Friday, May 27, 2016

223 Vogue Knitting pasadena


Episode 223 Vogue Knitting Pasadena is live.

Please see shownotes at www.cogknitivepodcast.blogspot.com or on our Ravelry group.


Check out this episode!

Friday, May 20, 2016

223: Vogue Knitting Live Pasadena



It is just about time to harvest cherries, so we are teaching the Beloved Son how to bake!

CFR 8 is coming! Oct. 8, 2016!
More information here!

The 2017 MOTHER BEAR CAL/KAL IS ON!
Information is here.
3 bears per person can be turned in at the Mother Bear Project booth at Stitches West (+ $3 per bear for shipping overseas)
Bears can also be turned in at CFR 8, if you are attending--again with $3 per bear for shipping.

15 Bears in 2015 is OVER! See below:

KNIT 15 BEARS IN 2015!!! Post a group pic of the 15 bears you've made for Mother Bear Project in 2015 by Dec 31, 2015 on our thread to compete for prizes. POST #93 has the list of who is where in this process.
FINISHERS: SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES for wristbands

Add yourself to our CogKNITive Listeners Map.

We have a website at http://www.cogknitive.com/. You can find older episodes there.

You can now subscribe to the BLOG on your Kindle or Kindle app.

I am gemmadw on  Twitter and Pinterest, DoeWalking on geocaching.com, and DrGemma on Plurk and Instagram.

What's On My Hooks, Needles, and Spindles:


Finished

Nothing this time!

In Progress:

Second Bear from Fiji

Continental Knit Scarf in my own checkerboard pattern.

The OHM Shawl by Michelle Miller.

Crazyfoot Socks



Dizzy Blondes: 

MUCH spinning news!

I am currently engaged in project "Spin Everyone on the Ranch"!

Baron:


Eleanor (the lighter baggie):

And the camelids, of course (the pale yarns):


Additionally, I have finally scored a Supported Spindle from Royale Hare! I got mine from The Woolery, which actually had them in stock when I phoned to check! this is THE BOMB for spindling shorter-stapled fibers, such as cotton or dog undercoat. Here is a video to show what makes the spindle so special.



Strategy:
Dimensions of Mindfulness: Time and the Now

Put a Lid On It:

Preparing for cherry harvesting. Planned: Cherry-vanilla vodka, amaretto cherry jam, pickled cherries, cherry chutney, cherry jelly, sour-cream-cherry pie, Black Forest Compote, traditional cherry pie.
Vanilla vodka-- use 9 beans from Penzeys, sliced along the edge to open + 750 mil bottle of vodka
Cherry vodka--I just packed cherries into 2 big jars with stoppers and them divided a 750 mil bottle of vodka between them.
All others from The Joy of Pickling or The Ball Book of Preserving Foods or The Joy of Cooking

Aw Shoot!

I am recovered! Back to shorter runs to build up again!
HRC update: Half-Blood Prince Half Marathon
Make YES Happen

Something I Really Like:
.Hey, Siri on the 6s and other voice-controlled tech
Spinning my own ranch!
Annual food harvesting and preserving

Blather: And some interviews!

Vogue Knitting Live Pasadena 2016--the first pic is Sue of Invictus Yarns:


Sandy of RedFish Dyeworks makes her pitch:



Chicken Boots herself is a sister-member of Hogwarts Running Club!


Abstract Fiber came all the way down from Portland!


 Of course I scored some Lisa Souza!!!! But did I take pics or interview them....? AAAHHHHHH!!!


And Lisa reminded me that Sacred Laughter was also there with her amazing pins! MINE!!! Thanks, Robin!



Calendar:

The Calendar of Upcoming Events:

June 4: Spinning at Retzlaff
August 18-21, 2016: Sunnybank again--northern new Jersey
September 2-4: Racing at Disneyland
Oct 8, 2016: CFR8! Mark your calendars!


I'm ready for the cherry harvest!!!!











Wednesday, May 18, 2016

222: Finding My Tribe


Episode 222: Finding My Tribe is live.

Shownotes can be found at www.cogknitivepodcast.com and on our group on Ravelry


Check out this episode!

Friday, May 13, 2016

221: Cornflakes in Paradise


Episode 221 is live. Shownotes can be found at www.cogknitivepodcast.blogspot.com and on our group's page on Ravelry.


Check out this episode!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

222: Finding My Tribe



Mothers Day 2016 was lovely here on the Ranch!
CFR 8 is coming! Oct. 8, 2016!
More information here!

The 2017 MOTHER BEAR CAL/KAL IS ON!
Information is here.
3 bears per person can be turned in at the Mother Bear Project booth at Stitches West (+ $3 per bear for shipping overseas)
Bears can also be turned in at CFR 8, if you are attending--again with $3 per bear for shipping.

15 Bears in 2015 is OVER! See below:

KNIT 15 BEARS IN 2015!!! Post a group pic of the 15 bears you've made for Mother Bear Project in 2015 by Dec 31, 2015 on our thread to compete for prizes. POST #93 has the list of who is where in this process.
FINISHERS: SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES for wristbands

Add yourself to our CogKNITive Listeners Map.

We have a website at http://www.cogknitive.com/. You can find older episodes there.

You can now subscribe to the BLOG on your Kindle or Kindle app.

I am gemmadw on  Twitter and Pinterest, DoeWalking on geocaching.com, and DrGemma on Plurk and Instagram.

What's On My Hooks, Needles, and Spindles:


Finished

Coasters from my own pattern made for new office from inexpensive Red Heart cotton.


In Progress:

Second Bear from Fiji

Continental Knit Scarf in my own checkerboard pattern.

The OHM Shawl by Michelle Miller. Coming along at last! I've learned to take lifelines more seriously than ever!

Mystery Brown Socks



Dizzy Blondes: 
Orange creamsicle wool of mixed breeds from drop spindles and supported spindles and BeeMiceElf BFL in lovely striped colorway.



Red Fish Dyeworks yak/silk/merino




A bobbin of a mix of my alpaca Rashida and llama Paz. I spun this while a great book was read to me from Audible on my Amazon Echo.



Strategy:
Managing bad days with mindfulness.

Put a Lid On It:
Curried Pizza:
Roast chicken meat, curry sauce (premade, trader joes), goat cheese, mozzarella cheese (shredded). I put all these on a premade crust from Tradr Joes and cook it for 30 mins at 425. Normal altitudes: 400 F for 20 minutes,

Preparing for cherry harvesting. Pour vodka over fresh, pitted cherries in a jar and soak for 2 days to infuse the vodka. This ruins the cherries, though. I do fill the jar with cherries, then add vodka.

Aw Shoot!

SLO's 5 K was terribly civilized and I would recommend it highly.


Meanwhile, I am recovering from the Mystery Bruised Knee.
Hogwarts Running Club updates.

Something I Really Like:
.
The Huntington Library and gardens.
Kickstarter and Indiegogo--they make good reading, if nothing else..
Amazon Echo Dot
The Chronicles of St Marys by Jody Taylor


Blather:

Farewell to our lovely alpaca Rashida. Our last alpaca, Jubilee, continues to thrive among our herd of llamas.


Mothers Day included a new bear for me--Stormtrooper Bear must have Finn hidden in there somewhere! He says "Happy Mothers Day" in my son's voice when you squeeze his paw.
After a bout with illness and injury and an awkward evening at Disneyland with former colleagues, I discovered one week later how blessed I am to have found the fiber community when Alpenglow's Carrie and Cindy (BlackMoonDog) joined me for superb cocktails in San Louis Obispo's Sidecar cafe. Thanks, ladies! I have recognized my tribe at long last and discovered that they are quite widespread, including runners, fiber siblings, and Terhune fans at Sunnybank!



Calendar:

Fiber Day at the Huntington Library and Gardens was great fun and brought me back into contact with my fiber tribe.





The Calendar of Upcoming Events:

August 18-21, 2016: Sunnybank again--northern new Jersey
September 2-4: Racing at Disneyland
Oct 8, 2016: CFR8! Mark your calendars!

Enjoying a bronze of a spinner by Thomas Eakins at the Scott Gallery at the Huntington Library.













Friday, May 6, 2016

221: Cornflakes in Paradise



Sunrise as I prepared to run on Denarau Island, Fiji

CFR 8 is coming! Oct. 8, 2016!
More information here!

The 2017 MOTHER BEAR CAL/KAL IS ON!
Information is here.
3 bears per person can be turned in at the Mother Bear Project booth at Stitches West (+ $3 per bear for shipping overseas)
Bears can also be turned in at CFR 8, if you are attending--again with $3 per bear for shipping.

15 Bears in 2015 is OVER! See below:

KNIT 15 BEARS IN 2015!!! Post a group pic of the 15 bears you've made for Mother Bear Project in 2015 by Dec 31, 2015 on our thread to compete for prizes. POST #93 has the list of who is where in this process.
FINISHERS: SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES for wristbands

Add yourself to our CogKNITive Listeners Map.

We have a website at http://www.cogknitive.com/. You can find older episodes there.

You can now subscribe to the BLOG on your Kindle or Kindle app.

I am gemmadw on  Twitter and Pinterest, DoeWalking on geocaching.com, and DrGemma on Plurk and Instagram.

What's On My Hooks, Needles, and Spindles:




Finished

No, really? I'm in Paradise!

In Progress:

Second Bear from Fiji

Continental Knit Scarf in my own checkerboard pattern.

The OHM Shawl by Michelle Miller. Coming along at last! I've learned to take lifelines more seriously than ever!

Mystery Brown Socks

Dizzy Blondes: 

No--I am in Fiji!




Strategy:
Do some good:
Taking care of people around you is a fine way to car for yourselves: you get what you put out in this world and you make the world you live in with your own actions. Kindness means that you will be surrounded eventually by kind people.

Book Report:
Cooperative Press: Spilly Jane Knits Mittens on Amazon and on Ravelry as ebook

Put a Lid On It:

Oops....does eating myself senseless for 8 days count? How about Cornflakes Cocktail?



Aw Shoot!

Virtual races in general--get great bling while racing on your own schedule and in your own place and on your own time.
Zombies Run 5 K
Make YES Happen virtual races
Hal Higdon's half marathon trainings schedule, also available as an app for iOS through Blue Fin software

Crazy running Gemma:


Something I Really Like:
Tampico Mango Punch--when you want your mimosa to be sickeningly and deliciously high in sugar
STRONG British/Australian/Fijian black tea
Charity Miles--an app for iOS and Android phones.



Blather:
Generally blathering on about Fiji
Snorkeling on Waya Island at Octopus Resort
My Son the Surfer Dude:

Gareth meets Fire Dancers:



Calendar:





The Calendar of Upcoming Events:

August 18-21, 2016: Sunnybank again--northern new Jersey
Oct 8, 2016: CFR8! Mark your calendars!


See you next time, Fiji!









Thursday, May 5, 2016

220: Fiji in the Rain


Show notes can be found at www.cogknitivepodcast.blogspot.com and on our group on Ravelry.

Episode 220 is live.


Check out this episode!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

220: Rainy Fiji Days

So we made it to Fiji at last...in time for Tropical Cyclone Xena...


CFR 8 is coming! Oct. 8, 2016!
More information here!

The 2017 MOTHER BEAR CAL/KAL IS ON!
Information is here.
3 bears per person can be turned in at the Mother Bear Project booth at Stitches West (+ $3 per bear for shipping overseas)
Bears can also be turned in at CFR 8, if you are attending--again with $3 per bear for shipping.

15 Bears in 2015 is OVER! See below:

KNIT 15 BEARS IN 2015!!! Post a group pic of the 15 bears you've made for Mother Bear Project in 2015 by Dec 31, 2015 on our thread to compete for prizes. POST #93 has the list of who is where in this process.
FINISHERS: SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES for wristbands

Add yourself to our CogKNITive Listeners Map.

We have a website at http://www.cogknitive.com/. You can find older episodes there.

You can now subscribe to the BLOG on your Kindle or Kindle app.

I am gemmadw on  Twitter and Pinterest, DoeWalking on geocaching.com, and DrGemma on Plurk and Instagram.

What's On My Hooks, Needles, and Spindles:

Finished (?)




First Crocheted Bear of 2016 from Fiji

In Progress:

Continental Knit Scarf in my own checkerboard pattern.

The OHM Shawl by Michelle Miller. Coming along at last! I've learned to take lifelines more seriously than ever!

Mystery Brown Socks

Dizzy Blondes: 

No--I am in Fiji!

Strategy:
Be prepared....really, I could use a maxim of Benjamin Franklin's here: an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. Just obey your instincts and prepare when the urge strikes you.


Why, yes, one can make it through a monsoon with mimosas....



Book Report:
Cooperative Press: Amazing Lace: 13 Hand-Painted Shawls With and Without Beads by Sharon Mooney and Cheryl Potter

Put a Lid On It:

Well, right now, we are living off the hotel's rapidly-shrinking buffet...



You can make the pickled beet recipe from the Ball Book in a small batch, and NOT can them--just put them in the fridge and eat them! They also still make great pickled eggs too.

Aw Shoot!

Watching the hotel's lobby flood...


Whining about El Nino and trying to train in high winds this winter. So I am doing virtuals to urge myself onward in the difficult weather. Here is the medal for the Baker Street Virtual:



Doing the Couch to 10K program from Blue Fin Software on iOS.

Struggling to maintain a running program while coping with a messed-up thyroid.


Something I Really Like:
Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Bluetooth earphones
Yes, earphones with no cords that also do NOT sit in your ears and that rely on vibrations from your skull for sound. So you can hear traffic around you.

Blather:

My old dawg died, I don't have cancer, I took on some difficult patients, our initial trip to Fiji was cancelled, my Prius died unexpectedly....my life was briefly transformed into a sicko sort of Country-Western song...

Still no cancer...! But we had to say farewell to our beloved old Teddy at a magnificent 14 years of age. Baron has moved quietly into the place he was destined to fill as Chief Newfie and Boss Dawg of the farm.

The buffet was great...if rapidly shrinking. Here is a selection of desserts:



We celebrated my Beloved's birthday here on our 2nd day in the buffet at the Sheraton.





Calendar:


The Calendar of Upcoming Events:

August 18-21, 2016: Sunnybank again--northern new Jersey
Oct 8, 2016: CFR8! Mark your calendars!