procrastination

i haven't been knitting very much lately. it is not because i am bored with knitting, or tired of what i am knitting. no, it is because of these...





yes, t, i can hear you groan from here. my sweet friend (who fits into the demographic these were written for) loooved these books and wanted me to read them. i, who am not into vampires at all, hemmed and hawed and took a looong time reading brisingr. the moment i was done, i was handed the first book. after slogging through all the sop in book one, i found myself interested in knowing what would happen in book two, then more interested in what would happen in book three and finally by book four i was totally lost, like don't expect me to fix supper because i am reading lost. by the end, i was glad i read them. my sweet friend and i will have lots to discuss and reference. and i got out of making a few suppers. reading is good for you!

happy bobmas!

thank you ravelry for two years of inspiration, information, inclusion and fun. don't know what i would do without you.

happy bobmas everyone! maybe next year we will actually get yarn as presents!

quickly go the years...

earlier this month my sweet friend celebrated her 17th birthday. the only present she requested was going to see wicked with her best friend and me. though she had seen it on broadway a few years ago when she went to visit the cousins, she wanted me to see it and she wanted to see it with me. and though i hemmed and hawed about the price of the tickets, it was well worth it. she is 17. these moments are slipping through my fingers like sand. and i can't afford to miss them.

finally

the last few weeks have been chaotic. why? because of this...

yes, it is spring musical time again. and once again i am doing makeup. which is really a lot of fun. see the young man with the fake-ish looking facial hair on the far right? i made that beard and moustache so that we could put it on, then take it off, then put it on, then take it off, then put it on and he takes it off onstage. that may not sound bad, but when he is in the midst of changing costumes and i have to get a wig on him as well as the fake facial hair, time is very short! oi! but i wouldn't miss it. my sweet friend gets to play a ditz with a red wig and dance in every number. this is a really big production with lots of singing, dancing and set changes. but it is a great group of high schoolers to be involved with. they are so kind and respectful to each other that it is an honor to be part of it all.

and lest you think there is no knitting...ta da! a few finished items.

first off, after months of knitting (yes i do envy those who can finish a pair of socks over a weekend!) the first finished pair of socks for soldiers socks. these were knit out of knit picks essential sock yarn in buckskin. ok yarn. dont' think i will use it again. it is 13 inches of k2p2 ribbing with 12 inches of knitted feet (counting the toes), but they are done and shipped out to the young man from work who is currently in afghanistan. and to tell you the truth, i miss knitting them. they were the perfect go anywhere, able to be social in any type of setting knit. i mean, how can you go wrong with 13 inches of k2p2 or 12 inches of plain knitting. i am in the midst of swatching the second pair which i hope to knit two at a time a la 2-at-a-time socks. we'll see,

the next finished item is tudora out of kilcarra yarn that i won from cheryl. i was a bit concerned about this yarn, thought it would be a bit un-soft on the neck. that was until i started to work with it. let me tell you, this yarn is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. i loved working with it. the pattern comes to life with this yarn. the cables pop right out. it is quite lovely. and the pattern is delightful. i was concerned i would fumble it up. but no, i just followed the directions and it came together quite nicely. amazing how that works! except for the buttonhole. i am truly lacking when it comes to knitting buttonholes. thankfully the button covers the buttonhole, so all is good. and my neck is fashionably warm!

now on to the next project. yay!

take a chance...

cheryl over at a simple yarn is having a great contest.

write a caption for the pictures on her blog and you can win some beautiful kilcarra yarn and a felted coaster. this was the yarn used to make her wonderful tudora pattern. and though i have yet to blog about it, i can tell you this yarn is stunning, absolutely stunning and the pattern is a delight to knit.

so scoot on over and check it out. good luck!

i've just seen a...

my sweet friend and i seem to be have been bitten by a baking bug. not sure exactly how or why, but we are just going with it for the moment. she is baking cupcakes and cakes and i am baking...anything. and though i am not one to celebrate today, i felt a strong pull to bake these...

and these...
and even these...

which inevitably led to this...

it was a lot of fun though. had not baked like this in many years. next time i won't make a double batch. one batch is quite sufficient. and d & t, i do not know how you get along without your kitchen aid. seriously.

because of the baking bug, i have not had as much time to work on this...

the beginnings of the lace ribbon scarf out of malabrigo silk blend. the pattern has been in my ravelry queue for awhile so when the LYS announced it was doing a KAL of this pattern and suggested the silk blend as a yarn substitute, i was in. i have been lusting to use this yarn for something but did not know what, so here was the perfect excuse!

since using a weightier yarn then the pattern calls for, the suggestion was to use size 8 needles and drop a repeat. but i didn't have size 8 needles that were suitable, then couldn't find size 8's that were suitable. so after a bit of knashing, grumbling and finally swatching (!), i decided to use size 7 circulars with the number of stitches called for. the pattern came alive on them. and can i tell you how much i love this yarn. love this yarn. it is heaven to use and looks beautiful. since it is hand dyed, the variation of color is subtle but adds a bit of sparkle. i had never understood the fascination with manos until i used this yarn. and now i may just be hooked!

but i am not sure when i will get around to knitting on it again since tomorrow i am planning on making home made tortillas and pesole. that bug!

catch up take 2

i joined the swap on a budget group on ravelry. i love swaps. they are fun, i meet different people, i get to put together a package and i get a package. all in all, it is pretty fun.

the last swap was this past december and though my package was late, it was well worth the wait because in it was...

...a hank of mango moon tye dyed viscose, two home made knitting utensil bags, gobs of home made stitch markers in two sizes, a coffee cup holder, a dishcloth and a home made needle holder, which i really appreciated and put to immediate use. these wonderful treats were sent to me by absolute treasure from georgia.

the yarn is really pretty. both the cute husband and my sweet friend commented on how lovely it was, which says alot. not sure what i will make out of it though. it is 150 yards and i would like to make some thing that will reflect the beautiful colors. so i will have to do some sleuthing for the proper pattern.

thanks absolute treasure for a great soab package.

catching up...

so i have been sick the last couple of weeks. and though i do have some knitting to report on, i don't quite have the where withal to write, take pictures, download pictures, etc. so instead here are some things i have been meaning to share for awhile...

like this wonderful bag i won from worsted knitt who had a contest sometime this past summer.

not only does worsted knitt knit, design patterns, blog, moderate the ravelry dafur group but she also has this wonderful online shop, and this bag is one of the items available. it is quite sweet and big enough to hold a shawl. which is what i am using it for.

the shawl in question is the bird's nest shawl which i have been longing to make since i first started knitting. i have had the yarn for the past year, which is knit picks alpaca cloud in heathered moss. but i am being needle challenged. the pattern calls for a size 5 needle for the borders and size 6 needle for the body of the shawl. except when i swatch, i find those size needles a bit loopy/holey/loose for my taste. i find a size 4 needle more to my liking. but i debate whether to use a size 4 for the whole shawl or just for the borders and a size 5 for the body. decisions, decisions! even looking it up on ravelry didn't help since the needle sizes there were all over the map.

the next challenge with the size 4 needle is casting on. there are 346 stitches to cast on while holding the yarn double (it's knit sideways). i can do that with a size 5 or 6 needle but for some reason find it challenging on a size 4. sigh.

and so the yarn and pattern sit in this sweet little bag, patiently waiting for me to work through my various challenges. i look forward to carrying the shawl of my dreams in this sweet little bag and bragging about winning it and talking up worsted knitts shop. but, until then, stop by worsted knitts online shop and look around. your bag may not cause you so much drama!

rhythm of the night

i like the new house. it has a lot of pluses. more pluses then negatives. but one of its negatives is a pretty big negative. for some reason the internet is down more than it is up. and, for me, that is a big negative. mainly because i am an internet junkie. i use it for everything: paying bills, making appointments, coordinating meetings, recipes, reference, reading, learning, connecting and of course, shopping. and so, since i am an internet junkie, i really don’t like that our internet is down most of the time.

though there is an upside. i am getting to sleep at a reasonable hour. i stay up late so i can be on the computer uninterrupted. but since the internet is down, i have no reason to dawdle, so i read a book and go sleep. which isn’t a bad thing.

but the most important thing i have re-discovered without internet is my knitting rhythm. after a frantic fall, on new years evening my knitting rhythm finally clicked into place...make supper, clean the kitchen, do a general pick-up and knit while watching a dvd with my sweet friend. it was a pretty perfect evening. she is finishing up a scarf, i need to knit on my sfs sock 30 min a day and then i knit on my other projects. not a bad rhythm. it suits me just fine. except now i am staying up way to late...knitting!

project info: socks for soldiers out of knit picks essential in buckskin;

knit grrl stripey scarf out of a trendsetter tonalita in raspberry shortcake.

oh tannenbaum, take 2

the continuing saga of the twice as tall as me christmas tree. with the purchase of a new ladder, it became this...

and it was lovely on christmas morning.

let's get physical

for some reason i am suffering from a case of the grumps. things were fine before christmas; had a delightful christmas day; had fun with the fam; christmas dinner turned out great (food theme was moroccan) but have had some pretty grumpy moments since then.

so when i woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, decided what i needed was a walk. so i crossed the street to open land and just walked. and walked and walked, until i came to a t in the path which overlooked this...

and i realized i am a pretty lucky girl. next time i get the grumps, i will take a brisk walk in the fresh air. hope your holidays are happy!

...i walk the line

i am beginning to find my rhythm in the new house. though there are still boxes to be unpacked and there is the daily question of "...have you seen", "...did you check the box in the ...", i am to the point where i can unpack a bit and leave time for knitting, or walking or sewing, or baking.

so when i felt the call to walk on saturday morning, i decided to explore the path across the street that leads to the open space on the hill. and from the hill i could see this...














so i kept walking and walked through these,





walked down this,

looped about and saw this from the another hill. and for you east bay-er's, yes that is mt. diablo in the distance.

not a bad walk for the new neighborhood.

on the knitting front, i have finished one of two socks for soldiers. i am 1.5 inches into 13 inches of 2x2 rib for sock two. i am totally cheating on the xmas knitting. the plan is to finish up my sweet friends ruffle scarf (translation, i have to pick up a total of 594 stitches! yuck!) and to finish up the big guy's second sock. hopefully the plan will work and both of these will be under the tree on christmas morning.

and then there is the new year's resolution to learn to knit 2 socks at a time on a circular needle so it doesn't take me so bloody long to knit socks for soldiers!#! already have the book on the christmas list.

oh tannenbaum

the last couple of weekends have been filled with this...

the madrigal dinner theatre the choir classes at my sweet friends h.s. put on every december. if i wasn't at a performance, helping at a performance or cooking for a performance, i was sewing costumes for the performance.

and from the weekends of this...

came this...

which was one of 10 that were part of the madrigal decorations. the music booster board decided to off set the cost of the trees (which have been donated in the past) by having families "sponsor" the trees. the new house has cathedral ceilings so we decided to sponsor a tree. so here it is. the catch is, our 6ft ladder seems to be MIA. both the cute husband and i were sure we saw it at the new house but now cannot locate it.

i will keep you posted on how decorating the tree goes!

here comes the sun

though the move is over, the actually settling in is taking some time. and though lots of purging was done before the move, it wasn't quite enough. all items that were on the fence before moving, are now in the give away, recycling or trash pile.

but my knitting books are unpacked and in their bookcase. and after much searching and various unsuccessful starts, i finally found a baby hat pattern in said knitting books that i actually want to knit. trick is, it is for a co-worker leaving for maternity leave this week. oi! i better get started!

but first a view of a sunrise i made tea to a few mornings ago. made my day!

somewhere over the rainbow

the move is done. and the rug fits perfectly in the master bath! yay!

look out...old macky is back

so, i am not a costume gal. at all. so when hints were dropped during a directors meeting that costumes needed to be worn on halloween, i nearly choked on my dentures and i don't even have dentures.

then i remembered a costume i made for the big guy when he was in 1st or 2nd grade. and everything went swimmingly from there.

happy halloween, all saint's day and dia de las muertas. may all the spirits you meet be peaceful.

breathe...just breathe

so this is what i have been doing for the last month or so:

first it was the costume sweatshop where nine, count them, nine ranger jackets were made in one afternoon, as well as modifying some of the female gowns. then it was makeup. i am head makeup putter on-er so, with the director, i figure out which characters need what kind of makeup; then i experiment on some of the cast, get the directors feedback and finalize the "look" and what it entails; then we have a training day with the cast, show them what their makeup will look like, explain what it entails and have them run through putting it on themselves; then there are the musical run throughs and dress rehearsals where the makeup gets tweaked because it looks different under the lights and filters; then there are two weekends of performances. all of this around a 40hr + job.

i am a bit beat.

but instead of being able to rest, we get to pack because we are moving. yes moving. in 12 days.

the last few years have been a financial challenge for us and not having all of the expenses of owning a house will hopefully help us regroup. and so we are renters once again. of a house that is 400+ square feet smaller than our current one. which doesn't sound like much but it is. except for the fact it allows us to pare down, simplify, or, in essence, purge ourselves of 15 years worth of "collecting".

the important thing is the new house meets our stringent criteria of being within walking distance of my sweet friend's high school and allowing us to have the bbfd (big black furry dog). all of which i am grateful for, it makes the transition easier.

and so we weed through our various collections and we pack.

but i long to knit. and so i do. something mindless like the socks for soldiers. which fits the criteria of being lots of mindless knitting. thank heavens.

i have finished a couple of things though. the sweet little puffin hat for rachel and ryan's baby boy. made out of crystal palace puffin which is a delight to knit with. and will be very soft for a baby.

and i finished the bath mat designed by vyvyan at fishbone designs. i really like the way it came out. the picture doesn't really do it justice. honest. one of my goals this year was to do some color work. and though this is not really color work, i am color inept so i was a bit concerned how the colors would work together since the majority of this yarn was in my sugar n' cream stash. but it works. and i can't wait to use it in the master bathroom of the new house. oh boy!

oh thank you! thank you!

so the very sweet and generous worsted knitt nominated me for an "i love your blog" award. wow! i am truly honored. thank you! it is really quite fun!

and the best part is i now get to nominate 4 of my favorite blogs for this award. ohboy! ohboy! once you have been nominated for this award you need to:

Post the award on your blog.
Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
Nominate at least 4 other bloggers and add their links.

cool huh? so my nominations are: a simple yarn; tea and cakes; wish i were baking and fishbone designs. thank you all for always being such an inspiration for me. it is a joy!

rtfm

i finished the big guy's first sock. it came out really well. love the pattern, easy to knit, nice to look at. the sock fits him and he thinks it is comfortable. couldn't ask for much more.

so i was pretty excited to finish it. i knitted down to the needed number of stitches to bind off; kitchenered them up with a book for guidance instead of the usual knitting help dot com video (finally getting the hang of kitchener) and excitedly looked at the finished object as it popped off the needles. that is when i noticed something was amiss. how could it be? the toe seam was vertical to the sock. what!?! took another look, and my first assessment was right, the seam is vertical to the sock instead of horizontal. OI!

now i knit my socks on two circulars. and thanks to cat bordhi's great instructions, i can adapt any dpn pattern to a two circular pattern, no problem. whenever i came to a place that stumped me, out came the book for reference. but i knew what to do for toes so did not consult the book before i finished. which is why the toe seam ended up as it did. this is because each circular needle holds half of the instep stitches and half of the sole stitches. but as cat brodhi instructs in the book, all of the instep stitches need to be put on one needle and all of the sole stitches need to be put on the other needle. that way, the toe seam ends up being horizontal and not vertical. which i would have known had i read all the instructions in the book .

sigh. glad i discovered this now before more socks were needlessly maimed. and double glad that the big guy is a bit quirky so has no problem with the toe seam of his sock going vertical instead of horizontal. it hurts me to even think of it. sigh.

going around in circles

i did not get bit by the spring cleaning bug this past spring. usually i do the annual airing out the house after winter, but not this year. i am making up for it now though. i can not walk into a room in our house without cleaning, weeding out and rearranging things. my family, who does not understand my obsession with a clean house, is nervous. they never know what will greet them when they open a cupboard. oh well.

i also have been reading. granted i am re-reading the hp series, but i am mid-way into book six and cannot put it down. i know what happens. i mean, seriously. but i am gripped none the less and find myself reading a few pages in between chores.

and my sweet friend's fall musical is weeks away from opening. since i am head of makeup, there are workshops to conduct and rehearsals to attend; not to mention the costume sewing.

all of these things i truly enjoy doing. the downside is i have little time for knitting. coupled with the fact i am knitting mostly socks. i love knitting socks but not when it is the only thing i am knitting. so when i came across this rug designed by vyvyan at fishbone designs i went through my sugar 'n cream stash and cast on. but i long for a new shawl but don't want to cast on until i have finished a project, but there are so many other things going on and not enough time to knit and holiday knitting to start. and on and on and on...

if i were a dog trying to lay down, this going around in circles would be fine, but as a knitter it is not fun. sigh. at lease socks are portable!