Here's a picture of Harriet the tortoise I told you about. By stroking her belly and skin they get her to stand up, which in the wild allows birds to get under her shell and eat little bugs and mites that found their way into the folds of her skin. Very cool, nature is.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
KangaFood
Here's a picture of me feeding the kangaroos at the Australia Zoo. P.S. I keep trying to post my photos inside my update posts, but I have had nothing but computer trouble. The dial up at our friend's takes way too long (and I'm not just being impatient when I say that) and the internet cafe that I am at now won't let me for some reason. Anyway - boo.
Are you tired of hearing from me yet?
Wednesday August 31, 2005 2:39pm
One of the things we like to do when we visit someplace new is check out their art museum. They have a huge cultural center here in Brisbane that houses a performing arts center, science and technology museum, art gallery and general museum about the area. To our surprise, it didn’t cost a thing to get into the art gallery! So, we took a nice little ferry ride over to the South Bank (we are getting really good at these things BTW) and walked over to the art gallery. The gallery featured a large assortment of aboriginal art from local artists, art from Australian artists from the 1800s to present, and a video installation. I think we had the most fun with the video installation pieces. Some of them were very thought provoking (a continually panning video shot of a storeroom with a dozen people methodically destroying the food and other contents of the room) and some were very artsy (a guy’s hand’s mashing up palm fronds or the guy making a series of “1-minute poses”). Also I must mention here that Australians know how to make a fantastic cup of coffee! At the little café at the museum we stopped for a caffeine break (well, I did – B was just going to be an observer). I wasn’t really expecting much especially given we were at the little café in the museum. But, they handed me one of the most exquisite looking cappuccinos I have ever seen and the taste held up to the appearance - the best foam and not overly milked down espresso (which the Big Green can’t even get right unless I specifically tell them I want it dry, which I shouldn’t have to because I don’t want it dry, I just want it the way it is supposed to be 1/3, 1/3, and 1/3). Anyway, the best part of this particular cappuccino is that B wanted to try it! Yes, the non-coffee drinker who usually responds to – Coffee? With - Uhhh, no. I told him - you’re not going to like it, it tastes like coffee (not sweetened) - but he still wanted to try it and that’s right – he liked it! I am hoping this was the crossover experience like the meal he had a few years ago that finally got him into sushi.
Yesterday we decided to take a trip out to the Australia Zoo – that’s right Steve Irwin’s stomping ground – hee, hee. The zoo actually seems pretty nice. It’s a new zoo – started in 1970 – and they add animals as they expand the zoo, so they don’t have to fix an old concrete zoo from the 20s like in San Diego. So most of the enclosures have been built with the animals in mind and the animals seem to really enjoy their spaces. The zoo is definitely entertainment-based with shows pretty much all day long. But the shows only show the animals doing what they do and are often based around a feeding time, so you can see the animal get a snack while the keepers talk about it. We saw otter sisters at snack time as well as the oldest animal in captivity – Harriet, the Galapagos Tortoise. They also have three walkthrough areas where you can get up close to kangaroos and koalas. We were able to feed and pet kangaroos as well as see a joey (sp?) in its pouch.
The zoo also featured a set of shows in their “Crockoseum” around noontime. The keepers still have an amazing respect for the crocodiles despite working with them everyday. In fact, during the afternoon feeding show of Charlie – the grumpy crock – he jumped higher than the keeper expected and the keeper was like – oh, shit! Oops, sorry. I mean, crikey! Needless to say the whole audience laughed. I’m pretty sure B’s favorite part of the whole day was the crocks. One thing that was different about this zoo is that their tigers aren’t hands-off. They work daily with trainers and are rented out to the entertainment industry to help cover expenses. The trainers actually hang out in the exhibit with the tigers, so it’s more Siegfried and Roy than the SD Zoo.
One thing that we didn’t realize before we went to the zoo was that Steve Irwin actually owns the zoo. We thought that he was just one of their keepers, like Joan Embry, who got famous for showing their animals and talking about crocodiles. It turns out his parents started the zoo in 1970 and he took over in the mid-90s. So he is really a key figurehead at the zoo, not just a famous keeper. Plus, it appears that he lives at the back of the zoo. When we were watching the elephants, there was a house behind the enclosure and a woman who looked a lot like Terri Irwin sitting in the shade of some trees out front. We didn’t think too much of it (since Steve hadn’t been involved in any of the shows during the day and figured that they weren’t around), until we were waiting out front for our bus after the zoo closed and Steve drove passed us on his motorcycle! He drove up, with his son on the front of the bike (both without helmets, I might add) and said G’day to us (there weren’t many of us around) and then drove through the front gates and into the zoo. Ha! I guess this is my near-brush with near-fame.
We are also getting quite the hang of public transportation here. Our zoo trip involved a ferry ride and a 1 hour and 20 minute train ride, then a 20-minute rail bus ride, train and another bus ride on the way back. The good thing is that I got a chance to do a bit of knitting on the train ride home. And I was able to finish my Starry Night Kyoto re-sleeve and get started on my right front panel.
We both feel that we are really getting a feel for life here. Today we are going to go for a scenic walk on the other side of the river and check out the botanical gardens.
Highlights of the zoo:
A super teeny, tiny koala baby on its mums tummy.
A black swan walking around outside its enclosure.
Hearing an emu voice for the first time.
Seeing what kangaroo toes look like up close.
Steve and Terri Irwin paraphernalia, including ceramic plate, key holder for next to the door, thermometer, apron and stuffed dolls.
Buying a misfit platypus for my desk at work.
Tasmanian Devils.
Lowlights of the zoo:
The ticket price - A$34 each!
Things we realized about Australia:
Telephone numbers are two sets of four digit numbers, except 800 numbers, which seem to be two sets of three digit numbers.
You have two choices for flushing the toilet – light and heavy.
Alcohol is super expensive - A$18 for a six pack, A$12 for a low-end mixed drink.
One of the things we like to do when we visit someplace new is check out their art museum. They have a huge cultural center here in Brisbane that houses a performing arts center, science and technology museum, art gallery and general museum about the area. To our surprise, it didn’t cost a thing to get into the art gallery! So, we took a nice little ferry ride over to the South Bank (we are getting really good at these things BTW) and walked over to the art gallery. The gallery featured a large assortment of aboriginal art from local artists, art from Australian artists from the 1800s to present, and a video installation. I think we had the most fun with the video installation pieces. Some of them were very thought provoking (a continually panning video shot of a storeroom with a dozen people methodically destroying the food and other contents of the room) and some were very artsy (a guy’s hand’s mashing up palm fronds or the guy making a series of “1-minute poses”). Also I must mention here that Australians know how to make a fantastic cup of coffee! At the little café at the museum we stopped for a caffeine break (well, I did – B was just going to be an observer). I wasn’t really expecting much especially given we were at the little café in the museum. But, they handed me one of the most exquisite looking cappuccinos I have ever seen and the taste held up to the appearance - the best foam and not overly milked down espresso (which the Big Green can’t even get right unless I specifically tell them I want it dry, which I shouldn’t have to because I don’t want it dry, I just want it the way it is supposed to be 1/3, 1/3, and 1/3). Anyway, the best part of this particular cappuccino is that B wanted to try it! Yes, the non-coffee drinker who usually responds to – Coffee? With - Uhhh, no. I told him - you’re not going to like it, it tastes like coffee (not sweetened) - but he still wanted to try it and that’s right – he liked it! I am hoping this was the crossover experience like the meal he had a few years ago that finally got him into sushi.
Yesterday we decided to take a trip out to the Australia Zoo – that’s right Steve Irwin’s stomping ground – hee, hee. The zoo actually seems pretty nice. It’s a new zoo – started in 1970 – and they add animals as they expand the zoo, so they don’t have to fix an old concrete zoo from the 20s like in San Diego. So most of the enclosures have been built with the animals in mind and the animals seem to really enjoy their spaces. The zoo is definitely entertainment-based with shows pretty much all day long. But the shows only show the animals doing what they do and are often based around a feeding time, so you can see the animal get a snack while the keepers talk about it. We saw otter sisters at snack time as well as the oldest animal in captivity – Harriet, the Galapagos Tortoise. They also have three walkthrough areas where you can get up close to kangaroos and koalas. We were able to feed and pet kangaroos as well as see a joey (sp?) in its pouch.
The zoo also featured a set of shows in their “Crockoseum” around noontime. The keepers still have an amazing respect for the crocodiles despite working with them everyday. In fact, during the afternoon feeding show of Charlie – the grumpy crock – he jumped higher than the keeper expected and the keeper was like – oh, shit! Oops, sorry. I mean, crikey! Needless to say the whole audience laughed. I’m pretty sure B’s favorite part of the whole day was the crocks. One thing that was different about this zoo is that their tigers aren’t hands-off. They work daily with trainers and are rented out to the entertainment industry to help cover expenses. The trainers actually hang out in the exhibit with the tigers, so it’s more Siegfried and Roy than the SD Zoo.
One thing that we didn’t realize before we went to the zoo was that Steve Irwin actually owns the zoo. We thought that he was just one of their keepers, like Joan Embry, who got famous for showing their animals and talking about crocodiles. It turns out his parents started the zoo in 1970 and he took over in the mid-90s. So he is really a key figurehead at the zoo, not just a famous keeper. Plus, it appears that he lives at the back of the zoo. When we were watching the elephants, there was a house behind the enclosure and a woman who looked a lot like Terri Irwin sitting in the shade of some trees out front. We didn’t think too much of it (since Steve hadn’t been involved in any of the shows during the day and figured that they weren’t around), until we were waiting out front for our bus after the zoo closed and Steve drove passed us on his motorcycle! He drove up, with his son on the front of the bike (both without helmets, I might add) and said G’day to us (there weren’t many of us around) and then drove through the front gates and into the zoo. Ha! I guess this is my near-brush with near-fame.
We are also getting quite the hang of public transportation here. Our zoo trip involved a ferry ride and a 1 hour and 20 minute train ride, then a 20-minute rail bus ride, train and another bus ride on the way back. The good thing is that I got a chance to do a bit of knitting on the train ride home. And I was able to finish my Starry Night Kyoto re-sleeve and get started on my right front panel.
We both feel that we are really getting a feel for life here. Today we are going to go for a scenic walk on the other side of the river and check out the botanical gardens.
Highlights of the zoo:
A super teeny, tiny koala baby on its mums tummy.
A black swan walking around outside its enclosure.
Hearing an emu voice for the first time.
Seeing what kangaroo toes look like up close.
Steve and Terri Irwin paraphernalia, including ceramic plate, key holder for next to the door, thermometer, apron and stuffed dolls.
Buying a misfit platypus for my desk at work.
Tasmanian Devils.
Lowlights of the zoo:
The ticket price - A$34 each!
Things we realized about Australia:
Telephone numbers are two sets of four digit numbers, except 800 numbers, which seem to be two sets of three digit numbers.
You have two choices for flushing the toilet – light and heavy.
Alcohol is super expensive - A$18 for a six pack, A$12 for a low-end mixed drink.
Needle Wax
Are your WIPs not sliding over your bamboo needles as smoothly as you'd like? Try using a piece of waxed paper to gently wax up those puppies! I wish I could say I came up with this little ditty of a knit trick, but I did not. I must give credit to Vickie from Knitty Gritty for this one. It's genius! No more wondering if I should try using surf wax on my knitting needles...whew!
Namaste
Well, it was finally time to get off my bootie (literally), break out the yoga mat, and go to a yoga class! This past Friday I went to a lovely studio near my house that was recommended by a friend back in, oh, January...I know, weak...But hey, better late than never!
I don't know if it was the oppressive heat and lack of A/C for the first 1/3 of the class (what is this, I didn't sign up for Bikram!) or the fact that I hadn't been to a "real" yoga class in a couple of years (maybe both) but I was dying! I was good with most of the poses (Downward Dog, fine, Warrior I and II, sure, Triangle, great), but then I flailed my way through several balancing poses- it wasn't pretty. And to my knowledge, "flailing" isn't really in keeping with the yoga tradition. Let's just say I need to work on my balance...
Luckily, the A/C was turned on after a half an hour, and though I was already pretty drained by then, I fought through the next hour and by the time the class was over, I was really glad I went. I was in pain for the better part of the weekend, but in a good way, and I was still really glad I went. Since the class, I've been continuing to stretch (I even bought a brick to help stretch out my back like we did at the Retreat, remember?) practice my balancing poses, and I feel great!
I was reminded why I like taking classes - I find it beneficial to have an instructor there to talk me through and remind me what I should be concentrating on as I work through the poses. At some point, I would like to be proficient enough to be able to get an equally beneficial experience doing yoga on my own at home, but for now I find classes more challenging and rewarding.
I took my first yoga class 10 years ago. I've tried various styles of Hatha throughout the years, and then started practicing Ashtanga a few years ago, which I really enjoyed. I was ready for a more rigorous style, and I loved my instructor. As with most things, I really think you need to find the right combination in order for you to get the most out of it- the key is to find a good class, a style of yoga that fits you, and a good instructor.
Best of all, I was reminded as to how much I love the way I feel when I do yoga. I would love to keep this up! I think I will pay another visit to my friendly neighborhood yoga studio again this Friday...
I don't know if it was the oppressive heat and lack of A/C for the first 1/3 of the class (what is this, I didn't sign up for Bikram!) or the fact that I hadn't been to a "real" yoga class in a couple of years (maybe both) but I was dying! I was good with most of the poses (Downward Dog, fine, Warrior I and II, sure, Triangle, great), but then I flailed my way through several balancing poses- it wasn't pretty. And to my knowledge, "flailing" isn't really in keeping with the yoga tradition. Let's just say I need to work on my balance...
Luckily, the A/C was turned on after a half an hour, and though I was already pretty drained by then, I fought through the next hour and by the time the class was over, I was really glad I went. I was in pain for the better part of the weekend, but in a good way, and I was still really glad I went. Since the class, I've been continuing to stretch (I even bought a brick to help stretch out my back like we did at the Retreat, remember?) practice my balancing poses, and I feel great!
I was reminded why I like taking classes - I find it beneficial to have an instructor there to talk me through and remind me what I should be concentrating on as I work through the poses. At some point, I would like to be proficient enough to be able to get an equally beneficial experience doing yoga on my own at home, but for now I find classes more challenging and rewarding.
I took my first yoga class 10 years ago. I've tried various styles of Hatha throughout the years, and then started practicing Ashtanga a few years ago, which I really enjoyed. I was ready for a more rigorous style, and I loved my instructor. As with most things, I really think you need to find the right combination in order for you to get the most out of it- the key is to find a good class, a style of yoga that fits you, and a good instructor.
Best of all, I was reminded as to how much I love the way I feel when I do yoga. I would love to keep this up! I think I will pay another visit to my friendly neighborhood yoga studio again this Friday...
Monday, August 29, 2005
little hat
Well, I finally present a photo of the finished Umbilical Cord Hat. I had the hardest time getting the lighting right. It is still not the greatest, but you can at least get the idea.
I think this little lid will be called Trey, since it will be for my friend's third baby, due in October. The hat turned out a little larger than I had anticipated, but whatever, it can always be worn longer, I guess. It's so, so soft- very snuggly- I love it! It makes me want to make myself something out of this super soft yarn!
I think this little lid will be called Trey, since it will be for my friend's third baby, due in October. The hat turned out a little larger than I had anticipated, but whatever, it can always be worn longer, I guess. It's so, so soft- very snuggly- I love it! It makes me want to make myself something out of this super soft yarn!
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Bully #2
I love listening to people's childhood stories. I was hanging out with my mom and sister yesterday, and they told me how my dad, who lost his father at a young age, was teased by another boy at school for being an orphan. My dad got so mad that he beat the crap out of the boy, and from that point forward, he became Bully #2 (yup, apparently his school ranked the bullies - ha!) When my dad went back to Japan this past spring for the first time in over 35 years, he unsuccessfully tried to contact Bully #1 but ran into Bully #3 (who didn't remember my dad.) So funny. When I was growing up, my dad used to bring home injured birds or baby birds neglected by their mothers. The birds kept dying under his care (he used to tell us that they "flew" away - now we know better.) But he kept bringing them home. Maybe he saw himself in those little birds...
Oklahoma T-shirt
I would have bought this t-shirt if it hadn't been a A$45 t-shirt. But how funny is this? We saw this at the surf shop in the downtown mall in Brisbane. Where exactly do they think Oklahoma is?
Yarn Haul
Tons of the Lang Polar 100% wool fleece in royal blue, lime green, deep purple, tan and light brown that I was able to pick up for pennies.
Nebo Rainforest
This was taken on our walk after the forest turned from mostely Eucalyptus into rainforest.
Fruit-dove
Here's a shot of one of the many birds we saw in the sanctuary in the Nebo Mountains. The light was perfect for picture taking.
Aussie Update
Sunday, August 28th 7:04 pm
Our second day here, we made a trip across the river via river fairy and into the city to visit an indoor/outdoor mall. The purpose of the trip wasn’t really because we love malls, but mainly to see if we could pick up some slightly warmer outerwear. But it was fun to see the shops and the people at the mall. There weren’t as many of the U.S. chain shops as I thought there would be. Also, I realized as we were looking around that we had come at an interesting time. In Australia, they are getting ready to start the spring season, so they are discounting their winter clothes - pretty cool for a couple people from San Diego who are getting ready to start the fall season. I was able to pick up a sweater for A$29.
But the find of the day was at their local Michaels-like craft shop. Guess what? It was the super yarn sale! I was able to pick up a ton of this really cool 100% wool fleece yarn (that was super soft) for about A$41 – or approximately $30! Each ball was A$1.50. After the mall we caught a bus back across the river into the West End and stopped at a coffee shop called the Three Monkeys. I had a hot malt which was really good and we got some cheesecake and an unbelievably good shortbread.
Today we took a day trip up to Mount Nebo and walked through the rainforest. The walk was really neat because you started with a typical eucalyptus forest. Then as we walked, the climate literally changed to the point that the forest became a rainforest. There was also a little sanctuary were we had a chance to see the animals from the area including a wombat, wallabies, kangaroos, a platypus, turtles and tons of birds. Then we finished out our excursion at a little café that had great scones and – get this – handmade yarn! They didn’t have a ton to pick from, but I was able to pick up a ball that was hand made from local spinners.
Things we realized about Australia:
Drug Stores are called Chemists
They like to add “o”s and “ie”s to words (as in car registration = rego and beer can = tinnie)
Collision centers are called Smash Repairs
Iced Coffee is like a coffee float with ice cream
Hamburgers are served with beats, egg and ham.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Nepalese Pagoda
Here's a shot of the Nepalese Pagoda from the Boardwalk. It is surounded by a bamboo forest - so pretty!
School Kids
I love the kids in their school uniforms! And the best is their hats. It seems that each school has a unique uniform with equally bright colors. Is this their attempt at making their kids more visible as they cross the street on the way to school?
G'day Mate
The funny thing about leaving the Northern Hemisphere at night, is that you fly 1/2 across the world for 13 hours at night and you arrive at your destination awake and refreshed (insert sarcasm here) at 5:45 am, ready to start a whole new day. Actually, the flight to Brisbane really wasn’t as bad as we were expecting. Because it was a night flight starting at 11:30 from LA, we thought for sure we wouldn’t get dinner. So, we ate 2 $4 hotdogs (and I know you are thinking – wow, for that price, I bet they were gourmet hotdogs (oxymoron) – but no, they were airport hotdogs) and had to argue with the lady to let me have cups to use for the free water from their soda machine (apparently she didn’t like to give away the cups she had to pay for when someone didn’t want to pay for their drinks - she even tried to tell me that the water spigot was broken, to which I promptly walked over to the machine and showed her that it did - I just spent $8 for 2 hotdogs , I was getting a fricken cup). But, it turned out that Qantas provides a nice midnight dinner, which I pretty sure they’d never seen two people more happy to see airline food. We also had our first introduction to the differences between American English and Australian English. Apparently, Butter Chicken with Peas is not a dried out chicken breast with a side of equally dried out peas (although to me, I don’t think there is ever a delectable pea side dish), it is a chicken masala. So, my husband ended up with a surprisingly tasty airplane dinner and I had the dried out pasta. A guess it pays to ask.
There was also a girl with a laugh from hell. It was loud, high-pitched and radiated around the cabin as if she was sitting right next to you. And because she was on some sort of college vacation extravaganza with all her friends, it was very frequent. Fortunately, my dad had reminded us about how much noise fatigue can affect you and made sure we had some earplugs to take with us. So, not only were we able to drown out the white noise of the engine, but she went with it. We were both able to get way more sleep than we hoped and the flight really didn’t seem to take the 13 hours that it did. The annoying thing about Qantas though, is that they make certain amenities, that are available to everyone on other airlines we have flown, only available to their business class and first class. So the in-seat power jacks I was counting on to let us watch to full Lord of the Rings extended director’s cut on the way home (after all how many times are you able to sit and watch a 12 hour movie all the way through?), we don’t have access to since we didn’t want to pay twice as much for our tickets. We also realized that they don’t have video on-demand for all their seats, so you have to be lucky to catch the beginning of a new cycle ever 2.5 hours or you miss the beginning of the movie. Oh well, I think it will be more of an issue on the way home since that is a day flight and we probably won’t be told to go to bed, like we were getting down.
Our friend met us at the airport and we had a chance to ride the train into downtown Brisbane(commonly referred to as “city”, not “the city”, but “city”) and take a cab out to West End where she lives in a totally cute condo. We didn’t know that she had a two bedroom place, so we were pleasantly surprised when we realized that we had a guest room to sleep in – yay! She fixed us breakfast and we chatted for a while before she had to take off for work – I guess the beauty of such an early arriving flight. We decided that we were going to try not to sleep all day, so that we could fight jet lag. What we ended up doing was killing the jet lag. We left her place a few minutes after she went to work and walked, and walked and walked.
<>We walked all through the local shops – West End is an very multi-cultural end of town with small local shops (several green grocers, fruit shops, butchers, delicatessens, bread shops and even a nut shop!) as well tons of international restaurants and way more coffee houses than even Seattle can boast – and ended up back at Victoria Bridge that crosses the Brisbane River on the way to City. We stayed on our side of the river and walked along the Boardwalk past the Nepalese Pagoda (built as part of the 88 Expo) and to the Streets Beach (which is really just a chlorinated swimming pool with sand). We also walked up and down Little Stanley Street and through the street bizarre at Stanley Street Plaza. We also got falafel wraps at a Mediterranean restaurant in the Central Cafes and ate them on the Boardwalk at the edge of the river.On the way home, we stopped at the local supermarket (and walked through that as if we were sightseeing) and got some food to make dinner. We fully intended on showering (after all at this point it had been almost 3 days) and sleeping an hour or so until our friend got home from work. But we got sucked in to a True Hollywood Story-like show about Will Smith (I don’t care who they are about, they are hard to turn off) – only this was the happy version show, not the ones where they talk about all the crap they did. So, by the time we did get out of the shower our friend was home and we ended up talking and showing her pictures of some of our old trips (its been a year and a half since we’d seen her) before dinner.
So, that’s all for now and I will check in as much as possible as we go.
Things we realized about Australia:
Street bizarres in Australia sell the same import clothing, jewelry, handbags, nick-knacks and body creams as in the U.S.
Postmen ride orange motorcycles.
Kids were very colorful school uniforms (complete with sun hats for both the boys and girls – OMG – so cute!)
Sandwich veggies are called “salads” (as in – “did you want the other salads?” after I told her no onions on mine).
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Half-forgotten brush with halfsie fame
I forgot to mention that Tamilyn Tomita walked by us on Sunday in LA. I'm guessing that she fills in the "Japanese/Japanese-American" bubble on her forms? With all of the interracial marriages in the country, it should be interesting to see what people will claim as their heritage...
A sad state of affairs
This morning, while visiting my LCB (local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), I was sad to discover that the company is stopping their fun little pink card program for frequent customers, due to a widespread problem with counterfeit cards. (The pink cards- you get a hole punched in a square each time you purchase a cup of your favorite drink of choice and when all the squares are punched, you get a free drink. Fun, right?
Well yes, it WAS. Now all the LCBs have signs up, informing their customers that they are doing away with the program, due to this counterfeiting epidemic (but are developing alternative programs for their customers). Upon reading this, I say, in shock, "Wow- people actually counterfeit the pink cards? That sucks!" And mind you, I think it sucks, not only because I actually remember to use the pink cards (unlike all the other store cards that are tucked in my wallet and I forget exist and, therefore, am never able to reap the "rewards," and not because I enjoy redeeming my pink cards for a free vanilla latte every once in a while, but because of the bigger sociological implications. I mean, how sad is that?
What started out as such a simple little gesture from a company to its customers, became an bona fide business for the Shady McShadersons of the world. According to my friendly neighborhood barrista, this had become a huge problem, where violators could buy and sell the cards - and the hold punches - on eBay! What?? Who does that? And for what? For freaking coffee? Come on! The company estimates millions of dollars in product loss because of this counterfeit operation. Is this what it's come to? Is this really what we're doing now? Forging coffee cards for free drinks? That's just sad...
Well yes, it WAS. Now all the LCBs have signs up, informing their customers that they are doing away with the program, due to this counterfeiting epidemic (but are developing alternative programs for their customers). Upon reading this, I say, in shock, "Wow- people actually counterfeit the pink cards? That sucks!" And mind you, I think it sucks, not only because I actually remember to use the pink cards (unlike all the other store cards that are tucked in my wallet and I forget exist and, therefore, am never able to reap the "rewards," and not because I enjoy redeeming my pink cards for a free vanilla latte every once in a while, but because of the bigger sociological implications. I mean, how sad is that?
What started out as such a simple little gesture from a company to its customers, became an bona fide business for the Shady McShadersons of the world. According to my friendly neighborhood barrista, this had become a huge problem, where violators could buy and sell the cards - and the hold punches - on eBay! What?? Who does that? And for what? For freaking coffee? Come on! The company estimates millions of dollars in product loss because of this counterfeit operation. Is this what it's come to? Is this really what we're doing now? Forging coffee cards for free drinks? That's just sad...
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
TTFN
Well, in just a bit we are off for this year's vacation. For whatever reason I was very realaxed about planning and organizing. Which means that I had a crap load of stuff to do today. But at a minimum our tickets and passports are in order and that's really all we need to get on the plane. I will try to post some updates as I go from sunny Brisbane. See you all soon!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
OSW Update
I finally finished the main body section of my OSW. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I have enough recycled silk yarn to finish the whole thing. I'll know better once I finish the sleeves. But this project may need to stay home, so I don't end up lugging it around Australia for nothing. Fortunately with this type of yarn, I don't have to worry about dye lots. I'll just tell the Wool Peddler the color range I am interested in and it should work out ok.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Nisei Week 2005
Nisei Week 2005
Originally uploaded by sushi1026.
My sister, cousin, and her daughter met up in J-town in LA for a matsuri (festival) on Sunday - actually, the last day of "Nisei Week." We watched taiko drummers (one group's overwhelming expression of joy as they drummed moved my sister to tears...I love my lil' sister!), watched a geta tap dance routine (dancers from Kagoshima rocking to Japanese hip-hop music in wooden sandals with heels - ha!), listened to this year's All-Japan Karaoke winner (hmm...) and danced to ondo music in the street (check out the Elvises in the photo). After all this, I seriously thought that I need to do some re-immersion in my culture. We ate a Japanese style snow cone (with azuki red beans and condensed milk) and a uni-ikura-don (sea urchin-salmon roe over sushi rice...yup, it's only for the strong, and a food-texture-sensitive person's absolute nightmare...but so delicious! We ordered it at a restaurant called Sushi 333 East.) Unfortunately, that was yesterday...I am so close to dropping out of school due to my lack of motivation. Any words of encouragement would be deeply appreciated :)
Coldplay Highlights/Lowlights
Highlights - Finally seeing Coldplay after almost five years of 'missing' them, good sound, hundreds of camera phones taking pictures at the same time, Chris getting off stage and running into the center of the seating area to sing, the four of them taking a bow at the end - arm in arm, only taking 3 minutes to get out of the parking and on to the freeway, great concert companions.
Lowlights - they didn't perform Trouble, having to stand almost the whole concert (12 year old in front of me), feeling like a worker ant as we spilled out onto the walkways to leave, 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night, not being able to share it with my husband.
Lowlights - they didn't perform Trouble, having to stand almost the whole concert (12 year old in front of me), feeling like a worker ant as we spilled out onto the walkways to leave, 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night, not being able to share it with my husband.
Yellow
I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all yellow...
Here it is, my Happy Daisy yellow sash, in doily form. Perhaps someday it will resemble a sash, but for now, all I see is doily. Picture a vase in the middle of it. It's not hard to do.
The Coldplay concert last night was phenomenal, by the way. It wasn't the first time I had seen them live, yet it was still totally worth the 2+ hours of traffic, 4 hours of sleep last night and price of admission. I highly recommend going to see them when they're in your area. You really can't go wrong. It doesn't get much better.
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all yellow...
Here it is, my Happy Daisy yellow sash, in doily form. Perhaps someday it will resemble a sash, but for now, all I see is doily. Picture a vase in the middle of it. It's not hard to do.
The Coldplay concert last night was phenomenal, by the way. It wasn't the first time I had seen them live, yet it was still totally worth the 2+ hours of traffic, 4 hours of sleep last night and price of admission. I highly recommend going to see them when they're in your area. You really can't go wrong. It doesn't get much better.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
And the Wiener is...Well, They're All Wieners Really
Today was Jenny's big day - the 9th Annual Wiener Nationals in San Diego. This year they were held at the rugby field at Qualcomm Statdium. We had a lot of fun there were about 225 dachshunds at this year's event. The winners are supposed to go on to some kind of semi-finals - notice the lack of knowledge regarding this next step, obviously we won't be going on to that round - and then the finals will be held during the Holiday Bowl with contestants from around the country. I know, you don't have to tell me.
We decided to walk to the event this morning and crossed the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot to get to the event site. Pretty much from this angle, we were at the farthest possible point away from where we needed to be - and I have the blister to prove it. However, I want you to look closely at the picture below. If you notice in the forground, there are some people walking through cones in the parking lot. We thought - hmmm, what are they doing?
Several of the car clubs come to the stadium parking lot to set up a cone tracks and then race their cars on non-event days. So, we thought maybe they were walking the track before they got in their cars to race. Each person or pair of people was walking almost exactly equidistant from the next set of people, say 100 feet apart from each other. And the track zig, zagged making a fairly large walking area so there were tons of people out there (I know its hard to see in the picture). Anyway, it turned out that these people were just walking. It seems that some group must set up this track and people come down and walk/run for exercise. My thought is: Mission Bay is only a few miles away - wouldn't you rather walk along the bay than through Qualcomm parking lot?
So, after some confusion over where the racing area actually was - (they had said something about it being close to the trolly stop. Thinking - cake, walk toward the trolly stop - I hadn't bothered to read the directions or instructions on exactly where we were supposed to go (I'm not the best when it comes to direction follow through). So after navigating our way through the walker track and around the stadium, we reached the trolley stop, but no one was there! I thought - oh, my gosh, is this the wrong day? is it Friday and I forgot to go to work?) - we got registered and waited with some of the other owners for the races to start. - P.S. the news was there, too - can I just say how wierd it is to watch the news people do their live thing in front of you - where they are talking to the people in the studio as if they can see them in the camera? What a stange job.
Here's a look at what one of the preliminary races looked like. This year they ran on grass instead of sand and a lot more dogs actually ran.
But, not all of them...
Despite bringing her favorite green hippo and wearing her new bandana with the evil lady bug, Jenny had no interest in running down the track. She's smart and knew that my husband was behind the starting gate. So after he tossed her through the door, she waiting until they closed the gate, then walked back around to find him. She did stay in the race though by walking in front of him all the way back to the finishing line with a final time close to a minute, rather than the 3.5 seconds needed to get to the semi-finals. But, that's ok, we love our little girl and she seemed to enjoy herself even though it was pretty hot and she kept seeking out the pitance of shady spots she could find.
So, that's it for this year's Wiener Nationals, but we will be back next year - whether Jenny likes it or not.
We decided to walk to the event this morning and crossed the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot to get to the event site. Pretty much from this angle, we were at the farthest possible point away from where we needed to be - and I have the blister to prove it. However, I want you to look closely at the picture below. If you notice in the forground, there are some people walking through cones in the parking lot. We thought - hmmm, what are they doing?
Several of the car clubs come to the stadium parking lot to set up a cone tracks and then race their cars on non-event days. So, we thought maybe they were walking the track before they got in their cars to race. Each person or pair of people was walking almost exactly equidistant from the next set of people, say 100 feet apart from each other. And the track zig, zagged making a fairly large walking area so there were tons of people out there (I know its hard to see in the picture). Anyway, it turned out that these people were just walking. It seems that some group must set up this track and people come down and walk/run for exercise. My thought is: Mission Bay is only a few miles away - wouldn't you rather walk along the bay than through Qualcomm parking lot?So, after some confusion over where the racing area actually was - (they had said something about it being close to the trolly stop. Thinking - cake, walk toward the trolly stop - I hadn't bothered to read the directions or instructions on exactly where we were supposed to go (I'm not the best when it comes to direction follow through). So after navigating our way through the walker track and around the stadium, we reached the trolley stop, but no one was there! I thought - oh, my gosh, is this the wrong day? is it Friday and I forgot to go to work?) - we got registered and waited with some of the other owners for the races to start. - P.S. the news was there, too - can I just say how wierd it is to watch the news people do their live thing in front of you - where they are talking to the people in the studio as if they can see them in the camera? What a stange job.
Here's a look at what one of the preliminary races looked like. This year they ran on grass instead of sand and a lot more dogs actually ran.
But, not all of them...
Despite bringing her favorite green hippo and wearing her new bandana with the evil lady bug, Jenny had no interest in running down the track. She's smart and knew that my husband was behind the starting gate. So after he tossed her through the door, she waiting until they closed the gate, then walked back around to find him. She did stay in the race though by walking in front of him all the way back to the finishing line with a final time close to a minute, rather than the 3.5 seconds needed to get to the semi-finals. But, that's ok, we love our little girl and she seemed to enjoy herself even though it was pretty hot and she kept seeking out the pitance of shady spots she could find.
So, that's it for this year's Wiener Nationals, but we will be back next year - whether Jenny likes it or not.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
The "Con" in Yarn Fishing:
...dropping a can of tuna on your bare foot while trying to rotate the yarn around so it dries better. Care to wager on the bruise?
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Caricatures
My sister has been kind enough to draw a picture of us knitting (Dis, would you be able to scan it?) Hopefully, we can clip it so we can individual "portraits" that we can post to our profiles. Without any hint regarding the type of knitters we are, she drew Dis and Whirly with their nicely knitted, straight WIPs, but portrayed me as a knitter struggling with her wonky style. Ha! How true it is....
Kyoto Sash
Here's a picture of Starry Night's finished sash. Overall I really liked working on the sash. One thing I realized is that the center line migrates as you work on this in the round. All along I thought that the stitches looked like they were on a diagonal. And they really are. Now that its done, you can see that the starting center mark is about 2 inches away from the ending center and a diagonal of stitches goes from one to the other. Very interesting and something I didn't expect.
Yarn Fishing
I decided to be crazy and actually follow the recommendations for reclaiming crinkled, curly yarn. Since I now have 4 nice balls of raman yarn, I thought that I should take the time and fix this yarn up right before I re-work it into my Kyoto. I realized when I used a bit of the frogged sleeve yarn for my re-back, that the Tahki Cotton Classics tends to separate. It separated so much that the bit of yarn that had been part of my sleeve actually created a line you can see across the back. I'm sure to the casual observer it is virtually unnoticeable and I think it will work itself together with wear and time, but I sure see it. After all the effort to get Starry Night the right size, the last thing I need is a front panel or half a sleeve that looks jacked up compared to the rest of the knitting.
So, last night I worked my balls into hanks, dunked them and are now drying them. I following the instructions in the Stitch 'n Bitch book and the results have already been remarkable. As soon as all the fibers were wet, the crinkles came out! The best part is that the whole process only took about 10 minutes. I'm glad I did it and now I won't be worrying about what this yarn is going to do or not do.
I think my favorite part of this process is the drying contraption I put together. I hung the sides of three hangers off the belt loop of a fourth. Then I draped the hanks over the sideways hanger loops of the three hangers and stuck cans in the hanks to weight them down. It reminds me of some kind of fishing hooks with the hanks being the fish. What's funny is that I used cans of tuna for the weights. Whirly - you should totally do this - maybe not the fishing, but at least the straightening :-)
So, last night I worked my balls into hanks, dunked them and are now drying them. I following the instructions in the Stitch 'n Bitch book and the results have already been remarkable. As soon as all the fibers were wet, the crinkles came out! The best part is that the whole process only took about 10 minutes. I'm glad I did it and now I won't be worrying about what this yarn is going to do or not do.
I think my favorite part of this process is the drying contraption I put together. I hung the sides of three hangers off the belt loop of a fourth. Then I draped the hanks over the sideways hanger loops of the three hangers and stuck cans in the hanks to weight them down. It reminds me of some kind of fishing hooks with the hanks being the fish. What's funny is that I used cans of tuna for the weights. Whirly - you should totally do this - maybe not the fishing, but at least the straightening :-)
Secret Pal 6
Hi all! It appears that the Secret Pal 6 sign-ups have started. The deadline is September 3rd, so if you are interested, please see the rules of the game here.
I participated this time around and had a really great time. My Secret Pal has been amazingly generous even through a cross country move! I've also had a lot of fun corresponding with the person I'm spoiling and love that I've gotten to know someone that I probably never would have met.
So, sign up - its a lot of fun!
I participated this time around and had a really great time. My Secret Pal has been amazingly generous even through a cross country move! I've also had a lot of fun corresponding with the person I'm spoiling and love that I've gotten to know someone that I probably never would have met.
So, sign up - its a lot of fun!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Mystery Solved
Apparently the Yarn Harlot has proposed a theory to solve the mystery of missing knitting. Paisley commented to my latest post on the Kyoto-Along regarding the problem I was having with my sash - a problem which was solved at lunch today with 1/2 a row, because now all of a sudden its 6 inches! So, I thought I would put a link to the Yarn Harlot's post here for those of you who aren't following the Along.
P.S. the Yarn Harlot must have reached her Escape Velocity because she was wearing that finished shawl at the book signing I went to - so pretty!
P.S. the Yarn Harlot must have reached her Escape Velocity because she was wearing that finished shawl at the book signing I went to - so pretty!
Sock it to me
Am I really such a glutton for punishment? Do I really just never want to finish that Kyoto? Or is some other mystical force at work here? I'm not sure what's possessing me, but...get the straight jacket ready...I am really eager to knit up some socks!
The thing is, it isn't as if I don't have anything else to work on. I have 2 current WIPs and WIPs I haven't even started yet but are already in the pipeline. Not to mention, the idea of knitting socks really intimidates me- I am not an advanced knitter by any stretch of the imagination, as we all know!
My biggest obstacle is that I don't know where to start. I know there are tons of patterns out there, but I think I need more instruction in order to get going. If anyone has come across a particularly good, extra helpful resource (e.g. a simple pattern, book, video, with detailed instructions that are easy to understand) please let me know! I'm just looking for something basic, in not too fine of a gauge and not too small of a needle. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. Meanwhile, I will keep trudging along with my beloved Happy Daisy sash... :)
The thing is, it isn't as if I don't have anything else to work on. I have 2 current WIPs and WIPs I haven't even started yet but are already in the pipeline. Not to mention, the idea of knitting socks really intimidates me- I am not an advanced knitter by any stretch of the imagination, as we all know!
My biggest obstacle is that I don't know where to start. I know there are tons of patterns out there, but I think I need more instruction in order to get going. If anyone has come across a particularly good, extra helpful resource (e.g. a simple pattern, book, video, with detailed instructions that are easy to understand) please let me know! I'm just looking for something basic, in not too fine of a gauge and not too small of a needle. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. Meanwhile, I will keep trudging along with my beloved Happy Daisy sash... :)
Dumb Luck
I was happily wrapping up my last gifts for the Secret Pal exchange last night when I had a funny feeling. I was tying the ribbon around the pattern book I had picked out for my girl when I thought I remembered her posting something about a Rowan pattern book as one of her very first posts on her blog. I thought, before I seal this up, I better double check that its not the same thing. Yeah, you know where I am going with this. What the heck? There was a series of 6 books with children's patterns and I picked up the exact same one she already had! What am I supposed to do now? I am leaving for vacation soon and there is no way I have time to make it anywhere but Michaels before I go. Plus, I am tapped out creatively on this thing. I hate sending just stuff, so I need some help getting ideas on what to do to fill out this black hole - the pattern book was supposed to be the "big" present this time around. So far my box includes some navy cotton yarn I picked up at my LYS and some Bath & Body Works goodies. Any suggestions?
Monday, August 15, 2005
Tuscan Sunset 8-14
Tuscan Sunset 8-14
Originally uploaded by sushi1026.
This photo (of TS's back and sleeves) was taken by Dis, our faithful historian. I figure that I better post this now or I'll never do it, with school coming up next week (I already received my first reading assignment.) Next TS pic will either be the finished sash or a pile of frogged brick-red yarn...
1st Annual S&B Retreat in the books
The 1st Annual S&B Retreat was a resounding success, I'd say! I think it achieved all of its intended goals-or really, its main goal of spending quality time with good friends (requisite stitching and bitching included). I'm looking forward to keeping up with this as an annual event!
The Oaks was great. I enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to worry about anything. Everything we wanted to do or eat was right there. We were fed 3 meals a day, plus smoothie, veggie, and the aforementioned broth breaks, and all the water and iced tea we could drink! Besides frequent visits to the ladies room, we also took part in a couple of fitness classes, which were great, and took advantage of the nice pool area all Saturday afternoon. (Thanks, BTW, Dis, for the lovely photo of Nasus and I simultaneously depicting our frustrated "Dangit, sash!" faces.) We did, however, decline a visit to the "solo meditation" area. ;) As Dis mentioned, the food was quite tasty, although notably lacking in sodium. Lucky for us, we brought sodium supplements in the form of chips, pretzels, and other goodies! One of the fun aspects of dinner time was that we were able to meet and dine with a couple of nice women, one each night. We met Mary, a woman from Alaska who is a world-traveler and health spa go-er and Estelle, a lovely lawyer and mother of two year-old twins from Santa Monica, who was only there for the day but was very happy and exclaimed that it was the best day of her life. :)
We even managed to get in some knitting! Although, as I look at the half a dozen or so rows of my Kyoto sash, I wonder what the heck I was doing all weekend, as I sure didn't make much progress on that thing! Another fun aspect of the Oaks environment was the way we were approached by a few different women while we worked on our sashes on the patio. They would ask to see what we were making and talked a little about yarn and one woman from LA told us about her LYS. Knitters are so friendly!
We also shared our 100 Things lists and made a new list- of future possible retreat locales. These sessions were both great fun. As close as we are, we learned even more about each other, which was great. We made a pact to make continue this as an annual event, and even joked about what we would be like at the 30th Annual S&B Retreat! Ha! Personally, I can't wait! Well, I can wait for 30 years to pass by, but I am happy to think we will still have this in 30 years. As the 3 of us slowly part from the job (and city) that initially brought us together, we are unable to see each other every day like we used to, so retreats will be good excuses to get together for a good old fashioned Girls Weekend every once in a while. I know I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat! Hawaii, here we come! ;)
The Oaks was great. I enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to worry about anything. Everything we wanted to do or eat was right there. We were fed 3 meals a day, plus smoothie, veggie, and the aforementioned broth breaks, and all the water and iced tea we could drink! Besides frequent visits to the ladies room, we also took part in a couple of fitness classes, which were great, and took advantage of the nice pool area all Saturday afternoon. (Thanks, BTW, Dis, for the lovely photo of Nasus and I simultaneously depicting our frustrated "Dangit, sash!" faces.) We did, however, decline a visit to the "solo meditation" area. ;) As Dis mentioned, the food was quite tasty, although notably lacking in sodium. Lucky for us, we brought sodium supplements in the form of chips, pretzels, and other goodies! One of the fun aspects of dinner time was that we were able to meet and dine with a couple of nice women, one each night. We met Mary, a woman from Alaska who is a world-traveler and health spa go-er and Estelle, a lovely lawyer and mother of two year-old twins from Santa Monica, who was only there for the day but was very happy and exclaimed that it was the best day of her life. :)
We even managed to get in some knitting! Although, as I look at the half a dozen or so rows of my Kyoto sash, I wonder what the heck I was doing all weekend, as I sure didn't make much progress on that thing! Another fun aspect of the Oaks environment was the way we were approached by a few different women while we worked on our sashes on the patio. They would ask to see what we were making and talked a little about yarn and one woman from LA told us about her LYS. Knitters are so friendly!
We also shared our 100 Things lists and made a new list- of future possible retreat locales. These sessions were both great fun. As close as we are, we learned even more about each other, which was great. We made a pact to make continue this as an annual event, and even joked about what we would be like at the 30th Annual S&B Retreat! Ha! Personally, I can't wait! Well, I can wait for 30 years to pass by, but I am happy to think we will still have this in 30 years. As the 3 of us slowly part from the job (and city) that initially brought us together, we are unable to see each other every day like we used to, so retreats will be good excuses to get together for a good old fashioned Girls Weekend every once in a while. I know I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat! Hawaii, here we come! ;)
Sunday, August 14, 2005
1st Annual S&B Retreat Debriefing
Well, we are back and we had a great time at the Oaks resort in Ojai. Nasus and I left first thing in the morning on Friday from San Diego and met up with Whirlypurly in LA. Since we were starving and had been so good practicing our time management skills, we decided to stop for breakfast in LA. We ended up going to the Le Pain Quotidien. This ended up being the most expensive breakfast I have ever had, but yum! We all had soft boiled eggs with their fresh bread and a brie cheese plate. Nasus and I also enjoyed Cafe au Lait and Whirlypurly had a hot chocolate. I think the latte bowls were the best part as well as being able to sample some truly yummy orange marmolade - definitely going to have to get me some of that!
We stopped by a cute little yarn shop in Ojai on the way to the Oaks. The shop was litterally in the owner's front yard! But very cute and Nasus used it as a great opportunity for a little stash enrichment. We made it to the Oaks in time for their relaxation and stretching class in the afternoon and the prescribed dinner. In case, you don't know anything about the Oaks, all of your food and classes comes with the room. It is a spa that it designed around relaxation, but also jump starting a new fitness or weightloss life style. We didn't really go to lose weight, but picked it out mainly because it got us the most bang for your buck of the places we looked into. Although the Oaks apparently does not believe in salt, the food was fresh and the portions were very decent - considering the meals totaled 1000 calories per day! We also got dessert with every meal. You also had broth break at 10:45. They can keep their broth.
Fortunately we thought ahead and brought plenty of supplemental snacks and unsanctioned beverages. The highlight of Friday night besides sharing our soon to be posted 100 lists, was sharing a peanut butter cup doughnut from Stan's in LA. YOU HAVE TO GET ONE OF THESE IF YOU ARE EVER IN LA! It was rich and absolutely glorious! That's the white bag from Stan's in the picture below.
After breakfast Saturday morning we took their mind body awareness class, which is spelled P-I-L-A-T-E-S. Great, but not good on a full stomach and especially not good after drinking a bottle of wine the night before :-( But, after the headache went away and the sun finally came out, we made it to the pool where we enjoyed knitting in the shade, floating in the pool, reading and getting a little tanned (but mostly burned).
We all worked on our Kyoto sashes this weekend, so here is a little update shot.
We made back to LA in time for lunch at Whirlypurly's favorite Mongolian BBQ place, which was very yummy and a visit to the Knit Cafe. This was a cute little shop that had a great selection of yarns. The only problem is that I fell in love with a Blue Sky Alpaca cotton that I want to use for the Cable 8 Sweater from Interweave Knits Spring 2005 issue, which would cost me $80. So, I had to put it off for now :-( But I did find a great Rowan book with some wonderful sweater patterns for the fall. Great, that's all I need, more projects!
All in all, we had a great time at the 1st Annual S&B Retreat. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank and we plan to do it again as soon as we can.
We stopped by a cute little yarn shop in Ojai on the way to the Oaks. The shop was litterally in the owner's front yard! But very cute and Nasus used it as a great opportunity for a little stash enrichment. We made it to the Oaks in time for their relaxation and stretching class in the afternoon and the prescribed dinner. In case, you don't know anything about the Oaks, all of your food and classes comes with the room. It is a spa that it designed around relaxation, but also jump starting a new fitness or weightloss life style. We didn't really go to lose weight, but picked it out mainly because it got us the most bang for your buck of the places we looked into. Although the Oaks apparently does not believe in salt, the food was fresh and the portions were very decent - considering the meals totaled 1000 calories per day! We also got dessert with every meal. You also had broth break at 10:45. They can keep their broth.
Fortunately we thought ahead and brought plenty of supplemental snacks and unsanctioned beverages. The highlight of Friday night besides sharing our soon to be posted 100 lists, was sharing a peanut butter cup doughnut from Stan's in LA. YOU HAVE TO GET ONE OF THESE IF YOU ARE EVER IN LA! It was rich and absolutely glorious! That's the white bag from Stan's in the picture below.
After breakfast Saturday morning we took their mind body awareness class, which is spelled P-I-L-A-T-E-S. Great, but not good on a full stomach and especially not good after drinking a bottle of wine the night before :-( But, after the headache went away and the sun finally came out, we made it to the pool where we enjoyed knitting in the shade, floating in the pool, reading and getting a little tanned (but mostly burned).
We all worked on our Kyoto sashes this weekend, so here is a little update shot.
We made back to LA in time for lunch at Whirlypurly's favorite Mongolian BBQ place, which was very yummy and a visit to the Knit Cafe. This was a cute little shop that had a great selection of yarns. The only problem is that I fell in love with a Blue Sky Alpaca cotton that I want to use for the Cable 8 Sweater from Interweave Knits Spring 2005 issue, which would cost me $80. So, I had to put it off for now :-( But I did find a great Rowan book with some wonderful sweater patterns for the fall. Great, that's all I need, more projects!
All in all, we had a great time at the 1st Annual S&B Retreat. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank and we plan to do it again as soon as we can.
Friday, August 12, 2005
And they're off...
That's right boys and girls, the ladies of A Little Loopy are off for their 1st Annual S&B Retreat. We will give you all the dirty details upon our return - with pictures of course.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Ramen and Downward Dog
I had lunch with my family yesterday at Teri Cafe (www.tericafe.com) They just opened up a place in Clairemont (the other is in Oceanside.) A very Island Boy-Islands Restaurant feel, with Jack Johnson's music pumped into the background. The Banzai Ramen (with chicken and veggies) was delicious! They make their own noodles in a factory in Oceanside. The miso ramen looked okay, and my mom's katsu-don was sub-par, but I want to try the yakisoba next. The prices are cheap and they serve big quantities (I couldn't finish my ramen.)
In other news, I found a wonderful yoga instructor at the LA Fitness in Kearny Mesa (of all places...) Her name is Susan and she teaches Tu/Th mornings and evenings. I love her! I totally broke out in a sweat and she goes around her class, making adjustments on her students. I still want to take a Saturday pilates class with Bruno, one of these days...
In other news, I found a wonderful yoga instructor at the LA Fitness in Kearny Mesa (of all places...) Her name is Susan and she teaches Tu/Th mornings and evenings. I love her! I totally broke out in a sweat and she goes around her class, making adjustments on her students. I still want to take a Saturday pilates class with Bruno, one of these days...
Weekend Weather
It looks like its going to be great weather for our retreat this weekend - just as Whirlypurly predicted below :-) See the Ojai weekend forecast here.
T minus 24 hours and counting...
We have been waiting for what feels like an eternity, but now the day is finally nearly upon us! Happy Retreat Eve, girls! :)
"The sun'll come out tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun.
Just thinkin' about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
'Til' there's none.
When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick out my chin, and grin, and say
Oh the sun'll come out tomorrow
So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow
You're only a day away..."
"The sun'll come out tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun.
Just thinkin' about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
'Til' there's none.
When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick out my chin, and grin, and say
Oh the sun'll come out tomorrow
So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow
You're only a day away..."
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
S&K Update
Here's a picture from today's Sit & Knit. We had sort of a stragglers meeting today, but it was still fun. D and I started the meeting and then our newest members, Y & A, joined a bit later. Y learned to knit about 2 weeks ago and she has created the most beautiful striped scarf. I believe she used the same yarn (or at least close to it) that Whirlypurly used in her capelet. What was so cool about her scarf is that the varigated colors made perfect stripes across the width of the scarf. She's made a lot of progress in a very short amount of time! A also showed off her scarf today. This is the one that her mom helped her get going last week and it is coming out really cute. Its an eyelashy yarn in black, grays and white. It was great to see them at today's meeting and I really hope that we can keep it going!
P.S. Nasus we missed you :-( It just wasn't the same.
P.S. Nasus we missed you :-( It just wasn't the same.
Sash Update
Here's a sneak peek at my Kyoto sash. Its about 3 inches done right now. My plan is to work until about 6 inches (where you would normally stop for a medium) and then start my second stripe. Hopefully this will give me a little more length for my long torso.
Random realization: My mom and I were walking toward the car the other day and my dad started laughing. We turned around and he said - you guys are so funny. He went on to tell us that although I am 1.5 inches taller than my mom, my bum is about 1/2 a bum length lower than hers. We turned around and looked at our reflection and it was true! What the heck? I knew my torso was long, but man! We are talking circus freak here. So, its a good thing I was already planning on "adjusting" my Kyoto. Crazy!
Random realization: My mom and I were walking toward the car the other day and my dad started laughing. We turned around and he said - you guys are so funny. He went on to tell us that although I am 1.5 inches taller than my mom, my bum is about 1/2 a bum length lower than hers. We turned around and looked at our reflection and it was true! What the heck? I knew my torso was long, but man! We are talking circus freak here. So, its a good thing I was already planning on "adjusting" my Kyoto. Crazy!
Baby Got Re-Back
I am pleased to announce the completion of my Starry Night re-back. The second one wasn't nearly as painful as the first and I was able to make sure I didn't lose count of by BOs this time around. Its pretty (except for the knot dimple), but more importantly itÂ’s the right size - Yippy!
I decided not to post a picture, because why? That's right, you already know what it looks like.
On Sunday I CO for the sash. I toyed around with making my re-sleeve first, but I really needed a break from all that blue - this is particularly true for me because I tend to get bored with solid colors quite easily. I also made another beginner mistake - am I ever going to stop making these? - which was even stupider because I already knew about it! So, can you guess? That's right, I let my stitches twist when I joined my CO stitches into the round. I always knew about being careful not to let them twist, but it hadn't occurred to my why. I thought it was so that you didn't knit into them twisted, which I had always thought - duh. But now I can share with you the true reason for this caution. As I was 2/3 around my first row, I realized I had closed the circle with the twist in it! So, I had to undo, untwist and make sure I didn't do it again - and given the number of stitches on the needles, this was actually fairly tricky and for a minute or two, I thought I had done it again!
I have actually had a lot of fun with the sash (Yes, I know I'm not completely right in the head). I get in a rhythm and have a hard time stopping myself. So last night, I knitted straight through Sling Blade and I am already at 2 inches! I found switching colors a bitawkwardd, but it looks cool. I have also realized that I am going to make another pattern modification. It says to make the second stripe then BO with the main sash color. This means that after you seam, your top stripe ispracticallyy next to the main sweater color, instead of being within the sash - you can see what I mean by looking at the pattern photo. So, I think I will make my stripe, then make one more row in my sash color before I BO. We'll see...
I decided not to post a picture, because why? That's right, you already know what it looks like.
On Sunday I CO for the sash. I toyed around with making my re-sleeve first, but I really needed a break from all that blue - this is particularly true for me because I tend to get bored with solid colors quite easily. I also made another beginner mistake - am I ever going to stop making these? - which was even stupider because I already knew about it! So, can you guess? That's right, I let my stitches twist when I joined my CO stitches into the round. I always knew about being careful not to let them twist, but it hadn't occurred to my why. I thought it was so that you didn't knit into them twisted, which I had always thought - duh. But now I can share with you the true reason for this caution. As I was 2/3 around my first row, I realized I had closed the circle with the twist in it! So, I had to undo, untwist and make sure I didn't do it again - and given the number of stitches on the needles, this was actually fairly tricky and for a minute or two, I thought I had done it again!
I have actually had a lot of fun with the sash (Yes, I know I'm not completely right in the head). I get in a rhythm and have a hard time stopping myself. So last night, I knitted straight through Sling Blade and I am already at 2 inches! I found switching colors a bitawkwardd, but it looks cool. I have also realized that I am going to make another pattern modification. It says to make the second stripe then BO with the main sash color. This means that after you seam, your top stripe ispracticallyy next to the main sweater color, instead of being within the sash - you can see what I mean by looking at the pattern photo. So, I think I will make my stripe, then make one more row in my sash color before I BO. We'll see...
Monday, August 08, 2005
deja vu
After starting from scratch on the formerly mangled and dismembered Happy Daisy, I finally have one piece completed (again). I finished one of the front pieces and am now working on the other side.
I also started a new project, which I am excited about. I decided to make the Umbilical Cord Hat from the S&B book for my friend's new baby, due in October. I found an unbelievably soft organic cotton yarn in a muted sage color, which I think will knit up into a cute little hat and possibly the softest thing ever! Blue Sky Organic Cotton :)
I also started a new project, which I am excited about. I decided to make the Umbilical Cord Hat from the S&B book for my friend's new baby, due in October. I found an unbelievably soft organic cotton yarn in a muted sage color, which I think will knit up into a cute little hat and possibly the softest thing ever! Blue Sky Organic Cotton :)
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Accident-aversary
I thought it appropriate to mention here, since it was after an S&B meeting a year ago today that I had my car accident :-( Fortunately, everyone involved came out of it ok, which is amazing given that there were about 8 cars involved. My car, Wendy was killed, a fact that I'm still not used to. Everytime I see a red Miata of her generation, I think its Wendy. I miss her a lot, but do enjoy her replacement Wendel.
More important than anything, is that this accident reinforced why we should carry uninsured motorist coverage. Obviously, depending on your individual situation it may not be possible. But, if you are able to - get it! Although the first guy who hit me only clipped my end - whereas I had the pleasure of stopping a girl going 55 mph with my car - the insurance companies charged him with 50% responsibility. He didn't have insurance. One year later, my insurance company still hasn't been reimbursed. This could have left me out of half of a car, but with my uninsured motorist coverage, I'm only out 1/2 my deductable.
More important than anything, is that this accident reinforced why we should carry uninsured motorist coverage. Obviously, depending on your individual situation it may not be possible. But, if you are able to - get it! Although the first guy who hit me only clipped my end - whereas I had the pleasure of stopping a girl going 55 mph with my car - the insurance companies charged him with 50% responsibility. He didn't have insurance. One year later, my insurance company still hasn't been reimbursed. This could have left me out of half of a car, but with my uninsured motorist coverage, I'm only out 1/2 my deductable.
Red State
I knew my dog was from a red state, but had no idea about how serious her political convictions were! She has spent the afternoon trying to shake to death this Bill doll (a common Dachshund kill maneuver).
Some background on this doll: my dad has a series of dumpers out behind his office. They are unlocked and it is quite with no view from the street, so people bring all sorts of crazy stuff to dump in the dumpers at night - which of course they're not supposed to do because all sorts of bad stuff gets dumped that isn't supposed to go to the landfill. Well, one night my dad heard someone drive up and then start making trips to the dumper with a very squeaky dolly - apparently this wasn't a stealth dumping expedition. So, after they were gone, he checked out what they had been disposing. It turned out they had dumped several boxes of political satire stuff from around the 2000 election. There were boxes of election coverage "magazines" which contained a bunch of fairly stupid jokes and photoshopped pics of your political figure of choice. There were also a variety of other misc. political related toys, such as a certificate book of presidential pardons that you could fill out. But the prize were half a dozen Bill dolls.
Since my doggie has a love affair with plush toys, one of the Bill dolls became her new pet. So far, she has gotten quite a bit of play time out of it and it hasn't ripped open yet. We'll see though, pretty soon she will get bored and get down to business. At which point, Mr. Bill will no longer have a chance of survival.
Some background on this doll: my dad has a series of dumpers out behind his office. They are unlocked and it is quite with no view from the street, so people bring all sorts of crazy stuff to dump in the dumpers at night - which of course they're not supposed to do because all sorts of bad stuff gets dumped that isn't supposed to go to the landfill. Well, one night my dad heard someone drive up and then start making trips to the dumper with a very squeaky dolly - apparently this wasn't a stealth dumping expedition. So, after they were gone, he checked out what they had been disposing. It turned out they had dumped several boxes of political satire stuff from around the 2000 election. There were boxes of election coverage "magazines" which contained a bunch of fairly stupid jokes and photoshopped pics of your political figure of choice. There were also a variety of other misc. political related toys, such as a certificate book of presidential pardons that you could fill out. But the prize were half a dozen Bill dolls.
Since my doggie has a love affair with plush toys, one of the Bill dolls became her new pet. So far, she has gotten quite a bit of play time out of it and it hasn't ripped open yet. We'll see though, pretty soon she will get bored and get down to business. At which point, Mr. Bill will no longer have a chance of survival.
Freak of the Week
I did something today that I wasn't planning on doing - visiting the annual sale at Common Threads in Encinitas. Everything is the store was on sale, but here's the catch: You pick out what you want and then chose one of the balloons floating around the store. They pop the balloon and you get the discount mentioned in the balloon. So, you have no idea if you are going to save 10% or 50% - not cool. Unless of coarse you have unlimited funds or were going to buy yarn for a project anyway. Well, fortunately, they also had a sale room where everything was 40% off. The selection was pretty gone through since the sale started yesterday, but I made a couple good finds anyway.
First, I found this cool fluffy 81/19 wool/nylon Italian yarn in a light pumpkin (605) from Lane Borgosesia called Levante. And with the sale price each ball ended up being under $4. Second, and perhaps the best find in the store, were some hanks of navy blue 100% Cotton Flamme from Crystal Palace Yarns. This is the first time I've bought something, just to buy it but the cotton was about $2 a hank, so score! I bought enough, that I may spread it a round a little ;-)
However, the fine moment of the day was as I was leaving and realized that I was wearing a navy blue shirt and orange capris to buy my navy blue and orange yarn. Wow. Yeah, there's not really anything else I can say about that one.
First, I found this cool fluffy 81/19 wool/nylon Italian yarn in a light pumpkin (605) from Lane Borgosesia called Levante. And with the sale price each ball ended up being under $4. Second, and perhaps the best find in the store, were some hanks of navy blue 100% Cotton Flamme from Crystal Palace Yarns. This is the first time I've bought something, just to buy it but the cotton was about $2 a hank, so score! I bought enough, that I may spread it a round a little ;-)
However, the fine moment of the day was as I was leaving and realized that I was wearing a navy blue shirt and orange capris to buy my navy blue and orange yarn. Wow. Yeah, there's not really anything else I can say about that one.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Poor Darby
My poor car. Picture this: it's 6:00pm, my Friday, I am thrilled as I get ready to make the last long commute of the week...thrilled that is, until I go to start my car and lo and behold- nothing happens! Are you kidding? Unfortunately, no. So I go back into the office, with a look on my face that my closest co-workers have seen once before- about a month and a half ago when I had to return to the office one afternoon after I realized my car had a flat tire.
So I call AAA, automatically get put on hold for over 10 minutes, and then have to wait a half an hour for someone to show up. Whatever his name was, AAA guy #1 (AAAG1), guessed the battery was the problem and was able to jump start the car right away, so my plan was to drive it several miles to the Sears where I had visited before to get a new tire. I figured, okay, I know where that place is (conveniently located at South Coast Plaza, Nordstrom shoe department-adjacent), so I'll just go over there, get a new battery installed (and maybe a new pair of shoes for my trouble), and be on my way. Things could be worse. A-ha! Not so fast!
Luckily, a very thoughtful co-worker offered to follow me, just in case, and thank goodness she did, because my poor car totally died again, not 2 blocks from the mall. So we pull off the main street onto a side streed, and I call AAA, again, and get put on hold, again, and then wait, again, this time for a tow. My very thoughtful coworker waited with me. Whatever his name was, AAA guy #2 (AAAG2), arrived pretty quickly, and as soon as I told him the story, quickly made the determination that it had to be the alternator. I'm sure I made a deflated, audible heavy sigh of a noise of some kind at that point. Then, after as much deliberation as one could do while AAAG2 was waiting there, we decided that the best idea would be to have the car towed back to my house and then I could deal with this (call AAA yet again, wait yet again, and get towed yet again) to a mechanic TBD, tomorrow (my day off). Luckily (ha!) I have AAA "Plus", which allows me 4 tows of up to 100 miles per year. So, off we go, me and AAAG2, 40 or so miles north on the 405. Good times. He was nice, at least, and the traffic had pretty much subsided by that time, so it wasn't too bad...
Well anyway, fast-forward to me now, safe and semi-sound, at home. I got the name of a trustworthy mechanic (oxymoron?) in Santa Monica, recommended by a friend of mine, so hopefully I can get poor Darby there tomorrow morning, and hopefully they will be able to fix her without TOO big of a hit to my wallet (seeing as I just paid around $900 in car "maintenance" last month). Please cross your fingers for me that this is the case. Otherwise, I will cry, and worse- be cast into even deeper debt, due to all the pairs of shoes I will need to buy myself in order to somehow lessen the pain (we call this Shoe Therapy). I honestly don't know how much more of this I can take. I love my car, but holy cow! How much more of this can I take? Poor Darby.
So I call AAA, automatically get put on hold for over 10 minutes, and then have to wait a half an hour for someone to show up. Whatever his name was, AAA guy #1 (AAAG1), guessed the battery was the problem and was able to jump start the car right away, so my plan was to drive it several miles to the Sears where I had visited before to get a new tire. I figured, okay, I know where that place is (conveniently located at South Coast Plaza, Nordstrom shoe department-adjacent), so I'll just go over there, get a new battery installed (and maybe a new pair of shoes for my trouble), and be on my way. Things could be worse. A-ha! Not so fast!
Luckily, a very thoughtful co-worker offered to follow me, just in case, and thank goodness she did, because my poor car totally died again, not 2 blocks from the mall. So we pull off the main street onto a side streed, and I call AAA, again, and get put on hold, again, and then wait, again, this time for a tow. My very thoughtful coworker waited with me. Whatever his name was, AAA guy #2 (AAAG2), arrived pretty quickly, and as soon as I told him the story, quickly made the determination that it had to be the alternator. I'm sure I made a deflated, audible heavy sigh of a noise of some kind at that point. Then, after as much deliberation as one could do while AAAG2 was waiting there, we decided that the best idea would be to have the car towed back to my house and then I could deal with this (call AAA yet again, wait yet again, and get towed yet again) to a mechanic TBD, tomorrow (my day off). Luckily (ha!) I have AAA "Plus", which allows me 4 tows of up to 100 miles per year. So, off we go, me and AAAG2, 40 or so miles north on the 405. Good times. He was nice, at least, and the traffic had pretty much subsided by that time, so it wasn't too bad...
Well anyway, fast-forward to me now, safe and semi-sound, at home. I got the name of a trustworthy mechanic (oxymoron?) in Santa Monica, recommended by a friend of mine, so hopefully I can get poor Darby there tomorrow morning, and hopefully they will be able to fix her without TOO big of a hit to my wallet (seeing as I just paid around $900 in car "maintenance" last month). Please cross your fingers for me that this is the case. Otherwise, I will cry, and worse- be cast into even deeper debt, due to all the pairs of shoes I will need to buy myself in order to somehow lessen the pain (we call this Shoe Therapy). I honestly don't know how much more of this I can take. I love my car, but holy cow! How much more of this can I take? Poor Darby.
Tickled Pink
Another office mate of mine has decided to give knitting a go! She came by my desk yesterday to show me the scarf she's started in a cute white and black eyelash yarn. It turns out that her mom is a knitter, so she was able to help her get started. She is going to start coming to our weekly office Sit & Knit meetings, too! That means that 4 people have now started knitting in the office!
I was telling my mom about the new knitters and it has given her the momentum to try it our herself. My grandma had told her she should learn and she had said she had crocheted when she was a kid - she said she had made a poncho for everyone she could think of and then stopped. I had given her a gift card on Mother's Day for Michaels to get her started, but she had been hesitant to go and told me she wasn't quite ready yet when I asked about it a month or so ago. So, I figured I wouldn't push her. But, when I told her that I had showed my boss how to knit, she said - well, if you can show your boss how to knit, I can learn to knit, right? And I said - of course! So, now she's all excited and was asking me about what she needed to get :-) Maybe learning to knit will help her stay awake during movies - I know it helps me and I am my mother's daughter.
I was telling my mom about the new knitters and it has given her the momentum to try it our herself. My grandma had told her she should learn and she had said she had crocheted when she was a kid - she said she had made a poncho for everyone she could think of and then stopped. I had given her a gift card on Mother's Day for Michaels to get her started, but she had been hesitant to go and told me she wasn't quite ready yet when I asked about it a month or so ago. So, I figured I wouldn't push her. But, when I told her that I had showed my boss how to knit, she said - well, if you can show your boss how to knit, I can learn to knit, right? And I said - of course! So, now she's all excited and was asking me about what she needed to get :-) Maybe learning to knit will help her stay awake during movies - I know it helps me and I am my mother's daughter.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Family Friends
Here's a little picture of our friends that were visiting from central California. They decided to come down our way and see Sea World and Legoland with some of their friends. We were able to meet them tonight at one of our old haunts from college - Pizza Port in Solana Beach. It was extremely busy and a little hard on the kids after a long day at Legoland. We tried to hit a coffee house we used to go to but found out that it no longer catered to an evening crowd - very disappointing. So, we did find a local Starbucks - as if there wouldn't be one to find - and had some dessert and a chance to talk a bit (it had been very loud at the restaurent). All-in-all a very fun time. The kids were too cute and it sounded like they had a great time at the theme parks, too. We can't wait to schedule a visit up to see them soon :-)
Highlight of the evening - when I accidentally ordered a second pitcher of beer - oh well...couldn't let that go to waste.
Anniversary Flowers
Today is our 8th Anniversary. It's hard to believe it has been 8 years and yet at the same time, I can't really remember my life without my husband. He is my companion and my best friend. Not only did our anniversary land on a Wednesday, our friends from central California happened to be in town tonight. So, we put our celebration on hold until this weekend. Or at least I thought we had...
On our way to dinner tonight, I was surprised by this beautiful arrangement: there are daisies because they are pretty, a carnation because it smells good, 8 flowers - 1 for ever year, and 8 different flowers because each year has represented a different time in our lives, with different experiences and changes. What was funny is that the flower lady kept trying to give him another flower - to make it an odd number and more balanced. She even told him she wouldn't charge for it - but he was like, it has to be 8 - that's the point.
On our way to dinner tonight, I was surprised by this beautiful arrangement: there are daisies because they are pretty, a carnation because it smells good, 8 flowers - 1 for ever year, and 8 different flowers because each year has represented a different time in our lives, with different experiences and changes. What was funny is that the flower lady kept trying to give him another flower - to make it an odd number and more balanced. She even told him she wouldn't charge for it - but he was like, it has to be 8 - that's the point.
I Heart FOs!
Well, here we are, Sangria and me...or, at least part of us. :)
I'm looking forward to starting another Kyoto diversion project (KDP). Now if I could only decide on what to tackle next!
I'm looking forward to starting another Kyoto diversion project (KDP). Now if I could only decide on what to tackle next!
Sangria Wonder
Sangria is now a happily completed project! As is usually the case, this project was completed in the late hours of last night, so I didn't have a chance to take a picture, but I will be sure to post one soon. All in all, I am quite happy with this little thing. It's a little snug (due, I'm guessing. to my gauge retardation and now-former "tight" knitting style), but hey- on the bright side, it makes me hold my shoulders back, in perfect posture (as opposed the slouching I am normally prone to)! In the lovely world of 20/20 hindsight vision, there are things I would do differently, knowing then what I know now, but I will learn from my mistakes (as usual) and apply them to my next OSW. The next one should progress much more smoothly, now that I will know what I'm doing. What I love about this project is that it forced me to learn - um, I mean, it presented me with the opportunity to learn - many skills I hadn't had a chance to learn and apply previously. :)
Stitch 'N Pitch
You mean, I could combine my love of knitting with my love of baseball? This is so great, I can't stand it! I'm not even sure what else to say- you have to read the article: stitchnpitch
Monday, August 01, 2005
That which does not kill us makes us stronger
I had been reciting that quote in my mind all weekend, as I struggled to get some progress done - any progress at all- on Happy Daisy, Take Two. I also tried to remind myself to see the positive in this whole mess of a situation, as my mom would want me to, so to that end I talked myself into believeing that for whatever reason, I am meant to go through this craziness and frustration in order to learn from my mistakes.
That said, gauge, I've decided, is no friend of mine. Of course we discovered that last week. But, it continues to taunt and tease me. It is my nemesis. After experimenting with several needle sizes and trying to knit Continental with various amounts of tension (as much as I could control it), I have decided on the following: I will be knitting this with size 6 needles, according to the instructions for the medium size, which knitted by me becomes the measurements of the small size. I don't know, don't ask. I am through asking questions- I'm tired. I just want it to work out- by any means necessary. And my convoluted plan seems to be working out so far (knock on wood) so I am going with it. I am now about 5 or 6 inches into one of the front panels.
PS: I am happy and rather proud to report that I have gotten the hang of Continental knitting and I believe I am now a convert.
That said, gauge, I've decided, is no friend of mine. Of course we discovered that last week. But, it continues to taunt and tease me. It is my nemesis. After experimenting with several needle sizes and trying to knit Continental with various amounts of tension (as much as I could control it), I have decided on the following: I will be knitting this with size 6 needles, according to the instructions for the medium size, which knitted by me becomes the measurements of the small size. I don't know, don't ask. I am through asking questions- I'm tired. I just want it to work out- by any means necessary. And my convoluted plan seems to be working out so far (knock on wood) so I am going with it. I am now about 5 or 6 inches into one of the front panels.
PS: I am happy and rather proud to report that I have gotten the hang of Continental knitting and I believe I am now a convert.
Sangria
Well, here's a photo of Sangria as it stands now. The piece looks a little distorted, due to the rolling and what not, but you can get the general idea. I completed the sleeves and the next thing I need to do is tackle is pick up stitches and knit along the edges. Not exactly sure how that will work. I understand (I think) how to pick up stitches, but do I pick up and knit each area one at a time and then move to the next part and pick up and knit? Not so sure. So many questions! (Big surprise!)
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