Recap (I know - shocker!)

I can't make promises of daily, weekly, or monthly recaps. They are empty promises at this point. So I promise to not forget I have a blog and keep updating it as much as possible.

So, here we go with the recap.

Life is good, wedding planning is (not yet) fun. There are so many details to take care of and of course we want it to be perfect. I think once we have a caterer down then I can start thinking about all the fun details that I want to incorporate. We have decided on a Spanish theme, since we were engaged in Madrid, and our families both come originally from Spain. I feel if we had an Argentinian themed wedding (from my side of the family) or a Guatemalan or Mexican themed wedding (from Tony's side) we would be excluding each other. I have so many ideas, my mind (and binder) are exploding!

I am also trying to loose a little weight. Not a lot, just a little. My workouts have become so monotonous that I have hit a physical plateau. I know I overeat (just ask my friends, I really do) so I have been really trying to watch how much I eat. So far, a little has been lost. I will let you guys know process as it happens (or not).

Now, what you all came for - the knitting.

Do you remember my Avita pattern? You can find it here on ravelry. Well, I cannot tell you how touched and flattered I am that so many people have made my little design. A wonderful knitter (and amazing photographer) even has me thinking about perhaps turning this into a little girl's dress.

Sara was even so kind as to send me pictures of her adorable pink version. Thank you so much Sara, I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to show people your adorable version. If you guys want to see more pictures of Sara's Avita, visit her ravelry site, or her blog. I am trully flattered that ONE person likes this pattern, and as of today 105 people have it in their queue on ravelry.

Speaking of queues, mine is ever growing. And I mean evah-growing. Every day I see more and more patterns that I want to make, and I even managed to get all my stash (well - MOST of it) into ravelry so that I can see if I can use any of it for my queue. As many knitters think, non-stop I am sure, I need to quit my job and learn how to burn calories while knitting so that I can do nothing but knit all day long, and not gain any weight.

I have managed to do some knitting:

Iselita vest

Named after my dear friend Isel because when I saw hers I needed to make this. She told me I could make it as long as hers was still prettier than mine, and I got really close I think, but hers is still cuter.

I actually started it in during our trip to Spain, so every time I wear it I get a flash of memories of knitting on a train on our way to Toledo. Isn't it crazy how certain garments will bring your mind back to a different place and time?

Anyhoo, I was almost to the armhole decreases when I realized that it looked really small. When I re-read the pattern I realized that I had not done the increases after the waist ribbing. oops. So I had to completely restart. It was worth the wait. I get a lot of compliments at work, which is where I usually wear it.

More details on my ravelry page here.

Vest for Papi

For all of those that don't know me, I am a MAJOR daddy's girl (shocker for those of you that do know me - I know) So before I make Tony a garment (it's in the works people) I wanted to make my dad something. I sent him a bunch of patterns and he dismissed each and every one. He explained to me what he wanted and I decided to create my own pattern. He deserves all the math that went into this one for sure.

Yes, he is doing a "body-builder" pose in that picture. He is going to kill me for posting it. :)

I think it turned out pretty good. I need to re-block the armholes so they are a little bit wider. I always have issues binding off loosely for some reason.

You can see more details for this project here.

Rayne

Another Isel copy (whaatt! The girl has good taste!)

Oh.my.gosh. I am so in love with this one. I want the fall to come because I want to wear it all over the place. I made it extra long because I am tall, and because I wanted to be able to wrap it all the way around me.

Love love love. The yarn is super soft (although it does shed, and I rayne dust bunnies still from when I was knitting it). I really want to wear it all the time.

I could not really get an excellent picture depicting how happy I am with this, but not due to lack of trying. I took quite a few. And you can see some of them, and the project details on my ravelry page here.


What I am working on now:

Valpurina

My little spring/summer project. I forgot how much I liked cables!

Ash

Such a flowy number, also perfect for spring. I am THIS close to finishing it!

So there you have it, my recap. There is so much more to come, I promise, but I cannot tell you when. :)

I know, the suspense of when I will come back is almost as strong as the suspense over the Democratic nominee!

Finally Sharing this FO!

Finally showing you guys this one. I am conflicted about it to be honest (can you tell by my face). Originally this yarn was for what has now become known as the "infamous bolero disaster of 2006". When that did not work out, and I did not find anything else I wanted to knit with it, and Olga told me that I could make up a pattern for myself, I decided to copy this Free People cardigan.

I am conflicted about it because I don't LOVE it like I love other things I have made. I do not like the yarn, it pills a lot. And I did not have enough of it. I had originally intended to make the sleeves a lot longer, but I ran out of yarn. The button band won't stay down either, it drives me nuts. Oh, and I am a HORRIBLE button sewer, so the buttons fall off a lot. I had the idea that this would be a sweater I could wear all the time, I would leave it at work in case I got cold. But because of the sleeves and the length of it it just does not work like that. So, it is disappointing in a lot of areas.

However, I am proud that I did this all by myself. I looked at a picture, and I did the math, and I figured out the stitch pattern and I made myself a cardigan! That I am happy about. Super happy about. I do not know that I will be doing this again anytime soon (wedding planning takes over so many math brain cells - especially when you do not want yourself, or your father, to go broke), but the fact that this is finished gives me the confidence boost I need to know that I can do it. You just need a little bit of patience, and a good calculator.

All details in ravelry - here.
So right now I am working on Ash for me, and a few more democrats for some friends, and as a prize for someone participating in the Obama T-shirt challenge. I just finished a vest for my dad too. I am hoping to get him to do some modeling this weekend.

Oh, and speaking of my dad, he was very disappointed that he did not get photography credits for the wedding pictures (diva). So , yes, my dad took those GREAT pictures at the wedding... (such a primadonna).

New men in my life and new obsessions

You guys remember all my secret Charlie gifts - right? Well, now, for the first time ever, I present to you the famous-up-until-now-unknown Charlie!

I don't want to brag or anything, but my friends make the cutest babies don't they? I mean, look at those cheeks! Charlie is growing fast and people are surprised to know that he is only three month's old. In fact, people think he is more like seven months old. More power to him! And better biceps for Michi, cause Charlie is an unexpected arm workout.

He was a little cranky that day, and I think it is because he is not used to being around a Democrat. Apparently, Charlie's favorite toy is an elephant, which makes me think he needs some outside influence in his life.

Unfortunately, his auntie Lomes (and uncle Tones) are not able to hang out with him as much as we want, so I decided to send a permanent friend and LomesTones representative over to the Charlie household.

Meet donkey:












Donkey went to live with Charlie and will talk to him and hopefully influence him so he is ready to make his vote a few years from now. Of course, if Charlie has such an influence in his life, we wanted to make sure that Ava was not without a donkey friend of her own. So another donkey went to live with her, and another one stayed with us. (mainly cause they are so darn cute, I really wanted one!)

Now, I do not like to openly talk about my political beliefs, or religious beliefs on my blog. I think everyone is entitled to their own view points (as long as they are democrats - haha - just kidding), and I am so stubborn about my viewpoints I would annoy people and not keep many friends. However, we need to go out there and vote (democratic :) ) and support the candidates as much as possible. We have such an opportunity to make our voices heard with each and every election, that I do want to encourage everyone to get out there and get involved.

Ms. pea has started a great group for Obama supporters. (Yes, I am one). I am going to join this one, althought I do not think that I will be able to have a very creative contribution. If you are not an Obama supporter, I am sure there are venues out there for you to support your candidate, and I encourage you to do so.

Okay, I am off my soap box now... see, me, stepping down...

So here is my new (knitting) obsession. I saw this on General Hospital (ya, I watch, yougotaproblemwiththat?) and I cannot stop wanting to make it! UGhh I am so obsessed. I spent a few hours on ravelry looking for similar patterns and came up with this and this and this. Which one do you guys think is would be best? and what kind of yarn should I use to make sure that it is nice and soft and drapey like Carly on General Hospital (love the Carly by the way! She is one crazy ex-mob-wife-married-to-an-aussie (who almost left the show until Reese and I screamed NO INGO COME BACK) and I think she is brilliantly dealing with her son running away (becuase he shot his mob fathers girlfriend from couture magazine) while she is pregnant for the 3rd? 4th? 5th? time. Well, at least she looks great.

So tell me, what do you think?

And I will leave you with one more adorable pic:(isn't michi the cutest? She insists on him wearing the sweater I made him even though it is now a cropped quarter sleeved cardi on his buddah belly. I love this kid!)

I'm here!!! I'm here!!!

You are all thinking... "here she comes again with the 1001 excuses of why she has not posted...blah blah blah, life, work, family, reponsa...SNORE!". And I could give them all to you, and you would all ignore me. I have been busy, yes, with work, sometimes, with life, always, with wedding planning, yes, but not my own!!

Tony's little sister got hitched last week in Guadalajara, Mexico! We had a blast, but girl needs to wait until the last minute to do everything, so I have been busy for the last few months helping her get everything done. If I do say so myself, things turned out pretty darn good.

(That is of course, after... 3 weeks finding a hairdresser, 6 hours delayed in Dulles, 4 different flights for 12 different people, 30 minutes to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, 150 peso bribe to the police officer who pulled our cab driver for speeding, 4 delicious quesadillas from a garage that thank-god did not get us sick, 7 girls getting their hair and nails done in the span of 3 hours, 1 super sick bridesmaid (me - thankfully after the wedding), and too many tequila shots to count.)The wedding itself was a lot of fun. The food was fantastic, the mariachis were the perfect touch, I got a chance to see Tony's uncle and aunt that I care for very much, and I got a chance to dance with my dad, something I have never done, and am weary to do again :) I think papi and I need to take dancing lessons before my wedding.
Unfortunately that night I came down with something. All of the sudden I was shivering and had a fever. At first I thought... "how many tequila shots did we take?!" But the next day it was hard for me to eat - a sure sign something is wrong with me, and I was still feverish. Since we were leaving the next day, we took the opportunity to go to on a double decker bus ( a very touristy thing to do that we never do). My mami came with us, and she had fun posing over and over again until I got a good shot. This may not be her favorite, but I love it because she is smiling, laughing and seems to be enjoying herself.

My mom and I have a very unique relationship. We are so very different, and at times exactly the same (just ask Tony). Many times we misinterpret what the other is saying and it turns into a bigger deal than what it really should be. I will admit that I am as much to blame for that as she is, and I think that is normal when you have two different personalities interacting. But when she is happy and smiling and laughing and relaxed, and when I am the same, my mom and I have a blast together. I am sure that a lot of women out there have similar relationships with their mamis. Doesn't she look cute in that picture?

Oh, so in my not-my-wedding-induced hiatus, I have been doing alot of knitting. So do not fret, pictures and details of all my FO's will be coming to this blog in the near future. I can start with a small one today.

You likey? I really wanted some fingerless gloves for the office. I am one of the lucky ones that sit next to the window and it get so cold! All of the sudden as I am hard at work for hours at end (a little sarcasm for all of you), my fingers freeze up and it is hard for me to do anything else.

There are so many great fingerless glove patterns out there in raverly land, but none that I fell in love with for some reason. So I created my own pattern. I have it if anybody is interested. The only teenie tiny little problem I am having right now is that I cannot find the label for my yarn, so I cannot tell you what it is. I got it at Nature's Yarns in Fairfax, so I can run over there one of these days and figure it out. I bet you as soon as I do that, I will find the label in my knitting bag.

The Kusha Kusha Shawl and Spain

When I decided to make the Kusha Kusha Shawl/Scarf (KKS/S) I knew I wanted to wear it during our trip to Spain. I had this vision of me walking around the streets of Madrid with my incredible hand-made Shawl/Scarf flowing in the air. Seriously. Just like that. In fact, I think I would have made it even longer had I not had to stop knitting it so I could felt it so I could actually wear it in Spain.

I finished the KKS/S a week before I left. And then all of the sudden I had this incredible fear of felting. Bone chilling freak out. So what do I do when I get like this? I call in the reinforcements, of course. Olga and Isel met me at Olga's apartment and with much trepidation I handed Olgita my beautiful KKS/S. I almost did not felt it because I loved the "rawness" of it so much, but it kept snagging so much that I gave into it.

So Olga felted it, and it was sooooo much smaller I almost wanted to cry. Seriously. Very close to tears. Then we pulled it to stretch it out, and of course my brute force pulled too hard and tore the edges. Now the almost-tears were just turning into anger, anxiety and frustration. (why were you hiding the wine when I needed it Olgita?) I just turned away and made Olga fix it, while Iselita kept working on her almost-as-beautiful-as-mine KKS/S. (I say this just to get to her - hers is so freaking gorgeous I think I want to make one in that color scheme when I re-gain my patience). You can look at all the project pictures, including Olgita's part of this project, and Isel watching me freak out over the felting process here.

So of course, my dear friend fixed it, and we stretched it, and of course I completely love my new shawl. I am in fact wearing it right now as I type. The difference pre and post felt is not that big, it still has this beautiful ethereal quality that I have come to associate purely with Habu. Some spots are more felted than others, and the two different fibers mingle so intricately together - it really is pretty. And not just because I made it. It does however, still get snagged at times, which can be frustrating. I have the details on my ravelry page, so I am not going to duplicate them here. If you are not yet on ravelry and want to know the details, leave me a comment.

(the two side pictures are pre-felt - the middle i-think-i-am-a-model picture is post felt).

So, of course, I wore the KKS/S all over Spain, just like I had wanted to. And it was perfect. My whole time in Spain was perfect. (Well, besides the fact that the dollar is so weak right now that I wanted to cry everytime our dinner bill came to the table).

First we went to Madrid. Madrid is my mostest favoritest place in the whole wide world. When I was barely 18 I went to study there for a month. Maybe it is because it is the first place where I was by myself without my family, maybe that is why I love this city so much.

But as I was walking around again with Tony, I had this complete sense of feeling at home. I feel like I just belong there. It's the culture, it's the people, it's the fact that I speak the language, and love jamon serrano, and strong coffee, and walking rather than driving, it is everything. My favorite place in the entire city is Plaza Mayor. It is just a square. In truth, that is all it is. But it is so quintisentially Spanish, that I just love it. On our second night, Tony made that place even more special to me by proposing right in the center of the square. I could not had been more perfect.

We had a great time in Madrid (see me there - wearing my KKS/S?). We went to the Prado, the Reina Sofia, we ate jamon until we got sick of eating jamon. We had tapas, and the best hot chocolate and churros ever. We window shopped and went to the Palacio Real. We looked for Felipe, and even visited a couple of yarn stores. I could walk around that city and never get tired of it.

(hot chocolate and churros at San Gines Chocolateria in Madrid. YUMMM!)

After two days we took a day trip to Toledo. I had not been here before. It is a beautiful small medieval town that you literally get lost in. I wish I had eloquent words to describe what I saw as I walked through the cobblestone streets, but I lack them.

Sometimes when you are in a new place you are taking so much in so quickly that it takes a while for it all to sink in and settle in your mind. We walked around so much and saw the Cathedral, and walked across bridges, and looked up at tile covered balconies, that it was overwhelming at times. I just wanted to walk faster and see more, and at the same time slow down and breathe it all in. We have decided that on our next trip to Spain we are going to make sure we spend more than 5 hours in Toledo. The only bad thing about it, is that Tony had this overwhelming need to exclaim "Holy TOLEDO!" every time we saw something interesting. Ya, he said it a lot. Ya, it was still funny even after 53 times.

(spanish style mirrors sold in a little store by the cathedral in Toledo.)

Next stop: Sevilla. "Holy Toledo what narrow streets! What a beutifully colonial city! How the heck do people drive around here? Why are there so many Argentinians here?" All things that could be heard coming out of our mouth. Sevilla is the city of naranjales and flamenco. There are flamenco stores everywhere and it just makes you want to book your ticket for the April Fair and be a part of it all. We visited yet another cathedral there. Yes, they all start to look the same.

We had the best tapas evah at a local bar. (TimeOut travel guides has the best dining suggestions out there people!). We were the ultimate tourists stopping at every street corner to look at where we were because it is so easy to get lost there. At first we were embarrassed to be so obvious, and after a few hours we were celebrating when we were in the place we actually thought we were. Oh! We also visited the Alcazar. No words to describe that either. Go check it out yourselves. Seriously. Book your ticket rightnow!

(potted plants on a ledge at the Alcazar. I want to live there.)

Last but certanly not least was Granada. One of the best things about this trip was that each city was so completely different. (and yet, my KKS/S seemed to fit perfectly in each place - go figure! :) ) Madrid is a more modern cosmopolitan city. Toledo is this small medieval town. Sevilla is text book example of a Spanish colonial city. And Granada has such a strong Arab influence that you feel like you are in a complete different country. The Alahambra is reason enough to visit the city. You could easily spend more than a day there. We visited it during the day, but they also have evening tours when the entire place is lit up. I really want to go back and see it at night.

While in Granada we had such a high caloric meal that we both thought we were having heart attacks in the middle of the night ( just picture jamon with jamon made with jamon served with jamon and a side of jamon). But that same night we went to a wine bar in the Jewish quarters near our hotel. When we win the lottery, we want to open a place just like this. It barely fit two tables and was manned just by the owner. He only served wine. Wine he had collected through out the years, and wine he loved. With each glass he will give you a small tapa to compliment the wine. It was just ... perfect.

(detail of a wall in the Alhambra).

I will leave you with just one last picture. I kept finding places to take pictures of Tony and I together. Isolated spots where I could set my camera and put the timer on and not be scared that someone was going to come up behind it and steal it. This is my favorite shot taken in the Alcazar gardens.
If you are bored and tired of pretending like you are working all day. (You don't fool me!) You can check out the rest of our pictures here. Feel free to leave comments. If you do not know me by now, I looooveee comments.

Also, I have been recently been informed that more family members are reading my blog. I need to go back and read to make sure I have never said anything bad! :) Hi Tia! Hi Tio!