it's that time of year again...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!

blog this book

my entry for "blog this book" is a bit late this week. life's been hectic but i finally have some time to post some books for y'all. gaile started it and how it works is that i post some books that i've read and am ready to part with. if you want to read it, let leave a comment and let me know what book you have to trade and we can swap. if you really want to read it but don't have anything to trade, leave a comment anyway and we can work something out. some of the books are in better shape than others but all are in readable condition. enjoy!


even cowgirls get the blues by tom robbins
yes there was a movie made about this book starring uma thurman. i've never seen it so i can't say if it was good or not. i never actually finished this book. the writing was good and the characters were interesting but the story kept meandering into odd places that i just couldn't follow. however i know many people who really love tom robbins and i plan on trying one of his other books soon.


vanity fair by william makepeace thackery
classic novel about the struggle for wealth and power. becky sharp is intent on shedding her low upbringing and make a name for herself, any way she can. this is so much better than the movie that was made starring reese witherspoon.


the lovely bones by alice sebold
very interesting book told from the point of view of a little girl who's been murdered. she can observe the world from where she is and we get to see how her death has affected her family.

that's all i have for now. let me know if you're interested in anything!

the saxon is done

what: saxon braid scarf from knitting on the edge, errata here
start: 8/31/05
finish: 10/15/05
needle: clover bamboo 10 straight
yarn: 3 skeins knitpicks sierra in cranberry
notes on the pattern: the pattern is pretty easy to follow, although i think i chart would have been easier to read instead of the line by line. it took me a long time to remember what the abbreviations for the cables meant. i didn't really get it until the last skein got going but once i did it went quite a bit faster. knotting all of the little fringes was kind of a pain, too, but it came out well. and creating the fringe was nerve wracking but not to fear, twisting those stitches really did keep things from unravelling. this scarf is probably one of the most polished looking knits i have ever knit. it's very posh and looks like something you could buy at a store.
notes on yarn: the sierra was very nice to knit with. it was chunky but soft and had a nice hand. the resulting fabric was a bit dense at first but softened up a lot with a good wet block. the yarn is pretty close to debbie bliss' cashmerino chunky as far as i can tell. i just wish they had more colors available. next time i might try one of the luxury yarns that has a bit more drape, like the panache. this would look fab in a pale pink or grey. it's so classy looking. oh and the actual color is more towards the first picture. the one with me in it is a bit too bright. it's a very nice, deep red.

overall this was a fun knit and it going to make a fabulous gift. yay! now onto the next one!

hollywood hijinks

you know- i'd never actually seen the hollywood sign before today. rumor was that on a clear day (ha!) you could see it from my old apartment but i never saw it. however as i was driving up the street to my friend's house this morning, there it was. it's actually kind of cool. it used to say "hollywoodland" but i think hollywood sounds a lot better. well the reason i was up there this morning was to meet my friend to go to the hollywood farmer's market. i've never been to this one even though i used to see it when i went to the 24 hour fitness across the street from it. but my co-worker is always bragging about the fantastic food and fun time she has there so i had to go. i ate a lovely green corn with sweet corn tamale, thai coconut cakes and a delicious strawberry lemonade. i also picked up some fresh veggies and sweet rice snacks to go. also spotted french actress julie delpy (of before sunrise and american werewolf fame) and grassfed bison. are bison the same as buffalo? cause i've had buffalo burgers (tasty!) farmers markets are so fun!

that was super early and afterwards i headed straight to unwind for my sock class. it was a small class with only 5 people signed up. we were basically making a baby sock to get down the construction of a sock so we could make grown up ones later. it was actually my first knitting class ever and it was interesting. my sock came out huge because of my loose knitting but who cares? but i know you want to see it, even if you don't say so, and i will keep you waiting no longer.


the class was interesting with people at different skill levels and i definitely had fun. i hope this newfound knowledge will kick me into finally finishing the sock i started ages ago. i have enough yarn for 5 more pairs of socks in the stash so i better start cranking them out. :)


i also bought a few other things this weekend. unwind just started carrying bryspun circulars. i've only heard good things about them and i've been wanting to try them so i bought a couple to test out. i started using the bryspun straights on my atacama sweater (bamboo was sticking too much to the alpaca) and i have to say that i do like the way they feel. the tips are pointy enough and they're light. i can't wait to try out my new circs! i also picked up a skully shirt at urban outfitters on saturday. i have a thing for pirates (like a lot of people) and could not resist. isn't it cool? and the candle on the top right was bought from a very nice man at the farmers market who makes them. it's jasmine scented and i know it's a good candle because i can smell it in the room even when it's not burning. it's not the cheap kind from the 99 cent store that i use during blackouts. and i love love the smell of jasmine. i heart my new goods.

oh and i know i said i was on a yarn diet, but that doesn't include tool and patterns that will help me use up the stash. just no yarn and nothing frivolous. oh and i just bought glampyre's new bulky cable sweater pattern. it's gorgeous and i have been waiting for the pattern to come out. you know you want it, too. go get it now. i'll wait......

i hope you bought it. you won't regret it. well i am off to lay on the couch and decrease the armholes on the atacama sweater. it's lovely staying in weather and i only wish i didn't have to work tomorrow. stats on the saxon braid scarf tomorrow (or soon at least). :)

good night, and good luck

i just got back from seeing good night, and good luck and i have to say that it was excellent. the film was directed by george clooney and is about broadcast journalist edward murrow during the time of senator mccarthy. really it's fantastically written, with a great cast and it's shot beautifully in black and white. david strathairn is amazing. you should definitely check it out if you can.

and i buckled down last night to actually finish something. this is the saxon braid scarf from the cover of knitting on the edge. i finished the scarf late last night except for the fringe. i didn't want to try unravelling it when i was too tired. below is a little picture story on the business of making all the side fringe.


this is the scarf's wrong side after i finished the last row of the pattern.


i bound off all the stitches up to the last 5 and tied the last stitch off.


i was afraid the whole thing was going to unravel but looks like i twisted all the right stitches, cause everything stayed where it was supposed to.


and here is the fringe in all of its crinkled glory.

i gave it a good wet block and it is drying on the floor right now. i'll take a picture tomorrow and give you all the stats. but it looks lovely and warm and really cool with the fringe.

this is probably going to be a christmas gift so yay, it's done. now onto the atacama sweater! well off to veg and watch tv for me. and of course, knit. i am taking a sock knitting class tomorrow at unwind so hopefully i will start craking out those socks soon. and i bought an awesome shirt today. i'll try to remember and take a pic. night!

all things dead

sigh- so the whole front and back of my sweater was frogged tonight. yes i ripped it all out. looking at it tonight, i could totally see the color changes from skein to skein. i had looked at it while i was doing it but i didn't notice anything. but variegated yarn can be a bitch and this one varies a lot from skein to skein. so it's ripped and i started over alternating skeins as i go. your condolences are welcome.

sunday veg

wow it seems like the weekend lasted forever (which it never does). i managed to go to two really good concerts this weekend. my friend called unexpectedly on friday to tell me that his professor had given him two tickets to the franz ferdinand show at the greek theater and asked if i wanted to go. hello- free concert and good music? i was so there. franz ferdinand put on a really fun and energetic show. the only bad thing was our seats because we sort of let a group of people sit in our seats (they were already there) and just moved down a couple of seats. but then during the show, the people who actually had our seats came so we had to move back to our old seats but instead of two people from the other group moving, only one girl moved. so basically my friend and i were sharing a space for only one person. but it was fine. the people next to us looked like they were in junior high and we didn't want to split them up. yeah, we're that nice.

saturday i had tickets for green day at the home depot center. traffic getting there was so bad and parking cost $20, but the show made up for it. it was super fun and energetic the whole time and am i the only one who thinks billy joe is kind of cute? it was also one of the most elaborate shows i've ever been to, with fireworks, flame thrower effects, and loud firecracker explosions. they were really great live and i would recommend seeing them if you get a chance.

quick movie reviews: a history of violence was interesting (in a good way) and the acting was top notch (with the exception of the kid who plays his daughter. i just didn't buy it) and the plot was intriguing but not fantastic. worth it just to see ed harris being creepy and viggo's naked butt (yeah you heard me). wallace and gromit was excellent! it totally worked as a full length and it was funny (love that british humor). i also think that the wallace and gromit films (and aardman stuff in general) has the best sound editing and effects. it's always so crisp and clear and real sounding. i don't know what it is but it's always excellent.

i did a good bit of knitting this weekend on the atacma sweater. i finished the front earlier this week and just finished the back tonight while watch desperate housewives and grey's anatomy (this week's was SO good). and in finally took some pictures for you, so enjoy.


this is the front, all laid out and pretty. it could use a good blocking but i'll worry about that later.


close-up of my first ever successful short row shoulder.


and a super close-up of the lovely atacama yarn so that you'll go buy some. :)the colors are pretty true here and are just divine in person.

and before the yarn diet started, i had ordered a couple books from amazon. i had been hearing so many good things about melanie falick's handknit holidays that i just had to get it. and i saw the debbie bliss book on kristine's blog and knew it would be the perfect thing to get me to the $25 free shipping mark. free shipping = slow ass delivery but i finally got the books on thursday. savannah chik was cool enough to make an album of the whole book and i took just a few pics of some of the projects i really like for you.











i haven't read through the whole thing yet but everything looks inspiring. the only thing i would say it needed was more pictures of the projects. i mean there were a lot of pictures but there were a lot of projects where i thought a close0up or a back view pic would have been very useful. other than that it's gorgeous and totally worth adding to the library. it's starting to get a little cooler here and all of the halloween stuff is out. i love love halloween and love this time of year. my pumpkin carving buddies moved out of state this year so i am not sure what i am going to do. i might just suck it up and carve one on my own. pumpkin patches are the best, too! all i have to say is yay for fall.

sneezy

i have been sluggish for the past couple of days. it all started yesterday when i gave blood during the blood drive at work. now i've given blood before and besides the ew factor, i'm usually fine. but this time, midway through, i started to get super nauseous and hot and i felt so lame cause they had to come put ice packs on me and give me juice. and let me tell you, i felt really sick but i didn't pass out. yay me. and they made me sit there for more than half and hour and my poor coworker waited for me. so i have been out of whack ever since then even though i am sure the blood's been regenerated and all that. maybe it's just the freaky humid weather that's messing with me, but i hope to feel back to normal soon.

the blog has been bland lately without pictures because i left my camera in the car and i keep forgetting to bring it up with me when i go in. swear i will try to bring it up before the end of the week. i just started the waist shaping on the back of the tshirt sweater and it's looking nice. i can't tell if the colors are pooling weird or not and i was too lazy to work from two skeins at once. i think it'll be fine and i am cool with the spontaneity of variegated yarns.

and hello- i looked at the bank account today and where did all the money go? i am so on a yarn diet starting right now. seriously folks, i need to save some cash and i have so much yarn at the moment. i keep getting packages at work and my boss is making fun of me because he knows what's inside. so you heard it here. NO YARN. don't tempt me with sales or new patterns or gorgeous finished items. i can't. seriously, yo. you need to help me be good.

heading off to bed now as i have a big day tomorrow. we're going to see a history of violence and i have to be rested up for my dear viggo. nighty night!

i just spent an evening in short row hell. i am finally up to the shoulder shaping on the atacama tshirt sweater and decided that i wanted to figure out how to short row shape ths shoulders so that i could do a three needle bind off. sounds simple right? no- kept messing it up and the directions i was using were a little vague. i mean, i understand the concept but i was confused as to where i should turn my work. at first i kept turning at the same place because my directions told me to work until i had the number of stitches i wanted bound off on my left need. well the pattern tells me to bind off 8 stitches every other row 2x so i was turning it at the eight stitch mark twice. what i finally figured out was that the second time round, i needed to add the bound off stitches together so i was turning when the number of stitches on the left needled equalled the total number of stitches i should have bound off at that point (8 + 8 = 16 st). i had to rip a few times but i finally figured it out and now i can forget it and relearn it when i do the back piece.

i've been having headaches on and off today and i seem to be on at the moment. i gotta go take something or i'll never get to bed. and i have to feel good cause i am giving blood tomorrow and my blood buddy (ew) just caught a cold and won't be donating with me. so i need my strength to face icky blood giving alone. i'm not particularly scared of needles but who really wants a big one stuck in their arm, right? send yarn to pad my fall in case i pass out. :)

i believe i am the wind

so i saw serenity last night (all by my lonesome i might add) and i thought it was really good. i do think people who may have never seen the tv series might not be getting the whole story but overall, i thought it was very well done. the dialogue was top notch and it just makes me so sad that the show didn't last. imagine, we could have had YEARS of firefly episodes. but at least we got one last hurrah with the movie. and for your viewing pleasure is a pic of my friend in the jayne hat i sent her this week. she lives in boston now so we couldn't see it together but she was there in spirit. happy sunday!

the sands of time

dang- this week has been going by so slowly. time is going slowly and i am so happy that friday has finally come. what do i have planned this weekend? well, tonight i have a date with my friend to see the king tut exhibit at lacma. this exhibit is so popular that we had to make and appointment to get in. i don't think i've ever made an appointment to get into a museum. i also plan to knit this sweater:


(it's from the ella rae book #1 if you want to know) yeah i saw it in a catalog and couldn't resist. then combined with the fact that i saw the yarn in person last weekend and it was YUMMY, clinched the deal. i found a great price for a bag of yarn here and got it a couple of days ago. i swatched last night and cast on for the front.

other than that i just want to chill out, maybe do a little shopping, catch up on tv show, and of course, go see SERENITY. go go go. you know you want to. i bet you a nickel you'll like it. :) happy weekend!

a cunning feat

lookee i finished something. i bet all you readers forgot what a finished object looks like here at chez fun. info...

JAYNE HAT

pattern: combo of this pattern and this one
yarn: brown sheep bulky in spice (red), rust (orange) and lemon drop (yellow)
needles: 10.5 16" clover circs
pattern notes: i combined the two popular patterns for jayne's hat into one to get my hat. i cast on for the craftster pattern hat (my first time using cable cast on) but used a decrease method similar to the one from superfly (spiral decreases). and the earflaps i only made 16 stitches wide (instead of the 20 that the craftster pattern was asking for). all in all, a very quick and satifying experience. i finished the hat in one evening but i still need to make the pom pom, which is why i did not include it in the picture. i've never actually even made a pom pom but i am thinking that it's not that hard. i feel so much better finishing this before serenity comes out. i am not planning on wearing it to the movie, however, since i'll be alone and i'd rather not call attention to myself. but everyone should go to the movie so it makes big bucks. friday, y'all. be there.

i spent the entire weekend doing pretty much nothing. did a bit of shopping and i bought two pairs of jeans. this is huge news for me since i never find pants that fit and my old jeans have holes in them. holes, people, and not on purpose. i seriously need to do some fall shopping. more pants and more shirts and some boots. i feel like, well i know that i am wearing the same clothes to work every week. i am sure my coworkers would love to see me in some new duds. hopefully i will get to do some more shopping next weekend.

besides that, i was quite productive this evening, as i went to my friend vanessa's house and watched a crapload of tv. saw grey's anatomy, desperate housewives, the west wing and the family guy. lots of good tv viewing on sunday nights this season.

ooh and we saw flightplan on friday. let's just say it wasn't too good. the acting was good but the plot was just poor and the twist wasn't great and there were just too many plotholes to hold the thing together. my friend's mom kept calling it panic plane and that sums is up pretty well. i'd save my buckeroos for something better if i could help it.

let the good times roll

sigh- it seems like it's been such a long week, but it's almost over. lots of excitement this week, including thunderstorms and emergency plane landing in la. luckily, none of these events ended tragically. in fact, the thunderstorms and rain were really cool. i love fall and winter and even though los angeles has a pretty pathetic season, i can't wait for it to start. what else have i been doing this week? watching tv. that's all i've been doing really. about a million shows started up again this week and i was on a quest to watch all of my favorites, along with a few new shows. i just finished last night's season premiere of lost, which was awesome. no spoilers so don't fear, but i love it and am so glad it won the emmy (even though deadwood and six feet under are pretty awesome, too). i also managed to watch csi tonight and i was happy to see the whole team together again. but gil still had that annoying beard i think. so far none of the new shows is turning out to be really interesting to me. i did miss my name is earl though, and plan on catching it next week. bones was just ok (the main character is kind of annoying) and everybody hates chris was pretty funny. i really don't know if i will be able to keep up with all of the tv watching. it's exhausting.

one good thing about being a couch potato is that i get to knit a lot. this week i've been concentrating on the saxon braid scarf from knitting on the edge and since it's pretty dull looking still, i'll just post a pic of the cable.


i can't seem to catch the color correctly. it's a very deep red and the color is not as blown out as it is here in the picture. again - the knitpicks sierra is dreamy to work with. the color selection right now is a bit limited but hopefully they're remedy that soon. in other knitting news, thanks to some people, i decided that i needed to make a jayne hat. if you've ever watched firefly, you know what hat i am talking about. the serenity movie comes out in 8 days (!) and i thought that i needed a hat to commemorate the event. i know i won't wear it to the actual movie since i will probably be going alone and don't like to call attention to myself anyway. but you can find a pattern here and another craftster thread about the whole thing. i think everyone should make one so they can look this cool:




i'll be using brown sheep bulky for the hat. i'm not really sure if these are the right colors for it (it's hard to tell in the dvd), and i also ordered one color online that should come shortly. in most of the patterns out there, they say that the earflap should be red. however, i think the hat is mostly gold and orange and i ordered a dark rust color for the earflaps. the yellow is a bit bright but i kind of like it. i might do some yarn shopping this weekend just in case (my bad).

i'm pooped now so off to bed i go but i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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!