Birthday self-gifting

I have a habit of buying for others things that I want for myself. (Maybe a therapist would call this projection? Whatever.) It's something that I've noticed about my gift-buying habits over the last few years. And it makes sense, too, if "you are your friends" holds true. I get to buy something without the guilt of having been too extravagant, because it's okay to lavish other people with things. Win-win!

This year, however, is the year of being good to myself. So when I found out about the Graphic Image winter sale, I got my click on and picked out a few things. And they arrived just after my birthday!

A beautiful desk-sized address book in a beautiful Robin's Egg blue leather, with gold embossing and edged pages.  My pocket one, which I've had for seven years or something, is not in the best condition.  And I wanted something a bit more substantial, a bit more grown up. Not just as a place to store contact information, but a history of places and friends.  I love my parents' old address books, filled not only with their distinct and beautiful penmanships, but the strikethrus and squeezed-in jottings that reflect home purchases, new jobs, the advent of mobile phone numbers, and all sorts of life changes -- including births and deaths.  I am eager to start my own!

I have set up an online address book through Postable (ironic, I know), which I've emailed and posted to Facebook, for my friends to send me their updated information. Then I'll transcribe it all into my book.  But which pen to use? Or shall I use pencil? And shall I write in block letters or script? The possibilities are endless.

My second self-purchase was a jotter. It's such a classy way to write notes. And easier for me, the slightly scatterbrained overwriting lefty. I don't have to flip through pages, but whatever's on my mind can get shuffled to the top, and additional notes can be written. And when I write (or doodle) I have a nice, compact, flat surface.

So far I love my self gifts! What have you, or would you, buy for yourself?

The perfect souvenir

When my coworker told me she was going out of town to spend the holidays with her sister and new niece in Fort Bragg, my eyes visibly widened and I let out a quite audible, "Eep!"

"Is that a few hours north of San Francisco?" I asked.

"Yes; they moved up there for my brother-in-law's job. How have you heard of Fort Bragg?"

"That's where one of my favorite breweries is!"

We consulted a bit on an embroidery project she was working on for the new baby, and went our separate holiday ways at nenmatsu. Though we started work again last week, today's the first day I actually saw her. And this is what she brought back for me:

[north coast brewery sampler]

Eep -- I can't wait to try them all!

I suggested to my coworker that if she wants to visit her sister and niece again, I am confident in my northbound driving, so maybe we can go together, stay a few days in Fort Bragg (so I can visit the brewery!) and hang out in SF or the Fort Bragg environs.  She was enthusiastic.  And the Presidents Day holiday is upcoming.  It seems plans may be afoot.

Gift guides galore

No Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping for me.  But that doesn't mean I don't like a good gift guide.  The good peeps at Apartment Therapy are starting to put up various roundups (I especially like the guide for architecture lovers and the various green guides).  It's a quick way to see what's new and fun.

I am especially intrigued by the post on surprise subscription gifts.  It's not a new idea, of course, but is being taken to a whole new level these days.  From the post, I like the idea and content behind Quarterly the most, though I must confess that I'm not *so* into design that I recognize the contributors by name or face.  I'm curious about the personality test offered by Lost Crates, and may go for it one of these days.  But realistically, I love browsing for stationery too much to relinquish the fun of discovery and curating a set into someone else's hands!  From the comments, I discovered the Craft Coffee subscription, which sounds pretty cool: three coffee samplings from artisan roasters across the country with each mailing.  Good blog and packaging design is a plus +.

Here's a short list of other gift guides I enjoy peeking into each year:

Design Sponge guides

Anthology magazine gift guide

Gifted magazine guide

Treehugger holiday gift guide 2011

More entries are coming in as Christmas approaches, too.  Where are you finding the goods these days?

Belated birthday post

My birthday tends to be a low-key affair, which is fine by me.  This year, though, I was quite lucky to ride with my fellow March babies for celebrations manifold.  Check it:

I missed my brother's birthday dinner to eat with old friends, one of whose birthday is the day after mine.  We went to Three Drunken Goats in Montrose.

[team J bday]

My actual birthday was a long day spent at church.  I found out that it was my pastor's birthday, too, plus another person's a couple of days later.  One of our friends made cupcakes topped with thin mints and initials (our names all start with "J'), and another friend brought a lovely fruit tart from Porto's.

Later in the week a group of friends met for a quick dinner at Zankou Chicken.  My good friend treated me to my first shawerma wrap!  Thanks, Beej!

The following week we did a birthday party for college friends.  Tres leches cake from Perfectly Sweet, along shrimp egg rolls, gourmet sandwiches, and homemade Hainan chicken rice and ribs! 

I generally am over gift-giving because I don't want to accumulate "stuff."  Rather, I'm in favor of gifts of experience like movies or meals, gifts of quality time, or handknits. So I felt a bit bad about all the gifts bestowed on me this year; but I was able to shake it off (meaning: not feeling guilty and not thinking of a reciprocal gift) and simply be grateful.

[gifts]

• West Elm vases/containers -- love that they're white!


• Garden Anywhere by Alys Fowler


• Back to Basics by Abigail R. Gehring


• Soap -- delightful rose scent, sent long-distance from WDC


• Sakura and gold-flecked stationery and sakura tenugui from Ito-Ya in Japan


• Grey and pastel-striped summer scarf -- something I especially like because I wouldn't have chosen it for myself


• Target & Best Buy gift cards -- the loophole against my "buy nothing new" rule


• Eco-bag


• Really nice, out-of-my-price-point headphones (from my brothers)

Zooming out from the above picture, you'll see one of my birthday gifts to self:

[loveseat]

A vintage loveseat, found on CL (of course).  And thanks to my youngest brother's charm, it set me back $50 instead of the $75 at which it was listed -- score!  The light blue-grey damask-y upholstery is in good shape, but isn't really my style, so I've lined it with a jersey sheet while I search the internets for fabric.  My ideas range from a luxurious teal or gold or cream velvet, to a simple geometric, to something unique, like this.  In the meantime, it fits my little space perfectly (and means that not all of my guests have to sit on my (day)bed!).

[sewing machine + box]

My second self-gift was a vintage sewing machine.  I'd been researching for a while and knew I wanted an older Husqvarna for its high quality (the body is a single cast metal piece) and --frankly -- its hawt Swedish desgin.  It's a Husqvarna Viking 6020, complete with folding table, carrying case, and accessories.  It's just beautiful to look at, isn't it? And the sweing chair my brother found and gave me goes with it perfectly!  I actually swung back for the tiered sewing box, which came full of all kinds of supplies.  Now I can get on with pillowcases, hems, and (hopefully) skillbuilding!

Lastly, a lovely cafe au lait -- carefully and painstakingly brewed on a Chemex coffeemaker -- at the new(ish?) Intelligentsia in Old Town Pasadena (which serves food, too, btw), accompanied by delightful companionship and conversation.  Thank you, CO.

I'm so grateful!

I'm the last of my siblings to celebrate the first birthday without Mom.  We've all had each other these past (nearly seven!) months, which has been better than good.  Still, we all miss her.  We'll feel that similar pang again tomorrow night, as we gather to celebrate my dad's birthday.  It'll be a good time.  Different that how we would've wanted it, but good nonetheless.

Goo's birthday sweater, and not

The Goo has a few stuffed toys, but not too many sweaters, so I opted to knit one for him for his birthday.  I finished it a month early so he got to wear it a few times.  No sense in waiting ("He don't know," as my brother says).  I used a discontinued yarn, GGH Soft Tweed (grey with orange, green, yellow, and brown flecks).  It turned out very cute, if I do say so myself!

 [Goo and sweater, and Aunty Jean]

Well, in early December, another set of college friends had their firstborn, and I decided it was finally time to finish up a toy bear that had been in my WIP pile for a while (you may remember it here and here).  It took much less time than I thought to attach the limbs, and I used up some leftover sock yarn to embroider the eyes and nose.  I held off on sending it right away because the head was still a bit floppy and I wanted to f ind a ribbon to tie there.

Luckily -- or unluckily, as the case may be -- my brother came up to me one afternoon with a terrible look on his face.  He was doing the laundry and had simply thrown The Goo's birthday sweater in with the rest of the lot.  He felt awful, asked me if there was anything we could do to stretch it out again.  Nope!  All I could do was laugh.  Here's what it looked like, with my coffee cup for scale:

[sweater, felted]

I was ready to save the buttons and toss it out, until MyKo came over and had a brilliant idea:

[sweatered bear]

I'm shipping it to BabyA this week!  With care and washing instructions.  And I'll make sure The Goo's next sweater will be in superwash.

Crafting creatures

Making toys for babies is my new thing, for many reasons:

• they stick around a lot longer than clothes


• it's good re-use for old woolens


• I have tons of stuffing


• they're super cute!

For Baby V, I used an old scarf my brother had given me in college (the parents are our college friends, so very appropo), a Martha Stewart pattern, and leftover sock yarn.  Oh, and I used another felted sweater for the ears, tail, and snout (red bits).  I enlarged the pattern to the appropriate size and made sure to cut so that stripes were all aligned. 

[piglet parts]

I sewed exposed seams with sock yarn.  It took forever but was totally worth it!  Instead of using a pipe cleaner for a curly tail, I simply knottted a length of red felted sweater.

[piglet profile]

[piglet front]

It was a hit! My friends appreciated the detail, the eco-friendliness, and the color scheme (staying away from too much pink).  Welcome to the world, BabyV!

Handmade treats

Last year, right after Thanksgiving, I got a surprise package from the ever lovely Marsha.  I opened the box to find several mini-packages, all with little hints and messages!  It was thoughtful, wonderful: an oasis during a rough storm of a time.

[gifts, wrapped]

[gifts, opened]

I mean, it was everything that could possibly touch a heartstring.  I've never received such handmade and heartfelt gifts before!  From flowers and magnets to tea and soap and lip balm, everything was relevant, useful, and beautiful.  And oh, the handmade:  a ceramic bowl, a mug, a knitted washcloth, and a knitted cowl.

I especially appreciated the ceramics because I'd just taken my first class over the summer, and realize that it takes A LOT of work to get a presentable piece (for me, at least).  I feel so special whenever I drink out of my new favorite mug.  It is a perfect color combination, too.  Love that speckled white and blue. 

And the knitting.  Gracious!  What's special about the (red) cowl is that it's made out of yarn that I'd gifted Marsha when we first became Interwebs friends.  I had no idea that it would 'come back' in that way.  I'm still blown away when I think about it.  And I LOVE the design: it looks like a bunch of necklaces.  And it's SO soft and warm.

Thanks, Marsha, for being SUCH  a MAKER and a GIVER.  I am truly honored and blessed by your friendship in so many ways.  Thanks for reminding me of the human factor behind the cyberness. (And sorry it took til now to post.  The Goo had put my memory card in his mouth and I had to reformat it, thinking I'd lost a lot of photos.  I had to do some major reorganization in order to find these!)

Just a bit more reminiscing, and it's onwards with the New Year!

Birthday surprise: home edition

As if things couldn't get better, my family surprised me at our weekly family dinner with a card that said, "Happy birthday to your bum."  I didn't really get it, but such is my brother's humor.  As I was reading the card, he brought in the gift itself: a Victoria Ghost chair by Philippe Starck.  I'd been drooling over this chair for years (and its armed companion the Louis Ghost), but set the dream aside until I had a permanent home in which to place it.  I got to sit in it immediately during the dinner!

Here's where it sits now, back at my apartment:

[victoria ghost]

At the end of the week, Jax invited us over for what I thought was a casual firepit evening at their backyard.  But I discovered my best friends there, my parents, and friends continued to come during the night.  Turns out Jax had been in cahoots with them -- and that DC had known about this even before our London trip.  So much sneakiness!

[phaelenopsis]

[flowers]

On top of that, Jax had strapped little Baby G to her and put together an entirely home-cooked smörgåsbord including two pots of cider and hot cocoa (complete with bar of brandy, Bailey's, and other enhancements), finger foods, and cupcakes:

[birthday cupcakes]

[birthday blowout]

I was grateful not only for the turnout, but also for the opportunity for DC and me to announce our engagement in person.  Before I blew out my candles, I said, "I can't imagine anything to wish for this year, because all my dreams have come true."  And it's true!  Here's to the best birthday ever!  Thanks so very, very much, family and friends!

Christmas crafting

The 30 hats in 30 days craze was a sudden urge of a project that ended up in failure (which is okay!); Christmas crafting is usually on the chill side in these parts --  intentionally so, so as to enjoy and concentrate/contemplate the Reason for the season.

I try to write Christmas cards each year, but don't stress out too much over them.  I still had a few purchased cards to use, a hodgepodge mix of designs bought on sale here and there over the years.  I supplemented those with some simple handmade ones, using a single stamp (picked up on a whim), my usual cardstock, and a shimmery ink I'd received years ago as a gift.  I was quite pleased with the results:

[xmas postcards]

When I ran out of those, I dove into my stationery stash and found some Crane's letter paper with a blue border.  I folded the sheets in half and stamped them with blue ink.  DC helped me out a bit and I realized that I should have enlisted him much sooner, because he did a great job!  It was a nice treat to take my time to write the cards --  60- or 70-something all told -- until Tuesday of Christmas week, under twinkle lights and with glasses of tea or wine.

[cardmaking station]

I also took down the leaves and, with DC's assistance, put up the crocheted snowflakes that I'd made a couple years ago

[snowflakes]

The only other truly crafty thing I finished was a crochet project that actually got done in time to gift to our friend in Phoenix (so it doesn't really count for Christmas).  The pattern is Drops' crochet collar with bobbles, which I worked up in doubled Malabrigo and my largest (size P?) crochet hook;  I omitted the crocheted edge (which I didn't know was there at all from the picture, because it's the same color as the model's shirt!). The inflections in this Cinnabar colorway gave the collar a lot of depth and texture, and it looks lovely on our friend, who has a snow-white complexion.  Sadly, this is the only photo I have of it:

[bobbles]

Thanks to limited Christmas crafting, the holidays remain devoted to faith, family, and friends -- the way I hope to always make it!  Hope you had a great Christmas!

Blue Baktus

This was my no-brain knitting for Hawaii--which was tossed by the wayside in favor of a coupleTwilight books (what can I say?).

It got done sooner rather than later, though the posting about it here has been the reverse.  No changes to the original pattern.

Pattern: Baktus 

Needles: US3 Addi 16" circular

Yarn 1: ShiBui Knits Sock, Gekiryuu/Rapids

Yarn 2: Patons Kroy Sock, Chelsea Tweed

Yarn 3: Navy merino leftover from the first FO.

 

 

[looks nice on the reverse side, too, no?]

 

The edge where the yarn ends are carried up looks ropelike and much neater than I thought it would (sorry, no pic).  The most tricky bit about working with three yarns was the different amounts I had of each.  This one turned out smaller than the first Baktus I knit, but still wrap-around-able and tie-able:

I wanted to keep this one for myself, but instead gave it to my friend for her birthday last weekend.  Oh, sacrifices.  I'll just have to dig up combo of sock yarn leftovers and knit another one, I suppose... darn. (^o^)

No idle hands

Or, in other words, explainin' where I been...

DC came home last week, after having spent a fortnight in Africa (+ nearly 2 days' travel each way).  Just in time to celebrate the 4th of July.  Which is also our Y1 anniversary.  Luckily, he broke me in to his summer rovings by taking a monthlong trip to Europe when we first started dating last summer, so two weeks really was nothing.  It gave me some time to do stuff around the apartment (rearrange, again) and work on my gift.

The idea that We. Must. Have. A. Logo. got into my head a while ago, and stuck.  So, with the idea of getting the image in my head down on paper and framing it, I sat down with Microsoft Word and my extremely mediocre design skills.  I wanted something plain and graphic, and was going to put it over layers of security-lined envelopes of different patterns.  After nearly an hour of making text boxes, scaling, and aligning, I got it the way I wanted, and hit Print. 

Then I decided that it'd be better to print on the laser printer at work (shhh!), so I saved it to a thumb drive. 

Then I decided to print on my cotton blank postcard stock, so I dove through my stationery stash to find it. 

Then the idea came to me to do a cutout, so I traced the logo onto the blank card, and got out my knife and ruler.

Then I decided to make the cutout circle of the "d" into a heart.

Then I decided to do another "frame" of the security envelope pattern around the outside of the logo.

Then I chose the background color (chose the black over baby blue, to highlight the heart).

Here's what the final product looks like:

Not what I had in mind at the beginning, and certainly not perfect, but organic and spontaneous -- which reflects us.  The second part of the gift is the requirement to take a picture with it every July 4th!  I'm thinking of making a smaller version that we can take along on our trips, too (he doesn't know this yet, but will be happy to oblige, I'm sure!).

* * *

Whenever DC is away, I take out his letters and read through them again.  Not only does he write beautifully -- both in penmanship and content -- he shows his creativity, too.  Here's an example, which I'd been meaning to frame for a while but just got to recently:

[with new succulents!]

It's a little puzzle he made for me, using a coffee cup sleeve!  Cute, no?  I used another security lined envelope innard for the background, it's a subtle gray color that adds the right amount of texture.

For my Y1 gift, though, DC completely surprised me with:

[lovely! green!]

After exchanging gifts, we headed out to meet our parents for brunch.  Interesting way to spend our Y1 anniversary, don'tcha think?!  We celebrated in the evening -- just us two -- with wine and sparklers. 

* * *

In my last post I mentioned that I was already putting the Kacha-Kacha Counter to good use.  I got to over 100 rows much faster than I had time to take a picture, and then got to the point where I don't need the counter anymore!  This morning I finally snapped a couple of shots before heading out the door.

This is Forecast, by Stephanie Japel for Knitty W05.  Yes, I have wanted to knit it for that long.  But I was daunted by something sweater-sized and held off.  For a long time.  During which I knit shawls and socks and other little things.  One day, a couple weeks ago, I decided to cast on, and from there I kept going.  And now I'm almost done!  I got some knitting done during lunch, and am over halfway done with the ribbing on this (second) sleeve.  If I don't have to stand on the bus ride home, I think I can finish by the time I get home today!  So I can start picking up stitches for the button band.  Which shouldn't take long.  Which means I will have an FO to show you shortly!

The full story when the time is right.

Happy belated 4th of July!  I hope yours was good, too!

FO: Camo socks for Dad

Just a few rows of ribbing, binding off, and weaving in.  And still, these didn't get finished on time.  And now my parents are out of town, so my dad won't be getting these until even later.  *sigh*  Oh well.

An interesting thing, though.  I turned the sock inside-out to weave in the ends, and discovered that I quite like the look of it that way!  Check it out (the one on the right):

   

The difference is subtle, but very textural.  Here's another shot, which shoes the soles:



What do you think?  I like both!  I'm going to tell my dad he can wear them either way.  Knowing him, though, I suspect he'll opt for the traditional stockinette side showing.  Well, he can do as he pleases. They're his socks, after all!

Re: the yarn.  This was my first time knitting with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, and I really enjoyed it!  There were no knots or snargles.  The yarn is not sproingy like Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill, or ShiBui, but feels smoother than Regia or Opal.  It's defninitely a yarn I'd use again (and again), and not just for socks!

These still need to be blocked, and I promise they will be before my parents' return from their travels. 

Happy (belated) birthday, Dad!

Another year older

It's a funny thing to say that my birthday kind of snuck up on me this year because, well, the date never changes.  My friends and DC had actually been asking me what restaurant to go to and what I wanted to do for weeks leading up to it (a Friday this year, no less), but I couldn't think of any place, and I could think of only one thing that I really wanted  to do: go apartment hunting (more on this in anther post).

DC surprised me by actually starting off on the day before my birthday, leaving this cute succulent for me to find after work.  He even cut little hearts out and taped them to the vase (awww...)!  You can't see it from the photo, but the top leaves are variegated green and white, with pink tips: so cute!    I'd been wanting a succulent for a while, so it was the perfect gift.

Then, on the day itself (March 6) he presented me with various gifts throughout, when we took breaks from apartment searching.  I was totally spoiled!

One of the gifts was a little stuffed teddy bear, from where he works, which says, "Someone at ***** loves me." Cheesy, also but totally adorable!



Later in the afternoon I opened yet another couple of gifts: a light and a compass, both suitable for my keychain.  No longer will I have to carry my heavy mini Maglight in my bag!  And I will always know what direction I'm going, which will be especially useful in Orange County because I'm always, always lost there.  But DC's reason for gifting them to me was to prepare me for camping!  We'll see, friend, we'll see...



These types of everyday gifts are the best ones for me because I get to use the gift and, in turn, think of the gift-giver, on a daily basis. But moreover, they're items I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy for myself.  So: I'm very grateful.

In the evening we went to Camilo's in Eagle Rock: a place I'd heard of and been meaning to try, but hadn't gotten around to yet.  It was a nice treat!  I liked the decor of the place (we sat in a cozy corner, near the faux fireplace?), service was good, and we had an excellent, romantic meal.  I ordered a penne dish and went on a limb to eat the olives and red peppers in the dish as much as possible; DC had the evening's fish special, and declared it, "Excellent."



During the apartment hunt I requested a pit stop at the local yarn store (LYS) because we were just a couple blocks away.  I picked up a couple self-birthday treats (but really, I was redeeming a store credit that I'd had for nearly a year).  The spring issue of Interweave knits is one of the best I've seen in a while; I like the cover sweater, the ruffle halter, a shrug/sweater, and the shawls featured (sorry I don't recall any of the names).  The yarn is a laceweight cotton made by Araucnia, out of which I plan to knit a summer scarf/shawl.

Over the weekend we had dinner at the izakaya side of Shin Sen Gumi in Fountain Valley, another place I'd seen but never eaten at.  Despite the LONG wait (though pehaps typical for SoCal), I had a good meal with good friends.

Here are a couple of other gifts I received this year, which I totally love.  From my BFF Myko: beer, a purse, and an ecobag (she knows me so well)!  And from Jaxs, a set of napkins and some salve (from Anthopologie, a treat!).

  

The following Monday during our family dinner, Mom prepared a special dish to celebrate both my brother and me.  It was nice to end such a delightful and busy weekend with an intimate, home-cooked meal.

One year, I'll love myself enough to throw me a large party and invite a lot of people.  I've given myself until 35 to do that.  In the meantime, I'm entirely happy with a birthday celebration like the one I just had.  Thanks, friends and fam, for the company, gifts, food, and lovin'!

Twice trippin'

Two road trips in as many weeks will leave one with a lot to tell, I declare!  In a nutshell: many miles traversed, many laughs, and much food and wine consumed.

My first trip to Fresno proved successul on many accounts.  Like I said, I got to see my DC's hometown, including the old elementary and high schools, houses lived in, and even the hospital in which he was born (and where his mother still works)!  And I must have done something right, because the folks dug up old footage of the violin- and viola-playing (and contest-winning) days.  It was adorable!  DC's dad seemed to have more of a tickle as we watched, laughing over bygone fashion and hairstyles.  Then came karaoke--which allowed me to score a few bonus points (thanks to those years living in Japan).  One of the best parts of the trip was Sunday morning brunch.  I'd sung the praises of brunch and the self-serve waffle bar of college days, and then awoke to find that DC's mother had pulled out their old waffle machine and run to the store for batter mix and fresh berries.  It was such a treat, and I felt truly, truly blessed.  As if that couldn't be beat, the folks presented me with an early birthday present, since they won't be down when my actual birthday comes.  It was, really, the sweetest thing.



Don't think I left the agricutural heartland without any homegrown goodness.  We stopped by a local specialty shop to stock up on goodies for me to take back to fam and friends.  The Sierra Nut House is such a cool place!  I chose Jordan Almonds for my dad (his favorite), ginger candy for mom, cantaloupe candy, mixed nuts and berries, and dried cranberries for myself, a treat to sprinkle onto salads (and a substantial difference in freshness compared to what you can get at the supermarket).  Yum!

In addition to that, the entire family called, searched, and brought me to a local yarn store!  Janna's Needle Art was a great store, full of a variety of yarn, a table full of laughing ladies, and a very cute poodle.  Of course I had to get something.  After a lot of ogling I chose a skein of sock yarn in a purply color that I don't have much of in stash--and that DC's mother liked.  I'm going to knit her a pair of socks.  I later found out from the proprietess that it was dyed by a friend of hers.  So I am glad I chose something unique and local.

   

Neither of the photos above shows the beauty and depth of the yarn's variegatedness, but I'm including both as examples of the effects of light and background on photography (something I'd like to learn about properly).  The one on the left was taken in natural morning light; the one on the right was taken at night by (harsh) flourescent light.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to share some of the more interesting photos I took of on-the-road scenery because the files are way too big.  It was a bit of a gray weekend, but I had some cool shots of the ribbonlike car lights along the grapevine, fruit orchards in bloom, and snow on nearby hills (it's been chilly!).



I remembered to change the camera settings for last weekend's road trip to Phoenix, but ended up not taking so many photos.  I also brought along some knitting, but hardly got to it, despite six hours on the road each way.  DC and I hardly even had any music on; we just talked and enjoyed each other's company.  I managed one photo shoot for the socks, though.  The camouflage blends right in with the desert scene!

In Phoenix we stayed with DC's friends and had dinner with each of their parents the two nights we were there.  On Saturday afternoon we went to visit an old college friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in years.  I finally got to meet her husband and her younger son, who is now two!  He and his older brother (now a very precocious five-year-old) are the cutest!  It was the greatest type of weekend--full of friends and families.

This was the first real roadtrip for DC and me (he says Fresno doesn't count); and it really solidified that we are good travellers and good companions.  Which is great news.  I'm looking forward more and more to our upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.  And we're planning another roadtrip to the Bay Area for later in the summer.  It's nice not to always travel alone!



A couple days of focused knitting on the bus and I am already further along than this picture, snapped yesterday morning.  One great thing about the pattern is that it lends to ease of row-counting.  I go by "section" as my ribbing shifts back and forth, so the going along is quick.  Huzzah!  I've finished both short-row heels and have moved on to the leg cuffs, which means these babies will be done, blocked, and ready to give well in advance of my dad's birthday.

Two road trips in as many weekends is as much as a girl can handle.  We did indeed have a good time, but I like that we will be at home the next few weekends.  There's much going on and much to be done before we take off again.  I'll come up for air here every now and again to keep you posted!

Socks (again)

I took advantage of last weekend's rainy-day light and took pictures of my current WIP:  a simple pair of socks in Lorna's Laces Camouflage.  This time I am using US0 dpns so increased my stitch count to 68.  I am doing toe-ups as I normally do, with short row heel.  I always play around with the toe shaping because I don't want it too pointy, and I think I'm happy with the way this one turned out.

Here's what I did:

Figure-8 cast on over 12 sts; K to establish first row and divide evenly onto 4 dpns (6 sts each). 

Increase at beginning of Needles 1 and 3 and at the end of Needles 2 and 4 for 4 rows: 10 sts on each needle. (I do a KFB.) 

[Increase row, then K 1 row] 3 times = six rows, 13 sts on each needle. 

[Increase row, then K 2 rows] 4 times = eight rows, 17 sts on each needle. K 2 more rows before beginning stitch pattern.

I actually started knitting a pair of socks from leftovers, but was not very confident at all over (1) my chosen comination of yarns, (2) the sufficiency of the amount of yarn I had, and (3) the jog created when I switched colors. . . So, I gave up.  The whole mess is still on my table, a tangle of eight or so mini balls of yarn and at least as many dpns.

The current Camouflage socks are a sort of impulse project, because I had nothing lined up to knit upon completing my brother's convertible mitts (which he loved, by the way!  I got mad props and a huge hug!) and I like to always have knitting in my bag for my bus commutes.  The truth is, I hardly wear the three pairs of socks I've knit for myself over the years, and though I love the idea of knee highs in the alternating rib stitch pattern I chose, I just don't think I'm going to wear these all that much.  Maybe it's the colorway--which was at first selected for my brother's mitts, but rejected by him in favor of something more plain.  I've never been a girly-girl, but "Camouflage" may be an over-the-top colorscheme even for me.

So I decided: I'm going to finish these socks (already much further along than in the photo), but not make them into knee highs (which means I will have pretty substantial leftovers, as usual), and I'm going to give them to my dad for his birthday in April.  I've knit two pairs for him already, and he always appreciates them. 

And this is why the Knitting For Myself resolution is going to be difficult.  Wishmeluck!

First FO

The kniting's been complete for a while, but it wasn't until last week that I wove in ends, did some sewing, and finally completed this project.  My brother's hands will be toasty, especially these days that the weather has taken a dreary turn towards rain.

This is the third man-hand project I've knitted recently, having completed my first pair of "glittens" for a friend and a pair of gloves for my Supernova before last year's end.

At first I tried to follow a pattern, but then decided it would be easier to make things up as I went.  Six iterations later I've had lots of practice to refine my pattern, and have a basic recipe for cuff-to-finger hand warmers.

My guys requested a finer fabric, so I used fingering weight yarn (XXL Trekking; ShiBui sock yarn; and here, a washable merino whose name I forget) and my favorite US1 dpns.  Here's what I basically did for the convertible mitts:  Cast on 60 sts and knit in a ribbing pattern for 4 inches, then increased one on each side of the first 2 sts every three rows until there were 20 gusset stitches.  Put those stitches on a piece of scrap yarn, then cast on 2 sts by backward loop, and continued knitting on 60 sts for a half inch before resuming the ribbing pattern.  Cast off after 1.5 inches of ribbing.



To make the finger "cup":  Three rows before the ribbing for the fingers, picked up 30 stitches (first 30 for left hand; last 30 for right hand), then used backward loop to cast on the other 30 sts (to create an opening that woud slip on and off).  Knitted the half with picked-up stitches, ribbed the half with cast-on stitches for 1.5 inches, then knit all stitches until the cuticle of the index finger.  Use the try-as-you-go knitting method, too, because people's finger lengths tend to vary quite a bit.

On the first pair of mitts I did decreases like on a sock toe: K1, KSSP, K to last 3 sts on Needle 2, K2tog, K1; repeat for Needles 3 and 4; K one row; etc.

On this pair I did decreases like on a hat: K 8 sts, K2tog; K one row.  K 7 sts, K2tog; K one row.  K 6 sts, K2tog; K one row.  Etc.  Until 6 sts remain.  Cut yarn leaving a foot-long tail.  I then crocheted an 8-st loop and added a button to  the cuff, to eliminate any flapping finger covers.

I saw the "glittens"  in action when I met up with my friend for dinner a few weeks ago; he told me that his mom was jealous!  DC wears his gloves all the time, and makes it a point to tell people that I made them for him.  I'm excited to give this pair to big bro at dinner tonight.  I think he's gonna like them.