Months of planning and the day is nigh!

In my hand is the first set of event tickets: Russia v. Latvia. It should be quite a game – Latvia isn’t a major contender, but word on the street is that they have SERIOUS fans… Megan told me stories about the Latvians that showed up in Halifax for the World Juniors in 2008 – so that will be fun! Maybe they will have handknit mittens?

We’ve been discussing everything Olympics in the  Vancouver 2010 Ravelry group (pssst – come join us!) and people are getting excited!  For those of us actually traveling to Vancouver (or living there, already), we are planning a series of meetups during the Games.  It’s gonna be grand.  And you can bet that I will document it well with my trusty camera.

Besides all of the amazing Olympic events, Kris and I are also planning to do some sightseeing – hikes, museums, performances.  There are a number of shows and events also happening with the Games, including some fun music shows (Damien Marley, Matisyahu, Bedouin Soundclash, and many many others).  One of the big ski resorts north of Vancouver – Grouse Mountain - will be open 24/7, with special midnight and sunrise snowshoe tours, performances, and lots of events.  I have never been skiing or snowboarding, but this feels like a good time and place to start… Coincidentally, Grouse Mountain is also where NBC will be airing the Today Show each morning – and if I can time it right, I am hoping we can be on “the plaza” one morning with a sign!   I told my “morning crew” at the gym to look at for us when they are watching on the treadmills!

The majority of our tickets (surprise) are hockey tickets – but we also have a set for Curling, and Freestyle Aerials, so we will get a nice mix of events.

Some of the ladies in the Rav group are also working the venues at the Olympics… people are asking if we will be able to take our knitting into the events.  Much like airports and security, it appears that it will be up to the discretion of the specific guard.  So, plastic needles may be the best bet… if I can make my deadline with my sweater (close!  I will update on that soon), I think I am gonna make a flurry of quickie projects on big needles – cowls, scarves, and hats, perhaps?

The forecast is calling for a “Storm of the Century” here in Maryland starting tomorrow morning – blizzard, lots and lots of snow – so, it looks like it’ll be another shut-in weekend with copious amounts of Spanish lessons and knitting – not that I mind!  Funny how the the East is getting slammed with snow this year, but Vancouver is relatively dry and warm and that is where the Olympics are!  best soak up the winter while I am on this coast!

Hasta luego, mis amigos~~

:: knitting sleeve two of my Olympic sweater whilst studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone ::

(Hello operator?)

Great progress on both fronts.

Sleeve has doubled in length since this photo taken yesterday morning (and I have a callus on my finger to prove it) but I like the placement of the official patch here on the sleeve.

13 days till Vancouver.

… Almost there …

More details on the sweater, the trip plans, and Spanish studies to come ~

Before any trip, I do a lot of research to find vegan restaurants and markets in my destination city.  On our trip to California a few months back, we tried a menagerie of delicious vegan cuisines throughout southern California.  One of the stand out meals for us was at an Asian restaurant in the the Los Angeles (Alhambra) area called Loving Hut (heh, yeah, it’s a funny name).  It’s an odd atmosphere, but they have a robust menu of all sorts of delights.  Many of the vegan foods I tried in CA were soy-heavy – and I tend not to eat a lot of soy in my regular diet – but it was different than the norm.  We got a vegan Thai Hot Pot: essentially a huge bowl of wonderfully flavorful broth and an equally huge plate of fresh raw vegetables and mushrooms to add to said broth.   You get a bowl of noodles and you ladle the broth onto the noodles – voila!  delicious and easy.

 The version in California had some “soy shrimp” in it … I am not a huge imitation meat fan, but it was interesting to try all the same.  The meal was scrumptious and Kris and I were completely satiated.

…FAST FORWARD…

This dang hot pot is *still* on my mind.  I want to try to recreate that amazing taste.  So, I did some searching and found this recipe on the internet.  I could tell that this was not going to be exactly it, so I basically used it as a framework and added my own little perks.

 Soba noodles – wrapper tag states: “Say NO to GMOs”

Cabbage, scallions, bok choy – some of the choice greens for my version!

Sauteed the cabbage, straw mushrooms, and bok choy stems with sesame oil and crushed red pepper flakes

Added carrots, tofu, chunked water chestnuts, and some mung bean sprouts, and poured the broth over the lightly cooked soba noodles.

While it was quite good, it wasn’t exactly the same blend and taste that we had in California – so I am going to give this one another try.  I wanted more spice – maybe some more rice vinegar or some miso paste? – and it was missing the lemongrass-y flavor that the other one had.  So, I need to “Thai” it up a bit more for next time!

It is definitely one of those fun meals that can be shared communily.  It was only Kris and I, so we didn’t pull out the fondue pot, but this would be a fun way to turn this meal into a course for a dinner party. 

So many inches of stockinette for the body and the sleeves – when I finally reached the colorwork portion, it felt like a celebration!  Of course, the colorwork is *also* stockinette, but it’s about the introduction of that new color into the mix that just brings the excitement level to a pinnacle!

I had a little trouble with the color combinations on this sweater – I originally planned the navy main color with the ivory accent with a turquoise.  However, my local yarn shop could not order the turquoise as it was now discontinued (::sad face::) but I put on a positive spin and decided to go with this blue/green color for my other accent color.

Now that it is working up, I am very happy with my choice.  I think it evokes a mood that I wanted with this sweater ~ wintery, classic with a modern touch, and memorable.  Although I haven’t been to Vancouver yet, it somehow seems like these colors will really “work” there – the deep blue with the blue green, reminiscent of the ocean and the nearby mountains. 

23 days till the Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics!

…and 25 days before my plane lands in Vancouver, so just as long to get this sweater off the needles! … it looks plausible!  I am going to try my hardest!

 If you are starting to get excited about the games too, it would be great to see you in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Ravelry group!   We are chatting about meetups in Vancouver, athlete news, as well as what you are planning to work on while watching games and competitions… it’s a grand ol’ time and it would be lovely to see you there!

Through my teacher training program last year, I had the opportunity to meet some truly amazing and gifted people.  So many varied interests and passions, yet we all came together to learn more about yoga and to deepen our own practice! 

I had the pleasure to talk to Kath before teacher training started in late 2008.  As a fellow knitter, she found me online before we started studying together and we exchanged a few emails before meeting at the studio.  Over the year, we grew closer and I have the joy to call her my dear friend.  We can talk about yoga, we can talk about knitting and yarn ~ it just flows and it is beautiful. 

One of Kath’s many offerings is that she is also fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), and she just started teaching her first yoga class in ASL at a local studio.  When she asked me to help her with a little photography project for her class, I jumped at the chance for this special project.  She wanted to put together a visual set of poses with the proper alignment for her students.  Since she is teaching the class in ASL, she cannot always demonstrate the pose because her hands will be used in the pose.  That is where the photos come in!

We met up at the studio on a quiet Sunday afternoon;  the air was cold and there were flurries of snow, but inside, the sunlight cascaded in the windows, and set a perfect scene for the yoga photos.  Above (clockwise from the top left), Kath does sukhasana “easy pose” with her hands in Anjali mudra “offering gesture”.  This is the way that we begin and end each class.  In the next photo, she demonstrates a full body pose called eka pada svanasana, or “one legged dog pose”.  This pose is a preparatory pose for hip opening and also works on upper body strength and balance.  The next is the recognizable adho mukha svanasana “downward facing dog pose”.  The final pose is utthita parsvakonasana “extended side angle pose” which also opens the hips, as well as the shoulders and chest.

Just a note on the use of Sanskrit terms: the style of yoga that I practice (Anusara) honors the tradition by using these names while also realizing that not everything can translate word for word.  Additionally, Sanskrit can be the universal language of yoga (similar to how Latin is used for biology in Linnean taxonomy) no matter where you are in the world.  It’s a nice fit.  Plus, the language is phonetic, and if you sound it out, it is pronounced exactly as it looks.  I love learning more Sanskrit as I study yoga.

While this photo project was a true joy to do, Kath must have felt that she wanted to give something back~ and while there was absolutely no need to do so, it was a pleasant surprise when she presented this lovely yarn to me this past weekend:

 She says that this bulky yarn is the perfect tonic for my small needle/fingering weight projects of late.  I look forward to casting on for a bulky cowl or hat on size 15 needles once I finally finish my Olympic sweater