Lost.

One of the things I love about moving is getting lost. When I’m exploring a new area, I love to wander around back roads feeling my way and learning the area. I had thought that it wouldn’t be possible to get lost in Cordova, but it turns out there’s plenty of roads to loose my way on (even though, locals say “out the road,” as if there’s only one, whenever they’re talking about things away from town), and each one seems to offer a better view of mountain or water or rainforest.

Found.

Things in Alaska are expensive, things in Cordova, are about twice that much. In the general store, a bag of potato chips regularly costs $8.99. I was relieved to find a small Salvation Army store on the main street here in town. Yesterday we found an old electric piano there that Selma bought for herself for just a few dollars, and when she was trying out the piano, the cashier said, “are you a Suzuki student?” It turns out she was two about 10 years ago, and her teacher still lives in town, but stopped teaching when she had children. We called the teacher, and she’s going to take Selma on as a student.

Our first day here we got a call from Kristy (flickr), the wife of the Engineering Officer on the ship saying that there was a gathering to plan the upcoming weekend’s Coast Guard Day picnic. It turned out to be an impromptu craft session as well with knitting and crocheting, quilting and one new friend Pam (shown here hand quilting a beautiful stained glass quilt) showed us her handmade paper collection including some made from dryer lint! (We’re all going to start saving ours asap). Kristy is the unofficial photographer of the group, and she took this shot:

Finished.

When I was planning our x-country journey, I fantasized about not having work projects to do, and using the travel time to finish up UFOs. Well, I ended up taking on work instead, but I did get to work on a couple of small projects some washcloths to give as hostess gifts, and a shawl for a friend–this is my Antique Lace Shawl worked in Malabrigo’s new silk and merino yarn.

Returned.

James was due to return with the ship this morning. (The last time we saw him was the morning of June 11th). Last night at about dinner time, I got simultaneous calls from James and the ship’s ombudsman saying that they were coming in tonight instead. The family members of the ship’s crew gathered at a point along the sound to wave to them as they passed by, then we jumped in our cars and drove to the pier to greet them.

Delivered.

Our household goods arrive tomorrow, so I may be buried in boxes and off the computer for a while. I do not like unpacking, so hopefully, I’ll power through and get it over with quickly.

On Saturday, we attended the Hamilton College commencement ceremony because it was the last commencement where my dad would be College Marshall–the person who leads the ceremony and directs everyone. (Here he is calling the ceremony to order.) He retires this year.

Here he is after the ceremony. Do you think he looks happy to be finished?

He doesn’t look old enough to be retiring! He’s not actually going to stop teaching. As an emeritus professor, he’ll teach one course per semester, but not have any administrative work that goes with a full time job.

My dad is an English professor, and he is a huge influence on my career as a writer. His influence began when he read to me as a little kid–everything from nursery rhymes to Robinson Crusoe. He reviewed and commented on practically everything I wrote through grade school, high-school, and college; he’s taught me more than anyone about how to write.

Anyway, after all of the marching in at the ceremony, once the speeches had started, I pulled out a sock I was crocheting and began to work on it. Selma, who had forgotten the book she was going to read, was watching me intently, and after a few minutes, I handed her the sock. I had tried to teach her to crochet a year or so ago, but she wasn’t interested, so I didn’t push it. This time, however, I didn’t really teach her, I just gave a little non-verbal advice when she got stuck, and it all came naturally–I think the fact that I couldn’t talk (because we were in a ceremony) helped–I probably would have given too much advice and annoyed her. This way, I let her work it out on her own. I also think the smallness of the sock yarn and hook may have been a better fit for her small hands than worsted weight and a big 5mm hook. Here she is continuing her work at the picnic after the ceremony.

Of course, she has another new fiber love, she learned to spin at Maryland sheep and wool:

She also designed her very own batt on Rebecca’s drum carder:

So it will be interesting to see what keeps her attention.

Today the movers came and took away our express shipment including, (GULP!) all my stitch dictionaries. I’m feeling a little naked without them.

…is a tattoo parlor. Yesterday, Emily and I were taking a break from de-cluttering and went shopping for buttons. She dared me to get a tattoo, so…

GOTCHA!!!!

It’s really a “tattoo sleeve.” I’m not sure when (or why) I got this in the first place, but it’s one of the things we found when cleaning up. I think I’ll hang onto it for the kids to play with.

We’re leaving tomorrow to spend the long weekend with my parents. I expect to do lots of knitting, but little or no blogging, so see you next week!

I think that our house is kicking us out. Our phone has been intermittently going on the fritz, every time it rains, as a matter of fact. And last week our furnace broke. Someone came to fix it, but a few days later, it broke again. Oh, and all the rain we’ve been having flooded the basement (i.e. my studio), so rugs are piled on top of boxes and things that I had to move to allow the carpet to dry. Argh. We do have to be here at least another 6 weeks until the movers come, so the house and I are going to have to reach some sort of détante. Maybe a little feng shui is in order.

Meanwhile, I have a new hat design in the works… here’s a quick snapshot. I hope to be doing a photoshoot of this and a few other new projects this week that we’ll be debuting at TNNA in June. The yarn is a sock yarn from Pagewood Farm. It’s a hand-dye on a lovely sock base that is great to work with–this is part of a trio of knitting patterns I’m doing with Pagewood Farm that will include a scarf and a purse.

This weekend we had a break from many, many days of torrential rain on Saturday, and we took advantage of it by going to see the US Women’s soccer team beat Canada at RFK stadium in DC. We had front-row seats, and the kids really got to see the action. A few of the players were moms and their kids got to run out to the field and bring them flowers for mother’s day. Afterwards, some of the players came and signed autographs.

One of them, Kate Sobrero, who was carrying her son, Keegan, tossed Jay one of her signed Jerseys!

Of course, he had to put it on, right away.

If you’re a Heroes fan, you’ll appreciate this adorable Mohinder amigurumi doll created by Violet Anchovy. I love the sideburns.

She based it on Kim Werker’s Amigurumi Dude pattern at CrochetMe. Oh, and she’s made a Sylar one too!

A few nights ago, I came up with this recipe after seeing one for a Mexican polenta casserole. With the move coming up, I’ve been looking for easy recipes that we can make with things in our pantry both to use up what we have, and to develop a collection of recipes to rely on in Alaska when daily trips to the grocery are not an option. Selma loves polenta (or grits), so I had a feeling this would be an instant favorite, and it was!

Ingredients

• 1 tube of already prepared polenta (or, you can make your own with 1 cup of dry polenta and 2 cups water or broth)
• 1/2 lb of firm tofu, drained
• 1 8 oz can of organic tomato sauce
• cheezy topping of your choice (I like this sesame “parmesan,” or this tahini sauce, or you could use organic mozzarella cheese, like that from Organic Valley.)
• olive oil
• 1 t dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Open the package of polenta and mash into the bottom of an 8×8″ glass baking dish using a potato masher.

Pour half of the can of tomato sauce over top of the polenta and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle the tomato sauce with 1/2 of the dried oregano.

Slice the tofu into 1/8-1/4″ slices and lay them on top of the tomato sauce.

Spread the remaining tomato sauce on top of the tofu. Sprinkle the 2nd half of the oregano on top of the tomato sauce, and drizzle the olive oil over the top.

Top with cheezy topping of your choice.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until everything is heated through.

Enjoy with a salad or carrot sticks or a steamed vegetable.

This made great leftovers when reheated the next day, too, so when I make it again, I might double the recipe and do it in a 9×13″ pan.

It’s a beautiful, sunny 60 degree day here in Maryland. Jay is sleeping, James is sleeping, Selma and a friend have been riding bikes and now they’re picnicking in the back yard (they requested sliced oranges, hummus and tortilla chips). Sophie, Selma’s guest said, “this is such a great play date!” I think they’re relishing in their new 8-year-old freedom of being basically in control of their free time. The house is quiet and I’m liking my free time too.

I did some laundry and picked up the really awful messes of the past day or so, but when I started on a pile on a couch side-table, I realized, what looked at first like clutter was a project in progress. We have a lot of “active” clutter in the house because its small, we don’t have dedicated room for the kids to do crafts, and although they have a play room they play everywhere.

And looking around, I realized, I didn’t mind this kind of clutter, I actually like it. It’s interesting to see what activities are happening in the house by what little piles are being created. That said, sometimes an “active” pile becomes stagnant–I just spotted the remnants of our Christmas card project. Before I can really put that away, I need to enter new addresses into my address book. But it isn’t an active project any more, it’s stuck.

With our impending move, I’ve had to be a lot more pro-active about sorting. I don’t want to take any unnecessary stuff to Alaska, and I want to have room for stocking up on needed supplies. I’ve already done a pass on all the bedrooms, and the rest of the house is much harder. My mom and I have promised each other that we’d tackle one small de-cluttering task per day on our houses, so today, I’m going to have a go at a problematic kitchen cupboard.

The move to my new domain has prompted me to finally tell you about another much bigger, real move for our family. First, maybe a bit of background. I don’t talk about family stuff that much on the blog, and I’ve realized that the last time I mentioned my husband James’ work was back in 2006 and only once before that in 2005.

James is a Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard. We met when we were both in college: he at the Coast Guard Academy and I at Connecticut College in New London. (He auditioned for the a capella group I was starting, but that’s another story…) Anyway, military life has always meant lots of moving. Since leaving Connecticut in 1994, we’ve lived in Seattle, North Carolina, Seattle again, New Jersey (where James did a 1-year graduate program), and Maryland. Selma, who’s now eight had moved four times by the time she was five. Jay, on the other hand, was five months old when we moved here to Maryland, and he’s known nothing else.

We came to maryland in the summer of 2005 (the same time I started the blog), and we knew that we’d be here for about three years. We’ve loved Takoma Park. We live in an amazing neighborhood full of kids and we’ve made great friends and I’ve found a huge fiber-loving community. But James missed being at sea. He’s a true sailor and although working at Coast Guard headquarters has it’s rewarding challenges, it’s not the same as being on a ship. In January, James was awarded command of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore, homeported in Cordova, Alaska.

We were thrilled that he was going to be a ship’s captain again, and certainly in shock about the move to such a remote place. In fact, I was out of town on my way to The Needle Arts Association trade show when we got the news, and we had to do our soul-searching and decision-making over the phone. (The fact that James could convince me to move to Alaska by telephone reminded me how caring, thoughtful, and convincing he really is!)

We’re sad to be leaving Takoma Park, but I’m actually quite a fan of the periodic moving. I love setting up house in a new place, learning about what an area has to offer and experiencing different parts of the country. Cordova, Alaska is going to be different from anywhere else we’ve ever lived. Obviously, there’s the whole Alaskan winter thing, but on top of that, Cordova is not connected to the rest of the world except by plane or ferry–it’s kind of like being on an island. It’s a small fishing town with a large science center built on money collected as a result of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. The science center means that Cordova has more Phd’s per capita than any other US city.

We won’t be able to visit until we actually move, but we’ve already done a bit of legwork to get settled. We’ve found a lovely-sounding house to rent on a lake that’s walking distance to school and town. I’ve found out there’s a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in Washington State that makes weekly deliveries of organic produce. And importantly, there’s a yarn store! It’s called the Net Loft, and they don’t have a web site, but I’ve heard from many sources that it’s a great shop. I’m looking forward to getting to know a new LYS.

I’m sure I’ll be talking lots about Alaska and our move in the coming months, but I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite shots of Cordova: