Things I did this weekend:

Drove down to Orange County on Saturday for a BBQ with some high school friends that I haven't seen (in some cases) for more than 25 years, as well as my bestest friend and also a former boyfriend. There was so much smiling and laughter that my face hurts!

Drove back today (Sunday) after breakfast with my family.

Got rear-ended - which *did not* make my day. Luckily, low speed and the bumper did its job.

Decided I needed to take it easy on the way home and decompress by finding my Happy Place, which is on the coast near the water.  Took Pacific Coast Highway between Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach and saw plenty of sights (!) on this 4th of July. I'm now going to channel Laurie with her commute photos!

Apparently there is a pancake breakfast/parade/festival/day-long-party/fireworks show in Huntington Beach. People were setting up their barbeques & tailgate parties for the day (look on the right of this pic).

One of my favorite spots on 101 is north of Ventura where the highway is right next to the shore. When the conditions are just right, the tides are in and the wind blowing just so, south-bound cars can be splashed by the waves.

Wasn't sure whether one of our favorite Mexican hole-in-the-wall restaurants was open due to the holiday. It was and that made me happy! If there is no line outside La Super-Rica in Santa Barbara, they're not open. The couple behind me in line were on their honeymoon and had never been there before. The man behind them had just flown into LAX from Connecticut and promptly drove up to SB to see if he could get his Mexican food fix! Both of us told the newlyweds that they could choose anything and it would be fabulous. Due to the seating situation (lack thereof), my new friend and I ate together, and the young couple came and thanked us for the recommendation. They were sooooo cute!


Thing I did not do this weekend - Tour de Fleece. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to have to do a lot of treadling in order to catch up with everyone else! Also got about 10 rows done on my sock - no pic because I was knitting in line. Other than that - no fiber stuff. It's just too hard to spin or knit when you have to be the driver...

Oh dear -- another month gone!

So, this month has zoomed by, much quicker than anticipated. Of course, being sick for 2 weeks will make the time go quickly. Actually I was really only sick for a couple days. The aftermath asthma has kicked my butt for the rest of the time. Lack of oxygen will do that. Love my inhaler and cough meds! Luckily (or unluckily) this past week was vacation from school, and I didn't have anything planned!

But there has been lots of knitting over the last month! This is the back of my Minimalist Cardigan. The fronts and back are finished and I'm working on sleeve one. I'd like to get this done in time for Stitches West in a couple weeks.

There is also a Secret Blanket, which (shame on me) still isn't quite done, so no photos. These 2 are part of the 3 projects I designated for this month's #UFOSmackdown 2010. The 3rd project was finished right at the beginning of the month - Hubby Socks. They're in the laundry right now, so I'll photograph them later.

And then there are the other projects... Here is the first Fine Cabled Mitt that is destined for The Hubby. Only have about an inch to go on the hand and the thumb to finish.

Since the mitt isn't quite "knit in the dark" material, and I was going to see the new Cirque du Soleil show "Ovo" last week, I cast on a vanilla 3x1 rib sock to carry in my purse. Through a doctor appointment for me, a visit to urgent care with Mari and the show (fabulous and recommended), all on Thursday, I'm up to the gusset increases. This is Rabbitworks Fibre Studio Toe Jam sock yarn in Black Orchid. Love, love, love how the fabric is working up! (And she'll be at Stitches West, so I can get some more...)

And then I promised myself that there would be no Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics knitting this time around, due to the timing of the other projects that need doing. But then I was watching the opening ceremonies and before I knew it, Spanish Dancer had appeared on the needles. I loved how the yarn (Ellen's Half-pint farm's merino silk blend) patterned when it was wound. I'm about 2 inches into the garter portion right now. (No, Kathy -- must work on blanket....!)

In the "other creative stuff" category, I decorated this mailbox (found at Target) with some rub-ons that I had. Destined for my secret pal at school, I stuffed it with some other gifts, including chocolate, and I think it turned out adorably! Will have to keep this gift in mind for others...

Remember this scarf (Ravelry link)? I gave it to my hairdresser as a Valentine's Day gift and he was so excited by it that he immediately put it on and declared that he was going to wear it all day! Isn't he cute?!

 

Another creative thing happening is by The Dork! He liked the horizontal rib scarf (from One More Skein) so much that he wanted to cast one on, but in a chunky weight. He's using Rowan Colourscape in the Storm colorway and doing a great job with it. 

And one last picture for you -- last month I ripped out 4 different projects that were never going to be finished, a twin-bed sized blanket, a shrug, a vest and a shawl. The yarn for the 2 larger projects are gone, out of the stash, out of my life...good riddance!

I really should go and get something done today besides sit on the couch and knit. Oh, but I guess I have - I've written a blog post...

Year-end roundup

Annual Christmas merriment with our families are done for another year. It's amazing how quickly the kids are growing and becoming their own personalities. The Dork had fun with his cousins, playing with his camera and trying to corral all the young cousins.

Mom/Aunt Kathy, do you have to take our pictures?! We really hate it when you do! Are you done yet? Teenagers!

There was lots of eating involved! The Hat is one of our favorite places to go, and not just because there is pastrami. The Dork managed, barely, to finish a Pastrami Burger.

 

Enormous portions were consumed. We've learned to share sandwiches and only ask for one order of onion rings.

 

 

 

There was rapid consumption of a wonderful bread pudding souffle at the Palace Grill in Santa Barbara. We've been going there for more than 20 years. Yum!

Oh yes, there has been knitting -  but only one holiday project. I've finished 2 scarves:

Horizontal Rib Scarf (from One More Skein by Leigh Radford)
Mirasol Nuna, 1.3 skeins, approx. 5" x 70" long
Size US 6 needles
Started Dec. 20, finished Dec. 23

Still needs blocking before I can gift it

Another Scrunchable Scarf, a great mindless knitting pattern, each row is the same.

Mirasol K'acha, 3 skeins

Approximately 5"x54"

Size US 8 needles

Started August 28, finished Dec. 28

Socks! 2x2 rib, toe-up, Fleegle heel

Regia Galaxy Saturn, ~ 265 yards (60 grams of the 100 gram ball)

Size US 0 needles

Started August 22, finished Dec. 30

And I started a hat for The Hubby in Cascade's Lana d'Oro paints. I was trying to get it done before midnight, but changed my mind about the pattern and ripped back a couple inches. It should be my first FO of 2010.

Final tally for the year - 23 projects, using just over 12,500 yards of yarn. That's over 3K more yards than I used last year!

3 baby blankets

7 scarves

3 pairs of socks

2 hats

1 crocheted doily

1 pair fingerless gloves

4 shawls (only 1 was lace)

2 sweaters

For this new year, I'm participating in the UFO Smackdown started by Nathania. I will be ripping out a few projects to reclaim the yarn, but this should motivate me to finish 10 UFOs that have been laying around or hiding from me this year. I may discover a few more, but at least 10 will be finished before 2011.

Here's to a wonderful 2010. I hope your New Year brings you and your family much happiness and health and fun!

Odds and Ends...

Wrap-up of projects:

The Dork's homework project (a Shinto shrine) that he and his class partner decided to make out of Legos:
Side view. The roof wasn't quite right because they didn't quite have all the pieces they wanted.

(And yes, that is a stormtrooper on the roof!)


Bird's eye view, including interior








Front










From the other side












Dork placed 3rd (tied) in a saber competition. He's the one on the right, and he's giving me the "don't take my picture, Mom" look.



As a reward, we ate at Joe's Cable Car Restaurant (mmm, patty melt and onion rings).



I've finished my fingerless mitts (and have been commissioned for 3 more pairs by members of my family).






New Stuff:
Started a Scrunchable Scarf in Mirasol K'acha as a mindless project to take to the theater when we saw the Reduced Shakespeare Company in "The complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged)". Fun yarn (not purple!), fun pattern, even more fun show!


I've started (and restarted, and restarted) a baby blanket that needs to be gifted by Dec. 16th. Nothing that I've tried has really resonated with me and I'm getting bored after only 2-3 inches. I may give up on the dk weight yarn I'm using and find enough worsted-weight and just crochet a fast giant granny square to get it over with! The older brother got a giant granny square blanket from me 3 years ago. Or I'm intrigued with the thought of knitting random stripes...

I'm thankful that I have enough yarn in stash that I can change my mind.
I'm thankful that my family is healthy and happy.
I'm thankful that I'm happily employed and that my husband is too.
I'm thankful that we have a happy, well-adjusted Dork Teen.
I'm thankful that I have great friends that I can laugh and cry with.
I'm thankful that we have a roof over our heads.
I'm thankful that we have enough food to eat and clothing to wear.
I'm thankful that we have a producing vegetable garden and access to fresh local produce.
I'm thankful that we have access to this fabulous communication and research system called The Internet.
I'm thankful that I have enough brains (usually) to solve minor house repair issues (the kitchen faucet this time) by searching the Internet for information.

I'm thankful that I can contribute to other people's fund-raising efforts. Stacie is raising money for the Lymphoma Research Foundation through her Etsy shop. I sent over a scarf for her to sell (and I'm looking for a couple other ones that I know I have around here somewhere...). You must see her Incredibly Soft Vibrating Scarf!

And with that, I'm thankful that we have options for our Thanksgiving meal this year. It will only be the 3 of us and an out-of-commission oven. We were smart enough to realize that we don't have to heat the entire smoked turkey at once, so I carved the turkey when it arrived home Tuesday. We have a small convection oven that we've been using, but there was no way to get even a smallish turkey into it! The bonus: getting to eat leftovers before we've even had Thanksgiving dinner!

Hope your Thanksgiving is a joyful one for you!

Brownies!

Yup, The Dork is making brownies. He requested them for a club meeting tomorrow and was told that if he wanted them, he had to make them.

It smells really good in here right now!

(He wants to learn to cook more. Chalk it up to his dad's influence!)

Another one bites the dust!

Another month has flown by...

And another FO is now off the needles!
Stroller blanket, auction donation
Size 28"x28"
Pattern: Ondas (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Blue Lagoon, a little over 2 skeins
Needles: size 9 US

This pattern is also known as Fibercrack - and OMG does it ever live up to that name. I did not want to stop knitting on it, even though bed/work/food called!

And here's one project that I didn't post yet - a finished sweater!
Size L
Pattern: Marta
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Purple Majesty
Needles: size 9 US

Yes, I know I still need to find the perfect button to finish this sweater out perfectly, but for now, it will be held closed by a Flexi-8. Purlescence has several different sizes if you want to buy local!


In the cooking department, the following food was also disappeared very quickly: a monster pan of tamale pie (from Marian Cunningham's The Supper book) and lots of sourdough bread made by The Hubby.

Since I last blogged, lots of good stuff has happened. Spring Break at school has come and gone (spent most of it at the shop, of course). Baseball season has started! The Hubby is working again. So is my brother who was laid off 9 months ago. I've found out that one teacher at school is pregnant (oh, darn, I have to make another baby blanket...).

We also were one of the gardens on the Going Native Garden tour last Sunday, with our California native plants really going like gangbusters! If you'd like to see what the garden looks like, take a look at the pictures my husband took and put on his gallery page.

Unfortunately, there's some bad stuff too: Cancer sucks! A former coworker's cancer is making her low. Another good friend's sister has only a few weeks left to live. My best friend's dog had to be put to sleep due to an invasive tumor too, and she herself is dealing with fibroids and possible surgery. So I'm also going to be busy making prayer shawls and other comforting items.

I suppose that I'd better head to bed now so I'll be awake enough in the morning to knit lace.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We have just enjoyed a wonderful meal - smoked turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, swiss chard, homemade cranberry sauce - and I'm now digesting on the couch. I'll be knitting as soon as I'm finished with this post. After the Hubby leaves to head to a gathering in Oakland, I'll roll myself in to the shower before heading over to Sandi's house for more fun and merriment.

I'm thankful for my family, my health, the weather (eating outside on the back patio in late November!), a roof over my head, food to eat and of course, all my friends, both virtual and in person.

Believe it or not, our garden is still producing! Those 2 Fuyu persimmons at the top were all we got off the tree this year - but we did not have to fight the squirrels for them this time. They've discovered someone else's tree in the neighborhood, and while running the fence line sometimes drop the persimmons in our yard. The Dog then gets something yummy! And yes, we still have some tomatoes. Those are San Marzano tomatoes but they're the last of the crop.

Hope your Thanksgiving was spent with people you love!

Now you see it...

The first set of disappearances is that of a delicious brioche & blackberry bread pudding that my Dear Hubby made for dessert tonight. We had half of it, as you see in the picture (forgot to take a "before" picture).

now you don't!


In less than 5 minutes it disappeared, when I walked briefly outside to take some garden pictures.


Here's the culprit!

I thought about blaming The Dork because he was coveting it, and acting like it was going to disappear momentarily. However, we had just finished discussing the matter, and had agreed that he could have some for breakfast tomorrow.

I'll have to take some of the blame for leaving it out though.

The 2nd set of disappearances is that of about 3 boxes worth of junk that was in front of my crafting bookcase. The boxes were a convenient landing place for laundry that needed ironing or dry-cleaning, yarn that needed putting away. Okay, so I haven't ironed the clothes yet, but I did get the huge pile of magazines sorted, inventoried, and into magazine boxes.

A couple boxes into the recycling bin, a couple bags for Goodwill, a large stack of stuff to take to the used bookstore...(anyone want any cross-stitch magazines from the early 90's?). It's not quite the way I want it yet, so no After picture. However, you can see (and get to) all the books and one of the two shelves of magazines which had been completely hidden.

Part of the problem has been that my knitting mojo has deserted me temporarily. Once I finished the Grumpy socks, I've been trying to find something that keeps me interested. I've tried and ripped out a sock in Koigu 4 times now because nothing that I try looks right. I have to rip a few rows out on the Susie cardigan that I'm making for our housemate because I have an undiscoverable mistake in it and haven't had any brain power to figure it out. I can't muster up the energy to get excited about finally finishing my Twist, or my Ribby Cardi, which I really, really should do.

But I need something small and portable to work on, because I've been spending some of my time at the Fencing Summer National Tournament, which is taking place at the San Jose Convention Center (through Thursday). There are over 3000 fencers in town for this major tourney! If you're interested in watching some of what my Dork boy does for fun, go over sometime during the day. They start fencing around 8:30 AM, and stagger the start times for different events.

He is NOT fencing, though! He didn't qualify in his division. But it's fun to watch and cheer on the fencers we know, and he's been coaching some of the younger kids.

Oh, and Happy Belated 4th of July! Dork and I went to Nationals for a while, then out to the San Jose America festival a block away. The fencing club had been asked by the local NBC TV station to put on a demonstration, as part of the festival. It was tied into the Olympic coverage that they're starting to heavily promote. Some of the kids were filmed sparring behind the Weather Guy, while a few of us parents tried to prevent oblivious people from walking into their strike zone. Gotta love those Lookie-loos who are so busy watching the cameras that they fail to watch where they're walking. NOT!