Knitting in the Slow Lane

I'm beginning to see the appeal

2006-06-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Quickie post on my wedding knitting progress:

2 bridesmaid Mariposa wraps (out of 4)
Time to knit: approximately 3 weeks per wrap

1 sleeve of my I Do shrug (still need to complete sleeve back and another sleeve)
Time to knit - I have no idea, I've had to start and stop so many times and rip back a good part of the back. I think I'm finally on track again.

Crochet flower girl shawl (Chanson Crochet from Interweave Crochet/Wrap Style), chain 70 st to start rather than 85
Time to crochet - 3 days

Yes, 3 days!! Crochet is starting to grow on me. The left side is more curled up than the right, I wonder if I missed some decreases or something. I'll take it to Hollis and see if she can "read" my crochet. Considering this is my 2nd crochet project ever and this is my first:

I'm pretty thrilled. It's got a really cute flower motif in the lower, more open part of the wrap:

2 more Mariposas and 2/3 of my I Do in 3 months... I need to channel Dorie from Finding Nemo. Just keep knitting, just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

I wanna post a picture

2006-05-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Mariposa #1 done! (yes I'm still having the errors... this is a test)

Am I the only one having Blogger problems?

2006-05-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Either Blogger has been acting up or I'm an idiot (or both...)

Last Thursday I was at Boba Knit early and was using their wireless internet on my work laptop to post an update, and I kept randomly getting a "cannot connect" error and it was defaulting to my dialup connection. It drove me nuts and I ended up just saving my post rather than posting it because I kept losing connection to Blogger.

Almost a week later, I have a few spare moments so I decide it's time to finally post that update. I'm plugged into the LAN. I KNOW my connection works well! So why am I still getting this error below the text window:

Could not connect to Blogger.com. Saving and publishing may fail. Test connection now.

I seem to get this error when trying to upload pictures. Isn't that the point of a knitblog? GRRRRRRR

Anybody else having this issue, or is it really just me?

a quickie...

2006-04-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

... since I'm supposed to be working...

Here's my progress on I Do. It's all poofy right now but it should block out nicely. It's on my desk at work, which is a lovely bluegreen seaglass type glass. It's probably part of my inspiration for my wedding colors. You can't really see the color changes but it's making subtle changes from green to blue.

And a new Easter tradition? I love this! Easter Turducken

Wedding knitting

2006-04-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm crazy, I know, but I'm planning to knit for all my bridesmaids, plus myself. When I started I had 5 months and 5 projects. I'm now about 40% done on 2 different projects, so I'm on pace if I can JUST KEEP KNITTING. :)

I Do is coming along nicely. I'm done with one sleeve and am starting the back on the first side. This project is made in 2 pieces and is grafted together in the back. This is my public knitting. so if you see me knitting around town, this is most likely what I'm working on.

The first Mariposa shawl is also knitting right up. The lace pattern is much easier than it looks (I think I just get freaked out by lace charts) and since it's worked from the bottom up, each section is smaller than the last. I'm on the 3rd out of 4 repeats, and then need to pick up stitches on the edges for the ties. I'm using Tess sock yarn in the same colorway as the I Do (light blue fades to light green), and am about to start my second skein. I think I'm going to have PLENTY of sock yarn for 4 shawls. I should also do something for my flower girl - maybe one of the Tie One On's from Knitty? I need a nice wrap pattern for an 8 year old that I can do in leftover sock yarn. I prefer one with a rounded back rather than a pointy back.

If I get behind I have had several offers of help, which are much appreciated!

Speaking of public knitting, I've been trying to get to Full Thread Ahead on the occasional Monday night, but haven't made it on a regular basis. This week's knitting was canceled as Hollis' father-in-law passed away over the weekend. :( I don't know if anyone still goes to the Prolific Oven on Tuesdays, it kind of died after Shannon moved. Miss you! I've started to go to Boba Knit on Thursdays in Mountain View - new crowd and familiar faces all together, but it's awfully dark in the store. Hopefully with the end of the rain the lighting will be better.

In other knitting news (I sound like Rhonda Bell of Knitting News Cast in my head), I have been downloading podcast after podcast, and have quite a library of knitting related 'casts on my MP3 player and waiting on my laptop. I don't have any actual music on my MP3 player, just podcasts of various types (knitting, wedding, tech, news, and workouts). I'm really enjoying listening to them. I'll work on listing them on my sidebar - which is really out of date. Downloading them is really easy - I use a free software called Juice (formerly iPodder) - it works like Bloglines for podcasts. It tracks the RSS feeds and automatically downloads any new podcasts. My MP3 player looks like a drive on my laptop, so I can drag files across to easily download them. I wish there was an auto-download function, but this way I can pick and choose which podcasts have priority.

I spent Easter Sunday with my future sister-in-law and her family, and took some pictures of my nephews in the Brother Rugby sweaters I was making last year. They're still HUGE on the boys, so they should last a good long time. At one point Aidan, the little one, put his arm thru the neckhole and was wearing it like a toga. So cute!

I'll be working the FTA booth at the Knit and Crochet Guild show in Oakland on Saturday with Hollis and Lu, and will be at Vickie Howell's book signing at FTA tomorrow night. JUST KEEP KNITTING!

I am a total geek

2006-04-05T14:56:00.001-07:00

27.41617% - Total Geek

Another FO

2006-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Finally finished my co-worker's cabled fingerless mittens over the weekend. The last pair I made only took me about 2 weeks, but they were out of DK weight. My co-worker really wanted Cherry Tree Hill's African Gray colorway, which Hollis only had in sock weight, so I recalculated the pattern for the new yarn, and these took me almost twice as long to finish. I was so sick of them by the time I was almost done, but she's very excited about getting them so I know they'll have a long time of good use.

Now I really need to get going on my wedding knitting! 1 shrug for me, and 4 wraps for the bridesmaids. I have 5 months, no worries, right?

WIP March 2006

2006-04-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the pics of the WIPs in my sidebar that have actually been started:

I Do

Lu's Lacy Scarf

Ribbed Cable Fingerless Gloves (for me)

Ribbed Cable Fingerless Gloves (for co-worker)

Felted Easter Basket (teaching project for FTA)

Whenever Sock Swap Sock #2 (I don't know if this counts, since the pair of socks are half-done, but I haven't started mine at all yet.)

Cookie's Katrina Rib

Fixation Socks

Surprise Gift Lace Project (I'm not showing this one because it's for a person who reads this blog)

TK's Giants Afghan

Katrina Bear (cannibalized for the needles)

Felted Messenger Bag

Knitter's Studio (not a) Poncho (I can't find this one!)

Interweave Knits Chevron Capelet (this one is going to be frogged - I can't imagine knitting it now. The matching sweater is warm enough as it is without the capelet).

I forgot about this one - it's the pattern for Knitty's Cosy, which I was planning to turn into a shrug. I think I'm a little shrugged-out, but I don't want to frog it).

Photo Dump

2006-03-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

I have a ton of pictures I've been meaning to post, so here's a gallery of recent FO's and such:

My Olympic medal - I'm so proud! It also has a permanent place on the sidebar, which has been updated with my FO's and UFO's.

Dad's ~~Christmas~~ Birthday Socks (Jan 31). The first one used more than half the yarn so I cut off the ribbing of the first sock and used it for the ribbing on both socks. I think they turned out wonderfully. I gave them to Mom to take home with her after she came out for wedding dress shopping weekend (Feb 20).

Oopsie, a dropped stitch halfway down the back of my Olympic sweater. I laddered it up as much as I could and then used some extra yarn to weave nearby, scoop up that stray stitch, and then weave in the other side. You can't tell at all. Good thing this is grabby wool and that stitch didn't go anywhere!

My poor button. Hollis was trying to help me out because my sweater wouldn't dry. She took it home to her drying rack in her dryer, and it still wasn't drying, so she put it in the dryer on fluff, and all the rhinestones fell out. :( She had no way of knowing, so of course I'm not upset. Her daughter Jordana searched the dryer for the rhinestones, and found all but one of them. They are actually faceted glass stones rather than the glue-back rhinestones you find at Michael's, so I'd like to find a jewelry supply store that carries them. Maybe a colored rhinestone for the center, so it looks intentional? I still wear the sweater with the button like this...

Experimentation with the timer feature on my new camera, and me in my Olympic sweater. I really love it - it's warm and comfy at the office, the sleeves are slightly too long which is MUCH better than slightly too short, and I made it in 16 days (actually 13, not counting drying after blocking)!

This is the sweater getting me drunk. Waaaaay too much tequila at that party, ugh...

My baby sweater and hat in NoNoKitty's Fairy Godmother colorway, from Lu's pattern. This yarn definitely wanted to be a baby sweater! I started the sweater and thought, no way, it's too cute to give away, I want some socks out of it. So I ripped out and started socks. But it hated being socks. So I went ahead and made the baby hat and sweater, and the yarn is so happy now. I made double-crochet chains instead of miles of i-cord, and the buttons are little pink and purple butterflies Mom found at Stitches. They will go to my cousin Ryan and his wife Vicki for their little girl, who is expected to arrive in April.

And finally, Elspeth's call to WIP it out on Friday and blog all of our UFOs. Wait, I'm confused. Is it a WIP day, or is it a public display of UFO's? I better go read her blog entry again.... Oh I get it now. I'm thinking KIP, or knit in public, which I got mixed up with WIPs or works-in-progress, which is the same as UFOs, or unfinished objects. (this is for my sister who thinks I speak some variant of Klingon when I write about knitting).

I'll try to take some pics on Thursday and post on Friday, or take pics Friday after work and blog Friday night or over the weekend.

Lots of goodies in the mail

2006-03-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

I was visiting Viv in Phoenix - Spring Training Baby!! - thru Monday and came into work on Tuesday morning to find 2 boxes on my desk.

The enormous one was my "bottle" from Gail Gregor for the Whenever bottle swap. In it I found:

1 skein of lightweight STR in Lapis - I could only find this in medium weight at Stitches so I'm thrilled to have it!
1 skein of KnitPicks Shimmer in Maple Leaf, a lovely orangey-browney-yellowey color
A green chibi with 2 tapestry needles
2 sets of beaded stitch markers
notecards of a woman with a hat and needles and yarn
a bottle of blueberry honey - sounds yummy, from SD where she lives
flip-flop post-it notes
a loofa scrub soap
a flower bobby pin (these last 3 were from her trip to Hawaii)
chocolate! a box of chocolate truffles, 3 huge valentine ~~truffles~~CANDLES!(oops, can't eat those! LOL), and a bar of dark chocolate
and the cutest bear - "Mrs. Knitter" bear with her bag of knitting

The second box was from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - the first shipment of the Socks that Rock club!

It includes one skein of lightweight STR (can't remember the colorway name, but it's teals and browns), the binder with a pattern inside, a mini-skein of "emergency" yarn, and the button and bumper sticker.

I also got my Denise order - a new set of #8 tips (I lost one at the hotel about a month ago), 2 new cables, and another attacher-thingy and button stoppers. I need to go out of town more often if this is what I find when I come back!

More on Spring Training when I get caught up at work...

Blocked, but not drying

2006-02-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

I know it's hard to see, but at least she's finished! She still wasn't dry at Knitting Click, so Hollis is bringing her home to dry in her sweater dryer. I'll get Sitcom Chic back tomorrow evening, ready to wear! I read a statistic today that wool can absorb 85% of its weight in water, and now I believe it.

I love the swirly pattern the colorway takes at the sleeve as it goes through the increases - almost like armbands.

The crochet loop for the button is too large, and the neck-to-front edging looks wonky, so I might fix it later. But it's DONE!!

Done done da-done done done...

2006-02-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

sung to the tune of the Olympics theme...

After many nearly-sleepless nights, Sitcom Chic (Winter Edition) is complete! I gave her full-length sleeves and she's made of wool, appropriate for Winter Olympics, right?

Coming into the final stretch on Friday night, I had 2/3 of the body done, 1 sleeve, and 3/4 of the second sleeve done, which adds up to 75% of the project complete. In the next ~28 hours, I finished the sleeve, joined the body, worked what seemed like the longest stockinette raglan yoke in recorded history (despite the fact that each row was shorter than the last), finished the edges, sewed on a button, and sewed the armpits closed. I finished at 2:30 am Sunday morning.

I blocked her at 11 am on Sunday morning after a few hours sleep, and she's still not dry, 24 hours later! I consider her a success because she was done and blocked before the finish time.

I left my camera at home with the blocking picture. I brought her in the office to show everyone, and then brought her to Full Thread Ahead to dry on the sweater rack in the (sun? not so much today) so I will have pics tomorrow.

I now know the effects of long-term sleep deprivation, with all the distractions of the last 2 weeks (wedding stuff, ya know). I appreciate my comfy bed all the more now that I can spend more than a couple hours at a time there... I also longed to cast on some new projects with my Stitches yarn but managed to hold myself back - now I know why I have so many UFOS! Monogamous knitting is challenging!

In the meantime, I got my latest issue of Interweave Knits. Hm, not sure what I'll be making from there next (maybe Waterlily? Ooh, Drop-Stitch Hoodie??), but I love the patterns.

Hooray to all the medalists, and a bravo to all that made the attempt!

Final stretch

2006-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

I'm 3/4 done with the 2nd sleeve:

...which means I'm 3/4 done with the whole project. Here's the other sleeve and the 2/3 body:

According to the Yarn Harlot's countdown on her blog, we're at 88% of total time. I see the finish line, if I can finish the sleeve tonight and join the body, tomorrow I should be done! Hooray! Sunday's out as far as knitting time, so I hope it will be blocking so I can proudly wear it to work on Monday. Everyone at work has been watching my progress so it will be great to bring it in.

Oh, and I got a commission today - one of my coworkers wants fingerless gloves. Easy!

Too much knitting, too little sleep

2006-02-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

That could describe my life the last 2 weeks. It's been swamped with fun stuff, but I'm discovering first-hand what sleep deprivation can do, with people visiting and too much Olympic knitting.

Thursday night last week (OMG this was a week ago! Time flies!) I went to the Market Preview at Stitches, knowing it was my only chance to shop. I sprinted for the back of the market, headed straight for Blue Moon Fiber Arts, home of the fabulous Socks that Rock. I ran into Jeni, Janice, and Mary from the San Jose SNB (I haven't been there in a looong time) and Nathania, manager of Commuknity. (I started reading her blog when I applied to work there last summer and they didn't have any more openings. I don't think she knows who I am, but I looked on the Olympics Frappr map and discovered that we live a couple short blocks away.) I snatched one of the few remaining skeins of lightweight in Lover's Leap and 3 skeins of medium weight in Lapis, Romancing the Stone, and Pop Rocks. They just announced a Sock that Rock sock club! I'm already planning to make the Spring Twists socks from the Townsend Socks Knitalong Yahoo Group out of the Pop Rocks (image is on the home page).

My next stop was Tess' Designer Yarns, a vendor I drooled over last year and have been planning to visit ever since I signed up for the Stitches classes. I was looking specifically for their Seabreeze colorway, and there was very little out. I decided on the 50% Cultivated Silk/50% Wool for my wedding something, and grabbed lots of sock yarn in the same colorway. Since it's 450 yards per skein, I figured 2 skeins per bridesmaid, plus one for good measure, plus one for me for socks. That's 10. eek. I also snagged a pretty skein of Florida Keys sock yarn, and the only skein of merino in the Seabreeze colorway. I couldn't leave an orphan behind! In chatting with the vendor when checking out, I found out there was so little of that colorway because they weren't all set up yet (so it wouldn't have been an orphan, oh well, it'll be a lovely one-skein wonder or something), and that she dyes fabric to match her colorways if I want some for the wedding.

I then wandered around and drooled some more. I found a beautiful vintage button for my Sitcom Chic, and found myself in the White Lies Designs booth where I binged on a sweater kit for Melinda in the same colorway as shown on the website. They weren't set up to take payments yet, so it'll be sent to me at work - free shipping!

Doesn't this button look great?

I thought I was done so I stopped by Full Thread Ahead to visit Hollis and meet her mom and dad. Little did I know that Brooks Farm Yarn across the aisle had a siren call that would drag me over to purchase some Duet in Purple Haze - kid mohair and fine wool. 2 skeins at 500 yards each is plenty enough for a sweater - or a clapotis maybe? I ran into Emy who was fondling the purple yarns.

(Top left: STR Lover's Leap, Pop Rocks, Lapis, and Romancing the Stone. Top Right - Tess merino wool and cultivated silk/wool. Bottom Left: Brooks Farm Duet. Bottom Right: Tess sock yarn in Florida Keys and Seabreeze)

Friday night I picked Mom up at the airport for our whirlwind weekend of fiber and dresses and dragged out my haul for her to drool over. We decided that the Tess silk/wool wanted to be Knitty's I Do. I can't wait to cast on, it's such a gorgeous yarn to look at and fondle...

Saturday was my "Left Can Be Right For You" class with Kellie Nuss at ~~dark~~ 8 o'clock in the morning. We talked about how stitches are mounted on the needle "like a horse is mounted on a rider"... glad I wasn't the only one half-asleep! Rather than "right" and "wrong" we used the terms "Eastern" (left leg in front) and "Western" (right leg in front). Knitting continental (carrying the yarn in your left hand) is not that hard, once you get the right yarn tension, but purling is more complicated.

First we learned "Western" continental purl, but you have to wrap the yarn all funky to keep the stitches mounted Western-style and it's awkward. However, the Peruvians wrap the yarn around their necks and use their thumb as a shuttle and can purl wicked fast using bicycle spokes or something. I tried it - it's not for me.

Eastern continental purl is much easier since you wrap the yarn the other way, but you end up with Eastern mounted stitches. This becomes what's called "combined" knitting since you knit the Eastern-mounted stitches through the back (right) loop to get them Western-mounted, and then purl the Western-mounted stitches through the front loop by wrapping the yarn the opposite way, which makes them Eastern-mounted.

The best part of the class was the Norwegian Purl, which looks really strange when you do it but you magically get a purl stitch without bringing the yarn in front. WONDERFUL for ribbing or seed stitch, but really funky to do. I definitely need more practice, but my tension was already improving by the end of class.

Mom and I did a little more Market shopping on Saturday, where she picked up a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Tensel in "Prove it All Night" (love that name!) and a baby sweater pattern from Tess'. She also helped me find the perfect buttons for Lu's Baby Sweater and Hat (pics coming soon!).

The rest of Saturday was all about dress shopping. You can read about it on my other blog.

Sunday Mom and I went to the 8 am "Crocheting for Knitters" class. We were both dragging ass to get there, but it was totally worth it. Bev Cooper, from Australia, has the best teaching manner and cheered us on every step of the way. She also gave everyone a steel hook and some Australian yarn to practice with - no materials fee! I wanted to take this class because I wanted to crochet lefty and none of the books covered it. I quickly discovered that my right-hand throw method of knitting was extremely beneficial as a lefty crocheter, as I have mastered the tension problem right off the bat and just needed to learn the hooking part.

We covered single crochet, double crochet, shells, and "Around the Post" which makes an interesting ribbed look. Bev showed us this gorgeous Aran Crochet sampler - I had no idea you could do Aran crochet! She's going to teach a class next year so I'll be on the lookout.

Sunday afternoon was lots of Olympics on TiVo and lots of knitting. I got a lot done on my Olympic project, so now I think I can probably finish in time. I even started a spreadsheet to keep track of how far I've come, and as of last night I'm officially more than 2/3 done. I can finish the rest by Sunday night, suuuuure! I'm 8 of 20 inches into the 2nd sleeve, then I can start the raglan shaping. I'll try to finish up the sleeve tonight and take another pic.

Tuesday was a sad night - Shannon's last knit night at Peninsula Knitters! (Oh, and if you've wondered where the Yahoo group went, it got deleted in the whole S0 Fast So Easy controversy, so we have a new Yahoo group - just click on the link and join. In protest, Shannon brought us some fabulous buttons the other night!) She's off to St. Louis with her hubby, but she'll be a virtual Peninsula Knitter on the Y! group and the blogs. Bye Shannon!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Stitches I go!

2006-02-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

It's been a crap day at work, I didn't sleep much last night (too much TiVo, not enough time), and I'm losing ground on my Sitcom Chic. Not to worry, I'm off to the Stitches Market Preview tonight! It's probably my only chance to shop, so I've marked the must-visit booths and will be queuing up early so I can get it all done in 2 hours. First stop - Blue Moon Fiber Arts!

If you're looking for me, I'm in a purple long-sleeve tee and a curly brown ponytail with birkenstocks, madly racing thru the aisles. Hope to see you there!

Day 6: 3.75 / 6
Can you see any progress?

Keeping pace

2006-02-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

Day 5: 3 / 5

I made it to the end of the current ball last night, so I haven't fallen any further behind. I'm at 7 inches, and am aiming for 15 inches before the sleeves (pattern says 14.5 so we'll see).

Olympic Update and Math

2006-02-14T15:27:00.000-08:00

I got a few hours of knitting in last night while catching up on the TiVo. I've now seen Saturday's Olympic coverage plus a few wedding-related shows that T could care less about. The problem is now that the Olympics are on I TiVo more hours in a day than I have time to watch, even if I ffwd thru the commercials. Oh, and I want to start TiVo'ing Olympic Ice, too...

Oh right, knitting.

So the pattern calls for a setup row, 11 more rows and then increase rows 4 times every 12 rows, then knit until it's a certain length (I don't remember at this point). Last night I started with the setup row complete, and worked thru the first increase and 11 following rows. This took almost 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Soho. Each ball is only 72 yards, so if I use the full 7 balls of Cotton-Ease at ~200 yards indicated for the largest size of project, I'd need 20 balls of yarn. Not a problem, I have at least that many. But how much of the 7th ball of Cotton-Ease is used? 6 complete Cotton-Ease balls would be 17 balls of Soho. Either way I need to be knitting more than 1 ball of yarn per night, and I'm already behind.

Day/yarn consumed/goal yarn
Day 1: 0 / 1
Day 2: .25 / 2
Day 3: frog, .5 / 3
Day 4: just shy of 2 / 4

Today I've managed to sneak in another 3 rows over my lunch hour, so I'm fully into ball 3, but I should be at least at ball 5 by now. I know I could technically catch up on the weekends, but this weekend is gonna be slammed with wedding dress shopping and Stitches classes...

Guess I'm gonna have to knit nonstop the 25th and 26th, or start taking some longer knitting lunches!

Technical Difficulties

2006-02-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one off to a shaky start. Friday night I finished the second sock of a pair I am giving as a gift this coming weekend as I watched the Opening Ceremonies on TiVo. I was going out of town for the weekend so I packed everything I would need to cast on.

Eek! Size 5 needles to start? Good thing I read the start of the pattern before I finished packing. Since I'm doing a 1x1 rib at the bottom, I decided on the tubular cast on, a new trick for me.

FFWD to me sitting in the hotel room with a spare piece of sock yarn trying to do a provisional cast-on without a crochet hook. ARG.... So I tied the sock yarn to the main yarn and did a long-tail cast on using the sock yarn as the tail. All seemed to be going very well - 3 rows stockinette, then pick up the bottom stitches and keep going in rib, except worsted weight on size 5 hurts my hands...

Oh wait, I'm supposed to do the pick-up row in the ribbing? No wonder this row of purl looks funny...

RIP RIP RIP

Now wait a minute, how did I get 2 knits without a purl? ARG....

So last night when I got home I frogged it all again and started the cast-on over. Now I understand how it's supposed to work, and it looks like it's supposed to. I got through the size 5 ribbing, and now switch to 8's. OK, where is my other size 8 needle end for my Denise set? OMG I think it's back at the hotel. And it's midnight - so I'm sure it's gone for good. Good thing I have a Susan Bates metal size 8 circular needle - and the yarn seems to like the metal needle better than the plastic anyway, so maybe this is a good thing!

189 stitches x 9 more rows and then to the increases!

Speaking of technical difficulties, looks like Blogger's having its own issues. I hope this post sees the light of day!

Let the Olympics Begin!

2006-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't cast on yet, since I have to finish Yuan's other sock before she comes into town next weekend! I hope to finish it tonight so I can get my Olympic knitting started.

My sis wanted to know what the Knitting Olympics are (she's not a knitter but visits from time to time). All the details can be found on the Yarn Harlot's official Olympics page.

All you Olympic Knitters, go to the Frappr Knitting Olympics Map and add yourself - I saw Shannon already on the map.

Don't forget to visit Full Thread Ahead's Stitches Preview night tonight - 4-9 pm! I'll be teaching felted baskets and learn-t0-knit on Thursday nights in March, see you there!

Button, button, who's got the button?

2006-02-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

I now have both a team button and an event button! w00t!

Plus - has anyone had problems with Blogger the last few days? Bloglines is having a hard time picking up everyone's postings, and I couldn't get to a few blogspot blogs yesterday. Maybe it's just me.

USA Sweater Knitting Team!

2006-02-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

Doesn't link to anything though...

Knitting Olympics

2006-02-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm in... I tried to resist, what with Stitches/wedding dress shopping weekend right in the middle, but hey, I'm never one to turn down a challenge.

So I'm making Sitcom Chic out of Debbie Bliss Soho in rose/white/black/green, the drool-worthy yarn I couldn't put down at The Knitter's Studio and ended up buying all 20 something balls worth...

Gauge swatch - I'm off by 1 stitch and 1 row on size 8s, which means the sweater would be slightly larger. That's perfect, since the largest size would juuuust fit and I'd rather have a little ease. I also have enough yarn that I can hopefully make the sleeves a little longer than 3/4 length, since I'd like to wear this with my full-length t-shirts.

Now I have to find a team!

Blogger memes

2006-01-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

These are fun, and I enjoy reading them on other people's blogs. I just haven't gotten to doing many myself, but Elspeth is trying to get me to post more often by tagging me with this meme, so here goes:

4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life:
Legal Assistant
Administrative Assistant
Marketing Manager
Events Director

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
Office Space
The Princess Bride
Wedding Singer
Finding Nemo

4 Places You Have Lived:
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Paris suburbs
Bay Area

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch:
24
Smallville
Veronica Mars
Alias

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation:
England
Germany
Japan
Mexican Riviera

4 websites you visit daily:
BayArea.com (Mercury News)
Bloglines (where all my blog links are)
Yahoo Mail
Work (we do everything thru the web)

4 of your favorite foods:
chocolate
ice cream
pizza
indian food

4 places you would rather be right now:
Spokane, with family
Europe, on vacation
Alaska, visiting my sister
some beach, anywhere warm and tropical

4 Bloggers You are Tagging:
I'm skipping this part. If you're a blogger and feel like continuing, go for it and let me know in my comments.

bad blogger. bad.

2006-01-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm a bad blogger, as I have been reminded on many occasions. I've been a bit busy for 2 reasons:
1. Work - my boss seems to think 10 hours a day is a minimum.
2.

2006 is gonna be a busy year!
tomandamyswedding.blogspot.com

I'll try to post more often, now that I've figured out how to send a text post via email. My camera sucks anyway, so I don't have much by way of knitting photos to post, but I'll do what I can....

Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

2005-08-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

That has been the story of my life the last month or so, thus the lack of postings. I'm working 45 hours a week or so at my new job (which I LOOOOOVE, by the way), plus another 5 hours a week at the yarn store - 2.5 each on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Plus knit nite on Tuesdays, and all I have left for weeknights is Monday and Friday. Monday, I'm still full of energy so I get ambitious and try to cook for the week, do laundry, or run errands - and Friday I'm so wiped I'm crashed out on the couch knitting. Weekends are for catching up on sleep and spending a little time with TK, since I don't get to see him during the week.

I did manage to get out and have a little fun. A couple weeks ago the Yarn Harlot was at Stash in Berkeley, and I left work early with Hollis to drive up. We made it just in time - but after she took her pics of the crowd, so we're not in them. :( She is as funny in person as she is written, with a lovely Canadian lilt to her voice. She is so non-pretentious, I felt as though I'd made a new friend - but couldn't help geeking out a bit. After, we met up with some of the other South Bay knitters for Chicago-style pizza across the street. I know Emy and Jeni (and met Becky) from the San Jose S&B, Kristi and Abigail are also SJS&B'ers who have joined Peninsula Knitters, and I met Emily and Joanne for the first time. Joanne was last in line for the book signing (poor thing), so we thought she might have ditched us for dinner with the Yarn Harlot - who wouldn't?

My wrist is bothering me again - last time this happened I was making baby afghans, this time I think it's just knitting in general. I tried to be good and stop, but it's been a month - so now I just try to take it easy and not do anything stressful and stick to plain stockinette, etc.

OTN: Baby blanket of my own design out of "fire engine red" Trendsetter Blossom - for TKS( it's not quite so red as in the picture, it's more salmon/pink/orange/red), Wilma's "poncho" (this is anything but a poncho, more like a cardigan/shrug/wrap) out of gray King Tut cotton, A Good Bias in a lovely purple Horstia Maulbeerseide-Schurwole (Mulberry Silk - shade #38, furthest right on lower color card - discontinued), the Cosy shrug out of the kool-aid wool, TK's afghan.... can you tell I've had start-itis lately? I'm focusing on the baby blanket and the gray cardi thing because they're boring and I want to be done soon, then I can go back to lovely lace knitting.

I've also been stash binging lately - partly from working in a yarn store, and partly from reading what everyone else has been getting. I bought 32 balls of Debbie Bliss Soho in 2 colorways - 10 of the purple (colorway #8) and 22 of the pink/green (colorway #1). It wants to be something dramatic, but I don't know yet. I also hit the Tuesday Morning near me on Friday and wiped them out of the Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, which will be discontinued shortly. 6 balls of Candy Blue and 9 balls of Pistachio, all for $2/ball. Anyone need Pistachio Cotton-Ease??

I have a draft post about my last felting project, hopefully I'll write it up and post it soon. It was felted over the 4th of July, but if you remember, that was the weekend before all the work stuff started, so please forgive me!

Miss me?

2005-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been AWOL on the blog lately, I've been busy... :D

First two weeks of the job have been great! I love the job, such a cool industry, and great people to work with. Here's what I got on my first day:Yup! A RED SWINGLINE stapler!! Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler... I love my new employee, Melanie, who gave it to me! :)

Yarn store job is also good, but tiring. Not used to being on my feet all day. I've cut out Saturdays from my schedule so now I'm only working Wed and Thurs nights after work, so like 2 1/2 hours each day. Add to that Peninsula Knitters on Tuesdays, and I'm only home Monday and Friday nights.

We got a special treat today though, Michelle Pheiffer came into the store, with her daughter and sister/friend person (we don't know who she was). At first we were each thinking, looks like her, sounds like her, wonder... nah. maybe? But then I rang her up and her credit card said Michelle Kelley and I'm thinking.. wait a minute, she's married to David E. Kelley - it is her! She bought about $150 worth of needles and yarn, I guess for her daughter who's about 12. WE talked about a seed stitch pattern for a scarf and she LOVED the one we had in the store... Michelle Pheiffer asking me for advice on knitting!! :D Then they all hung out at the kintter's table and worked on projects for awhile before leaving. She was very mellow and low-key, and everyone in the store played it cool, just another knitter. When she left though... we were all pretty thrilled! I guess that made up for working on a Saturday.

I have lots more to catch up on - my second felted bag, the baptism/birthday party for Little Brother, all my new started projects (I have start-itis)... but I also have a strained tendon in my wrist so I shouldn't be knitting (shhh, don't tell TK I've been knitting), and need to take it easy with the computer work, so I'll be back with lots of smaller posts soon.

When it rains it pours

2005-07-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

I'm exhausted, so here's the short story:

Friday, 7/1: Interview at The Knitter's Studio, get sales job. On the way home get a call from a recruiter for a cool-sounding job as Events Director at iGames, to run tournaments for video gamers. Recruiter emails me job req, I send him Word resume. He emails at 8pm saying he'll get all info to hiring manager.

Saturday, 7/2: Recruiter emails, asks when I'm available for interviews next week. I say Tues, Thurs, Fri because Wed I start at TKS.

Sunday, 7/3: TK and I enjoy fireworks over Stanford on top of the parking structure by the hospital because we couldn't hike to the Dish since it closes at 8. Bummer, but still cool fireworks.

Monday, 7/4: See Howl's Moving Castle (awesome, by the way) in SF with friends, then catch fireworks at Ghiradelli Square and dinner in North Beach. Best friggin' fireworks I've ever seen, and dinner at Calzone's, sitting outside watching people head home from the fireworks, was awesome! Randomly check email via cell phone browser - Recruiter asks if I'm available Tuesday for interviews, and to call hiring manager directly. Leave midnight call for hiring manager that I'm available Tues pm and will call back during business hours

Tuesday, 7/5: Hiring manager calls me first, sets interview for 1-3:30 pm. I meet with 6 people, including 3 via phone. I will hear back from hiring manager early next week. Go to Peninsula Knitters, fill them in on details and worked out the mistakes in my Cosy (this is a knitting blog, after all.)

Wednesday, 7/6: I'm about to leave for TKS when the hiring manager calls. They've already met, they like me, can I send her references and she'll send job app? I quickly send out references, don't have time to warn my references, and head to TKS by 11. I love working in a yarn shop! I still need to learn the inventory but it's nice to pet yarn all day (sorry, I mean arrange and straighten) and help customers with their projects. I stayed for the workshop (swatching) and left at 8. Exhausted.

Thursday, 7/7: I stop by iGames to drop off the app on my way to TKS. Hiring manager asks me to wait a couple minutes, comes back saying they want to make an offer! Salary within my range, I accept.

I HAVE A JOB!!

Pay is very good, decent benefits for a small company, I manage 2 people (yikes!) and the location is great for both our current house and the (crossfingers) condo we can start thinking about again.
Make it through the day at TKS without freaking out about my new job too much, calling people on my breaks to share the news, then head to the mall to celebrate a little by getting a couple new tops for work. Have dinner at my very good friend PK's, who I haven't seen in months. He just got a new job too, so lots of celebrating.Watched documentary on Burning Man. Interesting.

I'm going to try to take one of my references/former colleagues out to lunch tomorrow to celebrate - she's got a new job too - then get my life organized. Saturday I work 10-5 (COME VISIT!), Sunday I gear up for the week, and then I start my new job Monday morning! I still have to tell TKS tho - they knew I was looking but I was not expecting it to happen this quickly!! I'll try to stay on part-time but with my new schedule, who knows.

Now I'm going to go crash. What a week.

Photo gallery of updates

2005-07-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much in the last week, but I've been busy knitting. The weather's so beautiful today I took my knitting outside:

This is Knitty's Cosy. It's supposed to be 6' long when it's done (of course it will stretch out when blocked, it's all shrunk up right now) but I'm just going to follow the simple 8-row lace pattern until I run out of the kool-aid dyed yarn, then turn it into a shrug. I started with a provisional cast-on in case I want to use some of the cotton for lacy sleeves or something.

Progress on the sleeves for Big Brother Rugby. I think they're about halfway done, but I keep forgetting the increases. I'll be glad when this project is over, it's a LOT of stockinette with cotton on straight needles.

This is a Baptismal Bonnet for A, SIL's second son. He'll be baptised and celebrate his first birthday sometime in mid-July. I figured since he's a year old, he probably wouldn't fit into his brother's bonnet.

This was an easy pattern, but rather than all the binding off and sewing together, I did short rows in the back like it was a giant sock heel and kept the back stitches on the needle for the tie.

I don't know if you can see any stitch detail in this photo, it has a scalloped edge and two different lace patterns - a line of twisted "stars" and a line of triangular eyelets - repeating on the whole bonnet. I considered the booties but it's more pieces sewn together, and I don't have enough yarn for the jacket. I used less than a skein of Caron CuddleSoft, which I got on deep discount at Michael's some time back. Cheap, easy, cute project!

Have your dessert and knit too!

2005-07-04T00:53:00.000-07:00

Ice cream cone in a shot glass - now I can knit and eat dessert without making a mess!

Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have You Any Wool?

2005-07-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

"must-have accessory for hill walkers, shepherds and farmers everywhere" ... what about knitters??

http://www.golakes.co.uk/baarmysheep/

My bottle came!

2005-06-25T14:07:00.002-07:00

Look what I got in the mail! Ah, Bottle Swap Mom, you are so clever - YOU are my bottle swapper!

I immediately opened it up and look what's inside:

Unrolled the 2 tubes and here's what I found - 2 socks on 2 circs kit! I haven't tried this before and now I have everything I need!

The yarn is Lang Jawoll cotton jacquard superwash in color #156 - here's the sample card so you can see the pattern:

Next I found two handmade washcloths pinned together with a large stitch holder - so pretty!

and a skein of Nepalese recycled sari silk. I'm looking forward to making something beautiful out of this!

More? I next pulled out a cute little bag with cats and dogs on it, perfect for scissors, tape measure, etc. Look what I found inside:

a little book on knitting with a bookmarker that's a ball of yarn and needles, 3 Breast Cancer Ribbon bookmarks, a Red Hat Lady bell, a little box with stitch markers - both large and small - and 6 pretty pink buttons.

We're not done yet! Here's the card from Sue, a magnetic notepad and Pook bookmarker!

And at the bottom of the box, a scrubbie with bath gel and some cucumber melon lotion - how did she know that I love that scent!

Here's the whole shebang spread out (plus the bouquet of flowers from TK on display again).

Thanks Sue!! I also checked out www.giddygiftbox.com and it's a neat site that puts together care packages - some for soldiers, some for students, etc.

Project Update

2005-06-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

I finished the back of the Big Brother Rugby quite awhile ago but didn't have the camera going, so here ya go:

Interesting pooling of colors, don'tcha think? I just finished the front last night:

with similar, yet different pooling. I'm now on the sleeves, done at the same time so I won't suffer from second-sleeve syndrome, and they will match (dimensions, probably not pooling patterns):

When I'm done it will look like the Little Brother Rugby Sweater, finished months ago:

They will go to R (almost 3) and A (almost 1), SIL's little boys, for their birthdays. I bet R can fit in the little one! Oh well, plenty of room to grow, and Debbie Bliss' kids patterns are HUGE!

By the way, the pattern for this and Y's sundress are from this book. That's the Rugby on the left, and the sundress on the top right.

I have a picture of Y in her sundress, but I need to get it scanned so I can post it.

I also have a little progress on the afghan. It's 24 squares, not 20. Sigh. But TK offered to learn to knit so he can help me !?!?!? I might ask him to join me at Saturday's Relay for Life (see sidebar) and teach him to knit chemo caps. Or maybe he's just joking.

SEX - Stash Enhancement eXpedition

2005-06-24T23:50:00.001-07:00

This morning I went to The Knitter's Studio to see about getting a job - part-time, full-time, whatever. Lu had seen a sign that they were hiring, so I brought in the Knitting Resume from the CommuKNITy effort and a cover letter.

They're having a sale for the next 2 weeks (uh oh) so the manager didn't have a lot of time to talk to me, but she'll call me after the holiday weekend, when the sale's over, to set something up. I borrowed my SIL's new felted bag, before I gave it to her, and the manager really liked it! I couldn't be rude and just leave, so I did a little browsing and here's what I found:

Crystal Palace Iceland in Straw into Gold - I think this will be my Sophie like SIL's:

and Schachenmayr Nomotta Crazy Cotton - if this colorway has a name it's in German and I can't find it.

Are you sensing a theme in my colorways recently? For example:

That's the wound ball of KnitPicks I got at Tuesday's yarn swap! One's cotton, one's wool, but they're similar enough that I could possibly combine them for one of the cute Interweave Knits shrugs to wear around this summer.

Oh - and tonight I stopped by a used bookstore and found this:

by Nancie Wiseman. I took her Knitting with Glitz class at Stitches and loved it, so I was thrilled to find one of her books. It looks really useful!

OK, I have to stop shopping...

Felt-o-Rama!

2005-06-22T21:00:00.001-07:00

This was supposed to document the felting process of my SIL's Sophie bag, but my stupid camera only took some of the pictures, despite taking several shots each, so this is more of an "after" than a "before and after".

SIL mentioned a couple months ago that she would like a "colorful" bag similar to one I'd picked up in Mexico a couple years ago - a simple black pouch with colorful cording, and a long strap. Since her birthday was June 3, I decided to make her this bag.

For those who had not seen the bag pre-felted, it took almost 6 balls of Dale of Norway's ARA 6, plus almost a full skein of Cascade 220 in black. Sophie called for Cascade with 10 1/2s, but since ARA is listed as bulky, I used 13" needles on the ARA and 10 1/2 dpns for the Cascade, with a few modifications.

I added a flap, and used doubled-Cascade for an I-cord bind-off around the edges of the bag and flap, and instead of a short twisted I-cord handle, I made 3 long I-cords and braided them. I also added 2 small pockets in Cascade to the inside.

Before (no picture) - I could fit my laptop in it. HUGE. I didn't measure but I'm guessing 18" across and 12" high. The neat thing was that the ARA is practically roving (almost no twist) and was thick-and-thin, so it had bulky areas and thin areas.

After: please ignore the strings, I never weave in the ends on a felting project 'cause I can just cut them off without a problem. The bag is now 10 1/2" across by 9" high - probably 1/3 the size of the original bag. I felted it twice in the front-loader in the laundry room. The business card is for size reference.

Pre-felting, TK said he thought the strap was too long. I designed it to wear across the chest, and it sits on my hip when I wear it that way. We'll see what SIL thinks, I can modify to a shorter strap if necessary.

Here it is turned inside out so you can see the pockets. The Cascade didn't felt as much as the ARA, so the pockets kinda bulge out - but they're perfect for keys or cell phone.

There is NO stitch definition left in the ARA, and a little in the Cascade. I'm glad the Cascade felted less - I was nervous the I-cord bind-off was too tight, and now the pockets are roomier.

Stash Swap

2005-06-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

Lu is a member of the Knitter's Review Stash Swap, and she brought the box to Peninsula Knitters last night so we could all participate. I turned in a skein of turquoise wool, a leftover skein of blue Cascade 220 from my cabled cardi, and a ball of white cotton I bought without thinking from Elann. And traded for this:

One skein of Knit Picks Color Your Own fingering weight 100% merino, 100g/44o yds, kool-aid dyed in purple, green, orangey-pink, and yellow; one ball of Twilley's cotton Freedom DK weight, 85m, and one ball of Hot Socks Sockenwolle 75% wool 25% acrylic, 100g/460 yds.

Oh, and a bouquet from TK - he brought me flowers when he went grocery shopping - he hasn't bought me flowers in the longest time and it was a super-sweet surprise.

Turns out, the kool-aid yarn and the sock yarn were both from Lu's stash! She's on a stash reduction effort - put in 18 balls and took out 3. I don't have nearly that size stash, almost everything is targeted for a project (except lots of sock yarn).

I'm now looking for a fun summery non-sock project for me with the kool-aid yarn - any ideas?

Kay got her bottle!

2005-06-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

I got the sweetest email today - I'm sure Kay won't mind if I share parts of it on my blog:

My bottle came in the mail today, and I can't tell you
how much I LOVE it. You did an amazing job.

The first thing I pulled out was the pez dispenser.
My daughter Melina grabbed it right away (she was so
excited about "Mommy's surprise in the mail"), and I
let her have it so she wouldn't commandeer anything
else. Then my mom grabbed the chocolate, but we have
worked out a joint custody agreement. We all adored
the note cards, post-it notes, and notepad, and we are
all going to blow up the towel tomorrow. Also, I have
just started thinking about designing stationary, so
the stamp will see a lot of use in the very near
future! It is very cute!

Melina was very interested in the beads, so I told her
that we would make her a necklace together. The kit
is very neat. I read on the whenever database that
you like to bead. I haven't tried before, but I am
really getting interested now. Like I need another
expensive hobby! :) Speaking of your beading skills-
I am blown away by the stitch markers. They are
BEAUTIFUL. I can't wait to put them into a knitting
project. I am making the "Sleeves in Your Pi" shawl
right now, and I think I will yank out my yarn circle
stitch markers and put in the ones you sent me. I
think they are wonderful.

I have a garden with sage, rosemary, and mint. Now I
think my herb garden will be complete, once the
parsley, basil, and chives get going. I may grow them
exclusively indoors if that is the only way to keep
them year round. The beaded candle holder is lovely,
too. I'm not sure what I will put in it yet.

I have been planning for a LONG time to buy myself a
bath pillow, and I have never managed to find one. My
tub is hard on the neck, so this pillow is going to
see a lot of use. And, as I said in my email to the
list, I was planning to buy Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn
the next time there was a reason to spoil myself. I
was so thrilled to see the beautiful yarn (in the
perfect colors), and I can't wait to see what I think
of it. I am sure it will become socks....

I better sign off and see what my husband is doing. I
really LOVED my bottle. I put everything back inside
or beside the bottle so I can open it all again
tomorrow. Thank you, Amy!!!!

I was nervous because she sent out such a great bottle to her partner, who described all the goodies on the mailing list. I'm so thrilled - her plans for the bottle contents were exactly what I was hoping for - fun things for her daughter and herself. She's a gardener so I hoped she'd like the herb pots, and I knew she'd love the sock yarn since it's the jewel colors she said she loved. And I'm so excited she liked the stitch markers - they're the first set I've ever made and now I can't wait to make more - for myself and for others!

Reference: For my Whenever Bottle Swap

One down, nineteen to go

2005-06-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

I've been distracted by other fun projects lately, but have picked up TK's secret afghan again. I just finished the first square:

I'm pretty close on guage - about 12" square. It's a little short but it should be fine.

My plan for the afghan is: 4x5' (20 squares), with these SF squares on the 4 corners. The 2 squares on each side and the 3 squares across the top and bottom will be stripes (still working out the pattern there) and the center 2x3 rectangle will be the curved GIANTS logo from the jerseys, orange on black.

I need to work faster! Only 4 more months of baseball season!

Trip Report #1: Vegas/Grand Canyon

2005-06-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night we only got a couple hours sleep after TK got home from work and packed, since we needed to be at the airport at about 8:30 am. We flew from SJC to Vegas and met our friends at Bally's, and spent the afternoon playing at Bally's, Paris, and Caesar's. Well, I went back to take a nap and they kept playing - and I guess TK did pretty well! We had dinner that night at the Aladdin for TK's birthday (happy birthday honey).

Here's a view from our room at night:

Thursday we spent most of the day playing at Bally's and Paris, since we were staying close to our friends who were playing poker at Bally's. That evening we met up with our friends' parents and saw:
George Carlin

at the Stardust.

That night we stayed at our friends' parents house in Henderson. We left bright and early Friday morning and drove to the Grand Canyon, a mere 5 hours away...

We hiked along the rim for a few hours and watched the sun go down. Here's TK and me at the Grand Canyon. The colors are so much more vibrant than in the photo.

That night we had a great steak dinner and stayed just outside the park. We had talked about hiking into the Canyon on Saturday morning, but decided to take a helicopter tour instead!

This is the helicopter we rode in - seats 8, including the pilot, and the 4 of us sat across the back.

Approaching the grand canyon via helicopter - we had to go out of the way of the touristy areas, so about half the flight was this kind of view over the forest.

Everything's so green on the north rim!

We flew over a formation called The Dragon - here's the head and part of the back of the Dragon - you can see his nose on the left.

After the helicopter tour we piled back in the minivan and headed back to Vegas - with a stop on the way:
Lunch Break!

One last sight on our way home: Hoover Dam, taken from the car window as we crawled through traffic. Apparently this is a high security area so they did random car checks. We were fine, however - none of us looked like terrorists...

Saturday night we played at a local casino, and I hit it big! I was almost out of money and borrowed some from TK, and won back everything I'd lost plus everything he'd lent me - and then it was time to go back to the parents' house and sleep.

Our friends had an early flight Sunday morning, so we got dropped off at the Strip where we checked out the new Wynn Casino:
and worked our way through other casinos between there and Caesar's, managing to spend everything we'd won in the last few days.

We did manage to earn enough comps by playing Paris, Bally's, Flamingo, and Caesar's (all on the same player's club) to have dinner at:
SO YUMMY! But spendy - lucky we had the comps.

Then we got picked up by the parents and taken to the airport, where we spent every last dime in our pockets before our midnight flight home. We sat in the back of the plane (50 seats) and I think the couple across the aisle joined the Mile High Club on the way home.

Monday TK had the day off work so we saw Star Wars Ep. III. A very nice, crazy, relaxing, fun-filled 6 days. And I needed a vacation at the end of it.

I'm at the Hotel Nikko in SF visiting my sister C overnight - I should go to bed now so we can play tomorrow after her conference. And I'm probably keeping her awake.

I hate laundry

2005-06-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

I've been a good little domestic goddess today - made the bed, did the dishes, semi-cooked dinner (half cooked, half leftovers), even made lunch for TK to send him off to work. And laundry.

God, how I hate laundry. I used to complain as a kid because the laundry room was in the basement. Then I discovered the "joys" of coin laundry. It wasn't so bad in college, 'cause everything was either jeans or T-shirts and they didn't have special requirements. My first apartment had one washer and dryer for the whole complex of 9 apartments, but I managed to get my laundry done without running into other people too much. It was nice when I was dating a guy with his own house, 'cause I got a few years of free laundry use out of it. Not good enough to keep dating him, though. The best was at our townhouse last year, 'til our landlord decided to sell and we had to move. We had our own washer and dryer in a closet just off the kitchen, with plenty of room to hang wet laundry. At this complex, laundry sucks. (sorry Mom)

We have 6 washers and 6 dryers. Today, all 6 washers were in use when I dragged all my laundry to the laundry room - across the complex and down a flight of stairs. Oh, and coin-op but no changer, so you have to walk to Albertson's around the corner and buy quarters. 15 minutes later, all the washers were done but still full. 15 minutes later, I could finally start my laundry. 6 loads. Ugh. It's normally closer to 4, but I did towels and extra sheets since my sister was here, and lots of laundry from both trips (Vegas/Grand Canyon and Napa/Sonoma). Come back to move the laundry along, and one of the washers decided to crap out on the spin cycle, so everything's sopping wet. And this is the load with all the hang-dry shirts and my jean skirt, etc. So I have to wring them out by hand. Then hang everything in the bathroom on the curtain rod to half-dry so I can dry them on "delicate" tomorrow. What a pain. Laundry is a 2 day process because of this - but otherwise our clothes shrink from the dryer.

Now I'm on to folding, which I can do while I watch The Daily Show on TiVo. Then I get to watch Into the West that I TiVo'ed this weekend. -- And hey! I found a $20 in the wash - Bonus!

That was probably more painful for you to read than it was for me to do - but hey, you read my blog, you get what you get. :) Just kidding, don't leave! It'll be more interesting tomorrow, I promise.

Trip reports coming soon...

Yes, but will it felt?

2005-06-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

My guess is not. Good news for making wool garments you don't want to accidentally felt, but something else to look for when buying yarn for felting projects....

Yahoo! News Story: New Wool Doesn't Itch or Shrink

Fake U2 Rocks!

2005-06-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Gotta love Improv Everywhere...

One more update...

2005-06-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

Blogging on the new laptop! Woo hoo!

I didn't get the job I interviewed for last week - not even called back for 2nd rounds. Oh well, it was a good practice experience and I'd prefer not to have to commute so far. I was contacted by a contract agency while I was gone and they submitted my resume for a 3-6 mo contract job in Mountain View, so we'll see how that goes.

Vegas and the Grand Canyon was fun but we lost all our winnings on Sunday. I have some great photos and I'll update tomorrow.

Sorry I missed you yesterday, Peninsula Knitters! Nasty headache... I'll surely be there next week!

J and I went to Commuknity and we ran into Emy who was working, and Abigail and Niels who were shopping. J got some yarn for her aunt in Hawaii and I pondered the Pacific Northwest Shawl but they don't have any laceweight yet so I'll wait until I complete more of my FOs.

My sis C is coming into town for a conference next week so we're heading up to the Wine Country. We're also meeting our cousin and his wife who are on their way to Tucson for his next Army posting after a couple years in Germany and Iraq. Busy weekend ahead!

Clearwater Rapids Shawl - FO!

2005-06-09T02:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the lovely shawl spread out on the floor...

and me modeling it - thanks to TK for the photo.

another model shot, but I'm not so attractive at 2 am...

and a shot of the border so you can see the details.

This was an easy, quick project once I dealt with the resizing/running out of yarn issues. The stockinette really lets the yarn do its best to show off the pattern.

Now to wash it again, I wore it in Vegas and now it stinks of cigarette smoke.

Vegas Baby, Yeah!

2005-06-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pics today. We're off to Vegas for TK's birthday and our friends' 1st wedding anniversary. Yes, It's 3:15 am and we're leaving the house at 7:30 am. Not getting much sleep tonight...

Clearwater Rapids is done and blocked with enough left for a fish for HoJo's swatch stash. Just have a few ends to tuck in and she's good to go. I did wear her out to Peninsula Knitters tonight and she got rave reviews. I should have some pics shortly, been too busy packing to deal with the camera.

Interview today was rockin'! It was only 1/2 hour because someone booked him on a conference call, so it was all straight to the point. Everything he asked me about my past experience seemed to be exactly what he'd hoped I'd say, without my trying. I also really liked the vibe I was getting from him as a potential boss, and from the company and surroundings. He's only been there a month (this is a new division in an established company, so it's got a startup feel with the knowledge and experience to back it up) and seems like he's really enjoying his job. It also sounded like they had only selected about 4 people to be interviewed. Yay for me! Next rounds are next week and I'm feeling quite confident I'll be called back, but am trying to not get my hopes up. Commute from Sunnyvale would be easy via CalTrain (or CalTrain connect to Bart at SFO), and once we move to Fremont it's easy via Bart. AND there's a 24hr Fitness a block away so maybe I'd actually use my gym membership...

Photos and updates once we get back from Vegas. We get in at 1:30 am Monday morning and TK doesn't have to go back to work until Tuesday night so we'll have some decompression time.

Big Money, Big Money, NO WHAMMIES!

You gotta be kidding me

2005-05-28T20:18:00.001-07:00

Almost done with Clearwater Rapids - binding off the final edge and...

I know I made it a little bigger, but I thought I'd figured this out! And this includes cutting off yarn tails and tying them on the end. Oh well, I also noticed this, back at the first few rows of edging...

So I frogged back the bind-off across the shoulders, 2 rows of seed stitch, the picked-up edges, the bind-off across the bottom, 2 rows of seed stitch, 6 rows of edging, and 2 more rows of seed stitch. Now how many stitches do I have?

I counted and got 230, 232, and 233. TK helped me out by counting (is this true love or what??) and got 231. You gotta be kidding me. I counted again and am sticking with 233. Back to edging, I hope to have it done over the weekend, then wash and block, and show off at Peninsula Knitters on Tuesday night.

For my Whenever Bottle Swap

2005-05-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

These goodies are going out to Kay in New Mexico on Monday:

Namely, a bath pillow, knitting greeting cards, Mary Engelbright magnetic notepad, Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, the bottle, Daisy Duck Pez, chocolates, 3 herb pots (chives, parsley, and basil if I remember correctly), a tealight holder, a K post-it pad, magic towel washcloth, a doggy rubber stamp, a jewelry bead kit, and homemade stitch markers.

Everything barely fits in the bottle.

I'll send her a note telling her how much fun it was to shop for her (she's a fellow Scorpio who loves jewel tones and has a pooch and a toddler daughter) and that next year my last name will be Kay! We're both first-time bottle swappers.

Dude, You're Getting a DELL

2005-05-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

Got an offer the other day in the mail from Dell - Desktop from $449 or Notebook from $549. My laptop's been on the fritz for the last several months (A drive sounds like Chewbacca on a bad day and is not recognized by the system) and can only be upgraded to a max of 128MB RAM. This computer has been a lemon from the start - I got it to finish my MBA and has been down more than it's been up since I bought it in early 2001.

Dell thinks I'm a small business because they bought my name from a mailing list - I'd signed up for a Marketing Trade Mag under the name of McMullen Consulting, so I must be a legit business, right?

It's funny, on the Dell website the same computer can go for multiple prices depending on where you shop. If you check the Home Office site, the Inspiron 2200 starts at $599. On the Small Business site, it starts at $549. Then, depending on whether you have the "e-value code" or not you get different configurations. By not using the code I spent an extra $25 (actually, $29 but you pay $5 less in tax - yes, I figured this out. How anal am I?) on upgrading the CD/DVD drive, but then I don't have to deal with the $100 mail-in rebate. I got the system I've been looking for (512MB memory, 30GB hard drive, 14.1" screen, CD Burner/DVD drive - I have an external DVD burner if needed - and wireless 802.11a/b/g card), plus free ink-jet printer and free 3-5 day shipping, for the LOW LOW price of $749. I'm really excited. Only weird thing is that it has no parallel/serial ports, only USB. But I have a USB hub with the parallel/serial ports, so it's no big deal when it's docked at home, and how often will I need those ports when I'm mobile?

My current laptop will visit Fry's or Best Buy to get the A drive fixed, and will be handed down to TK. His laptop (The Brick) will go to charity or someone in worse need than us. Ship Date is 6/8 so I'll have it when I get back from the Wine Country with my sis. Yay!

Interested in getting one yourself? Just go to Dell.com and click on Small business, then notebooks, then the ad for the Inspiron 2200. Only lasts until June 1, so act now! (I only wish I was paid for this blatant ad on my blog...)

Fun Stuff from Other Blogs

2005-05-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

From Abigail's blog: May the Farm be with you

From Elspeth:
Just in case you didn't have enough to do, why don't you try the meme I just got tagged with ...

choose five things from the list below and complete the sentence. Then tag other people and they answer in their blogs.

If I could be a scientist
If I could be a farmer I'd grow tulips in Skagit County, WA
If I could be a psychologist
If I could be a librarian I'd have all the books I'd ever want to read at my fingertips
If I could be an inn-keeper I'd open a B&B in Sonoma County near family
If I could be a professor
If I could be a writer
If I could be a llama-rider I'd win the contest for the most interesting job at any cocktail party
If I could be a bonnie pirate
If I could be an astronaut I'd be reminded how small we are compared to the universe around us but yet can make such a difference to the planet we live on
If I could be a world famous blogger
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world
If I could be married to any current famous political figure

Who to tag next? Emy, Jeni, Abigail, Mary, and Christina.

Catching up

2005-05-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

I think I'm getting the hang of this thing. I figured out how to edit my Hello posts on Blogger thru Hello, which gives me the ability to create this post and then go to Hello to add the pics in later. Nifty roo! And the posts have finally showed up in my Edit Post history on Blogger so I can edit that way too.

Clearwater Rapids has taken over my knitting life. This comes together so quickly since it's stockinette with one simple row of yarnovers. And I can't put this yarn down, it's so yummy. The shawl has grown considerably since the last time you've seen it:

I worked on it on Sunday at a friend's housewarming party in Fremont. We're such party animals, everyone took a 4:00 nap in front of E! before dinner, and I got quite a bit done. I think I ended up leaving my pattern somewhere over the weekend but I figured out the pattern repeats and both Lia and Margie sent me the count of the last pattern repeat so I knew where to start the borders. Well, look at the picture. See the yarn on the left edge? That's the first ball of yarn, and coincidentally the end of the last pattern repeat. Too small. I want a shawl, big and substantial to keep me warm on Bay Area nights, not a little capelet. The section beyond the yarn strands is what I've done in the last 24 hours (Peninsula Knitters agree it should be larger) and I think I'll do at least that much again before I take it off the needles for size again. It's not really scalloped, that's just the blocking pins.

Other good news yesterday - the company I had the phone interview with while I was at HoJo's called me back and I now have an interview scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30. They're supposed to send me info on location, etc. but I haven't seen it yet. I'll wait until Thurs PM and then call back the number on Caller ID, because the office is closed Monday for Memorial Day and I don't want to end up SOL.

Grrrr....

2005-05-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

OK, as you've noticed, I'm still working out the kinks in the picture posting. I don't like the fact that I can't edit any of my posts that were submitted thru Hello, which is how I get my pics online. Advice greatly appreciated.

Anyway.... The shawl (below) I cast on for is out of the Knitting Pattern-A-Day calendar and is totally easy. It's all stockinette with every 4th row a YO row, and the YOs line up to create the wedges. The Popcorn is going to be lovely, I already can't wait for it to be finished. Yes, this is from the kangaroo bag of yarn I helped label the other day (see it? top right of the bag), so I had a few extra days to fall in love with it before the launch party. I only wish she had more of the colorway on the bottom left with the purple in it, or I would have gotten that one instead.

HoJo's launch party was great, lots of people oohing and aahing over the yarns and she had quite a few sales. It's definitely better to see yarn in person, and she's done a great job of finding gorgeous and unique yarns at a variety of price points.

Hee hee, HoJo's got a picture of me labeling yarn. I shamelessly stole it to share it with you here:

Busy week... GO SEE STAR WARS. It's awesome. I also walked 4 miles with Julia yesterday and watched LOST - big finale coming! I love this time of year, longer days, more sunshine (finally), TV finales and big movies coming out. And this year I have the time to enjoy it! Keeping fingers crossed on hearing about the job interview, hopefully will hear early next week.

Raindrops in Blue Haze

2005-05-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here's the Raindrops

already cast on for:

(edited to fix layout! Hooray, I did it!)

Stash!

2005-05-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

My haul from Full Thread Ahead's Launch Party. From top left: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Spanish Moss, Quarry Hill (for my Bottle Swap partner) and Super Glitz in Moody Blues and Spanish Moss -- can you tell I LOOVE this colorway?? On the right is Dale of Norway Ara #6 for SIL's birthday bag. Below the sock yarn is Taiyangshan Laceweight wool in black (825 yds!!), then a ball of recycled sari silk (no label) and 2 skeins of Rainbow Wools Raindrops in Blue Haze. Quite a haul!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

2005-05-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

My watch battery died sometime last week and I have been without ever since. I'm used to having a watch and have been fairly compulsive about checking the time, esp. if I think I'm going to be late. I'm starting to enjoy not having a watch, however. Most places I go have a clock somewhere, and those that don't are lovely places where I sit and knit with my friends and don't notice the time flying by.

The last couple days, in particular, have flown by. I've been quite productive at home of late, applying for jobs and getting stuff done around the house. Why, why, does laundry take so darned long? Last night was Peninsula Knitters, and then there was today. God, I'm exhausted. I feel like I've worked a full day - and it was all fun stuff! I forgot what this feels like.

Firstly, I went to HoJo's to help with the yarn labeling. This was my project for the afternoon, and what fun it was!


I'm looking forward to Saturday and getting some shopping done! I want to find something in fingering/DK weight in a pink/blue/purple colorway for a shawl, I'm assuming around 600 yards (that's how much a clapotis needs and that's pretty substantial), some wool in black and varigated bright colors for SIL's birthday Sophie (forgot about that 'til now!) and some other random buying. I try to be good and buy for projects, otherwise I could go crazy.. and I'm paranoid I won't have enought of what I bought for what I want to make. While I was at HoJo's, I got a call back on a job I'd applied for on Monday, and hopefully I'll have a call to schedule an interview by Friday! Fingers crossed!

Then it was off to a networking event. I didn't want to go at first, I hate walking up to someone to say, "hi what's your name, what do you do" but that's what this event was for, so I sucked it up and went, and made some GREAT contacts. Again crossing my fingers that things are on the move for me. And for $15, I also got some deep-dish and a glass of wine. Not bad!

My last stop of the night was at the SC Co. Knitting Meetup. Good size group, had a good time. I'm 2 bind-off rows from being done with the back of Big Brother Rugby Sweater, and then I can start the front. Next Meetup we're going to talk about charity knitting, and I'll bring info about the Relay for the Cure in case anyone wants to sponsor me. (you do. you know you do. click the button and sponsor me!)

Tomorrow is Star Wars with JayCat. Woo hoo!

Happy Mother's Day!

2005-05-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day Kit: Book, felted bag, sock yarn and pattern (missing needles)

Sundress FO

2005-05-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

Yasmin's sundress, from Debbie Bliss Cotton Knits for All Seasons

A hoarse is a hoarse of course of course...

2005-05-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a little hoarse today

 hee hee!

Over the last few days I've been all congested, coughing up all kinds of icky goop and somewhat lost my voice in the process, so I have to keep my trap shut - a challenge!

Saturday was Lisa's (aka SIL-IL-to-be) Bridal Shower at Liz's (aka SIL-to-be) house in SF. I remembered later I wanted to knit pillowcase edgings from my new book as her shower gift, but I ended up getting her the spoon rest she registered for ($30 for a spoon rest, which I JUST discovered is 1/2 price at Macys.com! Can I get a price adjustment??) In attendance were mostly little old ladies in the extended family, but it was nice to meet everyone again and get a better idea who the older generations in this family is. I'm starting to feel more and more like a Kay, thanks to Liz. I wish we were going to Lisa and Rob's wedding, but it's in Key West on a Friday night and it would end up costing us over $1K to make it there. We'll definitely be going to their reception out here, though.

Then I drove from the Sunset in SF to Dublin (!!) to meet some friends for dinner and a movie. Crash was pretty intense and thought-provoking, about the current state of race relations through a montage of inter-connected short stories. It made me think about my own subconscious prejudices.

Yesterday was a lazy day at home getting better. Pretty Comfy decided it really didn't want to be a sock after all, so I frogged it again after getting to the heel turn. I think it wants to be Zaftig! instead. I then cast on for Diagonal Fixation Sock #1, thanks to HoJo's recommendation, and am already almost to the heel turn! This is the KAL with Mom so I hope she finds it as easy as I do. I added one repeat for my wider feet (pattern says I should still have enough yarn) and all seems to be fine.

Today's been busy, with laundry and updating my blog (check out the Relay for Life info on the right) with some new info and buttons. I've requested to join the Shapely Tank KAL and have the pattern printed out and ready to go, and I'm going to swatch with the leftover cotton from Yasmin's sundress.

I've now got to figure out this Hello! thing for pictures....

I have a headache or I'd post more

2005-05-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

Just got home from last-minute babysitting TK's little nephews in SF - Ryan is almost 3 and Aidan is almost 1. We had a good time, the boys were pretty good, and I'm tired. Fun to be the Auntie, but also nice to not have to deal all the time.

Tuesday's jaunt to CommuKNITy was kind of a waste. Turns out the Asst. Mgr. was wrong and they aren't hiring any more until they know what their traffic patterns will be, but I left a resume just in case. Oh well. Had a nice time with the Peninsula Knitters on Tuesday and have started TK's project - it's a double-knit afghan in black and orange with the SF and Giants insignias on it. It's probably going to take me all summer 'cause I'm only going to work on it when he's not home.

Other than that I've been lost in my Dark Tower series. I've finished 1-4 and now need to scrounge up the rest, either used or at the library. Can't afford full-price hardbacks right now.

Found this BlogThing on Lu's blog. Hmmm, what does it say about me?

Your Birthdate: November 1

Your birthday suggests that are executive ability and leadership qualities in your makeup. (thus the kind of marketing jobs I'm looking for)

A birthday on day 1 of any month gives a measure of will power and self-confidence, and very often a rather original approach. (will power and self confidence? those are both areas I need work in... I like the "original approach" part though)

This 1 energy may diminish your ability and desire to handle details, preferring instead to paint with a broad brush. (funny, I'm a little TOO detail-oriented!)

You may be sensitive, but your feelings stay rather repressed. (this is true, I hold them in and then they come out in a rush and then I regret it.)

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Uh Oh, Mom's Got That Look

2005-05-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

That's the title of a cute little book I found for my Mom for Mother's Day. It went in the felted bag with the sock pattern Hollis found for me, needles and sock yarn. Should be a fun little KAL!

MIL's Flower Basket Shawl was blocked Friday night and I wove in my ends yesterday. It's beautiful and I can't wait to see her face when she opens it. I love knitting for people who realize the effort behind the results. I don't have a lot of money these days, but lots of time, so I'm happy to spend time for the ones I care about. Pictures of FO's this week!

Yesterday was a lazy day watching baseball and reading my book. I also spent a ton of time online and on the phone trying to work out the Florida trip. I'm trying to use either an Alaska $50 Companion Certificate or my miles so we only have to pay for one ticket. As it is, with those restrictions, we can't go or come back exactly when we want to, and it keeps getting more expensive as we have to add hotel room nights. At this point it might be smarter to save $$ and go somewhere cheaper, as TK has Wed-Mon off from work, and celebrate Rob and Lisa's wedding at the reception here a few weeks later. No final decisions anywhere, yet.

Gotta get going, we're meeting SIL's family and MIL in SF for "linner" :) - dinner at 3pm. Will be more like lunch for us! Happy Mother's Day, all you Moms out there!

Friday Funday

2005-05-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was craziness, and today was fun too. Busy busy!

Yesterday morning was my job interview. This was one of the strangest interviews I've ever been on. Last Thursday I met the CEO of the company, Dr. Jeffrey Wei, at the SCU job fair (which is strange in and of itself; generally HR or recruiter staff are at the event, not the CEO). I approached the table, read a job description on the table for a MarCom-type job, and said I thought I'd be a good fit and handed him my resume. He read it, said "how about Wednesday at 10" and that was it. He then called on Friday to say he'd been double-booked and could we meet Thursday. No problem. This company makes herbal products for chronic pain - sounds good, right?

Thursday, I get to the building about 10 minutes early. Dr. Wei is out front with a couple people; he says, "oh I'm so hungry, I have to get a burger, so-n-so can you meet with Amy first?" It's 9:50 am, and he needs a burger? and he hasn't taken my interview into account? OK whatever. So I go in the building, there's no reception area, just a receptionist behind a crowded desk and a ton of boxes everywhere. I am ushered into an office where a woman is behind a desk speaking in Chinese, and am told to wait there. Awkward, a little?

Eventually, she leaves and so-n-socomes in (I'm not introduced, I don't get his name, although I introduce myself out front). We talk for a few minutes about the history of the company, created by some biochemists who've reverse engineered Chinese herbal medicine, reproduced them in the lab, and are selling them to Chiropractors, etc. and then he says he's looking for a "classic" marketing person and how does my experience fit. Excuse me? Market segmentation and analysis? This I can do, but I thought this was MarCom/Events (my particular niche)? Can I see a copy of the job description? Haven't seen it in a month, but the job is is all of that too, as he's drawing the Adoption Curve on the back of my resume and asking me what I have to say about it, and have I read, oh what's his name... Jeffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm, I supply for him, yes I have. This place is a marketing mess. Their website looks like something a 9 year old made on GeoCities, and the marketing collateral targeted to patients is so hard to understand and the pictures so off-putting it's scary. I tell him I can put a positive customer-directed face the company so they don't look like quacks, Chiropractor conferences, direct mail, etc.

Off he goes to find Jeffrey or "Sarah", whoever she is. Aha, it's phone lady. She comes in and asks if I have any questions. Uh, yeah. What is your role here? Oh, I'm Jeffrey's wife, I do some of everything. OK, startup, I get it. Do you have a copy of the job description? Mike (aha, so-n-so's name is Mike!) or Jeffrey should have it. Can you walk me through your resume? How much did you make here? How about here? ----- this is the strangest interview I've ever been on ------

Mike comes back in, asks me what my salary expectations are. I give him my range, pretty standard for an MBA, and he says it'll probably be 20K lower, but they're interviewing for the next month so we'll see what happens, and keep in touch. Bye bye. No meeting with the boss. I didn't feel like they thought I wasn't a fit for the position, they just didn't know how to conduct an interview properly. Oh well, if something comes of it, fine, if not, no biggie.

Had lunch with Julia and Jeannine at Su's, then went to Costco (much nicer at 2:30 on a Thursday than 5:30 on a Saturday, but still, there needs to be lines down the aisles because people are clueless about how to drive a cart at Costco) and then to the post office to mail out Mommy's Mother's Day kit. This year I thought ahead! My sisters each contacted me Thursday to see if I wanted to go in with them on something, like usual, but I bowed out. I think Mom will like her package.

I then stayed up waaaaay too late, ok only 2 hours extra, to finish MIL's Flower Basket Shawl. I don't know if I'm allergic after all, I think it's just that my lungs don't like the particles in the air as I work with the alpaca. Not itchy, although I do have a cough that's come out of nowhere.

Today was much more relaxed. Julia mentioned that Nathania, the manager of CommuKNITy, had posted on her blog that they still need staff there. I also needed to go back to the used bookstore nearby to exchange one of the Dark Tower II books for Dark Tower III, so I headed that way and inquired about a job at CommuKNITy. I should have known today was not the day, as Nathania had blogged that she's off to Maryland for the fiber fest, so I'll go back Monday morning and meet with her. What do I put on a resume for her? I've never worked retail, but am a very fast learner, great on computers (now that their PC-based register system is up), great with people, and am a fairly proficient knitter (sweaters, felted items, intarsia, now lace... just haven't done Fair Isle). Will she be concerned that I might only be working there until I find something permanent in my career path or until my knitster-friend's store opens up? (can I talk about it? I haven't but would love to spread the word to fellow knitters). I'll make up a resume over the weekend. Just not sure what will be going on it. Suggestions?

I blocked the Flower Basket Shawl! Wow, it really expands and it really looks like other pictures I've seen. I'm so excited - this is my first real lace project, and it will be ready to take to MIL on Sunday afternoon in SF. However, tonight I really need to do something about THE DESK. Yes, it looms that big and scary to me. I need not be afraid, just file and organize a little. Get in a FlyLady zone and tackle it 15 min at a time. All I really want to do is drink some more lovely Sauvignon Blanc and curl up with Dark Tower III since there's nothing on TV. Baby steps.....

One step forward, three steps back...

2005-05-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have to figure out how NOT to lose my post in the middle of composing it. I accidentally go to another site... or I click the back button... but I end up writing this thing three times before it goes to the web. sigh... baby steps....

Secondly, I need to update my WIP-meter for my Pretty Comfy Sock #1. I was past the heel turn but frogged it all the way back to a friendly ball of yarn, and now it's about 20% finished. I tried it on last night and decided I needed more room around the leg. So now I have 2 more pattern repeats around the leg, and will only repeat the pattern 3 times instead of 4 so I don't run out of yarn.

oooh, gotta remember to Ctrl-D often to save as draft. Nifty trick.

I've been cranky all day. I think I worked too hard on the house yesterday and just wanted to veg out today. I managed to get through 3 rows of MIL's shawl before I got itchy (turns out, I am itchy - got a bug bite while pulling weeds yesterday). I finally dragged myself to Peninsula Knitters tonight and am glad I did - being social and knitting always cheers me up. I got lots of kudos on Little Brother Rugby Sweater and cast on for Big Brother. Hooray!

Successfully made a Rachael Ray recipe tonight, although it took longer than 30 min because I'm such a spaz in the kitchen.

TK brought home a JOB LEAD from one of his co-workers, so I'll be following up on that tomorrow, plus tackling the evil evil evil desk of papers. If I write it here, it has a better chance of happening. So come back and check on my progress!

One more for good measure...

2005-05-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, cut and paste pics look pretty good! I'm getting the hang of this! :)

On the JOB FRONT, last Thursday's SCU MBA Career Fair was quite a success, as I got an on-the-spot request for an interview, this Thursday at 10. Hopefully all will go well.

I'm also kicking butt on FlyLady - if you haven't been to her site you need to - she will help you declutter your house in minutes a day! Since I have all this extra time at home these days, I am using it for a useful purpose!

Success!!

2005-05-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

It worked! :D

In knitting news, I'm almost done with Mom's Mother's Day Kit - I have to felt her bag (it's the top left bag on the Felted Knits cover), find some DPNs and an easy sock pattern, and then send it off. It also includes 2 balls of Cascade Fixation and a funny book called "Uh Oh, Mom's Got That Look". MIL's Flower Basket Shawl is coming along more slowly since I discovered my alpaca allergy. I work a couple rows until I can't breathe, then set it aside for another time. In the meantime, I have my Pretty Comfy Sock in Cascade Fixation that's coming along nicely. It's the first time I've used Fixation, so I'm finally getting the hang of keeping tension without pulling tight and defeating the purpose of stretchy sock yarn!

Saturday I gave Yasmin her sundress at her 2nd birthday party. Her mom Amy was very touched. She said she used to knit but it's been awhile, and now with Yasmin around she has to be careful what she leaves around. Hopefully this will inspire her to start up again!

Sunday we went to Borders and I used my 30% off coupon to buy this:

It's got some cute and easy projects that I can't wait to take on.

Long time no see!

2005-05-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

OK, 3rd time's the charm, right? After 5 months between blog postings, this is now my 3rd attempt at getting a posting published. I have got to get this blogger business simplified, rather than the convoluted mess it currently is for me. I have updated my page with my current WIPs and the blogs I read on a regular basis. Send me your blog address so I can add it to my list!

Next step is the pictures. Problem is, my laptop's seriously on the fritz and it's the only one with the software for my camera. Then I have to install the blogger software program... arg. Guess I should talk to TK about it, since it's his computer.

OK, fingers crossed, let's hope this publishes.

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas

2004-12-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hoo boy, what have I gotten myself into! I got off work early today so I went Christmas shopping with T, but just for his stuff. I got the rest of my shopping done after he went to work, but since the majority of my gifts are handmade, I'm still pretty far behind. Mom's present is done as of 10 minutes ago, but I still have Mom's presents 3 and 4, Suzi's present, and Dad's present to get done in about 36 hours... I'm not seeing much sleep between now and then. Thankfully some of these are sets of 2, so I'm going to do one for each and they'll get the mate before I leave for CA.

It's been nice to not deal with the mall much this season, but since we didn't really do anything Christmassy around the house and the weather has been so mild, it sure doesn't feel like Dec. 23 to me!

Thanks for the nice comments about my blog - I'm enjoying having a place to chronicle my projects. But for now - back to knitting!

on the home stretch...

2004-12-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last night after getting the blog up I finished Carrie's present and felted it in the washing machine with a load of laundry. I've found if I put items to be felted in a full load of laundry they felt pretty well in the front loader, although sometimes they need a couple cycles. Wish I didn't have stupid coin laundry... anyway, Carrie's present turned out really cute, and I'll post pics once she gets her present. Gotta drop the package in the mail to Juneau today.

Also made some more progress on Mom's Present 2 and Danna's present. I think I can get Mom's done tonight and move on to Mom's Presents 3 & 4, Suzi's Present, and Dad's Present after I hit the LYS. That still leaves 4 1/2 UFO's before Christmas morning. Good thing I'll have all that flying time up to Spokane, plus they'll understand if they're not quite finished on Christmas morning.

.... and I'm online

2004-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Overcome with blog envy, I've finally put mine together. I've got the meters, I'm building the links, but I don't have any pics yet. That's the next step. But at least I'm online. Woo hoo!

Got a catchy title for my blog?