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.



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.



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!

sleevage

and we have sleeves!



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. :(

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.

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. :)

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:



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.

fuzzy goodness

i got this in the mail last week...


to make this jacket from debbie bliss simply soft...


the astrakhan yarn is fun to work with and makes the coolest texture. it takes a bit of getting used to at first. i kept splitting the curly part with the straight thread it was plied with but after awhile it started to go really smoothly. yes i chose the same color in the book. i've been doing that a lot lately and i don't know why. but i did get a really good deal on the yarn in a random ebay auction. nothing beats a good yarn deal. and i started on a sleeve in the hopes that i won't be banished to sleeve island later on. just get it out of the way. this is how it looks so far:



pardon my messy ends. and i still need to seam the atacama sweater and rip the sleeves on the green one. yeah yeah yeah. i'm having too much fun to worry about it right now. :)

wet socks

wow, it's really raining hard right now. that's pretty unusual down here in southern california. it's so nice to snuggle up at home when it's pouring rain outside. it's supposed to continue for several days - yippee! since i was stuck inside tonight, i decided to buckle down and do a bit of seaming. over the weekend, i finished all of the parts of the rowan juniors sweater i am working on. i've never seamed a sweater so i was a bit apprehensive. i was able to join the shoulder seams using what i think was mattress stitch. then i picked up stitches for the collar. after picking up the stitches i realized that the pattern wanted me to just join one shoulder seam, pick up stitches and then knit the collar back and forth. since i had connected both shoulder seams, i would up picking up stitches in the round. it was a bit fiddly but i don't think there was a huge difference in the outcome.


my first shoulder seam. looks ok to me.


ooh a collar!

so tonight i decided to put at least one sleeve on. i lined it up with the armhole shaping and i was off! but then, something looked odd. after seaming one sleeve it looked like the arm was much longer than the body. i know kids are gangly, but this wasn't right. a look at the pattern tells me that the sleeve should measure 11 inches. how long was mine? how 'bout 15 inches? i thought about just leaving it and hoping the kid had long arms. but then i took the other sleeve out to measure only to find that this one was only 13 1/2 inches long. counting on the kid having long arms was one thing, but long AND uneven? so i ripped out all my pretty seaming and put the sleeves away to be ripped out and made shorter (and the same length). :(


something is fishy here...

and i was so excited to find out that michaels is starting to carry patons merino yarn. i scored two balls of "natural mix" this weekend and am not sure what i will do with it, but i do love me some real wool yarn at the craft store.



and i got the new rowan mag in and was pretty disappointed. i just didn't think there were very many cute knits in there. however, the new kim hargreaves collection is up and i think it's lovely. how i wish she were still at rowan. well i am off to knit and watch 24 now. happy mondays.

brownie bites are my friend

ugh, i so have the headache that will not die right now. but fear not, for i have taken some advil and had a big glass of water and i am confident that it will go away soon. the good news is that i don't have to go to work tomorrow. it's so exciting not to be at work on a day you normally are. i don't have any plans really except to sleep late and get caught up on lost. i love lost, but for some reason, the beginning of the season was so intense that i just started to put off watching it every week. now i am 9 episodes behind (i know i know, practically a whole season) and i have friends threatening to disown me if i don't catch up so they can talk about what's happening. hopefully i will be able to watch a good chunk of those episodes tomorrow. i've also recently become addicted to project runway. i just love watching them make clothes in such a short period of time. i wanted to be a fashion designer when i was in high school and i find the show fascinating. kara was wearing the cutest dress in this last episode and i found out that you can buy it from her website here (it's the kimono dress). i just wish it was a bit more affordable. i am not used to spending that much on a dress so i don't see myself buying it. but damn, it was cute.

speaking of sewing, i recently picked up this book:



i'd been seeing it on various blogs (can't remember which now) and was drawn to the awesome designs in it. i don't have a sewing machine or really know anything about sewing at all but this book is really inspiring me to learn. so if anyone has any other good sewing book suggestions or a recommendation for a starter sewing machine, please let me know. i don't really need another hobby, but sewing is something i've been wanting to do for awhile.

in other news, i am almost done with the last sleeve on the atacama sweater and i finished all of the pieces of the rowan kid's sweater i am making. once i finish the atacama sleeve, i will have a seaming party and do both sweaters. i am a little apprehensive, as i don't think i've ever actually assembled a whole sweater before. well i did do that one debbie bliss baby sweater, but it was made all in one piece. cross your fingers that everything turns out alright. and i apologize for the lack of pictures but the camera is still in the shop.

well my head is feeling a bit better so i think i will read a bit before going to bed. and if you're up, tune in to tbs cause o brother where art thou is on right now. tim blake nelson makes me laugh so much in this. night!

no poison

wow, it feels like the week has just been so long. but i am glad to say that i am back in my apt. the fumigation went well and it doesn't look like we're going to die from any gas left over from it. i still have to wash a bunch of pots and pans but we've pretty much put all of the food back into its proper place and things are starting to look pretty normal again. but my camera is broken and has been sent away for repair. so no pictures from me for awhile. this is my second sony camera in two years to break down on me. thank goodness i bought the best buy warranty on this last one or i'd be screwed yet again. i gotta switch digital camera brands when i get a new one one of these days. those sonys just don't hold up very well. i bought some new knitting/crafty books this weekend but i am just too tired to post about them now. soon, i promise. :)

bang my knee

happy lunar new year, everyone! sorry i've been out while but i took a few days off and went back up to the bay area for the holiday. my mom was very happy to see me and feed me, as usual. the weather was quite lovely up north. i am always amazed by how wonderful the clouds are up there. they're just so fluffy and three dimensional and i just want to touch them. we don't get clouds at all in la (unless you'd like to call the brown haze one big "cloud"). i wish i had taken some pictures but my camera ran out of batteries and the parentals didn't have any aa's lying around and i was too lazy to go buy some. this week has been super busy at work, too, and i haven't had a chance to breathe. not to mention that our landlord called on tuesday to tell us that they were scheduling a fumigation next week, that we had to pack up all of our food in plastic bags, and that we would have to vacate for three days. yeah - let's just say that i am pretty annoyed. this is is the state or my kitchen at the moment:



it's just stressing me out. and our building managment were kind of being asses about it. one woman in my building threatened to move out and/or stay in the apt with police when the fumigation was going to happen. i think they finally settled it but ahhhh, where is all this food going to go? anyone want to come over and help me eat some frozen pizzas? not to mention that i am not even around this weekend because i am housesitting for a friend. she's actually got a really cute house out in sunland with a gigantic yard and a "spool" (i guess that's what people called a spa/pool combo). i also get to take care of her lovely pets: two dogs and a cat.


that's mckenna, a super sweet doggie


this is oliver, the biggest non-fat cat i've never seen. oliver also left me a nice #2 in the bedroom this morning. thanks, oliver.

there's also liddy, the super hyper dog but i couldn't get her to sit still for a picture this morning. it's nice to take care of them but that, and the fumigation is just a one way ticket to stress city. but what's better for stress than starting a new knitting project? after seeing eunny's awesome shedir hat here, i knew i just had to have one. i'd also seen a sample made recently at a yarn store and thought it was super cute but i wasn't into the feel of the rowan calmer the pattern calls for. i mean, calmer's nice and all, and probably great for someone with no hair, but i wanted something with the spring and warmth of wool. eunny made hers out of just one ball of rowan felted tweed and i had one ball in the stash so it was off i went!


i think this color is called melody

i am doing what eunny did and am twisting the knit stitches to give it a bit more definition. felted tweed is so yummy to work with and i can't wait to finish this hat. seems like i must be in a hat mood because i fell in love with allison's we be pirates hat (feb 3 post) the moment i saw it. pirates are awesome and this hat is a perfect thing for a pirate lover. a quick stop to unwind after work yesterday and i came home with this:


blue sky alpacas for my very own pirate hat!

alight that's all i have time for now. have a great weekend, everyone!

warning - exotic meat consumption ahead. not for the squeamish.

i feel like i need to put a disclaimer on this post because i think some people might be grossed out and/or offended by the details of what will follow. so the people i work with love food. they especially love asian food and trying new kinds of food. i guess my bosses have been talking about going to this vietnamese restaurant for awhile. well we eat vietnamese food all the time so why was this place so special? the myth is that is serves exotic meats like snake and kangaroo along with the more traditional chicken and fish dishes. an article mentioned this restaurant recently in an article about where you can eat goat, and the spark of interest burned anew. so we called and had them fax over a menu (which i think they thought was odd)and my co-workers were delighted to find that they had kangaroo, venison, rabbit, snake, snails, squab, fox (apparently now illegal though, much to my co-workers' disappointment) and other strange creatures up for grabs. a plan was hatched and we went out last night to sample some of life's finer delicacies. i was a little apprehensive because the idea of eating a snake kind of grossed me out but i figured that i would suck it up and just eat it. the wait staff was very happy we were so enthusiastic though and thankfully, no one (meaning me) freaked out about the meat or anything like that. we ended up having alligator and venison grilled at the table with some butter and then wrapped in rice paper rolls with vermicelli and veggies, kangaroo stir fried with onions and bell peppers in a wine reduction sauce and snake porridge. we also ordered chicken with lemongrass just in case, but that's pretty boring. everything was really good. the restaurant really knows how to marinate meats and make it tasty. i liked the deer a lot. the alligator was good but it was in such small pieces, that it was sort of annoying to eat. the kangaroo tasted sorta like steak and was dark. and the snake didn't taste much like anything at all, but it's a white meat, which surprised me. we were quite impressed actually and are already planning the next outing, where we will try the famous baked catfish, some goat and who knows what else. ok - here are some pictures:


raw deer meat ready for the grilling


i was the lucky one to grill the deer and alligator last night


more grilled deer and gator


'roo with wine sauce


snake porridge with mung bean - kinda sweet

and to top it off they served us vietnamese jello for dessert (yummy). here are the details if anyone else wants to go (and i think you should. the food it very tasty and you can totally get "normal" meat there, too). it's called phong dinh and it's at 2643 N. San Gabriel Blvd., Rosemead; (626) 307-8868. Lunch and dinner 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. Dinner for two, food only, $15.95–$35 (more with exotic meats).

i think that's enough for one post. i am driving back up north for the lunar new year celebration with the parents. i am not really looking forward to the drive but a few days off sounds pretty cool. finishing up the green kid's sweater. one more sleeve to go!

no work and all play

yes, i was one of the lucky who did not have to go to work today. i don't know why more people don't celebrate martin luther king jr.'s birthday. it's really quite a shame. but lucky me spent most of the day shopping and watching the new season of 24. yeah i watched yesterday and tonight's episode today. i couldn't even knit while doing it, i was so tense. those first few minutes of sunday's episode just floored me. i can't wait to see what happens for the rest of the season. and i love that sean astin is on it this season. he's my favorite hobbit and he was a goonie! clearly i haven't gotten much done lately, as you can tell by my sad lack of posting. i know why they call it sleeve island now. it's like you keep knitting and knitting but it doesn't seem to end. and a sleeve is so much smaller than a back or front. i don't know why it takes so long to knit. so i started the cap sleeve on the jack sweater. it doesn't look like much but it's getting there.



not much else is going on here. the frenzy of visiting friends has finally ceased and i have some more time to myself. it's always a reflective time at the beginning of the year and i don't really do resolutions but i would like to take better care of myself (ie eat better and exercise) and actually finish my knitting projects. we'll see. alright well it's off to bed for me cause i have to go to work tomorrow. geez.

brokeback

i saw brokeback mountain last night and i must say that i loved it. i thought that it might not live up to the hype and the expectations i had given it but i thought it was a really beautiful and poignant film. it was just a really sad love story about two people who could never really be together. you should definitely see it if you haven't yet and i hope that people not in liberal places like the east and west coast give it a chance. go see it now and happy weekend!

the path to hell is on i-5

yes i really thought i had driven right into hades itself on monday night when my friend and i made our return trip from northern california back to so-cal. first off, it had been storming for days and visibility was expected to be low. the rain wasn't actually so bad. it was a bit stressful and a few time i felt like we might slip off the freeway but really, it was nothing to prepare for what came. it started off innocently enough with some minor traffic due to rubbernecking. then we hit more because of an overturned big rig. the winds were vicious and i can only imagine how hard it would be to drive a big ass truck in them when i barely managed my sedan. um, them more traffic due to overturned trucks. then after an hour going about 5 miles, they closed the 5 freeway. okayyy. so we got off and took a break. they opened the freeway. we drove for 10 minutes freely and then massive traffic again. yippee they were closing the freeway AGAIN. this time it took up an hour to go three miles before being detoured off the freeway. we turned around and went back to the place were we had taken a break over an hour before, got on a different, smaller and creepier freeway (one of the streets off of it was called gun club road - not kidding) before finally connecting to the 99 in bakersfield and back to our regularly scheduled freeway. we were really getting delirious and crazy though after about 8 hours (point of reference - the whole trip usually takes 5 hours). we finally got home after 11 hours of pure hell and i had to work the next day. i don't know what i did to piss of the powers about but i hope i never do it again. some pics to show you how we felt:


strangling myself with the seat belt


just strangling


our friend the tumbleweed

i hope this never happens to any of you. off to knit before bed now. pics of the baby sweater to come soon.

new year cheer

seems like i haven't written since christmas eve and now it's new year's eve. i wish i had been organized enough to write a really christmas-y post like a lot of bloggers did but i just really couldn't get it together in time. christmas was pretty low key. woke up and opened some gifts. my brother actually gave me something (which he never does) and it was a copy of knitting on the edge by nicky epstein. i didn't have the heart to tell him that i already had this book in my library. i am going to try and exchange it at borders this week, hopefully for a copy of folk socks. i saw these two awesome pairs of norwegian stockings and now i can't live without them. i ordered some knitpicks essential sock yarn for a pair and now just need to get the book.

and remember that kid's sweater i was trying to finish? yeah i didn't. i stopped for awhile to make these:





my dad was complaining that he couldn't find any of his scarves so my mom and i made a trip to communkity. i actually had another motive for going there besides dad's scarf needs. i seem to have misplaced some mittenettes i made last year out of manos and really wanted to grab another skein to make a new pair. i knew that communkity carried manos so we decided to find dad yarn there, too. this was what we came up with:



the three skeins on the left are #106 i think and is a great color called granite. that's what we used for my dad's set (the scarf is just 2x2 rib and the hat i kind of made up, if you want to know) while the blue i bought just because it was pretty and the multi skein is for my new topless mittens. i love love manos though. the colors are so pretty and it knits up gorgeously and i just want to roll arond in it. defnitely be a desert island yarn.

so progress on the kid sweater stopped to make those for christmas. i was also having a hard time with the neck decreases so i put it down for a few days. however i picked it up again a couple nights ago to finish the front and start a sleeve. now i have this:


the color is more true in this picture


sleevage

i don't think i am going to finish before i leave on monday but that's fine, i can just mail it to my mom to give to the recipient. i don't like working on a deadline. it just stresses me out. i actually didn't do much holiday knitting this year and i am glad. i'd rather make something for me that i know i'll enjoy than stress out making something for someone who might not even appreciate that it was handmade (yes i know people like that).

well my ride is here to take me to a new years bbq. be safe everyone, watch those wet roads and happy new year!

tiny lights

happy holidays, everyone! pardon the lack of posting but i have been enjoying myself at home with my parents in northern california and haven't had a moment to post. it's so nice to sleep in and eat good food. it's so sunny and pretty here today, even though it was sort of rainy this week. i hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!

funky monkey

ugh- i am not feeling too well today. yesterday we had to evacuate our builiding because it was starting to smell like toxic fumes on our floor. the president of the company sent out an email encouraging us to leave the building for awhile. i was getting this icky, swollen feeling in my throat and i chalked it up to the weird smell (that came from roof construction we found out) but now it seems like i am actually sick. and it's so not fair because i was just sick before the last holiday. but yesterday two wonderful ladies at work took the three assistants in my dept out for a special holiday lunch at aroma cafe on tujunga. it's this really cute cafe in studio city that has tasty food and is connected to the coolest little bookstore. afterwards, we did a little window shopping and i stopped by the yarn store across the street called yarn garden (sorry i can't find a website but it's 4361 1/2 tujunga). i didn't really get to shop much but i did pick up a skein of lamb's pride worsted yarn to make some toys from the jess hutch booklet and the new winter issue of interweave knits. i can't say that i am blown away by this issue but i do like the sweater on the cover, along with the aran pullover, the lace socks and 4-3-2 ribbed pullover.

it's been madness lately, as i've been shopping and wrapping and writing cards non-stop. i think i am close to nearing the end of my christmas list, but there are still a few people i need to get things for. seems like there's been a flurry of activity lately of bloggers making gifts for loved ones. i, however, know that i couldn't handle that kind of pressure and so instead just make things for me and give away knits on a less stringent schedule than christmastime. however, there is one item that i'd like to finish for christmas and that's this:


it's jack from the rowan junior book. here is my progress so far:


that's just the front of it. i am doing it in some plymouth encore worsted instead of the rowan dk that it calls for. i wanted something a little loftier and smooshy and not so cotton heavy. so far it seem to be working out fine. i don't know if i will actually get this done in time, but one can hope, right?

well off to take some nyquil i go. tomorrow is an office christmas tradition called the smackdown, where my coworkers sign up to perform (we do work at a music company after all) in front of everyone else. not my cup of tea but i'll know los of people performing so i don't want to be sick and miss it. happy wednesday!

a quick fo for you

this is the vintage velvet scarf from the infamous scarf style book. i finished it awhile ago but never got around the posting the details, so here they are.
pattern: vintage velvet from scarf style
yarn: 5 skeins of muench touch me in the discontinued 3660
needles: 4.50mm bamboo straights
size before felting: 5" x 60"
size after felting: 5" x 60" (after a whole lot of stretching)
pattern notes: well, i got gauge by going down a few needles sizes and thought everything was going fine, until i noticed that i was getting down to the last ball, and my scarf was going to be much shorter than the "before felting" size specified in the pattern. i knew this would mean my scarf would end up being too short (i like to be able to wrap my scarves with a decent amount of length). my yarn color was discontinued so i decided that i'd felt it anyway and try to block it after i felted it. in the wash it went and dang if it didn't look like an ugly, drowned rat. then i brought it back up to my apt and stretched it as much as i could and help the ends down with books for about a day and a half. at this point, it was still a bit wet but it wasn't soft at all. it was sort of matted and gross. so i threw it in the dryer for a cycle and voila! it transformed into something plushy soft and fuzzy. i guess this yarn really does need a turn in the dryer to make it work. i don't think there were any mistakes in the pattern and if i had to do it again, i would just use one more ball of yarn so that i could just throw it in the dryer after felting it.
yarn notes: lots of people complained about worming with this yarn but i didn't have a problem with it. sure, it was slippery but the bamboo needles helped a lot. and the whole felting process was very interesting.

so, while i like the scarf, i just don't think it's my style. it's a bit too slinky feeling for me to be comfortable with it and i think i'll gift it to a needy friend. however, a big pillow out of this yarn would be lovely...

variegation is the spice of life

once again i haven't posted in ages. it just seems like i never have the energy to put together a coherent post and i don't want to waste y'alls time with a lame post. however, i hope to get my act together today to catch up on all stuff that's been going on lately here at chez fun. i've been working diligently on my atacama tshirt sweater. i finally finished the back earlier this week, thanks to the kind help of johanna. she sent me an email detailing how to work the back for short row shaping and a three needle bind off on the shoulders. this time i actually did it right and ended up with the correct number of shoulder stitches. thanks, johanna!


i took this picture earlier in the week, before the back was even done. i've been good and have been alternating skeins every couple of rows. you can see the difference in color between the back and the front piece. the back (left piece) is much more red than the front, but i don't care because no one will be seeing them together anyway.

i also finished the double knit hat i was working on a few weeks ago. unfortunately i gave it to my mom during the holiday and never took any pictures of the finished project. you'll have to take my word for it that it was cute and my mom likes it a lot.

last night was my company office party. i've never been to a company christmas party before but i've seen so many of them in films and tv that i fully expected bad karaoke and some drunken embarrassments. luckily, most people contained themselves at the open bar, though there were a few really drunk people there. we stayed long enough to eat and be a bit merry but then made a break for it. i had fun though and oh they gave us gift certificates as gifts. i got one for macy's. i might hit up the makeup counter with that one. and i did have a mini crisis trying to find something to wear for the party (i don't dress up at all normally) but was saved by my lovely coworker who loaned me a cute sweater/camisole set and my roomie who lent me her shoes. after all that excitement, i was very happy to be able to sleep in this morning. not that i stayed in super late but it's nice to wake up when you want. i made a run to santa monica this morning to hit up yarns unlimited, where i picked up this:


the stuff on the left is enough cascade 220 and some gold dalegarn free style to make a gryffindor scarf from this pattern. and it's not as pink as it looks in this pic. bad lighting, wouldn't you know. you didn't think my potter fever had subsided that quickly, now did you? i started reading hp and the half-blood prince but i am reading it uber slow. it's like i want to savor it and save it since i know there's no book after it and the next one is supposed to be the last one, right? the brighter red yarn on the right is actually from unwind that i got earlier this week. with all of this i plan to make this little ensemble set:


pattern for the hat and mittens (not shown in this pic) were purchased from here. i wanted to buy some yarn for hufflepuff scarf (yay cedric) but i want to see the movie again just to make sure what kind of yellow the huffies have settled on in the new film. and i am itching to make a weasley sweater from alison's pattern, but i am waiting for some midnight felted tweed to be available for a good price. and jenn (check out her nov 30th post) is working on the pattern for the new weasley sweater and i just know i'll want to make that, too. potter brain is what i call it. i also stopped by wildfiber, since i was on the westside today and couldn't resist this:


i bought 9 skeins of this rowan plaid and it's so lusicous and soft and the colors are beautiful. it was on clearance so it was a decent deal. but let me say that those wildfiber people are kind of rude. some of the yarn was tagged at a certain price so i made my assumption that the rest of it would be that price, minus the discount. when i got up to the counter i was informed that the price tag was an "old price" and the real price was $2 more. i might have put them back but she had rung it up already and it was gorgeous yarn after all. unfortunately the ones tagged were not the same color as mine but wouldn't you assume the same thing? i hate it when i have to ask for every single price at a yarn store. and how many prices does their yarn have anyway? they have a lovely selection of koigu and lots of other fabulous yarns at that store, but their prices are extremely high and with this kind of attitude, i really doubt if i'll be spending much more time there in the future. but i did have fun buying yarn today. a little present to myself. what is it about buying yarn that makes you feel so happy? i just love it! and my friend and i got my other co-worker into knitting, too, so she's getting the bug alright. i am doing my best to spread knitting around the world, one person at a time.

one more purchase made this week were these:


i know, i know - they're trendy but kind of ugly and yes, they're fakes. but oh they're so nice. it feels like i am walking on big pillows when i wear them and they're perfect for going to a movie in a chilly theater. you can laugh and say i am following a lame trend but i love my new sheepy boots, though i won't be wearing them with a mini skirt. give me some credit at least. i so want another pair in black or green. they're totally toasty and fun.

and that's the weekend so far. i am going to go work on my atacama sleeve right now before i go out to see aeon flux tonight. karyn kusama (who wrote and directed the film girlfight) is directing and a bunch of good people are in it. it looks pretty interesting visually and the animated cartoon was so freaky and hopefully the film will be good. happy weekend to everyone!

potter mania

i just got home from seeing harry potter and the goblet of fire and i just loved it. really really just loved it. it's been awhile since i read the book and it all came back. the fifth one isn't my favorite and i haven't gotten to the new one yet, but seeing the movie makes me want to read it right away. too bad i left it in la and i'm at my parents' house at the moment. and how hot was the guy who played cedric? so cute and yes, i looked him up on imdb and he's 7 years younger than me. he's 19 - a mere baby. but damn he's hot. and i totally used to think hufflepuff was lame and that is sucked that the damn sorting hat put me in it the last time i tried it. but cedris was a hufflepuff and he seemed pretty cool. and i so want to make one of those scarves, too. maybe for the next movie.

and happy late thanksgiving to everyone. i stuffed myself and i probably won't be having a having any turkey for awhile. alright- i am going to go eat a piece of pie now. hope you are all having fun and don't get smooshed at the mall!

a million miles away

i know it's been ages since i last posted and this is going to be short. i've been sick for the past few days with an icky cold so i'm trying to get better before the holiday. there's nothing worse than being sick during the holidays. so here's a quick fo for you all the enjoy.


this is the monette scarf from rowan's vintage style magazine. it was knit on size 5 bamboos using a skein of pink discontinued kidsilk haze from my secret pal and one skein of crystal palace mohair in lavender. the pattern was pretty straightforward and i really like the kidsilk haze. it's skinny as hell but feels so lovely on your fingers. i tried to block the lace bits at the end so they looked better but it still didn't end up as nice as i wanted it. i think i knit it too tight or something. anywhoozle - it's done and it's pretty so that's all i care about.

off to take my cold meds now. happy thanksgiving if i don't get around to posting before then!

friday's a comin'

i know this is a bit overdue but here's a picture of me with some of my coworkers from halloween. i was part of a 60s girl group with two of my friends. i didn't actually put the thing together but i did get the wear my friend's mom's wig from the actual 60s. and i never wear skirts, so that was sort of a costume in itself. i have the plaid skirt on, in case ou were wondering. my other friends came as god's gift to women and marilyn monroe. oh and diana as a pirate. i love pirates.


now look at the scary sight that waited for us on monday morning:


ewwwwwww! those are some seriously nasty pumpkins. can you see how their eyes filled with black mold? it was so disgusting. why do pumpkins mold so fast? and they were squishy and wet. note to self- throw pumpkins away before going away for the weekend.

lately i haven't been feeling the love for the big knit projects. still working on the atacama sweater but i needed a break from the yarn and pattern so i decided to start something small. here's my work so far on the warm ass hat pattern. it's the first time i've tried double knitting and it's really fun. it's so cool how you get double sided fabric. i've been watching copious amounts of tv this week and knitting on this hat.




it's been nice to work on something small between working on my sweater. i'll probably buckle down this weekend knit on the sweater. i also broke the yarn diet just a bit so i could buy yarn to make something from this:


i received my lovely booklet from jess hutch this week. i love her little knitted toys and was so excited when i heard she was going to be selling some of the patterns. i totally want to make henry the bear, the robot and that little octopus looking guy. so i broke and bought a few skeins of lamb's pride worsted to make them. i love lp yarn and it's cool these little guys use it. so if you have any lamb's pride scraps you need to get rid of, you know who to call. :) i highly recommend getting the booklet if you like really cool toy patterns. they're just adorable.

and thank goodness tomorrow is friday. one more day to go. have a great weekend!

no day but today

i just got back from a screening of the movie version of the musical rent and had to post. it was really, really good. i've never actually seen it performed live so i can't compare but i thought this version was very well done and the music was awesome! the songs are so great and everyone sounded good. yes, rosario dawson can sing. and the choreography was really excellent, too. i heart jesse l. martin and mahandra (tracie thoms) from wonderfalls is in it, too. i don't think it comes out til around thanksgiving but i highly recommend seeing it when it does. i can't get the songs out of my head so thank goodness i have a copy of the soundtrack at work.

ps to adrienne - i totally saw the scene they were filming when we were on the lot and it looks sweet!

comment notes:
thanks for all the comments on the pumpkins. we did some carving during work last week and the white one was a bit hit. they're really smooth and it didn't mold as fast. i am going to post some pics later of what happened to the pumpkins over the weekend. it's gross.

alison - i'll email you about vanity fair