Beginnings of a Sock & 7 Things

I really love knitting on planes--I find it very relaxing. I'm not a nervous flyer, but knitting really helps pass the time. Just before our trip to San Diego, I came across the Diagonal Rib Socks pattern from Knitting Daily and decided they would be perfect for the trip.


I'm not very far, but the plane ride to San Diego is not very long! Plus, on the way back I was sleepy, and decided I needed to read a fluffy magazine instead (my other travel must).

I'm knitting these out of Koigu, and now I know why people love this yarn so much. The color in the photo is way off. San Francisco has been having some overcast weather, so it is hard to get good photos. It's not pink/magenta at all, but really more of a deep plum. I'm loving working with this yarn!

Right Out Loud tagged me for the 7 Random Things meme. I'm glad it wasn't the 8 Things one that is also going around, because it is hard to come up with this stuff!

1. My husband and I were married in New Orleans under a giant oak tree a year before Hurricane Katrina. We think the tree is still there, but are not sure. I have so many good memories there, that I think it would be depressing to visit there now.

2. Since graduating from college, I have lived in 5 states: Florida, Wisconsin (my home state), Illinois, Michigan and now California. I grew up in a small town near Green Bay and always wanted to get out and live in a big city. This is one of the few things I imagined myself doing as a child/teen that actually came true!

3. I'm pretty shy, and I especially dislike large groups of strangers. I find mass networking events especially unpleasant.

4. I've always been into art and craft, and I was an art major in college. I was especially into pinhole photograpy and printmaking. A newer interest of mine has been book arts.

5. In high school track, my event was discus. My school didn't really have any good female shot putters, so all the girls who did discus also had to do shot put. I've always been fairly wimpy, and I got by with discus by having "good form". That didn't really work with shot put, so this event could get pretty mortifying at times!

6. I've only had two cars. The first was an '88 Plymouth Sundance, that I finally replaced about two and half years ago. It still ran very well, but both air conditioning and heat were issues. When the ceiling started falling down, that was the last straw:)

7. Normally, I'm not an indecisive shopper, but whenever I receive a gift certificate, I have a very difficult time deciding what to use it for. For some reason, I feel like I need to purchase something special with it. As a result, I tend to hold onto to them for a long time before finding the right thing.

OK, if you are one of the 5 people out there who hasn't done this meme and would like to, consider yourself tagged!

Finished Sweater and San Diego Fun

Well, I finished my sweater... yesterday. I decided early Friday night that it wasn't worth stressing to finish it. The night before a trip is crazy enough as is.

Pattern: A Sweater for All Ages from The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics
Yarn: Artful Yarns Fable
Mods: Added 1.5 inches to length.

This sweater turned out fairly well over all. I only used 2 of the 3 skeins called for in the pattern, which was nice. I like the fit as well.

However, even though I added an inch and a half to the length it is still way too short. We're talking stomach exposing (see second photo). This is the second sweater I've made from this book, and I had the same problem with the first, although not nearly so bad. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind if I make anything else from the book.

Not a very good photo, but I think you get the idea. Believe it or not, I was pulling it down the whole time I was taking photots.

Since I have so much yarn left, I guess I could undo the side seams a little and add a few inches to the bottom. I'd definitely wear it more if it was longer. What a pain though!

We had a really fun trip to San Diego. The weather was warmer than the mid-60s they were predicting, so we were a little toasty. We stayed in a really nice hotel with an amazingly comfortable bed. It was great!


What wasn't nice was being woken up by the fire alarm going off at 2am! Talk about terrifying. I think we would have been burned to a crisp by the time we made it downstairs if there had been a real fire, but thankfully someone had just burned their popcorn! It was hard to fall back asleep after that.


Saturday we walked to Balboa Park, which was really pretty. The architecture of all the buildings was beautiful and it was very warm. I wish I had packed my shorts!

We had a good time at Petco Park, too, although the Brewers lost both of their games. As you can imagine, Joel wasn't very happy. We had great seats for both games which was a plus though. The food at this stadium was pretty bad, although we had club seats for the second game, so the options were a little better. You can tell what I go to games for!


Before the game on Sunday, we walked around the waterfront for a couple of hours. I was determined to wear the only pair of sandals I brought, even though I knew they wouldn't be good for walking around in. I think I may have jinxed the second game by wearing a Padres bandaid over my blister. Oops!

TGIF!

I’m so close to finishing my sweater. I just need to seam the sides (the shoulders and sleeves are done) and then add some ribbing around the neck and front placket. I can still do it. Right?!?!?!

We are leaving at the crack of dawn* tomorrow morning. This is not your normal sightseeing trip; it’s more of a baseball pilgrimage. My husband loves the Milwaukee Brewers, and they are having a great year. Unfortunately, since our move away from Chicago we are no longer a short 2-hour drive away from Milwaukee.

So we are traveling to San Diego to see the Brewers play on Saturday and Sunday, and then we are heading back to San Francisco on Sunday evening. Hopefully, we can squeeze some of the sights in… a whirlwind tour at the least!

I’m not really a baseball fan, but I definitely enjoy the atmosphere, people and food. Plus, Joel is really excited, so it should be fun. They are also playing three games in San Francisco in August… you know where we’ll be then.


We had the day off on Wednesday, and so we decided to go to Alcatraz. It was really interesting.


Alcatraz is swarming with birds. I’ve developed something of a bird phobia, as I seem to be a magnet for bird poop. I can normally be seen running for cover anytime there is a flock of birds flying overhead. Wouldn’t you know it? Right before we left, one got my jacket. Pretty soon, I won’t be able to bring myself to go outdoors anymore!


* I normally consider anytime before 6am “the crack of dawn”, and we need to catch a 7:30am flight, so I’m sure you can feel my pain.

Making Progress

I'm still holding out hope that my sweater will be finished in time for our trip. I finished the back Friday night, but didn't work on it much over the weekend. Last night I cast on for the front, and finished a few inches...


but I still have quite a bit to go. I'll see how many inches I can add tonight.

The yarn is a really nice blend of pima cotton and silk. It's a mix of colors I wouldn't normally go for... kind of a salmon, dusty mauve/purple and light khaki mix... but I really like it anyway. I'm making a small size because all of my other cotton sweater have really stretched out, but I'm starting to worry that it will be too small.

We spent a little time in the East Bay this weekend, and on the way back we stopped on Treasure Island. I've always been curious to check it out. There wasn't too much to see, but the view of San Francisco is great.


Aside from knitting, I have a new obsession. I first had this tea at my office, and it is so good.


It's hard to get excited about tea, but this Sweet & Spicy Tea is amazing. It's a really flavorful red tea, and the name says it all. Plus, it smells delicious. I pictured myself searching all over for it, but found it at Traders Joe's.

I realize the weather is probably getting hot everywhere else, but it's chilly here. At least I can still enjoy a cup of hot tea!

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

I am so happy that it's Friday, and my weekend has begun. I have been feeling sleep deprived all week, and now I can finally catch up. It's pretty rare that I ever get enough sleep. I've always enjoyed staying up late, and I have a hard time getting to bed at a decent hour.

In addition to sleeping, I'm hoping to get a lot of knitting done this weekend. We are going to San Diego next weekend, and earlier this week I started thinking how nice it would be to have a new sweater to wear. A hand-knit sweater.

I realize that I am most likely totally deluding myself that this will be finished by next weekend, but I am still optimistic at this point. Things in my favor: cap sleeves, heavy worsted yarn and a super simple pattern. What's working against me is the lack of time and the fact that this sweater will need to be seamed.

I'm still holding out hope though. I'm almost to the armholes on the back, and it should progress quickly after that. I have a day off in the middle of next week as well. Cross your fingers for me!

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that we are still not completely unpacked from our move in February. For the most part we are done, but this apartment is so small that we seem to have run out of space to put things. There are still a few pictures to be hung as well.

The sign in the second photo used to hang in our dining room, but in our new apartment the kitchen and dining/living room are one big room. There really isn't a good wall to hang it on. We finally decided to hang it from the ceiling. That will be my other weekend project.

Taking It All In

After a couple weekends devoted to watching Footballer's Wives (which devolves pretty quickly from fun/trashy to just plain stupid), our last few weekends have been spent enjoying our new city and surrounding areas. Last weekend we tried some new restaurants and went to our favorite local bakery. Yum!

We also went to Moss Beach, which was really interesting. During low tide you can walk out on the reef--we saw lots of hermit crabs, plants, mussels and one star fish. Sea lions also hang out there. By the time we turned around and started heading back toward our car, the tide was really high. We went around a corner and there were about 20 of them on the beach within about 50 feet of us. That is the closest I will probably ever come to a sea lion. It was a little scary!

I've made some progress on my scarf...


I'd say it's about half done, maybe a little less. It's actually a fast moving project--when I'm knitting on it that is! I should be able to wear this year round with the cool weather we have here. As summer approaches, it seems to be getting cooler. So strange!

Slow Going

For a while there, I felt like I was turning out completed projects left and right. But now that I have a job again, I remember why I didn't get as much knitting done before. It's not really that I have less time, although that is true. It's more like a lack of motivation--my inner couch potato is returning--and a bit of knitter's ennui.

I know this won't last, but lately I have been more interested in thinking about knitting than actually picking up needles. I've been going through my books, and I picked up a couple new ones, too.


I have been eyeing both of these books for a while, and I finally gave in and bought them. The first, domiknitrix, is a really interesting book visually. Each page is like a little piece of art. It has lots of instruction and not just the basics, so it will make a good reference.

1. The Slink, 2. Swizzle Vest, 3. Bob Dobbs Vest, 4. City Coat

Some of the patterns are a little crazy, but there are some good ones, too. My favorite is the City Coat. Joel wants me to make him the Bob Dobbs vest, but I want to make sure he'll actually wear it before investing hours in it.

1. Rowena Cardigan, 2. Pimlico Shrug, 3. Peapod Cardigan, 4. Luxe Neck Warmer, 5. House Slippers, 6. Baby Cape

Knit 2 Together is the other book, and Tracy Ullman is a co-author. I find it really interesting that she is a knitter, and it sounds like she really knows what she's doing, too. This book has so many cute patterns--above are just a few of my favorites. I really love the Rowena and Pea Pod Cardigans. I even like the slippers, and normally I think knitted slippers are tacky.

Now I just need to take Tracey's advice to, "Go Home!! Go home! And knit."

Up Next...

I've never been much of a swatcher. I do swatch, but I usually only knit a couple of inches, and that's it. Swatching is one of my least favorite parts of knitting, mostly because I become very impatient to start the project. Needless to say, I never block my swatches as many people recommend... until now.

I'm working on a silk lace scarf, and I knew that I wouldn't get a good idea of the end result without doing a proper swatch. So I knit a little more than usual (still not a full 4 inches though!) and then blocked it. You can really tell the difference between what's on the needles and what the end result will be. As you can see, I need to practice my blocking technique. It's a little wonky!

This is my first lace project, and it's really simple. I hope I don't make too many mistakes though, because I really hate ripping back when yarn-overs are involved.

I also picked up some yarn to make the U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits. I've wanted to make a vest for a while, and I think this will be a good pattern. The yarn is Cascade 222 Quattro, and it's really pretty. It's not quite as bright as in the photo.

This (and all the other projects I have going!) should keep me busy for a while.

A Finished Pair of Mitts

The mitts are finally complete. I really only spent a few days working on them, but those few days seemed to be dragged out over a couple of weeks.



Pattern: Dashing from Knitty.com
Yarn: Mountain Colors Twizzle
Needles: US6 DPNs

This was a fun pattern, and if I had knit consistently on them, they would have been finished in a few days. The yarn was great to work with--so soft and the colors are beautiful. It's generally pretty chilly here, so these are perfect. I'd like to make a pair for myself at some point, but I would definitely make them shorter if I did. They are very long on me.

My husband is happy as well. Believe it or not, this is the first thing I've knit for him. I'm a selfish knitter! There is a much promised sweater in the works, but I haven't worked on it for quite a while. Hopefully, these will keep him happy for a while.