Olive Oyl

How much olive oil would come out of one (1) olive?





It seems that we've managed to grow an actual olive in one of our decorative small olive trees.

greens

What's been going on recently at Chez Kudos?

*Finally, my green cardi is ready - a long time coming, that was.... ("Auburn Camp Shirt" by Chrissy Gardiner / IK Spring '08). You can see it enjoying it's bath in one of the pictures above. I'm not sure yet who will be using this piece of clothing eventually... might be someone else than the knitter herself.. :)

More pics to come, of course...

*I started a course. After 8 sessions I'm supposed to know all there is about InDesign (graphic design/layout tool) - but let me tell you, I don't know much yet, after 2 lessons.. Either it's me, or the teacher is somehow jumping from one thing to another and there are bits missing.. it can't be me, can it.. Anyway, it's just for my general personal improvement, so I don't take it too seriously - and heck, it's always good for the brain to get a little action.

*I've been wondering what to start next - knit-wise, I mean. .

*I've been enjoying loads of asparagus - yummy.

*..and yeah, Basil from Faulty Towers is still alive - and related to all things green, I'm planning to put our balcony into summer shape in the coming days.

World of more

St. Basil the Great is doing fine, requires more water now, it seems.

I've been reading a book by John Nash called "Enough - Breaking Free from the World of More" (in Finnish: "Riittää jo - irti maailmasta jossa kaikkea on ihan liikaa", Atena). The main idea is that due to the relatively quickly developed culture of humans, our brains have parts in them which are still pretty much from the Stone Age and haven't evolved that much - therefore we are programmed to think that all this food, stuff, success and happiness that we have accumulated can be taken away from us any minute, and we must always get more, more, more, to feel more secure.

Back in the good ol' days when a few hunter-gatherers roamed the woods and fought for life and death, it was important to be the most clever one and have most food stacked in your cave for the bad, rainy days - the survival of the fittest, you know..

Now, we are still stacking our closets and garages and cupboards with stuff we don't need, stuffing ourselves with more food than we actually need to stay alive and well, work our asses off because it's supposed to be somehow cool to always say to people that "I'm soooo busy at work", and aim for Bigger Happiness even though we should be quite content with what we've got now. And, by doing this, we all know what we are doing to the natural resources of this planet.

All of this in order to keep up with the Joneses, with the needs that are instilled into our minds. It's no use blaming The Society or Advertising or the Modern Culture (the famous Them, root of all evil) for this problem - it's just that our brains are programmed to act like this, and marketing people have found out where to strike with most power. You are nothing if you don't own this or that gadget, if you don't care about which shampoo you use, or if, god forbid, you want to drop out of the rat race and don't want more money, more power, more of everything.

The message is very simple: it's way past the Stone Age, dudes, we have enough of everything and consuming more or shopping for more will not make us any happier - and we should somehow de-program our minds to settle for less, be content with what we have. And in this context, the terms 'to settle' and 'to be content with' should not have any negative connotations.

Well, I guess I'm somehow carrying these ideas out in my own little way, now finally implementing into reality what I have been feeling over the past years in my private thoughts - by letting go of my 'safe' job (and just who's job is safe anyway, these days...) I'm also happy to renounce the mentality where nothing is never enough and more-more-more is always required.

It was fun while it lasted, sure, and brought along with it many good experiences, but in the end I'm happy to let go.

* * *

To end this posting with higher note after the Thursday Sermon, here's a May 1st joke for you:

Two cannibals were eating a clown. One said to the other: "I don't know about you but this sure tastes funny to me".

Yeah, I know. It's so last season :)

Oh, Italy..

..again I've been charmed by the green, hazy days of Spring there. Florence was as beautiful as ever, and also new acquantaince Bologna managed to charm the socks off from me (well, literally, as it was quite warm and sunny).






Here are some occasional photos, some curves and moods..

There was zilch knittingly things going on during this vacation - I didn't bring any yarn with me, and didn't visit any yarn shops (although I saw a couple). Well, one good thing from this break is that my neck and shoulders feel much better - maybe blood circulating there again has something to do with it..

Luckily mr. Basil Rathbone didn't suffer too much from my absence and, therefore, from absence of water. But must wait until releasing him on the loose to the balcony, as the weather is still rather cold - actually looking at some snow now, falling down from the sky outside this window.. Oh Finnish Spring, where art thou?

Green thumb

is clearly working (day 7):

Basil Fawlty?

I hope this basil won't be faulty - at least it seems to spring up from the soil like crazy. It's day 3 after the sowing, and already I could see these coming up.....

Yesterday I signed the contract ending my job at end of May. It felt good - of course also a bit scary, but mostly good. When one door closes, many new ones will open - that's just the way it goes. I've already applied for one interesting job in a totally different field, hopefully next week will show if something will come from that..

I'd definitely like and also would need to have more time for extra-curricular activities - I mean more things to make me happy and balanced. Not that I'm not happy&balanced already, but I know that with less pressure from work I could be that even more. Singing in a choir is one of my dreams, after many years of not singing in a choir - it does good for a person to sing in a choir :)

Plans, dreams and likes/dislikes - gradually they are coming together. But most of all, I'd like to live my life less prone to anxiety and accomplishing things out of duty. Duty calls, but one does not always have to answer, right?

Ol' MacDonald had a farm....

..and she planted some Basil, Parsley and Oregano there, on the windowsill.




The seeds were from last Spring, but I hope they still have growth potential. I know this is like watching paint dry (or grass grow..), but I promise to keep you updated on the status of my kitchen garden :)

Bleak house

Oh man, what a weather - there's hardly enough light during daytime to get these pictures.. Bleak is definitely the right word for this rain and wind. And did I mention darkness already?

But hey, we can of course optimize and put all things together in one pic:

See?! Knitting, felting, beading - all in one. The 'East and Vest' has been continued, after receiving the package with 'almost the same' new yarn of Debbie Bliss. The color is a bit darker choc.brown, but I think it won't matter in the end result, as it looks like the striping was intended on purpose...

***

I borrowed a copy of 'The Ultimate Sock Book' by Vogue Knitting, and even though I've never been sock-knitter at heart, it's anyway interesting always to study new techniques. In the beginning of the book, there's this history section about sock knitting. During wartime, people were couraged to knit socks to soldiers with e.g. songs (even Glenn Miller recorded such a song, the book tells us). Who would make a song for the millions of knitters now?

..and advertisements:


This dude seems pretty serious about his knitting. And deservingly so - knitting socks for the president himself must put any knitter under huge pressure. Note the appropiate knitting attire!

***

And hey, here's the new kid on the block - meet my 2nd orchid. My sister gave this to me as an early birthday present this weekend. It's nice to have a blooming one, since poor Polly has been without her flowers for a long time now.

I think I'll call him Harold.

My own birthday present to myself will be going to a crafts fair this week on Friday / Saturday :)

***

To recover from this gloomy day, how about this as the next project?! (Moda, Nov '08)

Want to hear the good news or the bad news first?

OK.

Bad news is that Miss Polly seems to have decided that it's officially winter, and she can start her beauty sleep as of now. All flowers have dropped, and she looks quite pale and withered..









Poor thing.


The good news is that my variation of 'Little Birds' is finally all off the needles, soaked and now drying up at the balcony, basking in the lovely late-Autumn sun and +20 degrees celcius. I think I'm in love.... just wait until I get the buttons and few other details done...

Just your average day..

..of picking cherries (from a fruit stand). And boy, were they sweet.


Here a quiz for you - guess what this blob of yarn is?

Well, girls and boys, this here is indeed a scarfe and a pair of gloves. Missing tidying up those ends and getting a good bath, but after that they are ready for Autumn. Consider this as the "Before" picture.

Polly got her weekly dose of water today, she looks perky and opened up another flower. I must be doing something right.

What's in a name?

Why I decided to call this blog "Kudos!"?

Well, in Finnish it means something like "Go ahead, girl, do your knitting!" (freely translated), also "a piece of knitting", "texture", "fabric" and "weave". For those more medically oriented, it also means "tissue". And of course then in English, it stands for "fame" and "glory".
So, in addition for being a multi-purpose word describing Our Favourite Things, it's also very modest and plain.

And now, here's my new friend - meet Miss Orchid, also known as Polly (but only to the most nearest and dearest). She came to our house last week, and has gotten used to her new surroundings - well, at least she's still alive.. It's such a pleasure just to watch her, such beautiful lines and curves and delicate features.



It's difficult to keep hands off her, I must admit. You can only water her once a week, otherwise just keep out of direct sunlight and spray some water on the leaves every once in while. I'd like to do something more, but I understand that she needs her privacy, and must protect her delicate complexion from the sun. Here's a close-up, feast your eyes.

Just as I mentioned yesterday the new issues of VK and IK, today mr postman brought Vogue Knitting Fall '08. Lots of autumnal colors, naturally, and thick woolly thingies - although I don't know how much those are of use, due to the effects of global warming.. Anyway, here are my favourites so far (after glancing through the magazine during lunch break).


Both of these mittens tickle my fancy, they look very smug and snug. ("Yellow Harvest" by Mari Muinonen, and "Green Autumn" by Jared 'the brooklyn tweed' Flood - I guess you can figure out which one is which..). I have some wool in my stash (oo, what a surprise..) so these might get on the needles quite soon.

..and another pair of mittens (by Tanis Gray) - these could look great with some darker, earthy tones, and maybe some alpaca yarn... to be contd.




I like the out-of-the-ordinary structure of this cardi by Rebecca Taylor - this original color is really not me, but maybe in black, or really dark grey / brown.. Let's see!



And finally, this scarfe by Sandi Prosser - would make a good wintery neck-wear for both girls and boys, so let's see....

Stash, here I come!