Hit-and-miss knitting

Remember the yarn that I got for myself on my birthday?  It's been through several iterations of summery shawls, all without success.  For some reason, I just can't seem to find a pattern that matches the colors of the yarn.  So sad.

I'd settled on making a long, rectangular scarf, and after a Ravelry search, decided on the One Skein Stole (Rav link).  But it ended up too airy for me.

Next, I discovered AeRang, and thought that the geometric pattern would be really neat.  I didn't want the stockinette triangles on the borders of the shawl, but for the life of me could not figure out how to continue the pattern and maintain the proper stitch count.  Saved by Ravelry again: someone else knit the shawl without the stockinette triangles!  In contacting that person, I made a new friend who very generously shared with me the chart she made to reflect her modifications.

By the third repeat, I was getting the hang of the pattern but losing my initial passion for it.  The geometric pattern seemed entirely obscured by the color variegations, and I felt that it would be a more worthwhile venture in a solid color.  I was getting frustrated by frogging and rewinding the yarn...



...but I frogged nevertheless.  And then started the now-ubiquitous Baktus scarf.  But (again) right after I started knitting it, I realized my poor matchup of yarn and project: this scarf is really best suited for stashbusting, and I wanted to preserve my pristine skein of yarn for something special -- as well as something I knew I'd use.

I didn't have the heart or energy to tink even this little bit, so it sits on my shelf as you see here, patiently awaiting its next incarnation.

Another jaunt on Ravelry (Obsessive? Me?  No way.) and I've got my eye on the Maja shawl as a possible contender.  I'm pretty hopeful, but, honestly, after so many misses my color confidence is a bit shot I'm hesitant to cast on.  Anybody out there have any suggestions?  Lemme know -- I'm all ears!



In the meantime, I dove into my stash of leftover sock yarns to cast on for Baktus.  I grabbed the remainders of the Lorna's Laces Camouflage from my dad's recent socks, and the ShiBui Knits yarn left over from a pair of gloves I'd made for DC last winter.  I'm alternating every two rows; the green of the ShiBui yarn is more semisolid so you don't see a distinct striping, but I quite like it.

At this sitting I'm already done with the scarf (garter stitch = perfect brainless bus knitting).  Instead of doing the decreases at the end of the row, I did them at the beginning, resulting in a parallelogram-shaped scarf.  (Weird to explain, I'll snap a pic soon.)  It looks neat, and will be a nice gift for someone.  I know, I know.  But it's too masculine to be a Knitting For Me FO...



Of course I have some softer and more feminine-colored sock yarns just itching to get on the needles.  What's pictured here isn't even all of it, but it's a good start. (Did I really make that many socks?  Sorting all the colors has been a nice trip down memory lane!)  I'm so glad to have discovered this pattern; looks like it's gonna be a garter stitch summer.  Well, it's back to Baktus-ing for me!

4 p.m. - 10 a.m.

Before regular sleeping hours, on a free evening, one can:

• balance a checkbook (even after years of not looking at a register)


• draw a rudimentary but fairly accurate floor plan of one's new apartment

• reorganize one's kitchen a bit better

• cook a just-what's-in-the-fridge dinner (egg noodles and bok choy stir-fry)


• wash the dishes (doesn't always happen the same night, don't tell my mom)


• overturn a pot of succulents and break them all (but replant tips and keep fingers crossed)


• wash a skein of newly acquired secondhand yarn

• paint one's toenails; and


• fix and restore photos to previous blog posts.

Then, when a bout of insomnia has one tossing at 3 a.m., one may decide to get out of bed at 3:30 and:

• organize mail, coupons, and receipts


• wind leftover and stray yarn into balls


• clean off the coffee table


• finish a sock; and

• still get two hours of sleep.

After waking up and getting ready, one may even have time to take photos of some accomplishments before leaving for work. This may cause one to miss breakfast and be 10 minutes late, but, in any case, one may start the second sock on the bus.

And, if one, is lucky, one may find a trail bar in one's desk drawer, and be blessed by coffee and strawberries from a coworker.

What an incredible 18 hours for one!

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!