I love Kureyon

On this day in 1729 Baltimore, Maryland was founded. This is a city I have never visited. It is also the setting of my new absolute favorite tv show Homicide: Life on the Street.Yeah, I know it's an old show but I just recently discovered it and have been savoring every episode on DVD from Netflix. I'm up to about the middle of season 4. Isn't technology great?

According to Wikipedia, a few other things of note took place on July 30:
1866 - New Orleans's Democratic government ordered police to raid an integrated GOP meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150.
1954 - Elvis Presley makes his debut as a public performer.
1974 - Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the United States Supreme Court.
1975 - Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.
It's also the birthday of my good friend Jason Storm, and of Arnold Schwarzenneger, Rat Scabies, Kate Bush, Richard Linklater, and Alton Brown.
It's Father-in-law's Day. So say whatever to your FIL. If you have one.

Today I'll introduce you to some of my Noro Kureyon. Yes there is a Kureyon Club, and I am a member. Here is my afghan so far, which makes a nice little throw on it's own. I'm doing this on size 10 US addi turbos.

And here's part of the next section.

I think I'm going to rip out most if not all of it because I think this

looks heinous. Speaking of heinous, I tried to watch that movie "Perfume" last night. It stunk.

Neck-down raglan sweater alternating the Kureyon with the most neutral color I could find in Cascade Ecological Wool.

I'm using the pattern generator (with some modifications) at knitting fool. I'm hoping all these colors aren't going to look ridiculous and clown-like on a 37 year old woman (me). Any thoughts? honestly...

socks in progress

and gratuitous tattoo* shot.

I started these with this Claudia a while back.

They are cuff-down (obviously) but as you can see I decided that I didn't like the 1x1 rib on the first one, so I removed it and picked up a 2x2 rib in it's place and bound off.

I am not by any means a sock freak. I like it ok, but I like too much other stuff also. (And I actually poked a hole into the tip of my left index finger with a metal knit picks US #1 DPN today. Not a bloody hole, but it is a little tender.) If your looking for "the musings of an obsessive sock knitter" you'll have to elsewhere. Like in about 100,00 other places. Or join the socknitters yahoo group. You'll be overwhelmed, to say the least.

WTF?!? #3: Is it my imagination or is there a medication for "restless leg syndrome" that may cause intense sexual and/or gambling urges?

* If you're curious about the tattoos, the carp was done in 1995 by Civ at Lotus Tattoo in Sayville, NY. The dots were done by Dan Thome in 1991 or '92. Maybe someday, if I can round them up, I'll post some pictures of tattoos that I did.

color (mental) blocks

I'm making (another) felted bag. It's not my absolute favorite thing to knit, but I like it well enough. And I'm teaching a really basic class in this so I figured I should get myself midway into one at least for demonstration purposes.

I decided to use some scraps of cascade 220, which I have many colors of scattered around, and I'm making up the color combos as I go. While trying to branch out into throwing some lighter or brighter colors or neutrals (gerk!) into the mix I keep getting stumped. I've ripped out everything after those purple stripes at least three or four times. And this is just one side of the bag! Sometimes I think about asking someone else to pick yarn balls out at random and hand them to me when it's time to switch colors. Maybe I'm worrying too much.

WTF?!? #2: I can hear the (ktvu) TV news from the other room. They're saying that in the last year in California, 33 people (babies and children I assume) have died from being left unattended in parked cars. 33 people! They're actually advising viewers to put their purse or wallet in the back seat of their car next to their baby to help them remember to take the baby out!

I finally finished this book and I wish I hadn't. It was so good.

I started this one last night because this web page, Things My Girlfriend and I have Argued About, written by the same guy (Mil Millington), is one of the funniest things I have EVER read. Seriously.

baby stuff

So I get this Page-A-Day calendar in my email that has interesting medical factoids. (It's from the book "Why Do Men Have Nipples" if you must know). When it's a friend's birthday and it's kind of funny or cool or relevant to the person in some way I'll forward it to them. It hasn't worked out for some ex-boyfriends of mine, though. The first one I thought I'd surprise with one of these I decided against (but the daydream was a laff riot!) because the yummy tidbit featured was an "on this day in history..." Lorena Bobbit snipped off her husband's weenie and tossed it out the window of her car. Then today I thought "too bad I don't know Shon's email, I wonder what the calendar says". Mmmm, nope. DIY vasectomy.

Oh yeah, baby stuff! I love knitting baby stuff. Ginger said I could put these pictures of Aidan up in the hat (Cascade Cloud 9 Merino and Angora) and sweater (Knitting Pure and Simple neck down cardigan in Cascade 220 Superwash with some Czech glass buttons). Thanks for the really cute baby, Ginger and Marcus!

and just in time for summer

Too bad I don't have any idea how to block a tiny little raglan sweater.

Look at those pants!

And another post with no knitting content

Here are my answers to some of those survey things you see on myspace

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? - I try not to think until I've been awake for a while
2. How much cash do you have on you? - 12 cents
3. What's a word that rhymes with "test"? - vest
4. Favorite planet? - Um, earth
5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
- My boyfriend’s boss – an obnoxious carpenter who called before 7am
6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
- I hate them ALL
7. What shirt are you wearing?
- Something weird with grey and orange stripes that says “Made in West Germany” on the label
8. Do you "label" yourself?
- Are you kidding me?
9. Name the brand of your shoes you're currently wearing.
- Adidas shoes, Puma socks
10. Bright or Dark Room?
- neither
11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
- He's one of my favorites.
12. What do you order at Starbuck's?
- OK this is an incredibly assy question and believe it or not, there is not not a single Starbucks anywhere in the county where I live. Not even in the Safeway. But if there were, an iced americano sounds pretty good.
13. What were you doing at midnight last night? - Waiting to download a 2086 kb jpeg with a painfully slow dial up connection
14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? - "K. i prematurely ejaculated on my msg...huurt!"
15. Where is your nearest 7-11?
- I really don't know. Probably at least 80 miles away.
16. What's a word that you say a lot?
- Lame. Um, and I guess "fucking" … (as an adverb)
17. Who told you they loved you last?
- Andrew Dees.
18. Last furry thing you touched?
- My smallest dog
19. How many drugs have you done in the past three days?
- one
20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
- one
21. Favorite age you have been so far?
- 26 absolutely. I've got high hopes for 38-40.
22. Your worst enemy?
- I don’t have a clue. I don't really have those. And if I did, I'm sure I wouldn't say their name on a blog! My current nemesis, however, is an 8 year old boy who comes into the store where I work and spends anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours (seriously) asking me how much everything is because he has $1.08.
23. What is your current desktop picture?
- I find desktop pictures terribly distracting and tacky.
24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
- “Too bad the lighting in here sucks, I'd really like to take a picture of that lasagna.”
25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose?
- Fly
26. Do you like someone?
- Huh?
27. The last song you listened to?
- "Tomorrow Is My Turn" by Nina Simone. Before that a “lullabye” version of a Queens of the Stone Age song "Better Living Through Chemistry". It sucked. I don’t know whose idea that was but it sounded all new age with some kind of synthesizer hammer dulcimer. It got me thinking about rockers having kids and then telling themselves that even though they're grown up parents now, they still rock so much that even their kid listens to a QOTSA Lullabye?! Gimme a fuckin break. How narcissistic. It's a human, not a toy. If I have any babies, you won't see me putting rock t-shirts on them. But if they ask me for my old ones after they learn to dress themselves it's fine with me. ..OK Sorry I went off there. I'm OK now. I think.
28. What is the most expensive item you own?
- Don’t remember. Don’t know. Don’t care. My brain starts to short out if I think about that.
29.. Name someone with the same birthday as you
- Isaac Asimov- Christy Turlington- Nelly- Sarah Silverman- Tia Carrere- Lou Gramm- Jim Bakker- Dabney Coleman
30. Where was your first kiss?
- in a large cardboard box in the back of my 1st grade classroom.
31. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?
- not that I can remember. I’m pretty nice. Oh wait, actually a guy who evicted me. He was and still is a huge piece of shit.
32. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
- not to harm them.
33. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people?
- no, not more than 50 or so.
34. Whats the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
- what they say, how they carry themselves
35. What really turns you on?
- intelligence, wit, style, dexterity, manners, assertiveness, fluency in multiple languages, parallel parking, kick ass rock music.
36. What is your biggest mistake?
- If I could think of it offhand it would be none of your business.
37. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
- That depends on who you ask… If you mean like slicing myself to ribbons or driving into a brick wall, no. But some would argue that extensive tattooing, staying in really unhealthy relationships, and years of heavy drinking and drug use would qualify as such.
38. Say something totally random about yourself. - I always laugh when I see someone’s tooth blacked out on a billboard. Hilarious!
39. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
- When I was about 7 yrs old people told me that I looked like “Carrie”. That was just because I had very straight blond hair and freckles and a small nose. Oh and also because they were idiots. I was also told once that I looked like Dale Crover. This both confused and elated me, as he was somewhat of a hero of mine at the time. Is he a celebrity? I dunno. I think it's super cool that he's in wikipedia.
40. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows?
- What do you mean “still”? I never really watched kiddy movies when I was a kid. I definitely don’t watch them now. Except I love “Babe”. I won’t watch any of that “Flushed Away” computer animated stuff. I’m ok with some cartoons on TV though.
41. Did you have braces?
- Yes for a year and a half in 9th and 10th grade.
42. Are you comfortable with your height?
- Yes
43. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you?
- waking up from an O.D. induced coma on Valentine’s Day
44. Do you speak any other languages?
- I can just barely survive in Italian, French, and Spanish but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to.
45. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
- no. I’ve never had my nails done or been waxed either.
46. What magazines do you read?
- Interweave Knits, Colors. A bunch of beading magazines that we have where I work.- sometimes Giant Robot, Vice, Bark, Juxtapoz, National Geographic, the occasional discarded glossy rag that I find at the post office.
47. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
- not as a VIP. I associate limos with vomiting, which I really hate.
48. Has anyone you were really close with passed away?
- oh come on
49. Do you watch mtv?
- no.
50. What's something that really annoys you?
- use of any and all cliches.
51. What's something you really like?
- Cute furry little animals
52. Do you like Michael Jackson?
- what the hell kind of a question is that? Do I like Michael Jackson.
53. Can you dance?
- yeah sure. But I probably won’t.
54. What's the longest/latest you have ever stayed up?
- You can’t be serious.
55. Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die?
- Specifically, no.
56. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
- Yes. when I was a baby I fell out of my crib and busted my teeth out on the floor.
57. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out?
- Yes, in fact I love reading these when other people fill them out. How do you think I found this?

"Call me Virginiaca" or why Kenan Thompson rules.

The most un-youtubed cast member on Saturday Night Live is the one that makes me laugh all the next day just thinking about him. So of course I try to explain it to people and they just look at me all blank, like "Oh man she must have seen another rerun of that one with Justin Timberlake again..." Dude. JT and Kenan Thompson together in drag?! Genius.

I also spin. And I have some interesting friends.

WTF?!?: I just heard from the other room someone babbling on the TV about how the number of butane cigarette lighters confiscated by security in airports every day adds up to a stack of lighters as tall as the Empire State Building. Apparently this is costing "us", the taxpayers, millions of dollars to dispose of.

This brings to mind a sculpture my friend Aesop constructed years ago from hundreds of discarded cigarette packs that he'd had piling up in his room. While on LSD one night he decided to glue them all together into a pile. When he moved to a new house he brought it with him and it sat atop his refrigerator. Eventually it became a cozy home, a kind of condo complex, to a zillion cockroaches.

So Friday is a day that I often like to just sit and knit and watch Law and Order reruns. Or do lots of laundry. WTF is up with all this golf on TNT? Don't they already have like 20 ESPN channels for that? Okay, okay, it's a beautiful day, not too excruciatingly hot. We even had a tiny little earthquake! Maybe that's what all the weird weather was about. Rain here twice in July is unheard of. Really. I guess I'll go for a long walk. I wonder if Ace could handle the approximately 1 hr. 15 min. each way to the post office and back. Probably not.

How about instead I show you some pictures of yarn that I spun. I am a beginner.

This lighter brown is the first stuff I did that was of a consistent thickness. Perfect for this Father's Day gift for Tom (combined with a few beautiful hand dyed colors of Khroma WW from The Fibre Co.) . I love knitting for Tom because It's simple shapes for a man but he's not afraid of colors. And he's almost completely bald so he needs hats all winter. And he doesn't complain about wool being itchy.

My second go at the spinning. I'm not crazy about it. I think it needs some dye. I'm not real big on white or whitish stuff. Which why I think this

could also use some dye. I guess I'll be learning that too at some point.

Dark brown. Prettier in real life. Nice enough but not much of it. Maybe nice for some small fair isle project? We'll see. I think I'd get about the same gauge with it as with the white one.

This multicolored stuff is actually some Crystal Palace Taos (color no. 05) plied with the same light brown from the first batch. I have no idea how it'll look knitted up. I'm thinking I've got enough for a EZ Baby Surprise Jacket. I'm excited i just ordered a bunch of patterns from Schoolhouse Press.

Poor Tom just started to leave for the grocery store in the car that Dees (my BF) normally drives and couldn't figure out how to turn off the stereo. Tom is 73 and technology has gotten a little ahead of him. The tape deck was blasting NWA. I believe the song was "Fuck the Police". He called me from the driveway on my cell phone totally discombobulated. Hilarious.

my neighbors...

have a bunch of sheep! They're cute aren't they?

Ace* thinks so. I'd like to shave them. It would also be great if they came over here and ate all the weeds. I never knew that sheep and goats don't have any teeth on the top in the front until I went to Tilden Park a couple weeks ago with my friend Ginger and fed some lettuce to the animals at the Little Farm. I guess they don't need incisors for tearing into anything, just something to help them yank vegetation out of the ground.

I'm itching to post some pictures I took. Hopefully tomorrow.

* special side note from Ace - if you ever see your dog gnawing on a deer leg, take it away!

Here's a better shot of that Malabrigo

what's left of it anyway...

deer hoof, praying mantis, and stone crab

I guess a deer got killed by either a mountain lion or some coyotes on our property the other night. After the swarm of about 20 large vultures had their fun there was very little left. Just enough to keep Ace happy. We keep finding these on the lawn.

For some reason I don't find behooved doggy toys nearly as disturbing as this harmless guy hanging out on the wall out back, looking just like a green bean with legs.

I almost forgot the reason I came here today. This is, after all a knitting blog.

clapotis

My first clapotis. Pictured here in its 3rd and last stage of blocking. Completed in June. I used one skein of some Malabrigo 50% merino, 50% silk that I got at Imagiknit. They said they were the only retailer that had it in stock, so I couldn't resist. The name of the colorway was scribbled illegibly on the tag but I think it said "stone crab". The skein had about 310 yards so I did the pattern in half the original size. I loved working with this fiber. Definitely worth the investment. It's a shame I haven't mastered the art of photographing, or more importantly, lighting these things, because the colors look so much more beautiful than this in actuality. I got alot of oohs and ahs from my parents, thinking I'm probably the most talented knitter in the world. hee hee.

Very first entry.

I've been turning this over in my head for a few weeks now and finally decided that today is as good a day as any to give birth to my very own blog. It is also the birthday of two friends (Lydia and Rik). It is also Bastille Day, which holds no personal significance for me (until now, I guess). I did visit Paris once the day after it, though, and the streets were a mess.

I am mainly starting this to keep a record of my knitting, but I will also include some pictures of other stuff I find interesting whenever possible. I don't actually have my own camera other than the janky one in my phone, but some very nice people let me use theirs.

This blog will also contain the grumblings of a city person trying not to lose her mind in the country. I am from San Francisco and I live in Kelseyville, CA. I try to visit SF whenever possible.

There will be profanity in this blog. I am a smart ass. I am silly. Sometimes there will be pictures of food. I will talk about stuff that makes me laugh. I will sometimes talk about more personal stuff. I will not talk about my kids because I don't have any. But I will talk about my dogs. And other people's kids and the items I knit for them. And their dogs.

I started knitting in November of 2005 when I got a job in a yarn store. I have knit every single day since I started. So I'm pretty good at it. I usually have 5-15 unfinished projects in progress at any given time. I am also teaching myself to crochet. I don't like it as much aesthetically, as I think it is by nature just frillier looking and I am not very girly. Although I do enjoy knitting lace (which I may never wear - it doesn't really go
with my sneakers).

Sometimes I teach classes at the store where I work so I will talk about that sometimes too. I still get nervous and can't get to sleep the night before.

The pictured FOs on this blog will not necessarily be posted in their chronological order of completion, but in the order which their photos become uploadable or whenever I feel like it. But I will try to mention their dates of completion and any other pertinent information that I remember, even if only for my own reference.

Lamb's "twinset"

Here's a shot of Lamb (taken with aforementioned janky camerafone) in a hat and scarf I made (December 2005?) of some french 100% angora I bought off ebay. Lamb is about the size of my hand. I got him at Cala Foods on South Van Ness right after easter in 1997.

JJ's hat

Here is a hat that I made for my friend Lydia's (yeah the one whose birthday is today) daughter Jackie June. I made it at work one day (in late July or early August of 2006) with Cascade 220 superwash and size 7 Addi Turbos. The tie that goes through the eyelets is Cascade Magnum. It is my own design. I learned about twisting the yarn the right direction so as to not get holes at the start of a new color at the beginning of a round. I was guessing with the colors so you can bet I was happy to see that dress she had on. And the one she changed into later also matched it perfectly. Those are my hands stretching the hat over her head.