Fish

Here is a fun little game to play. Feed the fish! I am also including it on my side bar so you can play it whenever you want. Fish, food, fun...delicious!

donuts...cars...fathers...sons

Well, it was that time again, Father's Day. We decided to venture out on a cold and rainy morning (yes, it was cold and rainy in June in Southern California) to join the throngs at Donut Derelicts in Huntington Beach CA. Every Saturday morning from 6:30 to 8:30 you can find all sizes and shapes of cars. Big cars, little cars, cars that run on steam. New cars, old cars, cars that make men dream. I was excited about the donuts, few things can drag me out of bed on a Saturday morning at 5:30 am that do not include yarn. We did have a good time (I had a 'porcupine'...yummy) and I was able to take a few fun photos of hood ornaments. The car I liked the best, an Isabella, left before I was able to photograph it. There was a Stanley Steamer and a Kaiser, that is the ornament with the clear acrylic piece. It is amazing what cars there are, and the people who love them. I did very much enjoy listening to the stories and learning some history. Fun and delicious!

'these are not the 'droids you are looking for...'

Old Ben would be proud to wear this amazing jacket. I just finished my 'Kenobi Jacket' from Interweave Knits. This was a wonderful knit, easy, fun and engaging. The stitch patterns change to keep it from becoming tedious and look great. I used Cashsoft dk in the color 'poison', a dark purple/maroon. I almost always wear black so I stepped outside of my color box for this one! It does not fit me in the length as much as it does the model (maybe because I look quite different from the model) but it still fits quite well. I did not put buttons on it, I am planning on either leaving it open or using a shawl pin to keep it closed. This yarn is so snuggly that it feels like a soft blanket....yummy!

modeling for class

As an employee of a yarn shop (1 day a week), knitting for the shop can take up a large chunk of my knitting time. I will be teaching this vest as a class this summer at ABYC. Actually this is a wonderful experience as I knit things that I NEVER would knit otherwise. Take this adorable 'vine lace vest' for example. It knits up super quick and is a fun and easy lace pattern. The yarn/bamboo tape is wonderfully soft, though it needs to be untwisted after a few rows, I am liking it. 1st; I would never wear this, 2nd; it does not come in my size, 3rd; seafoam green is not my color and forth; it is not my style. So, if not for needing a class model I would never have had this knitting experience. I do just love knitting...it is so....yummy.

far away in a faire isle....

I have been working and knitting and knitting and working. I have finished my placed cable aran, and am very happy with it (that is not me in the photo, it is from the magazine...silly). I am also almost finished with my Kenobi Jacket, just need to add the collar. My current projects are these wonderful faire isle Norwegian hats from Bea Ellis Knitwear.
They come in a kit and are so much fun to knit up! I am almost finished with my first one and have one other kit to make, which I shall upon finishing my first one, as one knows you cannot eat just one when they are so delicious!

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Yes, today is the Vernal Equinox. Daytime and nighttime are equal today and it is the first day of Spring. Today is also the only day (supposedly) that you can stand an egg up on its end. So we did! Here is a photo of said egg on my kitchen table, which is made of wood. The flower is a sweet pea from my garden as a colorful addition to this spring celebration. This is not a trick, there is nothing under the egg holding it up, it is just balancing there. We were able to stand several up in a row but I was too late with the camera as my son decided to stand up 'just one more' and they all tumbled down like dominoes and omelets were on the menu for breakfast. Delicious!

fonts, fonts, sing the praises of fonts....

Okay.....like I know you don't have anything better to do than play this game, but it sure is fun!
I'm hooked.

button, button, who's got the button?

Buttons are big, some really are big. Doing good things for the environment is big, crafting is big, found objects are big. Here we have some found wood buttons. They are all quite big and command a special spot on a purse, shawl, wrap or sweater. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company just got them in and I had to take a little photo of them. They really are beautiful. So if you need some big buttons.....here is the place to feed that need!

if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?

'Everyone' is making this scarf. Well, I guess everyone was except me! So, I had to do it. 4 skiens of Noro silk garden and a pair of size 7 needles later.... I present to you the Noro Striped Scarf. Wow was it fun! I can see why so many people are making this scarf. I am ready to make another, just for the fun of it. They way Noro is dyed it stripes in such amazing ways, and in this pattern it really shows. I kept knitting (well into the wee hours of the morning) just because I wanted to see what color would come next. It was very exciting. The pattern is by Elizabeth Zimmerman but Brooklyn Tweed really made this pattern rock. The pattern goes like this: first you get 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden in a 'light' color, then you get 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden in a 'dark' color and a pair of size 7 needles. It really has to be size 7 otherwise it just does not look right. Then you cast on 39 stitches. Work in knit one, purl one rib throught....slipping the first and last stitch of every even numbered row purlwise. This make that amazing edge and lets the scarf lay super flat. So 'if everyone jumped off the Noro bridge, would you?' Make this scarf...it's delicious.

Duck....Duck....

On my way to the yarn shop, I drive around a wildlife sanctuary, across the street is a Fire Station. The firemen love to feed the ducks and the ducks love to be fed. The issue here is the street separating the two. The answer is; a Duck Crossing! Here is the sign (which I am certain the ducks are blissfully unaware) and ...the ducks...tah dah! I did have to wait in a line of cars for the ducks to cross the street in single file and was able to snap this photo through my car window. I got some wonderful yarn, Noro silk garden, to make a scarf. I will post photos of it shortly....sweeeet.

Melba's Close Up

Welcome 2009, and the year of the Ox. I am a rat. 2008 was the year of the Rat. Having it be your year is not all that it is cracked up to be. I have been writing 2009 on things since last February... odd.
Here is my guinea pig Miss Melba Toast, as you can see she is very excited about her close up. She wishes you all a healthy, happy and prosperous (which could mean 'full of carrots and fresh romaine') New Year, and so do I. A Happy and Delicious New Year to You!

Southern California Holiday Postcard

How fast time flies when one is busy, and how quickly the holidays come to fore. It was just Thanksgiving and now Yule is past and it is on to the New Year. My gift to you, my dear reader is this 'picture postcard' view of the canals in Naples California viewed from a Duffy boat (piloted by me). We took a two hour cruise around the bay and canals here in Long Beach, California in an adorable little electric Duffy boat on Christmas Eve, December 24th. The skies were a bit gray and there were a few raindrops but all in all it was a lovely day. A large bull seal followed us on our entire trip, he popped up from time to time next to our boat and gave us a smile each time. I never knew when he would show so I was unable to capture him on film. I understand now how hard it must be to get a photo of the Loch Ness Monster or Champ!
Warm and Yummy Wishes for the Season!

2009 in my pocket

2009 is looming on the horizon and I realized that I needed a new pocket organizer. Every year I go through this agonizing process. What kind do I want? How big do I need it to be? What style? What color? What do I want to look at for an entire year? Well, this year I decided to go handmade. Etsy to the rescue! I found just what I needed at Christina's Etsy shop. She has wonderful planners and many other items too. I love her fabric colors and choices. Her sewing is impeccable and my planner is just lovely. I have already put things in it...my favorite things first, like my knitting night out every week with my SnB friends! Thank you Christine for making my new 2009 pocket planner....it is delicious!

I adore shopping at the Japanese 98 cents store. I go there all the time! Now.... I am sad, because they are closing. I slumped about for weeks, I even shed a few tears. I went there one last time and bought up so much stuff!
In my sorrow I turned to the internet ... and low and behold, what do I find?
An online store that has all I could ever want and more! It is Ichiban Kan.

I am happy now...yipee, life can go on and I have a new supply of bento boxes and bento ... stuff.
sigh...delicious sigh.

cute monster.....

just having some blogging fun. it is monday, it is a holiday, no work today. hhhmmmm, what shall i do, i say to myself. well, free time is web surfing time and look what i found... a 'cute monster' test. i couldn't say no.

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a deep, thoughtful, down to earth person. You don't put much stock in appearances. You are never superficial or flippant. You take time in life to study, learn, and get to know people well. You inner demon is laziness. You can get so caught up in your own world that you neglect everything around you. People think you're cute because you're intelligent. Your wit and wisdom are charming.

The Cute Monster Test

i say it is pretty close. i do get caught up in things and forget to do .... stuff.
try it, it's cute and it's sweeeeet.

movie, Japanese, knitting.....

Here is my next movie purchase... wool 100%. An amazingly visual treat filled with wool, knitting, Japan, and deep metaphors on life and the female experience. I must be off to find this treasure, it looks delicious!

where have I been?

Oh the joys of computer ownership, the swift advance of technology and how quickly a beloved machine can become a boat anchor. I have been limping along my internet journey dragging behind me an 8 year old dinosaur...namely my computer, for some time now. I knew it's days were numbered though each day as I set out onto the internet highway it would still rouse itself from it's own internal dialog (it ran almost continuously) to follow me on my world wide web quests. Slowly my journey would go, gently and with much leisure. It would be so gracious as to allow me enough time to make a pot of tea while it loaded a file. Eventually I had enough time to cook an entire meal, until....the screen went black. Thank goodness that I live across the street from a fire department, they heard my screams and rushed right over with a tranquilizer gun and a net.
Fast forward to the next day. The dinosaur agreed to wake up, if not connected to the internet, long enough for me to download all of my photos and important files (knitting patterns) to an external hard drive...my family was spared, Huzzah!
I went into the computer store, got an employee and said "I have $600.00 and I need a computer, what is the best deal for that price?" I left with a new, highly evolved computer life-form, now all is well and we can sleep soundly once again. fin.
Here we have two photos, one of the dinosaur and one of the new godlike black box that tethers me to all that is good and wonderful. Oh the joys of computer ownership....sweeeet.

a cloche

I don't really even know how to pronounce this word, but I made one! A cloche. A green cloche. A green cloche with a flower. A green cloche with a big purple flower. Crocheted. I like it quite a bit, though I will never wear it. Hats like this one just don't work in Southern California, especially right now, it is so hot! October is a strange weather month here. We have had such a mild summer that this late season heat is difficult for me to handle. I don't have air conditioning in my house, it was built in 1921 and at that time there were few homes here so the breeze from the ocean did not have to work so hard! I hope to get this little cloche up on my etsy site soon. Look for more of these darling toppers as I plan on making many of them, they are just yummy!

A Car That Runs On AIR!

You better believe it! It will soon be coming to America if all goes well. There is a car that runs on compressed air. Really, compressed AIR. It is called the 'CityCAT'. The only cost in gathering the fuel (air) is getting it into a compressed state. The air shoots out of the tank and runs the engine. Yup, air. The current version sold in India just won't cut it by America's safety standards so it is being modified for our roads. This modification (read; won't crumple into numerous fragments including occupants on impact) will create a heavier car so it will run on a hybrid mixture of air and gas, like our current electric/gas hybrids. The good new is it only takes about 8gal. of gas to go as far as an entire tank takes you now! Check out the website linked for more info on this amazing vehicle! ....a tasty treat for out streets.

So I had to make a holiday gift item for the yarn shop I work at (only a day a week, and then teach a few classes in the eves). I thought and thought, hhhmmmm, what will I do? So many things came to mind, not to mention that I had just made a pair of wrist warmers for a double pointed knitting needle class that I am teaching this fall. So I took a look around the shop for color inspiration...then it hit me! Minnow Knits Merino, a new yarn that is very soft and comes in these outrageous candy colors. I decided to go with a Swedish theme and came up with this little (not really little) cowl/neck warmer! Isn't it adorable! You could use it as a childs skirt too I suppose. The drawstring keeps it from crumpling down so you can admire the lovely striped pattern. Speaking of the stripes....I used this stripe generator to help me out. I just love it! I can hardly wait to use it again. Oh goodness, my secret is out now, all of you getting knitted gifts from me this Yule be warned, they will be striped! Gotta love those candy stripes...eat em up!