Last Day of May

I was so excited for this month of Project Spectrum to begin- I can't believe it's already nearly over! So many pretty green objects around the house that never got to be photographed this month like bags and purses, shoes, and teapots. What's that saying about best laid plans? I honestly don't know where the month went! Why is it that time flies by so much faster as we get older? Wasn't it just March? Did I blink and miss Spring? Thankfully, I think I have a few more weeks until Spring is officially over, though I feel as though it's just begun.

Anyway, I thought I would end the month (seriously - wasn't it just May Day?) with actual green content as it relates to actual knitting (novel idea) so let me flash the yarn I will be using on my Amazing Lace adventure this summer- Misti Alpaca Baby Alpaca in this yummy muted light greenish-yellowish color.

More on the Amazing Lace to come, including my first official challenge, but for now suffice it to say that this will be truly amazing endeavor for me by the time I cross the finish line.

Totally unrelated but worthy of a shout out: Check out Cara's blog when you have a chance. You may or may not have already heard about the Spin Out she is organizing in Central Park. Regrettably, I am unable to attend, much as I would love yet another "excuse" to go back to the NYC. Thankfully for those of us who cannot be there in person, we can still participate in the accompanying raffle by donating to one of the most wonderful organizations ever, Heifer International. They do such amazing work there, I was happy to contribute (and not for the prizes, either)! Details are up on Cara's blog. Check it out! All the cool kids are doing it! ;)

Mmmm...Jelly

All I can say is that Theresa and Rachel are truly inspired creatures. When I started to feel all summery (and yes, it is possible to feel fally in So Cal, just not wintery all that often) and feel like everything I was knitting was all heavy, solid and in great need of some well placed holes, they up and invented the Amazing Lace. It was exactly the way I wanted to spend the rest of my summer - making pretty things full of well placed holes!

I'm all signed up and will be posting my teammate introduction shortly (you'll see a couple of these actually, because Nonnahs has been equally inspired to make holes), but I am in still of a bit of a teammate quandry: to knit Rowan's Birch or it's modified version, Kiri?

This has been one of those knits that haunts me (in a good way). Every time I would see Kidsilk Haze in Jelly, I would go - ooooh. I had made the decision to buy the yarn 3 times, but the first two attempts led to the yarn mysteriously vanishing prior to my arrival after teasing me for several visits that it would be there when I came to make it mine.

So, finally it is mine. But now the question - to Birch or not to Birch? I had always planned on this being Birch, but why not Kiri? I really like the idea of getting the worst of the work out of the way at the beginning. But there is something to be said about starting small and building up width. It gives me a chance to get used to the pattern before I have to repeat it 5000 times across the whole thing. More importantly it (hopefully) lessens the need to tink (or heaven forbid - rip) Kidsilk Haze which I have heard is a bit "sticky". So what to do? The girls at the Saturday knit group at Rebecca's think that Birch is the way to go. But are there any advocates for Kiri out there? I would love to hear your two cents.

And on an unrelated note - have I told you that I love my new camera? It has come in very handy. No longer do I miss a great photo opportunity, whether is be a chuby Boba Fet, a giant copper buffalo, or this:

I don't even know what to call this. But, in case you can't tell in the photograph, that is plush (yes, plush) tiger fabric covering the front and underbelly of that motorcycle. I know. And the best part is that this motorcycle now aparently lives across the parking spot from our own parking spot so we get to see it everyday when we come home. Sweet!

Why We Love Sarah

Since my tank progress in the last few days is so minuscule and not quite blog-worthy, I thought I would dedicate a short, random Wednesday post to Sarah McLachlan, since she is a perennial team favorite here at A Little Loopy. I mean, really- who wants to see a few inches of ribbing, when you can watch a cool video instead?

I recently watched the video for Sarah's single "World on Fire" on the Oprah show, of all places, where she performed the song live, with the video playing the background. (This is a prime example why randomly DVR-ing Oprah is never really a bad idea.) I was so moved, I thought I would share about it, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

Sarah (and director Sophie Muller) made the video for $15 (the cost of the tape). She spent $150,000 (the standard production cost of making a music video) - which would have been spent on the crew, location fees, lighting, makeup, etc.- to (among other things) house, feed, and educate people around the world.

From the Media That Matters Film Festival website:

Multi-platinum Nettwerk recording artist Sarah McLachlan was determined to make a statement with the new video for her chart-topping single World On Fire. It was McLachlan's desire to assist those in need that led her to arrange for the video's production costs to go to charities around the globe. Award-winning video director Sophie Muller and her production crew donated their time and skill to create this video with the labor costs benefiting those in need worldwide. Muller captured a stark, simple performance by McLachlan that is interspersed with scenes displaying the standard cost for video production (inclusive of camera crews, electricians, and location fees, etc.) comparing those costs with the price of food, medical supplies and education for over one million people. Muller skillfully edits images provided by charities and other sources from locations including Afghanistan, India, Nairobi, South Africa, Southeast Asia and others illustrating the existence of those who live without everyday necessities. Those expenses that are customary for a video production were sent to a list of 11 charities with total funds equaling $150,000. The only production expense was $15, the cost of a Sony miniDV tape.

"When Sophie Muller first approached me with her concept, I thought it was poignant and brilliant," said McLachlan. "The song is about trying not to feel paralyzed when we see all that is wrong with the world, and remembering that even the smallest gesture can make a difference — corny but true. I wanted a video that wasn't about me and wasn't preachy, but one that would help shine a light on the tragedy and turmoil in the world and also show the beauty and strength of the human spirit. Sophie and everyone else who touched this video worked tirelessly and for free to make it happen. This was a labor of love for all the right reasons and I'm proud to be a part of it."

You may see how the money was spent here.

You may watch the video here.

One Sock Doesn't Make a Pair

I have one sock of a pair to show off. And I am proud to show them off, even if they aren't perfect. This is the Carbon color way from Socks That Rock and I swear it was a complete accident that they totally match my living room rug. The didn't pool any where accept in this really cool Nike swoosh (now do I have to make that little trademark symbol here?) of yellow at the base of my ankle. I like it so I left it in. But you can be sure there will be no such swoosh in the second sock of the pair.

There is also an issue of size. Since I got preoccupied about making socks that come out too big, these came out a little small. Actually, they fit just fine, but the ribbing ends up very open looking. After playing around a bit with gauge, I think that I am about a medium foot (according to the Cat Bordhi book) if I use size 2 Addi Turbos with Socks that Rock. For this sock I CO a number of stitches in between the child's medium and women's medium after reading someplace that a women's medium is about a size 9. That's not exactly a medium foot by any of the women's feet I know, but then my size 8 feet look like Sasquatch feet next to Nonnahs' itty bitty feet (I swear they are the cutest things ever!).

I also made a bit of a mess of my toe, but it's closed and no one is going to see the toe anyway. I've already got sock 2 on the needles and I am making progress down the ankle. I figure if this is all I let myself work on at the office during the day, I can never get second sock syndrome, right? I am still marveling at the perfect pairing that is the Addi Turbo and the Socks That Rock combination. This is a match made in heaven if I have ever seen one. Each one complents the other to perfection.

In a non-sock related news, I took the Continental Knitting class at the Grove last Sunday. It really ended up being a Combination Knitting class, which is just fine by me as I "discovered" that method on accident while trying to purl correctly continental-like. I see great potential, but I hate the idea of the slow transition that it would be to transition all my work to Combination. Also, there is a fundamental logic that goes along with Continental Knitting that I may not be able to trust myself to keep up with at all times. How often have I made the gauge mistake this year alone? And now I have to remember to twist and untwist and swap around paired decreases? I know it would be a transition I will be happy I made, but right now I find it very daunting. I also met another San Diego blogger in person, CrissyPo.

Finally, a post wouldn't be complete without a cute Jenny picture. She loves to run at the camera, so it is hard to get her still long enough to capture the cuteness that is Jenny. However, I figured something out (yes, just one thing), that in the car I have a captive audience. This picture makes me smile.

Green

This month's Project Spectrum color is Green. My favorite! Unfortunately, I don't have any green knitting to show at the moment, so instead I thought I would devote this post to green in the ecological sense.

B and I strive to live as eco-friendly as we can. We could still do a lot more like consume less and conserve more, but we do try to make sound choices whenever possible that are healthier for us, our pooch, and the environment.

There are lots of nifty websites out there that are very informative on how you can live a little greener, if you're interested. One of my favorites is Ideal Bite - a great website that offers green living tips in their daily emailed newsletter. You can reference their Tip Library, or go here to sign up! Another great resource is Treehugger - an online magazine chock-full of articles and directories of where to find green products and services.

There is a lot of room for improvement where I am concerned, but as I continue to work on it, I feel that the little things really can make a difference, and it's not hard. :)

Dis-who?

Wow! It has been forever since I posted. It was a busy week last week getting ready for my in-laws' visit. B's parents and great aunt came from Texas for an extended weekend. Our place was in pretty good shape before they got here. However, I got this great idea to finally add the new bookshelf to the office the weekend before. Actually, IKEA was having a sale on the book shelf we wanted that (because our IKEA decided it can set all its prices higher than the suggested retail price) is usually $20 more than almost all the other IKEA locations. With the sale the bookshelf ended up being $10 less then the suggested price, so we couldn't pass it up. The problem was that we had to completely re-do the office including taking all the books off the shelves already in there, clean and organize the piles that have accumulated over the past I don't know how many months. I suggest everyone who is a cleaning procrastinator have house guests at least once a year to keep your place somewhat liveable.

The visit was great. It was Auntie's first airplane trip in her life and her first time to see the ocean. She had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed everything. On Friday we took everyone to the zoo, because that is just something you've got to do when you visit San Diego.

Auntie's favorites where the bears and because it was Bear Awareness Week at the zoo, they had even blown snow for the Polar Bears to play in. I couldn't help but thinking when I saw the bears laying flat with their tummies on the snow that they were finally comfortable. How hot must they be normally? Sheesh. Not exactly the arctic here in ol' SD.

We also took them on the drive up the 101 had fish tacos and saw surfers. I think overall they had a great time and I'm glad Auntie was able to come out. She is such a great lady, so giving and so thoughtful.

I will be posting some separate knitting updates over this coming week, because there has been so much I haven't been able to get to since last week, including sock and Oceania updates as well as my teammates for the Amazing Lace.

And since a random update post wouldn't be complete without something totally random, I have a line on a life-size copper buffalo if you are interested:

Good bye for now!

I'm done with finals - yay!! And now I'm off to London - it's supposed to be raining everyday we plan to be there, but E and I will make the most of it. I will upload pictures when I get back.

Happy Weekend

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day weekend. B and I drove down to San Diego to spend some time with his parents to celebrate not only Mother's Day, but also B's and his mom's birthdays. It was Dakota's first long car ride, so we wondered how he would handle it. He was fine. :) We took his parents to a yummy Cuban restaurant that his mom likes called Miami Grille, and then after dinner, we watched one of the Netflix movies we've had sitting around for a while - Good Night, and Good Luck. I highly recommend this film if you haven't seen it yet. George Clooney did an excellent job writing and directing (as well as acting), the cinematography was outstanding, and David Straithairn was excellent as Edward R. Murrow. After a nice breakfast on Sunday morning, we drove back home (see photo above).

It was also a nice weekend for knitting. I was able to make some progress on the Fitted Tank, which I think will be called Satsuma. I won't bore you with the details of how many times I've gauge swatched, switched needle sizes, and restarted this thing. Suffice it to say that my "quick, 'instant gratification' project" has not lived up to that billing one bit. I don't why I thought it would. You'd think I'd know better by now, but nah!

So while I'm trudging along with Satsuma, I received the yarn for the Shell Tank in the mail. Great- a tank backlog!

What made my day yesterday: I received my copy of Mason Dixon Knitting. It's so cute! I didn't have much time to peruse, but I can tell I will love this book. I'm already plotting out holiday gifts. :)

Late Bloomer

There are a few things I have come across lately that will not be news to most of you. First, is that we have recently started watching Grey's Anatomy. How awesome is this show? We only get like 3 channels, so unless it's on NBC, PBS or the WB (which really means we have like 2 channels since neither B or myself are exactly the WB's demographic), we have no idea about it. So, we rely on NetFlix to get us caught up on the TV we've missed. Grey's Anatomy is the most recent series that we've got coming to our house, which means I've been staying up entirely too late every night this week. And is it just me or does Ellen Pompeo remind you a ton of Calista Flockhart? She even has her insane skinniness. I can't even imagine how skinny she must be in real life given the whole 10 pound thing - crazy!

The other thing is that I am now a complete Harry Potter convert. I was very resistent to the whole thing, but I finally caved following a very thorough explanation from a co-worker of mine on why I would like the books. And I do. I really do. I started year 3 last night and I have to say that my favorite side character so far is Errol, the Weasley's super old owl. Every time he shows up, I end up in a fit of giggles. So cute!

And speaking of cute...

It might be difficult to tell what this picture is all about. But for those of you who have never had to protect yourself from a dog who madly wants to like your face, this is what it looks like.

Tank Season

Let's just forget, for a moment, that I'm only 1/2 done with my Bougainvillea socks...still. Never mind that. I now also have two tanks in the pipeline. It's Spring, after all- my favorite season! Something about the weather getting a little warmer (but not too hot) and the jasmine in the air- it just makes me happy. And how better to commemorate this wonderful season, than with some cute tanks?

The tank I have already started is the Fitted Tank pattern by Alison Williams using Blue Sky Cotton- basically, exactly like the one in the picture- I just love that orange, don't you? I've been hoarding Gerber daisies in that very same color for the past few weeks. I can't get enough of it! (Tangent: how much do I love having fresh flowers in the house? I really, really love it! I've been treating myself to a small bunch during our weekly visit to Whole Foods. While B gets the cart, I grab a bunch of pretty flowers to put in it. It works out.) Aaanyway, we'll see just how much my tank ends up resembling the one in the photo by the time I'm finished. I doubt it will be recognizable, but we shall see.

The tank I have not yet started, but am pretty excited about, is the Shell Tank from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. I love this book, if you will recall. I joined the Knitting Nature KAL. (My first KAL!) I think seeing everyone else's beautiful work and progress will help keep me on track and motivated (slow knitter that I am). I was in a bit of a quandary as to which project to choose first- there are some drop-dead gorgeous sweaters in that book! Since it is Tank Season, I decided on what else, a tank. It was tough- the Roundabout Leaf Tank is beautiful, and so interesting, it caught my eye right away. But several people in the KAL are already doing it, so I thought I would try something a little different and instead chose the Shell Tank. I find the lines and stylized shell pattern very interesting. Plus, it's so different than designs I'm normally drawn to- I thought it would be fun to venture out of my comfort zone and try something a little different. What's the big deal, you ask? Look at it- it's asymmetrical! And if ever a girl was into symmetry, it's this one. But, I think it'll be fun! I plan to use Tahki Cotton Classic in a light lilac color. As soon as it arrives, I'll get a pic and you can see what you think. I think it will be pretty.
I do love that butter yellow color, but as long as I'm getting all crazy up in here with my pattern choice, I may as well stray from my usual colors as well. What am I like right now? What's come over me?. . . It must be Spring!

Quiz Meme

Got this fabulous idea from Marnie. Her quiz was so much fun, I decided to play along, and I hope you will now do the same and take my quiz! Some of you may have a slight advantage (my life is such an open book, after all), but I think I managed to sneak in a few surprises as well. Once you've taken my quiz, you may go on and create one of your own. It's a lot of fun- trust me! Give it a shot! Go on! :)

Understatement

I have a new love: Socks That Rock. To say they Rock is putting it mildly. It is the most amazingly squooshy yarn. It knits like butter using my Addi Turbos. It is taking every ounce of determination I have to go back to my desk after my morning and afternoon breaks. I just don't want to stop knitting! My first hank of STR is in the colorway Carbon and the picture just doesn't do it justice. It is very "me" yarn and has pretty much all my favorite colors in it.

Thursday night before our Vegas trip I became obsessed with starting a pair of socks. I decided that the fist fight I was having with my Claudia's Hand Painted and my Addi Turbos had to stop. The yarn is great, but I think it was destined to work on more pointy needles. So, I grabbed my STR that I picked up at Stitches West, wound it up and started swatching. Although, I didn't think I had the right needle size for a while, because I was once again on some sort of yarn crack high, I realized I was fine and could bring the sock along with needles on hand to Vegas. Most of the knitting on the ankle of the sock was done at the airport and the ankle has now sprouted a heel. Last night I started the gussets. This is my first attempt at using 2 circulars and while I hated it with the Claudia's Hand Painted, I am love, love, loving it with the STR. I have absolutely NO ladders! This is a first for me. Although I haven't made it all the way through a single sock yet, I think I am developing an appreciation for this method. However, I doubt I will ever give up dpns entirely.

Crookfang

Question: How freaking wonderful and talented is Jacey at Insubordiknit?
Answer: VERY!

If you haven't checked out Insubordiknit yet, please do. Jacey is a really cool knitter, spinner, vegan chef and mom, and her yarns are SO much fun! I asked her if she could design a Monster Hat Kit for my nephew Jack in Hawaii (an aspiring knitter *yay* who turns 11 today!), and lookie at the masterpiece she whipped up! His name is Crookfang! The yarn is so beautiful, and oh-so much fun! I'm not quite sure about the fiber content, but I believe she was planning to spin up some veggie fibers, such as soysilk, ingeo, and cotton. The colors are so vibrant- royal blues, olivey greens, some deep purple, and some black...it couldn't be more perfect! I mean, look at this! See for yourself!

Here's a close-up of Crookfang's face. What 11 year-old kid wouldn't dig this guy? Thank you so, so much, Jacey, for creating this wonderful kit for Jack. Especially with everything you have going on right now. I don't know how you did it, but you went above and beyond. You truly ROCK!

Now all I need to do is assemble the rest of the package to send to Jack. Some needles, an instruction book, since I (sadly) can't be there to teach him in person. I am thinking about Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick. If anyone has any thoughts on this, or other recommendations, please let me know. He has a little kit, from which he's learned how to make scarves and other flat things, but his mom said he's been wanting to learn how to make hats, so I thought this would be a great place to start. I hope DPNs aren't too tricky- what do you think?

...Totally unrelated, here's a continuation from Dis' post and pics of our fun henna experience, less than 24 hours after the henna was applied. You can see how the areas on our fingers darkened first. Now the lotus on the back of my hand (which I particularly love - I kinda wish that would stay there) is just a tinge lighter than the swirly, curlicues on my fingers. The artist was truly amazing. We were enthralled just watching her freehand these designs.

Vegas Part Deux

As Nonnahs said, we had a lot of fun, but were very glad to be home. I kept feeling like I couldn't breathe the whole weekend. I just had this uncontrolable urge to be outside the whole time we were in Vegas. Fortunately for us is wasn't a 1000 degrees. And we did manage to get out to some fresh air a couple times. Although, in our attempt to find some place outside to eat, we ended up at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace (did you know they make spiral escalators?) and had the pleasure to see a chubby Boba Fett.

This made me so happy :-) The real Boba Fett and Jabba the Hut were there signing autographs. A few other giggles were also had while we stood behind a crew of a dozen or so prom-goers trying to get reimbursed for their cancelled Le Reve show tickets (or should I say 12 teenagers trying to reach a unanimous decision - Ha!) and while making possible dinner reservations at the "Pasta Pirate" (need I say more?).

So here are a couple pictures of our Henna tattoo experience. This is the artist tattooing Nonnahs's right hand.

The interesting part was that after the green paste was applied and dried, you couldn't get it wet for 8 hours. Something that would have been good to know before we chose to so this on a hot Saturday afternoon in Vegas before a crab dinner. But look how pretty...

This is what the designs looks like while we still had the dried henna paste on. The paste then gradually flaked off, leaving the rusty, reddish tattoo behind. The tattoo is supposed to last for about 2-3 weeks, or until the skin has completely regenerated. Pretty cool! I am thoroughly impressed by the artist who free-handed both of our designs, including the circle within a circle on Nonnahs' hand!

Leaving Las Vegas

Dis and I were in Sin City this past weekend for a work retreat. Let your mind wander (wonder) - it's okay, I'll wait. We had fun, despite the fact that no big windfall of money was won, because we were together (we deeply missed Nasus, but she was there in spirit). We stayed here, had a delectable dinner here, and saw this show. We tried to see this show, but alas, they were experiencing technical difficulties, so the shows on Saturday night were cancelled. Too bad, too, because we were looking forward to comparing two Dragone water-themed shows. Plus, one of our former clients used to perform in one, and is now in the other. Oh well, maybe next time. Oddly enough, we didn't knit all weekend! What? Crazy, but true. The one block of time we really had time to sit and knit, we couldn't, due to henna-stained hands. (Pictures to follow later.)

Usually (99% of the time) I am sad when a vacation, weekend, etc. comes to an end. For some reason, however, I'm always ready to leave Vegas. This isn't to say that I don't have fun while I'm there, because I had a good time, but after a couple of days living in what feels like a giant ashtray amongst drunken mayhem, bachelor/bachelorette parties and many pairs of exposed breasts, I don't know about you, but I was ready to go home and take a shower!

I plan to get back on track with my knitting now that I'm back in the real world, so I should have some knitting content updates to share soon. Meanwhile, today is all about trying to stay awake. "Happy" Monday, everyone!

From one dog to another

This has been a sweet week for mail for us over here. First, my fabulous book package, and then yesterday, Dakota was the lucky recipient of a present from Jenny! It's so good to have friends!

Dear Jenny,

Thank you so much for the present you sent me! I've never received anything in the mail before- what a thrill! Your note was so funny, not to mention very helpful (especially the part about the cute faces *wink, wink*). The brightly-colored bouncy balls caught my eye right away. Even thought I don't really know what to do with ball toys yet. Dad throws a red ball near (to?) me, but I'm not sure what he wants me to do with it. I feel like there must be more to it. Now that I have these fun toys, I'll get to practice! I haven't tried Greenies yet, but I think I overheard the peeps talking about them, and how they're supposed to be all the rage. I'm excited to try them! (Will I become addicted?) I'm especially excited to look through the picture book of cute faces, so I can learn them all, like you suggested. My people are already suckers for my cuteness - and that's when I'm not even trying! Man, will I be a tough customer to resist once I have these sweet moves down! ;)

Well, it's been a few minutes since I've last taken a nap...better get back...You're the best! Thanks again! And, thank your mom for packaging the box up so nice. My first mail present...SWEET!!

*lick*, Dakota Jones

PS: Neither of my peeps' last names are Jones, as you know, but Dad thought the name went well (and better than either of theirs - HA!). Mom thinks it's silly (especially when Dad sings the full name to the tune of the Counting Crows song), but when she told her friend The Kamel about it, he felt honored, so it's all good. I don't mind. (Um, are your people as crazy as mine?)

Book mail!

Who doesn't love receiving books in the mail? Especially given our mail situation, which I won't get into here, let me just say that any mail that is actually delivered to us at our (not-so) new home is cause of excitement. But, books are all the more fun! Especially when your box contains a copy of Greetings from Knit Cafe (which you have been dying to peruse)! I have to tell you- I wasn't disappointed, not one bit! The book captures all the character and charm of my favorite LYS, and there are so many fantabulous patterns inside, I'll have project ideas for days (any by days, I mean much longer than just days) - thanks to Julia, Mary-Heather, and the other great designers! I'm so stoked for Suzan. The book is awesome!

I also received Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. Talk about a gorgeous collection of designs, all of them inspired by the shapes and patterns found in nature. So, so pretty! The third book, Sam Choy's Island Flavors, was actually ordered by B. He claims that he will be cooking meals for us using this book. We shall see. No, no- I will refrain from skepticism and will instead remain optimistic! Sam Choy, for those of you who aren't familiar, is a chef and restaurateur from Hawai'i. The yummiest dishes, let me tell you! This man knows his food! Needless to say, if- I mean - when B decides to make anything from this cookbook, I will be pleased, to say the least. :) Books...regarding knitting and food 9two of my favorite subjects)...it doesn't get much better. (I checked- there weren't any shoes or purses tucked away in that box-shoot!)

Dakota doesn't knit, read or cook, but he is darn cute, so he gets his picture taken, too. :)

Lost

It is 8:30 pm on B's tournament night. Which usually means that it is "me" time. A little knitting, hopefully *something* on TV, maybe even a little wine. But tonight I am lost. I cannot knit. I keep wandering around trying to figure out what to do with myself. Not that I don't have things to do, but who wants to balance 3 months worth of checking statements? Who wants to organize the office? I want to knit.

The reason for my knitting abstinence is the funny feeling I've been getting in my hand since last night. It is mostly in my yarn finger, but it goes all the way to the base of my wrist. It kinda feels like when something is asleep but it hasn't started tingling yet? You know, kinds numb-ish? It is freaking me out. I have a feeling it is all that teeny tiny knitting I've been doing lately and especially all those hundreds of purl stitches in which I hold my yarn finger (the right pointer finger) at crazy right angles for long periods of time. I stopped knitting on Oceania last night when I started to feel it, but switching to other knitting didn't help. Then it came back again at break this morning and has bugged me all day. I am hoping that if I don't knit for a day or so, maybe I can go back to knitting normal things. Then hopefully I can pick up Oceania again, but limit my knitting time. This recovery is especially important because the Knit Salon is this Thursday and Nonnahs and I are going on a work retreat this weekend, which loosely translates to: knitfest.

It just stinks because I am going crazy to knit little things. I want to knit socks!! And seeing Nonnahs' pretty Bougainvillea sock makes me ache for it even more! I guess the only sock consolation I have right now is that I need smaller needles in order to work on the new socks I started with my Claudia's Hand Painted from Stitches. Although I swatched, the cuff looks really big and when I try it on, the cuff sits just so, which makes me think that it will probably be too loose once I wear it...and I want these to fit.

Well, since I don't have any progress to show you, I was share a recent splurge:

This is a hank of olive Rock Star with olive beads. It is so pretty! I had really been eyeing the pretty orange and sequin hank, but realized I would probably only wear something like this with black...and I didn't want to look like I was on my way to a Halloween party in the middle of January. So, the I got the olive instead, which was hardly a compromise.

Oh and in misc. news, please go look at the pretty blankets that Christine has just finished putting together for Michael and her brother Jef. Christine put out a call to make comfort blankets for these special men and knitters from all over contributed squares. They are both done now and if you check out some of her recent posts, you can even see a picture of Jef enjoying his. This was a very special project to be apart of and I definitly plan on continuing to contribute to similar projects in the future.

Also, I found out that Fred was my SP7 Secret Pal! So a super big public thanks to Fred! Don't worry I was the first one to kick myself for making the stupid assumption that "he" was a "she". When he told me who he was a laughed out loud at myself because I had actually thought about it when I wrote my first post - you don't know your SP's a "she", there are lots of men knitters out there, but the others have been "shes", don't worry about it, it's probably fine... Yeah, well. How does that saying go again? Something about being an "ass"...

Bougainvillea in a Sock

So, I finished a sock on Sunday. Yes, one. C'mon, you know how slowly I knit- did you really think I'd have a whole pair to show you already? ;) I so *heart* this yarn. Have I mentioned that already? Well, I do. I'll say it again, too, I don't care. It's so soft, and the colors are so pretty! I wish I could accurately capture the beauty that is this yarn for you, but until I have just the right light, these photos will have to do. The colors in it (when you can see it vividly, unlike here) remind me of all the bougainvillea vines that grew around my mom's house.

I'm still kind of *eh* about the two circulars method. It's not heinous or difficult or anything like that - I'm liking it enough - it's just different. It's a whole different experience than knitting on DPNs. It's fine, but like I said before, I'm kinda missing the DPNs. We'll see. Back to the important part- I finished a sock! Yay! I'd better get moving on the second one, what do you think?
By the way, thank you so much for all of your sweet comments about Dakota! He is so sweet and lovable. B and I couldn't be happier dog parents. :)

New Blog Dog

I am pleased to announce the arrival of the newest member of the A Little Loopy family, and my and B's household, Dakota. We're SO happy to have him with us! :)

B and I adopted Dakota through a cool organization called the Bill Foundation. The nice people there think he's a jindo/shepherd mix, around 3 years old. Isn't he cute??

Dakota was found as a stray. Because he was so skiddish, he lived at one of their facilities for around a year and a half, where he was trained and acclimated to the point where he was comfortable enough around people to be adopted. We are told that he's come a really long way. He's still a little timid, but not in a hyper way. He's really mellow, extremely well-behaved and really well-trained. And for a rather shy guy, he is quite affectionate. He arrived on Saturday, and considering he's in a(nother) new place, we think he's been adjusting really well. Much to my relief.

You'll be seeing much more of him, so I thought I should introduce him ASAP. Friends, this is my adorable boy, Dakota. :)