Very busy this week - and I've been staying up WWWAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too late - but that's a very good thing ;)!
I hate sleeves on sweaters. Absolutely effing hate them. I have two finished sweater bodies that I can't fit a decent sized sleeve into.
I'll be gone this weekend, back to regular posts next week.
Until then, for your enjoyment
6.30.2006
6.26.2006
Suntastic San-Fran Saturday
This totally made my weekend:
Click the photo of the scoreboard to see the score!!!
Sunny, 75 degrees, good friends, good beer, walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th!
| This however, did not. 5 1/2 hours to get home. 2 hours alone from Union Square to the Bay Bridge. We sorta forgot to take into account the Gay Pride Parade! The only good thing is we got some great views of the festivities from the car. Too bad to I was a little too hung-over to knit most of the time. |  |
About all I could muster to do last night was wind Solstice into a ball. Here she is, in all her pinkish glory!
- Prarie Tunic front is into her 4th and final ball. So close, I can almost taste it!
- I have finished 2 individual socks with no mates. I'm not worried, it's 108 today and wool on my feet would be worse than Chinese water tourture.
- I've decided to try out this strategy seen at Brooklyn Tweed for the sleeves on A-Line and The Cropped Cardi.
6.21.2006
Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues
Thanks for all the comments on the douchebag. Reassuring that there are normal people out there who would have been just as horrified at the way these people were acting.
So it was 71 degrees this morning in Fresno at 6 am. Summer has officially arrived! What did I do to celebrate? Dye some wool sock yarn!
I named this yarn is Solstice. It's a mix of Black Cherry, Cherry, and Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid. It has some subtle variations in the color which I really, really like. I wound it up last night but didn't have time to upload the photo. Next time.
Kaci and I had quite a time in Santa Cruz this weekend. I got drunk and confessed to her my 'dirty little secret', i.e. the website, because she is going to be featured a pattern that is going to be published soon and she'd find out anyway. Hi Kaci! You might actually be reading this!
Finally, this is probably dull to most of you but this afternoon I am going to see The Break-Up with some co-workers for Staff Appriciation Day. Why is this note-worthy for me? It's probably the first show I've seen in the theater in 2 years. Because I HATE going to the movies. Hate it. No one at work believed me when I said I would just go back to the office after lunch. Argh.
Started some simple socks to work on during theGod-awful 2 hour span of boredom movie.
So it was 71 degrees this morning in Fresno at 6 am. Summer has officially arrived! What did I do to celebrate? Dye some wool sock yarn!
I named this yarn is Solstice. It's a mix of Black Cherry, Cherry, and Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid. It has some subtle variations in the color which I really, really like. I wound it up last night but didn't have time to upload the photo. Next time.
| More truckin on the Cropped Cardi, until I met the same 'Ren-Fair Sleeve Syndrome' that Aline had succombed to. I'm spot-on with gauge, but it needs about 20 fewer cast-on stitches. I'm not exaggerating at all! Why oh why are sleeves my new arch-enemy? With the ability to stop my otherwise speedy progress dead in it's tracks? |  The sleeve has sense been frogged |
Kaci and I had quite a time in Santa Cruz this weekend. I got drunk and confessed to her my 'dirty little secret', i.e. the website, because she is going to be featured a pattern that is going to be published soon and she'd find out anyway. Hi Kaci! You might actually be reading this!
Finally, this is probably dull to most of you but this afternoon I am going to see The Break-Up with some co-workers for Staff Appriciation Day. Why is this note-worthy for me? It's probably the first show I've seen in the theater in 2 years. Because I HATE going to the movies. Hate it. No one at work believed me when I said I would just go back to the office after lunch. Argh.
Started some simple socks to work on during the
6.15.2006
Written With Love for Joann's Customers
It all started so innocently...
Wine glasses courtesy of various Napa Valley wineries
I went into Joanns armed with my 40%-off coupon to buy 1 ball of Lion cotton (and then you know, go back once a week with an additional coupon until all the yarn I needed is acquired). But there I was, wandering around the yarn section and this lone Alterknits book is sitting on a random shelf amongst a bunch of cheap-o leaflets. I would have never bought this at full price but hey! 40% off! and it's the only one - like it was meant for me!
And all that Cotton? Well, I realized if I was going into Joanns once a week I was just going to keep buying more stuff that I don't need, so in essence it was more economical to purchase all at once. And no, I don't consider this breaking the yarn diet. Makes sense, right? Speaking of random purchases:
Beads were 30% off! And you can never have too many stitch markers!
Here's where the happy fun stuff ends. I have to rant for a minute (or five) about the complete a-holes that were in line in front of me; not that they will ever read this but it somehow makes me feel better to VENT about it and maybe somewhere through 'pay-it-forward' they will get some humanity and feel some guilt for the way they acted. This involved two different groups of customers; a young-ish married couple and an elderly lady with her grown daughter. Now for any of you who have worked in retail, you know there are those days when someone quits, 2 more call in sick, and the store store has to operate at 60% capacity. Yes, remember those fun days? And how you work so hard to accomodate a customer?
Needless to say, the checkout line was moving pretty slow - for awhile they only had one checker. Now I have been in there on Saturday afternoons, had 15 people in front of me, and been out of there in about 5 minutes so I know they have the capacity to get it right. Which is why I was minding my own business, and not getting too upset that I was waiting for an extra 10 minutes.
But this one guy is talking VERY loudly and VERY rudely about how awful the store is and how incompetent the workers are - and I am staring at his wife, embarrassed FOR her, because he is being a complete douche bag and apparently did not know the meaning of 'politeness'. So they are the next in line, and he proceeds to rip the checker a new one telling her she was a idiot and that this was the worst thing he has experienced (um - the worst thing you have ever EXPERIENCED? Can I have your life? Kill the dramatics and spare us all....). Then, he demands to call the corperate headquarters from the phone at the counter, and he proceeds to tell the representative how bad the experience was and again, how stupid this poor checker was even though I was willing to bet my left hand she had nothing to do with the situation of the day. So now WE ALL have to wait while Captain A*s-hat Douche Bag continues his whiney b*tchery on the phone and is ultimately, HOLDING UP THE LINE.
He finally leaves (and I NO LONGER feel sorry for the wife because she should have A) smacked him, B) walked out of the store or C) a dramatic combination of both). The NEXT customers go up and the cute-elderly-grandma-lady turned into a ragging b*tch in about 30 seconds flat starts insulting the checkgirl for letting the man hold up the line any longer AND for the initial wait in line. I can barely hold it in at this point. FOR the LOVE of god people, this is JOANNS CRAFTS on a Wednesday afternoon - we are all alive, happy, well-fed, and lucky enough to be standing here buying all this stuff for our own enjoyment. SHUT THE HELL UP!!!
I finally get up to the checkout and I can tell the girl is fighting back tears. They have finally opened another counter and the line is moving quicker, so I try and make some joke to her that the rude man was in a major rush to get home and yell at his dog and the old lady had a crochet hook stuck you know where. It seemed to lighten the mood a bit, but it has been nagging at me ever sense how rude those people were.
| So after that crap I went home and hung lights on my balcony (with the beading wire I got for 30% off!) then enjoyed yet another well-deserved glass of wine and knit. After all, I DID keep my cool and didn't tell that man to get his overinflated head out of his a*s. |  i love the patio.... |
Cropped Cardigan from the new Knit.1. I will NOT be knitting that weird opening in the front because that is the equivilant of giant flashing lights pointing to my not-so-flat stomach.
Finally, this is what Viva looks like about 10 seconds before she is going get into trouble for something....
6.13.2006
Flying Needles Ahead
This is how I spent last night from about 4pm-8pm. I finally have the patio finished (minus hanging some lights), and I decided to take advantage of the (very mild for Fresno) 80-degree weather. Eberle Cab, homemade Brushetta, the latest InStyle mag, and the new WIP.
The evening paid off. My new WIP looked like this right before I went to bed (I cast on the first piece at 6am).
I'm using Lion Cotton and size 6+8 needles. Any guesses on what it is yet? I think I am going to have to break my yarn diet for this a couple days early (as of today, I have 18 days to go) because I think I am going to knit up all my stash yarn at this rate. I can probably spare the $3.
The evening paid off. My new WIP looked like this right before I went to bed (I cast on the first piece at 6am).
I'm using Lion Cotton and size 6+8 needles. Any guesses on what it is yet? I think I am going to have to break my yarn diet for this a couple days early (as of today, I have 18 days to go) because I think I am going to knit up all my stash yarn at this rate. I can probably spare the $3.
6.12.2006
Party like it's 1998
I've seen this on a couple blogs, and thought it would be fun and mindless for a (VERY EARLY) Monday morning...
High School Meme
1.Who was your best friend?
I didn't have one - Sam, Abby, Jessica, Becca, Lindsay, Sarah, Ben and Eric (I'm still good friends with 4 of them).
2. What sports did you play?
I was a cheerleader (did all those ESPN competitions), and I was on the Varsity gymnastics team for 2 years.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
My first car was a '89 Ford Escort that everyone called "White Trash". It broke down 13 times in 12 months. When I turned 18, I got a black Saturn Coupe.
4. It's Friday night, where were you at?
Cheering at a football or basketball game, or out doing something I shouldn't be (i.e. drinking beer in an orchard or sneaking out of the house).
5. Were you a party animal?
I guess you could say yes. I did drink and smoke a few cigarettes, but..... oh who am I kidding. I definitely was.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
No... I had a boyfriend who went to another HS and that wasn't my thing.
7. Ever skip school?
A couple times - but I was a class officer and would ALWAYS get caught doing it. Of course, coming back late from off-campus lunch is a completely different story...
8. Ever smoke?
Yes. I thought Swisher Sweets were cigarettes for about a year.
9. Were you a nerd?
I was a nerd in a cheerleading uniform. I wasn't into the 'jock/cheerleader' crowd - I took a bunch of honors and AP classes and wrote for the school paper.
10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No.
11. Can you sing the Alma Mater?
I know the last part was "Hail Our Alma Mater Sing, Hail Hail Hail!"
12. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mr. Williams, the faculty supervisor for the school paper and Mrs. Ferdinansen, AP Composition.
13. Favorite class?
Chemistry. I don't know why I never pursued science further than HS... but I really liked it and always kicked a*s in it. I won some state award for Chemistry my Jr. year.
14. What was your school's full name?
Clovis West High School
15. School mascot?
Golden Eagle
16. Did you go to Prom?
I went my Senior year. My junior year, my boyfriend and I broke up the night before and we decided not to go together (he went with someone else!!!!) I ended up going out with a girlfriend who had recently become single, and we had an absolute BLAST eating a bunch of Italian food and drinking wine on top of a haystack.
17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
I really liked HS - but if I were to do it again, I would have convinced myself to have a lot more confidence.
18. What do you remember most about graduation?
Watching Dazed and Confused, drinking Coronas, and swimming every afternoon for a week straight. Since I was Sr. class secretary, I got to speak and lead the tassel-turn so that was pretty cool. I also got to walk with one of my best friends, Ben.
19. Favorite memory of your senior year?
Spring Break trip to San Diego with about 30 people from my class. I still can't believe my mom let me go!
20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall?
No idea what this is.
21. Did you have a job your senior year?
I coached a jr. high Pop Warner cheer squad. That was SO much fun - like having 20 little sisters that liked you and looked up to you.
22. Who did you date?
My cheer coaches little brother. No Joke! It was a constant source of tension, as you would imagine. I met him at a party because he went to another school - not through her. We dated on and off for 2 years (he's the one who went to prom with someone else - and then we got back together!)
23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Bobby Sal's carry-out for make-your-own burritos, or Zeni-Yah Rice bowls. Or my house, because it was 3 blocks away.
24. Have you gained weight since then?
Um, YES. When I started HS, I weighed 90 pounds. I definitely don't weigh 90 pounds right now.
25. What did you do after graduation?
I bummed around for the summer, then moved to Santa Barbara to go to UCSB.
26. When did you graduate?
1998.
On Knitting...
Why oh why is this sleeve so big?? I swear it doesn't look that way in the book?!?!?
Slow but steady on the Prarie Tunic. This is 3 balls in (minus the small bit at the top). About 7 more inches to go.
Stash yarn + Joann's coupon + bordem with tiny needles and sleeve problems = new WIP. Any guesses??
1.Who was your best friend?
I didn't have one - Sam, Abby, Jessica, Becca, Lindsay, Sarah, Ben and Eric (I'm still good friends with 4 of them).
2. What sports did you play?
I was a cheerleader (did all those ESPN competitions), and I was on the Varsity gymnastics team for 2 years.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
My first car was a '89 Ford Escort that everyone called "White Trash". It broke down 13 times in 12 months. When I turned 18, I got a black Saturn Coupe.
4. It's Friday night, where were you at?
Cheering at a football or basketball game, or out doing something I shouldn't be (i.e. drinking beer in an orchard or sneaking out of the house).
5. Were you a party animal?
I guess you could say yes. I did drink and smoke a few cigarettes, but..... oh who am I kidding. I definitely was.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
No... I had a boyfriend who went to another HS and that wasn't my thing.
7. Ever skip school?
A couple times - but I was a class officer and would ALWAYS get caught doing it. Of course, coming back late from off-campus lunch is a completely different story...
8. Ever smoke?
Yes. I thought Swisher Sweets were cigarettes for about a year.
9. Were you a nerd?
I was a nerd in a cheerleading uniform. I wasn't into the 'jock/cheerleader' crowd - I took a bunch of honors and AP classes and wrote for the school paper.
10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No.
11. Can you sing the Alma Mater?
I know the last part was "Hail Our Alma Mater Sing, Hail Hail Hail!"
12. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mr. Williams, the faculty supervisor for the school paper and Mrs. Ferdinansen, AP Composition.
13. Favorite class?
Chemistry. I don't know why I never pursued science further than HS... but I really liked it and always kicked a*s in it. I won some state award for Chemistry my Jr. year.
14. What was your school's full name?
Clovis West High School
15. School mascot?
Golden Eagle
16. Did you go to Prom?
I went my Senior year. My junior year, my boyfriend and I broke up the night before and we decided not to go together (he went with someone else!!!!) I ended up going out with a girlfriend who had recently become single, and we had an absolute BLAST eating a bunch of Italian food and drinking wine on top of a haystack.
17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
I really liked HS - but if I were to do it again, I would have convinced myself to have a lot more confidence.
18. What do you remember most about graduation?
Watching Dazed and Confused, drinking Coronas, and swimming every afternoon for a week straight. Since I was Sr. class secretary, I got to speak and lead the tassel-turn so that was pretty cool. I also got to walk with one of my best friends, Ben.
19. Favorite memory of your senior year?
Spring Break trip to San Diego with about 30 people from my class. I still can't believe my mom let me go!
20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall?
No idea what this is.
21. Did you have a job your senior year?
I coached a jr. high Pop Warner cheer squad. That was SO much fun - like having 20 little sisters that liked you and looked up to you.
22. Who did you date?
My cheer coaches little brother. No Joke! It was a constant source of tension, as you would imagine. I met him at a party because he went to another school - not through her. We dated on and off for 2 years (he's the one who went to prom with someone else - and then we got back together!)
23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Bobby Sal's carry-out for make-your-own burritos, or Zeni-Yah Rice bowls. Or my house, because it was 3 blocks away.
24. Have you gained weight since then?
Um, YES. When I started HS, I weighed 90 pounds. I definitely don't weigh 90 pounds right now.
25. What did you do after graduation?
I bummed around for the summer, then moved to Santa Barbara to go to UCSB.
26. When did you graduate?
1998.
On Knitting...
Why oh why is this sleeve so big?? I swear it doesn't look that way in the book?!?!?
Slow but steady on the Prarie Tunic. This is 3 balls in (minus the small bit at the top). About 7 more inches to go.
Stash yarn + Joann's coupon + bordem with tiny needles and sleeve problems = new WIP. Any guesses??
6.09.2006
Night of the Living Dead [Bodysuits]
Reading all YOUR comments about tearing up made ME tear up!!! Then I re-read my post and full on started crying. I'm in sap overload right now, apparently. The big send off is the weekend of June 16-18th, when I'll be making my last trip to Santa Cruz to visit. Of course, I may be doing some extended cat sitting of Lola the wondercat for awhile, so there may be a brief visit to get that set up. Two cats! What am I getting myself into....
So I've been good about sticking to my yarn diet (22 days to go!), but I need to stop reading about Mason-Dixon knitting and the Sugar n' Cream revolution if I hope to make it through. Through this drought, I've experienced a new-found desire to finish all those old FO's (worked on the Light-As-Air sweater and Sari Silk bag last night) that have been laying around for months. I've also ripped and restarted the sleeves to Aline 3 times - they keep turning out HUGE. I even tried casting on the size AFTER the decreases and it's still dwarfing my arm. Can't deal with that right now.
Back to what I came here to talk about: Style. I had some extra cash laying around at the end of last month, so I took myself to Forever 21 to pick up some cheapo, breezy summer tanks for the 95-degree days coming up this month. A lot of my friends know that I adore 70's-style clothing while at the same time being a bargain whore, so this place fits the bill for that quicky, cheap wardrobe fix.
However, I was absolutely HORRIFIED at what I saw when I walked in. Excuse my french, but what the f*ck is this? I can deal with the return of leggings. I even totally dig the legwarmer trend. But THIS!?! Why can't bodysuits have DIED and stayed in the 80s???? Seriously, this is awful - it's like the night of the living dead! Do you ladies REMEMBER how much those things sucked when you had to use the restroom, the gnarly wedgey, and how they so keenly accentuated any buldge or flab in the torso region. Not to mention they made it look like girls with even the longest torsos had only 8 inches between the neckline and hips. AAAAHHHHAAHHHH!!!! Die!!!!
So I've been good about sticking to my yarn diet (22 days to go!), but I need to stop reading about Mason-Dixon knitting and the Sugar n' Cream revolution if I hope to make it through. Through this drought, I've experienced a new-found desire to finish all those old FO's (worked on the Light-As-Air sweater and Sari Silk bag last night) that have been laying around for months. I've also ripped and restarted the sleeves to Aline 3 times - they keep turning out HUGE. I even tried casting on the size AFTER the decreases and it's still dwarfing my arm. Can't deal with that right now.
Back to what I came here to talk about: Style. I had some extra cash laying around at the end of last month, so I took myself to Forever 21 to pick up some cheapo, breezy summer tanks for the 95-degree days coming up this month. A lot of my friends know that I adore 70's-style clothing while at the same time being a bargain whore, so this place fits the bill for that quicky, cheap wardrobe fix.
However, I was absolutely HORRIFIED at what I saw when I walked in. Excuse my french, but what the f*ck is this? I can deal with the return of leggings. I even totally dig the legwarmer trend. But THIS!?! Why can't bodysuits have DIED and stayed in the 80s???? Seriously, this is awful - it's like the night of the living dead! Do you ladies REMEMBER how much those things sucked when you had to use the restroom, the gnarly wedgey, and how they so keenly accentuated any buldge or flab in the torso region. Not to mention they made it look like girls with even the longest torsos had only 8 inches between the neckline and hips. AAAAHHHHAAHHHH!!!! Die!!!!
6.07.2006
K is for Kaci
"Some friends come into our hearts and quickly leave, while others leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same"
I know I've posted this photo before, but it is quite possibly my favorite photo of Kaci and I EVER
This is going to be sappy and some what hard to write, because 1) SAPPY is not normally in my vocabulary and 2) she is moving 2500 miles away in 3 weeks.
I meet Kaci in 2002 under a palm tree at a random party in Santa Cruz. I had just graduated from college, and being all fierce and indepedent, I decided I was moving to Santa Cruz where I didn't know a soul for the adventure of it. Another friend was in town visiting and she knew this "friend of a friend" who was having a 4th of July get together, so we decided to go. By 2am my other friend was running around hitting people with a plastic hammer (don't ask) and I was being constantly hit on by this creepy guy, so I went out into the front yard to have a cigarette. Sitting myself down under the tree, I hear this voice from the other side say "hey.... got an extra light?" So there was Kaci, another recent addition to the Santa Cruz scene, having just moved out from Michigan with her boyfriend and another friend. A "friend of a friend" happened to get them to this party as well... and the rest is history.
Kaci is a couple years older than I, and moved out here after graduating from Eastern Michigan University. Her and her now-husband, Don, drove out in two cars with a giant cat and walkie-talkies, as fast as they could to get to the California coast. Since that day under the palm tree, it's been quite an adventure.
Kaci's Bachelorette Party and Wedding, August 2005
We've cooked hundreds of dinners, spent numerous hours on the beach, drank about 200 bottles of wine, been mistaken for fashionists by boutique owners, rocked concerts spanning from O.A.R. to James Taylor, had slumber parties with our cats, made up drunk names for each other (Kachi and Pete), danced to gnarly blues bands on the Capitola Esplanade, hazed each other, drunk-dialed once a weekend, and smoked a bunch of cigarettes when we weren't supposed to. We've cried to each other, laughed more than should be humanly possible, and given and taken advice like sisters. I moved, she moved, then I moved again to Fresno, but it's still never been more than 150 miles apart.
Post-Margaritaville
So one night, about 8 months ago, I was visiting and Kaci drops the bomb. "Don and I are moving back to the Michigan within the year". Of course, there had been some tequila-drinking going on that evening, and the idea for tattoos was born. Operation Pride laced with Tequila produced the following results:
Kaci on Left, me on Right
Yup, she's got my matching tattoo on inside of her foot (I'm resisting the urge to make some sort of comment like "superheros UNITE! when we put our feet next to each other like this).
The quote at the start of this post is somewhat cheesy, but it's the best way I can think to describe this awesome chick. I sort of hate her for moving (KIDDING!), but she'll always be my girl.
6.06.2006
Life is Better as a VIP
Currently: O.A.R. - Love and Memories
If this code is screwing with anyone's ability to use this page, please let me know. Otherwise, click away for a little browsing music.
Note: I was going to post my "K is for...." entry today, but it's about my best friend and the 6-6-6 hype got the best of me. So VIP Access, it is.
6.05.2006
Quickiness
Lacey Headband from Interweave Knits
Tahki Cotton Classic, size 6 needles
I love, love, LOVE this. I finished it at lunch today and tied it on right away. As you can probably tell, it's not blocked yet but still very stylish. Did I mention I LOVE it?
 | Bonus: Electric Koigu socks |
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