Twisted Stitches

Hello, are you still there?

2009-07-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Several reasons, none of which I can go into length about, but suffice it to say that I have been on a huge emotional roller coaster and I am hoping the ride is about over. I am tired of being poked and prodded. I assure you that I am not terminally ill, but this will all make sense to you sooner or later. Positive thoughts and prayers are welcome. Now on to the fun stuff!

I have been knitting, not as much as I thought I would, but I have been. One project that I am working on is a sample knit for Curious Creek Fibers, that has been going slower than I am comfortable with because well, when I tell you I am going to get it done, I do it. But I have been attacked by the knitting gnomes with this project, I have had to rip it out several times. It is on a small time out for the moment.

Another knitting sample that I have recently completed is a pair of socks for my designer friend Kristi Geraci, Knitters Anonymous.

"Bailiwick was originally created as the pattern for theknitter.com’s September 2008 installment of the sock of the month club. The Bailiwick socks use cable and diamond patterns, which are commonly used in Guernsey (Gansey) sweaters. A bailiwick is an area that is overseen by a bailiff – Guernsey is one of two bailiwicks in the Channel Islands. These socks would be suitable for either a man or a woman, and knit up quickly. The socks are designed to be asymmetric, with the pattern down the leg mirrored from the right sock to the left."

Kristi wanted to show off the pattern in a solid also and I think that a traditional grey looks quite nice! If you want to knit your very own Bailiwick Socks you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or at Knitters Anonymous.

Remember Stitches West? I do. And my good friends at Purlescence Yarns remembered me too. This past Stitches West I helped them out with the booth set up and a couple of market days. As a thank you, they had a get together for all the helpers and as a thank you I was gifted this beautiful handspun yarn by Sandi (one of the owners) a hand made stitch markers.

Yes, that is my name on those beautiful stitch markers! I am so happy to get some handspun, I have never been given handspun before and I can't wait to see what I can make with it. It is not my first handspun in my stash, but it is the first "knitable" handspun I have. My first handspun, well, you can read about here, the end is the best part. Enjoy.

Secret Lives of Seahorses

2009-05-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sensei and I had an unusual day off together since it was Memorial Day and we decided it would be fun to drive to Monterey and go to the aquarium. Ok it was my idea, he agreed. However the "Behind the Scenes Tour" made the rest of the aquarium very interesting for the both of us.

Here are some of the highlights...

The Jellies

Secret Lives of Seahorses
(a new exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)

I knew there was a reason that I liked seahorses, read this and you'll know why.

Cannery Row

Click here to view the complete set of photos, there are many many more!

Best Boy

2009-05-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

Today is my best boy's birthday, Mugsy turns 8 years old today. I realized that I have never told the story as to how Mugsy came in my life so now is as good as any.

Almost 8 years ago I got a call from my sister-in-law (the one that is married to the cop brother) and she said that she "rescued" two puppies and did I want one? Well, I had been wanting a dog badly, didn't really care what kind of dog, how old, I just wanted one. The only information that I did get was that she had two boy puppies, they thought they were Pekingese and that their neighbor down the street was going to take one and who ever got there first got first pick. I was working in Emeryville at the time and they live in Reedley, CA (south east of Fresno), that is a 4 hour trip easy. So I left the office a bit early on Friday and got on the road. I arrived at the house and there he was, he was not picked by the neighbor. Even though I am his mommy, I think I got the better dog, I saw his brother 3 years later and I really did get the better dog. I got him wrapped up in a little blanket, placed him on my lap and back I drove, this time to home, Vallejo (from Reedley, 5 hours easy!) First thing Saturday morning, I called a vet and took him to get checked out. From the exam the vet said that if he was 8 weeks old, he was barely 8 weeks old.

This was taken July 21, 2001 the day after I picked him up.

A few years later while on a walk with him in Mill Valley, a lady commented what a cute Tibetan Spaniel I had. I corrected her and told her that he was a Pekingese, she insisted that I was wrong. I had never heard of that breed, so when I got home I looked it up and what do you know he was a Tibetan Spaniel. All this time I was waiting for all the hair to grow on him like a Pekingese has, like a fur ball, but nope it never came. There were pictures of other Tibbies on a web site that looked just like him. So I talked to a breeder and found out that Pekingese and Tibetan Spaniels look the same as puppies and develop their minor differences as they grow. The only "Pekingese" feature he has is his face and the breeder says that sometimes Tibbies come out that way. Otherwise he is all Tibetan Spaniel. I am so happy that 8 years ago I just said yes blindly and drove 10 hours to bring him into my life.

Now, knitting. There has been knitting. I have worked on the blanket for my boss. I have knit a hat for my mom and then had it ripped out completely because it was too big. I am working on sock and mittens for sample work. Nothing to show now, but I have knit.

I have been a bit silent on the blog, not on purpose, just happened. My absence is due to some personal reasons, all to which I hopefully can elaborate on more later. Don't freak out, I am not dying or have some terminal illness, just going through some stuff that is fairly draining.

30,800 in 35 hours

2009-04-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Back several months ago, I undertook a rather large project. I knew it was big, but I was willing to take on the challenge. After 35 hours of work knitting 30,800 stitches, this is what she looks like so far...

Now, how do I know those statistics? I did the math. Yes, I know, I HATE math, but I did it (ok, I had some help)

First I timed myself on how long it took me to do one triangle from the picking up of stitches to the last decreasing join, result-15 minutes. My speed was not crazy fast Miriam Tegels speed but fairly quick. So, there are 20 rectangles per tier to give me 300 minutes, there are 7 tiers completed, that is 35 hours (give or take a few minutes.) Then to obtain my stitch count was easy. My rectangles are 10 stitches wide by 22 rows, 220 stitches per rectangle, 20 rectangles per tier comes to 4,400 stitches per tier and with 7 tiers completed that comes to a whopping 30,800 stitches! Whew, I am tired aren't you?

So, how much more do I have to knit? She wants it like 6 feet long. Unblocked here in the pictures, I have knit 1 foot, I have 5 more feet to go! Hmmm, I am tired of math, so if anyone else wants to figure out how much more time (estimated of course) and stitches I have to knit, that would be fun! Leave me a comment and show off your math skills by May 20th and I will pick someone at random to give a prize. And if you wanted to get real detailed, you can tell me how many rectangles I would need to complete each day from now until October 14, my bosses birthday to be done with the blanket!

Now before you leave me comments like "are you insane? I would never do that!" or "wow, I hope you are getting a raise for that!" or my favorite "Oh hell no! You kidding me, I would say good morning to my boss if I was not obligated!" let me tell you that my boss is a great lady. She gives me tickets (good tickets to boot) to see the Giants play often during the baseball season and is just a caring and fair woman. Besides, she bought all the yarn (and she bought more than what was needed) and said that I can keep the rest.

Ok, I am looking forward to all the comments!

Hellooooo???

2009-04-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Breaking the blog silence...

I have had no real good knitting to share, no other life altering news to share and so I have been a little silent. I am hoping to cure that very soon with some great knitting. I can tell you what has gone wrong with my knitting lately. The cardigan that I was knitting for my niece, well, my finishing skills are NOT good. I had no clue as to why I thought that knitting a child's cardigan in pieces with set in sleeves was a good idea and that I could do it no problem (right!) The individual pieces were not an issue, unless maybe I didn't think out the way I would do the edges the best way for seaming. Suffice it to say, I seamed it all together less the buttons bands and I am not sure even a good steaming is going to help. I did have her try it on, in the unfinished state and it fit pretty well, sleeve length was perfect, body length was great, the seams - FUGLY! So, she being a very smart 7 year old understood that Aunt Lisa was not perfect and I had to take the sweater back to attempt to finish it. What needs to be done? The entire thing has to be taken apart and re-seamed and I really don't have it in me to do it. I am not even sure if she will ever see that sweater again! But what did make me feel good, she ran out of the room to go and put her socks on that I knit her, brought out Sophie that I made her and told me that she loved them! She knows how to pat an ego...

Here are a few pictures that I took of my niece and nephew while visiting them recently.

Yes, they are cute, yes, they have the same parents (I get asked that all the time.) My brother (their father) and I were just like that when we were little. But here is the most recent picture of my brother and I together taken January 2009...

Left to right, niece Caitlin, Sensei, Me, Mimi (grandmother) Kelly (brother) Crystal (sister-in-law) and Josiah (nephew)

I will have to dig up a picture of the two of us when we were little as a comparison soon.

Intervention?

2009-03-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

I think I just might be a good candidate for the show Intervention on A&E. You know the one that the person with the issue thinks they are part of some documentary on either gambling, drug use, eating disorders, yarn additions, etc etc etc.
Sometime last week I got an email blast from my LYS that they had just received a shipment of Handmaiden Casbah at the store and to come early and soon to get the best selection. Well, I work and live not really close enough to just skip over at lunch to feed my now out of control yarn habit, but a friend of mine works real close and I knew that she was going on her lunch break. So of course I sent her a message asking her to just check things out and see if there were any colors that I would like (she knows what I will and will not knit/wear.) Later that day I got a nice little message telling me that there were 2 hanks on hold for me. Yay!! Take a look at what I added to my stash...

Then this weekend I took a long hard look at my stash, which only maybe 1/3 of it is listed on Ravelry and thought to myself, this is getting out of control! Now by no means do I have the largest stash ever known to man, I actually think that belongs to a woman in Boulder, CO ( you know who you are!) but it is pretty large for me and my standards. In order to contain and keep all my yarn clean and safe until it comes time to be used, I will need to go buy some more storage containers. I need to go on a yarn diet, not buy new storage! I hear of knitting monogamy, I wonder if I can be faithful to one project. In the past I have never been successful at knitting only one project at a time, however, I know that I would have many more finished projects had I tried.

This Casbah is my last stash enhancement for some time. I probably should have passed but I love the Casbah Sock yarn and here is why...

1. Casbah has not felted at all. I have other socks that have felted in the bottom of the foot from wash/wear and feel like lead boots when I wear them. I have wash/worn my Casbah socks just as often, actually more and they have held up like a champ!

2. Casbah has not faded (well not that much.) Other sock yarn that come in fabulous colors have faded significantly with in 1-2 washes. Yes, I am machine washing them in the gentle cycle with cold water and I lay them flat to dry and it still happens.

3. Casbah has a little amount of cashmere and who does not love cashmere on their feet?!?! I sure do. There is 9% cashmere, but that 9% makes a huge difference.

The only downside to the Casbah? The yardage is a little light for a girl with feet my size. I am a 10 (shoe size) I am not ashamed, but I am frustrated by short yardage on sock yarns. So I try to stay away from yarns that do not give me at least 400 yards. I make the exception for Casbah because it is a little bit heavier fingering weight and I can squeak out a pair of either stockinette or ribbed socks for myself with one hank.

Here are a couple of hanks that were already in my stash.

So I am going to put this out in the world as a sort of incentive to keep me on my new path.

I have decided to only knit one project at a time until it is done. I will not be casting on for a new project until all my unfinished projects are completed or totally frogged. The only caveat to this goal is socks; I need a travel project and socks fit that bill.

So wish me luck!!

Oh and in August, I am going to Portland, OR. More about that later!

Stitches West 2009 Day 4 (Final Day)

2009-03-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday Day 4 of Stitches West 2009:

So this is a sad and happy day. Sad because it is the last day, but happy that you had a chance to see friends from out of town and make new ones too!

Some last minute shopping was done. I got some buttons for my February Lady Sweater and my niece's cardigan. I am not overly excited about them, but I think they will work. At one point lunch was being discussed and a few of us decided to not leave and try to obtain as many of the Grand Prize entry tickets as we could. The Grand Prize is cash, lots of it too, but you have to be present to win. There are also 2nd and 3rd place cash prizes, so it is worth being there. I knew that if I left for lunch and missed the drawing my name was going to be called, right? Well, we stayed and no winners but progress was made on knitting socks.

It was getting later in the day and it was time to say good-bye to Kristi, she had a plane to catch. We hugged and she was off. I was getting hungry but I was not ready to go home for the day and the Stitches Market was winding down and almost closed. So my friend Karol and I decided that we would go and get a bite to eat and knit somewhere. We text message Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls to see what she was doing and if she wanted to join us. Come to find out, she had an interview to do for the podcast with Galina Alexandrovna Khmeleva and asked if we wanted to sit in and then go to the bar, have drinks and wait for her next scheduled interviews. Knitting, drinking and meeting knitting rock stars? Um, hell yeah!

I won't go into details of any of the interviews, you really should listen to the Knitmore Girls podcast for that. But I will say that I learned so much and have such a great respect for Galina. Hugs were exchanged and off to the bar we went. We sort of horned in on a couple of knitters with extra seats and got our drinks, then in walks Maggie Jackson of MaggiKnits. Jasmin knows her from an intern stint at XRX. Maggie and her business partner Julie joined us and we had such a great time talking about knitting, yarn, and other random subjects over drinks. Maggie and Julie were fun, very fun. So as to not spoil who the others joined us for drinks, knitting and chat, you will have to listen to the podcast. I had the best time Sunday night and I went home having met some really fantastic people, thank you Jasmin and Gigi for inviting me to tag along.

Now, finally I have been saying that I would show you what I bought at Stitches. There was not a lot but I am happy with my decisions.

This yarn was bought to make one of my brothers a cabled sweater, it was a fantastic buy for 20 balls of heatherd charcoal fabulousness.

After many glowing recommendations from friends, I decided to get some of Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm 100% Merino sock yarn. The only time I will ever get to see the yarn in person is Stitches. So I hope to have this knit and worn in time for next Stitches so I will know if I want to buy much much more next time.

This is the Malabrigo Sock yarn. The color way says that it is Eggplant, but I only see a hint of purple cast. This is much more of a silvery grey in person. Again, I bought only one to see if I will be in love or not.

And finally the most luxurious yarn that I bought was this Cashmere/Silk 45/55 yarn from RedFish Dyeworks. I got a bit of crap from my friends about my color choice. If you have ever seen the RedFish Dyeworks booth at any fiber festival you probably would have too. The booth is literally a rainbow of color and every hue is represented; I am not kidding, see here. So what do I pick? A silvery grey, it sort of looks un-dyed even. But in my defense, by the time I got around to their booth there were no other colors in this particular yarn that really spoke to me. I am not a bright colored sort of girl, yes I like red and green, but when I do pick a color, the tend to be muted or rich - vibrant.

This is listed as a sport weight, but it feels like fingering to me, but I have 800 yards of it and I am excited to see what it will grow up to be.

So that is the end of Stitches. Believe it or not I am most happy about the old friends that I was able to hang out with and the new friends that I met the yarn was just a happy addition.

PS... I <3 my new camera.

Stitches West 2009 Day 3

2009-03-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

Saturday Day 3 of Stitches West 2009:

Saturday started off slow for me, I was a bit tired with helping in the booth, but Stitches has a way of energizing you when you get there. I met up with the usual suspects and we strolled the market for any other wayward yarn that would like to go home with us and of course we did, duh!
Wandering the market can make a knitter hungry, so Jill, Tina, Kristi, Jeni, Bex and myself went to a little sushi place a couple of blocks from the convention center for lunch. We had a great time with fun conversation and I may have had an Asahi but I was not alone!

At 2pm my assignment was to be at the Purlescence booth to help out because my friends the Knitmore Girls aka Jasmin and Gigi were doing a meet and great with goodie bags, really nice goodie bags (I know this cause I helped stuff them a few nights prior.) Jasmin and Gigi do a podcast and I think it is one of the better of the knitting podcasts myself and I am just not saying that because I know them, I don't roll that way. And of course there were lots of people and the booth was swamped.

The best part of Stitches is gathering with friends and Boba Knit had two of its own come back home to CA for this event Jeni Chase and Kristi Geraci. So it was decided to gather and have dinner Saturday night at Jasmine, a Thai restaurant in Santa Clara. For the full set of pics with captions click here.

After dinner we headed over to Bobbin's Nest for their after Stitches party where Jeni (one of our very own Boba Knitters) was a guest of honor. She has two new patterns that were debuted that night with Hazels Knits yarn, Cowl de Printemps and Berét de Printemps

For the full set of pictures, click here.

Unfortunately we were missing some of the Boba Knitter's when this was taken, but click on the picture for the names.

After Bobbin's Nest I headed over to Purlescence Yarns who was also having an "After Stitches" gathering. I walked in the door and greeted a ton of my friends and my cell phone rang. Sensei was calling me and the old Mercedes that we own broke down on him and he was stranded and needed me to come get him. I wasn't there 3 minutes, didn't even set my bag down and I had to leave. So I was super bummed that I could not hang with every one there and got to see what fantastic stash enhancements came from Stitches. Such is life.

Tomorrow? The last day of Stitches West which includes pictures of what I brought home with me and some new people I met (they all are published and VERY interesting!)

Stitches West 2009 Day 2

2009-03-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

Friday Day 2 of Stitches West 2009:

Woke up late (as usual) and I rushed off to meet Tina, Jill, Linda, Angie, Jean, Maribel and Teenuh for Pre-Stitches breakfast at IHOP.

Tina was not in the mood for photos that early in the morning!

Food was consumed and we were off to the Market. One of the first stops was Ellen’s ½ Pint Farm for some sock yarn. I have heard rave reviews of this sock yarn and well, I trust my knitter friends when the strongly suggest a yarn. I got a rather nice shade of blue, like faded blue jeans. I was reserved; I did only purchase one hank. The reason for this is because since I did not ever knit with this yarn I wanted to make sure that I was going to truly like it once knit, washed, worn and washed again. I have been disappointed by other highly popular superwash sock yarns once knit, washed, worn and washed again. They felted and faded with in just a few washings in cold water and air dried. But I digress, so I will be knitting with it soon to make sure that it passes my standards. So far, it has passed the first requirement of my mine pre-knitting, it has a large yardage, 500!! I have large feet, I am not ashamed, so does Paris Hilton, mine just happen to be wide too. But enough about my big feet…

We all wondered around the market and my next stop that I wanted to make was WEBS. I knew that they had the Malabrigo sock yarn and I wanted to say hello to Kathy Elkins. Kathy was very kind to me and I wanted to put a face to that huge purchase for her. While shopping at the WEBS booth, I picked out one hank of the Malabrigo in a really pretty silvery grey color that they call eggplant; I guess it might have a hint of a purple cast. Again, I only bought one, I want to test it out before I commit to a large stash of sock yarn that I may not be in love with after washed.

Oh and I failed to mention that Thursday night at the Market preview, I did get a chance to see Cookie A’s book Sock Innovation that will be released April 2009. Shelridge Farms had it on display, not for sale, however they said they could have gotten a pretty penny for it! What I didn’t notice the first time I thumbed through the book was this.

Linda saw it and pointed it out to me, I was pleasantly surprised. And the lucky one to get the book? Our friend Kristi!

Then it was time to report for duty at the Purlescence Yarns booth for the rest of the day. Which kept more money in my wallet and I was happy to help. It is fun to interact with knitters and enable, I mean, assist them in their yarn endeavors.

After the market closed, I headed over to a friends house to hang out and play Settlers of Catan (don’t judge me, play the game and then talk to me. It is like Risk and Monopoly on steroids)

I still have to wait to take pictures of the SW09 haul when the weather clears up and I have good natural light.

And tomorrow, Saturday at Stitches, many many pics, and fun stuff!

Stitches West 2009 Day 1

2009-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday Day 1 of Stitches West 2009:

This year I took time off work for Stitches, well, let me be exact, I found that I had 3 days of PTO (paid time off) that I had to use by the end of March or I would just lose it, so I decided that Stitches would be a perfect time. I woke up leisurely and knitted a bit on a project and watched some morning TV that I never get to see unless I call in sick. It was really nice to be home on a weekday, NOT sick, knitting and watching The View.

My plan for SW09 (Stitches West 2009) was a good plan I thought. It started off with helping my good friends Sandi and Nathania of Purlescence Yarns with their booth. By doing that, I thought, I would not have enough time to spend money on more yarn that I really don’t have room for in my house. And part two of the plan was to be realistic about not buying anything and having a list. How did that work you ask? Keep reading!

I arrived at the convention center in Santa Clara with coffee and helped set up the booth with the girls. We worked hard and got it done just in the nick of time for the Market Preview. Prior to the preview opening, Elizabeth (CJ’s beautiful 12 week old baby girl) and I took a stroll around the market looking for anything I might want. We ran into Lucy Neatby, Elizabeth was asleep, she didn’t care much, but Lucy is an interesting person to chat with and if you ever get a chance to take a class of hers, you really should.

My shopping list for SW09 was short and precise (trying to stick to the plan):

1. DK weight manly colored yarn in a heather or tweed. There is a Jamieson pattern* that I ran across that I would like to make for one of my brothers.
2. Buttons for my February Lady Sweater
3. Buttons for my niece’s I am 7 Cardigan
4. Any cool new tool that I don’t have (my loop hole)

And before the night was over, I came across a bag of 20 balls of charcoal heather yarn for a fantastic price and it is living in my trunk hiding from Sensei. He thought I had no list for SW09…oops.

Market is over and I went home to go to sleep because it was not going to be a leisurely Friday morning, I had an 8:30am appointment with some pancakes and knitters!
Pictures of the SW09 purchases to come…

*I am looking for a Jamieson pattern that is out of print, it is in the Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book 3. Please let me know if you have that book, I would like to purchase.

Lets finish, shall we??

2009-02-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

My niece turned 7 yesterday, I called her to wish her a Happy Birthday. She and her family were on the way to dinner, and I asked her where she was going.

Me: Where are you going to eat for your Birthday?
Niece: CPK
Me: CPK???
Niece: (insert an annoyed and disbelief voice) California Pizza Kitchen Aunt Lisa!
Me: Oh yeah, CPK.

Who knew my 7 year old niece was so hip to us acronyms?? Hopefully she will look hip when I get this sweater all sewn up. I need to get on it because I think the hemmed neck and button bands that I am planning are going to take some concentration to look good.

I hope she will like the hidden pink on the hem facing and besides the pink, I added a little surprise in the hem to show you later.

And speaking of finishing, I need to get further along on this very colorful project. Remember the Webs purchase? Well this is where that purchase resides in my living room, a nice DEEP lined basket. I have 5 tiers of the blanket done, but I was hoping to have it complete by Stitches West so that I could show Kathy what became of all the yarn she shipped to me.

Pictures are going to have to do for now. I am going to be setting a deadline for myself on this project, if not, then this will linger for years I am afraid. Plus, who wants to knit a blanket in a California summer?

Speaking of Stitches West, I will be there Thursday through Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing people that I have not seen for awhile (Kristi and Jeni especially) and I hope to meet new knitters and create new friendships. So if you see me, I don't see you, make sure you say hello!

Black Pearl

2009-02-20T16:19:00.001-08:00

I was inspired by my friend Nathania's new fingerless mitts and decided that I wanted to knit a quick useful project for me. And so I purchased a hank of Dream in Color's Smooshy in the Black Pearl colorway and started right away. Cast on 44 stitches and did a 2x2 rib pattern until they were as long as I wanted them before starting the thumb gusset.

Pattern: Improvised from about 3 other patterns

Materials: Dream In Color Smooshy

Colorway: Black Pearl

Needles: US 6/4.0mm

Start Date: February 15, 2009

Finish Date: February 20, 2009

I took these pictures with my new camera and I am really impressed with the noticeable difference in the quality of my photos with the Canon as opposed to my other digital camera. Don't get me wrong, my other camera did a good job and will continue to be used for quick snap shots, but I just have to say that I love love love my new camera. I think I will have to give it a name....any suggestions? And maybe it is not a her, maybe it is a him? Let me know what you think, I will give yarn to the best suggestion so leave me a comment.

And I will leave you with this picture of Sensei and Mugsy while you are thinking of a name for my camera. This is Mugsy's favorite place to lay down, he is a cuddlier. Mugsy sure loves his daddy!

New equipment = LOVE

2009-02-17T11:27:00.001-08:00

This just arrived today for me. I have been shopping for a DSLR for a little while, asking experienced photographers like Bill Walker for advice and this is what I decided on...

Another piece of technology that I recently obtained is my new iPod Nano. Sensei actually bought me this for my birthday back in December and I just have not blogged about it. Under the iPod is the half of a pair of fingerless mitts that I am currently knitting for myself. I am using Dream In Color-Black Pearl doing a 2x2 ribbing.

And these are the first pictures that I took with my new camera...

My African violet that sits on my desk, I happen to really love African violets. I actually love plants that flower. You can see the fuzzy detail on the leaves so clearly, the new camera is sooo easy to use, I love it.

My favorite flowering plant? Orchids! This is the orchid that sits on the cabinet behind me in my cubical. This was given to me by one of my co-workers a few days ago. Her mom grows them and it was time to split them and re-pot so she had an abundance and shared with all of us.

As a side note, none of the photos that I took with the new camera were retouched.

I am desperately trying to finish up a couple of things that are so close to show you new finished projects. I need to hurry, Stitches West is coming and nothing will get done during that time.

25 Random Things

2009-02-05T02:36:00.000-08:00

This meme has been going around Facebook and I was tagged there, so I thought I would post it here too. Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. When I entered High School, there were 3 things I wanted to complete, I did 2 out of the three, I was a cheerleader all four years and I was the yearbook editor 2 years in a row.

2. I miss seeing my brothers and their families, I wish we all lived closer.

3. I wanted to be married and have 4 kids after high school, I am unmarried and I have no kids.

4. I was named after a soap opera character from As The World Turns, if I as a boy, I would have been named Dirk (a character in a book my mom was reading when she was pregnant with me.)

5. I have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years now, frustrating!

6. I have never lived out side the state of California

7. I moved 13 times in 10 years. My best friends started writing my address and phone number in pencil after the 4th move.

8. Red is my favorite color and green is a very close second. I hate the color orange, I wore a bit to much of it between 1987 - 1990.

9. I installed my own ceiling fan and I installed my grandmothers garbage disposal.

10. I have been pulled over for speeding, no seat belt and or running a red light about 10 time total, I have only gotten 2 tickets thanks to my brother Todd being a police officer, his business card is magic!

11. I have always thought my hair was my strength.

12. I miss my father, I miss him very much.

13. I almost hooked up with a guy after lots of drinking in a bar only to find out after chatting a while that we were cousins....that was strange!

14. I taught myself how to knit while recovering from a surgery.

15. Out of all my jobs I have ever had, waiting tables was actually my favorite thing. Weird, I know.

16. Ok, this is odd, but it is random....Denise Terry and I both lived in a house on Hillcrest Dr in Selma (not at the same time) and we both dated the same guy from Kingsburg (not at the same time either, well at least I don't think so, hahahaha)

17. I love to bake and I think I am pretty good at it too.

18. I have had 4 surgeries in my lifetime.

19. I have been close to death more than once.

20. I regret not going to my Senior Prom. I went to a frat party at Fresno State with my friend from Reedley.

21. There is only one person in my life, that if she needed me to help her bury a body I would, she knows who she is :)

22. I play golf and I like it. I started to golf because of a man, not a great reason, but I liked it and kept playing long after he was gone!

23. Gina (Alves) Luberto and I were skiing in Sierra Summit and ran into Tim Dodd and Daniel Nulick, we started to ski down a run and there was an accident and I split Tim Dodds forehead open. I hear he still has a scar from that day. The entire story is quite good, ask me sometime.

24. I am rekindling my love of photography.

25. I sure there are much more random things about me, but it is late and I am tired, so just ask me what ever you want, I will probably tell you.

I have been tagged several times, if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

The recant...

2009-01-29T23:06:00.000-08:00

I have in the past said some not so nice things about how, lets say, "challenging" Elizabeth Zimmerman's patterns seem to be. What I have come to realize about EZ patterns is, they are not really for a beginner knitter. After completing 64 projects (according to Ravelry) I can better understand what EZ is saying when she is talking you through her pattern. Which leads me to my latest completed project, A Very Warm Hat.

Pattern: A Very Warm Hat
Source: The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Materials: Cascade 220 Heathers
Colorway: Grey and Blue 2424
Needles: US 7/4.5mm and US 9/5.5mm
Start Date: January 10, 2009
Finish Date: January 14, 2009

As you can see it is a hat, a double thick hat. Now this is not really a hard thing to figure out and I think it is one of the easier EZ patterns. You cast on for a hat, knit the entire hat as normal and then pick up stitches on the cast on edge and knit the second hat . Easy peasy!

The pattern can be knit plain, with no stranded color work or she offers you a chart to add a little design. I did not care for the chart and wanted to make it more personal for my brother. So I searched my knitting books and came up with the braid or chain looking pattern that is kind of Celtic looking on the grey side of the hat and the Waves on the blue side of the hat. Both these motif's have meaning to my brother.

And I think it fits my handsome brother very well... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!

This will come in handy for his youth groups winter camp coming up in a few weeks because it is A Very Warm Hat! So I am taking back my previous unkind words about her patterns, I am a more mature knitter and have come to appreciate her genius.

As I mentioned in my last post, my niece and nephew got the socks that I knit them back in September of 2007 finally 16 months later. Several people have been amazed, I assure you not as much as I was and the number one question was...What did the post office say?

They didn't say anything, they dropped the box at the door and this is what it looked like...

In case you can't see what they hand wrote on the note it says, "Sorry! was in parcel locker!" What was in the box you ask? I packed the socks in these mini lunch pails that I found at Target, so when they opened the box they got these mini pails and the surprise socks were inside.

Unfortunately my nephew's socks don't fit him now but my niece's sock do thankfully.

Soon I should be able to share with you the socks that I am knitting for the Socks That Rock Leyburn KAL I joined, my niece's, I am 7 Cardigan, and another A Very Warm Hat for Senesi (he almost stole my brothers.) I am going to do Sensei's in fingering weight this time, wish me luck.

Bronze Monkey, you funky monkey

2009-01-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Can you hear the Beastie Boys song in your head? Well these socks are not Brass Monkey's cause this colorway of Casbah is Bronze and I love love love this yarn. This is the second time that I have knit the Monkey pattern and I still love the pattern.

Pattern: Monkey

Source: Knitty, Winter 2006 by CookieA

Materials: Handmaiden Casbah Sock

Colorway: Bronze

Needles: US 1-1/2 / 2.5mm

Start Date: January 2, 2009

Finish Date: January 23, 2009

To be honest, these pictures look a little washed out. The color is better than this, it was just an overcast day and I could not get any good natural light. But this won't be a problem when I get my new camera in a couple of weeks.

Also, if you noticed it took me almost an entire month to knit these. Well, that is because work has been, CRAZY. You don't come here to read how crazy work has been for me so I will spare you the gory details. Things are better now and my knitting projects are getting back in line very quickly. I have some exciting things in my "To Knit" list coming up. I have about 3 projects that are sooo close to being done and one project ready to blog once the person has received his birthday gift. A hint about the birthday gift completed project ready to blog....I have give Elizabeth Zimmerman another chance and I might have to recant some of my prior statements I have made towards her.

In other exciting news, I am happy about our new President. I wish him godspeed in getting this country back into the glory it once displayed. And if you have followed my blog for a while you might remember when I knit my niece and nephew socks. And if you do not recall what happened to them here click here and here to refresh your memory. Those events took place September 2007. This is January 2009, doing the math, that is 16 MONTHS later, my brother called me to say he was sending a picture via text message of the kids. They were wearing the socks!! He said they came home and there was a box at the door with a note on it saying they were sorry but they found the box in a lock box (whatever that means?!?!) 16 MONTHS!!! My nephew has already grown out if the socks that I knit him, he was 3 when they were made but for photo purposes, they squeezed them on, my niece can still wear hers thankfully. Unfortunately the quality of the camera phone picture was not good enough to post, maybe we will get some action shots of the reunited socks.

Scruchable Gift

2009-01-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Scrunchable Cowl
Source: Scrunchable Cowl by Rosi Garmendia
Size: Small (modified)
Materials: Malabrigo Natural
Needles: US 7 / 4.5mm
Start Date: December 20, 2008
Finish Date: December 21, 2008

I saw this pattern on Ravelry, actually I sought it out after seeing Cristi's version of the Scrunchable Cowl on her blog. Cowls have been the hot new accessory to knit this year it seems, I have done several myself in plain stockinette stitch. So I wanted to mix things up a bit and love and hate this patter all at the same time. Let me explain, see those deep waves of knitting twisting and turning?

That is the part that I hated, the 16 stitch cables. They were, well, a bitch to do, but worth it in the long run. I think if I had used a wool that had more spring/stretch it would have been easier, however Malabrigo was in my stash and I want to try to knit from my stash when ever possible.

I am pleased with the over all look of the cowl and I think that the color (or lack there of color) winter white looks stunning with this pattern and compliments my sister-in-law. The only modification made to the cowl is an extra cable repeat to make it a bit longer. This was her 2008 Christmas present. Since I mailed her present, I had to get the modeled shots a few weeks later. My niece wanted to test out the cowl too.

Presenting Miss Sophie...

2009-01-02T10:53:00.001-08:00

Pattern: Sophie

Source: Ysolda Teague

Size: One Size

Materials: Cascade Cash Vero Aran in Rose #11 and Socks That Rock in Carbon

Amount: 196 yrds (2 balls) Cash Vero and 32 yrds Socks That Rock

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm and US 7 / 4.5 mm

Start Date: December 15, 2008

Finish Date: January 1, 2009

Don't let the antique colored pink fool you, Sophie is a modern girl, she came to work with me today. She was not much of a worker though, she just wanted to hang out and look cute.

Sophie challenged me a bit, which I like to have when I do a new project. I had to learn how to make a French Knot. I found this great video tutorial that helped me out a lot. The nose is not as nice looking as I would have hoped, I seriously need to work on my embroidery skills. Oh but the best part, she is knit seamless!

Modifications: Ysolda's pattern is written beautifully, you have little left to your interpretation which is nice. The pattern called for a sport weight yarn, however I wanted to have a larger bunny so I picked an aran weight yarn instead. Also, I wanted to make the bunny have some weight to her that would help her sit better, so I inserted a small bag of white rice in her behind. The only problem with that is, it makes a little bit of noise. Next time I will have to come up with a better plan instead of winging it last minute.

And the last modification is the ears. I had one ear completed and ran out of yarn. So I ripped out the first ear and then picked up stitches with a needle 2 sizes larger (US7) and adjusted the ear to be not as wide and not as long. With those adjustments I had enough to finish her. I tried using a second color in the interior of the ear but that made for a really dense fabric on the ear and was not looking good.

Accessories: It is the winter time, Sophie needed a scarf. I took left over sock yarn from my Carbon Copy Monkey's and knit a quick scarf. I casted on 10 stitches, knit in the round and added fringe because it is winter and Miss Sophie will be cold without it! Oh and she seems to have a fond attraction to margarita's just like her creator, I guess the apple does not fall from the tree!

Sophie will be given to my 6 year old niece tomorrow January 3rd, sans tequila, and hopefully be loved and cared for. Pictures of them to come later. Sophie, the first FO of 2009!!

My 2008 knits in review

2008-12-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

When I created this mosaic of my finished projects, I couldn't help thinking that I had knitted more this year. I was not wrong, I have knit more, I just had not FINISHED everything! We are not going to talk about what is STILL on the needles. What are my New Years Resolutions you ask?

Examine what is on my needles unfinished, frog what I do not like anymore and finish what I think will work.
Get pregnant
Knit more socks for me
Get pregnant
Clean out all the clutter in the house
Get pregnant (Time is a wastin!)

And the first project to be finished in 2009??

This is going to make a certain 6 year old girl really happy, when I finish her. Deadline? January 3rd, 2009.

I wish you a happy and safe 2009 with much success!

Foggy Day Schedule???

2008-12-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

Growing up in the Central Valley of California there is a love hate relationship with fog. Parents hate the fog and kids love it because that meant Foggy Day Schedules at school. There were many winter mornings while living in the Central Valley, that I would wake up, turn on the TV to the local Public Television station and watch and wait for my school name scroll along the bottom of the screen telling me that I could go back to bed for another hour and a half! If memory serves me, school would start around 10am on Foggy Days. Now that I am a grown up (sort of) there are no more Foggy Day Schedule for me, so today, I made one up!

This is a picture of San Jose fog…

Now here is REAL fog, the stuff from home (Central Valley of California) that we call Tule Fog...

And honestly, that is good visibility right there, I have driven in much much worse fog.

I will be posting about knitting later this week, Happy Knitting!

Won't you help little Sophie??

2008-12-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

This is Sophie, she is a soft sweet thing that is missing an ear cause well, I ran out of yarn! That little bit you see is not enough to get half way down the last ear. So if anyone out there has a little bit of Cash Vero Aran weight in what I believe is the light pink they call Rose #11 please help little Sophie to get an ear so she can make a little 6 year old girl happy.

PS... I have attempted to buy another ball of this yarn at my LYS, but they are out of stock. Besides, I only need a small amount.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that all my Christmas knitting is DONE and wrapped. I only knitted 7 gifts this year which is lower than the previous years, so that helped. And this is my new Christmas tree, it is a fake for several reasons. We do not have a lot of space in the living room for a real tree that is wide at the bottom for one. This tree is 6' tall from base to tip top and is pre-lit with white lights and has a decorative urn base. So when I found this narrow tree I knew I had to have it, it fits perfect in the living room.

I wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2008-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, not really a chicken dinner, but I thought it was funny. Not sure where I have heard that before, but it sure stuck in my head. The lucky person to win my Birthday Blog Contest is.....

JANET

Janet is a knit blogger from Texas and has a beautiful and inspirational blog Twisted Knitter.

And for the answers.

1.What happened when Sensei and I went to Disneyland?
I got sick, I mean really sick. We ended up staying at the hotel 2 extra days so I could get rest and meds before traveling home.

2.What color do I dislike?
ORANGE. I wore orange in high school almost everyday because I was a cheerleader and that was our school colors. It is not a flattering color on me.

3.Where did we go and what did we do for Sensei’s birthday?
We went to the Superbike races at Laguna Seca and rode in the Official Pace car. It was the most exhilarating experience that I have had, that track is really something.

4.What song did Juanita sing at the karaoke contest?
She sang Lady Marmalade and was FANTASTIC! If you have not seen it yet, click here.

5.Where did I take my niece and nephew when they stayed with me?
Looking back on it, too many places for such a short trip as it turned out. But we had a great time at the Oakland Zoo, Chuckie Cheese, Drive-in Movie to see Wall-E and a couple of parks to play. I can't wait to get them next summer.

Everyone, have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Friday, another FO!

2008-12-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

It started out looking like this...

and then a few days later....

Pattern: Changeling Cowl

Source: Modified from Pashmina Cowl in Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Size: 13" long
Materials: Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend

Colorway: 3105

Amount: 2 skeins -300 yards ( 1/4 of the 2nd skein left)
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Start Date: November 23, 2008
Finish Date: December 6, 2008

I am really happy about the way that the colors DID NOT POOL. I am not a fan of pooling at all, so this yarn made me happy and it was a pleasure to knit with, even in the dark! This is going to be a Christmas gift, so hopefully I will get modeled shots later, that is if I can find my charger to my digital camera...oops.

Ok, last chance to win some yarn! Contest ends tonight at Midnight. I will draw the name in the morning and post the winner. Need a last minute Christmas gift? Enter, you could win.

I am IT now...

2008-12-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Jasmin on this meme. What I’m supposed to do is find the 4th picture folder on my computer. I’m to put the 4th picture from that folder on my blog and tell 4 facts about the photo. Then tag 4 other people and comment on their blog letting them know they are IT!

1.This was taken the day after Thanksgiving 2008

2. Pictured is Sensei and his 4 year old niece Tia.

3. Tia LOVES to take pictures, I mean LOVES it!!

4.On that day at Sensei's dad's house, there must have been 25 people in the kitchen and living room all at the same time. Four of the five brothers in Sensei's family were there with their family's and I learned how to make "real" macaroni and cheese.

Ok, Carrie, Janet, Kristi, and Janice...You are all IT!

Oh yeah, you all still have time left to enter the contest!