Weekend progress

Yesterday I made a ton of progress on my Orangina at our weekly knitting group at Rebecca's...which I promptly had to frog as soon as I got home. We had a good turn-out and between the chatting and possibly being cracked out on Vietnamese iced coffee, I skipped a row in the pattern. You can see it in the last inch of the repeats in the picture below.

So, B helped me frog (I think his favorite part of my knitting habit) and I am in the process of re-knitting what I lost. The good thing is that I had my knitting off the needles so I could check the size and it seems to be coming out so far so good and according to gauge. I've also named my Orangina - Oceania. I had to get rid of the "-gina" in my name modification because the names started to look like they were pronounced more like a "gyna" than a "jeana".

This weekend has been what a true weekend should be. Plenty of time spent doing what I want to do. It started out with the South Park Walkabout Friday night and dinner with Nasus and K. And besides spending Saturday afternoon knitting, we were finally able to watch the Series finale of Six Feet Under - wow! I was weaping by the end and certainly not for the reasons that I thought I might. This morning began with me finally starting the second Harry Potter (and reading the first 100 pages straight through). Then we drove up to Encinitas for the annual Encinitas Street Fair where we walked through all the booths and I ate a tamale. Now while B is off playing his first league playoff match tonight, Jenny and I are going to head out to a coffee house to do a little sun bathing while there's still such nice sun out. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Pictures of Gwen

I have finally finished all of Gwen's fine tuning. My Gwen was made with 6 balls of Rowan Big Wool in Gingersnap (39). I also substituted the yarn for the collar and used about 3/4 of one ball of Rowan Biggy Print in Cookie (243). The pattern came from Rowan Big Picture. Since I used a solid color for the main sweater, I thought the contrasting collar would add a bit of interest to the sweater. I am really happy with how it came out. The sweater fits nicely and is really a perfect use of Big Wool in Southern California - because it is so open, it never gets overly hot. My only complaint is that the large gauge lets a lot of air through the arms when the wind blows.

The knitting itself was actually done some time ago and really only took the equivalent of a long weekend. It was the fastener that took the extra bit of time. The pattern calls for ties to be attached at the bust line.

And since I am "smarter than the designer", I thought it would be way cuter to have the tie lower. What I didn't realize at the time (a statement that tends to go hand-in-hand with design modifications I make to things), was that the tie was up this high for a reason - with it lower, the whole sweater falls off your shoulders because of the heavy collar. Of course I didn't realize that until I had already attached and finished the ties. So, I had to take them back off. But because I had already cut the tails, I didn't have enough tail left to anchor the ties back onto the sweater properly. It was about this time that I thought a toggle button would be a great modification. And I know what your thinking - she tried to make another modification? But, I swear this was a modification I wanted to make because I thought it was more "me" - not solely because it didn't require me to make any more crochet chain ties ;-).

However, when I attached the toggle to the edge the first time, the toggle left a gap of about an inch between the two front sides, which just looked stupid. So, off the toggle came and I moved both the toggle and the loop closure farther into the sweater away from the edge. But, again with the gap! The stockinette was just rolling in on itself. After consulting with Knitzalot, I added a hook and eye just at the sweater's edge to actually secure the sweater closed, then the toggle gets fastened over it for decoration. It works great and upon first glance you would never know the little hook and eye are in there.

Overall, I give this pattern a thumbs up. It was a quick knit, but almost too quick for the price of the yarn. I got all the yarn on sale, but it was still a chunk of change, so I was glad it was a birthday gift since I didn't get my normal cost-to-entertainment hours worth out of it.

Concert review: Eisley

Last night’s show was truly a family affair. Not only is the band almost entirely comprised of family members, but my whole family (minus B – it was his league night) was there as well. Overall the show was really good. The girls really know how to harmonize and since they are sisters, their voices have a very similar quality despite being very different. They are about to record their second album and they are using this tour as a chance to break in a lot of their new material. I would say that close to 50% of the songs last night were new. I can’t say that I have ever been to a show organized like that before, but it makes me really excited for the new album.

I came to know Eisley because a friend of mind, who could possibly be one of their biggest fans, told me to buy the album. In fact, he sent an email to all of his friends and told us all to buy their album when it came out. Since, his track record for recommending music to me that I really enjoyed, I did. I am a firm believer in supporting artists and while I share music with my friends, I always make the effort to buy the CD if it is something I like. That decision was even easier this time, because it was their first album and I wanted to do my part. I had no idea what they were like, but as soon as the first few notes were played, I knew they were about to become some of my favorites. In fact, their CD is one of my favorite to have in the car – the only place that affords me the privacy I really need to belt out tunes at full volume.

As for the venue, it's not one of my favorites, but then I like to sit down when I see a show. It was at the Soma side stage, which has only in essence been converted from the movie theater it once was. However, despite the foot aching quality of the sloping floors, it does give you a chance to see over the heads of all those hipsters in front of you. And because the place is so small, you can see everything – even the two people who walked through the audience in huge winter parkas with their hoods up without a thought to the fact that it was 100 degrees inside – oh yeah, I forgot, they were too cool to be hot. Also, in the general observation category: people smell.

So, I highly encourage you to check out Eisley (here and here) if you don’t already know who they are. Hopefully you won’t be disappointed. I sure wasn’t.

If I only had a brain

Nonnahs asked earlier in the week if she was crazy. I am following up that question with my own – am I stupid? I am someone who generally tries to learn from her mistakes. I make plenty of them, but I generally try not to make the same one more than once. Why is it then that I keep making that stupid gauge reversal mistake over and over? How many hours of knitting time have I lost by adjusting my gauge the wrong way? I actually, finished the front of my Espresso tank only to realize that the reason it seemed a little big as I was knitting was because it was. I had modified my gauge larger instead of smaller. WTF? How many times to I have to do this? Usually I catch on quicker, but that whole ribbed at the bottom thing really through me off. So, I’m going to have to redo the whole dang thing, because neither my mom (the intended recipient) or I (the possible recipient) are exactly "endowed" and I've heard this tank has some room in it.

One project I am especially jazzed about is Orangina, which is going to have to take on a new name really quickly because there is no orange in this Orangina. The problem is that I can’t wait to wear it! I keep thinking about what a great sexy little summer top this is going to be. However, that implies that I will finish it before the summer is out. This is pretty thin yarn on small needles (3s!), so lots and lots of stitches. Fortunately, the pattern is easy to memorize and see, so you can pick it up anytime and know where you left off. This is a pretty good selling point right now, because this is a project that is going to be around for a while. I plan to role my enthusiasm into some stamina to keep me moving forward on it.

And for the sake of randomness, here is a picture of the rainbow I saw on the way home from work yesterday. Can I just say how much I am enjoying working normal hours again?

Write-O!

I'm not usually a big meme gal, but I keep seeing this fun little handwriting meme around blogland and I enjoy seeing it each time, so I figured it's high time I join in the fun. The meme originated here. I first saw it here, and most recently here. It's simple. Write out a pangram, sign it, then post a picture of it. I think I can handle that!

Handwriting fascinates me. I'm not a handwriting analyst or anything, but I do kind of think one's handwriting is indicative of one's personality, to a certain extent. (Don't ask me for specific examples, because I don't have any.) I think I also find handwriting fascinating because I am a writer. I enjoy writing. Both the physical action handwriting something, and writing as a hobby. (At one point, I actually thought I wanted to be a writer. But that was a long time ago, and I digress...) I've enjoyed writing ever since I was 3 or 4 when my grandma taught me how to write in print and in cursive. I still have fond memories of us sitting together and me practicing my letters on that newsprint paper, the kind with the two bold lines and the dotted lines across the middle. :)

I still write. All the time. It's been a while since I've written any short stories but I'll still bust out an occasional poem here and there. Sometimes I leave little notes for B before I leave in the morning (I discovered that he actually keeps these, I saw some when we moved). I write oodles of notes to myself, and lists galore. They're everywhere- strewn across my desk, on the kitchen counter, in my bag(s). I still write and send cards and letters. And I still use an old-school day book (no palm pilot or Blackberry here). I do a lot of work on the computer, but I think I will always still write. It's just in me.

Super Secret Pal

I received my final package from my SP7 Secret Pal and I have to say it was so much fun to open. Once again she outdid herself. Not only did she send me a new knitting bag, but she included all sorts of fun knitting goodies.

She sent some crochet hooks - perfect for trying out some of those Happy Hooker patterns, a bag of assorted buttons (and really cute ones, too!), three new pairs of socks, a Wingham Wool Work button to add to my collection, and some olive oil soap. There was also a fun little kit for knitting a sock piggy bank! And you know what? It came with a set of 2.5 mm dpns. Now since my brain doesn't do metric, I got out the new Yarn Harlot book and looked up the conversion. These end up being in between a size 1 and 2 US needle. How cool is that?

Finally, and perhaps the most interesting gift, was something called a Pirn Pen. Apparently this pen was made from something called a pirn that had a previous life in a cloth mill in Barnoldswick, UK. Yarn was wound around the pirn and placed in a shuttle, which was then placed in a loom. The weaver could then make all different kinds of cloth. When the mill was closed down sometime in the 80s, they took apart the machines and some industrious person has been turning the pirns into pens! It's really cool and I am really excited she sent it to me.

I have had a truly generous Secret Pal and I can't wait to find out who she is! Thank you again for everything, SP!

And for those who may need a pooper fix, here is Jenny being cute:

Am I crazy?

Wait, don't answer yet! You don't even know what this is in reference to yet! Let me start off by saying that I started knitting my first sock on two circulars. I decided to start off slow (because I am hyper cautious), by using Cat Bordhi's book, you know the one. In order to make sure I could get the general practice down, I thought I would make her Basic Sock Pattern. She gives you the instructions for 3 medium sizes- for a child, a woman, and a man. Well, I have small feet, so I run somewhere between the child and women's medium size. So I decided to cast on the same amount of stitches as I did for my last sock, since that pattern worked out perfectly and everything else seemed to match up for working on this new sock. Here's what the sock looked like on Friday:

And here's what it looked like on Sunday evening. I'm sorry to say that I don't think these photos do this gorgeous yarn any justice. It's the most beautiful Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn. IloveitIloveitIloveit!

Knitting a sock on the circulars is a process all its own. (You should have seen me trying to figure out what I was doing with the gusset.) Here's the thing: I'm finding that I miss the DPNs. Call me crazy (here's your chance. It's okay. I'm almost positive Shelley thinks I am), but here's just something, still, about knitting a sock on DPNs that I really enjoy. I wanted to give this method a try because knitters seem to l-o-v-e it, but I'm not quite sure if it's right for me. Or maybe I haven't given this way enough of a chance yet. I guess I'll know by the time I finish the second one. I am liking how quick it's knitting up, but some of that probably also has to do with the fact that it is my second pair of socks, and not my first (I was very slow on those, as we may recall). I knitted away this weekend! My fingers are getting "chapped" again. Thank goodness I have the special tube o' hand cream that Dis recommended by my side, as well as a most wonderful gift from Margene, which included another hand cream I'm eager to try and tea tree cuticle balm, which I'm all over. Thanks so much, Margene! So anyway, I don't know, the jury's still out on the circs vs. DPNs thing. I wonder how wonky it would be if I knit the second sock on DPNs? (Oh, the picture in my head!) It might be an interesting study though, what do you think?

In other news, this book is finally available, and I'm so excited!

I'm excited for Suzan, the owner of my favorite LYS. Knit Cafe is such a wonderful, warm, and friendly place. If the book captures even a part of the shop's spirit, which I'm sure it has, I have no doubt this will be a lovely book. Those of you who have been there know what I'm talking about. I'm even more excited, because I know there to be great knitting content inside, since many of the shop's regulars were contributors. I'm ordering this book to-day! After hearing about the patterns my friend contributed to the book, I've been looking forward to seeing them in print! Hooray for the Knit Cafe!

PS: I still can't get over the fact that our humble little blog is a year old! :)

The First Year

Today is our first blogiversary! And to be honest I can't believe it has been a year. We started this blog to help us keep in touch. When Nonnahs moved to LA, we quickly realized that we were losing track of her knitting. She would say how she picked up this really pretty yarn or started this totally cute little top, and we'd say - send pictures! So starting a blog seemed like the perfect thing to do. Not only could we all see what we were making, we never missed out on some of those stupid details of everyday life that sometimes you forget to mention during a phone call.

But from those humble beginnings, we started venturing out. Joining knit alongs and saying - 'hey' to people we felt a connection with. We have met some great people from all over the world - people that we call our friends even if we have never even met them. And that's pretty amazing when you think about it.

On a personal note, knitting and blogging have also changed me. I am a very "have a couple close friends, love the comfort of my own home, rather watch a movie than go to a club" kind of person. There have been times that I refused to go to a party because I didn't want to be around so many people I didn't know. However, there is something about knitting that has empowered me. And something about blogging that has made me more bold. I am now fully capable of walking into a knit salon full of strangers, sit down, start chatting and have fun. I have met some wonderful friends this way, people that I have a ton in common with and who I never would have met, if I hadn't gotten the nerve to venture out of my comfort zone.

So, to all the people we have met over the last year. To all the people who we have come to know and call our friends. Thank you!

Clean enough to eat off

I lost several days of knitting time with the onset of the plague earlier in the week, so I haven't made a ton of progress on anything. However, I did make myself crank out quite a few rows on my Starsky sleeves at the knit salon Thursday night.

This is the first time I've knit sleeves two at a time. I know that I will be really glad I did them this way when I'm done, since I'm not a big fan of knitting identical things. But man! - it is taking freakin' FOREVER! Plus these are pretty long sleeves as sleeves go.

The other problem I'm having is that I have been destracted by this:

The yarn in amongst the other yummies my sister-in-law sent home with B (and my new small project bag that was expertly handmade by one of her friends), is a 50/50 cotton-modal blend called Mango from Bouton D'Or in a great teal (the flash made it look a little more shiny than it is normally). While in a plague-induced fog, I did have a moment of clarity on the living room sofa while staring across at the pretty teal balls piled on my chair - Orangina!!! Now I can't get it off my mind. I think it would be perfect for this yarn. The color is rich and the pattern stitch would really lighten it up. And what a great summer top! I plan to buy the pattern and hopefully start swatching this weekend. My only comment about this yarn so far - and it's not really about the yarn itself - is what is up with winding it onto cardboard tubes? Not only does it seem like quite a waste (unless they really have a thing for toilette paper roll crafts in France), but the yarn just falls off the tube! So it doesn't even seem practical. I will have to rewind each ball in order to avoid the tangled mess that is sure to come.

In other news, I am proud to say that I have a clean living room/kitchen/dining room. We had friends come over last night (including our dear Nasus :-), and when I started wiping up around the coffee pot at the far end of the counter, I realized I couldn't stop cleaning because you would have been able to see the line. Yup, we are gross. We have lived in our place for more than 5 years and it is amazing the things you stop seeing on a daily basis. I finally cleaned up the clutter of random crap that was on our counter, dusted and even somewhat organized the knitting *Stuff* (although, I have been told again that I should really address the Weekend Getaway Satchel on the coffee table - it's a fair complaint it's a heap of about 10 balls of yarn and 1/3 of the intarsia work for a felted bag, so not exactly a compact project). Last night after everyone left, I took the extra 20 minutes and washed all the pots and pans from dinner, so this morning when I woke up, I walked out into a completely clean kitchen! Our place almost looks like grown-ups live in it now. My goal is to keep it picked up because B's parents and great aunt will be coming for a visit in a few weeks and I'd like to not have to de-funk our living areas again. But, like I said, we are gross. And I knit. So...

Punishment

I am back from the dead. Fortunately my journey to the dark side only lasted about 2 days, but yuck, what a 2 days! It started rather unexpectedly Monday morning and I awoke this morning feeling completely normal. I couldn't believe that the day before it was physically impossible for me to eat or drink anything (not even water!) for fear of having to spend some additional quality time on the bathroom floor. Where did this come from?

It was then that I realized I was being punished. As a firm subscriber to karma, and way before Earl made it so popular, I know I am getting my just desserts. What did I do? I stole the best friend of a 90 year old woman. How could I do such a think and not think that the cosmic system wouldn't need to be rebalanced in some way?


Although, grandma is always especially happy when Jenny comes to visit, she was especially sad to see her go this time. Grandma has been having some hip trouble and while having to wait on doctors and x-rays and medicine, she has more or less spent the last week upstairs in her room. Jenny seemed to know grandma needed her and stuck by her like glue last week. We spent some time with her on Sunday and could tell that Jenny's leaving was going to leave a hollow place in her heart. Both B and I even had thought to ourselves - maybe we could leave her a little longer...

But, it was time to bring her home - we missed her, too gosh darn it! Although, now that she is back in the land of cement patios and no afternoon sun, I think Jenny maybe missing grandma as well...

Fortunately, I suppose, I was home for the last two days to help Jenny get used to being at home again after nearly a month long adventure in tall grasses and sun spots. She was glad to see us and she is getting back on her schedule here, too. We did, afterall, just come back from getting the M-A-I-L during which she barked like a psycho at the guy catching the elevator as well as the two 50-times-her-size-golden-whatever dogs. See - totally normal day.

In knitting news, this weekend was a time of giving. My mom got Her Flat Clapotis and the Easter Egg Socks now live with my sister-in-law, M. I think it is way fun to give away knitting and hopefully I can keep this up throughout the year, so I won't be faced with IT come December.

Fresh Fruit

The colors are a wee bit off in this picture, but the main thing is that I now a strawberry and pumpkin for the peanuts to give to LA & Rex at their baby shower next weekend. Yay! They really are beanies, and not derby hats, by the way- they look a little bulbous thanks to the XL sized oranges I propped inside them for the photo shoot.

The pattern: Ann Norling's Kid's Fruit Cap in Shine Sport, a very soft cotton blend yarn from KnitPicks. Aside from switching up (or down, as it were) the gauge and needle size (as usual), I knit up the strawberry according to the pattern, but I decided to tweak the pattern a little for the pumpkin, by adding purl stitches to create little vertical ridges. I knit evenly for several rows, taking into consideration the rolling at the bottom, and then spaced a purl stitch evenly throughout, and continued in that pattern until I reached the leaf section. I wanted to give the pumpkin a little more character and distinction, and I'm happy with the result. The ridges are subtle, but add that little something extra that I wanted.

After a bit of a rocky start with these, I loved knitting them up overall, and would suggest them to anyone needing a quick baby gift. They knit up very quickly, and the result's just way too cute. I can't wait to see them on the twin peanuts!

The Epic Journey of Espresso

Once upon a time (February 27th), a young knitter (Dis) won two eBay auctions. These were miraculous auctions that involved a lone batch of Espresso Blue Sky Cotton that had found its way to one of the largest eBay auction houses on the net. Not being a yarn company, they had no idea what they had. And like all the other things they sell in which they have no idea what they are, the starting bid was marked 99 cents. Dis figured that the true adventure of this cotton had ended with her successful win of two of the dozen auctions being offered. Little did she know that it wouldn't be until 6 weeks later that the Espresson cotton would finally come home.

Yup. 6 long weeks. Not only did these poor little hanks of Espresso cotton get caught in a major backlog at the auction house, the invoice first got lost before it got found again. Then the most unfortunately of events happened...it was shipped to Dis' home address via UPS.

Not that little Dis did not try to get it sent to her work address from the start, but somewhere between eBay and PayPal and the auction house, that specific request was not seen. So the poor Espresso cotton made the long journey from Arizona to San Diego where it would be misdelivered, redirected, misdelivered, lied about, redirected and finally stepped on.

But, the journey of the Espresso cotton has now come to an end. It has been happily wound into cakes, swatched and is currently being knitted into a cute little summer tank. The rest have found a higher calling and are destined to become Something Red.

Better

I want to thank Margene for liking what I had to say the other day, in response to her post about hands. It was a really wonderful "ode to hands" post. My hands are special to me, not only because of all the wonderful things they allow me to do (knitting included) but also because they remind me of my mom and grandma, both of whom passed away in the last several years. I am honored to have their hands.

I'm posting on a Saturday...which can only mean...we are once again enjoying the convenience of internet access at home! Woo-hoo! I'm feeling much better in my new surroundings. Things are starting to come together here and feel like home. We were also able to straighten up quite a bit around the house yesterday, and I was finally able to finish unpacking my clothes and shoes. It's coming together, slowly but surely. I think I'll try to do a little photo shoot of the 2 (that's right!) finished fruit beanies, before it starts raining again...

Easter Eggs

Little did I know that when I picked out this sock yarn more than six months ago and embarked upon what are now my first pair of socks that they would be Easter socks. And how appropriate indeed. What else would you call yellow, purple and white socks? It's a natural, really. So here they are in all their glory, my Easter Egg Socks:

These are a basic sock pattern made with a 2X2 rib for the ankle and plain jane stockinette stitch for the rest. Julia helped me get started using a basic sock formula, which will let you make a pair of socks for anyone of any size. Pretty slick, huh? The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Layette (303). I used under two hanks and there is quite a but left over.

They are a little wonky because after all, they are my first pair. But, I love them and I am still in shock that I made a pair of socks! Now, if I just could get out of my mind this insanity that is my idea to make the socks that then get made into sock monkeys, I may survive my next pair. I already cast on for a pair of Bavarian Twisted Stitch socks from Cat's socks on circulars book, or as we like to call it around these parts, the SOC book. So far I'm finding the method a little awkward, but its only been a couple rounds so I haven't called it quits yet.

Much Better

Things are right in the world today...well, almost. We're still missing a certain little person in a fur coat who we are scheduled to pick up this weekend. But, B is back and he made it home safe and sound.


Although, I don't envy his flight from Detroit, which was iPodless, movieless, tvless, and knittingless (the last of which I suppose really didn't bother him all that much), he managed to make it through customs easy. Last time, his allergy plagued mountain man appearance generated some suspicion with the CBP officers who ended up getting quite a kick out of the German nudy man calendar he had bought for me - So, this is for your wife, huh?

This time he brought me back these:


This is Thyme and Lavender syrups, which is an amazing coincidence because we had been talking (hypothesizing) about Lavender syrup at our SnB get together on Saturday. Apparently it can be added to teas and desserts. I'm really anxious to try both. At the bottom is fresh thyme, which grows in abundance around the farm.

He also brought back some yummy cheeses:

In the ceramic container is Saint Marcellin du Dauphine goat cheese, 100% authentique Roqueforte papillon is at the top (the mold is truly crazy - I think I've thrown things like this away before! Although I suppose Roqueforte has nothing on my moldy sharp cheddar), and finally the Morbier is on the right.

For B's welcome back dinner, we are having a cattleman's sirloin with Roqueforte B sauce, roasted asparagus (my new favorite thing) and potato salad with fresh basil and this amazing mustard I got up in Paso Robles. Yum!

doo doo doo doo...doo doo doo doo...

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination. Next stop: THE TWILIGHT ZONE."

There should be a picture of me and Darby over there next to Rod Sterling. Because, I seriously felt as though I was sucked up into some kind of Twilight Zone vortex last night. There was NO traffic on the 405 yesterday evening! Did you hear what I said? No...traffic...on...the...405! It was a little creepy. It was a quiet dusk, with the setting sun sort of peeking out from behind the clouds, and zero traffic. I really did feel like something was wrong. Where was everyone? Did some kind of disaster happen that I was unaware of? What did my usual fellow commuters know that I didn't? It was disconcerting, and yet, I wasn't complaining at all. I took it as some good traffic karma, maybe to balance out those heinous days last week, when it took me twice as long to get home as usual. Whatever the case may be, I'll take it. I don't expect to have anywhere near that kind of luck this evening...or any other, for that matter.

Perspective

I am super excited that my B comes home tomorrow. I know I've sounded poopy lately and I really needed to get some perspective. That perspective came this morning when I realized that my co-worker's husband is also coming home this week. Only her husband has spent the last 7 months in Iraq. B was only gone 3 weeks and was in France. And although France has seemed to enjoy some not-so-peaceful protests as of late (or at least that is what has been on the news here), it's still France. I was certainly never worried about B's safety while he was gone. (Although he had another one of those annoying experiences where he was made fun of because he was taking a picture of a beautiful building in a beautiful country. Don't those people go on vacation? And wouldn't you want to bet those people have vacation photos at home, too?)

Anyway, one thing that his being gone got me, was a lot of knitting time. Here is the finished back of my Starsky:


I also finished the left front yesterday while watching the Lord of the Rings. Notice how I didn't say "Return of the King" or "the Two Towers"? Yup - I watched the whole dang thing, extended version and all. Not sure why, but I just did.

Have no fear I did get outside a bit on Sunday to enjoy that amazing San Diego spring day we had. I even had a friend come join me. This is Jenny's friend, Kitty. I tried to get him to be cute and take a fun picture with my knitting, like certain other kittys so kindly do, but he looked at me like I was nuts.

"You want me to do what? Who do you think I am, Chaos?"

And since I had to order at least $25 to get the free shipping from Amazon while ordering a DVD for my niece, look what they put in the box for me!

petite

Warning: Crappy photos ahead! Until sometime later this week when B and I are once again blessed with an internet connection, I'm afraid that pictures from my "better than nothing" camera phone will have to suffice. Please note, the colors...not so much. But, you'll get the general idea. I promise better photos (from a legit camera) later!

For now, crappy photos and all, I bring you some long-awaited knitting content! This was the first weekend I had been able to knit since all this moving hullabaloo started. And given this information, I am more surprised than anyone that I am actually able to present an FO today...but, check it out! I was able to start (and finish) a strawberry beanie for one of the peanuts. For this, I owe in large part to Dis, who was clever enough to suggest I might use 12" circulars, in place of the DPNs I was struggling with. Brilliant! I llllove these things! More on them later. I was inspired to knit the peanuts a couple of Ann Norling's fruit hats, after being inspired by a hat Theresa shared a little while back. I'm planning to buy LA and Rex other much needed baby necessities for their shower, but of course I also wanted to knit them a little something(s) too, and I thought these would be just the thing!

I decided to make a strawberry first, because...it's just so freaking cute! I mean, come on! For the other peanut, I will make a pumpkin, because we like pumpkins over in this neck of the woods.

So, 12" circular needles. How late to the party am I with these? All I can say is, my new pair of 12" Addis is my new favorite little toy. It's so little...and perfect for little peanut hats! Now if only someone could come up with even teenier ones for socks! Crappy Photo #2 will give you a sense of the scale (but not the real color of the orange yarn). Seriously- how mini is this?

Now, changing the subject for a moment, I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to mention the fun I had Thursday night down in SD. I enjoyed my visit to The Grove's Knit Salon, and then of course the gab fest with my girls at Dis' place. Zero knitting was accomplished, but with take-out from Phil's, a fantastic bottle of wine from our road trip in February, and plenty of laugh-inducing topics to cover, who needs to knit??

Loop

It's seven minutes past midnight and I finally gave up on my futile search for a footnote reference that I need for my 30-40 page paper due in early May. I spent almost an hour and a half on this small stupid task and even asked K to go through my pile of printed articles. Call me obstinate and foolish - but I suppose you need both traits to make it through this maze I call Law School.

After giving up, I lazily day(midnight)-dreamed about my and my sister's upcoming trip to London, and I really hope I can visit Loop, an absolutely adorable yarn shop!

Television!

We have TV! The reception is fuzzy, but it's good enough for me. B is a genius! Technology nerd, I mean, whiz that he is, he was able to fiddle around the the inputs (outputs?) back there and along with a set of rabbit ears, was able to get us crappy network TV! I think I know what early man felt like when the wheel was invented...

It's been a rough several days. I've been rather discombobulated lately. Normally, I am a homebody. I love being in the comfort of my home. Especially after the long hours I spend at work and on the road. I cherish the few hours per night that I can spend in the sanctity of my home, where I can relax, knit, and otherwise veg out. I haven't had this feeling since the packing started. There was no time to relax - there was packing to be done! Then moving. Now, unpacking and organizing. The last part, I actually enjoy, but I haven't even had time to do much of that yet. All this leads to me feeling a little out of sorts, and not yet fully comfortable in my new space. Now, I don't mean to be a Complainy Complainerson about this, because I really am happy with the new place, it's just...a transition, I guess. And not having the creature comforts of home (i.e. TV) has just emphazised feeling of disconnect. It's a little thing, but as we know, it is the little things the make us happy. And as I was driving home yesterday on the 405 in especially horrensous traffic, I didn't think anything could make me happy, but then...not only had B organized some of the furniture and maze of boxes, we were also eventually able to watch Lost. And I was happy.

The little things

Last night I fixed my first cable. I know there are many, many of you out there to which this is second nature. But, to me this was a huge step. I had miscrossed two stitches in Starsky last night and had made it to the next repeat before I realized it. I had already decided I wasn’t going to tink half the row to fix it and I am really glad I didn’t. It was after reaching the third repeat that the mistake started to irritate me. It was also about that time that I realized I could fix it when I got back to that spot on the next row. In my head I was thinking all I had to do was switch the order of the two stitches. But, when I got to the right spot, I realized the mistake in my reasoning as well. I had already knitted through the twisted stitches. In order to fix it I would have to drop two stitches, switch the stitches from front to back and then re-knit.

The complicated (well, at least to me) part was that one of the stitches was destined to be a knit stitch and one was destined to be a purl. So, I had to make sure when I picked the stitches back up through the old loops, that I made a purl where the purl would go and a knit where the knit would go. And to toot my own horn, it came off without a hitch. I was so surprised I actually said out loud to the dust bunnies – huh, look at that!

This made me feel really good about my progress as a knitter, especially since I had been plagued with doubt lately. I had to tell myself earlier in the week, that with time I will become a good knitter - that I need to be patient and not get discouraged. It turned out that fixing a cable was exactly the reinforcement I needed. I now feel that I am progressing and that by just sticking with it, I will be good one day. I too will be able to make a sweater that I will be 100% happy with once I’m done. A sweater that I will throw on at a moments notice like I do with my store bought sweaters and not require a lot of fashion planning to wear. These are my aspirations and I now feel that I will get there…one day.

Technology (or lack thereof)

I wish I was looking up at this view right now.

But, we can't have everything. Or so I am quickly finding out. Since my packing and moving adventure went into full swing on Friday, I have been completely consumed, and thus, sadly neglectful of my blogging duties. Many apologies. You see, although we have only moved a few miles away, and although we are located in the city of movie studios like the one B works at, we have somehow managed to land in some kind of prehistoric enclave of LA County which is not wired for cable. Yes, you heard right. No cable. Which also means, no high speed internet. Which means we have to arrange for the Dish guy to come out (ETA 4/15) and arrange for a phone line (ETA 4/8) (which we weren't planning on getting a land line) which will in turn enable us to have DSL (ETA still TBD, since we need a functional phone line first). Is it me- am I a baby- or is this a complete nightmare? I mean come on now. We can stare lovingly into each other's eyes for only so long. Living without TV OR the internet for a few days , I can do. But both? For 2 weeks? OMG.

So anyway, that's why I've been absent from our blog, and also from visiting other blogs. I need to remedy that starting today, however, for my own sanity, if nothing else! Also, starting today, I must knit again. It's been way too long. And, I need to get started on the fruit hats for the peanuts. Oh, speaking of the peanuts, my sis LA asked if I wanted to accompany her to her OB appointment on Friday, since Rex wouldn't be able to go, so of course I jumped at the opportunity. We got to see the peanuts on the ultrasound! Having never been to an OB appointment before, or seen an ultrasound in person, I was completely amazed. For all of my squinting, I could barely make out anything, but I can tell you that yes, there are definitely two of them in there, and girls at that! LA was a little disheartened to find out that they are still each just under a pound, considering how big she feels already, but I think she looks great! I am SO excited to become an Auntie...can you tell?

On the other hand, I am not excited about having to be expected to function like a normal person today. I am barely awake, and completely unmotivated, but work calls, so I must answer. Looking forward to knitting at lunch. Too bad it won't be under that palm tree in Hawaii!

Tuesday night jabber.

I live about 13 miles from my work. But tonight, it took me nearly an hour to get home. What stunk is that I left the office after 6:00, which is usually well beyond normal traffic times. I should have known because I actually got away earlier than the last few weeks and was thinking how nice it would be to be home a little early this evening. The reason for the delay? Rain. If you've never driven on a Southern California freeway in the rain, boy are you missing out. We turn into one giant mass of vehicles that are going super slow because it's raining, super fast because we refuse to be inconvenienced by rain, and as always, no one will let anyone merge because - God forbid - someone gets in front of you.

As proof I am at the office entirely too early, here's another of those great sunrises...and a hint of the rain to come this evening...

I am so tired, but eyes hurt. I feel like I'm holding on by a thread. I'm living at the office, life at home is entirely abnormal right now and the time change is killing me. I just hope I get used to it soon. I've been walking around the last 2 days feeling like if I let myself go, I'll probably just burst into tears. Fortunately life should be back to normal next Tuesday when B gets back...I just have to make it through Tuesday. I'll have a bit of a respit though, since I don't have to work on Friday and I don't plan on it - even if that means I have to go in some other time during the weekend.

I also wanted to share my Starsky progress. I have 3 cable chart repeats done and I hope to get another one done tonight.

I noticed in the pattern that it says to block as desired. I'm going to "need" to block this. My ribs at the beginning just suck up the entire width of the back. If I pull them out to what I think looks like a nice effect, I can get the appropriate back measurement, so I think I should be ok in that respect. Here's the real issue: I also checked my row gauge and as always, I am off and coming up short. It looks like I can block it longer. But that leaves the question - how far do I knit? I'm supposed to knit 15 inches. But, is that pre-blocked gauge or post-blocked gauge? Is the suggested gauge the blocked gauge? What if I knit to 15 inches in the gauge I'm at now and I run out of yarn because I've knit such a long back? What if my long back then grows? I'm tall, but sheesh.

I also wanted to share a funny story - well, I think it's funny. It just goes to show you that those non-knitters in our lives are actually listening to us when we talk nonsensically at them about knitting stuff. I was complaining to B that I don't feel like I have any clothes right now. B said - who's fault is that Ms. Knitter Girl? You need to start knitting some summer things. I know, I said, but the San Diego winter is tricking me into knitting sweaters. B said - yeah, you keep knitting things with that large gauge yarn. You should use something thinner...or use like, size 60 needles. (This said with a smile on his face.) I couldn't help but bust out laughing. Not only did he understand the gauge relationship, he understood it well enough to make a joke that I'd need a size "60" in order to get my big wool loose enough. Ha! I still can't believe he made a knitting joke! Now he may as well pick up the needles, because he got one of the most important concepts under his belt.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY...

How cute is Amanda Cathleen over at Mistress Stash Enhancer? Very. She sent me my winnings from her contest and although the package came to San Diego on Wednesday, the soonest I could get to the post office was yesterday. I was so thrilled when I opened up my box and saw such a fun collection of little goodies. This is why I love knitters. She could have put the yarn in a box - which would have been totally fine - but no.

She included a cute knitting card, some yummy looking...ehhm, tasting...peanut butter meltaway chocolate, a new tape measure (which I promptly put to use yesterday on Starsky), as well as the beautiful (even more beautiful in person by the way) yarn and magnet from Autumn House Farms. So, thank you once again Amanda Cathleen - you are the best!! She has again reinforced why I love this community so much - for its thoughtfullness, camaraderie (why do I feel Merriam-Webster is yanking my chain in this one?), and generosity.

In other news, I officially started Starsky yesterday with Knitzalot, Cora and Allison. I got through the ribbing and the first repeat of the cable chart. There is at least one mistake, but it is small, and it really doesn't bother me.

I am trying to master this whole chart thing. I spent this whole repeat looking up each twist character by character. I knew there was logic to looking at the chart, so after I finished I spent some time trying to understand what the characters where actually telling me to do, so that I wouldn't have to keep looking each one up. I figured out the system, but it's not quite second nature yet. It is really fun to see the pattern take shape. But I have to admit, this one is a little tricky for beginners. Not that it is difficult, but because the design is a little more free form - not so obvious where the next twist will be. Although I'm sure this will change the more I do it and get to really see how the cable flows.

Unfortunately, I am now on a cable kick. Everything I want to do has cables. So, what is next on the list? Hmmm...Eris and Rogue perhaps? It's not like I already have the yarn for those. Ok, maybe I do.