Saturday, May 28, 2005

I'm doing it again

I am dressed too warmly for the inside temperature of our home. And it is because I am enjoying my newly fixed and seriously revamped Gloria sweater. Yes, I have spent most all of my free time working on it- this whole week. But tonight it was unveiled and introduced into public through a special dinner at Singapore restaurant followed by Sonny's Ice Cream spent with my parents, DH, and my visiting bro.

On the drive to the restaurant I was furiously weaving in yarn tails while seated in the middle of the back seat. I was trying not to get carsick with over concentration yet I desperately wanted to wear my sweater. As we sat down at the table I noticed a long blue string hanging from the underside of my right sleeve. Ooops. I was trying to get by weaving in the minimum of tails but I missed one. Once the tasty dumplings and roti arrived I forget about the bothersome and aesthetically unappealing tail. Good food can do that for you.

So my grandiose fix-it plan worked. The folded under fronts add extra structure to the sweater making it look more like a fitted jacket than a cardigan. The seed stitch edge allowed me to have a decorative edging when I had to fold the garter stitch edging under to make the sweater more fitted. All in all it ended up yielding a sweater that looks made especially for me, a one of a kind no doubt. It's uniqueness is further enhanced by having manipulated the pattern and using two different yarns than those the pattern used. It made this sweater considerably more affordable to knit with kujaku I purchased at 50% off instead of the pricier Silk Garden, and Cascade 220 instead of Cashmerino.

Gloria en vivo

Gloria en vivo

Gloria sweater in all her glory

Gloria sweater in all her glory

All my improvements were worth the effort

DH made this for us- a pesto porkchop and flavored potatoes

DH made this for us- a pesto porkchop and flavored potatoes

Delicious

Weasel (Genevieve) visits the dog park for the first time

Weasel (Genevieve) visits the dog park for the first time

Here she comes!

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

stash enhancement

I just took the plunge and bought enough Patons Fresco tape yarn for 3 new tank tops. One will be the shapely tank by www.whiteliesdesign.com, and another the Fresco tank by Patons. Just today I confessed to my dear friend Elzbieta that I might end up wearing this particular Fresco tank every day of the summer-unless I had another one. This spurred some internet research leading to sadness due to Fresco's discontinuation. Boo. But then- I found Fresco for sale for $1.97/skein. OOOH! I might of gone overboard but I prefer to consider my impulsive decision reasonable as the tank is easy, fast, and I already made it once and think I can improve on it since last year's version 1.0.

The Gloria story is another story. I was very much saddened (there's a theme here) when I realized my cardigan wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. Yes, it looked beautiful knit up and all, with it's changing vibrant colors and "caterpillars" but the sleeves hung too low, causing the shoulders to fall below my actual shoulders. Plus- the width of my cardigan fronts ended up being about 6 inches wider than me. This couldn't be. Thanks to Beth from Beth's blue blog for an inspiration, and hope that I could salvage it by using a button and giving it an i-cord loop. Thanks also to my Mom whose suggestion involves more work than Beth's but I think it will make the sweater closer to that of the model. This fixing involves taking out the sleeve seams and the under-sleeve seams and picking up stitches along the cast-off edge of the cardigan. I tried and rescued one sleeve today with happiness as the result. Tomorrow the plan is to fix the other, and then get to work on folding over both exposed edges of the cardigan about 4 inches each, sewing them to the under-side, and then picking up stitches again to create a new decorative edge on the cardigan. Whew. Exhausting to read about, yet I know it will be worth all the work to make it into what I want.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

A new pet

On Saturday dh presented me with a new pet with a semi-voracious appetite. It was a Grasshog. He got it at Menard's. Lest you freak out and lecture me about having 2 dogs already I will assure you that this is an independent pet, and mom, you will not need to watch it for us if we go out of town. It is a battery-powered weed whipper. I was excited to use it but had to wait for it to charge overnight. Then, the next day I tried it out, and wore it out too, until the battery died. Afterwards both my arms were so tired and over-used that I could barely hold onto a glass of limeade that I was trying to drink.

We had some friends over Sunday night, and had greek food that we made and played Conga. Conga is made by the makers of the game Cranium, which I love, but I think this game goes too fast. A person could play about 4 games of Conga in the time it takes to play Cranium once.

Tomorrow is SnB. I am looking forward to it a lot. I am using it to motivate me to get some schoolwork done. I told dh that I do'nt remember what happened to my weekend. Then I remembered that I was in class all day saturday. Yup. That's what happened. So I feel as though I am trying to catch up on the missed relaxing that could have been last Saturday.

I sewed the sleeves on GLORIA yesterday, and sewed half the side seam. I hope to get it all sewn together today and then I could weave in tails for the next few days. My goal has been to finish this sweater by the last day of my current class which means this Thurs. evening. I think I can.

Then I will be a sort-of free person. Granted that I currently have 2 homework tasks to complete, and will have another once class is done Thursday, but all my month-long classes will be done. Amazing. I've been in school since Montessori. I cannot fathom freedom.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

G-L-O-R-I-A!

Tonight I was freaking out 'cause I thought I was going to run out of my blue yarn. I was brainstorming all kinds of options that excluded purchasing an additional skein of blue yarn. As I kept knitting, well, after walking the dogs with dh, eating catfish, and popping weeds in the yard, I realized that I don't need the blue yarn for the picked up stitches around the collar. The Noro was going to go there. This was the point that I decided that I could consider a Noro collar for an option- obviously prior to reading all the directions for the pattern.

So I kept on knitting, and eventually it was time to bind off the two fronts. But, alas, I was going to test my knitting skills by trying something new. Enter the Three needle bind off. It was like magic. Elegant, timeless, and virtually seamless, the two rows of 18 sts each came together like they were meant to be. Ooh la la. These babies demand a pic.

Prior to all this knitting flurry I did indeed begin my new role. Dressed in my best professional clothes and having ingested a small Caribou zebra mocha, I visualized myself succeeding at this new task. It went even better than I had expected. I was having a coming of age moment, though it was more a coming of career and knitting success day. DH rewarded my behavior by making dutch cocoa chocolate syrup. Yumm-o. I just had a half a glass of chocolate milk. I would have drank more but all that lactose might adversely affect my lungs. I know that I sure have been coughing away today despite taking my prescribed drugs.

Diagnosis and new adventure begins

Well, I went to the Dr. and was told that my right lung sounds fine, but my left lung sounds "pretty junky"- and that I have walking pneumonia. So I got myself some Zithromax and am hoping for all that to go away soon.

Yesterday I knit most of the rest of my morning after going to the Dr. and have been making progress on the fronts of my gloria sweater. I just hope they aren't too wide.

Today I am starting my new work role- I am very excited and a little nervous. I did have a really positive dream about it on Sunday night though. So we'll see what happens.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Bunny rescue and coyote sighting

On the way to our small group dh and I saw 2 beautiful mammals- not deer, not red foxes, probably not wolves, but possibly coyotes. They bounded through a nearby field as we watched in awe.

On the way back from our small group dh and I saw a bunny limping across the road. My heart breaks when I see hurt animals or dogs loose on freeways or major roads, and my heart was breaking after seeing the bunny. Dh acted fast and pulled the car over to the shoulder, jumped out and caught the hurt rabbit. Conveniently we had a dog crate in the back seat and he placed the bunny in it. We drove to the animal emergency clinic- they said they couldn't do anything for it. Then I called Roseville's Animal Rehabilitation clinic. I was saddened to have to leave a message, but my call was returned quickly. The staff there agreed to stay late to take in our hurt bunny. So we dropped it off after saying some bunny prayers for healing and survival. The receptionist gave me a magnet in exchange for the bunny. It has a baby fox on it. It looks a lot like Genevieve. I intend to e-mail them and and check on its prognosis.

On a sadder note, Amy of the blog "Knit Think" is being faced with some hard decisions about their rescued King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Teddy. He has developed cirrhosis of the liver. Poor doggie baby. Send him some doggie prayers for health, too.

And, as long as the uncertainty is continuing- I think I will be going to the Dr. tomorrow for analysisof my long-lasting cough, and the newly developed pain (hopefully just a muscle strain) under my ribcage. I'm scared to go for a number of reasons- one of them being fear of the unknown, and another related to not wanting to take drugs of any sort. I just don't like side effects and often a illness seems milder than a drug's side effects. I've been trying to knit my way to wellness- but it just hasn't worked yet.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Fabulous anniversary!

I got my hair done at Aveda, we ate at Tiburon, desserted at Muddy Paws, and then my husband surprised me by having our wedding video and honeymoon of Victoria, Australia videos turned into dvd's. These dvd's were then viewed at a special showing for the two of us- at dh's office on their big screen. It was a very memorable evening. Prior to that I had peeky-toe crab cakes, Mango bbq marlin (fish), added my own rum (as in a tsp.- no I'm not kidding) to a mojito, and dh had Lobster tacos. The big draw of Tiburon is their 65 ft aquarium that regretfully was not teeming with aquatic fish. Sad, yes, and a main reason for our selection of the restaurant, but we were told a bacteria was taking over the fish and they were dying, the tank was being cleaned, and that all new fish were arriving on Friday. Of course, just in time for the weekend out-to-eaters. Maybe I'll have to stop by just to see them sometime. Despite that letdown we had a wonderful time together.

The reason for the updo was why should a woman only look her best on her wedding day? It does not have to be all downhill, as in dressing down, from there. No- I didn't put my beautiful wedding dress back on, but I did wear a cute springy dress that made me feel like I should be in a much warmer place. And of course I wore my sexy sandals that I purchased in Santa Clara, CA. We are looking forward to spending much more time together, since dh is the best. :)

Ooh- I had a big meeting today. It went well. I am moving on in my career to more challenging work that is a lot more demanding. I have an adventure ahead, but don't we all. And congrats to my bro who has given his whole summer over to GIS work. I know he'll do a great job.

One more thing. My gloria sweater fronts have been frogged- I ripped or ribbited out 11 inches of the 12 inches I had completed since oops, I forgot to do the decreases. It wasn't that paintful to rip out the 120 rows of work- I want it to be just right, and was wondering why there wasn't any shaping happening to the cardigan fronts. I figured they must just hang big and wide. I was wrong, oops. I think I'll go knit some more since I feel behind now. My goal for it is to be done by my last day of class, May 26th.

Aveda Institute updo- to celebrate our anniversary

Aveda Institute updo- to celebrate our anniversary

This was taken at the end of the night.

We're two! Two years old on our anniversary!

We're two! Two years old on our anniversary!

We ate at Uptown's Muddy Paws Cheesecake- our wedding "cake". They made
me a special drink with our "age" :)

Weasel gets a bath- again!

Weasel gets a bath- again!

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Buster is jealous of Genevieve's hygiene

Currently I am holding a wet, albeit clean puppy-for the second time today. We came back from our night out and her crate was wet. Ewww. That means she's the recipient of a bath. Buster is dissapointed that she's been gettting all doggie bath's at our house. On our walk today Buster lost all his manners and was pulling on the leash and trying to chase cars. Troy and I decided it was because he was jealous of the pup's bathing time. He hadn't had a bath for over a month. Usually he gets a bath every month but with the new pup in the house it threw off our schedule. Whenever there is a noise in the bathroom Buster runs over to check things out. I took a lavender sea salt bath today and he was by my side (outside the tub) the whole time. Now dh has decided to indulge him, especially since the Weasel's gotten 2 baths today alone! This should help curb some of the jealousy for awhile. He definitely can't be jealous of her getting her nails trimmed more often. Last week it was manicure/pedicure time for the corgis and I clipped all their nails in the backyard. Although come to think of it I do think that Geneweasel's ears are bigger than Buster's...

wool and dyed mohair curls for needle-felting gnoming

wool and dyed mohair curls for needle-felting gnoming

Bo peep hand-painted hand-spun yarn, and the gnomes that rule the Land of Beautiful yarn

Bo peep hand-painted hand-spun yarn, and the gnomes that rule the Land of Beautiful yarn

Put these guys on my list for Santa

Put these guys on my list for Santa

Yup- I'll take the pair

The ugly sheep award goes to Merinos!

The ugly sheep award goes to Merinos!

Mop or angora rabbit?

Mop or angora rabbit?

Monday, May 09, 2005

Congrats to us!

DH and I are 2 years old today! That means that we are having fun all day, and going out to eat, and I am going to the Aveda Institute to get my hair done.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Felted koala, Lucky Charms and Sheep and Wool fest

Last night I finished my second sleeve. It's as lovely as the first. I finished before midnight, and thus I just met my personal goal of 1 week= 1 sleeve. I was hungry and we don't have much in the way of snack foods so I settled on a bowl of Lucky Charms. When you eat Lucky Charms after midnight a weird phenomenon happens. It was like the marshmallows in the box of cereal had multiplied since my breakfast. Every bite I took had marshmallows- and I got down to the last 2 bites and there were 10 marshmallows and only a few pieces of actual cereal. I figured I may as well just eaten a couple teaspoonfuls of sugar instead.

Today I gave into my urges and went to Borealis Yarns- and bought yarn for my felted koala bag. I found a pattern for a felted koala so I plan to manipulate it into the koala in my imagination and then attach it to a felted bag. I am very excited about this idea. The progress will probably be slow, but steady as I am still working on my gloria sweater and some spring socks. I got a tweedy gray and a solid gray, along with some light gray mohair for a fuzzy koala. I plan to swatch it today- and felt it perhaps.

I am also excited about the sheep and wool fest. I have no idea what to expect- but I do expect it to blow my mind...and hopefully not my budget. Although, my Mom is having a garage sale now, and my husband agreed that the money we earn there will go to me to repay me for my dragonfly picture, so that could mean yarn money...I have a weakness for hand-painted stuff...

Monday, May 02, 2005

Hitchhiker's knitting

DH and I just returned from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". I won't spoil it for anyone, but I do have to say that there was a knitted scene. An entire knitted scene. Not a scene or split second moment of a person knitting, but a scene that featured actual knitted "people" while sitting in a knitted spaceship interior space. It was pretty cool. I wonder if it was actually knitted, or if it was computer graphics work. Hmm...what do you think all you Douglas Adams fans? I know you are out there lurking around...

puzzle- and sleeve

puzzle- and sleeve

acrylic Care Bears

acrylic Care Bears

Sunday, May 01, 2005

May I be excused, my brain is full.

Whew. What a whirlwind of a weekend. Thursday evening I saw Miss Congeniality 2 with Elzbieta. It was pretty fun, full of fashion designer name-dropping and trendy clothes. The longer I sat in the theater though, the colder I felt. The next morning I had to cancel an important meeting since I woke up feeling awful. I knew I had a whole weekend of class to look forward to and decided to sleep most of the day. I didn't knit at all, that's how icky I felt. Fortunately dh was a dear and took the little weasel to work so I only had to watch over Buster who attended to my needs by sleeping under my bed.

Now, after a Friday evening, full Saturday and a full enough Sunday worth of class I am home and vegging. I have plenty of things to do for tomorrow but it's time to relax, watch tv/movies/ and of course, knit till I fall asleep.

This morning I was a little out of it and found myself driving past IKEA instead of school- on my way to school. Ooops. I chalked it up as a "Freudian slip" which is not at all the type of psychological view that I hold to, but one that nearly everyone is familiar with. I am not Freudian. I am Adlerian. Freud and Adler were in the same crowd for awhile till Adler found Freud to be too deterministic. Ok- I think I'll go knit now before Adlerian lecture 101...I do have to say with great joy that this was my last FULL WEEKEND of classes! I will have 3 more Saturdays of class, 2 Fridays, and 4 Thursdays before I acheive doneness.

Oh- and next weekend is the Sheep and Wool fest!