Make Me

Wednesday

It's been a long night.  Wednesdays are the day to go to Lori's in Alpine for knitting.  We had a great time tonight - let's just say there was wine and brownies and juicy tales. 

I got home at 9ish and thought I'd add some stuff to my etsy shop.  Well here it is 12:30am and I have only added four things.  Takes a bit of time.  And I've eaten something to make me itch.  Usually it's red dye, but I haven't had any today I'm certain.  Oh wait...strawberry Fanta.  Crap.  So I'm sitting here trying not to scratch my skin off and wondering if I take a Benadryl now will I wake up in time for work.

Pills that make normal people sleep for a normal amount of time make me sleep for, like, 14 hours or more.  Too chancy - I'm in enough trouble at work as it is.

I have a ton of photos to post, but I've misplaced my cordy thingy.  I'm still making adjustments from the house-sitting - I have things in bags and pouches all over the place. 

Lucky for you, I have some backup photo entertainment:

Here's my fourth grade picture.  Nothing says fun like a 10 year old in a plaid blazer.  And I think I'm going to have to contact my mother about that bow.  Surely some sort of authority intervened on my behalf and informed her that was a form of child abuse.

Little carrot pants! Aren't they cute?  Looks like little sprites were disrobing in my stew.  I'm also showing off the china.  Mom's wedding china from the 60s.  She gave it to me last year.  Almost makes up for the bow, doesn't it?

I found this Hello Kitty at a garage sale for 50 cents. Deal, no?

Remember baby Lola?  Well here she is with her first litter of puppies.  Doesn't she look just plum worn out?

Five for Friday

Today's theme is (drum roll, please!!!)

Things That Are Tweensy!!

Hong Kong Style BBQ (don't tell Heidi!)
Dai
Farm Figures!
Miniature Teapot
Artist's Studio

Enjoy!!  I'm back full-time from my housesitting gig tomorrow.  So I should start getting my act together sometime thereafter.

Can I Keep It?

These two skeins of Malabrigo followed me home some time ago.  They want to be something for Miss Sophie Absinthe.  Don't know what yet though.  This stuff is softer than bunnies.  All I've done so far is pet it and cuddle with it. 

I got them at Lori's in Alpine.  If you haven't been there lately, she's expanded the shop and it's super cool.  She's open late on Wednesdays and I go out there to knit and chat and have a good time.   There's three shops in one.  Well, actually four now.  There's the frame shop, the gift shop that has cool jewelry, purses, cards, lotions and potions. Then there's the bead shop that is run by someone else. It's a tiny little space but there's good stuff in there.  And finally there's the yarn shop.

Here's one corner of the store.

This is where I found my Malabrigo. Couldn't you just eat it up?  Yum!

This is Lori's Knitted Bodice from Stitch Diva.  I love the color.  But I don't think I've gotten a view of the finished project. Lori?
 

This is the little knitting corner. There's a sofa and a big, round table. Comfy!

I think this is the Colinette yarn.  The colors are amazingly rich and beautiful.  I want them all!

This is a cute little pouch in crochet with bobbles.  Love the color, love the pattern.

What? You want MORE yarn? Okay!

Here's the gifty part of the store.  Yay! There's yarn here too!

One thing that's really cool is that when there's new yarns and patterns, Lori always showcases them together.  And there is so much yarn here that every time I go, it's almost like a whole new store.  I got some really cool sock yarn there a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't photographed it yet.

Lori and some of the women from the shop are going to Meg Swansen's Knit Camp in a couple of weeks.  Ladies, I hope you'll be on your best behavior....or at least stay off the evening news!  You know how wild knitters can get en masse.

So, if you're ever in the San Diego area, make sure you make a trip to Lori's. It's my favorite yarn store for a reason!

In closing I'm posting a picture of Wendy who, like the Fonz, is cool.

Don't ya just love her new sweater?  She had just finished it while we were at the coffee shop and I got to see the grand unveiling.

One Lazy Sunday

I am house-sitting this week for a friend who had the misfortune of spending two weeks in the tropical paradise that is Hawaii.  Poor thing.

House-sitting is fun, especially when you can still go home regularly because you forgot something (toothbrush, underwear).  There are two cute kitties here to keep me company.  Rosie and Madeline. 

I've spent the day watching Man vs. Wild and waiting for that hunky Bear to get nakies.  I think I'm in love. Read his blog, then maybe you will be in love too.  And we can all be in love together.  And then we can eat a locust or something.

Five for Friday

I've been trying to think of a good theme for the Five today.  How about things that make me laugh?  Sounds good to me!

Rockstar shirt

Self-Medicate

Dog Shirt

Egg Soap!

Gravity

There's a ton more, but I'll have to save them for another Friday. 

I've been knitting. Beanies, of course.  Well, beanie, actually.  And I've got to start on Isabella this weekend for mom.  It looks like a relatively straightforward knit.  I love the socks in the new Knitty.  Think I'm going to make Breeze right away. I think I have the perfect yarn, just have to check the gauge.  And then it'll be 'Vog On.  Yay! Socks! (A year ago, who'd a thunk I'd be making socks and that I'd be happy about it?!)

This Time I Really NEED Hats!

Okay, we all know I make too many hats and there's been talk of an intervention.  But this time I'm serious.
Last fall I promised to make a couple of beanies to help raise money for spinal cord injury research. 

I work this event  - a surf contest - every year (well, last year and the year before) and it's totally fun.  Watching cutie surfers and hanging out on the beach all day - yeah, and it's part of my job too!  It's called the Tony Mezzadri Surf Classic.  The info on the site is from last year, it hasn't been updated yet.

So anyway, I was talking to the event organizer today and told her I hadn't forgotten about making my hats to donate when it occurred to me I could ask for even more hats!  These would be auctioned off and proceeds would go toward spinal cord injury research that will one day enable people with this injury to walk.

The beanies might be auctioned off at the dinner or sold at the surf contest.  I guess we'll have to wait and see how many we get. Pretty much it will be surfers who are buying/wearing so keep that in mind when you choose your yarns.  Due date is August 1.

If you're interested in making a beanie/some beanies, please leave a comment and let me know.  I'll send you my address.  Let me know if you want a tax deduction form as well and I'll hook ya up.  If you don't feel like you can make a beanie, take the button below and post it to your blog or send a link to this post to your friends!

One Yarn Leads to Another

I'm all schoolgirl giddy because the new Knitty is here! The new Knitty is here!  After the unexciting last issue of IK I feel like there hasn't been any new, interesting patterns lately and I was hankering for a magazine or something.  In fact, Saturday I just checked Knitty to see if anything new was up and thought to myself, wouldn't it be cool to catch Knitty JUST as the new issue was going up?  Geekness, for sure.

Kathie and I went to the bag sale on Saturday and it was meh.  I don't remember there being as much novelty yarn before.  Usually there are cabanas or .... canopies with bags of more sweater-y type yarns that are less...um...muppet-like.  So I managed to escape with a nice pair of Pony rosewood needles (size 3), some (regular price) Trekking XXL (I gotta give that yarn a break!) and some yellow thick/thin something or other that is going to be Isabella for my mom's birthday.  (No clicky in case she pops in!) I wanted Koigu, but they didn't have any colors I was totally nuts about.

Then we went to Paper Source in South Coast Plaza for a quick peak. (Have I mentioned yet that my friend Kathie is kinda evil?) Although I didn't spend much, I was giddily overwhelmed by the coolness!  There are so many cool papers there!  If I didn't feel the need to reclaim my closet, I would have bought some.  Luckily I had some restraint.

Kathie is only kind of evil because it was on the tip of my tongue as we went by the OC airport to suggest a quick run in to Sterling Art where I probably would have fallen to the ground in some sort of artsy apoplectic fit.  It doesn't take much, kids.

Sunday was a splendid day spent with Wendy and the Family Absinthe (sounds like a cool 70s band, don't it?) at a nice little outdoor coffee house.  I may have to offer up some babysitting services cause that Sophie is a little poppet of adorability (waddaya mean that's not a word?)  I worked on my Diamond Lace sock and managed to finished the foot and just need to do the toe.  Sorry to say this is not a good sock effort by me.  I've dubbed it the "Eh! I don't care sock!" because even though I've managed to jack up the pattern completely by losing my place and just not paying attention, I really don't care enough to frog n fix.  I'm not even sure I care enough to knit the second sock.  Don't know why I'm so apathetic toward this poor sock, but it is what it is.

I got home last night and was ready to take photos of all AND actually post them, but my camera battery died and, well, that was that.  So maybe you'll get photos at the next post?  Hope springs eternal.

Bag Sale!

I'm so lame.  It's been such a busy week!  I'm crazed!  I may have some good news in the upcoming weeks, but for now, mums the  word.  Anyway, I meant to put together a wild and crazy road trip to Laguna Niguel for the big bag sale at The Yarn Lady, but time got away from me.  All's I can say now is drop what you're doing and go!  Destashing is no fun unless you have a truly stellar stash to begin with! 

On the knitting front, I've nearly finished my eyelet chemise that I started last year.  By nearly finished, I mean all that is left is the blocking.  I may wear it today just for kicks and giggles.  We'll see how it looks.  I'll post pictures tomorrow (and by tomorrow, I really mean "whenever").

Have a great Saturday, y'all!

Five for Friday

Well, I've had a busy week! Saturday I started my spring cleaning and switched out all my clothes from winter to summer (vestiges of a life lived back east). I've dusted and tossed and fluffed (Wendy, Heidi, Nancy ...don't go there!) my room. My closet is all nice and tidy and I even attacked my desk with a magic eraser sponge and it looks brand new!

Of course I still have all the other rooms to do.  Yikes! The fridge!  Any volunteers? :-)

So this Friday's five is all about spring (even though it's almost summer)!

Sewing Notions Box

Floral Tote Bag

Reversible Headband

Leif the Felted Pup

Bride & Groom Champagne Flutes

I've gotten hooked on creating Etsy treasuries.  You can create a page of items that fit a chosen theme and post them to Etsy.  It's fun coming up with a theme and then searching for items that fit.  Here's my latest treasury - it's good only for another day. 

On another note, I like to keep up with the big news stories.  And of course WHAT is the BIGGEST story right now?  The war in Iraq? No.  The immigration bill? No, not quite.  This?

Maybe, but it's nothing compared to Miss Paris Hilton!  You'd think she was a Nobel Peace Prize winner with the coverage she's getting (who am I kidding? No Prize winner ever got this much publicity) Does anyone actually know what the girl does? But here's the best thing about this story: The Prison Life.  Make sure you read the license plates!

Mixed Feelings

So, I made this deal with my mom a few months back.  She's been at me about moving to Arizona since she moved there 3 years ago.  Or is it 4?  Anyway, since I have a tendency to refer to AZ as the Armpit of Hell and Hell on a Hot Day, I really can't see as I would be moving there anytime in the near future. However, should they invent the personal air conditioner where your body does not feel any sort of heat whatsoever, I may consider it for more then 10 seconds.

Even though I stumbled across the greatest yarn store ever I'm still not rabid about moving there.  In fact, in searching out other AZ yarn stores, I found a lot of them to close at 2 or 3 pm. On a freaking Saturday. But Fiber Factory had everything you could ever need (except Koigu) including weaving and spinning supplies and the coziest book nook ever, so there's really no need to go anywhere else.

Um, where was I?

Oh yeah...deal with my mom.  So I made the deal with my mom that she could pick any place in the world (THE WORLD, people!) other than AZ and I would go there.  North Dakota? I'm packing.  Alaska? I'm out the door.  Gaza Strip? Let's go, baby!  Siberia? Let me knit you a hat!  So she takes me seriously and picks Atlanta, Georgia.  Yeah, who knew she'd take me up on it.

Now I'm, like, a total California girl. I like fish tacos, going to the beach at lunchtime, complaining about the chill in the air when it is 70 degrees, taking the freeway everywhere, paying 3.35 for gas...well, maybe not that last one.

Since I've had time to think this over I've researched the more pertinent aspects of my home-to-be: can I get good Mexican food?  Where are the yarn stores?  What are the smoking laws?  Are there recycling programs?  Can you get unsweetened tea in the state, or is it against the law?

I have mixed feelings about this move.  I have relatives there and it would be nice to be around them.  But I have really good friends here and I don't want to leave them.  Can't I be in both places at the same time?   Of course we're talking about moving end of 2008 or beginning of 2009 so it's not like the moving van is outside my door, but still.  Will I be able to adjust?