Sometimes, You've Just Gotta Garden

Last evening I decided I needed a patio garden rightthisverymoment. Yes, I know it's a little late in the game to start planting stuff, but how could I resist giant pots that were 60% off at Joanns? And that rack? 20$ at Ross! It was meant to be!

It's amazing how productive you can be when you get home from work at 3:30pm. Don't get me wrong, the butt-crack of dawn wake-up call still gets me EVERY morning, but my house has never been cleaner, more organized, or more comfortable since this schedule started. Martha, watch your back! Last night, after what was a seemingly endless productive day (plant garden, cook dinner of Aspargus with Tomato Compote and Pasta Puttanesca for mom, organize pantry), Viva-ness and I settled in for the night. Some of us drank more wine than others.

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Knitting
Here is what the Prarie Tunic looks like, as of 5pm yesterday:

I have a good feeling that this will actually be finished in a reasonable amount of time. I knit that back piece (with 4ply yarn on size 3 needles) in less than two weeks, while sharing time with about 3 other projects. Yes, this is progressing nicely.

But you know, sometimes a girls just got to knit on a sock.

Crusoe, from Knitty
Koigu-ness, Color #107 (I think) from awesome SP7 Sarah
Size 2 dpns
These are racing along - you only cast on 44 stitches!!! That was about 45 minutes of knitting, right there.

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Anyhow, I love that it's already Wednesday. Downside: My week has SUCKED thus far because I am recovering from the big Memorial Day BBQ, which suceeded in throwing me completely out of whack (I blame the hard cider). Upside: After all that talk of sushi (ya'all have me seriously reconsidering installing a hibachi grill), I conned invited my pops to meet me for Japanese at lunch today. YUM.

Ciao

J is for Japanese Cooking

I'm a little bit obcessed with Japanese food. Hands down, it's my favorite 'type', and I could easily eat sushi every day of my life. Of course, neither my pocketbook or family members would allow me to do that, so I have spent the last couple years trying to perfect my skills in my own kitchen.

No, I'm not rigging up a Hibachi grill in the ol' apartment, but I'm pretty darn close to getting the rice just right and my tofu noodles kick some a*s. Seriously, an old roommate of mine got me a pound of Ahi as a birthday gift one year and it was the best EVER.

Ok, so that's another thing I miss about the Bay Area. Buying FRESH seafood right off the boat in Live Oak Harbor!

Is it lunch yet?

Nothing Says "Good Morning!" Like a Puking Cat

Thanks for the suggestions on the baby items. I actually do love knitting them because they work up so fast! and Chris - I wish I was talented enough to draw that; I think I found it in an online clip-art directory.

So onto today. I woke up to a pleasent surprise this morning - Viva hacking up a hairball next to my bed at 5:10am. Nothing like going to town with a wad of paper towels and some Resolve to wake you up.

Of course, I didn't get to bed until like 11:30pm because the completely annoying band of 18-year-olds living and partying it up 6 nights a week in their first apartment my new neighbors decided it would be a fun idea to climb the cherry tree right outside my bedroom window with flashlights at 10:30pm. I felt like the cranky old lady at the end of the street as I slammed my window shut and added this shinanigan to my running list of 'things to report to the management' but hell, a working woman needs her sleep! I really hope I didn't bring this sort of headache to anybody during my wilder years...

Anyways, I actually have knitting stuff today.

Here's Aline's back and fronts sewn together. I had to crop the photo because I looked like absolute hell despite 90% of my head being covered by the camera. I need to block this and actually put some [ahem] supportive undergarments on to make this fall right.

Cathay splits like hell. Viva got a nail stuck walking oustide today and let me tell you, it is beyond repair. I also can't tune out and knit on this because of the same problem. sigh.

I've also been slowly working on the Prarie Tunic in between the baby mania items. I realized what it is that I don't like about this yarn.


While everyone else is dying their yarn, I'm bleaching mine out. I think this tank will look MUCH better (for my tastes, anyway) after a good bleaching. So that's the fate. Here it is when I got to work this morning:


Note to self: Do not throw a project in your purse when you are 1/2 way through a lace panel. Just don't.
P.S. I have no idea why my hand looks orange.
Earlier this morning, since I was up oh, an hour early, I sat outside and knit a baby bootie. It was actually pretty nice sitting there in a blanket, with some tea and rice cakes, watching morning creep up. Of course, I had to seriously fight the urge to go climb the Cherry Tree with a bullhorn and shout "GOOD MORNING WORLD!" in the immediate direction of the sleeping 18-year-olds window.


Assorted Wool Cotton from Rowan & Debbie Bliss. Adorable pattern here.
So that's Wednesday AM at the Casa. Back to ploting how I am going to stake revenge on the neighbors.

No Creative Title Today

Today is the start of "summer hours" on campus, which is why I am typing this at the un-godly hour of 6am [well, for me anyway]. We change our workday from 8-5 to 7-3:30 to accomodate the summer heat in the afternoons [ironically, it's raining and 55 degrees right now]. There are two things in this world I will never be 100% capable of doing - 1)Handling a snake or 2) Waking up early. Everyone says I will LOVE this schedule, but even after 8 1/2 hours of sleep last night, I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a mack truck. Even a COLD shower wasn't helping at all.

Enough whining. Thus is life and I will make the best of it.

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Saturday I was in Capitola for the 1st Annual Classic Car show, where we got the VIP access to the 'suite' party. Excellent.
Sunday my nephew Garet turned 1 year old. I can't belive it's already been a year - he's already walking and talking and getting himself into all kinds of trouble!

I didn't knit him anything this year - But I'm planning a sweater for Christmas. However I did start Crumpets, for my friend Danielle's daughter Arden. She had requested a knit summer dress awhile ago, so I am working this up for her baptism in a couple weeks. I'm in the VERY long, dull stretch of st st for the skirt, and the Cotton-Ease is hard on my hands, so progress is going slowly. For relief I go back to work on Aline sweater, which is now two completed fronts and 1 completed back. On to sleeve island! I am still deciding if I am going to do them from the top-down, although my experience with straying from patterns has never turned out well.

I've also got about 4 pairs of baby booties I need to get cracking on. Why is everyone getting pregs at the same time? I need some new baby books...

That Wacky Central Valley Weather!

What the HECK is this all about?

A 30 degree difference in 3 days?!? Sunday and Monday will make for great evenings in with pizza, wine, and knitting.

I is for Idiosyncrasy

Main Entry: id·io·syn·cra·sy
Pronunciation: "id-E-&-'si[ng]-kr&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -sies
1 : a peculiarity of physical or mental constitution or temperament

I have very few Idiosyncrasies. Seriously. On the whole, it takes a LOT to bug me/annoy me/enrage me. Generally, I am pretty laid-back, mellow chick. Of course, I am human, and there are a couple of things out there I just CAN'T stand.

For example, clothing not appropriate to the body.


Not looking to start a war here, but there are ways that clothing can be tastefully worn and look good on ANY body. Too short, too tight, to many 'lines' in the wrong places.... ick, I just can't stand it. This also includes the (very tiny) girl in front of me today at the bagel shop wearing the super-tight red satin bra under her too-tight white tank top that was WAY to highcut for the VERY low cut running shorts, so much so that I almost started my day with a flash of girly parts.

ETA - Girls, wear what you like, when you want to - more power to yah. Personally I don't like showing the world my beer belly (yes, I totally have one), but if you can rock it, party on!

I also can't stand people who sue over the DUMBEST things. Exhibits A, B, C and D*

*Read the one at the bottom about the hot tub. Jim Carrey, anyone?

Seriously? I would never completely pass judgement until I heard both sides of the story, but I have so sympathy for some of these suits which are blatent attempts at unjust money-whoring.

Finally, the ultimate action that takes me from zero to b*tch in .35 seconds: Bad Drivers. Particularly, Bad Drivers in Fresno.



I am almost embarrassed to admit some of the things I have screamed in my car when I am alone, faced with yet another road moron in this city. I know this sounds VERY harsh, but believe me, there is fact behind this rage.

Point #1 - Fresno drivers are obcessed with parking as close to the entrance of their intended building as possible. There can literally be a spot less than 15 feet away, but Mrs. Jones in her giant SUV will pull up and wait for the family to finish loading their car, put the kids in the kids seats, and pull out so she can get that much closer. That person in the rearview banging their head on the steering wheel? Yeah that's me. I need about 3 more feet to be able to pull into the OPEN parking spot but YOU have caused all 5 of us behind you to wait, because YOU can't be bothered to walk an extra 15 feet.

Point #2 - Bay Area: 65 really means 75. Fresno: 65 means 50. Apparently, I did not get the memo.

Point #3 - "I am the only person on this road" mentality. OK, I KNOW that red means stop. But when I need to turn left, and my light is green, PLEASE do not slow down to 15 four hundred feet before the light so that I have to tailgate your a*s in a fevered attempt to get to MY light in time, all the while you are gabbing on your cell phone, and I miss my light because YOU THINK YOU OWN THIS PLACE. This also applies to applying your makeup in the car and not turning right at a red when there are no cars in sight, swinging into a parking spot inches behind me when I have obviously been backing up for a good 20 seconds, and crusing 20 miles below the speed limit in your Porsche Carrera, because it makes so much sense you would spend that much money on a car to take it 30 in a 50.

OK, so that was the negative post on this site for 2006. Surprisingly, I feel a lot better.

FORE!

Golf

Happy to report that I survived the tournament without any stomach muscle pain or completely embarassing moments (unless you count when I shanked the ball into the path of the VP of Enrollment who was playing on a DIFFERENT HOLE).

I even managed to out-drive the pictured Associate Dean a couple times, ensuring that I actully contributed to my team in the scamble format! I'm definitely way into golf now. Seriously, even the rising mercury in Fresno isn't detering me from the range. Onward, I say!

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Mamma's Day
Gotta love the old young-ish gal

Isn't she cute? We (sissy and I) got her a new set of gardening gear, and cooked/cleaned up dinner for the her and the entire fam. Mothers Day is always the time of practical gifts in our family - those gloves cost about $5, but gosh darn it, mom wouldn't get herself a pair even though her old ones had about 6 holes in them. The hat and clogs were just too cute to pass up.

The dinner

That's Nanny the Matriarch of our family at the head of the table. Can't forget her on this day - she's the most kick-a*s grandma anyone could ask for. She golfs, drinks cosmos with her lady friends, red-hat purple-dresses in sequins and rhinestones, and makes a mean marinara-meat sauce. Next to her is Gage, the coolest little dude-cousin ever. I'm 22 years older than him - When he turns 18, I'll be headed over the Hill. YIKES!

Anyway back to the point; it was perfect night (about 75 degrees at 8pm), and everything in mom's backyard is still green and lush and perfect for dinner outside. I sat out there drinking wine and knitting on the Prarie Tunic until about 9pm last night (after scrubbing the kitchen for my mom, of course!). God I love me a summer night in Fresno.

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One Final After-Thought...
...photo from my sisters birthday.


After looking through literally 100's of photos her friends took, this one jumped out to me. I have no idea what Lex and I are talking about, but I think it's a pretty freakin' cute photo. Sister-Sister!

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Knitting stuff later. I was way too busy this weekend to get anything significant done.

Man Down! Man Down!

Is it possible to pull a muscle in your stomach from golfing? Because I did it. Last night. Tournament tommorow. Now I can't sit without massive pain (don't believe me? I am sitting on my knees in front of my desk right now). Of course, this is rational Delia speaking; what I REALLY thought this morning when I woke up with pain in my torso was that my appendix was going to explode and my parents were going to find me passed on out the side of the road in my car. Lovely, eh?

Tomorrow will probably require nipping the whiskey before teeing off to get through this.

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After playing with those swatches last night, I realized HELLO... Cotton Fleece has wool in it. HELLO... it's 95+ degrees in Fresno right now. Cotton, Cotton, and MORE COTTON in the future. So say hello to tht Prarie Tunic from the newest Interweave.

She's being knit up in recycled Rowan 4Ply from the ill-fated Lucky Clover Cardigan, than the Arabella Tank. 3rd times a charm, I hope.

The Good, the Bad, and the $%#$^* Ugly

The Good

FINALLY!

Jaywalkers
Claudia Handpaints, Color Stormy
size 1 dpns

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The Bad
Well, Bad is all relative I guess. Here, "Bad" means that I can't believe I actually bought all this at once. Damn that Webs sale.


My inner monolouge is thinking 'hello tax return? How are you today???" Obviously this is not my WHOLE tax return, but if you would have told me 4 years ago this was where part of my bonus was going, I'd have called you nuts (of course at that time I was still in college, so it probably would have been spent on booze anyway...)

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The $%#$^* Ugly


Last night, I stayed up late seaming all the body pieces of this thing together before deciding on the yoke. I wish I hadn't. I almost cried in the bathroom when I realized the back was sagging to my ass. This yarn (which I previously thought so highly of) is really heavy, so it is not holding shape and stretching like a mo-fo. Bastard.

I'm not sure if this is fixable. At 11pm, after all that work, I just threw it into a big heap on the groud and stomped away - I can't think about frogging this right now. I once had such high hopes for this sweater... now I am resisting the urge to chuck it off the balcony onto the annoying crow that has moved in out there.

After hiding this thing away for the time being, I decided to start fresh today (I did finish those socks, finally) so I spent my lunch hour swatching away with the Cotton Fleece for the Rosebud Tank and buying another set of size 4 needles for Aline. My dad was not amused with the swatching during sushi today for some reason. Maybe it was the two huge yarn cakes on the table? I must have really grown immune to the weird stares.

So anyway, here they are:


Sorry for the fuzzies, my camera sucks you know what. I was playing around with some options for the bottom hem - on the right is a picot edge and the left has a garter stitch row. What do you think?

1:15... time to punch in.

Back.

First off, I've been on the road for a week at hotels where the internet SUCKED. Let me tell you, I am SO GLAD I was hauling my laptop all over the place only to get a connection that rivaled AOL about 10 years ago.

However, I couldn't complain about one particular hotel from the week. I usually get stuck in crappy Best Westerns or Travelodges, so this was a nice treat.
Bonus 1: It was in wine country. Bonus 2: the BEST DAMN MAC AND CHEESE I've ever had. With Guyere cheese and bread crumbs. Oh my god, I'd drive back just for that. Moving on...

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Weekend...
...came and went in blurry haze. It was my sisters 24th b-day, for which we threw a big ol' surprise party. It was perfect: she was totally surprised, patron was abundant, and I didn't even get a sunburn.


(I had to include that photo of my mom, because 1) she's drinking Tecate out of a red keg cup and 2) she's playing flip-cup with a bunch of ex-frat dudes. It was amazing.)

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Knitting

Straight-Laced Socks
Plymouth Sockotta, Color #3
Size 3 dpns


These things took forfreakingEVER to finish. Not sure why, I sat down one evening and had them done in an hour. Go figure.

Despite being on the road for a week, I didn't do much knitting (too much wine tasting was going on in between fairs. Did I mention I LOVE my job?)

However, I had to frog almost the entire right front of the Karabella cardi last night because I screwed up a cable. Aline is on hold because I lost one of my size 4 needles during the trip. Lets see, what else. Oh yes. I still can't finish the Jaywalker. Soon, me hopes.