I don't know what it is, but I just can't blog anymore. Blogging feels like some quaint archaic thing I used to do years ago like listening to record albums or using a pay-phone. That combined with feeling like I don't have anything to say makes for some serious unmotivation.

However this weekend I did some lovely socializing and am moved to create this post for those I socialized with. First up, we have Rachel who claims she goes to my blog page every few days hoping for a fresh word. Well here you go Rach, YOU are the top story. I spent a relaxing Sunday hanging out in Washington Heights w/ the ever cool F. Family. Rachel & the adorable baby Henry.

Zach and the furry baby Ollie.Beautiful Greta who was decorated our hands with her illustrations.So much better than those henna designs. Thank you F. family for a fun day and a delicious lunch & iced mocha. Friday night had me spending time with my oldest friend Lizzie & her family & friends. This portion of the post is for her mother Sharon who also reads this blog and will be so happy to see pictures of the girls. We met up at a fundraiser performance for Helios Dance Theatre . Click on the link to see an excerpt of the incredible piece, The Lotus Eaters choreographed by Laura Gorenstein Miller. Gorgeous. We wore our fancy clothes, drank wine, ate Mexican food, and had a blast. Here is Lizzie's sister Julie & her husband Ken. Thank you friends for a perfect weekend.

OK, I'm breaking my resolution about not making any resolutions. I am making one. I resolve to pay some attention to this freaking blog. Post more often? Well yes, that would be nice but how about also changing that 3 year old profile picture that was taken with a free digital camera given out by whoever was our cable company at the time? That sounds like a good, clean-out-yer-closet kind of a New Year's Plan. OK. So I'm going to be doing that, I promise. I'm going to clean up the blog so I don't have to keep hearing myself saying "ugh" everytime I click over here and see this tired old page unfold.

Hey! How are you doing? Are you by any chance looking for a new project? How about a project that involves 3 or 4 days of really fun knitting and about 2 months of finishing, sewing, lining and pulling your hair out? If that is what you've been on the hunt for, than look no further. I am in the midst of that very project, the Brea Bag by Nora Gaughan.

The bag itself is knit in 3 pieces which due to the unusual hexagonish shape, take a long time to seam together which I totally did not mind because I enjoy seaming. I find it satisfying. What I have minded very much is trying to get a lining to lay kindly within this beast. I made one out of a stiff, upholstery fabric so the bag would have some structure to it. Maybe it's too big? Is it impossible to sew together a lining constructed from bizarre shapes? Is this technique simply out of my league?

I can't capture how crappy I think it looks because in these pics it actually appears quite decent which is not really the case. Now I'm starting to hand stitch all along the top & then I have to sew on the leather strap which I am fashioning out of a belt I never wear anymore and which will involve more sewing and also slicing through leather with a knife. I think the successful completion of the bag should be worthy of some type of boy scout's badge.

I am loving the new Picasa upgrade. Lots of hokey photo-styling techniques like this one. Joel calls it Early 1990's Greeting Card. Magical huh? All my whining about how crappy my camera was finally paid off when I lost said crappy camera in a movie theatre where we saw "Milk." My purse fell down between the seats and stuff spilled out of it in the dark. I managed to locate my chapstick but forgot my camera was in the bag and didn't retrive it off the sticky floor. I've replaced it with a little Nikon Coolpix and I am quite happy with it.

This being the end of the year I feel that I should have some sort of profound and reflective post . I don't. What I have is a bad cold that my friend Damian brought with him from New York. I also don't like to make resolutions because I know I'm going to have a shift in my priorities before the year is up and I don't want to be beholden in June to something I thought was important in January.When I do think back on 2008, the memory is mostly happy: Happy I got a new job working for the nicest man ever. Happy I graduated from college even if I was 20 years late. Happy my candidate took the presidential prize but sad that neither of my parents were alive to see it. The part of 2008 where we watched our savings evaporate almost overnight, that part wasn't too great.

But I did knit. 14 projects in total. And feeling like a more qualified knitter, I signed up for Stitches West for the first time.

All in all I think it was a very good year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm a winner! I won the BEST prize ever in the previously blogged about contest that was held by Mel over at Purling Plans in celebration of her big 3-Day adventure. Check out her pics!

I won the coziest, most lovely hand-made lap quilt lined with wool batting. It was constructed by Kate Shirley of the adorably named Humbug Farm. Also freaking adorable are her goats. Go give them a look-see too. I am so excited by this gift because I have wanted a throw type of thing for a couple of years but never want to purchase something store bought when I have the ability to knit my own. The catch is, I never seem to be able to commit to such a large-scale project. There are so many sweaters I want to knit and I have a tough enough time finishing those. So though I've collected several patterns for gorgeous throws, thought about color and yarn and imagined myself wrapped up in one, I've never come close to actually creating one. And now, I don't have to! The fabric is a classic cotton, calico print, one side red, the other blue. It screams "good book and hot cup o' tea" loud and clear.

I only hope I get the chance to use it.
At our house we have been busy fighting off the impending global depression. We are saving on the cost of expensive fuel and wear & tear on the car by working at home.

We are making our own winter wardrobes.


2 Completed sweaters in one week!

We are avoiding pricey recreational activities such as going to the movies and focusing on the free things like long walks in the park.

And of course, we are enjoying the "fall" season minus the colored leaves, hats & scarves and hearty hot soups. October L.A. style - where the charred, smoky smell in the air isn't coming from your neighbor's chimney, but rather your neighbor's blazing home in the canyons.

Happy Halloween from dried out, arid L.A.

Boo!

May I gloat for just a moment? It's a seldom occurrence, me gloating. But today, I have to make an exception and let the gloat go free.
My Rusted Root is effing spectacular! Until today, I had yet to knit a truly perfect sweater.
I made no mistakes and I even made modifications. Ooooooooh.

I finally know how to effortlessly seam an armpit hole! Pattern: Rusted Root - by the Zephyr Gals
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed (discontinued)
Needles: 7 & 5 KnitPicks Options
Details: on Ravelry - my name is GirlEatsSoup

I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I have much more free time with my new working at home lifestyle. I have time to knit in the middle of the day and it freaks me out. I feel for lack of a better word GUILTY if I'm not doing something responsible with my time. Which is not to say that knitting is irresponsible, because of course that is ridiculous. But knitting is not a chore-like task or an occupation and there is just something in my sensory system that tells me my weekdays are supposed to be filled with both. My intellect knows better but I can't seem to reconcile the two parts of me. Anyway, despite my neurosis, I've managed to start a nifty little sweater this week during those unfamiliar moments of down-time. It's the popluar Rusted Root from the Zephyr Girls knit in Elsbeth Lavold Silky Tweed.

Here I am trying to convince myself that I"m a free spirit who can knit with abandon and a clear conscience on any day of the week.Puffy little sleeves...oh so cute in a knitted sweater. This one is going pretty fast, even for pokey me and I'm anxious to wear it. I'm also anxious to get a new camera so I don't have to gaze at these dreadful blurry images anymore. My life looks like a dream sequence.

The sun is going down! I can knit with no emotional complications now because the official "hours of acomplishment" have passed. Whew!

September 18th would have been my mom's birthday. I won't tell you which birthday, as my mom was a little funny about her age, which was odd since she always looked a decade younger than her years. This January, my mom Carole will have been gone 7 years, a fact which seems unbelievable. I miss her. So much.

My friend Mel of Purling Plans also had to say goodbye to her mother several years ago. Like me, she misses her mom. Terribly. As they have done before, Mel and her husband Tad are walking 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-Day next month. Her personal fund-raising goal is $3,000 and she is hosting a yarn-lover's contest with AMAZING prizes to be given to winners who make a charitable donation through her website. Click on the link and go there now!

OK, don't go quite yet. Finish reading my post, then go. Remember my home office/ table area of the kitchen project? Well, it's coming along. I made a fabric covered frame that I stuck in the window-to-nowhere. I bought 2 white aluminum shelves though I've only managed to get one up on the wall so far.
The orange wall is going to painted a different color, still to be decided. The printer is hideous but getting it up off the table gave me so much more room.
We are all about projects this month. Here's Joel stringing his beloved new Madagascar Jasmine plant up aloong the front porch. The scent drifts into the living room on warm nights and is incredible. The flowers are the thick, waxy ones that leis are made from.

And I spent the afternoon prepping my planter beds which were constructed for me by our talented carpenter neighbor James. James annoys me immensely because he is the kind of person who when asked if he might have some useless wood scraps lying around in his shop says "Oh sure. I'll bring them over" and then appears an hour later with an entire divided planting bed complete with reinforcements. Arrgh! I have guilt and acceptance issues....super generous people are a challenge!

The chicken wire is a creature-deterrent, specifically engineered for our giant cat Slinky Jones who only goes to the bathroom in the great outdoors. I also want to keep rats. opposums and racoons out if possible. Though the racoons I've been seeing here lately are humongous. They're like small men. I'm sure they could easily step over the fencing if so inclined. Do racoons like broccoli? Probably not. Like all wild, urban dwelling animals, they probably like junk food. I saw a crow eating a little cup of ranch dressing from Jack in the Box and I just wanted to cry. Anyway, I have some broccoli seedlings almost ready to go into the ground and I just planted some cabbage seeds today. Happy weekend people!