TGIF

Ever have one of those days? The kind where pretty much everything you touch turns to sh*t? That was today for me.....after a hellicous week at work I come home to an even more hellicous house and it went downhill from there. So I vegged out at the computer playing mindless yahoo games (and totally ignoring the knitting I have stacked up waiting to be finished)....and I came across this......

and it made me smile - so I'm thinking the rest of the weekend won't be so bad. TGIF

ETA: figures, it's supposed to be an animated gif and there's no animation - I'm staying in bed all weekend :>

God Bless The Hero of Canton

Jayne hats are flying off the shelves again - ok, so two in one week - that's flying off the shelves for me. I may actually have to buy more yarn. But that, some gifty knitting, and an ever so jam packed week at work and I've been neglecting my dear old blog.
But, tomorrow is Friday, and no work on the weekend so I can take some pics and blog some blogs.
And happy birthday daddy :)

Red-White-Blue Clutch

I've finished the stars & stripes cotton clutch I designed - I still have to weave in the gazillion ends and maybe try and block it a bit before I line it. And paint the handles. Then I need to write up the pattern in a language normal knitters can understand - thank god I took good notes - then I'll post the pattern on my website. Here's an in-progress pic:

Drumroll please.............

We have a logo people - we have a logo!!
After months and months of sketching, ripping, resketching I finally have a logo I like. Despite the fact that my children have once again, fallen on the floor laughing hysterically when I debut'd this little gem, I'm keeping the sucker.
It's actually modeled after a children's bedroom wall in a magazine. But I like it. It's cute and it's currently plastered all over my website. Soon, it'll be plastered all over business cards.
Now, I have to get back to knitting.
I've got a purse on the needles that I've dubbed the candie corn purse because of the colors. I need to finish the body and decide how I want the straps to be. I've got a jayne hat on the needles...why? because I ALWAYS have a jayne hat on the needles. I've got yarn for two more clutches in really bright summery colors that I want to knit up before my vacation next month. I've got a clapotis that I have to finish as it's a gift. As I've been knitting the clapitos, which I love, I get a hundred ideas for other types of wraps. I suspect my vacation will be spent desiging those wraps (between trips to the casino of course). Enough typing - back to knitting.

Happy Father's Day

I decided to pay a visit to the cemetary toady - my daughter spent a good 30 minutes cleaning my dad's headstone. She never got to meet my dad - I was pregnant when he died but he knew she was coming - didn't know she was a she - thought he was about to have a boy - whom I was going to name after him - rest in peace daddy.

WoW, I'm a Knitter

The worlds of WoW and Knitting collide!

In other news, after work I planned on going to NoeKnits to buy some sock yarn. I want to knit socks for my aunt who's been ill. I didn't have anything appropriate in my stash and I'm too impatient to wait for a knitpicks order so off to my lys. I got there at 5:59. They close at 6 on Fridays (??? why so early?). They were long gone when I hit the door at 5:59. So sad. I really like Noe Knits but this discourages me from taking the time and trouble to patronize my lys. Parking sucks in Noe Valley and I was thrilled to find a spot right in front. All I wanted was some pretty sock yarn and some size 2 bamboo dpns. Not much to ask for on a summer's evening? But noooooooooooooo, they decided to close early. Yesterday was payday, I suspect I would have purchased more than 2 skeins of sock yarn and some needles. I suspect I would have bought some nore Noro to make another booja bag and maybe something silky to make a 2nd clapitos but nooooooooooo, they weren't open even though it wasn't exactly 6pm. I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.......big mistake.....big mistake.
buh bye Noe Knits - good luck to ya!

C L A P T O I S

Finally!! I started on Claptois last night. I'm using some old Lions Brand wool I had sitting around. I bought it to make a felted purse but never got around to it. I actually had some Red Heart something or other in a beautiful brown, tan, teal combo but it curled and curled and curled and I know acrylic won't be something that I can successfully block so I switched to the wool. The pattern is so easy. I guess the dropped stitch thing scared me. I can't wait to get to that part - makes for motivation whilst knitting. Here's a wip pic :)

SUNSCREEN IS NOT OPTIONAL

OK, this is what happens when you don't wear sunscreen to the Giants game. Today is Tuesday - game was a week ago Wednesday and this hurts like a mofo. Pardon the cleve pics but they do illustrate what happens when you don't use sunscreen.
The really stupid (on my part) part of this is before I left for work, I asked my daughter if she had sunscreen. She didn't so I made sure I grabbed a hat to cover up with. I even worn long sleeves. Someone at the game even offered me some sunscreen but since my face and arms were covered, I assumed all was ok. NOT - I am not a wimp when it comes to pain - I've had 12 lb kids and root canals without pain killers - yet this sunburn has me whining like a little girl because it hurts so bad. Never again will I leave the house without sunscreen - I have learned my lesson - now can my peeling, oozing skin go back to normal? please? I promise I'll be good oh mighty sun gods.

TGIF

This afternoon at work I had a tad too much free time - I think the whole mid-week baseball game thingy just killed any productivity I had for the week. Wasn't just moi either, the place has been a ghost town since about noonish on Friday. I started making a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish this weekend and 80% were knitting related. Lately I've been thinking about the big picture - about what I want to do with the rest of my life. I've been a wife, a mom, a college graduate, a secretary, a bookkeeper, a bar owner, a deli owner, a field producer, a web producer, a satellite producer, a assignment desk editor and now a media manager. The best and sometimes worse of those times where the years at TechTV when I was satellite producer. TechTV was a startup tv network devoted to all things internet and technological. So when Al Gore spoke about inventing the internet - we knew exactly what he meant and who actually did the "inventing". Some of my former co-workers have recently dubbed it Camelot - we knew that we were part of something special - something that should have nutured and allowed to grow. But those who thought they knew better, destroyed it. In destroying it, they also destroyed what they loved - so no one wins. But, it was still an experience I'll likely never repeat and one I'll never regret. We've all moved on to different things - one guy is the radiator king of Denver, one woman co-anchors Headline news, me and a few others fell into a retail tv network (stuff you see in stores) but we're all still connected by our own technological Camelot.
So, as I sit and ponder about what I really want to do - I know precisely what I don't want to do - I don't want to do local news, I don't want to run a bar or a deli, I don't want to do administrative work. Part of me still wants to work in news - but I'm too old and too experienced to be back in local news working night shift, weekends and every holiday because I have no senority. And, I don't want to leave San Francisco - leaving the city means I could probably have my pick of a number of news jobs - management jobs - but I don't want to do that. So, that leaves me with staying in retail tv or ? or what? That what has become more and more defined for me of late. I've been knitting and trying to knit a number of items - hats, bags, shawls, scarves, etc. I LOVE doing this. I LOVE trying to figure out how some make an idea in my head work on a pair of knitting needles. And most of all, when I create something and give it to someone else, I LOVE to see their reaction - good or bad. And I really love when someone seens my stuff on eBay and buys it - then tells me how much they love it!! So in the back of my mind I'd been thinking, wouldn't it be fun to have a store where I'd carry yarn that I love, teach classes, sell patterns I design. It would be a love fest. Then I think - well, would it make enough $$ to support myself - hell, health insurance costs alone can kill you!
So today, as I sat and read a thread to emails from former TechTV co-workers reminising about our camelot, I came to a decision. I'm going to create my own Camelot (without the tragic ending of course.) My first step is going to have to be a business plan - not an easy task for a psych major turned satellite bitch - but not impossible. So my list of things to do this weekend have been dwindled down a bit - work on business plan - keep knitting, just keep knitting.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

No Knitting Content Today!! Why you ask? It's because this is where I was all afternoon - resulting is a major sunburn. Why yes, I should know better. Why no, I didn't bring sunscreen. Why yes, I'm feeling majorly stupid at the moment. And, the G men got their butts kicked. :<

Here fishy fishy fishy......

Too much time online means less time knitting!!!!
The out-of-print magazine I won on eBay last week arrived with the tesselating (sp?) fishy afghan. I've got the yarn and I've got the needles. A fishin' we will go!!!!!!

My company's having a summer event tomorrow - baseball game and I'm bringing along my son - I'm totally dying to bring my knitting but I fear my co-workers and my son will harass the hell out of me so the fishies will stay home. I'm sure I can think of something else to annoy them all anyway.

100 Things

I learned how to knit from my 5th grade teacher Mrs. Caster.
My first FO was a square.
My 2nd was a purple and pink stuffed alligator.
When I was younger I wanted to be a nun.
I also always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
I worked in TV news for 14 years.
I work in advertising now.
I don’t like advertising.
I once wrote a column for a political website.
I love to cook but I suck at making gravy.
I once was offered a place at the California Culinary Academy.
My father told me I should be a cop.
I spent my 16th birthday at Candlestick Park watching my cousin play baseball for the Giants.
I went to more than 60 home games that year.
I went to school with Juan Marichal’s daughters
I was Yearbook Photographer in high school.
I went to the same college my mother & sister went to (except I graduated).
I have a degree in Developmental Psychology.
I have a degree in Sociology too.
I’m allergic to Chocolate, but I eat it anyway.
I’m allergic to seafood too, so I don’t eat it.
My favorite seafood is abalone.
The summer camp my parents sent me to was run by Ursuline nuns.
I went to Catholic school for 12 years.
I have a tattoo on my right shoulder of a heart with wings.
I’m thinking of getting another one, something celtic to remember my dad and cousin by.
My son calls my tattoo my “mid-life crisis”.
I’m a frustrated rock-n-roll singer (i.e. I can’t carry a tune).
I was on the honor roll every semester in high school.
I ran for office my senior year of high school.
I won.
No one ran against me.
I graduated college with honors.
I worked in the office of a construction company after college.
I have a small mole under my left nostril that has, on occasion, been mistaken for something else.
I’m thinking of having it removed.
I get ocular migraines.
I’m allergic to fluorescent lighting.
My mom owns a bar.
I play video games ( currently WoW, formerly SWG).
I own a Cher CD.
I was married for 18 years.
I get alone with my ex-in-laws now better than when I was married.
I have an uncle named Bumpsy.
My aunt died and her kids never told us.
My sister and I used to play Mass and make faux communion wafers in our Easy Bake oven.
I once dressed up like a nun for Halloween, when I was pregnant.
My cousin and I pushed a counselor into a locker at summer camp
That counselor became a nun
She was the 8th grade teacher for both of my children.
Nuns have good memories.
I keep score when I go to a baseball game.
I hate the DH rule in the American League.
I love Barry Bonds.
I sew.
I made the flower girl dresses for my wedding.
I made my daughter’s baptismal gown with lace from Ireland.
I crochet.
I crocheted baby blankets for both my children, both rainbow colored.
I hate to clean.
I’m a perfectionist.
I’m also a control freak.
I used to hate rap music but now it’s grown on me.
I discovered the Ben & Jerry’s Black and Tan ice cream is the only ice cream on the planet that I won’t eat.
I ate ice cream every day I was pregnant.
I once made my husband at the time, drive to Santa Cruz to buy me carmel apples when I was pregnant.
I make the best fried chicken in the universe.
I’m a browncoat.
My ancestors arrived on the Mayflower.
My dream job would be any job at Lucas Arts in the Presidio.
I got carded buying cigarettes when I was in my mid-40’s.
I once grew 7’ tall sunflowers in my backyard.
I’ve also grown tomatoes, squash, peppers and radishes.
My favorite flowers are tulips.
My favorite color is purple.
I’m allergic to wool.
I gave birth to my 11 ½ lb son without any painkillers.
I’ve never been outside the US.
I wish I knew how to play the guitar.
I’m dangerously addicted to reality TV.
My favorite reality show is CBS’s Big Brother.
In the past, I’ve subscribed to the live feeds online for Big Brother.
The only class in High School I had problems with was Spanish.
I can, however, swear in Spanish, French, Arabic & Celtic.
My credit rating sucks but I’m working on it.
I took ballet as a child.
I also took Irish dancing.
and clarinet lessons.
I coached my daughter’s volleyball team.
I own my own bowling ball and two league bowling shirts.
My dream is to open a yarn store and design purse patterns.
I’ll never get married again.
I feel guilty for not going to mass every week.
Elevators make me anxious.
Flying makes me anxious.
I have an unnatural fear of driving on the freeway but only if I’m driving.
I love watching cooking shows especially old Juila Child and Jaques Pepin shows on PBS.
I don’t like Emeril.
I wish Van Halen would stop breaking up.
I’ve got lotto tickets in my purse for the next 5 drawings.

Socks, Socks, I need to knit socks

In my 30+ years of knitting I've managed to avoid knitting a single pair of socks. Yesterday my aunt fell and fractured her pelvis and will now be laid up in the hospital for a while. This particular aunt (I've got 8 of them just on my mom's side of the family!) is a crafting goddess. She crochets and sews some of the cutest things on the planet. A little background - we have a big family and have a Christmas party every year that serves as a family reunion. Over 100 attend to a full blown Turkey dinner (which I've cooked every 3 or 4 years). Part of the tradition of this event are contests - shopping bags, deserts, centerpieces, appetizers - all with some sort of prize. Well, when it's Aunt Connie's turn at hosting the party the competition heats up for the contests because her prizes are always something hand made and stunningly clever. One year I won a teeny tiny sewn baby doll inside a hand crochected basket. The entire thing was smaller than my thumb.
Now, with her accident, I want to do something special for her. I'm gonna make her some kick-ass socks. Wool allergies run in my family so it'll have to be cotton so I'll be making a trip to my lys manana to find some amazing sock yarn and a simple pattern so I can hurry the hell up and get Aunt Connie some kick-ass socks to keep her toes toasty while she recovers. Wish me luck!

Lots of FOs

I've been meaing to do this for a long time - lots of finished projects!

This one is a purse I knit for my neice Kaylee's 17th birthday - I made her sister the little piggy cell phone holder so turnabout is fair play. I got the pattern from a Spring 06 Magazine that I promptly lost - but it's a basic st stitch with increases. I did learn to cable cast on for this and I've made a couple more for gifts.


This purse is the first thing I made with KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. I made a Booja bag using Noro Kuryeon and had a hard time felting it. I wanted a more structed bag so I designed this one with the inspiration being the leather bags my sister and I would buy at the Sonoma County fair every summer. They had a nice heavy flap that kept everything inside the purse actually inside the purse. I like this one except I sucked making the buttom hole (and I don't actually like the button). I've got another on the needles that looks to be better.

The poncho from the movie Monster-In-Law - which is actually crocheted and way too small for any normal sized human.



And, just to prove that everything I knit does not have blue in it - the Jayne hat - this must have been # 8975932.5.

It's Official!

It's official, I'm addicted to knitting. Today at work, we had one of those hastily pulled togther meetings to discuss "rumors". Anyone who's worked at a sizeable company knows those meeting often lead to layoffs. Having survived rounds and rounds and rounds of layoffs at my last company, I'm fairly certain it won't be the case here - seems they're just being proactive. But, standing there listening to the rumor control, the thought crossed my mind that this could be the beginning of rounds of layoffs. Previously I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the thought of being laid off (single mom, 2 kids - scary thought). This time, the very first thought in my head was "I wonder if they're going to offer some kind of early servance package if anyone wants to quit and if they do will it be enough cash to open a lys?". This was immediatley followed by thoughts of "I can finally finish that purse I'm trying to design" and then "Maybe I should go by NoeKnits tonite and get some yarn to cast on for Clapitos or, better yet, that coat from Big Girls Knits." I'm toast, I'm done, I'm obsessed.