insaknitty!!

rowr!

2009-12-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

believe it or not, I've been knitting and actually finishing things I've started! amazing, I know. some things I can't show, since they're christmas gifts, but I do have a few that have already been gifted for non-christmas occasions...

my good friend, traci, had a baby shower about a month ago. she had mentioned these animal body parts from oeuf a while back, and I was all "so cute! so expensive..." so I did my best to create some budget versions for use as props in the photo booth and now she can keep them for her little one to play dress up with.

and... the actual gift I made didn't quite make it to the shower. I stayed up really late the night before, attempting to finish it and just could not get the hood to lay the way I wanted it to! it was driving me crazy and the yarn was a pain to work with, so I decided to throw in the towel since I was so tired by that point in time that I couldn't quite see straight anymore. several days later, I finally finished it and was so happy with how it came out!

I stupidly threw the tail in the dryer and it turned all fuzzy. sigh. the good news is that it is now safe and sound at home with traci, waiting for its rightful owner to start the wild rumpus!

the pattern is from splendor knitting and was really simple, aside from the hood not getting along with the yarn I used. I only changed a couple of things: I didn't use the plastic stuff for the ears and just went down a few needle sizes and they stand up just fine, and I didn't follow the pattern for the tail.

once the hoodie was done, the weather took quite a turn from way too warm to really really cold. which is when I realized that isa's ladybug mittens are right on the verge of being too small. luckily, she already had something in mind.

these were super fun to make! I found some random label-less stuff in the depths of the stash and whipped these up in a couple of nights. I love them! I originally planned to use this pattern, but ended up just improvising my own version instead.

finally, I think I am in love with whoopie pies. so so yum.

4 digits!

2009-11-14T21:59:00.001-08:00

who knew this little design of mine would generate over 1000 ravelry projects in just one year? so exciting! and kind of amazing too, considering it's probably the most brainless thing I've ever made.

poop!

2009-11-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

look who's on the poop's homemade halloween costume post today! she's famous!

happy halloween!

2009-10-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that halloween is finally here! not so much because I'm that big of a fan of halloween, but because I don't have any more costume making to do! hooray!

several months ago, isa mentioned that she wanted to be fraulein maria for halloween. she might be just a wee bit obsessed with the sound of music... anyway, she rarely changes her mind once it's made up, but she did waffle over just which of the many marias she wanted to be. after some thought, though, she finally decided that she specifically wanted to be the "do re mi maria."
so I ventured out to my very favorite place in all the world, the clearance rack at target, and picked up this women's size 12 number for a mere $9.24.

I then proceeded to dismantle it completely. and then, through a whole lot of trial and error, I sewed it back together isa-sized. it came out far from perfect, but not bad for my first attempt at a dress. and now I'm a little less scared of the prospect of making more clothes... someday. maybe.

no "do re mi maria" costume would be complete without a guitar, but since I don't have one, I made one out of an old cardboard box, some elastic, and a ton of glue. add a straw hat from michaels, and it's complete!

all this ensemble is missing is 7 little kids dressed in curtains to follow her around. maybe next year.

in other news, knitting! I made this:
read more about it over on the rav.

dinner time entertainment

2009-10-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

isa: what are you cooking?
me: mushrooms.
isa: it smells.
me: good or bad?
isa: it smells good.
(pause)
isa: I said good because I don't want to hurt your feelings.

breakfast of champions!

2009-10-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

except that we had it for dinner. mmm...

I kind of didn't believe it would be so easy, but it was! and it was really tasty too! now I don't have to trek out to the original pancake house to have one of these. yum.

I swear I'm still knitting. I intend to have something to say on that front not too far in the future.

another post containing zero knitting content...

2009-09-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

but it's so worth it! the bunnies were having fun the other night with their favorite toy - a cardboard box. sometimes they're so cute that it's just ridiculous and I don't know how I manage to handle it.

babies!!

2009-09-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

remember that commercial? no? well, then. here it is. such a classic.

but, seriously. we're really only talking about one baby. the one inside wendy's belly! it looks like everyone who's anyone's blogging about the big shower, so I figured I should do a little blogging myself too. let's not even discuss how long it's been since my last post. or when the last time I had anything at all to say about knitting. anyway. first things first!

we threw a vintage circus themed baby shower for my good friend, wendy, who is expecting her very first little baby in just a few more weeks! after much planning and roughly a bazillion emails a day, everything came together beautifully. a great time was had by all (I hope)!

my big contribution was the buttload of candy. yum!

I finally got to try making marshmallows (something I've been meaning to try forever) and everything you've heard is true. they're really easy and they taste, look and feel so much better than store-bought! and, somewhat last minute, I decided to make a batch of graham crackers as well and get myself a mini blowtorch so I could put together some urbanite s'mores. I must say, I was quite pleased with them and I will definitely make them again. someday.

and, of course, I had to make something for the baby too. I went back and forth on what I should make for quite some time, but then finally decided I'd attempt a crocheted totoro, since wendy's a big fan (no pun intended, I swear!). I did make a few changes, like shortening the ears and using felt for the eyes. I studied practically all the totoros on ravelry to find just the right look and I'm really happy with how he turned out.

I am in a total knitting funk right now. it's been really hard to get myself excited about anything lately. maybe now that tv is back, I'll feel the need to watch and knit. we'll see what happens. hopefully whatever happens will be something good! and something I will remember to blog about...

story of my life

2009-05-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

me: did you take a nap at school today?
isa: kind of.
me: kind of?
isa: I mean... yes.
me: really?
isa: no.

happy labor day to me!

2009-04-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

it seems as though spring has sprung big time here. it was like 80F this afternoon! luckily, I'm indoors and not melting. and isa is enjoying a birthday outing with her dad, so I am enjoying a few hours to myself to not think about what I was doing 4 years ago today.

when I asked isa what I should do while she goes out with her dad, she said (rather matter of fact) that I should do everything that I love. "drink coffee... knit... read a book... about knitting..." man, does that girl know me! I know her pretty well too, and I knew I wanted to knit something for her birthday gift. I couldn't find a pattern for what I wanted to make, so I had to make it up as I went along. and, if I do say so myself, it didn't come out half bad!

it's miffy! if I were to make this again (ha! like that's ever going to happen), I would mave made her a bit more squat. I think she's shorter and fatter than this. oh well. although, I think after making this, I might be able to try my hand at hello kitty next. they have a similar physique. and by next, I mean next year. and maybe using something other than red heart. not fun to knit with!

this year, isa and her friends seem to be at the age where they like to hang out in the kitchen and "help" cook. so I decided to have a little fun with them and let them make their own lunch. of course, they had to be properly outfitted, so I first had to break out the old sewing machine and whip up some hats.

yeah, so I stitched isa's name first and then realized that it was just way more time consuming that I'd thought it would be, so the others ended up with initials only. I think they look pretty cute that way, though. maybe next time (ha!) I'll have improved my embroidering skills and can do fancier letters. or not.

the kids made a mess, but they had fun, and the pizzas actually came out really tasty!

I also baked my first cake from scratch. I also made a mess. it wasn't easy!! it came out halfway decent, though. I think I need more practice with the mixer, though... again, maybe next year.

thank goodness birthdays come but once a year. it's time to relax with a cup of coffee and my current project, which I hope I'll be showing off soon! whee!

splash!

2009-03-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

meet "starheart."

that's what isa decided to name the mermaid I crocheted for her. that's right. you heard me. I crocheted. me! I think I'm really starting to get the hang of this. except for the part where I'm not completely sure how to count. but, whatever. she looks pretty good, doesn't she? I have to say, I'm quite proud of myself.

the pattern is from owlishly. I bought it months ago, but have been too scared to try it. luckily, it really wasn't so bad. crochet intimidates me in a way that knitting never has. and I seriously have no idea why. it's easier to rip back - except for the part where I don't know when to stop. and even though I finished this, I'm still scared! what is wrong with me?

anyway, isa loves her. but I'm not sure if she can quite understand the magnitude of it all. all she knows is one night, she played with a tan colored ball with eyeballs and the next morning it had hair. and then she instructed me to first add arms, then a body and tail, and then boobies. she has no idea that that hair took me over four hours to make. and those boobies! man. I freaking embroidered them! but I'm most proud of the little starfish hair thing. it came out so so cute.

I have a couple more of mia's patterns which I really do plan on eventually trying. maybe I'll do the dinosaur next. he has no hair. thank goodness!

see starheart on rav!

knitting for people who are smaller than me

2009-03-09T15:43:00.001-07:00

it is really amazing just how lazy I have been knitting-wise since january hit. what is it, like march or something now? I've decided to stop thinking about time and where it has gone. it's not good for morale. to get back into the groove of things, I decided (was forced) to make some stuff for the little people.

remember how I was all, "I love these merry-janes and I'm going to make them for all the girl babies in the world!"? well, I started a pair for a friend's niece back in... um... a long time ago... and for some reason, just never finished them. since then, everyone's been popping out boy babies and nothing else. and I had been so busy procrastinating that the intended recipient is probably in college now and her feet have surely grown, so they languished in my knitting basket until last weekend's baby shower. finally, someone I know is having a baby girl! and I finally made myself finish them - and the baby's not even born yet. how's that for beating a deadline?

once that was taken care of, I still wasn't feeling quite up to another project, for reasons unknown (would rather sleep). but isa decided that she would motivate me by demanding a rainbow hat. with a flower! she's quite the smooth talker and the rainbodessa was born in just a few nights.

so, that's two projects done in as many weeks. amazing, I know. try not to be blinded by my awesomeness. and now I feel the need to start on something that is me-sized for when things start to warm up around here. maybe this. the weather cleared up over the weekend, but if you ask me, it's way too soon! can we just have a few more weeks of dreariness? I'm just not ready for the impending doom of summer that spring inevitably brings. I feel sweaty just thinking about it.

but I've got a happy place I can go to now. right in my own living room! I found myself staring at this corner for longer than is healthy, just smiling and sighing. happy.

I may have gone just a teensy bit crazy trying to get my hands on some orla kiely target madness a few weeks back (do not ask to see the rest of it - I am a little embarrassed). people who understand applauded my efforts. just about everyone else questioned my sanity. please don't tell them I went to like 12 different targets more times than I can count just to get something to put my yarn in. also, please don't tell those same people that this is only like 2% of the yarn I actually have. it will a little secret between me and the internet. shhh....

big day

2009-01-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

it's a big, BIG day for us as a nation - quite possibly the biggest in my lifetime, so far! and, in the spirit of making a big day even bigger (for me, at least), I do believe it is time to make a little announcement of my own as well.

you may or may not remember a little project I posted a couple of months back. I have been rather blown away by the amount of positive feedback I've received for my wham bam thank you lamb neckwarmer both on ravelry and in real life. who knew that one little garter stitch rectangle would be so well received? as of this moment, there are 245 projects on ravelry and the pattern is in 596 queues! I honestly never expected this kind of response, but I've loved clicking through all the projects and have been so encouraged by the kind words of many.

so yay for all the knitters who have a neckwarmer of their own now (and the lucky people who got one as a gift)! but what about all those people with cold necks who don't know how to knit and don't know anyone who can knit one for them? won't someone think of the non-knitters?? the answer to that is YES! I am thinking about them! I've actually been thinking about them for weeks, and so much so that I've decided to open up an etsy shop just so their necks can be warmed. and so they can look awesome at the same time. in 18 different colors!

click above to come by and visit! and tell your friends! I'm so excited (and a little nervous) to put my little endeavor out there for everyone to see. and I hope to be able to add more exciting things as time goes on - there is definitely more to come!

thanks to everyone who's encouraged me along the way and all the knitters who have shown me that people out there will actually wear my creations in public. and a big giant thanks to my good friend, wendy of dozidesign, who not only made that super cute logo up there, but has been full of good advice and has cheered me on from the very beginning. I aspire to be half as awesome as you someday, wendy!

exciting times ahead, people! I, for one, can hardly wait. cheers!

only slightly obsessed...

2008-11-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

with wool-ease thick & quick. just a little. it's so gratifying! and cheap! poor, neglected bridie. and now I'm kind of itching to knit up a few more neckwarmers for christmas gifts. I promise I won't blog about them if I do and spare you from all the thick & quick love. it's on sale at michael's this week too - I just might end up buying 1 or 3 of every color. maybe.

so, the last time I forced isa to wear the ice cream hat I made her two years ago, it was a bit of a stretch and she complained that it was too tight and that she needed a new one. and since kerblock obama won the election, I supposed it was time for some change.

isa was quite adamant that the new hat not be vanilla. we finally settled on strawberry after a short argument over grape (which is so not a normal ice cream flavor)
look! it fits me too. thank goodness, since that should mean she'll be able to wear it for more than 2 years this time. and she had a lot of fun playing hat model.

more details on the rav.

warm fuzzies

2008-11-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

I started working on bridie a few weeks back. it's a nice simple knit (so far) and I've got both sleeves and almost half of the back done. I made some mods - shortened the sleeves and added some shaping, which required math and thinking. and it's kind of taking a while because I am slow and maybe easily bored.

needless to say, it was time for another mindless quickie for me! I swung by michael's the other day to see if they had anything I could blow my 40% off coupon of the week on and almost walked out of the store empty-handed. and then this crazy offensive mustard yellow caught my eye. did you know lion brand wool-ease thick & quick now comes in a rainbow of crazy 70s colors? maybe it has for a while. who knows. but it was the first time I'd seen it on the shelves! how could I not buy it?

I went home, cast on 25 st on us13 straights and cruised along in garter stitch (slipping the first st of each row k-wise) until it was long enough to wrap around my neck. then I bound off, seamed it up like so

and wham

bam

thank you, lamb (and mostly acrylic) -

neckwarmer!

now I'm warm and toasty and feeling kind of stylish, even in my pjs. this was so fast and mindless I almost feel like I need another fast mindless before I pick up bridie again. or maybe I can make another one of these little guys.

happy day!

2008-11-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

Rock the vote!
Originally uploaded by chanachang

guy on npr: blah blah blah... barack obama... blah blah
isa: mommy! he said "barack obama!"
me: yes, he did! who's barack obama?
isa: our president!

12 days and counting!

2008-10-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

somebody's excited for halloween!

this costume was so simple and quick to put together, I'm kind of hoping she wants to be a bat every year! the idea came from here, but I strategically replaced the metal pieces with piping so she won't gouge out any unsuspecting classmates' eyes at school. I used some pipecleaners to give the ears shape and stability and lined them with purple fleece just for fun.

she loves it! I loves it too! now if only california would hurry up and realize that it's supposed to be fall so that she doesn't end up sweltering instead of looking awesome when she does wear it to school on the 31st.

that's right - the very useful link included on wednesday's forecast says, "how to drive in the rain." what rain?? we want rain!

hello! hat!

2008-08-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

the first time I ever went to the great wall of china was in january of 1999, with about a dozen (non-chinese) people from my school. it was really really cold. there were lots of people selling stuff all around the wall. I guess the sellers make it a point to learn some english so they can sell their wares to the americans wandering about. the most memorable were these women selling rabbit fur hats, waving them around in our faces while yelling (repeatedly) "hello! hello! hello, hat! hat! hello! hat!" meanwhile, my classmates (in their broken chinese) would try to dodge them by responding "bu xie!" thinking they were saying "no thanks". it really means something more like "you're welcome". but they got the tones all wrong, so they were actually saying "sneakers", which made the hat sellers really confused. what the heck was I talking about? oh, right. hats!

I just finished bonnie tonight, after much battling with that wretched crochet. it's always trying to get me down. I'm slowly becoming less intimidated by it, but I still think I kind of suck at it. either way, heeeeere's bonnie!

pattern: bonnie, by kim hargreaves
yarn: garnstudio safran, 1 ball, gray
needles: us3 dpns, 3mm hook for edge
finished: august 29, 2008
notes: I was baffled as to why this pattern was written for flat knitting. not that I have anything against knitting flat... I just think hats make so much more sense in the round. luckily, I was armed with graph paper, a pencil and, most importantly, a big eraser, and was able to chart out the pattern. other than converting the pattern to knit in the round, I co 5 more sts to work better with the charted pattern and took out 2 rounds of the crochet edge so I wouldn't have to start a second ball of yarn. I managed to get thru the crochet edge thanks to this great video. thank you, youtube. love the way this came out. winner! side note: my head could also stand to be a teensy bit smaller. (rav link)

I completely forgot to post this other (also gray) hat that I made a few months back. it was based on a hat worn by mia michaels during the auditions for the best show in the universe (next to lost), so you think you can dance. some members of the sytycd ravelry group wanted to deconstruct the hat pattern, so with their help, I managed to crank out this simple pattern, which is available as a free rav download.

pattern: so you think you can hat, by me
yarn: lion brand cotton ease, gray, half a skein
needles: us4 and us7 dpns
finished: may 31, 2008
notes: very easy and quick! everyone needs one!

as long as we're playing catch up with my finished projects... socks!

pattern: embossed lace socks, by mona schmidt
yarn: koigu kpm, 2 skeins
needles: us2 and us3 dpns
finished: july 13, 2008
notes: I have long wanted to make these socks - I think I actually bought that back issue of ik just for the pattern. who knows how long ago that was. easy to memorize lace pattern and fantastic yarn = great socks! also, kind of hate twisted rib. it looks great, but I hate knitting it. (rav link)

one more recent fo that is not a hat:

pattern: feather and fan over 18 st
yarn: fun with yarn handspun merino, frosting, 1 skein
needles: us13
finished: august 8, 2008
notes: made this while watching the olympics opening ceremonies. fun, fast and so not useful for this heatwave. oh, fall, where art thou? (rav link)

quite a productive summer for me. :) but I am seriously so ready for fall. I want to wear my knits! and I need some rain! my car is really dirty.

what?

2008-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

I bumped into a client in the hallway at work this morning and had the following exchange:

client: hey! I've been meaning to talk to you!
me: hey, what's up?
c: you like kittens, right?
m: ... um... I do?
c: yeah!
m: oh, what makes you say that?
c: you know, your car...
m: uh huh....
c: the license plate!
m: (trying to put two and two together and not doing a great job)
c: you know, it says "kittens are better...?"
m: (light bulb goes on!) HAHAHA!!!
c: (looks confused)
m: you mean knitters?
c: oh? is that what it says? anyway, you want a kitten?

whooo whooo

2008-05-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

ever buy patterns, but don't knit them? I have stacks and stacks of books, magazines and binders full of patterns I have proclaimed to love and yet have never knit. on top of that, I've got even more stuffed into my computer, in my "patterns" folder, in my bookmarks, in my ravelry queue, in emails I've sent to myself... patterns out the wazoo! sometimes I think I should just knit them just for the sake of not looking like such a hoarder/slacker. but really, sometimes what you need is a reason to knit something and the perfect pattern just for the occasion.

I forget when I first saw hansigurumi's amazing patterns, but I remember I was just so wowed by how intricate and realistic her designs were. I finally just had to buy one when this came out. and then it sat in my computer for months and months. and then my friend who maybe has a thing for owls had a graduation party today! it was a sign from God. it was time to knit!

pattern: horned owl by hansigurumi
yarn: lion brand cotton ease
needles: us6 dpns
finished: may 23, 2008
notes: holy cow, was this fun to knit! it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be and there was just about zero seaming. I did make one really dumb mistake and then had to rip out half the back and start over. and then after I finished knitting the legs, I realized I didn't have quite enough stuffing to stuff them. so I had to rip that out too. and then I had to make up some way for the butt to come together right in the absence of the legs. I also filled his butt with lentils so that he wouldn't tip over. all in all, though, I am happy with how he came out. I fully intend to make more! and I really like the way he feels in the cotton ease - very soft and cuddly. I also want to make one with legs just to see how he comes out. or maybe with really bulky yarn so that he comes out like three feet tall. that would be awesome. it's a fantastic pattern. everyone should make one! or twelve.

has hell frozen over? does that have anything to do with this heat wave?

2008-05-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

I never ever win anything. as in sweepstakes, raffles, drawings... well, except last year at the makerfaire, when I did win a completely useless copy of flight simulator. it went home with my friend. it has since turned into a carrot/bunny hybrid for isa. but, anyway, I seriously never win anything. and it's fine. I'm ok with it. I enter contests and whatever, but never really expect anything. so a few weeks ago, when the ravelraiser event was going on, I was thinking more that I'd donate a few bucks to a fantastic website I use everyday and keep ravelry going! I didn't actually think any of the incredibly amazing prizes would actually end up in my grubby little hands. but, holy cow. look what landed in my mailbox this week!

hmm... what could be inside?

oh, baby. nothing says "don't worry, you're going to survive this horrible life-sucking heat wave" better than 5 luscious hanks of pure cashmere from posh yarns. people! I! won! something! and something really really awesome, too! that I love! not flight simulator! which doesn't even work on mac! and isn't even yarn!

so, actually, what I won was a $50 gift certificate, and lucky me, the lovely dee let me pick out anything I wanted from the shop before it was open for orders. and then! on top of that! she threw in an extra hank! I mean, WOW! I don't have enough exclamation points to express how wowed I am by this stuff and by dee's generosity! it's amazing! so soft and pretty!! yum!

now I just need to figure out what to make with it. and also wait for the horrible weather to go away so I don't sweat all over it. but even the sunburn that has taken over my back and shoulders and the sticky sweatiness covering every inch of my body can't get me down, because I am a WINNER! yay!

oh yeah...

2008-05-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

this blog is for knitting... don't worry. I didn't forget! it has been a while since I've had any knitting to show, but I do have photographic evidence that I have not been neglecting my needles. at least not this past week.

pattern: baby merry-jane by bekahknits (btw, when I google "bekahknits" it asks me if I mean "beachnuts")
yarn: rowan wool cotton, less than one skein each of inky and antique (who comes up with these names? what's wrong with black and off-white?)
needles: us2 knitpicks dpns, us2 addi turbos (what's with all the parenthetical commentary?)
finished: may 6, 2008
notes: (duplicated on ravelry because I am lazy) I made these little booties for my project manager’s unborn baby girl. I actually had started out making her a sweater, but then I stumbled upon this pattern and died. when I came back to life, I realized I had to make these like RIGHTNOW even though I only had about 12 rows of sweater left to knit. and now that I’ve made them, I am SO making them again. loved working with the wool cotton too. too bad they didn’t have more baby friendly colors at my lys. I need to load up on some other colors for the next time(s) I make these. the pattern is really pretty easy, but they came out kinda skinnier and longer than I’d expected. when I make them next time, I’m going to make them shorter and fatter, just the way I like them babies’ feet. heehee. all in all, I’m happy with these little guys. whee! I hope she likes them!

that's all for now, folks. I am tired as heck. until next time!

I have no idea who this guy is...

2008-04-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

but who the heck would want his face on their crockpot? and what self respecting race car driver would want to be associated with a slow cooker?

bad photos ahead!

2008-04-20T23:12:00.001-07:00

man, this weekend was action packed! so much action that I'm on the verge of falling asleep. I'm just going to skip all the stuff that you probably don't care about and go straight to the real excitement!

saturday, I went to visit my friend who moved to campbell a few months ago. (I know! I'm such a bad friend! she moved in 2007! I suck!) before leaving my house saturday morning, I suddenly remembered that I had seen something somewhere about a new lys opening up in downtown campbell. so I double checked online that it was there for reals and then headed out the door. somehow, I managed to convince my two non-knitting friends to accompany me to the store. either they are very good friends or they were really bored. or both. that is beside the point. turns out! it was opening day down at green planet yarn! hooray!

seriously - what's more exciting than going to a new yarn shop than going to a new yarn shop when it's more new than it will ever be again? because, hello! swag!
how awesome is all this stuff? a very handy, eco-friendly swtc tote, four metal earth buttons, a sample of tofutsies, and five (holy cow!) free patterns. are you upset you didn't get to go too? yeah. I understand. anyway, super cute shop. lots of yarns I'd never seen before, lots of which were eco-friendly. of course, I bought some that wasn't (in upper corner of photo. for a baby gift). haha. they had lots of brown sheep. and... uh... lots of stuff. go look at the list of stuff they carry, since my memory isn't so great. the shop isn't huge, but it's laid out well and it looks like they made a great use of the space. they even had a little table with drawing pads and crayons, which isa broke in nicely. the staff was friendly and inviting too. I will definitely be back! and I'll be sure to bring my eco-friendly yarn shopping bag.

not sure if the rest of my weekend will really be all that interesting to anyone besides myself. so, instead, I leave you with this photo of my tv, paused on alan wong's obviously disgusted face.

I feel ya, alan. you're so angry, your little eyebrows are about to jump right off your forehead. I, too, would like to jump off your forehead, because, apparently, this is a big enough deal that they had to spend roughly 5 minutes of the 11:00 news talking about it. pardon me while I go cry myself to sleep. thank you.

it's a sickness, really

2008-04-16T21:00:00.001-07:00

I love target. love love love it. probably more than is healthy. I may or may not have mentioned this before. I especially love having 3 big new targets within a 10 minute drive of my office so I can spend (waste) many a lunch hour cruising the aisles for red clearance tags. did you know there's stuff on clearance every single day?? for super cheap? it's true! trust me. I know. really.

I've bought packs of 24 crayons for $.03 each, multiple pairs of jeans for $5.48, a playhouse for isa for $6.24... I might not be good at many of things, but man, I am AWESOME at buying things I don't need for ridiculously low prices at target. yeah!

anyway, today, on yet another target rampage, I found this near the first aid section on a shelf with hair dye and method wipes. (my apologies for the really really bad photos.)
how cute is this?? it's a make your own stuffed giraffe set for kids. I realize it's for children 8 and up (says the package) and my child isn't even halfway there and is probably far too young to be playing with pointy needles, but I could not stop myself from buying it. so what should I do with it? hold onto it for 5 years? or... make it myself? can't decide... and look at all the crap it comes with. for less than $3. holy cow.

on top of that, I snagged these super cute summer dresses! they were not on clearance, but how could I resist?

unfortunately... these are not for me... they're for isa! she gets to be supercute this season (and all the time regardless!). and yes. those are owls! I seriously did not even realize it until I got home and took this photo. I thought it was just swirlies.

and I will try to not think about how the stick of deodorant that I bought looks like someone used it already. it's missing the little inside lid thing and... well. let's not talk about it. it needs to go back. pronto.

and I thought it couldn't be done!

2008-04-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I've had a somewhat irrational fear of crocheting. probably because I kind of suck at it. and I probably only suck because I haven't really tried very hard. or maybe I'm just saying that so I don't feel bad about the fact that I really do suck. either way, I'm pretty sure it goes all the way back to when my mom tried to teach me to crochet a couple of times and I just couldn't wrap my head around it. besides her claiming she couldn't go any slower than superfast, she only knew the terms in chinese. everything was a crazy, chinese blur of fingers and yarn. and a hook. but, I eventually made a rug and a scarf and that was about it. I couldn't get past the back and forth single crochet (which I had to figure out from a book. THANKS, mom), and even then, I kept ending up with the wrong number of stitches in a row and having to fudge my way around it. also, not sure I actually knew how to count the stitches.

but that was long long ago, when I was still young and in my mid-twenties. now that I'm much more mature and teetering on the edge of 30, I've worked up the nerve to try it again. all it took was wendy telling me repeatedly (and probably trying not to roll her eyes too much) that it's not hard and I could totally do it and look how easy and cute her first amigurumi is! I couldn't have her thinking I wasn't up to the challenge, right?

haha! look at that! a pear! yeah, so, I am pretty sure I still wasn't counting the stitches and rounds properly. and... I ran out of green yarn when I was two rounds from the end, so I had to finish it off with yellow (it is not pretty down there). and I had no idea how to sew on the mouth. and man, safety eyes are hard to snap. and... I dunno. it came out pretty cute, but I think I can do better. I strategically attempted to not photograph the sloppy parts. we'll see what I come up with next. and, fine. wendy, you were right. it wasn't hard. (and thank you for your leftover kit bits!) but I still think I kinda suck at it. just less so than before.

(insert giddy giggling here)

2008-03-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

heehee. I have a new friend. and, oh, how excited I am that he's moved into my home! would you like to meet him? ok... here he is getting acquainted with herbie:

isn't that cute? so, yeah, this was kind of an impulse buy and I was having a bad case of buyer's remorse until he actually showed up on my doorstep this afternoon. and then, at that point, how could I turn him away? look how cute he is! so, of course, I took him in. and have decided to just go ahead and play the denial card until my credit card bill arrives. what could be more fun than that? (thank you, dubya and governator for making this purchase possible.)

anyway, it's friday night and way past my bedtime. good night!

yes, it's that time again...

2008-02-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

another FO to show! so... I've knit many sweaters and sewn many quilts for my friends' children, but I have never made either for my poor neglected isa. I'm halfway there now, though! amazingly, I have managed to complete isa's very first sweater. I suppose it could also be her last, considering how poorly this one was accepted when I finally tried to gift it to her. she was really interested and acted excited about the fact that I was making her a sweater while I was actually knitting it. once it was finished and blocked and buttoned, I showed it to her and she was like "yay! I love it!" and I asked her if she wanted to wear it and she said no. I asked her why and she said she didn't like it. great. I did finally manage to convince her to wear it (after like 2 weeks of pleading) and this is what I got out of that ordeal:

what the heck is that face?? I told her to smile nicely, but all I got was her squeezing her eyes shut and baring her teeth while saying "cheeeeeese." fantastic. the good news is that she actually ended up wearing the sweater all day. which is a good thing, considering it looks like she might outgrow it any second now. why must children insist on growing so fast?? if only they stayed babies forever so we'd never have to knit anything bigger than a newborn...

anyway, I got the yarn for this when I was up in grass valley for my brother's wedding last may, with the intention of making a sweater for isa. amazing that it took me less than a year to actually make good on that! unfortunately, I really did not like knitting with it. I have decided that I just do not like knitting with cotton and will avoid using it if I can help it (unless it's a blend with less than 50% cotton). the non-stretchiness of it makes my tension all crazy. and I have a whole skein and a half left of it. I really do love the color, though. and I think it looks great with the red ladybug button.

pattern: mine
yarn: cascade sierra, 3 skeins
needles: addi natura us7 circulars and clover bamboo us5 circulars (for ribbing)
finished: february 10, 2008

notes: this is an attempt at knocking off the debbie bliss sweater on the cover of her book, special knits. I loved the ribbed placket/shawl collar and have been wanting to recreate it for a sweater for isa ever since I first saw it. and look how I finally got around to it just in time for her 3rd birthday! actually, she might outgrow this before her birthday actually rolls around, considering it fits just perfectly right now and she's been growing like crazy. anyway, I totally made this up as I went along and it came out almost exactly how I'd wanted it. my goal was to make it a little big to grow into, but I think between the time I swatched and measured isa, and when I actually finished knitting, she had already increased in size. sigh.

edited to add: holy cow!! I just noticed in ravelry that the debbie bliss pattern is available for free! hahahahaha... it only goes up to size 12-24 mos, but... still. had I known, I probably would not have thought so hard about how to recreate it. I did a lot more shaping than debbie did, though. which probably wasn't necessary. oh, whatever. it's just like me to do something like this... but... mine's cuter, right? hilarious. I'll probably end up using her pattern for future baby gifts. btw, is that baby in the photo wearing make-up??

tmi

2008-01-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

I'm here! I'm here! dang, I cannot believe it is already 2008! and what have I got to show for it? quite a bit actually... if you hang out in my neck of the woods on flickr or ravelry, this post will be incredibly redundant for you (especially if you've already seen the exact same stuff copied and pasted in both places - I guess this makes three). but you already know I'm lazy (altho, I prefer "efficient"), so I hope you're not bothered!

a little bit of old news which isn't on flickr or ravelry, tho, is that I've been living in my very own money sucking house for almost 3 months now! I hit the 3 month mark of closing on my townhome just this past thursday. hooray! I'm crazy poor now, but at least I have my own somewhat quiet space to be in. and I love it! isa and I settled in pretty quickly - I spent about a week moving a couple of carloads each day and immediately unpacking what I brought into the house, which made the actual we're-really-actually-living-here-for-reals day a comfortable transition. the important part is that the yarn has been unpacked and sorted and resorted and reresorted several times, which was more than enough to shame me into not buying any more yarn that is not absolutely necessary.

like this christmas gift from myself to myself:

hello! have you ever knit with butter? because, now, I have. and I am totally savoring every second of being together with this yarn. closing my eyes and rubbing it on my cheek... if this is the only stuff I had to knit with for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly content. mmm, mm good. also, do you know the story behind this yarn? previously (but no longer! check it out!) blogless wendy introduced me to this small and amazing company. this is what "made in china" is all about, baby. (btw, I'm making dashing from knitty.)

here's where the redundancy (and potentially way more information than you ever wanted to have) begins, so feel free to go away if you already know how this ends and/or don't care! I've got some FOs to share. in no particular order... (but including a mitten pattern at the end)

pattern: brioche stitch hat
yarn: fun with yarn merino/tencel
needles: us13 clover bamboo dpns
finished: january 1, 2008
notes: how yummy is this yarn?? it's been sitting in my stash for what seems like forever and I finally decided to do something with it a couple of weeks ago. I knit and reknit this yarn 4 or 5 times - I actually had originally started out making a slouchy type hat (maybe I'll upload photos of that sometime), but decided to rip it out and do the brioche instead. the yarn is still as silky and shiny and tasty as it was in the skein! hopefully I'll actually get some wear out of this thing. :)

pattern: vest, debbie bliss essential baby
size: 0-3 mos
yarn: debbie bliss baby cashmerino, in a pale green
needles: us2 and us3
notes: I knit this for my pregnant knitter friend's unborn baby for christmas. I had bought the book for said friend and thought, heck, why not make something quick a cute from the book as part of the gift? what's quicker and cuter than an itty bitty vest? so cute. but not so quick. I think I spent like 4 nights just picking up the stitches for the neck and arm bands. bah! it seriously took forfreakingever. but it's done! and she liked it. and it's cute. and, btw, the entire book is super super cute. I had to talk myself out of keeping it and only giving her the vest. shh... don't tell her I said that. ;)

pattern: my own
yarn: some handspun I picked up last time I was in san diego...
needles: can't even remember anymore
finished: a couple of months ago
notes: when I first finished this hat, isa was all excited to wear it and put it on immediately. it stayed on her head for about one minute. then she said it was too tight or too itchy or something like that. I think the yarn is 100% wool, and though it was really nice, it wasn't the softest stuff out there. so I bought some hello kitty fleece and sewed in a lining. she still wasn't pleased. so it sat in her toy bin for a few months. the other night, out of the blue, she was walking around the house wearing it! I was shocked because I couldn't even get her to keep it on her head long enough for photos the first time around. anyway, I'm bummed the hat is still a bit tight. maybe I'll make another in the same style next winter, in a larger size, because I think it's super cute!

time for some pattern notes!
pattern: herringbone mitts by elliphantom
yarn: patons classic wool in green and cream
needles: knitpicks options us5 and us7
finished: december 24, 2007 (just in time! whew!)
notes: so, I started these quite some time ago, when I had visions of lots of handknit christmas gifts. this was my first foray into colorwork, and I wanted to give myself ample time to get them done. I knit the first one on a us6 (those little 8" clover circs - love 'em!), but it came out just a little bit too small. I couldn't even wiggle my fingers inside. so I tossed it aside and decided to start over on us7s. they sat half-finished (as in, I hadn't even finished the thumb on the first one) for weeks, and I finally picked them back up again less than a week before christmas, because I was determined to get them done for my sister in law's gift! I managed to finish up the first pretty quickly and knitted the second one in one night. whew! except! when I was done, the second one was oddly larger than the first. just slightly. and they both felt kind of loose. after I bathed and blocked them, they'd grown even more! I was freaking out at this point, since it was already 12/23. I tried not to panic, said a quick prayer, and set to hand felting them, convincing myself that if I just got them to felt enough, they would be denser and warmer (good for boston, where my bro and sil live) and, hopefully, the same size. and then I threw them into the dryer. eep! in the end, they came out great (even tho still slightly not the same size). it was definitely a christmas miracle. whew!

pattern: my own
yarn: patons classic merino
needles: susan bates us 4 dpns
finished: january 11, 2008
notes: isa demanded I make her some ladybug mittens the other night. she was watching me knit dashing (from knitty - for myself) and said she wanted some mittens of her own. ones shaped like ladybugs. so I whipped these up through a tiny bit of trial and error. quick and easy, for the most part.

how I made them (the dirty quickie version), in case anyone out there is interested:

gauge: 20 st x 28 r over 4” using us4 dpns in st st

co 30, join in the round, begin k1p1 ribbing (2 rounds black, 2 rounds red) twice, for a total of 8 rounds

continuing with red, k 1 round

first increase round: m1r, pm, k1, pm, m1l, k to end next round (and every other until there are 11 st between the markers): k following increase rounds: m1r, sl first marker, k to second marker, m1l (until there are 11 st between markers)

end with an increase round at the beginning of the next round, place the first 12 st onto waste yarn, removing the markers as you go

k one round and rejoin in the round continue until you’re about 1.5” from how long you want the mitten to be

switch to black k 2 rounds decrease round: (k4, k2tog) to end k 2 rounds (k3, k2tog) to end k 1 round (k2, k2tog) to end k1 round (k1, k2tog) to end, 10 st remain break yarn and draw thru remaining sts, pull tight and fasten

pick up 12 thumb sts using dpns k around until thumb measures 1.5” (or however long you want it to be) k2tog to end, 6 sts remain break yarn and draw thru remaining sts, pull tight and fasten

the line and spots were all stitched by hand afterwards. you can use the photo here as a guide or put them wherever you’d like

the original plan was also to do a couple short crochet chains and fasten them on as antennae, but that idea was quickly shot down by the dictator. and since she’s the one who demanded them (and will be wearing them), I didn’t bother making them. (I still think they’d make it really cute!) she has demanded button eyes, though… so those will probably be added soon

hope that all makes sense! :) whew!!

yup

2007-09-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

oh, dear. I think, instead of remarking on the absence of posting here on this blog, I'm just going to write as if it's the norm. which, I guess, is becoming the truth.

so guess what? I got myself a new, non-knitting related toy! and by new, I mean old. really old.

(this photo was not taken by me. actually, there's a reason why there are no photos taken by me lately even though I have two FOs and a near FO and I've been to several weddings and birthday parties and isa's first day of school and it's late and I can't remember what else. the point is, my computer is on the brink of death and steve jobs would rather put out iphones and new ipods than new computers which run leopard so I can finally say goodnight to good ole herbie, who has served me well for more years than a computer should. he makes these horrible sounds, as if he's going to implode and/or have an aneurism every time I plug in my camera and/or attempt to open iphoto. it's heartbreaking, really.)

wow, that was a long aside. where was I? oh, yes. I got me a toy! it's fabulous and cute and clean and clickety-clackety mm-mm good. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it except look at it and pet it and store it in its case. but sometimes I just get these wild pangs of nostalgia, thinking about my grandparents' old house and their clackety old typewriter, where I taught myself to type when I was six or seven. I'd always wondered what happened to that thing. when I asked my dad to go pick up this new one for me today, he said "I totally remember throwing one of those out about 20 years ago." and I said "GREAT. thanks, dad." and, apparently, he thought it was hilarious when the guy who was selling it came out holding the typewriter in one hand and the case in the other and said "I don't know how to get it inside." kids these days.

anyway, I'm pleased beyond words with it. and I should be. because it's the last indulgent thing I'll be buying for myself for a long long time. no more yarn, no more $4 lattes, no more impulse shoe purchases. it totally sounds like I'm going away to the big house. but, in reality, it's because I'm going to the small house. the small house that is going to have my name on its deed sometime in the next month or so. say a thousand prayers for me, because I'm headed to the dark side. that's right. I'm going to have to pay a mortgage and - try not to be alarmed - actually knit from the stash.

FO reals!

2007-07-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

look! it's a real, genuine, honest to goodness FO! that I knit! all by myself! I managed to be 100% monogomous to good ole glee here, too. (we're just not going to think about all the wips I had to cheat on to complete this...) so, yes, I still live here, and yes, I still knit. (and I'm going to try to still blog.)

pattern: glee by zephyr style, size small
yarn: sundara yarn sport merino, 3 skeins
needles: knitpicks options us5, addi turbo us3, and knitpicks dpns us3
finished: july 15, 2007
notes: I made a few minor changes to this fabulous pattern. I added a few butt increases so I could squeeze my caboose in there, made the sleeves longer (roughly 5 inches from pit to cuff) and omitted the hooks and eyes. I might go back there with a ribbon as backing and then put in the hooks and eyes, but for now, I'm just leaving it open. the hooks pull too much on the knitted fabric and I couldn't get it not to look sloppy. I managed to use up just about all of this tasty yarn. the color is amazing and it's very nice and sproingy. I gave it a spin in the washer with some eucalan and it came out super soft and cuddly. unfortunately, it is just too hot to wear this for more than a photo op in the front yard right now. I'm saving this one for the fall! maybe by then it'll be hooked and eyed. overall, fast and fun knit! those zephyr girls sure know what they're doing. ;)

and here's what glee looked like in it's earliest stages:

yum! I'm getting hungry just looking at this... sorry this post is so short and glee-centric, but I am just pooped after a long week at work. I am so excited to finally be finished with glee and am so pleased with how it came out that I just had to share it. now, it's time for me to pass out and dream about 7 day weekends and miles of beautiful yarn and fountains flowing with vanilla lattes... and maybe a little george clooney.

i <3 amazon

2007-05-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

besides the fact that they replaced a package that got stolen off my front porch last week, I love it when amazon's free super saver shipping actually turns out to be super. case in point: I ordered a new printer yesterday afternoon. and this is what I saw this morning when I logged in to see when it would ship:

May 24, 2007 07:49:00 AM MENLO PARK CA US Out for delivery

woohoo! now I can print stuff again!

a long story

2007-05-22T19:32:00.001-07:00

so, last wednesday, I was relieved to find isa's passport waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home from work, since our trip to taiwan is only two weeks away. I'd been waiting for it for what felt like an eternity (in reality, about 3 months). apparently, the feds are really busy since they'd decided to make everyone going to mexico and canada get passports. due to the sudden influx (which you'd think they would have prepared for, right?), passports are taking for-freaking-ever. I suppose they're in a huge rush to get them cranked out, so they don't have time to check their work. imagine my horror (ok, more like outrage) when I open the envelope to find that isa's name is spelled wrong. where is the quality control here?! it's not like she has an unusual name. and it's not like it wasn't printed clearly on the application and her birth certificate...

after throwing a fit and spending most of thursday on the phone trying to figure out what to do, I had no choice but to take friday off to hang out in san francisco. under normal circumstances, that would be fun. but, sadly for me, it involved about four hours in the passport office and two on bart. the only exciting part of it was that since I'd be on the train, I'd get to knit! hooray!

only problem was, I didn't really have anything to take with me. I'd started this rowan sweater a few weeks ago and have been plugging away slowly at a sea of stockinette (ok, like 3 inches) while watching tv. I almost died when I laid it out to admire and saw this:

a dropped stitch! right! there! so so close to the cast on edge. thankfully, this is ksh, so I'm not really worried that it's going to unravel, but it was enough to annoy me to where I didn't want to look at it anymore. so I banned it from my sf trip and decided to just take some sock yarn and the embossed leaf socks pattern I'd ripped out of ik. once I'd settled in on the train, I realized I should have at least read the first line of the pattern (or maybe not ripped the pages out of the magazine) before leaving the house, because it asked me to do some cast on I'd never heard of and to see page #not-the-ones-I-had-with-me for how to do it. I just did a long tail cast on since I really had no choice and now either must settle for a not pretty cast on edge or just rip it out and start over. but that's another post for another day. anyway, as I got started, I happened to glance over to see the lady across from me pulling a scarf out of her bag too! another knitter! I was so excited and ready to strike up a conversation, until I realized she wasn't knitting it, she was putting it on. because it's freezing in san francisco at 7:30 in the morning. then I thought "I should have brought a scarf. or a real jacket. or knit this sock really really fast."

anyway, long story not so short, I met lots of interesting folks, all seemingly very chipper to be spending their friday at the passport office, which turned out to be about 100 times less efficient than the dmv. even the people who had to catch their flights later that day seemed to be in good moods. that helped me not to get too aggravated. I didn't want to be "that one angry knitter lady. look at her with her pointy sticks. arrrrgh!" also, the people working there were really patient and nice. it was really weird. and hard to be mad at them. even though I really really wanted to be. like really. my fingers are crossed that it will arrive tomorrow, like fedex is telling me, and that it will be correct. especially since I had to give up isa's awesome mugshot for this less amusing puckered look.

I'm running out of words, so it's time for this post to come to an end. one last thing, tho - I went to the maker faire on sunday. it was so fabulous! I wish I'd been able to go the whole day saturday instead of just half the day sunday. can't wait for next year! so! much! cute! aaaahh!!

hi!

2007-05-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

hello, world! where have I been? amazing how little blogging and knitting gets done when one has a real job, huh? I feel I should have so much to write about, but I'm at a total loss. maybe if I just keep babbling away, something will come to me. either that, or I'll end up with a really long, rambling blog entry that will put y'all to sleep. that's if there even is an "all" anymore... is anyone still there? anyone? hello?

so, yeah... let's see... I got into ravelry and just managed to figure out how to use it. haha! I'm so tech-stupid sometimes. that, and that whole not being able to read properly thing. at any rate, I'm starting to discover just how incredibly cool it is! and it's just what I need - one more thing to keep me from doing actual knitting. I'm reminded of how I totally made fun of wendy that one time when she told me she kept all her yarns and patterns in a spreadsheet... and then I realized that I was actually really jealous. I want a spreadsheet! and now I can even have a little pdf chart of my needles. how exciting is that?

oh, but the most exciting part is that I discovered someone actually knit my glove pattern! I didn't really think anyone would, and I am just beside myself! and it actually came out looking like a glove. amazing! the bad news is that somehow the link died. I need to get my friend who was hosting it to fix things, but he's out of the country right now.

also, while I was away from blogland, isa turned 2. where did the time go?? remember this?

yeah... that was then, this is now. crazy, eh?

still kickin'

2007-03-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

I'm still here! for the most part, anyway. and today marks the end of my first two weeks at my new job. time has really flown... this is evidenced in my perpetual sleepiness and my near non-existent knitting time. I guess it is true that the days pass more quickly when you're busy, huh?

who knew that packing my own lunch would take such an effort? it's true that the grass is greener on the other side - I grumbled all the time at my old job about our free lunch, since I had no real say in which greasy, sub-par chinese restaurant or fast food joint we would be fed by each day. I couldn't wait to be able to decide what I'd have for lunch all by myself. what I didn't realize was that now I have to actually decide what I'm going to have for lunch. all by myself. every day. it's nice that I don't have to eat so much unhealthy food, but it's so hard to eat healthy, too! also, there seems to be a never ending supply of snickers bars at the office to help derail my efforts to not clog my arteries.

I'm sure all this is completely fascinating to any of you who might be reading this, since this is a knitting blog and all. the knitting has been scarce, to say the least. well. isa just happened to catch herself a really nasty stomach virus the very day my vacation began, and then promptly infected her day care provider, which left me at home with her and, um, a whole lot of nasty. by friday, I couldn't stand being trapped at home every day with an explosive toddler and instead decided to torment her by dragging her with me to stitches west. to make up for her suffering, I let her choose a fiber trends kit for me to knit up for her. of course, she chose the squirrel. and, of course, I forgot to take pictures. I'll do that soon. as soon as I find the time... ha! find time! oh, and I also bought some yarn. just a little. also... no pictures...

I probably have about a million other things to report, but I seem to have misplaced a decent amount of mental function lately. I'm sure daylight saving time isn't going to help, but I do hope to adapt to my new schedule soon and have something interesting to say here. in the meantime, here's some pictures of my brother's latest architectural creation. it's a gas station! a fancy one! in los angeles. one day, I'll have to get myself down there to get some gas. that, and be all "my brother designed this place! anyone want my autograph?" I'll have to remember my sharpie.

I feel like such a rookie...

2007-02-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

at this being on vacation thing, that is. this morning, I woke up 45 minutes before I normally wake up when I have to go to work. I tried and tried, but could not fall back asleep! I do believe I was just too giddy at the thought of not having to go into work today - or ever! ok, fine, not ever ever, but I won't have to go back to my OLD job ever. heehee.

anywho, I had a pretty productive morning - crossed a few things off my miles long to do list. the rest of the day will involve more crossing off, but hopefully it will also include some fun too. oh, what am I saying? not having to go to work makes even shopping for a new front door seem like fun. which is exactly what I'll be doing as soon as I finish posting this.

I even caught hugh grant on the view this morning. not a show I normally like to watch, but, hey, hugh grant! and while I watched/listened, I did something I've been wanting to do for quite some time now. actually, ever since I got my knitpicks options needle set in the mail. take a look - ta-da!

my very own clearance aisle at target placemat turned needle roll! just for my knitpicks set! I've really not liked the case that knitpicks makes. actually, if you like the original case, I'm selling it off on destash for a piddly $10. so I can buy some more cables. what fun! here are more pictures of my little creation.

I'm quite pleased with it, really. please don't mind the ghetto-ness of the rubber band holding it together... I'll figure out some prettier way of keeping it together that doesn't involve the tying of ribbons.

or, I can always just fold it in half, which is quite a space saver too. oh, the possibilities!

well, I hope I'll have more fun stuff to share with you next week. it's door shopping time for me. in the meantime, I hope everyone has a fabulous long weekend and a happy chinese new year! gong xi fa cai!

tsk tsk

2007-02-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

is it just me or is this rowan model flipping me off?

wow, where have I been?

2007-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

seriously, what have I been up to? it's hard to know for sure, really... the last few weeks have been busy and kind of a blur. oh, and thanks, everyone, for the compliments on wicked! I really do love the finished product and ended up wearing it out this past weekend. of course, the one day I wear it, it's like super hot outside. but I wore it anyway! over a lot of deodorant.

anyway. so things have been a bit crazy at work - there have been a lot of changes around here lately. but the biggest change of all? well, that would be that I'm leaving! I got a new job in a field that's more what I want and what I envisioned myself doing. yay! my current job was originally supposed to be kind of a placeholder until I found something better, and the day has finally come to say goodbye. I've got less than a week left and it's such a liberating feeling! I will definitely miss my coworkers and I'll miss my freedom to blog while at work, but this change is going to be great. the benefits far far outweigh the drawbacks.

oh, but the best part? in between jobs, I'm going to have a week off to do exciting things like get new tires for my car! do my taxes! get a passport for isa! shop for new work clothes! the shopping part is going to be great fun, actually. but even more fun than that is that stitches west is happening that same week I'm off! what are the chances?? unfortunately, my schedule and my pocketbook aren't really letting me take any classes, but I have carved out a few hours on friday to go and wander the market and see if I can't enhance my stash and my bookshelf and whatever just a little bit. I'm sure that's going to be really hard to do (insert eyes rolling here).

you don't think just because I haven't been blogging that I haven't been knitting, do you? of course not! I've got one FO to show and one wip to, well, not show, because I don't actually have pictures of it. I started eiffel (the *other* skc kal) in another attempt to clear the stash. I just happened to have some allhemp6 that I bought at a sale at my lys which I hadn't designated for a project yet. I'm planning on making my eiffel capsleeved, but we'll see how that goes! so far, I'm a few repeats away from the boobs. I hope to make some progress in boobland over the weekend!

and, without further ado, my latest FO:

pattern: shetland triangle from wrap style
yarn: sundara yarn aran silky merino in turquoise, less than 2 skeins
needles: knitpicks options us9
finished: february 2, 2007
notes: this color is near impossible to photograph. this still isn't quite right, but it's the closest one I could get. anyway, this yarn. oh. my. god. so so soft and silky and mmm mmm good! it was fabulous to knit with! I definitely need to get more for future projects. it did bleed like crazy when I washed it, but it held it's color well. how does that work? I compared it to the leftover yarn I had and it still appears to be the exact same color, even though I must have rinsed it over 10 times and the water was still tinged blue. the pattern was simple and beautiful and fast! my only problem with this FO is that I think my bind off is too tight. I'm thinking about redoing it, but, well, we'll see.

wicked!

2007-01-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

my second FO of 2007 has arrived! and, it was a stashbuster to boot. hooray!

presenting wicked! woot!

pattern: wicked, by zephyr style, smallest size
yarn: karabella aurora 8, just over 5 balls
needles: knitpicks options us8
finished: january 21, 2007
notes: this was for the current sexy knitters' club kal. and, uh, I think all future sweaters are going to have to be knitted top down. why isn't everything made this way? I loved knitting this and it went by so so fast, I almost didn't notice it happen. almost. the pocket had to be resewn like 8 times, due mostly to my inability to count. and I actually started out making the second smallest size, but then decided to rip back and do the smallest after splitting off for the sleeves. changes I made include making the sleeves about 2" longer than the pattern says for the short sleeved version and also making a plain pocket, because, well, I'm boring. also, don't tell anyone, but I didn't swatch. either the knitting gods were smiling on me, or this is an incredibly forgiving pattern. I was actually kind of worried that things wouldn't turn out quite right, but I forged on ahead anyway. I think, if I were to make this again, though, I would go down a needle size, just because I sort of wish the fabric were a bit denser. otherwise, I. love. this. sweater.

by the way, the aurora 8 was fabulous to knit with! it was my first time using it and I really liked how soft and springy it is. what fun! and I'm less intimidated by adult sweaters now. I think the key is to knit it all in one piece. knitting multiple boring stockinette pieces can really suck the life out of a project, but one giant stockinette piece just seems to fly by. I'm still shocked that this took me just under a week. I'm already itching to make another top down sweater like right now. seriously.

almost peed my pants...

2007-01-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

...from laughing at this. hahaha!

fee fie FO fum!

2007-01-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

yay! it's FO time! and I sure feel like a giant next to these little guys:

pattern: braided cable baby socks from interweave knits summer 2005
yarn: opal pearl in, um... a light green color
needles: knitpicks us0 dpns
finished: january 13, 2007
notes: these are for a friend's baby (due in august) and oh so cute! it would have been a quick knit if I hadn't been so lazy about starting the second one. I did a regular old toe because I was too lazy about trying out the short row toe (which I've yet to attempt) this time around. I think I'll try it some other time, when it's not a gift. and not on size 0 needles. there isn't much to say, really. except maybe that more people need to have babies so I can make more of these! I'm still dying from the cuteness of it all!

I mostly found the motivation to finish sock number two because I was really almost dying to cast on for wicked! I didn't even swatch. I just went and cast on because I could. and I'm going to make it fit by sheer will alone. I suppose this is where the "impending doom" music kicks in. I'm just going to ignore it. so naughty of me! teehee.

sick day

2007-01-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

you ever have one of those days where you call in sick because, well, you're sick, and then you decide that you should probably go get the oil changed in your car after dropping the munchkin off at daycare and then, instead of a quick 20 minute wait in the freezing, no heater waiting room at the car shop, you've just spent 3 butt numbing hours reading old parenting magazines because you weren't smart enough to keep an emergency knitting project in your car (which now is fully outfitted with an entire set of new brake pads) and then, when you find yourself all alone at home after all that, you don't sleep like a good, sick girl should, and instead spend the vast majority of the afternoon cleaning and folding laundry (aka not knitting)? thank goodness for tylenol cold and sinus. and peet's coffee. I'm surprised I'm still standing.

so, then, in my drugged up, head-cold stupor, I stumbled out to the mailbox to discover a package. addressed to me. I found this odd, since I didn't recognize the return address and, as far as I could recall, I hadn't ordered anything recently, and it was far too flat to be any yarn I may or may not have ordered without noticing. what was it? well! take a look!
I'd totally forgotten that I'd requested a copy of the little sample excerpt of the friday night knitting club from aija of sockpr0n fame! but, in all her super duper crazy generosity, she also sent a "sample" of like 14,000 of her fabulous zero stitch markers! good lord, am I a lucky girl! I sure hope it wasn't some mistake that she sent so many and she isn't searching her house for these missing stitch markers... all I have to say is: haha! my wips are going to be prettier than your wips! unless, of course, you go get some of your own. which you should. cuz they're really gorgeous. and I think they even made my cold go away!and, finally, before I sign off for the weekend, here's a peek at the way cute christmas gift I got from miss wendy! what ever will I make with all this beautiful fabric? I've got a few things in mind, but I want to be absolutely sure before I cut into this stuff. too, too cute. thanks, wendy!

delurking time?

2007-01-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

who knew? apparently, someone declared it to be delurking week! I found out from here. and then delurked! anyone else ready to come out of hiding? since I have not a creative thought in my head at the moment, I'm going to ask about consumables too:

what's your beverage of choice?

me? a nice, warm (not hot!) flat vanilla latte. doesn't matter how hot it is outside (or how many I'd already had that day), I can always go for one of these! I realize that since I like my lattes flat that there is no opportunity to really enjoy any nice latte art, but I'm always impressed with the art on other people's. drink up!

q: what's cuter than a teeny little baby sock?

2007-01-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

a: not much. well, except maybe two baby socks. we'll be getting there soon. these will be for my friend's not-yet-born baby. eee! can't wait!

unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to say today, except that it's officially my bloggiversary! where did the time go? has it really been a year since I started this thing here? it's really rather mind-boggling, considering the whole knitblog (actually, the whole entire knitternet) world was still uncharted territory for me. I hadn't heard of the harlot, I didn't know what a kal was, or this whole knitty business... it was all so exciting and new, like the loveboat, except not as much kissing and a lot more yarn. it's been a good year and I'm happy to be where I am - at least knitternetterly. and I hope to have interesting things to say and show in my sophomore year of knitblogging, since I'm really at a loss today. I'm going to stop myself now, lest I ramble more than necessary. cheers!

ignorance is bliss!

2007-01-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

it's always a weird situation when you find yourself trying to squeeze into the same aisle at target as two guys who are trying to choose the "best" brand of condoms while you try and find the tampons you need. especially when they are really seriously discussing the pros and cons of each brand. it was really a conversation I didn't need to overhear. it made me think that maybe they need to move the condom section to someplace more appropriate; someplace where I can't hear these discussions. like... men's underwear.

anyway, I spent exponentially more of this past weekend cleaning and organizing than I did actually knitting. whee! I got some new furniture for isa's room and got rid of some of the old furniture. between the two of us, we have a lot of stuff. it's really kind of alarming, considering she isn't even two yet. I keep telling myself that, one weekend, I'm just going to hand isa over to my parents and spend two days weeding through all our junk and purging the house. but then I realize that it's going to take a lot longer than one weekend and the thought of having to live with the mess of a half-purged/half-organized house in between weekends is enough to make me just forget the whole idea. I tell myself that I seem to be functioning ok with the way things are now, so I'll just deal with it the next time I move. haha. I say that every time I move and then I just end up lugging all those boxes of unsorted I-wonder-what's-in-that-box stuff to the new place, where it sits until I pick it up and move it again to another new place. I think I have boxes (of who knows what) that are still taped up from when I moved back from college. anyhow, it's a new year, so maybe it's time I really did make good on my promises to myself to really clean up around here. we'll see how that goes...!

so! I'm gearing up to knit wicked for the skc! I have yet to actually participate in one of the skc kals, but I think this is the one! this is a stashbusting effort on my part... I bought six balls of karabella aurora 8 to make the spiral capelet (is that what it's called?) from wrap style, but then started to question whether or not I'd actually wear it and whether or not the yarn was actually suited for the pattern. but then along came wicked, and, whaddaya know, it's made with a worsted weight and the short sleeved version calls for just 500 yards! and it's cute! I have 600 yards, so I think I'm going to make the sleeves just a bit longer - maybe an inch or two above the elbow. I just bought and downloaded the pattern last night and am really excited to get started! how many wips can I get going at once? I think I'm (unintentionally) going for some sort of record. it helps if I don't think about it.

2007!

2007-01-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

guess 2006 wasn't nearly as unproductive as I'd thought!

wow. another year all done. really... where does the time go? I guess it wasn't unexpected that 2007 was going to show up yesterday, but sometimes it really does seem like time just whizzes past us without so much as a "hey, how ya doin'?" luckily, the transition from 2006 to 2007 wasn't bad at all. it all went so smoothly, it just seemed like it was just another day.

so, the weekend was great! most friends and family were still around from christmas, plus other friends who had been around but were too busy for me in the last days of '06. and there was shopping, coffee, baking, eating, silly games, movies, ikea, knitting, champagne... a whirlwind of activity! I wish I had more pictures of all the fun, but I really am terrible at taking pictures when there are things going on, so... well... sorry. I do have a few little things to share, tho!

this is my mostly successful pumpkin cheesecake bread. if you've ever had the pumpkin cheesecake bread from peet's coffee, you have an idea of what I'm going for here. I love their version, but they want $2.25 a slice these days, which is a bit more than I'd like to pay. the one I made is actually from the trader joe's pumpkin bread mix and, if I do say so myself, it's really good! nice and moist and flavorful. yum! for the cheesecake chunks in there, I just made a mix of cream cheese, sugar and egg and dropped big spoonfuls here and there in the batter as I poured it into the pan. I can get a good eight thick slices out of a loaf and the total cost of ingredients is right around $5. I should have let it bake for about 5 minutes longer than I did, tho, because there was one little spot right in the middle where the batter didn't completely set. darn. but I will definitely make this again!

inspired by this, I felt the need to try out this superyak business too and whipped up a watchcap a week or so ago. last year's news, but still new to you! heehee.

pattern: prime rib watchcap from elizabeth zimmerman's knitting without tears
yarn: karabella superyak in dark charcoal, one skein
needles: knitpicks options us8
finished: december 23, 2006
notes: quick and easy! I probably could have stood to make it a few ribs skinnier, as it's not that snug on my head. I'm debating whether I should do it over or just give it away. anyway, the yarn is super soft and warm - I would love to have a sweater made out of it! maybe it'll go on clearance someday... it is weirdly splitty, though, which caused some issues when I'd realize I'd split a stitch in the row below. that may or may not be due to the pointiness of the needles. as for the pattern, I love it. brioche rib all the way, baby! it's so fun to do and I love the way it comes out looking. will definitely use it again.

I'm sure there are other things to talk about, but we've got a whole year to get to that. in the meantime, I've gotta start thinking about what will be the first FO of '07! hmmm.... decisions, decisions!

fourth time's a charm (I hope)

2006-12-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

I cast on and started knitting the swing jacket last night! three times! and, well, the reason there seem to be less than 20 stitches sitting on my needle in that there picture is, well, I had to cast on a fourth time. and then I got tired and decided to go to bed. but I did take the time to take a picture first. priorities.

so, I came home from work to find my swatch all dry and soft. and on gauge! woohoo! after the evening's errands and household chores were out of the way, I was ready to cast on (finally!). I pulled out the pattern and was all "look at me, I'm so smart! I'm going to measure myself before actually starting this thing, because that is the smart thing to do and I am smart" instead of just making the smallest size like I normally do. because this is a french pattern. and I'm pretty sure the french are skinner than me and maybe 34/36 really means 32/34 in french. (by the way, doesn't 34/36 mean inches? why do they use inch sizes? everything else in the pattern is in metric. what's that all about? but I digress.) so! after making sure I really am a 36, I compared that to the schematic for the back of the jacket and calculated that the next size up was actually the 36. and I thought to myself "tricky french! I almost ended up with a too small jacket. good thing I managed to outsmart them."

so I cast on, feeling smug and excited, only to find out, after I'd knit one row (this is after that whole "oops, I left waaay too long of a tail" thing happened and I had to re-cast on), that I was looking at the wrong line in the pattern. instead of looking at the cast on number, I was looking at the number of stitches for after you decrease. like 4 billion rows later. so... I cast on again. and then knit another row. and then I was like "waaait a second... I didn't even look at the schematic for the front of the jacket! what are those measurements...?" turns out, in all my brilliance, I had forgotten that women have boobs and the fronts are usually wider than the backs of things. so. after some simple addition, I determined a 34/36 really does fit a 36.
yeah. sigh. perhaps one should not attempt to cast on in french when one is tired and not even a little bit french. (ok, fine, I have the english version. but still.)

side note: I realize I'm casting on for a really big project for myself when I have made really embarrassingly small progress on my brother's sweater (which shall henceforth be known as "birthday sweater" instead of the original "christmas sweater"). this is like that time my professor gave me a really really huge, overly generous extention on an independent study (lots of independent, not a whole lotta study) and I ended up doing 90% of the work the last few nights before I had to turn it in, which was roughly a year after I'd (supposedly) started. I miraculously got an A on that. so... I envision a whole lot of sweater knitting, say, in the end of march. in the meantime, I'll make a teensy bit of headway into this jacket and then inevitably get sidetracked by something else, which I may or may not be waiting to start because the yarn I ordered for it is still in the mail.

just this one for now

2006-12-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice christmas weekend! I know I did - busy busy, but really great. lots of family and good friends in town, lots of cute babies, good food, waaaayy too many new toys, and pretty much zero knitting. I did finish and felt my mom's gift with lots of time to spare. I just hadn't gotten a chance to post any pics or specs until now. and, stupid me, as soon as I'd tossed it into the washing machine and closed the lid, I smacked myself on the forehead and went "doh! I didn't take a before picture!" I also didn't measure it for before dimensions either. but... well... here it is anyway.

I did a little swirly design on the bottom and everyone has asked me "what does that say?" "what's this mean?" "is that her name?" or something along those lines. and then when I reply "it's just a swirly design," they just go "oh" with a strange look on their faces. so maybe it looks a little funny. I thought it was kind of cute. anyway, the colors are a little weird in the picture, but the body of the bag is brown (surprise!) and the trim is like a leafy green. here are the specs:

pattern: mine
yarn: patons classic merino, 1.5 skeins of brown, just a few bits of the green
needles: kp options us9 circular
dimensions after felting: 7"x7"x11"
finished: december 22, 2006
notes: there was great fear once I'd gotten a few inches into knitting this. I was working off a swatch I'd made using the patons a few months ago, in a different color, with only mental notes of what size needle and how many stitches and rows I'd marked. I was about 99% sure I'd remembered correctly, but my memory is not what many would call dependable these days. either way, I triple checked my "calculations" and cast on what seemed like the proper number of stitches. and then I crossed my fingers and prayed that I was right, even though it seemed off. to do the trim, I'd just joined the green yarn and knit one row, then cast off for the top. I went back and trimmed the insides of the handles by using a single crochet edge. yes, that's right. crochet. imagine that! a christmas miracle! the basic construction of the bag was knitting the bottom flat, then picking up stitches around the perimeter and joining in the round to knit the body. when it was about 2" shy of where I wanted to end up, I bound off a few stitches in the middle of the front and back, then on the next round, I cast on 4 more stitches than I'd bound off, to make that semicircle-esque handle. then I kept knitting until the handle was just shy of 2" and joined the green yarn for the trim. that's it! so easy! and it felted to just the size I'd wanted. and my mom seemed to like it, too. hooray!

pssst!

2006-12-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

I posted my glove pattern over there on the right if anyone is interested... I've checked and rechecked and rerechecked it lots of times, so hopefully there aren't any mistakes. merry christmas, everyone!

stranger gifts

2006-12-18T11:11:00.001-08:00

I saw this article today about why people don't like gifts they get from friends and family. it opens by saying: Here's how to buy your loved ones gifts they'll really like: Pretend they're strangers.

fantastic idea! I don't buy presents for strangers. christmas shopping: done! but, apparently, my mom thinks I'm having a tough time deciding what to get her. we had this exchange earlier this morning:

mom: did you get me a christmas gift yet?
me: uh...
mom: I just went shopping last night and bought some clothes! you can give me those.
me:
mom: they weren't that expensive.
me:

anyway! so. my mom's gift (the one I decided to make without consulting her) is growing. it should be done soon! (my boss totally walked in right when I was snapping this photo. haha! yes, I'm knitting at work again...) I'm a teensy bit scared that this isn't going to felt to the size I expect it to... I've swatched and felted this yarn before, but in another color, several months ago. I hope my remember the measurements correctly, because it would be really sad if it didn't work out right! fingers crossed!

why does everything look like poo around here?

2006-12-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

damn that wendy... I finished reading the book she lent me last night. or this morning. whatever you want to call it. nothing like a good chick flick packaged as a book! wendy says that they're making a movie out of it, starring kate hudson. I'm having a really hard time imagining kate with a british accent, but whatever. it was fun!

so, my aunt received the gloves yesterday! she loves them! yay! I'm so happy. I wasn't sure about the fit, the color, the whatever... but she was so excited, so I'm so excited... and hooray! a happy gift recipient makes for a happy gift giver.

as for mr sweater... well, he's coming along. I finished the back (it's really about time, isn't it? sorry for the way too dark picture... I should've turned on a light or something) the other night. I know, somewhere, deep, deep down inside, somewhere, there is the motivation to charge onward and crank out the remaining 50 million pieces (ok, four) sometime in the near future. sometime. somewhere. in the meantime, this is what my brother's getting along with the sweater back for christmas:

this is kind of like in college, when you're up against finals and you know you need to study, so you do your laundry and clean your bathroom, just to avoid looking at your books. you convince yourself that these things are of the utmost importance and need to be done. like right. now. which is why I have this sitting on my desk today:

uh. no... that's not the sweater. I can't let christmas go by without presenting my mom with a handknit gift, can I? poor mom carries her lunch in a ratty paper shopping bag back and forth to work every day, so when I saw this on knitty, I decided she must have one! I'm not actually following the pattern, though... just the idea. above are the beginnings of the mom-lunch-bag-felted-thing. fingers are crossed (big time) that it will felt to the dimensions desired.

so, like me, you're probably thinking, what is up with all the brown these days? I don't know! I don't know what it is... I used to really dispise brown and all things related (like anything earthy toned, all the way from dark brown to off-white), but, for some unknown reason, I'm really really digging the brown these days. big time. maybe because it's the color of chocolate? of coffee? dirt roads? whatever it is, I am obsessed with the brown. sorry for the absence of things not colored like poo, but I don't think it's going away any time soon. more poo to come! whee!!

ps. don't you hate it when you've got a zippered fleece jacket draped over your lap because it's so cold in here and then you drop something on the floor, so you have to bend over to get it, but then kind of slip and your knee lands right on the zipper pull and it startles (and hurts!) you so you kind of jerk and then smack your head on the bottom of your desk? yeah. me too.

illinois

2006-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

my faith in ups is not helped by this:

December 12, 2006

10:18:00 AM

MILAN IL US

Mis-sorted by carrier

"mis-sorted"? this package just spent 4 days in illinois doing I'm-not-sure-what. whatever it was up to, I hope it's still in one piece.

I went "christmas shopping" last night and ended up coming home with bags of books and yarn for myself. but, really, what is one to do when one has a good-for-just-one-day 40% coupon for borders and patons classic merino is on sale at michael's for $3.99? exactly. I had no choice in the matter. it was the only (somewhat) logical thing to do.

anyhow, now that christmas knitting for non-immediate family has concluded, I am once again faced with the sweater... yes... the dreaded cambridge jacket I foolishly thought I would have finished for my brother by christmas (not a completely irrational thought, considering I'd started it in september. good god, I suck.). I think I'd know myself better by now. I am not so good with the big projects. besides the fact that it's boring as hell, I think just knowing that I still have two fronts, two sleeves, a collar, a zipper and lord knows how much seaming to do is enough to slow me down big time. yes! it's true! I haven't even finished the back! I sob in shame... I must finish, though. if not by christmas, at least by... oh... next christmas?

multi-tasking and warm hands

2006-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

how do people read and knit at the same time? I mean, I totally understand knitting and watching tv, listening to the radio or a cd, talking on speakerphone, drinking something through a straw (does anyone else ever wish they had a beerhat for knitting? just me? ok...). but reading? aren't there pages to be held open and turned? ok, I admit, I don't read nearly as much as I used to these days. I've never actually even tried to read and knit at the same time until this weekend. my typical "I wish I could ___ while I knit" dilemma is eat ice cream. or beer. but I digress.

so I tried to knit the gloves and read a (paperback) book wendy lent me. at first, I kind of just leaned on the book with my elbow, which held the pages open pretty well and still allowed my hands enough freedom that I could knit somewhat comfortably. I was kind of hunched over, tho, so I suppose if I kept that up, it would have become uncomfortable eventually. (so, does anyone else ever find that when you read a book that takes place in another country, that you find yourself trying to read the book in the accent that the characters are supposed to have? my british accent is pretty awful, yet whenever I read sophie kinsella books, I find myself attempting to imagine all the text in a british accent as I read. and whenever I find my brain slipping back into american, I actually go back and reread in the british accent. it makes for kind of slow reading. please tell me you do that too...) anyway, all was well until I actually got to the part that my elbow was covering, which I had to move out of the way so I could actually read the words. but when I did that, the pages just snapped closed and I ended up dropping my knitting and just holding the book with my hands. so, really, I was successful for all of about 30 seconds. luckily, the chapter ended a page later so I could get back to the glove.

but, seriously! how do people do it? hold the book with your feet? have a special book stand that holds the book open and turns the pages for you? is the name of your book stand "husband"? because that would be awesome... if I ever get married, I'm going to write that into the vows. next to "never question the knitting and/or stash" and "feed me ice cream while I knit" is going to be "hold open and turn pages of books while I knit so I can read." actually, maybe I should just have him read it outloud and hope that his british accent is better than mine. hm. I hope no future husbands are actually reading this... these are the kinds of things that are revealed on the wedding day, when it's kind of too late.

anyway! so, I quickly gave up on that reading and glove knitting thing, because I had set a deadline of mailing those bad boys out today. as in today. and... (drumroll, please!) heeeere they are! (well, actually, they're in the mail, on their way to frosty new jersey!)

I can barely contain my excitement! these started out as these (but shorter), but after realizing that there is virtually no gusset of which to speak, I had to go to serious measures. I basically only followed the pattern for how many stitches around to make each finger. otherwise, these guys are actually all my own creation. how about that? go me! I really should write the pattern down somewhere, because I would really love to make these again - for someone really deserving. like me. heehee.

pattern: mine!
yarn: colourmart uk 100% cashmere dk, color b523, ~1.5oz
needles: blue sky dpns, us3
finished: december 10, 2006
notes: these were for my aunt's christmas present. my first gloves ever! not as difficult as they might seem at first glance, but keeping the spaces between the fingers from getting too holey is definitely a challenge. I still haven't gotten that figured out yet... I ended up just going back later and closing them up with leftover yarn. speaking of leftover yarn, good LORD were there a lot of ends to weave in! but, I must say, I am quite pleased with how these came out. they fit great (me, at least... I don't know how they fit my aunt just yet), they're super warm, and they're cashmere soft! this yarn comes still oiled on the cone, so they softened up big time after two good soaks in some eucalan. the water was so nasty after the first soak, I had to do a second, during which the water was much less nasty. so yay! gloves!

stuff, and some other stuff

2006-12-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

hello to the person who ended up here by typing the following query into ask.com: "why do snail eat plain clover's leave not striped?" at first it made me laugh. but then I really wanted to know! is it true? do snails not eat striped plants? and then I spent a few minutes trying to find out via google and wikipedia, but ended up just wanting some escargot for dinner.

ironically, between running to target and meeting with my life insurance agent and having this awful headcold, I actually managed to forget to eat dinner alltogether. I woke up this morning really really hungry. and probably a little scatter-brained (or a lot). more proof I'm losing my mind: I tried to dump coffee beans into the grinder this morning without removing the lid, which sent coffee beans bouncing all over the kitchen. sigh.

anyway! isa and I enjoyed a quick jaunt down to visit my good friend down in san diego over the weekend, arriving back home this past tuesday. I brought along the gloves I'm knitting for my aunt. I did (hallelujah!) finish the left glove and rip out most of the first one so I could start over. for some reason, I'm slowing down like crazy on these things. the first one (that turned out too small) was super fast! what's up with that? I think I'm going to blame it on my being sick. and I'm going to hope and pray I can finish, block, dry and ship them out by next monday. hey! stop laughing!

the trip was great fun! it was nice getting to hang out with my friend and her son. I got to visit her lys, where both kids managed to poop their pants. sorry, guys! the staff even had to break out the oust. I picked up some local handspun (and I forgot to take a picture! oops!) that I think I'll make another hat for isa's already very well dressed head. here's a pic of her modeling the snail hat. she loves it! and it looks so cute on her! I'm thinking of sewing a band of that thin microfleece stuff on the inside, cuz I feel like the wool might be a bit scratchy... we'll see, tho! regardless, it's cute. yay!

so, I promised some FOs, but I actually only have one to share for now.
pattern: fir cone lace (from one of the barbara walker books) with a garter stitch border
yarn: rowan cashsoft 4-ply, color 429, just over 1 skein
needles: knitpicks options us5 circular
finished: december 1, 2006
notes: holy cannoli, this yarn is so freaking soft I could barely stand it while knitting. this was made for isa's daycare lady's christmas gift. I hope she likes it. it's so so soft and the color is just beautiful. this must be the easiest lace pattern ever and it comes out so pretty. yum... I will definitely use this yarn again (for something for myself!) and I will definitely knit something using fir cone again too (shetland triangle, anyone? yes, please!).

here's how it looks when worn. the color is way off here, though. it's quite a bit darker in real life. why in the world is red so hard to photograph? someone tell me I need a better camera. is it time to upgrade? heehee.

ps. I just heard that winter knitty is here! whee!

and one more for good measure

2006-12-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

slow work day = FO! here's the ez snail hat for isa! it's busy blocking right now, but here is a pre-blocking, hanging out on an upside down bowl pic for your viewing enjoyment. what a fun fun knit. I really enjoyed making this and I cannot wait to see it on isa's head.
pattern: snail hat/spiral hat/dairy queen hat from the opinionated knitter, by elizabeth zimmerman
yarn: lamb's pride bulky, in creme (leftovers from another project, not sure how many yards...)
needles: clover us10.5 dpns
finished: november 30, 2006
notes: the lamb's pride knits up in a tighter gauge than the yarn called for, which was perfect, because this was to be toddler sized. it came out just how I wanted. other modifications were only 3 rows of garter stitch instead of 5 for the brim and only 15 rows even before decreasing instead of the 18 called for. this pic is pre-blocking. I'll have to get one of it being modeled by it's intended recipient once it's blocked. btw, this knits up really fast (just a few hours) and the design is so ingenious. love it!

I'm chugging along on the gloves. for some reason, I'm having a really tough time neatly picking up stitches for the fingers - a problem I didn't seem to have with the first one... I had to rip and reknit multiple times last night and and still 3 fingers short of a full glove. hopefully I'll get over it soon and can be done with it and fix that first glove over the weekend. well, happy friday, all! I should have some FOs to show off when I get back from san diego! yay!

proof!

2006-11-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

and by "proof" I mean photographic evidence. look! I really have been knitting.
here's that glove I knit that's too tight in the palm. you can kind of tell where the stitches are pulling toward the thumb area. I haven't frogged it yet, but I did start the left glove, complete with gusset. and, as far as I can tell, it's going to fit great! I'm going to try and finish it tonight or tomorrow. and then the right one will get frogged and reknit to match. at least I hope they match, since I think my note taking was a little, um, not so good.
and here is the sprial/snail/dairy queen hat from the opinionated knitter. I and really loving this knit! it's my first ez knit and, good lord, is it ingenious! I'm using some lamb's pride bulky and hoping this comes out toddler sized with it's smaller gauge. so far, it's looking good. plus, it's way fun to knit!

so I spent the majority of last night folding laundry that I've been neglecting for at least a month. some stuff was so wrinkled that I felt like I'd have to wash it again if I actually planned on wearing it in public. some stuff I actually forgot I owned. and a few things seem to have gone out of style since the last time I saw them. or maybe it was out of style long ago, but I just realized it now. I suppose this is a reminder that I should fold my laundry when I actually pull it out of the dryer. and it's just a little alarming that so many items went unworn for so long and I didn't have to go au naturale in the meantime.

if the glove don't fit, you must reknit...

2006-11-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

ok, so no pictures again... this time it's because my camera was in my car and I was too lazy to walk to 20 feet from the couch to the garage to get it last night. lazy, lazy susan... I'll try to remember to take some pictures of the not-yet-ripped-and-reknit glove tonight.

as alluded to in my previous post, my first glove was kind of a bust. I really should have gone with my instincts instead of following the pattern so closely, but it was my first glove and I didn't want to make a stupid mistake. instead, I get to reknit everything above the cuff because it came out too tight in the palm. it really isn't that big of a deal, I guess. it really only took two nights to knit. anyway, there wasn't really a gusset written into the pattern and it only increased 4 stitches total before knitting the thumb. I suspect the yarn the pattern called for (a sock yarn) is probably stretchier than the yarn I chose to use. but now I've modified the pattern so much that it feels like I'm knitting a completely different glove...

also, I didn't swatch (the horror!) even though the yarn manufacturer suggests it since the yarn comes on a cone and is oiled. there is the fear that the gloves are going to come out gimongous, but I'm crossing my fingers that they'll be ok. really, I do believe in swatching and washing the swatch, but I am usually both too lazy and too eager to knit the real thing.

and I am way running out of time with these christmas gifts. let's not even get started on my brother's sweater which has been taking a long nap (more like hibernation) in my knitting basket for pretty much all of the month of november. let's also try not to think about the fact that november is over and I guess trying to motivate myself with the nakniswemo thing didn't really work out...

but I am really making progress on the gloves and one other gift, which I should be able to show off pretty soon. and I've got some other things in mind. although tonight will probably be spent folding the 3 loads of laundry which have basically melted into a huge wrinkled mess over the last week.

man, my blog entries are getting really boring. maybe I'll have something more interesting to say soon. did I mention I'm going to san diego this weekend? I can't wait! I'll be visiting a friend who knits (actually, the one whose son now owns those pet dinos), so maybe we'll be able to drag the kiddies to a lys or two. I mean, the zoo and the beach.

(almost) picture free post

2006-11-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

here's the one and only picture I have of all my knitterly deeds from the long weekend. I finally finished isa's christmas stocking! hooray! it had been in the plans for a year, but I'd only started knitting it about two weeks ago. this actually went pretty quickly, since I guess it was basically just a giant sock. here's the info:

pattern: basic toe-up sock using magic cast-on and sherman heel
yarn: araucania nature wool (held double stranded) in shade 04 (about 1.25 skein) and 01 (about 1/2 skein)
needles: clover bamboo us 10.5 dpns
finished: november 22, 2006
notes: this was the first striped sock I'd ever knitted. I had some issues with tension where I changed colors (along the back of the leg). it's not super noticeable, but the color changes are a little uneven and kind of sloppy. I tried to keep it as uniform as I could, but I didn't do such a great job. how do you keep that part neat? I finished by duplicate stitching the name at the cuff with the cream colored yarn. overall, a very simple and not very time consuming knit. I wish I'd gotten it done in time for isa's first christmas last year, but I don't think it would have turned out as nice since I only started making socks for reals this year. all in all, I'm pleased with the result and I hope she likes it at least as much as she likes whatever it's going to be stuffed with come december 25.

this past long weekend held a few firsts for me. not only did I knit my first stocking and knit my first glove (no pics yet! more info on that later), but I also participated, for the first time ever, in black friday activities. well, activity. I went down to the lys in saratoga, in search of 4" dpns with which I was planning on knitting said gloves. much to my dismay, after dragging my poor turkey stuffed self out of bed at the ungodly (and still dark outside) hour of 6:00 am, I fought my way through the crowd to discover that they didn't have any! none! zero! needless to say, I was disappointed and very sleepy and comforted myself by making several unplanned purchases. and, dang, there were a lot of people there. lots and lots and lots of rabid knitters all clamoring for yarn and books and needles and so much knitterly goodness! thank god there wasn't a fire, as I'm sure we would have all perished as we used our bodies to shield all that yarn from harm.

my brain still hasn't switched back to normal functioning (which really isn't all that impressive, so you can imagine how abysmal things are right now), but I will have more to say later. hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving weekend. only 28 days of gift knitting remain!

$99,999,999.00? that's it?

2006-11-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

wow... the prices at knitpicks are really on the rise. what kind of yarn is this? it better be some pretty incredible stuff for the prices they're charging. I mean, daaaaang...

so it's the friday before thanksgiving today... I can't believe how fast the days have been flying by. mostly because my christmas knitting is in a pretty dismal state. I don't even have pictures because it is almost depressing to see. I've still got the back of the brother's cambridge jacket on the needles with about ten more inches to go. and then there's the business of the two fronts and the two sleeves and collar... and that's just that one sweater! maybe he'd like a vest instead? maybe a washcloth conveniently shaped like the back of a sweater?

I'm not sure why I'm dragging on the knitting these days. I haven't even swatched for the gloves I'm supposedly making for my aunt. and I've still only got half a swatch for the phildar swing jacket which is not actually a gift, so I feel guilty working on it. I've got a few other little things in the works too, including a stocking for isa, which I'd planned on knitting last year, but didn't quite manage to make that happen. I'm actually not so excited with the way the toe turned out (I'm working toe up), so I might actually be ripping and reknitting that tonight... ugh. I can't even think about it anymore.

I think I'm going to blame it on pms. the pms is also to blame for my shopping trip to trader joes last night to pick up frozen peas. I left with the peas. but also with a cheesecake and four vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and pink sprinkles. and a package of sliced salami. I ate half the salami for dinner. don't worry about my unhealthy eating habits, though - I balanced it out with a bag of microwave popcorn. and then I ate cupcakes (yes, people, that is plural cupcakes) for breakfast this morning. mmhmmm... who says there's no upside to pms?

because I'm a lemming

2006-11-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

and everyone's doing this too.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

so I guess I have no accent. but the quiz is right. I'm totally from the west. yeehaw! I did go to school in michigan, though. so I tried to channel my inner michigander (which, apparently, doesn't seem to exist) and take the quiz again, but I failed miserably and it thought I was from the south. which is actually rather ironic, because a friend of one of my roommates (from wisconsin) visited us once and told me I had a drawl. haha.

a girl can dream

2006-11-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

I had another weird dream last night... I was going to someone's wedding somewhere far away and, being a light traveler, just grabbed my backpack and hopped into my dad's car and let him drop me off at the airport. then, after checking in, I realized that I had nothing I needed in my backpack. but then I also thought, well, I'm getting there so early, I'll have time to just buy a new dress and some shoes before the wedding. and I could buy a new toothbrush and anything else I'd need too. but I still didn't feel quite right about it. why? because I didn't have any knitting with me. so I actually changed my flight to a later time, incurring a charge, and called my dad to come back to get me so I could go back home and pick up some knitting. I didn't stay asleep long enough to know whether or not I actually got my knitting (or what project I was working on), or whether I made it to the wedding in time. usually my knitting dreams are quite euphoric, but this one was kind of panicked. maybe because it was more about the absence of knitting than actual knitting.

but what is the meaning of this dream? I'll tell you what it is. airports need to have yarn stores, so when forgetful travelers leave their knitting at home, they don't have to change their flights and call their dads to pick them up because they can start a new project right then and there. and all the yarn should be duty free.

because everybody's doing it

2006-11-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

and nothing is more entertaining than reading about me, right?

1. FIRST NAME? susan

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? maybe? I have an aunt susan, but it's unclear whether I was named after her or whether my parents were too lazy to think of something original

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? watching the news last night. terrible things are happening in the world, my friends... john york (aka the devil) wants to move the niners away from san francisco. what is this world coming to?

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sometimes, not because it's pretty, but because I'm the only person who can read it, which makes me feel special

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? prosciutto with fresh mozzarella... mmm

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? probably not, because I would most likely not answer phonecalls from myself because my phone would be out of batteries again. we'd play phone tag for a while, then slowly forget about one another

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I do, but does it count if I haven't written in it in over 2 years and I'm not entirely sure where it is?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? no, but I might skydive. the snapping back up part of bungeeing is the biggest turn-off

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? currently, strawberry yogurt cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? nope

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? smelling? if it's really hot out, probably

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? coffee

14. SHOE SIZE? 8.5

15. RED OR PINK? pink! but I like red too...

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? am I really going to reveal this in public? I guess not

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? allison :(

18. WHAT FOOD WILL GET YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? I don't get out of bed in the middle of the night, but I'm a light sleeper, so I guess any food that is really loud or bright?

19. WHAT COLOUR TROUSERS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? grey pants, white tshirt, pink shoes

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? I'm actually halfway thru eating my very mediocre vietnamese beef stew over rice right now

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? rockafeller skank (streaming on the radio)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I'd probably be one of the ones missing it's wrapper, so no one would know what color I actually am

23. FAVORITE SMELL? coffee... mmm...

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? most. annoying. person. in. the. world. ok, maybe not the world, but certainly the most annoying person I have to talk to at work

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I have no idea...

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? I like her blog. does that count? we don't actually know each other...

27. FAVOURITE DRINK? coffee

28. FAVOURITE SPORT? football, even when it's really really bad, which it has been lately...

29. EYE COLOUR? brown

30. HAT SIZE? average, I think

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes

32. FAVORITE FOOD? coffee? if that doesn't count as a food, then I guess meat is my favorite food

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? definitely a fan of the happy. do not like the scary

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? can I have fall instead?

36. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? creme brulee

38. WHAT SIDE OF THE BED DO YOU SLEEP ON AND WHY? the side closest to the alarm clock, which is weird now that I think about it, since I don't even really like the alarm clock. maybe I just like being close so I can turn it off without much effort in the mornings

39. IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE DECISION TO GET MARRIED AND HAVE A FAMILY, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING TODAY? this implies I made a decision to get married, so I guess I'll answer "n/a" here

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? ohh... there is a sad sad zero amount of book reading around these parts. I have been reading a lot about the brit/kfed split, tho. does that count?

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? a mouse?

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? lost! waaaahh!!!! how will I last until february?!

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? heavy rain and lots of thunder (assuming I don't get struck by lightning)

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? thailand

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I can recite the alphabet backwards... does that count?

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? berkeley, ca

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? stolen from elliphantom

happy wednesday! (for lack of a better title)

2006-11-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

this morning, I noticed that the clock on my coffee maker was wrong. I must have forgotten to reset it after the power went out last time. I don't really use the timer, but now that I knew it was wrong, it was going to bug me, so I decided to reset it. not five seconds after I do, the power goes out. yes. it is going to be that kind of day.

it's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? what's happened since then...? oh, right. friday night, I taught a friend to knit! she picked it up pretty quickly, too. it was a glorious occasion... especially because after she went home, she stayed up until 1am knitting. haha! she claims she's already addicted, which makes me giddy like nothing else. her husband is not quite as thrilled. I think he already resents me for introducing her to my not-so-affordable hair stylist and apparently he's a little wary of this new, expensive habit that seems to be developing. altho, he's happy she's happy. heehee. and now I (potentially) have a local knitting friend! she lives only 10 minutes away, so I'm already daydreaming about sitting around and knitting and chatting all the time... whee!

speaking of sitting around and knitting, busy schedules and other responsibilities have been getting in the way of me and hurry-up-and-get-a-blog wendy having our knitting dates lately. but monday night, we were both able to get away for a few hours and get in some good knitting time. I managed to finish this guy here:

this is the new free pattern from interweave. it's called the flip-top mitten, by debbie bliss. mine was made out of some tasty artyarns supermerino. honestly, I wasn't too pleased with the construction. it's knit flat and then seamed and the pattern doesn't tell you to do any kind of edging on the slit. I did a few rows of k1p1 ribbing so that it wouldn't curl. but by last night, I'd decided that I wasn't happy enough with the mitt to continue on to mitt #2. I also thought, why waste time actually ripping and winding the yarn when I can just knit straight from the mitt to make a new mitt? which is just what I did. laziness always seems to prevail around these parts.

this is the humble beginnings of urban necessity from magknits and the rapid demise of the flip-top mitten. I actually only have one more finger left to do on the urban necessity and I imagine I'll be able to finish it and start #2 tonight. I really should finish these soon, since I've got that nakniswemo thing that I've been neglecting... and that whole christmas gift thing...

to distract myself from the fact that I might be missing those christmas gift deadlines, I will look at this picture I took while driving (bad susan!) of the new herd of goats down the street from my house. where did these guys come from? they're on a hill on the side of the freeway in a very non-rural place (even tho it kind of looks rural in this pic). they don't seem to be bothered by all the cars whizzing by, tho, so I guess they must be having a good time. hi, goats!

better late than never, right?

2006-11-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

although, that doesn't really make any sense in this case. since it's not like there was some sort of hard deadline I was trying to meet for socktoberfest. maybe we'll just call this one the hangover.
this is one jaywalker (knit with fleece artist merino sock), ready to join my one pomo. and my one thuja. and my one koigu sock. at least I have an even number of socks now. which is like two pairs. which is three more socks than I had in september. so, there! never mind that none of them match and it's now november third.

can you believe it's november? I even got my 2008 tags for my car in the mail yesterday. it felt so weird putting them on my license plate, since 2008 seems really far away. like soo faaar... but then we get another olympics! and another president! so woohoo for that!

anyhow, speaking of november, I've decided to participate in nakniswemo, which is short for national knit a sweater month (or something like that). the idea is that you knit a whole sweater in november, which is just what I'm hoping to do with my brother's christmas gift (fingers crossed). I don't think it's cheating if I'd already had a tiny bit of it knitted already, does it? not like I really think I'll be disqualified or anything. ... right?
I've also joined the phildar swing jacket kal, which should be fun. I mean, look how cute it is! it would actually be more fun if I really thought I'd be able to knit the thing before the warm weather comes back. judging from the christmas gifts and what-not I have in que, it's looking pretty unlikely that I'll get further than a gauge swatch on that any time soon. but a girl can dream, can't she? please say yes.

really?

2006-10-31T12:57:00.000-08:00

dang. what's this all about? I mean, there are certainly less attractive ways to use yarn, but seriously. I must be in the wrong business if this is selling for $168. can you believe it?
and this? $368! how long could it possibly take to knit either of these things? do people really buy this stuff? go ahead and click on the photos if you want to buy one of these babies for yourself. actually, if you want one, I'll make you one for the bargain basement price of $299. heck, I'll make both for $299. how's that for a deal? feel free to start lining up while I go grab my 35s.

half empty?

2006-10-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

how sad is this? my sock yarn stash barely fills half of this ziploc bag. I think I can do better than half empty. which is precisely why I felt I had to go and get me some of this socky goodness.
every little bit counts, right? and this stuff is so yum! it's soft and pretty and mmm mmm good... also, hello super crazy long yardage! what a great way to round out a totally not so productive socktober. I mean, I've got to stock up for next year. yeah. that's it. next year.
also, the other night, my mom dug out this box of china-yarn that someone had given my aunt and somehow got stored away in my mom's closet over 10 years ago! score one for me! it says it's "high quality hand knitting yarn". and believe me, nothing says high quality like an upside-down G.here's a close-up of one of the skeins. my limited chinese reading abilities (aka on the verge of illiteracy) tells me that this stuff is from the 19th shanghai fiber something... factory, maybe? I guess it doesn't really matter. apparently, it's 100% wool and seems really similar to dale of norway baby ull, both in texture and weight. there are ten 50g skeins in the box along with what appears to be washing instructions (handwash only, it seems). I should get a picture of that next time - it's pretty amusing.

anyway, I wonder if this stuff is dyeable. my mom said something about it being "moth-proof". what does that mean? has it been treated with something that might prevent it from being dyed? I have no idea! but looking at all that off-white yarn just makes me want to dye.

only another knitter would understand...

2006-10-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

...if I were walking down the street with my feet looking like this:
so, does this count as a pair of socks? how do you people do it? how can you make two of the exact same thing, out of the exact same yarn, one right after the other, without going crazy?? (look how I say this like I've never been able to complete a pair of socks... weird how different it is when I know I can't give someone just one sock as a birthday gift.)

I know I said that I was going to finish either the thuja or the koigu socks this week, but now I'm thinking maybe I should just start on another pair. (haha! I said pair! who am I kidding? y'all know I really mean just one, right?) a new pattern in a new yarn! not very deep down at all - actually, right out in the open where everyone can see - it's what I really want. I mean, seriously... matching socks are so overrated, aren't they? how could koigu on one foot and cherry tree hill on the other not be totally sexy? is anyone else with me on this?

I did it!

2006-10-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

I finished the pomo!! finally! I put a yellow filter on the pic to try and make the color appear more the way it does in real life, which I've decided is impossible to do when I take pretty much all my pictures after 10pm inside my poorly lit home. also, the filter makes the rug look like it's been peed on. sorry 'bout that... one of these days, I will actually finish something during daylight hours or I will find some way to wait until daylight hours to take the picture, which I also seem incapable of doing. the color still didn't come out quite real-life, but it's closer, and definitely better, than without the filter. actually, just kidding... it's somewhere between this picture and the ones from before. oh whatever. it's turquoise!

anyway! I've got one more week left of socktober and I'm trying to decide how to finish out the month. I think I'll first take some time to finally bind off that koigu sock, but (God-willing) that won't take me a whole week. I think I'll either make koigu #2 or thuja #2... pomo #2 will definitely take me deep into november (sockvember anyone??), so I think I'll save that for later. I want to have an actual pair of socks by the end of this month! right? go me!

important things to think about when knitting pomotomopotomotomus (or however you spell it)

2006-10-19T09:50:00.001-07:00

1. use chart A for the leg
2. use chart B for the instep
3. keep alcohol handy
4. decrease every other row on the gusset
4. no, you don't know how to count
5. you also are not so good at following directions/reading english
6. there will be ripping, tinking, and/or reknitting, which can lead to increased blood pressure and spitting while cursing the knitting gods and also maybe shaking of fists at the sky, especially if you did not pay attention to #1-4 above. luckily, the yarn doesn't seem to mind the abuse. unfortunately, the knitter does and might need a long lie down.
sigh. why is this pattern kicking my ass so badly? I'm going to blame it on pms and a shortage of chocolate. the gusset issue has been remedied, although I somehow managed to untwist one of the twisted stitches at the pick-up edge. how did that happen? oh well. I'm going to ignore that one, because if I have to rip and reknit one more round on this stupid heel, I will have to go out and buy myself a whole case of beer. actually, that doesn't sound so bad. friday? you're coming soon, right? I need you...

ps. in adding that cherry tree hill link, I noticed that they are having a design contest! obviously, I am not cut out for the sock knitting, let alone the sock designing, but how exciting for someone who can! heehee. also, the yarn I'm using is the turquoise, which the cherry tree hill folks seem to be better at photographing than I am. also, I think I need to buy some of the teal. also, I love socks. also, sock yarn. also, I should get back to work.

it was a dark and stormy night

2006-10-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

ok, not literally. the weather has actually been quite nice. but it was a long night for everyone in the insaknitty house last night. no need to go into gruesome details, but lets just leave it at there was not quite the amount of sleeping that some people are accustomed to.

also, I totally screwed up on the potomoto heel! well, not the actual heel part. I thought I was smart enough to not need to use the chart for the instep, but apparently, I wasn't. so I need to tink back about 6 rounds, which I gave up on around 1030 last night. one of these days, hopefully before socktober ends, I will have a completed sock. see how quickly my expectations are dropping? at first I thought I could finish all three unfinished pairs of socks I've started for myself in the last few months, then I thought I'd be happy with just one pair, and now I feel like I'd be happy with just the one pomotomo. it really is turning out to be quite pretty. no pictures, though, since it doesn't look that much different from the last pic I took, except that there is now an incorrect instep attached to it. please note that there would have been a whole lot more knitting if I had not been camping this weekend. so I am not a total slacker! just a partial one.

hey, so has anyone else out there tried out moo.com? they were giving away 10 of their little photo cards for free to flickr users a few weeks back. I just got mine in the mail yesterday and I just have to say that they are super super cute! they're really small, about 1" by 2.75" and come with this cute little holder thing. check it out! go get some! fun for everyone! (no they're not paying me to say this, but maybe they'll give me some more cards for free. heehee.)

put a sock in it

2006-10-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

I know... I've been such a bad socktoberfest participant... I haven't even done the meme yet! so here goes, 13 days behind schedule:

(edited to add: haha! did I forget question #1?? sigh...)

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I started making socks in june (of 2006). I "taught" myself. the vast majority of my knitting was "self" taught. that is, if you consider "self" to be the internet and a buttload of books. anyway, no, I was not taught by a real live person, but yes, I love the sock thing! perhaps the lack of the real live person is to blame for my weird interpretation of directions/patterns. I think I get a lot of my inspiration from other bloggers, too. this question is going nowhere. no wonder I subconsciously skipped it earlier.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
well, my first full pair was the elfines I made for my friend's birthday. my first sock is my pink thuja, which is still waiting for a mate... I'm not sure how the elfines are holding up, and the thuja is unworn, cuz I feel silly wearing just one sock.What would you have done differently?
I probably would have been better about learning how to kitchener the toe properly. also, I would also have known that "sl1 pwise" doesn't require you to also bring the yarn to the front. I think I would also have done it toe up instead.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
considering I've only knit a few socks in my short sock knitting life, I guess I don't have that much experience with lots of sock yarns. but I loved the artyarns supermerino I used on thuja, and I LOVE koigu, and I am also a big fan of cherry tree hill... I have a bunch of other yarn in the stash that I'm eager to try out. I'll let you know what I think of those when they someday turn into real socks.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
crochet and I have a love/hate relationship. I can't imagine crocheting socks. I can't imagine crocheting anything that isn't some kind of rectangle. I am not opposed to dpns, but I prefer magic loop, since you only need one needle and there's nothing to lose. also, I'm not sure how to start a toe up sock otherwise. I am a toe-up fan all the way! I like being able to know how long I can make the leg without worrying about running out of yarn before I finish the toe. also, I am scared of the kitchener...

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I am a short row (sherman) fan, but mostly because I haven't figured out how to do a toe-up heel flap. also, I think I like the look of the short row heel better. altho, sometimes the flap looks better with certain patterns... so... really, I guess I'm on the fence.

How many pairs have you made?
pairs? I've officially completed two pairs. haha. but for gifts. the elfines and the crooked cable socks. I have two lone (as in lonely) socks and one soon to be lonely sock. will they ever have mates? only time will tell... that's the point of socktoberfest, tho, is it not? for susan to have at least one complete pair of socks?

guess what, tho? someone is ready for a heel! looks like he's also ready for a wedge. heehee. please don't ask me why it's taken me so freaking long to get the leg done on these. it's not even "these". it's just "this". sigh. so pretty, tho... yums... please keep in mind, these are really a turquoise, which is turning out to be the most impossible color to photograph. anyway, happy friday! momma's got a new pair of shoes!

new digs

2006-10-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

got a new look here! what fun! I know nothing about html. I'm not even sure what html is. whee!! if you'd be so kind, please let me know if anything seems to be looking or functioning oddly... honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing and I'll be tinkering behind the scenes here and there. try pulling on the "pull". I'll try to make that more fun as soon as I figure out how... (I've been alerted that the pull doesn't work in IE! gasp! my apologies to the IE users out there... you should download flock instead. just sayin'.)

anyhow, if you think this looks as spiffy as I do, you can get it and/or other free templates from here. they say they're going to be adding more as time goes on, too. join in the fun!

pictures! of actual stuff!

2006-10-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

I realize there has been quite the shortage of photos on this blog as of late. I'm making up for that now, tho! I spent a good part of my free time this weekend knitting a last minute think pink scarf. I had a little help, too.

I think I now know why people advise against employing child labor. by the end of the day, this is how my little "helper" looked. where are her pants? why is she only wearing one sock?

the good news is that the scarf did get finished! it's now on it's way to sydney in virginia.

I realize it looks like it's more white than pink, but it really is a very lovely pale pink.

pattern: my so called scarf by sheep in the city
yarn: rowan little big wool, color 501 (pale pink), about 2 and 1/3 balls
needles: us13 clover bamboo straights
finished: october 8, 2006

notes: I ended up only casting on 20 stitches, instead of the 30 called for in the pattern. I also used little big wool instead of the manos. but, really, it's a scarf, so I guess none of those changes really matter all that much. it was actually a faster knit than I'd originally anticipated. I'm sure the huge needles helped. at first, I thought that the stitch pattern was a bit complicated, but after a couple rows, it all seemed to flow rather nicely and I managed to crank this out in two nights. it's snuggly soft and warm! I hope that it warms the heart of it's eventual recipient. I really like the look of this scarf and I think I might make another for myself!

please, use your imagination

2006-10-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't taken a single picture all week. and it's not that I don't actually have anything to show, because there has been knitting. really. I'm not sure why there hasn't been any picture taking, except perhaps for typical rainy day laziness. then again, it hasn't even been that rainy. just rainy enough to get my car from really dirty to really really dirty looking. I contemplated a car wash, but then decided that it would be futile, since it is only going to rain again. plus, the laziness.

anyway, I ended up taking yesterday off, just like I'd plotted, and made my way down to the soon to be closed lys in alameda (sob! whyyy??) with a friend and her super cute baby. this time, thankfully, they were actually open. and, also thankfully, everything on the store was on sale, just as I'd been told. 25% off of everything! there is actually quite a bit of stuff left - lots of rowan - which is good, since they're not planning on closing until november. sadly, though, there was no more koigu. I did manage to find some pink yarn for the think pink scarf and some totally unneeded sock yarn for more socks that may or may not ever be made.

after rummaging through the entire store several times, we realized we were just minutes away from sushi house (some of the best sushi you can get in these parts) and decided to head there for lunch, where we managed to just about finish an entire sushi house boat. yummm!

then I spent pretty much the entire evening knitting the think pink scarf. more accurately, though, it was more like knitting and ripping and then knitting and ripping and then knitting and ripping again. I just couldn't figure out a stitch pattern I was truly happy with. also, the yarn is a little weird. it's super soft, but it seems like it's a thick piece of nylon with a bunch of wool fluff just wrapped around it. and you can't really tell until you start knitting. the yarn is currently sitting in a pile on the couch at home, waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I think I'm going to do this. but we'll see!

potomotos are also getting a little bit of love. I've got about two repeats done on the leg (which really isn't much, when I think about it). the slowness is most likely due to the season premiere of lost, during which I mostly sat on the couch clutching the not-yet-a-sock a little too tightly (good thing I don't use wooden needles, as I'm sure I'd have snapped one within the first 5 minutes of the show) in my sweaty little hands while my heart pounded and my head spun and I yelled "what?! WHAT?!! what the... what???!!" at the tv. anyway... soon, I'm sure I will have 3 complete socks and not one complete pair. I must be the worst socktoberfest participant ever.

I feel bad for the no pictures all week... so... in the spirit of oktoberfest, here is a picture of isa with my friend, dean, during last year's superbowl. cheers!

pink!

2006-10-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this today:
october is not only socktober, it's also breast cancer awareness month. I'm a little bummed I didn't read about think pink earlier, since the deadline is the 15th, which doesn't leave me much time to knit! I'm going to try to get one scarf done, though.

I lost my grandmother to breast cancer when I was nine, when I was too young to really understand what was going on. I only have wonderful memories of her. she was so warm and loving and eternally upbeat, even in her last days. she was always smiling and laughing... maybe that's why I never really realized what a terrible disease she had. I still think of her often, and though the memories as faint, I feel like she left a big imprint on my life. and a selfish part of me wishes I could have known her in my adult life just cuz I feel like we would have had so much fun and that I could have learned so much from her. she was a knitter! actually, I vaguely remember her trying to teach me, but I think I was too uninterested at the time. I had asked her to knit a sweater for my cabbage patch kid and she tried to teach me to knit it myself. I was probably too busy climbing the cherry tree in her yard or fighting with my brother at the time.

so, as a tribute to my dear grandma, I'm going to have to let socktober wait a while so I can do some pink thinking. anyone want to think pink along with me?

socktober is here!

2006-10-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

another month has managed to sneak up on me without my noticing. the weather has taken a fall-like turn, which might have tipped me off if I'd been paying attention. I love the fall, even in the not so fall like fall that we get 'round these parts. sometimes I miss living in a place where there is an actual fall, but then I remember that an actual fall usually quickly turns into an actual winter, which I am really not fond of. altho, as I've been getting older, I'm finding I like the cold a lot more that I used to. maybe, one day, I might actually like snow - the horror!

anyway! it's socktober! and I didn't even realize it until today. I spent last night knitting away at the big one (which is growing at a leisurely, but acceptable pace - I've gotten almost 12" of back done) instead of my many socks! what was I thinking? a whole night of sock knitting was missed. *sigh* I think I was just sad that I drove all the way to alameda yesterday, where yet another lys is closing (what is going on here?) and liquidating all their stock, only to find that they stopped being open on sundays (notice that is not what it says on the website)! needless to say, I was pretty bummed. there is a good chance I will head up there on thursday again, tho, after I take isa to her 18 month well check. I'm thinking about taking off that whole day. I normally feel like I need at least a day to recover after having to endure holding down my screaming baby while she get stabbed repeatedly by the nurse. four shots again this time. faint! I need to start doing my deep breathing exercises to prepare myself.

got myself a gift

2006-09-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

heehee. I giggle because it's true.

the moronosity is simply overwhelming

2006-09-26T22:09:00.001-07:00

sometimes I really wonder if my stupidity will be the end of me. I would not be surprised if I actually die of stupidity some day. a few years ago, a friend and I took a "we're going to do something fun and crazy" trip to mount rainier national park up in washington state. we flew there, since we live in california. and you can't camp without some sort of fuel, but you can't bring fuel on an airplane. plus, we wouldn't have a car and we didn't want to waste any time, so we weren't able to go to the store and buy any after we got there. since I'm brilliant, I decided I could ask a friend to buy some fuel for us and meet us at the airport, hand it off and we could hop on the shuttle which would take us to our campsite. of course, in addition to the price of the fuel (less than $10), I had to, at the very least, compensate my friend for parking and the trouble of having to go to the airport on a friday night.

so, the shuttle ride was quite pleasant. it was run by a couple who lived in the area and they were really friendly and nice to talk to. (I realize this is turning out to be a really long story, but there is no turning back now... sorry! feel free to skip ahead to where there are actual pictures!) I forget how long the ride was, but I think it was a good hour or two - not a short drive. by the time we get to our site, it's dark, it's late, and we just want to get in a good night's sleep before our day of adventure ahead. so we pitch our tent, get settled in and start drifting off to sleep when I suddenly jolt awake with the realization of "holy crap, I left the fuel in the shuttle." we manage to nervoustly laugh it off, but our cell phones don't work so we can't call the shuttle and now we have no fuel for our stove! we figure we'll just have to find a way to manage and somehow fall back asleep. at some ungodly hour, we are roused from our slumber when we hear a vehicle pull into our site and someone calling to us. I unzip the tent and peer out through very sleepy and confused eyes to see the shuttle lady holding the bag with our fuel in it! I am overjoyed and touched that she came back to save the day! I get about halfway through thanking her before she says "yeah, so you're going to have to give me $35 for the trip back out here." I'm shocked, but there really isn't anything I can say and I'm half asleep and not even entirely sure of what just happened, so I just fork over the cash and watch her drive away. then it dawns on me. I just spent six times the value of those canisters of fuel and we would probably only use about half of it. I came back from that trip with the nickname "stupidity tax sue". my friend came back with the nickname "tuna and luna" steph, but we don't have the time to get into that now. because this story is about me. and my immense moronosity.

so, what am I getting at? I'm an idiot. remember the whole stolen check, money stealing fiasco from way back when? well, I ended up changing banks after everything had gotten cleared up. and (seriously, I am usually super on top of these kinds of things) I thought I had changed all my online payment things to my new bank account. so a couple months ago, ladida, I go and pay my bills, doodeedoo... and I get a notice from one of my cards that I am no longer authorized to use online payments and I need to call them immediately. turns out I forgot to change my bank account and they tried to take money out of my now defunct old bank account. so, not only do I have to send them a check and get suspended from using online services, they also charged me $38! I was really annoyed about it, but decided it wasn't worth it to try and dispute it, so I just paid it and they were happy and let me use online services again. so I go ahead and pay my bill again, thinking hooray, I can pay online again. but then I get another phone call because - hello! how stupid am I?? I still didn't change my bank account and it happened again! *smack self in head* another $38 charge!! I think my death by stupidity is going to be due to me paying all these "I could have and should have been able to avoid this if only I were paying attention" charges to the point where I can't afford food anymore and I starve to death. why do I even bring this up? that money could have - and should have - been spent on yarn. ok. that is officially off my chest. on to the knitting, because, I promise, this is still a knitting blog.
so, koigu sock #1 is just about done. I haven't bound off yet, because I'm not sure what kind of a bind-off I want to do. I can't do the tubular bind-off since I did the cuff in a k2p2. I'm not stressing about it, though. but you know what? it's really kind of hard to get on. I keep having these awful images of ripping a big hole in it trying to get it over my huge man ankles (mankles?). I mean, I can get them on, but it is really a struggle. maybe I can *sob* give them to my mom. or rip it out and start over from the heel area, increasing a couple stitches before the heel and then decreasing again after. or just live with it. I do like the way the foot and the leg fit. I think the tight part is right around the heel/ankle part. which isn't a surprise, because that is the least squishy and most gimongous part of my foot. anyway. we'll see.hey, remember these guys? these are what I call "socks for susan". notice, at most, there is only one sock for each pair and a whole lot of unknit yarn. interesting, isn't it? this was the motivating factor for me joining socktoberfest! well, that, and the beer. or maybe it was this sock shaped beer. I'm not sure. the point is: socktoberfest! how much beer will it take for me to finish these socks? only time will tell. I will keep you updated.finally (we are nearing the end - here is where you can stop crying from boredom because it will soon be over), this is what I'm calling "the big one". this is my brother's christmas gift. yes. it is a sweater. for a man. a small man, but a man who is still bigger than me, so this is officially the biggest project I've ever attempted. I'm really motivated to finish this and do a good job. I only have one brother and he's getting married next year, so I feel like this is kind of our last christmas of just us kids, so I want to make him something special. anyway, apparently this sweater is brought to you by ups. did you know they have trademarked the color brown? how do you trademark a color?

who? what? where am I?

2006-09-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

having to actually do work related things at work has thrown me into a troubling place where I can no longer remember things I need to do in my real life. I don't even know where my cell phone is. I had it this morning, and now it's gone. I think about work during work hours and even occasionally during not work hours. it just isn't natural! I've been too busy to blog properly, but have had moments where I'm like "oh, I gotta blog about that (funny, noteworthy, cute) thing" and now I'm sitting here, actually with time to blog, and I can't think of one interesting thing to say. all those fun things I had in my head? gone! who knows where they went or if they even existed.

speaking of work, the company I work for makes and sells stuff for trucks and suvs (does this make me a terrorist?). I know. so exciting, huh? anyway, every so often, my boss will come in with some new product to see if it's something that's marketable. which is fine, right? that's how people do business. most of the time, I really don't care what it is, because I don't drive a truck and don't ever plan on it, so I'm pretty apathetic about all our products. but this week, he came in with sheepskin seat covers. sheepskin! skin! of sheep! SHEEP! sheep, who produce wool! sheep, who would continue to produce wool for years if we didn't take away all their skin! I kept thinking "omg, all that yarn potential! someone hold me up and get me a drink!" it's just wrong. so, so wrong. is it 5pm yet?

putting the "no" back in quiznos

2006-09-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

every morning, someone goes around the office with a menu and lets each of us choose what we'd like to order for lunch. how nice! we get free lunch here. the one and only perk of working in this place. anway. this is what I wanted for lunch.this is what I got. (yes, I am the girl taking pictures of my lunch and then drawing things on it with microsoft paint. no, I am not good at drawing and/or coloring with a mouse. or a pen, for that matter)
granted, "caesar salad" and "chicken and corn chowder" share a few of the same letters, but they don't really sound anything alike. then again, this is not a case of "oops we got your order wrong". no. it was a case of "oh, we were too busy. we just didn't have the time to shovel some lettuce into a plastic tray so we're just going to give you something entirely different and not at all what you ordered". uh, hello! wtf?! perhaps if I were someone who actually liked the taste of white meat or who wasn't trying to eat something somewhat healthy today, I wouldn't mind so much. but I am neither of those people. also, I have tomatoes (which I also don't like - am I the pickiest eater alive or what?) on my sandwich. so I am greatly irritated. ok. I'm done whining now. because, really, if these are the extent of my problems, I've actually got it way too good.in knitting news, the koigu sock (no pic! too boring!) is moving along, following one of those "I can't do simple calculations" moments where I started the heel much to early and had to rip back and add more foot rounds. I did make the peapod hat to go with the peapod sweater. I was a tiny bit confused with the directions when it came to when and where to start decreasing and might have been off by a row or two, which made the leaf panel look a bit wonky right where the decreases start. no biggy, tho. I think it's fine. it's ready for gifting, but I'm supposed to wait until the baby shower to give it to my friend. I've put it on a shelf for safe keeping for now, so I don't accidentally do any pre-emptive gift giving.

you know things are bad when...

2006-09-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

I managed to catch something pretty awful this week, which makes it near impossible to eat, drink, think straight, sleep well or (this is how I know how bad things have gotten) knit! I ended up going home early yesterday to try and sleep it off, and when I woke up, I tried to eat something (unsuccessfully) and then I tried to watch some daytime tv (it has come to my realization that if you're going to be home in the daytime, you so need cable tv - there is seriously nothing good to watch in the middle of the day) and knit. I had high expectations. I'd gotten about half of the foot done on the first of my koigu socks the other night and thought that with my half a day to lounge around at home, I would certainly be able to at least get to the heel, right? sadly, no... after just a few rounds, I just didn't have the energy to continue. in hindsight, it was probably a good thing, as I'm sure I would have royally screwed up the heel with not being able to think straight and all.
at any rate, I just want to say that I looove koigu! I love it love it love it! I mean, besides the fantastic colorways, this stuff knits up like I never would have imagined. why did I wait so long to try it? how will I go back to the other sock yarns in my stash? is it laced with crack? it's really hard to stop myself from eating it while I knit. it is pure deliciousness. anyhow, I decided to do these on us0s, for a nice dense fabric and, oh my goodness, it is so soft and buttery and yummy... mmm... don't you think koigu must have some kind of healing power? maybe if I just hold it against my face long enough, it'll help all the sick go away...

sweater, sale, seahawks, socks...

2006-09-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

peapod is done! altho, it involved quite a bit of reworking. I wasn't happy with the pick-up stitch distribution of the collar, so I ended up frogging and reknitting it. I also was not very smart about seaming up the arm holes, but after a couple failed attempts, I think they came out quite well.
pattern: peapod from interweave knits, size 3mos (but blocked out closer to the 6mos size)
yarn: filati chicco, about 2 1/3 skeins
needles: knitpicks options us7 circular
finished: september 9, 2006
notes: this was an easy and fun knit! despite some difficulties getting started with the lace panel (due mostly to an inability to take my eyes off the tv), this went by really fast. the yarn was nice to work with - very soft and springy. I don't think I changed anything with the pattern, except for the yarn substitution. I got the buttons at joann's. they are little and wooden and perfect. I love the way this came out!

I think I'm probably going to make the hat, too, which I wasn't originally planning on doing, but I have quite a bit of yarn left over. what I don't have is the right size dpns...

too bad I didn't think about that while I was at the yarn sale on saturday. the lys in saratoga had their anniversary sale! conveniently the same weekend I had a wedding to attend just down the road. score one for me! unfortunately, I had just put myself on a "no new yarn" restriction since I've been buying things like what you see below. hello! how excited am I?! isa's first niners game!anyway, so, the sale. 25% off the whole store, including books, needles, bags, buttons... it was a good thing for my wallet that I brought a non-knitting fellow wedding attendee friend to keep an eye on me. not so good for my stash, but I think my stash has been spoiled enough as it is. my wallet certainly deserves some positive attention. so, yes! I was good! but you wouldn't expect me to actually go to the sale and walk away totally empty handed, would you? I don't have that kind of willpower, regardless of what kind of sale it is. I really did exercise quite a bit of restraint and left with just a pair of addis (which I actually need) and... my first koigu! because who can resist koigu! at 25% off! it is a wonder I only bought two skeins.it is a glorious day in a young woman's life when she acquires her first koigu. it was pretty agonizing trying to choose a colorway, though. seriously. so many pretties... I ended up picking this one because it's autumny and kind of reminds me of pumpkin pie, which is totally what I need for some just-for-me socks to keep me happy while I slave away on christmas gifts. I've been wanting make a pair of plain stockinette socks for myself and I think this is the perfect yarn for them. I'm thinking of maybe doing a simple, non-fussy, eyelet lace pattern at the cuff. maybe. we'll see when we get there. I am dying to cast these on. dying. unfortunately, I'm stuck at work.

and once again, yesterday, wendy and I managed to turn another knit night into a dying over cute stuff online night. also, an agonizing over which yarns wendy should use for her upcoming projects night. and, also, a "wendy, why are you such a nerd" night. wendy uses a spreadsheet for keeping track of which yarns she should use for which project, complete with prices, yardage, gauge, and fiber content for comparison. I totally laughed at her when I saw it. then, as we kept looking online for good yarn substitutions for her projects and I kept asking stuff like "wait, so how much yardage do you need for X?" and "what was the gauge you need for Y?" I realized that, while she is a big nerd, she is also really smart (is that redundant?) because, man. it really came in handy. and I'm just a little jealous.

breakfast of champions

2006-09-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

I went to the store yesterday to buy a card for the wedding I'm going to tomorrow and left with the card and a package of soft batch cookies. remember these? they were available in great abundance when I was a kid, then disappeared for what seemed to be an eternity and have since made a comeback in recent years. I always thought they were the best cookies, but, seriously, they're not that great. are they? I got them for mainly nostalgic reasons. the best part of the purchase was the small talk the check-out boy felt obligated to engage in.

check-out boy: ooh... these are really good.
me: yup.
check-out boy: they're soft.
me: (yes... hence "soft batch") yup.

I think he wanted me to share them with him. he was caressing the cookies in a slightly disturbing way while he gazed longingly at them.

btw, cookies are great for breakfast. I feel awake already! which is rare for not even being lunchtime yet. it's as if they're packed with some sort of magical energy inducing substance. especially paired with my morning cup of coffee. this could totally be the new breakfast of champions. whee! go me! go cookies! we are the champions!

productive!

2006-09-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

the long weekend was much needed and totally packed, but simply wonderful. the bro was in town again with the future sis-in-law and there was a whirlwind of barbeques and lunches and dinners out with family and friends. I don't think I ate one single meal at home the entire weekend. somehow, tho, I did manage to relax, get sleep, and even get the body of my next gift endeavor finished.
this is the baby pea pod cardigan from ik. I'm making this for my friend's unborn baby, who is either a boy or a girl - no one except the radiology tech who did the ultrasound knows which it is... I'm debating if I should just finish this with neutral wooden buttons now (well, when the sleeves are done) or if I should wait until the baby is born and put little pink buttons on it if it turns out to be a girl. but knowing me, I'm not going to be able to wait until december (when baby is due) to give this to her.

anyway, baby clothes! so fast! I love it. I'm making this in the smallest size, so it really flew off the needles. I had a hard time watching mad hot ballroom while starting the lace panel (what's with me and watching dancing while knitting?), which kept messing me up, and there seems to be a missing yo in the first few rows, but I couldn't bring myself to try to fix it by the time I realized it was there. trying not to let it bother me too much.

so, I've been thinking more about this whole selfish knitting/gift knitting thing. I know, you're all thinking "still?? haven't you got something better to do?" the answer is no, of course I don't. if I had something better to do, I'd already be doing it.

anyway, I love the idea of my handmade gifts being used by someone else. I love going to my friends' houses and seeing their babies sleeping under the quilts I made them. actually, aside from the quilts, I don't think I've ever seen any of my gifts in use... but it really doesn't bother me that much, now that I think about it. I guess I really, truly love the simple act of giving things away. it's actually what keeps me going while I knit or sew or whatever - the mere thought of "when I give this to so-and-so..." makes me really happy. and judging from the number of things in my FO gallery that are for other people and the staggering number of UFOs that are for myself, I'd say the joy of giving is greater than the joy of having something pretty for myself, even though I really really do want cute stuff for me.

actually, I was talking with wendy when I finished orangina about how I felt like I wanted to wear it everyday because I loved it so much, but then I felt so weird leaving the house with it on. I likened it to having to read your short story outloud in class. there's something painfully embarrassing about it even if it's something you're proud of. is it just me? I feel like it's so attention seeking to be all wearing something I made like "look at me! I knit this myself! I'm awesome! don't you want to be me? I feel pretty, oh so pretty...!" there are people that can do that and feel totally secure in it (and rightfully so, because why shouldn't you be proud of something you worked hours and hours on?), but I'm not one of those people. when someone oohs and aahs over something I've made, I get really self-conscious and feel so inclined to point out all the mistakes even though I hope no one notices them on their own. what's up with that?

doing my long weekend happy dance

2006-09-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

I am so ready for the weekend. this was by far the most stressful week I've had at work. ever. this week managed to launch my job from it's usual "omg, I think I'm going to fall asleep in my coffee" level to a much more unpleasant "holy crap, I killed the company" level. ok, well, maybe not quite that extreme. but trust me. it was bad. so looking forward to the next three days.

the good news is that I have another FO! the bad news is that I totally just typed like 50 gajillion pages of bloginess (ok, maybe not that much) and mozilla crashed on me. I'm almost finished sobbing, so now I will try to remember what I just typed (which, for a normal person, should be easily remembered considering it was seriously like 2 minutes ago) even though it all completely escapes me at this moment.so here's my mom wearing her new fingerless glove thingies (goodness, look how normal sized her wrists look in comparison to my giant man-wrists). is there an actual name for these things? the glove things, not the man-wrists.

as you may or may not recall, the last time I was here, I was starting to get rather paranoid about the length of my yarn. thank the heavens above that I did not run out before I got these bad boys finished. but I was seriously sweating bullets by the time I got to the thumb. and it's a good thing these guys are fingerless, because, man, was this a nailbiter. I was left with a measly 8" when I finally bound off the thumb hole. oh, the relief that it wasn't -8"! you can see all that remained of the yarn after I wove in all the ends. whew.please pay no attention to the fact that one of the tops is bound off looser than the other. it's pretty obvious I was fairly tense doing the second one. I kept thinking "what if I bind off too loosely and then don't have enough for the thumb?? the horror!"
pattern: fetching from knitty summer '06
yarn: knitpicks andean silk in chocolate, one whole entire skein
needles: (susan bates??) us6 dpns
finished: august 30, 2006
notes: aside from the yarn substitution, I changed the pattern only by doing one less round in the hand part and one less after the final cable row. I also did a k4p1 bindoff in place of the picot bind off. this was all to save yarn. what a great call on my part. I'm so smart! pat on the back! yay me! and I guess I really didn't care for the picot bindoff anyway. oh, and I also didn't block them. oh well. anyhow, if we don't factor in the fact that I was constantly fretting over the yarn quantity, I really did enjoy this knit. it was super duper lightning fast and I love love love the end result! they're really cute and soft and cuddly and warm and my mom loves them, so they are definitely a winner.

I think this is the first time I finished a project and thought I could put it on my "definitely will knit again" list. which doesn't exist. but these are so easy and so fast and cute that I think I could be inclined to make a whole bunch in lots of colors and make a little pile of stand-by christmas gifts. ...or not... actually, I think I have better things to do. like sleep.

can't help myself

2006-08-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I know I went on and on a while back about knitting selfishly. I really hope that one day I can achieve purely selfish knitting. but for now, I just don't think I have the discipline to do it. it's going to take a lot more training. and we've already established that I'm probably too lazy for training of any kind.

I don't know what it is, but I feel so compelled to knit things for other people all the time. like all the time. constantly. maybe because I feel like it gives me some sort of purpose in life. I noticed all my languishing FOs are all for myself or for isa. poor isa! I love the idea of knitting for her, but I have really poor follow-through. I hope she doesn't feel too neglected.

so the fetching you see above is actually for my mom. her birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I actually started this one weeks ago, but then got distracted by orangina. and then poncherello. and then the dinos and the socks... fetching was not originally intended to be a birthday gift. they were supposed to be a 'just cuz' summertime gift since I never make anything for my mom either. oh, the slacking is never ending around here!

anyhow, this is a very gratifying knit purely for the speed. I could probably crank the second one out tonight if I really tried, actually. you know what was weird, tho? as I was knitting last night, I was pulling yarn from the middle of the ball and it got all stuck, so I figured it just got wound around itself as yarn is prone to doing, so I gave it a few good tugs, but to no avail. so I ended up pulling out a chunk and trying to detangle it. and what did I find?two little pieces of yarn just crammed into the middle! what is this? what are these for? why are they here? are they considered part of the yardage of this ball? if they are, I'm a little concerned, since the pattern uses an entire ball of debbie bliss cashmerino aran, which has two yards more than the knitpicks andean silk that I'm using. I was already paranoid about not having enough yarn, so to make myself feel a little better, I did one less row in the hand part and another row less after the final cable row. I also did a regular bind-off instead of the picot bind-off the pattern wanted me to (which I didn't really like anyway). I really really hope I have enough for the second one... oh, the paranoia!

and then there were two

2006-08-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

oh, what an exciting weekend I had! actually, it wasn't all that exciting. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. it was nice to have a nice "normal" weekend, with nowhere to go, no one to see... just me dragging isa around with me as I ran errands and shopped for things we probably don't really need and lazing around the house when we got tired of running around.

friday night, I was watching dirty jobs, as usual, after isa was in bed. it's always entertaining, but this week's was especially great because our very own mike rowe went to an alpaca farm! here! in northern california! I was not aware there was an alpaca farm here in northern california (I'm sure there are tons), but aside from actually going myself, the best way to see an alpaca farm is through the dirty jobs lens. mike even spun alpaca fiber! I was way geeking out. also, pre-shearing alpacas are super cute. post-shearing, they are really ridiculous looking. poor guys. their necks are so skinny. like ostrich necks. haha. did you know they didn't have any upper teeth? just lower ones. I feel so edumacated.

so, we've all seen those knit bags they're selling at target now. but now they're also selling slippers! look at these things. $5.99! seriously, people. the knitting. it's everywhere. which is a good thing. because that means these guys are going to fit right in.
that's right! in the midst of my non-activity packed weekend, I managed to finish the crooked cable socks for my future sis-in-law. the second sock went off with no incident, until I got to the tubular bind-off, which probably shouldn't be done while watching the emmys. I realized that I must have bound the second or third stitch off the wrong way (after I'd done about 15 stitches) because it was coming out all wrong and off-set. taking out a tubular bind off is very very un-fun. my head is still throbbing.
pattern: crooked cable socks, by sock bug
yarn: knitpicks essential sock yarn in the pumpkin colorway, roughly 3/4 skein per sock
needles: knitpicks 32" us1 circulars
finished: august 27, 2006
notes: I pretty much just used the chart for this pattern. I didn't even really read the rest of it, but I think it was for cuff-down, but I did it toe-up magic loop, using a magic cast-on, sherman heel and a tubular bind-off. the instep was 2.5 repeats and the leg was 2. I did five rows of k1p1 ribbing for the cuff. the pattern was so easy to memorize, yet looks so "fancy" (as my brother called them). the yarn was nice and soft, but I had a lot of splittiness issues. I feel like it might have been made worse by the extra pointiness of the needles, actually. this was also the first time I cabled without a cable needle and the extra pointiness was great for that.

my very second pair of socks! also, I finally got to use my poorman's sock blockers. whee!

dinos!

2006-08-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

"lemme out! lemme out!"
"what's going on? I can't see! I can't move! is this a cruel joke?""hey! what are these? do we eat them?"
"oh... that's better. look at us! we can run and play!""whee!! goodbye, cruel world - we're moving to san diego!"

I made these little cuties for my friend's son's first birthday. they are much more loveable now that they're not in little pieces scattered around the couch in my family room, begging for me to sew them up. I managed to get them all stuffed and seamed last night, finally. I think the sheer desire to get these guys out of my life forever so I can work on something else is what motivated me to finish them as fast as possible. also, they're a week late.

pattern: xtreme-knitting dinos
yarn: lily sugar n cream in three blinding colors, probably less than 1/2 a skein for each dino
needles: susan bates us7 aluminum straights
finished: august 21, 2006

notes: this yarn was no fun to work with. especially with the susan bates! ugh! I thought I was going to burn a hole in my finger, it was so rough to knit. but it actually washed up a lot softer and makes for a good, durable feeling toy. the only modifications I made (except for the yarn substitution) was making the legs shorter on bronty and stegs. this was not really a design element so much as I was so sick of knitting legs, I thought I could make them shorter and finish them faster. I actually like the shorter legs better, though! I kind of wish I'd made them short on trice too. anyway, I'm happy with these guys and I'm hoping they'll make a little boy in san diego happy too.

newsflash! susan still cannot count

2006-08-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

I forced myself to finish the dino legs this weekend. unfortunately, I just kept knitting and knitting legs and legs and legs... and, well... I'm not entirely sure how this happened.
yeah. that's one leg's worth of knitting time I'm never getting back. *sigh*

moving on... I visited a lys yesterday that I'd never been to before. they were having a big ole sale on the already clearanced stuff. everything already on sale was only $3! I didn't go nuts, though... but I did get two skeins of swtc oasis (soysilk) for $3 each to make lotus blossom from the summer '06 ik. except, for me, this will likely be for summer '07, since it is entirely impossible for me to even think about starting this anytime before winter shows up around these parts. I also picked up some yarn for another baby gift (when will it ever end??), which was not on sale.

anyway, the owner was really nice and her daughter was also there to distract isa from trying to eat cashmere (but no one was there to stop me from eating it! ha!) by letting her play with the toy cars they had, which was great. every yarn store should come with an on-call babysitter and a box full of toys. she didn't have a huge selection, but I was rather impressed by the entire shelf filled with cherry tree hill yarns. I think she had most (if not all) of the yarns they make. I definitely would have gone to town on the supersock if I hadn't already gotten some last week... it was definitely an exercise in self control.

oh! also. they sell those clear clogs! which would be fun for showing off cute socks, except they're not really that cheap and I don't think I'm a clog person... but they were exciting enough for me to stop a moment and actually consider getting some. maybe I'll become a clog person someday. or not.

well, with any luck, dino pieces should be dry (they're taking a trip in the dryer right now) when I get home tonight and I can stuff and piece them together. we'll see if I can't get some dino action up here on this blog in the next day or two. rowr!

0 (zero) interesting content ahead

2006-08-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

nothing exciting is going on. this week is just about as bland as ever. *yawn* I'm not even entirely sure why I'm posting anything, except I'm so bored, I'm not quite sure what else to do.

there has been minimal knitting action around these parts. I've only completed a measly 3 legs out of 12 for the dinos I'm making for my friend's son, whose birthday was yesterday... I might be a bit late on this one. I did some preliminary seaming on the other body parts, though. and my future sis-in-law's sock is pretty much the way it looked when I got off the plane on sunday night. are you asleep yet? I'm about there myself.

I've had a few project ideas floating around in my head - yes, in addition to the long list of unfinisheds I have hanging around my house, like the nerdy kids at a middle school dance, hoping (oh the hope! oh the misguided, hopeless hope!) that someone (who? me?) will choose them and take them for a spin for one glorious night. except that I think I am that nerdy kid...

also, I have all the other things that I've almost started, but haven't really, like fetching for my mom and the debbie bliss hoodie I posted about a few posts back and this new, slightly risky, potentially disastrous crazy idea I have that involves paton's classic merino, a washing machine, probably a calculator and also all the hair that will most likely be pulled from my head. among other things.

and, before I totally lose you, here's a funny episode* from this weekend, when I left isa with my parents while I went off to boston. isa's just started becoming aware of her *ahem* bodily functions, which makes for some interesting conversations. usually along these lines:

isa: poopoo
adult: what?
isa: poopoo
adult: you have to -- ?
isa: eeeerrrrghhhh....!!
adult: oh...
isa: poopoo

this time, my mom was getting isa ready for her bath. she (isa, not my mom) was doing her usual happy run around the bathroom naked, when:

isa: peepee!
grandma: what? peepee?
isa: peepee!! peepee!! (pees on floor)
grandma: !!!

after the whole peepee thing is cleaned up, isa's soaking happily in the bathtub. all of a sudden, she gets really serious, looks my mom right in the eye, and:

isa: poopoo
grandma: !!!

needless to say, my mom finished that bath up really fast. with no incident. but man, was she scared! haha! poor grandma.

*an apology to those who prefer not to read "my baby is so cute" stories... I don't do this often, tho, so I think I'm entitled just this once!

there and back in 48 hours flat

2006-08-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

it was a whirlwind trip to boston this weekend for me. it was so fast, I can scarcely remember it. that could also be due to the non-sleep I managed to get on the way there and/or the open bar. whatever is impairing my already wounded memory doesn't really matter, I guess. I know I had fun, the weather was completely fabulous, the bride and groom were both radiant, there was laughing, there was crying, there was food, there was drink, there were good friends, and there was sock.I somehow managed to finish the first of two crooked cable socks (and feebly begin the second) I'm attempting to complete for my brother's fiancee's birthday gift. I need to concurrently complete my time machine to get this to her in time. I realize, though, that the longer it takes me to finish the socks, the farther back in time I'm going to have to travel, so this is a really tricky situation. I'll be seeing her labor day weekend, though, so I suppose that's my current deadline if I don't manage to get back to the beginning of august. it can be done. I am sure of it.

so I landed in boston at 7am on saturday morning, where I met up with tiffholio, who had valiantly flown in at 530am and slept in baggage claim while waiting for me. my brother, who lives in cambridge, picked us up and whisked us to a nice greasy breakfast at mike's city diner on the southside of boston. then it was back to his house to nap/knit/shower/get dressed/wait for our ride and then head off to the wedding.

inbetween the ceremony and reception, we had some time to kill and so a big group of us found ourselves being magnetically drawn to peet's to get ourselves caffeinated enough to make it through the reception. there, my friend elaine and I met the two sweetest, funniest, down to earthest, charmingest little old ladies who touted the glories of retirement and grandmotherhood. they were a blast to talk to and laugh with and it is too bad we don't actually live in boston, because it would be a hoot to join them the 5 days out of the week they spend chatting and sipping coffee and generally enjoying life down at peet's. later on, elaine and I would promise each other that we would be that cute and full of life and make young women giggle and look forward to their seventies and eighties when we got to be their age. meeting those two ladies was probably the highlight of my weekend. a close second was spending the night here:after a painfully sleepless redeye flight on top of a full day of partying in boston, sleeping for a solid 10 hours in this bed was indeed heavenly. I loved every tiny little moment of it, even though I don't technically remember it. I haven't slept 10 hours in one night since isa was born. mmm... sleep... oh how I miss you...

the next morning, as we checked out of the hotel, I realized that there was no way we were going to be able to grab lunch with my brother and make it to a yarn shop without missing my flight (for which I had to get to the airport 2-3 hours in advance). I was pretty bummed, but convinced myself I was going to survive, when, over lunch, my brother casually says "did I already mention this weekend is tax-free?" as in nothing has sales tax. nothing. all weekend. he says this a mere hour before we have to catch our flights! all the yarn in all of boston was tax-free! and I couldn't get to it! because of the terrorists! damn you, terrorists!! I tried not to sob outloud at the restaurant and instead chose to drown my sorrows over some dessert.

I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures... my mind was really in no place to be forming coherent thoughts and/or remember to take out my camera and it wasn't until today that I regretted not getting pictures of the cute little old ladies or the tasty ice cream or even my brother and his roommate's crazy huge 1400lb concrete argentinian barbeque oven thing that he built in their backyard. trust me, though. it was all very very exciting. and, hey, I guess I do remember a good amount of the weekend afterall. go figure.

come fly with me

2006-08-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

maybe it's more like come cry with me... it's been almost a year since the last time I've flown anywhere. I'm going to boston for a short visit - just over 30 hours - for a friend's wedding tonight and am really not looking forward to it. the flight, that is. the wedding, I'm totally looking forward to. it's going to be party party party all weekend long! woohoo! also, I get to see my brother. what fun!

but those darn terrorists have gone and ruined my dinner plans tonight. my flight doesn't depart until 11pm, but now they're telling me that I have to be there at 8. which means I have to leave my house around 7. which means no time for my previously scheduled dinner. so sad... I'm probably going to end up eating a cinnabon. the terrorists are also making me check my luggage and taking away my right to take out my contacts mid-flight.

but enough of my whining! I got to do what I love best last night. and no, it's not knitting - I suppose I might love knitting more, but this is what I loved first - before I even had my first whiff of a skein of yarn... yes! it's packing! (no, not packing heat.) it's sick and twisted, I know, but I love packing. packing mountains of stuff into a teeny space makes me giddy enough to make a trained professional consider having me committed.

but, man, I love making lists of what I need to pack and what I need to do and what I need to do with the things I need to pack... and then crossing those things off as I pack them away. sadly, since my trip is so short this time, I don't really have all that much to take along and there is quite a bit of empty space in my bag. so I needed a challenge and I needed to pack up my in-flight knitting needs! so I made my list and started gathering just the essentials. I didn't want to accidentally bring too much stuff. nothing like being loaded down with unnecessary items. and here is what I came up with:clockwise, from the left: the pattern for crooked cable socks by sockbug, the tubular bind-off page from the knitting answer book (sometimes you just need one page - this is why God made scotch tape), knitty's magic toe up cast-on tutorial, my little green knitting bag containing two skeins of knitpicks essential sock yarn - one of which is attached to a pair of knitpicks circulars and the beginnings of a crooked cable sock, hipknitism's sherman heel tutorial chart, a pen, a darning needle, a crochet hook, dpns (just in case), a tape measure and a clover yarn cutter. (as you can see, I need all the help I can get. I can never remember how to do anything without a piece of paper telling me what to do.) I hope I didn't forget anything important.

and here's everyone inside the bag, ready to go:
after I took the photo, I realized I should bring something to read and/or listen to, just in case I don't have enough elbow room to knit (how sad would that be??), so I managed to cram in my copy of knitting rules and an ipod full of good knitting music. with room to spare! now all I've left to do is pray the terrorists don't take away my right to knit on the plane. actually, they should just stay away from airports in general. they're too crowded anyway, right?

*ps. I got a cute new bag at target a couple days ago. see it up there? I love it! it's big and floppy and was only $16. whee!

oreos... mmm...

2006-08-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

I used to be good at math (way back in the 1900s). now, I spend the vast majority of my daily allowance of brain power trying to figure out how to best get an oreo out of the package without getting crumbs all over the table. perhaps the fact that I'm munching away on some oreo-goodness right now might explain why I can't seem to get my head around making this debbie bliss pattern less stupid.

I know, I know - everyone knows - that debbie bliss patterns are notorious for making things more complicated than necessary (altho, very cute!). which is why I thought I was quite brilliant when I said to myself, silently, in my head, "dude! I'm smart enough to make this thing easy as pie! and less seams!" in theory, yes... in reality, not so much.

I think I'm getting it, though, and I think I just need to start (with fingers crossed and knocking on wood) and know that what I seem incapable of putting into words or numbers or pictures, I can make happen with needles and yarn. I want to make this thing seamless, working the front and back in the round up to the 'pits, then working the front and back pieces flat and then joining the shoulders with a three needle bind off, leaving the remaining stitches live to work the hood. because, hello, in the long run, wouldn't that make it easier?

I think I'm just trying to work through the details too fast, though, because I know what I want, but just can't get it down on paper right now. I envision lots of frogging, maybe a little cursing, but, if things work out the way I think they can, I think I'm really going to like this.

someone please remind me that I need to swatch first, please. in all my excitement, there is a pretty good possibility that I'm going to forget. and also, please, no silly questions about why I'm starting on something that is so obviously for me when I keep talking about how I've got all this other stuff to do... I'll have plenty of time to work on birthday gifts while standing in the security line at sfo friday night. *sigh*

in the dark

2006-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to take a break from my selfish knitting and get back to my guilt inflicted gift making. I'm getting close to finishing knitting the pieces (trying really hard not to think about the seaming... oh, god! the seaming!!!) for my friend's baby's first birthday present. I was a little unsure if I should mention what it is, but I have a feeling she hasn't been reading here, so I'm going to risk it.

I'm making these guys. so cute! and actually, they should have been done a long time ago, but they've all been sitting in a plastic bag, legless, for a while now. I decided to use what little knitting time I had last night to finally make bronty's head/neck, since he's been sitting around headless and legless for over a month. all both of the others have heads built right into their bodies and I'm sure he felt just a little self conscious about this. (which one of these is not like the others?)

so, I grab the neon green yarn for bronty, and there I am, happily knitting away (well, not so happily, because I stupidly decided to use my cheapo susan bates aluminum straights with sugar 'n' cream cotton madness and it is a really, really unpleasant experience) on the couch, watching frasier, when out of nowhere, the lights dim, the tv flickers and then it goes totally black. so now, I'm less happily knitting away, not watching frasier, in the dark, wondering how I'm going to finish when I can't read the pattern. then I remember that I have flashlights and candles and manage to get it finished. I even did my first three needle bind-off in the semi-dark!

I was quite excited to only have a bunch of legs left to do, so I decided to pull out all the dino pieces I'd already completed just to make sure I wasn't missing anything else. I realized, right then, that this was something I should have done before making the bronty head. because! I'm an idiot! bronty is blue, not green! I then succeeded in uttering several unladylike things and considered just letting him have a green head in a moment (just a moment this time) of laziness, then proceeded to rip that little green head apart in about 2 seconds. *sigh* I'll be making another bronty head tonight - in blue this time.

I'm sorry I have no pictures! I had thought that I could take pictures because, well, cameras operate on batteries and I could still take pictures! but then I realized that I probably needed light, too. then I thought, well, at least I can catch up on some blog reading because my computer also runs on batteries! yay! but then, wait... my wireless router needs power to give me internetiness.

what a disappointing evening. at least it's wednesday. the week is, thankfully, half over! hopefully tomorrow will bring less ranting and more raving. and not in the raving lunatic sense. because I do that everyday, regardless of what happens.

edited to add: what the heck is this?! why would a magazine publish a picture of a dog wearing a sweater and humping a pumpkin? there is something so dirty about this...

erik estrada ain't got nothin' on me

2006-08-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

remember ponch? chips was one of my favorite shows growing up. my dad actually has some great super8 footage of my brother, me, and our friends riding our bikes around the neighborhood, with the chips theme song playing in the background. anyway, ponch was pretty awesome, but he wasn't made out of bamboo. but I decided to pay him a bit of homage anyway and name my latest FO poncherello (sorry for the awful pictures):
pattern: cool hemp ponchette
yarn: southwest trading company bamboo in black, 1.5 skeins
needles: crystal palace US9 straights
size after blocking: 15" x 48"
finished: august 6, 2006

notes: so easy! I really like this bamboo yarn - it knits up into a nice drapey, shiny fabric. it also blocked out really nicely and dried in just a few hours. oh, also, the row gauge in this yarn was quite a bit off from the hemp yarn the pattern called for, so I ended up doing a few extra repeats to get the right size. otherwise, there isn't much to say, really... just that it was easy and super fast and I am very happy with the finished product. I'll definitely be taking this with me to the wedding I'm going to this weekend. yay!

mine! mine! all mine!

2006-08-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

there is something deeply gratifying about selfish knitting. it brightens my day, warms my soul and brings a smile to my face. I always love the yarn I choose for me. and I think I have really great taste in patterns. I forgive myself when things don't go as planned and I don't hold a grudge if I don't finish something I told myself I'd finish or even if I never start something I said I would. I'm very understanding if I'm too busy to work on a project because of other obligations. I'm also willing to let other obligations slide if I really want to work on a project. in fact, I am almost painfully accomodating! I am awesome!

I don't even know why I waste my time knitting for other people. it's not that anyone I've knit for has been ungrateful or that I don't enjoy working on those projects and I'm no more or less excited to finish. and FO is an FO regardless of where it's headed next. (oh, who am I kidding? sometimes I really do hate the way gifts can be such a time suck and keep me away from knitting something for myself. me! me!!) but I don't think anyone appreciates things I've knit for them anywhere near as much as I do when I knit for myself. yet, I continue to knit things for others. what in the world makes me do it? why must I be so damn giving? why am I such a nice person? why isn't there a font that you can use for sarcasm? you can use bold or italics when you need extra emphasis on something, but what if you need a little extra sarcasm? how can people tell? someone needs to come up with something. is there a congressman or someone I can contact about this? what was I talking about? did I get off topic again? hello?

oh, right. I want to be more selfish. it's in my nature, really. I really am selfish. but I guess I just wish it were more socially acceptable so I could be all, "oh, right. happy birthday. excuse me while I got knit me some socks." unfortunately, I want to keep my friends so I don't have as much time to be selfish as I want. I have all these gifts that are half-done and overdue, yet, not so deep down, all I want to do is knit for me me me! I need to figure out a way to make myself finish stuff so I can focus more on me. but, instead, I find myself thinking "I'll just finish this one thing for me, and then I can focus on finishing X for so-and-so." but even though I have 100 gifts to make, I have something like 10,000 things that I want to make for myself. this is what seems to have led to the half-finishedness and overduededness of these gifts. but... my ponchette... (pout)

ok, fine, knitting for other people is still gratifying. but, it's just not the same as selfish knitting. I really do like giving gifts. really! sigh. it will be a wonder if I can get all these done in time for next year's birthdays. someone say a prayer to the knitgods for me... I need help from a higher power. cuz, wow, how many times did I say "me" in this post??

tis better to receive than to give

2006-08-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

sometimes. wendy might disagree. because she came over last night to hang out and came bearing gifts for me! well, gift. and, technically, it's for isa. but it came out a teensy bit bigger than intended, so we joked that maybe she can wear it to her first day of kindergarten. but, hi! so cute!! this is from the debbie bliss book, baby knits for beginners. it's so incredibly soft and sweet and made with lots of love - months of love - just for little isa. I hope she knows just how loved she is!
take a look at the super cute tag and ribbon and little baggie, just like the ones that come with store-bought sweaters. wendy is way into cuteness - not just looking at it, but making it into something tangible. but I don't need to tell you that! you can see the evidence right here! you may be asking "where is this wendy's blog so I can see more of her amazing creations?" the answer is: it's still inside her head. (knock, knock!) come out, come out, little blog! the world is ready to welcome you! we think you're great!

I'll take another weekend now, please

2006-07-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

the weekend was good to me. well, mostly. I got home from work friday to find these guys waiting eagerly for me. what a great way to start the weekend! I had ordered my new coffee grinder and the yarn harlot's book earlier in the week and definitely did not expect them to come so quickly! and I also didn't think the fall interweave knits would come before july ended either. such a wonderful surprise. and that yarn harlot! such a hoot!

my southern california knit buddy was up for the week to visit her folks. sadly, she had baby in tow and didn't actually bring any knitting. but we did manage to squeeze in some time after the little ones were in bed to camp out in the knitting section at borders and sip coffee and flip through books and dream of swimming in pools of yarn. it was a great way to end a crazy crazy day.

we, along with three other mommies and some grandparents and aunties, plus the five kiddos between the ages of 11 and 21 months hauled ourselves up to habitot in berkeley. the kids had a blast, but were tired and hungry by the time we managed to get out of there and down the street for lunch. super tasty food (quite possibly the best peking duck I've had this side of the pacific), but the staff there had to seat us on the third floor (no elevator, of course) because our party was so big. imagine dragging five cranky kids and five strollers up two very narrow flights of stairs in a crowded restaurant... thank goodness it was nice and cool that day.
the weekend activities ended early, with a picnic lunch on sunday afternoon at the park. the rest of the day was spent recuperating and relaxing. I'm about one third of the way done with the ponchette. it really is super fast and brainless to knit. but I guess I have been being a bit too brainless about it and have, on multiple occasions, knit rows and rows without realizing that I'd forgotten to do the pattern rows. oops. needless to say, I've done a fair amount of tinking.
oh, one more thing I did. sorry, no pictures of the actual process... I had been wondering where I could buy some lavender sachets to put in my yarn stash. I noticed they sold fresh lavender at trader joe's for only $2.79 for a good sized bunch. I laid it out in the sun and, once it was dry, shook and rubbed off the lavender buds and put them in these little envelope things that are made for the spices you throw in for making those chinese stewed eggs - they're kind of like big tea bags. I filled up 10 of them and still had quite a bit left over. so cheap! so easy! and so much better smelling than my bedroom normally is.

susan and kntting, sitting in a tree...

2006-07-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

whenever I finish a project, I feel like I need to do some personal reflection. do I pick up one of the 100s of ufo's I use to carpet my home or do I cast on for one of the projects I'd mysteriously managed to gather materials for in the last few weeks? I struggle with the guilt of the languishing ufo's but then drool at the thought of something new. it's never a tough choice.

my knitting projects are like relationships. some good, but more bad, it seems... most of them start out with pure superficiality; serendipitously finding myself face to face with a super cute pattern and knowing that I just have to have it. I just have to! I mean, look how cute it is! imagine how cute we'll look together! I do whatever it takes to make it happy, finding the perfect yarn in the perfect color, taking it with me everywhere, staying up late together, making sure it's comfortable and safe in it's own little bag, telling everyone I know how great it is, daydreaming about the day that I can wear it proudly for all to see... I jump right in with little foresight - I'm too busy basking in the glow of the newness and excitement of the whole thing.

usually, there are rough patches along the way. more often than I wish, one of those rough patches means the end of it all. we have a big fight, I yell at it, and then stuff it in a bag and toss it in the closet so we can each have the space we need. sometimes, we are able to reconcile. sometimes things are so badly damaged that it could be years before we can even face each other again. sometimes I just rip it to bits and try not to think about it anymore. sometimes I completely forget that it even exists. maybe if it wrote or called more often or didn't tell me that we look fat together, I would be able to overcome my feelings of anger and resentment.

other times, a younger cuter pattern comes along and catches my eye (I have such a wayward heart!) and the one I was working on gets left in the dust. the yarn is always greener on the other needles, isn't it? suddenly, the current project seems dull, old, lifeless. it does nothing for me. but look at that cute new kid who keeps clamoring for my attention, batting those eyelashes, smiling coyly in my direction... who can resist??

and, sometimes, I get enamored with two or more projects at the same time! that's tough, too, because I try to juggle them all, only to realize I don't have the ability to devote the amount of attention each one requires and end up having to choose just one. I don't think I've ever been able to successfully manage several concurrent projects. I guess it just isn't in my nature.

sometimes, the more I get to know certain projects, the more I realize that it wasn't quite what I had envisioned and that maybe it was all a big mistake. if this happens early on, it's no big deal. it's a bit more crushing if I've gotten in pretty deep. that's when things have the potential to get messy. and this is especially embarrassing if I've boasted about the cuteness of such a project publically. say, on my blog.

then, of course, there are the flings. the ones I just kind of pick up because I need a distraction from the "real" project which may be trying my patience or have gotten boring for the moment. I may not be all that attracted to it, but it's there and it's easy. it's rare that those actually turn into anything useful, but they often give me the motivation I need to focus on the real thing. these are easily abandoned with minimal remorse.

but then, once in a blue moon, that one pattern comes along and sweeps me right off my feet... it's rare (that's how I know it's good), but things sail along so perfectly, the initial rush enough to carry me through to the end. all the little snags that pop up seem insubstantial and misunderstandings are smoothed over in no time. that's when I really love knitting. I mean, I love it all the time, unconditionally, but that's when I realize why I love it. that's when it all becomes worth it. can you tell I'm still swooning over orangina? teehee.

this post was inspired just a teensy bit by this. it's about poo, so don't click unless you like to read about poo. just a warning. it's super hilarious, though. happy friday!

look out world...

2006-07-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

...here she is! orangina (and hi! is that my bra or what?) in all her glory:
maybe I should've worn a shirt inside... then again, I guess there is no proof that it's me or my bra in there anyway. thank goodness it's finally cool enough to put this on. it fits just the way I'd wanted and I looooooove it! love it! I hope no one will be offended if I wear this every day - with something less revealing inside, of course.