Tough Love

No knitting news here. Don't ask me what I did to my arm, but I sure as hell did something because it's hurting like a mo fo. I don't know if I strained it or pull something or what; seriously, I don't remember doing anything specific to it. It feels just like it did the time my brother broke me while we were on a family vacation (story for another time for those of you who don't remember that incident)...but not quite that bad. I don't feel like passing out or hurling yet. Geesh, for the past six months or so it has been injury after injury. Just when I start to heal and think I'll be able to stop being such a couch potato and get off my ass and start working out again, something else comes up. And, for the record, I don't think it's a knitting (or repetitive motion) injury because it's my left arm and I'm right handed all the way. Alright, enough with the bitching (with all the swear words can you tell that I'm in pain?...well, actually those of you who know me well enough would just think that I'm finally starting to sound like myself on this blog). But, anyway, in this case, no news is definitely not good news. But while there hasn't been any knitting, there has been sewing. I'm almost done with the baby quilt for Carole's baby shower this Saturday. I probably shouldn't be working on that either with my arm jacked up, but I am determined to get this sucker finished in time, damn it. I was never, ever on time picking Carole up in the morning when we were carpool buddies, but I sure as hell am going to finish this quilt on time. I'm making a point of it. And it is turning out SO cute. Oh, I can't wait to take pictures and post them. But not yet. So, this is a no picture post.

So, no crafting news, but a little life rambling...which will probably shock and disgust some of you, but hey, if you want to know the real me...Today at work as I was walking through one of the desk areas, I rounded a corner and saw Tom (our ordering guy) at his desk staring off into the lab. And I had the urge to throw a gummie bear at him (his head specifically). So I told him so. (A gummie bear because Salena has a whole container of them on her desk.) Anyway, he didn't seem to take the news very well. I told him that was a good thing and he shouldn't take it personally, but he seemed kind of doubtful. So later I had to go back and explain.

Remember grade school? Remember how boys and girls showed their affection? By picking on each other! That's right! Well, I don't think I've ever fully gotten over that thought process. In fact, mentally speaking, I've probably elevated it. My friend David (that's dancing shoes David to you) and I have this joke (only it's not really a joke) about me and my violent toughts. In high school, I would have random violent thoughts about my friends...and I always thought they were hilarious. (I once checked with a couple people to see if I was a freak and the verdict was no because I didn't act on the thoughts. That makes it official to me. So if you think I'm a freak, well you're just wrong.) A couple examples:

This is the one I gave Tom. Once, in chemistry class, after we had taken our exams so we had a lot of free time, I was walking by David's desk (yes, the same David) and he was sitting cross-legged on top of it playing cards. And for some reason I thought it would be great to just push him off and watch him fly. Don't worry, I didn't; but I did tell him about it. And we both laughed...me, cuz I thought the image was hilarious, and David probably because he thought I was crazy, but let's not be picky.

Another time I was walking down the hallway with a group of my friends and this girl (who was part of our group but I won't tell you her name because I never told her this story) was walking in front of me. And in my head I thought about kicking her in the butt and watching her fly down the hallway...and then I started to laugh because this image was also hilarious to me. David was there too and when I told him why I was laughing, again he laughed too. See, I'm either not crazy or I'm too scary for people to admit it.

Wow, I just realized how crazy I must sound. I'm not crazy people, I swear. Anyway, so the point, as I explained to Tom, is that if I have violent thoughts towards you, then that means I like you; you are my friend. Well, as long as I find those thoughts amusing anyway. (Sometimes I have violent thoughts towards strangers, but that's because they are royally pissing me off, and there is nothing funny about them.) This doesn't mean the opposite is true. I can totally love you and never have violent thoughts about you. Tom paraphrased it like this...if I like you, I'll beat the shit out of you. Mentally anyway. Which isn't necessarily true, but he's sort of got the gist. It's more like a (mental) sucker punch in the face = love. : ) Which cracks me up, because what would someone think if instead of saying "I love you", I said "I hit you in the face"? Alright, even I admit it, I am crazy.

Blue Suede Shoes?

So, Picnic Day didn't go exactly as planned. Rained out. In fact, it didn't just rain, it poured. And me, I am not at all about walking around in the rain. But that was okay, because on Friday I got an email saying that Knitter's Playground was having a huge sale. So, no Battle of the Bands, but plenty of stash enhancement.

This is Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace in Aslan. I just love the muted earthiness of it. I'm thinking maybe the Icarus Shawl from IK Summer 06. First time lace project on the horizon.




And this is di Ve, Zenith in 33903. I'm going make the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style.


And finally this is Madil, Eden in 631, such a lovely cafe mocha brown. The pictures really don't do it justice. And the feel of this stuff; it's bamboo and heavenly. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it.


I guess you could say I was in a brown mood.

When I said finally, I meant that in regards to yarn. I also picked up a set up size 17 dpns and Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. (All at 40% off! I love a good sale.) You know, at first, I didn't really think much of Knitting Nature. Ocassionally I would walk into a Border's or Barnes and Noble and look through it, but wasn't that impressed. But recently, I picked it up again and it was like looking at it with fresh eyes. Maybe my tastes have changed, maybe I'm maturing (I am turning 30 soon, after all...ugh), but all of a sudden I like most of the patterns in the book. Surprising that it took so long, really. Its the perfect blend of science and knitting and Norah did a lovely job with the writing in addition to the patterns.

Anyway, it was quite a score. And I still managed to get some knitting done on Sunday, finishing the baby item with the Bulky Hand-dyed Blue Sky Alpacas and starting another bib-o-love. I can't show you the FO yet, but the baby shower is in two weeks, so after that. It's so cute. But, oh, the pattern. I'll definitely have something to say about that experiment.

That's really all I have right now, ooh, except, I have this last crafty picture. It may not look crafty at first, but it is. It is full of craftiness. Now, you may think that these are just shoes and what is so special about "just shoes"--to which I could say that that question holds no place in my life; shoes are always special. But anyhow, these are no ordinary shoes, no. They are dancing shoes. My good friend David, who is a computer genius and helped me set up this blog, loves to swing dance. But swing dancing requires slippy shoes. They have special (not as cool, in my opinion) slippy shoes that you can buy specifically for this, but David of course found a way around this. He bought some normal shoes (which were probably much cheaper than the "dancing" shoes) and glued suede to the bottoms of them. Wahla. (Should I admit that I've retyped this word a few times now and have no idea how it is really spelled?) I present to you the totally cool Slippery Dancing Shoes.

The Mad Dash

It's been a while since my last post, I know, but suffice to say I have been very busy. Just not always with knitting (or sewing). Some of you may have heard, and some may not have, but just so everyone knows...my boss walked into work last Tuesday and announced he was leaving....in slightly less than two weeks. My boss is the Director of our department, and since I work for a small company, our department consists of him, me, and recently one other guy. But don't be fooled by the smallness of our group; it is the central hub of the company and without it things would quickly fall to pieces. Its a pharmaceutical company and we are the analytical core. His announcement has meant that I have spent this week and last week trying to learn everything there is about some very complex instrumentation. Instrumentation that it can take years to become proficient with. Honestly, I was going to be learning this stuff anyway, but just not in such a compressed timeframe and with him around to guide me. It has been a mad dash to say the least and I am VERY tired.

And then, for added excitement, Monday, while at work, I got a call saying that my old roommate from college was in town and a bunch of us were trying to get together for dinner. We met up at the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley; good beer, mediocre food. But it was a great time. After dinner, which for us ended at 10:30 (a lot of people coming in from all over the Bay Area and some from Sacto), I had to go back to the lab to do a little bit more work. Well, that proved harder than one would think since the brand new building that they have almost completed across the street was on fire! That's right on fire! Now, I didn't actually see any flames, but the police had the block sectioned off and the lights were flashing and the fire ladder was up and the hose was going. It definitely took a little extra manuevering to get into work and back out again once I was done.

Craziness I tell you, craziness!

The mad dash is also going on when it comes to baby gifts. I did start working on the Bibs O Love project from Mason-Dixon Knitting. And, let me tell you, these things are easy to crank out. (Well, they should be considering they squares of garter stitch with straps on one end.) I'm doing them in the suggested Peaches and Creme and they are right when they say that this is the softest 100% cotton yarn. I was a little weary about this stuff when placing the order, but i love it. Great , cheap yarn. Here are some pics. I have bib done in Shocking Pink and am almost done with on in Persimmon. The two skeins in the background are Pink Lemonade and Yellow.


Sorry for the crappy color quality in these pics but by the time I get home on weekdays there isn't much good daylight to work with.

After finishing the Persimmon bib, I'm probably going to have to switch gears and do something with this.

This is Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Hand-Dyed in color 1017 that I picked up from Knitting Arts this last weekend.
And the something I'm going to do with it is very specific. (Oh, get your mind out of the gutter.) It's going to become a hat for a very special baby. I'm going to Picnic Day with the family to visit my brother this weekend and I hope to crank this sucker out while listening to the Battle of the Bands. I would link to a pic of what the finished product should look like (so cute) but its a surprise and the baby shower is in a few weeks, so it will have to wait.

And so will what this sewing project will become

I'm very excited about how this is going to turn out. Fabulous, I hope.

OK, there was more to write about my friend's shoes, but since this is the second time I am writing this (having a problem with Blogger), that will have to wait until next time.

Revisiting the past (part 2)

In between times of eating at my favorite Davis restaurants and hanging out with old friends, I managed to knit...a lot...for me at least. After finishing the Endpaper Mitts, I got started on my Sunburst Sling Bag from Just One More Row. I'm using recycled silk (no particular brand, just stuff picked up at Stitches West) on size 8US needles and let me tell you something: this stuff isn't the greatest. First off, it can be really rough on the hands, which probably isn't helped by the fact that I keep finding twigs and rocks embedded in it. Also, I don't think I've wound one skein that hasn't either been broken with the ends tied back together or just left loose. Uncontinuous yarn. I hate that. It really bothers me. Just when you are getting into the rhythm of winding, the yarn ends. For each skein I was getting up to three balls. One super small, one small, and one medium. Every skein. Let me tell you, that's the poop. The upside of this stuff is that it is beautiful. So colorful. Here, take a look.





And because it is so unfinished, you really can't tell where one strand ends and the next one is tied on. I am almost finished now, just knitting up the strap. Then all I will have to do is seam it together and add the lining. Does anyone know how I go about adding the lining? The pattern includes instructions, so I guess what I'm really asking is, do you sew it in by hand (which is what I would guess) or use a machine? I'll probably go to the LYS when the time comes and see what they have to say. But that may be a while, because.....

everyone and their mother is getting pregnant. I've got two friends who are due in June and another aquaintance who is a couple months along. So, it's probably time to get started on some baby knitting. One of my best friends from childhood, her sister, is having a girl in June, so I think I'm going to do some Bibs-O-Love from Mason Dixon Knitting. I got the Peaches and Creme in the mail last week. Funny thing is the colors are all pinks, yellows, and greens--all this months colors for Project Spectrum, which I'm not even signed up for. And then I'm going to do a baby hat for another friend of mine and that will be green too. I don't sign up for things like that, because most likely, I won't finish or stick to the rules, but here I am following the April/May colors. Anyway, it might be a while before I finish the bag or get to knitting anything else for myself....

which is a shame because while I was in Davis, I found a new (well, new to me) yarn store that I LOVE. It's the Knitter's Playground. It's my new favorite yarn store in Davis. They have great yarn and, more importantly, a great atmosphere. They have a great big table set up where you can walk in and sit down and knit. Everytime I went in, someone was sitting at that table. And Rebecca (the owner) is very nice and also very helpful if you have any questions. While there, I couldn't resist buying four skeins of Cotton Fleece in Wisteria for this. I can't wait to get started on that...or Flair, or The Somewhat Cowl. But babies come first. So, for the next couple of weeks, it's bibs. Colorful bibs. Be prepared for lots of garter stitch.