shiver me timbers

hi everyone! don't forget that today is national talk like a pirate day. don't know what that is? click on the link to find out and get in touch with your inner pirate. i really have a fascination with pirates (like a lot of people, apparently) and just like the idea of pirates. makes me want to watch dodegball again because it has a character in it who thinks he's a pirated. pirate steve (played by the fabulous alan tudyk) is hilarious.

break out

i spent tonight watching two back-to-back episodes of prison break and going through a huge pile of mail that i finally picked up from the post office. another annoying thing about not having a house (besides the no yard, no washing machine and general cramped quarters) is that the mailman for some reason fears leaving things at the door. and when our teeny tiny mail slot box thing gets full (like it did when i went away for a few days last week) i get a note in my box saying "box full." yeah it's full because it's tiny and you shove things in there in an unorderly fashion, crushing magazines and taking up more space then you need to. but i digress. the new post office later hours are lovely and i was able to pick up my mail (which included goodies like yarn, mags, letters- not bills, and a knitpicks catalog). where was i? oh yeah, so prison break is a pretty good show. normally watching the new fall shows is beyond me, unless a favorite writer or actor is gonna be on something, but working at my new job, we're all so aware of what new shows are on and i find my interest piqued. i watched a bit of the new show on the wb, supernatual, last night and it was ok. but i am excited for next week because lost and 24 start again, and probably some others. but don't fear, it's all set to be recorded on tivo so i don't have to sweat it. when did i become such a tv junkie?

the week seems to be flying by and my post seem so late. however i will backtrack a little since i did take pictures from last weekend. as you know, i was home visiting the fam. i did get disgustingly, horribly ill but i managed to snap some pics even in my weakened state. the weather was beautiful up on northern california - cool and crisp and so clean. the weather down here in la is getting cooler but the air is not the same.


flowers in mommy's garden. they're giant flowers though, like the size of my head!


and of course you can't leave gonzo out a trip back home. the cutest dog EVER.

but here's what you really came for. the loot:


i managed to go to three yarn stores while i was at home and bought something at each one. on the far right is the new debbie bliss simply soft book. i bought this and the addi needle gauge over at a new store in san jose called communknity. it's a very spacious and nicely designed store with oodles of rowan, debbie bliss, cascade, sock yarns, and lots of room to knit and sit. it would be a nice place to just sit and chat and knit. i definitely think we'll be back the next time i am at home. but i got to feel the new db astrakhan yarn and it's to die for! i so want to make something with it. actually i'd like to make this:


well maybe i can treat myself to the yarn for christmas. no funds (or room for any more yarn) at the moment. later on in the week, mom and i headed over to uncommon threads in los altos where i scored the rowan classic weekend book (which i really wanted) and the vogue mag (in the $1 bin) along with some encore yarn to make a toddler sweater for a good friend's child.


it's a nice lime color and i promised my mom i'd get it done for christmas. cross fingers. and i really like these two designs from classic weekend:




this would probably look horrible on me but i am attracted to it.

and i forgot the best thing of all. knitting arts was having a sale for 25% off everything in the store for a whole week. i had to stop myself from buying everything in site and got only one thing. a new ball winder! i love that i don't have to sit there winding balls anymore and can make snazzy center pull cakes. now all i need is a swift.

and i can show you my secret knitting. the person this is going to has no idea about the blog so i should be safe. it's the saxon braid scarf that's on the cover of knitting on the edge. i am using the new knitpicks sierra yarn and it's yummy. the yarn is bouncy and light but i do think it would have been nice to use something with a little more drape, like the decadence from knitpicks. but for the price, it's super fab. i'd like to make myself a sweater with it. and i know the picture is crappy, but it's late and there's no light. sue me.


there is errata for this scarf (that took my awhile to find) but it's working up fine so far. i can't wait to drop the stitches and make the fringe. i only wish that the pattern was charted. it's so hard to go back and forth because her cable abbreviations are different than what i am used to so it takes me awhile to look up what the hell 2/1 rpc means. and i am too lazy to chart it. c'est la vie. alright this post has taken all night so i am going to bed now. tomorrow is thursday, which is one day closer to friday. yay! oh and i am cutting my hair cut this weekend so if anyone can thing of any cute hairstyles for an asian girl, holla. i need a change.

the world's a little loco

so there was a bigass power outage in la yesterday afternoon. of course everyone panicked and got grumpy (wasn't it strange how when you were in grade school, the second the lights go out, people start making a big fuss and freaking out?). this was similar only people in la feel the need to jam up traffic more than usual. i stuck it out at work for about and hour and our power was turned back on. shortly after that, however, the internet and network servers went down so i couldn't do much and finally just packed it up and left for the day. i spent a lovely afternoon chilling on the couch and watching a dvd of layer cake. not bad, but i don't understand why there was a huge fuss that sienna miller was in the film when really she barely took up 10 minutes of it. i just don't get the appeal of her but i am not one for blondes anyway.

and thanks for all the well wishes. i am feeling a lot better today. looking down still makes me a bit queasy but at least i can lay down and sleep relatively well. and i knit last night for the first time in a week. just more stockingnet on the mohair scarf and some secret knitting. well back to work i go. i am going to try and upload some pictures tonight so that these posts won't be so dull. later!

damn kim novak and her weird shaped head

dear readers, i need to keep this short because this past week has been hell. i was struck down mysteriously on monday with a case of vertigo, which i hope that none of you ever experience. the world really does spin round, making you nauseous and unable to stand. i spent most of monday on my side trying not to hurl. tuesday was better and i got some meds so i thought the worst was over. however on wednesday i was ill again and could not even stand up. let me tell you, if there was a hell, this would be mine. you are constantly dizzy and unbalanced. you can't read, knit, sit up, or really even watch tv. i think i got some virus or something but no one knows for sure. i actually had the whole week off and am spending it with my parents. thanks goodness i took the time off cause there is no way i could get to work much less work a whole day. and here my parents can take care of me. i am a bit better today and can walk around a lot more. just can't turn my head too fast or look down or up. hopefully i will be better tomorrow so i can make the 5 hour drive back to la. i have to go lie down now but i will write again when i can. :)

sticky fingers

as i said the night before, i decided that it was high time to try a little yarn dyeing on monday night. i stocked up on plenty of kool aid (boy it's cheap) and got to work.


oh yeah i made a big ol' mess in the kitchen. i don't know if anyone remembers but i had a crapload of brown sheep lamb's pride in brite blue that i was using to make a ribby cardi. well i ripped that due to sleeve issues and i just could never get behind the color. it was too "brite" with not enough depth. i didn't think i'd ever wear it. well kool aid to the rescue!

i used mostly a mix of berry blue and grape to get a sort of darker blue/purple variegated solid. i went with the microwave method which was somewhat difficult because i could only fit a small pan in my microwave, meaning i had to do one skein at a time. my measurements weren't precise and i kind of guesstimated with each batch. things turned out alright, however, as everything looks like it matches.


it was super hard to photograph but i really like the color. it's darker and variegated. if i had to do it again, i would buy lots more kool aid. i was running out at the end and one mini skein came out way more purple than any of the others. and i tied some of my skeins with white yarn and they came out a really murky color. i think this might be because the grape was so dark but it wasn't saturated. luckily my yarn was already colored so this just added some depth and interest. i would definitely use something brighter if i was using light yarn and i would use about twice as much kool aid to get it saturated. but for this project, i think i am satisfied with the results.


and look at what i got from knitpicks! yes three hanks of their new sierra yarn. it's bulky and yummy and so fun to knit with! ooh and i bought a bunch of color cards. their new fall yarns are so luxurious and gorgeous. go get some! but this might end up being a pressie so i can't post too much about it. however, here is a picture of my swatch.


well i am off to see my parents for a week. hope everyone has a safe holiday. i'll try to post from home if i get a chance!

elephants and tigers

hey all. i just got back from seeing the wonderful rachael yamagata play at the hotel cafe. the place just recently expanded (though still pretty tiny) and had no a/c, so we were all squished together and sweaty. rachael's wonderful music was worth it though. i just love her voice. this weekend was quite the concert weekend, as i went to see jason mraz with dave matthews band also last night. it was my first time at the home depot center in carson, ca, and it was a decent big type venue. but parking, holy crap, it cost $20! what's up with that? and everyone was tailgating and blocking the parking spots and driveways of the lot. i mean, i'm all for having fun, but get out of the way of my car, yo. my favorite line of the night was when we were all waiting for the encore and it was taking forever and they guy behind us yells, "encore, bitches!" we had a good laugh at that one. but dmb was so fun and energetic and wee jason mraz we great to see, as usual. and now i am back at my sweltering apt. a couple of weeks ago the weather seemed to be cooling down but then it went right back up. it was over 100 degrees yesterday. that is so wrong.

saw the brothers grimm on friday night in burbank. i have to say that i liked it and had a good time. i think it got a really low score on rotten tomatoes but i think i kind of went in without too many expectations so i enjoyed it. matt damon has horrible hair in it though. ugh. we really wanted to see the constant gardner (or the secret gardner as hannah likes to call it) but we realized on friday that the release date had been pushed back to the 31st. it looks really good and has my girl crush, rachel weisz, in it and hottie ralph fiennes, too. it looks pretty intense and i hear that it's excellent. hopefully i will be able to see that here before i head back up to northern ca for the long weekend.


as promised, a picture of monette so far. she's grown pretty fast and i am almost at the halfway mark. kidsilk haze is a dream and now i know why people become addicted to it.

update- did a little yarn dyeing on monday night. pics to come!

pink flamingos

they've been showing re-runs of wonderfalls on the logo channel lately and i've set the tv to record them all (since my roommate left and took her copy of the series), and it's just so brilliantly funny and irreverent and i am so so sad that it was cancelled so soon. i think i like a friend like jaye (the main character). oh at least there's dvd.

this week has just been dragging but so slowly. i think it's the hot hot heat (not the band) that it making me so lethargic. i come home to a sweaty apartment and it just makes me want to go to sleep. still knitting on the lacy rowan scarf. i do like me some boring stockingnet to watch tv to. they still haven't come to fix the my walls so i haven't taken the aygyle vest out in awhile. i wish they'd hurry up so i can clean my room and get back to normal.

hopefully i'll have some progress pics up this weekend. tomorrow night i am off to see the brothers grimm. should be fun. at least there'll be a/c. toodles!

summer of pork

well another weekend has come to a close. it was too short, as always but i'll take what i can get. let's see, on saturday i met up with friends and went over to see the basquiat exhibit over at the moca. it was a pretty large exhibit and lots of people were out for it. then we heared over to amoeba records because one of my friends had never been. this place is the best for any cd you might be looking for and dvds, too. it's just massive and if you ever have a chance to go (i think they have 3-4 locations in ca) you totally should. i was good, though and didn't buy anything. i seriously need to stop spending money if i am ever going to pay off the credit card debt. but i did place one wee order to knitpicks on saturday before i decided to stop spending. you'll see what i got once it comes in. and later that night, i caught a screening of redeye in burbank. i thought it was very entertaining and supsenseful and just fun (if you like thriller type movies). and it was fun to see the audience react to what was happening (yelling, clapping, etc) and i do love me some cillian murphy. my friend's mom thinks he's too creepy but that doesn't bother me. and sunday was spent mostly in orange county helping my good friend find a wedding dress. did you know how many really fugly wedding dresses are out there? it's amazing. and what's up with the whole strapless ballgown/princess/prom dress look? i just don't get it. luckily we found this cute shop in her town and had some really beautiful dresses. she'll be going back with her mom in a week or so to take another look. cross your fingers that she comes back with a dress.

not much knitting was actually done this weekend. seems like i have been thinking about knitting more than actually doing any lately. but i did buy some lovely yarn that i'll let you all look at.


drool drool


this is a close up of the 100% wool yarn. it sort of reminds me of the rowanspun line, which is kind of foamy and slightly felted.

this gorgeous box of wool is from beaverslide. i've been wanting to try their yarns for awhile ago and they had a sale a couple of weeks ago and i could not resist. i bought 3 colors, the magenta and beige color are enough for sweaters while the two greens i only got 2 skeins each of. everything is the 90% wool 10% mohair yarn except for the lime green one (that's 100%b wool). i haven't knit any of it up yet but it's just really lovely yarn. the colors are amazing and it's softer than i thought it would be. it's got the same texture as peace fleece (which some people find rough but i am ok with). speaking of which...


i bought a skein of this because i'd never seen it in person. the color is gorgeous (it's kamcatcha seamoss) and so varied and heathered. i think i might have to make a sweater out of the peace fleece for sure. i also have a bunch of bartlett yarns that i got in a swap once, and i think i like the beaverslide and peace fleece more. just by touching them on the skein, they seem softer, but that's just my two cents.


almost forgot about this one. i bought 6 skeins of debbie bliss maya from a swap board and it's so nice. i love the sublte variegation and the single ply goodness. i couldn't capture the color that well and my camera was making it all look bright red, but you get the idea.


here's the beginning of the dale sweater. i'm actually supposed to switch needles sizes now, but all of my 7 circs are in use. i tried to stop by my lys to get another pair, but they were all out. i'll try again later this week so i can get moving on this.


so i worked on this instead. it's monette from the rowan vintage style book made from kidsilk haze. i've been working on it for awhile now, but teeny yarn and teeny needles goes pretty slow. i wansn't sure about the colors at first but now i kind of like them. i know they're kind of odd together but i think my friend i am making it for will really dig the colors. i really want to start working on cyd again, but she takes up a lot of room with all those intarsia bits and right now my bedroom is a mess. they changed all the plumbing in my building to copper pipes (which has been making the water taste and smell absolutely disgusting. i hope it goes away). but they had to tear out all the pipes, meaning my room looks like this:


it wouldn't be so bad except that they moved my bed to the middle of the room to knock down the wall and now it's just chaos. i can't bring myself to spread cyd all over the floor just in case they decide to move more stuff around when they replaster . that's about all that has been going on lately. oh and i had to contact rowan about my fall mag. i don't know if they didn't send it but i emailed inquiring about it and someone replied saying that it would go right out. don't you hate it when you have a subscription but the newsstand gets it first? what's the point? oh c'est la vie.

the end of an era

my roommate moved out today. don't worry- we don't hate each other or anything. she's moving to boston to go to graduate school. she will be the second roommate i've lost to that darn city in less than a year. something about me must make people move east. so now i am couchless and am forced to sit in the papazan chair to watch tv. i had to rearrange some stuff tonight so not too much knitting was done. i did work on my argyle a bit (oh and for those who were interested, it's from jaeger jb31)and i made a swatch last night with some araucania nature wool. i'm dying to start something new and not too hard so i am going to try this yarn with the sweater below.



i love the variegated solid color of the nature wool so i hope this turns out pretty. i tried it on two needles sizes but haven't measured my gauge yet. i made the swatch last night while watching alexander. let's just so that the movie is really long and um, i wouldn't want to see it again. sweet dreams, all!

on the brink

of exhaustion, that is. this past weekend was such a whirlwind of events; i hardly had time to breathe at all. there were 2 bbqs, a birthday bar thing, helping a friend pack to move far away, and a going away dinner. not to mention that half of that took place in orange county (traffic gods, why have thou foresaken me?) compounded with not sleeping well (imagine dreams with maniacs wielding chainsaws), the heat, and staying at work an hour late today and you have one pooped puppy. i'm not complaining, though, as i had a good time this weekend. but really i just want a weekend to sit and chillax (as my friend would say) and, oh i don't know, knit. i'll spare the details but here are some pics from the weekend:


that's jana with the magic bullet (not to be confused with the silver bullet). it's hard to explain but it's sort of like a mini blender. there's an infomercial.


sniff sniff both koren and adrienne (my roomie) are leaving me for the east coast.


and that's cindy the dog. she's so cute but you can't leave food face level or she'll go for it.

but i have been thinking about knitting at least. i had to pry myself away from the computer tonight not to buy some more yarn. it took a lot but i NEED to save money. and hello- i have way too much yarn. i need to just tell myself that there will always be another sale, right? and all the fall mags are coming out and it's just getting me excited. did you see the new fall yarns from knitpicks? i think i might order the color cards with my paycheck next week. it's almost as good as buying yarn. and if i just have to buy something else to get me past the $30 free shipping, well then so be it.

and my roommate is moving out this week so the house is a mess. it's sad she's going but i wish her luck in boston (i hear there's some great yarn over there- hint hint). well it's time for my bed now. sweet dreams everyone. let's hope i dream about piles of yarn tonight. :)

day after day

this week seems to be going by like molasses. i am so happy that tomorrow is friday. the weather seems to be getting a bit cooler here in la, but just slightly. it still takes ages for my to air the apartment out every night. the heat always makes me feel more sluggish and i have spent the whole week lounging on the couch. with all this laying about you'd think i'd have gotten a lot of knitting done but i really didn't. i am still trying to get the groove back so i am taking is slow. i did manage to work on my argyle vest tonight though. i finally finshed the increases and can work straight on the back. i'd done about 5 rows this evening when i noticed this:


wtf?! that's not part of the pattern

i don't know what i did but there's a gaping hole (i see you feigning ignorance just to make me feel better, but hello, that thing is huge!). there's no way i am ripping sticky intarsia yarn so i'll just seam the hole up later. much later. and here she is whole:


look at me! i'm lumpy because i am covering up a bunch of tangeled yarn balls!

i needed a little mindless tv knitting so i whipped out those socks i started way back when and continued with the ribbing.


i thought i'd stick my foot in it for a different perspective

i don't want the cuff to be too short, so i figure another inch or two will have to be done before the heel. my hands get kind of achy after working a few rows on these teeny needles so i don't get that much done at any one sitting, but it's perfect knitting for watching dvds. which reminds me that i finished bride and prejudice tonight. i had some expectations of this film, as it was directed by the same woman who did bend it like beckham. sadly this film lacked the charm and freshness of beckham and kid of steered us into cheesy territory. it's supposed to be a bit of a throwback to bollywood films (of which i am not really familiar) so i can't really compare them with any expertise. i didn't think that they captured the essence of mr. darcy very well (no one can compete with colin firth - and who else thinks that the new movie remake with keira knightly looks bad?). he seemed less proud and stubborn than clumsy and awkward. maybe it's just my snarky nature but i couldn't get into the lavish dance numbers and longing looks either. martin henderson is a bit of eye candy, though, and the costume design is gorgeous. i'll stick to the a&e classic, thanks.

and i was bad today and bought a crapload of yarn from beaverslide. they have a sale going on until aug 10 and i have always wanted to try their yarn. but i have a bad habit of buying too much yarn at once. instead of buying just like one sweaters worth or a few skeins to try, i bought 2 sweaters worth and 4 extra skeins to play with. the madness must stop. i'll show you the goods when they come!

bit of a slump

where have i been? i've been at the frog pond! yes i have been ripping some of my projects out. why? i don't know- i just wasn't really feeling them anymore. the love was gone and i was stuck with a heap of yarn that i felt obligated to knit. just having all of those half-finished projects was really starting to stress me out so i decided to do a little cleaning.

first i ripped the blue ribbed cardi. the sleeves were really starting to annoy me and i just knew that she didn't feel right. i only had the sleeves to go so i thought i'd just plow on and decide later if i liked her or not. but my sleeve issues seemed to be a sign to just stop. so i did. and i ripped and this is what is left.



and remember that orange thick/thin seed stitch scarf i made awhile back? probably not but i ripped that, too. it was simply too wide and airy for my taste. riiiip it went. i'd like to make a chunky cabled scarf out of it someday.



and my chevron tank? well i couldn't bear to look at her anymore without straps, a little too small, and in too dense of a fabric, so i tossed it. i'm sorry but i just couldn't rip her out again. i know this is awful but i feel so much better.

as you can tell from the lack of knitting content, i've kind of been in a slump lately. however the fall season is coming and the new fall patterns are so pretty and inspiring. i have no doubt that my knitting mojo will return. i also ordered some debbie bliss soho recently along with some rowan cork and polar. i am itching to start something new but i'd really like to get some more progress done on what i already have on the needles. not out of obligation but because i really want to have the finished project. so on the front of the burner are cyd and a vest for my dad. i'd like to finish my scarf style scarf but i am still trying to track some more of the discontinued color of muench touch me. until then, it'll just have to wait. one more thing to put the groove back in my knitting is that my rowan membership gift came!



2 balls of kidsilk haze in trance and a scarf pattern. this yarn is sooo lovely i could sleep in it. the kit alone made the membership worthwhile. i can't wait to see the new rowan mag. see- the magic's coming back already.

merry go round

my poor little blog, i have been neglecting you. it's been so busy lately i feel like i have barely enough time to get everything done. and hot. did i mention that it was HOT in the valley? my apt normally gets a bit warm in hot weather but it's been so hot that in the evenings when i got to bed at midnight, it's still 80 degrees in the apt. i shower at least twice a day now. i mean, my hair's squeaky clean but i really want some cool breezes to blow in soon. it's so hot that the thought of knitting with hot wool just makes my cringe. there's knitting news but let's get through the other stuff first.

last weekend (or maybe 2 weekends ago) i went down to san diego for comicon. every year it gets bigger and bigger and every year it just seems like i am never prepared for it. this year was no different and my roommate and i headed down there on friday to just wing it. luckily our friend jared was a superstar and let us stay at his place for the weekend. one of these years, we'll have enough money and forethought to book something a little nicer. i'd love to go all four days one year. there's just so much stuff and cramming it all in one weekend never seems like enough.

sadly, we were still in line to get into hall h when bryan singer was on. the usual suspects is one of my favorite movies and i really wanted to see him. poo. luckily we were able to get in later and snagged some awesome seats for the kevin smith talk. he was hilarious and brilliant, as usual. i can't wait for an evening with kevin smith 2: evening harder. ha! and he also introduced richard kelly, director of donnie darko and southland tales (which smith will be acting in.



and i was got my roomie hooked on firefly, so we were both stoked to see the serenity panel. the footage for the new film looks great. i can't wait to see it. the only cast member who wasn't there was alan tudyk, who was on broadway doing spamelot, but the cast and joss whedon were funny and smart and just seemed like a fun group of people. here are a couple of shots from that panel:


they play brother and sister on the show


captain, my captain

we also went to the chronicles of narnia panel, which looks really amazing. must remember to read the book again before the film comes out. and here is just a variety of shots from the weekend:


nice display case of blythe dolls. i have a thing for dolls on display. i find them so creepy- i just have to take a picture.


this was drawn in front of my very eyes by the talented aaron renier, whose book, spiral bound, i bought.


and of course, the obligatory storm trooper.

i was going to go into knitting but i find that this post is way too long as is and my room is way too warm. knit content to come soon!

beauty and the geek

i am not sure why i titled my post that but the beauty and the geek reunion was on last night and i saw part of it. my roommate got me to watch some of the show, and it was somewhat entertaining, even if i think that the premise is pretty horrible. but i haven't posted a real post in so long. i've just been too lazy, that's the truth of the matter. but now it's like so much time has passed i don't even know if it's worth talking about some of the stuff i wanted to.

let's see, last sunday i volunteered for an organization called boarding house mentors, that teams up kids with "mentors" at my work. i don't have a mentee yet, as i started here too late to sign up, but there was a surfing workshop and i asked if i could just come help, and they said yes! let me just say that i am not athletic, coordinated, or even in shape but for some reason i thought this sounded like a good idea. it was a lot of fun and i swallowed so much salt water, and it was scary, too. but no sting rays or sharks got to me and i made it out in one piece. but i did get sunburned in weird places (like me knees) and was so sore the next day that i could not lift my arms above my shoulders. it was horrible, but i am doing much better.

not much knitting has been going on. it's just been so hot lately that i don't want to pull out the wool. i want to finish my vintage velvet scarf but the extra yarn i ordered hasn't come in and my emails to the store have gone unanswered. this worries me. (note- i just called the store i ordered it online from - in june - and "someone will get back to me.") normally i wouldn't worry, but this color is discontinued and i was just happy that they had it. looks like a might be sol.


i started tblue ribbed sleeve yet again, this time with a selvedge, so hopefully i will be able to do my increased and not have it come out looking like crap. only time will tell.


and this is a swatch that i made for a vest i plan on knitting my dad. it's in dale of norway falk, which i got on sale at kaleidoscope yarns. the yarn is washable wool and softens up quite a bit after washing. it's nice. but the vest i was planning on making is from the best of knitters arans and celtics book (sorry no pic of it). but if you have the book, it's the wall street cables vest. but i am not sure if it might be too busy for my dad. it's cabled all over and i don't know if he's an all over cable kinda guy. if anyone's seen this pattern and has a comment, let me know.


and this is some recycled silk that i got this week in the mail. sorry the pic is kind of blurry but you know how those nighttime photo shoots can go. i am not sure what i plan on making from this. either an unbiased bag or a different sling type bag. but the colors on this are really gorgeous. i like to just look at it and pet it.

this seems to be the slowest day at work right now. half of the office is out and it's so quiet. after work tonight my roomie and i are driving down to san diego for the fun fest known as comic-con. it's going to be good this year. we're planning on seeing kevin smith, the serenity panel, and bryan singer! i'll probably also end up picking up some good books from top shelf comics and other goodies.

i'll try to take some good pictures to show you all next week. have a fun weekend!

finally i belong

i got an email from rowan today, telling me that i needed to sign up for a subscription, and i did it! i've been wanting to do it for awhile now but just haven't for some reason. but the free gift right now is make from the gorgeous kidsilk haze so i couldn't resist. i chose trance, a lovely pale blue shade for my gift. all the fall magazines are starting to come out and i am going a bit crazy. i want to knit them all, but i am still knitting things from last year. i'll never catch up, geez.

i promise to write a more detailed post soon. things have been a little crazy lately with little knitting going on. have a great day!

ps

stuff posted on the swap/sale page. :)

tragedy

my heart goes out to everyone in london right now. i have friends who live in london that i haven't heard from yet. my thoughts are with you all.

ps- and can the u.s. news please stop for just one second and think about the people who were attacked instead of if we might be attacked next? sheesh.

on the road again

well i am hitting the road yet again after work today. my parents were initially supposed to come down to see me, but they couldn't find anyone to take care of our dog so i am coming up instead. i packed a bunch of knitting (does anyone else pack way too much knitting when they go on vacation?) and will be gone until tuesday.

have a fun and safe holiday!

nothing ever happens

it's pretty slow here at work right now so i thought i'd try to sneak in a quick post. i can't believe it's already tuesday, as the weekend just flew by. it was a jam packed movie weekend for me, as my roommate was out of town and i didn't have much to do besides sit in an air conditioned movie theater. on friday night, i went out with a couple of girls from work to see bewitched. i personally thought it was really cute and will ferrell was hilarious. nicole kidman was good but i know a lot of people are going to think her character was really dumb. the key word is "cute." if cute doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then i would pass on this movie. and nicole kidman's wardrobe is really good in it.

on saturday i managed to get myself to the post office to pick up a package from lyn. thanks, lyn! i have to send you a real thank you soon. then i went to ralphs for some much needed supplies. after that i turned on the a/c at home and watched the first disc of deadwood, which, sad to say i loved. sad only because now i have to go buy the set, as i am notoriously horrible at watching tv on dvd in a timely manner. it's much better when i just have the series and can watch it when i want it. i can't stand the pressure of renting or borrowing tv shows from people. and did i mention that i was sick all last week, so i was kind of out of it during the weekend? yeah that wasn't fun but i wasn't too sick, so it's all good.

sunday i felt a lot better so i went to burbank to catch a showing of howl's moving castle. i've never read the book, but i thought the film was excellent. i am not sure if i liked it better than spirited away, but it was up there. and hello- christian bale has a sexy voice. seriously people, i could melt. i didn't even mind that it was dubbed over in english (i saw his last movie in japanese). i guess they're trying to appeal to kids and i am sure more people are going to see it if it's in english, even though it's not really a kids movie at all. but there were a lot of children when i went. it's kind of hard to sum up, but basically a it's about a shy young girl who is changed into an old woman by the witch of the waste and she's in love with howl, this self-centered wizard, and there's a war going on and it just goes all over the place. since i didn't have anything else to do after that i stayed for a showing of land of the dead. i enjoyed that, too. i thought the effects were really awesome and just gross at times and the plot was pretty interesting, too. there's really only so much one can do with a zombie movie but it was fun, if you like that kind of stuff.

wow it seems like i am such a couch potato. oh well it's my weekend, right? and last night i watched a really great episode of wonderfalls with my roommate. man that show was so brilliant! why oh why did they cancel it?

knitting news soon...

hot in the kitchen

i just got my new issue of "interview" magazine today and the lovely rachel mcadams is on the cover. i find her terribly likable and i think she's a good actress. loved her in mean girls and i will admit that i watched the notebook on tv this weekend. i hadn't seen it since i saw it in theatres and i feel no shame in saying that i do love it so. and ryan gosling is hot! plus rachel gets to make out with my other boyfriend, cillian murphy, in the new wes craven flick, redeye. at my old job, wes craven's company was on the floor above us and sometimes we'd get their mail. someone else usually went up to give it back, but from what i hear, they were very nice.

so last night we went to the rilo kiley concert at the wiltern. they were so awesome live. incredible. they have such great chemistry and jenny lewis' voice is even better than on the cd. you should totally go out and get their new cd, more adventurous, if you haven't got it yet. but get this, during the encore, she said she wanted to have her friend "deborah" come out to help with the song. so this blonde girl comes out and me, being short, can't see all that well. but they guy next to me starts to freak out and says, "oh my god, is that debbie gibson?" and it so was. my fourth grade dreams were realized when she sang "lost in your eyes." yes she did. i wasn't a huge music geek when i was young and i only owned two tapes. the first was the wilson phillips album (you know the one) and the other was debbie gibson's out of the blue. i never really got into electric youth but my friend linda can still bust out lost in your eyes on the piano. and i never got to see debbie in concert, but now i can say that i have. i thought that was pretty cool.

tried to knit on the ribbed cardi today but i ripped the sleeve out again. i don't know how to do nice increases on ribbing while keeping in pattern, so i am going to have to figure it out before i do these sleeves again. they just looked too ugly the way i was doing them, so i put them out of their misery. anyway, i am going to bed now. another day awaits!