Here I am again!

Trying to catch-up and make a real go of this blogging bit. I'm still struggling with uploading my pictures and I can't add buttons and I STILL can't get the main page to look the way I want it to, but let's forget perfect and just go for something!


For motivation's sake I've joined the Forecast knit-along and I'm very excited about my sweater so far--the pattern is GREAT and I've loved all of the different manifestations I've seen people create online.

Here's the beginning of my sweater.




Just to try to START to catch-up on these past months of busy knitting here's a brief preview of some of my finished projects:

A baby sweater for a co-worker and soon-to-be MOM and some fingerless gloves for my sista!




















The gloves are from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and the sweater is from Stitch n' Bitch nation. I loved both of these projects.
More catching up to come...

Progress...

This picture is upside down!

I'm into the cableing and have run into a few dificulties. I read the chart wrong and will have 2 cables up the back instead of three but they're centered and look good, so I'm not going to mess with it!

I have figured out the problem so I can fix it on the front. This is just my own sweater! Not designed by Elsabeth Lavold alone, but more of a collaborative effort between she and I.

Please excuse the grainy pictures, I had to use my camera phone and email them to myself!

And we're off...but not like a shot.

Set cell phone alarm for 7:00.
Sleep through it because I forgot that I put my phone on vibrate.
8:00
Wake up with real alarmclock but not in time to knit and swatch for my E.L. sweater.
8:40
Wash dishes for Bryant in anticipation of annoying him with the Knitting Olympics and realize that I won't be able to make the bus and get to work on time.
8:45
Run for bus
8:46
Miss bus, await later bus.
9:10
Roll in to work and hope no one notices my tardyness
9:30
Consult expert knitter at work about my guage swatch. I am in fact, OFF GUAGE.
We decide this is not a problem b/c Bryant has a 40 inch chest and the smallest size EL has to offer is 43.5 inches.
12:00
Work through lunch hour so I can take my break at 1:45
1:45
Grab a sandwich and head over to Yerba Buena Gardens to cast on!
2:00
Cast on (129 sts) and knit first row.
2:20
Frog first row and cast on because I have mis-understood the chart. This is my first time reading a chart and it's showing.
2:40
Finish casting on (129 sts, again) double-count everything and realize that I will be late getting back to work if I don't leave now.
2:45
Realize that I forgot my keycard and have to go around the block to other non-keycard entrance.
2:50
Late for work. Hope no one notices.
3:30
Wonder about chart, realize I may get 4 inches into this sweater and have to frog back.
Pass out.
Just kidding.
5:30
Arrive home, try again.
5:50
Get 2 rows into pattern and realize another mistake.
RIIIIIIP back, again.

7:00
Give up, decide to go "out." The sweater will have to wait for tomorrow. I cannot cast on for the 4th time in one day.

I will arise again tomorrow from this terrible spill like Eddie the Eagle, I swear.

The Countdown to Shame

So I'm going to try to knit a sweater for Bryant (40 in chest) in 16 days for the Knitting Olympics. It is an Elsabeth Lavold pattern that has cables and will be knit with Rowan Calmer in a lovely shade of brown. I am not exactly expecting to finish, but I think I will be taking a huge bite out of the sweater...and who knows. Maybe I will be able to finish the thing. It just seemed like a better idea last week when I was tipsy and surfing blogland and decided to finally email the Yarn Harlot. Today it's a bit daunting!
I still cannot find my cord that connects my camera to the computer and I haven't been to the computadoraria yet, so I have no pictures for you!
Know only that if my camera was working, I would be showing you a lovely swatch that appears to me to be on-guage.
I've been proven wrong about this before though...

Go Jen and LB Stitch and Bitch!
I'm so proud! I miss you guys terribly!

I suppose it will help me write more...

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:
1. Special Events Planner for a non-profit
2. Art Dealer
3. Cabin Girl at our ranch
4. Power-shelver at Borders Bookstore (that was really the job title!)

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Princess Bride--As you wish!
2. Thomas Crown Affair
3. Office Space
4. Dirty Dancing
I own all of these movies and more...they make me happy!

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch:
1. America's Next Top Model
2. Arrested Development
3. Grey's Annatomy
4. House

Four Places You Have Lived:
1. Seal Beach, California
2. Laramie, Wyoming
3. Washington, DC
4. San Francisco, CA

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation:
1. Montego Bay, Jamaica
2. Big Sur, California
3. Cape May, New Jersey
4. Venice, Italy

Four Websites You Visit Daily
1. Yarn Harlot
2. Knit and Tonic
3. You Knit What?
4. Crazy Aunt Purl

In further news, I've lost the cable that goes from my camera to the computer in the move...it hasn't surfaced. This very well might turn into the most boring blog ever if I can't have pictures so I'm working on finding it!

And we're back...

After much delay I'm back on-line. A lot has obviously happened since last I wrote...new job. The move back to San Francisco...decorating the apartment (very big job). First dinner party (very fun job). Christmas. And all that.
So it's a new year and I'm newly dedicated to blogging. For a while anyway! We'll see how long this lasts!
I love writing actually, it's just that sometimes I feel like it's homework...

Anyway, here are some fun projects. First, a Crazy Aunt Purl scarf that I made for Chrissy for Christmas. I hope she likes it. I happen to think she looks Fab in it.

Chris' Crazy Aunt Purl Scarf
I loved this pattern. So fun, and with yarn that I already had flagged for Chrissy in my stash. When you're getting overwhelmed with socks and sweaters and knitting is not as fun as it used to be, as scarf is just the ticket to get you back on the bandwagon again.

This scarf actually motivated me to finish a mystery project to be revealed later (after my mom's birthday, actually--she might check in on VickeryKnits and spoil the suprise) and I've started working on a cardigan for myself that I had put down about 7 or 8 months ago! I've finished a back and a sleeve and I'm going gangbusters on the 2nd sleeve! Woo-hoo!

Also, we have my mom's amazing cardigan. This is one that she made for her mom, with bobbles and slipped stitches. I think it's glorious! It's too cool that my mom is getting so into knitting. She's already finished another sweater for one of my sisters as well and starting on a new one soon! Go Mom!

The Beautiful Back
Why I can't get pictures to publish in the correct order is beyond me.

My Mom's Amazing Knit Cardigan with Bobbles and Slipped Stitches

I realize that I should re-caption this picture. This is a sweater that my Mom knit for my grandma--her mom! It's a beautiful Cardigan with Bobbles and Slipped Stitches . My mom is a great knitter!

My Super Secret Pal Who's Not So Secret Anymore

Before I left for my very sad trip to Baltimore, look at what I got in the mail:

My Superior Secret Pal! You Rock!
(Notice Sake's thirst for good yarn.)
It's three skeins of Classic Elite's Miracle, and in my favorite color, of course! Thank you so much my friend, you've been an exemplary Secret Pal and I don't deserve you! Your suprise package certainly helped me through the week!
Well, even though I was away for awhile and I'm only now catching up on my sleep, knitting certainly has a way of taking the edge off. Picking up a sock just makes me feel better even if I can only finish one row before I have to move on to other things.
Between the comfort knitting gives me and the connections and friends I've made I have to say, Thank Goodness I Became A Knitter!

Sake Loves Yarn Too 

And we're back!

The computer is fixed...Picasa and Hello are up and running and I have some stuff to blog about.

What's on the Block
First off, we have the Secret Agenda Sweater from Knit Wit finished and blocked and all I have to do is seam the whole thing together. My goal is to seam it by this weekend, however this sweater was actually taken about 2 weeks ago, so obviously I'm procrastinating a bit on this part.
M-U-S-T--S-E-W--!
In other news, I cut off the majority of my hair this weekend. I have to publish these pictures because the DH is in SF and hasn't seen the new me.

The Before Picture 

The New Do--Curly Style.

We will return after these messages...

1. Her Name is Sake!
And she's so fun! She plays and sleeps with us and she's SO soft! Which I like.
I can't upload any pictures today though because we're experiencing some technical difficulties here at chez kitty. Bringing us to,
2. Our computer crashed last week. Aside from getting all my favorite blog links back (thanks Carolyn!) and finding a recently backed up version of MS Money, everything else is starting again from scratch. In fact,
3. I can't upload pictures! I still need to upload that program for my digital camera AND download picasa for blogger. So we may not see pictures for awhile because that kind of thing takes some sitting down time and in my sitting down time...
4. I've been knitting. Alot. And playing with Sake. So you know, it's hard to resist the lure of a kitten and some fine looking knitting. I'm even finishing something. I'm all finished with Bryant's green Manos sweater and I even blocked it last night. I took some action shots and will show then eventually but, you know, see #3.
5. That's the real knitting news, I finished a sweater, and I'm almost finished with the Sn'B Nation Cabled Pageboy hat. All these projects that I've been hiding from my blog, because they started WAY before I started my blog (B's sweater) or because they're small little feel-good projects like the hat.

I wish I could close with a close up of Sake in the bathroom sink trying to drink from the faucet, but I guess you'll have to stay tuned!

New Girl on the Block!

Our KITTEN!

Her Close-up!

I swear she took cute kitten lessons before she arrived. This picture looks far away (see the IK acorn top in the background?) but it's about the only time she was off my lap or chest. She's so cuddly and purr-y!
She also is very adventurous. She was checking every nook and cranny of our apartment out, one room at a time and doing cutekitten stuff like using the kitchen chair legs as an obsticle course (kitty boot camp!) and sitting in all of my baskets and looking back out at me (intensely cute...I now need even more baskets!)

We're still up in the air about her name...getting to know her and all. Suggestions anyone?
We're looking at:
Bowie
Tink
Tatto
Joplin
Hero
Whiskey
& Butterscotch!
(Just kidding on that last one, but she is cute enough for it!)

I don't want to go to work today, I just want to play with my new little buddy!

New Girl! 

Secret Pal! Secret Pal!

Yay! I'm such a spoiled girl! I love my secret pal and this beautiful stash of yarn she sent me yesterday!
It's Classic Elite Yarn's "Provence" mercerized egyptian cotton in my favorite color--4 skeins!

Secret Pal Beauties!
I also recieved a pattern book along with this for a few top variations I could make using this yarn, though it's not pictured. I am even thinking of making the Acorn Camisole in the Summer 05 Interweave Knits, if I have the skill for it...I'll probably give it a shot.
Thank you so much Secret Pal! I was so suprised and pleased to recieve a second package--and I love the yarn, it's beautiful!
In other news the DH and I may be adopting a kitten today! (And really, what knit bloger's life is complete without the perfunctory cat?) I dont' care, I can't wait to have a little buddy--and I've already looked up cat toy patterns to knit! Yay for kitty dim sum!

Intense S.E.X.

(Stash Enhancement eXpedition)

This is what $200 looks like

So after a weekend of serious and hard work I had today off and I'm feeling much better and I ended up venturing out...Purl Soho's internet warehouse...I love that place. All natural fibers, beautiful colors, and it alwayt feels like you're treasure hunting there since it's not a "real" store. (Though I still think it's better than any other store within driving distance from here.)
Christmas presents and presents for me...I bought my first set of Lantern Moon DPN's (that one's obviously for me). I'm excited to cast on another pair of Christmas Socks with them!

I can't resist the Koigu KPPPM and I added a few skeins of that to my collection and I bought some Blue Sky Alpaca for my sister Jack--she was eyeing the cute bags on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts (also from Purl Soho). I think I'll put my Sister Socks in them when I finish for her birthday.

I'm looking forward to being finished with the crutches and to my SnB tomarrow night...though my injury has definitely caught me up on my knitting. I'm almost done with the last sleeve for Bryant's "Secret Agenda Sweater" and then it's off to finishing school! (My least favorite part!)

P.S. My other sister, Jess, loved her Sister Socks--which arrived before her birthday--and they fit!!

The reason so much knitting is getting done.