Tuesday

It's Tuesday. The alarm didn’t go off. I was late (understatement). But on the bright side, it is Tuesday, which is better than Monday, and at least I woke up before noon, and I did make myself a little hat (and I actually have pictures of it). I've made 2 little hats recently, actually, but I'll have to share the second one later. I whipped up this little pink number using some leftover Nasus' Christmas Scarf yarn. You know how much I love that Alpaca! I wasn't sure if I'd have enough for a hat, but I went for it anyway, and lo and behold, there was more than enough!

Taking pictures of one's own head is...an art that has yet to be mastered...

Also on the knitting front, I am pleased to say that thanks to Dis for bringing on the Sock Revival! Thanks to her recent sock progress, I have also revisited my dear old sock once again. I am completely done with the heel decreases and am now working on the even rounds of the foot part - yay! I'm so excited!

Party Like It's Your Birthday

Thank you everyone for my birthday well wishes :-) I had a nice day and a nice 4-day birthday weekend. I had a great time over at Knitzalot's Saturday night and got a chance to meet some cool people, including Melissa over at the recently re-named Needlephile. I was able to finish my Madison scarf - I will post pictures once I block it, since it not exactly photo worthy in its present form - and my Stitches homework swatches as well as eat lots of food and have a couple glasses of wine! What more could you want? Well, my girls of course, so maybe next time :-)

Sunday we got up and headed up to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino Mountains. Unfortunately, B exchanged his troubling sickness for food poisoning! Yay. He put up a good front, though and we only had to make a few pit stops on the 2 and 1/2 hour drive up there from San Diego. We went to Lake Arrowhead first where my main goal was to see the Charles Wysocki gallery. I can't really explain my facination with his paintings but it started many Christmases ago when my mom picked up a puzzle of one of his paintings to work on for entertainment. I mentioned it in my Christmas post that it is a tradition that we have kept since then. Every year we work on a different puzzle painting and it's always fun to see the scene take shape. I think part of it comes from the fact that I wanted to be on Little House on the Prairie when I was a kid - mainly because you could buy a pound of candy for a penny. Here's an example of one of his americana paintings. These I like the best although he is quite the cat lover as well. Here's the front of the family owned gallery in Lake Arrowhead Village.



We had lunch the headed up to Big Bear Lake to check into the Knickerbocker Mansion bed & breakfast. My girls and Da K got me a B&B gift certificate (thanks again!) and I was able to put it towards a night stay in Ceder IV. They have some photos on the web site of the room so you can check those out if you are interested. Most importantly, this is what me knitting in Ceder IV looks like...look at those needles fly...


But my favorite part of the room was this:


The innkeepers were great, friendly and out of the way - which is a huge bonus in my book. I even felt comfortable using their common area to play on the internet while B took a much needed nap Sunday afternoon. The breakfast this morning was really tasty and somewhat non-traditional (baked grapes and yogurt - what? but so good! And baked eggs with ham and cheese). I also got a kick out of the fact that one of the innkeepers dropped the F bomb a couple of times in the other room while we ate...and said that Vegan means it isn't cooked at all. Ha!

Big Bear has only had one snow fall since winter started and we were lucky enough to still be able to see some around the property. Although, it was certainly warm enough to only need a sweater during the day.


And here's a view of Big Bear Lake...


All-in-all except for turning 3-1 (at least I was carded Saturday night and the checker couldn't believe I was going to be turning 3-1), I had a good day ;-) Best part, B got me Mexican food for dinner (he tried to get me this but after making all the arrangements, it turned out they didn't have that particular one in stock and it is the only one I wanted) and my favorite TV shows (of the ones on the 4 channels I get) are on tonight (Las Vegas - total guilty pleasure - and Medium). Hope you all had a wonderful day (and weekend) and Happy Birthday Phil Collins!

Birthday Shoutout

Happy Birthday to our girl, Dis, who has wisely taken the day off...

in homage to you, a birthday haiku...

Knitter, primate fan
team blogger, Olympian
...our dear girlfriend, Dis.

Big, Gold and Magical

I feel like Wonder Woman using her magic gold wristlettes to fend off evil. Things have been coming at me that I am trying my mightiest to deflect. First, there is the evil virus currently alive within my husband. He has been sick, and I mean SICK, for over a week. He didn't even go to the pool hall until yesterday AND missed both of his regular tournaments this week - see what I mean? SICK. But, so far, I haven't come down with it. I keep feeling that little bug trying, trying, trying to get hold of me and I keep telling it - No! It's my birthday weekend, we are supposed to go to Big Bear on Sunday and I am trying to study for the LSAT next weekend. I CANNOT GET SICK. Yesterday morning I woke up and had that funny light feeling in my chest, like when you are starting to feel better after being sick, so I took another Airborne and kept popping the vitamin C all day and so far so good. So far, today has been a repeat, so I just polished up my golden wristlettes and have prepared for battle.

The other thing I am trying to deflect is the urge to buy yarn. I am on a yarn diet that is a requirement. I will never get out of debt if I don't stop using my credit card to buy yarn. And somehow every big sale I come across is an excuse to get it back out again - you know, to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to buy yarn on sale. Yet there always seems to be another sale and I already have lots of yarn for lots of projects I have already picked out. I have been getting great joy out of seeing what others are buying, which has helped me keep myself under control. And I realized yesterday morning that I still needed to shop for my Secret Pal giftee, which means - I get to buy yarn! It doesn't count if it isn't for yourself. So, I thought about where the best place to buy yarn is in San Diego. There are a few nice shops, but I have found that there aren't refular sales at my favorites or the only thing in the "sale bin" is some gross ribbon tape or metallic novelty yarn. But that was when I remembered that Knitting in La Jolla had some pretty good sale stuff, so that where I headed. But guess what was outside and on the door as I walked up? Big signs that said "Sale, Sale, Sale". Oh no.

I know what you're thinking - she caved. But, I actually did really well - it was the magic wristlettes, I tell ya. It was hard and I did spend a lot of time on the floor in front of the Rowan Big Wool that was on sale for $11 - they had that really pretty light buttery orange and the pretty light green in sweater quantities - and I even felt I made a big mistake last night and again this morning. But so far, every excuse I have come up with to go back and get more, hasn't worked out gaugewise or moneywise. So, I am taking that as a sign to be good and to be one with the deflective power of those gold wristlettes. Besides, I would much rather save my birthday money for shopping at the Market Place next month at Stitches West. I did manager to pick up some pretty Jaeger Baby Merino for $5 a ball and some Rowanspun dk for ~$6.50 - all for my SP giftee - so at least I was able to partake in the sale a little bit and get her more yarn for the money.

Oh, and I had one of those knitter celebrity sightings at the shop yesterday. When I got there, they were having a class which was being taught by Kristi Porter. I almost said something, but what do you say? - Oh, I know you from the internet? Um, stalker.

And another thing I realized yesterday - it is time for me to get a new photo on my check card. The lady at the Chinese restaurent handed back MY CARD with MY PHOTO to my husband. We both just started giggling. He said - wow, you need a new photo. Not only did you get mistaken for a dude, you got mistaken for a fat, ugly dude. Yup, good thing the bank is open on Saturdays.

Here's a picture of my sock - it now has a foot complete with peanut toes :-)

Birthday Shoes

Today is my "little" sister's 24th birthday. In her honor, I thought I would post a picture of this year's birthday shoes.

Birthday shoes (bûrthdā shōōz): *Fun* (read: non-practical) shoes that a we wouldn't ordinarily buy for ourselves, but would happily wear if we received them as a gift.

It may be worth mentioning here- although anyone who knows me already knows- that I am a shoe (& handbag) girl. Always have been, always will be. My family members will willingly recount to you how, even in pre-school, I was captivated by my little shoes and purses. Well, it must be in the genes (Dad, what's up?), because AKKF is also a shoe and purse fanatic. So anyway, the birthday shoe tradition started with identical pairs of gold high-heeled strappy sandals. We actually ended up buying each other the same exact shoes- HA! The thought of buying a pair of gold strappy sandals for ourselves seemed like a ludicrously unjustifiable purchase, but we didn't at all hesitate in buying them for the other person. It totally made sense. At least to us. :)

This year the theme was, apparently, faux reptilian. Again- I don't know if I could ever justify buying myself a pair of pink snakeskin-ish heels, but since they were given to me as a gift, I am happy to own them! AKKF's shoe of choice- the fancy turquoise number on the right. Happy Birthday, A!

What's up sock?

I've been recently inspired to finish up these darn socks. Well, really sock at this point, but I'm determined to finish the pair. I figure if I do another one right away, the process will get a little more natural and hopefully make more sense to me. I had to get some help and then ask for some more help, and then finally had to surender all thought. I kept trying to understand what I was doing and I have found that when working some knitting techniques for the first time, it is better not to think. Just do what you are told to do. Once I "knew" that it was supposed to work out, I just did it. I didn't argue or pretend to get it. And you know what? I ended up with a heel flap and a heel! Here is a really bad picture of where I am right now:

And here's a picture of my cute little heel:

I know there are mistakes - I have 2 rows too many because at some point - maybe from the start? - I started knitting in the round inside out! Bet you didn't even know you could do that! I didn't catch on because I was working my ankle in a 2X2 rib and I would only pick it up now and then, so it always seemed like I was jumping into the middle of something. I realized what I did when I started on my Baby Bobbi Bear and was knitting in the round properly. Then I realized it would have an effect when I got to the flap and my row started on the wrong side. Oh well, there is nothing like a mistake to make you learn. I plan to make the right sock right, even if they end up a little different. These are my first, gosh darn it and I like 'em.

The Upside

I just realized the upside of having no money, no assets, and no home: taxes take 40 minutes from front to back with Turbo Tax.

Me, too! Me, too!

I know, you've already heard about how great a ball winder and swift can be from Nonnahs. But, I still had to share because I too got a ball winder and swift for my birthday! Thank you M! After much crazyness with the swift and it's mysterious absense for several weeks. It was finally located and re-shipped to my work this morning. In typical Dis fashion, I came right home and started to play...instructions? What instructions? No problem. Alls you gotsta do, it shtick your hank on the swift....


Attach your yarn to the ball winder, turn and voila! ...instant cake!


But then I remembered this cool little trick that Julia taught me about re-winding the ball after it's on the cake. So, that's what I did. And here's where the instructions come in handy: "Apply gentle tension to the yarn."


Oops. See that 1/2 cake of yarn in the top corner? That flew there! And the pile of yarn plop on the far left? That flew there too! So, what I gather from this experience is that the tension is key. It took a bit, but I finally got it untangled and rewound into a nice pretty cake. But Nonnahs' is still better, so you should just go look at her picture again.

Another thing I learned - and I don't know why I was surprised - is that Jenny doesn't like ball winders and swifts. They are scary. So, she hid on B's lap until it was over. Then she decided it was time to play with Santa...

yarn swift = pure joy

There was a lovely quaintness about winding skeins into balls of yarn using...well, whatever kind of contraption and/or body parts that you have available at the time. I felt as if I was really doing it the down-home way. Kind of like how I prefer to mix certain kinds of cookie dough by hand instead of using an electric mixer. There's just something nice and simple about it. . .I have since discovered that mixing by hand really does suck sometimes- depending on the kind of dough or batter you are dealing with and when you're baking in large quantities- I've found that a good, sturdy KitchenAid mixer really is a godsend.

Similarly, I have happily surrendered to my new toys- a brand spanking new ball winder (my birthday present from my girls Dis and Nasus) and swift (my birthday present to myself). I honestly don't know why it took me so long to get one of these setups! This is the best thing ever! Using it for the first time was pure comedy, but I actually managed to get it working (right) on the first try, so that was extremely exciting. I almost wished someone else was around to share in my joy...although I'm almost positive that B wouldn't have been nearly as stoked as I was...

Anyway, I just had to share my joy. Isn't this the prettiest yarn cake you've ever seen? ;)

Strawberry-Orange-Grape

What am I saying here?
a. "Am I squinting?"
b. "Do you know what you're doing?"
c. "I think you're getting too much of my butt in the shot."
d. all of the above.

So it's not the greatest of FO photos, but it will have to do for now. Photo aside, I am SO HAPPY with the way this sweater turned out! It actually fits perfectly! When have I ever been able to say that before? Never. I love this sweater...in all of it's red-orange-purple splendor!

The pattern is from the Freedom Wool pattern book. Your basic fitted turtleneck. Somewhat convoluted instructions, but my "winging it" technique seems to have served me well, once again. Even when it came to seaming! OMG. Seaming. I felt as if I was performing some kind of surgery (reverse surgery?). The only thing missing was someone to wipe the sweat from my brow. See, I am not the most talented (or experienced) seamer. I've gotten better with practice, but it's certainly not one of my strengths. I had to take breaks in between seaming sessions, so the process ended up taking a while, but when all was said and done, I think I did a good job- if I do say so myself!

Twilley's Freedom Wool - oh, how I love thee! It is so soft and wonderful to work with...I must have more! The colorway was interesting to work with, and at times a challenge. And as you know, I wasn't sure how I'd like this when all the pieces came together. But, I'm happy to report that I really love this thing. I'm so happy about the fit, and how it feels on. It's really soft and warm. All in all, a success, I'd say. :)

Ah, she's a tinker...

No, this isn't a comment about how smart I am or that I am using my brain a lot. Because apparently knitting lace has caused some strange disorder in which my eyes, my brain and my fingers operate independently of each other. It would be more fun if it wasn't causing me to reknit the same *%&^ing thing over and over. I decided when I got the yarn for my Madison scarf that I was going to make the seaman's version. I thought it might show off the lace work a little better, it was one less ball of yarn and I didn't really have anything like it.

I had a few struggles at the beginning and realized that somehow it is impossible for me to work lace in the breakroom at the office while talking, yet while talking at the Knit Salon I was able to finish close to 15 repeats without one mistake. This project went on hold shortly after starting the ribbed center section, but as a true Olympic athlete I figured I would take it back out as part of lace training. So, now that I am back on the lace section, my brain has gotten all stupid on me again. I swear I was following stitch by stitch because I had already tinked the same row twice, and I still jacked it up! Plus, I've had to rip it back to the ribbing at least two other times. What the heck? All I know is that the Olympics will be very, very interesting.

Gold Rush

Given that this is probably the only time I will ever be able to compete in an Olympics, I've decided to participate in the Harlot's 2006 Knitting Olympics. I thought carefully about what project I would want to and be able to work on, yet have it be challenging to finish. I finally decided on a lace shawl. I fell in love with Birch and that would normal be my first choice, but the start of the Olympics unfortunately coincided with my yarn diet. However, I found a suitable alternative and although I still had to buy yarn for the project, $4.50 is a much better slip than $45.

This is the Adamas Shawl from KnitPicks:
This will be my first official lace project ever. I am working on the Madison scarf (also from KnitPicks), but you use a heavier weight yarn so it's not really lace in my book. So, this should be interesting and I sure hope it goes well. I figure I will either enter into the amazing world of lace with an Olympic gold, or I will crash and burn.

I think Nonnahs is almost convinced to join the olympics as well, so she will probably be posting her project picture soon as well. Nonnahs - youcandoit!

Pay somebody to block?

I was walking down Pearl Street in downtown La Jolla with my sister this past Sunday and noticed a storefront with signs reading "dry cleaning" and "knit blocking." Are you serious? Is this common? If I'm going to pay somebody to block my knits, then I'll just pay somebody to knit. But then again, I haven't blocked any of my projects yet...

Day 1: I'm back in school today - will plan to knit during my study breaks...

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes...

Well, girls in pink cable scarves...but you get the picture. How much do I love this photo? A LOT! Aww, my girls...

Band Photos

I'm not exactly sure how to explain the rest of these photographic gems, except to say that anytime you get the 3 of us together, we are usually caught being silly, so anyway...without further ado, a couple of team "candid" shots.

Man, we're dorks...
...and this was before we started drinking!

Maybe it's because the 3 of us don't have the luxury of getting together very often (sadly), so we feel the need to make up for lost time when we do. Wait- no, we were like this even when we worked together and saw each other everyday...

In any case, it was fantastic having my girls (and Da K) come up to hang out for the day! We took part in some of our favorite pastimes. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we knitted some, and we even watched some football. My sister LA and BIL Rex joined us for dinner, and we had ourselves a grand ol' time! I felt a little bad for making so much noise, but then not really bad at all, considering how noisy our neighbors are on a daily basis. B, on the other hand, did not "give a f*ck."

You may notice the scarves Nasus and Dis are sporting in these photos. They were the cable scarves I made them for Christmas! I had knitted one for myself a couple months earlier and loved it so much that I wanted to share it with my girls. I think they look lovely...and the scarves don't look half bad either. :)

Peanuts

I hope everyone had or is having a nice MLK day. I had to work and I am still somewhat bitter. It didn't even help that the traffic was light because I knew why. They were at home. Not working.

The girls at A Little Loopy had a reunion visit in LA on Saturday. Some great "album cover" photos will be posted soon. It also marked my first experience with a train in the U.S. I've taken trains when on vacation in other countries, but never here. Or at least I sure can't think of any time I did. But bright and early Saturday morning I climbed aboard the Pacific Surfliner and made the 2.5 hour ride to Union Station. I think it would have been perfect if I hadn't had to face backward the whole trip. What is that about? Can't they flip the direction of the cars or something? Man was not meant to move backward at 70+ mph. Every time we stopped at a station it felt like the world was zooming in on me like some fancy movie camera trick. It really messed with my brain. Otherwise, I will give it a thumbs up and for $28 it was a great way to make it to LA. I didn't do any knitting though, because I am prone to motion sickness and didn't want to hurl.

While waiting for Nasus to arrive, Nonnahs and I made a quick trip to Wild Fiber. It was a beautiful store with a nice combination of lots of inventory and plenty of space to hang out if you wanted to. My only complaint was that the prices were kinda high. I would have bought my Kidsilk Haze for Birch, but they were charging $1.50 more per ball than anywhere else I'd seen...and I don't play that game. This turned out to be a good thing because I am now on a self imposed yarn diet. Although I missed the sign ups for the Stash Along, I will participating from the side lines out of necessity...except for during Stitches West...because I will be on vacation...which doesn't count.

Any hoo, we had a great time and I even watched a football game, but mostly I knitted, ate, drank beer and laughed. We all left feeling like more of these little reunions are definitely needed.

On the knitting front, I finished the back of Erin last night and started the front. What is with UK pattern instructions? It's English, but I have to read it 4 times to understand what it says. It's not that it's even writting bad, just different than what I'm used to. I think I'm getting the hang of it though. Also, I have this strange compulsion to do the Harlot Olympics. What is wrong with me?

Finally, Chris posted the cutest pictures of Chaos today as a kitten. OMG - so cute! Just a little peanut. So, I got out Jenny's peanut pictures and decided to share one. This is Jenny pre-nose:

Freaky Friday

Wow. I almost gave up half way through the day, but I kept going and I officially crossed everything off my to-do list today. Although a couple things didn't go as well as I'd hoped. First, I was going to the cute tea shop in Hillcrest to hopefully find a close subsitute for this amazing tea that I got in Australia called Stockholm Blend. It is a mixture of Black tea with orange peel, vanilla pieces, apricot flavour, safflowers, calendula blossoms, and rose petals. The place I got it at sells it online, but they only ship within Australia. Well, after the DMV and the Post Office - I know, who thought you could visit hell twice in the same day - I went over to the tea place, but guess what? It's gone!! I'm so sad, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it is because the place was called the Exotic Bamboo Nursery - makes you really want to stop in for some tea doesn't it?

Then I headed over to the Grove to sign up for the Combination Knitting class that Annie Modesitt is teaching next Thursday, but guess what? All full! I'm officially the first one on the waiting list, but what is the real chance there will be a cancellation by Thursday? One good thing is that I did make it out of the Grove with out buying any more yarn! (Look at me with the willpower.)

The other funny thing that happened was that my facial lady didn't show up for my appointment. She thought that I had called and cancelled. Ummmm, no. Turns out she mixed me up with the mother of another client whose name is same as mine. She was able to come over and see me anyway, but felt so bad she gave me my facial for free!! She figured that since it was Friday the 13th she needed to appease the cosmic universe and a free facial was the only way she could think to do it. Well, ok.

Given the multitude of errands today, I am still surprised I got some knitting done. I was able to finish the Baby Blue Bobbi Bear head at the DMV and reach the 7 inch mark for my sock ankle at Jiffy Lube! Although neither is a true FO, they mark significant milestones in these projects.

That's all for now, I am anxiously awaiting B's plane but it has been delayed by an hour, so now he won't get in until close to midnight. :-(
But tomorrow, should be a fun day with the girls :-) I can't wait!

Questions Answered

I added a link to the side bar with my SP7 questionnaire. Secret Pal - let me know if you have any trouble with it and I will post it instead. Thanks!

This is my last girls night before B returns tomorrow and we are going out in style. Nasus will be here shortly for dinner and some quality girl time. I know Jenny sure does miss B and a visit from a friend will make her feel better. Tomorrow the to-do list is a mile long and even includes the ever-so-much-fun trip to the DMV. But, at least I don't have to be at the office :-)

Erin is coming along and I hope to have a bit more done tomorrow. The texture is wonderful. I just keep petting it. If it fits, I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite sweaters.

And in case you are wondering, this is what it looks like when a little dog tries to jump up and lick your face...

SP7

I got my Secret Pal 7 match today, which means that someone has probably got me now or will soon at least. I was tempted to just republish my questionnaire from the last exchange, but I had already recycled that one from SP5. So, this time, I want to answer everything fresh - after all, I have been knitting that much longer and many of my preferences have changed as I have learned more. So, to my SP7 Secret Pal - I promise, promise, promise to have my questionnaire posted ASAP. I am hoping to try a little pdf magic, so it can be linked to throughout the exchange rather than being published in a post. (So far, I have not been able to figure out how to keep the per-post links active after they've been archived by Blogger, yet I see others do it...hmmm.) But, I'm pretty sure I know how to create a pdf file that can be uploaded, viewed and linked, which is what I will attempt to do for my questionnaire. If it ends up in a post, then you know I failed miserably.

Salad Days

So, after taking a break during the holidays and immediately following my scrumptious birthday dinner (my plan for the holidays was to embrace being fat until my birthday), I am now pledged to being back on track with the "working out thing" and the "eating better thing." You know what this means: for one thing- more salad and veggies for me. First observation: salad does not taste anywhere near as delectable as steak and garlic crab. Second observation: a good salad is really dependent on a tasty salad dressing. I'm on the hunt for a good one, and my current strategy on trying to find one (randomly picking out a new one every week at the Whole Foods) is not really not proving to be very efficient . So, if anyone has any favorites they want to offer up as suggestions, please do. I would greatly appreciate it, and so would my taste buds!

Second call for help. Has anyone had this problem: knitting-related skin issues? This sounds weird, I know, but here's the sitch: the skin on the tips of my right thumb and forefinger is dry and cracking. I know, eew. Is this common? Has anyone else experienced this? It's only those two fingers, and this just happened over the weekend...after, might I add, I had been working on a new project, with a new yarn. I can't really see how the yarn could be to blame, but I don't know what else it could be. I really hope it isn't though, because I only just started this sweater:

This is going to be a simple turtleneck pullover, in Twilley's Freedom Wool's "Autumn" colorway. Yes, I have joined the Freedom Wool fan club. Since Julia first introduced me to this luxurious yarn, I knew I would have to try it. I loved the colorway that she and Dis chose, but I wanted to try something a little different, so I chose this one. I'm still kind of iffy on it. Sometimes I am in love with it, sometimes I think the part of me that is in love with it is a little whacked out- I mean, red, orange, and purple- seriously? Would I wear this? But then, I can't help but think this could turn into a cute, spunky little sweater, and I am having fun knitting it, there's no doubt about that. . .Except for my chapped fingertips, of course...

Erin you're up

The decision has been made and it's Erin.

I was flipping through the Rowan Ribbon Twist at the Knit Cafe many moons ago and fell in love with this sweater. It's not super fancy or tricky or difficult, but I liked how it was tailored and textured at the same time.



So, I picked up the book. I never had any intensions of making it out of Ribbon Twist yarn, though. I figured at the right time, I would find a suitable substitution. Little did I know that it would turn out to be Rowan Big Wool. I made some gauge swatches Sunday night and cast on last night. The Wild Berry Big Wool is showing off the pattern stitch really nicely.

The funny thing is that the pattern says that the majority of the sweater is in Moss stitch. I got out my Vogue Knitting book and checked out what Moss stitch was. But the more I looked at the sweater pictures in the pattern book, the more the sweater looked like Seed stitch to me. I figured it must be the lighting, etc. The thing is, the pattern actually describes Seed stitch, not Moss stitch, which is like knitting seed stitch on one side and just knit stitch on the other. So, maybe in the UK, Seed is Moss? Either way it's coming out great and obviously with 7 stitches per 4 inches, it goes very fast. I hope to have decent progress pics soon.

Garlic breath

Garlic. Mmm... So for my surprise dinner, B took me to this place, whose motto is: "We season our garlic with food." He knows me so well. That's pretty much how I cook. I know for a fact that I over-garlic everything I make. But, what's butter and olive oil for, if not to saute garlic in? Anyway, this is a fun little place in BH (there's also one in San Francisco if you're ever up there), and if you're a garlic lover like moi, you will love it. I highly recommend starting with the Bagna Calda ("garlic soaking in a hot tub") - oven-roasted garlic cloves in butter and extra virgin olive oil, which comes served in a hot skillet, that you spread on their homemade focaccia. OMG. To die for. For dinner, we had salads, and then went all out and had steak and crab- a yummy petite filet and crab roasted in garlic sauce, which came with, what else, garlic mashed potatoes. I'm telling you. I love food. I love to eat out. I love garlic. It was pretty darned close to the perfect meal.

Yarn Haul and other Musings

No, I didn't just come into a large sum of money.

But I did happen upon the closing sale of a very hip and posh little yarn shop in Little Italy in San Diego. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had heard the Nest had the rest of their inventory on sale in anticipation of closing, which really sucks. The store was totally cute and fun and artsy. But who am I to stand in the way of fate offering me 50% off Rowan Big Wool. And 50% Rowan Kidsilk Haze. And 50% off Lorna's Laces roving... The roving actually isn't for me, though. My sister-in-law, the Stitchin Sheep just got a spinning wheel for Christmas, so I figured she needed a bit of fiber as a congratulations on your wheel present. I was also able to roung out my needle collection a bit with some new dpns and small sized straight needles.

I was able to pick up this beautiful lilac (208) Manos del Uruguay Manos Cotton Stria. One can never have too much cotton in San Diego. And at $4 a hank, it fell into my bag.


I got the last 2 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in shade (582), which does nothing towards getting me enough Kidsilk Haze to make Birch, but why talk technicalities?


But I think the deal of the century was the Rowan Big Wool. I never thought I could ever make a sweater with this yarn and petting it at the store only goes so far. So when I saw that the Nest still had sweater quantities of Big Wool at 50% off, I promptly left the store and called Nonnahs - I didn't want to act all crazy and stupid in front of the shop owner, because the circumstances suck. So, I can't take credit for all the Big Wool, but this Wild Berry (25) now has a home in my stash, although not for long...


I was planning on making Erin from the Ribbon Twist book, but it only calls for 7 balls and I have 10. Since it is unlikely that I will be able to buy this much Rowan Big Wool again, I want to pick out a sweater that will use as much of this as possible. I'm just sorry that I came upon such beautiful yarn under such circumstances. But, I figured at least I helped her clear her inventory. It's better that I spent 50% on it, than her being forced to mark it down further, right? I also had the fun fortune of running into Knitzalot at the sale, who also got some rather beautiful blue Big Wool herself.

Tournament update: B won his first match! He just called and is extatic! There are more than 400 people playing his tournament, some are the best players in the world. He obviously wants to do well, but he was prepared if he didn't win any games at all because of the company. It was a tough game, but he was able to take advantage of all the mistakes his opponent made and fought him until the end. I am so happy for him right now! Wish him luck for tomorrow!

Gangsta knittin in da snow (kinda)

This is a camera phone pic, so please excuse the lack of clarity... I finished my kyoto sash on a bench overlooking Big Bear Lake right before New Years (there was no snow up there), while my fingers and toes felt like they were going to fall off. I was told that my beanie made me look like a gangsta. Yeah, I'm a tough and hard knitta, pursuing my craft in all kinds of weather...ha!

Home Alone

Well, that's not entirely true. But it will be just us girls for the rest of the week. B headed off to Louisville this morning for a big pool tournament. He is playing One Pocket which is a highly strategic game and really difficult to watch. Half the time I can't tell if the players messed up or made a good shot. I just watch and wait for B's reaction.

So today I'm kind of hanging out. I will be going up to drop my car off with my dad for next week. We are trying to figure out what the grinding screeching sound is coming from my breaks...the one that the dealers say isn't there. I'm also going to check out the Nest today. A little birdie told me that she was closing up shop, so I thought I'd go look at the place before she is all gone...and maybe pick up something on sale, too. I feel bad. But this is yarn we are talking about. Any chance to look at sale yarn should be taken. I'm just sorry that someone's dream of a little business is going away because of a rent increase. It just stinks.

Pumpkin Hands

So, this was my little vacation project. After finishing up Carmen (aka Burlypurly), I was in search over something small, and fun, over the holidays. Chrissy sent me a lovely ball of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK in this gorgeous burnt orange color a couple of months ago, which I've been wanting to play with. I thought this would be just the right thing!

Because I was looking for easy (both in theory and to travel with) I decided to whip up a pair of these little babies- without a single gusset to speak of. They couldn't have been simpler. I knitted this up flat, and then seamed together, leaving a little hole for my thumbs. Anyway, nothing super special, but I think they're cute. And I love this yarn! Love the color, of course! And it's so, so soft!

Oh, and if it looks like I'm kind of making the Texas Longhorn sign with my fingers..., it wasn't intentional...well, not really. That said, this photo was taken the day after UT beat USC in the Rose Bowl. Now, I have no affiliation whatsoever with UT, but being a UCLA alum, UT was my favorite team that day. :) 'SC loses! FINALLY! Go Longhorns! ;)

Maybe 36 won't be so bad...

Despite the fact that I had to work on my birthday (somehow that always seems so wrong), I received many birthday well wishes yesterday which made me feel very special, including Dis' birthday haiku, Nasus' penguin birthday song, and a lovely email from Chris Martin (via The Kamel) - ha! I also returned from lunch to find this spectacular orchid sitting on my desk.
Imagine my surprise and delight! Nice job, B!

My other present from B is...a surfing lesson this summer with Surf Diva in San Diego! FUN! I've been wanting to learn how to surf for years! I know, I know- it's incredibly lame that a local girl from Hawaii never surfed growing up (I had other interests at the time) and never got around to it when I lived in SD either. I'm so stoked! I just had a dream the other night that I was surfing, so I think it's finally meant to be! To continue my birthday festivities, B is taking me out to dinner tonight- we have reservations at 8:00pm, so I am told, but he won't tell me where we're going. That's kind of fun, right?

Anyway, so here I am, trying to embrace the 7th anniversary of my 29th birthday. I really can't complain too much- I have so much to be thankful for, and don't think I don't know it! Just for some reason, 36 sounds sooo much older than 35 (and I thought that was bad enough). Although, at least I've already had time to get used to checking the "35-40" age box. Okay, it's still depressing, but I'm adjusting. ;) Actually, I don't really get hung up on numbers. I'm much more concerned about how I feel, and for the most part I feel good, and I think I look alright (even though I hate you, vacation lbs!)...now if only that pesky biological clock would just pipe down a little! ;(

Happy Birthday Nonnahs!!!

Today is your birthday...nananana...It's my birthday too! Ok, so today isn't my birthday, my it's our dear friend Nonnahs' birthday! Nonnahs, in honor of your special day and considering it will be a few more days before your birthday present gets to you, here is your birthday Haiku:

Lover of katsu
Beautiful inside and out
Knitter through and through

Blue Bobbi

I couldn't resist...is this not the cutest?

I finished both legs last night and tonight I started the head for my Baby Blue Bobbi Bear. This is a picture of the bear bum :-) I am using Blue Sky Cotton in baby blue (616) that I had in my stash. It's super soft and I should have enough to make another one if needed in the future. I also realized the thing I hate the most in knitting...M1. Yuck. And I have a lot of them left ahead of me. Fun.

But, this may be cuter...

I love her gray chin :-) I'm still amazed she is looking at the camera. Usually she looks the other way and pretends it's not there, or runs full force to the lens, so you can't focus on anything. That's my girl.

Last day...

This is how I feel today...


I'm so glad the weather decided to play along. (If you look close, you can see that it is raining). Normally, I am one who loves the rain. In fact, the thunder storms (granted that I am inside or at least warm and dry) are one the of things I miss most about living in Houston. But today, it just served as a way to encapsulate how I am feeling.

This is my last day of vacation before I go back to work tomorrow. I like my job, so usually I don't suffer from the Sunday Night Blues. But, today marks the end of another holiday season, another year and the beginning of the normal day once again. Something, that can make me a little sad.

I also turn 3-1 this month. It's not until the end of the month, but I feel it looming. I feel ok about where I am. But, there are tons more things to occupy the back of my mind now. Not to mention the old Tick, Tock. Another topic that I can't seem to come down firmly on one side or the other.

Along this same line, I need to make a significant decision about my future careerwise. One day I feel that I have it under control, then the next I am back to feeling completely undecided. Usually, when I approach big decisions, I have a natural pull one way or the other. This time, I'm just numb.

Finally, as a small reward for feeling so heavy all day, I just wanted an egg nog latte. Just a small egg nog latte, with half the syrup, and decaf beans because I never got around to having one. The first Starbucks was out of egg nog as of this morning - even though their stinkin' sign was still up. So, since there is always another Starbucks across the street, I thought I'd try another. The second one (again with the signs) was also out of egg nog. But the worst is it took me a couple minutes to get it out of her:

Dis: "Do you have egg nog?"
Star: Blank stare
Dis: "Do you have egg nog?" Hopefull eyes
Star: "Do I have egg nog?"
Dis: No, I was wondering if the super market across the street had any egg nog? "Yes."
Star: "No. We are all out for this season."
Dis: "Ok, thanks anyway." Shooting sting in eyes. Turn around and walk out fast because...

Yup, I actually cried over a freakin latte. I mean, is it so hard to get just a little something that would have made me feel just slightly better? I know that it was just the catalyst for the rest of the day, but man, why? WHY?

So, B took the weeping, sniffling, feeling-sorry-for-herself, me home. I got into my Sock Monkey pjs, brought the heater, a blankie, my book and the pooper into the bedroom and took a nap.

I feel better and I am going to concentrate on having a nice evening. I finally started my Baby Bobbi Bear and I plan on working on it most of tonight. Besides, how can you be sad when you are making a little teddy bear for a new baby? Especially as you start to see the bear take shape. I thought I was going to die last night when I made the little bum. So cute!! And clever knitting-wise, too. I had to actually act out the knitting instructions to understand what they wanted me to do. But once I got it, it was a lot of fun.

So, thank you for letting me vent and I know that I have a lot to be thankful for and that I am very rich in so many ways. But sometimes, you just need a little time to wallow. To make up for it through, I promise to make at least one more Mother Bear to send to the Mother Bear Project (button at the left), once I get my pattern. Take care everyone.

Check It

Ok, I guess I am officially a knitter blogger nerd. (As is if there wasn't a chance before?) Because this made my day today.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year celebration last night! We had a quiet evening at home and toasted the New Year with a bottle of "Champaign" from the Edgefield winery just outside of Portland, OR. We were up there for a friend's wedding last February and got the champaign as part of our room at the Kennedy School. We never got a chance to enjoy it while we were there because of all the wedding related activities (B was in the bridal party) and didn't seem to find an appropriate time during the year either (I was hoping to use it for when my business project got funded, oh well). So, it made a great New Year treat.


By the way, if any of you are up in the Portland area you should go to the Kennedy School or any of the McMenamin's properties. It was a lot of fun and totally cute. The Kennedy School is an old school that they transformed into a brew pub hotel. Many of the old rooms were turned into little bars (Honors Bar) where you can get some of their wine or beer (the Ruby Ale's my favorite!). I love that this company has been able to take these old and historic properties and give them a new life while still maintaining their history.