Sunday, March 26, 2006

sweets

strawberries

strawberries are super cheap at ralphs this week so i went and bought a whole truckload of them and made these:

strawberries2

the recipe is easy peasy. all you do is melt some chocolate chips (i used semi sweet and bittersweet) in the microwave with a slice of butter (i think it makes it smoother but you could cut it out). obviously clean and dry the strawberries beforehand. dip them in melty chocolate and put on foil to cool. put in the fridge to harden. i tried to do white chocolate, too, but the white chocolate chips were not melting nice and it didn't work. i am bringing some in to work tomorrow for a birthday at work. i made brownies for the occasion, too. my oven still doesn't work very well but i am very good about watching it. the brownies only burned a teeny bit. i have some knitting finished but i don't have time to blog about it today. however, here is a preview:

jackcablecloseup

i'm off to watch the east coast feeds of desperate housewives and grey's anatomy. happy sunday!

Sunday, March 19, 2006

ikea

and i had some issues with ikea today. my fabulous friend took me out to ikea to get this bookshelf because she has a big car. the shelf i wanted i tried to get myself, but i realized that the box was about 7 feet long. no way was i getting that in my car. so we get it, come home and dump out the parts on the ground. we started to bitch about how crappy the ikea directions are and how it's usually 3 pictures with arrows. bad move on our part as the swedish ikea gods decide to punish us for our blasphemy by not putting any instructions in the box. i was so annoyed and we did not want to go back to the store. luckily my friend and i were able to figure it out by looking at the picture online and now i have a lovley bookshelf for all of my knitting books and mags. everything was just crammed into one puny case and the floor before. i feel so much more streamlined and it makes me feel better being more organized. progress pics of my debbie bliss sweater and hopefully a finished object next time.

weekend update

why does the weekend always fly by? last week was such a long week at work. 3 people were on vacation at various time and i basically had to do 3 people's job's at once. i was so happy when friday and st. patty's day finally hit. i did manage to wear green on friday, afraid of what my irish co-worker would do to me if i didn't. i also brought said co-worker to unwind during our lunch break. she's a hard core crocheter who's been meaning to to try knitting and i think she is going to sign up for a beginner class there. i was good, though, and used my gift certificate to buy just one thing. inspired by joy, i just couldn't wait to pick up the new rowan ryc beach book.

rycbeach

i'd love to make this lovely cabled concoction. i am sure i have some yarn that i could use for it in the stash, too. love me some cables.

saltwaterryc

i also got to see two good movies this weekend. went to see v for vendetta on friday night. very good and very thought provoking. it's a bit heavy handed at times and quite dark but i found it very interesting and well done. hugo weaving is excellent even if you never get to see his face and natalie portman is fantastic always and just looks luminous. i actually went out and bought the v for vendetta graphic novel right after and already, there are some big difference. but they are two separate things and i think i will enjoy both. tonight we saw thank you for smoking, which is only playing at one theater in la right now. it was really funny and witty and i enjoyed it a lot. aaron echkhart was so spot on and you just gotta see rob lowe's character. people like him are all over la. the only bad thing about it was katie holmes, who seem to deflate every single scene she's in. she's just not convincing in anything and i hate that sneer she does. but other than that, it is also a very thought provoking and entertaining film. there's been a draught of good films because the oscars just came by and it's nice to see things picking back up.

just realized that grey's anatomy is on so i must run. hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

sleevage

and we have sleeves!

DSC03054

sleeves done on the db astrakhan sweater and i have started the back. it's really fun working with this yarn and i like the cool texture it makes. it's so cold today in la. i don't know if it's just my apt but my fingers and toes are just freezing. even knitting wool isn't warming me up. i have to go shopping today to find a dress for a wedding i am in. i went shopping last week but i found hardly any dresses and the ones i did find were way fugly. so if anyone has any tips on where to get a nice dress, give a holla. otherwise, i'll be in bridesmaid hell for the weekend. :(

Sunday, March 05, 2006

new addition

picked up a new book this weekend while i was shopping. leigh radford's one skein. i haven't really gone through it yet but i thought i'd post some pics of a few of the projects i like. i have loads of single skeins running about the stash and thought this would be a good way to find something to do with them. it's well photographed (not by me, though, as you can see the blurry pics) and the projects are fun. i think it's a keeper.

oneskein

oneskeintank

oneskeinsocks

oneskeincupcake

post

a few notes on tonight's academy awards. (SPOILERS - don't read if you haven't watched the awards on your tivo yet) can't believe that reese witherspoon won over felicity huffman. so happy that rachel weisz won (she's not a prizefighter, spanky!) and also happy that amy adams was nominated (fantastic in junebug). was happy that paul giamattic finally got nominated for something (even if he didn't win). george clooney is awesome. philip seymor hoffman is great but i would have liked to see david strathairn win. yay for ang lee. he's brilliant. i was disappointed that crash won for best picture because even though it was good, i don't think it was as good as brokeback, good night and good luck or munich (haven't seen capote yet so i can't say). and yay for wallace and gromit winning. i still need to buy that dvd.

now onto what everyone was wearing. george clooney, eric bana and jake gyllenhaal were yummy. salma hayek was hot. what was up with the bow on charlize theron's shoulder? it was massive. i didn't understand michelle william's dress at all, though i did like her hair. and where was all the color? seems like the hot colors this year were black, brown and some sort of flesh tone. c'mon people, it's the academy awards. live it up a little. and that's my mini rant about the oscars. i don't normally watch but i was kind of interested this year. and with the magic of tivo, i can forward through the boring bits. oh - and of course there was jon stewart.jon stewart is always good to watch. that's all i have for tonight. good night, and good luck. :)

Saturday, March 04, 2006

yipee-ki-yay

i just got back from seeing 16 blocks, and i have to say that it was pretty entertaining. bruce willis is always playing the grizzled cop, but he's always so good. love me some bruce willis. mos def was quite good, too, and i'd recommend it if you're looking for a decent action/drama this weekend. but at the beginning of the movie, they must have showed us at least 6 trailers. i thought it was never going to end. and nothing looked good except for inside man and v for vendetta. i can't even remember the other ones, they were so bad. wait- there was one for basic instinct 2 with sharon stone trying to look really badass but just coming off as cheesy. were there really that many unanswered questions in the original to warrant a sequel 14 years later? i think not. in other news - i ordered some color cards from beaverslide yarns the other day and take a look:

DSC03046

isn't it pretty? it's really so helpful to have color cards and i find myself ordering them as much as possible now. nothing like ordering yarn and being disappointed when it gets there. but they have some great colors and i am sure i will be ordering something from them soon. well that's all the strength i can muster for a post tonight. night, all.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

sweets

strawberries

strawberries are super cheap at ralphs this week so i went and bought a whole truckload of them and made these:

strawberries2

the recipe is easy peasy. all you do is melt some chocolate chips (i used semi sweet and bittersweet) in the microwave with a slice of butter (i think it makes it smoother but you could cut it out). obviously clean and dry the strawberries beforehand. dip them in melty chocolate and put on foil to cool. put in the fridge to harden. i tried to do white chocolate, too, but the white chocolate chips were not melting nice and it didn't work. i am bringing some in to work tomorrow for a birthday at work. i made brownies for the occasion, too. my oven still doesn't work very well but i am very good about watching it. the brownies only burned a teeny bit. i have some knitting finished but i don't have time to blog about it today. however, here is a preview:

jackcablecloseup

i'm off to watch the east coast feeds of desperate housewives and grey's anatomy. happy sunday!
Read More


Sunday, March 19, 2006

ikea

and i had some issues with ikea today. my fabulous friend took me out to ikea to get this bookshelf because she has a big car. the shelf i wanted i tried to get myself, but i realized that the box was about 7 feet long. no way was i getting that in my car. so we get it, come home and dump out the parts on the ground. we started to bitch about how crappy the ikea directions are and how it's usually 3 pictures with arrows. bad move on our part as the swedish ikea gods decide to punish us for our blasphemy by not putting any instructions in the box. i was so annoyed and we did not want to go back to the store. luckily my friend and i were able to figure it out by looking at the picture online and now i have a lovley bookshelf for all of my knitting books and mags. everything was just crammed into one puny case and the floor before. i feel so much more streamlined and it makes me feel better being more organized. progress pics of my debbie bliss sweater and hopefully a finished object next time.
Read More


weekend update

why does the weekend always fly by? last week was such a long week at work. 3 people were on vacation at various time and i basically had to do 3 people's job's at once. i was so happy when friday and st. patty's day finally hit. i did manage to wear green on friday, afraid of what my irish co-worker would do to me if i didn't. i also brought said co-worker to unwind during our lunch break. she's a hard core crocheter who's been meaning to to try knitting and i think she is going to sign up for a beginner class there. i was good, though, and used my gift certificate to buy just one thing. inspired by joy, i just couldn't wait to pick up the new rowan ryc beach book.

rycbeach

i'd love to make this lovely cabled concoction. i am sure i have some yarn that i could use for it in the stash, too. love me some cables.

saltwaterryc

i also got to see two good movies this weekend. went to see v for vendetta on friday night. very good and very thought provoking. it's a bit heavy handed at times and quite dark but i found it very interesting and well done. hugo weaving is excellent even if you never get to see his face and natalie portman is fantastic always and just looks luminous. i actually went out and bought the v for vendetta graphic novel right after and already, there are some big difference. but they are two separate things and i think i will enjoy both. tonight we saw thank you for smoking, which is only playing at one theater in la right now. it was really funny and witty and i enjoyed it a lot. aaron echkhart was so spot on and you just gotta see rob lowe's character. people like him are all over la. the only bad thing about it was katie holmes, who seem to deflate every single scene she's in. she's just not convincing in anything and i hate that sneer she does. but other than that, it is also a very thought provoking and entertaining film. there's been a draught of good films because the oscars just came by and it's nice to see things picking back up.

just realized that grey's anatomy is on so i must run. hope everyone had a great weekend!
Read More


Thursday, March 09, 2006

sleevage

and we have sleeves!

DSC03054

sleeves done on the db astrakhan sweater and i have started the back. it's really fun working with this yarn and i like the cool texture it makes. it's so cold today in la. i don't know if it's just my apt but my fingers and toes are just freezing. even knitting wool isn't warming me up. i have to go shopping today to find a dress for a wedding i am in. i went shopping last week but i found hardly any dresses and the ones i did find were way fugly. so if anyone has any tips on where to get a nice dress, give a holla. otherwise, i'll be in bridesmaid hell for the weekend. :(
Read More


Sunday, March 05, 2006

new addition

picked up a new book this weekend while i was shopping. leigh radford's one skein. i haven't really gone through it yet but i thought i'd post some pics of a few of the projects i like. i have loads of single skeins running about the stash and thought this would be a good way to find something to do with them. it's well photographed (not by me, though, as you can see the blurry pics) and the projects are fun. i think it's a keeper.

oneskein

oneskeintank

oneskeinsocks

oneskeincupcake
Read More


post

a few notes on tonight's academy awards. (SPOILERS - don't read if you haven't watched the awards on your tivo yet) can't believe that reese witherspoon won over felicity huffman. so happy that rachel weisz won (she's not a prizefighter, spanky!) and also happy that amy adams was nominated (fantastic in junebug). was happy that paul giamattic finally got nominated for something (even if he didn't win). george clooney is awesome. philip seymor hoffman is great but i would have liked to see david strathairn win. yay for ang lee. he's brilliant. i was disappointed that crash won for best picture because even though it was good, i don't think it was as good as brokeback, good night and good luck or munich (haven't seen capote yet so i can't say). and yay for wallace and gromit winning. i still need to buy that dvd.

now onto what everyone was wearing. george clooney, eric bana and jake gyllenhaal were yummy. salma hayek was hot. what was up with the bow on charlize theron's shoulder? it was massive. i didn't understand michelle william's dress at all, though i did like her hair. and where was all the color? seems like the hot colors this year were black, brown and some sort of flesh tone. c'mon people, it's the academy awards. live it up a little. and that's my mini rant about the oscars. i don't normally watch but i was kind of interested this year. and with the magic of tivo, i can forward through the boring bits. oh - and of course there was jon stewart.jon stewart is always good to watch. that's all i have for tonight. good night, and good luck. :)
Read More


Saturday, March 04, 2006

yipee-ki-yay

i just got back from seeing 16 blocks, and i have to say that it was pretty entertaining. bruce willis is always playing the grizzled cop, but he's always so good. love me some bruce willis. mos def was quite good, too, and i'd recommend it if you're looking for a decent action/drama this weekend. but at the beginning of the movie, they must have showed us at least 6 trailers. i thought it was never going to end. and nothing looked good except for inside man and v for vendetta. i can't even remember the other ones, they were so bad. wait- there was one for basic instinct 2 with sharon stone trying to look really badass but just coming off as cheesy. were there really that many unanswered questions in the original to warrant a sequel 14 years later? i think not. in other news - i ordered some color cards from beaverslide yarns the other day and take a look:

DSC03046

isn't it pretty? it's really so helpful to have color cards and i find myself ordering them as much as possible now. nothing like ordering yarn and being disappointed when it gets there. but they have some great colors and i am sure i will be ordering something from them soon. well that's all the strength i can muster for a post tonight. night, all.
Read More