However, the bicycling directions are very much in beta.  For example, I mapped a route from an arbitrary place on Staten Island to Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn… and it tells me to go over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.  In doing so, Google Maps fails mention that bicyclists (or pedestrians, for that matter) are not permitted to cross the bridge.  Those not in the know will learn too late that they are not welcome on the bridge.  Happily, Google Maps relies on its users to report problems with directions and/or maps.  (Of course, I’ve already reported their incorrect — and, indeed, illegal — use of the VZ Bridge as a bikeable path.)

Here’s hoping the Google Maps team continues working on this feature to make it as robust as possible.  (Perhaps enlisting the help of the creators of Ride the City, who have done such a fine job with their service?)  I have high hopes for this app and expect bicycle usage to grow as a result of it.  Users will see that bicycling is a totally mainstream way of getting around and reconsider taking their car for a 1- or 2-mile trip to the post office or library or wherever it is they’re going.  For example, this morning, I biked 3.3 miles to a public library to return a book (and then I biked the same 3.3 miles back home).  Once I got home, I changed and drove to work.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I cannot figure out a way to bike to work without killing myself.  The college is located in the hilliest part of Staten Island.  This is difficult in and of itself… but it’s made worse by the fact that most of the streets that lead to the campus are carved into this hill and are, therefore, very winding and very narrow.  There are no sidewalks, either.  It’s dangerous no matter how you look at it.

Aside from this dilemma, though, I’m able to bike to most places: post office, farmers market, grocery store, library, restaurants and diners, cafes, etc.  They are all located within 3 miles of my house and I have little fear about bicycling to these destinations.  I hope that the bicycling option in Google Maps will encourage others in my ‘hood to do the same.

Ingredients

• ²/₃ cup brown sugar
• ²/₃ cup white sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ²/₃ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¹/₃ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• 1 cup chopped cranberries
• 1 cup chopped, peeled apple
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease muffin pans or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, white sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Add the applesauce, melted butter, milk, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Stir in the cranberries, apple, and nuts.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans. Cups should be at least ¾ full.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Yield
18 muffins

Enjoy!

(That hat she’s wearing? I also made it! Back in December, when I was still a n00b. A bigger n00b than I am now, I mean.)

I’m so glad that the vest actually turned out well. I was worried that it would be too big or too long or too awkward or … Well, you get the idea. However, it came out well! Of course, I made some mistakes here and there but they’re barely noticeable to the untrained eye. Besides, this is how you learn, right? Now I know what to do and what not to do the next time I make this vest. (And I will be making it again. It’s a nice vest!)

Next up on my agenda: Hey, Teach! cardigan. I’m nervous because it’s knit in pieces and then seamed together (and we remember how much I disliked seaming just the 3″ inches on the vest, right?) but it’s a really nice cardigan so I will power through it. Here’s what I have so far:

That’s the beginning of the back panel. Once that’s finished, there are the two front panels and the two sleeves. (Man, that’s a lot of pieces!) I racked my brain trying to figure out which cardigan to make for my boyfriend’s mother before I came across this one. I hope she likes it! (I’m aiming to have it finished by her birthday, April 1. I think I have plenty of time! What’s more nerve-wracking is the prospect of knitting a full-length sleeved cardigan for Alex by his birthday, April 13. Ack!)

All that’s left is some seaming under the armholes (approximately 1.5″ under each arm) and ribbing around the neckline and the armholes.  Unfortunately for me, I can’t seem to get the hang of the mattress stitch (which makes an invisible side seam).  This is frustrating because I was easily able to graft the shoulder pieces together on my first attempt:

This seaming nonsense is driving me batty!  I’ll take this opportunity, though, to walk away from the project and clear my head.  Hopefully I’ll be more successful tomorrow.  In the meantime, I’ll continue reading Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities.  (That book makes me pine something awful for a more bike-friendly Staten Island… and NYC in general.)

I’ve known that I’ve had mice for a few weeks now but, for the life of me, I could not figure out how to get rid of them. I have a cat, after all, so why should I be worrying about ridding of the mice? As it turns out, Dixon is a lousy mouse catcher:

He’s more interested in chasing them and playing with them rather than attacking or killing them. However, precisely because I have Dixon, I didn’t know what commercial techniques I could use to get this problem under control. Glue traps, spring traps, “zap” traps, and rodenticide all seemed extreme and inhumane. So when Alex caught the mouse last night in a jar, I didn’t know what to do. After some time on the Internet, the only advice I found was to drown it. I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it. This thing was too small (and, admittedly, too cute) to be disposed of in such a manner. So, instead, I braved the elephants and released this little field mouse into the woods behind my house.

This post is for you, little mouse. I hope you survived the 10 or so inches of snow out there… or became dinner for a wet, hungry street cat.

About a week later, I figured I was ready to tackle the vest again… so I put my needles and yarn to work and, after three days, the vest is already looking like a vest!  (Or, at the very least, the beginning of a vest.)

It’s incredibly rewarding seeing the item take shape and look like what it’s supposed to look like.  At this point, though, all I’m worried about is fit.  The pattern is actually just a set of notes taken by a girl as she knit this sweater for herself.  (I think she’s Thumbelina in disguise.  She looks tiny in the photos!)  I’m hoping that I can recall some 5th grade math as I figure out the new dimensions for this vest, as it is meant to fit a regular-sized person.  It’s looking good so far and I’m quite pleased!

…Now I just need to make sure that I really pay attention while I knit so I stop making time-consuming mistakes.  (Harumph!)

Speaking of which, I left my job. Well, one of them. I will no longer be helping out at the reference desk but I am still involved in another project under another title at the same library. However, starting next week, I’ll begin my new job at another library. I’ll be on the reference desk for 15 hours per week, answering questions in person and by phone. I think I’ll also be on chat reference duty for much of that time. I spent several days this week running around campus, getting my paperwork done and taking my photo for the ID card. I was also given a tour of the library and I can genuinely say that I am looking forward to starting this job. The librarians and other staff members seem really nice. However, given that I was introduced to the library when classes were not in session, I do not know what to expect of the students. The first week at any college library is filled with questions like “Do you have this textbooks?” and “WHY DON’T YOU HAVE THIS TEXTBOOK!?” which is always nerve-wracking for everyone involved. I’m just glad I wasn’t there for the first day of classes (today) because I would most likely get a migraine.

So that’s what’s new in my life. If I’m not working (or worrying about interviewing for a full-time gig!), I’m knitting. People are starting to request things and I’ve yet to make something for myself. The vest is for my sister, the slippers are for Alex’s sister. Alex’s mother also requested a vest and his father wants a scarf. Alex himself wants a cardigan. I’ve also picked out a shawl that I want to make for my mother. (Well, I didn’t so much pick it out as I saw a coworker’s shawl and fell in love with it.)  As such, I’ve decided to continue coming in to the newly formed knitting group at my (old? current? existing?) job, even though I will not be coming onto the campus regularly.  I love my coworkers and colleagues so I’ll take any excuse to hang out with them.

The cables are messed up because I am still very new to cables and knitting in the round.  (The stitches on my 4 double-pointed needles kept shifting.  I started off with 14 stitches on each needle but, soon, I had 20 stitches on one needle so all the others were messed up.  When I tried to fix it, I ended up losing the beginning of my round… so all the cables ended up shifting, too.)  However, I don’t mind!  I think it looks fine as it is.  I can only hope the recipient of the hat, my 10-year-old cousin, won’t mind (or notice!).

I’m still surprised that I was able to do this.  The hat went from looking like this:

…to this:

Perhaps I am easily impressed… but I marvel at the ability to turn a skein of yarn (or half a skein, as the case may be) into a practical, stylish, wearable item.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup soy milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¹/₃ cup unsweetened applesauce
• juice from ½ orange
• zest from ½ orange
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• ¹/₃ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and orange juice & zest.
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries.
5. Pour batter into muffin cups, up to two-thirds of the way; sprinkle with almonds. Place pan into oven and turn up the temperature to 400°F (200°C). Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Yield
12 muffins

Enjoy!

• Knit more! I really need to learn how to knit in the round (maybe consider buying circular needles) and work on the various increases/decreases.  I also just need to knit more to get better at it.  (As the saying goes, practice makes perfect!)  I need to learn to measure gauge and work on keeping my tension even.  And get started on that Ravelry queue!
• Make handmade gifts! With my new knitting skills in hand, I want to be able to make gifts for everyone this year.  Luckily, I have a small, close-knit (har!) circle of friends and family… so this should be relatively easy.
• Learn to crochet! It just seems to go hand-in-hand with knitting.  Learning to crochet, however, is not crucial so I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen this year.
• Read more! For pleasure, that is.  I’ve missed books so much over the past 1.5 years… I really need to get back into it and start devouring novels.  Maybe consider trying nonfiction this year?  (I don’t know what it is… but I hate nonfiction.)
• Get published! I have ideas for an article that I can/should write, now I just need to start researching and writing.  Always easier said than done, no?  But I’ll only be working a maximum of 25 hours per week so I should have plenty of time to achieve this goal.
• Find a full-time job! Hopefully getting published will help with this but I would like to find a full-time gig at a college library.  (Not like I’m not looking… but still.)
• Cook more! I love cooking but I haven’t been able to do much of it over the last 1.5 years (*shakes fist in general direction of grad school*).  I want to learn to cook with more exotic ingredients so I’d like to try new recipes every once in a while.  Perhaps one new recipe per week?  And maybe blog about it?  (That will help with another goal, see below.)
• Go on a short bike tour! In November,  I mentioned that I want to bike from NYC to Bear Mountain State Park.  Well, I’d actually like that to happen!  So I will need to train (maybe consider getting a temporary gym membership to use their stationary bikes or buy a bicycle trainer to exercise on my actual bike) and prepare for the trip.  Buy maps!  And necessary equipment.
• Keep apartment tidy! This is probably the hardest of them all.  Somehow, after I clean my place, it gets trashed within minutes.  There are suddenly books, papers, envelopes, cups, snacks, etc. everywhere.  Hopefully not being in school anymore will help with this.  (Over the last 1.5 years, I attended school full-time while working about 30 hours per week.  I was always too beat to do any cleaning by the time I got home.)
• Start paying off school loan! Ugh.  I dread this one.  Grad school was way too expensive… and now I have to start paying off the loan.  So I need to learn some money saving techniques and begin paying off the government.  This is a goal that will take many years but it’s one that I want to start addressing this year.  The sooner this gets done, the better.  (I downloaded GnuCash to help me keep track of my assets and liabilities… and started clipping coupons to save $$$ when shopping at the supermarket.)
• Bike more! In an effort to be fiscally frugal and environmentally friendly, I really need to embrace my bicycle as my main mode of transportation.  Or combine it with mass transit to make it feasible here on Staten Island.  The first thing I will need to do is figure out a good route to my (brand spankin’ new!) part-time job.  I have to keep in mind that bikes are not allowed on buses so I will have to use the train or bike the 8 miles up there.  (Eight miles sounds easy but this is alongside cars… whose drivers are not used to cycling commuters and usually have baseball bats under their seats.  I’m just saying.)
• Read the newspaper! I am guilty of only logging onto NYTimes.com when I have absolutely nothing else to do at work.  That means that I’ve been on the site maybe 8 times over the last year.  What a shame.  I need to start reading the paper and becoming more aware of current events.  Currently, I get my news via WNYC… which is fine but it only happens in the car since that’s the only place I listen to the radio.  However, it’s rare that I am in control of the radio dials when I’m in a car.  (I carpool to work.)  So figure out a way to get the news!
• Blog more! I don’t blog like everyone else blogs… but I need to start.  I need to find others with similar interests and form a community.  This will motivate me to blog more (which will help with the writing skills necessary to get published, see above) and I’ll have a network of similar-minded acquaintances to whom I can turn in times of need.
• Get a new apartment! I currently live in the boondocks of Staten Island… rent-free but still in the boondocks!  If I stay on the Island, I’d like to move north to be closer to the Bridge and the Ferry (and, thus, closer to Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively).  However, this goal interferes with others (i.e., “Start paying off school loan!”) while aiding others (i.e., “Bike more!”).  I’m not sure how I feel about this… but I would love a new apartment.  (I currently live in the basement apartment of my parents’ house… hence the rentlessness.)

Whew.  OK.  I think I need to get started on some of these now.