lomester

Cheat Meal!!

2010-01-08T12:45:00.003-07:00

Wine and Ribeye last night. It was so good! A petit verdot has never tasted so good. I had it with a salad, no rice, no pasta, no potatoes, no bread - so it was a half cheat, don't you think?

I had to think about it for a little bit and try and figure out how the rest of my week was going to go. We are only allowed one cheat meal a week, so it is all about the planning kids! I think I can do it. It gets easier everyday to not drink wine and drink more water and no carbs. There better be some change on that scale next monday or the Weggmans wine section is going to get hit HARD by the lomester's credit card!

So far so good!

2010-01-07T11:24:00.005-07:00

I cannot believe I have not cracked under the pressure! No wine. No pasta. No bread. No rice. AND, I am not DEAD! Can I get a woot woot!?

To top it all off, this week is hell week at work. I work in finance and the first week of the month we are closing out the previous month. I am responsible for submitting the revenue for a big account group. Every month I get the same questions from the same people and I have to explain the same process again without loosing my cool. Granted, you will hear me grunt and shudder after hanging up the phone, or hitting the send button in an email, but I have not yet told someone "really?! this question again?! are you kidding me?". So I say I should get extra points for not having wine during hell week.

I can't believe I have comments on this leetle ol' blog by the way. It has been so long since I was regularly posting, that I was sure I lost my faithful audience (of about 10 peeps). Even my best friend had taken me out of her blog-reading routine.

Gratzee, thanks so much for your comment! I would love to get some recipes. I need to get more mini meals during the day, so I would love to make one big meal and partion it off during the week so I don't tire myself with greens and chicken.

I am in it to win this competition!! (can you guys see the facebook note?) Ok, honestly, if I do not win the whole thing I would love to win a personal training session or two. I used to do that a couple of times a week a few years ago and I loved it. Sure, I complained and cried and whined, but I started seeing some changes, especially in my teenie tiny arms. The problem is that it is way too expensive when you have a mortgage, so FREE sounds about the right price for me.

At the same time, my company is sponsoring a new year new you contest. Basically, an employee earns points when they either a) join a WeightWatchers program and go to meetings b) Excercises. Well, I already do b) so umm, no brainer! The more points you accumulate, the more chances to win! We can win iTunes cards, ipods (woot woot!). Wii Fit games, and top winners will be eligible for cash winnings.

If having a small butt was not incentive enough, FREE stuff is! And now that I have put it up on a very public site, I cannot back down from it - can I?

Day 1 down.

2010-01-05T13:06:00.003-07:00

I passed up on some wine last night. I never pass up on wine. ever.ever.ever. Does this mean that I more committed this time?

Let's hope so cause I caught sight of my tummie at Body Pump today and it scared me half to death. It probably scared other people half to death too.

Today was a better workout day. I ran 6.5 miles after BP. It was not as much as I wanted to do, or as fast as I wanted to do it, but I WILL TAKE IT!

hardest part (besides no wine) is that I have to cook Tony dinner, and he likes nice rich food (as do I) and he does not gain an ounce when he eats this. It is hard to make and not eat. But I will do it!!

I will be at work late tonight. LOVE working in Finance and having to close out the month. :( Our reporting tool has been down and the reports that were supposed to be ready at 11 am will now not be ready until after 4. UGH!

Which means I will def miss the Biggest Loser premiere. Yes, I am addicted to that show too (there really isn't a show I am NOT addicted to). But watching these people loose weight makes me realize how powerful the mind is. Whatever you set your mind to , you can do, as long as you are dedicated and committed.

I know I don't have many readers out there - but if anyone reads this - do you know of any good low-carb, low-fat recipe sites? I have a feeling salads are going to get super boring, super fast.

2010: The Resurrection

2010-01-04T07:45:00.010-07:00

I have thought many times about resurrecting this blog. For whatever reason, I never found the time or thought that I had anything interesting to say.

With ravelry, I no longer needed it to keep track of my knitting progress, and with facebook I did not need a way to let my friends and family what was going on in my life.

But I think I need a forum to vent, and to release my silly little thoughts and ideas that is more for me than anyone else. I don't think all my facebook friends want to be bombarded by all my silly daily ideas, complaints, or rants. So, I have resurrected this blog as a daily (maybe) diary of my life, my friends, my family. An exercise more for me than for anyone else. Let's see how long it lasts. The plan is to just pop in and out of the blog all day and write things all day long and publish at the end of the day.

One of the main reasons that I decided to re-start my blogging is to make myself more accountable to my body-changing goals. Let's not call it "dieting" goals or "excercising goals". In the past this has been my mistake. I do one or the other, never both, and that is why I do not get anywhere. Every year, at least twice a year I make the same resolution to"loose weight", "get in shape", "look better" (whatever the mantra of the season is), and every time I self-sabotage. It is easy to self-sabotage, isn't it? Either you don't work out as hard as you know you should (we all know when we are half-assing it), or we eat stuff we know is going to de-rail us from our goal.

My main issue has always been the food part. I LOVE food, and let's face it: healthy food does not taste nearly as good as a pizza, or a burger, or sushi, OR a glass of wine. And no matter what the packaging says on a box of "i-swear-it's-good-for-you-food", it is not even going to come close. However, the repercussions are a lot worse.

Feeling blah about myself, or knowing that I can't wear this that or the other because of my butt, or my stomach was not worth the lasagna, or the nachoes (although sometimes it is worth the wine) :)

So, January is here, and along with millions of other people I am starting the new year with new habits and new goals. This time I decided to add a little pressure to myself by joining GYMRATZZ.INC "Big-Squishy-Loser" (BSL)contest. GYMRATZZ is owned by my gym's Body Pump instructor, Erin. Body Pump is a class I fought against going for a long time. First, I thought my running was enough, who needed weight training - pishawwww! and second, I could hear Erin yelling at people through the walls! Believe it or not, those of you that know me, I am a little shy at first, and I was SURE she would call on me, or yell at me, or something... so I resisted. Oh, and the classes are at 5:30 (AM!!!).

Then, my sister-in-law started waking me up by calling me each morning, that, coupled with the fact that my ass looked exactly the same for years, I decided to start going. Erin ended up being not so mean :), and the class has really helped me push myself and do things besides runrunrun all the time.

Besides tracking everything in a journal, I am going to try and track what I am thinking, eating, doing on this blog. Maybe it will make someone laugh, but I at least hope it makes me feel accountable.

Today so far has been ok. Eating eggwhites with salt and pepper for breakfast is new to me. Usually I have a cup of coffee and will grab a piece of bread on my way out. For lunch I mixed a bunch of greens with a can of tuna and mixed it with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and leeettleee bit of olive oil. I am drinking water (hope to get to 128oz of water a day, so far only 20 oz) and mate. I love me some mate.

Mondays are usually my day off from the gym, but I went in for the first BSL meeting, so I stayed and did 40 minutes on the elliptical. Kinda "meh" but better than nothing.

Oh, so for those of you that read this blog for my knitting - I still knit! I am just not good at taking pictures of my finished projects. And, I have started sewing - so far so good. The dresses that I have made for thanksgiving, christmas and newyears have not left me naked in front of my friends and family, so I consider that a success. (picture is of the dress I made for New Years!). I made some gifts for Ava (happy birthday!!) and will try and take pictures of her to show off.

Glad to be back to this... more later.

Recap (I know - shocker!)

2008-05-06T20:11:00.012-07:00

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!

2008-03-14T12:01:00.005-07:00

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

2008-03-06T12:41:00.010-07:00

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!!!

2008-02-22T12:17:00.014-07:00

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

2007-12-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

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!

WOW!

2007-12-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am really overwhelmed with all the congratulatory wishes that we received through my last blog. I have tried to respond to each one separately, but if I have not, here it is ...

THANK YOU!!

I am very touched that people have de-lurked! Please continue to de-lurk and leave me comments - regardless of whether or not I am engaged. Hee hee!

In the near-future I will once again bore you with my knitting tales, since I have many finished projects to boast about. Unfortunately the lighting, (and my complexion) have been ridiculously ugly as of late, so I have not wanted to take pictures.

Also in the near - and not-so-near future, you will also be bored by my Spain tales. We had a wonderful time, and saw so many interesting things (most of the time while I was wearing both an engagement gift and my Kusha Kusha Shawl).

Thanks again to all of my blog-friends! I am sincerely touched.

Finally!!

2007-11-19T08:34:00.001-07:00

Revelations

2007-11-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Recently someone told me how rare it is to have long-lasting good friendships. Not acquaintances, not going-out buddies, but good friends. Friends that will tell you "yes, your butt does look big in those pants", friends that you feel comfortable around to the point where there is no taboo topic, friends that ultimately become part of your family, because you both choose to remain in the friendship.

I am fortunate. Through Tony I have two great "sisters". We always joke how weird it is that we all get along so well. Our families vacation and spend holidays together, we steal each other clothes, and we fight and get mad at each other almost like real sisters do. However, we are practically family. We have not chosen to be so close, it is just some freakish coincidence that my "one-day sisters-in-law", and I, get along so well.

I have an older cousin who is also very close to me. She is also like a "sister" to me. She tells it to me straight, she does not mince words, and she is truly a woman that I look up to. She is graceful, loving, and although much older - hee hee - , to me the personification of beauty, grace and intelligence. We share the same birth month, and mothers that are sometimes so eerily similar that at times maybe interchangeable. But again, we did not choose to be sisterly-cousins, just another amazing coincidence that cousins ended up being so close.

Then there is Michi and Reese. You have heard of them before, I talk about them a lot. The three of us chose to be friends. Since junior high with Mich, and high school with Reese, we have remained friends. Now, I will admit, I am not the easiest friend to have. I am dramatic, I am sensitive, I am stubborn, and at times at bit unbearable. I admit it, they will agree - trust me, they will agree. But they have put up with me, and I have in turn put up with them.

Michi and I have had an especially rollercoaster friendship. I am liberal, she is conservative; when I was out partying in college (not a lot dad!) she was the campus minister; while I vote one way, she votes another. We clashed since the day we met - I liked the New Kids on the Block (shuddup - they were good!); she was in denial over her love of the New Kids. She even went out with the boy I liked in junior high!!

Sometimes, there were months, maybe even years, where we would not talk to each other. I will admit that I do not remember 85% of the reasons of why we fought. I block those things out. Looking back on it this past weekend, I am glad I do. This past weekend was Michi's baby shower. Seeing my oldest friend beaming with her growing belly, I had an immense surge of revelations. I am so fortunate that I am able to have these two girls in my life! I feel so lucky that through out the years, through illnesses, through heartaches, through disappointments, pains and sorrows, I have been able to call on both of them, and them on me. We have celebrated birthdays together, talked on the phone secretly for hours together, I have watched them dance at their weddings, we have gotten drunk together (not that many times dad!), and have laughed over the silliest things, over, and over again.

Now I get to watch their children grow. I get to call them my nieces, and nephews, because in my heart these two girls are my chosen sisters.

So Mich, CONGRATULATIONS! I cannot wait to meet my new nephew. I cannot wait to see my oldest friend holding her son. I love you tons!

Now, without further delay, I am revealing the Secret Charlie Projects:

Secret Charlie Project 1

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees
Yarn: I have no idea. I found it in my stash - it could have belonged to my mom.
Needles: US2
Ravelry Page: Secret Charlie Project 1

Secret Charlie Project 2

Pattern: Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February) from Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Oatmeal
Needles: US6
Ravelry Page: Secret Charlie Project 2

Secret Charlie Project 3

Pattern: Organic Baby Wrapper by ms. pea (she recently got married - go congratulate her!)
Yarn: Bernat Cottontots Solid in Sweet Cream and Little Boy Blue 1 skein of each
Ravelry Page: Secret Charlie Project 3

Secret Charlie Project 4

Pattern: Organic Baby Bonnet by ms. pea
Yarn: Bernat Cottontots Solid in Sweet Cream and Little Boy Blue 1 skein of each
Ravelry Page: Secret Charlie Project 4
Modifications: I added some ribbing at the bottom cause since it seemed too loose.

Secret Charlie Project 5

Pattern: Rabbit by Debbie Bliss Special Knits
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lake
Ravelry Page: Secret Charlie Project 5
Modifications: I added a "c" for Charlie :)

Super Secret Charlie Project 6 (aka "The Little Guy")

Pattern: Little Guy by Jess Hutch
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lake
Story: At the last minute Reese and I decided to make a diaper cake for the shower. It was a test on our friendship. There may have been some wine, and perhaps some tears, and some inappropriate comments about "doing the little guy" may have been mentioned. But, I think it was a success over all.

FO: Breton Girl

2007-10-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am trying to keep my promise and blog more often. Seriously, I am! All of Secret Charlie Projects are completed, and am very excited to share them with you. However, you will all have to wait until after the baby shower. Charlie's mom has tried to find out what they are, but I am not giving in. (pssst... if you are not Charlie's mom, and you are on ravelry, you can check them out here).

So, to appease the masses, here is a never before posted FO: Breton Girl!

Project name: Breton Girl by Kat Coyle from Knit Scene, Fall 2007.
Yarn: 6 skeins Elann Esprit (solid) in 8972 Charcoal, and 4 skeins Elann Esprit (solid) in 6399 Lilac. (I actually had a little bit left from each skein, but I like to round up).
Needles: Addi Turbo's US 6.

More details on my Breton Girl project page in ravelry.

So, what do you guys think? Overall, I like it. Elann Esprit is wonderful to work with. The stretchiness, the feel of it, I really liked how it knit up. I love the shape of the garment, it is very flattering, although it does lift up on the sides if you do not block it. (mee?? not block? nevaahhh!) Can you see that I did not block it? *blush*. I have thought of seaming the sides together all the way down, but I don't know... ideas ladies?

Also, if you do decide to make this one, make sure that you choose your bra correctly. Trust me, some bras combined with the horizontal stripes make a girl look bustier than she wants. Although husbands/boyfriends may not mind, you may end up looking like Ana Nicole Smith. (there is photographic proof of this, and NO, I will not be sharing).

I also finished my Free People inspired sweater, which I will be showing you guys soon. Here is a teaser shot before I finished the arms, and added the buttons, and seamed it all together, and blocked it (yes, this one I blocked). It turned out pretty good, considering it is my first time designing something for myself.

Currently I am working on my Kusha Kusha Shawl, and sorry to tell you I have no pictures of that one. So far it has been a very irritating experience. I had to cast on for it about 4 times, I had to switch needles three times (yuckie Addi Naturas and their wonky joins!) and am considering changing them again. However, I am charting along, and want to get it finished before my upcoming trip to spain. (Isel, the bet is on!)

I also went to the Stitches East show this past week, and had a blast with my two knitting buddies (aka enablers). I do not know what I would have done without them there. Poor girls had to hear me say "which one do I want?" "Do I need this?" and "My poor credit card is bloated already!". I actually did not do so bad, and am kicking myself for not buying this green malabrigo lace that I saw there. I bought the grey, but I should have bought the green too. Especially after seeing what ms. Twisted Knitter is doing with it... * sigh*

Anyhooooo... That is all from me for now!

The mother of all updates

2007-09-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

I, lomester, hereby swear, that I will, from now on, not subject you - my 5 loyal readers - to any more crazy updates. Instead, I, lomester, promise to continuously update my blog, thereby eliminating remarks such as "update your blog all-ready" from such friends as Reese.*

Phew - now that that is over! Let the updates begin!

From my last post *ahem -tease* you guys might have deduced that I went on a trip! Tony turned thirty this past July (gulp!) so, being the amazingly wonderful girlfriend that I am, I treated him to a little 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean!

It was such a nice, relaxing time! First we stopped in Old San Juan, where the humidity completely messed with my camera and I almost cried thinking that the poor machine was broken. The day turned out to be absolutely perfect. We really enjoyed walking through the streets of this little city, and although completely packed with cruisers wanting to buy sou verniers, we managed to find a nice quiet little restaurant where we had some Puerto Rican and Spanish tapas, and a nice bottle of Sangria. The best part, the waiter was Argentinian.Next we spent a day in St. Thomas. Again, as soon as you get off the ship you are overwhelmed with how "turisty" the place is. Everyone is trying to sell half off diamonds, and perfumes and makeup and jewelry, and it is all stuff that you can get at home. So, we asked a local what beach we should go to where there were not a lot of people, and he suggested Sapphire Beach. We got in a cab with another couple going to the same location, and headed on a 30 minute bumpy windy drive. I am not sure if I will accurately describe the cab, but picture a big golf cart that fits 10 people. The roads were so hilly, and I had not had a drop of rum. My recommendation, have some rum before you get into one of these. :) The couple we rode with ended up being a blast to hang out with. They live in Chicago, but vacation in the same exact Virginia Beach location we go to every year - at approximately the same time! What a small world!

I did get some knitting done in St. Thomas, as you can see above, but not much. Why "not much" you ask? More on that later. The picture on the left is the view from my beach chair, then there is me knitting, and my Kusha Shawl.
The last place we went to was St. Maarten. St. Maarten, for those of you that do not know, is split up into French St. Maarten and Dutch St. Maarten. We spent the day in the Dutch side, but did have lunch in a wonderful (although horrifically overpriced) little French restaurant.

The whole vacation was absolutely perfect. When Tony and I go on vacation, we always want to see this and do that, and go here and explore there, and we never get the chance to just... be. This was the point of this vacation. To not plan on going snorkeling, or rock climbing or mountain biking...just to be. This being got my pant size in trouble, cause being mostly meant hanging out by the pool having the Royal Caribbean drink of the day, but I see a Detox diet in the future.

For all you nosy people (I am one of them, so this is not an insult), you can check out the rest of the birthday celebration extravaganza here.

Now that the "life" portion of the update has been completed, here is the "knitting" portion of the update.The pictures above are of a little "habu party" we had at Olga's a few weeks back. Isel's best friend was very very smart and got married in New York. Therefore, we made Isel go to Habu and get us some stuff. You know, just a little somethin' somethin'.

It is always fun to hang out with these girls, and when there is some lovely yarn to play with, even more fun. Isel brought me back a Kusha Kusha Shawl kit. I was so excited! I stared at it, and looked at it, and told everyone about my lovely steel and merino shawl that was coming up! I did not want to cast on or do anything until I went on the cruise, so I patiently waited. Then when the day came, and we were waiting to board the ship - I took a deep breath and cast on. My one way of describing this was : painful. I had bought some addi naturas since my steel addis would have not worked well with the silk and steel, they would have just slid off the needles. But the naturas were worse! The joints are not good at all. My work kept getting all tangled up, and the steel kept falling off the needles. I cast on 4 times. I was so disappointed that my vacation project was not going as easily as I wanted to.

Things got a little easier when I worked in the merino. The fact that it looks so pretty made me want to persevere. I still do not know if I want to felt the finished project, or leave as is. We will see as I keep going. I think it may be a while before you see this as an FO. I do have a couple of FOs to show you, but I am not too happy with my Royal Caribbean buffet look right now - so give me a few more days. More pics coming soon!

*this disclaimer is subject to people from work not having any more children which make me not have time to update my blog, any subsequent audits at work, and frankly, the amount of amusing anecdotes in my head. (Yes, I am not always this witty).

I am back!

2007-09-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry kids! I know I have been gone for a while. I went to a wedding, and then had to work some extravagant amount of hours so I could enjoy this:While I was there I was planning on doing a lot of knitting. But all I got done was this (plus a little more):
I promise I will do my best to post a way more exciting, way more descriptive post later on this week. But I thought I would check in... I am in the process of catching up with my blog reading too (man you guys are some crazy busy knitters/bloggers!), and my email responses... so bear with me!

Habulishious Tunic

2007-08-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

I have had a love/hate relationship with Habu. As I spoke about in this HabuTextile post, I hate spending money. Habu is not, what you would call, a yarn that you can get on sale at Michaels. However, Olga (my friend, enabler, and huge reason why my credit card bill gets bigger) got me HOOKED. Like, addicted, I would almost say I am nearing crack addict status, but I strive for a PG rated blog, so I will not go that far.

The Habu Tsumugi A-1 for this tunic was actually a left over Olga had. I had always wanted to make this Tunic in the Rebecca #31.

However, this yarn did not yield the same gauge, so I had to recalculate the entire pattern. I am fascinated with this yarn. It is completely organic, and the result is a nice and flowy and (dare this wannabefashionista say it) utterly comfortable! There is this boho look and feel that comes with this tunic, but I am going to see if I wear a white tailored shirt underneath, and some dress pants how this looks.

Project Details

Project name: Bramble Tunic from Rebecca #31

Yarn: 6 skeins (double stranded) of Habu Tsumugi A-1 2/1 Coloway 83- Cork

Needles: Addi Turbo's US 5

Modifications: Umm... I recalculated the entire pattern to fit my gauge. Time consuming, well worth it.

The only problem is...what Habu project will I do next... trust me... more of that to come. BTW - this is my 100th post!

Having a Bad Day

2007-08-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am... I got rear ended today and it has totally ruined my day. I am okay, and the car is fine. Well, the trunk of my little red Honda Element does not open, and my venti coffee I was enjoying is all over the car, but it will all be fine. Accidents happen, I know. As long as everyone is safe and healthy that is all that matters. However, sometimes the grumpiness takes a while to dissipate. Am I saying all this to get sympathy? Yes, I am. So hit me with some funny comments so I can get out of my funk.

This has certainly been helping today:
We had a girls night last friday and I asked Reese to bring Ava with her Avita top. I wore my Redgina just for the sake of a cute picture. She makes me smile.

OH! Speaking of Avita, I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments on my first ever pattern. I am so excited when I see that 6 people have added t to their Ravelry queue!

Another thought that has been helping me is the knowledge that there is a Gilmore Girls Season 2 DVD waiting for me at home. I am now addicted to that show (thanks Reese). I am planning on going home, opening a bottle of wine, watching Gilmore Girls and working on my next Secret Project.

Some of my most detailed oriented readers may have noticed that the Secret Michi Baby Projects on my sidebar have now become Secret Charlie Projects. That is because my dear friend Michi gave in to the pressure and found out the sex of the baby! In a few more months I will have a brand new "nephew"! I am so excited, although Michi and Reese are even more so excited as they plan Ava and Charlie's wedding. I am working on Secret Charlie Project 3, and ravelry users can check out the progress here.

Once that is done I am going to keep working on my Breton Girl. I started working on this last Saturday and just cannot stop. I love working with Elann Esprit! It is so soft and stretchy and I am very very excited about finishing this top.

My habulishious tunic is nice and finished, but the preliminary attempt at looking cute during a photoshoot turned out disastrous. Don't make me think about it cause my day has been bad enough already.

I can't stop thinking about other things that i must knit. I have to finish my Free People Inspired Sweater, and I want to make a Clapotis for an upcoming trip of a lifetime (more on that later), as well as this absolutely ridiculous shawl that I cannot get out of my mind. (it is MINE Iselita!). The ideas are just never ending, never stopping, ever flowing, and I love it.

I had a cheesy moment the other day when I told Olga (man I love gmail chats) " I never thought I would love knitting so much!". I am a knitting nerd with everyone in my life that is not part of my knitting life (does that make sense?). Everywhere I go I bring yarn and a couple of sticks to pass the time. But on days like today, when things are just a little bit off kilter, a little bit of nerdiness is well needed.

Pattern: Avita

2007-08-17T09:12:00.001-07:00

A simple camisole created for a gorgeous little girl. It has very little seaming (always a crowd pleaser) and easy textured pattern to follow. The straps can be made longer or shorter, depending on your preference.

I hope you will enjoy this pattern. My little "niece" Ava certainly loves it!

This is my first time creating a pattern, so please send me notes and corrections if you see anything. If any of you make this I would love to see some pictures!

Avita

Difficulty
Easy

Sizes
To fit ages
6-9 (9-12:12-24) mths

Materials
2 (3:4) Skeins Karabella Vintage Cotton (or similar weight yarn)
Pair of US 3 (3.25 mm) knitting needles

Gauge
30 sts and 40 rows = 4 inch in st st

Textured Pattern
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Row 3: k1 *k2tog*repeat from *k1
Row 4: p1*k1 m1 by lifting strand betweens two stitches* repeat from * p1

Back
Cast on 64 (68:74) stitches. Work in textured pattern for three pattern repeats.
Switch to st st.
Work in st st until work measures 6 (6.5:7.75) inches from CO edge ending with ws row.

Shape armholes
BO 4 (4:5) sts at beg of next 2 rows
Decrease one st at each end of next and 3 (4:4) foll alt rows. 48 (50:54) sts.
Starting on the rs continue in textured pattern.
When work measures 10 (11:12.5) in from CO edge place 8 sts on holder.

Make straps
BO next 32 (34:38) sts, leaving 8 sts on needle.
Work these 8 sts until strap measures 7.5 (7.75:8) in.
BO 8 sts.
Take the 8 sts from the holder and work other strap in same manner.

Front
Work same as back.

Finishing
Seam sides together until you reach armhole decreases. Weave in ends.

Shh... Don't Tell Anyone...

2007-07-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

... but I am supposed to be catching up from a week long vacation from work. I am almost there. ALMOST. I returned from a nice relaxing time at the beach, refreshed, a little tanner, and ready to get back to the swing of things. It amazes me how a little short break makes your revitalized and eager to do the mundane chores that we get so overwhelmed with on a day to day basis.

There was a point at the beginning of this month that I felt that I could not handle my silly little job, that the ridiculous requests were just too much for me to handle. All I could think about during the day was when I was going to get home and knit, and relax (with wine - there I admit it!), so I took repeated breaks to ravel, and read blogs, and send my Tony emails. Then I got home, and all I could think about while I was "relaxing" is how I had so much work to do. Amazing how the mind works - eh?

After a week of sun, sleeping in, and nice long workouts (I needed to earn my crystal light and rum kids!), I returned home to 160 emails that needed "immediate attention". UGH! I thought I would never get done. But I took a deep breath, did not think about opening my ravelry, bloglines, flickr (ok - i took a quick peek at flickr) and now I only have like 10 emails left to go!

So here I am - taking a break and showing you my latest FO:

Pattern: Razor Cami
Yarn: Patons Grace in Taupe- 4.5 Skeins - approximately 612 yds
Needles: Size 5 Addis
Modifications: I excluded the border with a second yarn, added 3/4 inch ribbing at the top and made the straps a little thicker.

Hopefully I will have my first ever pattern surprise up for you guys soon. Right now I am working on my Habu Tunic, SecretMichiBabyProject 2, a test knit that I will tell you guys about once I ask if I can tell you guys about it, and my Free People Sweater.

The best part - I am so relaxed and content when I knit... ahhh! what a break will do!

My dad has too much time on his hands

2007-07-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Teenie, Tiny Little Update

2007-07-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, there is a lot, a LOT of knitting going on. I have been taking my knitting to the pool on weekends and making progress. At first I was a bit weary of doing this. Tony gave me a look like I was crazy. Then last weekend I saw a lady crocheting a blanket poolside! Take THAT Tony!

I finished a little surprise pattern on our way and back from Pittsburgh. Hopefully I will have a photo shoot with the recipient in the near future and spend some time creating a pattern so all you wonderfully talented knitters out there can dedconstruct it and teach me a thing or two about pattern writing. I am expecting it, no worries! I also knit the first Secret Michi Baby Project (SMBP1). If any of you are on ravelry, you can check it out there - under lomester. I am not going to post any details until after the shower, she is so nosy my michi!

And I am today finishing my Razor Cami, AND I am swatching with my habulishoush silk for a summer tunic. See! I am knitting!

My dad's show went great and it gave me a chance to hang out with my disfuntional, crazy, but totally fab family. We really have a lot of fun together.
See how cute my brother is? I love that picture of us - and yes, that is redgina you see!
My two brothers and I. Yes, that is my camera, yes, I am nervous that he is holding it, yes, I did make him wear the neck strap.And of course, the man of the day... yes, he milked it and was a bit of a diva. But we are proud nonetheless.

You can see more pics of our little weekend trip here.

The celebrities are catching on!

2007-07-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

courtesy of one of my favorite ways to not do work.

Redgina

2007-06-25T08:36:00.001-07:00

You all know what this one looks like. According to ravelry, 66 other people have made or are making Orangina, and another 79 have it in their queue to make it. It is no wonder! The finished garment is universally flattering, especially the neckline. The pattern is easy to follow, easy to modify and fast to seam up. A winner.

Pattern: Orangina (for obvious reasons mine is Redgina)
Yarn: A little over 5 skeins of Karabella Vintage Cotton
Needles: Size 5 Addis in Red. I loved this yarn. Super soft, almost silky.

As soon as Redgina was blocking, my mind started racing to an annoying degree. I am sure other knitters have had several thought patterns - right? As I was pinning this down to dry, I started thinking "ohmygosh, what I am going to knit now? Should I start on my habu tunic, or just finish the design for my free people sweater? Do I use this leftover Karabella to start up that idea that has been swimming in my head? Oh and my dad reminded me that I promised to knit him a vest? and what about the one pair of socks that I promised tony I would knit him ages ago, maybe that - but... hmmmm.... habu.... should i do something easy that I can take to the pool with me like the razor cami so many people have done and look so cute in? Do I start making SMBP for a baby that won't be born until November? UGH! So many ideas, so little time!"

I go through this A LOT! So I decided to play around with the Karabella surprise (more of that to come) and when I ran out of yarn, start on the razor cami. Now that my mind is a little bit more at ease, I will start casting on with the habu, and strategize the remainder ideas/projects/obsessions that are in my head.

I think I need help!

Pittsburgh Anyone?

2007-06-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

My dad is having his very first solo show! It is going on for almost a month In Pittsburgh, but the artist himself will be there Saturday June 30th! If you live in the area or will be in the area stop by. You can see some of his other work here.

(shameless plug - I know. But, they are all for sale, and maybe I can get some yarn out of any profit!)

Is it something in the water?

2007-06-13T10:06:00.001-07:00

Because it seems that everyone is having babies now a days. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just will have to quit my job to make gifts for all these people. We found out a little while ago that another one of my closest friends, Michi, is pregnant! So watch out as I make a lot of SMBP (Secret Michi Baby Projects). We are fighting with her to find out what the sex of the baby is so that I know what colors to use, but I do not know if our persuasion is working. I will keep trying, but I have a feeling there will be a lot of white involved in these projects * sigh *.

My co-worker (who has now drank the water FIVE times!) is due in a few weeks. She is like the mom of the group, and always so helpful so I made her a little something something:

Pattern Details:

Pattern: Baby Kimono from Greetings from Knit Cafe
Yarn: Caron's So Soft 1 skein
Needles: Size 6 Addis

Truth be told, I am not super happy with this. I was not in the mood for making it, I am now not so much liking Caron's and I just kept dreaming about my redgina. Also, the back looks super silly, and I kept messing up the pattern. However, I do think that she will like it. Everyone loves a handmade gift - right?

Remember how I told you last time that I had a special friend visiting over the weekend?I wasn't lying! Kat came and spent Sunday night at our house and did not complain ONCE about my horrible impromptu cooking or Tony's demands of no shoes in the house and no talking during the last episode of the Sopranos. (which I have to say was a tremendous dissapointment). She was even sweet enough to bring me some birthday gifts (yes - I drag my birthday out - do you have a problem with that?)

Isn't that gorgeous merino lace yarn??? I love it. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about what I want to make with it. I have no concrete ideas, so please, come forth and suggest. I really cannot wait to make something with it. It is so pretty! She also gifted me some feltable soap. I have not done it yet, but basically you put the wool over the soap and felt it. As you wash it acts like an exfoliator. How cool is that? Thanks again Katalancheeee! Come and visit again so we can hit the adult pool - okay?

On monday I took off from work (yay) and we met up with Isel at Stitch DC where we met up with Olgita who works there. They could not have asked for a more knowledgeable employee, she rattles off ideas like crazy! I wish that I could take off from work everyday and hang out with my friends.
If you want to see more pictures of our meet up, including Isel's close encounter with mohair, check out my flickrpage.

Also go check out Olgita's new pattern on knitty. She is so freaking talented! (and her photographer is not so bad either if I do say so myself.)

Seriously PEOPLE!!

2007-06-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I don't usually rant and rave much (hahaha - that was such a lie!) but I have to rant and rave now. I have told you all about ravelry. I love it, it's a fantastic site, frecklegirl and casey are awesome. There may be some of my lovely readers that are patiently waiting to get inside ravelry. However, it seems that there are some people that are not so patient. To that, I want to say, please be the considerate nice knitters that I know you are - please! frecklegirl and casey devote their free time to making this site all nice and pretty for all, and they need to do some things to make it able to hold this wonderful ever expanding world of knitters. So be nice, and wait, and then you will say "yay! frecklegirl and casey are so awesome! ravelry was worth the wait!"

end of rant - beginning of rave

I have the best knitting friends ever! Look what Olgita gifted me for my bday:Isn't it the bestest, cutest little bag ever? I still am trying to decide what to store in there since its super special. What? You are jealous out there in blogland? Well, don't just sit there! Go get yourself one! Sheesh!

Also, I gave myself a little birthday knitting gift (there were also birthday non-knitting gifts as well). Delishiousness! Habu Tsumugi Silk that I just stare at and sniff. Yummie yum yum! I am such a Habu member now - it is so pretty! I want to make a nice tunic from it, but it will have to wait.

I am working on the Knit Cafe's Baby Kimono for a co-worker. I swear, it is such an easy knit but because I cannot stop thinking about how I want to finish my redgina, and I want to figure out the front of my free people cardi, and I want to make a secret project for Ava, and I have so many other ideas, it is going soooo sloowwwww.

But keep your fingers crossed that I will finish it by tomorrow so hopefully I will have it done this weekend. I have a special visitor coming to hang out with me and I cannot wait to get a chance to visit some yarn shops together. Maybe we will run into someone we know!

Oh and thank you to all that wished me a happy birthday and that I did not get a chance to personally respond to. I hate that blogger does not let you just hit "reply" and send an email back. My birthday was awesome! Let's see how I look when I turn 30!

A year older, a year smar...wis...stron...(hmm)....A year older!

2007-05-30T08:28:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to me... Thanks reese and mich for the bday wishes this morning, and Kat for the card - pictured above - very much how I feel, and Olga for the singing, and Steph for the email, and all of you out there for reading, and laughing with me!(not at me I hope) this past year. Many more laughs, knitting disasters, and hopefully some triumphs,coming up on my 29th year!

Mee mee meeeeee!

2007-05-24T12:03:00.001-07:00

I have been tagged by both knitannie and jade to tell you seven completely random facts about me. I think this will be as painful for you as it is for me because I am ultra boring and have been trying to come up with interesting things to tell you guys for about a week now and have ZILCH! So I will tell you seven completely random and uninteresting facts about me.

1) I dip my french fries in a self made mixture of mayonaisse and pete's hot sauce. My co-worker got me into it and I cannot stop.

2) I am going to copy knitannie. I cannot stand crusty eggs. (she cannot stand runny eggs) Seriously, I will puke.

3) I ran the Marine Corps Marathon last year and will never.do.it.again (till next year maybe).

4) My two best friends have "Maria" as the first or middle name. My first name is Maria.

5) My dad never remembers what day I was born. He wishes me Happy Birthday on a different day every year. No joke. However he does remember that after the hospital he went to have a huge sandwich in Avenida Irigoyen.

6) I am taking Tony on a secret birthday trip... shhh... I think I am more excited about it than he ever will be. If any of you commenters know where I am taking him, don't mention it ... it's a secret!

7) I love my Tony, but I also love my Saturday mornings when he goes to have coffee with his dad and I can stay at home and watch my shame t.v. shows that I have taped all week. (So You Think You Can Dance? Anyone?!?)

Pheww...that was tough. As was completely restarting my Redgina after the 32 mistakes that I kept ignoring and I thought would be covered by my hair became way too apparent. That is a picture of my latest attempt. I am hopefully finishing the back today.

Another FO - Unbelievable!

2007-05-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am cranking them out like there is no tomorrow people!! Why such the rush? Maybe I am avoiding the lace work on my Redgina, or my very first pattern attempt... maybe... I don't know.

The sewing on this stunk. I am a horrible seamstress. But, the more I practice the better I will get - right Olgita? I even attempted a nice pocket! Mushee (Tony's little sister) is getting this tomorrow, and I will let you all know how its received.

I love the finished product. At first the Raffia was hard to work with, because I am used to nice lovely delish yarn, and nylon is a huge difference.

Not much to write about today. We are going out of town tomorrow to Tony's older sisters graduation, so I am trying to get a lot done before then. Even a haircut scheduled later on, which I am always scared about so wish me luck!

I have been tagged for a meme, my knitannie but I am not in the "full disclosure" kinda mood - so I will leave it for when I have a little more pep.

Pattern Details:

Pattern: Paper Bag by Just Call Me Ruby found on Knitty.com
Yarn: Nylon Raffia in Pearlized Champagne (4 rolls approx.)
Needles: Size 6 from my Denise Interchangeables. (thankfully I am addicted to my Addis now or I would be heartbroken that one of the cables broke!)

Princess Capelet

2007-05-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was playing with Picasa a little last night, that is why this is an "artistic shot". So, I finished the Capelet. It was a quick knit, super easy, and the end result turned out shockingly adorable.

This was a gift to Tony's older sister, whose birthday was in March (oops - a little late). However, I have bad luck getting her to model for me (see the status bar on the right -the promenade bag - was made for her birthday last year). So I decided to model it myself. I kinda really like it... I kinda want one for me (sans the pompoms - I am not a pompom girl).

The one thing I would change is the yarn. For this one I used two strands of Lion Brand Thick and Quick, which is inexpensive yarn, but I really just wanted to try out the pattern in the book. The yarn is itchy and just not very pleasant to work with, although the end result does not show it.

I took the Capelet over to her house yesterday, and although it was over 70 degrees outside, Aik wore it out on a date with her boyfriend. As she would say "it was a total success".

Pattern Details:

Pattern: Princess Capelet by Wenlan Chia from Twinkle Big City Knits
Yarn: Lion Brand Thick and Quick in Cranberry (I think that is the name)
4.5 skeins
Needles: Forget the Brand size US19

Obsessed

2007-05-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

I have a new obsession...Ravelry.com. frecklegirl and her husband have created this AWESOME web community for knitters. I am sure that all three of you that read my blog probably have read about this already, but I wanted to share my excitement as well. It is a great site to organize your projects, learn what other people are making, gawk at FO's, and meet new friends. If I were not so busy at work I would be spending my entire day doing this.

Right now they are still in testing mode, so they are slowly inviting people in. Go ahead and ask them for an invite! You may have to wait a little bit, but once you are in, you will not want to do anything else but hang out there.

In knitting news, I am doing the unthinkable. I am working on more than two projects at a time - yikes!

The first one is the Paper Bag I am making for Tony's little sister in exchange for the butt kicking spinning classes. I love the way this is turning out, but it is killing my fingers! The raffia (is that how you spell it?) is super rough to knit with, but I think the end result will be a super cute bag that she can use during the day and at night during the summer.

The second one is The Princess Capelet from Twinkle Big City Knits. This one is actually almost done now. It would have been done already except I cannot read. The pattern says to work 15 rows decreasing every 3rd row, and then work until there are 22 rows. I took this as to knit an additional 22 rows. So I had to do a bit of undoing and finished it really in one day. This one is a late gift for tony's older sister's birthday, and now graduation gift since she just finished defending her dissertation and is getting her phd.

The last one is my own creation. It is my first attempt at creating my own design - completely winging this. This is the yarn left over from the bolero fiasco... remember that? And when I saw this cute little cardi on colourknits flickr feed I wanted to try it. However, I am learning how to know my own shape, and the cute little model... she has no boobs, and has no hips, and no tummie - and me, I got all those. So I am trying to make this one longer. It is going to be a learn as you go type of thing... bear with me as I cry.

Know yourself

2007-04-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti because I am determined to make my own patterns if it kills me. She spends at least a chapter or two discussing knowing body shapes of different people, and knowing what shapes do and do not flatter each type. Another chapter she spends talking about knowing what colors do and do not flatter the person you are knitting for according to their skin color. I am going to be honest and tell you that I skimmed through these chapters. I know my shape! I know what colors flatter me! I don't need no Maggie telling me nothing (yes I do - but I was rebelious).

When I saw this jacket, I just fell in love with it. The style was current, the shape was so fashionable, the model looked so adorable in the pic, that I knew that if I made the jacket, I would look adorable in it too! right?!

I dunno. I think if I was not so curvy this would fall better, or maybe the sleeves are too short? I have no idea what it is - it is just missing something for me.

I love this jacket. I am proud of the work I did on it, I am proud of my nice even stitches, and the fact that I lined it, and the fact that I bribed Olga with Guacamole and Coronas to do the piping - whatever works :). Now, I am not fishing for compliments, (although- please, feel free) but I just don't know if it flatters me.

Usually I cannot wait to wear a new garment to work and show it off and have people tell me that I did a marvelous job with it. I LOVE the attention.(In fact I do love the fact that one coworker thought I had sewn the fabric together - she thought my nice even stitches was store bought fabric - gasp!) But with this one, I just feel ..ehhh. I tried it with all three buttons and I looked like a clown - not cute like the model in the pic, so I decided to do one button and then snaps, but when I close it, it gathers at the top. I do not know if I want to remove the snaps all togehter and leave just one at the top, or just add mroe snaps so it closes better. Maybe it should have been longer, maybe the color combo is just too hard to match with other clothes in my closet. I dunno. What do you guys think? Check out my flickr account for more pics. There are ALOT because I was not happy with any of them, and I wanted to play with my new camera.

Sneak Peek

2007-04-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

ohh! this is cruel isn't it? The jacket is almost done. Olga helped me with the piping this past friday and all I had to do is finish putting lining in it. Considering this is my first time lining anything it is a slow and incredibly painful process. I hate sewing. But I think the lining will give it a spectacular finished look. I chose purple as my accent color, and don't really know how I feel about it. I wanted to step it up a bit and do something different (I sound like an American Idol contestant - don't I?), but now I am thinking perhaps this will not be the easiest garment to match.

Hopefully will be done with it by this weekend so I can do a photoshoot. I hope the weather cooperates.

I am also working on this Paper Bag:

For Tony's little sister. I promised her something since she sneaks me into her one and a hlaf hour spinning class every week. Although, to think about it, should I really be thanking her for this?

FO never posted

2007-04-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

So cute - isn't it? I started this scarf in Mexico on my vacation. I hated knitting it because you have to knit into the front and back of every 4th (i think) row until you get 3200 stitches. Not fun. And while I was making it I could not picture how the colors were going to look all curly and all, so I wanted to undo it like a quadrillion times. Ask anyone on the trip (especially Xtina), I asked them - "Should I undo it?" so many times, they were annoyed.

So I stuck to it and finished it. Binding off 3200 - ya - not fun either.

Because I put so much work and patience into it I gifted it to my friend Jess. She should be part of our monthly girls night but lives in - shoot - I always forget this - I think Rhode Island. See what a bad friend I am? I don't even know where she lives. That is why she totally deserves this scarf. That and the fact that she is a totally loving and caring person and we miss her and we cannot wait for her to move to our area this summer. YAY!!

Oh and the pic? It was take with my new camera thank you very much. I am in love.

Talented Friends

2007-04-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about this book! Congratulations Olgita for your gorgeous cover design!! It is absolutely divine. I am so proud of you my talented friend.

I also cannot wait to see what other suprises Yahaira has in store for us.

Congratulations ladies!

My new approach to Phildar projects

2007-03-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Basically, proceed with caution because who knows what is going to happen. I have such bad luck with these. You all remember the craziness that was my Asymmetrical Sweater pattern. It turned out great, I love it, but deciphering the literally translated pattern gave me (and Olga) headaches. Well, I gave Olga the headaches with my quadrillion questions.

So when I started the Swing Jacket - which I now know won't be used until next season * sigh * - I approached the pattern cautiously. Thankfully, it seemed pretty straight forward, and so I went on my Mexican vacation and left the back to marinate for a week.

When I came back I picked up about 20 cm into the 56 cm back, and knitted along in the pretty pattern. I thought something looked odd, but I chucked it up to vacationitis. My gauge was the same, the measurements were still okay, so I knitted on.

Then one Friday I had to work late, and Tony went out and I could not wait to come home and knit away with some tivod shows and som wine. Then, maybe it was the clarity brought by the wine, the oddity became clearer.
I stared and stared, and sure enough noticed - two different colors.
Don't lie and say you can't see it, because I know you can. Trust me, I lied to myself and told myself I could not tell the difference for a long time. As soon as I saw it, I ran up to our office, took pictures and said a little prayer that Olga was online. I hope she never starts charging me for he knitting classes, because I will be broke. B-R-O-K-E. We both agreed that we never thought Paton's dye lots would be so different! Anyways, after hysterical google messaging for 15 minutes we decided that I was not going to undo anything, that I was going to wash the completed project, and then dye it all.

So I continued on, and knitted the left and right front sides, and once in a while, I would take out the bi-colored back and just stare at it hoping that it would change colors. I was so nervous that after finishing everything, the dye would come out splotchy, or not change anything at all. So I fnished the front, and decided to just frog the back. So this is where I am in this project:

That is the back, that I just restarted yesterday, and a close up of my hem. I LOVE my hem. I want to put hems on everything now.
Do you think the two sides are each a different color, or am I just being paranoid?

Goodies to/from Argentina

2007-03-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

I left Argentina when I was 9. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. By far. I hated leaving my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins behind, and even begged my parents to let me stay and live with my grandparents. I have gone back three times, and leaving them does not get any easier. That is why I hate going back to Argentina.
Thankfully in the age of technology and instant everything, we are able to communicate far better than I have ever imagined. I still get veclemped when they call, or when they send me a picture, cause I miss them so much. Thes pictures of them and the handknitted gifts I sent them really choked me up.

Model: My grandmother - the cutests, bestest grandmother ever. I used to spend every weekend with her and my grandfather running around in their backyard and eating her home made meals. Man I miss her. But isn't she the CUTEST?!
Pattern: Clutch from Handknit Holidays. Yarn: left over yarn from my Somewhat Cowl. Comments: I actually really liked this pattern. I just had a hard time hand sewing the zipper in, and I wish I could use my little sewing machine to line it, but I cannot get the tension right on the thread. I want to make the bag for myself, I just need to find the time to do it.

Model: My tio Roberto. He is my dad's older brother, and one of the few men that I know that can pull off a pink vest. Pattern: my own mock stitch pattern. Yarn: Patons's Merino Wool in Gray.

Model: My Tio Mario. The youngest one of the three brothers. He is a really good photographer and I have the best pictures of him and I when I was a baby. Also super cute man. ( and not an alcoholic - he shared the beer with my dad :) ) Pattern: Coronet from Knitty Yarn: Lamb's Wool in a chocolate brown ( I don't remember the color right now). Model: Tia Gladys (tio Mario's wife) Not only does she look half my age (arghhh!) she is one the coolest ladies I know. She is always calm, patient, and just so much fun to be around. It was her birthday while my dad was there - therefore she got two gifts. Pattern: Fetching from Knitty and Calorimetry also from Knitty. Yarn: Lamb's Wool in seafoam for Fetching, and Seafoam and another color I had leftover from the robots for Colimetry. (don't judge for the lack of information - I was in a hurry to get these out the door before my dad left on his trip and I did not write anything down.)

Apparently the gifts were a huge success, and the talent appreciated. So, what did I get back from Argentina?

YARNNNN!!!

My dad brought me back this:

It is 100% wool, gorgeous and chocolaty brown lovelyness!

My tio Roberto sent this yummy goodness:

Llama (how the heck do you spell that?), in three different shades and I am in love with all of it. He even sent me the email address of the woman he bought it from in case I want to contact her.

Mario and Gladys sent me this gorgeous necklace, that is woven somehow, with the matching earrings.

I really cannot wait to see them all. I am thinking I will go and visit for my birthday next year. That just seems so far away.

Ok, as far as knitting is going. I still do it. :) I am working on that Phildar jacket, and I am completely annoyed by it. I will blog about it later this week, but I will leave you with a little teaser:

Who would have thought Paton's dye lots would be so radically different?

I HAVE to do this...

2007-03-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am going to get some crap for this. And I know this because Lickety Knit got some crap for it when she did it, (mostly from me for not taking me with her) and I am again copying her. But I just have to! It is like "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego", but with knitting.

That is where I was knitting last week. You see the ocean? and the pool? and the swim up bar with all you can drink margaritas/pinacoladas? If you see the latter, then you will also see dropped stitched in my scarf. I've said it before and I will say it again do NOT drink and knit.

By the way, I was in Ixtapa Mexico, and no, I did not spend my time in the balcony.

Catching Up

2007-02-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I procrastinate. Now I have to do a catch-up post to tell you all what I have been up to. So you better comment! (x-tina - ahem). I am going to do this in list format. I am a major list maker and I need to do it this way this one time so I don't forget anything.

1) Thanks to Macoco

I want to send out a shout out (woot woot!) to my friend Macoco for sending me this Mexico City guide and the lovely (yet completely uncessary) yarn.

The book totally came in handy on our vacation last week (pictures to come), and the extra commentary handwritten by Macoco herself was an added bonus.

If you want a preview of what my vacation was all about, Macoco has allowed me to share a link to her Flickr Mexico pics. You may want to pay special attention to this picture, as well as this one, this other one, and yet one more. This is what vacationing in Mexico is ALL about. (Especially when your boyfriend's mother was born there and she wants you to experience Mexico to the fullest. (don't judge her folks - seriously this is all I did while in Mexico).
2) Dad Show

My dad is an artist. If any of you ever meet him he will tell you that -repeatedly. His ego is HUGE, it gets unbearable sometimes, but somehow we manage to love him like crazy. Last year, he only submitted his work to one gallery. That one gallery chose two of his paintings and showed them this past month. His ego is now completly unmanageable. However, we all managed to go support him. Here are some pictures of us "being proud". (hola pa!) Not cause I am his daughter (or because he promised me yarn from his trip to Argentina) but his were some of the coolest paintings, if not THE coolest paintings. I did manage to find some knitted work, and of course snapped some pics to share with you. The first one is of a crochetted(?) kimono (my brother looks impressed) and the second one is knitted trash bags. I do not have the name of the pieces/artists, but if I find them I will update this post. 3) Cutest Baby EVER!

You all know her by now. And she keeps getting freaking CUTER! These pictures of her wearing a bolero knitted by her (soon to become) favorite auntie (ok, ok, one of three favorite aunties) was taken a few weeks ago. Reese has informed me today that she has almost outgrown it. It maes me sad, but yet excited to see her grow up.

4) Marice (and her lomester made scarf) Dances with the Stars

About a year and a half ago I made Marice this Windy City scarf because she is the best person to work with. She finally got a digital camera and took the scarf to the Dancing with the Stars show. Her and I discuss reality t.v. all the time because we are junkies. Well, I am dragging her into the junkie category, but I do not think she will disagree. Isn't she rocking it?
5) Argentina gift updates

I finished them in time! Yahooooooo!!! My dad is over there right now (buying me yarn and things) and he has already taken pictures. As soon as I get them, you will see them.

6) Coming up...
I started and almost finished a scarf during my trip to Mexico. I will show you pics of everything as soon as possible. I also am knitting away on my Phildar Swing Jacket and will show pics of that too.

So now... go ahead, comment! (X-tina!!!)

My Sunday started at 5:30 a.m.

2007-02-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Allright, everyone! Guess why I got up at 5:30 a.m.:

a) I wanted to go for an early morning 30 degree weather
b) I needed to get ready for the TBS marathon of The Closer
c) I was visiting Reese and Ava woke me up
d) 60% off yarn

I know, you are all thinking a) because I am so dedicated to running and exercising. But you are wrong, I got up at 5:30 to make sure I got the SpringWater Fibers annual sale. Olga, Ava and I had decided on doing this about a month ago because we love yarn and we love yarn on sale. The sale started at 7 a.m. so we met at 6:30 to have enough time to stop by the local Starbucks. (A total necesity at this early hour).

The streets of Alexandria at this hour are very quiet. And so, when the light refused to turn green so I could make a left turn, I kinda-sorta got tired of waiting and kinda-sorta went. There were no police cars around, so I was safe. We drove down the road for about 5 minutes when all of the sudden I saw the shining blinking lights in my rear view mirror. There is NO WAY this policeman had seen me run that light 5 minutes ago! I pulled over (a little embarassed that my two knitter friends were in the car with me) and waited for an explanation.

He came to my window and asked me if I knew why he had pulled me over. I (of course) told him I had no clue. He told me my tags are expired. Now, I am very responsible and organized and I KNOW I had paid this. I explained this to the officer who listened to me and then told me "Well, I am still going to have to give you a ticket". So, I did what any respectable young woman would do. I begged. I said "oh, pleasepleasepleasepleaseeeee don't give me a ticket!! please pleasepleaseplease!!!" (this is an accurate reenactment and in no way an exaggeration). He took my license and told me he would be right back. At this point, the girls started giggling. I told them that if he left me off the hook, I would ask him for a picture for lomester. But I am generally not lucky in such things, so I did not expect it. I was so aggravated, embarrassed, sleepy, caffeine deprived...can you guys sense what I was feeling? After waiting a few minutes longer than I thought it should take for him to check that I was not a wanted criminal in 8 states, I knew he was writing me up.

I saw him coming back to my car and was prepared to continue to beg a little more. I didn't have to:
hee hee! I promised him that I would not reveal his name ( I actually can't even see it on his badge). And although I did not contribute to his "ticket quota" for the month, now he has a great story to tell all his officer buddies. This man could have completely ruined my day yesterday, but he chose to be a nice guy. Thank you nameless Alexandria police officer!

(btw - I came to work today and checked my files - I ummm, am a little, umm,... late paying my registration fees - but I SWEAR I thought it was paid!)

We stopped at the closest Starbucks and fueled up and made our way down to what we though was going to be a gold mine. We got there (i kid you not) at 7:10 and the place was packed. There were people sitting on the floor going through their collections of yarn they had just grabbed for 60% off. The leftovers were not even worth looking through. I know I am a little bit of a yarn snob, but the 60% off was not enticing enough.

However, we went to the nearby La Madeleine and had a lovely breakfast. We talked about running, and work, and yarn, and Ava showed me her Habu yarn catalog, which is really a very mean thing to do because now all I want to do is knit with yummie soft Habu. Mean Ava! :)

The first pic is of Ava knitting her pretty sock; Olgita plays with the sock; and then she gives me a hand with my Argentina knitting.

My dad is going back to Argentina to visit family so I of course have to knit some gifts. A scarf for my uncle (my own made up mocked cable pattern):
The accessory bags from Handknit Holidays for my grandma:

Olgita helped me with the first 13 rows or so. I have to get a zipper and line it with some fabric, and will show you the finished product as soon as I am done.

I also made Fetching for my aunt, and making Calorimetry to match them. I will show pics of those as well. I need to find a simple hat pattern for my other uncle. Advice/suggestions are completely welcomed.

Phildar Asymmetrical Sweater

2007-01-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

When I first started knitting and found the knitting blogging world, I found Becky. The fact that she could knit these things from complicated French patterns inspired me and it made me want to reach that level. I would look at the Phildar magazines on line and could not wait to be able to learn French. I even started listening to French podcasts so I could learn French, just to understand the Phildar patterns. Then I found out that Phildar was translating their patters, I bought some (at least 3?) of their pattern books.

This sweater was my first attempt at a Phildar sweater, and let me tell you kids, translated into English does not necessarily mean that these patterns make sense. No sirreee bob. Sometimes it seems that the pattern is just literally translated, without any thought to wether or not it is clear.

Thankfully, Olgita indulges me in question after question and teaches me how to do things to make the pattern work better for me. (this is the last time I make an entire ribbed sweater on US 3 with twisted stitches - yuckie!).

Pattern Details:
Pattern Source: Phildar Asymetrical Sweater from Phildar T endances Autumn 2 N. 456
Yarn: Rowanspun DK in Mouse (I think 7 and a half skeins).
Needle Size: US 3 Susan Bates. This project made me realize that although I love the practicality of my Denise Interchangeables, nothing compares to some metal needles. I just bought 3 Addi Turbos from Yarnbow... hee hee.
Modifications: Olgita made me do twisted knitted stitches on the right side of the project since the yarn felts a little. This made the ribbing pop up more.
What I learned: Phildar patterns look pretty, but they are hard to understand. Read, reread, and see if you have a good knitting friend that does not get tired of your questions. Oh, and I also learned that sometimes, the buttons cost more than the yarn - although I love these.

edited to add: i also learned how to do a knitted cast on for the button bands (Olga made me do this too) and how to sew on live stitches to a garment.

Next on the knitting horizon are some gifts for my dad to take to Argentina with him. I finished some Fetching gloves for my aunt, and am working on a scarf for my uncle, then I have to do a little something for my grandmother ( I was thinking one of those cute little purses/clutches from One Skein) and something for my other uncle so he does not get jealous. A roll brim hat perhaps? what do you guys think?

As soon as I am done with that, I will continue my Phildar Swing Jacket... oh I cannot wait to attack that French pattern again.

Our new Girl's Night Participant

2007-01-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Really, I don't think she could be cuter.

The entire "Girls" (Jess on the phone)

My First and Last Day with Ivan

2007-01-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

You guys know how I am. I like to tell stories with my knittings.

ivan was requested by Brandon, my Godson's older brother, who just fell in love with igor when he first came into the picture. Every time that I would see the boys Brandon would expect me to have an "ivan" hiding in my purse.

Althought they are not my boys, I feel some responsibility to teach them some important life lessons. So I started with learning how to be "patient". igor first appeared in August, and I told Brandon he would have to wait until his birthday in December to have his own. I got a lot of grunts and grumbles and 'oh maaaaaannnsss' but I would not be a good teacher if I did not stick to my timeline.

While they were learning how to be "patient" I was learning how "not to procrastinate". Because I finished ivan at approximately 3 a.m. on the day of Brandon's birthday party, which ended up being also Reese's baby shower.

It was nice to have him around that day, as I needed the company while I ran errands:

First her helped as I got lost in my neighborhood of at least 15 years because I was too tired and I missed my turn. He was begging to have a shot at the wheel, but ya, he could not reach the pedals. He made me stop and get coffee, and make sure that the SAP were secure during our travels. I think he became even more nervous when we picked up the baloons. The decreased visibility and my lack of sleep is not a good combination. Thankfully he also helped me eat some of the candy that was passed out at the baby shower, and quickly took a nap.
Although he was fun to have around for the day, it was a lot more fun to see Brandon and Chris happy to finally have him in their lives. Those smiles say it all. (and then they got silly)

Secret Ava Projects (SAPs) Revealed

2007-01-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ava will finally arrive in the next couple of days, and so, without further delay, here are the much awaited Secret Ava Projects:

Secret Ava Project 1: Pattern Details
Pattern Source: Mary Jane Slippers (I think that was the name) from Adorable Knits for Tots: 25 Stylish Designs for Babies and Toddlers Yarn: Jaeger Siena in Meadow (1 skein? It was left over from the baby sweater I made a while ago) and the pink was yarn my mom bought a long time ago when she thought my brother might be a sister. Needle Size: US2 and US3 Recipient: Ava :)

Secret Ava Project 2:

Pattern Details
Pattern Source: Baby pillow from Jaeger Siena in Meadow (1 skein? It was left over from the baby sweater I made a while ago), pink left over from mom and Patons Grace in Snow
Needle Size: US2 and US3
Recipient: Ava

Secret Ava Project 3:

Pattern Details
Pattern Source: Baby Bolero from One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet Yarn: King Tut Cotton (can't find the right color)
Recipient: Ava

Secret Ava Project 4:Pattern Details:

Pattern Source: Baby Balnket from Stitch and Bitch Yarn: TLC Cotton in Light Rose and Cream (knit together) Needle Size: I want to say US8 (can't remember right now) Recipient: Ava

Secret Ava Project 5:

Pattern Details
Pattern Source: Teddy Bear from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies (I finished this one at 2 a.m. before the shower).

Yarn: I think it's Paton's 100% Wool made for felting... if anyone really wants to know I will find the label and let you know.

Recipient: Ava

Maybe the next pictures I show you is of my new niece wearing, or next to one of these items. It was a joy to make them for her, and for Reese, but it will be even a bigger joy to be a part of her life.

Sending a little Sunshine to Cambodia

2006-12-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Do you remember SOL? I made him for a friend in need a of a little sunshine a while ago. Remember him now?

Well, SOL accompanied my friend and her husband on their 4 month trip around the world (me?- jealous? - nah! :( ) SOL was, I am told, kept in the pocket of their backpack the entire time. He was able to visit, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Italy, Monaco, China, Thailand.... I am sure that I missed some countries . (me? jealous? naahhhhhh)

Turns out SOL decided that my friends were tiring him out, so he made a new friend in Cambodia, and decided to just hang out and live there from now on:

Problem is, his new friend seems to like having SOL look at his feet all day long.

(By the way, yes, SAP pics coming soon... promise)

She Luvvreeeddd it!

2006-12-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

Pattern Details

Pattern Source: Bulky Circular Bolero from ms. Gleek. Such an easy to follow pattern that knits up so quick and cute! (it was not as quick for me since I kept being distracted by SAPs). ms. gleek just rocks!

Yarn: 8 balls of Gedifra Living in Cabernet

Needle Size: US 10.5 from the good 'ol Denise Interchangeable set

Recipient: tony's mama. Let me tell you something, this woman, not so easy to knit for. I have knitted her a couple of scarves and she adores them and wears them. (no pics since they were from my beginning fun fur days, and I am embarrased by the acrylic). And as I think I told you before, she wanted me to knit her a sweater, and I did NOT want to knit her a sweater, but promised to NOT knit her another scarf for her birthday. She kept insisting on a sweater, and the colors were very specific, dark blue or black or dark burgundy red. This color was perfect because her and I share a love of wine (as I am sure many of you out there do as well) so the name Cabernet was just the finishing touch to a well thought out project. She was more than delighted and wore it the entire night while we celebrated her birthday at my house and drank wine and ate cheese.

As much as I dread actually spending time on knitted gifts that I fear will never be worn, responses like hers were well the time not spent on my Phildar Asymmetrical Jacket.

This past weekend was also the reveal of the Secret Ava Projects and ivan the robot. I am going to try VERY VERY hard to post the next two days with those pics. If you don't see me...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! From lomester

I do TOO still KNIT!

2006-12-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have been lacking a little blogging mojo, but not knitting mojo... but don't worry kids - I AM BACK!!

Here is what I have completed lately:

Roll brim hat made out of one Sken of NORO Shinano 65% Wool and 35% Silk for my little brother Pablo. I made him a ribbed scarf about a year ago with similar colors and told him i would make him a hat to match. I have to admit, I normally do not like different colored yarn. I am a one color, consistent type of girl. But man-0-man am I in love with this NORO. I hope he likes it too.

Tony's mom wants a sweater for her birthday. I have a hard enough time with sizing for sweaters for myself, I did not want to make a horrible sizing mistake with her. Plus, I have not made a sweater for my own mom, she would be so upset if I made one for Tony's mom first. So I compromised in my mind and decided to make her this Bulky Circular Bolero provided by ms. gleek. I ran out of the Gedifra Living in Cabernet, and cannot wait for the rest to arrive. We are celebrating her birthday this Saturday and I really want to give it to her. Oh the pressure!!

Last but not least is my Phildar Asymmetrical Sweater. Knit on US size 3, and it is killing meeeee!! I always choose the projects with the small gauge - why?!?! It is turning out really pretty though - take a look:

That right there is the back, right front and almost all of the left front. Now all I have to do is the sleeves, button band and neck. Not much - right? :) I bought a great gray skirt that I think will look so cute with this sweater once it is done. I want to make a couple more small Secret Ava Projects (SAP) before the baby shower next weekend, so this is going to have to wait for a while until those are done.

I cannot believe Ava is almost here, and not only do I get a new niece, but I get to finally share all my projects with you guys.

Oh, one more pic:

What I did on my Autumn Vacation...

2006-11-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we rented a house in beautiful West Virginia with Tony's parents and sisters and our godson Chris and his family rented another one down the road. We stayed in a beautiful house in Canaan valley that had a jacuzzi, two great big decks and was perfectly quiet. It was such a change from suburbia. It was fun hanging out with the kids. They were a little wild and crazy, but after some crayons, papers and instructions that they could not move until the entire paper was full of images they saw that day, they were okay.

We ran around, and climbed and saw deer and (we think we) saw bear tracks during our 4 mile uphill run. (it was not fun) I took this opportunity away from work/cooking/cleaning and all the otherd aily activities to catch up on my Christmas knitting.

I really do not think that I want to get into the habit of knitting my Christmas gifts because the pressure is just too much for me. Plus, I like knitting stuff for myself more than for anyone else. That way, the only person I dissapoint is me. However, all of Tony's aunts keep making comments about how I knit for the kids but not for them, and how they have never received anything from me, so I decided to make them all slippers.
The pattern is from Knit Two Together, and although I had originally checked the book out from the library this pattern made me buy the book. I want to eventually make tons of these for the house since we have a no shoes policy.

I made all four of them during my resting period on Sunday after chasing the kids around and while watching Ugly Betty reruns on Aik's computer, and finished them on the car ride home which was about 3 hours.

They are all made from left over yarn that I used to make the henri the bear, SOL for my friend, igor for Chris and the upcoming ivan for Chris's brother Brandon. (I am still in shock that these kids keep asking for igor's brother, and that the robot is carried around the house and the car all the time. yay for knitted toys!

Anyhoo, on the left are the pre-felt and the right the aft-felt pictures. I have to say - I think I over felted because they turned out a leetttlee bit small. However, I feel better knowing that Tony's aunts have really small feet and that they will shove their toesies in there one by one if I have to make them because these slippers are HAND MADE thankyouberimach.

I also took some time to work on the back of my Phildar Assymetrical Sweater. Darn size 3 needles take forever, but it sure does look nice! I am knitting on the back side of the knit stitches on the RS to make the stitches pop more (thanks olgita). I cannot wait to get more of this one done.

Swatches and Broken Robots

2006-11-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

I am a real knitter! And you know how I know that? I actually made swatches! I was happily working on my second attempt at a bolero jacket but kept having dreams about these two Phildar projects. You know you have an illness when it consumes even your resting time.

I love the projects that Becky finishes from Phildar, and I have ordered a few catalogues from Knitntyme before, but for some reason have never started one. Now Phildar offers their catalogues translated to English right on their site! This sweater immediately caught my eye when I received my first order from them.

Olgita found this yarn for me and Macoco convinced me to buy it (yarn enablers are not hard to find now a days). I swatched it and Olgita and I washed it and it looks kinda felty, but I lluuvreee it. It is going to be a bit of a pain because I am doing 3X3 ribbing on size 3's. I started this past weekend and only have about 15 cm of the back done. But I think the final outcome will be gorgeous. It is a much darker gray (Mouse) than what the picture shows, and as you know, gray is the new black.

The other project that kept me up at night, or woke me up in the middle of the night, is this Phildar jacket - so - freaking - cute!! Since this project is going to require a large amount of yarn, I decided to go the inexpensive route and use Paton's 100% merino wool in Deep Olive ( I figure that color will look great with browns and blacks - which is pretty much all i wear). I know, not super fancy, but it will do. I might even ask my aunt to help me sew in a lining to help keep its shape. What do you guys think of my two new obsessions? I have started the sweater, but made myself not start the jacket until I complete my small number of Christmas gifts for Tony's aunts, which I am hoping to finish this weekend.

Ok, now for the robot part. You remember igor right? He was a gift for my godson's 5th birthday. Well, I went to see the little tazmanian devil this past weekend and found out igor had indeed become a favorite toy for the boys. How did I know this? Exhibit a and b below: I am sooooo happy that they are playing with him! He has now undergone drastic plastic surgery at chez lomester and is ready to go back to their house.

Finished

2006-10-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

That's right kiddies! I finished the Marine Corps Marathon! Not at a great time, not at a time that I wanted to have finished, but, I.FINISHED!

I am so happy that I have met this goal in my life, and to go back to running for fun again. It has been a while now since I have gone for a run just for fun, and not because I have to meet a certain number of miles required. Yay for me and the other 20,000 people that finished. Yay US!

I also finished something else... Gatsby Girl! I wore it to work to celebrate my marathon ending. My co-workers are pretty impressed with it, and in fact, so am I. I have to admit that as much as I brag, I still feel a little self-conscious wearing hand knitted items outside the privace of my own house, either because it is not finished right, or it is too big, or whatever the reason. But GG is a gem! It is form fitting without being too tight, and the color is really pretty, and I even did fairly well on the finishing, so in some parts you cannot even tell that it is hand made.

The only modifications I made were taking out the cables, and making it two inches longer before shaping for the waist. I like my tops to be a little longer in order to elongate my figure, and distract people from the fact that I got a big caboose.

Pattern: Gatsby Girl from from Interweaves Fall 2006
Yarn: KFI Cashmerino (55% merino wool, 33% microfiber, 12% cashmere) (mostly gifted by ms. pea)
Needles: Sixe 3 addis, size 2 Susan bates.

As promised, here are some pictures (now stop bugging me! - you know who you are!):wait wait... one more:

Cop-out posting

2006-10-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have no pictures for you. Sorry. I hate writing a post without pictures, but I have hassled by several people (Reese, Zarah, Olgita) to update, so here it is.

Knitting news: GG (gatsby girl) is finished. I need to sew the buttons on and do a wonderful photoshoot for you and will post pics. Maybe this weekend? I hope this weekend.

SAP4 was looking like a 5 year old chimpanzee in need of glasses that just learned to knit was knitting it, so it has been frogged, and now I am working on SAP4v2 (version 2) and it is turning out very pretty, thank you very much.

Quick SAP4v2 story: The object (since I am not giving any clues until Ava is born) is pink and white, and I was showing off to Tony, and he says "i like it, but would not like it for my kid", and I said "well, why?", "cause it's pink" he said. So I said, "this is for a girl, what colors would you have your little girl wear?". Sit down people, you are going to loooveee his answer: "light blue". Thank god we are not having kids yet. (hi tony)

I am also working on my second attempt at a bolero jacket. I am not following any patterns this time. Olgita has (tried) taught me how to figure out a pattern and creat it by myself, so I am giving it a shot. Stay tunes for cries of desperation and anxiousness. Thanks Olgita for helping me on this, I am so happy you moved close by!

Marathon News: It's this Sunday. I don't want to do it anymore. End of update.

Reading News: I thought I would start telling you guys what I am reading. I have been tempted by other blogs, (Macoco made me read The Sociopath Next Door) and I thought I may tempt someone else. I read at night before I go to bed, and while I need, and sometimes while I knit in bed before I go to sleep. (yes, it's an obsession, I know). Currently I am reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. I never posted about this, but a fellow knitter/blogger/friend sent this to me when I remarked how much I love this man. Thanks nessagr!

My dad got me hooked watching "No Reservations" while ago. (yay - new episodes in January!) Tony Bourdain is fearless in his culinary adventures, he is honest, arrogant, comical, and I just love watching that show. The book is the same way. Completely honest, (don't eat fish on Mondays people - just don't do it), and funny and biographical at the same time.

I am also reading 157 magazines that are all over my house/office/car. But that is another story. Cross your fingers for some GG pics this weekend. Oh, and for me to not break something doing the marathon.

Happy happy joy joy!

2006-10-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I am warning you - this is going to be the dumbest post ever. But, I was feeling guilty that I had not posted in a while, so went looking through my pictures to see what I coudl write about. The other day I had a cup of looseleaf tea at work made with my tea difuser from teavana that my mom got me for Christmas one year. I rinse it out and left it drying on my desk, and the next day when I went to put it away, there was this left. I actually did not want to wipe the desk down until I had taken a picture of it. A happy face! Isn't it weird?

Knitting is going good. I finished the front and back of the gatsby girl and I am about half way through the neverending sleeves. These are going to take forever because it is in a k1p1 pattern on size 2. YuCK!

I really want to start something else, but my perfectionist side will not let me until this is finished. I am working on SAP3 - which is coming along okay. I don't know how I feel about it yet, but I will give it to Reese and Ava regardless. They might love it.

Less than two more weeks until the marathon and I cannot wait. I want to get it over with so I can enjoy running again. I have been so preoccupied with wether or not I am getting my mileage in and training properly (i haven't) that I have not been enjoying running as much as I used to. Two more weeks!

WIP pics soon - I promise!

Crazy Pirates and Crazy Ideas

2006-09-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

I.won.something!! yayyy!!! CraftPirate Macoco had a contest that guaranteed a prize to whoever could guess what the pattern on her quilt was. I am not a quilter. But I am a googler!! So I googled and I googled and I found it.

So Macoco sent me this:

Gorgeous - isn't it? And I must agree with her - the little baby alpca drawing is so cute, it makes it even more irresistable. The problem is, I think Macoco is one crazy pirate. Look at what she writes in her note:

ummm.... ya... not so much! I am not knitting this gorgeous yarn into a gift for someone else... pffttt! crazy pirate, yarn is for me!

Now for crazy stunts. This past weekend, I ran a half marathon with Tony's younger sister. If you do not believe me, look at these ridiculously ugly pictures taken my marathon officials.

HA!! I did it. Ok, now this was only a half marathon, not a full marathon, which I will be running Oct.29, but man although it was tons of fun, it was not that easy. It may have had to do with the fact that the whole course was hills and windy roads - but still! Anyways, I am ultra-proud, and a major show-off, so wanted to share that with you guys. And because I am ultra-proud, I am not going to share my horrible time with you guys. Just a word of caution: go to the bathroom before you run a long distance race - i am just saying...

Last but not least, SAP3 is completed. Here is a sneak peek:

Suertuda!!

2006-09-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

A while ago Vik had mentioned that she had been wanting the 2006 Pattern by Day Calendar. Since I have it, I told her I would send it to her, and when the year finished, I would send her the rest of the patterns. No biggie, just doing something nice for a fellow knittter, and an Argentina!

She completely shocked me by sending me a thank you gift! You know I love getting packages, but there is something to be said about getting international packages! Look at the postage! That flag is so pretty...

Next to the postage is a bracelet that she sent that I cannot wait to wear next World Cup when Argentina once agains tries to reclaim their rightful place as World Cup winner (c'mon boys!).

Also included in this surprise package were some yummie chocolates and my most favorite cookies ever - TITA! Weird how a bite of a chocolate covered cookie can transport you back in time to when you were 7 and as a treat your mom would give you a TITA. YUM.... My favorite was a potholder that she made by herself. I did spend a while trying to figure out the pattern, but then gave up. I will have to google it.

Thanks Vik! What a lovely surprise.

Also an update on the SAPs. I finished SAP2, and am working on SAP3. Take a look at a sneak peek of SAP2:

I told you - no baby/no FO pictures that are visible. I am now finishing up SAP3 - and man o man is it cute! Ava is going to be one lucky well dressed baby.

I am also working on my Gatsby Girl Pullover from the last Interweaves. I love how this looks, but this is my first time doing lacey stuff and it has taken me a while to get a hold of the pattern. There are some mistakes on the back (which I just finished) but the untrained eye cannot see them, and my hair will cover them, so I am letting them be.

It is really pretty isn't it? I am using yarn that my first secret pal, ms. f.pea, gifted me a few months ago, and which I was able to find on ebay - same color and everything for a not so expensive price. I like the color - its like a muted coffee brow - and cannot wait to wear it. Either to dress up some jeans, or to the office.

The back so far is looking very pretty. I do wish that was the size of my waist - but it is not. The ribbing makes it look so much smaller than it is. See how stretchy it is?

ms. marigold

2006-09-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

I have had this completed for oh so long. I have worn it to work, to tony's parent's house, out for a drive. But I never took good enough pictures, so I did not want to post about it. This blog has been neglected for a while, so I regardless of how I feel about the pictures, here it is - ms. marigold.

I decided to not do the crochet sleeves, cause, ha - I don't know how to crochet! Plus, I thought that it looked too "girlie" and I did not think I could pull off that look. I love the color, and the neckline, I even tried it with an "office" look (see picture below). It will look great in the fall and in the winter as a vest - don't you think? The only problem I have with this one is that I do not know how to bind off loosely. My cast off edge is way too tight, and it makes the bottom kinda roll under. Does that make sense? Does anyone have any other ideas on how to bind off loosely?

Anyways, overall a nice lovely, easy knit. I am obsessed with knitting in the round from top to bottom, and get kinda annoyed when my favorite new patterns are knit the conventional way. Maybe one day I will get good enough to convert my own patterns.

More pics (cutest little brother ever - eh?):

Pattern: ms. marigold from zephyrstyle
Yarn: 4 skeins Knit Picks Elegance in Grass
Needles: (size 6 needles) Denise Interchangeables
Alterations: I did the sleeves in a 2k2p rib for 5 rows, as opposed to the crocheted (sp?) sleeves the original pattern called for.

Et tu meme?

2006-09-05T09:02:00.001-07:00

I have no idea where that title came from...

I have been tagged by ms. Schrodinger!! Here it is - a book meme.

1. One book that changed your life:
All books change my life, while I am reading them, as I am at work wanting to read them, as I sneak in a few paraghraphs at night wanting to find out what is going to happen. I am not one of those people that can put a book down if they are not into it. Even if I am not grabbed immediately, I need to read it all!

Not to be all knittydorky, but probably Stitch and Bitch had a huge impact, cause it got me obsessed with knitting.

2. One book that you've read more than once:
I read Matilda by Roahl Dahl like a quadrillion times. And Little Women by Louisa May Alcott too. Now that I am older, there are too many books I want to read, so I feel guilty rereading.

3. One book you'd want on a deserted island:
That is too hard, and an unfair question - that is like asking a mother to chose its favorite child.

4. One book that made you laugh:
The Confessions of a Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella was hysterical!

5. One book that made you cry:
Tons! But the one I remember is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I was crying like a baby and I went down to have dinner with my family and they were all worried about me.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Any Harry Potter book - what a money making machine!

7. One book you wish had never been written:
Any book I was forced to read while getting my masters.

8. One book you're currently reading:
Agents of Innocence by David Ignatius. As soon as I am done I start El Nino Envuelto by Elsa Bornerrman. Anther book that I read 1000 times. My dad just bought it for me again, I cannot wait to read it.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
AGHH... can't answer that either. Come to my house and you will see two book cases of "been meaning to read".

10. Tag 6 people:
The pressure the pressure!! If you read my blog, tag yourself, and let me know.

Oh! By the way -- FO pics coming soon!

Last Girls Night without Ava

2006-08-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

We started girls night as a mandatory reason to see each other. With busy work/married/liveinboyfriend lives, it sometimes gets so hard for the four of us to see each other, make dinner together and share a bottle of wine while venting, talking, being silly.

It was hard at first to have us all four together since Jess lives in Rhode Island (or is it Maine - I always forget cause she never emails me). But we managed to get her on the phone a couple of times - we were NOT drunk dialing - and we all spent some time together, as best with could. Then the situation got a bit more complicated, cause Reese got pregos, and it is so hard to enjoy wine when one of us is drinking O'Douls (disgusting). But being together with or without wine always brings me a type of comfort that I can't share with anyone else. Isn't it weird how girlfriends are so comforting, annoying, sisterly, opinionated, encouraging and supportive all in one package? I could not ask for better "sisters".

Our girls nights are going to be a bit more complicated the next few months. Reese (as mentioned) is pregos, and Michi decided to go on a trip around the world. She obviously did not considered that I would be left alone to deal with the pregos woman when she made this decision. I hope she brings me something nice to make up for it.

Anyways, this is a picture of all of us together one last time before our whole world goes topsy turvey (Jess is on the phone):

You see, when Michi returns from being a world traveler, we will have about a week before this party of four turns into a party of five ( I miss that show - but thankfully we can see Charlie on LOST). Ava (in Reese's tummy) will be joining us at the next girls night.

How funny how four highschool girls worried about the hair, their makeup and the boys in their study hall are soon going to turn into four adults that worry about their hair, their make up and their boys in the other room, and now, we are going to have to teach little Ava to not do all that.

Since this is my first "niece" I am going to make her a bunch of little things (I hope). But since this is a laborious and painstaking process (knitting, that is), Reese is not going to get any of it until she goes through the laborious and painstaking process of carrying little Ava for 9 months. I think it's a fair exchange - no?

Here is a peek at the first little thing I created for Ava. We will call it Secret Ava Project (SAP) 1:

That is all you are getting.

Clutches and Secret Pals

2006-08-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today I have no witty stories or comments, just appreciation. My secret pal sent me her last package - the reveal package - and I was astounded. She outdid herself and I truly feel spoiled.

I am probably going to forget to mention everything that was included in the package, she sent so much!

My Secret Pal this go around was Jan. I was blogstalking all day yesterday and man o man is she another talented knitter. I cannot wait to read more of her blog.

Jan lives in Oregon, so she sent me gifts that related to her part of the world. "Hottie" provided the home grown alapaca yarn. Apparently Oregon is big into raising alpacas - who would have know. Also in the package ais some Oregon vanilla soap; Tazo teas (perfect since I am big into teas lately); Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips (yummie); some cute buttons and a switchplate from local artists (the buttons are decorating the bulletin board at work - the switchplate has yet to find a home); the funniest was the "Museum of Kitschy Stitches" book. hysterical. (althought Tony liked a couple of patterns in it - questionable), and the light up needles. Now I have two sets!

Thanks Jan! It has been so much fun receiving your gifts, and I cannot wait to get to know you better! Man I love the internets sometimes.

Speaking of, I want to send a quick little shout-out (woot woot) to my girl Macoco for putting up with my email rants today... you rock sista!

I finished the One Skein clutch that I made for my aunt's birthday this past weekend. I did not get a picture of her luvring! it, but here are some before and after shots:

My aunt really loved it. She is kinda quirky so this fit her personality perfectly. Instead of buttons, I just pinned a broach on the front, so she can interchange the look. Pretty cute -eh?

Somewhat...

2006-08-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

...annoying that my best friend keeps bugging me to update the blog when she a) never updates hers b) has only commented twice on my blog c) won't let me put any bad pictures of her. (hi reesey poo!).

But, because she is very delicate lately, and I am such a good friend, I am updating for her.

Here it is, a brand new FO: Somewhat Cowl!

The photoshoot was done at my dad's house. He is currently re-doing his patio and building a brand new deck all by himself. He thinks he is the coolest man on earth right now, and I will give him the coolest dad, but man? I mean, does he know that Bono exists? That man just sweats coolness.

Anyhoo, I digress. I had hoped that my dad would take (good) pictures of me, like he used to do when I was a little girl, but the man has lost his touch. So I spent about 45 minutes outside playing with the camera, setting it up and taking self portraits of myself. Why 45 minutes? Because about 98% of the pics I took of me made me look like crap. If I was silly enough to show them to you, you would all see that besides the surgery for my 5 chins, I should also invest in 1) Oxy 10 for the pimples 2) LeMer for the wrinkles, and 3) I should have also left my bangs alone, and not gone to the hair dresser today and asked her to trim them, cause now they look all short and ridiculous.
So, I am not going to show you any of those pictures, but here are three more (my dad took the last two):

Okay, okay, I will stop being hard on myself and admit that I think I did a pretty good job on this one. I love the color on me, and the shape. It might still be a little bit loose, but perfect for those "bloaty days" (too much info? too bad!). The arms are still too big, but I think it is because I got teenie tiny spaghetti arms, and I will start doing more bicept curls so I will stop having this problem. When I blocked it, I folded the neckline, so it looks a bit Joan-Jetson, and I don't like that too much, so when I wash it again, I will make sure that the neckline is folded in.

Pattern: Somewhat Cowl from KnitandTonic. Yarn: Peru DK Luxury in 02 (70% Merino Wool 20% alpaca 10% Silk) Needles: (size 6 needles) Denise Interchangeables

There you go Reesey - updated just for you.

Bolero or Dilosopharous?

2006-08-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

When you cannot tell the difference between the two, it is time to frog. Scary - I know - but scarier is how I shot this pic of myself... Could I have given myself more chins? (I think I count 5...)

It was a tough decision, and thanks to everyone that responded and gave their opinions. Since it was my first knit for myself, I was completely tempted to keep it and stare at it, and remember the good old days when it would take me five months to knit with Chunky yarn. But, as I was thinking about this, I also remembered the dent this yarn made in my wallet, so, I frogged. There is no sense in having so much money just sitting there staring at you.

Another question I am asking myself is why I decided to roll up all the yarn into one big ball... isn't that a good question? Ya - the only thing I can come up with is I was drinking wine. I have not started re-knitting this yet, but I forsee it being a problem - especially when I have to (re-)do the sleeves.

Soo, goodbye to my bolero jacket - part I... let's hope part II turns out better.

(Don't I look like a flasher in this pic? - sorry peeps!)

igor.000739 was a Huge Success!!

2006-08-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

igor.000739

2006-08-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Our godson Chris is turning five this month. (That is the little tazmanian devil there on the left). We were trying to figure out what to buy him for his birthday, and we were having a very difficult time. See, him and his brother Brandon have every imaginable toy you could ever think of.

It is not that hard to please them really, Superman, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Ninjas... easy - right? But that is the problem, they have so many toys that any toys that we buy for him is just going to add to the every growing pile of toys that he will outgrow. Plus, we want to be responsible godparents and get him something educational - or in his mind's eye: not fun.

Last year, after our friend suggested it, we got him a Leapfrog. Apparently, despite the fact that it is educational, the Taz Dev loves it! So this year, that is the first thing we thought of - and we got him a Leapfrog game that teaches all this PreK and K stuff. Since he is going to school this year, we also bought him a backpack, a lunch bag, crayons, pens... and threw in the mandatory cheesy Spiderman game, which I am sure will be his favorite - sigh.

We have also decided to open up a savings account that he can have access to when he is 18. Most people open up a savings account so their child/godchild can have some money when they enter college. Not us. After getting our bachelors and masters, we know how easy it is to get a loan, and how the monthly payments are not that bad for the rest of your life. Maybe, by the time Chris is 18 the U.S. will have evolved enough to understand the importance of education and provide free college education like other developed and underdeveloped countries. But that is a soap box that I will save for another day.

No, we as godparents have chosen to save money so Chris can one day travel wherever he wants. Both Tony and I have traveled (together and separately) through many parts of the world (argentina, guatemala, mexico, cuba, spain, italy, germany, austria....there is more) and the education that we get from those travels is immeasurable and irreplaceable. We want Chris to have that same gift.

Added to his list of toys, is, of course, a hand-knitted item (was there ever any doubt kids?). I present to you igor.000739:

Tony named him igor - I added the 000739 because it sounds so robotic. I love this guy! And, yes, people this will be my last handknitted toy in a while, because I have so much yarn predetermined for projects, I need to get rid of it.

igor is again from one of Jess Hutch's patterns. Her designs are so quirky and full of life, you really fall in love with them instantly. igor is also my first real attempt at intarsia (pretty good job if I do say so myself) and the first time I made an i-cord... not the most challenging technique, but first time I did it!

Now, I am not kidding myself. I know this is not going to be Chris's favorite gift. He will probably categorize it as a "baby toy", however, I am one day, when he goes to college igor is going to go right along with him (cause I will pack it for him) and he will never forget that when he was five I made this for him (cause I will remind him).

Thanks SP!

2006-08-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was so surprised to get home last night and find another package from my SP.

Well, to be honest, I was surprised that the mailman was able to fit a 8 inch wide package into something that had an opening of 6 inches. I pulled, and prodded and tore, and it was still not coming out of my mailbox.

Tony was getting impatient because we had to go to his parents for dinner, and he suggested that I leave the mailman a note asking him to leave it on our door step. Ummm... ya, no! I was not about to wait another day for a package from my SP!

Thankfully, I had my knitting bag, and therefore I had my scissors nearby, and I managed to actually open the package inside the mailbox. (The lengths I will go to for a nice gift!) A neighbor was actually waiting behind me to get her mail as I was doing this. And I just smiled politely and told her "one minute!!". Thankfully she understood... maybe she knits too?

Regardless, here are the goodies in this package:

That is some super yummie mohair/merino blend that I have no idea what i will do with, but it will certainly not be gifted to anyone cause it is gor-ge-ous. It is from my SP's stash and now I cannot wait to find out who she is so I can blog stalk her and figure out what she did with this yarn. I love it!

What do you guys think I should do with it? Any pattern ideas for me ladies (and gents). Not that I lack projects - trust me... I don't, but when you see such pretty yarn, you have to use it!

Also included in the pretty package:

Napkins, which are too cute to wipe your dirty mouth with - what should i do with them?; a cute notebook which I plan on keeping next to my knitstand for those "oh-gotta-do-that-tomorrow!" moments; sheep clips! SO SO SO adorable. I brought them to work but they are going back home cause the are too ctoo cute to get lost in this paper pile; a "do this" notepad to write notes to tony (hee hee!); and a hellokitty pen, and i looooooovvee me some hellokitty. This is now my pen in my knitting bag pen.

Thanks again SP, you rock!

Who wears a sweater in 100 degree weather?

2006-07-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

A knitter that has spent countless hours working on a sweater, that's who! Finally, pictures and details of Salina. This is the first garment that has truly made me feel like I can knit. Sure, it is not the most complicated, or the best fitting sweater, but it is 100% wearable.

In fact, Tony likes to keep the house so cold, that I have been wearing it while lounging around the house, just to keep myself from being frostbitten. (hi Tony!) But, I cannot wait for the weather to get colder so I can wear it to work with a nice pair of jeans and cute boots, or for a fall afternoon of wine tasting in Virginia wine land. For now, I will have to be content with wearing it around the house, or showing off outside on our deck.

Tony loves it, and is getting quite impressed with my knitting techniques (as am I). He wants me to knit him as sweater, but I have told him time and time again, unless we are engaged - no sweater. I am even apprehensive about knitting him some socks! (is that acceptable you think?)

Pattern: Salina from Vintage Knits: Thirty Knitting Designs for Men and Women
Yarn:6 balls Rowan felted tweed in Melody (50% Merino Wool 25% alpaca 25% Viscose)
Needles: (size 5 3 1/4 mm needeles) Denise Interchangeables (as always) Others: 4 rowan 00320 buttons ( I do not variate from the pattern much, as this is exactly what the pattern called for. Notes: So the arms are still a little bit big. I think I am making sizes bigger than me. (read: I think my boobs are bigger than they really are). But I looovvee this one!

Final notes:

1) After I received so many comments on how frogging is the right way to go, I have decided to undo my bolero jacket. I cannot stand seeing it in my closet not being worn. I have a ton of other things I want to knit, but I think this will jump to the top of my list.

2) It was Tony's birthday this past Saturday. No, he is not old! He is HANDSOME! Happy Birthday Tones!!

What I did on my summer vacation...

2006-07-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

God I have not written an essay like this in a long, long time.

Last week I went to the beach and got a tan. I know, I know, I need to watch my skin so I don't get cancer. And I did put sun screen and sat under the umbrella, and stayed inside one afternoon when I was feeling a little to beaten up by the sun. But, I do love me some nice sun-kissed cheeks! It makes me feel like I am not fast approaching my 30's *gulp*.

The first cool thing I want to share with you is this:

GREEN EGGS! As in Green Eggs and Ham! How incredibly cute is that!

Anyhoo, a lovely time was had by all. And when I mean all, I mean, Tony's entire family (mom, dad and two sisters) and their S.O.s, my mom, my 2 brothers, Tony's aunt and uncle and their daughter. Full House indeed! In most tight quarters situations such as this one, drama and chaos ensues after the second full day. Luckily, we all get a long pretty well, and there was not much drama. (Except when my mom wanted to watch "Cantando Por Un Sueno" while I was watchin "So You Think You Can Dance?". Not a pretty scene.

I brought plenty of books and magazines to entertain me, and Somewhat Cowl as well. Luckily, I have been teaching myself to knit and read at the same time, so much knitting was done. I love knitting in the round from the top down. I especially love that you can try on your garment and see how it fits while you are knitting it so you can make any needed modifications. If only I had actually done that.

See how it is so not fitted in the waist? And how the neckline is too droopy? And how it definetedly does not look like this? This is how far a long I was on Thursday, which is 7 straight days of knitting. I was bummed. I asked everyone in the house, and some passerby's if I should frog it (just kidding - but kinda funny if I had actually gone up to random people at the beach wearing a sweater in 100 degree weather asking them what they thought - hee!). Most people that had seen me knitting it all week suggested I just leave as is (tony's mom), or give it to them (tony's sister), or put it in the wash so it "shrinks a leetle" (my mom), or to "gain some weight so it would fit right" (still too shocked by that one to remember who said it). But Tony's cousin convinced me to undo it. If I kept asking everyone's opinion, it meant I was not happy with it, so just redo!

So I did. I did not take a picture of it undone cause I believe I was crying at the time. But now, a week later, I am at the exact same spot - and it looks terrific! So much more fitted and lovely! I am hoping to finish it this weekend so I can show you guys. (Salina pics first - I promise!)

In other news, I got my mom to start knitting again! This is her in the car ride back home finishing up a pair of slippers like the ones I made before. I had to translate the pattern to Spanish (not easy) because that is how she learned to knit. But she finished the pair. Go MAMA GOOO!

I was supposed to keep the pair to add to my pile of guest slippers, but she was so proud of herself that she must have "accidentally" dropped them in her bag. Sneaky.

I hope she keeps it up so it will all come back to her and she can teach me some new techniques. She used to make us sweaters with no patterns, no nothing! I will have to find some pictures and show them to you so you can see how talented my mom is.

Speaking of talented parents, my dad is showing his paintings in downtown D.C. this weekend in some hoighty toighty gallery. He is very excited about it, so if you are in the D.C. area, stop by! And if you have money, buy one of his paintings! Hee hee..

Finally, this is what Tony, his dad (big Tony we call him) and my brother did on our summer vacation:

They did not fall in. Twice.

Sunshine

2006-07-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we all need a bit of sunshine to brighten up an otherwise stinky day (a day like today, when someone comes back from vacation only to find that even though this one person stayed up till 1 a.m. several days in a row before going on vacation to make sure that everything was nice and tidy at work, idiot people still find a way to make everything messy). Sorry, needed the vent.

Anyways, I have a friend who has been having a hard time late. To cheer her up, I created this little guy, in the colors of the sun. The pattern is from the same book where Henri was born. Jess designs the cutests things - doesn't she?

His name is SOL. SOL, as in sun, and as in Standards of Learning test. She is a teacher and hates prepareing her kids for the SOL tests. So, I thought she needed a reason to love SOL.

Wordy explanation - I know. But in my defense, I am at work, and livid about how people tell you that they understand what you are talking about, but then turn around and make a huge mess of things while you are on vacation because they think they know what they are talking about, when, clearly - they don't.

I think I need some sunshine. (or tequila).

Spoiled

2006-07-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just got back from vacation to find two wonderful packages waiting for me! (I made Tony go get the mail from our friend before he unpacked -hee hee!)

The first one was from my Secret Pal. Note to Secret Pal: I lost your email - I am sorry! I have been looking all over for it to send you a thank you email, but cannot find it. So here it is: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I love it all! The little knit image is from the card she included with the package.

The package included yumie vamilla Napa Soap (vanilla is my favorite sent); a really cute card - did you make it SP?; four skeins of Karaoke SOY yarn (can you believe that???) and a really cute pattern for the yarn. You can felt with this yarn, but i am liking he scarf pattern - it seems like a pretty accessory, and a quick knit - which is always welcomed!

The second package came from ms. KnitPastis. She had liked the yarn I used for my mom's shawl, and we decided to do another swap. She received the yarn, and really liked it, and I am sure she will make something gorgeous with it. She sent me this GORGEOUS handmade knitting bag and zipper pouch she made just for me! Tony was even impressed, and he is not one to comment too much on these things. He still asks me what I am "sewing", even though I have told him plenty of times that I am KNITTING.

She also sent me beautiful laura ashley notecards and magnets. The magnets are going to work with me, where they will be put to good use. One day we will have a bigger house and I will have my own little office, which will be very girlie. For now, no pretty magnets in the office, because then we will start having soccer and body building magnets as well. Thanks KnitPastis! It is so much fun exchanging with you.

I have so many knitting news, I need to post pics of Salina, and other FO's, but since we just came back from a week at the beach, and we have absolutely no food, it's off to Costco for me.

The only good pattern in the 2006 pattern a day calendar

2006-07-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here it is ladies and gents, the only pattern I was willing to try from that 2006 Pattern a Day Calendar. I am not going to put a link to it, because, if you cannot say anything nice about someone, don't post a link to their product - (hee hee).

We have hardwood floors at home and we have a very strict no shoes policy. (Well, Tony is a bigger stickler about it - but that is another story). So I want to make some slippers to have around the house so when people come over they don't have to ask me for socks, or walk around barefoot.

If you look closely, you might see that I actually seamed it incorrectly, and this should be the outside part - oh well. The seaming is also unever - again, who cares.

I made them with Caron So Soft, a pretty inexpensive, cheap yarn, and the pattern was pretty easy, so I will be making more of them.

In other updates, Salina is done, but I am waiting for my photoshoot, which I have been too lazy to do. I started Somewhat Cowl and it is really cute so far! I am loviing it. I will post progress pictures soon. Okay - off to bed.

My mom's R.R.S. (Otherwise titled: My mother is a DIVA!)

2006-06-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here it is Ladies (and gents?). My mom's Mother's Day gift: FINISHED.

I have been waiting until she came over to take pictures of it, because I wanted her to model it for everyone.

She was reluctant at first because we had been relaxing at my house the whole weekend, and making empanadas mix (yum!), so she did not want to go put makeup on.

So as she was getting ready to leave I told her - MOM! Remember that we have to take pictures. She complained and whined a little, and then asked me for some makeup.

Outside on the deck, she decided on the best location, and strategically placed the geranium. She posed, and modeled, and kept making me take more and more pictures of her - what a DIVA!

Here are some of the best shots:

i love the internets

2006-06-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

This whole knitting/blogging universe ROCKS! I never knew that there was such a community of wonderful people that need to write about their knitting. And I love being part of it.

Example Number 1:

During my first SP experience, I got to spoil ms. Macoco over at Craftpirate. Although I was sending her stuff, we began emailing, and have gotten to know each other pretty well through email and blogs. She came to the D.C. area this past weekend and we met up at KnitHappens for some shopping, and then walked in the Old Town Alexandria area until we found a pub to have a bite to eat.

First, I am going to publicly apologize for my tardiness (30 minutes late) but, in my defense, D.C. area traffic is the worst! But we had a terrific time, and drank some beer and wine, which is probably the reason that I did not remember to take a picture of us. So sad about it.

She did surprise me with a copy of World of Knitted Toys (maybe I will make something for my godson from here) and this really cute dishcloth yarn and pattern. I have never knitted a dishcloth before, but I am very excited about the fact that it is a quick knit, and because : it's pink!

I am sure Tony will love another pink object in his life, but it is important for a guy to be in touch with his feminine side - right?

Example Number 2:

I received a lot of warm sympathy when Henri left us for his trip to Mexico (he loves it there - "the tequila is superb".) But the most surprising response was from Knitpastis, who needed to have Henri's spanish cousin Hugo at her house. She proposed an exchange. Now, I have never done an "on-demand" exchange, usually I am racking my brain to figure out what my secret pal would like. But this one was a piece of cake! Knitpastis already told me what she wanted. (I will post pictures after she has received the package).

I finished Hugo in record time, and included a few other surprises for my new Gemini friend, but she beat me to it - she sent me this wonderful package that arrived this weekend:

ummm... ya! CUTE!! She hand dyed the yarn herself, using colors I told her I liked - it's called "watermelon". I love it! and I think I am going to make myself a cute little felted purse with it. There are also some handmade labels for me to use when I am giving gifts (although I don't want to use them - they are too cute!) some notecards that are now decorating my bulletin board at work, and some spree candy, which is going to go in my "i need a sugar kick" drawer at work.

Thank you thank you thank you ladies! Man I love me some internets friends!

More knitting news:

My mom came over and we took pics of her shawl - will post those tomorrow to keep my 3 readers in suspense a little longer.
Salina is blocking as we speak and I will try to seam her up tonight (yuck)
I am knitting some slippers for house guests.
Casting on for Somewhat Cowl today.

OH! And I need some advice. I think I want to frog my bolero jacket and redo it in the smaller size - it is just sooo big. What do you guys think? Should I do it? Or keep it as a memento of my very first knitted garment?

I leave you with a closeup of my new gifted yarn!

Bon Voyage Henri! (he's French)

2006-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Henri started out his last day at our little house having a cup of coffee and chatting with me while I knitted Salina's sleeves.

Although we had met only a few days ago, I had grown kind of fond of the little guy and it was hard to know that he would be smuggled into Mexico via suitcase in a few days.

So I kept knitting while we talked about poetry, friendships, relationships, and our amazement of the Argentina/Serbia-Montenegro game. Did I tell you guys? Argentina won 6-0. Henri agreed that this was an amazing accomplishment and that the team already deserved the cup. (french bears are smart!)

Then we continued to talk about our love of technology, and I showed him one of my prized possessions: our maid.

I love Juanita. She is so eager, and fast, and wants to help put all the time, she gets into every little corner!... However, while Henri and I were chatting about the internet, and other technological wonders, Juanita was too eager to impress us:

Ya, she ate up Salina!!

While I was cleaning this up, Henri decided to mentally prepare himself for his voyage by relaxing in our brand new deck chairs. He was very impressed by our geraniums. (I am still impressed that I have not killed them yet.)

Oh how we will miss Henri the French bear. I know Tony will miss having another person to watch the soccer games with that is not too busy trying to figure out if Argentina can beat the teams playing to enjoy the games.
But, we know that he will be keeping Tony's grandma company, and enjoying her cakes, (and maybe some tequila), so that helps to ease the sadness.

And myabe, just maybe, we can convince his cousin Hugo to come stay with us for a little bit.

Hugo is from Spain... where they make Sangria... YUM!

OLE! OLE! OLE! ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!

2006-06-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Warning: For those that have not yet watched the game, DO NOT READ ON!

All I have to say is: OLE, OLE, OLE! Ganamos 6 a 0!! VIVA ARGENTINA!!!

I wanted to put pics of all the goals... but there were just too many! OLE OLE OLE!!!!!!

bear butt and buttons

2006-06-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

I mean, really, how incredibly adorable is that bear butt?!?

It is killing me to knit it, I cannot knit fast enough. This is my first time knitting with dpns, so it took me a while to get used to it, but now, I think I have the hang of it.

I knitted this last night while Tony was going through the World Cup games of the day (thank god for DVRs!).

The World Cup (go Argentina!) is going to bring me a lot of knitting time, I think. Now, Tony will not be pressuring me to put down my knitting to go to sleep at 9 p.m. because he will not be done watching the day's matches! YAY!!!!
Also thankful that this is a relative fast knit, because I need one for me! This henri the bear is going all the way to Mexico, to keep Tony's grandma company. But I think his twin is going to have to reside at our house. So, so CUTE!

This is my Salina (front and back together, and then front detail) catching some rays in the morning. I am about half way done with the sleeves as well, so I think you will be seeing some FO modeling shots soon!

Now here is my problem: I was looking all over for some cute buttons for Salina, when I just decided that I wanted the ones that the pattern called for (i know - not very original). So I ordered them from a seller on eBay. I need to learn that I should just stop at one item, cause while I was searching for these:

I ended up getting this as well, cause I have to make it! Thankfully I did not buy the yarn yet... I have to draw the line somewhere!

World Cup Update

2006-06-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

Argentina winning 2-0 against Ivory Coast at the end of the first half. Send wine for second half.

Birthday Knitting Goodies

2006-06-05T17:53:00.000-07:00

By being "consumed", "addicted", "obsessed" with knitting, I think I am doing my family and friends a service. Now they don't have to think too hard about what gifts to get me! I even have a wishlist!! My little brother Pablo caught on quick, giving me my super cool and useful knitting bag.

And now, others are catching on too! My friend Michi surprised me with this great book. I was not even done thanking her for her thoughtfulness when she ripped the book out of my hands, (Yes, ripped ) and said "Here's what I think that you should make for us for Christmas!". She already has her Christmas gift picked out!

So, here is a preview into what my two best friends will be getting for Christmas (Reese, do not keep reading if you want to be surprised):

Aren't the cute leather cuffs? I have not even looked at the pattern yet, but the seem pretty easy to make. I have never knitted with leather (can you imagine a knitted leather cami? - hahahahah - sorry - amusing myself) so this will be fun.

The book is filled with other amusing and interesting projects to knit (some a little too interesting) but I love seeing knits taken taken to a different level.

Here are a few more projects I might try from this book:

I know what you are thinking: "Shawl?! Paloma, are you sure you want to make another SHAWL?!" and no, I do not want to make another shawl right now, since the r.r.s. has driven me insane. But I must admit, this little number sure caught my attention. Give me a few months, and a little de-stashing, I think we will be revisiting this one.

Talk about de-stashing! How cute is that? Of course, I will do all of my grocery and flower shopping with that bag, so I NEED IT!. Thanks Michi for this great gift!

The other reason that I love knitting is the internets knitting world. Man, have I made so many great friends! My SP from SP7 even sent me a birthday e-card. (And I forgot to thank her, so here it is - Thanks Fawn! ). The greatest surprise has of course been making a friend with a neighbor. Wendy found me on Crazy Aunt Purl's Froogle Map, and we have been emailing and meeting up for coffee and exchanging books for a couple of months.

Last friday I met her and her adorable daughter for lunch, and she surprised me with some great birthday gifts. I was so happy that I was annoying all the other lunchers by clapping like a seal non-stop. Amelia was amused!

That is right kiddies, that is NORO! I have never owned any and let me tell you, it smells delish! I cannot wait to knit with it.

You know what those are? Needles that light up! Now Tony won't fuss about having a light on while we watch a movie, because the light will be on my needles! I am so excited. They are size 8, so I need to buy more yarn to make a project that requires a size 8 needle :). (By the way, Tony stumbled onto my hiding place the other day and was not too enthused with the amount of yarn I am hiding in our little ottoman... ooppps!) I love the purse handles too, I think they might work with the Peace Fleece pattern my secret pal sent me. If not, I am sure I can find something else.

The person that has caught on the fastest, has of course, been - me. I bought myself a couple of new knitting books.

First:

Greetings from Knit Cafe. What a cute book! The pictures are colorful and bright, and the idea of going to have coffee every day (cause I would be there every day) at a place with yummie smelling yarn is too much!

Wendy thought it would be great if they opened up one in our area. But imagine the amount of money I would spend on coffee and yarn!

There are a few projects I might do from this book:

The polo shirt is just classic, I don't have a horse, but I think it would be a great anytime blanket, and yes, I have an obsession with making shawls that will bore me to death - but does't it look so warm and great for a cup of chocolate? (I am so easily persuaded - just by looking at the model with the cup, I want a cup of chocolate.

The next book:

Vintage Knits. There are a lot of timeless, classic patterns in this book. Pieces that you know will never go out of style.

There are even some sweaters that I think my mom might like... maybe I should start on next year's mothers day gift now..

If I did not have like 5-8 projects screaming for me already, I might consider it.

Here are some of the ones that grabbed me the most:

They all have sort of the same basic shape but are very different. The one that scares me the most is the one on the right, since the beading will probably be such a pain. But I think it is so cute!

That is all for now. I did finish the shawl this weekend, and cannot wait to show it to you guys. But I promised myself I would not show any pictures until my mom came over and we had a photoshoot. I am making her come over next weekend.

Just so you know...

2006-05-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

I do knit other stuff besides my mother's shawl. Two weekends ago I could not take it anymore, and I starte going throug my project stash looking for something quick to knit, and distract me.

I remembered that my wonderful SP from SP7, Fawn, had sent me a kit for her Glamorous Scarf. Such an easy, mindless, and most importantly DIFFERENT project! It was great. I finished it that same day and of course sent it to one of my most glamorous girls: Tony's little sister Mushee.

I had never made her a gift for her birthday in October, so I packaged this up with cute paper and box, and mailed it to her. Even though we live 15 minutes ago, I wanted her to have the same excitement I have when I get an unexpected gift in the mail. Problem is, girl does not know her own address and does not check her mailbos (her and her fiancee just moved into their very first condo). So I had to break the news, and have her make sure to check her mail.

She was so excited to get it, and I cannot wait for the fall to see her wearing it.

I am approximately 62" into the shawl. I am almost done - 10 more inches. I did not get a lot of knitting done this past weekend due to the birthday festivities. (will post pics later). I am already planning what to knit once it is finished (of course). First, I will finish my Salina. A wonderful tweed sweater for the middle of the summer - doesn't that sound perfect? Tony's mom is going to visit her mom (abuela) in Mexico, and abuela loves and collects teddy bears. I had bought Jess Hutch's pattern book a while ago and wanted to make Tony Henry Bear. However, he told me he thought it was spooky...hmmm... if spooky means adorable - yes, he is spooky. So I have the yarn and the pattern, and now someone to give it to.

"I got a package!! I got a package!!"

2006-05-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Tony and I went out to dinner last night because I was too lazy to cook. He was talking when all of the sudden I interrupted him and said - "oooh! wait, did I get a package today?" and he of course, said no. Cause as we all know, boys like to lie. (hi tony! I love you!!).

I did not make a beeline for the "mail spot" in our house once we got home, because I knew all that would be there were bills, since Tony had told me there were no packages. After cleaning up some, lighting some candles and watering my new geraniums outside, I finally made it to the "mail spot", and started screaming "I got a package! I got a package!". And what a package it was! In it, I found the cutest birthday card I have ever received (see above), and the following: I had to take a picture of the sushi tape!; look at the confetti in the box; and my new favorite water bottle!

beautiful yarn to make my very first knitted purse! I cannot wait!!! (when is this darn r.r.s. going to be finished!!)

an adorable bag (hellokitty - of course) firlled with noisemakers to celebrate my birthday, "blha blah" post its to leave note to tony, emory boards - i am always loosing some, mini pinball machine for the now less-frequent boring days at work, and the aforementioned birthday card.

So, as you can all see, I am one lucky girl! Thank you Secret Pal!!! My birthday celebration - yes, I drag it out for at least a month - has started out with a bang. I think that Tony's weekend away plans have a hard act to follow.

What was I thinking....

2006-05-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon. My strategy is to tell everyone about this, that way, when I get a moment of regret and wanting not to do it, I will remember that everyone knows I am supposed to be running it, and if I don't I will look like a looser.

I was excited the whole day at work. Then on the way home, I started thinking about how I would have to spend less time knitting and more time running. And how I was going to have to start getting up earlier to get my miles in, and how I was going to have to start not just talking about watching my diet, but doing it. And how it is 26.3 MILES!!! Really, what was I thinking?

But, this is one of my lifetime goals, and on October 29, I will have accomplished it.

Ohhhh... and I measured my mom's shawl, something I have been avoiding because I really did not want to know how much more I had to do, and I am 62% of the way there! (approximately). I have knit 48 of the 77 inch shawl. Wooo hoooo!

I have been knitting all morning, but now... I have to go for a run...yayyyy

Pictures...

2006-05-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have not been motivated to post anything, because my knitting life sucks right now. As you can see from my previous post, all I have been doing is boring knitting on the shawl. I saw my mom this Sunday for Mother's Day and told her that I was dissapointed I had not finished it, but that I had really been working non-stop on it. She said in her female Ricky Ricardo accent "Don't worrie honie, just make every leetle stich with a lot of luv." She is so cute my mom!

Let me tell you, if it weren't becaue I love my mom a LOT , I would have taken a break from this already. It also has not helped that we have been so busy lately, with my cousin's wedding, new hires at work, and redecorationg the house while Tony was out of town (tee - hee!).

I thought I was getting faster at this knitting thing!

Here are some more progress pics:

I have a total of 6 balls of incredibly thin yarn. I am through almost 2 of them...

On the bright side, it has given me a lot of t.v. time, including:

Daily General Hospital
Lost
24
American Idol
America's Next Top Model
Season 6 of Dawson's Creek (shuddup - i hear pacey!)
Alias
Desperate Housewives

I love me some bad t.v.!

P.S. Don't you love some morning sunshine pics?

K2P2, k2p2, k2p2...

2006-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sounds boring right? Ya, cause IT IS!

I hate not having pics on my postings, mainly cause I am nosy and love pics on blogs. However, I have not had time to take pics of anything cause all I have been doing is k2p2k2p2k2p2k2p2... I cannot wait for this shawl to be over. I am determined to not do anything else but this though. Because I know that if I put it down, I will not pick it up for a long time.

Congrats ms. pea!

2006-05-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

My secret pal from SP7 just celebrated her 100th post! And to celebrate the first three commenters got prizes, and I was one of them!

Check out the cute phone cozy I won. It has come in really handy since Tony and I have the same phone, and we are always taking each other's phones by mistake.

As always, her package came full of cute stickers, and a note and some postcards (now adorning my blah cubicle). I have loved getting packages from her cause she is so cute!!! Congrat's ms. pea, I love reading your blog.
I am chugging along on my mom's mother's day gift, and I cannot wait for it to be done because it is painful. I thought the repetitive ribbing would be simple and fast, but man am I bored. It is turning out really pretty though - don't you think?