Girl Eats Soup

2009-04-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-01-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-12-31T17:24:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I need a new pair of shoes for my new pair of socks. Well, it's only one sock thus far, but when it is part of a pair, I need slightly big shoes to wear them with. They're the tiniest bit thick and a wee bit big, these Monkey Socks.They will be great with boiled wool slippers though....Monkey socks - pattern by Cookie A. (awesome)

Yarn - Pagewood Farm Yukon Hand Dyed Bamboo Sock Yarn (love it)

Needles - Knit Picks #1 (but a really big #1) dpn's

Last month I attended a wedding which was followed by a Chinese banquet. I just downloaded my pics a few days ago. I had taken a picture of the menu because it represents a vegetarian's nightmare and being a vegetarian, I found it funny. Now, noticing the error in line #1, I find it REAL funny. Look closely....

I still enjoyed a delicious banquest of endless vegetarian dishes due to the graciousness of the bride, one of my former co-workers.

This summer saw Joel and I staying close to home. No vacations for us due to busy schedules and low funds. BTW, gas is down to $3.99 p/gallon! I felt like I was getting the deal of a lifetime and went crazy putting 10 gallons into my tank this week. I haven't done that in months.

We took a "vacation" day and hung out at LACMA a couple of weeks ago.

It's such an fantastic museum. I used to live around the corner from it, had a membership and would go all the time. Now I'm lucky if I get over there once a year. "Over there" is about 7 miles which isn't prohibitive, but for some reason, feels an LA-world away. It's a lovely way to spend your day. They also have a fabulous film series which I going to make an effort to take part in next month since I've been on a serious French film jag for about a year.

And tar pits!! World-class art AND a gigantic prehistoric tar beaver. Yes! Something for everyone.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend all......

2008-08-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hey look! I'm alive.I'm even still knitting.I'm working on these super fun Monkey socks. I finished Joel's Lighthouse Gansey's.

So why the big absence? Well, something amazing, miraculous & incredible happened and I've been so busy being overwhelmed with my happiness that I've been distracted from my usual routine. What is this spectacular thing that has occurred? This life-changing state of affairs? I got NEW JOB. A great, fun new job. And there's more: I WORK FROM HOME. I'm still in a state of disbelief.

It's been no secret that I have despised my job for a long while. My soul had been flattened and after what felt like an endless effort of sending out resumes to no response whatsover, I had begun to lose all confidence and believe that there was no other future for me. Then out of the blue, my neighbor Liz, who wasn't even aware that I had been aggressively searching for a new job, called to see if she could give my name to someone she has worked with for several years who owns a company that puts on large charity races, 5K's and 10K's. Very quickly after that, I had a new position as an event coordinator, working for the nicest man ever.

The job is a lot of fun. I talk to people all day, I go to meetings with different charities, I ask people to donate food & services, I make cool site maps with fun graphics software and of course, I attend the events which is a blast. What's better than being down at the beach at 5:30 AM, watching the sun rise as you set up an event to help people raise money to fight cancer? I'll tell you what's NOT better: working in a windowless CPA firm pushing paper for the IRS ! Joel is constantly astounded as he watches me turn back into the person I used to be. "You are so happy!" he says. Or, "You're personality is coming back!" It's so very true and I am thankful every minute of my happy day.

So here is my new home office: the dining area of our kitchen. It's soon to be my old home office cuz I'm getting ready to re-vamp it. I desperately need shelves so after I paint the orange wall a fresh turqoise I am going to transform the window into a shelving unit.
The window looks out onto the service porch on which sits the stackable washer/dryer. Hence, it's no scenic view and has always been covered with this curtain as it is a dismal little site. So what I am going to do is get a piece of plywood cut to fit inside the window. I'll cover the plywood with some cotton batting which I'll then cover with a bright piece of upholstery fabric. After it's all fit snugly into the window area, I'll hang clean white, utilitarian shelves in front and have a nice framed shelf area with a cozy fabric backdrop. Or if I can find some cool, vintage wallpaper, I might cover the plywood with that instead. This will work, right? Any other nifty ideas out there? I'm open to anything that doesn't involve buying a lot of stuff or doing major construction.
I hope you are having a fantastic summer!

2008-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

This one is NOT about knitting. This one is about my husband saving the world.

Here you see a picture of the current issue of Yoga Journal magazine.

On page 123 of said issue is an ad for a campaign Joel has started called Yoga Gives Back, which focuses on combating poverty in India through micro-lending. Look! There's a picture of Joel placed next his words explaining the motivation behind the cause. The campaign is directed towards the yoga community because the yoga industry has become such a huge and profitable one. You do not however, need to know anything about yoga to participate so if you are interested in micro finance programs that aid poor women in India, go take a look. The website has some great film clips and interviews with women all filmed last year by Joel's friend and student Kayoko who has worked very hard with him on this venture. Yoga Journal is hosting the website as well as providing advertising space. Donations can be made online and go directly to the Grameen Foundation, the Grand-daddy of microfinance organizations. This is big!

There are no words to express how proud I am of Joel and his undying perseverance to get this campaign rolling. We are hoping this is just the beginning.....

2008-05-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

With all the horrendous tragedy that has occurred in the world in weeks past, this month of May can hardly be called merry. The events have given me pause and moments where I am disgusted with myself and my fluffy little concerns, and the things I repeatedly complain about like how much I dislike my job. So today's post will be a celebration of life, friends and family and several happy events that have also taken place in weeks past.

First up: Baby Henry!! One week old and brought into the world by his freaking AMAZING mother, my friend Rachel who gave birth at home after a 2 hour labor and 20 minutes of pushing. Yes, that's correct.

I told her she's some sort of super-hero. Here she was, exactly one week later, not even remotely resembling someone who was very recently pregnant and especially not looking like someone who was nurturing a newborn during a major heatwave in a home without air-conditioning. When I arrived, she had a fresh snack plate laid out and her house was totally clean.She does of course, have an excellent assistant in the delightful Greta who is thrilled to be a new big sister and who was excited to show me her bathing suit that "looks just like a to do." You know, like ballerinas wear.Little Henry is as perfect and precious as can be. I knit him a monkey-button bib to accompany an adorable monkey outfit that I found on Etsy and forgot to photograph.

Since Henry is still a bit young for the bib, Helen was glad to stand in as my model.May also brought with it the excitement of domestic travel and time spent in airports like O'Hare.

It's quite true what they say. Chicago is windy. The purpose of our trip was to return to New Paris, IN for Joel's parent's 50th wedding anniversary. They had the time of their lives and it was great to get away for a few days.

And because I advertise this as a quasi-knitting blog, I'll leave you to chew on images of some disastrous knitting. In one evening, I whipped up a version of Calorimetry (from winter Knitty 2006) so gargantuan that it resembles not a sassy headband, but rather medical bandaging for a tragic head wound. Get a load of that dismal colorway in Rowan silk aran!

It's frogged now, but for an evening, it provided fun for the whole family.

2008-05-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Just like the white-winged dove.........While I do feel a tiny bit like Stevie Nicks, I like it! I don't like the big-ass dropped stitch I didn't see until I was FINISHED and which lays directly in front, but I like my ponchette and my Stevie persona.
Some day soon I hope to getting around to frogging one pattern repeat and re-seaming because by the end of the day, the bamboo had stretched and there was just a little too much shoulder for my liking. When that day comes I can also tend to the dropped stitch.
It's a perfect L.A. garment.

Lace is magical and fun. Pattern: Cool Hemp Ponchette by Lana Knits
Yarn: SWTC Bamboo - "Sahara"
Needles: Knit Picks Options 9
Closing thoughts: EZ pattern, lovely yarn but stretches a bit so take into consideration if using.

2008-04-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Get ready.....It's sandal weather!

It's also my birthday today and Joel delighted me with fancy foot and hand creams and a luxurious grapefruit-mint candle. He despises scented candles so we never have them in the house. I love them, but rarely treat myself to anything fancy that I don't absolutely need. Since he found one that comes with a lid, everybody wins. Yeah birthday!

I've been away from the blog so long and I wish I could return full of wit and insight. Truth is I've been sort of down and exhausted, feeling like it's time to shake things up in a big way but having no idea how to go about it. I have done a bit of knitting though and today finished the Cool Hemp Ponchette by Lana Knits. My hemp is bamboo, and it is extremely cool.

And if I decide I'm not happy with the finished product, Helen informed me it would make a fantastic dog bed. I have to admit, I'm not as pleased with the colorway (SWTC "Sahara")knit up as I was in the skein. A little drab to be sure. For Joel it promotes thoughts of death shrouds and late 19th century prison-wear. But in a good way.
Speaking of death......my garden is one of the many casualties of my far-too-busy past month. Take a look at this poor lil strawberry plant I bought a month ago and still had not planted.

Or this.....what IS this anyway?

So this morning we took charge and got things under control.
Joel was in charge of weeding and clean up which included disposal of two, dead, half-eaten rats left for us by Slinkers. Helen acted as surveyor as usual.I was the re-potting administrator. I've moved away from potted flowers since technically, L.A. is a desert where succulents and decorative grasses thrive. We have a lot of jasmine, morning glory and brown-eyed Susan on the fence and passion flower trails up the porch posts so there is plenty of color.Since it made it into the 90's today, Joel thought it would be fun to dowse me with the hose. I got control of the weapon and hit him with revenge spray. It was silly and fun and made me wish we had a slip n' slide. I realize that I'm now on the unfriendly side of 40 but I'm not too old for one am I?

2008-03-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

EEK! The over-a-year long journey is nearing a close and it's a nail-biter wondering if this thing is actually going to fit. Here is my Forecast, unsoaked, unblocked and yet without button bands. If it does fit, one thing's for sure. It's going to be snug and left in the closet on days I'm feeling bloated or plan on eating or drinking.I was also surprised at how short it ended up being, as I added an extra inch in length! Short is fine on me, since my waist is well....short. The arms are long enough thank God, since I am quite simian-like when it comes to limbs.

Here's the "personality" shot posed after Joel said I looked like a stiff mannequin. The greatest discovery of all was the one where I realized I had knit the entire second sleeve on a larger size needle than the first. But due to my fantastically unreliable and inconsistent ability to keep gauge, it wasn't too noticeable and I was able to address it when seaming the larger sleeve. I didn't knit the sleeves in the round. I like seaming, I honestly do.

Hey, how ARE you? I miss you, I really do. Please know that if I am your blog friend and a regular reader/poster of your blog, you are still a part of my life. I continue to be a loyal reader of your blog, though technically I haven't actually read your blog for several weeks. But I'm going to catch up because I know exciting things are happening out there: some of you are planting gardens, getting married, having babies and of course....knitting. I care about it all!

When I read your posts, I like to be able to take my time so I can click on all your links and take a few moments to post a comment. The recent scenario of my life has left little to no opportunities for such pleasures, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of obligation. It's becoming brighter and there you all are, smiling with needles in hand, ready to share little bits of your life with me.

Happy Spring!

2008-03-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

These blurry photos are really becoming annoying. I think it's time for a new camera. Anyway....SOCKS! I love them!! One sock down and the results are in: it's a winner!

Being made as a man-sock for Joel, the pattern is Lighthouse Gansey by Anne Hanson which is of course, in the Winter 07 issue of Knitty. What a fun pattern! Enough variation to not be bored, but still easy and quick. It fits Joel perfectly, though here my foot is the model.
The lighthouse pattern would look great in a naturalcolor, off-white yarn. It does get lost in this Regia tweed.
Yeah! Socks!
The other BIG excitement in the news is......A NEW MATTRESSS! Can you see how freakin' comfy it is? It's covered in a plush fun-fur like a stuffed animal. This is of course, totally irrelevant for the purpose a mattress should serve as it is covered by a mattres pad and sheets, but I'm not embarrassed to say that it was the thing that sold us in the show-room. Great psychological advertising. The mattress is poly-foam with a latex top and feels much like the Tempurpedic memory foam, but is more firm. No springs, just beautiful, anti-microbial latex. We are in heaven. Once we caved in and made the purchase, we were disgusted with ourselves for the previous years spent sacrificing such a crucial life-style element as a good quality mattress.

Look at this thing we got rid of !!!!! I bought this in 1992 when apparently mattresses were only half the size of box springs and looked like they belonged in some depression-era hospital. Look at it's pathetic sag and flatness. Ugh.... (the mattress in the front yard is always a classy move).
This is supposed to be my preparation for difficult mid-term time, so I better be off. I'm behind on my blog-reading natch as well as Ravelry time, but I can't wait to catch-up and see what you all have been up to......Talk to you later!

2008-02-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't make it back as soon as I had hoped. But I'm here now. And look! I've been knitting a bit: Progress of Yoga Husband's Lighthouse Gansey sock, a wonderful pattern that I think could also be turned into an interesting sleeve for a sweater. I wish the yarn was lighter so the coolness of the pattern stood out better, but I am still digging it. Photo blurry of course. Should I cut back on the caffeine?? What is the deal?When I visited last, I promised thanks n' links. The thanks go out to the lovely Mel of Purling Plans who tagged me with a You Make My Day blog tag. I was honored of course, as I am to know that anyone at all reads this blog. As I've said before, the connecting with other bloggers is my favorite part of all this. I e-mailed her back to tell her I was touched and simultaneously embarrased because I think this blog has been SO BORING lately and I can't believe it could make a person's day. But Mel strikes me as an authentic optimist who always manages to find the light in things and I am forever self-deprecating, so there you have it. Thanks Mel!

If you are wondering why my posts are so infrequent and you've said to yourself "What gives with this Girl who Eats Soup? So she works and goes to school full-time. Big Deal! I'm busy too and I manage to post on a regular basis." Well, perhaps you are not taking into account the time constraints of my other career as a professional model for Post Surgery Compression Garments. You weren't were you? Why look...here I am just yesterday going into a photo shoot. You can tell by the surroundings how glamorous this lifestyle is.
Let me quickly explain. My boss at the CPA firm is also a partner in another side business that sells the afore mentioned surgical garments. I've modeled for them several times and have supplied them with other models, friends of mine who are also dancers and will actually model items like post-liposuction compression pantyhose without too much self-conciousness. Here you can see me and my friend Sascha sitting on a garden bench, happily discussing our experience with our surgical garments. If you look closely, you can see that we are actually laughing pretty hard. The darling red-headed girl at the top of the page is Rebecca, another dancer friend who was last season's "face" of the compression garment and is featured in most of the catalogue.. This year, they wanted a more "mature" look. You know, like me. Almost haggard...someone who would truly need a chinstrap to hold things together after a face-lift. This is the fitting room. Again, I'm laughing. Not sure about Einstein..does the Theory of Relativity have anything to do with compression?

Post Surgery Compression Modeling is fun for the ENTIRE FAMILY! Turns out Joel isn't just a yoga model. Apparently he's about ready for a face-lift too. Such fun.....Oh shoot! I have to leave. I didn't get to my links!!! Ah well....next post. Thanks for stopping by!

2008-02-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hello! Yes, I've been away from the blog for a bit. But you'll be excited to know that I have returned just long enough to tantalize you with some almost colorless, low quality photos of my latest F.O. Sounds like fun, yes?

Your wait is over. Sit back as I present you with dull images of my first-ever finished pair of socks, the Tofutsies Jaywalkers - pattern is of course, by Grumperina.
I love them! The socks, not the pictures. I don't care for the pictures at all. Dark, rainy morning + cheap camera = crap outcome for knitting photos.
Yeah socks! The sock-knitting love affair is on.
I'm almost finished swatching for my next pair, some manly husband socks in this here Regia 4-ply tweed. The wool/polyamid/viscose combo is perfect for the group of laundry-impaired humans, of which my husband is an unfortunate member. No worries about washer/sryer fatalities. The pattern we chose is the Lighthouse Gansey in the current issue of Knitty. I know, I should link but I only have a few minutes to blog. I'm going to make a strong effort to return this week. I have some linking to do, some thanks to bestow and a couple of things I want to share.

Happy weekend, and if you are a superbowl person, I hope your team brings it home! Me, I'm not even sure who's playing. OK, I do know it's the Patriots who are expected to win, but I have no idea who the other team is. Are you horrified? I do know who is campaigning for the presidency however, so I'm not completely out of touch. Go Pats!

2008-01-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

World's cutest knit?

I think so.

One thing is for sure....it is the FASTEST knit I've ever done. You can crank a pair of these babies out in a few hours! Or for some of you speedy knit-demons (you know who you are Octopus Knits) you can probably have baby in a new pair of shoes by the time it takes to wrap up an episode of CSI. Excellent!Pattern: Saartje's Bootees (find on Saartje Knits )
Yarn: Koigu Painter's Palette
Needles: KnitPicks Options "2" (which is closer to a "3" in reality)

In case you are wondering if a new baby is arriving to the world of Girl Eats Soup, the answer is no. Currently, there is only one baby residing here, and she is covered with fur:
The booties are a gift for my pregnant friend Lexi, though they would look adorable on Helen.

2008-01-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Twenty-Oh-Eight! Oh My!

No resolutions for me...just hopes and dreams. Finishing Forecast for instance:
Please let it be more than a dream. It's so cute, this sweater. I want to wear it.
This year, I hope to spend more days as I did this past Sunday....a quiet, winter day spent outdoors with Joel and Helen.Thirty minutes out of the city...it felt like being on vacation.
Well.....DO you?Of course, it's never really "winter" here......

Not many snowmen in sight.

Still beautiful though.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU! Thanks for reading my blog. Please, come back again. :)

2007-12-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Squeezing in one more F.O. before the year ends.... I need desperately to feel as though I've accomplished something. What I accomplished was finishing another birthday gift, 2 weeks late. Sorry Damian.

Enjoying your holiday season thus far? I sure hope so. Speaking of holiday merriment, I'd like to run something by you concerning Santa Claus. We live in a part of Los Angeles called Culver City. Like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, our town is incorporated and not part of The City Of L.A. There is a very small town feel to Culver City and we have our own police and fire departments. This is nice. Every year in our neighborhood, on a Saturday night in the middle of December, Santa makes an early appearance while being driven through the streets atop a little trolley thing, kind of like a mini float. Our first year here, his arrival was announced ahead of time by a single patrol car driving slowly through the streets while a cop yelled out through a bullhorn "Santa Claus will be here in 15 minutes! Santa Claus will be here in fifteen minutes!" Then, 15 minutes later, the little trolley thing drove down the street with the sounds of music tinkling from it and a couple of highschool kids dressed as elves flanking a seated Santa as all waved out to everyone standing on their doorsteps. Totally cute.

In recent years however, things have gotten a bit more urban. Now, 3 police cars AND a fire engine drive down the streets with their sirens and lights blaring full blast. No Santa announcement, just alarming panic as you run to the door to see what hideous atrocity must be occuring outside your door. The little Santa trolley trails behind the mayhem and the entire posse makes a stop at the end of each block.

This way, you get a chance to drag your kids out into the flashing lights and sounds of disaster so they can visit Santa in his trolley. "Don't worry kids, it's not a multi-car pile up, it's Santa! Don't be alarmed by the fire truck, I don't think one of the neighbors has suffered a heart-attack, I'm pretty sure it's just Santa!" No elves anymore, just a couple of tired looking city council members sharing Santa's vinyl bench. As for the music, I couldn't hear anything over the sirens and the voices coming through the dispatch radios. Am I wrong? This is a confusing and scary Christmas experience for small people. And what about the rest of the year? There you are in July stuck on the 405 behind some sort of auto devastation hoping to God not to see carnage strewn across the lanes and your little one pipes up from the back with "Look! It's Santa!"

I don't know Culver City...I think maybe we should re-think this one.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

I'm back. Where did I go? Somewhere exciting? Somewhere fun? Nope. Mostly, I've been right here: And if I'm not here, I'm in my cubicle at work where I have been putting in extra hours due to someone being let go and creating a lot of extra work. That's it. Work and school, same old story. Yep, STILL not done with school. What kind of effed up school has a research paper due December 23rd I ask you???

This is one of those years where the holidays are going to slip through my fingers without a single card being sent or ornament being hung. This is the full extent of my seasonal decorating:Well OK, there is also this:Is it gettin' you in the mood? Festive huh?

My fantasy holiday season which exists only in my mind, involves lots of baking and these biscotti are at the top of the list: In reality, I am actually going to attempt to make these this week for the one holiday party we are attending next week-end, though I think it will require taking a day off work. And tonight I am putting all my papers and books away so I can get out my knitting and watch the 1951 British version of "A Christmas Carol" which I love.

Last night we walked over to our local movie house and caught "No Country For Old Men" cause nothing says "cozy, holiday warmth" like a gory, Coen Brother's interpretation of a grisly Cormac McCarthy novel about a homicidal maniac. That point aside, it is an excellent film with thought provoking themes and lots of Coen Bros quirkiness. Really, really good.

When we were walking home after the flick, we saw this illuminated palm tree in the yard of one of our neighbors. The crappy pic can't capture it obviously, but its fronds are filled with mulit-colored lights. And the thing is, it's a TALL palm standing out in the open, unaccessible by any building. How did they get up there???? It had to be a crane, right?
Here is the tree in daylight. You can see how much taller it is than the adjacent telephone wires. It's easily 3 stories high. The weird thing is, there are no other decorations or lights in the yard around it, just the palm. Even weirder is that big-ass tree that is growing horizontally in the backyard of our next-door neighbor, Ted. He's not too concerned about it, but I can't imagine that gravity isn't going to dictate the outcome eventually. Eeeeek, right?Well, I'm off to enjoy some homemade enchiladas whipped up by the old man. After that, I'm off to read some of YOUR blogs.......I'm so behind!

2007-11-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

SOXCITING!!!!!It's utterly soxellent!I am on such a freakin' sock high!! This is without a doubt, my proudest accomplishment of 2007. Well, maybe it's a tie between this and finding 2 pairs of jeans that are flattering, yet DON'T show my butt-crack and each cost less than $70.00) What a year!!If you've thought about knitting Grumperina's Jaywalker sock, but haven't....do. Great Pattern. If you've pondered purchasing a skein of Tofutsie's yarn, but haven't...do that too. Silky and soft. Perfect for those warmer climates where we don't get lots of time to wear wool socks.

Sock Dog.
This wasn't all there was to my week. I was presented with THIS amazing kniting bag my by friend Rachel. She picked it up on a quick trip to my fantasy city, Portland. But wait, there's more.As if the bag wasn't extrordinary enough on its own, inside were 2 SKEINS of this luxurious Malabrigo which of course I'm unable to photograph well enough to capture its depth and beauty. Ohhhhhh Rachel!
And so it begins...the hoarding of yarn for "Socks Yet To Be."
And just cuz. I think Slinkers has been depressed lately. He's so jealous of Helen though he tries to make the best of it. I love you Slinkers....but you have scary claws.

2007-11-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hoooooeeeeee! Got heel! I love knitting this pattern!!! So. Much. Fun. Perfect almost-first sock pattern....I highly recommend. Grumperina's instruction are so clear. The gussett made complete sense to me. I keep telling Yoga Husband that it is the pattern that creates the zig-zag effect, not the way the yarn is dyed, but I don't think he shares my astounded excitement.However, he does really like this yarn and has called these the Willy Wonka Gobstopper sox. I myself remember the gobstoppers being in bright, primary colors, but I have always suspected Y.H. of being slightly color-blind. The point is these socks are fun and whimsical and prompt people to bring up childhood memories and frankly, I don't think you could ask for more out of a halfway knit sock.

In real life, I've knit halfway down the foot as this pic was snapped last week. I have accepted the fact that our camera sucks and is unable to capture the depth and detail of this groovy, Tofutsie's yarn. I love this yarn! It's an absolute sock love-fest over here.
You know what else I love? Three Day work week!!! How are YOU spending the holiday?

2007-11-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

Thank heavens for Ballbands or else I'd never see a finished project. Three evenings can provide a pleasant state of knitterly satisfaction as well as a quick birthday gift.I've been down with the flu for a couple of days. I even felt sick in my fingers, therefore didn't use the time at home as an opportunity to get a lot of knitting done. What I did do, was get majorly turned on to the Netflix "Watch Instantly" feature and entertain myself with first season episodes of "30 Rock." TV is so much better without commercials.

Kristin has tagged me for an "8 Random Things" list. However, I very recently posted a random things list and the thought of pondering myself again so soon was slightly distasteful so I
got Yoga Husband to stand in for me.

Here, in his words are "8 Random Things About Me":

You don't have a favorite color.
How do I say this in a good way?.....You get drunk very easily, although not frequently.
You are a Taurus. (to this I said "that's the best you can do?")
You have extremely tiny thumbs.
Favorite food: toast.
You are a licensed, CA Notary.
Your teeth never came in. (to clarify: several of my molars are baby teeth with no adult teeth underneath....a genetic thing.)
You HAVE to make the bed every day or else "it just doesn't feel right." (this is very true)

Well, there you have it.

2007-11-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a bit frazzled lately....Trying to do it all; enjoy the holidays, keep on top of school, show up at work with a semi-pleasant attitude, be a present partner in my marriage, clean & do laundry and of course knit a few stitches here and there. I can do it all! I know I can!
I love the fall. Best season ever.
To kick off this cozy time of year, I decided to get a jump start on my annual baking of Pumpkin Cranberry Pecan Loaves. I made these yummy loaves for favors at our wedding (which was 5 years ago this week. Happy Anniversary Yoga Hubs!) I have made them every year since and this year whipped up a couple of extras to give to my neighbors. The recipe is a breeze and I can almost get by without reading it. Almost that is, if you don't mind your loaves missing a primary ingredient.......like SUGAR. See that nice full bag? I forgot to mix in the sugar!!! 4 loaves that tasted like warm nothing. Tragic. The error discovered prior to leaving them on neighbor's doorsteps, thank God.

Also this week.......Check out Joel's Back on newstands now! Weehoo! His finest yoga moment.

This is the first time his tattoo hasn't been airbrushed away. Part of it is peeking out of his shorts on his right leg. I guess YJ is getting edgier...Happy Anniversary Honey! I've got your back!
Oh yes, and there is a bit more of a Jaywalker sock. Happy Fall y'all!

2007-10-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

City of Angels.......

City of Contradiction....

I should have seen the writing on wall. You see it don't you? The stretching and impending bagginess of the rib? Not my rib, the rib belonging to Fitted Tank, which can no longer call itself "fitted." You should have seen this thing by the end of the day, practically A-line, or a swing-tank. I was so pissed off. WHY didn't I use a smaller needle for the ribbing?????? This item....no longer exists. The Ponchette of my dreams that was knitting up so beautifully in the Southwest Trading Co. Bamboo fell victim to my exhaustion and inability to effectively keep track of what row I am knitting. I counted my stitches after 4 pattern repeats and I was MISSING 6 STITCHES! All the more upsetting because I have had to re-start my Tofutsies Jaywalker sock 6, maybe 7 times. It's either a dropped stitch, an extra stitch, twisted
stitches, individual slips that should have been slipped together, etc., etc. I'm not very good at gracefully accepting my knitting failures as learning experiences. The poor Ponchette ended up being tossed across the room amidst a pissy hissy-fit with me ending in tears. I'm not proud.

My dear friend Rachel should be proud though. Proud of her talents as a floral designer. Look at this little beauty she whipped up for us to acknowledge our upcoming wedding anniversary (5 years!) as well as the hope for a speedy recovery for sweet, tiny Helen who underwent a big surgery this week. Hold on to your heart-strings! Poor sweetie. Helen came to us last December as a completely blind 10 year old someone didn't want anymore. After being rescued, making it through pneumonia and double cataract surgery, she found a forever home with us. Shortly after she arrived, to the surprise of everyone, she went into heat. No-one knew she had never been spayed. There was no way I was putting her through another surgery at that time. But last month I found a mammary lump on her and I knew it was time to address the situation. So on Wednesday she lost a tumor (benign) and a uterus all in one swoop. She is doing remarkably. Waddling around, eagerly taking her meds packaged inside bits of chicken and of course, sunning in her fuschia, bandage hot-pants.

Unlike me, Helen accepts any situation with grace and elegance.

2007-10-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Frustration cubed. Trois. Three was my very un-magic number this week.

Torn between projects, I couldn't decide what to start after completing my Blue Sky Tank. A completion that took 3 separate attempts at arm holes. First time, too tight. Second time, a crappy "home-craft" appearance. Third time, I did my own thing and came up with this incorrect way to pick up stitches that results in what looks to me like a decorative edge. I don't know if this an actual technique but it's done by picking up through only half a stitch (or half a "v"). I also discovered the joy of picking up stitches with 2 needles instead of the impossible single or the equally frustrating for me, crochet hook. 2 needles is the way to go.

I've been itchin' to start me some Jaywalkers in this here Tofutsies yarn I puchased in Portland. So I started this new project in addition to another. However, I suffered a temporary but serious DPN/motor skills/memory deficiency and simply could NOT get this thing going. I ripped the entire thing out out 3 times last night, but managed get back on track this morning bright and early over a delicious bowl of oatmeal made lovingly for me by my husband who watched me have an emotional meltdown least night after my third, tragic attempt. He told me I'd be able to conquer it after a night's sleep. He was right. He also said "take a picture of the oatmeal!" Mmmm....cranberries and sunflower seeds.
Since I couldn't decide between projects, I cast on for 2. Though in the photo this swatch looks like a little rag I used to wipe up a kitchen spill, you'll have to trust me that it is a most lovely, shimmery and silky yarn, Southwest Trading Co. Bamboo in Sahara. The colorway is a greyish lavender, gold and blue. Very subtle. Hopefully it will make a gorgeous Ponchette. I've wanted to knit this pattern since it first came out. I had some difficulty getting started though......want to guess how many times I ripped it out and started over? Painful.
Speaking of painful, can we discuss jeans for a moment? Joel snapped this because he thought it was hilarious. Me getting in touch with my inner skank. Please, please understand that I would never allow this to happen in public. While I did wear those very jeans to work the day this was taken, I also wore the blouse that's tied around my waist, on my torso AS WELL AS a belt. Here, I am within the privacy of my front yard, so I'm letting it all ........um, hang out. But I am soooo sick of the low-waist thing. WHEN is it going to be over? And the other great jean mystery: WHEN did jeans start costing OVER $200 ???? Seriously, this is not just happening in upscale boutiques frequented by Paris Hilton, this is happening in your average department at Nordstrom and Macy's. Now, I will absolutely spend $100 on jeans because I wear jeans all the time. For good quality and fit, it's worth it. I like to spend less of course, but I will pony up some more money for an amazing pair that I adore. And it is well past time for me to get a new pair of jeans.

So I just returned from Nordstrom where there were numerous pairs priced from $200-$241. I found one pair under $100. I ended up trying on a ton of these way-too-pricey numbers just to see if there is some justifiable reason they cost so much. After conducting my experiment, all I can say is "????!!!!????????!!!?????????????????" If gaping butt-cracks, a one inch zipper and legs that hang down past the bottom of your foot a good six inches is what you are after, then YES. Yes, $200 + is TOTALLY worth it.

So Frustrating.

2007-09-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

It's an F. freakin' O. !!!!! Blue Sky Alpacas Fitted Tank is complete. OK, it's not totally complete. I still have to pick up and cast off finished armholes so they don't roll in as pictured here. I have one arm left. And it's not blocked. So it's not really an F.O. at all but I wanted to post the pictures so, there you go. The fit is pretty good, though a bit shorter than I'd like. All in all I am PLEASED. The particulars: Love, love, love the yarn. The softness is incredible. I did a bit of work on Forecast the other nite and the Cascade 220 I was using felt like straw in comparison to this yarn, which is crazy because on its own Cascade is a very soft wool. Pattern is super EZ , though the neckline bogs things down.

Pattern: Blue Sky Alpacas Fitted Tank by Alison Williams
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
Needles: Size 9 Circs - Knit Picks Options Interchangeables

Now, what to knit next??????

Before I go look through my patterns and make that important decision, I'm taking a cue from OctopusKnits and posting a "Seven Random Facts About Me" list. Ready?

Like both my parents, I am an only child.
I hate the taste of beets.
I have been to Tasmania.
I have never seen "American Idol", however I never miss "So You Think You Can Dance." ( I guess that's 2 facts in one. Bonus fact!)
While performing in front of an audience, I tripped and fell on the stage of the Opera House in Seoul, Korea and broke my right foot. I had to be carried off. Very embarrassing.
I am passionate about old architecture.
I think squirrels are possibly the world's cutest animal.

Am I who you thought I was? OK, now YOU!!! You are tagged.

I've had an annoying and seemingly pointless week. Feeling sorry for myself, I went to Helen for a friendly ear. No matter what my problem, her advice is always the same:

Somehow, this makes me feel better.

2007-09-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Oooohh La La! What have we here? Why it's a brand-spankin' new technique in this house: The 3 Needle Bind-Off. I love it! So smooth and tidy.The Fitted Tank is almost done. One side seamed, she still needs blocking and a new neck. This current neck situation is.....not good. I don't want to bash anyone's design because I certainly couldn't create a pattern, but it seems there could have been something a bit more elegant than this. That weird split thing? I'm supposed to pick up stitches and cast off a finished neck in purl.....Any other suggestions before I dive in?Also new: Hair-Do! Yeah! Shorter = EASIER.Here is an unfamiliar scene that ended the week:
New season! Yeah again!!
Within moments of the first rain drops, this was the scene inside. Look closely and see Helen scowling while scrunched up into a little ball of bitterness all because she is being forced to share her scared space next to me with Slinkers. He loves her. She hates him. (PS - My feet aren't really that big! Photographic illusion. Funny though huh?)

And speaking of funny.......these 2 little characters are Violet and Calvin. They belong to my best friend from childhood, Lizzie and her husband John. Last Sunday, Joel and I visited to share some birthday cake in celebration of Lizzie being REALLY old, just like me. Violet and Cal had us laughing hard, but never as hard as they laughed at themselves. Pure, unadulterated glee, all the time.

Well, as usual I am typing this from the school library and it's almost time for me to run off to a meeting, so until next time.....

2007-09-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

OK, before anything else I must present a couple of long-overdue "shout outs" concerning the beautiful work of 2 of my blog buddies. In last month's issue (August) of Magknits, Mel of Purling Plans had a darling pattern published. A delicate little shoulder cardigan...a cardiganette? I would get so much wear out of this in Los Angeles weather, it is absolutely going into my queue. Now Mel has another design in the works, and I can't wait to see what it is. The whole design thing blows my mind. I can't imagine doing it, I am such a pattern follower. I have tons of ideas for fantasy knits, but NO CLUE how such an idea gets transposed to a pattern. In addition, I suffer from severe mathphobia which doesn't help. Designers.....I am in awe of your talents.

As I have mentioned previously, May of Mayflower is a supremely talented artist in a variety of mediums. She specializes in metals and was kind enough to send me this link that showcases her creations. Truly gorgeous.

I am so very late in posting those links, but I'm afraid that's just the way I am these days. Helen knows all too well....here she asks "WHEN exactly are you going to finish this very simple tank which should take no time at all to complete?" I wish I knew the answer Helen. ( My camera is doing this wiggy thing lately where all blue color looks electrified and sort of glows.)

I wish I was a confident enough knitter to have knit this pattern in the round, but I'm not. The mathphobia thing again....

This has been such a nice weekend. Homework, yes but not too much that I haven't had some time for enjoying life. Enjoying the simple things, like trying out a new apple cake recipe I found in the LA Times. (YogaHubs LOVES apple cake). Big decision: Walnuts or Pecans? (Note to self: GET A HAIRCUT THIS WEEK.)

How I love Trader Joe's.

Walnuts won. Mmmmmm........
In my vacation post I meant to share a couple of pics of an incredible cemetery we happened upon one evening at sunset in the historic town of Jacksonville located just outside Medford. Many of the graves date back to the 1850's which is fairly unusual to see on the west coast, at least in large numbers. Quiet and forgotten, the cemetery lays on top of a hill in which packs of deer walk between the tombstones unafraid of the occasional person. It was so lovely.

The other night Joel and I were talking about our trip and how it feels to be back in L.A. We both agreed that while neither of us are experiencing post-vacation depression or going through one of our common "I hate L.A." phases, we can't stop thinking about Oregon and how being there felt "right." For the last couple of years we talked in terms of "if we moved to Oregon."

We've shifted and now I think the "if" has been replaced with a "when."I hope you had a lovely weekend!

2007-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

VACATION.......all I ever wanted.It was perfectly perfect. All of it. The weather, the food, the places we visited, the people we met. This is the lovely Crater Lake. We hiked to a high point early in the morning, before the throngs of tourists arrived (though most of them congregate in the cafeteria). Yoga Husband posed the question "why does there even have to BE a cafeteria?" which is worth pondering. The state park where the lake is located is only an hour out of Medford and probably 20 minutes form the nearest roadside eatery. Is it so paralyzing to consider not having immediate access to a sandwich, that some food establishment must be built in a setting that really should remain as natural as possible? I guess so.Anyway, as I was saying, when we got to the top there was no other soul around and all you could hear was the inside of your head. I've never been anywhere so still. There were no birds chirping, no airplanes flying by, nothing. As it got hotter, the grasshoppers started buzzing and their call seemed thunderously loud amidst the silence. Very cool. We perfected our use of the self-timer on the camera. We never ask people to take our picture.

I think Joel asked me not to post this pic because he thinks he looks crazy, but I think we look like we are having fun, which we were.If you are looking for a place to stay in Portland, stay here at the Kennedy School. It's the neatest place! An old elementary school from 1919 that has been artistically turned into a hotel. This is the entrance to our room. Each classroom has been converted into 2 or 3 hotel rooms with most of the original architecture in-tact. Adorable. We couldn't stop being amazed by the green.....and the way the air smells. So fresh!I completed the front of my Blue Sky Fitted Tank. Things are looking good. I think it should fit.As I was re-reading the pattern last night, I was thrilled to discover that this is NOT the finished neckline. Several people on Ravelry have complained that the neckline is not good in this pattern. This is what it looks like now, but after a 3 Needle Bind off on the shoulder seams, you apparently pick up stitches all the way around and cast off a different neckline. I'm wondering if I could do some tiny bobbles or a decorative edge. I'll investigate as I progress....

I have more to say, but I'm at school and it's almost time for Qualitative Reasoning. To be cont'd.....
(Can you see the happy Portland honey bee in the center of this flower?)

2007-08-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

It's almost here.........just about 32 hours away. VACATION!!! We are headed off to Oregon for a whole week. We're doing the whole state from Portland to Medford/Ashland with nothing in particular planned, though I am hoping for a day of white-water rafting. I CAN'T WAIT. I am beyond burned out. This was the most demanding semester I've ever had. It started out so summer-relaxed but quickly became a load of reading and papers impossible to keep up with......impossible that is, if you happened to get invited onto Ravelry a couple of weeks before finals. This was very bad. Very, very bad. I am so very addicted to Ravelry. It is as fantastic as I heard it was. If you are still waiting to get on, it's totally worth the wait.

I've started a new project. An EZ vacation knit, but also a sweater I very much want in my wardrobe. The Fitted Tank from Blue Sky Alpacas. The Blue Sky cotton yarn is so luxurious. I would swear it had cashmere in it. Here's a funny picture of Helen waking up from a nap and fearing that the boulder size ball of Blue Sky is rolling towards her. Big yarn, little dog.

Ok...it's here, the vacation is happening NOW. I never finished this post, time has passed and now I am sitting at the Medford airport waiting for our connecting flight to Portland. I'll be back in a week or so, hopefully rested and with at least one WIP in hand...See you soon!

Weeeee Hooooo! Vacation!!!!!!

2007-08-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

This is cute huh? I love it! Adorable knitting clip-art.

I am mildly artistic, but I am not responsible for this. No, THIS was discovered in the best kitting book ever, which I came across at my tiny local library last week:

BETTY CORNELL's 1952 TEEN AGE KNITTING BOOK.

It is excellent! Are you like me? Do you wish you existed in a world where teenagers look like this? Look how hard she is thinkin'!

Or even better.....when THIS was the DAD of a teenager???? The caption and pattern name is "A Sweater For Dad". He's pretty creepy. So is the sweater. How does he get his head through that teeny sliver of a hole? Maybe the hair-do acts as a sort of guiding blade.... There are some great patterns however, though they all call for "one ball of novelty yarn." What was that in 1952?

The Mandarin Cardigan is one of my favorites,but the picture doesn't show the detail. The main part of the sweater is a delicate basket-weave sort of pattern and the ribbling on the waist somes up to the ribcage. Very sweet.
What a find! Oh! and guess what? I got invited to Ravelry!!!! I'm so excited except I haven't even had a second to check it out.....anyone already on and have some good tips? It seems kind of overwhelming to be honest, but in an exciting, good way.

2007-07-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

I'm back, sort of. Believe me, I haven't actually BEEN anywhere. Scenes like this one illustrate quite well how captivating my life has been lately. Work and school. That's it.

I meant to post weeks ago that Yoga Husband was in another issue of Yoga Journal. This was a bonus image that appeared in the last issue. We knew he was going to appear in every other issue this year, in a regular column, but last month this extra pic showed up. Sadly, additional pictures do not equate additional paychecks since the mag owns the rights to the photos and can do whatever they want with them. So if you happen to come across a Yoga Husband 2008 calendar or something, please know we will not be buying our dream house with the proceeds. But it's still neat! He looks rather yoga-devilish I think. He is also in the current issue which hits stands this week. Yahoo Yoga Husband! I searched through the photos we've taken this month looking for a theme for this post or at least some interesting thing I've seen or done. This is the best I could do:
Interesting? Absolutely not. Theme? Ummm, Pizza in Venice, CA. The nicest evening of the past 2 weeks. Wow, huh? How do I come up with this stuff?
Abbot's Pizza serves up some tasty slices with lots of vegetarian options, different crusts & sauces.Not much seating, but the people watching is good.

After your meal you can enjoy a lovely walk through Venice, especially nice on a cool and cloudy evening.

Sometimes I honestly like L.A.
Well, here we are at month's end. You know what that means? Yes, you should gather together funds for your rent or mortgage, car payments and the like, but also please take one small moment to enjoy....

July's Tongue.

Catch you in August!

2007-07-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, look what I got!
I had this lovely honor bestowed upon me by The Other Mel. It made my week, I can tell you that. I am now passing on the good feelings to 2 other Rockin Gal Bloggers, MayFlower and Octopus Knits. Please go check them both out. Besides being two of the nicest and incredibly helpful bloggers, both of these ladies are extremely talented knitters who turn out exquisite FO's. May of Mayflower is also a fantastic artist of many other mediums, though she is stingy with the photos of her painting and sculptures!

As I have typed before, I love this knit-blogging thing and the friendships I continue to make. All of a sudden, because of some needles and yarn and this laptop, I have a new group of girlfriends that happen to live all across the country.

Girlfriends are a special thing. In a general sense, I probably would say I prefer the company of men. I'm not really a girly-girl and as an adult, I've always had an easier time talking to men. But the girlfriends I have are remarkable.

Look, here's one now. This is Natalie. She appeared in the very early stages of this blog. We met in 1989 when we worked together in a show. (Man, we are old!) We never worked together after that, but have remained friends all these years. When we get together, we laugh very hard. Nat's been on the road all year, touring with a Broadway show. She had last week off and we managed to drag ourselves to a dance class last Sunday morning. Note our healthy glows?

This little ziplock bag holds hundreds of memories of the precious girlfriends of my youth. These are notes that were passed in class and left in lockers from 7th grade through highschool graduation. These notes are from the girls I grew up with, went though puberty with, discovered boyfriends with and then somehow, after highschool, eventually lost touch with.

But last month, an amazing reunion occurred. I got an e-mail through Classmates.com from one of my long-lost friends. Within a few weeks, our group of 6 girlfriends (all represented in these old notes) had contacted each other.

And three of us were able to get together! After more than 20 years. That's Kelli on the left & Missy in the middle. Missy and I were in kindergarten together! Spending the day with them was great. Our lives are all so different, but the girlfriend bond hasn't changed.

So thank you girlfriends, old and new for being part of my life. Knitters or not, you are all Rockin' Girls.

2007-07-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Do you think I'm Soxy? No Koigu sock, no I do not. In fact, I think you suck. That's right "sock" (should you even be calling yourself a sock?), you are NOT sexy. You are SUCKsy. Let's break it down: you are waaaaaay too short even though I added an additional 15 rows to the leg. You are barely an ankle warmer. You are BAGGY. This feels totally annoying and does not flatter the ankle area. Finally, what is with that heel flap? ? Whose heel is that short? UUUUghhhh! I hate you.
Yes, I hate you and that is why you have been restored to your infancy stage, a ball of yarn.

Clearly, I need a sock pattern with specific gauge requirements, because this "winging it" thing failed. I did turn my heel quite nicely and finally figured out how to pick up stitches so it wasn't a complete loss. In the meantime I've picked up Forecast again while I come up with a new sock pattern.

Nothing much more to say, so I leave you with a couple of submissions for Tongue of the Month - July 07.

2007-07-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

Who says Hollywood has lost its glamour? This past weekend Yoga Hubs and I ventured into the city of arts and entertainment to see a play that my friend Chad is appearing in. We got there early, walked around and happened to have the camera with us, though I forgot to get a picture of Chad. Hollywood is always good for amazing people watching and surreal/grotesque sights. While walking around we reminisced about a previous trot up Cahuenga Blvd. some years back , where we happened upon a full catheter bag lying on the ground in a doorway, with its tubes not attached to a human being. Now that is something you don't want to find yourself accidentally dropping on the street. It's also something you don't want to look at as you walk into a Thai restaurant for dinner, as we were.

Before I share with you the tiny splendors of my garden, let me just tell you that I finished the heel flap of my Koigu sock only to realize that on all the RS's I was supposed to Slip,K in alternating stitches all the way across when what I DID was Slip only the first stitch and K all the way across. This is why it isn't a good idea for me to read patterns after 9 PM. So out it comes this evening!

Now let me ask you a question: Do you know what this vegetable is? At our deadly, weekly staff meeting yesterday we were forced to do something called "Good & Welfare" where everyone at the table has to share something about their lives away from the office. Nice idea in theory, but no-one in the office wants to do it, so the entire exercise is made up of lots of "ummms" and people saying "I don't have anything to say." In other words, it is painful. I try to be a good sport though so I said "I'm growing vegetables and I'm knitting a sock." When asked what kind of vegetables I listed "Chard, tomoatoes, cucumbers and bell pepper." Someone asked what chard is and I said "You know, chard. A leafy green. Thicker than spinach." From around the table came several comments like "I've never heard of it" and "you mean lettuce?" Out of 12 people, not one had ever heard of chard. I was shocked. Am I insane? Is this an exotic item? Am I living in some sort of leafy green, fantasy bubble? It's not something "new" like those lime/grapfruit hybrids called pumelos. Or plucots. It's chard.

OK then. Check out my lil cucumber!! How cute is it? Very cute, I say.

However, this is how most of my cukes look: soggy, shriveled and yellow. I know this means they've been over-watered, but it's been hot and if I miss I day the leaves turn brown and crunchy so I don't know which way to go. More water? Less water?

2007-06-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

SOCK it to me!!!!!!!!! I have to admit, I haven't ever totally understood the sock knitting obsession so many people profess to be afflicted with. I didn't understand why knitting socks would be any more addictive or enjoyable than knitting say, anything. But it really is. And I haven't even reached the "sock" part...I'm still on my cuff which is simple ribbing. I am obsessed. I LOVE the portability. I took my sock to work yesterday and hid it under my desk so I could wip it out and knit a few stitches anytime I thought no-one would be walking by. My sock has accompanied me here to school today and as soon as I finish this posting, I will leave the library, take my sock outside and knit some more. I heart my sock!

I cannot begin to capture the beauty of this Koigu colorway with our not-too-fancy camera. Flash or no flash, inside or out, it just doesn't come out. It reminds me of an Expressionist water-color and somehow manages to include every color imaginable without looking murky or muddy. In this photo however, it sort of looks like gutter sludge.

For my first sock I am using a pattern I found online : Janis' Koigu Sock Pattern . It looks like a good, first pattern and I like the ribbed instep because it sounds comfy. There is no gauge swatch, so I might get into rough territory, but I'm willing to take the chance. I think I'll make the cuff longer than pictured.

That's it for now. there was to be more, but I can't find the photos I wanted to use. Plus, I need to go knit my sock!

2007-06-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

We Have Cukes!!!! See there? I'm pointing at it! This was taken a couple of days ago and when I checked this morning, there were about 25 of those puppies. Oh yeah!

Last week I was lucky enough to stumble upon the awe-inspiring container garden of another knitter/blogger named Mel who was also posting about her cucumbers. Go check it out, get inspired, throw some dirt in a pot and plant something! :)

Next up, let's visit Forecast again. From the back, she looks pretty good. I wish I'd gone an inch or so longer, but I can live with it. It's the front that concerns me. Ummmm...way too tight? Will I be able to block this Cascade 220 to an acceptable width? I do still have to add the button bands, but is that going to be enough extra sweater to create a normal looking, comfortably snug fit?
As much as I love this sweater and the color, I have a feeling it might end up being owned by my my ever-so-petite friend Lizzie. Or I can wear it forever unbuttoned.....
Last night Yoga Hubs and I ventured out to the new, fancy-ass movie theatre in our neighborhood. Doesn't it look like he's at the airport? The big deal about this theatre, is that it provides not just a film, but an "entertainment experience." There are 4 small theatres that seat only 50 people and everyone gets their own private couch, like the screening rooms on the lots of movie studios. I have no idea why the 2 couches in the front row are orange. See, there are even little side tables and foot rests. Pretty neat huh? We saw the Irish movie/musical Once which was very sweet, simple and original. I recommend it if it's playing in your town.
And finally, I turn this closing portion of the post over to Slinky Jones (AKA Slinkers). S.J. feels as though he has not been receiving his fair share of space upon the pages of Girl Eats Soup and has filed a formal complaint in which he expresses dismay at being "out-cuted" by Helen. He would like it known for the record, that he has "seniority over the Chihuahua" and should not have to remain out of the public eye because he lacks a defective tongue. You're right Slinkers. I apologize.

2007-06-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

WARNING! Before you proceed with this blog, please be aware that the entry will contain NO information about Paris Hilton.

How will you know what to do? Will your computer screen appear foreign to you as you gaze upon a collection of words that DO NOT include "news" about the dreaded P-word? Don't worry friends, if you feel as though you are suffocating without this media-created life force she is always but a mere click away. But rest assured, Girl Eats Soup is a safe place where you will never be subjected to images of such a ridiculous, waste of a young woman. Thank you.

So things have been stacking up over here.
Between my Boring Job (that picture is of something I am actually working on), a full-time school schedule, regular life stuff and some attempt at being a contributing member in my little family, I often seem to run out of time. What does this mean for you, people who care about knitting? It means little excitement and much of the same. But look, I'm almost ready for sleeves on Forecast. That's a wee bit o' something, huh? This week, in addition to not doing much knitting, I'll be appearing as a witness in the criminal trial of the Uninvited Guest (scroll to previous entry) which is not only kind of exciting, but means I'll get to skip a day of work.

We have been growing things too. Look! It's a teeny weeny bell pepper:
And apparently, those little furry nubs are going to turn into cucumbers: We also have a prolific strawberry bush? plant? that creates the SWEETEST fruit, a thriving tomato plant and some decent looking leafy chard. All this thrills me to no end. It still seems magical that I can grow my own food. I grew up in an apartment, can you tell?

I hope you've all enjoyed a relaxing weekend. Until next time.....

2007-06-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

THE LITTLE THINGS.......

are my favorite part of life. I, like most of us get sidetracked daily by schedules, errands and "big goals." But then I open my e-mail inbox to something like this picture which shows a minute, seed stitch blankie I made for my little friend Greta being put to good use in her dollhouse. I slow down for a moment and look at the way the light is streaming in the window of this tiny house, wonder if it's morning and the doll is just waking up and try to determine what that is on the pillow, next to her head. The little things have taken over for a moment and I have temporarily forgotten about paying the gas bill, downloading my bank statement, and the numerous other tedious things I opened my computer to tend to. A petite vaction from my mind.
Thanks Greta!
Knitting always brings me back to the little things. This is my new friend who comes to visit me almost every day when I sit on the front steps to knit a few rows, which is usually all I have time for. Sometimes, he brings a friend along and it's a real party. I know he really comes for the juicy flowers on the passion vine that trails up our porch posts, but I like to think he enjoys the knitting too. He just hangs out like that, being content. Yes, it is the little things that I love.

2007-05-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

My Brush With Crime...... has nothing to do with bowling, I just happen to like the picture. I snapped it last week at a surprise, 80th birthday party, given for the father of my friend Gregory. Much fun & celebration.
No, my brush with crime occurred yesterday afternoon, right here in my little tiny house. I was sitting exactly as I am now, at my desk in the living room, typing on the computer. The front door was open, with only the screen door shut, as it usually is during the day. I heard a police car punch out one of those quick, bleepy sirens they use to pull people over with. Since it was in front of the house, I turned to look out the window and saw a pair of male feet appear on my doorstep. For a second I thought it was FedEx , but just as I started to realize what was happening, the man jostled my screen door and burst inside my house! I have been asked why I didn't scream. I didn't. I ran to grab Helen (my Chihuahua) off the couch and then over to the man where I proceeded to yell at him and start pushing him back towards the door with the one hand that wasn't holding Helen. I kept on pushing him in the chest telling him to get out. He was rattling off at me in Spanish which I don't really understand though I was able to grasp the fact that he actually asked me to get him some water! By this time I knew for certain that he was running from the cops as they started to appear from every direction with one of them sprinting towards the door with his gun pointed at us, me and the man. I had manged to get the man back outside at this very moment and was able to shut and lock the door. The cop screamed at the man to get down on the ground, instructions which think were difficult for him to understand since they were followed by "If you don't get down on the ground, I'm going to blow your head off!!" Hearing this, Helen & I headed for the back of the house.

All was wrapped up quickly from this point on. Heads were not blown off, the man was shackled & I was ordered out of the house and forced to show ID, and was asked if I knew the man. I was treated as a possible criminal for a minute or so until they accepted that I was the innocent resident. Apparently, my uninvited houseguest had broken into a house behind ours & when the cops approached he hopped the fence behind our house and was on-the-run looking for a place to hide. I might have to appear in court as a witness. I wonder if Helen has to come? Wow, Huh?

Now for some knitting. Here is the decidedly blah baby kimono I was thinking of whipping up for my neighbors, but this colorway is toooo drab. I suppose it would work on a dark complextion, but throw this on a fair skinned newborn, and you've got yourself one, pasty- looking baby. This is a No Go. I bought some Rowan Silk Aran for a secret project. This yarn is AMAZING. Gaze upon the little nubs of silkiness:
This color is beautiful and did not photograph well at all. Very beachy.

And finally, another entry in the Tongue Chronicles:
I swear to you, this image has not been altered in any way. That is my dog. That is her tongue. She is panting. That is a heavy load to walk around with every day.

2007-05-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

Poor ,dear Los Angeles. She does not fare well with hot, dry weather.
photo courtesy of the AP
My thoughts were with the firefighters (HOW do they do that job?) and the multitudes of wildlife who are displaced and are expected to start showing up all over the city in urban environs they would usually avoid. Oddly enough, though Griffith Park is only about 10 miles away, nothing seemed out of the ordinary where we live. No smell of smoke, no ashes. Here, life went on as usual. The arid heat which was ripping apart one side of the city, making it almost impossible to extinguish the blaze, gave a big , kick in-the-pants to a little garden on the Westside.......such is the awesome power of nature.

So, as I said, things remained the same for us. Super model Yoga-Hubs is back on the stands in another issue of Yoga Journal magazine. Tiny red shorts! Oooh la la......though the sex-appeal of his wardrobe cannot be denied, my favorite part are the close-ups of his feet pictured at the right. For years I've teased him about having monkey feet and there they are in the "how NOT to position your feet" picture. Monkey feet!
And yes, there was knitting. It looks like it's turning into a sweater!
I LOVE this pattern! No problems thus far, and far as I can tell, it is going to fit. The part I'm nervous about is the button band and button holes. I have know idea how to do either.I started another little project yesterday...a Mason Dixon baby kimono for my next-door neighbors whose first baby is due in July. I'm not sure yet if I like the yarn, so I'll wait to post.

Happy weekend....

2007-05-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

SUMMER IS HERE! I know it's not official but in our neighborhood, it feels a lot like summer.Right now for instance, it's 9:30 at night and 85 degrees outside and I don't feel like doing much. This weekend was so amazing, weather-wise; the kind of heat that isn't too hot, the kind that energizes you and makes you thrilled to be alive. Add about 7 degrees and you have a day of crabbiness and slothdom.

I felt like I was on vacation this weekend. Everything was relaxed and carefree. Joel & I had Sunday brunch in a fairly expensive but uber-casual Venice eatery. Just in case we needed to be reminded that we were not on vacation, but at home in L.A., we witnessed the 9 year old at the table next to ours order a grilled tofu steak served on a side of steamed rice with marinated cucumbers. "Your favorite!" his dad exclaimed. When I was 9, my idea of a heavenly Sunday brunch was a free blueberry doughnut swiped from the swimming pool clubhouse.

Our friend James is visiting friends of his in El Salvador for a few months. He has started a travel diary blog of his adventures. There may not be any hot water in the town he's in, but there is an internet connection. Anyway, James wanted to see the vintage, 1940's earrings that Yoga-Hubs gave me as a birthday gift. Here they are: Can't capture their utter coolness in a photo. They petals are made of ivory with gold nuggets in the center. The flower sits on an ebony disc. I'm sure they were converted to pierced. They come from the same jeweler where we both got our wedding rings. I adore them.

OK, one more thing.I KNOW this is a blog about a girl and her knitting and some other life stuff. It is NOT a blog about a dog and her tongue. But taking endless photos of this dog and her tongue IS a huge part of my life at the moment, so......
Thank you for humoring me.

2007-05-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

CREEP, CREEP, CREEPING ALONG.......I'm making some progress on my Forecast. The weather has been so springy-amazing that my current favorite knitting spot is on the front steps. Here's how far I was last week:
And exactly one week later: Now I am only a few rows away from splitting for the sleeves. Haven't decided if I'll knit them cirular or flat. I don't want any holey-looking stitches from bad DPN technique, so I'm probably more likely to knit flat and seam. I sort of enjoy seaming anyway.

I'm planning a trip downtown tomorrow to the Fabric Mart to search for interesting buttons as well as fabric for our new chair.

It was my birthday last week, and boy am I old now. But the celebration of aging meant I got to spend an afternoon with my oldest friend, (from third grade) Lizzie. We had lunch and shopped and laughed a whole lot. Here's Lizzie laughing. We went to The Grove which is kind of creepy in a sterile, touristy, Disneyland sort of way. Normally, neither of us ever go there, but it served us well that day.I received an embarrassing amount of gifts. That's always difficult - the accepting, the not feeling guilty about people spending money on you. I think it's one of my biggest hang-ups, though if you asked my husband, he could probably fill you in on several more. Anyway, let me process some of my guilt by sharing with you a little piece of Knitter's Delight:

See all that yarn spilling out of the basket? It's ALL Colinette...eight different skeins. Lizzie bid on and won "a bunch of yarn" at an auction at her daughter's school. What she didn't realize was that it was fancy-ass yarn, OR that it was a kit for a blanket. There are 4 patterns to choose from. Though the color combination is sort of bizarre, I am excited to take on this project so I can try yarns I'm too intimidated to buy, like mohair.

Helen is not intimidated by any type of yarn and has suggested the blanket be knit for her.....

2007-04-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

GIRL EATS SOUP ON LOCATION!

The soup: Vegan Creamy Broccoli made w/ soy milk
Location: Mount St. Mary's College school cafeteria.
The event: Sustenance, post-one oral presentation and one kicked-my-ass final. Whew! Now I am in the lovely school library looking out the window at squirrels frolicking on a cold, spring day.

The soup was amazing and I have one final left to go. I am freaking EXHAUSTED! In case you didn't hear, last week was the dreaded tax deadline. Dreaded by most people, but especially for employees of a CPA firm. I worked 8 days straight, 65 hours. It wasn't horrid, but it was my last week of the semester so that was an added bit o' spice. But I did it! Now I have time to rest, relax and once again ask myself exactly how the hell I went from being a dancer, living an artistic life to slaving away in a TAX FIRM??? You know, there are numerous, inspirational novels and movies about people shucking their stable, normal, doldrum-filled lives for pursuits of passion, but I haven't caught too many tales that spin the story the other direction. Why? Because it's depressing....and really, who would do it the reverse way? Who would choose the Road Less Inspirational on purpose? Oh, me. I would.

I know I have cried these tears on this blog before, so if you've been here that long, I apologize. I'm actually getting motivated to job search though the prospect feels sort of overwhelming. There are many pros about my current position: flexible schedule, only 30-35 hours per week most of the time, health benefits (even if they are at a fairly crappy HMO), nice bosses. That's quite a few ++++'s. The icky things for me are: the work is boring, BORING, BORING. No challenge required unless you consider not going insane from the absolute, extreme boringness a challenge. Do you have ANY IDEA how many tax forms there are and how BORING each one is in its own special way? Do you know what is like to have to call the IRS on a regular basis? Next, aside from the genuine niceness of all the people I work with, there is not one person to connect with on any level other than work associated content (again, BORING!). I've never experienced that in a group of almost 20 people. Another drawback for me: location. Big, non-descript, concrete office building on congested Wilshire Blvd. No green anything anywhere, with the exception of a few palm trees I can see only from one of the bosses windows. Oh yeah, no windows, no FRESH AIR ever. But lots and lots of flourescent lighting. Oh, and my job, that of office manager/bookkeeper is BORING.

Am I being whiny and disgusting? Just tell me if I am. Is this what it's really like out there? Am I being unreasonable to want more? I would love to hear any career tales you have to tell. How you feel about your jobs, if you are satisfied and content. Please, share with me!

Thank you for travelling down this road of self-pity with me. It's been a nice little trip.

Speaking of trips, let's take another down memory lane before I sign off. I was at the library the other day and I asked the reference librarian about a book. She wrote down the call number for me on a piece of scratch paper which was the the backside of this card:

Oh nostalgia! Remember what the world was like before computers? This was so incredibly comforting and cozy to me. I remember library skill exercises in elementary school where we would be given several of these cards and we would have to either locate the book or figure out where the card was filed. This card was printed out with a typewriter, possibly even a manual one. Do kids today even know what typewriters are? Anyway, I dig these cards and I am reminded that the central library in downtown L.A. has decorated the interior walls of one of their elevators with these cards, floor to ceiling behind glass and I wish I could do that to one of the walls in my house. I better start collecting .....

2007-04-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

I know....you are saying to yourself, "This Girl Who Eats Soup is something else! Dig her! She can actually complete about 5 or 6 rows of knitting in ONE WEEK!" Yes. Yes, it's true. I don't know what to say. It is truly amazing. It's a gift, this speed of mine. Please don't hate me and don't waste your energy being jealous.

It's sooo sad! I am not kidding when I tell you that it takes me about 15 minutes to complete one row with these bobbles. They aren't difficult, but my fingers feel so thick and clumsy, like I'm wearing those rubber tips you use to count money with. The turning back and forth and back again and the purling 3 together is not smooth.

I showed Helen my progress and she simply could not accept that there wasn't more there. She kept looking.
No Helen, I'm afraid that's all there is. Please don't judge.
Bobbles!!!! Whimsical and cute....

Here's a fun little tidbit.....we just bought this sweet antique chair in need of some upholstery attention. It's very low like it may have been made for children as a little love-seat type of thing. Joel liked it beacause it is perfect for sitting on cross-legged as a yogi likes to do. Close-up of the back. Pretty, huh? We'll make a trip to the fabric mart this week and pick up some swatches.....
OK...this post was my break from homework to which I must return. Happy Easter!

2007-03-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

OH, HELLO. REMEMBER ME?

I know. It's been a long time. I'm considering changing "Girl Eats Soup" to "Girl Doesn't Blog." Truth is, I DID compose a nice long, themed post on March 17th, but moments prior to publishing, Blogger sucked it up into their vortex of never-to-be-seen again entries. I screamed, pounded my fists, lamented to my husband, cursed Blogger and walked away from the keyboard. Now I'm back and ready to face whatever Blogger throws at me.

Here is what I had for you on March 17th: It's Knitty's Forecast, by Glampyre. (Too lazy to use a link). Yes, I'm starting in on last spring's popular cardigan. This pattern is adorable and all the finished versions I've seen look amazing. The yarn is Cascade 220 which the pattern calls for. It's a bunch of firsts for me: Bobbles, buttonholes & charts, oh my! I'm not much further than this photo shows becuase I had to frog the entire thing upon realizing I had started with the large size needles instead of the small. If you aren't familiar w/ the pattern, it's top-down so this is the collar.

Knitting time has been non-existent for me the past couple of weeks. Tax season, the end of the semester and a bunch of out-of-our control drama invloving our living situation which I don't think I'm going to blog about because I like to look upon these pages and pretend that my life is idyllic and care-free.

Speaking of care-free........please gaze upon this adorable dog whose only problem in life is that her tongue is too big for her mouth.

Happy Weekend all!

2007-03-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

BIG FAT F.O. !!! Only about 9 months in the making. My first totally wearable handknit. This Sirdar pattern was pretty funky and based on my experience with it, I'd hesitate before working with another. There were definitely a couple of mistakes in the pattern and it probably wasn't the best pattern for a beginner. But I got thru it, with no dropped stitches and some very smooth seaming.

Originally I planned on knitting the entire thing in the charcoal color, but I quickly ran out of the discontinued KFI Cashmerino so I added the Rowan Cashsoft in the silvery-grey and thought I'd spice it up with some stripes. A good decision I think, because looking at it now, the solid color would have been rather blah.

The sleeve-to-shoulder seaming was my proudest moment.

Pattern: Sirdar Denim Tweed DK #8676

Yarn: KFI Cashmerino -charcoal color (yarn discontinued) & Rowan Cashsoft DK SH505 (pale grey)

Needles: Size 5 Crystal Palace Bamboo & KnitPicks Options

Thoughts: Sirdar patterns hold no allure for me. I'll wear this a lot. Running out of yarn can be a good thing.

2007-02-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

I need some Bloggerly advice: I'm finally ready to try my first pair of socks but I am overwhelmed by the multitude of patterns available. Then there is also the toe-up vs. non-toe-up debate. Who do I listen to? Where do I turn? So I have decided to turn to you. You are anyone who may happen upon this blog and would care to point me in the direction of a perfect, 1st sock pattern for a beginning-intermediate knitter and this here, Koigu yarn. I'll be teaching myself as I go along so I'll need something fairly simple. Thanks!

Next post I will thrill you with my biggest ever F.O. ! OOoooooooooooh......what will it be? Just a few seaming stitches left and all shall be revealed......

2007-02-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

We have no knitting....but we have crafts!

There is no knitting content for this Knitting/Lifestyle blog this post, cause lately things have been heavy on the lifestyle, which is fairly uninteresting itself. I could post pictures of flashcards and pages of one of my research papers (oh yes Melanie, please!) or I could share with you the fabric covered panels I have been making for the conference room where I work. Well, I don't actually work IN the conference room.....I work in an office that HAS a conference room that needs some help with decor. Currently there is foam core on the walls with this institutional, nubby, scratchy stuff over it. It's unpleasant. So I am making these 5 panels.

It's been fun and I got to use my electric drill with the new bit set which I LOVE. I simply drilled holes in the wood & attached them with screws to make a frame. Then I stretched polyfill batting over the frame and attached it with a staple gun, over which I stretched the fabric, also staple gunned. Essentially, they are like thin, padded headboards.See? Oh yes, and Helen helped. She would like this documented.

Here she is helping.
I could only finish 2 before I was certain my hand was sprained from squeezing the staple gun for an entire afternoon. It's "heavy-duty" you know.
Well that's it folks. That's all I got this time. Enjoy your week!

2007-02-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

ON NEWS STANDS NOW!!!! Yoga Husband doin' his yoga thing in the current issue of Yoga Journal! Check it out:
He looks incredible and I am oh-so-proud.
Congratulations Y.H.......I love you.

2007-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Girl Who Eats Soup, why has this blog been so freaking boring? Where are the stories? Where is the KNITTING?

I started school a couple of weeks ago and though this is exciting it does not fare well for knitting and blogging. All of my free time is spent reading, typing up my notes and doing research. Today I am home sick from work nursing a stomach virus so I have a few moments to myself.

Helen had her big surgery last week. Here she is sporting her pair of pre-surgery cataracts. As always, please note the tongue. I guess it sort of looks like Joel is squeezing the life out of her in this pic, but she was actually just completely relaxed.
And HERE she is post-surgery with a beautiful pair of brown eyes which provide her with excellent vision. She is a different dog. Spunky, stubborn and full of zest. She is so happy.
Dear friend Nurse Larry sent us each a pair of custom crocheted slippers which are so soft and cozy. That is Joel's own leg, not mine. Oh! He has a fantastic spread in the current issue of Yoga Journal which came out yesterday. I have to go pick up several copies today so I can post the pics. Go Yoga Husband!And yes, there has been a touch of knitting. I'm working an another pair of the Koigu fingerless mittens I made several months ago for my friend Lizzie. These will be for moi. I have one class in which the professor lectures in a rambly, spontaneous way that is not conducive to note-taking but I think will work quite nicely as an accompaniment to knitting, so I am hoping to finish the other hand this week. So there it is, a week of pairs: eyes, slippers and mittens. See you later....

2007-01-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

This week marks five years that my mom Carole has been gone. I've gotten used to the fact that I will never get used to the fact that she is truly, no longer here. Still, it doesn't seem real.

I love this picture. Though it was taken when she was in highschool, it captures her essence perfectly. It is so extremely her. Looking at it, I feel joy and an aching pain at the same time.

I think she would have liked this blog. I'm an only child and the physical distance between us, her living in S.F. and me in L.A. was frustrating for her and she would have cherished the entries and photos of my life's activities.

My ideas and beliefs about life-after-death have changed over the years and I'm fairly certain I don't have what could be considered traditional faith.....but I guess there is still some tiny part of me which hopes that she can still "see" things..... you know?

2007-01-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

A WINTER TALE.......(Or Wavy Cable Lace - Elements of Tragedy).

So hard have I worked these bitterly cold nights, on my little lace cap. Yes, "little" is the important word in this story. Or rather "too little".....
How I loved its curves and lacy holes and the comforting, velvet-like quality of Rowan Cashsoft DK. I tried it on as I was ready to begin the crown shaping and it fit perfectly. But my glee was quickly smothered by worry as I realized that I had 23 decrease rows to go and only the yarn you see in this picture to complete them with. How can this be??? I screamed inside my head. Though I am not using the yarn called for in the pattern, my gauge was on and the Rowan DK has 45 yards more than the 100 called for. Waddup? At this point I was mildly annoyed but calmed by the fact that Joel & I could make a quick stop at the LYS on our way to a birthday party we were attending this weekend. I left him in the car while I ran in & trotted over to the shelf where the Rowan Cashsoft DK USED to be. Well OK, there were a few balls of a yellowish, olive green color that you can't really imagine anyone ever purchasing, but the rest of the shelf was vacant, empty and bare. All of the DK was gone! A month ago there was just about every color on that shelf!! I shuffled out of the store in disbelief.

When we got home that evening I remembered my swatch and thought if I unraveled it maybe I could pull this thing off. It wasn't looking good, but I still had hope. I started knitting & told myself I would figure something out. I thought I might make the top of the crown out of a different color yarn. I have a small amount of Rowans Cashsoft in a silver-grey color that might not look awful. I REALLY wanted to finish this thing. A LOT.
I'm not sure what happened next. I got up to let Slinky Jones in or out. Perhaps I got a drink. All I know is when I returned, the rubber stopper had fallen of my needle and 2 or 3 stitches had fallen out. The yarn is so silky they were gone before I could save them. I got confused. It's lace....I couldn't tell if they were purls, K2TOG's or freakin' YO's. I couldn't tell how many rows they had dropped. I thought I was going to start to cry. I then knew what I had to do.

I present to you, my first FO of 2007: A beautiful, hand-wound ball of Rowan Cashsoft DK in the no-longer-in-stock at the LYS "Kingfisher" colorway. That is a Chihuahua foot to the left. No WAY is that 145 yards of yarn!

2007-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

RESOLUTIONS

I try to avoid official resolutions. I like the idea of them but I have found that no matter what sort of "plan" I lay out for myself, fate has something else in mind entirely. Therefore, I have foregone any proclamations for 2007, with the exception of knitting.

I would indeed like to lay down a few 2007 Knitting Resolutions:

* Learn at least one new technique per month
* Give this sock-knitting thing everyone is always raving about a try
* Tackle & master an intimidating sweater pattern

That's it, just those 3 things. I can scratch #1 off the list for this month as I am currently working with a lace pattern (oooooh, new technique!). Wanna see? Look!

I was so excited by how cool I think this looks that I didn't realize I was photographing the WS of this Wavy Lace Cable Cap. Inside/Outside, all sides are neato! This is the most fun thing I have yet to knit. I love it! I only found one of these caps out in Blogland but it was gorgeous. I'm using Rowan Cashsoft DK, which I believe is my favorite yarn thus far. I highly recommend this pattern to anyone looking for a quick lace knit.

I stayed home from work the past 2 days, victimized as I have been known to be by the big, bad villain of my life, Killer Migraine. Though the pain and sickness were not nice, the staying home part was. I got out my sewing machine and made some EZ curtains and a pillowcase & did some mending & alterations. Being home also meant spending lots of quality time with Helen, the funniest little dog EVER. She is winning us over, big time. She has begun to acquire nicknames, my favorite being "Pinky biscuit" or simply "Pinky." She looks like a Pinky. But she also looks like a Helen, so who knows. What I do know is that she is a joy. So far, she is the best part of 2007.

2006-12-31T07:10:00.000-08:00

OVERHEARD IN THE BREAK ROOM OF THE CPA FIRM IN WHICH I WORK:

"No, no, it is Saddam Hussein who is going to be hanged, not James Brown."

I am not kidding. This has not been embellished or exaggerated in any way. This conversation was taking place between 2 adults. For real. I couldn't come up with something like that on my own.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Yesterday was my 1st year Blog-a-versary. Amazing! I have one more FO to get in before the close of 2006. But first, let me introduce you to the recipient of the gift:

Please meet the delightful Helen:

Look at that funny little tongue. Helen has been residing with several other dogs at the home of our friend Cate of Used Pets , our favorite animal rescue org. Tiger Lily came to us through Used Pets. Helen was dumped at a shelter after her owners decided they no longer wanted her, most likely due to the fact she has become blind in both eyes as a result of cataracts.

You can really see them in this picture. You can also see Helen's new sweater, my final FO of 2006. It wasn't meant to be so short. I suppose it is more of a vest or a crop-top. Anyway, the exciting news here is that Helen has come to stay with us and we are thrilled.She is scheduled to have cataract removal surgery at the end of January & Cate asked us if we could foster her during her recovery though I don't think anyone ever thought the situation would be less than permanent. We weren't officially looking for another dog yet, but as they often do, this funny little one found us. She is hilarious and doesn't let the fact that she can't see get in the way of anything. We have quickly fallen in love.

The week also brought the return of a dear old friend whom I haven't seen in 11 years! Larry and I performed together in my first professional job in 1988! Yikes! How can it have been that long ago??? Larry has since relocated to Iowa and become an RN which is amazing. He was here for a few days and we hiked the Paseo Miramar trail in the Santa Monica mountains on what had to be the windiest and coldest day of the year. The camera couldn't capture the incredible vista behind us: a vivid aqua blue ocean that seemed to spread on to infinity. You almost never see that here.

I am so behind on my blog-reading! I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to.......Bye!

2006-12-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

I've been a rather dull blogger as of late. Things have been so busy! Many festivities to attend which has been a lot of fun, but seriously cutting into the blogging and knitting time. So I shall post for you, a picture taken a couple of weeks ago of the finished Besotted Scarf, aka Gregarious Scarf, knit for friend Gregory. Overall I am pleased, though I messed up the cable pattern in several places and didn't notice until it was too late. You know, CF'd when I should have CB'd or something along those lines. Anyway, I think G will be happy and that's the important thing. He tells me he left his only scarf on a theatre seat last week, so the timing is perfect. Yarn is Mission Falls....other details on my Flicker site.

And now please humor me as I post another forgotten FO that dates back to February. A simple boucle number done in garter stitch that is hands down, my favorite scarf. I want to make sure I get all my 2006 FO's in before the ball drops!As I mentioned, we have been attending many festive events and get-togethers recently. This past Friday took us to see Matthew Bourne's production of Edward Scissorhands at the Ahmanson. I don't know that I have ever been down to the Music Center plaza at Christmastime, but they deck their halls quite nicely. But prior to arriving downtown we stopped in Silverlake for some eats and a little bookstore shopping. There we saw the best seasonal decorations yet.

"It's that time of year when the world falls in love......"

2006-12-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

SEASON'S GREETINGS!
I just came back from the printer's......Image provided with help from Better Homes & Gardens 1960."Christmas Ideas" issue. I wish I had some keen saddle shoes like Little Johnny's. Maybe Santa will bring me a pair......

2006-12-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

HAPPY KNIT-A-VERSARY TO ME! It's been one whole year. Yes, last year at this time (it was actually Dec 5th ), I got up enough nerve to walk into a yarn shop and ask for help. A lovely woman named Joan at Stitches From The Heart in West L.A. taught me how to cast-on and how to knit a garter stitch. There was a 9 year old girl in the shop learning at the same time and she caught on much quicker than I did. When we were both leaving the store the little girl asked to see my work. I showed her my 2 or 3 shaky rows and she flaunted the hefty 2 0r 3 inches hanging off her needles back at me and said "look at MINE." That little girl bugged me.

Joan sent me on my way with a skein of Cascade 220, a pair of Bryspun needles size 10 and a "how to knit" paperback book which wasn't very helpful as none of the illustrations showed continental style which is what Joan had taught me. I have learned much. Much about knitting and a little about myself.

Just about all my knitting knowledge was acquired from the internet, mainly from knitting blogs. What an amazing resource and what a gaggle of inspiring people are "out there" in blogland.

When I started knitting I hoped it might also be a way to get out and meet people by going to Stitch N' Bitch meetings or taking classes. However, I quickly learned that I am a solitary knitter. I don't knit well outside of my home. I lose count & drop stitches. I don't like to talk while I'm knitting. The sound of a lot of other people chattering while I'm knitting sort of irritates me. I love settling down on the couch or in bed with a furry little animal one side and my yarn on the other. I am most comfortable knitting in my pajamas. I love knitting in the evening and first thing in the morning while sipping my cup of tea.

Luckily, being a knitting loner does not get in the way of making blog friends and I have met some of the nicest people. I am so touched when women I have never met in person complement a completed project, give me advice, or comment on something that has happened in my life. I'm equally moved reading about their accomplishments and life events. It really is something, this blog community.

There is so much more ahead of me in the knitting arena! What will year #2 hold? Short rows? Fair Isle? Magic Loop? Socks? Probably socks for sure. Oh it's exciting. Yes, I am still a young knitter.....which is nice since I can't assign that adjective to myself much anymore, though I DID get carded buying a bottle of wine at Trader Joe's last week. The kid was new & he was probably checking ID on every customer who wasn't obviously at least 75 years old just to make sure he didn't mess up on his first few shifts behind the register...... but I fell in love with him anyway.

2006-12-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

This one's all about knitting......OK, some of it is not about knitting but that part will be at the end.

I bought yarn today! I am going to turn one of these lovelies into an adorable cap with a pattern I found on Elann. Blogger won't let me post the link, but it's called the Wavy Cable Lace Cap and it looks like a lot of fun to knit. The gauge is sort of bizarre....25 st to 4" on a size 7 but I think I can make it work with the Cashsoft. I'll most likely end up using the green Misty Alpaca (oh it's color is so much more vibrant in real life!) for another pair of those fingerless gloves I fancy. Here we have our old friend, Besotted. I am so ready for this fucker to be done. I'm sorry, but there is simply no other way to say it. Don't misunderstand...great pattern, nice to work on but I feel as though I have been knitting this for a lifetime and I am now ready to cross over. I am holding up my last skein of yarn though, so the end IS near. Will it be long enough for friend Gregory's manly neck? Dunno, but that's all the yarn there is so I sure hope so.....Fresh out of retirement, back for yet another farewell tour is this week's guest star, Sirdar Shrug Thing. I cast on for sleeve number two last night & I am quite excited to finish this one up as I do believe it is going to be rather cute.And lastly, my non-knitting news: The charming mailman delivered a much anticipated letter today. My official acceptance to MSMC ! Wee Hoo! I have to start over again as a Junior. Originally, I was to be in my Senior year right now at the beyond dismal Cal State Los Angeles. After finishing my Junior year there this summer I decided I couldn't possibly leave that school feeling like I had received a decent education. Nor did I feel I would be ready for the demands of grad school which is part of my future plan. I am thrilled. The courses look amazing and the campus is beautiful. I cannot wait. Ok then...I have to go order a school sweatshirt now!

2006-11-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

Good Night Sweet Angel...... Tiger Lily -
Beloved companion ~ birthdate unknown 1989 - November 24, 2006~

Thank you for finding me and changing my life, my funny little garden gnome. I miss you deeply.

2006-11-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

Please don't let it end......It was a perfect little vacation. See how content we are?The food was delicious. Joel can't help himself from reaching over and grabbing some of my savory, goat cheese bread pudding. My favorite meal of the trip enjoyed at the delightful Modern Tea . It's not finger food! Go back to your lentils.Everyone was extremely friendly.Joel spent his days working since this was a business trip for him. If you happen to read Yoga Journal magazine, he will be featured in several of the upcoming issues. He's been in the mag before but now he'll be part of a regular feature. So while he slaved it out holding poses in front of the cameras for hours on end, I walked all over the city. I walked and walked and walked some more. I started my day here, at the Ferry Building. I'd get a latte at Peet's and sit outside with the seagulls, cranes & pigeons and watch the ferries come and go. Then began the walking.....Of course my many steps took me to more than one yarn store. Imagi Knit is a wonderful place to hang out for an afternoon. Now, there is no shortage of good yarn shops in L.A. I may complain about many things here (and believe, me I will) but never about the availability of "stuff." You can find just about anything here and that is not limited to material objects. I'm talkin' ethnic foods, religions, attitudes, you name it. And that is truly one of the things I love about Los Angeles. Anyway, I thought I had it pretty good when it came to yarn shops, and I really do, but MAN they have some good stuff going on in San Francisco! The masssive selection at Imagi Knit is organized by gauge which I have not seen before. The staff was so friendly, I felt like a regular. Thye were also having a pretty decent sale, though I bought nothing. Well I bought an Interweave back-issue and some stitch markers, but I purchased no yarn on this trip. Yes, crazy.
Crazy & also difficult. specially after a visit to Art Fibers. Please stop reading this, click on the link and browse their catalogue. Their yarn is incredible and they have swatches on display for all of their yarn. When you walk in it looks like some sort of textile museum with hundreds of swatches laid out next to information cards. There is a silk/wool combo called Ming that I can't stop thinking about & will probably end up ordering. I don't have a pic of the shop but you can revel in the novelty of me wearing a coat, hat and scarf after an evening out.
More vacations please. Have a bright n' shiny weekend.

2006-11-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

NO CAMERA.......

Yoga Husband is away teaching at a retreat in Palm Springs and he took the camera with him to capture all those crazy yoga moments. We are low tech in this household: 1 digital camera, 1 laptop, no cable TV, no microwave, no phone. Though we do have a phone number & I'm not sure why.

Since I always like to jazz up my entries with a few photos, I guess I'll have to pull something from the archives:

JC Penney photograpy, 1971. My mom made the dress. Do those photo stands even exist anymore? Does JC Penney even exist?

I plan on knitting like a fiend this weekend to finish up a couple of "secret" projects. Joel comes home & then leaves right away for San Francisco for more yoga assigments. He's one busy guru. I'm going up a day later to join him so we can make a little vacation out of it. It's where I was born and raised and though I have lived in L.A. for almost half my life, San Francisco is definitely where I left my heart. Since my parents have both died & I have no other family there, it's not really "home" anymore which is very strange. This time I will be a tourist, staying in a hotel. Life is odd that way I guess.

Must go knit! Later....

2006-11-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

FINITO! Love them, love them, LOVE them. I couldn't capture an accurate likeness of the colorway, but they are knit from Koigu, so you can imagine how rich and gorgeous the combination is. Very mossy-woodsy colors that gnomes and elves would be proud to dress themselves in. It took less than one skein to complete these and I have another skein left to knit myself a pair! This excites me for these were going to be difficult to part with. Pattern: Knitpicks "2-Needle Fingerless Gloves, Yarn: Koigu KPPPM -P103 , Needles: Boye Aluminum circs size 6

Meanwhile, Joel has been feeling left out of the knitted gift ring and would love to be the recipient of a soft scarf. During the evenings he has taken to wearing this little boucle number I whipped up last winter, though thankfully has not left the house in it. He doesn't seem to care that it is "real girlie" only that it is "super soft." Did I mention that he sleeps in it?

As much as I adore my husband and would like nothing more for his neck to be swaddled in my handi-work, I cannot possibly entertain the idea of working on another scarf at the moment. The Besotted Scarf for friend Gregory MUST be completed before any other such item touches the needles. I have learned that the worst thing I can do is tell someone I am knitting for them. Expectation then hovers in the air with both parties wondering WHEN exactly, the item will be finished? No-one wants to mention it, but it is always there.......

I started training in earnest this week for my big 5K on December 10th. Weeeee! I'm not as out- of-shape aerobically as I thought, so I guess the hours of my life spent sitting in my flourescently-lit cubicle haven't done any permanent damage yet....except to my psyche of course.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable running can be, especially at a quiet time of day. This morning, my friend & partner in training, Tat & I took a little trip into the wilds of the Hollywood Hills to a heavily populated trail where dogs are allowed to run off their leashes. Celebrities and wish-they-were celebrities are also allowed to roam free, making it a bit of a "scene". Generally, I stick to the low-key, non-L.A.ish neighborhood in which we live, having outgrown the allure of Hollywood, but as Tat is mother to 2 very energetic Jack Russell terriers, we decided to leave our comfort zone and mingle w/the hipsters.

We arrived at 7:00 AM so it wasn't too crowded. Things were starting to get more congested by the time we reached the top of our trail, with several people standing around the look-out area.

"Oh my God, is that a Puggle?" a guy asked us, as he looked down at Penny, one of Tat's dogs.

"Im sorry?" I said gazing down to see what he was referring to, deciding that the only questionable item in view was the black-and-glitter toenail polish he was sporting. (he was clad in athletic sandals, natch).

"The dog. Is it a Puggle?"

Still confused I asked "what's a Puggle?".

"It's a dog that's half pug, half beagle. They are all the rage."

He went on animatedly describing this faddish new dog that I have never heard of, and I squinted into the glare of the L.A. sunrise trying to see his face, but the only thing I cold focus on was the Hollywood sign on the hill behind him. It glowed like a halo hovering directly over his head. Los Angeles is called "The City Of Angels" after all. A Hollywood angel, atop this hill proclaiming all things that are the latest rage, heralding his people to him with not a bugle, but a Vente Starbucks cup. It was perfect.

Sadly, the conversation soon ended. Not much left to say since Tat & I were not accompanied by Puggles, but only a pair of boring old Jack Russell's, outdated as a pair of yesterday's Uggs.

"Be careful on your way down" our angel warned. "It's steep."

A-ha! He was a guardian angel! If we encountered danger, got lost, or hurt he could call for help......on the Blackberry he was holding in his other hand.

Thank you friend. Thank you. Go forth & spread your word to others....

2006-10-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

Things are getting spookier.....
I'm not sure if it was the extra hour gifted to us by Daylight Savings this weekend or a burst of energy brought on by those pesky Santa Ana's (Lord, is the inside of my nose dry!), but I accomplished much:

First, may I present what could quite possibly be the best damn coffee cake EVER:

It is without doubt the most incredible & perfect baked good I have ever created. Baking is usually approached in this home with strong desire but low self confidence. I'm a decent cook, but I've never had the magic touch with cakes or pies. The memory of the ill-fated fig pie of Thanksgiving 2002 is enough to keep me stocking my freezer with desserts from Trader Joe's for all eternity, at least when company is part of the picture. Joel has no expectations in the dessert department. I have seen him cringe when I take my decorated bundt pan out of the cupboard for he knows that more than once it has cruelly grasped on to a baked cake that is supposed to slide out of it's non-stick tentacles, forcing me to dig chunks out of it with a fork and try somehow to shape them back into it's original design on the cake plate, before I give up & cry. Well now I have tasted victory and it's flavor is walnut streusel.

High on success, I seamed up the first & almost finished knitting the second of my Koigu fingerless gloves. Boy are they nifty!

I made a delicious eggplant tomato sauce, low on the garlic per the delicate digestion system of Yoga Husband and if you don't mind me saying so, it too was outstanding. (Especially tasty when chased ny a hunkin' piece o' coffee cake).

Ever depressed by the lack of physical activity my life now holds as professional Cubicle Dweller, my friend Tat & I agreed to run in this year's Venice Christmas Run .

I haven't run in 2 years, & Mama needed a brand new pair of shoes so I popped over to Niketown and got all set up. The shoes' first outing was a walk to the local highschool (3 miles R/T and mile trot around the track. It wasn't painful and it's a nice start. Later in the week Tat & I plan to hit the trails in a very close-by state park.

Whatever you did this weekend, I hope it made you smile.

2006-10-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

Evidence of kitting: So, what would take most knitters an evening to complete, has taken me almost a month. And I really shouldn't be tossing the word "complete" around as this is only one Koigu fingerless glove out of a set of 2 AND it isn't even seamed yet. This is a nifty little Knitpicks pattern with an invisible seam up the outside of the glove. 2 gloves use only 1 skein of your favorite sock yarn. I can't wait to finish this pair & then make another for myself.

There has not been much knitting or blogging going on here. As previously mentioned, I work in a CPA firm and when the week of October 15th rolls around, things are wacky and hectic. Far worse than the April 15th deadline. This year I worked 12 days w/out a day off. Oh yes, don't you pity me? As soon as we filed the last return we started packing so our firm could move to our new fancy digs in Beverly Hills. This involved much drudgery and we are not settled yet. The new pad still has a lot of construction going on and is pretty chaotic. But we can walk to get our morning latte's and we have valet parking so I'm not complaining.

This big crisis of the past couple of weeks was that the lovely, sweet & gentle Tiger Lily suffered a heart attack. It was horrifying to witness, but amazingly she is still with us.

This little girl must be bionic. She is 16. She has kidney disease, bladder cancer and heart problems. I have been prepared to say goodbye to her almost as long as we've had her which is only 2 1/2 years. Our approach to her health has been mainly holistic as I don't want her final days to be visiting the vet. Even after the heart attack, we just kept her home, all warm & cozy on her little invalid bed at the foot of the couch & coaxing her to lick food off my fingers. Last night she ate her first big meal in 2 weeks & this morning was trotting arond the yard, loving life.

So we are back baby!

2006-10-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

TRICK.....OR TREAT? Well in my book, this is 100% treat. I love this sort of half-assed holiday decorating. It uses what one already has on-hand and is presented entirely without irony. Our neighborhood is one that is really into Halloween. There is more than one haunted house and there are movie-type special effects and creatures all over the place spitting out fog, laughing maniacally & digging graves to soundtracks of organ music & spooky storms. Frankly, it's a little much and I sort of dread the actual Halloween night because I couldn't begin to afford the candy I'd have to purchase to supply the hundreds of trick-or-treaters that show up from I don't know where. So, you can have your fancy Hollywood Halloween..... I applaud these neighbors who took a couple of cotton balls stretched over a withered cactus and said "that's it....that's Halloween." Good work my friends.

Hey! I did me some knittin! My friend Gregory has a birthday this week & boy is he going to be surprised to receive this birthday rag I knit for him in custom colors to match his kitchen. He would have LOVED yellow & grey with a splash of red, but I couldn't find grey dish-cloth cotton.

He'll be happy anyway and I am THRILLED because I finally completed a gift on-time! Yeah for me.

Just wondering....Does anyone who regularly reads blogs ever dream about the people who's blogs they read? Perhaps it's because I often do my blog-reading at night but more than once I have had dreams in which the subjects are people I know only from reading their blogs. It's interesting ....

OK then...talk to you later.

2006-10-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

SIGNS THAT FALL HAS ARRIVED:

Those who usually only tolerate one another suddenly become inseparable napping companions.

I actually require a sweater for warmth while taking an evening walk.I begin knitting a pair of fingerless gloves in the lovely Koigu yarn. Sadly, they are not for me. Yet another item to be added to my list of Gifts That Shall Not Be Completed In A Timely Manner. I'm simply not capable. But boy, do I have dreams. This one wasn't even started until after the recipient's birthday. We don't start wearing gloves in L.A. for a while yet, so I still have some time and I know she won't mind.

That's it for this post 'cause I am fried! It's been a rough week. I hear a glass of Pinot Noir & some microwave popcorn calling out to me.......

2006-09-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Lovely Sunday..... It started out great.

It got even better. The day was gorgeous!

No, this is not our home, though we pretended it was for most of the day. Yoga-Husband has several private clients, most of whom are fancy, Hollywood-types. That the being the case, they tend to reside in fancy, Hollywood-type homes. The clients who reside here are always kind
enough to let us have run of the place when they go out of town. It is truly like a vacation.
I knit, I worked on statistics homework, we swam & after we were happily exhausted, we went into West Hollywood for a light Japanese meal.

As we walked to my car, we saw this....Yoga-Husband said, "I think maybe your car has been hit." That's my car there on the right parked against the curb. I said I didn't think so. Then I saw the 12 foot long skid marks on the street. See them?

Then I saw this. Yoga-Husband was correct. I don't know what happened. The story told by the driver didn't make sense. She claimed to have been making an illegal u-turn which she misjudged, clipping my car. She must have been making the u-turn at about 50mph because as well as propelling my car forward 12 feet or so & knocking out the rear axle, the grill fell off the front of my car. LAPD took care of all the details so I didn't have much interaction with her.

Luckily, no-one was injured & we are both insured. I really hope my car is fixable. It's a '99 & I am fearing that it might be more expensive to repair than it's worth. It only has 68K miles! I love my car & making car payments for the next several years was NOT part of my master plan.

I should know better by now never to even have a master plan because life usually doesn't follow them.....

2006-09-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

This gal's got herself an F.O.! Before we proceed, I must post the disclaimer for anyone who has not previously read this blog:

This yarn is AWFUL. I do not under any circumstances, promote the use of this colorway or articles of clothing created with it. It looked very different on the internet and in it's tidy little skein. I am a new knitter and this is my second sweater, and at a meager cost of $19 (including shipping), I thought this would just be a fun experiment in technique. I have good taste. Really.

So aside from the offensive collection of colors, the sucker is too big. It's sort of OK worn as a vest....

but the tank alone is fairly unflattering. It makes my pair of 34B's look like a couple of D cups that have nursed half a dozen babies & never seen the inside of a bra, so I think the vest is a better way to go.

My blog friend May tells me that this mess here in the back is pooling. I see pooling mentioned often, but had no idea it could get this out of control.

So there you have it. I'm sure I'll wear it somewhere.It has a 70's retro look about it....well no, more of a Regret-ro look.....

Pattern: Ribby Shell from Chicknits.com - Yarn: Elann Sonata Print in "Mayan Treasure" (beware the Mayan curse!) Needles: Boye Aluminum 29" circs, size 6

2006-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

This is the second to last time readers of this blog will be subjected to images of this sweater. I promise. As you can see, I am close to being finished. Yarn aside, this has been a very enjoyable knit. It no longer looks calico to me, but rather like a piece of clothing worn by one of the members of The Flinstones. Wilma could probably pull it off.

I do have one question however: What the hell is going on here?

This is a defect in the yarn, right? It's just too bizarre not to be. As far as I can tell, this is not going to happen on at any other part of the yarn, and luckily will be covered by my hair (if I ever have the guts to actually wear this thing). Next post: The Finished Project!

2006-09-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

STATISTICS!! IT'S THE NEW KNITTING!

Yes, school has started again and things are now all homework, all-the-time. Look closely and you'll see the Yarnstrosity Sweater wadded up in a pile of frustration. And laying next to it is my packet of trusty Imitrex to help shield me from any statistics-induced migraine I might fall victim to.

I am quickly accepting the fact that there is NO WAY I will ever complete all the holiday gift knitting I hoped to. In fact, I'm uncertain if I will be finishing any knitting project, ever. Well, I did complete a seed stitch bedspread......for a dollhouse. It was smaller than the average swatch and the sad thing is I actually considered including a photo of it in my FO gallery, just for the greedy feeling of self-satisfaction I so desperately crave. However, I quickly came to my senses, left the camera in the drawer and gave it to Greta, the daughter of my friend Rachel who just got a sweet new dollhouse.

I promised her a matching pillow so I better get crackin.

2006-09-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

ANYONE CARE TO GIVE ME THEIR TWO CENTS?

I desperately need a new iron so I am thinking I should possibly get one of the Rowentas so many knit bloggers rave about. There are so many to choose from at a variety of prices! I'd love to hear anyone's recommendations or advice in making a selection....

Thanks!

2006-09-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ah, life in Los Angeles.....Yesterday, on my tiny commute to work, I was rear-ended. It was very loud and pretty hard. The other driver and I pulled over to inspect & both of us were amazed that there was no damage to either of our cars. (Sturdy German craftsmanship on both our vehicles). No need to exchange info, he apologized & I said "forget about it" & we went on our merry ways.

I put in my day's work & left the office birthday as it was Yoga Husband's birthday. I work exactly 3.1 miles from our house. This sounds incredible right? I am so lucky to avoid all the wear & tear on my car and save on costly fuel. Well, yesterday it took me OVER AN HOUR to get home. It was unbelievable. And the thing was, there was no disaster, no overturned semi-truck, no shooting at the highschool along my route (that was a couple of months ago). It was just traffic. People leaving a little early like me, to start their holiday weekend. All of us just sitting there, watching the signals turn green while we didn't move.

As I sat there in my seat I started to feel the uncomfortable sensation of dull pain in my back and neck & I realized I must have some mild whip-lash from the morning's events. Before I had time to process my next thought, I WAS REAR-ENDED AGAIN!!! Loud & hard just like before. And again, no damage whatsoever, thank you Volkswagen. No damage to my car, that is. At that point, my usual, fun-loving spirit went into hibernation & I started to cry. I ran through the monologue that lives in my brain that starts with "I cannot live here any longer"......(the middle is filled with dramatic examples of my misery & the toll they are taking)...then it always ends with "This is not living." I'm not sure what I plan on doing with this monologue or to whom it should be recited, but when the time comes, I'll be ready.

I managed to pull myself together to celebrate Joel's b-day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOGA HUSBAND! Do your wacky birthday dance!

We had a lovely time. We got some take-out Indian food to complement the home-made Indian food prepared by the birthday boy himself. Yumeeeee..... Our friend James came over and we and a picnic out on our lawn. James got himself some groovy new glasses and we had fun calling him the Professor all evening. Look at him...so thoughtful, so contemplative......

Happy 38th hunny!

2006-08-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

SNEAK PEEK:

Calico on stripes.... I am one row away from starting armholes. Are you excited? Do you share my morbid fascination in wondering exactly HOW grotesque this thing might possibly look upon completion? Yoga-husband does. He checks in every now and then and all he can ever come up with is a stupefied, headshaking "Wow", followed by a short, breathy giggle, which I think sums it all up.

Slinky Jones, apalled as he should be by the offensive colorway, utterly REFUSED to have his face captured alongside this yarnstrosity......"No Effin' Way!
Sorry Jonesy, you're right. It is a heavy cross to bear.

2006-08-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

If you were tuning into this blog for a witty, captivating knit-filled post of fun...this ain't it. I just have to post something because the lack of posts is nagging at me. Tiger Lily is practicing some modeling poses because we are going to be submitting her image for a new photo book that is being published. The title is "Old Dogs." Very sweet. My friend Gregory works in publishing and sent me the link for submissions. I think she was going for a classic, "grandmother in a shawl" look in his pic. I totally get it, but I think we'll go with something with a bit more verve....

Speaking of Gregory, the scarf is his and I'm not as far along as I'd like to be...

It's not cold in NY yet, right?

And here it is, my current project in all it's mottled, hideous orangeness. Joel says it will be great as long as it's worn ironically. I'm not even comfortable knitting this in public because I don't want anyone, anywhere to think I am OK with this yarn....

Oh well...add a pair of pointy ears and a fluffy tail and you've got yourself a cat costume.

2006-08-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've been maniacally cleaning out boxes, closets, storage sheds & book-cases. Getting rid of tons of stuff, and boy does it feel liberating. I have a box of dolls from my childhood that I will never get rid of, and Charlotte is always the first thing I see when I pop off the giant, tupperware lid.
Though she looks like a relic dating back to the turn of the 20th century, I believe she was purchased in 1973. I fell in love with her at the now defunct TG&Y drugstore and my mom bought her for me even though she thought she was pretty cheap looking ,which proved to be true as Charlotte's face and hair disintegrated into dust while I was still a child. Never minding a bit, I constantly re-constructed her face with iron-on patches and pieces of flannel. She used to have 2 yellow braids on either side of her head, but I guess grafting hair was too complex for the skills of an eight year old seamstress, so we just kept it simple and hairless....poor Charlotte.

So.....I am currently working on the Chicknits Ribby Shell. For yarn, I went inexpensive as this is only my second sweater, and settled on Elann's cotton sonata print in a colorway called "Mayan Treasure." If you find yourself browsing at Elann.com, take a look...Blogger is acting quirky & I don't feel like trying to create links. Of all the choices, this was my least favorite for sure, but I still found it interesting, and when I really broke it down, I thought the various colors really worked with much of my wardrobe. On the Elann site the colors appear to be black, smoky plum, grey, cream & a sort of warm gold.

In real life, this is what you get:

Mayan Treasure......Nothing about these colors says "lost civilization" to me unless of course, the members of that civilization are calico cats getting themselves ready for Halloween. Orange! Where was the orange when I looked at this online? All I see is black and orange...

While knitting this, I find myself thinking "there is no way I'm going to wear this" but also occasionally saying, "no, it has a retro funk about it that could be fun." But then the retro funk part starts to remind me of upholstery fabric on some awful piece of furniture that Charlotte the Ragdoll might have lounged upon during her heyday (though my mom always loved a nice toile fabric on her sofas).

I suppose it can just be another knitting experiment and if the sweater itself turns out well, I can make another out of some pretty yarn.

2006-08-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

And here are the pics I wasn't able to post earlier: Of the three of us, no-one is extremely photogenic, so getting an image in which we all have our eyes open and remotely resemble ourselves is an accomplishment. James despises being photographed and sessions with him and a camera usually go something like this:

Happy Birthday silly James!

In my previous post I said that I had some good knitting images to share. Well, I have decided to share with you instead.......the very bad. This snake has shed his skin. After being half-way seamed up one side in mattress stitch, the snake proclaimed "I look like crap. Crappy knitted snake crap. I'm outta here"

Upon making this statement, the snake then shed his own skin, ripping out all the seaming and spitting out his poly-fiberfill innards demanding that I re-seam him in an acceptable manner. Why oh why didn't someone warn me? Someone who loves me should have said "No Melanie! Stop! Do NOT make a critter out of dishcloth cotton. You will regret it." But it is too late. I have entered a knitterly hell of stiff, rough, un-even stitches that are EXTREMELY unpleasant to seam together. Though he looks like a tiny garter snake in the pic, this sucker is almost 50" long....that's a lot of icky seaming.

So, we are taking a break from each other and the snake is quietly resting in a dark bag while we both gear up for another session....

2006-08-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

I AM SAVED!!!

Perhaps you have noticed the sparse content and infrequency of entries on this blog. This is due to several factors, but one a primary one is.....Algebra. I try not to weight my blog entries too heavily with the dull and mundane, so of course I do not mention the "A" word. But the fact is, Algebra has encompassed my life as of late and made it dreadful.

When I started out my college education, oh-so-many years ago, I was an Art History major which meant I never had to take mathy-math courses. When I decided to go back to school last year and finally finish my degree, I knew I wanted to study Psychology with the hopes of going on to grad school. This was exciting but the bad news was: Math. Lots of it. I hadn't taken a math course since my junior year in highschool. That was in the 80's. The early to mid 80's. That was quite a while ago. Also, I wasn't a very dedicated student. I was a dancer. I did the minimum amount of work I could get by with and hightailed it off to ballet class every day. I wanted to dance and perform, which is why I never finished college.

So, there was some catching up to do. I have spent the past year taking 4 Algebra courses (the last one I had to repeat!) at CSULA all in order to take the dreaded College Algebra which is the pre-req for Statistics. It felt like a road that had no end. I have been so scared that once again, I wasn't going to pass the class I am currently in, and the extra anxiety hasn't been much aid in my test-taking quality.

Sooooo, (this is getting boring), last week I found out that I could go over to the local junior college and take Statistics without the College Algebra. All I had to do was pass their assesment exam. So yesterday I took the test, aced it, and I can enroll in Statistics!!! No more fucking algebra! I no longer have to worry about the algebra final in 3 weeks! I can knit again!! AND I will save $640. Yesterday was a good day.

Thank you for letting me work it all out here, on this blog. I did manage to have some fun last week. I saw my dear friend John who I haven't seen since Jan. We spent the afternoon at LACMA checking out the Hockney Portraits exhibit which was great. Over the weekend, Joel & I celebrated the birthday of our friend James. I haven't been able to post a photo in blogspot for a few days, or I would show you a picture of the 3 of us having a good time.

I guess my latest knitting image will have to wait as well. Damn...I have some good stuff to show too. :(

2006-07-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the darling Tiger Lily. As she sits in the shaft of sunlight, which warns of the misery to come she is asking me "Is it going to be 140 degrees again today? Please tell me I have more to look forward to than you rubbing me down with a wet towel and placing me in front of the fan so I don't go into cardiac arrest. Please."

Sorry T.L. ....from the look of things thus far, I can't promise much more.

I would like to share with you some Besotted Loveliness:
Mistake-free and quite a pleasure to work on. One of my kind blog friends directed me to an entry on the Yarn Harlot's blog that I had not read which is all about correcting errors in cables. It's a pretty fancy technique, so I think I'll knit up a practice swatch to test things out on. But so far, so good.

No knitting for a few days....too much homework and long days at the office combined with the distasteful thought of touching wool in this weather has left my needles un-touched. I'm hoping to change that today.

Bye for now!

2006-07-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

SUMMER!

It may not look like much, but that right there is about the best darned ice-cream I have had in a long time. The one on the right is mint...see the pale greenish color? Wow! It was like chewing on fresh, creamy mint leaves. Yesterday Yoga Husband and I had lunch at Axe in Venice. One of his students had given him a gift card last year and we just got around to using it. We thought it was going to be pretentious but it wasn't at all. Just regular folks servin' up yummy eats.

I mentioned teaching my friend Rachel to knit a couple of weeks ago. Well, she went to visit her mom recently and came back with her grandma's collection of needles. She has been kind enought to let me borrow this! Weeee! Being a newish knitter, my needle collection is not huge and this is an amazing way to create gauge swatches for various projects to determine what size needles I should buy. Boy am I lucky.

My dish-cloth snake is speeding along. I am halfway thru the body length. The picture doesn't show it but I am using three colors, one is variegated. The whole thing is taking on a sort of Friuty Pebbles/Grateful Dead look. It will be for Lizzie's son Cal who has his second birthday in August.

Since temperatures were well into the 90's yesterday, I said to myself "Hey I know....why don't you dig out your Mission Falls 1820 wool, sit on the front porch in the glaring sun and teach yourself how to knit cables?" And that I did. Months back, January I think, I started a scarf for my friend Gregory. I used this pyramid pattern that I ended up disliking after I was 3/4 of the way finished. It felt stiff and looked sort of 80's to me. It didn't say "Gregory." So I e-mailed him some scarf patterns and he chose the lovely Besotted Scarf .

Cables were EZ, even with the pools of sweat and I was movin' along in no time. So yes, I can create cables...but I CANNOT however, unravel back to fix a cable mistake. I can rip out multiple rows of stockinette and get going again just fine, but a complicated stitch pattern paralyzes me. So here is what I have so far.

I'll start again today. I just won't be able to make ANY mistakes..........

2006-07-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm fond of this new campaign. The old "Give A Hoot, Don't Pollute" was worn out. My favorite part is the little "ok" at the end. Slightly apologetic, it asks us to try and understand. It says "I still like you even though you might want to throw trash here, but I really hope you'll think twice before you do." Powerful.

I just realized after 7 - 8 months of knitting that balls of yarn are designed to be un-ravelled from the inside out! Hence the term "center-pull ball". Ah-ha! Can I truly be this clue-less??? All along I have been un-winding from the outside, and it's not real smooth that way.
I have no idea why I am even admitting to this pathetic bit of ignorance. I know could spin this blog and make myself sound any way I choose, but in the end, deep down inside, I would know the sad truth so you may as well too.

It is hot here. And dry. I don't do dry heat well. I know it's the desired type, but I like a fair amount of humidity in my heat. And since I am being honest and exposing my true self, I will admit the real reason. My Hair. Yep, that is what it comes down to. Here is the equation: Naturally curly + desert arid = Really Ugly. It's a linear formula that equals crabiness and lowered self-esteem. My singular hairstyle option is The Wad. Unflattering but feels good. I envy those people with silky straight locks who can tie their own hair into a cool looking knot. Or a twist held together with a chopstick. Those people are charmed.

Stay cool!

2006-07-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

Why yes, I DO have the ability to finish a project:One, summery ball-band dishcloth adapted from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I love it.

I thought working with the cheapo dish-cloth cotton was going to be a drag, but I liked it just fine. Therefore, I am using the same yarn to make a stuffed snake from this book by Tracy Chapman. It contains patterns for the cutest creatures ever.

Not sure if Yoga Husband is flipping me off in this pic or if I just caught him while he was adjusting his fingers. I don't think he harbors any deep resentment towards me or my knitting, but you never know. Perhaps it is snakes he has issues with.

We had a nice, relaxing weekend & holiday, though it was HOT. Friend James came up from Long Beach for dinner one evening. We went to Govinda's at the local Hare Krishna temple. It's a rockin' vegetarian buffet and lately we have been frequenting it about 3 times a week. Where else in L.A. can three adults eat dinner for $18? Afterwards we got icy coffee drinks and took a long walk. Nice. James, we'll miss you when you leave us for Chicago.

On the Fourth of July I got to watch a fantastic fireworks display standing in my own front yard in my pajamas. What could be better? They put on a good show at the local highschool which is about a mile down the street. 5 years we have lived here and I had NO IDEA you could see the excitement from our house.

Working on a deadline kind-of-thing for the office so I might not get much knitting in this weekend. Oh yeah, and there is school. I hate 2 of my 3 courses this term. I'm in the "let's just get this over with" kind of mind-set.

I'm sure I'll end up burying my frustration in yarn anyway...

2006-06-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

THE SAGA OF THE SHRUG THING:
I can't bear to look back in my archives to see when is started this little item. Seaming is coming along. Slowly. I had to teach myself how to set in a sleeve and had to re-set once, but it is all looking quite nice.

Now, I only ever had 4 balls of the dark grey, KFI Cashmereno which I got in a yarn grab-bag sale, and of course is discontinued. Though the pattern claimed 4 balls was enough, I figured they were lying & decided to add the pale grey (Rowan Cashsoft) and make stripey sleeves. I always planned on the 2 sleeves not matching each-other, stripe-wise and was just sort of making up the stripe pattern as I went. Now I am almost out of the Rowan yarn too (which I can get at the LYS), so 6 balls wasn't even enough and as you can see, I only have one sleeve.

How weird is it going to look if the other sleeve is primarily pale grey with maybe 1 or 2 teeny dark stripes? I'm afraid it will look funky. Not funky-hip. Funky-bad. Or maybe funky-sad.

Here is my cry for help to the online knitting world: Anyone have a spare ball of KFI Cashmereno in color # 11, lot 6 ? :)

Oh! I taught my friend and across-the-street neighbor, Rachel how to knit. She is already super arty and talented, so of course she was a natural. Another member of the Society of Needles & Yarn! Yeah!

2006-06-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

I FINISHED my first ball band wash-rag from the Mason-Dixon book, but I liked it so much I decided to keep on knittin' and make myself a ball band hand towel instead. I'm going to make it just long enough to hang over the refrigerator door handle where we always like to have a little towel. Ever picky Yoga Husband isn't crazy about the idea of a kitchen wash-rag anyway. He loves a good sponge with an abrasive scrubby side and I should keep him content if I want to continue in our tradition of shared dish-duty. Anyway, these are cozy looking and fun to make as many before me have stated.

Perhaps I will finish this up tonite while watching my summer TV obsession: "So You Think You Can Dance." I am NOT a reality TV person at all. I watched the first season of "Survivor" and that was it. Never seen American Idol. Really. But this show has sucked me in, big-time and I'm not embarassed to say it. It makes for good knitting. Perhaps it is also the infectious power of this show which helped me drag my ass back into ballet class this week where I have not set foot since last December. It was lovely and I felt great. I managed to leave all self-loathing outside which is usually impossible for me in that arena. I suppose this comes with age. Wherever it's from, I like it. Life is much more enjoyable.

2006-06-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

A reader posted a comment on my last post inquiring about my ability to pile heaps of yarn-items on top of my cat without him budging. There is a reason. I present to you The Evidence:
In case you are wondering that is not a sedative or medication of any sort, though sedatives will play a role in this little tale....but that is in a moment. I was going to respond to the comment by saying that Slinky Jones (the cat) had fallen into a coma after very dramatically, but unsuccessfully trying to cough up a hairball. After a rather histrionic display of angst, he simply passed out, leaving me with ample photo abilities.

His malady was not however, a hairball. Instead it was this:

That, dear readers is a 6 1/2 " blade of sticky grass that was stuck in his little nasal cavity. Ouch! No wonder the poor thing had been gagging and sneezing for 4 days!

S.J. had to be sedated and have a very long instument with a light at the end shoved down his furry nostril while that evil thing was plucked out with a big-ass set of tweezers.

This is how he is now feeling about the entire saga.

Needless to say, I shall not make his experience worse by photographing him with my almost-completed ballband wash-cloth atop his sedated little cat body. It will have to wait until the next post.

2006-06-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

OOOOOHH! These dishcloths really ARE fun to knit!

As mentioned previously, I joined the Mason*Dixon KAL. The book is fabulous and filled with projects I want to create, but the ballband dishcloths which have caused such a frenzy in the KAL, weren't at the top of my list. They are cute and all, but there are a lot of things in the book that I craved to work on before dishcloths. But like some sort of hypnotized, knitting sheep I found myself driving to Joann's to find some cheapo Sugar & Cream and was soon casting on to began my first cloth. It is a fun little knit! Every row is different and it requires very little concentration. Even me. the Slow Knitter could finish one in an evening....albeit a long evening, but still! Very cool.

Anyway, I needed a break from the monotony of the stockinette of my Sirdar. I will finally finish

sleeve #1 as soon as I finish this post. Doesn't look as though the sweater will be done before my "vacation" ends though. I did not plan on spending much of my free time this week suffering from a freakin' migraine that lasted THREE DAYS. A lot of stuff didn't get done this week.

I did manage to spend a lovely afternoon lunching & shopping in Venice with my best friend Lizzie (on the right) and her sister, Julie. We have known each other since the third grade! We all grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, went our different ways for years and then all ended up living on Los Angeles' westside.
That's not a shiner around my left eye, just some renegade hair casting a shadow. Sneaky of L & J to hide behind their fancy glasses....

Gotta go finish my sleeve!

*(blogspot spell check suggested I might want to change "freakin" to "foreskin"????)

2006-06-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

I Can't Relax.....

I am supposed to be on vacation. Eleven days of freedom between school quarters. I'm still working of course, but my remaining hours of the day are devoid of schedules, deadlines and studying. But I cannot seem to let myself go. I feel like I should be taking the extra time to clean out closets, organize paperwork or wash the windows. What is wrong with me?

This is how I envisioned my fantasy week:

I saw myself finishing Sirdar Shrug Thing (check out my stripes!) and reading at least one book for pleasure...Imagine such a thing! I am on page 63 of the book and what you see pictured is the first of 2 sleeves which need to be finished. Considering the fact that I think I might just be reigning, title-holder of World's Slowest Knitter, I'm not sure about timely completion. What about the other half-dozen projects I need to begin?!

The thing about reading books that has always upset me is the knowledge that there is no way I will ever be able to read everything I want to before I die. And it's not as if books aren't still being written, so my list just gets longer as does my anxiety. It is exactly the same thing with knitting. The patterns, ideas and yarns just keep coming and you have to accept the fact that your fingers are going to give out before you create everything you want to. It's rough.

Gardening excitement: everything I planted last year is going crazy....this is Honeysuckle Vine which I am successfully trailing up the front-porch posts. Sadly, Honeysuckle Vine is scentless. Why does it have such a scenty name?

OK, I am going to RELAX now.....Wish me luck!

2006-06-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

I hunkered down this weekend and did some real studying. Feeling better about finals, though still scared about algebra. Scared, as in nauseous fear in my stomach which is activated upon thinking of it. That's crazy.

Nice, hot weekend. We stopped by a birthday party of a student of Joel's. A showcase of a house nestled high in the hills of Bel Air. Very modern & open with the yard and pool seeming to hang suspended out over the green, bushy canyon. I'm always amazed to see that there are still pockets of earth in L.A. which haven't been marred by development. One of the bedrooms had a walk-in closet that was bigger than our living room. Now our living room is extremely small, for a living room, but it would make a ridiculously large closet. My point is, there was artwork hanging on the walls of this closet.

We didn't know a soul at the gathering and after about 20 minutes of standing poolside with our edamame burgers and pomegranate iced-tea, trying not to look as awkward as we felt, we hightailed it back down the hill, into reality.

We stopped at a newsstand in Westwood because I wanted to pick up the latest issue of Interweave. There were no knitting mags at all because apparently the entire establishment had been devoted to tabloids touting news of Brangelina and their African, childbearing highjinks. I noted that if Joel and I were a celebrity couple, our morphed name would be Moel, which would affectionately be changed by the media to Mole for the sake of pronunciation. We had quite a laugh coming up with rag titles for the saga of our celebrity lives:

"Mole goes into hiding in Culver City to await birth. ViceMayor Alan Corlin bars paparazzi from entering city....." "First exclusive pics of Mole Baby!!!!!"............... "Jen Aniston says she can't wait to see Mole baby...Sweet!"

In knitting news: I taught myself to form a perfect shoulder seam and effectively started working with more than one color at the same time. All part of Sirdar Shrug Thing...I'm making a few design changes.

This PC has a virus and I am taking in today.....damn hackers. As a result, I am unable to post photos.......Arrghh!

2006-06-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

KNITTING PRIDE. No ladders, no dropped stitches, no pain. A cozy, soft Husband Hat, already worn by husband, even though it is the month of June. I loved making this hat. I was planning on learning how to make socks on 2 circulars, but I think I want to learn on dpn's. Maybe they are going to end up being "my thing."

I'm working on the Baby Kimono from the Mason-Dixon book and contemplating another project as well. I Heart Knitting.

Next week: Finals! This weekend: the drudgery of fact memorization, flashcards and computerized self-tests. Weeee!

2006-05-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

OH, I COULDN"T RESIST.....my wacky yoga-husband. He can strike a pose anytime, anywhere.

I finished a knitting project!!! The Karabella ribbed hat for Joel. If I may say so, it looks fabulous! I arrived at an entirely new level with my DPN skills. I no longer fear or dread them. I may even go so far as to say "I enjoy working with them." Anyway, I wish I had a pic to post, but alas, no batteries in the digital and I can't bear to see any more sad images captured by my free-with- puchase camera. So for now, you'll have to take my word for it...it looks good.

I'm in my last, fried-to-numbness week before finals. It's going to be a rough trek. I am barely hanging on in my algebra class and at the moment my greatest fear is that I will have to repeat the course. My greatest academic fear, that is. I have many other general life fears of course. For instance, I fear flesh-eating bacteria, biological warfare, death and the possibility that something awful has happened to the Ben & Jerry's company which would explain why both Trader Joe's AND Whole Foods suddenly have none of their containers on the shelves.

Anyway, school has been very difficult this quarter and as I told Joel, I now see why it is suggested that people attend college in their early 20's, when taking on a full study load, having a job and some sort of social life is still possible without feeling like you need to go to bed at 8:30 every night.

Party on kids.....

2006-05-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

THIS HEAP is compiled of 3 finished pieces of Sirdar Shrug Thing....awaiting the dreaded seaming process. Well , first I have to go back and pick up some messy dropped stitch. Oh yeah, and I have to make sleeves. But these 3 pieces are finished. Guess what? It's too big. Shocker! But, I think it will still be wearable since it ties in the front and all. I also realized I don't have enough yarn for both sleeves so I am adding bands of a pale grey on the fore-arm sections.

This unbelievably bad photo taken with the free camera shows the other WIP, a hat commissioned by Joel. He even went to the yarn-shop with me to pick out the yarn(Karabella Aurora 8) and the pattern. Though I really didn't need a pattern for this simple 2X2 rib, Joel is VERY picky and I wanted him to have the exact hat he was picturing . He chose this.

What better time to work on multiple projects with dark, charcoal wool than at the start of the summer season? Actually, with the wacky weather we've had here this year, we'll probably wear this stuff all summer.

I joined the Mason-Dixon KAL and I can't wait to get started on something from that fantastic book. However, as I am in my last 3 weeks of the school quarter, I fear knitting will have to take the back-seat once again.

It looks like my precious Tiger Lily's health problems are pretty serious...not surprising of course, given her age. She is as happy as can be however, and seems to be feeling just fine so I have no plans of letting her in on any of this. She'll never read this....she's not into blogs. My plan is to just keep her happy and comfy as long as I can. She'll let me know when she's ready to move on. For my sake of course, I hope it's not too soon.

I hear a nice warm bath calling out to me....

Bye friends :)

2006-05-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

THE SUN SHINES IN L.A. - amazing!

Took a lovely hike in Malibu last weekend with Joel and James. How I miss the outdoors.

Here we see James and I being thoroughly amazed at the site of water:

It's like we just landed from another planet, which I suppose in a way we did. Our planet consists of the L.A. freeway system and the interior of our cars.

Joel ponders nature and makes a friend:

Happy lizard....

The rest of my week is too dismal to post about: extremely poor scholastic achievement, severe knitting mishaps, a job that sucks, a case of adult acne and worst of all, a poor little 15 year-old Chihuahua with a bad bladder infection. I'll spare you all the details, but I can tell you that I am ready for the weekend.

So bring it on!

2006-05-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Pixies love to knit. I love to knit too. How I wish I could find the time.

I sort of fell behind in school this quarter during the tax season and I just can't seem to catch up. I have been getting the sort of grades I don't usually get and it is freaking me out. I know knitting is there to sooth me, to tell me it's OK if I perform less than my best. The needles, the yarn, the pixies...they don't care if I do miserably on my hideous bio-psych midterm or if I ever figure out what the f**k it means to rationalize a radical expression, and that my friends, is why I love them.

I am scared though, that if I seek comfort in their calm and welcoming safety, I will never go back to school. That is why they are out there, in the living room and I am in here, on the bed, with my books. Oh but look....I am not studying am I? No, I am blogging.....about knitting.

I planned on dragging my stiff, unstretched body to a yoga class today, but instead I went where? Oh, a yarn store. Yep. Bought some yarn. And a pattern. I then stopped at The Counter in Santa Monica for some delicious cramp-food: fries and a veggie burger w/ horse-radish cheddar. Mmmmmm. Equally as beneficial as a yoga class, yes?

Ok...I really am going to finish my homework now.

2006-04-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

That is a #5, 12" Crystal Palace bamboo needle that really isn't coming out of Tiger Lily's mouth. Her chin is resting on it. Nor is she feeling under the weather, or depressed. She just always looks that way in photos. She is quite uncomfortable with the camera. Probably because she knows I most likely want to capture a silly shot like this one. Sorry T.L., I"ll try to portray you in a more dignified light next time.

With my trusty assistant at my side, I have finally made some progress on Bolero-Shrug:

I forgot to enhance the colors before I posted. It's not a washed out grey - it's a deep charcoal. I'm actually about finished with the left front piece now. I'm at arm-hole shaping. It's lookin' good, but I fear that once again, it might be too large.

Thank you all, my dear friends for your generous and thoughtful birthday wishes! I received TWO gift certificates from 2 different LYS's, and a check that was meant specifically to be used towards yarn.....Wow! I also received and embarrassing amount of flowers:

Look Lizzie, Natalie and Damian! See how gorgeous your arrangements are? Thank You! :)

I'm not at all depressed about entering my new life stage. There is too much knitting to do.

2006-04-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

SAY CHEESE!

I went to a new dentist this week. My long-time dentist retired and I wasn't crazy about the guy who took over his practice and worst of all, the office is located in The Valley which might as well be out-of-state as I never go there. I lived there for 8 years, but that was a lifetime ago and though it is only 10 miles from here, it is a world away, requiring use of 2 lane, canyon roads to reach it, or traveling on (horror of horrors) the 405 freeway which I refuse to do. For me, living in L.A. is all about avoiding situations which put me in the traffic which gives our city its bad rep. I simply won't go places that require unpleasant travel experiences. Needless to say, there are lots of places I don't go.

So, out of the insurance book I selected a dentist located 3 miles away in Beverly Hills. I should have known better. The check-up was fine. Routine cleaning, x-rays, oral history. I like the young, German dentist just fine. Then comes the "conversation." "Is there anything about your smile you don't like?" he asks me. "Anything you'd like to change?"

For a second, it didn't register that he was speaking in cosmetic terms. I thought he was referring to the act of smiling: Is smiling at all uncomfortable? Or perhaps you're not smiling as often as you should?

So I said "I don't think so."

Then he actually pulls up the stool, sits down and rolls over to me like it's time to get serious and says "You have a very gummy smile. You can change that you know. Would you like to?"

I know I have a gummy smile. It's never been a big deal. Occasionally, in a photo it will stand out to me, but who cares? So I replied "No, I don't think so. It's who I am. I have little teeth."

"No," he replied. "You have big gums."

I quickly shifted the conversation to talk of crowns and old silver fillings, finished up the appointment and left. I concluded that the idea of having one's gums surgically cut so their teeth appear larger is ridiculous. Why would someone do this? I acquired new-found disgust for the psychology of Beverly Hills and its beautiful people.

Then, this happened:

Yesterday was my birthday, and Joel took some pictures. OK, seriously. ALL I can see now, are GUMS. Gummy gum gums. Big, giant gums, swallowing up my face. I hate that dentist!

2006-04-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Handcrafted by James ! Yes, my friend made me 2 sets of personalized needles. See my name there? Is this not the coolest gift? An early birthday gift for the afore-mentioned, depression inducing "special day." I think they are amazing. They are sizes 11 and a tiny- bit-smaller than 10 1/2, neither of which were in my collection. I swear, that man can make anything!

I made it through the hell of tax week all while going to school and starting another job. It was pretty rough for a couple of days and I must give special acknowledgement to my understanding husband who did his best to appease my neurotic outbursts brought on by exhaustion. Today is actually my first complete day off in 2 weeks. Bolero shrug-thing should be finished by now, but sadly, I have only completed the back piece. I read so many knitting blogs and I am amazed at how quickly people whip out projects. There are complete sweaters being knit in a week out there! How do people do it? I know I am still a New Knitter, but I think I am still unusually slow. How long is one considered to be a New Knitter? Is it anything like getting married where you are technically a "Newlywed" for the first 2 years? At what point do I simply become a Knitter? Perhaps there should be a system of badges like the Girl & Boy Scouts use. Or colored belts? These would be knit of course. All I know is I continue to be inspired and awed by the talent of knitters I see in Blogland.

Well, I have bills to pay and checkbooks to balance before I can pick up my needles....Happy Weekend.

2006-04-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Officially Middle-Aged

It's not that there is anything wrong with being middle-aged. It's just that it seems to have crept up and replaced my fun-lovin', energetic youth without any warning or consultation from me. I'm sure I could have been talked into embracing this new life stage, but it just took over one day, smothering my youthful vitality, and that's the part I take issue with.

In my last post, I mentioned that we were attending a concert that evening. Tickets were purchased, calendars were marked, anticipation was present. It was a Sunday evening, which I had noted when originally planning the event, considering this to be no problem as it was not a school night for me. The part I didn't consider was that there would be not 1, but 2 opening acts before Sondre Lerche went on. When I asked Joel what time he thought we should leave he said "Well, Lerche should go on about 11:00." Eleven??? 11:00PM, as in one hour before midnite?? All I could think was that I couldn't possibly stay up that late. The idea was ludicrous. What I mean to say is, I don't think I could actually stay awake for a show that began at 11:00. And that was it. The whole idea of going to this concert that I really wanted to go to, became a fantasy. And though I was sad and extremely disappointed, I was also totally relieved that I didn't have to try and come up with something hip to wear, and that I could stay home in my sweats. And that is what depressed me most of all. The old me has been replaced by a boring, sweatpants-wearing girl who goes to bed at a sensible hour.

I'm having one of those milestone birthdays this month. The kind that can bring on a mid-life crisis. One of those birthdays that force you, against your will, to look back at your life and question every decision you have ever made. The kind of birthday where you realize the "future" you always talked about in your youth is occurring NOW, this very minute. It is freaky. When I tell people how old I am, I often receive the comment "Oh my God - you don't look it at all!" Now I know this is meant to be a complement, but a statement like that sort of reinforces the fact that people believe you should be lookin' pretty awful by this age even if you somehow, were lucky enough to have escaped time's wrath. That's all I'm saying.

I haven't been able to knit at all this week! Lots of overtime at work means lots of undertime on the needles.

Hey! Look at me! It's 11:10 PM and I'm still up......