Happy Birthday, Dis!

For our Dis.

Kind, gentle spirit
Daring yarn adventurer
Loved by her Loopies

-Nasus

On this special day

A hundred paper clip points

For love and friendship

-Nonnahs

We hope you're having a great day, despite having to be at work!

rip-it, rip-it, rip-it

Yesterday there was a whole lotta froggin' going on. Instead of our normal Saturday gathering at Rebecca's, the girls came over to my place for a little frogging party. With all of the cleaning out, simplifying and reorganizing going on, I thought that most of us also probably had some UFOs and undesirable FOs hanging around.

I myself had a couple things that needed to be taken care of, namely this shrug and this hat. Despite my enthusiasm at the time, you can tell in the shrug photo that there were going to be problems. (BTW - you may notice by the length of my hair that this was one of my earlier FOs.) This particular FO made one appearance at the office during which I tugged on it all day and never felt comfortable. I was inspired to frog-it when I saw Glampyre's pattern for the City Shawl. I thought it would be a perfect use for all of this Lion Brand Chenille. It is still a rather nice shade of green (although it appears they have repackaged and revamped their chenille since I bought it. I don't have the ball bands anymore, but I'm pretty sure it was called something different at the time...although my brain is rarely to be trusted). The hat on the other hand, was never meant to fit a normal human head. It was part of a Halloween costume that involved a dog head, so clearly it was always destined for the frog pond.

Cora frogged a sweater and de-seamed a second one. Knitzalot reclaimed god-knows-how-many balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino from a Simply Marilyn. Krys frogged a sock toe and an endpaper mit, and Jessica frogged some Fixation stockings (after already doing quite a bit of frogging on her own). And Marisa happily knit threw it all.

I think the funniest thing in all of this frogging, was seeing the craziness that was our early knitting endeavors. My goodness the true ingenuity behind it all! Gosh darn it, we may not have had the knowledge base behind us with those first projects, but we sure didn't let that stop us from finding a solution!! The afternoon heard several exclamations of - what IS this? and - WHAT did I do?

There was also a bit of munching, including some fabulous red velvet cup cakes (Thanks Cora!) and some super yummy fresh guacamole courtesy of Trader Joe's. I made it, but all props have to go to Trader Joe's fresh guacamole kit. For around $2.60 they give you all the veggies you need to make fresh guacamole. It took less than 10 minutes to chop everything up and the 4 cups that 2 kits made was entirely gone by the end of the day. So get some, it was good!!

Jenny also had some fun yesterday. She met so many new friends! She had to give them her initial non-inviting welcome, but she quickly settled in and had a really great time. This was a totally spontaneous picture, she was hoping to get some fallen chips and ended up scooping K's yarn up with her nose. And in hoping to get said chips, she posed for quite some time before she decided that the yarn on her nose was really quite ticklish. She also found a new place to hang out...on top of Krys' knitting and yarn.

What?

In the end, I ended up with some newly refreshed chenille yarn ready (whenever I am) for the City Shawl.

I also didn't end up frogging the hat. Cora had a great idea of how to repurpose it into a bag. It is still destined for the Goodwill pile, but at least now it will be functional for someone.

Deep V Argyle Vest - done!

All I can say is that it is about time my Deep V Argyle Vest was finished. Sheesh. It has been folded up on my coffee table since the middle of December with nothing but the steeks left to tack down. The thought that it would really only take me another couple hours to finish and that this cold snap wouldn’t last in San Diego forever, finally got it done.

In the end this vest consumed 5 1/3 balls of Jo Sharp DK wool in Scarlet and 3 3/4 balls in Linen. I figure there is probably enough left over for some two color hand warmers…maybe. And again, I want to take the time to mention how much fun the knitting of vest was. Eunny wrote a great pattern and was easy to follow and included lots of good instructions and tips. I feel very confident that I could have made this without the class, but the class, well, it was a really great time. Not only did we learn a ton, we had so much fun!
(I swear I was more happy than I look when I took the top photo.)

Now, for the most part, I knit this project as written by knitting a larger size to accommodate my tighter stitch gauge. I knit the 38, which resulted in pretty much the dimensions for the 34. Additionally, since my row gauge wasn’t proportionally different with my stitch gauge, I got a longer vest. This worked out pretty good, because I was going to have to lengthen it anyway since I’m long. Unfortunately, my row gauge wasn’t very consistent with my swatch so I ended up with a vest about an inch longer than what I was aiming for. If I had it to do all over again, I would have taken out more width from the arms and adjusted the decreases on the top so I could stop the vest sooner, yet still have the shaping work out.

After it is all said and done, I am pleasantly surprised that the vest is wearable. After trying it on after finishing the arm bands, I didn’t have much hope that top of the vest would fit - at all. It is still a little wide, but after the steeks were steamed down and tacked down, it is actually wearable. It is certainly not snug, but it is really only fidgety when I have my bag slung over my shoulder. Just walking and sitting it stays pretty much where it is supposed to. I may still cut off the bottom sometime in the future (I figure this will allow me to pull down the whole thing for a better fit), but for now, I’m done and happy.

We're Married!

The spontaneous decision to wed this past Sunday was the product of a week's worth of distress as we tried to figure out a wedding date in May that would be compatible for all members of our family. K proposed to me on December 15th and soon thereafter we flew out to Colorado where I met his mom for the first time. I completely adore his family! During our traditional Japanese New Years meal with my family, my mom commented that April through July were bad months for us (she's a believer of numerology.) So that left us with no other choice but to "elope" with our families' blessings...

My friend, a local judge, officiated our wedding at Torrey Pines State Reserve Park. A small group of us hiked out on a trail, and although it was windy and chilly (we had to wear jeans and thermals to keep warm) it was a very sunny, clear day. We shared our personal vows, and K rocked out on his acoustic guitar as we sang a song that he composed. Later that day, we checked in at L'Auberge Del Mar for some wonderful pampering. It was a truly perfect weekend.

Who's That Girl?

I'll give you one guess.

Yes, yes, it's me. And no, B and I didn't break up or anything like that. Although I am guilty of working that extremely cliché move of chopping my hair off after a big breakup in the past, that's not the case here, I'm very pleased to say. I just figured, why the heck not? You know- new year, new age, new 'do...

24 hours after it was cut, I found myself feeling pangs of "cutter's remorse." It's not like I'm a stranger to hair experimentation- on the contrary. My hair has been all lengths- from a short pixie cut, to long, down to the middle of my back, and all stages in between. That said, a person does get used to their hair looking a certain way, and it has been many years since my neck has been exposed to the elements. Nonetheless, I was ready for a change. Part of me wishes I had gone even shorter, but if I had, I would now, in all likelihood, be freaking out over how short it is. So, I guess this is all part of the "getting used to it" phase. I wouldn't be a girl if I didn't have second thoughts, right? But, I'm happy with it overall.

Maybe this new do' will help me with regaining some knitting and spinning mojo- one can only hope!

The Perfect Storm

There are several reasons this weekend was a really great one. (One of these reasons, the biggest really, I will let Nasus share.) I think the best way to describe this weekend is as a Perfect Storm Weekend...but in a good way ;-) Not only was it my Friday off, it was a Friday that Nonnahs came into town. It also happen to coincide with Nasus' last Friday off before starting her new semester next week. And finally, it coincided with the TNNA, which happened to bring our good friend Mim to town. Friday saw a great lunch at Aqua Al 2 (fair warning - obnoxious voice-over when you click the link) in the Gaslamp.

In fact, we were having such a great time, the restaurant finally asked us to leave as they had been closed for an hour and we were still sitting there chatting. It was super cool to finally meet Mim in person, who is not only talented, but charming and beautiful to boot. It was so nice to spend time with my girls as well, since it had been a really long time since we had all been together for some down time.

Saturday saw a lot of knitting fun. Mim (wearing her silver Icarus - People: Seriouly. You need to make this shawl. Words cannot describe its beauty.) and I took advantage of the newly restocked Koigu selection at Common Threads to...um...supplement our Koigu stashes. I picked up these (Dark Brown-2390 and Brown 2388) that are destined for Eunny's Anemoi mittens.


Trust me in saying that it was all I could do to leave with just these. There were so many beautiful colors and I kept seeing so many beautiful finished projects. But I was good and only got what I had planned to get.

After a couple tacos, we headed over to Rebecca's where we met up with Knitzalot, Jessica (also wearing her Icarus), Krys and kitty. Have I ever told you how much I love this little kitty? She is so sweat and teeny tiny. She often comes over and takes a nice nap while we knit. It was a little chilly that day, but I think everyone had a good time, especially kitty.

I got a bit more of my Ribby Cardi back knit up, but between the way it makes my wrist ache and the smaller gauge I am knitting it at, progress remains slow. I'm pretty sure I haven't talked about this project yet, but it is my first new project for this year. Made entirely from stash yarn, I might add!

Finally, in order to avoid the Chargers traffic at the stadium on Sunday, B and I had a nice breakfast at Brians' in Hillcrest, walked around the farmers' market and took Jenny for a walk threw Balboa Park.

I hate to admit it, but Jenny really took us for a walk. It was all we could do to keep up with her and I am pretty sure we should have had the speed advantage with our tall legs and all.

So all and all, I give this weekend a thumbs up! It certainly makes starting a new week a little easier.

January Resurrection: Starsky

For the UFO Resurrection Challenge 2007, my first resurrected UFO was an easy choice: Starsky. Good 'ol Starsky got officially bagged up and stowed away some time late this summer. It had become increasingly difficult to finish the sleeves for two reasons: 1) I was knitting them two at a time and they had become wide and long and all around mind numbing; and 2) I wouldn't be able to wear the sweater for months even if I finished it. So, away it went. It was just better this way.

However, what I realized about making a sweater this way was that it is like a little gift when you pull it back out. It had been tucked away for so long, I more or less forgot about it. So, when I took out the back, front left and most of both sleeves, it felt as if I get a whole sweater while only knitting a couple sleeve caps, a front and (all be it very big) collar.

So how did Starsky fair this 6 month break? Fortunately, I jotted down the needle size I was using on the pattern before I bagged up all the components, because the needle size written on that pattern was not what I THOUGHT I had been using. (My brain does this fun little trick to me with increased frequency it seems and really can no longer be trusted.) This would have been fairly disastrous as I the sleeve caps and right front panel would have been knit at a much tighter gauge.

However, what I didn't do, was make lots of good notes as to WHY I was knitting with that particular needle size. It is certainly not what I would normally be knitting with given the recommended needle size for the pattern and my own knitting style. So, really all I can do is assume I didn't make a mistake when I started and that there was a good reason for the needle choice. So I learned yet ANOTHER good knitting lesson: make more notes, since I guess you never really know when you will finish any given project despite all the best intensions. (Although one of my goals this year is really to reduce this phenomena entirely.)

Another "fun" thing that happened as a result of the hiatus was this cute little line across both sleeves right before the sleeve caps started:

Can you tell which row spent the last six months on a stitch holder? I'm not super concerned as I know that these stitches will work themselves back to normal after washing and wearing, but for now they make for a nice design feature don't you think?

And as you can tell in the above photo, those partially complete sleeves have now been finished and I am working on the right front panel now. I really am looking forward to blocking everything and starting the collar. I've decided that I am not going to make my Starsky with the tie. Now, I swear I didn't make this decision because I didn't feel like knitting that bloody thing. It really is a personal preference for me. See it turns out that (especially on my long torso) the sweater won't really be very long on me. It's more normal sweater length then sweater jacket length and in order to place the ties in a workable place on the sweater, the tie would literally end up not all that far below my boobles. This I assure you, would not be a good look for me.

Instead of the tie, I plan to add toggle closures to one side of the shawl collar so that the sides will overlap like a peacoat but without the buttons. I think it will be cool and be a bit more appropriate to the fit this sweater will have on me. The fact that I don't have to knit the tie is icing on the cake...really, really good icing...Nonnahs' buttercream icing.

FO: Wintersong hat

Et voilà: Wintersong, my first colorwork project! I'm pretty proud of this little thing!

I'd wanted to try my hand at colorwork for a while, so I thank Andrea, MJ, and Mary-Heather and their fabulous KAL, Stranded: The Colorwork Challenge, for providing me with the perfect opportunity to give it a go. Thanks, ladies! Though I was excited, I've learned that my enthusiasm alone can take me only so far, so I figured I would start small. Hence, a hat. For said hat, I decided to try a "Traditional" Hat Kit from Bea Ellis Knitwear, using Dale of Norway Heilo in 0017 (white) and 0083 (dark charcoal). Here's a question: What was I afraid of? This colorworking thing is too much fun!

Furthermore, I would highly recommend this hat project to anyone thinking about trying colorwork for the first time. This pattern was simple enough for a newbie like me to follow (and I would assume that any of Bea Ellis' hat kits would be similarly as user-friendly), and the piece is small enough, so it isn't daunting.

My floats were a bit uneven because my tension was off in places, but I think overall I kept things under control rather well for my first go 'round. Hallelujah for blocking! A modification: I knit the hat "shorter" than the pattern called for, because I wasn't feeling how "tall" it would have been otherwise. I also haven't added any finishing touches to the tippy top yet. I kind of like it without a flourish of any kind, although I'm contemplating adding a pom pom, because...well, those are fun. What do you think?

So now that I have my first colorwork project under my belt, I have a major problem. What should my second colorwork project be??

PS: Lolly, how is your hat coming along?

World Cuisine Onesies

My friend is a working mom raising two fabulous boys with an adorable side business, "Global Goodie." Check out her website at www.globalgoodie.com. Her mission is "to help little ones understand and embrace all cuisines of the world through a clothing line of t-shirts and onesies just for kids." She is selling her Chinese food line and will be working on a Filipino line next (she told me today that she will work on a Japanese line as well.) I just bought some onesies (not for me, but for a couple of friends) and they are packaged in adorable Chinese take-out boxes. So cute!

37...Seriously??

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, and haikus! You are all so sweet! It doesn't really seem possible to me that I'm 37 years old, but my birth certificate doesn't lie...and neither do my freckles. I'm not complaining, it's just weird.

Numbers game aside, I had a fabulous birthday! My day began with a morning at the spa. I decided to treat myself to a visit to Bliss. Aptly named, if you ask me. It was...heavenly! 2 1/4 hours of being wrapped and massaged, followed by a steam and a little snack. It was indulgence like I rarely allow myself, but so, so worth it! It was my first visit there, but it will NOT be my last! After the spa, I met my friend HSG for lunch a few blocks away at our usual lunch spot, Le Pain Quotidien. Lucky for me, she works in the area, and since I'm off on Fridays, we're often able to meet up for lunch. She got me hooked on this delectable sandwich, which consists of small slices of bread topped with prosciutto, mozzarella, a little bit of pesto, and strips of sun-dried tomatoes. Mmm. I rested in the afternoon, between meals, and then B took me to dinner. We walked over to Ford's Filling Station, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants.

My birthdays are usually nothing much to speak of- I'm usually working, it comes and goes, nothing special. But this year, from beginning to end, it was a grand day! Thanks again for contributing to that. :)

It's kind of nice to have a birthday that coincides with the New Year. The feeling of renewal and optimism is doubled. (This is me really trying to concentrate on the positive and ignore how much it sucks for so many other reasons.) I'm looking forward to this year- I think it's going to be a good one!

Happy Birthday Nonnahs!

To our dear friend Nonnahs, a couple of birthday haikus!

What is not to love?
Creative, smart and caring
True friend, thru and thru.
-Dis

Creator, baker
Protector of orphaned dogs
Loyal, faithful friend.
-Nasus

Jack Ate The Beanstalk

For all of you podcast lovers out there in blogland, have I got one to share with you! It's called Jack Ate The Beanstalk.

Jack Ate The Beanstalk is the brainchild of one heck of a brainy child, my nephew, Jack. His video podcasts and accompanying website and blog are for a 6th grade class project. (Yes, 6th grade!) Per his website:

Hi,

I'm Jack. I am a sixth grader at Island Pacific Academy. This website and podcasts are part of my Ho'ike Class Project. I wanted to learn to make my own podcast and try to get people to read it. I decided on a theme about different foods that I had not tried or thought were gross, unappetizing, or strange. I thought I should try out some of these foods and find out why people all around the world eat the things they do. My mom and dad always say to try new things.

I will look at different foods, how they are made, where they come from, who even invented them, and why some people actually like them. I hope these podcasts will teach people and still be fun. I'm learning as I go along, so hopefully they get better by the end of the series.

Maybe I will find some foods that I will end up loving. And maybe I will convince some of you to try new things.

Happy Eating!
Jack

The podcasts are short (just several minutes long), well executed and informative, not to mention- adorable (I'm such the proud auntie)! You can either download them from iTunes, or watch them online. If you are into podcasts, are interested in learning about new and interesting (I didn't say "gross") foods like "chocolate meat" or "1000 year0old eggs," or are just curious as to what a 6th grader could put together, go and check it out. I think you'll be as impressed as I am!

White Christmas

Instead of the wonderful sunny beaches of Hawaii, I spent my first-ever white Christmas in Denver. Two back-to-back blizzards. I drove eastbound on the snowy I-70 after visiting friends in the Aspen area, chased by a snowstorm (we were able to beat it by an hour; the freeway was closed in both directions thereafter.) But the scenery was gorgeous.



I shoveled snow off a driveway with the family and snowshoed through K's brother's neighborhood in Denver. It truly was a surreal experience for a native Southern Californian like myself.



Lastly, my favorite picture from the trip. K is posing with the bears that guard his mom's place. (and yes, that's a parking meter in the picture - mom's husband collects a lot of different things.) We drove ATV's and went tubing around their yard. Despite being trapped in the house for a few days due to the storms, it was a very merry Christmas indeed.

A few vacation snapshots, if I may

I'm hoping you won't mind pictures of sandy beaches and peanuts. First and foremost, however, Happy New Year! I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and prosperous year ahead!

A quick, unrelated note: I have some exciting FO news, if you can believe it! (When was the last time I finished anything? Exactly.) Well, I finished my very first colorwork hat! FO post to follow in the next few days...

Back to the last few weeks... They weren't as hectic as one might expect, considering what I was up to, and considering it was the holidays. I was in Hawaii for a week, worked for a week, was off (at home) for a week. Last week, by the way, was fabulous. Leisurely and relaxing. My trip back home was much the same. A bit too short for my liking, but still good. There are several main components which make up any trip back home. In no particular order, they are:

Beach. Sometimes I like to go out to the North Shore, but I was a little pressed for time during this past visit, so I opted instead for a quick drive out west to the leeward side of the island. It was windy as all get out, but sunny gorgeous, and the beach was practically empty. Just the way I like it!

Family. I am happy to report that traveling with the peanuts went really well, for the most part. They chilled through check-in...

...then lost it a bit at the security check point. Then again, we all kind of did. Picture, if you will: Taking babies out of car seats, disassembling car seats from stroller and placing them on conveyer belt of the x-ray machine, collapsing stroller and placing it on conveyer belt ("wheels up, please"), putting our bags on the conveyer belt, removing our shoes and sending them through the conveyer belt, walking through with then crying babies, and then reassembling everyone and everything. Whew! We were frazzled at that point, but it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. Other than a brief pre-flight freak-out session in the bathroom (there was the loud loudspeaker voice announcing the flights, which triggered the loud wailing by the girls, which led to the loud echoing of the loud wailing- gotta love bathroom acoustics), they were really good. They ate upon take-off, and then slept for most of the flight. Perfectly planned out by LA, if I must say!

Food. Hawaii, while widely known for it's sunny beaches (see above) and hospitable locals, is also home to some of the best food on the planet, hands down. Everything from fancy-shmancy Hawaii-Regional cuisine to the down-homiest of down-home "local" food, to snack foods- you can't go wrong. You (okay, me- I) could get really fat there after just a week.

I always have a set list of places/dishes to eat. Big on my list this time around: I wanted saimin. And lots of it. Saimin is close to Japanese ramen, but unique to Hawaii, so I really can't get the authentic stuff anywhere else. I made it a point to stop at Boulevard Saimin. I dragged my dad along. It's not his fave, but he indulged his visiting first born. The restaurant is small and remains pretty much the same as it did since I started eating there with my now-deceased grandparents, and my mom- vinyl booths, laminated menu, and all. After both my grandparents passed away, my mom and I would go there to eat and reminisce about my grandparents, and now I go there to eat and reminisce about my mom. True comfort food indeed!

The gang and I also met up for our annual holiday dinner. We started this tradition (way) back in high school, as an alternative to our high school's winter formal. The first year, we went to the swankiest place we could think of at the time: John Dominis (woo, talk about a blast from the past). This year's venue, some near two decades later: Alan Wong's. Mmm... This is one of my most favorite of holiday traditions. And in a year where I lacked many of my usual holiday traditions, it was really special to still have this dinner.

And finally, Mom. I always pay a visit to my mom's grave. It's not a sad place. I feel that she's around me all the time or otherwise off doing her thing somewhere- she's certainly not at this place. Still, it's nice to have a place to go to.

The First Day

I’ve never been much for resolutions. Every year that has gone by has brought its challenges and accomplishments, but I’ve never felt the need to list out things I plan to accomplish during the coming year. However, my life, at least up until a couple years ago, has almost always included various milestones that helped each year pass with a feeling of progression, of moving on to the next stage or next challenge. Specifically, school provided this structure for me.

I spent my entire childhood in school, transitioned directly to four years of college, and after a brief couple of years off, I returned to a part-time master’s program that ate up another 4 years. But, now I’m done. I’ve been done for a little over 3 years now and I’m starting to feel like I’m treading water. I don’t have children, so I can’t use their milestones to mark my own. I started to feel like I was going to finish the year with nothing to show for it. A whole year in which I end in pretty much the same spot I started in.

That depressed me. However, I realized that this whole ‘knitting thing’ provides some really great evidence of what I did in 2006. In fact, I looked back and could see all of the things I did, in fact, accomplish last year. I also realized that I could use public resolutions to lay out for myself things I hope to accomplish next year, things that at the end of 2007, I can look to and say: I did A, B and C and made some really good progress towards D. I am also looking forward to incorporating some of the things that have become more important to me in 2006 into goals for next year.

Given these thoughts, 2007 is going to be the year of simplicity. I’m tired of things piling up. Where there is room to simplify, I’m going to do it. In my knitting life this means a couple different things. First, my goal is to reduce the clutter associated with so many unfinished projects. I joined the UFO Resurrection Challenge 2007, during which each month of the year, an old UFO is brought out and either finished or frogged. I figured this was a great way to work on those backlogged projects, but I didn’t count on the feeling of freedom I would get by eliminating the pressure of feeling I should work on ALL of those projects before I start something new. I can pick one out each month, which means I can don’t have to feel guilty about the others. I also could put those projects away and clear them off of the coffee table. I was always afraid that if I packed them away, I would forget about them entirely. But since only one a month gets worked on, I can pack the rest away until it is their time to shine.

My other goal this year is to concentrate on using what I have and tread lighter on this planet. For me, this means appreciating the extra value inherent in the things already owned and consuming less. Again, this has huge implications in my knitting life. I have a nice stash. Why not use it? (I know, that’s crazy talk!) My recent financial issues taught me to think about my stash in a new way. In fact, during all my Christmas knitting I realized that there where quite a few projects ready to go! So this year, I’m going to knit out of my stash. I’m not going to forbid myself from buying yarn, but I am going to work primarily on projects that I have the yarn for or nearly all the yarn for now. Not only will this help in trimming down, but think of the money that I can save this year! After all, this money will also go towards our other goals: our own property and our own business. It really is win-win.

A new year is a clean slate, might as well take advantage of it and get something done!

So, with that I wish you are yours all the best for the coming year!