One More for the Ravelry Board

I am HIGHLY embarrassed to say I've started another sweater.


Knit Picks Andean Silk on my grandma's old size 6 straight needles.

I think I was in a knit funk because I haven't turned out anything but st st for like the last 2 months. I saw this sweater and was like OH - LACE! Oh - Scallops! Prrrretty!

I am also embarassed to say I am JUST now getting around to putting stuff from the wedding (4 months ago!) away.


[click for notes]

Lots of organization and persistance going on around here, I tell yah.

Rain Rain Come My Way!

It is overcast outside. Do you know how happy this makes me? What makes it even better:

Sitting inside (while some nice men build my backyard), knitting with Cascade Pima Tencel, snuggling with the animals, listening to the Allman Brothers. And flowers. Definitely flowers:

So April Showers bring May Heatwaves?

Today is our first day of summer hours at the U [we move from 8-5 to 7-3:30 so all the power generators don't burn up in the summer trying to keep this place cool], and MAN am I not happy to be awake this early. On top of that, it is hot as SIN here in F-No, with tempatures over 100 degrees for FOUR straight days in a row. I think it's like 75 degrees right now. In May. What the EFF is going on here?!?

Yesterday we had a record high (103), and we may do it again today (I've heard as high as 106 is predicted). Oye.

Luckily we were out of town and didn't have to deal with most of it, but it was still pretty toasty in SB. I was forced to abandoned all wool for this:


[Please excuse the less-than-stellar photograph]

The Ballet Camisole from the site formerly known as Magknits. In Cascade Pima Cotton, size 4 & 6 needles. This is my progress after 3 days - not too bad! I think it should be done by Memorial Day.

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Other stuff from the weekend:

Osyter Love, at Brophy Brothers SB:


Our Girls are FINALLY getting along:


AND

I'm bringing back the Sunday Dinner Party:

[oh how I enjoy my beloved fiestaware]



I can't begin to tell you how good this dish was. I started with the recipe Chili-Garlic Shrimp from Cooking Light. I made Bulgar Pilaf instead of Brown Rice, doubled the amount of lemon & bay leaf, and added an extra T. of butter (something I NEVER do, but oh man, did it make that sauce good). Served with a Crisp Chardonnay and Green Salad w/ Champagne Vinegarette. Yumminess.

SB Love

Longtime readers may recall that I've talked about my Alma Mater once or twice, but for the newbies: I can't put it more simply, I went to school in one of the most beautiful places on the west coast: Santa Barbara, CA.


It's a damn shame I can't get back there more often... but YAY! We're headed back this weekend!

My husband hasn't really gotten to experience SB yet, we drove through and had lunch when we were coming back for a wedding but he didn't really see much. Now there's so much to do and so little time! Happy Hour at the Montecito Inn. Shopping on State Street. Walking around the Mission. A Freebirds Burrito (the REAL one in Isla Vista). Music at the Arlington Theater. The Oh-So-Strong cocktails at Joe's. The Italian Pottery Outlet.

Geesh. I think I am going to need two weeks.

Anyhow, now I need to add two yarn stores to the mix: Knit & Pearl and Loop & Leaf. I know for sure I'd like to come home with some Sea Silk, and maybe some Blue Sky Organic Cotton. So lucky I didn't knit in college.


View Larger Map

I'm going to take the back piece of the Watery Cardigan, and the sleeve of Thermal. Don't know why I'm working on either of these since I won't even be THINKING about wearing them for 6 months, but oh well. I'm itching to cast on socks for some reason, so maybe those too. The casting on never quits around here.

Crab N' Kegs

Picture if you will, my sister and I sitting around drinking wine one night when I comment outloud to myself "gee, it would be fun if we could throw a crab feed for your birthday next month..."

Crazy ideas turn into even crazier parties.





Sissy turned the big 2-6 last week, and my mom actually let us put a keg in her backyard to celebrate. Cause nothing says "DOWNWARD SLIDE TO 30!" like crab and kegs. I'm not the biggest beer fan in the world, so I celebrated by drinking some yummy chardonnay. However, Matt only had one thing to say about this:



Knitting coming soon.

Queued

These are the top 6 items in my Ravelry Queue:



I have the yarn for ALL of them (as soon as the tax-return shipment for some Cascade Pima Tencel and Eco-Wool arrives from webs.com) and I am having a MAJOR case of startitis. This is bad.

The Blouson and Ballet Tee are going to no-brainers as soon as it get hot as sin here in the Valley (about 1.5 months from now), but I need to resist those others. Currently I'm knitting as much as I can on the Watery Cardi (Sesame II) while I can still handle 100% wool. She is coming along pretty quick - I've got a front and almost 2 sleeves done thanks to the cabin weekend (more on that tomorrow). Marilyn's NSSC is to a point where it's become a couch-only knit, so progress on that is slow.

Knitting time has been hampered significantly because I'm on my yearly Spring diet, which blows. I make no effort to hide how much I despise depriving myself of anything, but I've just felt so tired and icky the last few months that it needed to be done.I always feel great after working out, but given how busy we are there's very little spare time and something has to go (since it's pretty challenging to knit on a stationary bike. I may have tried it once or twice). And right now, I've gotta ride this motivation for all it's worth.

Oh but don't worry, the nightly glass of wine is still a part of this diet. I realized a couple years ago there was no way in hell I could give it up.

Quirky

Brandy over at The Purl Parables tagged me with a 'quirky' meme. This thing was sort of written for me because I've been called someones 'quirkiest friend' more than once.

So here goes. Six quirks about me:

1. I love vinegar.

Any condiments, really, but I put vinegar on EVERYTHING. Balsamic, Sherry, White, Garlic-Red, Cider - you name it, it's in my pantry. My favorite midday snack is Ramen noodles cooked, drained, and then soaked in white vinegar. It's also a great way to repel people from coming into my office.

2. I love knitting.

This is not a quirk for almost everyone reading this, but to my real-world friends, it's somewhat insane. My sister mentioned it numerous times in her speech at our wedding. My friends love rummaging through my (usually ginormous) purse to see what I am toting around on any given day. I also knit while driving. What - I stop when the light turns green!

3. I make up words

Sometimes the English language just doesn't allow you to express the way you feel. Example: I am tremendasaurusly tired. This used to horrify some of my English-major friends in college. I think I started doing it more frequently to annoy them.

4. I bite my nails

Gross, I know. I've tried everything to stop. At least it's not crack cocaine or something.

5. I love random trivia

For fun, I read Wikipedia. Currently, I'm reading up on the meaning of common nursery rhymes and the list of the most haunted places in the US.

6. I sing to my pets

Nothing like a little family sing-along to put everyone in a good mood. My favorite is singing "VI-VA" in place of Paul Simon's "Ceceila". Vi-Va, you're breaking my heart, you're shaking my confidence daily... oh Va-Vi-Va, I'm down on my knees... you get the idea.

Stuff on my Dog

It looks like Katy has been shopping online when Matt and I are at work. "Mommy, like my new shirt? I got it on sale at Old Navy!"



To quote Matt last night: "I don't know what I'm more horrified at - the fact that my dog is wearing a polo shirt, or the fact that I put it on her"

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Mommy's been internet shopping too:



12 hanks Arcaunia Nature Cotton, on sale at Webs. LOOOOOOVE this cotton. Squishy soft [side note: have you ever heard someone other than a knitter use the word SQUISHY seriously when describing something?] Going to be the 1824 Blouson someday soon.

I'm looking forwards to lots and lots of knitting time this weekend as we head up to our Yosemite cabin. Homemade Chili + Wine + Fresno The Miniseries + Serenity. YES PLEASE.

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One last image from this weekend:

I got these cool vases at my bridal shower, and never found the right blooms for them until this week. The Lilac works very nicely, don't you think?

ENTP

I've seen this floating around the internets so sorry for the bandwagon. However, I must say it's pretty damn acurate:

You Are An ENTP

The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression. You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything. Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off. You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments. In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love. And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear! You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor. At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision. How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial

What's Your Personality Type?

Friday Night Bocce

One of the coolest things about our sub-division is the Bocce court. So Friday we decided to have a little BBQ/Bocce night at the Casa.


Matt maintaining great form, even WITH a beer in hand.

My sister and I did NOT Bocce, we drank wine.


Katy supervised.


Needless to say, I got zero knitting done that night.

Cat, Undercover

Courtesey of M's new camera phone:

I Made a Hat

Slouchy Copy Cat Hat
Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed
1.5 balls / size 7 DPNS
1.5 days to make.
Raveled

LOOOOOOOOVE the slouchy hat craze. Going to make another very soon. Which is, you know, real smart on my behalf because the tempatures here are stuck in the 70s and not going down again until we hit 110.

Poetic

Oh Felted Tweed...



How do I love thee?

Cobblestone Pullover

Cobblestone Sweater

Cobblestone Pullover
Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed / 12.5 balls / 43.5 chest size
Size 7 needles
Raveled

I love this sweater! It's been stupidly warm here so he probably won't be able to wear it until we hit Yosemite in May, but I like to cuddle up in it on the couch.

I had a bit of a dyelot issue that I didn't notice until I started photographing it. Oh well. Let's just hope he never gets photographed in this thing.

One word of advice is to reinforce the neck. Both M and I thought it was way too floppy and loosy-goosey, even though I followed the directions to a T. I wove some heavy elastic through it a few times and it made it much more to our liking.

The sleeves turned out too long for his tastes (damn Silkroad Tweed grows like CRAZY), so he's going to fold them up for now.

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Next WIP: The backyard

Friday LAME-O

8 Balls of Rowan Felted Tweed?

1 Weekend Trip down to LA w/ mas car time?

Brand new Addi Turbos?

The perfect pattern?

Damn you, Magknits, for going down without warning!

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We [Matt, Sissy and Someday-BIL] saw Cats for like the 5th time this week. Well, it was the 5th time for sissy and I; we are still a little shocked we convinced the menfolk to join us. Picture if you will - Sis and I hissing at each other all through dinner and all the way to the theater.

Then, Matt turning to Someday-BIL halfway through the first act and saying "What the HELL is going right now?"

Totally classic.