Finished Friday

The hats are done. I ended up with two from the Sensations Dolcetto.



These will both be going to charity.

I also finished socks!



These are my Gryffindor 2nd Year Socks finished. The yarn is from Dharma Fey's Cosmic Fibers in the colorway Gryffindor 2nd Year. I think I would have preferrd a broader stripe, but I've never knit anything so funky before. It was fun - and quick! They were completed in a week.

Favorite's

Rainbows.

This one is from the base of Interstate 5 at the Grapevine. Aptly named in this case. There had been terrible storms throughout the Southland, with major flooding. Seeing something so beautiful after the damage of the flood waters was a little surreal.

What's On The Needles

This week, Nagini is still on the needles. One sock is done.

Here is something else that I've been working on:

This is going to be a kid's hat with yarn I purchased at Joann's. It's called Sensations Bellezza Collection Dolcetto, a wool blend. I'm using size 10.5US dpn's for this one.



I just got this yarn last weekend from the Yarn Barn at Stitches West. It's Fortissma Socka Mexiko Color, colorway #24. I am doing a ribbed sock, so I am calling them Ribby Goodness.

The preemie blanket is still in the needles. I also cast on for a sock I am test knitting, so not too much I can say on that one, other than it is really cool. Sweaters have been untouched. I'm just wondering if I will have anything else done by Friday. We shall see.

Thoughts for a Tuesday

This really isn't Tuesday, because, quite frankly, I feel soundly asleep on the couch about 15 minutes after I sat down, which was around 9:30pm. I woke up around 3 am and crawled into bed. It was about 10 minutes or so later that I realized - damn - I forgot to blog.

I hate being tried. I hate not being able to do the things I want to do. Sometimes life just doesn't want to work with your schedule, and you just have to deal with. I hate that I'm getting older and I can't function anymore on less than 6 hours a night.

So, in my head I blogged these thoughts yesterday. I have to cut myself a little slack every once in a while.

The simple things in life

I don't know why this is such a favorite picture of mine - a lonely, little pine cone on the Tahoe shore. There was just something so sad, yet poignant.

There are times when you just have to appreciate the simple things.

Sunday Quotes

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of being.

Carl Jung

SEX - Stash Enhancement X-perience

Did I get your attention? It's totally juvenile, but I've been wanting to post an entry with SEX in it. Hehe.



More stash. I don't think I went nuts. I thought I was pretty good, all things considered. I bought a Ravelry bag yesterday, and took it home to decorate. I had a few more buttons than I thought! 5 of the pins are from Ravelry. I love collecting these!

Ok, stash. From left to right.....

2 skiens Ecru Inca Organic Cotton from The Village Spinning and Weaving Shop
2 skiens Dusky Aurora - Dream In Color Smooshy - intended for the Mystic Light Shawl KAL - I'm going with Aurora Borealis instead of Sunrise or Sunset
4 skeins Black & White: Lana Grossa Bingo Chine
3 skeins Purple: Lana Grossa Soffice
2 skeins Palest Pick - Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton, 100% Organically Grown


...and down in front is a beaded I-cord necklace and bracelet kit. After taking 2.5 hours to thread the beads, I managed to finish the bracelet in under 2 hours and start the necklace. It takes a little getting used to, but I think the overall effect will be quite nice.

I received an email earlier this week from Afghans for Afghans. They weren't going to be in attendance this year, but Nine Rubies Knitting was collecting hat donations for them. I went through the basket where I keep my finished charity items, and donated these:



Nine hats for Nine Rubies. The basket is pretty empty again. I guess I better get to work!

Well, that's it for the 2008 Stitches Stash Enhancement X-perience. I am so glad it is a once per year event!

Finished Friday

It was a long day - and a good one. This was the first day of Stitches West, and the Marketplace was a fibery garden of earthly delights. Ravelry had a great idea and created passports - you had to go to specific booths and get your passport stamped. It was a fun way to get around the show and see what was available. I got mine done and turned in by 11:30. My first stop, however, was Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and I kept myself to just two skeins.

Here is a picture of my acquisitions:



I love the handmade baskets from Africa, so I picked up one of those. I also got a Ravelry bag, but I'll show that tomorrow.

To the top left - that Malabrigo. Two luscious skeins that go remarkably well with my Yarn Pirate Kalamata socks. To the top right are the two skeins of Blue Moon. The red skien is Lang MerinoSeta, with which I am going to make a pair of fingerless gloves. Next to the Lang is a skien of Orange Mondial Cotton Soft for a baby hat. The purple looking stuff is Windy Valley Muskox Qiviuk, a blend of Qiviuk, Extrafine Merino and Silk. After that are two skeins of OnLine supersock, one for hubby and one for me, and a skein of Fortissima Socka. Then the BMF followed by another skein of OnLine.

Bottom Row is Tess Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby and Microfiber Ribbon.

I also bought a few patterns and some notions. However, I bought something that I have long salivated after, but would not purchase until I held them in my hand.



From Signature Needle Arts, may I introduce the Stiletto Needles. These are wonderful! I can't say enough about them. They grip, they are solid aluminum needles and they have a wonderful point. I purchased the 10" length in size US 3, 5 and 7. Will I buy more? Yeah. I tried them tonight on some afghan squares, and they were done in no time. I love the feel of these needles. The sticker, by the way, is from Ravelry.

It was a wonderful day, and I get to go back and do it all over again tomorrow.

Favorite's

BEER - Tasters at the Eel River Brewing Company, America's first certified organic brewery. The Hazelnut Porter was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!

What's on the Needles

Here is the progress report - first off, Nagini:



I wanted to cast on a pair of Gigi Silva socks, and this was one of three patterns that she released for the last Harry Potter Book. I am hoping I don't run out of yarn. She warned that they used a lot of yarn due to the cables. I weighed 50 grams remaining when I was done with the first sock. It would really suck to get that close and run out. I could do the toes in a another yarn, though. The yarn is from Mackintosh Yarns in the colorway Voldemort.



I got the idea to make a preemie blanket, and here it is in progress. I am using Patons Cotton Club and doing this in Moss Stitch.




Nagini, since it employs cables, is not a good commuting socks, so I started these. A basic stockinette sock using Cosmic Fibers Gryffindor Second Year colorway. These are becoming a quick knit.

Check back on Friday to see what, if anything, I get done. Friday also is the first day of Stitches West!

Water

Water is fascinating to me. It falls from the sky in droplets, flakes and mist. It freezes and forms glaciers, icicles, frost and black ice. The earth is 2/3rd's water, and we are comprised of it and need to exist. It can be fresh or salty. The colors it takes in nature are varied and breathtaking. But what gets me is this...



The morning sun as seen through my windshield. This ice formed from the overnight dew.

Amazing.

We must not forget

This is a memorial in Lafayette, California. It is a well-to-do town, about 20 miles east of San Francisco. I took this picture on February 13th, 2007. I thought what a horrible cost this war has been. When I passed it last week, one year later, the total was 3953. A difference of 842. Add to that an additional 478 who have been lost in Afghanistan. So many people gone. We will never know what they could have accomplished if their fate had been different.

Regardless of your view of the conflict in the Middle East, and our role in it, over 4,000 families will forever be missing a family member at the table at holidays, never be able to hear their voice in laughter, never be able to touch their face with love. Then there are all those who sacrificed a part of themselves in these conflicts. Their lives are forever changed.

Even if you're having a really bad day, it doesn't compare to this, does it?

Sunday Quotes

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

-Aristotle

Sock swap

I participated in a sock swap earlier this year. I made socks for a young mother in Norway and a lovely woman in England made a pair for me. We were members of the Vintage Sock Swap, from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.



These are the pair that Michelle made for me. They are known as Little Child's Sock. This is a pattern I have not tried. They fit just right.

I had posted the Child's First Sock that I made for myself. These are the one's I made for Johanna in Norway:



The color reminded me of the lakes, rivers and fjords of Northern Norway. Blues and greens are shades that she liked, and it seemed fitting. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill in the colorway Green Mountain Madness.

See you tomorrow!

Finished Friday

This week was a pretty good one. I managed to knock out a couple of things


Yarn: Rowan Cotton Wool - Pattern: Improvised - Needles: 6US


Yarn: Some kind of acrylic - Pattern: Basic Garter - Needles: 7US


Yarn: Rowan Cotton Wool - Pattern: Improvised - Needles: 6US


Yarn: Patons Be Mine - Pattern: Improvised - Needles: 9US

The hats I think were pretty cute and worked up fairly quickly. The squares are numbers 10 and 11 that I started back in October. These were done for various charity afghan drives. I am just happy to be through with the black and to be able to say I busted some old stash!

Next week I may have my Nagini socks done and I started a preemie blanket. I should have at least one thing for next Friday!

Favorite's

My honey and I - hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

On My Needles.....

No pictures today of work on the needles - ran out of time. You get to see yarn, though.

I've been working on a sweater for my husband. It's called Big Easy and it's nothing but stockinette. I don't have a picture of the piece, but here is the yarn.



I love Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply. It's almost fingering weight, and it takes forever to knit up to a decent sized sweater, but it is sooo pretty.

I started a preemie blanket. Had to frog the thing and start all over. I'm doing that in a Patons cotton blend that is machine washable.

I've been working on afghan squares - got three more done. Their siblings look like this....



Black - can't see any detail in the shots. Oh well.

I started my Nagini socks. I'm using MacKintosh Yarns Voldemort.



I have finished stuff to show off on Friday, so check back then.

Thoughts for a Tuesday

I've been a bit stumped as to what to write. Having defined criteria for each day has helped, but Tuesday is still a challenge. Part of that comes from not wanting to put it all our there. I mean, I need some privacy. I don't want to offend people, but I also want to be true to myself. Know what I mean?

Here's a thought - what happened to chivalry? I know it's still out there. Every once in a while, a man will give up his seat on the train to a woman, hold a door open, or hold out a chair. Only on a rare occasion is this gentleman under the age of 50. When did manners become optional?

I think the only time this really bothers me is on the train. When a pregnant woman, or an elderly person, or someone who is physically challenged has to ask for someone to give up a seat and then is ignored, I have to wonder what the world is coming to.

Because I'm on the train for a fairly long ride, I find a seat towards the back of the car and at the window. By the 5th or 6th stop, I'm blocked in. It is wholly inconvenient for me to try to give my seat to someone else. But when you've got a surly teenager with baggy pants and ear buds in their ears sitting in the seats designated for seniors and disabled people, you want to yank the buds out of their ears and ask them if they are incapable of reading, let alone showing empathy.

Recently, a very pregnant woman came on the train and searched in vain for a seat. She then asked a young woman if she could have her seat. The teen said she'd been on her feet all day and didn't feel like standing for the rest of the ride. She got off 3 stops later - about 8 minutes. An elderly woman gave up her seat instead.

We have a very nice young man that works in our office. He's in his mid-20's and gives me hope. He's originally from New York. He always let's me enter the room before him when we're going to a meeting. He offered to get me lunch when it was raining very hard one day. He even walked me to the train when we had to work late one night - even though it was in the opposite direction of where he needed to go. When I asked him why he did these things, he said that's how he was raised. I asked if his friends were the same way, and he said they were. He was surprised that people were so "different" here on the West Coast. See, he's even polite when it comes to criticizing our disrespectful ways.

I know that this happens in other places, I just don't understand why it happens. When did parents stop teaching their children to be polite and respectful? You're not stifling creativity or independence or individuality. Isn't it more important that a child be raised to have empathy and appreciate the acts of kindness and giving? I'm just sayin'....

I am very appreciative of the small kindnesses that my co-worker shows me. I also am thankful that I don't take it for granted.

If you've got a young person in your life that is "old-fashioned", give them a hug and say thank you. Maybe, if they lead by example, those that have not learned these lessons will catch on.

Memories of Long Ago

There is a reason why I use Solslett - it reminds me of this place. This is where my Mom grew up. A little town, hamlet, called Halsa. The farm was called Solslett, loosely translated to Sunny Plain. Mountains on one side, the ocean on the other. This is the place my heart longs for, the place I feel homesick for. The only place the I felt the hand of God. I miss it more than words can describe. And it will never be the place I remember again. So many have passed since I last walked these roads, so much has changed. But it will always be the home of my heart.

The woman in the picture is my Mom, taken the summer of 1982. That was the last time I spent the summer on the family farm. I would visit again, but not spend the long summer days there, being bored out of my mind with my cousins. We never knew how good we had it.

Sunday Quotes

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

- Mark Twain



I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has left comments in the last few weeks. I appreciate your kind words. It is always encouraging to see that someone else reads, or sees, your work. I wish that I could respond back directly, but that's not something available through Blogger. Can't expect too much for something that is free. Just know that it mean a lot to me, and it just makes my day!

Thanks for stopping by.

Golden State Warriors

I have never been to a professional Basketball game in my life. Tonight that changed.



We went to the Oracle Arena in Oakland and watched a game been the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.



Thankfully, the home team won. It was very interesting, but the play calling was a challenge, and we couldn't really understand the Arena announcer. The entertainment was fun, but they really had nothing at "half-time", which I guess is just something I'm used to from Football.

So far, we've seen the 49'er's, the A's, the Saber Cats (arena football) and now the Warriors. That pretty much just leaves two - the Raiders (no way in hell I'm going to one of their games - LA was enough for me) and the Giants. These tickets came to us via Kevin's office, which is always a nice benefit.

I did bring some knitting with me. You can certainly knit at the game, just nothing that requires too much attention. Good to know for the future!

FO Friday

This was a good week. I finished a few things.......


Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. The yarn is from Yarn Pirate's Booty Club in the color way Kalamata. I used 2.25mm Needles. I love these socks!


For Superbowl weekend, I decided to do a bunch of charity baby hats. The two on the right are Filatura Di Crosa Zarella, knit on size 8US needles. The three on the left are Cascade Cherub Collection DK knit on size 6US needles. Aren't they cute?





I had a skein of TLC Wiggles and I figured it would make a decent hat. It looks a bit loud, doesn't it? I'm thinking of giving it to charity, but if I wore it in San Francisco, I wouldn't really stand out. I had enough left over to make a baby hat. I used size 6US needles.

I'm casting on a new pair of socks this weekend, and continuing with the hat knitting. It is a great way to get through stash!

Favorite's

On the trail to Kehoe Beach, Pt. Reyes Station.

Every once in a while when I take that "special" shot, even I have to say "damn, did I take that"? I totally love this one.

What's On My Needles Wednesday

Ok - I still have the socks from last week, which will probably be included in the FO Friday post this week.

I did a bunch of baby hats over the weekend.

Then there is this....



It's a big person hat. I'm using TLC's Wiggles, and the only way I am satisfied with the appearance is if it's in plain stockinette. The yarn is ok to work with (for acrylic - yes, I'm a yarn snob). The "wiggles" will need to be coached when the hat is done. Many are going to the inside, which defeats the purpose of using the yarn. I have ripped it back twice. I tried a couple of different stitch patterns, and it just looked wrong. Oh well.

That's all for today. Check back on Friday for my finished Child's First Sock #2 - in Yarn Pirate!

Thoughts for a Tuesday

I like this title better than Tirade Tuesday. It's hard for me to be a shrieking witch on a continual basis.

I've been giving a lot of thought to where I am in the world. My circumstances. My sphere of influence. My interaction with other people. I have found I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm not putting any effort into correcting it either.

I love my family and friends. I love what I do, personally and professionally. I feel blessed that I have a wonderful man to share my life with. I feel truly fortunate to be where I am professionally. But something is missing.

There are times I want to call up a friend, and just hang out at Starbucks, or Barnes & Noble. Go cruise the craft store. Have lunch. But I want this with one of my old friends, the ones that know me sometimes better than I know myself. They are too far away for that.

I love the Bay Area, but sometimes it's lonely. I made a "new" friend a few years ago. We met at work. I put far more stock in our friendship than she did. I haven't seen her since June 2006, and the deep sense of hurt and betrayal I felt then is still as strong today. Sadly, this renewed my belief that your personal life and professional life need to be held far apart.

I spend a lot of time at work on the phone. It has become my least favorite mode of communication. I have days when my ears just hurt from being on the phone so much. The last thing I want to do is have a 2 hour conversation on the phone with a friend. I want to talk to them - but I want to see them. See, there's my one big regret. Losing the physical connection with my friends.

Do I actively go out and involve myself in activities where I could meet new people? Not so much. Do I make an effort to become involved in groups? A little.

Here I am whining about something that I know I will make little effort to change. Am I alone in this? I don't think so. Am I too picky about who I choose to associate with? Probably. I don't have a great record when it comes to "girl friends", probably because I never really understood other girls. I found most to be completely silly, boy/man obsessed, and shopping fanatics. Then again, my mother was never great at supporting my socializing endeavors. Until I moved out of the house, I had spent one night away from my mother. One solitary night. I spent it with my godmother's, a woman I didn't like. Not one bit. She used me like a prized show dog to her friends. "Isn't my little Norwegian God Daughter just precious? I could just eat her up!" I told my mother when I went home the next day, that I never wanted to spend another night at THAT WOMAN'S house. I was 8. My mother took that to be I never wanted to spend another night away from her. Yeah - it pretty much sucked around my house after that.

My mother has one friend. A very sweet lady, I have know her my whole life. She has been more of an aunt to me than my own blood. My mother and her best friend. They had another woman they were close to. She passed away in 1976 from breast cancer. They still talk about her, and that awful husband of hers. They're like a couple of school girls when they are together- laughing and joking about nothing and everything. I don't know what they would do without the other. I don't want this to be my life when I'm their age.

In some ways, I am mimicking my mother and her isolationist ways. At least I have things to do to occupy my time. And I obviously share details of my life with anyone willing to listen. I guess I have gotten to a stage in my life that it would be nice to have someone close to hang out with - someone other than my husband. As I said, he is wonderful and I love him to death. But he's a husband! He can't be completely objective.

God, I could go on and on about this. Poop.

Memories

There are days when I really miss my Dad. And yes - I was Daddy's little girl.

Does this, or does this not, just scream 70's?

Sunday Quotes

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Steve Martin

In Memorium

I have enjoyed knitting socks very much this past year. There are two pair that stand out, because they were created around the time a favorite book series finished up last summer.

Gigi Silva, otherwise known as Momma Monkey, the host of Socktopia, passed away this week. She was a wonderfully creative woman. I enjoyed participating in Socktopia. When Harry Potter was released last July, Gigi created three sock patterns for the event. I have completed Fawkes and Bellatrix. I was ready to move on to Nagini, but was diverted to other pretty patterns.

I run a KAL called Sock Stash Elimination Campaign. I have challenged the participants to knit a pair of Momma Monkey socks during the month of February. For each completed pair, I will be donating $5 to the Lupus Foundation in Gigi's memory. It's a fitting time to complete Nagini, I think.

We'll miss you, Momma Monkey.

Finished Friday

I finished one thing I can show you. That's my Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.



For some unknown reason, I didn't think it was going to be this pink. Don't know what I was thinking. It is pretty though - and a traffic stopper. I used Koigu KPM (#1175-18) and KPPPM (#P308-40) on size 4.5mm needles.