Black Sheep

Clapotis

Clapotis is done. Well, almost. I still have to drop some more stiches, but that will give me something to do when I’m at work, sitting in a meeting or whatever. Looky here:

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert for Knitty.com.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden in colorway #88. 7.5 balls.
Needles: size 8 - Denise interchangeables.
Completed: 12/16/04

This was fun to knit, and didn’t take all that long, just over a week. Although, I did put in alot of hours on it, burned the midnight oil on it. I wore it to work today and had all of the benining knitters wondering how I did it . I told them that you drop stiches, on purpose. They were, like, “wow, what a concept!”

Now it’s on to finishing up my Christmas presents (can you believe I procrastinated it a week?!?) I have another beanie to knit and I might try a few of these adorable mini sweater patterns that Julia dreamed up.

I’m also going to work on this site, I think. It’s not playing very nicely with Internet Explorer, so I am going to play with the styles to see if some of the issues can be fixed. It might look a little bit different in the next few days.

Hope you all have a good rest of the week!

5 comments December 16th, 2004

The Yarn Eater

I thought I should post a quickie on my Clapotis progress. This baby eats yarn. I didn’t really believe it when I read it on other blogs, but it truly does. I have already gone through about 4 balls and am just over halfway done. Here are some pics:

It’s funny, but I usually only knit this in my apartment, where the lighting is really off, and and at night, when it’s darkish in here. I have these red lampshades that emit a red glow. So I don’t get a true perspective on this colorway until I take a picture when a flashbulb can give me a truer sense of the colors. I really like these colors! It’s more colorful than I though, albeit in a very subdued way. This has been a fun knit. It’s taking a bit longer than I thought it would, though. The word “scarf” is decieving! Hopefully I will have a finished Clapotis to show you the next time I post.

Hope you are enjoying your week! My week is filled with office parties. I have a party for my department (Information Services) tommorrow evening, the staff/faculty party Wednesday, and the library potluck on Thursday. The food at all of these events is awesome! I keep telling everyone that I want to come up with an Orradre Libarary potluck cookbook. There are some great cooks here.

Better go knit on “The Yarn Eater” some more…

2 comments December 13th, 2004

My needles are on fire

click to enlarge

Raffa took this pic last night and I thought I’d post it here since it’s knitting related. I love how my hands are all blurry! It echos my manic knitting the past few days.

I should have posted this over the weekend, but I didn’t. I finsihed the back of Audrey:

I am really enjoying this knit so far, I have to say. The yarn is very soft and comfy. And I am really enjoying the increases and decreases. The pattern is definately keeping my interest. I felt kind of sketchy at first on the increases but it all worked itself out. I like how they turned out.

I put Audrey on hold, though, because I am currently obsessed with:

Thats right! I decided to use my silk garden to knit up Clapotis. I am obsessed with this project. I woke up at 4am the other morning thinking about this project and couldn’t go back to sleep! (I’m crazy, I know). But I am glad I decided to go with this pattern instead of Karlsro for this colorway. I think the more subdued colors make for a better scarf/stole. This is colorway #88 btw. Plus, the more I think about it, the less and less I like Karlsro. It looks cute in the picture, but in reality it’s the kind of sweater that would get on my nerves, I think. I’ve never been much of a “wrap” person. Clapotis will be much more versitile.

And I have an FO to show you, too. I finished a beanie that I am gifting to Raffa’s brother Joaquin:

Nothing fancy about it..Just *yet another* beanie. I have one more to knit for Christmas…My husband, upon seeing this hat, informed me that he wants one now…It’s gonna hafta wait. Ima gettin sick of dem beanies.

I’ve kind of been thinking about some of my current UFOs, too. I’m thinking about going a different direction with some of them. For one, I’ve been working on that Trana scarf with my LaBoheme and I’m just not feeling it at all. I don’t like it. It’s a fun pattern to knit, but I don’t think I would ever wear it. I think what I may do is a simple garter stich skinny scarf with beads. I like Heather’s little scarf from her Budda picture and was thinking of making something that skinny.

Also, I am thinking it’s a no-go on the Bertie bag. I hate that pattern. I think I will use the ginormous amount of that Den-m-nit for the Jess cardigan that I was drooling over in this post.

And then there’s the Widow’s shawl. I am thinking of frogging that yet again and using it for Alice from Rowan 35. That yarn is so scrumptious and I want to actually wear what I knit with it. So we’ll see. I need to knit up a swatch of it with teeny needles to see what kind of gauge I get with it. And then there’s the question of whether this pattern is above my skill level, too. Kind of important.

Just some knitty things i’ve been thinking about lately
Well, I gotta jet. Gotta go do my “Virtual Reference” shift. Have a nice evening, or morning, or what have you…

Note: Just so you know, the title of this post is in no way meant to “steal” from the Clapotis pattern creator Kate Gilbert, whose blog happens to be named “needles on fire.” I was inspired to name my post ‘my needles are on fire” because of the picture my husband took of me. The combination of the red tones in the picture and the bluriness of the hands evoke fire, to me. It is coincidental that that the name of this post has the same name as Kate’s blog. Well, there might have beem something in my subconscious that put that title in my mind. However, it is rather fitting. Clapotis is a fantastic pattern and Kate deserves an homage.

I guess I am a little paranoid after reading a certain blog post today, if you know what I mean….

2 comments December 9th, 2004

Inspired

Don’t mind me. I’m kind of thinking out loud here. But join in if you want, I don’t mind. I was really inspired by Cari’s “thirteen ways of looking at Clapotis” post. In fact, I’ve never really seen the Dogs Steal Yarn blog before. I was (avoiding work) and googling “Clapotis blog” to see if I could find out what kinds of yarn people are using to knit up Clapotis. this post was the first on the list and I thought it was so clever! And I really like that she choose Silk Garden. I love how the stiping effect of the silk garden contrasts with the “sriping” of the dropped stitches.

Now I’m wondering. I havve about 10 balls of silk garden that I was planning on using for Karlsro from CTH 1. But now I’m thinking that I should use it instead for Clapotis. Hmmm. I don’t want to buy yarn right now, see, as I’m on a yarn diet. I wouldn’t mind trying out Lorna’s Laces Lion and Lamb, if only to just try it out. But I don’t want to wait for it to come. And there’s that whole yarn diet thingy.

I can see that I have some decisions to make here……

oooh! Have you seen the new knitty? I’m really loving Belle epoque. I’m in a really girly phase right now. Oh, I guess I stopped thinking to myself

1 comment December 6th, 2004

100 Things About Me

Okay. I’ll bite. Here’s my list. I’ll understand if you skip it.

1. I was born in Spokane, WA in 1969.
2. I love to run.
3. When I was a kid in grade school I used to belong to a rotary track club and in the summers would compete with other track clubs in Eastern Washington.
4. I was a fast runner. I kicked ass in the 100 and 50 yard dash
5. My relay team in my age group was the 4th fastest in the nation
6. The track coach at my junior high (Evergreen) was stoked when I entered 7th grade because I was going to be on his team. I didn’t join because I was intimdated by the class bully. That was the end of my track career
7. I have always wanted to run a Marathon. I might some day.
8. When we were little, my mom would put on the album “Saturday Night Fever” and we (me, my younger brother, my mom, and our neighborhood friends) would disco dance.
9. My brother, me, and our neighborhood friends *loved* to put on old records and dance. Once we were dancing to my mom’s vintage record, Elivis’ Blue Suede Shoes. (She let us play her vintage record collection all the time). One of the neighborhood kids kicked his foot and his shoe went flying off his foot, across the room, and landed square in the middle of “Blue Suede Shoes.” The record cracked and was ruined. I felt horrible. My mom cried. But she still let us listen to her records. I have a cool mom. (As I type this, I am realizing the irony of the situation)
10. I went to high school at Roger’s in Hillyard. Hillyard is the part of town on the “wrong side of the tracks” in Spokane. Literally (and figuratively). In the old timey days it was a rail road yard.
11. I was a “Duranie” in High School. I have since learned that I drove my friends nuts. (OMG. The latest Duran Duran song is playing on the radio right now…whoa…)
12. People have told me that I look like Princess Diana.
13. The first concert that I went to was SammyHagar.
14. I once owned a Ratt t-shirt.
15. I was in Shiverson Jazz Chior at Rogers High School
16. I worked at Baskin and Robbins while I was in High School
17. I was a nanny for most of my twenties. My first nanny job was in New York.
18. I lived in New York for a year.
19. One of my good friends from Spokane died in a car crash while I was living in New York. It was a very difficult thing for me to deal with.
20. I have lived in the Bay Area since 1990.
21. My first job in the Bay Area was in Los Gatos. I was a live-in housekeeper. I had that job for two years. Two horrible years.
22. When I was a nanny in Menlo Park I lived across the street from Joe Montana. I worked in that job for four years. That job was really great.
23. I met my husband at Skate Church.
24. Oh yeah, I was a born-again Christian for awhile (shudder)
25. For two years I didn’t watch television or go to the movies. All I did was read the bible. When I finally came back to ‘the real world’ I felt like I had emerged from some weird alien spaceship or something. I feel like two years of pop culture have been lost…
26. During this strange time I belonged to a pentacostal church where they spoke in tounges and “prayed in the spirit”
27. I spoke in tounges
28. I regret the day my best friend from Spokane came to visit me and I took her to church on a particular day when we were “praying in the sprit.” When I was done praying there was a little note on the pew saying that she was at the park across the street. She was really cool about the whole thing. But to this day I am embarrased. I haven’t spoken to her for about 6 years. I really, really miss her. I hope that our not speaking to each other is not the result of my one-time weirdness
29. My husband and I had been best friends throughout that whole ordeal. We both got out of that together. We have been though a lot of weirdness together. He will always be my best friend.
30. The evening I met my husband I knew I would marry him someday.
31. We got married in Reno at the “starlight chapel“. Just the two of us. It was hella cheesy. We wouldn’t have it any other way. It was awesome. When I said “I do” I felt like we were spritually bound together. Seriously. I had a spirtual experience when I said “I do.” Even in that cheesey Starlight Chapel.
32. I got my B.A. at U.C. Santa Cruz (A.K.A. Uncle Charlie’s Summer Camp).
33. I was an American Literature major.
34. I took a class called “The Films of John Carpenter.” You know, John Carpenter of “Halloween” fame.
35. The professor who taught that class was a renown Chaucer expert.
36. I didn’t take the Chaucer class. No. I took the Films of John Carpenter.
37. I got through college as a literature major without taking a single Shakespeare class.
38. I did take a class on Dante’s Divine Comedy, so all is not lost
39. I love poetry.
40. I secretly wish I was a poet
41. My husband is a fantastic poet. I am envious.
42. He used to write me poems. I loved it.
43. My favorite poet is Anne Sexton.
44. I love punk rock music.
45. deep down inside I will always be a punk rock girl.
46. I hurt my knee slam dancing. I like to say things like, “Yeah, I’ve got an old mosh pit injury” to be funny.
47. My favorite band is Green Day. This could change at the drop of a bucket. But I realize that there is not a single Green Day song that I don’t like, so I guess they are my favorite band.
48. I want to learn how to play the electric guitar so I can rock out when I come home from work.
49. My husband wants to get a keyboard so that we can jam together.
50. My all time favorite song is Baba O’Reilly by the Who.
51. I LOVE WILLIE NELSON.
52. When we were little, my younger brother and I would dance around the house to my mom’s “Willie and Family Live” album. “Whiskey River” will always be seared into my consiousness.
53. I have a tatoo of a serpant eating it’s tail on my right shoulder blade
54. I got this tatoo in downtown Hillyard
55. I love old movies.
56. It’s a toss-up on my all time favorite movie. Could be Casablanca. Could be Vertigo. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Mulholland Drive - although it’s not an old movie. I think I like it because it is a critique of the film industry and hollywood in general. I am thinking that Mullholland Drive might be my favorite movie.
57. I love Hitchcock films.
58. I love food. Especially Mexican food. My mouth waters when a commercial for Mexican food comes on. I literally drool.
59. The only food that I hate with a passion is black licorice. I can’t even smell it. My husband LOVEs it
60. I have dreams of opening a yarn store.
61. I have dreams of living on a farm with sheep and alpaca.
62. I talk in my sleep. No, that is an understatement. I hold conversations in my sleep. At least acording to my husband.
63. I knit.
64. I’ve been knitting since 1996, but still consider myself a newbie.
65. I can (barely) spin yarn. I would like to get better at it.
66. I would like to learn how to design my own sweaters.
67. I’m not a big fan of Christmas
68. I am deathly afraid of heights. I break out in a cold sweat and everything.
69. Parties make me nervous
70. My idea of a good time is staying in with a good movie and ordering with Pizza with my honey.
71. My favorite trees are Redwood trees. I am mesmerized by them. When I go for walks in the forest I am in awe of how old they are and how long they have lived on this earth. I honestly feel that they should be treated with the upmost respect.
72. I love going for hikes in the Redwood forest.
73. I love the ocean.
74. I live blocks from the ocean.
75. I go running on the beach every other morning
76. I’m a librarian
77. I went to library school at San Jose State University
78. I am the web master of the San Jose State School of Library and Information Science Alumni website.
79. The best novel I have read in the past year is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
80. I don’t know if I can put my finger on my all time favorite novel, but I really, really liked the House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
81. I am essentially a cat person.
82. I love dogs, too.
83. It warms my heart to see a dog playing and running on the beach, chasing birds.
84. I also love to see a kitty lounging in the sun.
85. I don’t have a cat or a dog.
86. I would love to have a kid and buy a nice house, the kind with a white picket fence around it.
87. I am coming to the realization that if I want these things I will need to move out of the Bay Area, if not California.
88. When we get around to having kids, if we have a girl we will name her Athena, after the kick-ass goddess in the Odessey.
89. If we have a boy he will be named Cyrus. We just like that name.
90. I think the scariest movie I have ever seen is The Ring.
91. The Exorcist comes a close second. I saw parts of that movie when I was a kid and I’ve been fucked up ever since.
92. Because of the Excorcist I have an irrational fear of getting possessed by the devil.
93. You will see my husband’s and my name in the credits for a Real skateboard video - The Real Video. We had nothing to do with the production of said video. We were just in the list of people that the skateboarders thanked. We were thanked by Salman Agah, pro skateboarder and someone we were once good friends with. (we were also friends with Shawn Mandoli, who also appears on that video).
94. I am an intuitive person. Sometimes too intuitive.
95. I voted for Kerry in the last election.
96. I am devastated that Bush won.
97. I have always dreamed of going to Italy.
98. I have all of the details of my trip to Italy already planned out.
99. I am a pisces.
100. I am a middle child.

3 comments December 5th, 2004