Kniterations

Moving day

2008-03-31T09:42:00.001-07:00

I've moved over to Wordpress - come find me there!

2008-03-20T18:46:00.001-07:00

Found here on Flickr, with the caption "Credit to Justin Wick for the idea, and Kevin Steele for the photo."

I don't really get into LOLcats, but this one cracks me up.

Wanted: Thief

2008-03-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Wanted: Thief
Item stolen: Bag of potting soil
Item last seen: in my car port, Tues morning
Reward: Um, not thinking you're crazy for stealing a bag of potting soil.

Seriously? Who steals potting soil? Am I to believe there's a rabid gardener in my apartment complex who had a gardening emergency? "Quick, we've got to get these pansies into soil stat! See if you can find any open bags of year old potting soil to procure for free! Preferably with old bit of dried up dead plants and broken pottery.....now go!"

Thief, if you're that desperate for dried out dirt, it's all yours.....

Etsy sale!

2008-03-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of St. Paddy's, and spring, everything in the store is 30% off - just wait for a revised invoice before paying.

A quiet weekend meant I made some good progress on my Lady Eleanor - I'm on ball #7 of 10. I decided to take a break from knitting last night and weave in some of the ends - I know it would drive me crazy at the end otherwise! Progress on my dad's socks is still slow going. I tend to be in a hurry about wrapping up socks (esp. when they've been lingering as long as this pair) and now I'm a little worried I'm making it too short - anyone have a good rule of thumb for how tall they make socks for their guys? I'm going by the measurements in one of my sock books, but it still seems to short.

All in all, good progress on the March goals!

Sweater finished!!

2008-03-11T18:19:00.001-07:00

It's finished! The fit is great, and probably the first time I've done so much to customize a sweater to my seemingly long torso. If I were to do this over, I'd make the sleeves a little smaller, but I'm still pleased with it.And a closeup of the buttons - after an excruciating search at JoAnns, I picked these. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough, so I bought a toggle button for the top. I figure it's ok to have one button different :) Though I have no idea what I'll do if I lose one of the fish.....

Still sick, but not as bad as yesterday. Hopefully back to work tomorrow!

Sick day

2008-03-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

I haven't had to take a sick day in awhile, but when the sore throat started on Saturday I suspected I might (damn illness, taking up my weekend!) I'd thought I might be ok for work, but when my stomach and I had a disagreement this morning I thought maybe I should just stay home....

...and here I am. A season of Grey's Anatomy and the first Harry Potter movie down and really hoping this passes soon. In good news, two hats were finished last week (one for me, one for M) and I got buttons for my sweater (which I hope to finish soon....maybe even tonight!)

Time to figure out what kind of dinner will stay put! Happy Monday all!

I know it's Sunday morning....

2008-03-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

92%DRUNKARD

But I swear I'm not drinking.

Update today

2008-03-08T14:56:00.001-08:00

Etsy update at 3 pm PST today!

Picnik

2008-03-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

Can I just say how much I love Picnik? When I first thought about advertising for my etsy shop on Ravelry, I had to figure out how to add text to pictures - and at the time the photo editing software I was using (came with the camera) didn't have that option. So I used Powerpoint. I know - terrible idea. Especially since I couldn't resize my images small enough for Ravelry's specifications.

Then I remembered Picnik - I wish I had used this from the start (I know, if wishes were horses I would need a larger apartment). So in the start I just used it to resize my images, but last night I realized it may be better to use it to create my ads instead....

I like these so much better.

The yarn diet is going well and I'm actually finding that I'm not experiencing as much withdrawal as I'd thought. Sure, I still check out the STR or Wollmeise listings on Ravelry, but I'm less interesting in acquring yarn now. Of course, this has something to do with how insane it's become to buy yarn from indie dyers (no fault of the dyers). These yarns have become so coveted (and for good reason) that people stalk their stores and sometimes buy up whatever they can, whether they like the color or not. This bothers me, because it's not being bought to be used. It's being bought to be sold or traded or collected. Not that everyone does that, but I've seen a couple instances on the boards where people talk about just buying up whatever they can during shop updates....

Anyways. February didn't really result in any finished projects, but I have high hopes for March. I've already finished two hats (pictures coming later), but also on the goals for March are:

Finish Buttony Sweater. It's soooo close.
Finish my dad's socks.
Continue Lady E
Continue Clapotis
Pick up spinning wheel

Yes, I'm getting a wheel. After asking my mom for advice on choosing a wheel and what she thought of the one I wanted to buy, she offered up her old wheel. I vaguely remember it from when I was a kid, and I think it's single treadle, but it's definitely worth checking out.

ETA: I added a NotifyList mailing list to the sidebar for my etsy shop - so if you want to receive updates when I add to my shop, sign up! Though I'll probably continue to post here too :)

Things I want and things that make me laugh

2008-03-05T09:43:00.001-08:00

Want:
Chef'N Garlic Zoom Chopper, found via AT Kitchen

Chef'n Palm Peeler, found via AT Kitchen (of course).

Laugh:

Jimmy's revenge on Sarah. It's crude, but star-studded. Found via CairoKate

Wow. Found via Le Blagueur a Paris.

Found via Serious Eats. And sort of how I usually feel midweek....

Shop update!

2008-03-03T19:32:00.001-08:00

More sets uploaded to the etsy shop!

Is that good or bad?

2008-02-28T11:25:00.001-08:00

(Thanks Catherine!)

Temptation, part III

2008-02-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

Ah! Someone's selling their used Kiwi!

Temptation, part II

2008-02-26T07:40:00.000-08:00

There's a used Lendrum DT for sale on Ravelry....From what I understand, this is equivalent to the "complete" package, which retails for $622. It's being sold for $550, including shipping/insurance/tracking. Here's my question for the spinners - are the extras necessary for a beginning spinner? When I was originally looking at wheels, I was looking only at the wheel and the bobbins it comes with (not lazy kates, plying heads, etc). Thoughts?

Little WIP update

2008-02-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

Chevron scarf - I finished a skein of the blue (Sundara, in Dusk) and figured this was a good time to pause for a photo shoot.
And a close up. I've been playing with my camera more and trying to learn how to use all the different settings to make more of the light I have. The beauty of digital? Taking as many pictures as it takes to get it right. And then some more.
Little charms, shaped like hands, that say hand made. I spotted these on gradschoolknitter's blog and immediately headed over to etsy to hunt them down. Extra motivation for finishing things!
And finally, a hat to keep M warm (Thorpe) when he goes back home - his uncle died this weekend, so he may be going home sooner rather than later.

I'm off for an early night, after an incredibly early morning (6 am conference call. Seriously). Good night everyone!

2008-02-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you for your comments. In the end I did email him, and it turns out he hadn't noticed my last email had arrived and had been wondering why it was taking me so long to respond. But the whole incident has led to alot of thinking about how we all deal with the difficult situations in our lives. Do we back away? Do we hover? There's no good answer for how to help someone through a difficult time, and you can't please everyone. But I'm glad this time I said something.

A dilemma

2008-02-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

I'm facing a bit of a friend dilemma, and I'm not sure what to do. An old friend of mine from college (and high school actually) resurfaced on Facebook this month. In some ways we were close - I thought of him as sort of my conscience in college and he always encouraged me to pursue things outside of science because I think we both knew that I was sort of in between to two sides of the brain. We exchanged a few messages catching up and I mentioned my brother had died, and that dealing with it had been hard due to how he died.

I haven't heard from him since. This isn't the first time a friend has dropped off the face of the earth when I told them how my brother died. Things have been awkward with a number of friends, old and at the time new, since it happened. But usually I don't say anything. But for some reason this time it really bothers me, mostly because I never thought he would be one of those people. Not because we were extremely close, but because of who he is.

The dilemma is this - do I say anything, or do I continue to do what I've always done and ignore it. I feel like I've lost a number of friends in the last year and coming out and saying something to someone who has just resurfaced may or may not do anything to foster friendship. But in many ways I feel like I'm being 'punished' for something I didn't even do when people drop out of my life and I'm tired of it. It's hard enough dealing with what my family's going through without people backing away when support is what we all need most.

Shop update!

2008-02-18T19:51:00.001-08:00

Shop update!

Um, am I losing my mind?

2008-02-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, REI announced their winter clearance sale and I, being the retail moth that I am, quickly snapped up a larger backpacking pack for my trip to Mt. Whitney later this year (did I mention I'm climbing Mt. Whitney?) - in addition to a pair of shoes and a jacket (which will probably go back). REI ships with UPS, and I opted to have my shipments delivered to my home instead of work or the store because I was so excited about this new pack. And didn't want to have to drive to Northridge or carry a large REI box around work. The initial delivery estimate was for the 18th, but as of last week became the 15th. Which was bad, because I was leaving Friday afternoon to drive up to the Bay Area.

I crossed my fingers and hoped it would arrive before I had to leave. After 4 hours it hadn't, so I left a sign on my door instructing the driver to leave it at my front office and NOT on my doorstep. I arrived in Santa Clara and received an email saying my packages had arrived. Left at FRONT DOOR.

A call to my complex and UPS confirmed that FRONT DOOR really meant my front door, not the front office. Upon arrival yesterday, luckily my packages were there. But my sign was gone....

Here's where I feel I'm losing my mind a little. Any other package, it wouldn't have mattered so much because typically I don't order things that sell out quickly so they could have been replaced. And UPS insists that customers can leave delivery instructions at their door. I did that, and not only were my instructions ignored but they were removed. An email to UPS did nothing but result in a response that, "We checked our records and it says your package has already been delivered." Thanks, but the two boxes in my apartment told me that.....

In less ranting news, I'm almost done with the first sleeve of the Buttony Sweater. Ooh, and I saw a spinning wheel on Telegraph as Jasmine and I were walking around - it looked like an Ashford, but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about them so much :)

Hope everyone's having a good Monday, especially if you have the day off!

V-Day approacheth

2008-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not one to do much for V-Day (and this year M will be on his way to the slopes), but this tutorial (found via not martha)on making your own conversation hearts made me grin with possibilities....

Odds and ends

2008-02-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Slow down, you move too fast

Yesterday I went to the post office after work to mail some destash yarn (more about this later) and of course chose the automated postal unit over the long line in the lobby. However, there were 2 people in front of me and an elderly man already using the machine. While talking himself through it. "No....no....enter zip.....wow that's expensive...go back.....no....no"

As the line grew and we all silently plotted to throttle him (I know I can't have been the only one), I realized this is what bugged me about my ex's apology. He had waited over a hear to apologize and acknowledge he had failed to treat me like a human being. But he couldn't be bothered to sit down and at least email me from a freaking computer.

We're all in such a hurry these days, and that's been part of the anxiety I've been feeling since the new year. Hurry up to define my relationship, hurry up to resurrect broken friendships, hurry up to get over my brother's death. I suspect all this hurrying is why I wake up before my alarm clock these days.

Obligatory politics

I've been listening to Al Gore's The Assault on Reason the last couple of days. And a few things come to mind - one: Al Gore has a very distinctive writing style. It's like he's talking to you. And even though he's not the one narrating the book, you know it's him. Two: how the hell did we end up here? I'm not one to follow the news anymore, but listening to his accounts of the last few years have me up in arms. Though his account of hypnotizing a chicken is pretty funny.

So, you call this a knitting blog?

Only very loosely. In my anxiety to clear out material goods (apparently I am not my mother's daughter on this score), I've managed to destash about half my stash. And made a vow not to buy any more new yarn until Easter. I've decided this applies to a wheel as well. By that time I should have my tax refund and feel a little more certain about this whole spinning thing. In the meantime, I am knitting from my stash, finishing up UFOs (or frogging them), and practicing on my spindle. Unfortunately all this WIP polygamy has slowed down progress on the Buttony Sweater (the Chevron scarf was too pretty to leave in the basket!), but it will be done.

Some day....

Temptation

2008-02-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a day to myself (most weekends are spent with M - though now that ski season is in full swing that's more the exception than the norm) and took a mini road trip up to the Santa Ynez valley. I had a food club shipment to pick up (yes, I'm in a food club and it's awesome) and a wine club shipment as well. But the real reason? To try out spinning wheels at Village Spinning & Weaving.

I am in love. I tried out Ashfords, Lendrums, a Louet, a Kromski, and a Majacraft. My two favorites?

This Lendrum:
And this Ashford:
Up until yesterday, I've only spun on a spindle before. And while I like it, I don't really have a rhythm to it. There's alot of stopping and starting. But the wheel just felt smoother. Here's my dilemma though - why should I buy a wheel? It's a relatively large investment, and right now I think I'd be buying it just to spin and not necessarily to make yarn....There's also the retail therapy to think about. I've been hugely stressed the last few weeks. Work has been unpleasant, and things with the family have been hard. And my MO to deal with being unhappy and stressed is to a) hole up and knit and b) shop! So I'll wait. But man, did I love spinning on those wheels yesterday :) And I so highly recommend Village Spinning and Weaving - both the owners are absolutely wonderful and helpful.

Today brings laundry, a trip to REI, lunch with an old friend from college, and of course some knitting. I'm hoping to finish up the Buttony Sweater within the next week or so :) Happy Sunday all!

Um....

2008-02-06T19:31:00.001-08:00

Headline on Yahoo!: Spears quietly released from LA Hospital.

Does anyone else feel this is somehow....inaccurate? It's like the year I was living in Santa Barbara and Michael Jackson was on trial. All Britney, all the time.

sent from my hands on the keyboard. (Sorry, but I got an email from my ex last week signed "sent from my iPhone" and I'm still a little snippy. Simmering down now)

ETA: I assumed it was a default setting on the iPhone. It's really more that he's coming out of the woodwork. With an iPhone. Long story.

Busy with WIPs

2008-02-04T16:55:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been crazy the last 3-4 weeks at work, so the motivation to blog has been steadily decreasing. Luckily, the motivation to curl up in front of the TV and knit hasn't :) First up, progress on the Buttony Sweater:

In spite of the weird looks I got yesterday when I pulled it out at a Super Bowl party, I knit for almost the entire game and made a ton of progress. A few more inches, and I think I'll be ready to bind off and start on the sleeves.

I also managed to make 2 trips to Anacapa Fine Yarns this weekend. One, just to get some Noro for the famous striped scarf, and the next day because they were having a Super Bowl sale (had I realized how late the game was starting and that I'd be able to go for the sale, I wouldn't have bought the first batch of Noro....). But, I also bought a new spindle:

My spinning is getting much more consistent, and I'm almost ready to break out the pretty roving I've been holding out on (until I got better. And stopped making slubby yarn)

And, finally, my sewing machine has been getting a workout. I made myself a circular needle holder awhile ago, but I decided I wanted one hold for all my DPNs and circular needles. So I came up with this:

Here it is, folded up in thirds (I still need to sew in some snaps, but you get the idea)
....and opened up. 9 pockets for circular needles.
...and here with one of the sets of circular pockets flipped over to reveal the DPN slots. I haven't used it yet (sew in snaps....must sew in snaps), but I'm pretty excited :)

Alright, that's it for me. Time to curl up in front of the TV (if only the TV put out heat too. Two birds with one stone there) and get to work on finishing that sweater. Happy Monday all!

PS - there was an etsy update this weekend. Just so you know :)

3rd Annual Blogger's Silent Poetry Reading

2008-02-02T20:16:00.001-08:00

While I've had one of my own floating around in my head today, I'm going with the poem I had to memorize in college for German class:

Lied des Tuermers (Goethe)
1. Zum Sehen geboren,
Zum Schauen bestellt,
Dem Turme geschworen
Gefällt mir die Welt.

Ich blick' in die Ferne,
Ich seh' in der Näh'
Den Mond und die Sterne,
Den Wald und das Reh.

2. So seh' ich in allen
Die ewige Zier,
Und wie mir's gefallen,
Gefall' ich auch mir.

Ihr glücklichen Augen,
Was je ihr gesehn,
Es sei, wie es wolle,
Es war doch so schön!

As far as I can remember (and translate), it's about a guard sworn to stay in a tower and look out on the horizon. Rather than being bored with this monotonous job, he's really rather pleased with the opportunity to look out on the world (this is where my German is rusty).

Here's to a more positive outlook on the job :)

Shop update complete!

2008-01-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

I've put all the old sets into the sale section, and uploaded 10 sets of Clapotis stitch markers in the etsy shop. Enjoy!

Mini update

2008-01-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

I've been taking a break from knitting tonight to make Clapotis stitch marker sets - but I also went through the current listings and put everything in the sale section. So enjoy :) Next update hopefully Sunday night.

In the continuing saga of things malfunctioning at work, all of my data files and reports got deleted off of the network drive. It wasn't my fault, which is awesome. And they should be able to find them, but it's taking a long time to get any of these problems fixed. Everyone keep your fingers crossed - I really need all the luck I can get with work.

I also lost my yarn store links when they replaced my hard drive - so if you have a favorite (yarn, jewelry, fiber, etc) leave it in the comments!

Happy Weds all :)

Wicker

2008-01-22T18:50:00.001-08:00

Wicker
Seaming in progress - use #26 for hair clips!

Artistically draped over the back of my couch

...and on me (courtesy of the self timer - Marie hasn't learned how to work the camera yet)

I'm proud of myself for finally finishing it - it took over a year and almost 8 balls of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk. I've learned my lesson about Rowan patterns - sit down and write out all the instructions, line by line. Be more realistic about gauge - especially row gauge. And understand your own measurements better - without blocking, the sweater is a little short on me. We'll see how blocking takes care of that.

And new on the needles:

Buttony Sweater. I redrafted the pattern last night to be more specific to my size and gauge and cast on. I'm using Malabrigo Chunky, in the colorway Charrua. I love the look of brown and blue on the skein, but I'm not sure how a whole sweater of it will look - thoughts? My LYS has a spectacular selection of Malabrigo Chunky, and I'm sort of tempted to exchange what I haven't knit up for another color....

In other news, work is still stressful. My computer started acting up last week, so I had to get my hard drive replaced. I got my computer back with the new hard drive today, and hardly anything has gone right. Email, Word, Excel, and printers all not working properly. Some have been fixed, but it put me a solid day behind. And with one report due Friday and a set of experiments due the 31st....I need a break. Unfortunately, it's going to keep on at this pace with two new sets of experiments next month and 4 or 5 reports to write around the middle of the month. And I found out today that my grandmother in Germany passed away yesterday. It's not surprise (we found out when my brother died she was sick), and I haven't seen her since I was 13, but with all the thoughts about trips there as a child, I'm a little sad.

Seriously, I need a break :)

Back to knitting!

FO!

2008-01-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

Wicker is done! Well, minus 2 ends to weave in - I'll post pictures soon. Overall, I like the sweater. If I were to make it again, I'd make alot of changes. Use a less bulky yarn, maybe modify it to be top-down raglan, and definitely make it longer. I've only knit 2 Rowan patterns (and they've always been a struggle to decipher), but both of them have been too short and have had sleeve caps that were too long (my row gauge doesn't seem to match)

On the wave of sweater knitting, I immediately cast on for the Buttony Sweater with some Malabrigo Chunky I just bought (and of which I think I need to buy another hank). I had a hard time figuring out the pattern, as it's really written as more of a guideline. But all of this gives me a much deeper understanding of sweater construction, which is always good!

Just finished watching the Colbert Report - where he interviewed this guy. We're back to the days of interviews that poke fun at the interviewee it seems :)

I'm a joiner

2008-01-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

All that about no resolutions? Then came the amorphous goals. Now comes one more specific one - Skeins Her Way is having a UFO Contest. And since Wicker is reasonable close to being done - I'm going to bite the bullet and say I'll finish her by the end of the month!

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post :)

ETA: here's the FO!

Aaaaarh

2008-01-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

g.

It's only Monday, and I'm already hating this week. Thursday would have been my brother's 19th birthday which I can't deny is having an impact on my mood. I'm stressed about work and getting everything done in time. I'm exhausted and moody. And uncoordinated - I actually tripped and fell up the stairs coming home today. Which means I'm sporting a cute bruise on my forehead....sigh.

But the knitting is going very well. I'm speeding along on the second sleeve of Wicker and have high hopes this will be done by the end of the year (or spring. I want to be sure I set attainable goals here!) And while I don't make knitting resolutions I sat down last night to look at my WIPs and plans for the year. Gift knitting will no longer be a last minute thing. While I may not knit a gift a month (there's a KAL just for that purpose), I have written down all the gifts I plan to make so they don't sneak up on me (considering how long socks take me....).

I'm eying the new KnitPicks Harmony DPNs....I've tried to like knitting two socks at once on circulars and I still feel like it's too slow. While it probably isn't, knitting on dpns, especially wood, is just more comfortable to me. Has anyone tried them? Most of the reviews I've seen were good.

And finally, I submitted an ad for approval on Ravelry. Most of the general slots are taken for Jan and Feb, so I had to post them in individual groups. One of them was a Clapotis group - I'm thinking of offering Clapotis sets as well as the usual sets. I'm really loving the ones I made for myself :)

Fight Club

2008-01-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

Work is like Fight Club.

The first rule of Fight Club? You do not talk about Fight Club.
The second rule of Fight Club? You DO NOT talk about Fight Club. No matter how much your parents ask you how Fight Club is going. No matter how many times your boyfriend asks you what you did at Fight Club today. Fight Club? What Fight Club? The Fight Club to pay the bills?

Normal blog arriving soon...

We have winners!

2008-01-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Betty, Suzie, and Dorothy! The Misti Alpaca and 2 sets of stitch markers on on their way to new homes.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! I'm reworking my banner in the shop and also creating an ad to place on Ravelry some time this month (I'm having some indecisiveness when it comes to design and what to put on the ad. And where to put it....). In addition to advertising, I'm planning on doing another update this month (in addition to knitting and going to the gym and...)

Nothing else to report - I went back to work this week and it has been really busy. Everyone wants their studies done by the end of the month, and I'm already a week behind. It should all be doable, but it's a little daunting when I look at the list and my calendar....

Happy New Year everyone!

No resolutions here

2008-01-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

I've been reading alot of blog posts reflecting back on 2007 - something I did alot of throughout the second half of the year - or making resolutions for 2008. Given how well I stuck to resolutions of 2007, I may be better off making the resolution to not make any resolutions. The "eat anything" diet of knitting :)

Speaking of which...there's been a fair amount of. My wrists have been acting up again, so I'm taking it easy. But the navy socks both have heels now and are on the home stretch. Wicker is coming along nicely (I forget how quickly bulky yarn knits up when I'm in my sock phases!), and I gave in and started a new scarf to keep me entertained on the drive up and back from Tahoe earlier this week.

Hope everyone's having a happy 2008 - don't forget a few more days to enter the contest! Here's a closeup of the mystery prize.....

Planning without a plan

2007-12-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

Back into my Grey's Anatomy marathon! Mom loved the shawl, and I've finished a pair of gloves and a dish towel in the past 2 days, along with turning a heel in my dad's sock and resurrecting Wicker. (And boy are my arms tired!). So far, my resolution to finished projects and not start anything new is going well.....

I should be packing for the trip to Tahoe, except I have no idea how long we're staying or what I'll be doing. The Type A side of me is freaking out a little, but the mellower part of me is ignoring it :) M and his friend want to go skiing, and the thought of getting back on skis after 4 years and 2 knee surgeries is a little terrifying. I've known for ages this decision would come up, and I still don't know if I'm going to get back on that horse. So, alot of knitting will be packed.

You think it'll drive them crazy if I map out all the yarn stores between here and Tahoe?

If I don't post before - Happy New Years to all of you!

Happy holidays

2007-12-24T21:27:00.001-08:00

Happy holidays all!

And don't forget to relax :)

PS - don't forget about the contest - you've got until the 6th!

A contest!

2007-12-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've had a contest, so I figure it's about time. To enter, leave a comment on one of the following (or both if you feel like it!):

I feel like I want to revamp my etsy shop a little - change the name, the banner, figure out a better way to advertise. Throw in a suggestion!
I've been thinking alot about holiday traditions lately. Are you a fan of tradition, or do you like to change every year? What's your favorite thing about the holidays?

Three winners will be chosen randomly, for either a pair of stitch markers from my shop (your choice) or 2 skeins Misti Lace:

I absolutely love the feel of this yarn - it's as soft as Malabrigo, though not as squishy.

So that's the contest - you've got until noon PST on the 27th to enter! Winners will be announced on the 28th, and prizes, once the winners decide will be mailed out in the new year. Oh, and you get an extra entry if you post on your blog and for each person saying they heard about it from you. If Blogger doesn't have your email, be sure to let me know how to contact your, or email me separately after you comment.

ETA: I'm going to be in and out of town until the 5th, so I'm extending the deadline until Jan 6th. Oh, and I'm adding a mystery prize :)

PS - the sale at my store is still going on for the rest of the month - buy one set and each additional set of stitch markers purchased is 50% off!

Happy Thursday all!

A random Wednesday

2007-12-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for cute little gadgets, which made the timer Teresa got me for my birthday perfect! This collection of timers makes me grin.

This is old news, but I love that knitting is in the Wall Street Journal.

The review of this gadget had me cracking up. Technology is so wonderful.

Thanks everyone for your shawl comments. It's still sitting up on my blocking cushions because I like looking over at it every now and again :) Though I'll have to wrap it up soon for the trip to Napa.

I went to see my primary doctor again today after another review with my physical therapist yesterday. They're referring me to an orthopedic surgeon to determine if there's any additional damage the first 2 surgeries didn't fix. Which brings me to my question - does anyone have an orthopedic surgeon they'd recommend in the Santa Barbara - Ventura - Thousand Oaks - LA area? My PT gave me a few names, but having some sort of review from an actual patient would be preferred....

Back to watching movies and knitting!

Finally finished!

2007-12-17T20:47:00.000-08:00

A relatively quick knit, though the monogomy of it was driving me crazy by the end. I opted to make the top border shorter and not do the picot edge, partially just to finish and partially because I was running out of yarn. I love the body of the shawl, though I think I prefer the method of the Flower Basket shawl than this one with it's knitted on border. The yarn, Misti Alpaca lace, is very soft and nice to work with. A little splitty, but the overall feel was worth it. And it's done in time for Christmas.....

Though I found out today, via MySpace of all places, that my mom doesn't want to celebrate Christmas this year. I know that the holidays are rough in many ways for everyone and even more so for my parents. Sigh.

I'm looking forward to being done with work for the year - I worked from home today because I've been feeling a bit sick this weekend. I got bronchitis, or so I thought, last year and have had a persistent cough ever since. Not a hacking up lungs cough, but just a hoarse voice that turns into a cough after of talking. Dr. 1 tried me on an inhaled medicine and then sent me to a lung doctor, who did a breathing test and ruled it as allergies. Dr. 3 tried me on a few allergy meds, none of which have made the cough go away. So back to Dr. 1 to come up with another diagnosis, of possible acid reflux. The meds for which have not been agreeing with me, or made the cough go away. There's always the chance that my cat allergies have gotten worse and the meds just can't make those go away, but who knows.....That and having to go back to the physical therapist to re-diagnose my knee make for alot of doctor visits!

Wow, that was quite a digression from knitting :) For the rest of the week, I'll be working on my dad's socks and some other gift knits. Most likely they won't be done by next Tues, but everyone's very forgiving about that :) In the new year - the resolution of no more gift knitting! Or at least, no more last minute gift knitting.....

I swear I'm still here

2007-12-14T16:57:00.001-08:00

Work has been incredibly busy lately - whoever says things slow down at the end of the year was lying. I went to Yosemite last weekend - here's a shot coming down from one of our hikes.

Have a good weekend!

WIP update

2007-12-04T21:53:00.002-08:00

It feels like I'm a little overdue for a picture post of all the WIPs that are currently getting some attention. So, here goes!
My dad's socks are coming along slowly, as to be expected for knitting two socks at once. The Regia's alright, though I think I'm developing a bias for softer sock yarns. These were supposed to be done in June, and I may be pushing it to get them and my mom's shawl done by the end of the month. But maybe with some focus....
My mom's shawl. I've got one more pattern repeat, 14 knit rows, and then come the border challenge. I've never done a knitted on border and I'm having trouble visualizing how it'll all go down. But, as I always do, I figure I'll just start and wing it. I don't know what it is about lace, but it seems to go so quickly!
This was started as a "Oh! I should make a hat for my trip to Yosemite this weekend!" project. Famous last words! It took me a couple of hours to modify the pattern I'd chosen to a) make it into an adult sized hat and b) make it work with the Malabrigo I wanted to use. At the end of it all, M's roommates were convinced that knitting required some kind of special degree....(eventually I will use my own stitch markers. Well, the ones you see above are mine, but I made them 3 years ago before I really learned what I was doing.)
The languishing Lady E I started in May - I'm on my 7th or 8th ball of Silk Garden, and only a couple more to go. I started this to distract me through the funeral preparations, so I sort of have mixed feelings about finishing it. But after seeing the one I made for my mom, I'm looking forward to having one of my own.
And finally, taking these.....
to these! My friend Michelle gave me Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and it couldn't have been a more perfect birthday present. These were a huge hit this weekend, and I'm excited to try more of the recipes!

Time to walk away from the TV and get some sleep - have a good night!

Radio silence

2007-12-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I've last posted, and alot has been going on. The trip to Puerto Rico was a whirlwind and crazy. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of Puerto Rico outside of the hotel or site, but I've got a better idea of where I'd want to go if I go back. Work has been stressful lately, adjusting to having a new supervisor and projects that just won't go away. Thanksgiving itself was fine, my flight was delayed some but since we never celebrate with other people it didn't really impact much. The day after was my birthday, which was a bit disappointing since my mom forgot until she looked at her calendar (I know, I totally sound spoiled here. But I still get excited about my birthday!). Granted, she's been thinking about my brother a ton with the holidays around, but it was still hard to swallow.

This last weekend was the larger birthday celebration, which involved a trip up to wine tasting country with a large group of grad students, knitters, and wine lovers. It turned out really well, despite the large number of people, and I ended up joining a wine club (I blame the wine). We kept it low key and went out for pizza afterwards, which was really perfect.

Now I'm just trying to catch up on my gift knitting - a shawl for my mom and a pair of socks for my dad. I've got a couple of other projects I'd like to make, but I really need to stick with these before working on anything else! I've given in and ordered more yarn for socks and hats, which means I've been compulsively checking the mail stop at work every few hours :)

And, finally, I'm offering up another sale for the month of December at my etsy shop. Buy one set of stitch markers, all additional sets are 50% off! Just wait until I send you an invoice before you pay though.

Hope everyone's well - thanks for the well wishes!

...in which I whine a little

2007-11-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Friday I had a mini breakdown as I was driving down to LA to a slumber party with my knitting friends. I was on the phone with M, and about to cry because he had just told me to relax and not worry.

Something so simple (and so true) shouldn't drive me to tears. But last week, or more accurately last Friday, sucked.

I passed the 6 month anniversary of my brother's death with nothing more than an empty feeling - which was quickly replaced with a guilty feeling. And communication with my parents has been falsely cheery (on both ends) at best lately.
My new and improved allergy meds are not doing anything for the cough that brought me to the allergist in the first place (and my nose is running).
I have had credit card fraud for the second time in 2 months - making me worried that my information is out there for the taking. It's strange - the first time someone charged alot of gas to my card, the second time they tried to buy alot of clothes with my other card. I'm not sure what to do at this point.
Work. Oh work, how you stretch me. There have been structure changes in the last week that directly affected me. There's a trip to Puerto Rico (tonight, actually) to learn about the new process that's stressing me out because a) it's happening relatively quickly and b) the plan keeps changing. Originally one of the more senior group members was going to go, but that got nixed Friday and until about an hour ago it looked like I might be going by myself.

/whine.

It's been a rollercoaster weekend, trying to pack and repack and clean and run errands, but it's not all bad. The slumber party was fun, and the food was tasty. Knitting has been happening - I have made some good progress on the Hourglass Sweater, finishing up the lower part of the body and starting on one of the sleeves. Though I think the Claptois, Chevron Scarf, and my mom's shawl will be the projects coming along with me this week. And I've decided to treat myself with the overtime I'll be earning and get some STR - the only hard part is narrowing down my choices!

Etsy update and WIP Wednesday

2007-11-07T20:27:00.001-08:00

1. IMG_0836.JPG, 2. IMG_0812.JPG, 3. IMG_0838.JPG, 4. IMG_0828.JPG, 5. IMG_0824.JPG, 6. IMG_0817.JPG, 7. IMG_0840.JPG, 8. IMG_0826.JPG, 9. IMG_0832.JPG

New stitch markers have been uploaded to the shop! And, in honor of Thanksgiving, shipping is free all of this month :) Enjoy!

Here's a shot of the shawl I'm working on, in an attempt to capture how close to Marie's eye color this yarn is. The picture came out reddish because I tried to block the flash, which makes for an interesting shot....

Here's a closeup of the shawl itself - I'm only on the 3rd repeat, and I can tell it's going to be fairly large when blocked!

PSA

2007-11-06T08:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Ravelry, I found NaughtyCodes.com, which lists discount codes for all sorts of online stores. I haven't tried any that I've found on there, but it looks promising!

back to looking at clothes online at REI.....

I do believe there's been some knitting....

2007-11-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

I gave in. I started a new project - but, to be fair, it's a gift for my mom and if I don't start it now it may never be done. And I wanted to start another lace project ;) The Misti Alpaca Lace is absolutely wonderful - so incredibly soft. And while it may be a bit thin to knit single stranded, I'm loving how delicate the shawl is turning out. Good thing I have some more yarn for myself!

I've been carefully resisting all the sales and blog contests lately - I really have more yarn than I can use up any time in the near future. Which may lead to some more destashing.....

It was a quiet weekend. Friday's party was a little disappointing - it ended up just being my boyfriend and a couple of our friends from SB. It seems as we get older everyone has a harder and harder time a) committing to plans and b) showing up. I would much rather people said no in advance than the day of (or via messenger the hour of), when I've already gone out and gotten food and drinks etc. I'm guilty of it myself - thinking I'll really want to go or might want to go and then deciding that I'm too tired. In reality, I'm always tired. But usually when I push myself to go, I end up having a good time and was glad I went.

Sorry, this wasn't supposed to turn into a rant :)

Saturday I did a little shopping - I got an award at work that I turned into a Banana Republic gift card. Which meant an immediate (if not sooner!) trip to the outlet. Saturdays aren't the best days for a trip to the outlet, but I managed to make it in and out with only minor damage (2 sweaters and another pair of work pants which I absolutely adore). M and I went to see American Gangster, which was good, but not as good as the previews had led me to believe. There were definitely some interesting previews before the movie - alot of scary movies coming out!

Sunday we drove up to SB to go sailing. We were short staffed that day, there being only 4 of us to crew, but somehow we pulled it off (and I managed not to get any new bruises!). It was a long race out to the platforms, and bitterly cold with the fog rolling in. However, it was all worth it when we found out we'd gotten 2nd place. A very rare feat for our boat!

In other news, I'll be updating my etsy shop this week with a few more sets of stitch markers. Additionally, it'll be free shipping for the entire month! So stop by and take a look!

Happy Monday - made better by the extra hour we got back this weekend ;)

A different kind of tourism

2007-11-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

I intended to save this post for a few more days, waiting for the 6 month anniversary of my brother's death. But I saw this article today in the NY Times: Study Examines Suicide Tourism in New York City. The article examines the total number of suicides committed in NYC, and the percent of those committed by out-of-towners. It goes on to discuss the phenomena of "hot spots" for suicide as being well-documented, and lists the Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge as two other popular destinations. (The oh-so-slightly-crazy part of me giggles at travel guide feel of it.) They talk about how suicide is considered a "major, and preventable, public health problem." Barriers, awareness, surveillance, proximity of hotline phones.

Years ago, when I was dating a guy in San Diego, I thought it was strange they had the suicide hotline number posted all over the bridge. It makes so much more sense now. Do I know if my brother would have reconsidered killing himself if there was a barrier? A phone? If the tourist who saw him jump had said, "Beautiful day, isn't it?" I don't, and I try not to think about it.

I've learned alot in the last 6 months. I've learned what drugs can do to your body. I've learned how much my brother had changed before he died. I've learned just how much one person can cry over music or commercials on TV. I've learned about grief and anger and the loneliness that comes when someone you know dies. I've come a long way from this May - trying to be a better daughter, to ask for help when times are rough, to not bottle everything up, and to stop saying yes to everything. I've stopped forming expectations about the future of my family and how we'll all get through this, because I know we're all in different places now.

And somehow, that's given me peace. I've spent the last few weeks worrying about going north for Thanksgiving (and my birthday) and how we were going to deal with the fact my brother won't be there, back from his first few months at college. I can't draw up scenarios anymore, because whatever happens will happen. It's heartbreaking for sure, but you can't plan for heartbreak.

Thanksgiving, for me, was always about the turkey and pumpkin pie. This year, it's more about those left behind.

Wednesday WIPs....on a Sunday?

2007-10-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

I'm making a valiant push for the final days of Socktoberfest. I've noticed a trend this year - of making plans for knitting and blatantly ignoring them (Summer knitting goals, summer of socks, etc) But no! I will knit socks in October (and move on to something else come November)

First up, socks for my dad. I'm really loving the yarn, and the pattern (from More Sensational Socks). They're for his birthday, which was in June. So much for timing (Teresa, your gloves WILL be refinished. Promise. Definitely by your next birthday....)

Next up, Red Sox. No, really. If I'm going to watch all this sports on TV, I am going to knit appropriately (until they're done - then I'll move back to my overflowing WIP basket). M didn't think I was serious when I said I was going to knit some Red Sox socks....well, that'll show him :) I've finished the toe, the foot, and the heel. Why did I ever think knitting socks on anything less than a US 6 was a good idea?

So, if you'll excuse me, there's all sorts of football on right now and perhaps a baseball game tonight....

I hear there's only one October....

2007-10-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

How happy am I that it's Friday? Not that it's been a bad week, but I love weekends. Tonight I'm going to see Josh Ritter perform at the Natural History Museum (which, according to a coworker is a hip venue) (wow, I just felt older right there). Tomorrow, a quick trip to the outlets where I will resist the urge to spend any more money before heading up to Santa Barbara. I imagine with the World Series being on right now there will be some baseball to watch (while I follow the Cal game tomorrow night online). And of course, some knitting.

I'm not really a huge sports fan, despite how much sports I watch. I don't have many favorite teams (except for Cal - go Bears!), and the ones I do like are based on geography or not an awful combination of team colors more than anything else. And in spite of some of the Red Sox fans I've met (or sat near at an Angels game), I have to admit I like the Red Sox. Why? Because I can knit a pair of red socks while watching them and giggle to myself the whole time. It's the little things :)

I found this website of common errors in English via the Stitchin' Sheep. I have to say, I feel a little dumber....Not that anyone expects engineers to have good grammatical skills anyways :)

Next post - pictures! Knitting related pictures!

We didn't start the fire

2007-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

It smells like campfire. It's been ashy and gritty and hazy all weekend - from Santa Barbara to Camarillo to LA to San Diego. Looking at the Google Map makes me realize just how widespread these fires are. I feel like this happens every year and we're sort of used to it, but driving over the mountain yesterday and seeing the red sky made me feel like I was an extra in a Lord of the Rings movie (sadly, no Viggo to be found). It's eerie and scary and my hair is responding to the lack of moisture in the air. Teresa and I went for a hike earlier this year in Solstice Canyon, hiking through the ruins of a house burned down in 1982. It was strange, mostly because the house had been so set into the landscape when it was built that it was easy for nature to reclaim it. It makes me wonder what will happen to the houses lost this time around.

In more cheery news, I got a new jacket for snow that has tons of pockets (I'm a fan of pockets). It's passed the approval of the skier - though he said it would be good for "sort of cold" days, which makes me wonder what I've gotten myself into....I also won free tickets to a closed performance on Friday with Josh Ritter. I'm not sure what to expect of a taped concert (or what to wear!), but I'm loving the price :)

Movies?

2007-10-19T11:58:00.001-07:00

According to my imdb list, I've seen over 750 movies. Apparently not all of them good...

AFI's top 100 movies. Bold the ones you have seen. ~~Strike out the ones you couldn't finish.~~ * the ones you have seen more than once. (Found via kmkat)

1. Citizen Kane (1941)*

2. Godfather, The*

3. Casablanca (1942)

4. Raging Bull (1980)

5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

6. Gone with the Wind (1939)

7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

~~8. Schindler’s List (1993)~~

9. Vertigo (1958)*

10. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)*

11. City Lights (1931)

12. Searchers, The (1956)

13. Star Wars (1977)*

14. Psycho (1960)*

15. Sunset Blvd. (1950)

16. 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968)

17. Graduate, The (1967)*

18. General, The (1927)

19. On the Waterfront (1954)

20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

21. Chinatown (1974)

22. Some Like It Hot (1959)

23. Grapes of Wrath, The (1940) For the longest time I hadn’t read the book either. People always assume if you’re from Oklahoma you’ve seen/read Grapes of Wrath and you love hearing them sing the theme song from the musical.

24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)

25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

27. High Noon (1952)

28. All About Eve (1950)

29. Double Indemnity (1944)

30. Apocalypse Now (1979) “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” used to be my dad’s favorite quote.

31. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)

32. Godfather Part II, The (1974)

33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

35. Annie Hall (1977)

36. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)

37. Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)

38. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)

39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)*

40. Sound of Music (1965)

41. King Kong (1933) I’ve seen the newer one….

42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

44. Philadelphia Story, The (1940)

45. Shane (1953)

46. It Happened One Night (1934)

47. Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951)

48. Rear Window (1954)* I’ve always liked Hitchcock movies.

49. Intolerance (1916)

50. Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

51. West Side Story (1961)

52. Taxi Driver (1976)

53. Deer Hunter, The (1978)

54. M*A*S*H (1970)

55. North by Northwest (1959)*

56. Jaws (1975) Surprisingly, I’m not interested in seeing movies about a shark killing people. Strange, I know.

57. Rocky (1976) I refuse.

58. Gold Rush, The (1925)

59. Nashville (1975)

60. Duck Soup (1933)

61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

62. American Graffiti (1973)

63. Cabaret (1972)

64. Network (1976)

65. African Queen, The (1951)

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

68. Unforgiven (1992)

69. Tootsie (1982)

70. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)

71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

72. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)

73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)*

74. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)

75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

76. Forrest Gump (1994)*

77. All the President’s Men (1976)* One of my favorites

78. Modern Times (1936)

79. Wild Bunch, The (1969)

80. Apartment, The (1960)

81. Spartacus (1960)

82. Sunrise (1927)

83. Titanic (1997)*

84. Easy Rider (1969)

85. Night at the Opera, A (1935)

86. Platoon (1986)

87. 12 Angry Men (1957)

88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

89. Sixth Sense, The (1999)

90. Swing Time (1936)

91. Sophie’s Choice (1982)

92. Goodfellas (1990)

93. French Connection, The (1971)

94. Pulp Fiction (1994) I could never get into it. Or any of Tarantino’s films.

95. Last Picture Show, The (1971)

96. Do the Right Thing (1989)

97. Blade Runner (1982)

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

99. Toy Story (1995)

100. Ben-Hur (1959)

This is what my mornings are like...

2007-10-18T18:40:00.001-07:00

Fill up your glasses

2007-10-17T10:42:00.001-07:00

Knitting blog drinking game, found via Feather and Fan.

You have to have a good sense of humor going into this - I found alot of things on the list that I do :)

Good thing I just bought all that wine....

Food on the brain

2007-10-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

I brought some of my cookbooks in to work this morning to come up with something to make for dinner. Because I have food on the brain. Something happened this weekend to motivate me to cook (I blame the wine tasting) and since that motivation comes along so rarely I figured I should go with it.

The internet is against me - I'm finding alot about baking in my feed reader today:
Vodka Pie
No-knead bread followup
The original no-knead bread

The truth is, I miss the chocolate croissants at the farmer's market in Westwood....it may be time to dig out the Martha Stewart cookbook :)

After I posted yesterday, I found all sorts of eco-friendly posts popping up. Apparently it was Blog Action Day and I missed the memo :) It was interesting to see all the posts about the usual recycling, greener energy, and carbon footprints. Someone also blogged about how participating in swaps and destashing across the country adds to your footprint - definitely something knitters don't want to think about :)

Time to get back to planning dinner....

Monday Monday

2007-10-15T09:30:00.001-07:00

Image found on Apartment Therapy

Well, another week back at work. The weekend was nice, I went wine tasting with a friend and her boyfriend, picking up a few nice dessert wines. I used to go tasting more often, but with all that's been going on with sailing and hiking I haven't had as much time. And now there's college football....

I picked up my Hourglass Sweater again, in hopes of finishing it up before my birthday in November (it's good to have goals) So far my wrists/forearms still ache a little, but it's significantly better than it was before. I've also gotten a new keyboard tray and mouse at work, since my physical therapist thinks the tendinitis is more due to mousing than knitting (I tend to agree with her, since I haven't knit more than an hour is the last 3 weeks!).

I've been listening to the Omnivore's Dilemma again, and I'm in the section about organic farming. While I still got a little queasy listening to the slaughtering description, I realized the rest of the chapter really appealed to me in contrast to the first section about industrial farming. This year seems to be the year for thinking greener (my Nellie's Dryerballs arrived last week!) and reducing your footprint, but it's also becoming the year for thinking about what you eat (and not just in a caloric sense). I've always remained blissfully unaware of where my food came from, and I'm beginning to question that...

Happy Monday all!

The wait is finally over

2007-10-10T21:04:00.001-07:00

Almost 3 months after the announcement that downsizing was imminent, layoffs were finalized. Across all departments at my site in just one day. And while I still have a job, it was an incredibly difficult day. No one really got any work done as coworkers gathered in the halls to discuss the rumors and later console the affected. My parents have of course been checking in frequently to find out who and when, which has been exhausting. If worrying created food we'd have enough to feed a small country....

Tomorrow, puppy pictures.

An upset

2007-10-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can't believe it. Stanford beat USC yesterday. As a Cal fan, I have mixed feelings about this. I'd like to see USC move down in the rankings so Cal can move up (plus I went to UCLA for grad school). But I'd also like to see Stanford lose because, well, go Bears! So I definitely have mixed feelings about this one.

It has been a season of upsets for sure. Stanford, Appalachian State. And Notre Dame broke their losing streak (unfortunately against UCLA)

Enough football. I'm in Napa for the weekend visiting my parents (and doing some shopping). Along movie watching, and knitting. The weather is great, I'm hoping to take some pictures of the leaves here, they're showing more color than the trees down south. And also of the new puppy, who has been following me around since I got here :)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Edumakation

2007-10-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Curious Origins of 9 Delicious Phrases, found via Accidental Hedonist.

Little tidbit on how our expectations color our tastes (wrt food, around the middle of the post)

Bored at work? Check out people's fridges....

Mr. Whippy, stress-dispensed ice cream.

FYI - the workers are the SS office are so unbelievably pleasant. Definitely less stressed out than DMV workers.

Unbelievable

2007-10-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week, mostly because I started going back to physical therapy for my knee which makes for longer days than I'm used to. Where am I going with this? I've had a bag of stuff to give to Goodwill for the whole week now, and I haven't been able to drop it off because they close at 5. So finally I gave up and left the bag outside the dumpster in case anyone wanted a new coffeemaker, grinder, etc.

...I woke up at 5:30 this morning and realized my social security card and some other things may have been in one of the old wallets I put in the bag. I don't carry around everything in my wallet, and I have so many that I use the old ones to hold things I don't need to keep with my (SS card, business cards, grocery store savings cards, etc). This one had the card slots on the outside, which were empty, and a zippered compartment, which was probably not. Of course the stuff was long gone. I know I can get a replacement and monitor my credit report but it was such a stupid thing to do. This is why those cleaning binges are bad.....

In other wallet news, I custom ordered a new wallet a few days ago from JennaLou's etsy shop (thanks to the recommendation from Teresa!) I also made another sale in my etsy shop which is awesome :). I also came across an interesting fact this week - 40 years of research show that grief intensifies and peaks around 5-7 months after someone's death. Which helps to explain what's been going on lately. Well, not so much explain as reassure me I'm still following the curve :) (Insert long discussion on distributions and statistics here. I had a stats class early this week so I'm a little stat-ed out)

And, speaking of unbelievable, check this out. How does she do it?!? Here's more of her work. Absolutely amazing.

Almost Wednesday WIPs

2007-10-02T21:01:00.001-07:00

The Swallowtail Shawl, in Malabrigo lace. I can't get over how soft the yarn is! It's addictive - more so than KSH :)
Argosy - this one's been hibernating for awhile. I'm using some yarn that's been hiding out in the stash for awhile (me? Stash busting? What are the odds!)
Clapotis, using the STR Lucy colorway. This one, for some reason, seems to be easiest on my arms. Maybe all the variation in stitches.....
And finally, the Chevron scarf. I really love how the colors go together, though they don't contrast as much as I'd hoped. It's slow going on this one, but I'm really loving it so far.

Time for me to get back to catching up on the first season of Heroes....

Bad blogger!

2007-10-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still behind on taking pictures, but Little Knits is having a sale on some Trekking and I thought I'd pop over and post. I still haven't been knitting much, but I'm hoping that when I do go back to it this break will have helped in the long run.

Not much else to report - the cold is mostly gone, which is great. I went camping this weekend as a sort of reunion event - we went back to Angeles forest and had a great time eating, drinking, and talking (and trying to stay warm!). Sunday found me making banana bread for the first time and working with M to come up with a new meatball recipe. And packing up the second order from my etsy store! As great as etsy is for finding cool indie things, it's huge and hard to stand out from the rest. But so far, so good!

Somewhat off topic, but my mom had some suicide awareness bracelets made and sent me a bunch last week. I have no idea what to do with them, but if anyone wants one I've got 'em.

Time to get back to work - happy Monday all!

Working on a day off

2007-09-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

My cold got worse last night so I opted to go in, get my laptop, and work from home for a half day (it would have been more but I'm having trouble logging in now....).

So, I've been busy taking pictures, writing descriptions, and uploading. That's right, I finished setting up my etsy shop. Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think! (and feel free to spread the work as well) This is my first foray into selling, so any suggestions and comments are welcome.

And here, the long-coveted Wollmeise! I got Poison Nr. 5 as well, but for some reason that picture didn't turn out well. When I get up some more energy I'll take some pictures of my Chevron Scarf. Until then :)

I'm baaack

2007-09-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

My last day of vacation before going back to work :(

It was a fun week in Maryland. There was sailing, crab eating, beer drinking, and sight seeing. Oddly enough, I missed the rain on both coasts....
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Annapolis and the surrounding area. It's woodsy, but there are open areas around the farms and the water. M's parents have a place on the eastern shore where we spent a night and it was great. You have neighbors, but they're not so close you'd know. It's completely quiet at night, and you'd be best off having some sort of night light because there is no surrounding street lighting like there is in the city.

I've been sailing before in Santa Barbara, but it's nothing compared to sailing on a little two person boat. Speed is completely different, and balance is alot trickier. We were successful in staying upright, which was a huge relief to me :)

The trip to DC was fun - it's crazy to see all the well known buildings all in one place. We went by the Capitol, some museums, the botanic gardens, the Museum of Natural History, and of course the White House. My feet were exhausted by the end of the day, but I got some good pictures out of it.

There was some knitting done as well - I started the Chevron Scarf in a yellow/green Koigu and some blue Sundara yarn. I also managed to get a little work done on my Clapotis on the flight back. The woman sitting next to me turned out to be German as well - she noticed I was knitting "like the Europeans" and commented on it :)

I picked up my new gym bag and tent today at REI - now I'm motivated to start working out again (and go camping this upcoming weekend!). I've also been working hard on creating a stockpile of stitch markers before I open my etsy shop. I've gotten some good feedback from the testers that have been really helpful in deciding what type of design to go with. And for some reason making stitch markers is much easier on my wrists.....

Time to get back to 'watching' football :) Have a good Sunday everyone!

Wednesday WIP

2007-09-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Actually, due to the self-imposed and now doctor-approved knitting halt, I don't have much knitting to report (Ok, I cheated last night and started the Chevron scarf. But it's ok - I can do up to 15 minutes of knitting every other day for a week and work my way up from there!) I've developed tendinitis, which on one hand is good (meaning I don't have carpel tunnel). I've been told to rest, ice, and take Advil (or Aleve. Whichever I feel more brand loyalty towards). I also am being sent back to physical therapy again for my knee. As much as I dislike PT, it's really the only way I'll stick to a workout plan (at least right now. The new gym bag I'm getting from REI may motivate me....)

While waiting on my knitting injury to heal, I'm working on restructuring my life a little. I ran across this link at HipKnits and it really got me thinking. I have alot of baggage in my life (and only some of it emotional!) and it stresses me out. While I will probably not do all 72 things, working on some them has already made me feel better (like cleaning out my email accounts - so liberating!). I'm also taking a page from the book of Allison and making a more serious effort to reduce my debt. This ties in nicely with my efforts to be healthier in that I'll be cooking at home more than eating out.

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting soon....ish :)

Monday madness

2007-09-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Not much knitting to report - my wrists have been giving me problems. I noticed when I got a massage a couple of weeks ago that when my forearms were worked on my hands started tingling. So I gave in and have put down the needles for awhile. It's driving me crazy :) I'm starting to think it may be more related to how I type on my laptop at home or on my computer at work though, since my wrists still ache some.

So instead of knitting I've been hiking and watching TV (or, more accurately, football. And some TV on DVD). I happened to catch Murder She Wrote on the other week and realized how much I'd liked that show as a kid. I had no idea there were so many seasons of it! I also rented Heroes from Netflix and watched the first two episodes last night. I'm not sure if I would have gotten into it had I watched in season. I'll admit I want to know what happens, but the 2nd episode was a little gruesome (and somehow fake) for me. I am however getting sucked back into Top Chef (I even started a group on Ravelry for it) - it's not like the other seasons. For me there's no clear winner or favorite. There's also not as much animosity, which is great.

This weekend's hike was Solstice Canyon. In many ways it's like the rest of the hikes in the mountains - except for the ruins. Well, the remains of a rather large house that burned down in the 1980's. There's something eerie about hiking in the woods and finding the foundation and remaining walls of a house next to the trail. We had great fun wandering around the remains climbing up to the waterfall. I'm slowly but surely working my way through all the parks in the area, much to my knee's dismay. I'm not sure if it's a lingering problem from the surgery, but I seem to be having knee pain more than I used to. M thinks it's a cartilage problem - I'm hoping not!

Time to get back to work - happy Monday all!

FO, WIPs, and moving on

2007-09-04T15:54:00.001-07:00

The manly socks are finally done and have been gifted to their owner. A few months late of his birthday, but he seems pleased with them. And decided not to take them on his latest camping trip, because he didn't want to "get them dirty." I wonder how much use they'll see with that philosophy!

I'm dividing my time now between some gloves and socks. With a little work on the Hourglass Sweater to give my hands/wrists a break. I've been noticing some tingling in my arms and some back pain, so I'm trying to take it easy. Of course, this rules out making stitch markers as well, so I really don't know what to do with myself! The testing is going well, as far as getting feedback on how the first set of markers work out. After some initial results, I'm thinking the method Teresa taught me may be more knitter-friendly and that the method I use is probably better suited to earrings and the like.

This past weekend was full of football and movies (and eating!) I watched way more college football than I intended, but really enjoyed the Cal game (I may have to organize a viewing at some sports bar for the next one!) M and I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum on Sunday, which I liked quite a bit. I wasn't as much of a fan of the second in the series, but the third was right up there with the first. If you like action and twists, I'd recommend checking it out while it's still in theater (unless you have a big screen TV and surround sound. In which case, invite me over some time)

My parents seem to be doing well after the letter was published. The Napa paper has a censoring policy on all comments submitted to their site (which the other papers don't seem to be as strict with, given some of the responses to my dad's letter earlier this year) and all the comments I've seen are positive and reaffirm the fact that not much is known about the possible side effects. I'm still trying to deal - feeling somewhat deserted, though I realize no one really knows what to say to me. I'm told this is the awkward point in the timeline - where it's been long enough that other people have moved on and you're just starting to deal with it. Or where people are still giving you distance when you're finally ready to talk. It's been frustrating to an extent - the times I do mention it, no one knows what to say and the atmosphere gets awkward. Society has a hard time acknowledging death and its aftermath in general, at least in a way that doesn't leave the survivors feeling like they should be keeping quiet about how they're feeling.

So I've removed the chip from my shoulder and have been harassing people to hang out with me until they feel comfortable enough to do it on their own :)

And in the interim, I'm getting caught up on my Netflix subscription....I'm still coming up to movies I queued back in grad school!

Letter to the Editor

2007-08-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over 3 months since my brother died. As little as I talk about it here or elsewhere, it's always on my mind. My mom has posted a letter to the editor in the local paper, fully disclosing the details of his death. And while I know them all, it makes it hard to see. Not so much because I've been reliving his death this week, but because it makes me sad that this has become my parents' new crusade - a crusade against suicide.

Sigh.

Good thoughts

2007-08-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

I've posted about Evan before - but keep him and his family in your thoughts today. Evan went in for surgery this morning - you can read more about him on Allison's blog.

Stitch markers?

2007-08-20T18:58:00.001-07:00

I've been making alot of stitch makers lately - you can see pictures of them here. I've been toying around with the idea of opening an etsy store, but since I'm so new to making them I'd like to test them out some. Anyone interested in being a test knitter? You'd get a set to knit with and would only have to provide me feedback on what you think. Drop me an email if you're interested!

Looking for a doula?

2007-08-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

For anyone in the Los Angeles area, my friend Peggy has recently started a doula business. I met Peggy when I first moved to LA, and while I can't speak to her doula techniques, she's an amazingly compassionate and supportive person with a great sense of humor. Peggy is passionate about what she does - go check out her website here to read more about why she decided to become a doula and what her philosophy is.

Oh, and in case you needed more convincing - in addition to being a doula, Peggy's also a great knitter. :)

Little League Baseball

2007-08-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of your comments - in the end my friend Teresa is taking 4 of the skeins in a partial trade and I managed to resell the other 2 on the Destash blog. There's some discussion on the Ravelry board about the subs - some people were emailed asking their preferences, some had their order cancelled, others knew ahead of time and included options in their order. I did email the owner asking to return them and she said that was fine, which I was glad to hear.

Not much to report on the knitting front. I'm out of town this weekend, taking a mini-break from work (always a good plan when they announce layoffs I'm sure) and going to a friend's engagement party. I've actually never gotten to meet him in person (we were introduced via a mutual friend), so it's a little weird to be going to his engagement party :)

Oh, and apparently there's a world series in little league baseball....who knew? It's been on since we got here and is totally holding M's attention. At least I have my sock to work on :)

:(

2007-08-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

Last week I ordered 5 colorways of Lorna's Laces through an online clearance sale. It came today, but not what I'd expected.....

Turns out after I placed my order, the homepage of the store noted that yarn is going fast and subsitutions will be made if the ordered colorway is out of stock.

And that's what happened to 3 of the 5 colors I ordered. I wasn't notified, and when I emailed the owner she replied that there's a note on the website saying substitutions will be made. And suggested I see if any of my friends would be interested in trading.

I understand that she's one woman running a store - and a store in the middle of a huge sale. But I'm frustrated she didn't email me or just exclude the yarn I ordered that she doesn't have. Instead she's using a statement later posted on the storefront to explain why I'm holding on to 6 skeins of yarn I don't want. I'm considering either trying to trade them or emailing her again and asking her to take them and refund me the money.

/rant

Shout outs

2007-08-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Gradschoolknitter is having a contest for her 100th post - check it out!

Allison (of Supercrafty.com), who I've blogged about before, has some somewhat good news - Evan's surgery for his brain tumor has been bumped up to 2 weeks from now. This change is unfortunately because Evan is showing some decline - so please send some good thoughts their way. And maybe even buy some yarn :)

I'm relieved it's Thursday - it's been a week of minimal sleep so far. And even though I went to bed early, I was woken up by an earthquake this morning. Bringing my grand total of earthquakes felt to 3 :)

Final answer

2007-08-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

In this world of amazing conveniences, somehow it takes longer to do things. I received a new credit card last week, and called the 1-800 number to activate it. It used to be, and still is for some cards, that all you had to do was call the number and enter some information. But now they try and sign you up for all sorts of programs. My call was no exception - payment protection, credit monitoring, the works. And they never ask you if you want to sign up, they just tell you they're mailing you the information packet and you can cancel later.

I had to tell the woman signing me up I didn't want it. I knew I was going to get a lecture on how great it was. "But I'm an American consumer, and making uniformed ill-advised decisions is my right," was what I wanted to say. Instead, I settled on some Millionaire lingo "...and that's my final decision."

Somehow, she knew not to argue.

On a more serious note, kmkat posted a link to this blog with images from the bridge collapse. Absolutely amazing to see the extent of damage - it's hard to even imagine.

Weekend update

2007-08-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

I've been somewhat remiss in updating lately, so here's a stash enhancement, WIP, and misc. update :)

Stash enhancement

A gift from Molly, Sundara Yarn. Spunky Eclectic yarn, a prize from Claudia's MS Ride Raffle. STR Lagoon, a purchase off the new Destash blog. Yarns from Handpaintedyarn.com for hats. Bought from Lotus Yarns, who has great names for colorways :) Bought from Paradise Fibers (who were really great to deal with)

Manly sock, still going strong. Swallowtail shawl, intended to be worn at a wedding that's already occured (oops!). Generic ribbed hat, can never have too many. Lady Eleanor stole, a prayer shawl of sorts started in May.

Misc.

My newfound interest in making stitch markers

A new mixer, with which to make more pies (and other things too I'm sure)

Anyone want a one person tea set?

Have a good weekend all!!

We have a winner!

2007-07-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

Or 3 :) Congratulations to for gradschoolknitter winning the teapot! Ellen and Nonnahs are the lucky winners of yarny goodness. I'll email you all to get your addresses and get your prizes in the mail some time next week.

From it's humble beginnings as a mobile favorites bar, this blog has documented my knitting through all sorts of events. Going to my first SnB, learning to knit lace, the boyfriend sweater, the ensuing breakup and ACL surgery, learning to dye, the Knitting Olympics, nannying, leaving grad school, another breakup, a new relationship, moving, and most recently my brother's death.

More importantly than letting access my favorite links wherever I go, documenting my knitting, or recording the events of my life these last 3 years, this blog has served as a cheaper alternative to therapy.

No, just kidding! It's served as a place for me to meet people I may not otherwise have had the chance to meet (no matter how close they live to me) It's served as a place for me to share creativity and experiences and find support and ideas. Some of you I've known for years, some of you I've never met. Thanks for reading :)

A quick post

2007-07-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting the contest winners in a few hours (go enter!), but this post from Kami made me laugh.

My favorite so far? "If we cannot fight two chickens to the death for entertainment purposes, the terrorists have already won?"

This one is pretty funny too: "I'm impressed by your bold stance in support of the gentleman sport of fetus fighting. If we are not permitted to strap knives onto the ankles of our unborn twins and fight them to the death, then what right will they take away from us next?"

Oh, this is my favorite: "Just a matter of time before they come for your dog and cat.These people have a agenda.This will be the start of the ending for animal lovers.Fight these nuts while you still can."

Happy Friday everyone :)

(There's a similar page here)

Pictures!

2007-07-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

A finally finished gift for a friend
Yarny prizes for the contest
More yarny prizes
And a very tiring but very worthwhile hike.

Contests and knitting

2007-07-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Knittinggal is having a contest - go check it out! And don't forget the contest here! For those of you who don't want to be entered for the teapot but rather the yarny goodness let me know. I'm planning on uploading some pictures tonight, including pictures of the other prizes. In addition to whatever else may be lurking on my camera.....

I'm still slowly chugging away at the manly sock, in hopes of finishing it this summer. Seriously - what happened to my knitting? Looking at my everpresent stash is causing a slight panic. I went to SnB in Santa Monica for the first time in over 2 months last night. It feels strange to go back after so long - you worry that things will be awkward when you haven't been there, especially for the reasons I stopped going anywhere. But I needn't have worried. Though only a few of the people I know were there, the group was still the same :) Mirkins, birthing, and of course knitting conversation still abounds. Unfortunately I won't be able to go back until my class ends :(

Time to get to work so I can leave early and do laundry and read Harry Potter. I have my priorities :)

What a weekend

2007-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy on the weekends these last few months! The weekend before, M and I flew out to Chicago for the wedding of a friend of his. We left Thursday evening, rushing to the airport as fast as you can through LA traffic and arrived in Chicago early Friday morning. We picked up the rental and headed out into the city to search for food. Your best bet for finding something open at 2 am is to find out where all the bars are, so we identified a promising location and parked. Only to find that the passenger side door was broken - attempting to open it from the inside resulted in the interior door coming away from the frame! Exchanging the car was added to the list of things to do before leaving for Wisconsin. Fed, we drove to M's cousin's place and crashed (with the help of some Sudafed and Tylenol PM for my flare of allergies on the flight in) Friday we got up, got brunch, and took a little tour of the Wrigleyville area before exchanging the car. My parents tell me I've been to Chicago, but I was too young to remember it.

This time I certainly will. Not half an hour after we exchanged the rental, a truck hit us as it tried to scrape past us in traffic. It took us an hour to sort that all out, but we finally made it on our way to Wisconsin to meet up with some of M's family at the lake. After living in CA for so long, I miss how much you can get in terms of real estate (or food!) in the Midwest. We continued on to Sheboygan (the locale of the wedding), where we had brats before the wedding (when in Rome....) and danced (drank) the night away. I had a great time meeting all of M's fraternity brothers (from MIT, nonetheless) - they're definitely a fun group of guys. Another whirlwind tour of the lake and Chicago and we headed back for CA.

This weekend was the camping/company picnic/hiking weekend. A night hike in Pt. Mugu State Park, company festival, and a day hike in Circle X Ranch area have made for one exhausting weekend. I used to be much more of a hiker in my college days, but I'm enjoying getting back into (when M isn't picking the routes. He seems to think an 8 mile roundtrip hike is totally feasible in 3 hours. Right.) In addition to running up mountains, I also finally got around to going to see Harry Potter and exploring the local restaurants.

What does this all have to do with knitting? It means I haven't gotten much done :) I'm still working on the 2nd manly sock and trying to be more project monogamous in order to start getting things done. It may be a good time to revise my summer knitting goals.....

Hope you all had a good weekend - don't forget to enter the contest by Friday!

Contest!

2007-07-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

My 3 year blogiversary is the 27th of this month - and as promised I'm holding a contest. Submit a comment to this post answering 1 of the following (or all if you like!):

Favorite knitting tutorial/pattern, with link.
Favorite book - and for those Harry Potter fans, what are your plans when the final book comes out?
Favorite way to unwind after a stressful day.
Favorite vacation memory

What's the prize? As you may have read, my friend recently sent me the perfect teapot. So perfect, I'd already bought it for myself! So I'm offering up the duplicate:

I'll use a random number generator to choose 3 winners - one will receive this teapot and 2 others will receive yarn-related goodness. And because Blogger doesn't give me your email address (unless you've set it up to make it public), please either leave me your address or email it to me so I can get in touch with you! Contest ends July 27th, noon, PST.

Spread the word - if someone mentions they were referred by you you'll get another entry!

8 random facts

2007-07-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Players start with eight random facts about themselves.

People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here ya go:

1. Although I write with my right hand, I throw with my left and am somewhat ambidextrous. Which always throws people off in softball.

2. I was almost held back after kindergarten because a) I couldn't tie a bow and b) I hadn't started losing my teeth yet. Sometimes I feel like writing them back and asking if they'd like to reconsider that recommendation.

3. I have worked at an oil refinery, a semiconductor facility, a biotech, a general chemistry lab, a tutoring center, and as a nanny. I like to keep my options open.

4. I had an insanely strong ACL - about 3 years ago it broke my leg during a skiing incident. Apparently it should have torn - in only about 5% of accidents like mine does the bone break before the ACL tears. (These are the things you learn when you're taking a class on biomaterials in grad school and have an orthopedic surgeon at your disposal.)

5. I "borrowed" my parents' guitar when I left for college years ago and taught myself how to play. Not particularly skillfully. I did manage to get songs stuck in my roommate's head. And somehow started writing my own music and putting it up on the internet. You know, in my spare time.

6. I used a line from The Graduate to start my grad school essays. Or maybe it was my undergrad essays...

6.5 I have a lousy memory. Regardless, I still got admitted.

7. I'm squeamish about leftovers. So if we ever eat out and you like what I had and want it, you should ask. Odds are it won't make it into my stomach before I think it should be thrown out.

8. I'm an Okie. An Okie eligible for dual citizenship....

Okay, now for the lucky recipients of the tag:
Liquidgirl
One Flew Over the Crochet Hook
Sknitty
Dim Sum Knitting
Adventures with a knitting spaz
The Annex
All in a Day's
So That Happened...
A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I apologize if you've already done this - and if you haven't, consider yourself tagged!

Bleh

2007-07-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

My knitting mojo is totally gone - I had a whole week off last week and only managed to finish a couple of hats! I took a look at my summer knitting goals....hmm. Nothing. Took a look at my queue on Ravelry. Nothing. I've joined Summer of Socks and Mystery Stole 3 and haven't started either.

It's times like these when I look at my stash of yarn, books, and WIPs and start to panic slightly. Will I ever get it all done?

Right now the priority is to finish the knits for other people (who are thankfully flexible about the idea of receiving birthday gifts post-birthday). Next, WIPs for me. It will be a day of ruthless evaluation of WIPs and frogging those I don't think I'll ever finish. Blinders to new projects!

On my drive home Monday, my friendly voicemail voice informed me my mailbox was full and I had to clear out some of the old messages in order to keep the new ones coming in. Yes, I had about 18 saved voicemails. I do that from time to time - but most of these were from when my brother died. Many calls saying, "I'm sorry, call if you want, but you don't have to." I've come some way from 2 months ago when he died. I happened to catch Veronica Mars last night, the episode where her boyfriend breaks up with her and she holds it all in until she gets in the shower and just breaks down. Apparently I'm not the only one :) I wouldn't say I'm totally happy now or that I never think about it. I think about it every day. But it doesn't feel like it's controlling my life anymore. And that's huge.

On a happier note, my 3 year blogiversary is coming up on the 27th. Keep your eye out for a contest - I'm working on coming up with a fabulous prize :)

Another contest

2007-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Skeins her way is having a contest - go check it out and let her know I sent you :)

I'm enjoying my week off of work so far, trying to get alot of knitting done. On the list of things to work on are pocket buddies, hats, and a swallowtail shawl for a wedding in a couple of weeks. We'll see how that pans out!

Mmm, tea

2007-06-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

After a long, frustrating week of work, this was nice to come home to. I like how sometimes shipping takes so long you've forgotten you've ordered something :)

Get your spin on

2007-06-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

When I first started knitting, way back in 2002, I knew virtually nothing about the whole process of sheep to sweater. My first scarf was an acrylic garter stitch scarf in a teal green I normally wouldn't have chosen (but still love!) I continued on this way, until I discovered yarn stores. Stores full of yarn for knitting, uncomplicated by paint or framing or stickers which usually dominated the stores I'd been buying my yarn in.

I also, at that same time, discovered just how much money one can spend on yarn. And that it's an evil practice to not mark prices anywhere near the yarn.

I was mostly content with this new discovery, trying out new fibers, weights, and stitches. But somewhere along the way I still wanted more. I wanted to learn how to spin. Growing up, my mom had a spinning wheel that I would play on occasionally. As wheels are expensive for something you just want to try out, I got a drop spindle, some fiber, and started.

And was awful. Lumpy, inconsistent, fuzzy edged bulky yarn. Not what I wanted at all. So I put it down and waited. My local LYS started offering spinning classes and I jumped. I'm no expert now, but I have a better understanding of what I can do to change the texture of my yarn.

Which brings me back to spinning on a wheel. I really want to try it - and I'm planning on hitting up the somewhat local spinning store next week to check out wheels. My question for those of you who spin is how does spinning on a wheel differ from using a drop spindle, and what should I look for in a wheel? I see all sorts of drive ratios, treadles, etc, and it's a little overwhelming :)

Still knitting away on the second manly sock. And a few secret projects! Happy Wednesday all!

Contest

2007-06-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Lotus Knits! is having a contest (as seen on Dim Sum Knitting). I don't think I have a picture of my first knitted item (a scarf, made out of acrylic that I still have and love), but I certainly have quite a queue of items to cast on for.

However, I need to finish up the items I have (part of my summer knitting goals!), so the next project I'm casting on for is small. Toasty Pocket Creatures :)

I'll post more extensively later - my eyes are a bit burned out right now and I've got a meeting to get to!

Couldn't resist

2007-06-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

I saw this on bag 'n' trash and couldn't resist.

The game is SCATTERGORIES, and it’s harder than it looks!

Here are the rules:

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Have fun!

Your Name: Kate

1. Famous Singer/Band: The Kinks

2. 4 letter word: Kiss

3. Street: King St.

4. Color: Um...Kangaroo brown? Would you believe Crayola has never come up with a "K" color?

5. Gifts/Presents:

6. Vehicle: K-car

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Knives

8. Boy Name: Kevin

9. Girl Name: Kelly

10. Movie Title: Kill Bill (ugh)

11. Drink: Kahlua and Cream

12. Occupation: Knitter (one can wish)

13. Celebrity: Kate Winslet

14. Magazine: Knit.1

15. U.S. City: Kalamazoo, MI!

16. Pro Sports Teams: Knicks

18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Kids

19. Something You Throw Away: Kernals of corn that are unpopped (I know, it's a stretch)

20. Things You Shout: Kick-ass!

21. Cartoon Character: Katie Ka-Boom (Animaniacs)

Play nice

2007-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Yarn Harlot has a good post today about blogging as a public forum. For the most part, I'm really open on this blog, but with the caveat it isn't anything I wouldn't be willing to talk about in public. Over the past few years, it seems alot of nastiness comes out on the internet. One, because you can put it out there instantaneously and that knee-jerk-push-button-publishing can result in alot of comments that really should have been rethought. And two, because you don't have to say it to someone's face. A personal example is the letters to the editor my father wrote to the local newspapers after my brother jumped. The issue of a barrier has been ongoing, and he was writing to advocate some action be taken. He ended the letter saying that perhaps if a barrier had been in place sooner, my brother would have graduated from high school this year.

The thing about online newspapers is they let you comment instantaneously, much like you can on blogs. And so a few people (not many, but enough) wrote back saying things like barriers wouldn't help, how stupid are you, it's ridiculous to think someone who wants to kill themself will be deterred by a barrier, it's desecration of a national landmark, etc.

How did I find out about this? Because my mom read those comments and emailed me telling me. Not in an incredibly upset way, but it bothered her enough to mention it.

My point is, had my dad been speaking live from a public forum, would these people gone up to him afterwards and told him they thought he was stupid? I'm guessing not.

Anyways, time to get off my high horse and get back to it. Work has been really busy lately, in a good way. It's another short week, with an early departure on Friday for a Saturday wedding. Woohoo!

Destash

2007-06-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Less than a week after the old Destash blog was closed down, a new one has opened. Go check it out! I'm not too familar with how wordpress works, but I think you have to request an invitation to join and the criteria are similar to those for the old blog (must have your own blog and post regularly, can't be a wholesaler, must be selling yarn that is yours, etc). I think there are about 10 of us who are moderating it, so hopefully it'll be easier to keep up with than the old one was :)

Not much knitting to speak of. I got some work done on a hat and the 2nd manly sock this weekend while in transit to and from Vegas. The trip was fun, though probably less gambling and drinking intensive than some may have liked. But it is nice to be home....

FOs and Destash

2007-06-14T08:34:00.001-07:00

Two FOs that I've been waiting on posting about until they were mailed off - the top is the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting (I think the title is appropriate) and the bottom is another pair of Roll Top Bootees from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit - by far one of my favorite patterns. You just can't be unhappy when you have a pair of baby bootees. I see what Stephanie is talking about (the Bee Shoes are also on my list)

I'm still plugging away at the manly socks - the first was finished last night (not pictured) and has been tried on to confirm fit before starting with the 2nd. I need to figure out what knitting to bring along with me this weekend to Vegas. I imagine the grad students will look at me funny if I start knitting while they gamble, but I'll need something to do on the drive out there at least :) I received my copy of Knitting Lingerie Style, and I absolutely love it. I haven't looked too much into the specifics of the patterns (sizing, difficulty, yarn requirements), but at first glance it's one of my favorite books. There's alot in there I could see myself making (if I ever get through the huge cache of projects I already have....)

In other news, the Destash blog is closing down today. I can't blame the moderators - Blogger has been exceptionally buggy with that blog and it's caused alot of problems of multiple posts or posts not appearing or who knows what. Plus it's a huge endeavor to manage. There's already at least 2 wordpress blogs reserved to replace it, plus some discussion on Ravelry to start a sell/trade page with links to people's stashes.

Sniffle

2007-06-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not crying, that's just the allergies. Apparently I really do have allergies, not matter how hard I try to convince myself I don't by forgetting to take the Allegra. Just like not wearing my glasses for years didn't really make my nearsightedness disappear (though it hasn't gotten any worse in the last, oh, 7 years)

Just a mini-rant, but the Paris Hilton thing is getting on my nerves. Undisclosed medical condition? Well, not that, but the whole situation. Would I get the same treatment she does?

I'm going to guess no....

In other rants, my parents sent a letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury news, regarding the need for a suicide barrier for the Golden Gate Bridge and lamenting that there isn't one. The ending of their letter, which the paper cut out, mentioned the death of my brother and tied in why this is such a personal issue for them. SJMN lets readers post comments to stories/letters and this was posted:

"The belief that defacing a local and national treasure will somehow stop suicides is ludicrous. What's the thought here - "Well, I was going to kill myself, but if I can't jump off the Golden Gate, I guess I'll go on living."?? Barriers are not the answer."

Yeah, thanks - what do you suggest? I couldn't resist responding. Seriously, my blood is boiling.

I have a FO I really want to post, but I have to wait until it arrives at the recipient's doorstep to not spoil the surprise. And since I haven't mailed it yet, this will be a few days. But it's cute! And if you're on Ravelry, you can see it! (Which reminds me, if you're on Ravelry, feel free to add me as a friend. Not like this is high school and a popularity contest, but it's fun to cyberstalk other bloggers)

Why yes, I'm getting alot done today. Obviously. Actually, the last couple of days have been pretty good on all fronts. I've had alot to do at work (enough to stress me out a little) and have been keeping busy outside of work (mainly, trying not to kill the garden and destuffing the couch pillows so I don't get shoved off the couch every time I sit down). In fact, I'm even planning on going to A Mano on Saturday afternoon to partake in their book sale (I even have a list) So if you're in the LA area and have a desire to hit up A Mano, let me know.

Jordana Paige and Sockshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

2007-06-05T19:10:00.001-07:00

2 posts in one day! Allison asked what I thought of my Jordana Paige bag, so I thought I'd take some pictures and review it a little.

I've only used it a couple of times, because my main WIPs now have been socks or little projects. The front pocket works well for crochet hooks, dpns, or stitch holders.
The inside has quite a bit of room - I've managed to fit my Lady Eleanor and 4 balls of sock yarn in there, plus a Clapotis with no problem.
It comes with the little detachable pouch, which is nice for darning needles, needle holders, row counters, and any other little gadgets you may have to store.
It's also got these loops, which I assume are for holding needles. The loops on either end of the bag I use to feed yarn through when I'm knitting from the bag.
All in all, I'm quite pleased with it. I can't disguise it as a purse, because it's larger than any of the purses I carry - but it's great for a knitting tote.

As for WIPs, the "manly" socks I mentioned before. The pattern is Garter Stitch Rib, from Sensational Knitted Socks (a title my boyfriend and his housemates found amusing, especially when I told them there was a 2nd book). They're going along fairly well, though I'm pretty sure they won't be done by the mid-June deadline....

And finally, after my post earlier today about being antisocial and unsure what I wanted in this time, a package arrived from Teresa. I thought it was my prize for winning her contest, but realized the box was a little large for a single skein of sock yarn (I'm a natural blond people, give me time)
A blanket, made by friends from SnB and beyond (if I'm reading the accompanying chart correctly). So ignore my earlier post about not hearing from people and all that. You guys are wonderful, and you made me cry - so there. Thanks very much, I'm really touched.

{insert creative title here}

2007-06-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, how is it only Tuesday? The weeks seem to drag and fly by at the same time. It's been 4 weeks today since my brother jumped. In the interim, I've been hit by all sorts of emotions. Sadness, depression, anger. It's like PMS, but a thousand times worse :) I spent that last few weeks commuting from my boyfriend's place in Santa Barbara so I wouldn't have to be alone. No one really knows how to deal with death - after the initial flood of emails sending condolences, contact died down. Everyone is hesitant to bother you too much, to call, to email. No one knows what you want. (I should be careful to state here that I understand that feeling and am not offended, lest you think I'm pissed at everyone. I myself haven't known what to say when my friends had parents, family, or close friends die. And even now I wouldn't know what to say or do that would help)

To be honest, I don't either :) I have turned down a few offers of company after those first two weeks and have secluded myself in Santa Barbara where I have the option of doing my own thing amidst others. To avoid the awkward, "So, um, your brother killed himself - how are you?" I don't really know what I want, and I think that frustrates me the most.

Look at my list of WIPs - indecision abounds :)

But, honestly, I'm doing ok. I figure this is what I need to do right now, and that it'll get easier to hang out with people again and to talk and laugh and all those normal things. And one day, I'll stop reading into song lyrics. Because seriously, the world just not revolve around me.

Only very close to me.

Knitting continues - socks galore. My aim is to start finishing things at a rate faster than I start them. This could be tricky :) I'm also debating whether or not to photography my stash for Ravelry - it almost seems embarrassing to think of how much yarn I own.

Good thing I have renters' insurance!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Summer Knitting Goals

2007-05-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of lists. This is probably why I have a "hard copy" planner in addition to my PDA from work and why I document everything I feel I need to do in both places (sometimes I love MS Outlook. Until it flips out on me - then my love is diminished)

So when I saw the Summer Knitting Goals on Dim Sum Knitting, well, I had to join in. Extra motivation because there is a contest, hosted by Skeins Her Way in this post. Head over and sign up, and be sure to let her know you jumped from my blog if you do.

So, without further ado, my summer knitting goals:

1. Finish Wicker and the Hourglass Sweater - the 2 languishing sweaters I've started. I know it's summer and I should knit summery things, but these 2 need to get finished.
2. Make another Razor Cami. I have some Rowan Wool Cotton and some Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton (BSK, how I love your sale) that could be used, it's just a matter of choosing.
3. Finish all those socks that are taking up my dpns - Trekking, knee socks, manly socks, Jaywalkers...I'm probably forgetting a few. Since I joined Summer of Socks, this is pretty appropriate.
4. This may be overshooting my abilities - the mitered blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. We shall see....

Knitting content

2007-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks, in addition to bringing a ton of emotion and change, have also been full of alot of knitting. I started another Lady E shawl, as a sort of meditative/prayer shawl for my first visit up here (I'm back in Napa for the weekend). I started another Clapotis from STR in Lucy, after seeing the Clapotis Teresa knit in a weekend (the gift of the Clapotis she made for me sort of slowed down my progress). Some baby gifts have been made, and two Black Sheep Knittery visits have completely decimated my resolution of being on a stash diet.

This is the point where I say rules are made to be broken.

I did take pictures of most of these things, and left my camera at home. So I'll have to ask you to imagine all of this for the time being :)

Aside from knitting, I'm doing alright. I believe this stage may be denial, anger, or something. People tell you it takes awhile to understand what happened, and I believe it. Most days seem fine - I started going back to work last week, which has been nice. I haven't seen much of people outside of work, but for now that's what I want. Knitting, writing, and just thinking.

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments. The blogging community never ceases to amaze me - you guys are great. Take care everyone, and have a good weekend!

The Golden Gate

2007-05-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

May 8th, an 18 year old boy got up and printed out directions to the Golden Gate Bridge. A few hours later, he was dead.

I was 9 when my little brother was born. He was my excuse to start babysitting and to learn all the Disney movies by heart. He grew up while I was away at college and grad school. He got taller and taller every visit home, and had grown to appreciate the Daily Show and cynical comedy.

The drop from the bridge is 240 feet, meaning jumpers reach a velocity of 80 mph by the time they hit the water. Only a tiny percentage survive the jump. Most die as their organs shred (inertia at work), others drown. Apparently, almost all jump towards land. The San Francisco Chronicle cites many statistics in a series they did on suicides from the bridge.

Is my brother another statistic? If you watch baseball long enough, you realize almost anything can become a statistic. He was 18 and hadn't graduated from high school yet. He will never vote, he will never go to college. He will never legally drink or go to a frat party. He won't cram for finals for lectures he skipped. He won't get married, he won't have children, he won't get a job, he won't retire.

He won't read the final Harry Potter book.

In many ways, it seems too extreme to be real. I haven't lived in my parents' house for 8 years, so I feel like I didn't know him very well. I missed so much of his growing up. It seems now that none of us knew him that well. I'm just numb - my boyfriend asks me daily if I want to talk, one of my best friends offered to spend the night this weekend. I turn them down because I don't know what to say. How do you talk about something your mind hasn't accepted yet? How do you deal with the fact everyone around you is watching you closely, trying to figure out if you're ok?

I have good memories of my brother, I only wish there were going to be more. Thank you all for your kind comments, cards, and phone calls.

An absence

2007-05-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post for a little while. My brother passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, and I'm back in Napa now with my parents trying to sort through everything. He was only 18, and it's incredibly hard to look in his room, with his new computer for college in the fall, and try to understand why he left. Everyone is holding it together for the time being, but with the memorial and funeral coming it's getting harder. So, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

New!

2007-05-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

A little while back, Jordana Paige had a contest on her website, offering 5 free bags in a drawing. I won, and found this on my doorstep yesterday! I've been happily organizing my current WIPs in it ever since :)
Speaking of new projects, Manda's post about her Swallowtail Shawl inspired me to pick up my own started Swallowtail. I got 8 spools of red wool off the Destash blog awhile back and this seemed like a good opportunity to use it. I've got mixed feelings - I love the color, but the yarn has been a little stiff an even broken in some places (I'm concerned moths may have gotten to it at some point). Plus I have a ton of it, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of it....

Only 11 more repeats of the first chart to go....

:)

WIP Wednesday

2007-05-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, I haven't been doing so much knitting as I have been driving lately. I have, however, been stocking up on the sock yarn. I bought some STR this weekend in Lucy, to make another Clapotis (after seeing Peggy and Teresa's, I couldn't resist) I've also bought some Lorna's Laces in somewhat solid colorways to make socks with more emphasis on stitch detail than color. I have seen a few examples of socks that have both color varigation and stitch pattern, but for me I really like one or the other.
I have been making excellent progress on the baby knit and my knee sock. Last night I also finally picked up Wicker again. This month, as I say every month, will be about finishing things. And hopefully less yarn shopping :) After a lapse in the yarn diet (though sock yarn technically doesn't count), it's time to get back on the wagon. My checkbook will thank me later.

I've added a few new links to the side for stores and tutorials. Check out Abby's Yarns post about making a tweed blend! And Ravelry - another way to organize my WIPs?

ETA: Amazon is having a Kitchen and Home Mother's Day Sale.