Aerial word... Saturday

I've fallen behind on my word-learning since coming home from Quebec. Must get back into it. Since I have flying on the brain, here are some airplane words.

cabotage

1. navigation or trade along the coast.
2. Aviation. the legal restriction to domestic carriers of air transport between points within a country's borders.

~Dictionary.com

aeropleustic
pertaining to aerial navigation

~Dictionary of Difficult Words

I'm losing the battle with my suitcase and the airline weight limit at the moment, but I will prevail. My next post will be from England - I will see you on the other side!

FO: Lavalette

Pattern: Lavalette, by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace

Mods:
Added one more repeat of the openwork section, and a few more rows of stockinette at the end. I very nearly ran out during the bind-off; in fact, I did run out binding off at least twice, and had to rip back a bit. The final bind-off finished with about 5 cm of yarn. That was a close one.



Notes:
Shawl measures 70 cm from point to top edge, and 150 cm along top edge.

I love this shawl. It was so much fun to knit, and never boring. The alternating sections of lace and stockinette kept me interested, I think. This one is for my grandma, but I'll definitely knit this again, maybe for me! This counts as my tenth knitted gift for my 101 in 1001 list, so technically I don't have to knit any more gifts. Haha, but I totally will. :)

Lavalette was my first project in laceweight yarn, and it hasn't scared me away. I count this as a good sign, or perhaps just a lucky mistake to prolong my naivete. Eh, in any case, I enjoyed knitting with the Silky Alpaca Lace, although it was difficult to manage the garter tab cast-on with such slippery, fiddly, tiny yarn. Next time I'll do better. I am a little concerned that this yarn will shed profusely. When I cam back inside from taking the photos, my tank top was covered in fuzz. I didn't notice any shedding when I was knitting, however.

Des mots de jeudi

J'essaie d'écrire en français un peu aujourd'hui. Si quelqu'un parle français et trouve des erreurs (qui sont inévitable), corrigez-moi!

Ne paniquez pas: je n'ecrirai pas en français toujours...

(I'm trying to write in French today. If anyone reading this speaks French and finds my inevitable mistakes, please correct me! Don't panic: I won't write in French all the time...)


un autre fleur qui s'ouvre sur le campus

éclore

1. (Oeuf) S'ouvrir
2. Se dit d'une fleur en bouton qui s'ouvre
3. [fig] naître, paraître

~Le Robert Micro


1. to open out, to blossom; to hatch ; [fig] to develop
2. [fig] to dawn

~Larousse

woolly words

I meant to post these words last week during Knit and Crochet Blog Week, but I totally forgot. So, a week late, my words are vaguely fibre related.

pannose
like felt
The Phrontistery

capric
having a goatlike smell; of, like or pertaining to goats
The Phrontistery

To avoid a pictureless post, here is some seasonal flora from around my home.

The crabapple trees are in full force.


The tulips were early and they may be all gone by the time the Tulip Festival gets going.


There is a forest of forget-me-nots on the lawn! My favourite :)

Thursday Word: Cachinnate

Tomorrow I will attend my last class of graduate school, which has turned me into a complete crazy person for the last few months or weeks. So today's word is appropriate.

Cachinnate
laugh loudly and in an unrestrained way
~Free Online Dictionary

I predict much cachinnation tomorrow starting at around noon. Possibly accompanied by consumption of fine ale, but maybe not. There might be cachinnation before that coming from various faculty members as I do one final group presentation... but that's kind of a worst-case scenario, since database design turns out not to be that funny.

What's a word for a mixture of excitement and trepidation? Because that's what I feel right now. So ready to be done this degree...

Word... Friday.

Fustian

n.

1.
a. A coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and flax.
b. Any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short nap.
2. Pretentious speech or writing; pompous language.

adj.

1. Made of or as if of fustian
2. Pompous, bombastic, and ranting

~Free Online Dictionary


Nothing to do with the word, but it was a lucky picture the other day. Anybody know what this odd rectangular beetle is?

Most of the new words I learn come from trawling dictionaries, but this one I learned from literature.

"A thief in fustian is a vulgar character, scarcely to be thought of by persons of refinement; but dress him in green velvet, with a high-crowned hat, and change the scene of his operations, from a thickly peopled city to a mountain road, and you shall find in him the very soul of poetry and adventure."
~Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens

Thursday Word: Salsipotent

Salsipotent
ruling the salt seas
~The Phrontistery

Arrrr...

That's all for today.

Word Thurs: Rede

Rede
1. To give advice to; counsel.
2. To interpret; explain.

n. 1. Advice or counsel.
2. (Archaic) A narration.

~The Free Online Dictionary

First bread

I bought some yeast soon after I moved into this house, with the intention of trying to bake some bread, but never got around to it until yesterday. Here's my first bread-baking attempt.



Bread without a timetable, from Smitten Kitchen

Other than leaving out the wheat bran since I didn't have any, I followed the recipe pretty closely. The lack of time table for this bread was liberating, and I could see myself making it again even on a busier day than yesterday. I used buckwheat flour, like Deb did, but I'm not sure I'd do that again. It has a very distinctive taste that I wasn't really prepared for. Still tasty, though. Very dense and moist.

I suspect the oven in this house runs hot, since the bread was pretty much done in half an hour on 450F, without the extra 5-20 minutes at 425. I left it in for another 5 minutes anyway.



The loaf turned out kind of lopsided, but that's okay!
Now, what to make next? As if I need encouragement to eat more carbs. Heh.

Thursword: Titivate

Titivate

to make smart or spruce

~Dictionary.com

FO: Ishbel

Pattern: Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: DIC Smooshy, in Gothic Rose
Mods: Did stockinette for the small size, but lace for the large size.

So much fun to knit! I took a gamble and didn't use a single lifeline, and I had to fudge the pattern a few times, but nothing too horrendous happened. Towards the end the rows were so long that it dragged a bit, but the lace pattern kept it interesting.



This turned out bigger than I expected. I wanted to use this beautiful yarn efficiently, so I opted for the large lace section, thinking it wouldn't be quite so large. It still works as a scarf, though.



Please excuse the crappy mirror shot. My bathroom is crooked, not my photography ;)


This one shows the colour most accurately, and you can see it was snowing outside this morning when I took the picture!

I've been wearing it all day, and I know it will be very useful. The yarn is quite soft, but still sturdy, so I hope it holds up.

Plus, now I can cross off #4 - Knit a lace shawl.

Weekend words: an addendum to Thursday

Last night I got together with some friends for a night of jollity, including a rousing game of Balderdash, which led to me learning several new words, so I thought I'd add on the ones I remember. (Yes, Balderdash is rousing!) This puts me at 38 out of 150, in case anyone is keeping track.

biltong
(chiefly S. African) lean meat which is salted and dried in strips.
~OED

tamarau
a small brownish-black buffalo similar to the anoa, found only on Mindoro in the Philippines. • Bubalus mindorensis , family Bovidae.
~OED

sprod
(N. Amer.) a young cod, haddock, or similar fish.
~OED
(The Balderdash definition specified salmon...)

gundalow
a form of river barge, long obsolete, used in the USA. It had a high carved bow and a large lateen sail set on a short, stumpy mast. The lateen yard was very high in the peak and the lower end was heavily weighed and balanced so that it could easily be lowered on deck. The small offshore fishing schooners of Maine, USA, which had high sterns, were also known as gundalows. They, too, are obsolete.
~The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea

(The best thing was two separate players submitted definitions for Gundalow that involved one storey houses--i.e bungalows-- filled with fire arms. Good times, good times.)

contango
(Brit. Stock Exchange) the normal situation in which the spot or cash price of a commodity is lower than the forward price. Often contrasted with backwardation.
~OED

teenter
A seesaw
~Dictionary.com

craquelure
a network of fine cracks in the paint or varnish of a painting.
~OED

There were more, but some of them I can't actually find definitions for, and some of them I don't remember. These words are obscure and specific enough that I'm sure I'll never use them, but hey. Words!

Words words words

I've fallen behind on my word-learning. To be honest, I'm having a hard time remembering most of the words I've learned as part of this project of mine. But I'll press on, since I like words.


Lacustrine

1. of or pertaining to a lake.
2. living or growing in lakes, as various organisms.
3. formed at the bottom or along the shore of lakes, as geological strata.

~Dictionary.com


Just a scarf in progress to add colour. Kind of lake-coloured maybe? Okay that's a stretch.

Termagant

–noun
1. a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
2. (initial capital letter) a mythical deity popularly believed in the Middle Ages to be worshiped by the Muslims and introduced into the morality play as a violent, overbearing personage in long robes.
–adjective
3. violent; turbulent; brawling; shrewish.

~Dictionary.com

Pother

–noun
1. commotion; uproar.
2. a heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do.
3. a choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.
–verb
4. to worry; bother.

~Dictionary.com

Incarnadine

1. blood-red; crimson.
2. flesh-colored; pale pink.

~Dictionary.com

I don't really think I'll ever have the occasion to use "termagant," given that accusing women of shrewishness is not an acceptable course of action these days, but I still like the word. Words describing colours are always useful in a knitter's vocabulary, though.

Just 123 words to go!

Word Thursday and secret knitting

Here's a peek at some gift knitting, or rather a 2.00 mm needle.

And today's word is...

Hypergelast

someone who laughs excessively.
~Wiktionary

101 in 1001 update: October

Just realized I forgot to do this. I didn't get a whole lot crossed off the list in October, but there were a few things.

Completed:
44. Write and send 3 letters
64. Invest in some comfortable flat black leather boots (not suede)
94. Be vegan (not raw) for a week (Sept/Oct)

Started:
5. Knit a cabled sweater (Vivian)

Continuing:
3. Learn 150 new words - 19 so far. Ouch.

It's October! 101 in 1001 Update.

I'm falling behind. I just realized I completely forgot to do last week's word. I'll do two tomorrow.

Plus, I haven't been updating my 101 in 1001 list, although things have been progressing.

Since I last did an update I have completed:

44. Write and send 3 letters
58. Explore Toronto (Not that Toronto can be explored in one shot, but...)
68. Learn how to cook salmon
94. Be vegan for a week

I am currently working on:
5. Knit a cabled sweater (Vivian)
Learning more words (#3)
Trying new recipes (#92)

By my count that's 27 out of 101 completed so far. I started my list last September, so I've been working on it a little over a year. Hmmm should pick up the pace!

Toronto adventures, belatedly. picspam

The last 12 days have been full of adventures (and non-adventures) with one of my favourite people ever. But yesterday he went on his merry way and I'm being shocked out of vacation mode by classes and assignments.

I spent a day or so in Toronto exploring (#58!) while waiting for his plane to land, and afterwards. While I did poke my head into Lettuce Knit while wandering around Kensington Market, the only knitting content I can claim for my time in Toronto is this:



In Toronto, we wandered around being tourists


Appreciating detail


Witnessing a practice airshow


And relaxing


I received a beautiful gift from Venice


Lastly, saw some amusing graffiti on a tank in London (ON): contains swears!


Wheeee! I'm excited for December already :)

Word Thursday: Wifty

Wifty
Eccentric, silly, scatterbrained.
~Wordsmith.org

Wifty as I am, I nearly forgot to do a Thursday word today! So much to do before I move, but I'm chipping away at it bit by bit. I feel like I've spent the last week solidly booking travel for myself and others... nearly done. One more plane ticket and I'll be set to the end of September, anyway. Wheee!

Knit night and following the bees

Last night I went to my first knit night! (Cross off #78). I went to a knitting in public gathering last summer, but since then hadn't been out to hobnob with the knitting community here. Big mistake that I have rectified and I'll definitely get out again soon. Fortuitously, I even got to catch up with an old friend that I hadn't seen in many years --"old" as in we met a long time ago, not as in eldery. Plus I met some people and learned some interesting facts about Canada customs' relationship with imported yarn, among other things. Knitting at Bridgehead is pretty great not just for the smugness factor.



This is what I was working on, and unfortunately I misjudged my ability to knit lace and chat at the same time. I thought Decimal would be simple enough, but turns out I'm easily distracted and forget which row I'm on even while knitting a simple two-row pattern. So I wasn't as chatty as I might have been. (Who am I kidding? I'm totally anti-social at the best of times).

Anyway! Decimal's sleeve is lounging on the chair that has simultaneously become my outdoor reading/knitting chair and the backdrop to knitting/baking photos. It's a versatile chair. I'm knitting it in the round because I see no reason not to and Ravelry seems to agree.



In the beautiful shining sun today, a rarity in the summer of deluges, I also wandered around the garden and followed some bees around. Yay!

101 in 1001 July update and WIP

It's August, meaning July is over and I've squandered another month of existence. What do I have to show for it? A couple of paycheques, some WIP progress, somewhere to live in London Ontario for 8 months, a few more items off the 101 in 1001 list... I guess I've been busy, mostly in productive ways.

July completions:
24. Send something to PostSecret
45. Read The Brothers Karamazov

Only two? I'm ashamed to say that I read most of The Brothers Karamazov in June, and waited for most of July to get the book back from the library after it was cruelly requested out from under me. But I did finish it in July.

I sent one letter of 44. Write and send 3 letters, so I have two more to write.

I've also started chipping away at 30. Read at least 10 works of non-fiction. Add Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, by Edward Kritzler to that list. As expected it didn't really live up to the hype; interesting subject matter, but it wasn't very well written, and much of it verged past history into conspiracy theory. I get a little shifty-eyed when I read things that threaten to perpetuate the belief that Jews control the world / the world's finances / it's all a big Jewish conspiracy, since those beliefs tend to lend fodder to anti-semitics. (Obviously unintentional here, since the author is a Jew, but anyway.) Possibly I'm paranoid.

Next up for August, I'll be adding to my list for #30 some more. I've started reading Dr. Johnson's London, by Liza Picard, a history of 18th century London. (England rather than Ontario this time. Confusing, I know.)


Just so this post isn't devoid of pictures, here's the second sock of my pair of Jaywalkers I started in April. Because they are wool socks, I'm not in a hurry to get them finished before it gets chilly, so I have been concentrating on my warm-weather Decimal. Historically, I seem to knit things in the wrong seasons, so I'm trying to prioritize to remedy that. The picture is deceptive: I haven't even reached the heel yet, but it doesn't fit properly on my foot with those dnps.