sarah

my friend sarah died yesterday. although i have not been close to her for many years, i will miss her forever, and am so sad. she was an amazing, wonderful woman and i feel lucky to have known her.

sarah helped make endless hours at the counter bearable, she taught me how to make potato pizza, she helped me get my second car (only 50 bucks and with a cool story too), she taught me more than i realized at the time....

life is short, don't let it slip away, and hug someone you love tightly.

Life just keeps on plugging away.....

He's 12, I can hardly believe it.

Well, as the beginning of not only the school year, but also soccer season has started, everything seems like a blur. Life has taken on a new speed. It seems as though I've had many problems with my car lately. It is a trusted minivan, which I was a little apprehensive about buying. Must maintain the rockstar image, you know. But now I've had it for 4 years and I love it, except when it's broken and not working. Really not all the fault of my little minivan. There have been some extenuating circumstances... The reason I mention this is that lately I've felt like I've been spending a lot of time and money on the car. Time and money I'd rather not spend.

My knitting has been following suit. It's been particularly time consuming, but not that satisfying. It's been a lesson, I suppose, in patience and doing things right the third, maybe fourth time. Equally frustrating. I'm working on Liesl by Ysolda. I had some Cotton-Ease in the stash, from long ago when it was truly black, so I thought Hey! almost like it's free. Well, now I'm starting again for the 3rd time. The first time it was too small, the second time, I realized halfway down the body and the top were not matching. One was right side out and the other wrong side out, whoops. So I ripped it out and started once again, an even bigger size, which I'm hoping will be the right one. But hear that HOPING. I'm a glutton for punishment. Why oh why don't you just swatch and get it over with? I don't know.

And now I'm finishing up the Tempest Cardigan from Knitty. On the button bands. But it is tight, and my finishing abilities suck. I can knit and knit and knit, but when it comes to sewing, it's an ugly thing. So I love this color combination. I'm not wanting to give up entirely, I've decided to try to make a top down cardigan modeled after the Tempest (using my soon to be frogged yarn). I have to say this is going slowly, one because I've never made a top down cardigan on my own, without a pattern. I'm using Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top . But as a stringent recipe knitter, I'm having a bit of trouble with the vague-ness. A lesson in trust I suppose. And stick-to-it-iveness. Will she or won't she be able to do it?

Not the last project on the needles, but one I'll talk about because I'm really enjoying it is Abby, a cowl made from handspun yarn. I'm spinning it and knitting right off the spindle (oooh aaahhh). I knit one of these already with yak gifted to me by Kristine of AFVKW. It is beautiful and soft, but somehow I didn't feel finished with this pattern and felt like I needed to knit it yet again. Which is unusual for me, but it's somehow so captivating, maybe because it's small, finite and one size fits all.




In spinning news, I've been spinning some baby camel and silk also from Kristine, and it is incredibly soft and wonderful to spin and beautiful to look at--it's 10% chance of rain--you should go get some right now if you spin.




So as I knit and re-knit my current projects, while waiting for my car to be fixed, I try to remember that these are small problems, they are fix-able, do-able. Really I should be grateful that these are my problems. It's just hard to recognize sometimes.

You Can't Always Have Meat on Your Pizza

Well two weeks in Hawaii is like heaven, it has completely rejuvenated me, even though I did take home a few pounds of the island on the belly portion of my body. I don't know how that could have happened, maybe it was the Passion Fruit Mojitos, or maybe pork for breakfast lunch and dinner. Hmmm.

There really is nothing better than to knit and be able to see the ocean. See above for the view. It was so relaxing and beautiful.




We also saw Kilauea, the volcano that erupted in March--




and fishes! I went snorkeling for the first time, incredible how close all the beautiful fish are. I didn't even freak out....very much. It was so much fun, the days were full of playtime, eating and drinking.

Now that I'm back though there is no eating, and only drinking a little water. We are now on a strict diet and exercise regimen.

My mom was very happy to receive her sweater, here is a picture of me in it...



Details: Ariann
Needles: 6 & 7
Yarn: Misti International Pima Cotton/Silk
No changes made to the pattern. Very easy pattern to follow.


I started my second Clapotis in Noro Silk Garden on the plane:




A halfway okay picture of Glasgow Lace taken by my bigger son:




Details: Glasgow Lace
Needles: 6 & 7 denise interchangeables
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece about 5 skeins
Modifications: I made the body about 2 inches longer to cover above mentioned belly section, and knit the collar all the way around the neck instead just in the front.

All in all a fun and interesting knit. The lace was easy enough to knit without complete concentration, but also interesting enough to keep me going.

The rest of the summer awaits, and I'm excited. My good friends from London are coming soon and I'm loving the staying up late and not having to get up and out of the house. I also have been having a great time with my boys. They are a lot of fun these days.

Back and A Meme

Well, life has been super busy...

If it hadn't been for Kristine, I may have let this blog go quietly to blog heaven, as I'm not very good at updating.

Of late, my in-laws drove here all the way from Vermont, S's best friend got married, of which there many, many days of revelry, we sold our house (wow) and I am now officially a mother of a seventh grader.

Oh yes! And I'm in the summer Spin-Off magazine!! It's very exciting.

I have been horrible about taking pictures, but I stopped by A Verb For Keeping Warm's studio opening, which by the way is very well photographed elsewhere....and it was beautiful. I just have to say Kristine and Adrienne have worked so hard in making it an incredible studio.

In knitting, I finished my mother's sweater, except for the buttons. I'll take a picture before I take it to deliver it personally, becuase yes, we are going to Hawaii in less than a week. I couldn't be more happy about that.

I've started the Lace ribbon scarf by Veronik Avery with some alpaca silk that I spun on the wheel...two-ply, somewhere between lace and fingering weight.


It's so soft and drapes very nicely.










and Tempest, which I love, and am very excited about. I got the yarn at Article Pract after realizing it wouldn't be so expensive because they were having a sale. Something about sales, it makes it so much easier to buy something. Never mind that you're still spending money, it's LESS money, right?

I'm still plugging away at my barn raising quilt...4 1/2 out of 42 squares, not bad eh?





After unpacking just one big box of my yarn, I had some guilt, and wanted to use my growing stash, I started a Sunday Market Shawl with some handspun and handyed and hand blended yarn:




I finished Glasgow Lace and my Tangled Yoke, but my camera just ran out of batteries and I have yet to take good pictures, so next time with details.

I am usually the first person to break chain letters of any type, and this kind of reminds me of that, but here goes....



"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was a new mom of a 1 year old boy, most likely at the park or the Little Farm. Making snacks and getting juice, and changing diapers...


2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
buy steven something for father's day, grocery shopping, knit somewhere in public, laundy, dinner with lara and rochelle

3) Snacks I enjoy:

chocolate and potato chips....although i love a lot of snacks, i'm a snacky kind of girl...

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I would make sure that all my parents and parents in law had a nice comfortable home to call their own, and buy our dream house. Then I would tell my husband to quit his job, and take a permanent vacation. Of course my mind is racing and there are a lot of other things I would love to be able to do, which include you know, world peace and curing cancer, a house in Southern France for all my friends to go and hang out. Liposuction (not really), and on and on.


5) Places I have lived:

Berkeley, CA
Aiea, HI
San Diego, CA
Oakland, CA



6) Jobs I have had:

office assistant, poster shop girl, operator for catalog, concession stand food seller (only once), and mom

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
adrienne
mrs. knitwit
unraveling marlowe
missy b

there's only 4, I hope it's all right....

Happy WWKIP day.

Movin'

In the past few weeks my life has felt like it's completely been turned upside-down. We had been toying with the idea of moving for a long time, but in short order it has finally become a reality. Just, you know, waiting for the economy to turn at it's worst and have the housing market be in the dumps before you make the leap to sell your house. But these are the changes we've put into motion and good or bad, that's our reality.

So now we are living in a neighborhood where we can actually walk to stuff. Not only stuff, but lots of stuff. And that feels good. It hasn't all sunk in yet. I feel like I still haven't physically gotten used to fact that I no longer live in the other house. It's strange.

Things are good though, the boxes are beginning to diminish and our new house is starting to look normal.

I missed Stitches West, I guess I thought I would melt if it rained a little. I still feel bad I wasn't there, it sounded like a lot of crazy fun. Brooke, if you're reading this, I missed seeing you, and I hope you and Maia had a great time!

In knitting, my newest project is the Barn Raising Quilt from Larissa Brown's new book Knitalong. I love the idea of using sock yarn scraps, because I have a lot, and bonus, they are washable. So my dirty little monkeys can use this blanket (when I actually finish it) with abandon.



On an exciting note, Spin-Off magazine contacted me through Ravelry and my Morning Surf Scarf may be in the Summer issue. Way cool...thank you Ravelry...you rock.

I can't believe it's almost Easter, it feels like we are in constant motion, always busy.

I hope that it can be a day of relaxation, for us and for everyone.

Just a wee laddie

Happy Birthday Grandma, we love you!


Today's my mom's birthday, Happy Birthday Mom. I wish I could be there to celebrate your day with you.

It's been awhile, and I've been dyeing, knitting and spinning. We also went to Point Reyes--Drake's Beach--and saw this amazing guy, isn't he cute?



So, I feel like I had my first non-class successful natural dyeing. This was madder and quebracho (which I can't say for the life of me) yellow, and logwood grey. I was very pleased.



I've been knitting. I finished my Tangled Yoke, it still needs buttons, but it's done with knitting and weaving in ends. I'm kind of scared to look at it on too much, for fear it doesn't look good after all that work, but I will get buttons and photos soon. I've started this sweater from yarn that I had in the stash. I'm trying to use up the stuff I have at home....I still am no good at the size thing, so I went with the smaller size this time, we'll see how that goes. It's a very fun and easy and fast sweater to knit. If I was giving all my time to it, it would be done. I'm on the second sleeve and then just the front will need to be done.



And lastly, I finished spinning the black bluefaced/indigo...it's so pretty, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but it was a pleasure to spin, and I know it will look beautiful knit up.



That's all...hope that your day is as beautiful as it is here in California. The sun is shining and I am thankful.

Haouli Makahiki Hou!

or Happy New Year...
Well it's a brand new year. Amazing, I always get a thrill on New Years Eve no matter how good or bad a year has gone. A time for a new beginning, chances to make new resolutions, to change, to grow.

Funny, I'll be 39 this year, it sounds so old to me. I used to look in the mirror and wonder if I'd ever look like a woman and not a girl. Now I look and see the wrinkles and want to look like that girl again. Never satisfied.

Knitting. I've been knitting a bit. I'm almost done with my Tangle Yoke Cardigan. Well I'm almost done with the knitting. It may take another while longer for the buttons, we'll see.




I've started this new sweater, a seamless yoke, for which I'm using a standard pattern for and will try to design my own yoke. I don't know if I'll finish it, I feel like I never finish the sweaters I don't have patterns for. I like to know what it's supposed to look like before I finish it. And I have this feeling that it will be a lot like when I draw...never turning out quite like I saw it in my brain.

I suppose this is something I need to push through and just do, and not worry if it doesn't fit me or if it looks perfect. An exercise, a challenge, maybe good for a brand new year.

I finished my Morning Surf Scarf, which I love, love, love. I didn't love knitting it so much. At first it was interesting and new, and then it was boring. It reminds me of the Kelp Aquarium at Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's soft and beautiful.



I plan on doing more dyeing this year, and trying to branch out creatively. It seems like it's so hard, like I've shut that part of me out, while I've been mom and wife. It's a constant battle to remember who I am and be that person. Not just the picker upper, grocery shopper, laundry do-er, etc. I suppose everyone has these same battles in one way or another.

I started spinning some beautiful Black Blue Face Leicester that Kristine overdyed with Indigo...





It's amazing to spin, you too can get some at A Verb for Keeping Warm....