious snow and got some super fun yarns (which I might end up flooding my Flickr account with so I can add them to my Ravelry stash once I feel more up to it). Also got the chance to give MIL her (slightly early) birthday hat. I totally forgot to get a picture of her in it so this will have to do:

It's super-cute, even if I do say so myself. A slouchy cabled hat that was fun to make and I got to learn a new cast on. Add on to that, MIL seemed to really like it so win all around!

Well, except for the norovirus. No win there.

Random Statistics (Sorta)

Currently, I'm working on "real book" number two for my year of 24 "real books" (yes, I'm behind already) and I ran across something interesting. Or at least, I find it interesting.

The book is Race for the Exits: The Unraveling of Japan's System of Social Protection. It talks about the issues Japan's having with its social policy by focusing on two main topics: the change in Japanese large businesses (decline in lifetime employment, capital leaving, etc) and the change in the young women of Japan (choosing career over family, etc). Right now I'm reading a section that discusses the changes in this current generation of women vs. their mothers - more go to four-year universities, fewer want to be housewives and stay-at-home moms, etc, etc, and it mentions a survey that specifically asked about views towards childrearing.

While 72 percent of U.S. mothers and 54 percent of Koreans said they found child rearing to be a "pleasure," just 23 percent of Japanese mothers said so.

Okay, I know the book focuses on Japan and that 23% number is shockingly low. But check out the U.S. percent. 72%. That means that 28% find child rearing not "a pleasure." Which means one in four people you know that have kids? Apparently don't enjoy the experience. One in four!

And people wonder why I have cats.

WHOO!

I finally finished my seemingly-cursed-from-the-start colorwork fingerless gloves!

I think they turned out pretty nice!

I did finally have to give up on attempting to do the colorwork two-handed. Holding both yarns in my right hand was much happier. MUCH. Because of the issues I had with them (not just tension issues, I had major issues casting on for two at once knitting and I also ended up breaking a pair of needles on this project and the first replacement arrived in the mail broken, too), I wasn't really feeling the love before I blocked them. The stitches were uneven, they were kind of stiff and felt restrictive. But blocking them helped a bit with the uneven stitches and turned the yarn soft and supple so they are tons more comfy.

I'm still not one hundred percent thrilled with the yarn - the colorful yarn is super fuzzy so it looks like the dye bled a little (though it didn't because that look goes away if I brush the fuzz around) and the quality of the knitting could be better but hey, it was a learning project so I'm not too upset with it. But at least after doing this I feel confident enough that I can successfully knit a colorwork hat that I want to make. It has llamas on it!

(If you want to read way too much information on the issues I had with these gloves, check out the notes on my Ravelry project. Oh the drama!)

Next up: gloves for Dan! (They are his birthday present. Which kinda sucks for him cause today is his birthday and I'm hoping to cast on for them tonight... though it might be tomorrow.)

Sweet & Sour of Awesomeness

I've been in a condiment mood lately. This past week, I've made corn- and gluten-free versions of recipes for yellow mustard and ketchup. Both of these turned out pretty fantastically. So I thought I'd try my hand at something more challenging.

Dan and I had a ton and a half of trouble finding a me-safe sweet and sour sauce. The one we found was pretty freaking awesome. But recently, the grocery store stopped carrying it. And even more recently, we ran out of the last bit of our jar of it. But the jar did have an ingredient list on it, which wasn't that long, so I thought maybe I could use that as a jumping off point to try and figure out how to make a version of it.

That's what I did tonight.

I made sweet and sour pineapple pork and it was wonderful. And the sauce is what really made it. I know this was just my first shot at replicating the sauce, but it was so fantastic. So I thought I'd share.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cider vinegar
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- a dash of cayenne
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (approx.)

Directions:
1. Combine ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil
2. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.
3. Add arrowroot powder to thicken (try dissolving the arrowroot in a small amount of water before adding to the hot sauce). Stir in powder then remove from heat.

(The original ingredient list included serrano pepper (instead of cayenne) and bell peppers (which I hate and thus will never buy from the store, much less cook with).)

See? So simple! So I stir-fried up some onions, pork cubes and pineapple then, when it was all cooked, I dumped in the entire sauce recipe. It was perfect!

Now I want to make more of it to bottle and stick in the fridge because it's really good on veggie patties, too. (According to Dan, it's also good on a spoon.)

What Season Is It?

I just had to turn on the air conditioning in the house. It's 80° in here. Yes, 80°.

What month is this? Because I'm feeling a little confused.