New Recruits Emerging Everyday

For Christmas this year my (Rick's) 11-year old niece handed me a wrapped gift and explained that she has been learning how to crochet over her Christmas break. Her mother has been crocheter for the last year or so too, hence the influence of chrochet over knit. Inside the box were these two swatches that closely resembled my first crochet swatches twelve years ago. Tight and loose in other areas and a permanent curl that a blocking may or not fix. Her grandma has two swatches resting on her night stand as well.

Some may say that knitting (and especially crochet!) is a dying art form, but the younger generations are picking it up still. Like I said new recruits are emerging every day.

Blocking Boards?

I'm looking into buying a GOOD blocking board. I bought one at Jo-Ann's a few years ago and it didn't seem functional, so I immediately returned it. I saw one on Webs, but the big one is sold out. I thought about calling them to see when they will have more in stock. Then I saw the price... which seems a bit steep. But the smaller one, which is still available sounds pretty small. I want to do it right once and avoid extra shit I have no room for. Th large one is 33" X 51" which seems perfect, and the small one is 18" X 24". Does that even seem worth it? It doesn't even sound big enough for one piece, let alone ALL of them, and there is no way I'm going to block one rinky-dink piece at a time.
My question is, does anyone know of a good one elsewhere. Any advice as what to avoid? I don't have the time or patience to make my own, I have a toddler and no real free time. I live in the L.A. area and am willing to drive in that vicinity if they sell decent ones somewhere. Otherwise, internet, whatever. I have no knowledge of blocking boards and have only actuallt blocked one sweater and I used a towel on my mattress and that was a bitch.

Please help!!!!!

Seaming Together The Past

Pattern: Rowan Magazine 38- Echo
Yarn: Lots of different Rowan (why I still pick Rowan over any other yarn I've worked with)
Needles: Clover Bamboo in 7's



In October 2005 I decided to start (and more importantly finish) my first real sweater. I had started a sweater once before, but we just won't go there...this sweater was one that seemed very basic, but with a little twist for a knitter who only ever learned the "knit" stitch back in third grade. I had never even learned how to bind off. The twist for me was that there were many different colors to work with. And I'll tell 'ya, if it hadn't been for getting to change up the color every couple of rows, I definitly would've given up out of boredom. This sweater also taught me how boring stockinette can be. I also learned a valuable lessons, many little ends to be woven end sucks, and I will just have to be careful about them sticking out, because there are just WAY too many of them, and they're very short.

Another thing about this sweater was that it took a week to knit, and I was about to bind off on the last bit of the last sleeve when I found out I was pregnant. And my hands were quite unsteady on those last few rows. I never blocked it, never seamed it, and it just sat in my room for well...nine months or so. Maybe eight. Throughout this whole project, I had to revisit my SnB book (bible) and never really had a good idea on the seaming process. I totally butchered it and always said I would re-do that part. Two years later I finally got around to it, and it took less than an hour to do! Who would have ever thought!

I can't remember what it was that made me decide on this sweater over all the other beautiful patterns, but I'm glad I did. Though it is colors that I don't normally wear, I actually like it on me. But there are a few thing I would change, now that I'm more familiar with kniting projects.

1) I should've knit a size bigger atleast for the bust and then cinched the waist with decreases like I did for my RR. I like things fit snug, but I can see the knit stitches pulled tight across the bust in this. I realize my body has changed since I first started this project, so I can't beat myself up over it, and I will wear it anyways.

2) I wish I had added more length. I'm 5'9" and all of my shirts show off my midriff. Before child I didn't mind, but now I am more self-concious of my body, escpecially my tummy. My arms always seem big too. I always thought patterns had to be by the book with no need for modifications, but from now on I will add extra lenth because I have the same problem with RR too.



*I'll admit this picture looks like I'm trying to stick out my chest but I had my camera on 2-second delay, so I was trying to jump in front of the camera, and move my arms out of the way in a nonchalant -type of way so that you could see other views, including my still unseamed bottom ribbing that I need to find the matching yarn for in my stash*

3) I will knit in the round until the armholes. It would have been way easier, and maybe even less ends to deal with.

4) I need to do something about the collar. Something about it, just isn't right.



*one of the arms is a little funky too*

I am all-in-all quite satisfied with the way it turned out, and that two years later I still like it. It's deliciously comfy, and worth the price, which if you all know Rowan, can be pricey. I would spend that amount on this sweater if it was store-bought, and well...longer, non-funky shoulder seaming and possibly bigger in the bust and still smaller in the waist. You get the idea.
I have a few more parts to seam up, as well as a few more projects in my closet that need seaming and a little bit more knitting. I'm cleaning house and ready to start wearing some sweaters!

New Years Resolution: knit more, finish more!

Friday Night Out

Rick and I had our 5-Year Anniversary yesterday, but we're going to celebrate it tonight instead. Reverend Horton Heat, baby!



We'll be there, the question is, will you?

R.I.P. (1953-2007)

I'm not preaching and I'm not a big time follwer of worldy events...but Benazir Bhutto's death really bums me out. It always seems like great people who have the ability to do great things, or atleast want to CHANGE things, are always killed. This just makes me so sad.

Stoked.

Like a jackass, I almost spent $30.00 on ebay for a copy of KnitScene Fall 2006 because I'm jonesing to knit Molly Ringwald.



Nothing else has seemed to be on my to-knit list as long or have I wanted to knit this so bad recently. So before I decided to over-spend my budget, I did an internet search and found it in Brooklyn for $7.99 at a little yarn store. I had to purchase a minimum of 17.99 and it just happend to sell a beautiful red Filatura di Crosa Zara for $10.00. Hit the minimum like a bullseye. Killed two birds with one stone. Now I'll have two projects done and a beautiful SweetHeart to be wearin'!

Happy Anniversary baby!!!!!

Grinching.

Every Christmas my mom gets all of us a pair of pajamas, along with some other things...

Every year Rick complains about my pajama collection and wants me to clear them out...

Every year I see cool ones at Target and he pulls me away and says I have enough...

Karmas a bitch, and now he's stuck wearing a pair too! Haha!

I kid.

Did I mention these are WOMEN'S pajamas?

Absolute. Hilarious. Torture.

Rick was a trooper and that's why I love him. He will pose for a picture he knows will probally be posted on my blog, and hope his fellow car club brothers will never see. He tried his best to make them cool; but sadly even a fedora, which can make almost everything cool, could not make these pajamas cool. So he posed, and immediatley scurried out of them, complaining that the XL she bought him where huge. Ahem, but I wore this brand in XL when I was pregnant Mister! Way to get on my bad side!



Anyways, here's the shot mom.



And a silly one of Seamus, who has the teeniest little waist and needs a belt most of the time.



Merry Christmas to all. Now I have to go to bed, I have to work in the morning.

A Little EggNog With Your Blog?

*title had nothing to do with post*

Sorry, I've been gone white trash camping. (Sans toyhauler). I've also been pondering new projects, seeing that this once a knitting blog. I've had the Eunny's pattern hibernating in my folder for a bit as I thought-up colors and such. I had bought some nice Rowan two years ago, and loved it until I realized I hadn't bought enough, and I bought it on ebay...so I was shit outta luck. But while bored, surfing Ravelry (again), I came across a vest in the colors I had thought of using AFTER my unfortunate ebay incident. Knit Picks merino in dark red (shocked aren't you?) and white. Maybe even an off-white. And I've also been thinking of Wicked, in black, even though a green might be pretty. I've realized I need to stick to colors I ACTUALLY wear.

Now we're off to Rick's cousins, then up all night wrapping presents, stuffing stockings and putting together Seamus' powerwheels quad.

Look how cute he is in his little jersey. He just wants to be one of the big boys, so we splurged on this for him.



Merry Christmas to you all, and to all a good night!!!!!!!!!!!

A Little Bit Of Everything

Rick's car made it into Rolls& Pleats magazine this month. I'm excited! Looks like things are beginning to take a turn for the better!

Me and my sister went out to Stephanie Jame's shop out in Huntington Beach. Gorgeous! Now I really can't make up my mind. I have been put in a time crunch as well. One other shop told me I need to place my order, like now. SJ says by the first of the year to guarantee it will be ready by May. May still seems so far away. Denial, I guess.



The detail and quality is simply amazing.



I was instantly drawn to this dress because I've always loved Morticia Addams, this was just a sample to try on and yes, it would be in an ivory or white. But I loved it just the way it was. Just for dress-up though. This dress was definitly va-voom, Jessica Rabit, etc. I love it! Very similar to the style I normally wear, but still looking different and awesome. Sigh. I'm in love with this dress...
*the pictures were taken with my sister's cell phone, hence the fuzziness*


This is the contender from a different bridal shop, that really looks amazing too. I was really excited about this dress until I went to SJ. Now I'm really torn. Custom made quality vs. a dress that is churned out, but by a designer that dressed Jackie-O and Marilyn Monroe.

I have a tattoo to show you that will make you all jealous! Just kidding!



My boo did just about the sweetest thing ever. He set me in ink.
*click on the picture to see the details better*

Knitting, finally!

Much more progress, from when I took this picture. I am actually about to bind off the bottom and still need to add the ribbing to the bottom of the sleeves. I should have just finished them off then, I don't know why the directions tell me to wait. The whole thing should be done tonight. Cross my fingers and hope atleast.

Wedding Blah-Blah

You all must think I have all the time in the the world. Yes, I was bored. But no, this took me forever. And the baby was entranced with Sesame Street, so I had a little slot of time.

You can apparently plan a virtual wedding on David's Bridal. Lookin' more like a funeral!

Creepy!

This Year's Visit With Santa

Even Santa looks sad :(

We Are Now "Officially" White Trash

I contemplated even adding this post. A year ago, if you told me I was going to be owning a trailer...I wouldn't have believed you, especially when told it was going to be parked in my backyard(AHHHH!!!!), I would have cringed and probally keeled over wit the thought. Yet, when Rick wants something, he gets it. I either can go along with it, and pick out the least ugly of them; or Rick can go on his own, make a huge mistake that I refuse to sleep in those few times we go out dirtbiking. I figured the first would be the less of two evils. It does beat sleeping in our old 4Runner(which we no longer own), especially with a small child.

Whatever, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I am so embarrassed that I will probally never mention this again. Even though it is brand-new, got a GREAT deal on it, and now I have a comfortable place to sleep in the hot?or cold California desert; I'm just not the type of girl who ever wanted a trailer. I've camped twice in my life, in a tent and was raised with differnt ideals I guess. I'm more into car-kulture, and as long as we don't have to give that up...It's all about compromise, right?

Last Year's Visit With Santa

My Kind of Dresses

The Sigh of Relief

This month, Rick and I will be celebrating five years of unwedded bliss. Well, not all of it. Regardless. The original wedding plans seemed so cheap and were going to take up so much time. So we've changed them all. Every last one of them. I explained to Rick that if we were going to run off to Vegas, we should have years ago. Now, with five years together, it seems like our relationship deserved to be celebrated better than that. I felt it was owed that. We were trying to go on the extreme cheap, which was going to be so incredibly stressful for me. I knew the lack of help I had coming, and just couldn't handle it. So I demanded a change. If Rick can put so much money into his cars and other things, then we shouldn't be cheap just to counter-act that. I'm not saying going all out, but atleast do what we really want. (Or what I really want.) So change of venue, change of reception, and it seems to kind of being falling into place. The actual date has been moved back five days as well. We will have the ceremony at the same chapel that my Nana worked at for over twenty-five years and where Rick's parents got married fourty years. (Two lucky parts of this is that we actually wanted to get married on the thirteenth originally, and the ceremony is tax deductible since the price is considered a donation! Score!) So I'm pretty much ecstatic. And with the reception, I was willing to go no frills to make up for the cost of the ceremony, which seemed like a good compromise. But when we went to see the room that EVERYONE in town uses, the reality started to set in for how much we really were settling with the reception room. The alpine green decorated carpet had stains that have probally been there for twenty years along with nice cut-outs of a very stained off white that I guess were carpet patch jobs. Tacky can only begin to describe that room. That popular wood paneling from the sixties, smudged beige wallpaper. Yuck.
So, I suggested we check out another popular reception just down the street. And now Rick likes it, I like, it makes a world of difference for a little bit more...our moto is becoming "just do it, right."
You're only supposed to get married once, if you're lucky. So why not not regret it. I don't want to attend someone else's wedding in a few years and go, "geez, we shouldn't have scrimped and had such a cheesy reception" or "we just should've sucked it up and paid for..." I just don't want any regrets. Life can be full of them as it is.

The Horrors of Planning a Wedding

*Changing the venue twice.
*Changing the month and season twice.
*Asking people to be in your wedding, then wondering if that was a good idea.
*Your fiance asking a friend to be the , then realizing once changing venue, that a priest comes with the package, so the friends services aren't needed.
*Put down deposits for first venue, hopefully they will honor their policy of refunds up until 2 months before actually wedding.
*The happiness in knowing that due to procrastination, Save-The-Dates will not have to be changed, since they were never sent out.
*Two wedding dresses in my closet, neither will be worn on my wedding day.
*No clue how much this thing is REALLY going to cost us.
*In-laws already pipeing in about things no one asked their opinion on/or asked them to pay for.
*Corraling a toddler while trying to plan this thing out.
*Family & friends lack of help.
*Fiance's lack of help.
*David's Bridal for sending me the wrong invitation samples when considering using their services.
*Having no idea what dress I would actually wear.
*No idea what I would have my bridemaids wear.
*No idea what Rick should wear, or the ushers(is that right?)
*Changing the reception location due to less work for me, but also taking away the nice scenery when doing so.
*The fact that I hate most weddings in general.
*Dreading more price quotes.

Happy Holidays!

Car Show

Had a blast at Mooneyes X-Mas Party Car Show this year. Made some new friends who love cars, babies and clothes. Even found out that one guy in Rick's car club is cousins with the woman who owns and designs for Stop Staring! Small world. His girlfriend says that every show she sees her she lets her have a free dress. Jealous! Doesn't even begin to explain it. I saw some great cars and acouple things I really wanted to buy...(Trophy Queen sunglasses, a polka-dot Lucky 13 dress...)
Rick's car also made it into Rolls & Pleats magazine this month, with an article and a bunch of pictures of his club, their cars, and a huge pic of his! I think I'm more excited than he is. I didn't take any pictures even though I brought my camera. Stole these pictures from the car clubs myspace.I was too busy trying to keep my toddler from smearing his hands on all the newly waxed cars and especially all those chromed out Harleys.Yuck. Triumphs please!
Later on I had a cookie party to attend. Yes, a cookie party. A little out of my element I would say. But nice people, and a nice gesture. I think the cookies I made sucked. But I got positive feedback on them. I think they turned out too dry. I thought the recipe sounded a little odd, but I went by the book on that one, so it wasn't my fault.




All in all, a good day.

Excuse me now, for I have some X-Mas cards to attend to.

Made Out Like A Bandit!

more pictures to come...

Finally, Progress!

Yesterday was one of those days when I had cabin fever from being in the house with the baby all day. I needed a break and Rick isn't always the most perceptive person, even when you literally tell him, "Hey dude, I really need a break."
Needless to say, I got one, after much bitching. He actually took over all night! Dinner time, bath time and the time inbetween bed. So I got a little bit of knitting done while watching The Real Orange County Housewives or whatever that show is called.

And I'll admit that I didn't take the easiest road with my attempts at Rusted Root, but i rarely do. When I started surfing, I struggled on a shortboard for months instead of ride a longboard. Same kind of thing with RustedRoot. With this project I had BIG ideas. BIG mods. I examined many others on Ravelry, my wonderous beloved Ravelry. I decided to make the sleees poofier like Mz. pRp's. I am also making a more fitted version ala Zenissima, and I will make mirrored increases like Gloriana's.

Like I said, BIG plans, with big results. I couldn't think of a more fabulous or flattering color. Everyone should knit one in Salmon Berry! Even my bitchy sister thinks it's cute, and if you knew her, you would be as shocked as I was.

I Couldn't Help Myself

The blue one:


The top:



I just had to have them.

All of them.

Rick is going to KILL me!!!!!!

A Peek Inside

I'm sick of butchering Rusted Root, so I have failed to knit anymore for now. I had decided to make the sleeves poofier, and am now trying to figure out what I did wrong when trying to decrease to end the sleeves. I noticed a few minor errors that I need to frog, so I just quit before i got really pissed. This shouldn't be hard. Hundreds of people on Ravelry have completed it, and I'm a better knitter than this, but my only excuse is that I keep having to stop. Chase a baby. Knit. Get a dancing baby off my kitchen table. Knit. Stop the baby from trying to ride my dogs like a horse. Knit. Put the baby to sleep. Etc. The two definitly don't mix at this age. Too many distractions EQUAL butchered knitting.

So I'm going for a different kind of post today. I like peeping on people's blogs that show a little into their life too. So, in paying homage to those...here's my kitchen!



This room is my pride and joy. When Rick first bought this house, the kitchen was a visual disaster. '60s green and white, particle board counter tops in grey, cabinets had cut out swirls for trim. Utterly disgusting. This is what I envisioned, and this was what I got. I grew up in L.A. where all the old apartments have cool tile counter tops. I raided many books, went to some Bungalow restoration groups and found a somewhat secret unknown spot that sells real, unused, old tile from back in the day. Boxes and boxes of the most amazing and gorgeous stuff that I had never seen before. More amazing than I had ever imagined. I knew I wanted yellow walls, but hadn't really planned on yellow tile.



I went in with an open mind, and fell in love with the yellow. Rick chose the "fish" tile which is that thin colorful strip that slightly resembles...fish. I had chose a simple black and beige fish, the contrast really popped, but Rick saw these and liked them. It worked for the better since that slight amount of turquoise helped me to decide on the slate floor tiles, which I had also envisioned a must. Rick's cousin sets tile for a living and we were lucky enough to have him help us out on the counters, backsplash and the floors. Rick also built the whole cabinet that holds the sink, drawers EVERYTHING! This room was completely gutted. We did everything with the help of family and friends. Rick's best friend skim coated the drywall that we put up ourselves, etc. The hardware is all from Restoration Hardware, I've heard that they stopped selling it, which really bums me out since I just told Rick the kitchen might need another cabinet after all.



I love this Mexican Lady Jar. It was a total fluke that I found a new cheap version, but I knew that I wanted my kitchen to resemble a '40s/'50s kitchen as closely as possible. This jar is probally one of my most beloved pieces because it just really goes with my theme perfectly. The FiestaWare was already owned, and already going to be a major factor regardless.



I've done my best to have my kitchen as closely resemble what an old kitchen would have looked like in this house in the WWII-era up into the '50s. I love it even if people think it doesn't look authentic. My mom made the black gingham curtains, and I pinned the black bric brac to them because I thought tey just needed that little bit extra. The only problem is that my sewing skills are mediocre and I can't even thread my bobbin after reading the directions! One of the curtains is missing the bric brac too because I started this while the baby napped and never completed it! It's been like, six months! The horror.



Those tri-colored canisters are FiestaWare (big shock right?) and are the latest addition. I splurged, knowing the kitchen NEEDED them, not wanted them. I have no idea what I will put in them. The Cuisinart was a pricier appliance we got on sale, and therefore deserves to be displayed. And I'll admit the toaster look awful, but will hopefully be replaced once I have a bridal shower. Along with that I will need to do some moving around, because I really want one of these too! It's all about color in my kitchen!



Who needs to show a picture of their trash can? Me! I love it! It matches the trim around the windows and doorways! Simple Human has some great colors, though I couldn't find them on their website!



There are still added touches that need to be done. Slowly. My mom brought me this back from her trip to Sweden. Just needs a frame.

I love my kitchen, I hope you do too!

*more pics to come!*