bits of knits

halloween 2009

2009-11-05T21:07:00.006-10:00

After much frantic late-night crafting/sewing/knitting/felting of the I-decided-to-wait-till-two-days-before-Halloween variety, all costumes were mercifully completed before the big night. May I present: Harry Potter,Colette, the chef from Ratatouille and Yoda. Trick or treat, Aunty Acornbud! We had a grand time strolling through the neighborhood, procuring candy, listening to live bands (Who knew we had such rockin' neighbors?) and visiting haunted houses. Did I mention that Lord Sidious and Master Yoda have seemingly formed an odd alliance of sorts? Certainly not the strangest sight of the day given the one that greeted me at breakfast. Apparently, Harry and Colette were chugging the Polyjuice Potion again. Mad Eye lives!

slipping through my fingers

2009-10-05T22:35:00.001-10:00

My relationship with Sweetie is a challenging and wonderfully complex one, as I suppose all mother-daughter relationships are. That she is my middle child exacerbates the situation, no doubt. She is at once headstrong, yet needy, fiercely independent, yet clingy; a dichotomy that constantly challenges and often exasperates me. Officially a big girl kindergartner, no longer my baby girl- we both struggle to come to terms with this unexpected metamorphosis and often find ourselves at odds, emotionally exhausted and at the end of our ropes.

And yet, this sweet and funny little girl inspires and humbles me in so many ways. To share unselfishly without any thought of reciprocation, to love with great faith... she unknowingly offers me these gifts. Watching the joy in her eyes as she gives her whole portion of her favorite snack to Bug to cheer him up or the way she borrows Star Wars books at the library for Ace simply to make him happy, I know that I am privileged to be on this path with her.

It is so easy for me to fall into the practice of focusing on flaws, rather than seeking the perfection that exists. (A foible I chalk up to my Virgo stars, I might add.) There is so much hidden treasure to be unearthed, if only I remember to be mindful and open to the possibility.

On that train of thought, some funny snippets from a recent conversation with Sweetie about why she wishes she were a grown-up that I want to savor and remember:

"Because I want to drink coffee with you from the press pot, Mom. I want to cut apples with a sharp, big knife instead of the white plastic one. I want to stay up late and drink wine with you and have that cheese you eat with the wine. I want to watch Harry Potter Six and even the scary parts in Harry Potter 4!!"
There will be plenty of time to do all these things and more, I promise you, so stay five just a bit longer, my funny little girl.

hogwarts style

2009-09-29T20:21:00.003-10:00

Ace has decided that he wants to be Harry Potter for Halloween, which secretly pleases me to no end. A dedicated HP fan myself, I get to live vicariously through him and maybe even dress in a supporting role (McGonagall? Umbridge?) to boot. What could be more fun? Ace picked up The Sorcerer's Stone late last school year and has since steadfastly soldiered through the series; he's now in the middle of #5 and spellbound by the idea of legilimency. This, of course, means daily wizardly discussions and duels- shouts of "Avada Kedavra!" and "Crucio!" (he's enamored of the Unforgivable Curses, as any second grader well should be) are pretty standard around our home.

Being cheap, I just can't bring myself to pay forty bucks (!!) for a flimsy Harry Potter costume. Besides, back in my day (I can't believe I just said that), half of the fun of Halloween was making your own costume... deciding what materials to use, thrifting for accessories and finally, constructing the outfit. Luckily, Ace and Sweetie are way on board this train of thought, so it didn't take much convincing to ditch the store-bought variety. Ace is going to recycle his Jedi robe from last Halloween into Harry's cloak/robes and use Dad's old frames for his signature glasses. I'm leaving the wand construction up to him, which I'm sure will involve endless amounts of tape and paper towel rolls. Or course, the knitter in me jumped at the prospect to knit him a First Year Gryffindor scarf, as seen in the first movie. I'm kind of wishing I'd thought to make the scarf on size 13 needles or something, though, as it's mind numbing stockinette in the round on size 7's, but still- it's Harry Potter!!- so no complaints here.

After contemplating being Hermione, Tinkerbell, a veterinarian, Cinderella and a vegetarian, Sweetie finally decided on being Princess Leia. I was slightly relieved, as I really wasn't sure how I was going to pull "vegetarian" off. I have some white fabric that can be fashioned into Leia's gown, but I'm concerned that Sweetie's hair may be too short to pull off the signature braided buns. Luckily, we've got a month to figure it out... or um, let her hair grow. Whichever happens first!

two

2009-09-28T21:13:00.008-10:00

A certain Birthday Bug turned the big T-W-O this past weekend and much merriment ensued. There were birthday balloons (or "My birthday ball!" in Bug-speak, with much emphasis on the word, "my"), Yogurtland goodness laden with blueberries and strawberries, singing Star Wars cards, Star Wars books, Star Wars cupcakes with ice cream and candle almost-blowing. It was near-heaven for this Star Wars (Die-Yo, in Bug-speak) fanatic. May the Force be with you, Youngling Bug!

i swear i still knit, but....

2009-09-23T21:32:00.007-10:00

I kinda sorta got sucked into the cute Halloween bento craze over on Flickr. And on the topic of bento, I know it's completely irrelevant, but I never know whether 'bento' should be pluralized as a regular noun with an 's' or if it instead falls into the irregular identical singular/plural category as "sheep" and "deer." Really, it's all kind of moot as bento is not even an English word, but still. These are the kinds of things I worry about.

So anyway, I got sucked into the Halloween bento craze and you know.... lemming. I realize the ghost might have been more effective on white bread, but c'mon, you've got to have some nutritional standards, right? I'm glad to have had a chance to use my holiday cookie cutters for more than just cookies and can definitely see more holiday themed bento in the coming months!

journey

2009-09-20T20:33:00.009-10:00

I know it sounds hopelessly cliche, but I can't believe how fast kids grow up. So many interminable stretches of days go by, mired in the hustle and bustle of this stuff called "life." In all the craziness that life presents, it seems the weekend can't arrive fast enough, that age 2 can't be outgrown soon enough, that the sassy first grade attitude can't be rid of quick enough. The great irony, of course, is that it is exactly in these seemingly endless stretches of days that life truly occurs. For in the blink of an eye, the weekend yields to Monday, age 2 gives way to 3 and that first grade sass finds itself subdued in the throes of second grade. In a society so focused on anticipating the future, we neglect the present, enjoying our lives in retrospect, rather than in the moment. Realizing how much of my kids' lives I tend to appreciate after-the-fact, it became my New Year's resolution to live presently. Being that I've failed MUCH more than I've managed to succeed, I will admit that I probably should have just committed to eating more beans or something more manageable like that, but hey, it's the effort and mindset that count.

Friday night was one of those rare but precious successes that I'm so grateful to have experienced. Ace and I went on a Cub Scout night hike up on Tantalus with his pack. Things didn't start off so happily, as I pulled into the campground after 20 minutes of kamikaze winding roads only to realize that I'd forgotten our flashlights. Not a big deal, unless you're crazy anal and just finished driving 20 minutes of kamikaze roads. I started to unhinge (my characteristic autopilot response), until I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the saddest look on Ace's face- he had been so excited about his first night hike, and I could tell that in one fell swoop, I had blown it. I resolved to pull it together and apologized, determined to salvage the evening and be in the moment. We joined our den with smiles and had the most fantastic time. We took in the stars and Jupiter and then embarked on our hike, which was pretty challenging for the little guys as it had rained recently and the ground was muddy and slippery. Along the route, Ace took a tumble over some overgrown roots, but he got back up, grinning, just loving every moment of his adventure in the night, fall and all. Kids have such a natural ability to be in the moment. (Just a side note about proper protocol upon scout's fall: do NOT, under any circumstances, shine someone else's flashlight into the steep embankment and ravine one foot away from where your child is treading, as it may incite profanity-laced exclamations about what would possess your cub master to choose such an insane trail of death.)
Ace and I savored the moments. It was amazing to experience everything for the first time through his eyes. Looking down upon the city lights, discovering constellations, watching his wonder as the campfire was lit and slowly burned down to embers over the course of an hour for S'mores.... I felt seven and a half again, giddy and so honored to have journeyed with him that night. Most of all, I'm so glad it was not just a fuzzy, distant experience to scrapbook and deem a happy memory. Life is most delicious when lived with the consciousness that happiness is.

cans of a different variety

2009-09-17T19:32:00.007-10:00

I opened up a can of whoop-ass on Sick.

See, Sick, with a capital "S" is not your generic, self-limiting head cold. It's the vicious cycle of seemingly endless contagion that plagues our house at least once a year for weeks and sometimes months on end. This current back-to-school variety of Sick has volleyed back and forth among the kids and J for about 6 weeks now, and that was all well and good, until the little tickle I felt in my throat last week rudely morphed into a hack that decided to make house in my chest.

Well, enough is enough and this mama has had enough of Sick. Fantasizing about Healthy, there seemed nothing better than to serve up a can of nutritional whoop-ass in the form of homemade chicken soup, replete with kale, onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, whole wheat pasta and black beans. Finished with a sprinkle of parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and a side of corn muffins to sop up any leftover bits in the bowl. Here's hoping that Sick is down for the count!

easily amused

2009-09-15T21:44:00.003-10:00

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Simple minds are easily amused, as the saying goes. Ace, Sweetie and I were coloring a Peanuts Christmas coloring book yesterday, a stocking gift from Santa. Coloring is one of those things I suspect I enjoy far more than the kids do; the smell of crayons transports me instantly to the happy, safe times of my childhood. I can tell that their interest starts to fade after about a half hour, but I often plead with them to linger longer, busting out the big gun bribes of messy oil pastels and fancy schmancy Prismacolor pencils. Luckily, they took the bait yesterday, and we enjoyed a full hour of Charlie Brown coloring. Talk about old school fun! I have so many fond memories of watching Charlie Brown specials- The Great Pumpkin, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, the Camp Special... And do you remember those Dolly Madison commercials that preceded each special? My sister and I were convinced that they must have been the most delicious treats on the planet, having never tasted or seen any Dolly Madisons in real life.

Yesterday's fun inspired today's Snoopy bento for Ace and Sweetie. I know there are actual Peanuts bento cutters for sale, but the ghetto bento-er in me can't justify paying that much for a single-use gadget... how I covet, though! So, freehand it was, which is why Snoopy's head looks deformed. Oh well. Cheap is as cheap does.

Further in the 'easily amused' department- yesterday, I had my first pumpkin spiced latte of the year. Oh. my. goodness. That first sip was a positively transcendent revelation. All year I wait for this particular Starbucks offering. I know there are a gazillion DIY recipes out there, and- see previous paragraph- I am cheap as heck, but there's just something about this version that signals fall to me in a way that nothing else does. Living in a land where fall means turning off the air conditioning at 7 pm instead of 11 pm, you take your cues wherever you can. I confess to borderline fetish-izing all things pumpkin, as the season is all too fleeting and the flavor so intoxicating. Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin crunch cake, pumpkin risotto (blissful shudder).... bring it on!

of cans and dreams

2009-09-13T13:46:00.006-10:00

When I ever-so-eagerly planted my first organic container garden late this spring, I dreamt of unimaginable bounty, having to pass off bags filled with zucchini to unsuspecting neighbors and casually walking to my porch to harvest an armful of herbs for a bouquet garni, Ina Garten style. Fast forward three months later and um, not so much. Sure, there were a few zucchinis (and I mean that in the literal sense of "few," as in two), a couple of cucumbers (cough, three), enough basil for 2 cups of pesto and maybe even 30 or so grape tomatoes. Lest I forget, there were even several salads' worth of arugula, swiss chard and kale. But the bounty I'd imagined that would require me to put up for the winter? Not even close. Nonetheless, my obsession with the gentle domestic art of canning never waned and when I realized that there really was no more to be had from my garden, I took matters into my own hands and bought some ingredients for homemade jam.

Though the peaches I bought were not as fragrant or juicy as I'd hoped (how I envy you, K-Brow!), they were acceptably soft and un-mealy. I had frozen a batch of organic strawberries bought during a Safeway rampage this summer (hello? a pound of organic strawberries for $2?! I may have bought 12 pounds. Maybe.) and decided to mix them with the peaches. I made just a small batch- the yield was probably no more than 3 cups- but I didn't want to be stuck with more than 3 cups of salmonella jam if I didn't follow the canning directions correctly. The process was pretty straightforward (though I'm sure I missed many of the subtle nuances that experienced canners are familiar with) and in the end, we got a pretty tasty jar of jam!

Having survived the experience without any bouts of botulism, I'm excited to try my hand at other prospects, namely marmalade and other citrus blends.

On the knitting front, I'm in the middle of a Think Pink KAL begun with K-Brow and Acornbud before K-Brow's departure to Georgia. Ariann (Bonne Marie Burns) is on the needles in Screaming Fuschia SWTC Karaoke and about 30% or so complete.

I'm enjoying the rhythm of this knit, though I get too easily impatient with the length of the rows. I have to remind myself that it seems to grow slowly because the back and front are knit at the same time. This yarn is delicious to work with, though I suspect the finished product may be entirely too warm to wear, save for the coldest of days here. Nonetheless, it's an entirely enjoyable knit, cozy and comforting; not altogether a bad gig at all.

tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?

2009-09-11T15:47:00.009-10:00

I suppose you begin simply by writing something, anything. Having fallen out of the habit of blogging for quite some time, I'm not sure where or how to "pick up" again. All I am sure about is that I would like to begin blogging again; to capture moments in time that bring a smile to my face and to reflect on those things which bring me happiness. Entirely for myself. Selfish? Well, very, yes. But I'd like this endeavor to be truer and more real than my last effort. I know from experience that I am easily sucked into the community aspect of blogging and commenting. And while it may allow for interpersonal connection in an otherwise devoid medium, I am striving to find a better balance this time around.

So, there have been several big changes around these parts over the past few years. Bits of Knits is now a household of five instead of four!

Ace (formerly, "Bossy") is almost eight years old and in second grade now. Sweetie (formerly, "Stinky") is five and a half and starting kindergarten. Bug (formerly just a wishful thought) is our soon-to-be two year old son, exuberant and full of mischievous plans. He loves ABBA and sings songs from "Mamma Mia," which I have to document here so that I have recorded blackmail material for when he graduates from high school.

Packing bento lunches has become a recent interest of mine, partly utilitarian in nature because of the money saved by bringing lunch from home, but also for the aesthetics involved. My mom gifted me with a copy of Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook this past Christmas, and I just fell in love with it. I mean, how could you not? Everything in it is so darned cute! Ace and Sweetie got a hold of the book and after that, it was pretty well decided that neither of them could bring just a plain ol' turkey sandwich to school anymore. So I've been trying to up the cute-factor a bit, with varying degrees of success, but it's all good. And fun! Here's a pic of today's lunch.... a Sanrio Cinnamoroll on fried rice for Sweetie and a boy on a turkey sandwich for Ace (in second grade, it can't be overtly cute, so I walk a fine line with that boy).

I think the little umbrella apple far right may have been a bit much cutesy-wise for Ace as it was left untouched, but it's also possible that it was left in artistic protest, as that apple looks nothing like an umbrella!

movin' on up

2006-04-19T23:05:00.000-10:00

Poor little Spherey. He was just born yesterday and already, he seems to be in way over his head here at Bits of Knits. Besides cramming for finals ( he's quite the prodigy, less than 24 hours old and already in grad school!), Mom's been cracking the whip to get him to write her 40 page paper for her. Ever the obedient scholar, he obliges, always with a smile on his face. Between school projects, he even tends to the children of the manor, who mysteriously morph into demented Kikaida monsters, a.k.a. BossiER and StinkiER, during the countdown to finals week. He knows that their sweet smiles are actually their ultra deception/distraction superpower and remains unfazed by their attempts to infiltrate as he reigns them in with his twisted charm. When not occupied with his superhero duties, he attempts to conjure up recipes for boiled eggs that don't involve mayonnaise or dry mustard, but is all too easily distracted by the sweet siren song of shortbread cookies and tea, much like his mom. In spite of his foibles, Spherey's quite a cultured fellow who appreciates fine craftsmanship, like this beautiful postcard from his mom's Project Spectrum Postcard Swap partner, Stephanie. He wistfully admires the beautifully embossed flowers and vibrant colors (Thank you so much, Steph- I love it!) and daydreams of a better life. "It's funny," he muses, "It's like I'm trapped in a box." And then reality rudely awakens him as he remembers that he IS, indeed, in a box, in the midst of the packing job from hell! He sighs with the realization that even superheroes need to know when to cry uncle, and so he does, ever so quietly, in a shroud of packing peanuts. As much as he dreams of sitting at the computer connecting with his intergalactic fiberly roots, he is deterred by the merciless packing gods.

Yes, friends, the Bits of Knits household is embarking on a new chapter in our lives... in two weeks, we'll be moving to a new home! Not to worry, this has nothing to do with the dirgeful post of several weeks back. This has been in the works for quite a while, and while we're all really excited about the move, the prospect of packing and moving during finals is a little daunting. I know I invoke the "blogger hiatus" clause more than is reasonably prudent, so what's one more infraction right? ;-) I hate to do it again, but I think I'm going to need to take a one month break from posting and commenting while we ride out finals and settle into the new place. While I still love blogreading, lurking may become the order of the day until we're all settled in. I'm so sorry- I feel terrible that I've gotten so behind on reading and commenting. I'll miss you guys, but I'm looking forward to seeing you again in a month. Take care, everyone and please send poor Spherey good packing peanut vibes! :-)

public service announcement

2006-04-10T23:35:00.000-10:00

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet and encouraging comments and emails this past week! I can't tell you how much your good wishes and positive thoughts mean to me. I am overwhelmed by all the love out there in knit blogland and am so grateful for your friendship and support. You guys truly are the best!! Things are much better now and I have all of you to thank for that! Your good vibes made it priority mail all the way to the islands and made a world of difference. I know I've been MIA, but I anticipate being back with a little more regularity now. Unfortunately, my online time may be curtailed due to a different craziness of a more mundane variety, known as the end-of-the-semester crunch, but I still hope to be able to pop in from time to time.

Yes, there is knitting to be had in this post, but it comes in the form of a PSA: Knitting violence is wrong. My friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must confess to you that I am a former perpetrator of knitting violence. My name is Chris, and I am an abusive knitter. My story, unfortunately, is not all that uncommon; perhaps you might even recognize yourself in my woeful tale. Like every abuser before me, I blamed the victim. %$&*@%* I mean, Beautiful Sampler Stole- it was all her fault. We got off to a less than stellar start with the invisible cast-on. The splitty hairiness of the alpaca during K2tog added to the friction, and unable to decipher the elusive directions in Row 6, I found myself increasingly on edge. After the second frogging of the night, I completely lost it. In a fit of complete and utter knitterly rage, I flew my size 2 Inox circs and Alpaca Cloud across the room and screamed sailorly potty-mouth obscenities, the likes of which you've never heard. Novel combinations of adverbs, adjectives and nouns that have yet to find their way into our modern lexicon. I could see the fear in Mr. W's eyes when I grabbed the disavowed circs by the cord and proceeded to hurl the needles against the wall again. and again. and again. Looking at the limp remains of frogged alpaca, gnarled in my sweaty, clenched fists, I realized that I... I had a problem. Surely, no knitting deserves this kind of abuse! Luckily, remorse set in and redemption was found on the KAL page in the form of collective wisdom and Row 6 help. Though I'm now 1 repeat away from finishing the central panel, I recognize that I'm still at risk for future violent behavior, especially with the impending border panels looming in my future. Knowledge is power and awareness is key; "Stop hitting the knitting!" has become my ardent mantra during these trying times.

I realize that March went out like a lion while I was AWOL, but I don't want to let another moment pass without sharing the beautiful postcard I received last month from my wonderful Project Spectrum Postcard Swap partner, Leah. She's such a sweetheart- she even enclosed yummy chocolate (which, unfortunately, never stood a fighting chance of making it to the photo shoot) with her card. Thank you so much, Leah!!I absolutely love the card- the vellum envelope, beaded lettering and dimensional paper crafting are just gorgeous and it has been such a pleasure getting to know you this past month.

Finally, I thought I'd end with some gratuitous Bossy and Stinky pics from an early Egg Hunt this past weekend at The Waikiki Aquarium. Bossy was a little miffed about why the eggs weren't hidden and instead, just dumped onto the grass like chicken feed. Thanks to some quick and resourceful finagling on my part, I was able to explain that the Easter Bunny has to hire people to help him, especially in the week preceeding Easter, since he's obviously gearing up for The Big Egg Hiding Day. Luckily, this resonated with 4 year old logic and Bossy was ultimately stoked to "find" his eggs. I worry for Stinky, though. Her ability to "smile and show me your egg at the same time" doesn't bode too well for her simultaneously chewing gum and walking in the future!

radio silence

2006-04-02T07:35:00.000-10:00

I'm still alive, but haven't really had the chance to get on the computer since Wednesday night as I've been tending to some personal matters. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I do want to take a moment to apologize. I'm so sorry... I know that I owe many of you comments and emails, and I don't want you to think that I'm ignoring you. Please forgive me for the delay- I promise to get around to returning emails and blog reading just as soon as everything gets resolved- hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. Looking forward to making the rounds and seeing what all of you have been up to in a few days!! Thanks, again and take care!

furry basket shawl

2006-03-22T23:35:00.000-10:00

What?? Two posts in one week?! I know, I almost need smelling salts myself! But there's no time for fainting now- I have something I want to share with you!

Flower Basket Shawl

Yarn: Crystal Palace Kid Merino in Blush
Inox Size 4 circs & Grandma's vintage aluminum circs
Started: 3/10/06 Completed: 3/21/06
Blocked Dimensions: 72" X 36"

Modifications: None; 11 repeats of Chart 2

This was such an enjoyable knit! The Kid Merino was an absolute joy to work with and I loved this pattern. I have to say, my relationship with FBS went a lot more smoothly than my tryst with Kiri. With all of the leftover baggage after being dumped by Kiri the first time around, though, I couldn't help but be paranoid in a new relationship. Like a jilted ex, I was always looking over my shoulder for warning signs of trouble ahead with FBS. I think I grew wiser after courting Kiri, though. I didn't allow myself to fall blindly this time. I wasn't deceived by promises of perfect row counts. No, this time, I over-analyzed every stitch like a paranoid freak, checking the alignment with previous rows and never letting my guard down. FBS grew patiently and indulged my crazy compulsions. She never betrayed me, though I tested her many a time. In fact, I even learned to trust again- trust in my ability to analyze how each row was built upon the last so that I could catch mistakes several stitches later, rather than several rows later.

In the end, we really hit it off! Overall, I'm really pleased with FBS. It actually initially blocked out a little larger than what's in the picture, but lost about half a foot in length and width after unpinning, presumably because of the high nylon content (44%). Nonetheless, it's the perfect size for a vertically challenged gremlin like me. I could actually see myself wearing this one... you know, with my scintillating social calendar and myriad of formal engagements to choose from! That's okay. Even if it only serves as my princess-in-training diva costume at home, I'll wear it! This was a fun Project Spectrum knit and a great warm-up for the big-gun, the Sampler Stole, which I'll be casting-on for tomorrow. Uhm... yeah, okay, seriously, that wasn't a punch line, so you can stop laughing hysterically now. Yes, let's try to remember to laugh with, not at. Aww, who am I kidding? Even I'm LMAO right now, so you may as well, too!! Start tuning up the Man of La Mancha chorus for The Impossible Dream!

One of the aspects I liked best about working on FBS was the yarn, which was soft and cuddly. You can't really tell in the pictures, but it's also actually quite, well... furry. In a good way. Like stuffed animal furry. Or like domesticated animal furry... you know, the usual, dogs, cats and the like. Not to be confused with bad furry. Because there's definitely bad furry. Like orthoptera furry. (This one's for you, Aloha Knitter Michelle!! :-)) Better known as B-52 Flying Cockroaches to you and me. Back in my swinging bachelorette days, I had my own little pad near Waikiki, just me and my cat. I was used to him falling asleep near my leg, and his furry little presence always brought me comfort. So, one night as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought nothing of it when I felt something furry on my thigh. I insticinctively reached down to pet what I'd presumed was a little furry paw. Of course, just then, that little paw crawled up my shorts and my eyes flew open as I realized that something was terribly amiss. That furry little paw was about to scamper into the unmentionables when I grabbed it and hurled it against the wall for all I was worth. I ran to turn on the lights and saw the biggest, nastiest, furriest, Chibi needle sized-roach you've ever seen, kicking futilely upside-down on the floor! Like a twisted gladiator overseer, I loosed the real furry paw to take care of the imposter furry paw. Natural insecticide, if you will. Revenge is sweet!

this weekend in paradise

2006-03-19T11:45:00.000-10:00

... Project Spectrum Pink Flower Basket Shawl, sans edging and blocking. Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, clicking my heels three times and throwing a pinch of salt over my shoulder- there may be an FO post later this week!... More Project Spectrum pink- in the form of our State flower! Technically, the yellow variety is the "official" bud, but these pink ones are my fave.... Long overdue, but during our 12-hour reprieve yesterday from the month-long rain, I snapped these photos of my "backyard" from high atop scenic Tantalus. This spot at Pu'u Ualaka'a holds a special place in my heart as it's where Mr. W and I exchanged our marriage vows, overlooking the island of O'ahu. Infamous Diamond Head . The beautiful Ko'olau Mountains. Punchbowl Crater of Hawaii Five-O fame. The sky and water weren't blue yesterday, but I'm hoping to rectify that soon. With any luck (and a dose of Blogger Metamucil!), I'd like to make "This Weekend in Paradise" a monthly feature to showcase the beauty that is Hawai'i.

... My ongoing Project Spectrum "WIP's!"

Stinky in Pinky and Bossy in Bull-Headed Red. And who could resist hanging out in our fave red monster's room at Bishop Museum? Project Spectrum pink and red abound in Elmo's World- just ask Dorothy!

warm and cool

2006-03-09T22:45:00.000-10:00

Ribby Cardi
2X2X3X1 all-over rib; collared version
Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Natural-4 hanks
Size 5 Clover Circs, Size 6 Addi Turbos
Started: 2/23/06
Completed: 3/8/06

I know nobody believes me, but it actually gets cold in Hawaii occasionally! Take this past week, for instance. We've had torrential downpours and flashflooding all across the state. It started raining so hard this morning that Bossy turned to me, eyes wide with wonder, and asked, "Is God going to flood the whole world again?" We've been reading a children's version of Noah's Ark at bedtime, so I think the concept's been weighing heavy on the poor little guy's mind! I had to chuckle at his remark, but after listening to the thunder rumble for hours, I could certainly see how he might start to wonder about that covenant. Granted, even with all the rain, the mercury has yet to dip below 70, but trust me, by Hawaii standards, it's chilly!

Enter, Ribby Cardi! I saw this pattern and knew it would be the perfect solution for staying warm and looking reasonably cool. "Reasonably" is through no fault of the pattern's, mind you... "reasonably" cool is just a best-case scenario for a harried mama of 2 who just as often as not has clean and combed hair with graying patches and remnants from Stinky's breakfast crusted on her clothes. I'm sure that others with combed, un-gray hair and clean clothes look fantastically cool in this cardi! Overall, I'm very pleased with the way this cardi turned out. I went with size 5 and 6 needles rather than the 6 and 7 called for in the pattern since I knit loosey-goosey. I knit a size 36 bust as I didn't want anything overly-fitted, but I'm kind of wishing that I'd stuck with a 34 instead. I think a 34 would still have been large enough to accommodate thick shirts underneath and not appear overly-fitted, without being as loose as this 36. In any case, I still love it! (PS: Note my little flash of Project Spectrum March Spirit under the cardi!)

The zipper installation was tedious but not nearly as bad as I'd anticipated, thanks to a wonderful tutorial link from Amanda. Thank you, Amanda!! I went with a heavy-duty Coats & Clark zipper designed especially for jackets, so it's sturdy and zips well. Next time, though, I'd love to try a custom zipper, just to compare. Do any of you have recommendations for any fave online vendors that you'd like to share?

In the end, I found the zen in all the ribbing and grew to love it. Plus, I'm happy with the finished look of all that ribbing. Actually, the worst part in making this cardi was waiting for the blocked pieces to dry so I could start seaming! Patience is a virtue and all, but with all of the recent rainfall and humidity, I had to wait a full 48 hours for the pieces to dry. Which wouldn't have been so bad in and of itself, except that I had to police Stinky, who kept threateningly hovering her foot above the drying knits, Karate Kid style, all the while giggling an evil laugh. Had it come down to it, I would've chosen the cardi pieces in a heartbeat. Now that the cardi is done and keeping me warm and cool, I can finally cast-on guilt-free for Project Spectrum and the Sampler Stole. Stay tuned!

Lest you think I've forgotten, I know that I owe some of you outdoor Hawaii pics on threat of bodily harm. As soon as the weather cooperates, I promise to hold up my end of the deal! And finally, I was tagged for a meme by Lynda- thanks, Lynda! Get ready for a voyeuristic experience because here, ladies, is where all the hot action takes place... knitting action, that is! That's my half of the bed where I sleep-knit most nights till the sleep half finally takes over. And I'm a very lucky girl because that's the beautiful Elizabeth Austen knitting bag that my sweet mom gave me for Christmas. Now you've got the down and dirty on my late night escapades!

hodge podge

2006-03-01T23:45:00.000-10:00

I'm running on a bit of an adrenaline rush right now and lack the focus to find some witty way to connect all the topics I want to blog about... so a hodge podge post in list-n-pic format it shall be!

My best friend (of Crunch Ali Om Yoga Bag fame) just gave birth a few hours ago (hence the adrenaline rush) to her second child- a baby girl!! She opted not to find out the sex of the baby, so we were so thrilled to find out that it was, indeed, a girl! (Oh, the Debbie Bliss baby girl knits to contemplate!) Mom and baby are doing well and the next few days promise to be busy ones as I will be babysitting her older son (Bossy's best bud!) while she recuperates. (Sorry, I kind of feel like that was an SNL General Subliminal paragraph!)

The Ribby Cardi of blog harakiri fame is progressing well. The back is completed, as are the two front panels. I'm working two sleeves at once on circs and am about 1/4 finished. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my next post will include pics of a completed and modeled Ribby Cardi! That, of course, is barring any unforeseen disaster with zipper installation, which I am a little apprehensive about. Any suggestions or advice (other than, "better you than me, sucker!") would be much appreciated!

On a more serious note, if you have the time, please consider knitting an 8" X 8" blue afghan square for Christine's brother, Jef. Jef is battling cancer and this afghan, infused with so many knitters' support and love, will be sure to bring him warmth and comfort during this difficult time. Christine is such a sweetheart, and it breaks my heart to think about what her family is going through. Please see Christine's blog for further details.

Today is the kick-off of lovely Lolly's Project Spectrum!! Pink and red fever are spreading through Blogland like wildfire- it's infectious! I set this yarn aside especially for Project Spectrum March and hope to finish at least one of the two intended projects before the end of the month. The red Cascade Sierra is for a Vittadini twist top and the pink Crystal Palace mohair/merino is earmarked for one of those ubiquitous Flower Basket Shawls that I just can't resist. I've also hauled out my cardstock, scrapbooking embellishments and papercrafting supplies to get started on my postcard for the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. I'm really looking forward to exchanging crafty snail mail with my swap partner! I also have another pink project planned for tomorrow... but more on that at the end of this post!

After almost half a year of blogging (tempus fugit!), I finally have a blog button, thanks to wonderful Kimberly over at The Giving Flower. She creates such fun buttons and beautiful crafty items that I joked with her about making a blog button for me, not expecting her to actually take me seriously. What a sweetie! Thank you, Kimberly!

Several weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a contest over at Plush Knits and received this wonderful prize package from Michelle this weekend. Art Yarns Supermerino (in a gorgeous red colorway....hmm, potential 2-for-1 Project Spectrum and Sock-A-Month KAL material!), red Ghiradelli chocolate (which I'm hiding from myself), a wonderful Green Canyon Spa face care kit and beautiful stitch markers. I love it, Michelle!! Thank you so much for the lovely and generous prize!

Finally, tomorrow, March 3 is Girl's Day or Hinamatsuri, a day to celebrate girls in Japanese culture. Traditionally, parents or grandparents present dolls to their daughter or granddaughter at birth, which are then displayed annually during Hinamatsuri. My granparents presented me with a doll, and likewise, my parents presented Stinky with a doll just days after her birth. (Pink and red everywhere, Lolly!)The Japanese kanji next to Stinky's doll can be read as either "beautiful blossom" or "she will blossom in beauty." I guess my mom felt Stinky needed extra assurance, as the coned head and lack of hair didn't bode well for her after birth. I think Stinky's finally living up to the second kanji interpretation. ;-) It is said that it's unlucky to leave Hinamatsuri dolls on display past the 3rd, as it may forebode a delay in marriage. Growing up sansei (third generation Japanese-American), we celebrated Hinamatsuri with many traditional treats, such as mochi and hina-arare rice crackers (pictured next to Stinky's doll). Following suit, tomorrow, Stinky, Bossy and I will be whipping up some pink mochi for Hinamatsuri- sticky, sweet, yummy fun! We'll enjoy eating and sharing it... especially with Crunchy Ali's beautiful new baby girl!! Happy Girl's Day, everyone!

whose bright idea was this anyway?

2006-02-23T23:30:00.000-10:00

There are some ideas that sound really good in theory, but in reality, really, really aren't.

Like deciding to take the kids out to eat a "nice dinner." This is an oxymoron in and of itself. Having had to make a beeline exit out of a restaurant recently with a screaming Stinky in tow (restrained via football hold, pining for the butter knives I cruelly refused to let her shove down her throat), I know that "a nice dinner" is as elusive a species as jumbo shrimp.

Then there are those ideas that fill you with dread, but are probably in your best interest.

Like pap smears. I start dreading my annual appointment a full 6 months ahead of the fact. Between that medieval speculum cranking device and the awkard conversation, it's hard to keep "early cancer diagnosis" in perspective. Seriously. Seriously. Why does the midwife insist on being chirpy as she's scraping your cervix? Are you supposed to act all normal and maintain your end of the conversation as she does a bimanual exam? Because I have a hard time discussing the pros and cons of my cell phone plan as she simultaneously proclaims my cervix to be in "magnificent shape!"

Like being convinced to join a KAL that is so out of your league that you can't even see the playing field, much less who's on first! I know this lace stole is going to open a major can of whoop-a$# on me, but I'm convinced that I'll definitely learn an invaluable thing or two in the process. Which will almost make up for having all the other KAL'ers pointing and laughing at my comic attempts to knit this stole!

Like deciding to knit an entire cardigan in 2X3X1 rib. And while I absolutely love this cardigan, I detest ribbing, ironically enough. However, the final product is something I'll make a lot of use of, so I'm plugging along and have made pretty decent progress for 2 nights' work. I know that knitting a cardigan in plain rib in a plain cream color is pretty much akin to blog harakiri, but the mama in me needed a pragmatic and practical cardi. Then again, going AWOL on your site for a week and a half can pretty much seal the blog harakiri deal, too. I'm really, really going to make an effort to blog with a little more regularity. I know I post with the frequency of a blogger in need of blog laxatives, but I'm going to try to up the fiber (wool, that is!) to get back on track.

Thank you so much for all of your sweet and encouraging comments about Ella, Kiri and the sample sock knitting I did for my talented designing blog buddy, Chrissy. Although the socks are finally done (as of Tuesday, yay!) and enroute to Chrissy, the whole horse's head in my bed dilemma precludes my being able to post pics of them. All I can say is that I really enjoyed knitting these socks and that I hope Chrissy is still my friend after she sees them! The thought of a TKGA master knitter examining socks which she designed fills me with trepidation beyond compare!

Last, but certainly not least, a huuuuuuuge thank you and hugs to Laura and Karen, who sent some serious mail love to the Aloha State yesterday. Laura RAK-ed me with this absolutely breathtaking and perfect Koigu KPPPM. Laura, I am so blown away by your generosity and kindness- thank you soo much!! I haven't been able to stop fondling this Koigu and the beautiful green colorway... oh, how it sings to me!! These are destined to become Elfines... someday, when I stop molesting the skeins, that is. And while I was lucky enough to be one of the winners in Karen's Show Your FO! KAL contest, what she sent was above and beyond anything I could have ever expected. Karen, thank you soo much for the gorgeous Trekking, Lush, Sock Landscape and the adorable tin of mints!! (There was also some yummy chocolate which never stood a chance against the 4:30 PMS craving.) Your generosity simply blows me away and I can't tell you how grateful I am for your kindness and thoughtfulness. Laura and Karen are among the sweetest people I know, so please be sure to hop on over and say hello!

my funny valentine

2006-02-13T23:05:00.000-10:00

Observe my sleight of hand as I do my Sesame Street Mumford Ala-Peanut-Butter-Sandwiches routine to distract you from the fact that there is no knitting to be found here today. That's not to say that there isn't any knitting to be had. On the contrary, I've been knitting frantically to complete the sample project I'm doing for designer extraordinaire, Chrissy. Since the knitting is for one of her recently accepted designs (Yay!), all I'm allowed to tell you is that the project is a pair of socks. And that the pattern is very nice. Aah! Already, I feel that I've revealed too much. Any more and I fear that I may wake to find a severed horse's head in my bed tomorrow morning! Mum's definitely the word on this one, but I'm halfway through sock #2, so it shouldn't be too long before I can return to other projects on the needles. What other projects, you ask? Hmm... there may be a Ribby Cardi, Vittadini Lace/Ruffle Cardi or Twist Front Top in the works... stay tuned!

There's been a lot of controversy as of late about the posting of gifts on knit blogs. Having thought about the issue long and hard, I agree that gifts are best acknowledged with a heartfelt and private message of gratitude, but I also believe that it's okay... and desireable, even... to publicly post those gifts as an added gesture of thanks and gratitude. I would never post gifts to be exclusionary and say, "Hey! It's all about me! Mememe! Come check out my loot and be jealous that you didn't receive any because you're not part of my circle!" Rather, by sharing the gratitude I feel for someone's unexpected act of kindness, I hope that other bloggers will feel more inclined to reach out and meet people they may not have otherwise, thus always expanding the circle ever outward. I especially hold this sentiment in the case of RAK's, where the giver gifts without reason or expectation, which is such a pure and beautiful gesture. In the world we live in today, there can be no such thing as excessive gratitude, purity or beauty of spirit! In that spirit, I was so fortunate to receive two RAK's this past week- one from Jessica of NaturallyKnitty and the other from Danielle at Aswim In Knits. Jessica was so generous to send a set of handbeaded stitch markers and 2 sets of knitting note cards- so adorable! Jessica, your sweet note and gift made my day- thank you so much! Danielle compiled an incredible dye-your-own theme package with 3 skeins of gorgeous Colorado merino from WEBS, a set of instructions and enough kool-aid to dye the whole batch. She even enclosed dyeing gloves, a postcard and stickers for Bossy and Stinky! Thank you so much for your sweet handmade card and generous and wonderful pacakge, Danielle- I couldn't be more thrilled! Now, hop on over to Danielle and Jessica's blogs, tell them that Chris sent you and make a new friend! :-)

I leave you now with some Valentine's Day images from the Bits of Knits household. Note the cute little sprinkle faces that Bossy made! Yes, love is in the air, and it even flourishes occasionally between Bossy and Stinky!

Finally, do you remember what you received two years ago on Valentine's Day? Chocolate? Jewelry, perhaps? Two years ago, we received the most precious and memorable gift of all.... Yes, little Stinky turns "No!" today!! Here she is, hamming it up on her last day of being one. Happy Birthday, Stinky! And Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

ella, by any other name

2006-02-08T00:05:00.000-10:00

Remember that pretty little laceweight Gossamer I mentioned in the last post? (Thank you, Allison!) Well, it gave birth to this pretty little number:

Ella Shawl
Knit Picks Gossamer, Caribbean Colorway
Size 7 Addi Turbo 24" circ
Started: 1/31/06; Completed 2/06/06
Modifications: 3 repeats of Chart 1, modified into triangle shaped shawl
Blocked Dimensions: 54" X 23"

Ella was a satisfying and painless knit. I wasn't sure how this shawl would knit up in a laceweight yarn, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with the result. Since the pattern is mostly stockinette, I thought it might work well with the variegation. I adore this colorway! It reminds me of the beautiful Lanikai Bay in Kailua at sunrise. Which, to me, might have been a more apt moniker, but I suppose that may have cost a wee bit more to print on the yarn ball band. When I first read this pattern, I had my doubts about the designer's claim of how speedy a knit Ella was- especially since the pattern was over 9 pages long! However, with two sick kids and still a completed Ella in a week's time, I can now attest to its speedy claim to fame. (BTW, for those misguided souls who have images of Hell as fire and brimstone, I'm fairly certain that a scenario with kids who aren't sick enough to be in any imminent danger, but sick enough to whine and whimper incessantly for 3 days straight is probably more accurate.) Although her blocked dimensions are just a tad smaller than Kiri's, Ella somehow seems a little more "sparse" as a shawl, though I'm not really sure why. In any case, Bossy enjoyed converting her into a poncho, and I'm kind of partial to the scarf look myself. Stinky wanted to make a cameo appearance, too, but the remnant cold boogers stuck to her face precluded her inclusion this time around.

The name "Ella" takes me back to my pregnancy with Stinky, when Mr. W and I were contemplating names for baby. Deciding on a name for your progeny is one of the more pleasant aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, as opposed to oh, say...an episiotomy, for example. As with Bossy, we opted not to find out the sex of the baby, so we had to come up with possibilities for both genders. Ella was one of my preferred names for a girl, but that got shot down before Trimester One was even over. Mr. W said it sounded like a farm animal's name. Of course, farm animals are just what you want to be thinking about when the mere thought of drinking water makes you want to upchuck your cookies all over the sidewalk. Who the hell names their cow, "Ella" anyway? Then there was Emily... inspired by Ms. Bronte and Ms. Dickinson, I pictured a demure and gentle girl with a passionate and expressive soul. To Mr. W? A meek, mute pushover who gets her lunch stolen everyday in kindergarten. (Uhm, no, that would be me. Couldn't blame Ruben; my mom made some kick-butt bologna and cheese!) Then there was Analise, to which Mr. W countered, "What the hell kind of Japanese is named Analise?" Okay... I concede, he might've had a valid point there. Zoe got shot down for conjuring up images of a roller-skating ballerina monster with a pet rock as her best friend. Next in line was Aubrey, inspired by one of my favorite songs by Bread... "Aubrey?! What is that? The dyslexic version of Audrey?!" But my favorite, by far, was Laurel, symbol of virtue, sagacity and victory. What more could you hope for in a child? It was the perfect name, but count on Mr. W to find the loophole..."Laurel?!! Hello! Laurel and Hardy?!" *Sigh* I'm hoping that Bossy inherited his mama's sense of culture with that one functional X chromosome of his. Damn that useless Y!!

eye of the tiger

2006-01-30T22:35:00.000-10:00

(Indulge my inner '80's child for a moment and insert forte syncopated synthesizer notes here)

Rising up, back on the street
Took my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a knitter and her will to survive. . . eye of the tiger

Kiri Shawl
Knit Picks Shimmer in Happy Dance
Size 7 Addi Turbos, 24 "
Final dimensions: 60" by 30"
Successful attempt: 1/20/06- 1/30/06
Modifications: 11 repeats of Chart 2 instead of 12

After all the tribulation, I feel absolutely giddy to be ending the saga of Kiri on a high note! Watching that awkward, jumbled mass metamorphose into a delicate shawl during blocking was amazing. I am absolutely hooked!! More lace is definitely on the horizon. The only thing I'm not too thrilled about is the yellow pooling, but I suppose it adds some interesting character. I haven't much to complain about, though, as this was a one skein (read: $5!!) knit. Even better, this qualifies as another 3-fer KAL deal: What's Your Skein?, It's NOT a gift! and Show Your FO ! Overall, I would say that I'm pretty pleased with Kiri and am even more pleased to finally be done with this shawl. She even gets a thumbs-up Fonzie "Aaayyy!"
By nature, I'm not a very competitive person, but having tasted the agony of defeat several times, finally finishing Kiri was especially sweet. Now, board games with my family however, are an entirely different issue. Bring it on, baby! Pictionary at our home is cut-throat, dog-eat-dog insanity. Once that sand hourglass runs out, boom, it's over. In the blink of an eye, you're being heckled by the masses, with tomatoes being pelted at your pathetic attempt of a drawing. Those "all-play" cards are the worst, with both teams going for the kill simultaneously, no holds barred.

This past Christmas, the six of us played, with The Mercenary and Fredo on my team. (Darn straight I made sure to pick the resident artist for my team! Cut-throat, remember?) Anyway, one of those notorious all-play cards came up and The Mercenary and Mom decided to tackle the beast head-to-head. Determined, they steeled themselves for the challenge as the hourglass was inverted. The Mercenary begin scribbling furiously. . . Fredo and I peered over her shoulder to see unmistakable pictures of flags. "Canada!" I yelled. "Japan!" Fredo chimed in. As Mexico and the UK joined the picture, it became clear that individual nations were not the intended answer. With The Mercenary gesturing wildly and circling all the flags, my train of thought turned. "Global!" I screamed. Nodding yes, yes so vehemently that I thought her head might break off, I tried again. "International?!" More maniacal head nodding. Then the unavoidable and desperate stream-of-consciousness spewage as the sand trickled faster. . . "Worldwide, transatlantic, Meridian line, equator!" Eyeing the last grains of sand, the Mercenary drew two distinct pictures separated by a plus sign, in one last desperate attempt. It was clear that the second picture was a tree. But the first? My face contorted as I took my best guess at the crude depiction before me as the hourglass stopped. . . . Ass-tree?! The Mercenary started laughing so hard I feared she might pee her pants, but Fredo and I had the last laugh when she finally managed to yell out, "Country!!"

Pretty offensive and crude, I know. I'm sorry if I offended anybody. Trust me, we're pretty straight-laced girls and it never occurs to us to even think that word, much less use it, which was made it all the funnier at the moment. And hey, if you're going to play Pictionary, you play to win!! Eye of the Tiger, baby!

And finally, I've been working on a little something in this pretty little number gifted to me by the lovely Allison over at Perknitious. I've been saving it for something special and I think I may have finally found the perfect knit for it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. . . I hope to have pictures to share by next week!

can you hear me now?

2006-01-25T00:05:00.000-10:00

Search and Rescue: Dispatch, this is Search and Rescue, come in Dispatch.
Dispatch: This is Dispatch. We read you Search and Rescue, go ahead.
Search and Rescue: We've recovered the missing knitter, I repeat, we've recovered the missing knitter. She is alive and well. She seems to be in shock, muttering something incoherent about slk2togpsso, but seems otherwise well.
Dispatch: Good work, team. Have you recovered any personal effects?
Search and Rescue: Just one item, Dispatch. We found her cradling it like a baby, cooing, "There, there, Kiri."After a near catastrophic turn of events and a successful Search and Rescue effort, I present to you my unblocked Kiri ! I still have 8 rows of edging to complete, but barring any unforeseen disasters, Kiri is basically (and finally!) done. Right now, she's measuring about 3 feet wide and close to 2 feet long unblocked, so I'm hoping for something near 5 feet by 3 feet after blocking. And the "near catastrophic turn of events, " you ask? Well, after posting last Tuesday, I cockily went about knitting Chart 2 without a lifeline, only to realize that I'd made an egregious error about 3 pattern repeats back....read: 2000 stitches back!! Realizing that there was no way I could frog without losing the correct placement of the stitches, I had no choice but to tink back. Yes, you read that right folks, I tinked back 2000+ stitches!! Only to realize, after 2 nights of tinking, that Kiri was ultimately unsalvageable. After much profanity, I tearfully tossed her in the Frog pond. Fortunately, that evening I happened upon Margene's beautiful post (thank you for the link, Laura!) and managed to compose myself long enough to cast-on again. With the help of a few judiciously placed angels watching over me (Thank you, Barbara and Jill!!), and with Chrissy's (my awesome Secret Santa!) beautiful stitch marker to yell my name and snap me back into concentration mode whenever my mind would wander, things proceeded smoothly. Dare I say, it was a blessing in disguise, as Version #3 looks much better than my previous two attempts. With size 7 Addi Turbos, the lace looks much more cohesive this time...not to mention all the grief saved with that snag-free join!

I'm still not sure about the exact nature of the egregious error in Version #2. I can only assume that I misread the chart. Now, I know my hearing's going, but I didn't think my vision was going, too! I have a mild (15 dB) hearing loss due to recurrent ear infections during grade school. It's nothing too major; I've tried hearing aids, but they just make people sound like they're mumbling loudly. I've learned to compensate instead by quasi-lip-reading and watching for visual clues when people speak. Which kind of doesn't work when you can't see the speaker, like with, oh, say, songs on the radio, for instance.

My baby sis, the Mercenary and I were driving around in Hilo this past summer, listening to one of those "I Love the '80's" shows on the radio. Remember that song, Hands to Heaven by Breathe? Total late '80's classic, right? I like it well enough, but one line in the chorus has always disturbed me. We're both singing along when the chorus starts. Flustered by the lyrics, I just can't contain myself any longer. "Hey, you know I'm all for gender equity and everything, right?" Hesitating nod and quizzical glance from the Mercenary. "Well, I'm trying to be open minded, but I just don't get why this guy can't call his chest a chest, rather than breasts! Don't you think that's kind of a gross image?" Total what-the-hell? look from the Mercenary. Exasperated, I sing along: Tonight I need your sweet caress, hold me in the darkness. Tonight you call my breasts love's nest... A moment of silence and then deafening laughter. "You DORK! It's Tonight you calm my restlessness!!!" Oops, one of those lightbulb moments, folks. Remind me to look into a pair of glasses when I go to pick up those hearing aids!
*******************************************************************************
Sonya and Jenn tagged me for this meme a while back- thanks for the tag, ladies!!

4 jobs you've had:
Speech/language therapist working with students with autism
Waitress at a Japanese pub and at KC Drive Inn
SPED instructor at Easter Seals; adults with severe developmental disabilities
Entomology Research Assistant (aka Termite Terminator)

4 movies you can (and have) watched over and over:
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
Pulp Fiction
As Good As It Gets

4 TV shows you love to watch:
American Idol
ER
Barefoot Contessa
Yoshitsune

4 places you've lived:
Hilo, Hawaii
Kailua, HI
San Jose, CA
Seoul, Korea

4 places you've been on vacation:
Kaua'i (for our honeymoon!)
Disneyland
Japan
London

4 websites you visit daily:
My Yahoo
Bloglines
Ebay
elann

4 of your favorite foods:
french fries
corn chowder
mom's banana cream pie
fettucine alfredo

4 places you'd rather be right now:
LYS
at a coffee shop, knitting with the yarn purchased from LYS
at the beach, drinking coffee purchased from the coffee shop and knitting with the yarn purchased from LYS
using the bathroom without a 2 year old or 4 year old giving running commentary alongside me!

I'm pretty sure that I'm the very last person in the blogosphere to do this meme, but if you're still waiting for a tag, consider yourself "it!"

let's make a deal

2006-01-17T00:35:00.000-10:00

I'm a sucker for a good deal. Some of you may remember my Knitting Without Tears purchase for $1.75 at the Friends of the Library book sale last summer. I think I did a jig heel-click when I found that morsel nestled amongst the other dust covered books in that 25-year old dank and mildewed box. I probably inhaled mold spores up the wazoo dusting that puppy off, but for $1.75??! Well, plague be damned! I also regularly test the bounds of E. coli and Listeria, buying reduced-price- about-to-expire beef and pork at the market. (But never, ever expired chicken. Campylobacter is horrific crap. Literally.) So far, we're all still kicking and we've certainly saved a bundle. But in terms of dining savings, you just can't beat Chinatown. And as blog luck would have it, my dad was in town this past week for work meetings. Oh yes, my dad and Chinatown!

Of course, my dad couldn't leave Honolulu without dining on his favorite Chinatown dim sum for breakfast. The poor waitress had barely managed to wheel the dim sum cart to our table before my dad anxiously blurted out, "Chicken feet, please!" I could barely repress the giggle as my jasmine tea threatened to spray out of my nose. Watching him contentedly gnaw on the talon webbing did my heart good. After breakfast, we took a stroll through town and you should've seen the way my dad's eyes positively lit up when he saw the "Live Animals" sign in the butcher's lane. The man could barely contain his glee as he pushed his way through the crowd. I think he was a little disappointed to find that there were only frogs and lobsters in the macabre aquarium of sorts. I'm honestly scared to know what he had hoped to see, but he took consolation in a couple of splayed pig carcasses and duck heads. Yeah, my dad's wired a little different than most.

So as I was saying, I love a good deal. And what could be better than a 4 for 1 KAL deal?? Well, that's what this little pair of footlets in Knit Picks Sock Garden Geranium is giving me! This humble 4 day knit counts toward the Sock-a-Month KAL, Count Your Socks KAL (bringing my total to a whopping 2!), It's NOT a Gift KAL (because they're definitely for me, me, selfish me!) and What's Your Skein KAL, since they were knit out of less than one skein of yarn (What did I say about good deals?)! I adore these socks! I've barely taken them off since casting-off a few days ago. And the whole time I was working on the second sock, I wore the first one by itself, a la Diddle Diddle Dumpling. This was my first (successful) toe-up knit, and my first short row heel and toe. I also gained confidence with provisional cast-on and I have to say....I think I may be a toe-up convert! At least for stockinette or self-patterning yarn. I love how no pattern is necessary with toe-up, once you understand the general principles and construction. Since I vowed that 2006 would be the year of rut-upheaval, I think I'd like to up the ante and try 2 circs or even Magic Loop toe-up for my next self-patterning sock. (But don't anybody call me out on that one!)

One of my other knitterly resolutions for 2006 was to stop being such a wuss and tackle more challenging knits. On that note, I dragged out ye ole Kiri. Some of you may recall how I got dumped by Kiri last fall. I refuse to be dumped by my knitting anymore! It's far too humiliating to get rejected by a pile of yarn. Acting desperate by constantly frogging and crying, however, is just as humiliating, so I'm playing it cool this time around, using lifelines and stitch markers to keep Kiri in line. With our tenuous past, I'm scared to jinx myself, but I think we may have a future together. Right now, I'm 6 pattern repeats into the 2nd chart (about double what the picture shows), which puts me at almost a third of the way through the shawl. I know the variegated Knit Picks Shimmer was not the best choice for this lace, but this is more of a 'process knit' to help me overcome my fear of lace. I'm using Clover Size 7 circs, but I'm definitely investing in Addi Naturas if lace remains in my future...that snaggy join with laceweight yarn is driving me bonkers! I'm resolute about not posting again until I'm done with the pattern repeats for Chart 2. I'm estimating that should take me somewhere near a week, but if you don't hear from me in 8-9 days, someone send in the Search and Rescue Squad!
*******************************************************************************
I was tagged with two memes by Jennifer and Sonya- thanks, girls! I'll do one now and the other on my next post, assuming I make it out of Kiri alive. ;-) I was asked to list 5 quirky habits about myself....hmmmm....things you wish you never knew....

1) I don't do runny eggs. Ix-nay on the sunnyside-up, over-easy and poached. Major double blech on those nasty soft-boiled eggs that they present all genteel-like in those china egg-cups. Chicken periods are not meant to be eaten runny!! Once that yellow goop touches my pancakes or french toast, it's game over. Scrambled HARD, please. The rubber-ier and browner the better.
2) I can't sleep facing the open end of my pillowcase. I need to be facing the enclosed end. Or something very bad will happen.
3) When washing my face, I need to splash an odd number of times, never even. Or something very bad will happen.
4) One of my guiltiest pleasures is watching really bad infommercials late at night. The E-zee Rotisserie, The Pasta Maker and The Food Dehydrator- all hail Ron Popeil!!
5) When riding in an elevator, I will shove little old ladies over to make sure I stand in the corner of the elevator. Because, you know, if the elevator should ever start free-falling 45 floors (seriously, am I the only one who thinks about these things??!), the corner is clearly the safe spot to be.

Let's see, who to tag....if you're willing to bare all, Laura, Olga, Lolly, Myra and Cathy, you're it!

are you there god? it's me, chris.

2006-01-10T21:28:00.000-10:00

First lesson learned in 2006: Don't go looking for blog fodder where none exists, or it will surely come to find you in the worst karmic way possible! There I was, smug as could be, anticipating tales of the fam and the outhouse, totally unaware that I would become the subject of my own blog, thanks to my vanity. Now, I'm not a very vain person by any stretch of the imagination. As far as physical appearance goes, I'm a low-key Gap/Old Navy on-clearance, touch of lipstick and newly black roots courtesy of Loreal Excellence kind of gal. As a mom, I don't have the patience for fussy routines; that said, as a mom, I do have a few new "needs" that seem to have come part and parcel with the mom territory. For example, sneezing and laughing have now become mini-Russian Roulette games. (All you moms out there, can I get an amen, please!) And after three years of nursing two children, the sisters don't revel in anywhere near the glory that they used to. Having literally had the life sucked out of them, they need a little assistance to achieve A minus status. (And why is it that the same status used for school grades doesn't apply to bra cup sizes?) Assistance presented itself in the form of leftover Curity Nursing Pads remaining from my nursing stint, so I figured, why not? and took a little help in the form of....well...stuffing. This was not the stuffing of middle-school yesteryear, but rather, the dignified post-partum alternative to plastic surgery. (Justification, clarification, denial, whatever.)

Anyhoo, Fredo, Mercenary, Bossy, Stinky and I were at the Hilo Airport, making our way through security. I'm grateful for all the security measures, but lemme tell you, going through the whole rigamarole with kids SUCKS. Breaking down the stroller, wrestling 3 tickets, taking off 3 pairs of shoes, trying to send scared kids alone through the security device while simultaneously having your diaper bag searched for embedded bombs is a little tricky. We finally made it through security when I was accosted by one of the TSA guys regarding the number of people in our travel party. I was flustered and a little worse for wear after all the hustle and bustle, but I tried to answer him as politely as possible. It was then that I noticed his furtive glances at my neckline. Not my chest, mind you, but my neckline. You know that sick feeling you get when you've eaten sushi and you start noticing people staring at your mouth and you just know that you have gobs of green nori stuck to your front tooth? I started to get that same sinking feeling as I saw the guard repeatedly looking and eventually, outright staring at my neckline. We cleared up the "travel party" matter and I walked away quickly, head held high, as I sensed the inevitable humiliation that was to follow. For as I glanced down, there, proudly displayed on my collar bone, was my handy-dandy nursing pad stuffing hanging in plain view out of the top of my t-shirt for all the world to see. Beam me up, Scotty! I had a momentary altercation with myself as I tried to determine whether stuffing it back in my shirt or sticking it in my bag would be the lesser of two humiliating evils. I opted for the former, deciding that walking around half A-/ half B- would only add to the jackass factor.

So, instead of starting 2006 with outhouse lore, it seems that self-deprecation is the name of the game here at Bits of Knits. Thankfully, that doesn't apply to the knitting....yet, at least. As promised, here are pics of some Christmas gifts given to family. My baby brother, Bozobana, modeling the ubiquitous Irish Hiking Scarf in Austermann Naturwolle from Elann. Knit with Clover size 8 circs, 7 inches wide and 65 inches long, post-blocking. He seems to like it, though I don't know how much use he'll get out of it in Seattle. The Naturwolle is a tad rougher than the Peruvian Highland, but not overly unpleasant to work with. At less than $2 a skein and 4 skeins total, I really can't complain. And here's a pic of The Mercenary, modeling Lelah. As it turns out, she likes it as is without straps (thank goodness!), and I'm quite pleased with the fit. Here's another pic of her posing with one of the paintings she did last summer. Did I mention she was disgustingly talented, too? Yep, I hate her. :-)

Time spent with the fam was wonderful and it flew by entirely too fast. No knitting was accomplished at all, but I know it's a good thing when you're so happily involved with life that you don't have time to knit. I'm sure it'll take me a couple of posts to recount those two weeks, but I'll try to give you the highlights now. Bozobana and Bossy bonded, and Stinky got very attached to Fredo, as you can see. My dad is a fantastic cook, so my body has reaped the lovely blubbery rewards of overindulgence. But they were certainly delicious pounds!! Kalbi (Korean style short ribs), shrimp scampi, sushi night (you can bet your suction cups that there were tentacles involved!), ozoni (traditional mochi soup), barbecue spareribs, seafood salad...the list goes on. And that was just dinner!! The snacks deserve a post of their own someday. Homemade hummus and salsa, cookies up the ying yang, Filipino desserts like cascaron and suman (he may be Japanese, but my dad's a Waipahu boy through and through!), and these ono-licious Mrs. Prindable's candied apples that my mom ordered from QVC for our reunion. So. Darned. Good!!! We celebrated a belated Christmas and New Year's Eve on the same taxing day, which rendered only my dad and I conscious at midnight to watch the proverbial ball drop. We rocked in the New Year the way we always did growing up, with Dick Clark and a bowl of soba noodles at midnight.

We (Fredo, Mercenary, Bozobana and I) surprised our parents on the 2nd with a belated 35th anniversary celebration, complete with a surprise vow renewal ceremony and anniversary rings. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Fredo was in charge of everything and she really pulled out all the stops with the Martha Stewart decor and place settings. We even had our family portrait taken at Sears, which really deserves a post in and of itself. Imagine getting 10 people to smile at one time when everyone's annoyed, hot and hungry. Definite blog fodder, but for another day, once I get over the sting of my Are You There God, It's Me Margaret incident.

The semester began again for me tonight, so I'm glad that I managed to squeeze in a little knitting yesterday after arriving back in Honolulu. Along with my sight, hearing and ahem, other parts, my circulation is slowly going south, so my poor toes and fingers are always freezing. Yes, it's the tropics, but darn it, it's getting pretty nippy these days! So I set straightaway to work on a pair of anklets for myself. I opted for some Knit Picks Geranium, not wanting to screw up the beautiful sock yarn I was gifted with at Christmas. One of my knitting resolutions this year is to be more adventurous in trying new techniques. Although I finally threw out the big hair Aqua Net spray and blue eyeshadow, I still tend to get stuck in ruts, like knitting socks from the cuff down. Having failed at toe-up socks before, I decided to give it the old college try once again...this time to success, much to my delight. I'm thrilled to have finally done a short row toe and heel! With one down and one more to go, I hope to have a finished pair to show by the next time I post.

Whew!! If you made it all the way through this interminable post, I thank you for being a true blue blog pal, indeed! I promise to get this long-windedness under control by next time. See what happens when you deprive a gal of internet access for 2 weeks?? Hilo was wonderful, but it sure is good to be home. And in the spirit of Jack Handy (thank you, Olga, for reminding me of how much I love him!), I leave you with the moral of this post and my new personal proverb: Dont count your outhouse stories before exiting homeland security!

BTW, it's De-lurking week, so if you've been lurking in the shadows, it's high time to come into the light and give a holler! I'd love to "meet" you!

in with the new

2005-12-28T00:45:00.000-10:00

Hope you all enjoyed wonderful holiday celebrations with your loved ones! While the four of us enjoyed a relatively quiet and mellow Christmas, we'll actually be flying to the Big Island on Friday for 11 days to celebrate New Year's with my family. The extent of my cheapness knows no bounds, as I'll be rousing two sleeping children at 3:30 am, my friends, in order to take advantage of the first flight of the day reduced airfare. I may need to have some Holy water on hand to deal with The Exorcist proceedings that are sure to follow after waking two deeply slumbering kids. Yes, I am cheap beyond reproach and sanity. This is actually going to be a family reunion of sorts, as my younger brother lives in Washington and hasn't been home in over 3 years. This is the Kinda-Sorta Irish Hiking Scarf I've been working on for him (Kinda-sorta because I twisted the cables the wrong way and was too lazy to frog, as you can see)- I'm about 3 feet along now and insane enough to think I may be able to finish before leaving on Friday morning (Seriously, is 3:30 considered the "morning" or just a really late night??) My sister, Fredo and her husband will both be flying home for the holiday, too, for the first time in 5 years. And since The Mercenary will be graduating from college in May and may be moving to the mainland, this may be the last chance we'll have to all be together for a while.

That sounded all warm and fuzzy, right? C'mon now, this is my demented family we're talking about!! (And I truly mean that in the most loving way possible.) Now here's the real low-down. There'll be ten (count 'em!) of us living together in cramped quarters- 3 bedrooms, 1 functioning bath and NO internet access. This is the stuff MTV's Real World is made of!! Fredo, The Mercenary, Bozobana (longtime nickname for my little brother), Chicken Feet Dad, Coleslaw Mom and me....throw in a little Bossy and lots of Stinky, and you know you've got the makings of some seriously crazy blog fodder. Of course, crazy is all a relative state of mind. Literally- a RELATIVE state of mind! And did I remember to mention the outhouse?? Oh yeah, baby, the outhouse. Hilo is a town untouched by time, progress and ....well, plumbing, apparently! Stay tuned- you won't want to miss the upcoming Lord of the Flies post!

But first, I wanted to share with you some of the unbelievable Christmas gifts I received. I think Mr. Wonderful was a little bummed that I seemed so much more excited about all the fabulous knitting gifts I received than I was about the gifts he'd given me (which I honestly loved, too, but I just couldn't repress the squeals of joy when I opened all the knitting gifts!). I'd been admiring the many beautiful needle cases that Acornbud had been making on her blog, and lo and behold, this amazing and talented lady surprised and gifted me with a custom-made case in my most favorite color! I love it, Barbara!! The inner lining has adorable green froggies on it, and she sewed vinyl zippered pockets (and while I'm not an accomplished seamstress, I remember enough from sewing school to know that must've sucked eggs for her!! That's real aloha!) to make it more durable and allow access to see inside the pockets. Having seen everything up close and personal, let me tell you that her stitching is just impeccable!! And look at all the fabulous and generous goodies she enclosed! A Chibi, a needle size check, beautiful Angel stitch markers, a fishy pin cushion and my favorite....my very own Ghetto Knitter card! How awesome is that?? I'm now an official card carrying Ghetto Knitter- I love it! She also gifted me with the Knitting Pattern a Day 2006 Calendar, which I could not be more thrilled with. Thank you so very much for all the wonderful goodies, Barbara!! I'm so moved by your thoughtfulness and generosity and I absolutely cherish my beautiful needle case- you made me feel so special!

And look at what arrived unexpectedly from Keohinani! (Seriously, how generous and awesome is this girl?? You may recall that Jill just RAK'ed me not even 3 weeks ago!) Is that not the most beautiful sock yarn you have ever laid eyes on?? That Vesper Yarn is sheer and utter perfection; I just can't stop fondling it! All of the most gorgeous shades of my favorite color in one beautiful hank of self-striping goodness. You are too generous, Jill! And look at that awesome Jess Hutchison book- I love it! I've been secretly coveting that book for some time now and spent most of Christmas night reading it cover to cover- it's as if Jill read my mind. I can't wait to start knitting some sweet toys! She also made the most adorable angel stitch markers and a fabulous flower pin, too, that crafty girl. Thank you soo much, Jill, for the incredible gift of joy in a box! Your amazing generosity and kindness just Blows. Me. Away!

As if all this wasn't enough to spoil a girl rotten, look what arrived from my Secret Santa!! You are too kind and generous, Secret Santa! Knitting Vintage Socks, which I have been coveting for ages- it's almost surreal to see it sitting on my desktop, and I could not be more ecstatic about it! I'm probably the last knitter on the planet not to have read Yarn Harlot's infamous Meditations, (though I've tried to read it covertly in snippets and portions everytime I visit Borders-that's why I'm Ghetto, people!); I'm so thrilled to finally have my own copy! I adore my very cool Kirigami calendar (as does Bossy, though the thought of my four year old wielding scissors frightens the hell out of me) and cannot wait to indulge in that chocolate bar and bag of gourmet Guatemala Roast from Ristretto Roasters. And saving the best for last...Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Safari- such a rich and beautiful colorway! Thank you so very much, Secret Santa for your amazingly generous and thoughtful gift- you made me so very happy!

And last, but certainly not least, look what my lovely girl Lolly sent me!! Holy yarn gorgeousness! Man, I sure hope Olga isn't patrolling this post; I'm going to get my Ghetto status revoked for sure! Lamb's Pride is like gold in Honlulu because the only LYS that sells it is on the Big Island. And that Trekking sock yarn and Noro Silk Garden are more beautiful than I can begin to describe. As if all that gorgeous yarn wasn't outrageously generous enough, look at all the other goodies this wonderful lady enclosed! White fudge covered pretzels (Hello!!) and chocolate covered mint cookies (!!!) that I promptly hid from both Mr. W and myself (trust no one!), a Washington D.C. mug, monogrammed stationery, a photo magnet, crafts and pencils for Bossy and Stinky, and my very favorite- the very beautiful Last Minute Knitted Gifts! There's such a plethora of gorgeous projects to knit from this book and I couldn't be more thrilled to have been gifted with it. Lolly, I am so moved by your amazing generosity and wonderful kindnes- you're such an incredible person! You made our Christmas more special and joyful than you can even imagine- from the bottom of my heart, thank you soo very much for everything!!

I've said it before and I will say it again- Knit bloggers are the most incredible and generous people there are!! I'm so grateful to count all of you among my friends- thank you for all the joy and happiness you bring to my life everyday! And as our family gets ready to ring in the new year, I leave you with 2005 Christmas Eve and birthday images of the three blessings in my life I am most grateful for. I'll be without internet access (I'm hoping the withdrawal shakes won't kill me!) from Friday till possibly the 9th or 10th of January, but I'm looking forward to catching up with all of your wonderful blogs as soon as I get back (Bloglines, be merciful! No quadruple digit feeds to read, please! ). Bits of Knits will be on temporary hiatus, but I hope to return with some FO's and of course, as promised, tales of the outhouse. Wishing all of you the best in 2006- Happy New Year, everyone!!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

2005-12-20T23:45:00.000-10:00

(I apologize for the long-windedness of this post! I realize you all have better things to do right now than read my drivel, but as consolation, there's some knitting involved and I promise not to post again till after Christmas, so please bear with me! :-)

At t minus 4 days, it's beginning to look, smell and feel an awful lot like Christmas! As a child, I never quite realized how much work my parents put into making the Christmas season so magical and memorable for us. Full circle now as a mom, I take my hat off to my parents for managing to create the magic year after year without getting divorced in the process. As a kid, the only time separation seemed really plausible was during the setting up off the tree. My brother and sisters and I dreaded Tree Day. It was almost as bad as Window Washing Day, but usually with more profanity and threatening. Tree Day (which, you will notice, rhymes quite well with D-Day) always began with the proverbial noble vs. douglas fir debate and embroiled with the 6 foot vs. 7 foot debate. Apparently, year after year, nobody could remember whether our ceiling was 7 or 8 feet high, thus sparking the annual "How Tall?" debate. (Now you know where I get my tendency to "forget" to write down my little "pattern modifications.") This would result in my mom being royally pissed off before we'd even loaded up into our wood-paneled brown station wagon from the tree lot. Loading the tree up was an even riskier proposition, since my mom is a compulsive neat-freak. The nature of her disorder truly warrants capitalization- Neat Freak, Extraordinaire. Pine needles found anywhere other than the branches of the tree were grounds for decapitation in our house. Imagine my mom turning holly-berry red as the needles had the audacity to break off the tree, toying with her tenuous grip on sanity. It was not pretty. Neither was the garbage-bag lined demented "red-carpet" from our front door into our living room, that we so carefully tread, tree-in-arm, so as not to jostle any needles loose. Don't even get me started with the whole screwing-in-the-base -of -the- tree- while-ensuring- the -tree- is- perfectly- straight bit. By this point, my dad was undoubtedly calclulating alimony payments in his head while we progeny joyfully flocked to decorate the tree. In our hearts and our minds, this truly was the most joyful time of the year, as we reminisced about the history of each of the ornaments, remembering Christmasses of yesteryear. Of course, actually placing the ornaments on the tree was an entirely different deal courtesy of maternal OCD, but somehow I've repressed that part of the memory. As I grew older, I began to see the whole probable-grounds-for-divorce bit, but as a child, everything about Christmas was magical.

Fast forward several decades...determined to avoid the trauma of my youth, I really tried not to flip-out during Tree Day on Dec. 1st (Yes, I realize I've been very remiss about blogging!). I actually did quite well. No irreconcilable differences or anything. No debates, either. Slam, bam, 7-foot douglas fir, thank you, ma'am. I even managed to bite my tongue (hard) when Bossy and Stinky placed THREE of the same colored Macy's balls on the SAME branch. Aside from a bit of bleeding in my mouth, all went well. I'd even venture to say there was a bit of Christmas magic in the air...

I even managed to hold my tongue (albeit in a contortionist pose) as I watched Bossy and Stinky place all the candies and gum drops in one big glob on our gingerbread house. I think I even managed a smile as they tested whether the icing really kept the walls glued together. Just testing the laws of physics, right, smile, smile? I kept grinning as Stinky repeatedly dropped and retrieved candies from the floor and deposited them surreptitiously into her mouth. I vividly remember all those silver candy balls that never made it onto my mom's snowman cookies, having met a similar demise. Girlfriend, I invented that trick! Christmas magic is definitely tricky...

I gritted my teeth as I worked on my sister, Fredo's tote bag. Let me tell you, trying to figure out intarsia-isle (my own freaky mix of colorwork) for the first time while frantically trying to finish gifts SUCKS EGGS! My only consolation is hoping that my sister, the Hello Kitty fanatic, will like her bag. I used the Microrevolt Knitpro site to chart a graphic I downloaded off the Internet. I've got most of the front and back done, with just a gusset to go. I'd hoped to have the tote done and lined in time for Holiday Countdown KAL day today, but now I'm just hoping to have it seamed by Christmas Eve. Christmas magic is believing...

I've kept a smile through the umpteenth replay of "The Christmas Gift of Aloha," a local show put on at the mall that Bossy and Stinky are obsessed with. Smiled while paying the exorbitant fee for the 5 minute (!) Candy Cane Train ride around the mall... that was worth every penny to see the exurberant smile on Bossy's face. Christmas magic is special...

Smiled while being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Reality, who announced that ain't no way all that knitting, baking, wrapping and shopping gonna get done in t minus 4 days and counting, especially with Bossy's birthday on the 16th and a belated party on the 23rd to contend with. I sent that ghost off on his merry way. Who could begrudge this beautiful child? Seems like only yesterday that the midwife placed that warm and slippery bundle of joy on my chest, initiating me into the world of motherhood. We survived the terrible twos, held our breath through the torrential threes and here we are today at four. (Somebody, please tell me that the alliteration for four is positive! Fantastic fours? Fabulous fours? Somebody, anybody?) My little baby, my little boy, my little man....where did the time go? Christmas magic is remembering...

And so, even though Stinky's advent cookie ribbon has been on "Christmas Eve" mode for the past 5 days since she snuck and ATE all her cookies last week, and even though our DIY Costco holiday cards will probably arrive after Christmas, it's all good. Somewhere, somehow, I think we've managed to nurture the magic and peace that Christmas is all about. I had one of those maybe-you're -doing-a-decent -job-as- a- mom moments when Bossy asked if we could buy a toy for kids whose parents can't afford Christmas gifts. And I realized that all that knitting, baking and wrapping...well, sure it's nice, but superfluous, really. Isn't it funny how the voice of a child can bring it all home to you in a single moment? The magic of Christmas is love....

And since our greeting cards have all been sent (C'mon, you all know what a Karen Carpenter freak I am, I had to fit that line in somehow! ), I thought I'd end by sharing the e-version of our (late-to-be!) paper greeting. Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday, filled with love, joy and the magic of the season. . . Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

clarion call (x3!)

2005-12-13T00:20:00.000-10:00

Let it be known that classes are finally done!! I handed in my last paper this morning and sold my book back to the mafioso bookstore. Being the bookworm that I am, that felt a little like blasphemy, but hey, that's darned decent yarn money! I feel so liberated. Speaking of liberation (seamless segue, I know) brings me to clarion cry #1. . .Ghetto knitters of the world unite!! Give me your socioeconomically disadvantaged, your poor, your huddled masses with Susan Bates aluminum needles yearning to be free! My fellow ghetto knitter girl, Olga, designed this fab button and came up with the idea to do a "You know you 're a ghetto knitter when..." post, inviting all you other ghetto knitters out there to rally with us by posting your credentials in comments or posts of your own. Olga's already come clean, loud and proud- check out her impressive ghetto CV! For the benefit of ghetto knitters everywhere, I'm officially coming out of the closet now. Hopefully this won't be as traumatic as admitting that I'm a Clay fan. Or admitting to being a Josh Groban fan. Apparently, I've got some weird thing for skinny, dorky good boys. Again, I blame my mom for making me unnaturally obsessed with Barry Manilow in kindergarten. Oh, the flashbacks and therapy!! Subsequent, my ghetto knitter resume in full:

You know you're a ghetto knitter when...
1) You go to Borders on a mission to find a copy of the latest IK. . .not to purchase (you can only afford that off of Ebay a season later when the price drops by half), but to find the latest Knit Picks free shipping code, which you furiously scribble on the back of your hand and milk for all it's worth till next season.
2) You wonder if trusty, loyal Knit Picks is turning Benedict Arnold on you, selling the likes of Ambrosia and Panache at freaking $6.99 a ball. "What's next, angora?" you mutter to yourself in disgust.
3) Your "knitting library" and the public library are one and the same.
4) The librarian recognizes your voice and greets you by name when you call to claim your knitting library for another three weeks.
5) You're reduced to stealing gnarled hair elastics off your daughter's stinky head because you refuse to pay for stitch markers.
6) You can passionately articulate the subtle nuance differences between Red Heart, Caron and Bernat acrylic.
7) That said, you hoard your Caron Simply Soft for your "good projects" only.
8) You unabashedly ask your LYS owner for $2 parking validation after recklessly blowing 5 bucks on an impulse purchase of Plymouth Encore.

Give it up for Ghetto Knitters, the true blue collar bones of the craft! Take a button and spread the love. Many thanks to Olga for conceiving and lending her passionate voice to the new Ghetto Renaissance Movement!

Speaking of Renaissance Movements (note seamless segue #2), brings me to clarion cry #2. Throwers unite and stand proud! Pickers may revel in all the glory, but it's time for English knitters to throw their way to bursitis and the forefront! Check out Laura's awesome buttons and stand tall!

And finally, clarion call #3: Lelah is DONE!! And just in time for Holiday Countdown KAL day tomorrow. Sewing the casing for the elastic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Please excuse the glaring white unmentionables. Compared to the prospect of looking at a top-commando pic, I think the white bra is quite the acceptable alternative. The second shot is truer to the actual color (of Lelah, not the undergarment!), which is a deep red; the ribbon is actually a creme color. I thought about going with a black ribbon, but decided against it, thinking it might look a little too ooh-la-la. This is for my baby sis, after all. I'm actually pretty pleased with the way this turned out, especially post-blocking (on garbage bags and old towels with pushpins, ghetto-style, of course!). As I mentioned in my last post, this Lelah's way too tight for me (hence my weird getting-squeezed-like a -tube-of-toothpaste posture), but that'll be a good thing for The Mercenary, who is taller, thinner, much younger and much more fit than I am. Having just re-read that last sentence, I've since decided that I hate her. I'm considering adding a v-strap halter, so if anyone has any ideas on how to accomplish that other than Icord, I'd appreciate any advice.

Lastly, having been duly inspired, I leave you with my latest attempt at being a good, crafty mom. I based these advent calendars on a cookie ribbon that my aunt made for me when I was born. She has since passed away, but using the cookie ribbon she made me year after year is one of my most cherished holiday memories. Now, if Stinky can just manage to leave the cookies and Honey Boro tied to the ribbon long enough to become a memory, I'm hoping the tradition will become a cherished one for she and Bossy, too!

making a list and checking it twice

2005-12-09T12:15:00.000-10:00

Making a list and checking it twice,
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice...

This regularly scheduled post has been pre-empted. What's that, you say? Well, I had planned to unveil the blocked and finished Lelah tonight, but certain sorta-knitting and non-knitting events have taken greater precedence. Not to worry, Lelah, she is certainly finished and is sure to return in the next post. But for tonight, in the spirit of the season, I wanted to share some recent events that have touched my heart.

Yesterday, after a stressful afternoon at the Honolulu Academy of Arts with Bossy and Stinky (note to self: do not attempt to imbue culture or art appreciation in barbaric toddlers in quiet, genteel museum with breakable 4000 year old ceramics within arm's reach), I came home to find a mysterious box from kpixie in my mailbox. It wasn't from Hairy Legs, and a couple of quick calls to the family confirmed that it wasn't from them, either. Curiosity killed the cat and got the better of me, so I ripped open that box to find the most beautiful hank of yarn so beautifully and artfully packaged. This is, without doubt, the most gorgeous yarn I have ever laid eyes on! It's Claudia's Handpainted Yarns Large Loop Boucle in Cherry Chocolate. This is the softest, most heavenly stuff I have ever felt- it is amazing!! I quickly rifled through the box to find out who had gifted me with this luscious and decadent yarn, but there was no note, no tag, no invoice, no nothing!! Was it possible that I had been RAK'ed?? I'd never signed up on those RAK boards, so how was this possible?? I hemmed and hawed, and finally the lightbulb went off in my head. Keohinani graciously replied to my quite possibly psychotic email and confirmed that the wonderful, mysterious package was indeed from her. She had no intention of me finding out it was from her, except for the fact that I pummeled it out of her, being the pushy, blog stalking psycho that I am. It just blows my mind to think that someone would be so generous and so unbelievably kind, to randomly and anonymously send such an incredibly generous gift, just because. And to me, of all people. Jill, from the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you SO, SO, SO much! I can't thank you enough or tell you how grateful I am for your kindness and generosity. Your wonderful package and even more wonderful sentiment made my day and touched my heart. I'll never forget that you were the very first blog land "stranger" to leave a comment on my sad blog and become a blog land (and later, real-life SnB) friend, so it means even more to me, coming from you. Knit blog pals are the best!!!

Look what else arrived in the mail yesterday from Sandee!! I almost passed out with happiness!! Keohinani recently held a "You know you knit too much when..." contest with some fabulous prizes. Sandee was so incredibly generous to donate AWESOME prizes, including the above beautiful Regia sock yarn and Crystal Palace flowers. And this was just for honorable mention!! Sandee, I am SO, SO grateful for this wonderful prize! I can't tell you how touched I am that you would send such a generous and amazing package of yarn and even refuse to let me pay for shipping! I'll say it again....knit bloggers are the best!!!

And Santa, in addition to Jill and Sandee, I have one more person for you to add to your "nice" list...Hairy Legs, who hereafter shall be referred to as Mr. Wonderful. (Thanks for the moniker, Agnes!) Today, while backing our relatively new van out of the *%&$#@% gymnastics parking lot, I failed to see a telephone wire and scraped the passenger door pretty bad. Imagine 7 parallel lines about a foot long running across a previously pristine and unmarred door. We've always made jokes about my driving ability, which (CLEARLY!) is not the best. Which is why I didn't get my license till a year and a half ago, never imagining I was capable of doing something so stupid. The van is barely a year old and was an investment we could barely afford with only one income, but we went ahead with it for the sake of the kids. Needless to say, Mr. Wonderful has been OCD about keeping it clean, waxed, vacuumed and pristine. I almost threw up thinking about how I was going to tell him what I'd done. I considered lying or feigning shock about someone "vandalizing" the car, but in the end, I knew I couldn't pull it off. With my pulse beating wildly and my stomach a mess, I called Mr. Wonderful and told him the truth. And do you know what that wonderful, amazing man said? He said that he was just grateful and relieved that we were safe and unharmed. No anger, no yelling...not even a raised voice. He even told me not to be sorry after I apologized, and that accidents happen. And that he loved me. I got off the phone and cried. Even just writing this, I'm tearing up. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful husband and father. Thank you for all that you are....I love you with all my heart, J!

There's a line in one of my favorite Christmas songs that goes And saying I love you is always better; Seasons, reasons- they don't matter, So don't hold back. And while I always say that my family and friends mean more to me than anything, I am often guilty of taking them for granted. And never moreso than this past month, with school and holiday preparations often taking greater precedence. These recent incidents have touched me deeply and have made me take a big step back in reflection. I'm reminded of a list that Bossy wrote at Thanksgiving. I wrote "I am thankful" at the top of the page and gave him a pen and free reign to write whatever struck his fancy. I came back a few minutes later to find a list that made me cry. The kind of list that makes you believe that maybe you're actually doing a decent job raising a good kid. Of course, I'd hope that by next year we'd make the cut above turkey and pumpkin pie, but hey, I'll take what I can I get. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle that we sometimes forget to thank those we love the most. Today, I am reminded again of all that I have been blessed with...how much my family means to me, how much I love them and how very thankful I am to have them in my life. And how very thankful I am for all of the wonderful friends I've made blogging!! For all that you share and all that you do, you girls truly are the best!!

Whew! Thanks for letting me go waaaaay off the knitting tangent there...I promise, definite knitting and crafty content next time! Up next, Lelah's debut and the premiere of my girl, Olga's, super fun list and incredible button that's up for grabs....have you noticed anything new in the sidebar?? Hmmm....Stay tuned!

little miss artsy fartsy

2005-12-06T00:05:00.000-10:00

The Mercenary is coming to a bathroom near you.

Some of you may recall my baby sis, The Mercenary, aka the printmaking BFA artsy-fartsy girl. Very talented, very artsy. And oh-so-very fartsy.

I pondered whether this post would embarass the heck out of her if she ever caught wind of it. (Be glad it's not vice-versa with you catching her wind!) She may get flustered momentarily, but she's the first to admit that she's got stomach issues. Chalk it up to IBS, a weak stomach or just plain bad luck, but when you've gotta go, you've gotta go, and boy, does the girl ever go.

Call us cheap, but we don't bother taking her out for extravagant celebration meals anymore. She knows as well as we do that her gift will wind up down the tubes within minutes of consumption. She set a new record this past birthday, when she turned 21. We'd barely touched our entrees after finishing appetizers when she disappeared to the bathroom for a full half hour. My MIL, a pretty straight-laced, serious woman, asked whether we should send a search and rescue team after her. Don't get me wrong; most 21 year olds do spend the better part of their birthday evening in the bathroom. But at least they can justify their toilet time with the likes of 2 margaritas too many or a keg party. Imagine if it were a cheese quesadilla that did you in.

Now, I can't really talk, because much as I love Mexican, it does me in pretty quick, too. But for The Mercenary, something as innocuous as grilled chicken breast with plain rice will send her sprinting with a can of Lysol. Lysol is not normally her weapon of choice, though. Something very unappealing about the lingering aroma of evergreen manure. In a pinch, she'll use the courtesy flush and light-a-match method. But she brought us into the millenium last Christmas by stuffing our stockings with a new high-tech Japanese product called Nonshu. (I imagine that the Japanese translates roughly into something like, "No! Smell, shoo!") I'm telling you, this stuff if phenomenal! It's the Addi Turbos of toilet treatment. One drop and everything's coming up roses.

Now that this post has really gone down the tubes, let's Nonshu a little, shall we?

Wednesday is Holiday Countdown KAL day, so I started working on a little something for The Mercenary. Sure, I considered making her a toilet paper cozy, but decided against it since TP doesn't get much of a chance to sit idly about in her bathroom. It's all business, all the time at her place. So I went instead with a little number you've probably seen all over the blogosphere, the infamous Lelah. A while back, I showed her a bunch of tops I was interested in making, and she mentioned how much she liked Lelah, so I'm hoping she'll get a kick out of it. I've had some issues with lace before, but it looks like we may have a future together, after all. It was pretty fun knitting up that fishtail lace pattern, and this Wool of the Andes in Cranberry is not half-bad, either. Warning: you engineer types with math-inclinations and/or OCD compulsions may want to skip over this part where I explain my fancy-schmancy math calculations. Be it known that I'm not responsible for any ensuing coronaries.

The catch is that since this is a surprise, I couldn't exactly go and measure The Mercenary. So I'm going by kinesthetic memory, aka winging it. Which is kinda bad when this top is sorta fitted. My precise measurements have The Mercenary pegged at about-my-size but-a little-smaller. According to my calculations, I'm a small, so she's a smaller. From there, I painstakingly extrapolated (aka randomly decided) to knit a size 34" bust with size 7 and 9 needles instead of 9 and 10's to achieve something between 29-32". Why? Because I felt like it. Did I swatch? Yes, but there exists little purpose for gauge when you don't know what measurements you're shooting for in the first place. I also added an extra pattern repeat, because my sis is not the belly-baring type. Being cold makes you go more, don't you know. In the final analysis, it's a little tight for me, which was exactly my intention, so my precise plan of keeping nothing constant and varying all the variables just to freak out my inner scientist seems to be working.

I'm crossing my fingers that Lelah that fits The Mercenary. I'm soliciting all the advice I can get on this. Especially for those of you who've knit Lelah, is there anything specific I should be wary of or anything I ought to know about the fit? Ah well, even if it doesn't work out, like everything else in life, there's always a lesson learned. Like learning that artsy-fartsy sisters, while not cost-effective at fine dining, are simply extraordinary at buffets. The unspoken benefits of having dual loading and unloading capacity!

********************************************************************
Bossy has made it exceedingly clear to me that he is not pleased with his prolonged blog hiatus. "Why am I not on the bits of knits?" he demanded, arms crossed and scowl in place. Okay, Bossy, this one's for you. From our weekend holiday adventures, here's Bossy incognito on the swings with his fab new Thomas sunglasses and Stinky practicing her best orangutan smooch with her baby. Finally, we've been trying unsuccessfully to get that dreaded perfect holiday photo. I wish there were some Cute on Command button I could press. I think we got off easy last year, with only 22 shots before arriving at a decent one. We're up to 59 this year and still no dice. Of my faves, there's Bossy strangling Stinky in front of the mall display and this one, which could almost be a real contender, save for the phantom limbs in the foreground. Looks like this is going to take us a couple more tries...thank goodness for Costco and expedited shipping!

papa, can you hear me?

2005-11-29T22:51:00.000-10:00

When I was a little girl, I thought my dad was the greatest guy in the whole world. I still do. For the longest time, I was convinced that I would marry him one day. (Clearly, I had some Electra issues, but that's beside the point.) I was daddy's little girl and in my book, he could do no wrong.

He did, however, have questionable taste.

And I mean that literally. The son of immigrants, my dad grew up on a farm in a plantation village in Waipahu. With 8 brothers and sisters, money and food were pretty scarce, so he got used to catching and eating all kinds of unusual "prey" for meals. I won't gross you out with all the details. Suffice it to say that the list included some furry four footed friends, a couple of insects and various kinds of fowl (that's if you consider mountain pigeons, "fowl.") I guess the vestiges of his youth have always remained with him, because till this day, he will go the extra gastronomic mile when it comes to Extreme Eating. I swear it's a sport for him. The nastier and raw-er, the better. Then again, you're talking to a lightweight who won't touch sushi or sashimi unless it's California roll or fish of the baked fillet with tartar sauce variety. I know, being supposedly 100% Japanese, I'm a total disgrace- my dad is certain that my mom must've jumped the fence.

Whenever we eat dim sum at Chinese restaurants, the first thing he orders is a basket of chicken feet. Not potstickers, not shrimp shumai, no, chicken feet. I will admit that the black bean sauce on the "feet" (seriously, aren't "claws" or "talons" more appropriate here?) is quite tasty, but I can never get past looking at those webbed toes. I'm sure if they created a "Beaks in Black Bean Sauce" dish, he'd be all over it. True to his motto, everything is better with black bean sauce.

Whenever we go to Filipinio restaurants, he orders Pig's Feet Soup. I really don't know what the deal is with his animal appendage obsession, but it's a very real phenomenon. Once, he went diving and came home with a large octopus. Which I know sounds very gross (and it is), but I gave him some leeway as it's a cultural delicacy. I intellectually understood that he would eventually eat it, but he upped the ante when he chopped off a tentacle from the still-moving octopus and popped it in his mouth. The sight of the suction cups stuck to his cheek while he happily chewed away will traumatize me for life.

So now, on to the meat and potatoes (or chicken feet and tentacles) of this post: the knitting. Today is Holiday Countdown KAL day, and here are the completed Creme de la Femme cabled socks for dear ol' dad. I'm not sure why that right toe near the middle cable looks puckered in the picture; thankfully, it doesn't look like that in real life. These were made out of Wool-Ease on size 5 needles. My dad's a no-nonsense, tentacle-eating kinda guy, (but don't forget the Bath & Body Works lavender lotion! The duplicity is his saving grace) so I know he'll appreciate the machine wash and dry acrylic factor.

Finally, yesterday was my dad's 59th birthday, and even though I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog, I just want to wish him a very Happy Birthday one more time. Love you, Dad! On a related note, I was thinking about what Lolly said about the abundance of November babies and how it's because November falls 9 months after Valentine's Day. I had a really good laugh about that one, till I thought about how my birthday falls on September 15th. . . 9 months after Christmas!! Oh, the spleen damage!!

P.S.: I really should have wrote this first, but thanks so much for all of your encouraging comments and emails this past week. You guys are so sweet and supportive....knit blog pals are the best!! Your encouragement has really given me the gumption I need to see this semester through. One more week, and we'll regain some normalcy around here. Well, holiday-normalcy, at least!

no funny business here

2005-11-22T00:35:00.000-10:00

Yes, I am still alive....

But I am drowning! (Breathe, Laura, breathe! No locked cars involved here!)..in a sea of school work, that is.

Three projects down, four more to go. Two more weeks. I can think of a lot of choice adjectives to describe these next two weeks, but in sticking with the "G" rating, I will defer. No blogging. No knitting. Pure insanity! Even Bossy and Stinky have been relegated to backburner status. In desperation, I've taken to serving them a whole repertoire of canned barely-food items, trying to pass them off as meals while I work on assignments. Poor deprived kids are so used to their no additive/no preservative/no fun diet that they're actually relishing this nasty, canned crap. As Bossy tanked baked beans last night, he proclaimed it the best meal I'd ever cooked and kept thanking me profusely for such a wonderful dinner. Ah, compliments to the chef, Mr. Van Camp!

Tomorrow is Holiday Countdown KAL day, and woefully, I have nothing to share. I started this Knitlist Cable Sock pattern in Wool Ease for my dad over one week ago and haven't been able to work on it since. What should have been a 2-3 night knit will probably get dragged out another 2 weeks until the semester is over. I'm so sorry to be such a dead-knit, Jennifer! I'll be a better KALer soon, I promise! I was thinking that the sock looked decently masculine, but Hairy Legs has since suggested that perhaps the pattern might be a tad "fem," to use his terminology. Now I'm pretty certain that my dad is quite secure in his masculinity and virility, having produced four healthy offspring and being the big strapping guy that he is. Nonetheless, the big guy lavishes himself with Bath and Body Works lavender lotion daily, so I'm thinking a tad fem is okay. What do you think? Creme de la Femme?

And look what arrived 3 days ago from Knit Picks- Yes, that's right, three days ago and it is still in the package!! Along with Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Sheer travesty, I tell you! There'd better be A+'s to justify this cruel and unusual punishment. All but two of those skeins are destined to become Christmas gifts. I've been so inspired by all the great stuff you've been making that I ordered some of the same yarn. Notice the Geranium, Cranberry and Storm? My hands are itching to knit. Well, with the recent eczema, they're just plain itching, period.

And in spite of all the current madness, I'm looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving lunch for my family. Being highly foodphilic, what could be better than a Thanksgiving spread? There'll be 8 of us, and yes, it'll be hectic and crazy getting all the cooking done (can you say 19 pound turkey and gravy, cornbread and sausage stuffing, pumpkin pudding pie, smashed parmesan sour cream potatoes, cranberry conserve, streusel-topped sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and Beaujolais? BTW, I'm always entertaining new recipe ideas, so any suggestions are definitely welcome, especially if they involve whole sticks of butter!) but I'm so excited to be able to spend the holiday with everyone. Being able to celebrate, laugh and connect with the people who mean the most to me makes it more than worthwhile. Truly, I have so much to be thankful for. What I may lack in material bounty, I have been blessed with in riches and happiness above and beyond what I could have ever hoped for. A wonderful and supportive husband, healthy, beautiful children, family and friends near and dear to my heart...these are priceless gifts, and I am so grateful. And especially to all of you- all the wonderful friends I have made through blogging- you guys are the best!! For all that you do to move and inspire me everyday- be it a kind word, a funny joke or a beautiful FO- thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin

2005-11-14T17:25:00.000-10:00

Thanks to Laura's suggestion, I joined Jennifer's Holiday Countdown Knitalong in the hopes of having the communal group pressure, uhmm, I mean, KAL camaraderie, freak me out sufficiently to get my butt into gear and my holiday knitting done on time. My plan must be working because 1) I am pretty freaked out and 2) I've actually gotten some holiday knitting crossed off the list. First up, crunchy Ali's Om Yoga Mat Bag from SnB Nation, in Bernat Traffic Cone Orange 100% Cotton. This is me striking my best Ralph Macchio Karate Kid Pose. And yes, I'm showing my age again, both by the '80's movie reference and by how I'm about to topple over striking my best yoga-ish pose. As much as it intellectually and spiritually appeals to me, I'm pretty inept when it comes to yoga. And I'm not even talking about the asanas. At my first (and only) yoga class, I couldn't even get the darned breathing right! It's pretty defeating when you're told that you suck at breathing. Granted, it's a special kind of ujjayi breathing (or so I convinced myself in an effort to reinflate the squashed ego), but just breathing, nonetheless. I kind of thought it was a necessary life function, but apparently, I'm out of the loop on that one. My Darth Vader ujjayi attempts were not met with much amusement by the teacher. The strap is a little long for me so I had to finagle it in the front, hence the odd twisting and curling action. This is actually a good thing (read: design element) as I'm about as tall as a gnome and crunchy Ali is Amazonian at 5'10". So the strap should fit her just fine. Also, being the resourceful ghetto gnome that I am, I used a rolled up hooded baby towel in place of a yoga mat. I'm hoping that the weight and girth of an actual yoga mat will give the bag a more sophisticated contour. I also hoped for the same thing at puberty with the onset of boobs, but that never occurred, either. This was a super fast knit, and the seaming wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. I just need to find a drawstring cord to weave into the top of the bag and it's as good as done.

I also spent some time with two little piggies this weekend. No, not Bossy and Stinky, although they were around eating us out of house and home quite a bit, too. I mean these two little piggies. Cell phone cozies from SnB Nation, designed by Honolulu SnB's very talented MK Carroll. These are destined to be stocking stuffers for the family. So fast and so fun, they're perfect for completing in an evening. And for quelling the freak-out factor when you suddenly realize that there's less than 40 days till Christmas and you've still got 10 more gifts to knit. I guess they don't really count since they're only stocking stuffers, but let me revel in the placebo effect a while longer, please.

Still on the holiday queue are 3 pairs of socks for dad, BIL and brother, something for my sis, The Mercenary (which I can't reveal because she reads the blog and I'd have to kill her after that), a tote bag for my other sis, Fredo and a bolero for my mom. Add to that one turkey with all the trimmings for a party of 10, Bossy's fourth birthday, school projects from hell, a Stinky practicing to be 2 years old (which, trust me, she does NOT need more practice in!) and a partridge in a pear tree and you've got the makings for a serious hydrocortisone prescription for flaring eczema.

I don't know how all you other talented ladies handle the pressure with such grace! Me, I'm left with my irritable bowel and bad skin. (Don't you feel so close to me now?) Aside from the eczema, I have a lovely, large bullseye target red zit right between my eyes. Ohhh yeah. The kind where you know it's beyond rude to stare but you feel sickly compelled to keep looking at the monstrosity staring back at you. Oh well, I might have sucked at the ujjayi breathing, but hey, at least I've got a third eye!!!

Edited to add: Look what just arrived in the mail from my sweet blog pal, Allison, over at Perknitious!! Allison held a Blogiversary contest a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky enough to win! Thank you sooo much, Allison!! I love this Knit Picks Gossamer in the Caribbean colorway! I've been eyeing it for a while, and I can't wait to knit it up. She also sent some yummy Reese's because I mentioned that it was my favorite Halloween candy. How sweet and thoughtful is this woman? Your package made my day, Allison! Thank you so, so much!! Now go hop on over and check out her great blog!

it's the little things

2005-11-09T22:33:00.000-10:00

Sorry, Texas gals, but I think smaller is better.

For starters, my hands are small. My handwriting is small. My eyes are small. (I'm Asian. There were no expectations otherwise.) Bossy and Stinky are pretty small. And they're mostly okay. (Tongue-in-cheek, people. No Joan Crawford here.) And I got my second bachelors in, you guessed it, microbiology. While other micro majors got jobs working with large domesticated animals, I got a job working with the teeniest, tiniest of creatures in Entomology. Even within Bug Purgatory itself, I opted to work with the smallest of insects. While the other doctor-wanna-be's down the hall dissected large Madagascan Cockroaches, I stayed in my little nook, playing with termites. I have to admit, though, that it was mostly because those roaches were froggin' GROSS. I'm telling you, these roaches were Chernobyl huge. And they hissed. LOUDLY. And flew. They gave me the willies. But I digress.

Even within my tiny nook, I didn't study the termites themselves. Oh no, I investigated the microscopic bacteria that grew inside their miniscule tummies. How do you study that, you might ask? Well, basically, you grab a termite with what amounts to an eyebrow tweezer, dip it in ethyl alcohol to sterilize it (or murder it, if you want to be technical), pass it through a lava-hot flame to ensure that it's "clean" (and dead, apparently) and, just to make sure it's really FUBAR, you grab its anus and puuuuulllll the alimentary tract out in one fell swoop. You take the disemboweled viscera and place it in a little tube with minute volumes of various chemicals and spin the crap out of it (figuratively and literally) at rates that make the Indy 500 look like a ferris wheel ride. You don't even want to know how many extended termite families I murdered in the name of science. You don't have to be a Jain to be horrified. But the most horrifying part was that I was uncannily good at it. The small tweezers, small termites and small intestines suited me well.

So where is this all going? Well, as I said, smaller is better, at least in my book. Smaller needles, that is. Anything over size 5's and I feel like a fish out of water. I moan and groan about the toothpick size 1's in the sock knitting, but truth be told, I get off on those little needles. Maybe it's because I have small hands, I don't know. (Can anyone tell me what small hands mean in a female?) As things stand now though, I have a load of things that need to get knitted for Christmas that don't necessarily involve small needles. Case in point: the Om Yoga Mat Bag, which I'm working on for my very pregnant, very crunchy friend, Ali, whose favorite color, unfortunately for me, happens to be traffic-cone orange. This offensive traffic-cone shade is exacerbated by the 100% cotton Bernat yarn, which has about as much give as hard, stale spaghetti. The sole redeeming factor in this knit is being able to use the single pair of Addi Turbos I own in size 7. Even the Addi's, though, can't detract from how big and awkward the size 7's feel in my hands. This lace pattern knit up super quickly and was simple to memorize. That said, however, I'd highly advise against knitting lace while reading the subtitles in a Japanese historical drama and simultaneously ogling the incredibly magnetic and unbelievably handsome main character. I assure you this will result in multiple FUBAR rows. Just in case, you know, you ever happen to be in that situation. Here's a shot to help visualize what the bag will look like. It's about 24" long and 13" in circumference. I'm hoping it'll look more impressive with the mat actually in it. I casted-on Monday night and aside from the one inch of pattern repeat I have left, the knitting is basically done. I just need to seam it up and thread the drawstring through. Yeah, who am I kidding, just seam it up? I have yet to discover the joy in seaming. Kitchener, yes. Seaming, no thanks. Still, I'm hopeful that I can get this done by this weekend. Don't anybody call me out on that one. ;-)

Honestly, the whole Termite Eraser thing still disturbs me. I've taken a lot of showers to purge myself of the stench of death, so it's been cathartic to recount my darker days. I don't want to end this post with Sweeney-Todd overtones, though, so on a lighter note, I'll be tackling my Crazy Christmas Knit-List in the coming weeks. Bags, phone cozies and socks, oh my! It's always a Three Ring Circus of sorts around here...Or, in my small world, a Three Ring Flea Circus, at least!

Postscript: As much as I LOVE blog reading and blogging, my online appearances may become sporadic at best as the end of the semester crunches down on me. I have 5 major papers and 2 presentations worth 80% of my grade due in the next 4 weeks, and being the procrastinator that I am, I have a LOT of work to do. (C'mon, it's not like they give us a syllabus that explicity outlines assignments and due dates at the beginning of the semester or anything crazy like that!) That said, I truly appreciate all the time you spend reading my drivel and I love getting to know you through your comments and blogs. I'll try my best to post and comment when I can, and I'm promising myself lots of yarn as incentive to stay on track. :-)

a whole new world

2005-11-06T22:43:00.000-10:00

Momma did it a while back, so I decided to do it, too. I've been hiding out from my blog.

There are only so many WIP sock pics you can post before someone's going to call you out on them. You know it's all downhill when it's you who calls your own bluff. And since being called out by oneself is neither fun nor sane (think DSM IV), I did what any self-respecting, definitely neurotic and possibly psychotic knitter would do. I hid.

And I knit furiously.

And in my haste, sock #2 almost wound up FUBAR ("frogged up" beyond all recognition, for all you non-Tango and Cash fans). Dropped stitches, forgotten yarn-overs- I frogged so many times, I began to think I was over. All the old adages came to mind. Haste makes waste. Slow and steady wins the race. You'd think I'd know this by now. Especially after Linguistics 410, Phonetic Transcription.

It was finals week, my junior year in college, and in spite of all my best intentions, I wound up pulling an almost-all-nighter studying for my Linguistics exam. Thinking an hour of rest would be better than nothing, I set my alarm for 7 in order to make my 7:30 am final. Dr. Condax had been exceedingly clear that no exceptions would be made for those who accidentally overslept the 7:30 am final. Oh, I set my alarm for 7:00, alright. 7 PM, not 7 AM. By the grace of the linguistics gods, I somehow woke up at 7:40 am, absolutely panic-stricken. There was no time for creature comforts. No toothbrushing, no deodorant, no breakfast. Fueled by pure adrenaline, I flew around my room, flying my jeans on while simultaneously pulling my hair into a ponytail and grabbing my #2 pencil. I grabbed my keys and hauled butt to the Linguistics Department.

The test had already begun, but Dr. Condax graciously allowed me to take the final. She gave me a very funny once-over and slowly handed me my blue ledger book. With all my commotion, the whole class stopped to look at me. Was it my imagination or were they all staring at me funny? Since I hadn't brushed my teeth, I just gave everyone a curt and apologetic nod and took my seat, my mind racing. Could my breath have been that bad? I hadn't even opened my mouth! I opened my ledger book and started glancing over the test questions when I finally saw him. Abu, the monkey. On my belly. My eyes moved slowly right. Jasmine, the princess. Still unbelieving, my eyes shifted left. Aladdin, holding his lamp. The full horror started to sink in as I read the inscription over my left boob: The Genie: Often imitated, but never duplicated. Disney's Aladdin. The inscription on my knee-length Aladdin nightgown!! The Aladdin nightgown that I was wearing, in class, with jeans and my unbrushed teeth. I wanted to die. So I did what any self-respecting, possibly neurotic and definitely smelly speech pathology student would do. I hid in the back of the room and finished the exam furiously before running back to the dorms, laughing hysterically the whole way.

As with Phonetic Transcription, haste makes waste, but all's well that ends well. And so without further ado... Tada! Completed Yukon Leaves! Knit Picks dye-your-own 100% merino fingering wt. yarn
Size 1 Brittany Birch dpn's, Began: 10/29/05 Completed: 11/06/05

The only modification I made to this pattern was to continue the lace down the entire instep instead of ending it at the leg as depicted in the pattern. While I'm pleased with the result, I'm really hoping that my friend will enjoy this Christmas gift, too. I've never really spent time staring at her feet before (I'm neurotic, not weird), so I'm also hoping she doesn't have unusually large or wide feet as this quasi-cable pattern doesn't stretch too well.I'm loving Grumperina's technique for picking up heel stitches. It really eliminates a lot of the ugly puckering that used to plague the sides of my sock heels. But my absolutely favorite part of this pattern? Kitchener stitch over 24 stitches. I'm sick and twisted, I know. But I finally feel like Kitchener stitch is starting to intuitively click. Definite progress over my previous attempts with the Vogue Companion held open by my toes, shoulders on my ears to block out all sound, chanting "Knit, knit, purl, purl!" with increasing volume, while continually hissing SHUSH! at Bossy and Stinky so my toe didn't wind up FUBAR.

Thankfully, I've managed to escape FUBAR twice with this pair of completed socks and an A in linguistics. And as for the infamous Aladdin nightgown? Well, suffice it to say that it's now R.I.P. in a whole new world!

if i only had a brain

2005-11-01T23:30:00.000-10:00

I'm being haunted by ghostly apparitions.

And I'm not talking about the unsettling recurring elevator nightmare where I plummet to my death. Although that haunts me pretty regularly, too. No, I'm talking supernatural phenomena here. *Shudder* Just writing the word, "supernatural" gives me chicken skin. (Chicken skin= Hawaiian goose pimples. Different fowl, same phenomenon.) Any mention of the word supernatural around my sister, Fredo, or me and we're both covering our ears, squeezing our eyes shut and singing, "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEEEAAAAR YOU LALALALALA!!!" It all started one night close to Halloween about 10 years ago, when we were up late watching TV. Back in the Jurassic Era, we didn't have digital TV or the luxury of an information/guide channel. We had only the assistance of the ever-trusty TV Guide, and not only did it require your getting your butt off the couch to retrieve it, it also required the dictionary-like skill of searching and reading to figure out what was on TV. Being sisters, we did the usual "You get it." "No, YOU get it." "Why don't YOU get it?" crap, which ultimately resulted in neither of us getting it. So, naturally, neither of us scaredy cats realized that The Exorcist was starting on TNT. Out of nowhere, Linda Blair's face suddenly appeared and we knew we were in serious trouble. Especially because the remote control was on top of the TV. Which meant walking right up to Split Pea Soup's face to get the remote. We were petrified. "Hurry up! Get the remote control so I can change the channel!" "YOU get the remote control!" "Why don't YOU get the remote control?!"

If we'd only had a brain.

Lazy, petrified idiots that we were, neither of us got the remote. We wound up sitting through 2 entire hours of The Exorcist with almost-exploding bladders- damn if we were getting up to go to that bathroom by ourselves!- and proceeded to cover our ears and sing, "LALALALALALA!!" through FOUR MORE hours of Parts II AND III. Because of course it was A Very Spooktacular Halloween Marathon on TNT, which anybody who bothered to retrieve the TV Guide would have known. And of course, neither of us was getting that close to Linda Blair to get the remote to change the channel. I have never had to pee so bad in my entire life! I was certain that the sheer pressure would surely cause my bladder to implode before the end of Part II. Stupid Fredo.

Thankfully, I'm not being haunted by anything remotely Exorcist-like. No, my apparitions are more along the lines of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past. More specifically, the Ghost of Uncompleted Christmas Past Projects. Determined not to let the Ghost of Christmas Past become the Ghost of Christmast Present, I am working feverishly to get gifts crossed off the never-ending list this year. Case in point: Yukon Leaves in KnitPicks Dye-Your-Own-Sock-Yarn Merino. After seeing Jane's absolutely lovely version, I made a mental note of the pattern for Christmas gift socks. In spite of the Size 1 dpn's, it knit up relatively fast. I like the wide squared-off toe. I'm really enjoying this pattern and am hoping to have a completed pair by this weekend. We shall see. I play this slightly demented compulsive game with myself where I create personal timelines and then try to beat them- not just with projects, but with individual rows, even. My own personal game of chicken, I guess. And then I wonder why Stinky's so deranged with the jack-o-lanterns!

Speaking of which, and mostly because I know I can't milk this much past today, here are some gratuitous Halloween pics of The Scarecrows formerly known as Bossy and Stinky. Surprisingly, they were very good little scarecrows and were rewarded with lots of treats in the Land Of Oz, otherwise known as The Mall. Unfortunately, much to their chagrin, the Wicked Witch of the West swooped down and confiscated their loot. She cackled as she promised that they could trade their spoils for one future unknown and unnamed toy. Being young scarecrows, they fell for her evil scheme. Oh, if they'd only had a brain!

yukon leaves- the last hurrah!

2005-10-30T23:15:00.000-10:00

I had envisioned exiting Socktoberfest on a high note, ala George Costanza, with a fourth and final pair of socks. Unfortunately, my overly ambitious Socktober plans got waylaid by other October plans this past weekend. As a result, I only have leg one of sock one to offer for my final Socktoberfest hurrah. (There is definitely Greek music at the end of that sentence.) The pattern is Yukon Leaves, in KnitPicks dye-your-own merino sock yarn, on size 1 Brittany Birch dpn's. Although initially I didn't dye the yarn out of sheer laziness, I'm actually kind of liking the natural color of the wool for this project. The pattern is just the right blend of mindless and mindful repetition and I really love the quasi-cables that magically appear. I wish I could have gone out with a bang like Laura, but being the George that I am, I am instead stuck in the boardroom with nothing funny to say. Ah, well- time to segue to the infamous tractor story!

Going with the G-rating, there will be no STD's or gonorrhea in this tractor story. And if you're completely lost, take it as a divine sign that you need to watch more Seinfeld! This tractor story involves a little hay, a little ride and a lot of pumpkins at Aloun Farms Annual Pumpkin Patch. Take one hot day (welcome to Hawaii!), add a long drive out to the farm, stir in gale-force winds and dirt, and you've got the recipe for USDA Choice Toddler Meltdown. Not to be confused with Nap-Interrupted-Meltdown and Share-with-What-Sister?-Meltdown, which are distinct, but separate, Grade B varieties. Things started out well enough with an impromptu and off-tune preschool chorus of E-I-E-I-O at the mention of the word, "farm." The hay ride went decently well, too. We even got to pull our pumpkins off the vine this year, as opposed to the Easter Egg Hunt mentality Pumpkin- free-for-all last year, but it was to no avail. Something about stepping foot on the soil to pick our pumpkins (aka the highlight of the trip) sent Bossy into crisis mode, as you can see in the pics. In our usual Wal-Mart crisis-intervention fashion, we grabbed Bossy, hid behind our shades and booked it back to the tractor, all the while menacingly delivering empty threats about the eternal time-out that awaited him once we got home. As we hauled butt and pumpkins back to the tractor, some goodie-goodie know-it-all moms gave us a condescending and disapproving stare, so I shot them all a dirty "I-saw-what-your-crappy-kids- did-at-Wal-Mart -last-week, so-don't-you-be lookin'-at me" look. Go, Hilo girl!

After the Pumpkin Patch Fiasco, we were able to avert further disaster by heading out to Waialae Iki Park. Pre-Halloween festivities awaited us later at home, including pumpkin carving and cupcake decorating. Stinky seems pretty freaked out by the jack-o-lanterns, but she keeps staring at them, laughing and crying, playing some demented game of chicken with herself. I'm praying she doesn't wind up codependent. Bossy, ever the capitalist, seizes every opportunity to terrify Stinky by turning the lights off to let the jack-o-lanterns glow. I'm praying he doesn't wind up a Corleone.

Ante-Knitblogging, I was an attentive, loving mother who baked organic Halloween shortbread cookies from scratch for the progeny to decorate with homemade icing. Post-Knitblogging, I am a neglectful, harried mom trying to squeeze in a few extra minutes of reading and commenting, baking additive and preservative filled cupcakes from a box, slathered with nuclear orange canned frosting. Judging by their smiles, I'm thinking Bossy and Stinky are pretty darned thankful for Knitblogging and high fructose corn syrup right about now!

As Socktoberfest draws to a close, a big thank you to Miss Lolly for being such an outstanding hostess for such a fun KAL!! It's been so inspiring seeing all the fabulous socks and "meeting" all the wonderful knitters out there. And as October draws to a close, it's time for Bossy, Stinky and I to start our hardcore mantra training: What do we say? "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." And how do we say it? "Loudly!" Say it again! "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." Again! "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." Again!...

Alright, that's it for me- you've been great. Good night, everybody! George Costanza has left the house!

everything you never wanted to know...and more

2005-10-30T10:48:00.000-10:00

Agnes tagged me with a knitting meme- thank you, Agnes!! I actually saw this meme a couple days back while doing my daily stalking of Carolyn's blog, and I'm pretty positive that in her wildest nightmares, she never envisioned it making to this lowly realm. In the interest of full disclosure, I've been knitting for less than half a year and while I love it beyond measure, I have craploads more to learn and experience. In true Wayne and Garth fashion, read: "I am not worthy, I am not worthy!" Given this caveat, I apologize in advance for all of my RSAs (really stupid answers).

What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?
Hmmm, being the ghetto knitter (I guess the PC term would be socioeconomically disadvantaged) that I am, I don't have much (okay, any) experience with upscale, luxury yarns. Knit Picks Shimmer, an alpaca/silk blend, is the closest I've come to tasting the good life. However, I am sinful and covetous, and if vicarious experiences are allowable here, I'd say fondling Acornbud's Classic Elite Lush was as close to heaven as I'll probably get.

Your favorite needles?
While I adore the *ahem* one pair of Addi Turbos I own (ghetto knitter, remember?), I really love my Clover bamboo circulars. They're warm and smooth, and in spite of my uptight nature (stop looking at me, Hairy Legs!), I am, ironically, a very loose knitter, so they work out well for me. For sentimental reasons, I also love my late grandmother's old aluminum needles. Some of her dpn cases still have the 25 cent price tag on them! For socks, I'm loving my Brittany birch dpn's. I know, I know, 2 circs or Magic Loop is the way to go, but I'm a stubborn, antiquated oaf.

The worst thing you've ever knit?
So many items, so little space...hmmm. Well, my first pair of socks were a complete disaster. I made them 3 weeks after I started knitting to less than stellar results. Let's see, I messed up the ribbing (Hello!! Who messes up *K1,P1* repeat??!!) AND I tried to modify the pattern for 4 dpns instead of 5. Which wouldn't be such a big deal now, but I had little, okay no, understanding of how turning the heel and gusset decreases worked, so I wound up with a big ol' "V" running down my instep, instead of my ankle, where it should have been. Second place would go to a boobholder I knit about 2 months back. Nothing technically wrong with the knitting, but I had run out of yarn in my stash and was going through horrific knitting withdrawal and, and, and....so I (enough with the blubbering- spit it out, already!)..... *hangs head in shame* I made it out of acrylic. 100%. Red Heart. You may stone me now.

Your most favorite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it...but it was the most fun to knit)
I loved knitting Honeymoon Cami. Just the right mix of soothing stockinette and interesting shaping. And bonus, I actually wear it, too. I just wish I could knit some great triceps to accessorize the cami.

Most valuable knitting technique?
After several screwy looking sock toes and a lot of profanity, finally figuring out Kitchener Stitch was a pretty auspicious a-ha! moment. Right up there with grafting shoulder seams, which was amazingly fun. Such a dork.

Best knit book or magazine?
I am a ghetto knitter, but a resourceful one, so while I don't own too many books, I use my library card like it's going out of style. Okay, so the 1969 A Very Floral Christmas Knitting book didn't serve me too well, but I've checked out several great ones a multitude of times. Among my faves: Vogue Knitter's Companion and Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. My fave bargain basement find: Knitting Without Tears for $1.75 (!!). I've got a sweater in the queue that I'd like to fashion after EZ's seamless raglan sweater.

Your favorite knit-a-long?
Well, I've only done one knit-a-long so far (Lolly's Socktoberfest), but I've loved it!! It's been inspiring to "meet" so many knitters and see their fabulous work. I'm now addicted to blogstalking, so I definitely see more KAL's in my future. Which probably means restraining orders are in yours.

Your favorite knitblogs?
Being an avid blogstalker, I could probably blather on for pages here. In the interest of brevity and lulling you into a false sense of security about my stalking obsession, I'll try to limit myself to just a few. In terms of purely beautiful knits, I like/stalk SO MUCH YARN, SO LITTLE TIME!, Grumperina, Wendy Knits! and Knitting Escapism. For humor and knits, I enjoy Neglecting My Kids and Knit and Tonic. Being a sentimental sap, there are a special bunch of ladies with whom I feel a special personal connection . So for personal connection and fabulous knits (and in alphabetical order, as they appear in my BlogStalk, I mean Bloglines, list), I love Acornbud's Yarns, Adventures with a Knitting Spaz, Aloha & Oreos, Lolly Knitting Around, Knittin' Mom and Musings of a (mostly) Self-Taught Knitter.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
I love the simple beauty of Debbie Bliss designs, especially her baby items. I also love looking at Alice Starmore's designs- with my delusions of grandeur, I believe one day I will be able to attempt her patterns.

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)
A tie between Honeymoon Cami and Fiery Bolero, usually worn simultaneously to minimize public gawking at the arm flab and deflated balloons.

Who to tag?
Acornbud, Keohinani, Miss McSpazzitron and Karen....*TAG* you're it!!!

double trouble

2005-10-27T22:53:00.000-10:00

There are certain things in life that I prefer be non-identical. Like people. Identical twins freak me out. Take, for instance, my cousins, Jan and Jean. Their names are the only distinguishing feature that differentiate the two. And only by one vowel, at that! Same hair, same eyes, same stature, same mannerisms; they might as well be the slanty-eyed version of Sweet Valley High. And while I'm sure there are people who can tell them apart, I am not one of those people. Which proved to be quite unfortunate for me at Jean's wedding. Or Jan's. I'm still not entirely sure whose wedding I attended. What I do know is that hugging the bride-to-be and telling her that she'll make a beautiful matron of honor at her sister's wedding is not a good thing. In my defense, she (as in the bride, whichever one she was) was wearing a baby blue satin dress. Which, at any normal sappy wedding would scream "Can-you-believe -the-ugly-lengths-my-sister-will go-to-to-make-herself-look-better -than me- Bridesmaid's -dress." Unless, of course, you're at Jean's/Jan's nouveau wedding, where the bride wears blue and her matron-of-honor identical twin sister wears white. In any case, Jean/Jan wasn't very happy with me. It was a little difficult to backpedal once she turned to the tux-clad man on her right and introduced him pointedly as "Brian... you know, as in my husband-to-be?" Dislodging the Sasquatch foot from my mouth, I managed to flash a weak smile before I made a beeline for the open bar.

Conversely, there are certain things in life that I prefer be identical. Like socks. Why I seem incapable of knitting a pair of truly identical twins, I cannot, for the life of me, understand. Clearly, taking 2 seconds to jot down the number of pattern repeats in the first leg and instep so as to be able to replicate it in the second leg and instep would make entirely too much sense. As a result, the finally completed Go-With-the-Flow-Jan is about 1/2" shorter than Jean. Which, were it true in real life, totally might have saved me at the wedding, but that's beside the point. And, as I am definitely in the crapper with Jan and/or Jean in real life, I found it only appropriate to model these would-be-twins likewise. On the upside, I learned a new technique for picking up heel stitches the pretty way from Grumperina's tutorial. Ah, very pretty, indeed! So easy, yet so understatedly elegant.

As I recall, I later received a rather curt thank-you note from Jan/Jean signed, "Sincerely yours." Ouch. The sad irony is that while I can still recall the "Sincerely yours," I cannot, for the life of me, remember whether it was signed by Jan or Jean!

good golly, miss lolly! (and 20 things, too!)

2005-10-25T10:29:00.000-10:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure and honor of meeting our lovely Socktoberfest hostess, Lolly, her wonderful husband, Kris and her gorgeous sister, Mimi. I'll admit to having butterflies in my stomach before meeting Lolly! I had so many thoughts playing racquetball in my head- What if she's an internet weirdo? What if she thinks I'm an internet weirdo? What if we meet and have nothing to say to each other? How long can I talk about the weather? Can I pass Bossy and Stinky off as someone else's kids if they start acting up? And my fave from my very protective Hairy Leg-ged husband: What if this is some kind of online stalking sex solicitation lure? All of my anxieties were immediately allayed the moment we met. Lolly is as gracious and beautiful "in real life" as she is in her blog. No awkward pauses, no mumbling about the rain, no nervous giggling or leg shaking in silence. Talking to her, I felt like I'd known her for a long time. She and her family are so warm and real- so full of aloha- they give you that tingly good-feeling when you meet them.

We started with lunch at The Green Papaya, a Vietnamese restaurant in Honolulu. Finding the place was a little tricky (So sorry, Mimi!), but we both arrived in good time. With so many great types of cuisine to choose from locally, my concern was finding something with vegetarian options for Lolly. Hairy Legs and I enjoyed lunch, and the company, especially, with only one minor mishap when Miss Independent Stinky decided to launch her water glass in a fit of defiance. We were grateful that Bossy didn't decide to follow suit. Instead, he was content to suck his vermicelli noodles up through his straw. We were thankful that Lolly, Kris and Mimi decided to have selective vision with regard to the kids' behavior.

After lunch, we went on a yarn crawl! Well, it should have been a one-stop LYS visit, but my lack of foresight turned it into a two-store crawl. Being the space cadet I am, I neglected to find out whether Isle Knit would be open on Monday. Let me assure you that it most definitely isn't. Ever gracious, our guests trekked back to their parallel parked car in the pouring rain, sans umbrellas, with smiles, though I'm sure they wanted to clobber me. I got my bachi (returned bad karma) for my negligence when the bottom handle of my automatic umbrella popped off into the street and got run over by a bus. At Lolly's urging, I almost ran out to save it, but was grateful I didn't when I saw my umbrella handle's fate.

Not wanting to experience any more spontaneity, Hairy Legs called Yarn and Friends to discover that they were indeed open. We drove there and were able to snap a few pics during a brief sunny interim. I didn't notice it earlier, but we were both wearing fuschia colored tops and skirts! How weird is that? Knit blogging minds must think alike. Kris and Hairy Legs were also wearing the same colored tops and shorts. Eerie! I also didn't realize it till we got home and I looked at the pics, but gosh, Lolly sure is tall!! Makes me feel even more vertically challenged. The yarn store owner was very sweet and outgoing, but Lolly managed to distract her long enough so we could get down to yarny business! We perused the store for quite a while and decided on some Cascade Fixation for some future matchy-matchy socks- maybe a little corny, but it is still Socktober, after all.

Although I'm sure they were hoping upon hope that we would decline, Lolly, Kris and Mimi invited us to the Waikiki Aquarium. Well, by now, my whole family had become true-blue Lolly-family stalkers, so of course, we tagged along. Bossy, because he is aptly named, led the tour, since the Aquarium's one of our regular haunts. Kris cracked us up with his knowledge of the Latin genus and species names for all of the aquatic plants. You would've thought we were in ancient Rome, the way he spewed those names out so effortlessly! Bossy and Stinky managed to hold it together pretty well in spite of having no nap (you can see they're about to pass out!), though I'm sure we averted certain impending disaster by deciding to finally stop stalking Lolly's family after leaving the Aquarium.I was a little sad to leave- we'd had such fun all day and there were still so many more things I wish we could've talked about, but I'm so grateful that we had the chance to meet and make a connection in person. Lolly, Kris and Mimi, it was truly such a pleasure meeting all of you!!! Our family loves you and we hope we get the chance to do this again someday. Thank you for a wonderful day!

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The very talented Myra of My Little Mochi tagged me with a Twenty Things meme. Thank you, Myra! I am an incredibly boring person, so it took me a quite awhile to come up with these. I salute you in advance if you manage to make it to the end of my list without falling asleep.

1) I used to work in an entomology lab where one of my duties was disemboweling poor, unsuspecting termites by pulling their alimentary tracts out through their anuses for "testing."
2) I also used to work in a fly lab, where I'd regularly commit mass genocide by freezing thousands of flies in a minus 20 freezer, all in the name of science.
3) I knit English style.
4) I've tried knitting continental, but apparently I am an undextrous continental loser. It would make knitting ribbing go so much faster and lessen my odds for bursitis.
5) I gave birth twice without the use of drugs or medical intervention.
6) That said, I am the first to request (okay, beg) for anesthesia during the most minor of dental work.
7) I am a coffee fiend. We actually spaced Bossy and Stinky apart so that I could have a few months to support my habit between weaning Bossy and getting pregnant with Stinky.
8) I nursed both Bossy and Stinky for a combined total of 33 months. They sucked the life out of me, literally. I am now left with pathetic, deflated balloons in their wake.
9) I once broke a mercury thermometer during Organic Chemistry Lab. I've never seen a roomful of people evacuate so fast.
10) I still consider myself a Big Island girl, even though I've technically lived in Honolulu longer than I ever lived in Hilo.
11) When I was a little girl, my dream was to be able to eat Sapporo Ichiban ramen everyday of my life. That dream came true my first year out of college because it was the only thing I could afford to eat. And it wasn't even Sapporo Ichiban, it was that cheap Top Ramen, feed-yourself-for-a whole-month-with-this-$2-case brand.
12) I regularly have elevator nightmares. I swear it's some past life thing. And it sure makes living in a condo and riding the elevator daily a freaky trip. I enjoy it in a sick kind of Fear Factor way.
13) I am an out-of-the-closet American Idol fan. And a Clay fan. So there.
14) I know all the words to every Barry Manilow song ever written. I am not proud of this. It is my evil mother's doing.
15) I love Christmas trees. Real Christmas trees. When I found out my mom bought a fake fiber optic tree from QVC last year, I almost cried. Both because of the fakeness and because she was subscribing to QVC. Which, of course, she got me hooked on, just like Barry Manilow, though I will adamantly deny it if questioned point blank.
16) I have a very nervous stomach. Unfortunate things happen when I get nervous. Out of both ends.
17) My husband claims I have two stomachs. One for meals and the other, more highly developed one for snacks. I think that just makes me more evolved.
18) I almost won my elementary school's spelling bee in the fifth grade. Except that I misspelled playwright. How the hell was I supposed to know what a playwright was? (And yes, I asked for a definition.) I just figured it was what my mom always admonished me to do with my sister.
19) I once tried to mangle a Chinese squash plant (hyotan) in our backyard with a sickle when I was little to stop it from producing any more squash. Divided into a 100 different pieces, that evil Hydra grew into 100 distinct monstrosities. We ate hyotan soup for many, many nights.
20) I am a very protective mom. I have been known to engage in WWF type smackdowns at Thinker Toys with parents who let their evil spawn run amuck.

Hmm, now I need three people to pass this on to. Most bloggers I know have already done a 100 things meme, so I'm passing this on to acornbud, karen , mamma and beak knits, so I can delve into the darkest recesses of their minds, bwahahaha!

rainy days and mondays

2005-10-23T23:42:00.000-10:00

Sadly, I have very little progress to report on my current Socktoberfest socks. After my recent bout with sock polygamy, I decided to re-visit my Go With the Flow Christmas socks for my coleslaw loving mom. In a surprising move of propriety, I chose to re-commit myself completely to sock #2. While it seems that I have been cured of my former adulterous ways, the going is slow and tedious. After knitting the last two pairs of socks on size 3 dpns, I'd forgotten how ungratifying and thankless size 1's can be. Two nights of knitting, and barely 3/4 of a leg to show for it! Already I feel the urge for a cheap fling, and it's been less than half a week since my vow renewal. Once a cheater, always a cheater, I suppose. You've already seen one completed Go With the Flow in KnitPicks Dancing in the Ballet colorway (albeit a while back), so I'll spare you the requisite in-progress shot. Hopefully I'll have something picture-worthy by week's end.

All is not lost, though. A certain someone *ahem* has called me out about my SnB Under the Hoodie, not once, but twice! Truly, I had good intentions of posting pics earlier, but well...you know what they say about the road to hell. Who would've thought that knitting would put me on that road? Not posting pics, sock adultery, coveting thy neighbor's yarn, slumming around with acrylic- 4 out of 10 Commandments- my chances for knitting redemption aren't looking so hot, eh? Just to prove that I really am serious about repenting, though, I present to you the finished, post-blocking, 5 billion ends-woven-in SnB Under the Hoodie. A back view of the hood. And last, a dorky pocket-action shot. And yes, I am aware that it looks like I'm trying to stop a ferret from weaseling out of the pocket. Trust me, no ferrets or other small creatures were harmed during this production. Unless you count Bossy and Stinky, but I don't think inflicted emotional scars should really be counted. I'm now a holy roller when it comes to extolling the virtues of blocking. Wet-blocking and steam-blocking took care of the stockinette curl and really evened out the stitches. I was also able to lengthen the body by about an inch. Overall, I'm really pleased with the final result. And what perfect timing, because it's actually cold and rainy enough for me to wear now that the temperature has dropped to the low 80's. It's the tropics, people. Low 80's is pretty damned cold for us!

Of course, no photo shoot would be complete without Bossy and Stinky trying to insert themselves in every picture. They were jubilant when I told them that they could each pose by themselves. And as it turns out, they didn't actually manage to worm their way into every picture. Just 34 out of the 37.

The Orange Letter

2005-10-21T00:10:00.000-10:00

Tutti Frutti is done! Ever mindful of the genteel nature of this audience, I tried to spare you direct bowl shots, but yes, you are in my bathroom again. Which really wasn't supposed to happen again. With just the toe shaping left, I was confident that Tutti Frutti could be completed by lunch today. I anticipated fun, outdoorsy frolicking pics with sand and surf, grass and sky, but alas, it wasn't to be. Instead, here I am at 11:30 pm, barely coherent, taking pictures of my feet in the bathroom. Indulge me, if you will, as I recount the sock saga.

Something was bound to go wrong today. It was one of those eerie days. Moms, you know what I'm talking about. The kind of day where the kids share with each other willingly, pick up their toys the first time you ask and apologize to their siblings without prompting, deluding you into some false sense of security about your competence as a parent. Yep, verrry eerie. All day, I kept waiting for the other sock to drop.

Eerie occurrence #1: Bossy and Stinky haven't seen Hairy Legs since Suday because he's been working till 10 pm every night. Which means it's been just me and them, all day, all night, all week. Which would normally set them off into a tizzy. It did yesterday, it will tomorrow, but not today, oh no. They kissed Hairy Legs goodbye and happily carried on.
Eerie occurrence #2: I take the kids to Wal-Mart to pick up some odds and ends and nothing happens. No whining, no crying, no poop hazmat explosions, no hiding my face behind grocery bags as I book it to the van.
Eerie occurrence #3: Bossy and Stinky eat lunch! Not only do they eat the pasta salad I serve, they also eat the broccoli and celery in the salad without any evil eye prompt.
Eerie occurrence #4: I park at gymnastics today. At the building, instead of 5 blocks away like I usually have to, hauling butt, Bossy and Stinky to make it to gymnastics 5 minutes late.
Truly Eerie occurrence #5: I am gifted with simultaneously napping children- children who never nap. Napping together. Simultaneously.

So I guess it should have come as no surprise to me when karmic justice came in the form of Tutti Frutti. Still, I was caught unawares. Subscribing to the boyscout motto, I was duly prepared for the antitheses to the aforementioned eerie occurrences, but I was completely unprepared for sock madness. I finished Frutti before dinner, with only the Kitchener left to go...or so I thought. Just for kicks, I pull out Tutti to compare. And realize that Frutti is over an inch shorter, in spite of following the same pattern. Which means frogging over half the sock to get back to the foot. Stupidly, I pull all the dpns out and start ripping with abandon, when it suddenly occurrs to me that I have no idea where needle 1, which should be perfectly centered over the heel, is supposed to begin. The ensuing panic attack could be likened to Joe Rogan appearing and unveiling the 8 goat testicles I have to eat to win Fear Factor. (Which, for the record, I would totally eat for $50,000. Do you know how much yarn 50 grand could buy??!)

I finally figure out where 1 begins and 3 ends, but not before endless trials and countless errors till past 10 pm. Then I get stocki-cocky thinking how boring all-stockinette is (You'd think I would've learned my lesson after the Hoodie pocket) and incur stocki-cocky-bachi (karmic crap) in messing up all my decreases. Again. Suffice it to say that I had to frog Frutti to the beginning of the foot more than three times today.

But, all's well that ends well, and Tutti and Frutti ended pretty well. Almost identical except for the distinction of Frutti's possessed orange toe. It's his Orange Letter, I suppose, the burden he must wear, brandishing the (many!) errors of his ways. Apparently, though, Frutti repented just in time....with only one yard left in the skein, his number would've REALLY been up!!

got a girl named daisy

2005-10-18T23:45:00.000-10:00

Inspired by acornbud at our last SnB meeting, I made a trip to Yarn and Friends this weekend to pick up some Patons Kroy sock yarn. I normally gravitate toward solid muted earth tones, but I was determined to find something festive and fun with true Socktoberfest spirit this time. And what could be more fun than Tutti Frutti??!! A wop boppa loobop a womp bam boom! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
This knit up in about a night and a half on size 3 dpns, top-down. Although I'm tempted to keep this (soon-to-be) pair for myself, Tutti Frutti is destined to be a gift for a friend. This was my first time working with self-patterning sock yarn- what a revelation! Sure, all-stockinette- all-the-time can be boring, but you can't beat it for a quick and gratifying knit. I just cast-on for the second sock, so I'm curious to see whether they will be identical or fraternal twins. On a serious sock-knitting side-note, I'm very interested in giving the toe-up method a try again...I've used Wendy's Toe-Up pattern, and I must have done something wrong, because instead of getting a beautiful seamless toe, I wound up with an ugly wonky ridge down the center of the back and front. If anyone can offer some insight as to what I might be doing wrong, I'd be very grateful.

By now you all know what deprived souls my poor kids are. No Tutti Frutti ice cream, no additives, no preservatives, no fun. In spite of my last post alluding to my sadistic tendencies, even their Blueberry Waffles are of the distinctly weird variety. No wheat, no gluten, no eggs. I'm not sure they even really qualify as waffles, honestly. It's not like I set out looking for weird food. As a concerned consumer, all I ask for is a non-processed, mostly-organic, low-sugar, low-salt, non-peanut/peanut related product. How weird is that, really? (Just so you know, I can see all the head-shaking.) I'm nervous that they're going to wind up being the ostracized freaky kids at school, raving about their tofu burger and soy milk lunches.

In light of their freaky upbringing, they go bonkers at the prospect of a birthday party. Bossy Boots will dance around in a little circle, singing, "cake and ice cream, cake and ice cream!" at the top of his zebra lungs. Lately, even Sister Stinky, all of 19 months old, has been chiming in. At the birthday party we attended recently, one of the moms asked the kids if they were ready for cake and ice cream and a very jubilant Stinky screamed, "Yay!!!" This from a little girl who has about ten words in her vocabulary. Of course this garnered an immediate raised-eyebrow see -what- happens- when- you -deprive -your -kids look from the other moms. I smiled sweetly and re-directed their attention to the birthday boy's older sister, who was gleefully gorging herself on half the frosting from the full sheet birthday cake. I'm betting the soy burger path didn't seem like such a bad idea at the moment.

of socks and waffles

2005-10-16T17:03:00.000-10:00

Tada! I completed my first official pair of Socktober socks last night: Blueberry Waffle Socks in Lion Brand Wool- Ease Sportweight Blue Mist, on Size 4 dpns. Hairy Legs (not to be confused with the author of this post) obliged me again by modeling these socks intended for my dad. Getting into the spirit, he even suggested a photo shoot location, which wound up being in the bathroom next to the toilet, mostly because it's the only place in our house that's illuminated by more than a 60-watt lamp after 9 pm. (Because that's the one place in the house you really want illuminated!) We tried both with and without flash to get an accurate color and stitch representation. Funny thing is that upon review, I only notice the hair. And how much more starkly noticeable it appears with flash. And for the last time, those are NOT my legs!! This was a super quick and fun knit and was just what I needed after the seemingly interminable hoodie.

It's ironic that I would knit a pair of socks called "Blueberry Waffle." For the record, I cannot STAND blueberry waffles, but when I saw the title in a list of sock patterns, I was drawn to it like a magnet. It all goes back to my childhood (doesn't everything??), when my mom used to force me into eating those toaster-variety Eggo Blueberry Waffles for breakfast. Which in and of itself may not have been that terrible a thing, but my mom had a sadistic way of making us roll out of bed and right into the kitchen for breakfast. I have since realized that I am not not-a-breakfast-eater (had to double-check the double negative to make sure that's what I meant to say); I simply prefer some downtime between opening my eyes and having food shoveled down my throat.

Those were some awful mornings in the early '70's...sitting across Fredo with a plate of Eggos. Both because of the Eggos and because of Fredo. She had this way of staring at me with her huge puppy-dog eyes that really irked me. Bad enough I had to stomach those damn waffles, but to have her looking at me was almost more than I could bear. "Stop looking at me!" I'd hiss, shooting her my most evil eye. Quickly, she'd avert her gaze, but those pathetic puppy eyes would stir feelings of guilt, making me more irate. Angrily, I'd stick a forkful of waffle into my mouth, only to have my reflexes betray me with a gag (yes, Bossy Boots' talent for deliberate gagging is inherited). Of course, this would cause Fredo to look at me again. With total horror in her eyes, she'd fixate on me as I commenced with my daily gagging/almost-upchucking side-show routine, all the while vehemently whispering, "Stop looking at me!" Exasperated as hell, my blueberry-waffle-loving-mom stopped intervening after a few days of this routine and pretended that she couldn't see or hear anything. Luckily, that is another talent that has been inherited.

In a twist of ultimate sadism, I, of course, force my kids to eat blueberry waffles for breakfast. Total anachronisms, however, they seem to love it. Having inherited mom's see-no-evil, hear-no-evil talent, though, I can't be entirely sure.

socktoberfest!

2005-10-13T00:10:00.000-10:00

Have you caught Socktoberfest fever yet?? Watch out, because sock mania is sweeping through blog land and it is contagious! I've been spending so much time nursing my own fever by checking out all the great socks that everyone's been cranking out that I almost wasn't able to complete a sock in time to post for today. Almost. Luckily, knitting a pair is just what the doctor ordered. Right now, it's only one half of a pair, but I hope to remedy that in a few days time. This is Blueberry Waffle, in Lion Brand Wool Ease Sportweight, size 4 dpns, which will become a Christmas gift for my dad. Since the intended recipient is masculine, I did the logical and went with a masculine sock model. (I know I don't shave nearly as often as I should, but c'mon now, you didn't really think those were my hairy legs, did you?) I know you're probably wincing at the acrylic factor (or the hair. I swear those aren't my legs!), but my dad is a no-nonsense, machine wash and dry-don't tell-me-I need-to-block this-100% wool - kinda guy. Being used to knitting on Size 1's with fingering weight yarn, these are a little thick for my taste, but they'll be functional. Although it's still Hawaii, the weather actually occasionally drops below 70 degrees in Hilo, where my parents live, so I'm hoping they'll make good house socks. And I certainly can't complain. On size 4's, that sock basically knitted itself up in a night and a half!

Since I didn't have size 4 bamboo or brittany dpn's, I had to use aluminum ones. I know you're probably wincing again, but these dpn's hold special sentimental value. You see, they're the same needles that my grandmother used. My grandmother passed away 8 years ago at the age of 85, and with her died a vast wealth of knitting knowledge and crochet know-how. She lived frugally and had only an 8th grade education, but she could design patterns like nobody's business and knit the cheapest acrylic into the most beautiful garments. She taught me to crochet and knit when I was 9 years old, but I didn't have the patience to withstand the constant frogging she "subjected" me to. It took 24 years for me to appreciate her drive for perfection in handcrafting. I wish I could have shared her passion for knitting while she was alive, but I know that her spirit lives on because I feel connected to her everytime I pick up the needles she used. Whenever my snobbery for aluminum kicks in, I remind myself that if they were good enough for her, they're certainly good enough for me. They're precious heirlooms to me and I hope to pass them on along with an appreciation for my baachan's skillful handiwork. I miss her so very much, but I'm grateful to have such a wonderful reminder of her. Watching her knit is one of my most vivid memories of her, and I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (or grandtree!) because that'll probably be my munchkins' most vivid memory of me, too!

show proof!

2005-10-11T00:06:00.000-10:00

As kids, we frequently used the phrase, "Show proof!", demanding material evidence to substantiate whenever anyone made a preposterous claim. Many a time have I flashed the contents in my mouth to "show proof" in response to some double dare to eat some random combination of mud, insects and glue that my sister, Fredo had concocted. Occasionally, my parents would require us to "show proof" of consumption, but more along the sublime line of broccoli and brussel sprouts. Once, when I was 7, Fredo and I were bathing in the tub, as was our usual routine. I suddenly yelled to my mom that I wanted out immediately. From the kitchen, she said that I was to stay put with Fredo. I told her that Fredo had done something VERY BAD. Mom kept countering that she didn't think so. Whining turned to crying and finally, to hysterics. Annoyed as hell, mom stomped and slammed her way into the bathroom and demanded that I "show proof." She didn't have to look very far, for as Fredo and I huddled in the corner of the tub, bobbing freely about in circles in the bathwater was Fredo's long, intact and quite buoyant excrement. I'm sure the expletive in my mom's mind accurately captured the essence of the situation.

So here I am, being asked to "show proof" yet again, though this time, it's self imposed. When last we met, our heroine had been relegated to a dark corner, relinquished of all posting ability until she had a completed hoodie to show. So without further ado (and mostly because narrating in third-person creeps me out), I present to you SnB Under the Hoodie!!!

SnB Under The Hoodie
Knit with Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, in Clay, Orchid and Fuschia on Size 5 circ needle
Started: Sept 28, 2005 Completed: October 10, 2005

It looks a little like a creepy headless Kenny, huh? I promise to post finished, post-blocking, non-headless pics later this week. I will admit to having a couple of nervous moments. Like when I realized that I had 5 inches left on the hood....in addition to 18 inches on sleeve#2 that I had managed to trick myself into forgetting about. I feared my posting days would become a memory of the past. But I plugged on...even through the seaming, which SUCKED!!! Mostly because I suck at seaming, which I never fully realized until this sweater. Seaming took a LOT longer than I'd anticipated, which was a huge female dog. Not of Saint Bernardian proportions (recall Padded Footlet?); but perhaps Great Dane-ian would be fairly accurate. I'm cheating a little, because there are about 500 loose ends that still need to be woven in, and it clearly needs some aggressive blocking, but .... for all intents and purposes, It's Done! And added bonus: It fits!! It's so warm and comfy, I just know I'm going to find and/or create any excuse to wear it. Hooray!!! Now I can revel in all the Socktober festivities with a clear conscience (and warm hoodie, to boot!). Hand me those DPNs, 'cause I got nothin' but socks on the brain!!!

And what's that old adage? The proof is in the pudding? ....Guess that all depends on how one defines "pudding!"

she's got a way

2005-10-07T23:36:00.000-10:00

I've got a way.....of procrastinating.

This is not something that I'm proud of. Every clock in our house is set at random, varying intervals ahead of "real time." I do this to trick myself into thinking that I'm late in doing whatever it is that I'm supposed to be doing but am not doing. Initially, I did the ol' "set your watch 5 minutes ahead" bit, but I'm not easily fooled. To truly freak myself out, I had to set all ten of our clocks ahead of time at different intervals, so that I'd never really know what time it was. Be that as it may, I still tend to run late, according to at least five of those clocks.

I procrastinate the worst with homework. Even as I write this post, I know I should be working on the 70 page reading and response paper that's due on Monday. But somehow, whenever the heat is on high, I get distracted. The first time I experienced true stress in my freshman year of college, I got distracted and ended up becoming a vegetarian for 4 years. Now that's really distracted.

It was 3 am. I was supposed to be studying for midterms and writing a paper when I decided that I absolutely could not function without having a 7-Eleven nachos with extra onions and jalapenos. (I also have a penchant for really nasty food when I'm procrastinating. Red Vines, anyone?) Naturally, the only 7-Eleven in the vicinity was a 25 minute walk away, but I really needed the nachos. So, I grabbed my jacket and started on my trek. As luck would have it, I passed our good ol' cafeteria along the way. We all cracked the usual jokes about the cafeteria food, calling the company "Marri-Rot" instead of Marriott and bragging about developing cast-iron stomachs. Jokes aside though, it really was rather bad... I would get the runs for a full 2 weeks at the start of every semester re-acclimating to MarriRot. (What, too much information? You know it makes you feel closer to me.) I'd always wondered what made the food so damned bad. And then, that night, I saw it. There, shrouded in the darkness of night, unseen by the masses...

The cafeteria delivery truck that said: "Meat: Grade D, But Edible"

In that instant, all was revealed to me. Grade D? Grade D?! I'd never even seen Grade B sold in a market, let alone Grade D! But, in spite of that, it wasn't even the Grade D part that got to me. No, it was the conjunction that killed me. Grade D BUT edible. BUT edible!! On the spot, I became an instant vegetarian convert and never looked back till graduation.

So here I am at 12 am (or 12:15, 12:20, or 12:25, depending on which clock you're looking at), looking at my hoodie, literally less than 5 inches away from completion....and procrastinating. Blog surfing and dreaming about Socktober instead of knitting and purling. I think the stockinette's finally getting to me. You know it's bad when you look forward to grafting shoulder seams. I actually enjoyed it, in a sick kind of cool way. I just need to focus and power through these last few inches so I can enjoy my hoodie and move on to socks with peace of mind. I solemnly vow here and now not to post again until I have a finished hoodie to show. I will not procrastinate! I will not be distracted!

Then again, if you find out I re-converted to vegeterianism tomorrow, you know why.

the good, the bad and the lost

2005-10-05T17:01:00.000-10:00

The good. (Can you hear the Western whistle?)

Lots of progress on Under the Hoodie, thanks to some recent obsessive-compulsive instruction reading. The front is officially finished, as is the better part of one sleeve. Since I'm pretty vertically challenged, I made a couple of modifications to ensure I didn't wind up with Washoe length sleeves. One more sleeve and a hood and I'm done. I'm soclose to finishing my first sweater that I can actually taste it!

You knew something had to go wrong, didn't you??

The bad. (Ominous Western whistle, sans Clint Eastwood cameo)

So I'm looking at the orchid pink yarn that I used to make sleeve #1, and as I merrily knit along, it slowly occurs to me to question how much yarn I need for sleeve #2. In denial, I brush off the nagging, haunting suspicion that I don't have anywhere near enough of this orchid pink yarn. A quick calculation threatens my tenuous hold on sanity. If marginally-holding-on -to-her-marbles-knitter uses 1.75 balls of yarn for sleeve #1 and has only 1.25 balls of aforementioned contrasting color B yarn left to complete sleeve #2, what is the probability that said knitter will have to go medieval on remaining knitting? I don't need to do any two-tailed t tests to know the answer to that. Sigh. Ever the delusional optimist, however, I somehow believe that everything will work out in the end...even if it means having Ewok sleeves.

The Lost.

I've been blog reading, and it seems that a lot of you (this one's for you, Karen & Chrissy!) are die-hard fans of Lost, so I thought I'd share this little tidbit. I know it's appalling, but *ducks* I have yet to watch a single episode. All the more appalling because Lost films right here in Hawaii. And downright unforgivable because Lost uses the DH's workplace to cook for and feed the cast and crew. The DH is the contact person the producers call to schedule time to use the facility. According to the DH, they're very easy-going and pleasant to work with. They cook way too much food and always invite the DH and his co-workers to eat with them. They were using this tent to barbecue some extra food. It doesn't look too impressive, but this was just to supplement all the other food they had already catered. Here's a shot of their trailers. DH said he saw a few of the stars the other day while they were getting their lunches. We're so lame, we had to go online to figure out who they were. We *think* he saw Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Harold Perrineau (Michael) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer). Then again, we can't really be sure since he deduced this in police line-up fashion using the cast photos. One of the producers gave the DH this shirt, too. How cool is that? (Though I'd admit, it'd probably be more cool if I knew what the show was about!) I asked the DH to snap covert shots of the cast so I could let you guys live vicariously, but he declined, saying it was unprofessional. You can go swat him now.

So there you have it: the good, the bad and the lost. No ugly?
Crossing my fingers that it's not the hoodie!!!

some enchanted evening

2005-10-03T23:27:00.000-10:00

There are bad decisions. Like deciding to try your hand at Salmonella Roulette with precariously pink pork. Like jumping in the ocean after reading the sign that says, "Warning: Box Jellyfish!" Like leaving the perming solution on for 45 minutes instead of 10 so that you can have really curly Molly Ringwald hair. Aside from a minor case of the runs and several small chemical burns to my neck and scalp, I managed to emerge from these bad decisions relatively unscathed.

Then there are Really Bad Decisions.

Like when I was a junior in college and making frequent evening trips between voice practice at the music building and my dorm, which was clear across campus. Like any other young girl walking unaccompanied at night, I felt vulnerable and often feared for my safety. The campus was poorly lit, and rumors abounded about attackers lurking in dark corners, preying upon defenseless victims. I don't subscribe to the philosophy of living my life in fear, but I'll admit that I was all too willing when my friend offered to sell me a black market can of Mace for extra security. At barely 2 inches high, the canister was so diminutive and unassuming. I held it in my hand with a mixture of both trepidation and relief, knowing that if the need ever arose, I could rest assured that I could protect myself. Just to be sure, I studied the trigger mechanism, and it seemed to operate like any other aerosol device. Having had a lot of experience with hairspray after the Molly Ringwald fiasco, I felt fairly confident about my ability to execute the index finger-pump action. Reassured, I set off on my trek back to my dorm.

But doubt is as doubt does, and paranoia started to set in on that chilly, breezy evening. Distant trees began to look like looming rapists, and I nervously stroked the canister in my jacket pocket for reassurance.

And then I made a Really Bad Decision.

On that fateful, breezy evening, I decided to test the pump to make sure it really worked. I depressed the trigger without a hitch and was congratulating myself on my foresight to ensure that everything was in proper working condition...when the Mace blew directly back in my face. The sequence of events subsequent to this I do not recall with any real certainty, as my faculties were otherwise paralyzed by mind-blowing pain after I Maced myself. I do, however, remember writhing on the ground like a Raid-sprayed dying roach for the better part of 15 minutes, clutching my eyes and yelling some incoherent mix of primal scream and profanity, laced with reference to mothers, copulation and defecation. There may have even been some mention of genitalia and random orifices, though I cannot be entirely sure. I am fairly certain, however, that my display warded off any would-be attackers, who apparently are more discriminating than one might guess.

Although my current Really Bad Decision was nowhere near as painful, it did garner as many expletives. I got Stocki-Cocky on my SNB Under-the-Hoodie. Stockinette-cocky, that is. I was confident I could get the front of this hoodie done over the weekend, and I was feeling very comfortable with the pattern. So much so that I decided not to re-read the instructions for the pocket, and proceeded to knit ALL 43 ROWS in pure stockinette, instead of with the 5 stitch border pattern called for in the instructions. Which I realized only as I was completing the 3 needle bind-off for the pocket. AAAARGH!!! 8 INCHES!!! That's a whole skein of yarn and a whole night of knitting!! I was forced to rip back and re-do the pocket, so my progress now seems rather abysmal as I don't have much to show beyond the pocket. I guess that's my Stocki-Cocky-Bachi (which is Japanese for karmic crap, usually with connotated overtones of "Good for you, you got what you deserved," with a slight nuance of "Told you so").

So yeah, the Molly Ringwald do was a don't, I ran with the runs and I'm still slightly aerosol can-phobic, but I'll probably continue to push my luck with Really Bad Decisions. After all, I'm 1 for 4: I've never gotten stung by box jellyfish!

how many Hail Mary's?

2005-09-30T12:25:00.000-10:00

I'm convinced that the co-requisite to having babies is having guilt. From the moment you find out you're pregnant, you're plauged by guilt. (Mmmm, those chocolate chip cookies were sooo scrumptious! Of course, they have absolutely no nutritional value. So now I'll wind up with diabetes and so will the baby. Forgot about the caffeine in those chocolate chips, too. Great, so baby's going to be born with 3 hands and feet? Lovely.)

It only snowballs once they're born. (Should I let her cry tonight instead of getting her? Am I being selfish? But I need to sleep! It's been over 18 months since I've slept, pleeeease for the love of all that's good... oh geez, she's been crying for over half an hour, I really should get her. Right? I should, shouldn't I?) And God forbid you should spend only $2 on conventional milk instead of springing the 5 plus bucks for the non Bovine-Growth-Hormone injected organically produced stuff. Let me tell you the nightmares I have had just contemplating the idea.

But that all pales in comparison to the very real guilt of knowing you've really Screwed-Up. Case in point:Yes, that's Stinky neglected and asleep with her face in her (Annie's all-organic, of course) mac and cheese. She was eating lunch so I thought I could take a few moments to blog and comment. And was greeted by this sight once I finally emerged from cyberspace. Now you know me for the terrible, awful mother that I really am. And then I wonder why she's STINKY??! It seems mac and cheese smeared in hair and skin has a way of doing that.

And while I'm being an awful, terrible mother, I might as well take advantage of this unplanned opportunity to finish this post. (I wouldn't want to wake her up now, would I? Two wrongs don't make a right, right?) Last night, we had a Honolulu SNB get-together. Girl talk, tea, knitting and yarn. What could be better? From L-R, keohinani, Veronica, acornbud and Kim. My apologies to mizuna for lacking the foresight to take pics before her departure. And while I'm conveniently missing from this photo, lookie, lookie, there's my hoodie- making a cameo appearance in the foreground! Here she is, with her back all bound-off, anxiously awaiting the imminent arrival of her hood. I'm hoping some extreme blocking will remedy that odd stockinette curling action. I cast-on for the front early this morning, so I'm hopeful that I can make some progress on that this weekend.

After I rescue Stinky from her mac and cheese, that is.

baby got back?

2005-09-28T23:00:00.000-10:00

Baby got back? Why yes, I do. A more than ample share, I might add, which is a good thing when your life seems to constantly unfold like an SNL skit. Like in 11th grade, at my junior piano recital. For weeks I practiced and prepared, psyching myself up for this recital. After 8 years of blood, sweat and tears, I was finally one of the big wigs among Mrs. Miyasato's piano students. One of the ones the younger kids hoped to play like when they grew up. One of the ones the parents pointed at, admonishing their kids to practice hard so they could play like "that girl." My piece was showcased in the finale. Hands clammy, heart racing, I walked up the stairs to the stage and proceeded to take my seat at the grand piano. Deliberately inhaling and exhaling, I slowly closed my eyes and channelled Bach Invention in F Major for all I was worth. Even in practice, I had never executed it as flawlessly as I did that evening. As I lifted my hands from the keyboard after the final note, heady exhiliration left a silly grin on my face. I could hear the applause and whistles, and I willed myself to wipe the stupid smirk off my face before turning around to take my bow. Apparently, I was concentrating too hard, because I failed to remember those same stairs I'd climbed to reach the stage.

Ohhhhh yeah.

Slid like a landslide down those same 3 steps on my big fat derriere and flew right into the first row of the audience. Right into the lap of Mr. Tachibana, my world history teacher. In one fell swoop, the roaring applause had turned to deafening silence. Clearly in shock, I managed to quickly assess the situation and decided to effect damage control. I stayed down. Which was a good move, because instead of pointing and laughing, everybody became concerned that I was seriously injured. Which I assured them I wasn't, but only after a good few seconds had passed for maximum damage control. Luckily, I'm a quick thinker on my back.

But baby's got another back here, this time in reference to SNB Under the Hoodie. Well, an almost-back. I have another 3 inches to go before I bind-off for the hood. And yes, these pics are brought to you once again by the trusty 60-watter night lamp. The real color is somewhere in between these 2 pics, one taken with and the other without flash. Not that it really makes a difference, since both look pretty crappy. I promise to take better pics during the day! This hoodie is moving along surprisingly fast. I thought I'd get bored with all the stockinette, but I'm finding it really therapeutic.

So, what's the moral of the story, folks? When in doubt, stay down. It's a good save.

But not as good a save as Mr. Tachibana!

finger lickin' good

2005-09-26T19:49:00.000-10:00

Valentine's Day, 2004. While I can no longer recall the actual pain of the contractions or delivery, I can remember every conversation and every image during those last few hours prior to Sister Stinky's arrival. And what remains most emblazoned in my memory is the loving image of my mother. Unable to attend Bossy Boots' birth, my mother was determined to witness gender-unknown-baby-#2's arrival. What more intimate experience could a mother and daughter have than to welcome a precious new life together? When contractions began on Valentine's morning, my mom dropped everything and immediately boarded a plane, hoping to arrive before Stinky. She did, and I was so grateful, knowing what comfort her presence would bring.

...You knew this couldn't be just a sappy birth story, right?

I called my midwife when contractions were 3 minutes apart, and we checked into the hospital. She told me that I was 7-8 cm dilated and that labor was progressing very well. Which translated roughly into: "What do you MEAN it's too LATE for drugs?! NO DRUGS??! Are you freaking SERIOUS?! Who wrote that crazy crap in my birth plan?! Don't you tell me to breathe- YOU breathe!" And in the midst of transition, when contractions were peaking less than a minute apart, when I thought I couldn't possibly bear it anymore, I opened my eyes to look over to my mother for support. And there I found her in the corner of the room, stuffing her face with none other than the Colonel's own extra crispy, asking my sister where the coleslaw was. Asking my sister WHERE THE COLESLAW WAS.

Coleslaw has since become a code phrase in our house, and while I never let my mom live this down, she truly deserves to be canonized. The woman raised 4 kids and managed to maintain her sanity. (This is questionable, but that is a topic for another post.) I am only too happy to be able to knit her socks and other secret Christmas items! And on that note, here is a completed Go With the Flow sock. A really quick knit that energizes you to cast on for the second sock. I admit that I temporarily wavered when I thought about the coleslaw, but nonetheless cast-on for the second. With any luck, there will be a completed pair in a few days. I also cast-on for SNB's Under the Hoodie with Elann Peruvian Highland Wool. It was actually the first project I'd planned and ordered yarn for when I learned to knit back in April. Amazing how knitting has taken on a life of its own in these past 5 months! I didn't want to put the hoodie on the wayside any longer, so I'm giving it a go.

As for KFC, well, it's never quite held the appeal that it used to. And in case you were wondering, no, I don't know where the mashed potatoes are, either.

michael and fredo

2005-09-24T23:30:00.000-10:00

I am beginning to feel a bit like a sad repository for abandoned socks. I currently have 3 socks missing their better halves, left eternally yearning for their completion. I am absolutely miffed by this. By nature, I would describe myself as fiercely loyal and protective. Which is a good thing, I think. Others may use different descriptive terms, mafioso among them, perhaps. Not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you grew up theoretically enthralled with, say, Michael Corleone, just as an example. Not necessarily a villain; more of a misguided family-oriented soul with anger management issues. It's really all about perspective.

I grew up the eldest of 4 siblings, with Godfather overtones inherent to my familial position. Protecting my sisters and brother was incumbent upon me and loyalty was paramount. Parading around the neighborhood on my banana seat floral bike, exacting punishment on those who dared to cause my siblings angst, I was the picture of vengeance. No one dared to cross me, especially not anyone in the family. Or so I thought.

It was third grade, and my mom told me that I could invite a friend over for the afternoon. Delighted, I called Marisa and dreamed of an afternoon filled with wonderfully engaging activities- all of my choosing, of course. But apparently, no one had given Marisa the script. She arrived, and to my dismay, she oohed and aahed over my sister's (henceforth, Fredo) Strawberry Shortcake collection. Unable to resist the adulation, Fredo proceeded to show-off every Strawberry Shortcake accessory known to mankind. The Berry Gazebo, the matching pets, the Strawberry Shortcake Live from New York LP. She was shameless and Marisa was enamored. I fumed, hands on my hips and nostrils flaring. They were not deterred. I threatened to permanently can Blueberry Muffin and Orange Blossom. They laughed. Left without any options, I sent them fishing on the lake. When asked later why I tackled both of them to the floor and sat on Marisa's head, I muttered something about how Fredo should have known better than to play with MY friend. You break my heart Fredo, you break my heart.

So this sock polygamy of sorts is quite foreign to me, as I am usually monogamous and loyal to any project I start. My disloyalty to Padded Footlet and Brother Bossy Boots' Gymnastics Sock unsettles me. Without casting on for their mates, I started knitting Mom's secret Christmas socks. Yes, I am hopeful that there will indeed be a second sock to warrant that plural. This is Go With the Flow from IK Summer '05, in Knit Picks Dancing. I cast-on on Thursday night, and I'm surprised at how fast this is knitting up. There's just enough instep and leg pattern to keep you interested without really requiring excessive concentration. I'm not a purple-y/pink fan myself, but I keep reminding myself that they're not for me. Here's an attempt at a close-up of the ladder and open-work pattern, illuminated by my trusty 60-watt night-stand lamp. And lest you deem me a petty thug after reading the above anecdote, I decided to include endearing kiddie shots from Moanalua Gardens this afternoon. Brother Bossy Boots and Sister Stinky enjoying a picnic, bubbles and shady reprieve from the heat. Unfortunately, however, maternal instinct is far more compelling than eldest-sibling-instinct. Cross your fingers that Fredo doesn't need to be sent on any other spur-of the-moment fishing trips.

a query

2005-09-22T10:38:00.000-10:00

For lack of actual knitting content today (well, I finished one of Bossy Boots' socks and cast on for my mom's secret Christmas socks, YAWN, I know! I know! That's why I'm not going to talk about that, hello!) I thought I'd conduct a survey instead. My friends gifted me with a $100 gift certificate (!!!) to Isle Knit, a LYS, for my birthday. Now, I know there are those who think nothing of plunking down hundreds of dollars at their LYS, but this is huge for me, at least. It's no secret that being SIW2K (single income with 2 kids...thanks, Karen for inspiring the acronym) puts a damper on SEX. Though in this case, I am referring to Stash Enhancement Expeditions, thank you very much. Living SIW2K, you learn to select yarn judiciously (i.e. TGKP- Thank goodness for Knit Picks!), getting the most you can for the least you can. It's easy to get used to not wanting what you can't get (Though I still covet. God, I covet. I'm a sinner, what can I say?). So I am left utterly paralyzed by the prospect of being able to afford A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G I want from Isle Knit. The POSSIBILITIES. Oh, the delectable possibilities! I actually lost sleep over this last night.

For the proper effect, please read the following paragraph with increasing speed for each subsequent sentence:

Do I buy yarn with a specific project in mind? Should those projects be for me or can they be for other people? Wouldn't it be okay if they were for other people since what I really enjoy is the process of knitting? Then wouldn't I have received a gift of sorts, anyway? Do I sample luxury yarn I could never otherwise afford with no specific project in mind? (tangential "oooh... can you say Noro, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino...?") Will I then be forever ruined, unable to afford those yarns again and disgruntled with cheaper substitutes? Can you go back to Baskin-Robbins once you've tasted Ben & Jerry's? Can you ever go home?! Do I invest in more needles? Circs? DPNs? Bamboos? Addis? Do I invest in books that I could probably get cheaper online but which wouldn't be "free" like they would be at the LYS? Worsted? DK? Fingering? Do I ......

You get the picture. Total head case. Which is nothing new, I assure you, but in my (albeit, twisted) mind, justifiable neurosis. Which brings me to my query: What would YOU do??? And for the sake of future reference, please note that returning the certificate to put me out of my misery is, in fact, not a polite response.

this little piggy

2005-09-21T09:14:00.000-10:00

Today's story is The Three Little Pigs. I realize that this in fact does not jive with the title of this post, but I couldn't come up with enough piggy tales to use the This Little Piggy nursery rhyme, so let's just go with The Three Little Pigs metaphor, okay? Okay, so back to the little pigs. Oh, and just another side note: there will be no Big Bad Wolf in this rendition, not even a cameo appearance. Unless the Big Bad Wolf is blogger, which forbade me to access my own freaking blog all day yesterday. Which is another story entirely, so back to the little pigs we go. Ah look, forget it. The whole "Three Little Pigs" thing was just a feeble attempt to tie 3 totally unrelated items together in some type of allegorical context, but I'm brain-farting and sleep-deprived, so let's just pretend I managed to do the aforementioned with some amount of wit and finesse.

So, on to the first pig of the day! Since I wasn't able to blog yesterday, I was actually able to get a good amount of knitting done yesterday. (Note to self) This is a cell phone cozy from SNBN. Such a cute and fun pattern by the very talented mizuna. And YES, it's supposed to be a pig. I was all proud thinking it was a really cute pig, till the DH (thank you, Miss Spazzitron for inciting further insight into the versatility of this acronymn :-)) said that he thought it was an owl. And Bossy Boots piped in, saying he thought it was a cat. I know I picked up the ear stitches in the wrong spot, but who woulda thunk such a minor anatomical misplacement would make such a big deal? Apparently, animals can jump whole phyla with one minor rearrangement! Good to know.

On to the second pig of the day! Or piggies in plural, rather. Specifically, Bossy Boots' little piggies. Here is the majority of the first sock, modeled by Bossy Boots himself. Which was no small feat for a 3 year old in light of the still-connected-to-the -dpns-status. This was done in Brown Sheep Wildfoote in the Tom Cat colorway. (Yep, Keohinani, from the awesome Big Island Bernina!) Call me antiquated, call me a dinosaur, but I'm really, really not too fond of the whole toe-up sock thing. Maybe it's the pattern, I'm really not sure. This pattern is one I found on Elann's site...someone suggested trying Wendy's toe-up sock pattern before going back to my old ways. Then again, I've also read that 2 circs or Magic Loop is the way to go, but here I am, still using the obsolete dpns. Got to come into the millenium, I know.

And the third and last little pig is an imaginary piggy. I was watching an obscenely strange cartoon on PBS this morning called, "Jakes! the Adventures of Piggly Winks." And the whole time, all I could think (besides good God, what the hell were those people smoking when they created those demonic animated pigs??!) about was the awesome aran sweater Piggly Winks was wearing. Demented, yes? You know you would've been thinking the same thing.

And that, my friends, is the end of my tale. Except for the epilogue, in which the demented author writes that she is currently fielding suggestions for the Shimmer lace-weight yarn formerly known as Kiri. Ideas, anyone?

such sweet sorrow

2005-09-19T14:17:00.000-10:00

Kiri said that we needed to talk last night. Not a good thing. Because when your knitting needs to talk to you, you're either: a) delusional, b) getting dumped or c) all of the above. None of the prospects were looking too good as we sat down for our heart-to-heart. Now, it's not like I haven't been dumped before by the usual suspects- exes (good riddance!), supposed friends (ouch!), credit cards ("...we regret to inform you...") But I wasn't prepared to be dumped by my knitting. On the contrary, I've always been the dump-er. I've spewed out my share of hurtful one-liners. "You're nasty acrylic and we'll never see eye to eye," (Said after my one-night fling with said acrylic) never thinking that it would come back full circle.

But Kiri was different. We hadn't been together for long, but I knew she was "the real deal." Getting dumped was definitely not on my agenda, but I suppose I should have seen it coming. She was too cool, too sophisticated and way out of my league. Like those girls in high school who wore the fitted Chic Jeans, Guess? shirts and had the perfectly permed hair. I hated them. But I would've died with a star-struck grin if one of them had ever bothered to give super-dweeb-me the time of day from their Gucci-interchangeable- watch band -watches. Anyway, being the starry-eyed fool that I am, I pursued Kiri anyway. I suppose she was wooed by the alpaca/silk and the Addi Turbos. Maybe she convinced herself that they would make up for my ineptitude and somehow make her time worthwhile. So not. To her credit, she was incredibly gracious, as one would expect no less from Ms. Te Kanawa. "It's not the right time for us now.... we could try again next time....Maybe somewhere down the road..." I could almost hear the Barry Manilow orchestra tuning up in the background. (Don't even get me started on Barry Manilow. He made me the biggest dork in kindergarten. How was I supposed to know that other five-year olds didn't know all the words to Copacabana? Thanks a lot, mom!)

And so, I watched her leave with bittersweet sorrow. (ribbit, ribbit, ribbit) But being the knit slut that I am, my wandering eyes were quickly enticed by some Brown Sheep Wildfoote I had in my stash. I couldn't cast-on quickly enough for Brother Bossy Boots' toe-up gymnastics socks. I've never done toe-up before, and so far it's going well. I love how quickly socks for 3 -year olds knit up! (I'm not sure I'm too thrilled by the wonky ridge in the middle, but that's what you get when you're on the rebound. )I barely did an inch of the foot after the increase section, and look, it's already time to turn the heel! Doncha just love rebound knits??!

So (*sticks tongue out*) there you go, Kiri! Just goes to show: there are always other fish in the sea.

lace & cilantro

2005-09-16T23:27:00.000-10:00

I'm wondering if lace is like cilantro.

I love cilantro. Adore it. Especially in salsa, enchiladas, burritos and tacos. Yes, I do love Mexican food. And Vietnamese food....oh man, can you say pho?! And I'd giddily barrel little old ladies out of the way for good Chinese food. Come to think of it, I pretty much love food in general, actually. But I digress. Now where were we?

Oh yes, back to cilantro.

So I love cilantro, but it was definitely an acquired taste, for as much as I ardently love cilantro now, I can remember abhorring the mere sight of those putrid-smelling leaves. (It feels blasphemous to say that, but I think that appropriately captures my former revulsion of the herb.) As a kid, I'd painstakingly pick out every last speck of green nastiness that remained in the dishes my mom made and laid them out to wither beside my napkin like doomed lab specimens. To add insult to injury, I'd make sure to audibly gag as loudly and offensively as possible, hoping to freak the folks out into thinking I might surely upchuck at any moment. (This, however, in true karmic form, has recently come back to bite me in the &*@, as Brother Bossy Boots has apparently acquired my ability to gag at a moment's notice when required to finish his broccoli before dessert.) Cilantro and I did not agree.

Which brings me to Kiri. Ms. Te Kanawa and I are having issues. Don't get me wrong, I love this pattern! I think it's a beautiful pattern, which, in theory, should produce a beautiful shawl. That's assuming (theoretically, of course) that you are not a lace IDIOT!!! It all looks so simple on the chart. The cute little chart is barely an inch high! How hard can that be, right?! One inch of chart, repeated over and over and over, right?! Only an idiot could screw that up, right?! (See aforementioned bold) Somehow said idiot keeps managing to lose or magically create stitches where none existed before. Ladies, I actually stopped blog-surfing last night because I was so determined to have something significant knitted up to post today.

You read right, I actually GOT OFF THE COMPUTER to knit. :-) And let me show you what I have to show for the 3 hours I spent *ahem* "knitting." (And really, I use that term in the loosest way possible.) My failed attempt at stretching the lace to make it appear like something better than crap. Gratuitous shot of purdy yarn still in hank. I had to compensate for the shawl pics somehow, so I thought I'd throw in a little PG-13 action.

Though a little frustrated, I'm actually not daunted to keep plugging away at Kiri. Mostly because lace idiocy equals bliss. And because I'm enjoying playing with my new Addi Turbo Size 7's way too much! And loving this Knit Picks Shimmer alpaca/silk that is soooo wonderfully cuddly and soft to hold!

So I'm hopeful that lace is just my knitting counterpart to cilantro. Because really, I'm not so good at that whole gagging-without-puking routine anymore, and I wouldn't want Brother Bossy Boots to one-up me on that one. He's already dangerously close.

another year wiser

2005-09-15T12:35:00.000-10:00

I must apologize for the whining and ranting nature of yesterday's post. I blame it all on PBS. No, not PBS - as -in- the-only-kind -of-television- my- deprived-kids -get-to-watch- PBS, no, I'm talking about Pre-Birthday Syndrome. For those unfamiliar with PBS, it's an affliction that strikes people (mainly females) after their 29th year, oftentimes days, and sometimes, weeks, prior to the onset of their birthdays. Often accompanied by panicked vanity sessions in front of a mirror to assess noticeable signs of aging, and always coupled with a mental checklist of things that should have been accomplished by this age in life, but haven't been. So you see, I was feeling a little out-of-sorts.

But you know what? I've decided that I'm happy to be 33!

On an Oprah-esque limb, I've decided that I OWN my age. Would I trade in the youth of my 20's for the wisdom of my 30's? Not even for a second. Sure, I could do without the premature (or maybe, rightful?) gray and the crow's feet by my eyes, but they're a small price to pay for the confidence I feel in my own skin today. 10 years ago, I was slim and trim and black-haired, but I always felt awkward and unsure; always seeking to please for approval. Today, I'm a little flabbier- post-two babies, and the boobs don't sit where they used to post-nursing, but I've come into being me and trusting myself in a way that only time could bring. So bring on the celebration, I say! Turning 33 is more than ample reason!

And besides, who can resist a party when The Husband went and BAKED a cake for tonight??! (For those of you with DHs who cook on a regular basis, just know that this is HUGE for me. :)) And look at the card my 3 year old son, Brother Bossy Boots, made for me... (that's supposed to be an envelope with a stamp in the middle) His card made me tear up! I feel so blessed to have a loving husband and two incredible kids (who, by the way, usually do wear clothes :-)).

So hurray for my birthday! I am a lucky, lucky girl indeed!!!

anticlimax

2005-09-14T14:38:00.000-10:00

Strangely, finishing the Footlet was disappointingly ... anticlimactic. There was no pomp and circumstance, no angels singing the Hallelujah chorus, hell, not even an Eye of the Tiger refrain.

I felt cheated.

Like after the last episode of Seinfeld.

Like that feeling after you've ripped through all your Christmas gifts and you happen to look at the tree looking so bare and forlorn. And you realize that it was the anticipation of Christmas that held ever so much more excitement than Christmas Day itself.

And so it was with the Footlet. After two weeks of monogamous knitting, I guess I expected, I dunno, something more substantial. Here she is, all gussied up with ends woven in and top kitchener stitched. But you know, you rinse off all that make-up with some cold cream, and she bears an eerie resemblance to those God-awful peds that my mom forced me to wear as a child, saying she was sure they were "cool." There were so not. But childhood faux pas aside, I have to say that I like the instep and heel lace patterns. The padded sole, on the other hand, was a female dog. A HUGE female dog, mind you, maybe of Saint Bernard proportions. And you know what? It ain't even all that padded!!! They don't feel that different to me than any other knit pair of socks. I expected cush-y, Nike Air-esque goodness. But no, nothing of the sort here. It's probably my fault, too. I'm sure my yarn choice had everything to do with that. Hell, it probably explicity stated at the end of the pattern directions not to use Knit Picks Dancing, but maybe I couldn't see it because my eyes were permanently crossed after reading and re-reading that tedious sole pattern at ungodly hours of the night.

Ahem, ahem. *cough* Okay, okay, get it together, I promise to stop whining now. (Wine? Now there's a solution for this mess that I hadn't thought of) The recipient of these Christmas Footlets is a totally generous, deserving, wonderful person who also doesn't knit. Who will never appreciate 2 weeks of monogamous knitting for practically non-existent padding, but I'm not whining. I know I also said no SSS, but I think casting on for Footlet 2 would be like making another sequel to Rocky. You gotta know when to let it go. ("....know when to fold up, know when to walk away, know when to run....") I need to attend some serious Attitude Boot Camp first.

And besides, Brother Bossy Boots has been pestering and nagging me for socks (read: simple! child-sized! ribbing-only!) for his gymnastics class He is aptly named, after all.

get into the groove

2005-09-12T20:00:00.000-10:00

So I realize that I just dated myself by using the above song reference. But since I'll be turning another year older this week (like a whole year happened in the period of one week, but humor me and let me hold on to the last vestiges of 32 for just a few days more), I figured I'd better start practicing some old fart antics. Besides that, I really need to start boning up on ways to embarass my kids. It's in the job description, and I'd hate to disappoint. And what better way to embarass your kids than to spontaneously burst into '80's Madonna tunes. Preferably while lip-synching, sporting a lace glove, permed hair and gyrating wantonly with your nursing bra over your Old Navy end-of- the-season-bargain outfit. Really, it doesn't get much better than that.

And on the knitting front, ever-so-slowly, grasshopper has been mastering the zen of patiently untangling two skeins of yarn while progressing at a tortoise's pace on the padded footlet. Sadly, not enough progress to say footlets. Ideally, that will change tonight, when I hold a private SNB with myself. Likely there will be more B'ing than S'ing, but such has been the nature of this footlet. Besides, I've always preferred tortoises to frogs. And there have already been too many of those on this one diminutive footlet. Here's a close-up of the instep lace pattern. Very pretty, very innocent, unlike it's evil twin gone bad, the padded sole. But no more! This bad boy has finally been tamed. I finally memorized the sole pattern and got a slooooow and funky groove going on. 8 heel repeats down, 3 more to go! No SSS (second sock syndrome) here (which bears no resemblance to TSS. Except for the "syndrome" part. Man, stream of consciousness reveals some very bizarre stuff.). Absolutely no SSS allowed on this bad boy; elapsed time coupled with senior memory is a baaaad combination. Hopefully, if I'm a good girl, tomorrow will bring me a toe, a little kitchener stitch and the beginning of footlets, in plural.

tagged

2005-09-08T12:15:00.000-10:00

Keohinani told me that I'm *IT* (which brings up scary post-traumatic nightmares about the book and movie; see, I told you stream-of-consciousness is really scary with me. Literally, even!)

ten years ago: I hope I don't have any senior moments while trying to recall my youth here. :-P Let's see...I was 22 and teaching adults with developmental disabilities at Easter Seals. Was considering a second degree (first one was in speech pathology). Just finished my first (and only) half-marathon.

five years ago: I was 27 and just got engaged (to my husband...sorry, no juicy story here!). Busy planning (and saving) for our wedding; folding gold origami cranes like crazy! Working as a speech therapist for special ed kids in Department of Education. Just finished a second (useless) degree, this time in microbiology.

one year ago: Just had our second child, Sister Stinky (and yes, I know that the kind of really cruel nickname that sticks with a child for life, but unfortunately, she answers when you call her, "Stinky," so what you can do, really?) Wondering if I would ever have more than 2 hours of sleep at a time (fast forward to the present: still wondering!) Decided to work on another (and dammit, this one better not be useless!) degree, this time in education. (Do you see the perpetual student theme here? This time around, my parents simply asked me in a very monotone way, "What's it going to be this time." [No question mark because it was that monotone])

five snacks: Just five?! If there were a 12-step program, I'd be the first to deny that I had a problem!
-----------------------------------
-butter popcorn with arare (mochi crunch)
-Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch
-tortilla strips with salsa (and lots of cilantro!)
-shortbread cookies
-chocolate chip cookies

five songs I know all the words to: Now everyone will know me for the old-fart dork I really am, so I might have to kill everyone after this, bwahaha!
------------------------------------------------
-Time and Tide, Basia
-Simple Pleasures, Basia
-The Reason, Celine Dion
-Anything Can Happen, Linda Eder
-Every %^*&@* song on PBS Kids!! (I told you I'm a tortured SAHM- try falling asleep at night when you have the theme song from Barney running through your head, again and again and....Oh wait? Is that the baby crying....AGAIN?!)

five things I would do with $100 million:
-------------------------------------------
-pay off student loans, car loan, my parents' mortgage
-Set aside money for the kids' education (but the plan is not to tell them so that hopefully, they'll be industrious and earn lots of scholarships) and for retirement
-Buy homes for all my siblings and for ourselves
-Give ridiculous amounts of money to Red Cross, Salvation Army, St. Jude Childrens Hospital, MDA, Shriners and all the other organizations we never give enough to
-Buy a second home for all the YARN I intend to order!!

five places to run away to:
-----------------------------------
-greece(I have a very active imagination. Probably because I'm perpetually sleep-deprived)
-italy (see note above)
-hiking atop Wa'ahila Ridge on O'ahu
-city of Bath in England, one of the most beautiful places I've been
-Bird Park in Volcanoes National Park

five things I would never wear:
----------------------------------
-shoulder pads. I already lived through the '80's once, and it ain't good if you're broad to begin with
-Neon green. Neon anything. I already lived through the '80's once!
-Animal prints. They're cute on others; I look like I body-swapped with a savannah creature.
-Stirrup pants. (Say it with me now, I already lived through the '80's once!!)
-Jelly shoes. You know the mantra by now. In total hypocrisy, however, I would dress my daughter in said shoes.

five favorite tv shows:
----------------------------
-ER
-closet American Idol fan (whoops, I guess I'm outted now)
-NHK Taiga dramas
-Knitty Gritty
-Barefoot Contessa (Food Network. That lady can cook!)

five biggest joys:
----------------------------------------
-Mr. Ace and Sister Stinky (the dynamic duo) and my husband
-being with my whole family in Hilo
-the holiday season
-KNITTING!!!
-girls night out, an all too uncommon occurrence, unfortunately.

favorite toys:
-----------------------------------------
-Chutes and Ladders, Candyland....oh wait, do you mean adult toys?! (don't own any of those either. ;-)
- french-press coffee maker (sad, isn't it, the kind of life I lead?)
-Williams-Sonoma cookie cutters (refer to above)
-Crabtree and Evelyn pumice brush. Which broke when it fell into the tub. Which really depresses me, so let's stop talking about it, shall we?
-YARN, bamboo needles, birch needles, stitch markers...

five people to pass this on to: ummm, I really don't know anyone other than Aloha & Oreos and Acornbud. I usually just make it a practice to lurk around and stalk other bloggers' blogs, rather than scaring them off by introducing myself.
-----------------------------------------------------
acornbud can I double tag?? Making up the rules as I go along...
starvingprintmaker because she's my younger sister and younger sisters always do what you tell them to. (Can you feel my Jedi mind trick going?)
moahawaii because he's my DH and DH's always do what you tell them to. (See above) Even though I know he won't because his blog is work-related
akamai knitter because she's the first friend I made at Honolulu SNB
the filthy martini because she's a sweetie from Honolulu SNB

gratuitous

2005-09-06T12:13:00.000-10:00

As promised, here are the pics of the mini-sweater. Taking a self-portrait proved more difficult than I'd anticipated, not for the obvious reasons, but because the kids kept trying to figure out ways to include themselves in the picture. I finally gave up and told them they could each take a picture by themselves, much to their delight. So here are some gratuitous shots of the kids and the knitting. For some odd reason, they really enjoy parading around in things I've knit. Which makes me secretly happy, I must admit. (Except for the time when they marched around with a handbag around their heads. That was a little strange, even for me.) I deviated from the pattern a bit more and placed the button further in on the right side (it's supposed to be at the edge), but given the length of this mini-sweater, it just seemed to match better. And yes, I'm well aware that the stitches look uneven and gnarly, but that's what you get for using really low-end acrylic. On top of that, the suffering is eternal since I can't block it and make it all better. Ah well, all the better for serving as a reminder of my slum-lord experience. I'm going to make it out of this ghetto, I swear!

It might be said that I am a frugal (but not cheap!) shopper. (I prefer "discerning," but whatever.) I feel a very visceral thrill in getting things for the absolute best deal that nobody thought was possible. (This might be why Christmas shopping is a 5 month ordeal for me.) So imagine the tingle that ran through my veins when I found this treasure at the Friends of the Public Library book sale last month! I spied it in a box on the craft book table and swooped down like a bird of prey. Time to drool ladies, because this, too, could have been yours for the unbelievable price of a buck seventy-five. Yes, $1.75!! I'd been coveting this book for quite some time, and it was well worth digging through the decades of dust in the box to find. I love Elizabeth Zimmermann's wit and confidence in every person's ability to master knitting. Which is just the pick-me-up I needed to re-start the Padded Footlets. Again. Had to frog. Again! But thanks to EZ, no tears here...just a lot of choice expletives.

and on a serious note

2005-09-05T20:19:00.000-10:00

As my family enjoys the last of the 3 day weekend soaking up the sun and surf, I can't help but reflect on how much we are blessed with and how much I take for granted. As a mother, (heck, just as a human being) the images and stories of the hundreds of thousands suffering in the aftermath of Katrina is almost unbearable. I think about the most helpless victims- the children, the elderly- and my heart is filled with such profound sorrow for all the horror they've endured and will continue to endure for years to come. It has certainly put all my trivial "problems" in perspective. I cannot comprehend the magnitude of beginning the process of recovery when you've lost everything, but I do believe in the inherent resilience, tenacity and goodness of the human spirit, and I know that somewhere there's light at the end of the tunnel. As I hold my family that much closer, I feel compelled to do more than donate money and offer my prayers. But if that is all I am able to do, then please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you daily.

On a lighter knitting note, the mini-sweater/boobholder is done! It definitely morphed into more of a mini-cardigan than a boobholder, but it's meant to be more function than form. Pictures to follow next time, when I remember to snap a shot in daylight, rather than by my 60 watt nightstand lamp. I'm not too thrilled with the whole itchy, crawly, nasty acrylic feel thing, but hey, this was a consolation knit. I needed a pick-me-up from the Padded Footlets because they were making me feel like a loser knitter and totally deflated my whole delusion of knitting grandeur. I couldn't get the hang of following two separate charts for the padding and instep...well, that's not completely accurate. I got the hang of it, but it was taking too darned long! I mean, c'mon, they're SOCKS! You do them because they're supposed to give you semi-instant gratification! So I put them aside and started slumming around with the aforementioned acrylic. I know, that was a low for me, but acrylic aside, it was a great pattern and baby, it felt so GOOD to have something flying off the needles again. Worsted weight...what a revelation! But who am I kidding? I needed a hit of that worsted, but deep down, I know I'm an incorrigibly uptight, Type A Virgo (Is there any other kind??) who needs the constant madness of fingering weight yarn. Well, that and the fact that during my weekend blog reading, I found out that other knitting goddesses also found the Padded Footlets tedious. (Okay, aside from my returned delusion of grandeur, the previous statement really is true, I swear!) So I felt rejuvenated and a little (Okay, a LOT) relieved that I could take that hand-on-the-forehead "L" (LOSER!!) off said head. (Is that like Right Said Fred?! Yeah, I know, stream-of-consciousness is really scary with me.) Now I'm determined to finish those Padded Footlets, no matter how long they take. And no more slum acrylic detours, I swear. Help me stay clean, people!

nasty acrylic

2005-09-01T20:31:00.000-10:00

So I started knitting Glampyre's Boobholder, with a few modifications. No, my boobs are not THAT droopy, thank you, I just wanted a little more of the REST of my front (and back) to have some coverage. So I added a couple more rows to the body to make it a little more mini-sweater-y and a little less boobholder-y. I just need to do the sleeves and then I can bask in its warmth with Tattoo. (Please kindly refrain from saying, "What the hell are you talking about?" if you're too young to appreciate the reference. Have some respect for your elders, dammit.) Notice that I didn't say what I knit it out of? I'm ashamed, very ashamed. But I really liked the color and was trying to use stuff from my stash, and.... (yeah, keep blubbering you sorry-ass-excuse-for a-knitter). Yes, it's acrylic, and it's made my carpal tunnel flare up, so I've already reaped what I've sown. 'Nuff said about that.

In happier news, (though I must confess this again involves some acrylic, but it's for a good cause, I swear) after much strife and tribulation, my friend, Ali, is finally expecting a second child! Her son and my son were born 4 days apart (they're 3 years old now), and we frequently get sappy about our serendipitous meeting in Bradley birth class. Through the years, we've been through sleepless nights, nursing horror stories, terrible twos and terrible threes (there'd better not be a terrible fours. There can't be, right? 'Cause there's no alliteration there. It would be so wrong!) together, and she's become one of my very best friends. I am ecstatic that she's expecting, and though she's only 14 weeks along, this baby already has two knitted items, with a ton more in the queue! ( 7 months is a looong time to knit!) On my recent trip, I finished this baby kimono from IK Summer '05. (Man, I am getting some seriously good mileage out of that issue, huh?) Okay, it's acrylic, but it's acrylic with a purpose. Second baby, can you say machine washable and dryable all the way? It's no masterpiece, but hopefully it'll look better once I take care of the loose ends. Oh, and seam up the sides and add the cute ribbon embellishment. Okay, so it's not really done at all, so just humor me. The only thing about this kimono is that I cast on for the newborn size, but I swear, this thing is gi-normous! It's too big for my daughter, and she's 18 months old! Ah well, that gives her baby that many more months' worth of opportunities to spit up all over it.

While on my trip, my baby sis, the BFA major, made me some beautiful stitch markers. Well, she made me buy the beads, but she supplied all the talent. She can be kind of a mercenary that way, but hey, that's how sisters are. Yes, I'm subjecting you again to my classic one over exposed and one under exposed shot, asking you to extrapolate and arrive at some construct of actual color. I think my fave is the crystal with the helical twist... it must be all those semesters of micro and Watson and Crick creeping into my subconscious. Now if I could only get her to make me many, many more... Hint! Hint! Hmm, looks like I'll have to do some work on my Jedi mind trick. Then again, there's always cinnabons and chai.

take a deep breath...

2005-08-29T16:17:00.000-10:00

So I finally finished my not-so-fiery-kinda-watery bolero (IK Summer '05) in Wool Ease Blue Mist. I appealed to every religious pantheon for a decent fit. While I actually attained proper gauge (which was no small miracle, given the number of times I changed needles and had to frog and re-frog), being the space cadet I can be, I mistakenly cast on for the smallest size. While I'm certainly on the shortish-smallish size, I think the last time I was a 31" bust was in pre-pubescence. Not that I'm endowed, because I'm certainly not. (Hey, they may be small, but they're hard-working, employed boobs! They grew two babies into big, healthy toddlers!) I'm just kinda broad, is all. Broad enough that 31" for a bolero was going to require serious appealing to any and every deity in order to fit. By the time I realized what I'd done, I was starting to pick up stitches for the edging and was wondering why the piece looked so eensy-weensy. That would be because it indeed WAS eensy-weensy! I started to sweat bullets as I tried it on (and ironically enough, that had nothing to do with our 90 plus degree heat, not that I'm complaining; I'm grateful we're not dealing with any hurricanes) and held my breath and chest and arm flab in...and let out a sigh of relief. It fit! Okay, it's a little tight, but all the better to hold the arm flab in check, right? The actual color is somewhere in between the overexposed and underexposed shots, and the neckline isn't so droopy IRL. I sorta wore the bolero to death today, so the neck line went on strike. How is that possible (ie: wearing wool!) in 90 degree weather, you might ask? Well, the class I attend at the university is built like a cryogenic lab; the temperature in the room is never allowed to surpass sub-Arctic temps. So much the better for me...I get to beat the heat AND show off my knitting??! What could be better? It's like Fantasy Island! This was a totally fun and quick knit, and I've already got two more shrug-ardigan morphs in the queue...you guessed it, to wear on Fantasy Island. Hey, you have to take advantage of opportunities like this in the tropics. I've sort of used that as my excuse to justify my, ahem, lack of (any) progress on Christmas gifts. Come on, I still have four more months, right?? And I already finished a few gifts (Okay, okay, two, but that's a hell of a lot more than the none I managed to craft last year, right? Although, I hadn't learned to knit yet last year, and maybe that would've made a difference in my ((lack of )) motivation/procrastination cycle. But I digress...) In some semblance of Christmas spirit, I at least finished the holiday dishcloth (please excuse the beheaded Suzy Ducken) I'd been working on. It's so lame that I'm not sure that it counts as a legitimate FO, but if it's off the needles, it's here, so there you have it. Up next, Glampyre's minisweater aka" the boobholder", but I really don't want to have to launch into another discourse about the lack thereof and their duly employed status. Just suffice it to say that they will be held in this cute shrug.

cookies, anyone?

2005-08-24T15:03:00.000-10:00

I have a definite predilection for starting with dessert first with today being no exception. Chocolate chip cookies would have been preferred, but the lack of chocolate chips in the pantry made it a stretch. I felt in need of something rich and buttery (did I also mention my penchant for butter?), so Chinese almond cookies it was. The dynamic duo assisted in the kitchen (again, another stretch). Mr. Ace cracked the egg and cut the butter, all the while interjecting, "Wow, mom, that's a LOT of butter." (I noticed, kiddo.) Miss Owee mainly tiptoed around the kitchen, terrorizing us by almost stepping into the mixing bowl on several occasions. But, as the recipe promised, the cookies were indeed rich and buttery and oh-so-delectable. I, in turn, feel like a good mom, have quelled my need for saturated fat, and while the little ones happily munch, can sneak in a few moments to get down to the real meat and potatoes of this blog.
Up first, Padded Footlets from Interweave Knits Summer '05, in Dancing by KnitPicks. The colors are more subdues and muted IRL. This has been my first foray into the world of lace knitting, and so far, the induction hasn't been too bad. I had to frog the first pattern repeat several times, but I think I might finally be getting the hang of it. It's also been my first attempt at reading charts. Which I was initially inept at (hence, aforementioned multiple frogging) but slowly improving at. I might even venture to say that I now prefer the chart to the written instructions. (Such a knitter wanna-be poser, I know. Even I cringed when I re-read that last statement. )I'm not sure that these pics better highlight the lace work, but I blame that on my sucky photography skills. ie: the dark photo with invisible heel lace work and subsequent overexposed shot with invisible heel lace work.I've also been making progress on my sanity-can-too-be-yours dishcloths. I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the way this is turning out; this Christmas Sparkle looked so much prettier all wound up in the skein than it does knitted up. Probably my newbie knitter choices are to blame...perhaps basketweave might have done the color scheme more justice than garter stitch?? Luckily, this one's just for personal home use, but I somehow can't get rid of the thought that it looks like Christmas just vomited all over my dishcloth. Cookies, anyone?

my blogging debut

2005-08-23T14:34:00.000-10:00

In spite of my love-hate relationship with computers, I decided to bite the bullet and join the rest of the blog-crazed knitting world. I've spent so much time lurking around other knitting blogs that I felt some reciprocity was in order. Thus, I invite you on my journey, where knitting serves as a lifeline in my often-crazy adventures as a stay-at-home mom to two toddlers!

Though it's only August, I've been on a Christmas knitting spree, thanks in large part to the burdensome memory of past Christmas-gift-procrastinated-crafty-UFO's that weigh heavily on my mind. (...I will not procrastinate...I will not procrastinate....I will NOT procrastinate...(!)) My most recently completed FO is a pair of Cable and Rib Socks from the Interweave Knits Fall '05 issue for my MIL, made from KnitPicks Dancing. (Happy, happy, joy, joy dance for free shipping!!) They're far from perfect, but for my second pair of socks, I'm rather pleased with the way they turned out. I'm sure the cables would have been better suited to a monochromatic yarn, but I liked the playful feel of the variegation in Dancing and was itching to test out my new knitting skills with cabling. Although I find self-photographed sock shots rather odd-looking and detrimental to self-esteem (can my feet really be that wide??), I took one to better highlight the design on the instep. This was definitely a very fun knit and I sense many more socks on the horizon (Of course, that could also be because my expanding stash of sock yarn and guilty conscience won't let me do otherwise). I just cast-on for a pair of Padded Footlets from the IK Summer '05 issue with my brand new Brittany size 1 dpns. (Big hugs and kisses to beavergurl76!!) It's my first experience wrapping stitches in short rows, and so far, so good. The lacework on the heel and instep look to require some concentration; definitely a late-night project for after the effervescent tykes are slumbering. For the rare spare moment during the day (when God compassionately gifts me with simultaneously napping children), I'm working on dishcloths in Sugar 'n Cream Christmas Sparkle cotton (Yay for Ben Franklin sales and $1.40 skeins!!!). Simple, mindless garter stitch is incredibly soothing and meditative for me, so I enjoy every chance I get to work on those dishcloths. More pics to follow next time!