no-blog-rachel's blog

Check Please

2011-02-27T22:33:00.000-08:00

Check It Out...

For those interested, the haul above clockwise from upper left: Brooks Farm Duet, Lisa Souza Petal in Pesto, Redfish Dyeworks Yak/Silk, Tess' Designer Yarns Microfiber Ribbon (enough of each color for a sleeveless shell), Lisa Souza Cashmere/Silk lace weight, Tactile Silk lace weight, Tactile Superwash Merino, Tactile Yak sampler, Tactile Superwash/Cashmere/Nylon, Rabbitworks Toe Jam, and Sanguine Gryphon Gaia Lace.

So - yeah - Stitches. Quite a weekend! I spent most of it helping out in the Tactile / Rabbitworks booth. Wild times, I tell ya - check out the evidence:

Check It Off...

This has been a weekend of gettin' it done. Housework - check: the laundry's done, as is the vacuuming (my least favorite). The kitchen looks better than it has in weeks, plants are watered, the bathroom is clean and while it's far from perfect, the house looks pretty good.

But I haven't just been tackling the boring stuff.

Workouts - check: I got two of them in this weekend - we took the dogs to Sunol Ohlone Regional Wilderness. Nothing terribly strenuous, but it was a nice 3 hours getting some fresh air, exercise and unfortunately a bit of sunburn - doh!

We took the Road More Traveled this time.


Random enormous boulder

Little Yosemite at Sunol Ohlone

Knitting - check, check, checkity check check check. I've been busy!


A Pretty Thing #3A


A Pretty Thing 3B

No I didn't accidentally post the same picture twice - I made two of them. But forgot to take a picture of the 2nd one but it looks exactly like the first, so.... Anyway. These are Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's A Pretty Thing in a Cascade Silk/Merino (?) fingering weight. Pink isn't my color but it's perfect for the two friends who received these. And the yarn no matter what the color is lovely! Soft, non-splitty, and a great value.

I also got started on my afghan:

Afghan Square #1

Afghan Square #2 (it's really greener than that)

I love alternating these squares with other projects - it keeps things interesting and hopefully will prevent me from burning out on this huge project before it's done.

I finished my Fenimore Hat:

I'm finally cold enough to knit myself a hat

This is a fun pattern by Jared Flood. Interesting enough to keep it fun, but not so complex as to make my head explode. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash.

I've also been spinning a bit - one of my favorites, Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino in Stand By Me, destined to become a 3-ply sock-weight.

Crown Mountain, how I love thee!

And I have knitting in process too - this is my second Simple Things Shawl, this time in Lisa Souza silk lace-weight in Sedona (held double). Nearly done!

Next on the list - another Clapotis using the Brooks Farm Duet that I picked up last week at Stitches West. Pretty, no? I'm hoping to cast on this week.

Clapotis-to-be

Here's another thing I picked up last week - not quite as exciting as yarn but at over 68% off, still worth gloating over.

Cole Haan's at over 68% off. Jealous?

Neener, neener.

Lost Weekend at Stitches West

2011-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?


Yowza

Why Not Make 'Em Four Deep?

2011-02-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

Some of you will remember when about four years ago, I participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - 39.3 miles over two days (note to the squeamish; the 2nd link has a nasty picture of my blistered foot - you might not want to cursor all the way down). I managed to do the entire walk, and it wasn't until a week or so later that I realized I had blisters on blisters on blisters. No wonder I limped to the finish!

But I healed up quickly, and much like childbirth (ok not at all like childbirth) I've forgotten about the discomfort (did you ever notice how often those in the medical profession use that term? Just say 'pain' damnit!) and I've decided to give it another go. But do the same thing again? Noooooo...that would be too easy - I know I can do that. I'm bumping it up a notch - by doing the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure. 3 days of walking - 60 miles. Yep - that should add another layer to the blister pile! I signed up yesterday, committing myself to raising a minimum of $2,300 in order to participate. However, my personal fund-raising goal is $5,000.

So I'm ready to go - I've got a new iPod, some new gear, and my walking partner from the last walk. Anyone else want to join me? C'mon - it'll be fun! Or, if you don't want to raise the funds by walking yourself, will you support me? Just click on the Donate button in the sidebar. Thanks so much!

My new training buddy...

Oh! My.....

2011-01-25T20:40:00.000-08:00

Oh lookie - a package for me!

What could it be?

Something from the Cupcake Fiber Company! Is this not the most fab packaging ever?

Fluff!

Close up fluff! Oh! My....

This lovely stuff is the creation of The Fairy Godknitter. It's 6 beautifully carded one-ounce batts created for spinning sock yarn. You spin each batt separately, then ply two 3-ply skeins of sock yarn from them. There's plenty for a pair of socks - even knee highs! I'm not one to jump in and buy something the minute I see it, but the Fairy Godknitter posted about her new venture and I couldn't resist. So lovely - and the packaging is pure genius. I can't wait to finish my current spinning so I can get going on this!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

There's been knitting. I seem to be all about the small stuff lately. I finished my afghan square (picture some other time) and then started Fenimore by Jared Flood. When we were at the zoo I felt really chilled for the first time since moving here about 5 years ago. Maybe I'm finally acclimating! Anyway, feeling cold for once game the urge to make a hat:

Here's what it'll look like:

Both pictures are pretty sucky, but I hope you get the general idea. I'm using Cascade 220 Superwash in a heathered dark purple. I also continued on my socks. I'm now done with the heel flap and I'm ready to turn the heel.

But first, I had to stop everything to make this for a post-holiday gift exchange at work:

This is Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl McPhee out of 'Baby Twist' Alpaca.

And I had to make this too: a friend of mine at work asked me if I'd make her a headwarmer and brought me the pink one in to copy:

I don't know what it was about this project that excited me so much, but I did it in a day. It's so girlie, and so not my style - I couldn't put it down! I stayed up past 2:00 am to teach myself how to crochet the flower.

And I found the perfect buttons.

I love it. And my friend does too.

And Miele loves Trouble. A little too much for Trouble's liking...

I Am On Fire!

2010-12-31T18:14:00.000-08:00

Simple Things is done - it took only 3 days! It's a nice pattern, great for social knitting as you don't have to keep track of too much. I'll make it again sometime - maybe out of handspun?

Brian and I went somewhere today we've been meaning to go for quite a while - the Oakland Zoo. We've been to the San Francisco Zoo a few times but wanted to check this out - it's smaller, but you can get a little closer to the animals, which is nice.

This is a lousy picture but this tiger was asleep with his (her?) paws up in the air. So cute - and a bit undignified. :)

The elephants were pretty funny. These two were 'having words' - though it looked more like playing around than anything combative. The plaque indicated that the one on the right was their 16-year-old male who is very playful and likes to get into trouble. That's what you need - thousands of pounds of trouble. We've got about 25 pounds of our Trouble and she's plenty, thanks!

And my favorite - I definitely have a thing for giraffes. The one on the left is the 'grandma' - she's about 22. Feeding time was listed at 11:30 this morning, but all that happened was a woman came out with some carrots - and most of the giraffes ignored her. We got cold waiting for more excitement, so if there was a feeding frenzy, we missed it. It was still nice to see them though.

There were plenty of other animals but those were the best pictures. I didn't get any pictures from yesterday when we went up to the city, where we had roasted crab (oh.my.GOD.good) for lunch and then picked up some nice treats at Red Blossom Tea Company in Chinatown. However, as we took the train, I did get going on a new project:

This is a garter-rib sock (Sensational Socks) out of Rabbitworks Fiber Studio's Toe Jam in the Revenge colorway. This is the same yarn as the Simple Things shawlette, just a different color way, both purchased at Stitches West last year.

The sock is my mindless knitting - I also started my Great American Afghan:

This should keep me occupied for a good long time. So I don't get frustrated with knitting this and only this for months to come, my plan is for every other project to be one of these squares. Once this is done I have a gift to make and then a few UFOs to finish up.

Wow - blogging 2 days in a row. Don't expect it to become a habit. I just happened to have progress to report, an FO to show off and time to post about it. Hope it all comes together like that again soon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Tappity...tappity...

2010-12-29T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well! Now. Where was I? Anyone still out there? My silence has probably lost me at least half my readership (which brings it down to about...3?). Well if any of you are still out there...Hi! How are you?

Things have been fine here in no-blog-land. Work has been insane (in a good way, most of the time) and I spent a few months at either the office or crashed at home and not a whole lot else. But I'm back (kind of), socializing and knitting again after not having done much of either for a while. Well comparatively 'not much' - I've still accomplished a bit:

First, a final report on Tour de Fleece (in which I actually exceeded my goals, thankyouverymuch):

I finished spinning the green Meriboo (Merino Bamboo) into a 2-ply lace weight:

I also spun up the Camel/Silk from Redfish Dyeworks. It's a 3-ply dk weight. I loved spinning it so much I may have to buy more of the same fiber so I can make a lace weight with it the next time.

Late in the summer, The Queen of Purple Yarn and I each raided our stash and spent a fun afternoon at her house playing with color.

My handspun Cormo from Tour de Fleece went from this:

To this:

I over-dyed some nice (but incredibly garish) Alpaca that I'd found at a yarn swap:

It's now a bit more 'me' (as in, I'm now willing to be seen near it):

And another 2 crazy-loud skeins from a different swap went from here:

to here (embiggen to really see the color):

Here are some more shots/results of that afternoon - it was a lot of fun - sunshine, friend, fiber (and a goofy dog) - what more could you want?

We also took a short vacation this summer to the Mendocino coast. The dogs came with us (they deserve a vacation too!).

Brian showed Miele the ocean for the first time:

She did a good job being brave!

She and Trouble also explored the beach together:

And napped together at the end of each day.

(being on vacation is hard work).

It was also The Summer Of Giant Garden Produce:

That's one (elephant) garlic clove that's half the size of Miele's head. A clove!

The figs that ate San Jose:

Got eaten by us. Arugula, fresh figs, fresh mozzarella, a touch of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Try it!

And this:

Turned into one of these (the largest came in around 102 pounds - the smallest nearly 90, if I recall correctly):

And now we have a freezer full of pumpkin (and a whole one still left to cut up).

In spite of losing the mojo but good, there has been knitting:

During my least-productive time, a tea cozy requested by my husband, out of some of my first hand-spun:

This small thing took me nearly 2 months to complete. Yeah, mojo-deficient. Sad.

Fortunately, things picked up. I knit my 2nd Girasole (out of Cascade EcoWook in Natural) in about 6 weeks:

This hat (Cascade 220 Superwash) took 2 days:

This is 'Snowflakes on Mulberries Hat' (worsted weight version) by Amy Klimt. Super easy, nice looking, and free - thanks Amy!

Yesterday I started this:

And a day later, I'm here:

I should be finished within a day or so.

Next in line:

This will become The Great American Afghan - it was requested because the new leather couch can be cold. See how uncomfortable Miele is?

Trouble wants me to hurry up and knit it already.

It's Baaaack....

2010-07-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Spinning Mojo - I think it's back.

Exhibit 1: Merino/Silk Laceweight in Chocolate Cherries, fiber from A Verb for Keeping Warm. 387 yards of 2-ply.

Next up: Cormo (spin-drafted by Morro Fleece Works); 745 yards 2-ply laceweight.

Fluffiest stuff I've spun, EVAR.

Up next: Meriboo (Merino/Bamboo)

And since I'll clearly exceed my original goal, I'll take a stab at this:

Camel/Silk from Red Fish Dyeworks, picked up at Stitches West 2009. Enough marinating in the stash; I'm dying to spin this.

However, today is the 12th and a day of rest for the Tour de Fleece. And I've worn a smooth spot on my finger from all the spinning. So, I'll pick it all up again tomorrow; I can't wait!

Miele needs her rest too.

Le Tour de Fleece

2010-07-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the Tour de Fleece. For those of you know don't know what that means, it's a 3-week spinning journey; we spin every day from Saturday July 3rd through Sunday, July 25th. There are two days of rest: the 12th and 21st, and there is the day of (greatest) challenge, Thursday the 22nd.

I hear there's a little bicycle race fashioned after the Tour de Fleece; they ride their bikes somewhere in France on the same days we use our spinning wheels. Cute, non?

Last year, my theme was to finish up some spinning WIPs, and as the-job-that-is-now-fortunately-in-my-past started during the tour, I pretty much failed miserably at completing my goal. This year my theme is the unknown; fibers and fiber blends I haven't experienced before. Some are WIPs, some are new projects.

This is a Merino-Silk blend from A Verb For Keeping Warm that I bought at Stitches West this year (color way is Chocolate Cherries):

I've spun up about half and want to finish this ASAP.

I also have some gorgeous Cormo. Spinning all-white isn't that exciting but my intent is to dye it after I finish spinning it. I want a semi-solid but no barber-poling.

Behold the WooLee Winder Brian got me for my birthday! Love, love, love it already and I've only spent a few hours with it. I hope it's not considered an unfair advantage during the tour and I don't eventually get accused of doping by Floyd Landis.

Here's another fiber I have yet to experience - 'Meriboo' - a Merino/Bamboo blend, that's destined to become a fine two-ply laceweight.

I have some other things I'd like to spin up but we'll see if I get that far.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch....

I turned another year older on June 10th, and I think it was one of the nicest birthdays ever. No giant bash or anything but a lot of acknowledgment, a lot of good wishes, and lots of (3 guesses....) fiber.

Cashmere from Kathy

Some cash with which I've purchased these:

I also decided to try out some Polwarth from Crown Mountain Farms (The top one is Silk Road the other, Shadow on the Wall)

And this, the aforementioned WooLee Winder from Brian; something I've been dying to have for a while now. Pretty sweet, huh?

I've been busy with other things too: In spite of crazy amounts of overtime at work (it's all good), I've managed to knit a bit:

Continued progress on Madli's Scarf

On a quick business trip to Omaha last week I got a start on Flutter Scarf by Miriam Felton, using some silk/merino laceweight I had in stash (from Pigeonroof Studios).

Last, I recently finished this:

And felted it last night.

Another Booga Bag; this one is a late birthday present for the lovely Hannah (no blog so no link), in her colors. I love this pattern and it's great for using up project leftovers. One of these days I'll make one for myself.

In other wildly exciting news, we got rid of our old couch and got a new one:

I've always wanted a high-quality leather couch and it's nice not to feel a wood frame digging through the cushions. It has a slightly smaller footprint which opens up the room a bit, and the leather smells nice. But best of all,

The doggies like it.

Speed Blogging

2010-06-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

There's so much catching up to do, there's no space or time for details. So here is the past 2 months in a nutshell. A BIG nutshell with lots of pictures.

1. I've always considered Administrative Professionals Day (or whatever PC term they change it to each year) to be something dreamed up by Hallmark and the floral industry. Apparently it's kind of a big deal at my company. We got these:

And my boss gave me a gift card which I used toward this:

Hannah pointed out that the interior went perfectly with my work cell:

(Now I can sleep at night...)

2. A bunch of us left town for a girls' weekend in Tahoe. We shared a couple of heavily discounted suites. Which were nicer than my house:

Cushy

We got a...

little...

silly.

And we found time to get out a bit too:

And of course stop by a yarn shop. I picked these up in Placerville:

That gorgeous green stuff is alpaca/silk from Abstract Fiber, and the cream colored yarn is 400 yards of cashmere lace weight, just waiting to become a lovely scarf.

3. Brian has been insanely busy in the gardens:

A. Proof of growth: Potatoes

Citrus:

Figlets

Beets

Cherries

and Roses

B. Proof of Harvest:

Beets and greens

Fava beans

Broccoli and garlic

Apricots. Eight pounds in one picking. We have a lot of apricots.

Apparently Brian's plot at the community garden is well suited to grow Elephant Garlic. Freakin' enormous.

Actually, just about everything seems to grow well in that plot.

C. Proof of cooking (some of this we grew, some we purchased):

First batch ever of homemade sauerkraut. Yum.

Favas and greens

Greens (and purples) over rice

Beets, greens, and quinoa polenta

We didn't grow anything in this salad but it's one of my favorite summer combos; cucumber, tomato, feta, and kalamatas with a squeeze of lemon juice.

4. There has been entertainment of dogs:

They have enjoyed helping with the compost.

And went for a nice hike last weekend.

5. And there has been knitting:

A. Another friend had a baby so naturally I had to dress her (the baby, not the friend) up as a pumpkin:

B. I started to knit a wrap with this (Lisa Souza Silk Lace Weight in Sedona). I had to start over about 4 times due to a few errors and experimenting with needle sizes in my effort to get the fabric I wanted.

Miele decided the wrap was not meant to be:

Pretty, huh? It was even prettier festooned across the living room. Fortunately, shiny silk untangles pretty easily. It is now wound back up and waiting for me to decide what it's meant to be.

C. I finished the Lace Ribbons Scarf

Which I love.

D. Then I waffled for over a week over which yarn to use to make Madli's Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia. The cone on the top right is Colrain Lace Weight. The green below it is Hepburn (colorway - Alfalfa) from Abstract Fibers. The ball at the bottom is Graceful from The Yarn Place, and the rust-colored yarn on the left is Alpaca Cloud (from KnitPicks) in Autumn.

I opted for the Hepburn from Abstract Fibers in a lovely semi-solid green.

And it's going very nicely so far (and even better, Miele has left it alone). She is however, helping me knit this (F):

A Booga Bag in the girliest colors ever.

Trouble didn't think Miele should be the only subject of a gratuitous cute-doggy picture, and wants you all to know she's the best snuggle-beagle ever, even without modeling knitwear.

It's true.

Early Morning Rain*

2010-04-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Fortunately there was very little of that when Kathy and I did our weekly workout/walk this morning. It was a little chilly and a few drops flying here and there, but that was it. Now the temperature has dropped significantly (for CA) and it has been coming down hard for hours. I'm pretty thrilled; we need it!

I also like it because I've been able to spend the day in relaxation mode. I've watched the ballgame (Red Sox won - yay!), napped, caught up on blogs, and done a bit of knitting. In my quest to have different UFOs at the end of this year than I did at the beginning, I have picked up a project I started last summer.

This is Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty (Spring, 2008) in Handmaiden Sea Silk. Lovely stuff, and the plant fiber/silk blend makes for smooth knitting. It also makes for smooth unraveling so be careful not to drop stitches!

I think my lace mojo may have come back; Earlier this week I suddenly got the rhythm of the pattern and it's moving along pretty quickly.

Actually I think the knitting mojo in general may be on the upswing. Thursday night, I finished my Olive Peasy. It's a great pattern; the only thing I changed was to use an applied i-cord edging on the sleeves and bottom, as I thought it would be more flattering. Here it is drying (Miele is playing guard dog):

Sleeve finishing detail (and probably the most accurate color shot):

Buttons on the card:

And on the sweater:

And here it is on me. Whaddya think?

I'm very happy with it. The yarn (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool) has a great drape and is light-weight enough so that it's not too warm for this climate. It's a perfect office sweater and I have a lot of DK-weight in my stash, so I may have to make another some day.

In celebration of the return of the lace mojo, my next cast-on (once I finish Lace Ribbon) will be a wrap (pattern undecided) using one of these two beautiful lace-weights I picked up at Stitches:

Lisa Souza's 100% silk in Sedona

Or Abstract Fibers Hepburn in Alfalfa:

Any preference or suggestions? I definitely want a rectangular wrap not a triangle; other than that, I'm open.

Miele spent a lot of time yesterday guarding the sweater.

Trouble prefers to keep an eye (and a butt) on Brian.

*is anyone reading this old enough to remember that song?

No More Puppy

2010-03-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

We are now a puppy-free home. No, we didn't boot anyone out the door (though she has tempted us numerous times). We're puppy-free because a certain little fuzzy someone had her first birthday last weekend and is now officially an adult.

See? Doesn't she look mature? We had a little party for her that included pizza and ice cream. Someone decided to decorate:

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Brian.

We're actually not sure exactly of Miele's birth date; but when we got her from the rescue league they indicated she'd probably been born in March, so we chose the first day of spring as her day.

And Boy Has It Sprung...

It's spring in California and now that I've been here four years I can actually tell the difference between the seasons - it's subtle, especially compared to Vermont. Lots is happening in the garden:

Rosemary is flowering.

So are the fava beans (if my husband picks up a bottle of nice Chianti I'm going to be nervous).

Figs are getting bigger.

And the apricots are going nuts!

Trouble and Miele like to help with the compost.

There has been harvesting too! I just pulled these radishes about an hour ago.

Peas, carrots and spinach...

And around December sometime, Brian found a potato that had started sprouting. So he cut it into chunks and planted it. This is only part of what he brought home; over 5 pounds of potatoes so far! If you've never had a home grown potato before, you have to try it. I didn't see the point of growing one's own for a long time - it seemed like a lot of garden space for something you can buy pretty cheaply. But the difference in taste is amazing. So worth it!

Attitude Adjustment

I've been at my job 3 weeks now and I am happier at work than I have been in years. I have been putting in as many (if not more) hours than I did at my last job but how I feel about them is completely different. I'm no longer taken for granted, I'm not expected to sit around for extra hours to be at someone's beck and call (and then told, after waiting for 2 hours, 'oh no, we can do that tomorrow'), and the fact that I'm now hourly, so any overtime brings in extra cash doesn't hurt either. And, my boss is great and seems as happy with me as I am with him. I hope this one lasts! The job I mean - I'm pretty sure the boss will last a while; he's young.

See these? He's not the only one at work who makes me feel appreciated. These were sent to me by someone I hadn't met - but had helped set up a meeting on short notice. Nice, huh?

Slowly But Surely...

I have been chipping away at the Olive Peasy Sweater. I'm actually almost done; maybe an inch or so more to the body, then I just have the neck button band to go.

This actually shows it a few inches shorter than it is now. If I actually concentrate and knit instead of falling asleep on the couch maybe I'll be able to bind off before Monday. Who knows - maybe my next post will be about an FO; it has been a while since I've been able to do that.

Miele liked this shot better as it shows off her feathery tail. I had no idea she was such a girly girl.

Twenty Questions With Scintillating Answers; Woohoo!

2010-03-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Totally lifted from Nora, Cookie, and a bunch of other people:

1. Explain what ended your last relationship? Decided I didn't deserve abuse and being alone was preferable to being in that marriage. I have since found a good one. :)

2. When was the last time you shaved? My head? 2003.

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m. I'd already been at work for an hour.

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? Reading blogs.

5. Some things you are excited about? New job! Awesome.

6. What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O? Don't normally care for it but craved it during chemo. Then my favorite flavor was red.

7. Your prom night, what do you remember about it? I went to a very bohemian private boarding school; we didn't have proms.

8. Do you have any famous ancestors? Not that I'm aware of. Lots of crazies though. Surprised?

9. Last thing received in the mail? Makeup from Paula's Choice.

10. How many different beverages have you had today? 3. Coffee, water, fizzy water.

11. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine? Ummm...yeah (if they still have one)

12. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? Nope. I have drawn cartoon turkeys though (Karen, if you're reading this, whatever happened to Mig?).

13. Any plans for Friday night? Probably park on the couch and fall asleep. My life on the edge...

14. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? Yeah - coarse and frizzy totally suits me.

15. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? Could a question be more random?

16. Do you re-use towels after you shower? Yup.

17. Describe your keychain(s)? It's a carabiner that I attach to another carabiner that's hooked around the strap of my purse. I also have an emergency whistle attached.

18. Where do you keep your change? Wallet. Though it often falls out and ends up in the bottom of my purse.

19. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? Don't remember - rarely do it.

20. What kind of winter coat do you own? Burton Snowboards (Formula?) jacket. I used to have about 10 (since I worked at Burton for over a decade) but I gave away most of them before and after my move to California. I'd rather someone really use it than have it sit in a closet.

3 + 1 = 11

2010-02-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

How does that work, you ask? Well. Allow me to explain (it's the new math):

Stitches West 2010 took place this weekend. I took Friday off so I was able to be there nearly the whole time. All year I'd set aside the small bits of money that I had left at the end of the week and saved it for Stitches. I ended up with a nice, guilt-free pile of cash; no withdrawals from checking and even better, nothing put on a credit card. Yay me! Over the course of the long weekend I traded it all for fiber in various and sundry forms.

Some consider this to be the Year of the Tiger. For me, it's the Year of the Laceweight. As I did at Stitches last year, I had a list of a few things I wanted to make a point of finding at Stitches, and I took care of those on Thursday night at the Market Preview. Lisa Souza had blogged about dyeing up a batch of silk laceweight, and I'd been lusting after it since she posted a picture.

100% silk in the Sedona color way. Lisa does gorgeous work and I was really excited to snap this up as there weren't very many!

Another pre-planned purchase was this:

This is Abstract Fibers Hepburn in Alfalfa. I'd seen Jasmin preparing to test-knit a skein of a different colorway and when I commented on it she told me it also came in a gorgeous green. I wanted to make sure I got some so I pounced as soon as I saw it. It's an 80/20 Merino/Silk and it's a generous 1000 yards per skein. I don't have a particular plan for it other than I know it'll become a wrap at some point. In the meantime I'll just sit and pet it.

I also had wish-listed this:

A generous cone (over 1500 yards) of Valley Yarns Colrain Laceweight (Merino/Tencel) from Webs. I'd seen the color on their website but had wanted to wait to confirm it really was as gorgeous as the picture indicated. Well it is. I'm not completely sure what I'll use it for but I'm leaning toward the Print O' The Wave Stole.

Those three finds made up my purchases for Thursday night. Friday morning started somewhat early with a pre-Stitches breakfast (it's important to build up one's yarn-shopping strength) and then onward to the market floor. I found a few more treasures:

Thanks to Janice who blogged about it Thursday night, I found this Louet Gems sock yarn at a ridiculously low price. I think everyone who read her blog made a beeline for it Friday because I heard that by the end of the day, the vendor had just about run out. This is really nice sock yarn that shows cables off beautifully.

I found a new vendor I really like (I'm not sure if it's their first year at Stitches or not, but I certainly hope they return). The two yarns below are from Knitting Notions Online; it's hand-dyed yarn of various types in beautiful colors.

This is their Classic Merino Bamboo in Ironstone. It's 490 yards of fingering weight, and it's just gorgeous.

This is their Classic Merino Lace in Stormy Seas. Ditto (except that it's lace weight, not fingering). Beauteous.

One of the best things about the weekend was that I got to meet one of my favorite bloggers (and indie dyers), Rabbitch. She's snarky, insanely smart and sometimes hysterically funny. Now I know she's like that in person as well as in her blog. She also does wonderful dye work, and I picked up a skein of her Toe Jam sock yarn:

All of her colorways seem to have a story to go with them; this one is called Cryptic Notes.

Less cryptic but equally lovely in a different way was some Belisa Cashmere:

I think this is the first cashmere yarn I've ever bought and I love that they include a choice of pattern with the purchase. I already have two other colorways I'd like in this yarn, but I have to wait until next year to act on that.

I had eyed some of this last year, but didn't get any. This year I picked some up:

It's natural-colored charcoal alpaca from Cheryl Oberle in a light DK/Sport weight. It's going to become a light, office-appropriate sweater. Each skein has 650 yards and it is soft, soft, soft!

I left the convention center early that day to join some friends from high school at an event in San Francisco. It was great fun and I got home quite late, but managed to drag my tired self back to Stitches on Saturday morning (am I a trooper or what?). I think the yarn fumes revived me.

The last thing on my Stitches wish list was some spinning fiber; it had to be 50/50 merino/silk, and it had to be exactly what I had in mind, though I wasn't sure what that might be. Luckily, I found it anyway. Two ounces of merino/silk fiber from A Verb For Keeping Warm in Chocolate Cherries.

I also picked up some merino/silk heavy laceweight from Pigeonroof Studios:

Noting kind of a teal/blue gray color trend here? I think I felt the need to break away from my standard olives and rusts.

So there you go. Three days of yarn-fume madness and one hell of a good time brought in the makings of 11 new projects. Understand the new math now?

The last thing I bought at Stitches was a set of buttons

for this:

which is coming along nicely! I just need to do the body, and then around the neck.

I went back to Stitches today but purely for social reasons. It's a great place to hang out with people sharing the same interests and to see friends who aren't conveniently close by. I'm pretty much exhausted and my stomach hurts from laughing, but it was awesome. I'll be dragging tomorrow morning, but who cares? I only have two days left at this job, and I can certainly caffeine-power my way through that.

Apparently Miele had a tiring weekend too.

Life Balance, I Hardly Knew Ye (But I'm About To)

2010-02-16T22:39:00.001-08:00

In my last post I mentioned something that I hoped to be able to share soon. Some of you have noticed that I haven't blogged nearly as often the past 6 months. Those who are local have heard me talk about it. Work has been completely wearing me down, both physically and emotionally. I had great hopes when I started, but it became clear pretty quickly that it wasn't the right place for me. While the reverse commute was awesome (17 miles in 20 minutes going 80 mph down 101), the location placed me nearly 40 miles from my favorite knitting meet-ups which much of the time was just too far, so I haven't been able to see my friends as much as I'd like. Most of the time I've come home, eaten and fallen asleep on the couch. Not good.

Well in two weeks, that will all be behind me. It's time to share. I have a new job! I got a freakin' fabulous offer today, which was so good it didn't need negotiating. I like my about-to-be boss and his direct reports, the commute is a touch shorter (though more traffic), 11-12 hour days will no longer be the norm, and the compensation is a lot better. Best of all, I'm positive it will be a much better, much happier fit. My last day at my current job (unless they walk me out the door sooner) will be March 2nd and I start the new gig on the 8th. So I even get a little bit of time to decompress in between.

Anyone local wanna come out and play while I'm off? I'm back!

Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon**

2010-01-31T15:40:00.000-08:00

Oh, I wish! While the dogs seem to be practicing their relaxation technique:

I've been busy. There's one big thing brewing that I hope to be able to share soon, but even without that, there is plenty afloat.

Stash Out, Stash In...

I took part in two yarn swaps recently. I love yarn swaps; it's a great opportunity to cull the stash of project leftovers and things that are no longer wildly loved, and trade them for something new, bright and shiny. This is what came home with me:

This is the only one that actually is shiny. A good project's-worth of what I think is a silk/mohair blend from Artfibers. The rest are a little more muted, but still new and full of possibility. Any suggestions?

Some Yarn Place Graceful. I couldn't for the life of me get a focused shot, but this one shows the color pretty accurately.

Alpaca Baby Twist

Koigu...

...in two pretty colorways!

I have no idea what this is, but I liked it so I let it follow me home.

And, as I was actually getting a little bit low on plain cotton, I picked up some more for dishcloths. I lurve hand-knit dishcloths!

Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch...

I couldn't help myself. Yup, more brown. I took some fiber from one of these:

Spun it into this:

And last weekend I turned it into this:

It's Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. This yarn was a little heavier weight than what's called for so it doesn't look quite as delicate as hers, but I think it still works. I did however, totally space at one point and all of the decreases in the middle section lean the wrong way. So it's not perfect, but the reversal didn't turn it into Ugly Thing by any means, and I'm happy with it. It's a great and easy pattern (especially if one actually pays attention - ahem...) and I'd make it again in a heartbeat. It's going back to Vermont as a gift to my friend who owns the alpaca; I thought it would be cool to send her something made from one of her own.

In keeping up with work on UFOs I've been working on Lady Eleanor as well.

I'm closing in on this one - it's nearly 4' long now. Not too much more to do! But I doubt it'll be finished soon; I've swatched for this:

(that's rust damnit, not brown!) I still have some math to do but I should cast on for the Sandrine cardigan soon.

I swatched and actually did cast on yesterday for Peasy, using some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool left over from a long-finished project.

There's a lace panel in the front that will require some concentration, and I will need to alter it a bit, but I still think it should be a fairly easy knit. I hope those aren't famous last words.

I've spun a little too.

This is some Ashland Bay Merino I picked up at Stitches last year. I have a sweater's-worth, and decided I wanted to get going. In keeping with my New Year Plan #1, I'm not in a rush to finish this; it'll be spun a little at a time. Ideally I'd like it completed in time to knit something for next winter, but we'll see how busy I am in the next few months!

Obligatory Food Porn (if you're not a vegetarian)

Here's another thing that took a long time.

I roasted beef bones, then simmered them with carrots, onion, garlic, celery and home-grown herbs.

This is what it looked like after bubbling on the stove for five hours. The next evening I froze half of it and turned the rest into onion soup.

Soooooo worth the time.

**Points to you if you can identify the artist!

On Epiphanies and Monochromy

2010-01-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

So Is That How It Happens?

Every Sunday, Kathy and I get together to go walking; we usually do a couple of miles, talking all the way. This morning we discussed how we'd each had recently had the same epiphany: projects get completed when you actually work on them. Wow. Who knew?

I have been an accomplishing machine:

I started the Haruha Scarf in June 2008. I used Lana Gatto VIP (wool/cashmere blend) that I won a million years ago, and dyed about a year later in a fit of productivity. I'd completed about six inches and then it sat marinating in the UFO bin until two weeks ago.

Once I got going on it, it sped right along. Two days ago it looked like this:

I was so anxious to finish it I stayed up 'til 1:00 this morning to finish it, and blocked it before I headed out to walk:

Close up:

And here it is, done! I have no idea why I let it sit for so long - it's an easy pattern and the yarn soft, not-splitty, and completely faboo.

I finished another project as well; one I started in July. Alison had given me some Qiviut, explaining that she couldn't spin as fine as that particular fiber required. I started it in July as part of my Tour de Fleece project, but abandoned it due to finding a job and subsequently losing any semblance of life balance. Part of my resolution to finish some projects included getting back to my spinning wheel again; I hadn't spun in months! This was a good project to pick up; it had to be spun pretty fine, but there was only one ounce of the fiber, so how long could it really take?

Well I went from here:

to here:

to here:

to here, in about a week.

Upon which I promptly ignored Alison's orders to keep it and gave it back to her so she could knit it into something lovely to pass on, as is her way. I can't wait to see what she makes with it!

It's Looking a Little Bland Around Here...

So that makes two formerly-stagnated things completed this month so far, and three projects total for 2010. My goal was to finish one UFO per month, so I'm ahead of the game. I'm not sure what I'll work on next, but after looking through the pictures I've posted today so far, I think whatever it is, it won't be brown. Browns in the scarf. Brown Qiviut. My obligatory food picture of the day (home-made chai) is brown:

Even Miele's nose is brown. Thank goodness there's the blue of my jeans to liven up the shot...

Next post's pictures will be livelier. I promise. Maybe I'll knit something black.

Ooh Look! A Shiny New Year!

2010-01-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

We weren't very fond of 2009. It didn't go well for us, and there were some losses and disappointments that just weren't much fun, so we were more than happy to usher it out the door on Thursday night. Welcome 2010!

I'm not a big one for lots of New Year's resolutions. I used to promise myself all sorts of drastic changes and of course most of the time it would all be too much. They would then fall by the wayside within months, if not sooner. So instead I am planning smaller goals in hopes that a more moderate approach will allow me to actually reach them and develop some new good habits.

Plan #1: Instead of embarking on major (and exhausting) projects, try chipping away at tasks a little at a time. Get into the habit of doing a little every day rather than wearing myself down in a monumental burst of effort. This applies to housework, creative projects, job hunting, whatever.

Ok, well I kind of missed the boat on that one for my first finished object of 2010 - I made a mini version of Clapotis in 2.5 days - not exactly 'chipping away' there, but it was fun. The yarn is Manos de Uruguay Silk Blend, which was a birthday gift from Bogie. Lovely stuff - great to knit. It grows like crazy - after soaking it was at least a foot longer than the original knit length, if not more. Good thing it wasn't a sweater!

As you can see, the extra length is fine, even on a short girl like me.

Now that I finished that speed-knitting project, I am working on reducing my pile of UFOs. I have two pairs of socks, 3 scarves, a sweater, a Lady Eleanor wrap and a top to finish - along with a couple of pieces that need to be frogged and the yarn reclaimed. I've joined the UFO Smackdown 2010 group on Facebook, and if I can complete (or frog) one item per month this year, I'll be done with everything by 2011. Of course, I have some new things I want to knit as well, so I'm pretty sure I'll still have a UFO pile at the end of the year - but perhaps not the same UFO pile. One recent Christmas purchase that has been tempting me to cast on is this:

That's eight skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed in the Cinnamon color way; enough for a sweater. It's a DK weight and shows off cables beautifully. Any suggestions for it? I definitely want to use it for a cardigan, but otherwise haven't committed to anything. If you have any ideas let me know.

Plan #2: Get out and play. I tend to feel an obligation on weekends to stay home and take care of the house. Brian spends most of his time building his business. Consequently we've been working our butts off for the past few years and not indulging in a whole lot of fun together. We plan to get off the couch this year and enjoy ourselves more.

The first thing we did toward this goal was to get rid of cable TV. Not just downgrade - it is gone. This was mostly a financial decision - even though we didn't have premium channels or HD, our cable/internet bill was ridiculous, and by eliminating the cable TV portion we'll be saving over $100 a month. We've still got our Netflix membership (Yay for the Roku box) and there's always Hulu for when I need my Glee fix! However, I'm really looking forward to spending more time doing more knitting, reading, and stuff that I sometimes put aside in favor of NCIS re-runs (I hope Mark Harmon isn't too disappointed that I'll no longer be watching him every day).

We took another step toward more fun on Saturday when we spent the afternoon at Sunol Regional Wilderness. It's not far away but it feels very isolated and it's just beautiful. We took the dogs with us as they need to get out and have fun too.

It's one of the few areas where you are allowed to let your dog off leash, so once we were away from the main parking area we let them free. Trouble, who is completely nose-driven, took some nice deep sniffs of something on the ground then took off like a freakin' shot through the underbrush and across a running stream. We weren't too worried by this but we did need to keep an eye on her so we ended up doing some pretty serious bush-wacking to keep up with her. Miele helped too, and as a result had her first experience with water that wasn't a bath. She did great - still hasn't figured out that puppies can float so she avoided the deeper spots but she did splash around and seemed to enjoy it.

There is cattle in the area so as we got closer to a potential bovine encounter, we got Trouble back on her leash and headed up the hills. Miele got to stay off leash as she was timid enough to want to stay close by.

The color in these shots isn't quite right - the rocks here were actually quite blue! I'm not sure of the mineral content but the blue combined with the orange lichen was positively garish.

These are a little farther away but the color is a bit more accurate:

It's gorgeous out there. There are some steep grades but the climb wasn't all that difficult. We'll probably return some time to do some of the more challenging trails, and possibly to see how well the dogs take to camping out.

Finally, Plan #3: Develop better sleeping habits. Getting lots of exercise helps with that. Here's Miele, demonstrating how it's done.

She's good at it.

Pass The Catch-Up Please...

2009-12-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

I feel as if I've been in a fog for the past month or so. Between losing Miguel, general holiday madness and work being all-consuming, I've completely lost track of the blog. I kind of woke up this weekend to realize that damn I'm behind...apparently on everything! Good thing I have some time off to catch up. First of all:

and...

Slightly belated happy-whatever-it-is-you-do/don't-celebrate. I grew up Jewish but really like Christmas trees so I celebrate whatever I happen to feel like celebrating each season.

Christmas Eve day Brian an I took a drive to the Historic Orchard in San Jose to check out the lambs. They'd arrived recently to help with weed control and fertilization. I'm sure the cute factor helps improve the health of the trees too.

I even got to pat a few fuzzy noses; a nice way to start a long, lovely weekend.

We kept Christmas itself pretty simple; I made most of the gifts we gave and we traveled all of two miles down the road to spend much of Christmas day with the nieces (and their parents). We also took the dogs to the dog park, where they got to meet Tonka, our niece's dog and their new giant best friend.

I'm off for much of this coming week and if the activity level I've maintained so far continues, I should be able to churn out a ton of projects. Here's what I have so far:

I had some fabric from a previous life hanging around and decided to finally make use of it. I had Hannah come over for moral support as I'd never made a tote bag before. It turned out so well I had to make a second one. Here's Vanna - I mean Hannah showing off my first completed bag.

Here it is paired up with the 2nd, larger one. I really like them but now that I've used up all of the fabric, I doubt I'll be making more. I'd definitely rather knit than sew.

I also made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend:

These are Staghorn Mitts by Tera Johnson made from some leftover Dream in Color Classy (Black Pearl color way). I also made some fingerless gloves for me:

These are Knit Envy knit with part of a skein of Koigu that I had in stash. Kathy had made some that were absolutely gorgeous and I got all envious so I had to make some of my own.

I'm in lurve and may have to make more.

I also made this:

A skull cap for my brother-in-law out of the last of the Dream in Color Classy; I finished it this evening with only a few yards to spare.

And this:

Yep. Another dishcloth. I did a bang-up job cleaning the kitchen (as well as the rest of the house) so I decided I needed a shiny new dishcloth to go with my (temporarily) shiny sink.

So...I have nearly 6 more days of vacation. I wonder what else I'll be able to make before I head back to work? It's definitely nice to feel productive again.

Another Goodbye

2009-12-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

We had to say goodbye to our angry 20-year-old kitty Miguel tonight; it was time.

We actually thought we would have said goodbye quite a while ago. He was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2003. Four years ago our vet in Vermont told us he probably didn't have much time left. My husband was convinced he'd actually died a while ago but was walking around out of habit. This cat just kept hanging on, sleeping next to my leg on the couch every evening and near my head most nights, and trying to beat the snot out of the dogs several times each day. Even at 140 kitty years and pretty much senile, he was still loaded with attitude.

But he was ready; life was getting harder and it wasn't going to get better.

Goodbye old man. You were a good little buddy and I'm going to miss your grumpy old self.

No More Monkeying Around

2009-11-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

Because they're done!

Monkey - by Cookie A.

From my own hand-spun - Superwash Merino from Crown Mountain Farms in the Aqualung colorway.

Cookie's patterns generally run a little big for me (I have a narrow, 6.5 foot) so I just knit at a smaller gauge and it worked out perfectly. I like how the subtle color transitions let the pattern show through.

Miele finds them fascinating!

Instant Gratification

2009-11-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

The knitting ADD continues. I've mostly been working on my Lady Eleanor wrap and February Lady Sweater (what is it with these Lady things?), but I have strayed a bit for some instant gratification.

Remember this?

It's my Corriedale handspun from Grafton Fibers. Well I decided on short notice that a non-knitting friend needed a birthday gift so I made her these:

They're Fetchings, modified slightly with a longer cuff and more length in the fingers as well.

I chose this particular yarn because this friend and I went to school together in southern Vermont and Grafton Fibers isn't too far from there. So, a Vermont gift for a Vermont friend (even though she lives in CA). And super quick! I started them one evening and finished them in time to meet her and her husband for dinner the next day.

Last week it finally got a little chilly around here; enough that my feet were actually cold and I realized I didn't own any slippers. So I made some.

These are essentially socks, knit at a huge gauge and felted. I think the pattern is from Knitting at Knoon Designs. I have knit this pattern so many times that I barely look at it. I used less than a skein of Malabrigo in the Stone Chat colorway that I had left over from another project. Yay for stashbusting!

Holy cow could my legs be any whiter?

After I felted them I put some puffy paint on the soles to prevent them from slipping.

Would you believe the cashier at Michael's insisted I show my ID in order to buy this? Who knew puffy 3D paint was a controlled substance?

Back to (Monkey) Business

I've now picked up an old project that had been stagnating since the summer; my Monkeys made from my own handspun. When I started them I just couldn't get the pattern to flow in my head and constantly had to check the chart as I went along, which made for slow progress. That kind of surprised me as the general consensus on Monkey is that the pattern is pretty intuitive and moves along quickly. This time however the pattern stuck right away and I only have to check the chart every so often. Now they're moving right along and I love them.

I have finished one and have one more pattern repeat to go on the leg before I start on the heel flap. Here's the finished one on my foot. Again; holy crap I'm pale.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We just got back from Thanksgiving dinner; I'm still full and it has been a very nice, relaxing day.

I made cranberry sauce among other things. This one is easy; for every bag of cranberries you use one navel orange chopped (I use the food processor) and sugar to taste. Toss it all in a pot with a smidge of water, heat it until simmering and the cranberries are popped, adjust sugar to taste and then once it's cool toss it into the freezer. Let it thaw for a few minutes before serving. Delish.

I also made glazed sweet potatoes with bourbon (toss bourbon on anything and it's good) and a salad but never got around to taking pictures. I am lame. And stuffed.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope yours was as relaxed and enjoyable as mine.

Another California Invasive Pest Warning

2009-11-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Another warning from the California Department of Food and Agriculture: Beaglus Gluttonious.

She is so busted.

Damn dog didn't even bother separating the muskmelon from the vine before she dug in.

Here she can be seen teaching Miele the joys of really, really fresh produce.

Miele was busted recently too:

Is there a doggie reform school anywhere nearby?

Remedial February?

When not occupied with documenting the bad behavior of the resident hairballs, I've been knitting. Or trying to. I seem to have developed a severe case of knitting ADD. I have a whole list of new things I want to start - a couple of different lace projects, toe-up socks, gifts, some dish rags, an afghan and of course there are always a few sweaters in the queue. And that doesn't even count the things I have in progress.

Despite the distractions, I've managed to focus on two things. First, I started another February Lady Sweater. I'd made one about this time last year, but a combo of it stretching and me shrinking a bit made it necessary to come up with one that is slightly smaller. Then I started another February Lady Sweater. And after that, I started another February Lady Sweater.

Sigh...

Why when the first one was so easy do I keep on screwing up this one? The gauge in the swatch was different from the gauge I actually knit. So I frogged the entire thing. Then I found an error way back that couldn't be fixed any other way than frogging. Again - all the way back. Then I happily sailed two inches past where I should have put buttonhole #2. Oy. More frogging. My latest attempt seems to be working okay though:

This is Dream in Color Classy in the Lagoon colorway (I think). I lurve this color!

This the color in this one is probably a little more accurate.

I'm making the same changes I made on the last one - a stockinette stitch yoke instead of garter stitch, and I'm doing yarn overs for increases. I also don't do that row of eyelet increases - I just keep on going with the yarn overs on either side of the shoulder increase for a few more rows. At this point I probably have 2 -3 more plain rows to go before I start the gull stitch for the body.

I have also picked up the Lady Eleanor stole that I started in March. It's actually going to be more of a couch throw than a wrap and given the number of dog and cat claws around our house, I think I'm going to pass on the fancy fringe. It's just asking to be snagged.

This is Noro Silk Garden (Colorway 88) that I got from Webs a few years ago at a kee-rrrazy close-out price. Actually that's about the only way I will buy Noro. The color changes are pretty but there are a lot of knots as well as vegetable matter, and I think the regular price for what you get is outrageously high. On sale however - that's another story.

And they sure do know how to put colors together.

Closing Shots...

Look who got her first haircut!

She was traumatized only slightly by the scary clippers. Here she is being comforted by clipper-man himself.

Does this girl have long spindly legs or what?

Girasole e Finito

2009-10-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

Girasole

Design by Jared Flood

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in Blech colorway.

I used a little less than 3 skeins.

Cast on August 21st, completed October 21st.

It would have been finished a lot sooner but I slacked off on more than a few occasions.

It's a big project but a really fast knit. I'm in lurve and hope more of my friends get married so I can have an excuse to make more.

Miele's not the most enthusiastic model:

Trouble's not too excited either:

Brian needs to learn how to be unafraid to express his true feelings:

New Invasive Pest Plagues California

2009-10-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Warning: The California Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a warning about a new highly energized invasive pest, Puppius Dementedus, now threatening to take over California. The population of this pest isn't high but what it lacks in numbers it makes up for in its ability to [appear to] be in 14 places at once, and raising hell in all of them. This pest persists in rocketing around the living room like a freakin' pinball, thinks that jumping the cat is great fun, and has no sense of personal space.

Be afraid...

Oh Hai!

2009-10-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. Well. Here I am and I survived. Right now I have a big meeting to plan and prepare for and compared to what I've been doing the past two months, it's a piece of freakin' cake. As of two weeks ago, I'm back to relatively normal work days, I am no longer getting up at 4:00 am and I'm feeling pretty human again.

What had me so busy? Well I was in charge of planning and organizing this.

We sent 32 riders and a bunch of support people on a ride from our office in Morgan Hill to Las Vegas. Here's a bunch of them at the office just before we sent them off:

They had some wild days including crossing Death Valley in 116-degree heat. Here's a link to Patty's blog - she was one of the riders and she can tell it a whole lot better than I can! From what I've heard from those who were there, it went well, and it was worth all of the time spent. So yay. First big project at the new job accomplished.

Now that it's not all about work I've regained some energy. There has been knitting:

Girasole continues to grow. I'm nearly halfway through chart F (the next-to-last chart before the edging) and I still love it. It looks kind of crappy here but I'm blaming that on the fact that there are nearly 650 stitches in each round and I'm limited to a 47" circular and can't spread it out. And the fact that my photography skills are seriously lacking (that includes the color - it's more lavender and less grey than in this shot).

I also pulled out the Grafton Fiber I spun during Tour de Fleece:

And made a pair of Fetching (Fetchings?) for a friend.

The color below is a little more accurate:

It's a nice pattern but I find if knit as written they're too short. So I added an extra cable repeat on the cuff and another at the fingers and an extra 2 rows on the thumb. Easy peasy.

Mom, Those Things Have Been In Trees!

A few weeks ago my youngest niece decided she wanted to go apple picking for her birthday. So we spent the afternoon here. At one point while we were in the orchard she wanted an apple so her mom wiped one off for her. She wouldn't touch it until it had been rinsed in water, saying 'Mom, those things have been in trees!' Oh the horror. Cracked me up.

Anyway, we came home with this:

This is about 17 pounds. The niece and her family went home with nearly 70. Yikes.
A tiny portion of the 17 pounds was turned into Norwegian Apple Cake. Apparently it smelled too good to wait to get a picture before we dug in.

The following week we had an influx of figs from the tree so I made the same recipe again, using figs:

It was good but the apple version was better.

The garden is slowing down but I made tabouleh using some cherry tomatoes and parsley which are still doing well.

Today's cooler weather sent me into a cooking frenzy. I made beef stew, baked some spicy drumsticks and made some chocolate peanut butter cups this afternoon.

The stew isn't pictured and you can thank me for that later. It has been in the fridge for a while and cold stew looks well...gross. Anyway, it was nice to have it cool enough to want to use the oven again, and the house smells great.

Obligatory Puppy Pictures

Miele continues to grow. She has learned how to play and here she is trying to teach Trouble to do the same:

She's developed this lovely habit of bringing stuff into the house and chewing it all over the rug. Here she'd decided to drag the entry rug from the kitchen into the living room and use it as a placemat for her dried corn snack. So sweet that she likes a proper table setting.

Tearing the house apart each day is exhausting!

Life Balance I Hardly Knew Ye...

2009-09-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Holy cow have I been busy. Work has been monopolizing most of my time; I'm putting in 11 and 12-hour days and it's just crazy. But one giant project (organizing a bike ride for 32 plus support from here to Vegas) is almost ready, and then there are just a couple of big meetings to plan and pull off. By mid-October while I wouldn't go so far as to say things will be slow, they should be a little less crazed. Perhaps 9-hour days. Woohoo!

In spite of the madness I've been pretty productive. I'm making good progress on Girasole:

I'd be even farther along except after finishing 3 charts I decided the fabric was too loose so I ripped it all out and started over with smaller needles. It's much nicer now.

Here's a closer view:

I just started the 5th chart and I absolutely love this pattern! The repeats are short so they're easy to memorize and the knitting just speeds along. Well...now that there are nearly 650 stitches in each round maybe it doesn't quite speed, but it's going smoothly.

I'm not sure what will come next after Girasole but it might involve this:

Another thing I'm looking forward to is doing a little reading. I read the Chronicles of Prydain as a kid and loved them. Crazy Aunt Purl mentioned them a while ago, and she inspired me so I found some used copies on line. The last one arrived on Friday so I'm ready to get started. One thing I recall clearly is how the hands of the 3 enchantresses were very soft from the lanolin in the wool they spun. I've always remembered that and think about it almost every time I spin.

On the front of things that are actually happening rather than in the planning:

There has been some decent cooking around here:

Brian made pumpkin ravioli using pumpkins from the garden.

I made a deep dish pizza with eggplant, tomatoes and a bunch of other good things. Brian added a little pizazz to it by grating lemon zest and squeezing a little lemon juice over the whole thing. Ever tried that? You should.

I also played lemming and followed the crowd acting on the theory that anything roasted with olive oil, salt and a little garlic is a good thing. This is kale - cooked to a delicate crunch - and it was absolutely fab!

Dog Days

Miele has decided she loves us all very much and can't get close enough.

She likes to get close to my feet:

This is Miguel's usual spot and he's not so damned pleased that she has taken it over.

She likes to be close when I'm reading blogs:

And she especially loves to be close to Trouble.

Trouble isn't exactly thrilled about it; she's a Beagle who likes her personal space, but she's pretty tolerant:

Poor Beagle!

Miele is also enjoying a few firsts. Last week she and Trouble went hiking with us at Quicksilver.

And we've started to bring her to dog parks.

She's a little overwhelmed by the doggie crowds but gains a little confidence by the end of the visit. Today she mustered up the courage to play with a chihuahua puppy about 1/5 her size. Brave, brave Miele.

Today on Okra...

This was a garden experiment that turned out kind of cool. Who knew Okra was red?

Try To Remember That Kind Of...August?

2009-08-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

I think between the new job and the new fuzzy family member, I just lost an entire month.

The month in review (as much as I can remember - it's pretty much a blur):

Honey has now been re-named Miele (Mee-Yell-Eh - though half the time we call her Millie. The other half of the time Brian calls her 'the bad idea'). Miele means Honey in Italian, so in a way we kept her shelter name.

She's doing really well. She loves Trouble:

We have had a guest doggie for past two weeks - meet Cleo. Miele loves him too:

Though sometimes she takes him for granted and uses him as a toy holder:

She came bouncing over to him with this rag I'd given her, got distracted and raced off, leaving him to wonder what the heck was going on.

She's usually rowdy in the mornings:

But she settles down eventually:

Which lets the other dogs catch a little shut-eye too:

And she's very snuggly (though if you embiggen you can see her devilish side as well):

The Puppy's Not The Only Thing Growing Around Here...

The fig tree has begun producing a fig or two each day, and it's a wonderful thing:

(A great combo by the way is a salad of Arugula, quartered fresh figs, and slices of fresh mozzarella, with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper. Absolutely fab.)

We got pumpkins:

There's always zucchini on hand (or on the way):

We're finally getting tomatoes and hot peppers:

We grew everything for this salad except the cheese:

Though to make up for the healthful vegetable thing, we occasionally indulge in a bit o' baking:

Mmmm....banana muffins.....

I made those to take to Rachael's house where we spent a lovely afternoon crocheting afghan squares together. This is Rachael and the temporarily incapacitated and very talented Janine.

This is the beautiful afghan-in-process:

And this is the incomparably cute and appealing Miss Idaho:

I did a little socializing this weekend too. There was a little going-away party this afternoon for my best friend EVAR Tika, who sadly, is moving away.

This is Tika.

And this is me and Tika, being Best Friends EVAR:

No I'm not drunk in that picture. My eyes are super sensitive and it's nearly impossible to get a flash picture of me with my eyes open. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

It was a pretty industrious crowd at the party:

And I continued work on my Girasol:

It's actually a lot farther along than that. I started it Saturday and I'm nearly done the 3rd chart. It's a wonderful pattern and as it's a wedding gift for friends, I found some wonderful yarn for it. This is Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Lucious Single Silk (which is a merino/silk blend) in the Bleck color way, It has a touch more lavender than the picture; the skein shows it a bit better.

Before I started this, I was definitely mired in a knitting funk. Even new acquisitions that Kathy brought back for me from Sock Summit couldn't tempt me to pick up the needles (which is by the way, insane, because these are awesome). One is a hank of Rabbitch's Toe Jam sock yarn in the 'Revenge' Color Way, and the other is some hand-painted fiber that Kathy spotted and decided I should own. Poor me.

One afternoon and evening spent with Girasole however, got me hooked on knitting again. My mojo wasn't gone, it just needed to knit the right thing. The pattern is super simple to read and fun to knit. It's all I can think about and it's awfully nice to have the Mojo back!

Parting Shots

This is how we grow a lot in a small space, here at what my husband is now calling the Double D Ranch. But when you grow things vertically, you need to be prepared to support the fruit so it doesn't break the vine. For this job, my husband was very resourceful and found the perfect tool on eBay:

How else would one properly support one's melons?

Ooh, Honey Honey...

2009-08-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Look who came home with us today. Her shelter name is Honey, but we'll probably change it as soon as we figure out what fits.

She's a Poodle/Terrier mix (which makes her either a Toodle or a Perrier), she's 4 months old and we've been told she'll be about 20-25 pounds when she's full grown.

She's sweet and just a little shy and can't seem to stay still for long.

Except when she's sleeping.

Trouble is already teaching her how to beg. We think they'll be good friends.

Late To The Party

2009-07-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

For someone who is freakishly obsessive about being on time (if not early) for appointments, meetings, and flights, it seems like a contradiction that I'm consistently late to every party.

Example 1:

9702 people started knitting Cookie A.'s Monkey Socks before I finally cast on for mine.

I'm making them from my own handspun (Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino in the Aqualung color way). The pattern as written would be a little big for my skinny feet so I chose a finer gauge yarn and smaller needles. It should work out perfectly.

It's an easy, fun-to-knit pattern. If I'd actually concentrate a little, I'd finish them up in no time.

Example 2:

I'm also arriving late (#3777) on this:

It's the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery (Knitty, Spring 2008). I'm using my one and only skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk. I'm really enjoying this. There is enough of a pattern to keep me interested but simple enough that I can work on it in a social setting without making mistakes. Or many mistakes...

Late To My Own Freakin' Party

Last month I hit the big 5-0. I found out around that time that my husband had started planning a surprise party for me, but those plans had been scratched when we realized that I was likely to lose my job. Somehow spending money on a bash didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. And as we'd anticipated, we were right. No big deal - I had a nice birthday without the party.

But less than 4 weeks later things turned around again so we decided to go for the party again, even though it would no longer be a surprise. So this weekend we did it, a little late. It was small, and fun, and a very nice way to spend an afternoon.

There was wine.

There was cake.

One doesn't need any more than that but I have lovely, generous friends so there were presents as well.

I wish I had more pictures but I managed to carry my camera around all afternoon and didn't take it out even once.

I am a lame blogger. But a tired and happy one as well.

Tired enough to let Trouble control the remote this evening:

Huh? What Just Happened?

2009-07-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow has it been a week. I always anticipate that the first week at any new job is going to be more tough than fun, and I was right. I spent the week absorbing all sorts of new information, meeting new people and getting my bearings in general. I'm so freakin' impatient that I expect myself to be the 'go-to' person within about 3 days and of course that's never the case. Everything I'm doing right now takes research - to whom should I talk about this, where do I go for that, where's the coffee again, etc. It'll all be second nature soon, but naturally in my opinion, never soon enough. So first weeks are always hard and good.god.tiring. I've been beat at the end of every day, and have ended up falling asleep on the couch early in the evening more than once.

Even though I'm still plowing through work stuff more slowly than I'd like, there are already some immediate plusses (in addition to just freakin' having a job, which is a giant bonus) to my particular workplace. First, the Bay area is known for having some pretty sucky commutes. It's not the worst I've ever heard of (I'm under the impression that LA holds that honor) but it can seriously eat up time and cause major stress. My new commute is 7 miles more than the one I had to Netflix, but it's a reverse commute - so it takes me half the time of my last one. The longest it has taken so far is about 20 minutes in the middle of rush hour. Sweet! And if something happens that causes problems on 101, I have 2 alternate routes, so I'll be able to avoid major issues most of the time.

Second, rather than claiming there's a lunch hour but constantly booking meetings at the time, this company actually encourages everyone to get away from their desks mid-day for a bike ride, work out, or whatever. I know! I don't have a bike yet (waiting to be eligible for their generous employee discount) but I'm sure I'll be able to find a way to borrow something soon. In the meantime, they have a very large and very well equipped gym right in the building, which I've used a couple of times. Yay for encouraging physical fitness. It's nice to have it not only right there, but also to have the time to do it, rather than trying to fit in a quick work-out between work obligations.

Just so I don't get too fit though, plus #3 is there's a great Mexican market about half a mile from the office, right on my way home. They not only carry nice produce, they have a deli with made-on-the-premises food (tamales!) and I've heard that the burritos are to die for. Or maybe their fat/calorie count brings on an early (but worth-it) demise. I don't care. I love markets like that and while I prefer to eat stuff we've made that's more healthful, well some days it's just nice to let someone else do the work, calories be damned.

Anyway - my impatient self-imposed pressures aside, work is going well. I'm sure it'll become easier and I'll actually be able to stay up past 8:30 again some evening which will be good. The early crashing has seriously hampered my efforts to get any fibery stuff done (don't even talk about house cleaning).

Tour de...What?

I have let my Team Crankypants teammates down terribly with respect to the Tour de Fleece (but I'm really cranky about it - does that help?). Instead of finishing 3 out of 4 projects I'll be lucky if I can complete two. But between that silly falling-asleep thing and nursing a tight neck/shoulder issue, it just hasn't been happening. But the news isn't all bad - I did manage to turn this:

(that's the Corriedale batt from Grafton Fibers)

Into this:

And eventually into this (embiggen to see the pretty):

It's a couple of hundred yards of DK weight 3-ply. I started out spinning it using a long-draw (a la Yarn Harlot - she blogged about it quite a while back, though I didn't Navajo ply), but it really did a number on my back and shoulders, so I switched to spinning from the fold, which worked fine. I'm not sure yet what it'll become. It's a little rough for my delicate lady-like (snork!) skin so I'm considering a felted project; a bag perhaps?

I resumed spinning on the Quiviut, but haven't gotten much done so it still looks almost like this:

I might have 3-4 times as much as this on the bobbin now, but dryer lint just looks like dryer lint, so I didn't think it was worth it to update the picture. It's spinning up nicely though - and as with the first ounce that I spun for myself last year, the product is much prettier than the fiber and it should turn out to be very nice.

Oh!

I meant to post about this last week and totally forgot. Look what I bought from Sandi!

Gorgeous, huh? It's a Pat Green drum carder - I believe this model is 'Deb's Delicate Deluxe'. It's beautifully crafted, has an additional drum for super-fine fibers (cashmere, anyone?) and it's a much nicer quality carder than I'd ever hoped or expected to own. In just two passes through the carder, I turned this:

(some washed but not-yet-processed sheep's wool)

into this:

Soft, fluffy, and it still contains a touch of lanolin. Yum. I have no idea what it'll be. Sandi gave me some extra fiber to play with and this was part of that collection. I have about 6 ounces of it and have carded about half of it. I'm in fiber-carding heaven and am so enamored of this thing I haven't put it away once. It has lived on the dining room table ever since it followed me home. This may be a long honeymoon. Thanks Sandi!

Just To Prove I Haven't Forgotten How...

I've been knitting a little and have managed to finish a project.

These are plain vanilla socks that I started in March, and promptly tossed aside when life got a little crazy. They're made from Socks that Rock lightweight (a mill end so there's no colorway name). It's my first pair knit from that brand, and I definitely like it. It has a nice sproing factor and knits up really nicely. I've heard that fading can be an issue with that yarn, but I haven't washed them yet so that remains to be seen. It may be a while before I can report back on that though - it's pretty freakin' hot here these days so wool sock weather is a bit far out into the future.

I'm in a quandary about what to knit next. I'm all excited about lace, but I'm having a hard time deciding what to make. I could go for one of the patterns in my new book on Estonian Lace, or follow through on one of two long-queued projects; either the Print o' the Wave Stole or Juno Regina. Then of course I have various yarn options for each project already in stash, but listing those out would just make my head explode.

Or, I could hold off on lace for now and continue work on Lady Eleanor:

It's pretty warm these days for knitting this, but I know when the weather finally does cool down it would be really nice to have this draped over the sofa, ready to throw over my freezing little cold-blooded self.

Decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch...

The garden continues to produce. Can you guess what's in season now?

Well That Didn't Take Long...

2009-07-10T17:35:00.001-07:00

I'm officially employed again! Through a chance meeting with a former co-worker this week I heard that another co-worker was the GM at a nearby bike company. I got on their website and saw that they had an opening that matched my skills. So I planned to write a cover letter in the morning and send in my application.

It turns out they were faster than I. That evening I got an email from their HR Director. We agreed to meet on Wednesday. I had four interviews that day and another two on Thursday. Today they made me an offer and I accepted it. Starting Monday I'll be the Executive Assistant to the President of this company.

Sweet!

And...phew!

Rebel, Rebel

2009-07-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

So I had a heck of a time deciding what I was going to spin for the Tour de Fleece. I bought some beautiful fiber in February at Stitches West. I was given some gorgeous Alpaca last week. I have what I consider a lot of stash already - and a nice variety of potential projects, each with its own tempting reason to bring to to the front of the queue.

Of course I can't find it to link to now, but somewhere I read that one of the rules for the Tour is that you don't start your project until Day 1 (yesterday).

I am a rebel, I tell you - a rebel with a capital Reb. Once I confess this I'd better go into hiding because I will have the spinning and the Tour police after me. Doping, schmoping - they'll ignore all that in favor of busting me for my Tour transgressions.

First, my goal is to finish some things I already started, long ago. I know! Already started=rule broken. Some of this I probably started before last year's TdeF - I am that much of a badass. Second, I actually didn't start my Tour until today. Yep, I skipped Day 1. Who knows - I might even skip another, then end up at the finish line looking fresh and energized, with my hands relaxed instead of my fingers contorted into crone-like claws. Call me Rosie, people, I don't care.

So here are my projects:

I'm starting with a beautiful batt (Corriedale?) from Grafton Fibers. I bought this at my first Stitches West (2007) before I bought my wheel (but I knew I'd own one soon). I'm about 1/3 the way through this project. It'll be a 3-ply - probably a sport or DK weight.

Next is some Quiviut that I'm spinning for Alison. I'm going for a 2-ply laceweight. As with the last Quiviut I spun, it's kind of like playing with dryer lint (fortunately with a slightly longer staple) but the end result is worth it.

Next is some yarn I'm making with Addison 'Real Vermonter' Roving from A Piece of Vermont. It's about 6 ounces of Romney/Corriedale, Mohair and a touch of Alpaca, all from farms in Vermont. This is the Petunias color way.

Last is a project using some Merino I dyed myself, and some silk - I plan on 2 plies (is that a word?) of the merino and one of the silk. Who knows what it'll be, I just like the thought of plying different fibers together.

I'm hoping to get 3 out of these 4 WIPs completed - I'm not sure which yet, but I'll figure that out as I go along.

Another rule (or guideline) for the TdeF is that this is an opportunity to challenge oneself (again, I can't find where I read that but I read it. I swear). Each of these projects varies from my spinning norm. I'm spinning my Grafton batt from the fold (I know how to do it but haven't completed a project using that method). The Quiviut is tough by nature of the short staple, and it needs to be spun really fine. I'm going to Navajo-ply the Real Vermonter fiber - that'll be a challenge to A) keep it even and B) keep the single from breaking during the plying. And I've never plied 2 different fibers together - I have no idea what to expect and if the difference in texture will make working with both at the same time trickier than usual.

Crap. I just followed a rule.

Rama Llama Ding Dong

2009-07-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've got a new FO to show you - a mid-stage FO really, as the spinning is completed but it hasn't been knit yet into whatever it decides to be. I finished the VT Llama that Norma gave me. This is about 550 yards of 2-ply, probably a light-fingering weight.

It's not the most evenly spun stuff on earth but I lurve, lurve, lurve it.

Here it is after a soaking and a thwack, waiting to dry:

Rama Alpaca Ding Dong?

So I came home from a friend's house yesterday to find a box waiting for me. I expected part of it - over a pound of gorgeous Alpaca fiber from here.

It's actually more of a mohagany color, and it'll be a sweater for me some day. As if this gift wasn't enough though, look what I saw when I opened the box (you may have to embiggen to read it):

A surprise! Some beautifully dyed alpaca with just a touch of bling (embiggen to see the full gorgeousness:

I've joined Team Crankypants for the Ravelry Tour de Fleece - This may become my project, but I'm still wavering on that. I'd better stop wavering soon - it starts tomorrow!

Feeling the Mojo

One thing I like about the timing of my birthday is that it falls shortly before Knitpicks holds one of their 40% off books sales. I got to spend the last of my birthday cash on some lace inspiration.

I've wanted this book ever since it came out. While I prefer rectangular wraps, I don't think there's a single project in this book that I wouldn't want to make. The yarn I blame on my very best friend evar, Tika. She blogged about buying some really pretty green laceweight (some Knitpicks Shadow in Cattail) and I got all jealous. So I added a couple of projects-worth of yarn to my order. The olive green is Alpaca Cloud in Dill (2 skeins), the greyish green is Gloss Lace in Cypress (2) and the purple is Gloss Lace in Pinot (1). I really like the Knitpicks laceweight, and the prices are incredibly moderate.

I'm feeling the urge to knit again. I think as soon as Tour de Fleece is completed, I'll have had my fill of spinning and will be ready to jump into some lace. In anticipation of all this lace, I finally caved and bought Knitpicks' blocking squares - no more pinning stuff to the guest-room bed. Yay! It's about time - I've been dying for blocking squares for years.

Little Miss Ice Cream

Trouble would like to thank you all for the nice birthday wishes. She was in an ice cream stupor for quite a while after the festivities but has since recovered and can be seen here waiting for more.

Birthday Beagle

2009-07-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

ETA: A video at the end!

Today is Trouble's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday, little girl! In our house, our pets get a major treat on their birthday. Hers is ice cream. No one can snarf down ice cream like Trouble can.

Waiting to be served:

Waiting to hear the clicker:

CHARGE!

Look at those ears flapping.

The big chunk is gone.

Time to clean the bowl:

She's a good bowl cleaner.

This whole process took about 90 seconds. Talk about brain freeze.

And now...in video!

What A Card (er)

2009-06-28T19:38:00.001-07:00

So, over the past 10 days I've confirmed a few things. First, knowing I lost my job is a lot easier on me than wondering if I was going to lose it or not. I definitely handle adversity better than the unknown - I learned that when I was dealing with Cancer - chemo and radiation weren't as hard on me emotionally as the first few weeks spent figuring out exactly what I had and what to do about it. I have little patience for analysis - I just want to do.

Second - it's a good thing I haven't retained my childhood shyness (shut up. I was). It seem I know a ton of people and I have become a networking machine. Jobs aren't exactly plentiful but there are definitely some options available in my field as well as people willing to put in a good word for me, so I'm hopeful I can make something happen soon.

Third, the silly, pesky issues of finances/mortgage/food aside, life without a job - for at least the short-term - isn't too shabby. I'm putting a lot of energy and time into hunting down new employment but I'm also making sure I set aside time to work out, get more sleep, and of course play with fiber.

The knitting mojo disappeared last week - and I'm blaming it all on those fuzzy little Alpaca back in Vermont - I seem to be much more interested in fluff than yarn. Last week I borrowed Jasmin's drum carder and played around a bit with some of my stash.

When I first learned to spin on a spindle, I bought this, planning to make striped socks:

Perfectly decent fiber, but....borrrrinnnngg!

So I put it on the carder:

added a little bling:

And after a few passes, turned it into this:

TaDa!

If you embiggen this shot you can see the touch of sparkle. I think I'm in lurve.

I was so inspired I took a few hanks of my hand-dyed fibers that had felted a teeny bit and fluffed them up:

I think this is a merino-tussah blend. I turned it into this:

Some hand-dyed Bombyx:

Became this:

Look! Cruella DeVille's wig!

Actually, that was a bit of black Alpaca which I carded with some Bombyx, which I'll dye some time - maybe a dark blue? If you have any ideas, speak up!

Carding all this stuff was a ton of fun. It's a good thing I had to return the carder though - if it were still here, I'd probably carded every bit of my fiber stash into one giant pile. It's hard to know when to stop.

I've also been spinning. While I was in Vermont in March, Norma gave me a fabulous gift of some Vermont Llama down. It's lovely stuff - and I'm spinning it into some lovely laceweight (if I say so myself, and I do). This picture was taken a little earlier in the week - I'm now exactly half-way done and that bobbin is completely full. I'm dying to finish this up so I can see the finished yarn - I had no idea Llama was so soft.

I know my knitting mojo will come back soon - I've started obsessing about lace and even picked some Dream In Color Baby which was on sale this weekend at Purlescence (again, yay for birthday money).

This is the November Muse colorway. It's a heavy lace/light fingering weight and I have 1400 yards of it. It needs to become something fab, but I'm taking my time to figure that out, and waiting for the mojo to return.

In the meantime, with this face, who can blame me for focusing on fluff right now?

I Totally Saw That Coming

2009-06-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, my boss announced that he would be leaving the company. This wasn't good news, mostly because I think he's great and I really enjoyed working with and for him. It also meant that my job (I'm a ~~Corporate Bitch-slapper~~ Executive Assistant) would probably fall by the wayside. I've spent the last few weeks in limbo, but found out this morning (upon my return from vacation) that I was right. So as of this afternoon, I am without a job.

*Sigh*

Whaddarya gonna do?

Well, I'm going to spend the rest of this week regrouping, decompressing, and recovering from my vacation (more on that in a bit). I'll do a little networking but that's it. Monday, however, I'll jump into job-hunt mode and make that my job. Depending on how that goes, we've got some decisions to make about how we want to handle the future, but I'm hoping for positive things so we don't have to take any drastic measures. In case you're concerned, bank robbery and the like aren't on the list of potential 'drastic measures'.

On A Happier Note...

My last full day at work (last Wednesday) was a fun one - it was my birthday! I can't freakin' believe I'm 50. I was gifted with two of my favorite things - yarn and champagne. Here's the yarn:

It's Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie - I can't remember the color way, but it's beautiful and soft. I started swatching right away but I don't know yet if I'm going to use it for socks or a scarf. Whatever I choose to make, it's going to be fab.

Reconnecting

The day after my birthday, I flew across the country to Vermont to spend time with old friends at my high school reunion. Before I went there though, I spent the morning here. My best friend from grade school and her husband raise Alpaca, and I got to hang out, play with fiber, and pet Alpaca noses. It was awesome.

Meet Tika. Cute, huh? (She's not the first Tika I've met but she is the first whose nose I've wanted to kiss - no offense, Tika #1!)

The whole crowd:

Someone looking kind of dorky:

Two new friends:

Who clearly don't understand the concept of personal space:

I could have played with them all day.

If you're interested in hand-spun Alpaca yarn, or unspun (but carded) Alpaca fiber, check out the website or shoot them an email at Arashi@together.net. They have beautiful stuff and can do custom work too. You'll not only be supporting a small business, you can rest assured that your purchase came from Alpaca that are treated well and generally lead one cushy, happy life.

From there I headed over to my high school for my weekend-long reunion. It was awesome. It was fab. It was amazing. And SO much fun! I'm not going to post the any of the 100+ pictures I took of the festivities (who knew that a bunch of people my age could have so much party energy?!) but here's a shot from our climb up Putney Mountain to give you an idea of where I grew up:

Yeah, poor me.

I also managed to join some grade school friends for a pot-luck brunch, visit with family members at my cousin's house near Boston, and took an impromptu trip to Maine to have lunch with my brother's widow before catching my flight back home on Monday night.

I'd originally planned to visit Webs and some Vermont fibery businesses (to check out Grafton fiber or another Golding spindle), but all the socializing didn't allow time for those side trips. I did however, manage to drop by the Green Mountain Spinnery (in the same town as my schools), where I picked up a skein of one of their sock yarns. This is a wool/Tencel blend that I've been dying to try out. Yay for birthday money.

I was super-busy the whole weekend but managed to get some knitting done on the plane. I started my Monkeys using my Crown Mountain Farms Aqualung hand-spun:

I love how this is turning out - a little color variation but not so much as to obliterate the pattern.

I also started a Lace Ribbon Scarf - I'm using Handmaiden Sea Silk, and it is amazing stuff.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch...

I'm not the only one who has been busy making stuff. Brian just harvested these:

And these:

And made this sourdough bread:

See why I married him?

Upon Which I Am Revealed To Be The Long Lost Twin Sister Of Phil Spector

2009-06-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Frightening resemblance, isn't it? It's what happens when I actually apply a brush to my hair instead of just scrunching it.

Lots has been happening around Chez No-Blog lately:

The garden grows. It looks like another good year for bok choi:

This is my favorite cucumber support - an old ladder. Who needs to buy a trellis? Works like a charm.

A recent harvest made a great stir-fry. Onions, bok choi and broccoli. Yum.

I've been busy at the sewing machine too.

One of the pains-in-the-butt about being short is you have to hem practically everything. These came in regular length rather than my usual petite, but given the discount:

I felt it was worth the extra effort. That's what I refer to as a Shopping Conquest. Score!

I got creative in the kitchen too. This is Khoresh Gheimeh - Persian beef and split pea stew. I picked some up for dinner while I was at Purlescence on Thursday - and liked it so much I had to make a giant batch for us.

And there haz been knitting. Hey Teach is done.

It was a super quick, fairly easy knit. I went for 3/4 length sleeves rather than short - partly because I think they're more flattering, but mainly because if I'm going to wear a sweater, it's because I want to be a little warmer and don't want to leave my arms bare.

I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece - which is an 80/20 cotton/wool blend. It's pretty nice and has a little more memory than pure cotton, which I like. I pulled this from stash - always a plus. This is a size small - and if I'd stuck with the short sleeves I could have made it with just 3 skeins. The sleeves made me break into skein #4.

I think it I were to make it again (which I might) I'd be inclined to make it a little less of a scoop neck. I'm also still considering lining the back of the button bands to add a little strength.

Now that I'm done with Hey Teach, I'm going to finish up a couple of projects suffering from Single Sock Syndrome, and then start a pair of Monkeys, using this:

Why the sudden concentration on socks? Well because they're so portable - and I'm going on a trip! My birthday is Wednesday and my present is a trip to Vermont to hang out with my friends at my high school reunion, and also to see some family. It's going to be quite the packed weekend. See you when I get back!

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries...And Figs

2009-05-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a nice long weekend. For once I didn't make myself an enormous list of things I wanted to accomplish, only to be frustrated by what didn't get done at the end of it all. I did get some things done, but we managed to set aside time for fun too.

First, a garden update:

Last year, the birds ate all but 4 of the cherries off of the cherry tree. This year, they either forgot about them or decided to be nice and leave some for us. Tons more will be ready soon. Yum.

And the fig tree has started, as my husband says, sprouting fruit from every crotch:

Can't wait to see the kind of searches that wording brings people here now. They're going to be awfully disappointed. But I won't be when I get to have fresh figs sliced over arugula and fresh mozzarella with a squeeze of lemon. Yum again.

Fiber Fun

I decided that even though they're predicting frost in Vermont tonight, by the time my upcoming high-school reunion comes around in early June, it'll be perfect weather for a summer-weight sweater. I'm an optimist - so sue me. Saturday morning I cast on:

This is going to be Hey Teach from Knitty. I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the Candy Apple colorway. I'm actually farther along than this picture indicates - I've now finished the middle ribbing and added about two inches of the lace pattern. Instead of knitting it in separate pieces, I'm combining the fronts and back, and knitting them all together until I need to split for the sleeves. The only other change I'm making (so far) is to do a twisted rib in the middle instead of regular - I think it'll look a little more polished.

Onward

Sunday morning Kathy and I went for our normal walk, then Brian and I headed down to Monterey to visit the Aquarium and check out the new seahorse exhibit. It was, as expected, insanely crowded, but worth it. The surroundings weren't exactly conducive to picture taking, but it's the best I could do:

So cool!

And blurry.

But cool.

This morning I slept in 'til after 6:00 (if you're used to getting up at 4:00, that's late) and then I washed and sliced these:

Cooked it 'til it looked like this:

Poured it into these:

15 minutes in the canning kettle and...

23 jars of strawberry jam!

That should hold us for 23 years or so...

What A Difference A Day Makes

2009-05-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I was sending the itinerary for my upcoming Vermont trip to my aunt and arrived at the horrible realization that the changes I'd made to my ticket two weeks prior never went through. I immediately got on the phone with Virgin America who said they could get me on the flights I wanted but the cost would be an additional $250 (the original change was to save me about $80). I asked to speak with a manager but of course none were available but they said someone could call me back within 24 hours. Whatever.

As soon as I was off the call, I finished tossing on makeup and rushed out the door to work. Twenty minutes later (the advantage of a commute at an ungodly hour) I pulled into the parking lot, only to realize I'd left my laptop at home. Crap. Normally I could go to the Desktop crew and get a loaner but I'd arrived just after 6:00 am, and no one was there to set one up for me. Not wanting to wait 2 hours for a computer, I called home and my husband saved me by running it up to me. Awesome.

So I logged on and headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. Which I promptly spilled on my hand, burning my finger. Ouch.

So a messed up flight, a forgotten laptop and a burned finger - all before 7:30 am. Could it be any more of a Monday than this?

Fast forward 24 hours.

Work was great on Tuesday; I accomplished a ton, didn't even feel the need to bitch-slap anyone, and I managed to fit a work-out into my day.

I even finished and blocked this:

That's my Swallowtail Shawl in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud (Midnight) with beads instead of nupps. It's for a silent auction for my high school. I love it.

Thank goodness things balance out now and then!

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough...

2009-05-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

...Reassess Their UFOs?

Life dealt us a curve ball recently which kind of threw me for a bit, but I'm back and doing better now. Generally when things are difficult for me, I'll retreat for a while to collect my thoughts and regroup (also to avoid spilling my guts out publicly and regretting it later). It's also a time I'll often choose to clean up, clean out and/or reorganize something that's been bugging me for a while. Pulling together something in my life always helps me feel more positive, and gives me more ablity to cope with the other things.

During my most recent self-imposed hermit period, I decided to pull out all of my UFOs and see how big the pile had grown and just finish a few things instead of feeling all guilty about them. To clarify, if I'm currently (and somewhat steadily) working on a project, I don't consider it a UFO. That's a Work in Progress. 'Unfinished Object' to me indicates that I've ignored it for a while - maybe a long while. I like to finish what I start, so these actually make me pretty uncomfortable - as if I've given up or something.

Here's the list:

Traveling Cable Top out of Tess' Designer Yarns Microfiber Ribbon

This is a tank top that I'm going to have to finish soon. First because our thermometer is reading the current outside temp as 112.2 degrees (F). No it's not quite that hot but damn it's roasting out and I could use another lightweight tank top. Second, because the microfiber ribbon is the only ribbon yarn I've ever encountered that's a joy to knit and just flows through the fingers.

Then a couple of scarves. I'm knitting a few in non-neutral colors to brighten up my everlastingly beige/brown/cream/black wardrobe. I love the yarn and the patterns but apparently I don't love finishing scarves. But, they're good summer projects as they're not overly bulky, and it would be great to have them done by the time it's cool enough to have something around one's neck again.

This is the Falling Water Scarf by Bonnie Sennott. I'm using Malabrigo Laceweight in the Velvet Grapes colorway. Love the yarn, love the color, love the pattern. I'd love to finish it!

Next is the Haruha Scarf in some Lana Gatto VIP that I dyed myself. Ditto what I said about Falling Water.

Both of these scarf patterns are free. There are a ton more that I'd love to make, but I'm holding off starting more until I make more progress on these. Let's hope these aren't famous last words...

Here are some Marigold Socks by Pamela Wynne (she's the one who designed the insanely popular February Lady Sweater). This is a project of Firsts. First, it's my first pair of toe-up socks, and it's my first socks made using two circulars rather than DPNs. The yarn is from yarnplace.com, and it's their Glorious in Desert Sand. First time I've used that too - and I'd use it again. It's a fairly fine yarn - which can come in handy when you have narrow feet as I do. Often sock patterns in gauges as written are a touch too big for me. Rather than having to calculate to size down, I'll often use a slightly finer yarn and a smaller needle, and everything will fit nicely.

These are Ribbed Lace Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch (one fab book, especially for those just learning about sock knitting). I'm knitting them with short cuffs (don't always need full leg coverage in sunny CA) from Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the Nantucket colorway. I started these on a business trip in late 2007 and then stalled. Nice yarn, easy pattern.

That's It?

And this is all of my UFOs in their bin. That's it. One bin, not squished full, and not a very big bin to begin with. What was I feeling so guilty about? I'll bet I could finish every single one of these by the end of the year and have plenty of time to start and finish other projects as well. Silly me.

But before I do that, I need to finish Swallowtail #3, which is almost done. I decided to skip the nupps and go for beads instead - only because I had some beads that went perfectly with the yarn. I'm pretty much loving the effect (embiggen to really see it). I'm now half-way through the very last repeat - shouldn't be long now before I can wash/block it and show it off.

Another thing to show off, though they're not my creation. Brian planted these for me and I picked them today. Gorgeous, no?

I'm not sure how I'll prepare them, but they'll probably end up chilled, and eaten alongside some chevre. Yum.

Let It Grow, Let It Grow...

2009-05-03T20:19:00.001-07:00

Things are growing like crazy around here:

Could this be a more garish combo?

Fruit is ripening all over the place:

Apricots...

Cherries...

And a lone fig.

Beets are forming...

Broccoli is starting to head:

And if vampires ever show up to bug us, we've got plenty of early garlic to ward them off:

I planted some herbs today too. The back yard is pretty much full, so I planted them in a half-barrel out front:

It's going to be pretty crowded in there but I'm planning only to keep things in the barrel for the season, so it should be okay. I've got chives, parsley, marjoram, thyme, sage and basil.

Things are growing on the fiber front too.

I finished spinning the Crown Mountain Farms singles yesterday:

And plied them today.

That's 491 yards of light-fingering weight superwash Merino for socks. I'm pretty pleased. I'm not sure what pattern I'll knit but I might go for my first pair of Monkeys.

The Swallowtail Shawl is growing as well. A dark messy blob - woohoo!

And another FO I completely forgot about. Earlier this year I made a Tomboy sock which was displayed in Margit's booth at Stitches. I'd only made one, and completely forgot about it until it was returned to me this weekend. So now I have some new socks already half-way completed! It's kind of a cool pattern - I like the cuff a lot.

They Followed Me Home; Can I Keep Them?

Ever since I moved to California I've wanted to try and grow Orchids. I haven't bought any though as they tend to be expensive and I have other spending priorities. But when it rains, it pours - 2 appeared in my life within about a week of each other, both gifts. Sweet, huh?

And Some Things Just Grow Old...

Blogger won't let me rotate this correctly but Miguel insisted I put this in anyway - he wants to be known as San Jose's only 139-year-old model. Not to shabby for an old guy.

I Get By With A Little Help...

2009-04-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

So I came home on Friday to find that Heather had vacuumed the house, run the dishwasher and made a pasta salad for dinner. Damn. I hate it when I get to relax and enjoy things.

And relaxation is definitely needed. I've been getting up at 4:00 to be at the office between 6:00/6:30 - all so I can leave by 4:30 pm and not have to work late. Very few people come in early so that first two hours is amazingly productive. As an Executive Assistant I get interrupted a lot, so having that time to fully focus is great. The office is still a pretty hopping place to be until about 7:00, so staying late wouldn't give me the same benefit. Plus evenings are for knitting (if I'm not asleep on the couch) and I'm not giving those up.

I just finished the Scrunchable Scarf for my hair stylist:

I like how it turned out - the Dream In Color Classy offers great stitch definition and I love the subtle color variation. Right now it's not the softest thing I've ever knit, but I've been told by several reliable sources that once it gets a good soaking, it will soften substantially.

Good Lord, Another One?

So in June, to celebrate my 50th (holy cow, really?), I'm taking a trip to Vermont for my high school reunion. It's a boarding school so this is a weekend-long event. Of course part of any alumnae event is the fact that it's to help raise money for the school. They're having a silent auction so I agreed to donate something.

Can you guess what that something might be?

Yep, another Swallowtail Shawl. This time in Alpaca Cloud from Knitpicks in Midnight Heather (embiggen the photo to get a better sense of the color). I'd be perfectly happy to try some other patterns (I have a ton in queue) but this is knitting on a deadline and I'll be much more likely to finish on time if I'm familiar with the pattern. Besides, I just love it. I hope someone with cash to spare loves it too.

One of these days I might knit with something that's not nearly black. I'm sure my eyes will appreciate the rest.

Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon*

It has been a nice weekend. Heather and I went to knit with the Minions of the Pointy Sticks for a few hours on Saturday. We got to hang with Jasmin, Gigi, Tika, and a bunch of other fine minions. The woman behind the counter where we met was more than a bit on the surly side, but I'm not linking to the establishment where we met because I'm hoping she's the exception and I don't want to slam an entire group for the behavior of one. Aside from Snarky McHuffypants, it was a lovely and pleasant afternoon.

I got up early (but not 4:00 - I'm not completely nuts) this morning and met up with Kathy for a good cardio walk, and then some chai. A very nice way to start the day, and the workout made me feel great. I've spent the day puttering around the house and knitting, and I'm now on the couch waffling between loathing the annoying the ESPN announcers and enjoying the ball game.

Go Red Sox!

*Anyone know that song? An old fave of mine. Queen is so cool.

Pass The Catch-Up Please...

2009-04-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

I seem to be behind a lot lately, don't I? Life is fine, I've just been busy. Work is great but I've been putting in a lot of extra time (it's worth it, believe me) and sometimes I have been too tired at the end of the day to eat, much less blog! But it's Sunday and it's early, so with any luck I'll be able to finish a post before I need to get going on other things.

This is gonna be random...

The big news is that the girl half of this couple:

is now here, staying with us. Heather and her dad drove from Vermont to California last week in just over 2 1/2 days. Tough people, those Vermonters! Her dad stayed on for a few days and flew back home on Tuesday night. She's here to job hunt and settle in before Jess drives out with their stuff to join her. Hopefully that will happen soon - but not too soon - I've been enjoying having her here! My husband informed me last night that I am going to have to give her back at some point, but I'm not going down without a fight, letmetellyou.

Friends in Fun Places

Considering my walking-zombie state I've managed to be a bit social. In late March I went to see the Roger Steen Band play locally - look who's up there singing!

(That would be the lovely Janice.) As they were one of 3 (?) playing that night they had only one set - I'm hoping the next time they'll be up for more. It was great music and a fun evening spent hanging out with friends. If you're in the Bay area, go check them out!

Yesterday I went to a book-signing party at Bobbin's Nest - fellow Boba-Knitter Cookie A. has written a book!

If you're a sock knitter, you'll love this one. If you're not - it may inspire you to become one.

Speaking of Knitting...

I've been doing a little of that too.

I finished one of my vanilla socks:

I've been making progress on Lady Eleanor:

By the way, if you're itching to make this or any other project using Noro yarn, Webs has Kureyon and Silk Garden (among other things) on clearance! I'm holding back, but I thought I'd enable. You're welcome.

About a month before Jess and Heather got married, I mentioned their plans to my hair stylist. He said he'd love to do my color but I told him that while I'd love that too, I couldn't afford it (the guy is wonderful but charges accordingly. I color mine from a box - that's how cheap I am). He responded saying that he wanted me to look my best and wanted to do it for free, as a gift to celebrate the day. Sweet, huh?

Well I had to at least say thanks.

This is the Scrunchable Scarf in Dream in Color Classy (Black Pearl color way).

And I'm still spinning - though slowly. I think I'm going to adopt the 10-minutes-a-day habit. There are a ton of things I want to spin and at the rate I'm going, I'll be 90 before I get it all done. Just a little a day should make a big difference.

I'm on my third (of 3) bobbins - just a few ounces to go before I get to ply.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Quite well, thank you.

Ok, I didn't grow these particular purple potatoes but we do have some in the ground. Have you every had really fresh potatoes? They're amazing!

We did grow these - though the lettuce was a happy accident. Some must have gone to seed last season so we got a bonus head this spring.

Peaches are forming.

Cherries are blooming. Yes that's a CD hanging there. Not for musical entertainment - the glare is known to discourage birds.

This should also help discourage birds:

Vicious, vicious Beagle.

Before we moved here we used to visit the area while on vacation. I constantly marveled at how some plants that had to be replaced each year in Vermont, could grow year around (and huge) out here. More than once I told my husband that if we ever lived in this area, that I wanted a house with a rosemary hedge. Well lucky me, we have two.

These are the foothills behind our house on a recent foggy morning.

Makes me glad I live here.

I Am So Proud Of My Home State!

2009-04-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2009/04/07/vermont_legalizes_gay_marriage/

It's a good day today.

Renewed Energy

2009-03-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

I finally feel as if I'm recovering from the stress of the past few weeks. For nearly a week after my trip to Vermont I'd put in a long day at work, come right home, eat dinner and crash. The energy has slowly come back though, and I've become productive again.

I finished my niece's socks.

And started some new ones for me.

This is a mill end from Blue Moon Fiber Arts that I picked up (okay, practically snatched out of my best-friend-evar Tika's hands) at Stitches West in February. Hot pink normally isn't my color (I leave that to Jasmin) but I thought this colorway was pretty cool.

Our back yard has been quite productive as well! We've been eating peas:

And carrots:

The onions are well under way:

Here's a blurry but pretty iris:

(I'm wondering if I could possibly interpret that into some hand-dyed roving.)

And the roses are going crazy:

Ah, Spring!

Catching Up

2009-03-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

Thanks everyone for the hugs and sympathy with regard to Riso. Even though I didn't have it in me at the time to respond to you each individually, it helped a lot to know you're all out there. He was a great boy and we miss him, and we'll be ok.

I have a bunch of catching up to do - some things big, some things little. So this is a bit random but here we go:

A few weeks ago some of you saw me at Purlescence trying to knit something out of cut-up mailing envelopes to wear to my company's 10,000,000th customer celebration. Well the knitted fabric (if you can call it that) ended up too stiff so I went another route, but here's what I ended up wearing:

We were asked to don company-inspired cocktail wear - so between a bunch of mailers and copious amount of black duct tape, I cobbled together a Netflix flapper dress. Not knitted (though my Isadora-Duncan-style scarf was crocheted), but I'm still pretty pleased with it. Yay for fringe.

I never elaborated on my father and stepmother's visit over Stitches Weekend. I took them to Stitches thinking they'd last about 90 minutes - they're super high energy people, but they're not exactly fond of crowds so I figured our time there would be short. I was wrong - they lasted over 4 hours and made few but very high-quality purchases. In the meantime I got to see some friends, missed running into a few others, but over all had a very good time.

My stepmother is a very creative person - she sews and quilts, and also knits beautifully. She brought me a few presents. First, no one has ever made so socks for me before! I love the color and they fit perfectly.

Miguel liked them too.

The other gift is really special. Growing up, my grandparents had a house on Martha's Vineyard. On the sofa in that house were two hand-needlepointed pillows, a gift sometime in the '50s made by a friend of my grandmother's. When they sold the house a few years ago, my stepmother saved the pillows, even though they were in pretty sad shape. She saved the needlepoint and made them into new pillowcovers for me.

Cool, huh? And they're even 'my' colors.

Oh yeah - so I went to Vermont last weekend. I even bought shiny (kind of) new shoes for the event:

The event being my son's wedding! Meet Jesse and Heather.

The event took place at Heather's grandparent's house. It was simple and lovely and perfect. I flew to Vermont on Friday, and home on Sunday. Fortunately the flights went perfectly so there was no travel stress. Just knitting time. I made a ton of progress on these:

These are plain vanilla socks for my oldest niece, who loves camoflage colors - this was the closest I could find to that. The yarn is Regia Galaxy Saturn which is a very nice basic sock yarn at a reasonable price.

I've also been working on my Lady Eleanor Stole:

It's a very easy knit - easily done while socializing - and I love watching the color changes. This is out of Noro Silk Garden in a discontinued colorway that I bought at Webs about 2 years ago. I will likely use it more as something to keep on the couch to throw over me when I'm cold than as a wrap, but we'll see. A girl can always change her mind.

I'd be slacking a little in the spinning department but have picked it up again. I'm currently making a 3-ply sock yarn out of Superwash Merino in the Aqualung colorway from Crown Mountain Farms.

I have 8 ounces of the stuff which is easily enough for 2 pairs of socks. If I don't trade away half with someone else, I may ply 4 ounces of it together in the standard method and Navajo-ply the other half just to see the different effects. As usual, the CMF fiber is just fab - I recommend it highly.

And last, I've been having computer issues for a few months. My laptop (IBM Thinkpad) is over 5 years old and the left mouse button under the touchpad actually has a huge dent in it from my thumbnail hitting it thousands and thousands of times. Certain keys were non-functional (not being able to cursor left is a real bitch, letmetellyou), the wireless card was fading fast (losing the internet every 30 seconds isn't fun either) and in general, it was just dying. It did a fine job while it lasted, but it was time to move on.

Enter my new buddy, Mac:

Purty, huh? I opted for this over another PC because I was tired of Microsoft commandeering my computer while I slept and making changes in the name of 'security' that ultimately screwed up plenty of other things.

I'm still learning about Mac and a new way of doing things, but I think we're going to be good friends.

He's Gone

2009-03-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Riso December 31, 1996 - March 16, 2009

We let him go gently this evening. He was ready. We are heartbroken.

Drive By

2009-03-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, this picture is really blurry but it captures the mood perfectly! I had the pleasure of meeting up with Norma and Joan for lunch and a little yarn crawl on Saturday before the wedding. We had the best time. Here we are in less blurry form:

I've been following Norma's blog for years, and Joan and I have commented on each other's blogs but mostly 'know' each other as frequent commenters on Alison's blog. It was absolutely fab to meet them both in person!

Oh yeah. The wedding was pretty cool too.

The Right Direction

2009-03-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Some of you will remember this post in which I expressed my frustration with my now former physician. I switched doctors and also started working with an endocrinologist. Unfortunately, both new relationships turned out to be disappointments. Apparently it's not just the individual doctor; much of the problem is with the group itself which seems to want to make it extremely difficult for you to actually speak with or see your doctor, and gives them so little time with each patient that all they can do is shove a prescription at you and escort you out the door. During this time, my blood work continued to yield results that were heading in the entirely wrong direction.

Not my idea of acceptable health care. So I decided to take a few other routes. First, I stopped taking the medication prescribed by the endocrinologist who turned out to be big on medication and short on listening. Then I got a recommendation for a naturopath who was willing to work in conjunction with traditional doctors, and I started seeing her late last year. My first visit, we talked for nearly 90 minutes and discussed the possibilities of what could be going wrong. I then did a series of tests, and our next visit we reviewed them; they weren't good. We then talked about how to make improvements. I started taking herbal supplements and did a 3-week cleanse. I also switched conventional physicians and medical groups. Through recommendations I found a doctor who was willing to work with the naturopath, and seemed much more willing to figure out the problem rather than medicate the symptom.

Well this week I had more blood work done. Thanks to this new approach, I'm no longer heading toward diabetes; my glucose levels are back within normal range. Other readings are still higher than we'd like, but every single one of them has reversed direction and is progressing toward better health. I've lost 6 pounds - the first time in 3 years I can say that. I've only been at this 3 months so I'm pretty confident that I'll see even more improvement as time passes. So yay for me and to those doctors who wouldn't listen to me - in yo face! I'm a happy girl.

Onward...

Anonymous/Leah wanted to know if the 2 pictures of the Lisa Souza batts from my last post were indeed the same batt. Yes - they were. One showed the warm dark brown and the other, while the batt itself looked washed out, better showed the streaks of tencel running through the wool. I fully admit to not being a good photographer. Shots on this blog that turn out well do so entirely by accident, not as a result of my skill. It's not that I don't care - I do - but my time is limited and if I gave my photographs the attention necessary to improve the quality, I would probably blog only rarely. It's all about priorities.

Other Happy Things

I did end up making one more purchase at Stitches West.

This is an ounce of 100% Silk Tussah in 'Jade II' from A Verb For Keeping Warm. I decided my Golding spindle deserved a little special fiber project, and this is it. I don't know what I'll make from it when it's done, but I'm going for a 2-ply lace weight. The color in this shot isn't entirely accurate - it's really a little more green and less gray.

I'm off at the crack of dawn tomorrow to fly to Vermont for my son's wedding. Next time I blog I'll be a mother-in-law! Bwahahahahaha...

See you next week.

So Far, So Very Good

2009-02-27T21:15:00.000-08:00

Stitches West is in full swing. I spent Thursday evening at the preview and today I worked a few hours in the Fiber Fiend booth and walked the floor for another few hours. I'm going back tomorrow with my father and stepmother who are in town and think they want to brave the Saturday crowds. Silly people.

I had 3 goals for Stitches this year:

Goal 1: find one sweater's-worth of a yarn that was unusual, special and still affordable. A slightly decadent treat but not so high-end that it broke the bank.

Goal 2: a shawl pin from Romi.

Goal 3: find a fiber to spin into a sweater. Like the yarn, it has to be beautiful yet moderately priced.

I think I have done pretty well so far:

Brooks Farms Mas Acero - enough for a sweater. Goal 1 - check.

A mill end from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - for some plain ol' Vanilla socks. I figure the colors alone will make the sock plenty interesting. Bonus purchase #1.

I knew I could count on Lisa Souza to have something beautiful to try out. She's doing something new - batts. This is a chocolate brown with slivers of tencel through it. Bonus #2. The color is more accurate in this first picture:

but the second picture gives an idea of the effect of the tencel:

I found a shawl pin by Romi (goal 2 - check):

I also found some roving (Jasmin says this is Ashland Bay Merino) for a handspun, handknit sweater (goal 3 - check!):

Then Sandi (my spinning Sensei) suggested I stop by the Redfish Dyeworks booth where I fell madly in love with bonus purchase #3 - this:

It's a camel/silk blend and the softest stuff evar. It practically glows:

And I love the colors. They're me. In fact - I'm starting to see a trend:

So I reached my 3 goals and I bought 3 extra items - the sock yarn and the 2 different fibers. I still have some cash left. I'm definitely spending more time there but at this point I'm hoping more to run into some lovely friends than I am to find more things to buy. I may pick up something else I didn't spot my first two visits, but there's an equal chance I'll stick with what I already have - I'm feeling pretty flush with beautiful fibery things right now.

If you're planning to be at Stitches on Saturday look for me!

Why Yes, Lisa Rinna, I'm Wearing Evelyn Clark.

2009-02-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

After a good soak...

Swallowtail #2 is finished!

This one took a lot less actual knitting time as I already understood the pattern and I don't think I ever had to tink back more than just a few stitches. I'm in lurve with this pattern and I wouldn't be surprised if I felt the need to knit more of these. This one is lighter and more delicate than the first. The fabric is more open because I used the same size needles for both projects but the Jaggerspun Zephyr (the yellow) is a finer yarn. They're both Merino/silk blends, but the Sireno has a smoother finish and doesn't have a tendency to snag on itself the way the Zephyr does. I'd use either of these yarns again in a heartbeat though - in fact, Great Adirondack will have a booth at Stitches West so I might pick up another skein of it this weekend.

I think I'm developing a lace obsession.

He Doesn't Understand Meeee...

2009-02-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

Friday morning conversation:

Me: Oh I forgot to tell you. We've got a mouse in the garage. It ran and hid as soon as I opened the door. Though it might have been a tiny rat - it was moving too fast for me to see. It was really cute though.

Husband: So let me get this straight. Are you the same person who ranted, freaked out and vacuumed up the ants in the kitchen last summer yelling 'Die, F***ers!!'?

I don't see the dichotomy.

Sunshine On A Cloudy Day

2009-02-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

I haven't knit much lately - I took on some new responsibilities at work and while it's going really well, the new stuff does take time and energy to learn. Consequently, I have been so beat when I come home from work that I'll fallen asleep on the couch prior to 8:00 pm more than once in the past week. That seriously cuts into the knitting time. Fortunately the fatigue isn't a long-term thing - I'll figure it all out, make my own process and regain some energy eventually.

But I have made some progress on this:

It's another Swallowtail Scarf, this time in Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk. The color is really more like this:

It reminds me of daffodils, which is a nice thing to think about on a grey, rainy day like the ones we've had lately. I love the rain and we need the water desperately out here, so the more I hear it pouring down the happier I am.

When I'm actually awake enough to knit, this one moves along pretty quickly. It's kind of fun knitting the exact same pattern in very different yarns. I'm enjoying the differences. The Great Adirondack Sireno and the Zephyr are both Merino/Silk blends but they aside from the softness they both have, they don't seem to have much in common. The Sireno is a heavier weight with more drape and more sheen. The Zephyr is more delicate and floaty feeling. I love them both and hope that this second one is as much loved by its intended recipient as is the one I made for myself. One thing to note - the Zephyr is quite the bargain - Each ball has 630 yards and cost around $13 bucks. Price that out per hour as entertainment and you've got yourself an absolute steal.

No, they're not boobs...

I also whipped out a few small projects - my friends seem to be procreating like crazy again so I made a few pumpkin hats from yarn I picked up at the yarn swap. The only thing I did differently was to add a purl stitch every 5 or 6 stitches to make lines on the pumpkins.

They're a fun, super-quick knit. I have yarn left, so I'm sure I'll make more of these sometime soon.

Parting Shot

Riso wanted me to know that he really, really, REALLY loves peanuts.

Lacy Love

2009-02-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

Voila!

Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark. I started it on January 21st and blocked it this evening. Fast lace knitting by my standards, especially considering I've had a few long workdays from which I've come home, had dinner and promptly crashed on the couch with no knitting whatsoever.

Another angle:

Nupps - which aren't anywhere near as hard as people make them out to be. All you need is a nice sharp needle (I used Addi Turbo Lace needles).

This yarn (Great Adirondack Sireno - Merino/Lace) is amazing. It's super-soft, has a wonderful sheen to it and is an absolute dream to knit. I still have quite a bit left from the 1 skein I used - definitely enough for a small lacy scarf.

I generally prefer lace in a solid or semi-solid, but I like how the colors played out in this one.

I love this shawl so much...

I think I'm going to make another one!

Sooo....

2009-01-22T05:46:00.000-08:00

I'm making this:

It's the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark. I'm using Great Adirondack Yarn Company's Sireno (Sirino?), which is a gorgeous Merino/silk blend that I bought while visiting Webs a few years ago.

I'm working on it pretty diligently as I'm not very fast when it comes to lace and it needs to be completed and blocked by March 14th. Because that's when these two:

Are getting married!

Hey All You Lurkers - Yeah, All Two Of You, I'm Talkin' To You...

2009-01-12T18:48:00.001-08:00

I heard a rumor that it's de-lurking day. So please be the lemming I am and let me know you're here, mmkay? Pleez?

Ruh-Roh...

2009-01-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

I seem to be quite the lemming lately. I don't remember when the Wii came out but I've never had an interest in owning one. The computer games I play tend to be more the puzzle type (I'm really quick at Sudoku and crosswords) and as I'm pretty good about getting off my butt to work out, the Fit didn't strike me as something I had to have either.

Until Christmas.

My nieces got one, and I finally got to see one in action. It was hilarious. And apparently Brian thought it seemed cool too, because I don't think 24 hours had passed before we decided to pool our Christmas money and put it toward a Wii. They were out of stock everywhere right after the holidays so we had to wait a little while but we got it set up last week. Friday night, Brian used it. And Riso helped.

And he helped some more:

I think what I like best about it is it's the only workout I've ever had that makes me laugh. I'm pretty good at some things but I completely suck at others - and there's something about being hit by flying panda heads that strikes me as very funny. It feels more like a game than a workout session, and it gets addictive. And competitive.

When I used it today, Riso stood over me while I was doing some ab exercises. He had this 'what to do, what to do' look on his face and after watching me for a few reps he decided to lie down. On top of me. Well I didn't want to stop and thereby lower my score, so my last 3 reps were with an English Setter lying across me. I think I deserved bonus points for that one. Unfortunately I was alone in the house at the time (except for you know, the helpful Setter) so I don't have any pictures to show you.

I do have pictures of some yarn I picked up at the Purlescence yarn swap today though.

This is Alpaca Cloud from Knitpicks in the Autumn color way. I think this is the exact color I almost ordered last summer but cut from my list in favor of something else. Now I have 4 skeins.

Closer up:

I also picked up some appropriate colors in something washable for pumpkin baby hats.

Some pretty cotton for dishcloths...

And a whole pile (15 skeins) of Frog Tree Alpaca Sport Weight. These colors aren't exactly flattering on me so I plan to over-dye them the next time I get the urge to pull out the dye pots.

Frog Tree Alpaca was the first yarn I knit with when I picked up knitting 3 years ago after a 35- year break, and I love it.

Knitting Updates

I have another small FO for 2009 - I'm calling it 'And Another Freakin' Dishcloth'. Because it's another freakin' dishcloth.

And I've cast on for the Lady Eleanor Stole:

This is Noro Silk Garden (from stash) in color way #88.

Purty, huh? I have a feeling I may stay up too late a few nights with this one - I can't stop watching the color changes!

Hot Off The Needles (Or The Wheel)

2009-01-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

I've got 2 new finished projects already for 2009!

FO #1 - Late-To-The-Party Clapotis

I finally joined the 26,431 other knitters who have made Clapotis (Ravelry says it's 9,311 but I think it's more). I hope that the 35 remaining knitters on earth who haven't knit it - and some are friends- don't think I've become some sort of Clapotis-Have-Knit elitist or anything. I swear, just because I joined the club doesn't mean I've changed. Except that I was a little warmer heading outside today which was nice.

Riso loves to model and have his picture taken. He's too tired these days to sit up and pose but he started wagging furiously when I draped this over him.

Brian didn't wag furiously when I draped this over him. He gave me that long-suffering-spouse look and didn't say a thing.

I also spun this:

This is Merino/Silk Top in Pomegranate from Tactile. It's lovely stuff - I got 347 yards of 2-ply lace/fingering weight (it's not entirely even) out of 2 ounces of fiber. I'm not sure what it'll become, but I love it - it's super soft and I haven't even soaked it yet.

And these are post-felting shots of my father-in-law's slippers (finished in '08 but not photographed):

I put some non-skid stuff on the bottoms, to keep him safe.

I'm nice that way. Usually.