Caroline bay, 1987

Caroline bay, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I've been meaning for months to scan some slides and pictures from pre-digital days, in particular the slides taken during my travels in Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines after university.

I remember seeing this slide shortly after it was developed and wishing it had been in better focus, that it didn't have the blurry grasses in the foreground, etc etc. But now, looking back over the decades, this perfectly captures that retrieved memory - heat, high sun, sand, and grass on a New Zealand beach, twenty-two years ago and far away from home and responsibility.

Process oriented

Since starting the 365 photo project, I've almost, of necessity, become interested in organization and processing software. Previous to this, I'd had the attitude that if it wasn't good enough SOOC (straight out of the camera), it wasn't good enough, period. However, trying to take a picture every day, whether there was a picture to take, and whether I had enough time or energy to put into it, made for some really abysmal pictures. This was pretty much evident within the first week. So after picking up Photoshop Elements at Costco, I started playing around and found that aside from quick fixes to exposure and contrast and cropping, you could really go to town with processing.

This isn't always a good thing.




I'm not in love with this shot. Actually, I kind of hate it. It was one of those last-minute, end of the day pictures, after working in the lab in the evening and coming home to poke around in the garden. The SOOC pictures is flat, soft (those last-minute shots are inevitably taken indoors at night) and pretty much lifeless. On the other hand - should the near-lifeless always be revived?

I threw on some textures from Boccacino and Rita at the Coffeeshop (not to slag them or the use of textures - they can be used judiciously to wonderful effect) and played with gradients till I got something kind of workeable.

And in the end, I admit I got carried away with the processing here, making me think: if the day was so busy I didn't have time to *take* a decent shot, then why do I have time to salvage it through processing?

On the other hand, sometimes processing really makes me happy. I recently started using LightRoom, which is ungodly expensive; an academic discount placated my frugal nature. I like it best for its organization and sorting capabilities, but also because you can lightly retouch minor things like exposure and contrast very quickly, leaving the picture in a more natural state. And in general, that is what I prefer - something as close as possible to what I saw while I was right there: I look at processing not as a tool to create something unreal, but as a way to bring back some of the reality that didn't get picked up by the camera sensor, whether through technical limitations, lighting difficulties, or user error. So this, taken in the coulees in the soft evening light at the end of a hot August day - this, I'm happy with.

Embossed in green, 235/365

Embossed in green, 235/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

Embossed leaves socks are apparently in the top 5 of most knitted socks on Ravelry, and now that I've started a pair, I can see why. I know I keep saying that lace and socks just don't make sense (if it's cold enough to wear socks, it's cold enough that you don't want holes in them) but I love knitting lace, and when I finally wound up the skein of Malabrigo Sock I got from my SIL Julie, I really wanted to do something special with it: the yarn is so soft, smooth, and beautiful to touch it begs for a beautiful pattern to match.

However, Mona Schmidt's design is full of quirks, like the stockinette heel with a three-stitch garter edging. I usually just plug the stitch pattern into a standard sock formula, but this time around I thought I'd try knitting it as written, quirks and all - but the stockinette heel is just not going to work for me. It's enormous! It will drive me nuts wearing it. So, off it comes, and I'm going to re-knit with a standard slip stitch heel.



Tech specs:
yarn: Malabrigo Sock, colorway Solis
pattern: Embossed Socks, from Favorite Socks by Interweave Knits
needles: 2.5mm Inox circulars
started August 23

Retro rib, 231/476

Retro rib, 231/476, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

Finally, I finished the socks I have seemingly been knitting all summer!
These have showed up previously as socks of resignation but I am now much happier with them. The second skein, and therefore the second sock, is actually quite a bit brighter than the first. This used to drive me crazy about handpainted yarns, but now that I realize you can hardly tell the difference after you've worn and washed them a few times, it doesn't bug me anymore.

They turned out too big for me - I should have known that 64 stitches on 2.75 mm needles probably would. But they fit my daughter perfectly. August 19.

recap of tech details:

Pattern: Retro Rib socks from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces in Tuscany, from my sister in law Julie
Needles: Brittany Birch, 2.75mm
June - August 2009

Hyles, 228/365

Hyles, 228/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

A nice plump hawkmoth caterpillar found by my daughter during our morning dog walk. She has a terrific eye for all kinds of natural things. I was pretty excited to see this, as in my previous life, I was a research technician and this insect is actually one of the biological control agents released to control leafy spurge that we used to rear in the lab, or rather my colleage did. (but I did have to throw them food when it was my turn to work weekends).

We are going to rear this one out to adulthood. The adult moth is pretty impressive. Hopefully all will go well - we've had problems in the past rearing out tent caterpillars (yes, I know, a pest) because they were parasitised by flies; so in fact, we ended up rearing parasitic flies. This one looks really healthy, though. We might end up having to overwinter it once it pupates, in which case it can reside safely in the vegetable crisper till ready for emergence and release in the spring. August 16.

Don't be shy

Several years ago, our Christmas project was to put together a cookbook with several family favorites. Since we made it, new favorites have emerged and although I've made a few attempts to compile a new version, I somehow haven't gotten the momentum. But I'm up for more suggestions, and I'll have a look through my old e-mails for recipes my siblings have sent me over the years.

In the meantime, here's the first edition, for anyone who's lost the first one (or, like me, have gotten it so splattered/sticky as to become unusable). I admit I use the dessert/baking section more than anything else, but I also use the pancit recipe once in a while, and this weekend, being an unseasonably rainy August weekend, I'm planning on using the perogie recipe.

The name is from our Lolo Berting's famous exhortation anybody appeared to hesitate over food: "Don't be shy!" (click to download pdf file)

empanada madness

empanada madness, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I just didn't get as many empanadas as I wanted while on holiday with my family in BC, since the Empanada Lady was on holiday (the nerve!). Being denied my fix, I have set out to make my own. I've made them before. They're usually not very good. These were better than *my* usual, but still not as good as Empanada Lady's.

My trusty assistant helped roll out the pastry into nice little circles, and put in a couple of tablespoons of filling, which today is ground pork, lots of garlic and onions, potatoes, peas, raisins, and seasoning. This time around, I used a couple of dollops of chili sauce, and some sweet pickle relish. I'm not too sure why.





Instead of just flattening the edges with a fork, I folded them in to make a fluted edge, which not only looks nicer, it prevents leakage. I actually learned this on youtube, of all places, in which some guy gets instructed in empanada folding by a cheerfully cantankerous lola, who at one point, I am sure, tells him "you're doing it like a white guy!". But my Tagalog is pretty rusty, so that could be misinterpretation on my part.

They didn't get quite as brown as I expected (maybe I am used to the deep brown of the fried versions) but I really couldn't bake them any longer without them turning really dry and tough. As it is they're a bit more...er, robust than I really like them. But I'm sufficiently encouraged that I am going to try them again soon, hoping to improve the pastry and pump up the seasoning a bit.

tandoori bun, beta version. 222/365

tandoori bun, beta version. 222/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I am not at all a foodie; in fact, I would rather do just about anything other than cook, and I am usually perfectly content with some variant of meat and potatoes (or meat and rice). However, I recently became obsessed with 1) empanadas, the Filipino versions, and 2) curry buns, just recently and by accident.

Okay, there is a reason behind this: while in Winnipeg for a conference, my supervisor and I both bought curry chicken buns from the Sri Lankan stall at the Forks, to eat on the plane (Air Canada doesn't give you so much as a peanut for a 2 hour flight). They were so good (again, I am used to quite boring food), I really wanted to try making one myself. But, instead of using an actual recipe (!), since I was making tandoori chicken that evening, I had the cunning plan of using the leftovers to make buns.

I chopped up the chicken, fried some onions with curry paste to make a gravy, then added the chicken and some cilantro leaves. Then I stirred in some corn. I don't really know why. Oh, and a cilantro/mint/ginger chutney I made earlier to eat with the chicken.

Next time, based on suggestions from my siblings and Facebook friends:
start from scratch, and forget the tandoori plan
make a really GOOD thick gravy to hold it all together, add a bit of cornstarch
forget the corn
cilantro good, mint bad.

also, try the breadmaker version of dough.

Meanwhile, these are still not too bad. Even if they were only 65% satisfactory, that is still a C+ curry bun.

offering, 212/365

offering, 212/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

Yesterday's post at Shutter Sisters talked about the comic relief of the bathroom portrait, as an antidote to boredom.

I don't know about boredom, but I've resorted to the bathroom portrait more than once during this 365 project, partly because it's the one place in the house that has both a mirror, and rather nice natural, diffuse lighting. I've taken lots of previous bathroom shots not so much as self-portraits but of various knitting projects. Photojojo's suggestion to include self-portraits as part of your 365 project to see how you've changed over the year has given me a reason to take them of my actual self, not merely as an prop to drape knitwear over. Self portaits are always a little awkward for me, not just for the technical challenge of getting an AF lens to focus on the reflection in the mirror, not to mention trying to get a picture aimed correctly when you're not looking through the viewfinder. But it's also impossible not to be at least a little bit self-conscious. So it's a little bit of a leap of faith, to trust in the camera, and get an image that feels like a little like an offering, a little piece of self to share with the outside world.

go a roving

go a roving, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I barely have room in my closet for more yarn, and I am really, really trying hard to make a dent in my stash. So even on holiday, I have been very good about not buying more yarn - I still have holiday yarn from years ago - from shops that don't even exist anymore!

So, I can't use the "yarn doesn't count if you buy it while on holiday" thing that has come in handy the last several summers.

But hey, roving is not yarn....yet. So, I bought roving at Knitopia Wools, which, unfortunately for me, relocated to my home town, where I visit family each summer. This is superwash blue-faced leicester. I'm trying to spin it a bit thicker than I did the stuff I bought last year (and which I'm industriously knitting up into the lace ribbon scarf) and since it's superwash, I'm hoping to make it into socks.

secret garden

secret garden, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

when I was probably 3 or 4 years old, my parents lived around Fraser and 21st in Vancouver, in one of those little houses typically rented by immigrant families. I still have dim memories of that house, and the way the back porch gave out onto a little garden that in turn led into a back alley, covered with vines and morning glory.

I am sure that the house my sisters now share in roughly the same area does not really resemble that house from my distant childhood (now torn down and replaced with one of those infamous Monster Houses), yet visiting them gave me a strange feeling of flashback and nostalgia, a sense of green and shade and quiet in the heart of the city.

For my book club: if, like me, you can never quite find that e-mail.

If you were at the June book club meeting at Earl's, you'll know how this challenge came about. If you weren’t, or were there but didn't hear it, here's how it happened:

while discussing The Flying Troutmans, Christine said, "I felt like anyone could write down a slice of their life and win the Giller prize". I thought that was a cool idea- we're all intelligent, interesting, articulate women - let's all try doing just that!

So, that's the challenge: Write a little slice of your life. It can just be a few sentences, a paragraph, or an entire chapter. It could be something that happened yesterday, or decades ago; or even something about to happen.

It could be fact or fiction (keep us guessing), prose or poetry - whatever floats your boat. Illustrate it with photographs or sketches (a la the Book Thief!) if you want. Let's have fun with this. Draw on inspiration from your favourite book, if it helps. Toss ideas back and forth with your friends. Tear pages out of your journal! But let's all try it. We can either share our writing at the September meeting, or if that's too intimidating, just share what the process of writing was like. Was it difficult? Did anything unexpected arise? Did it suck so much you never, ever want anyone to suggest it again? Do you see books and authors in a different way after that? Most of all, have a sense of adventure about it – nobody’s marking this or expecting perfection. You’re not handing it in to your English prof. Think of it as a journey into the mind of a writer, and this time, the writer is you.

a tribute of sorts

this tempts me to buys some film, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

or perhaps a eulogy:
this tempts me to buys some film, even if Kodak has announced it will stop producing Kodachrome.

handspun lace ribbon scarf

handspun lace ribbon scarf, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I got together with my knitting friend Michele earlier this week, which prompted me to finally start plying some handspun that had been malingering since last August. I spin with an S twist, so I'm plying with a Z twist. Or wait - is that the other way around?

This is my first stab at handspun, so to say that it's irregular and variable in both twist and weight would be an understatement. So, she suggested the lace ribbon scarf as a good project for these small and irregular hanks of handspun. I'd had it in mind as a possibility, but it was good to get validation from someone with her eye and skill level.

So far I'm liking how it's working up. I have some concerns that it will start looking kind of funky when I change skeins as there is no uniformity in colour whatsoever, but I think I'm going to consider that a design feature.

Fibre is Blue-Faced Leicester roving bought at Knitopia in Langley BC, spun and plied on locally made handspindles bought at same location.

June 20.

two daisies today

Daisies, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I thought they were Shasta daisies, but now realize they probably are something else completely. African daisies? The plastic tag has long been broken off and sunk into the dust.

Gardening is a lot of work in southern Alberta - late frosts and cold springs are usually followed by an abrupt swing to hot, droughty conditions. We don't put in the kind of time it takes to make plants really thrive here, but a few hardy clumps keep soldiering on, surprising us with colour amidst the dust and heat.

I was thinking of trying to make this picture into a banner of some sort, and got as far as experimenting to make a watermark, but that's as far as I got. I don't really need a banner, or a watermark, for that matter. I just felt like tinkering.

leap!

cabriolet, 161/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

So this is the first time I've had a camera that could shoot in RAW, the digitial equivalent of negatives (or postives too, I suppose). Up till now, I couldn't really see any good reason to use it, since RAW files aren't immediately viewable in Windows Explorer, and because they're completely humongous. However, Rita at Coffeshop Photography started writing presets for LightRoom that can also be used in PSE7. Although they can also be used on jpgs, which I usually take, they work best on RAW images, and no tweaking is needed afterwards. I'm not sure how much I'm willing to use RAW, since the files are so huge, but it's fun to play with once in a while.

And again - I like the way her preset brings the contrast and texture out in these chives:

blingy goodness

I haven't made jewelry for some time now, and in the last while, it's my daughter that's tinkered with the collection of beads, wire, and chain stuffed in a drawer of the hobby room. I was compelled to pick up my pliers again the other day to repair an old choker I made about six years ago - or, not so much repair it, but enlarge it, because it felt kind of tight. I find that weird. I seriously doubt that the weight I've gained since then has made my neck actually fat, but really, it doesn't feel as comfortable as it used to. So I added a couple of links, and now it feels fine. Maybe it's my Incredible Hulk type traps. I should take another picture of these - in reality, they look quite a bit more lively and spring-y, not this firey and intense.



While I was at it, I figured I would go the quick and dirty route with some beads we picked up on clearance at Michael's. But now that I look at them again, they seem sad and lonely, so I need to find a way to spruce them up a bit - I've seen some simple pendent designs with ribbon that might be fun to try.

Idling

It is truly woeful how I have spent insufficient idleness on knitting. As of the beginning of this year, I have managed to knit exactly 3.9 socks, and 0.75 of a sweater. I could say that it is because of my crazy school schedule, and that wouldn't be untrue, exactly. But it's not the only reason. I do still have moments of idleness, but have probably spent more time taking pictures than knitting this particular semester.

A couple of reasons for this: I have always taken pictures, and can actually remember being 4 or 5 years old, taking the family camera and snapping pictures of my mom while she napped. She was understandably unimpressed, but from there, I did get a little 110 instamatic of some sort by the time I was 10, and have been busily recording relatively insignificant moments of my life since.

So, this year I decided to undertake Project 365, which I learned about through Flickr and Photojojo. A picture a day, no matter how boring your life gets. This is a considerable challenge, but also encourages me to learn to use my camera, and not just put it on Program and snap away. I always have, and still do, fiddle with the settings anyway; I just do it more, now.

a relatively recent mosaic:



and the full constantly updated photo diary set is at Flickr.

what's with all the saliva?

Some of you already know I am pursuing a MSc. in exercise science, with a specific interest in the effects of activity on mid-life women. Here's the slides from the very brief presentation I gave a few weeks ago on my thesis proposal, and a bare bones description of the planned project.

It's a powerpoint presentation, so you might need to install a viewer in order to see them.

update: I've taken down the file, since I noticed it getting indexed in places I don't want it indexed. Contact me if you are interested (and not a troll, goblin, etc).

a shift in direction

Okay, I realize that this blog now functions as an archive for projects I haven't had the time to put on Ravelry, which is where most of my knitting projects are now stored.

But it seems silly to let a perfectly good blog just sit there, when I could use it for all sorts of other idleness. As in, sharing audio to use for Andrea Olson's Body Stories.

Here goes:

Body Stories Day Two: constructive rest

Body Stories Day Four: cellular breathing

These are strictly for fun and to share with my friends, and are abundantly amateurish. But I hope they might be of use to my fellow yoginis.