Thank goodness it's almost Fall

Knitting* in 80+ degree weather is NOT cozy. It is hot and causes me to have sweaty hands. Ew.

But it was all worth it because ...

Here is a Summer purse:

(A gift for a lucky someone!)

And a scarf when it finally becomes cold. I love the Fall colors.

(It's only half way done. These freakin' reversible cables take for-ever.)

*This is what I do when The Man and I relax and watch 24. Which, by the way, I swear was written by someone who HATES women. The female characters are all helpless and make stupid decisions which annoys me. They make me yell at the TV and I actually wish them death so they are written off the show. My behavior is completely out of my control. The Man is used to my outbursts. Plus, he hates President Palmer's ex-wife. I hear, however, that in Season 2 the women are FIERCE. I am so excited.

It's too damn hot to knit

But if I can manage to do so, I'm going to knit accessories that I can rock but won't make me perspire.

With that said, I give you ....

THE PURSE:
This is my first attempt at making a purse, my second time felting (for you non-knitters, "felting" means washing/drying the yarn project so it shrinks and the stitches are no longer visible.)

I like it a lot. I think it's because the handles are pretty bad ass. I also like it because there's no lining. Lulu don't do no sewing.

In case you can't picture it working with an outfit, here you go:

Knitting projects and such

I still knit even though I'm bone tired. My newest project is a scarf with not one but THREE cables.

Before this scarf, I have never cabled a damn day in my life. Here it is:

(Click a picture to make bigger.)

Needless to say, there were a lot of colorful words coming out of my mouth when I started this project.

AL's getting this for Mother's Day and you best believe she's going to like it.

Excuse the attitude ... I'm just so dang tired.

Knit happens ... all over the place

Work has been buckwild busy because I had a huge event to plan. Now it is DONE. There were 170+ people, assigned seats, a program, print materials, ... and it was a morning event, to boot. I woke up at 4:30am and started the ball rolling at 6:00am. After all was said and done, I told my boss I needed a long lunch. I then called my favorite nail salon and booked a manicure + deluxe pedicure. This was a first for me. I like to self-indulge but I could never justify two people pampering m'feet and hands at the same time. But now I can. After working six hours and it being only 12:0opm, it was well worth the small splurge. (Did I mention I had to go in to work the very next day, a SATURDAY, and work for five hours?!?! Ugh.)

Earlier in the week, my little knitting group planned an outing to my favorite yarn store, Nine Rubies, and I am 100% sure that this is a perfect place for me. Not only is it a beautiful store (it used to be a small art gallery,) but the proprietors are friendly, they stay open late for small groups, and they are hospitable, too! When my friend and I walked in the door, the lovely owners had little treats for us - strawberries, pretzels, butter cookies and a cooler of sodas and bottled water. But wait, oh my!

Is that ... wine??? Seriously? You're going to give me alcohol ... after work? Well, OF COURSE I'm going to buy stuff from you! Size 19 needles? OK, why not?! A membership? OK, I'll buy a membership! Did I tell you how much I love your store? And even though I'm sober now, I don't regret my purchases at all. Any place willing to freely pour me wine and serve me little treats deserves my loyalty and hard earned money. I love my Nine Rubies somethin' fierce!

Here are my quiz results, Sister. I'm no knitting guru (and that is why I bow to you) but I was pretty excited to score a drawing of a brown girl. Sweet.
Humph. My hair is still bigger than hers.

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

No one likes an ugly bridesmaid dress

My friend, Maria, was kind enough to ask me to be in her wedding. So this October, I will be going to Oahu. There's something to be said about my annual tropical tradition. See? It's fate! Hawaii beckons me. And you didn't believe me.

Bless Maria's heart, she wants us to be in comfortable bridesmaid dresses. She's decided on a short, cotton, black version of her wedding dress available on JCrew. Yes, friends, that means I won't be wearing some WHACK A$S size that they ("they" being the sadistic wedding dress makers) conjure up which, in turn, makes women subject themselves to cabbage soup only diets and a pack of cigarettes for every meal until the big day. Freakin' SOBs.

This is what she's thinking about having us wear -

Praise be, she is actually considering dresses we can wear again! It's a sunset/evening wedding and the guys will be all in tuxes so Maria figures it's best to have us in short black cotton dresses. Throw some flowers in my hair and I am good to go! Best of all, it's $98 minus tax and S&H. I could kiss her.

Yah for not having a Bridezilla as a friend. Phew!
And just when you thought I couldn't get more little old lady-ish ...
I have found my new favorite yarn store, Nine Rubies. That's right, folks! I'm completely unapologetic - I am going to talk about a yarn store.
Nine Rubies is less than ten minutes away from my work. Danger, danger! But it's the first yarn store I've been in that is beautiful yet completely unpretentious. The mother/daughter duo are pretty awesome and give spectacular customer service. Plus, how can I NOT like a place this pretty?

I know, I know. I'm a disappointment to all those that have known me as the gal with the inscripted flask, "Who's Your Daddy?" Well, maybe they'll allow me to have it at the next Knit Happens meeting. Wouldn't that be ironic*?

*Knitting drunk is very, very bad. It's as bad as, if not worse than, blogging drunk. Yarn can be very expensive and fixing f-ed up projects could be even more expensive, costing me my sanity. If I were to bring said flask, I would have to cease all projects for the evening. Eh, I could deal ;)

Funny Moment(s) #5

My work started a knitting club to help us become more community-oriented. (Yes, I had a hand in it's inception and no, you didn't read my profile wrong. I am not 72 but, in fact, truly 27.) Whatever. I really like to knit and would like to be better. Don't make me kick your a$s.

Tonight, we were a mix of coworkers and clients. We were so diverse in ages! I did the introductions and found out that our youngest member was 8 years old but I didn't dare ask who was the oldest ;) Anyhoo, remember Maria and Suzy? (Click here to refresh your memory.) That's right, they joined the knitting group too. I'm sure you understand that no good can come out of our mouths when the three of us are together.

In the midst of respectable older ladies and far far away from our little youngster, we were muttering inappropriate things to each other.

Suzy, learning how to knit for the very first time: "I'm knitting a muff muppet."

Me, who forgot all her stuff at home and borrowed Maria's needles and red yarn: "I'm knitting you a tampon cozy."

Maria, always quick in response: "For the new or bloody ones?"

But my favorite moment? When Suzy found out that not only did I NOT have cable but I was barbaric enough to still use dial-up. Suzy screeched, "Are you kidding me?! My kids eat Top Ramen so I can have Comcast!"

Funny $hit, man. I love my coworkers.

My new favorite scarf

The Alpha Lion, also known as my mom, made me a dope ass scarf. Seriously, it's beautiful.

See, AL made Demondoll a scarf for her birthday and I LOVED it. So AL said if I bought the yarn (she knows I can be particular:) she would make it for me. Since D-Doll lives in the snowy wilderness, she has a thicker version. Because I live in sometimes hot/ sometimes cold Northern California, AL made it dainty.

Check it out:

Look at the detail. Can you believe AL crocheted this scarf??

(Click on the little pictures to get a better look.)

Just so you know, I can't crochet for the life of me. It doesn't soothe me WHAT.SO.EVER. This, of course, makes me in awe of AL's talent and I will proudly show off this scarf. As soon as I have clean laundry to wear that will do it justice. FYI: I'm wearing my velour jumpsuit tomorrow b/c I have slim pickins.

Here is a pic of AL along with my Dad and me (at the same dinner/dance.) Don't you want to hug them 'cuz they're so cute??

A few days before my Power Week

I'm bloated, my face is breaking out and I'm eating EVERYTHING like it's going to expire at midnight. TMI? Too damn bad. (I forgot to mention that I'm occasionally irritable.)

I dislike the week before and the first couple beginning days. Why? Because I eat until my belly feels tight and you can thump my tummy like watermelon. I break out like I'm a teenager with pimples that are large and unpopable (gross!) Worse, it's the time when I probably beat myself up the most about my looks, think of things to worry about in my relationship with The Man, get a little more sensitive and, basically, torture myself. But at least I don't have mood swings. (I went through three types of birth control pills until I was able to nip THAT in the bud.)

Anyhoo, other than pre-Power Week, I'm doing pretty well. I'm STILL trying to figure out how to post pictures that are unclickable so that I can post pictures of The Man and me from the New Year and any future pics. So if you know, let me know!

Oh! I finished "knit in the round." For knitting novices like me or knitting virgins ("Why, hellloo there, come here often?") that means knitting in a spiral instead of back and forth, like a typewriter. Typically, people knit with two straight needles. When I first started knitting, I was automatically introduced to bamboo circular needles-my favorite. So here is how it looked in the beginning:
I'm just knitting around and around, no purling necessary b/c knit in the round makes a stockinette stitch.

(If you aren't into knitting, dammit, just pretend you care and entertain me. On a similar note, it's funny to see The Man accept my knitting. Before, I think he was scared I was 26-going-on-70. But then he got smart and realized that this new found hobby leaves the remote control unprotected and up for grabs. Yes, I knit during football games, basketball games, and home improvement shows.)

This is where the $hit gets complicated. Or at least LOOKS complicated. I am now decreasing to make the crown of the hat. I have to introduce the double pointed needles (four=3 holding the stitches to make the triangle and 1 to knit the other 3 with) and remove the circular needles. I was concentrating so I didn't even think about how crazy it looked until I removed the circular needles. For crap's sake, look at it! It looks like three knitters got high and came up with a brilliant idea to knit one hat together.

So this is the inside of the hat. There was no need for a seam. The decrease is pretty fast (the pattern is from Stitch 'n Bitch) and then bam! I pull it together, tie and knit the ends.

When I use girlie colors like this, I like to tell The Man that the piece is for him. Before, I would get this look of terror from him b/c he knows how hard I work and that loving me means wearing the fu*king hat. But he's on to me now and calls my bluff. Darn.

Pretty bleepin' dope, yo.

Lulu's first hat

Hope y'all had a great Christmas! Mine was pretty swell. I hung out with Sister, WGD, The Boy and my parents. We went to a very fun Christmas Eve party at our Aunt & Uncle's, complete with carolers! Granted, a few of them had thick Filipino accents - OK, just the loud one - but it added charm to the festivities. (Sit back and just imagine: "We wish you a Merrrrry Chrishmash, we wish you a Merrrrry Chrishmash, we wish you a Merrrry Chrishmash... and a Haffy New Yearrrrr!" Or, "Pah-leez Nabeedahd, Pah-leez Nabeedahd, Pah-leez Nabeedahd, FrosFero año y Peeleeceedud.") But seriously, I loved them, it was spectacular caroling, and I never felt more in the holiday spirit. And ethnic. In a good way.

We saw my brother on Christmas day and had a nice and intimate family day. The day after we took the dreaded family picture (I won't even go into it. Except to say what my sister said, "We asked for a photographer who knew how to deal with special needs people and it looks like they gave us a photographer with special needs." She was a dumb a$s. Teaches me to go within ten feet of Southland Mall.) But over all, it was a lovely Christmas.

And guess what?? I learned how to knit a beenie! D-Doll was my spotter for my first attempt, cheering me on (and sometimes, troubleshooting my "how did she do that?" mistakes.) Now I can knit hats! You may not find it a big deal but I've been knitting rectangles for damn near a year. I'm pretty sure that I'll be content knitting hats and scarves for another year. I'm much less ambitious than my kick-a$s-sweater-knitting sister. (I think she will blog about it soon.)

Sooo, *drum roll please* here is Lulu's first hat! Ahh-sukie-sukie now.










(Yes, I'm aware it looks like it's from Fat Albert.)

AL's Christmas present

It is difficult to find a good present for the Alpha Lion. If she likes something, she'll usually buy it. And since she has more money than me, this makes finding a great Christmas present pretty challenging.

Since I'm waiting for my Hawaii pics, I figured I'd show you this:
I knitted this scarf with size 15 needles, Adriafil Gold yarn (the fluffy stuff) and Electra plymouth yarn (the delicate stuff.) This is how I coped with my six hour flight. Since going to the Philippines is more than triple that time, I have no complaints. I'm just saying that knitting this scarf is how I amused myself. I already saw the movie, "A Beautiful Mind" and I passed on the $5 croissant sandwich (ick.)

AL's specialty is crochet but I know she can appreciate knitted apparel. I have to brag that four of the flight attendants and one passenger stopped by my seat and admired my scarf. I have to say this because, while this was a simple knit stitch, the yarn was a bit tricky and I lost count a few times. OK, many times. I also told them that I couldn't take credit for the idea of putting the fuzzy stuff at the ends. The pattern calls for 80 stitches across to make a shawl. Knowing full well that I had no patience for that, I cut that in half and called it a scarf. I also didn't have the money (this yarn was expensive!) My friend was laughing at me because my project was causing a bit of commotion but I didn't care. In fact, I'm glad they liked it. This was one of those projects that, as I was progressing, started to alarm me. I couldn't tell if it was funky cute or downright gaudy. A few of them told me that they had similar yarn and they were going to buy the fuzzy yarn and copy this style. I say, cool. So if you see someone knitting a scarf like this, there's a good chance they were on the plane!

If you remember way back when, I talked about a glorious money pit called The Yarn Place in Capitola. I FINALLY did something with my purchases! I hope AL likes it. If not, I will yank it back, throw it around my neck and you will see a picture of me wearing it accompanied with a colorful entry. Nahhh, AL is actually very cool. She is always good about complimenting D-Doll and I when she knows we worked hard on something.

Knowing when it's over.

I saw this beautiful shawl and was convinced that I could make it. This sneaky yarn store suckered me with all its cuteness and charm and examples of how you can use their expensive yarn to make "simple" projects. Then I had this brilliant idea. I could make my mom this shawl for Mother's Day. So I bought two balls* of this kid mohair yarn at nearly $25 a pop. Dang.

The yarn label suggests to use size 5 needles but to make this delicate shawl, the Yarn Place said to use size 15 needles. And if you were wondering, yes, Mother's Day has come and gone (how sick would it be if I was already thinking about next year's M-Day? Please!) and it's not even half way done. I have been working on this damn shawl for four months - I took a break in July because (a) it was too hot and (b) I couldn't muster the patience. It was suppose to be simple knitting!

Just recently, I set my mind to finish it. I even brought it to Tel's house so I can finish this freakin' thing because I don't want to start another project without finishing my first one. Well, I had to undo some parts AGAIN and I just realized, I HATE this shawl. I hate doing it and it's just not giving me that warm fuzzy feeling. And it sure as hell isn't giving me instant gratification. So I unraveled the whole thing. And it felt gooooood.

I don't think of myself as a quitter. I'm pretty gung-ho about most stuff. But you know what? You just got to realize when it's over. And my pathetic patch of a shawl was OVER. There is now a spring in my step and little bit of giddyness knowing that I get to start a new project!

*Ball, skean, I'm still learning the terminology. I'm brand spankin' new to knitting so bear with me.