Archive for May, 2005
Son of a Mother F*cking Bitch! I ran out of F*cking yarn! NOOO! I am soooooo close to finishing the second sleeve, too. And then all I needed was enough to knit 10 rows of k1p1 ribbing for the collar and sewing together. That was it. damn.
Well, I am planning to go to SF next weekend when my parents come to visit, and my mom and I were planning on going to Artfibers, so I guess it will be a UFO for a week until I get another friggen ball of chai. I just hope they still have this colorway. Oh please God. Please let them still have this colorway.
I guess this is why you always buy and extra ball or skein of yarn for a project, huh? sigh.
May 20th, 2005
I’m making progress on my Chai Pullover! I’m about halfway done with the second sleeve. Next I will be picking up stitches for the collar and I will be done with this baby! Yay! I can’t wait to wear it. It’s so soft and very lightweight. Nice for spring. And since we can’t seem to get nice weather here in the Bay area, longs sleeves are still okay. I can’t believe it’s raining AGAIN. Hence, the crappy, dark, photo.
I’ve been doing some thinking the past few days about my Clapotis.
I’ve slowly come to the conclusion that I don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, there are things about it that I do love. I love the color, for one. But I just don’t like the bulkiness of it. It’s too heavy and bulky to be worn as a scarf, and it feels and looks awkward when worn as a shawl. It doesn’t hang rignt. It doesn’t have that nice, springy texture that I see most of them have. So I’m thinking about making a new one, in the far future. I’m trying to think of yarns to use and I’m kind of thinking either Koigu or a Knitpicks equivalent. I mean, look at this Clapotis knit with Koigu. It’s not bulky at all. I like that.
So then I got to thinking about what I would use with all of that silk garden from Clapotis. Hmmm. I’m thinking about either York, or Karlsro (which is what I wanted to use this yarn for in the first place). But I’m leaning more toward York:
I’m just kind of thinking out loud at this point. God only knows when I would ever get to any of this, if ever. I’ve got too many other projects waiting in the wings.
May 19th, 2005
I made it back from Loex and Kentucky in one piece. I’m exhausted, but I’m in one piece. I got some knitting done, as you can see here. I finished the front of my Chai Pullover. AND I’m about halfway done with a sleeve. I think, since I’m on a roll with this, I will push through and just work on this until it’s done. Then pick up Lucky Clover and finish that. I feel like i have too may WIPS going on right now and I feel like I just need to focus.
I found it interesting that I did not run into any knitters anywhere on my trip. Usually I will spot another knitter working on something in the airport, or somebody will come up to me and ask me what I’m working on. Not on this trip, with the exception of a lovely older lady sitting next to me on the plane back. She told me that she wanted to bring her knitting but didn’t think she could, so we had a conversation about that. Then she asked me if I’ve ever knitted argyle socks, to which I said, “no”. And she told me about how she liked to knit them. She was just a really lovely lady 
. It was nice to sit and talk about knitting on that long flight back.
I thought about whipping out my knitting during the actual break-out sessionsat Loex but felt that I would be rude if I knit during somebody’s presentation. I guess I’m still a little bit shy about knitting in public.
Would you believe that I managed to fit a few souvenirs in that tiny bag that I brought with me? I did. I saw this little bottle of mint julep in the hotel gift shop and got it as a little pressie for my hubby. Now we just need some Kentucky Bourbon. Being that we have limited exposure to the South, we have never had mint Juleps before, so we are looking forward to that. I like to collect charms from places I visit to put on my charm bracelet (I know it’s corny), so I got this little horse charm that is supposed to be a replica of a horse from Gallopalooza, Louisville’s sidewalk derby (which I didn’t get to see. More on that in a minute). I also got these little earrings, too. Accross the street from my hotel was a Borders so during one of our rare quickie breaks, I rushed over there to buy the book, Ahab’s Wife, because the author, Sena Jeter Naslund, was the dinner speaker at the conference. I thought that I might have her sign the book or something. But when I bought the book the copies that they had were autographed. I thought that was kind of cool! She’s a Louisville local, so it makes sense I guess. I’m about 50 pages in and it’s a lovely book, by the way. She was a great speaker, too.
Loex was great, for all of you librarians out there. It was much better than SLA, imho. All of the sessions I attended were really interesting and inspiring, and very practical. The only issue I had was that I was so exhausted by the time I left the conference to catch my plane. It was non-stop from morning till night. The only time I left the hotel was that half hour when I walked across the street. I started to feel a little bit claustrophobic. I really wish I had allowed one more day to just get out and see the Louisville, and I wish my husband was with me. I don’t know if I will ever get a chance to go back there and I really regret not being able to do more touristy things. I think you need a little bit of playtime on business trips, otherwise it gets a little bit crazy.
May 16th, 2005
I’m off to Louisville, Kentucky tommorrow morning for a library conference, LOEX, to be specific for all of you library types out there. Of course I need to take a knitting project..I think I would shrivel up and die if I didn’t knit for one day. So I am going to take my Chai pullover with me since it’s pretty brainless knitting and air travel makes me extremely nervous. there’s something calming about the monotony of stockinette, doncha think? Here’s my progress on Chai, btw. The front. Maybe I will get all of the pieces knitted while I’m gone! That would be cool. I will try and sneak my knitting into the workshop sessions if I can.
You wouldn’t believe the small travel bag I have packed…I am the master! I might just have to take a picture of it when I get home to show you. I am so proud of myself! I’ve managed to pack everything for my trip into this little overnight bag. I’ve done this on purpose because it will prevent me from buying anything because I won’t have any room. I won’t have any time to scope out any yarn shops, too. I don’t know if I will be able to do any sightseeing at all, to be honest. Which is fine. It’s going to be a quick trip. I will be back on Saturday night.
I think I may also have a new yarn aquisition waiting for me at home tonight when I get home from work. I will take a pic of that and post it later if it’s there.
Update:
Okay, (hee hee) at andrea’s request, here’s the teeny bag I’m bringing:
I’ve never taken a picture of myself in the bathroom mirror before…that was an adventure. All of my stuff in there…can you believe it? I will bring another bag for my knitting, of course. Actually, I’ll bring my knitter’s purse.
Also, as I predicted, my little yarn purchase came in the mail. Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton in Aloe for the cheveron tank. I originally wanted a pale pink color, but they didn’t have enough hanks (drats). This is an interesting color. It’s the same color, pretty much as the calmer I am using for Audrey: Pool. Not one that I normally wear, but pretty nonetheless. I can’t wait to start this tank! I already love the organic cotton. soo soft! But I am going to wait, damn it! I will finish one of the two sweaters I’m working on.
May 11th, 2005
Cathi tagged me for the Book Meme! So for your reading pleasure…
1) Total number of books in your house: A shitload. seriously, I have no idea..I go through them a least once a year and donate some to the library book sale. My apartment is really small so I don’t have much room for tons of books. I have some tucked away in places I probably don’t even remember.
2) The last book you bought was- I am going to include audio books in this meme . The last audio book I bought was Eye of the World (book one of the wheel of time) by Robert Jordan. Several people have told me that they really love these books so I decided to give them a go. I’ve had a hankering lately to get lost in a nice, long epic fantasy book series while I knit. I’m about 12 hours into it and so far so good.
3) What was the last book you read before reading this? Again, going to include audio books here. Feed, by M.T. Anderson. I wrote a little bit about what I thought of it over at Blatherskite if your interested. This book was AWESOME. It’s YA, but sometimes YA books are just so good. It was a scathing commentary on our current consumeristic culture. And you know I like that sort of thing (or you do now).
4) List 5 (or 6) books that you read often or that mean a lot to you.
I rarely read the same book twice. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever have (unless it was for a class). But here are a few of my favorite books.
His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Again, YA, but probably the best books I’ve ever read. Very well-written, and the story is so good. Undeneath the story is another scathing commentary, this time on God. Very much recommended.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Tolkein. - I have to add it. Again, another fantastic story. Classic good vs. evil. I love that every character plays an important role in the outcome of the story. I love that it was Gollum who had to be the one to detroy the ring, and I love how it happened. It was the only way it could have happened. I also really like the way Tolkein plays with opposites, as well. For example, the Elves are the most perfect creatures in this world, and thier exact opposite, the Orcs (who used to be Elves and have been destroyed by the power of the ring) are the most disgusting, despicable creatures you can imagine. Anyway, I could write a book on this book . I will probably read this book again, and probably in the near future. I am a huge fan of the movies, too. I made my husband watch Return of the King this past Saturday with me.
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Edith Wharton is great. I think of her as kind of a disturbed Jane Austen. I love that she writes about the social lives and customs of Old New York. I love the rich descriptions. But I really love that her stories reveal the fucked up nature of this life. It’s not perfect, as Jane Austen would have you believe. The House of Mirth is my favorite of her novels because the main character really suffers the consquenses of being a woman of society in Old New York. You really feel for her and the ending is really tragic. I think about this novel all the time.
Breafast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is important to me because it was the book I read when I had an important revelation about literature, that everyone has at some point. I don’t know why I didn’t have this revelation long before, but this book really forced me to realize that the narrator of a story is not the author. The narrator is actually a character, totally discrete from the author of the story. I know that seems obvious, and it is to me now (this was long before I became a literature major, and may be one of the things that got me really interested in literature), But I will never forget the conversation I had with my (now) husband, who was a lit major at the time. The book is written in first person, and the narrator kept refering to his mother committing suicide by drinking Draino. I remember just being horrified at that that thought! I mean what an awful way to die! And to have your mother die in such a manner was totally unthinkable. So I remember talking to Raffa about it and I mentioned that I felt sorry for Kurt Vonnegut, that his mother died that way. Raffa just looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Monica, the narrator is not the author!” And it was like a ton of bricks hit me in the head. I totally changed the way I read. I began to really read more critically, and like I said, it really started my interest in the study of literature. 
Odyssey translated by Stanley Lombardo. This translation of the Odessey is brilliant. It makes this awesome epic very accessible. Reading this book did something to me on a really deep, subconscious level because while reading it I had these horrible nightmares of getting overtaken by giant ocean waves. I don’t know what that was all about…But anyway, this is the ultimate adventure tale. After reading this I have decided to name my daughter (If I have one) Athena. I don’t know what else to say about it except if you’ve never read it, you definately should.
6) Who are you going to pass this onto and why? Whoever wants to be tagged, go for it!
This was fun ! Thanks Cathi!
May 9th, 2005
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Son of a Mother F*cking Bitch! I ran out of F*cking yarn! NOOO! I am soooooo close to finishing the second sleeve, too. And then all I needed was enough to knit 10 rows of k1p1 ribbing for the collar and sewing together. That was it. damn. 
