Representations of Self

My basic photography class came to an end this week. The last assignment was to do a self portrait. This was by far the hardest assignment.


A little bit of me thru books.



Then, as a maker of things, I thought about doing a whole series of hand shots doing what I do everyday. This was much more difficult than I thought it would be as time to set up shots, in general and especially while cooking, and working the self timer proved to be very interesting. But I got a couple of shots that I liked.







Tank and I

Tank was not cooperating as she just wanted to go to bed for the night.

My instructor suggested taking a self portrait every year on your birthday. Just a little food for thought that I may try next year. Also on Pinterest (warning: highly addictive) I came across the most amazing family portrait series that I thought I would share.

Source: marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com via Woolanthrope on Pinterest

The Girls

Tank La Rue: my snoop, my spooner, and biggest love. She's a poke snout and very verbal at snack time and bedtime. Her greatest delight is to burrow under blankets, preferably next to me. Her favorite toy is a donut that her Aunt Darcy gave her. When she squeaks her toys it is what I imagine puppy laughter sounds like. It is pure joy to my ears and makes me smile.





Koi: my skittish, green eyed, bedroom cat, who demands lots of love at bedtime and first thing in the morning (even if you aren't technically awake but have shown signs of movement). It's really the price of admission to sleep in what she has come to claim as her bed. This is the animal that gives me the least amount of trouble and I am truly grateful for her good health and sweet disposition.

Those are my sweet girls and the best two photos from my photo shoot with them.

Portraiture

This weeks photography assignment was to take portraits. There is nothing better than family portraits, especially if they are furry, as it is at my house. While I took photos of all my furry loved ones, I am choosing to focus on my eldest, Wiggs. His proper name is Ludwig von Kat and he was born and acquired in Las Vegas, after papa had a winning day at the tables.


Here he is looking angelic, which isn't very often. I just caught a little glimpse, but mostly he is a bit of a terror. One time, when he was a kitten, I had finished working swing shift at the casino and came home and was dozing on the couch. At a full run, he came across the room and jumped on my face. With one precise claw out, like a ninja's blade he punctured a hole right in my hairline. By the time I got to the bathroom, six feet away, I was looking like Carrie with blood running down my face. So much blood from one little hole by one tiny cat.



This is his politician's face. If only I had an American flag for a back drop. He wears a tuxedo everyday. He is very formal in that respect.




This is his gangsta, bad ass face. He is one snarky cat, but this picture cracks me up because he looks so very serious. This face says, "if you cross me, I will piss in your bed". And he backs up his threats.




Here he is sniffing the breeze. Just inhaling the sweet smell of the air after a couple of days of rain.





Pretty much this is what he looks like most of the time. Lounging around in all his glory. He is 15 years old, has irritable bowel syndrome, and at the end of last year started having the occasional grand mal seizure (which is scary as hell). Getting old is such a pain. He is very friendly when he wants to be and loves his tummy rubbed, which is a bit unusual for a cat. Wiggs likes a good lap. He is fond of laying on knitting projects and trying to eat the dog's dinner. I just love this crazy cat and all his many personalities. Thank you for letting me share him with you.

Happenings

What have I been up to?


Eating well.

Hitting an all time high on the scale back in March, I decided to reclaim my body. Since then I have given up sugar, wheat, and dairy and began walking the canyon near my home on a regular basis. It's been been an incredible process. Occasionally I want to eat something decadent (who doesn't?), but I haven't been craving the sugar (my biggest weakness). My sleep has been better, I have lost weight and toned up, and, in general, I feel better than I have in a long while.



Photography

These photographs are from my Basic Photography class with Julia Dean. I am only three weeks into the class, but my knowledge has really increased in how to use my camera. It's so nice to know what all those things are on the camera menu. I was really clueless and intimidated by my camera before class and just used it as an expensive point and shoot. Now I also know my camera's limitations and can work with them.










What's happening with you?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Root! Root! Root!

Today is opening day of baseball.






































My hubby plays in the Dodgertown West Adult Baseball League. He loves it. This past January he played in a tournament at the Camelback Ranch in Arizona, where the Dodgers have their Spring Training facilities. I went along for the ride. While he was playing I was exploring the city. I took a yoga class at Urban Yoga and then drove to Tempe Yarn and Fiber and bought some yarn. However, this post is about baseball.

I am not really into sports, but I married a sports loving man. He's obsessive by personality and he loves the Dodgers and he loves playing baseball. We had a great trip to Arizona. He played four games and enjoyed every minute of it. He wrote about his experience on Dodger Thoughts and it was then posted to ESPN. Here's his story in honor of opening day. The photos in the post are by yours truly, except for the locker room shot.













Now get out there and Play Ball!

I prefer mine made out of yarn.

Wordless Wednesday

Inspired by Andree

Yes I know it's supposed to be wordless but I thought I needed to give credit to Andree for inspiring this post. Next week, no words. None. Zip.

A new adventure

Here's a confession. I am afraid of small needles. When I first started knitting, I was all about 15, 17, 19, and 35 size needles and bulky yarn. Scarves were flying off my big, fat needles at a rapid pace. It gave me a great sense of encouragement and satisfaction as a beginner. Of course, I eventually downsized to worsted weight and number 8 needles. I have done a couple of shawls on size 6 needles and maybe a baby sweater on size 5s. In my mind making socks was for the insane. The size 0 and 1 needles are teeny tiny, so scant compared to a robust 15. The anorexic runway model of needles in my world of healthy sized needles. I love needles that could stop a vampire.

A couple of years ago for Christmas, I got two pairs of knit socks from my friends Ellen and MaryJo. They were my first pairs of knit socks and I love them. So my thought was maybe some day I will knit socks. Well, the tipping point came after a daily browsing around Ravelry and coming across these particular socks.

The Burning Stripes Socks by Susan Luni.

I love stripey socks and this pattern gives me stripes and variegation. They remind me of the Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood. It's a pattern I love. While finishing my dissertation I made quite a few of these because the pattern required no thinking but the Noro colors kept me interested. It was the perfect project for my stressed out brain. What else I like about this sock pattern is that it looks fairly straight forward...no lace or cables or anything too fancy.

Now I already know I would be one of those second sock syndrome people. Second sock syndrome is when you knit one sock and then never knit the other one. I know this because I once tried to knit a pair of gauntlets. The funny thing is I never even finished the first one and it was almost done. I think it may still be on needles in some long ago project bag. So sad. That said, I definitely needed a two socks at a time method.













This book seemed to cover everything I might need to know like two at a time, toe up or cuff down. This is also a two needle method rather than the magic loop. My friend Mary Jo, who knit me socks, she says she prefers this method.













For cross referencing I picked up these two books at the library. I love the library.














A bought two balls of Schoppel Wolle Zauberball. I love the colors.














This method uses a 16-inch needle and 24-inch needle. On Mary Jo's recommendation I got two different colored needles. She says it's easier to keep track of your needles that way.













Look at these toothpick like needles. These are size 1. Did you know that there are 2 different size one needles? You probably did, but I didn't! It's really like a 1 and 1.5. Yes, it's a little bit confusing.

Never say never. I am about to try my hand at sock knitting. Now if you have any experience with sock knitting I am happy to take any advice, since I don't have a clue about what I am doing. Already I am thinking I need to divide up these two balls of yarn since I am knitting two at a time. Am I on the right track with that? Will it get too crazy if I am knitting from outside the skein on one pair of socks and the inside on the other pair? Just writing it sounds like a mess so I think I answered my own question. But please chime in if you have an opinion.

I will let you now how this sock adventure goes.

Cat's Eye

I see you.



I'm gonna get you.



What?

Sweet Tarts

For Valentine's Day I made the hubby a Chocolate Tart with Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream. It was yummy.





Today the recipe was published on LA2DAY an online lifestyle magazine. Pretty exciting stuff.

Behind the Scenes

In my last post, I mentioned that lots of things were happening in this New Year. Last year was spent in contemplation of what to do, now that I completed my Ph.D., and the care taking of animals. In December, I decided it was time to start my own business. There was lots of encouragement from family and friends, which helped fortify my decision to move forward. It feels right. Without further ado, let me introduce...











You can read more about it at my new blog:
Sweetie Darling Handmade

Over here at Woolanthropy you will still find all the fibery goodness you have come to expect. In fact, there is a pile of knits just waiting to be photographed. Over at Sweetie Darling, you can read about my misadventures into business. Basically, I am growing my own media empire. Watch out Martha! Here I come!!!

Pure Love

There are lots of things underfoot in this new year, but something significant is missing from under our feet here at home. Our big dog, Bodhi, passed away last Tuesday. He was 12 and half years old and in dog years he was in his nineties. In June he was diagnosed with lymphoma, went through chemo all summer and was declared in remission in October. Thanksgiving weekend came and his appetite went. In December a dose of new chemo almost took him out, but then he rallied and was eating well and acting a little frisky. On Tuesday past, I came home to find him in a bad way. It was very sudden, the distress was evident and we had to take him to the vet. This is not to say that we did not know this was coming. The decision to do chemo was to buy us a little time. Throughout it all he had a wag in his tail and a light in his eyes. If it was possible, we could not have asked or found a better dog.













He was a handsome devil. He was sometimes called devil dog for a particular look he had, but in reality he had the sweetest disposition. Even the vet was surprised by his demeanor because as a chow/akita mix he was supposed to fit a snarky stereotype. Bodhi was named for being a bodhisattva; a wisdom-being that works for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings. For us, he did his job nobly well. My heart is better and more full of compassion for having cared and loved this beautiful animal.

My wish is that I could write more to tell you about his full life, but it is still so heartbreaking that I am doing more weeping than writing. The fact is I have been trying to write this post all week. What I want to simply say is Bodhi brought us joy and he is very missed.