tea cozy for my twin

Here is a picture of a tea cozy that my sister found in her stocking yesterday. I finished in during the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when all of the Christmasy magic is supposed to happen. I knitted it while watching the new Doctor Who series so when I look at it. I think of Doctor Who. My sister thinks of Fraggles.

My prematurely arthritic car

I bought a 2000 Hyundai Sonata this spring. It has been privy to the love and affection of my boyfriend, his dad, and I through multiple tune-ups, adjustments and painting the back fender (I bought it that way) over the summer. Now its computer codes are telling us that its torque converter is malfuncting. This basicly means that when it is cold and/or irritable it refuses to remember how to shift gears. I was brought up on a VW Rabbit so I know how to shift gears. If only it would let me help it! After an afternoon in a parking garage, it shifts like it always did.

I'm knitting franticly. Unfortunately I still don't have the hedgehog pictures.

hedgehog sweater

The last week I was commissioned to knit and felt a sweater for my friend's hedgehog. I completed it over the weekend and am anxiously awaiting the reception of the sweater by the hedgehog. Most people think that it will tear it to bits. I'm still optimistic that everything will be fine. Once the sweater is determined a success, I will post my pattern here.

new bike computer, new reasons to go fixie

Thank you, aflowercallednowhere for the bike computer! I haven't hooked it up yet, but I am admiring its analogue clock face intermixed with the blocky digital text fonts.

On Thursday I didn't exactly bike in. I drove to Stadium Village where I can park all day for free and I rode my folding bike to my East Bank office. It was really slick. Now I'm thinking about just storing the bike in the trunk. I did wear a surprisingly warm combination. Finding nothing especially clean in my room to wear, I pulled on some pantyhose that I had forgotten about. I put on the Columbia fleece pants over them. The ride was a cosy warm one. Granted I wasn't going really fast and I wasn't in the Midtown Greenwindtunnel, but I might try that combo again.

Ever since the ride on Wednesday night, I have been seriously thinking about converting my Ross Compact into a fixed gear. I was riding up Nicollet and my chain dropped down to the granny gear. Then I was trying to stop for a car who decided that we had a telepathic link because he proceeded to turn right into Quang's without a signal. The person in front of him was also turning and signalled so I was already slowing, but I had not yet come to a complete stop because I thought that I could slowly go until the car passed. I wasn't going that fast so it wasn't too dangerous, but I didn't stop with the help of my brakes. Backpedalling then would have been nice. My brakes were all gunked up with snow.

I believe that I just have to switch the bottom bracket and get rid of the extra gears. If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciated it. This Ross is from the seventies, has a fixed wheel in the rear and a BB that takes care of the freewheel function. I don't know if the gears are detachable from the rear hub, I sorta suspect they are not.

Hostelling National Meeting update

I was just rereading some old posts and I thought that I should say that the National Meeting for Hostelling Int'l was great, sans Garrison Keillor. We ended up getting Catherine Watson, the recently retired travel writer for the Star Tribune. We had a lot in common and I chatted her up after the talk. Mr. Keillor would not have been as good as Watson; she gave the perfect talk about her ADHD nephew who is bouncing around Europe right now. There were about 115 people there and I personally met 60. I basically lived at the Hilton that weekend. There was a Canadian sex convention at the convention center at the same time. And a CPA convention.

I need wind pants

I'm pretty comfy riding now with my socks and a system for the top that includes wicking, insulation, and wind resistance. Now I have to figure out the bottom half. Having done some winter running and skiing I thought that I could use those techniques. For the most part that is ok; my insulating fat on my legs keep me pretty warm. Only right behind my knees, I have been experiencing ice crystalization. Perhaps the wind pants are the answer. I bought a pair of deeply discounted fleece pants from REI this week and I'll try them tomorrow to see how it works.

rite of passage; eureka moment too late in life

So, my rite of passage is that I took the plunge and bought some SmartWool Adrenaline socks. They fit my feet perfectly. Just so you know, I have tiny feet for an adult (5.5 or 6 US) and I don't think that I have ever had socks that fit exactly. The oversized socks that I've lived with up to this moment have always made my Achilles tendon look like it was preggers.

I know that this sounds really stupid, but this morning I realized that Mr. Fahrenheit, the guy behind putting the 0 degree at the freezing point of sea water, was on to something. I also thought that it was a really sailor-centric system. It is also a system that is really useful for anyone who is wondering if their tears will freeze when they are waiting for the bus.