putting the knit in shizknit

Fluffy Coat

I've been dying to have a nice fluffy summer coat - to wear on days that SoCal isn't so warm (which these days, isn't much of a surprise) and a quick innocent visit (I honestly intended to pick up only a size F crochet hook) to my LYS proved to be quite dangerous.

Rebecca 28 had a Stockinette stitch coat (pattern 14) pattern that I can use with GGH Esprit yarn (I'm using size 11 needles, knitting loosely and making it using the smallest pattern). I need to "edit" the pattern a little - it will be a bit easier since I'm only using one color, rather than 3. Immediately I can do the back in one piece instead of the 2 suggested - which means I can perhaps make use of my new toy, the Logitech io2 digital pen to make hand diagrams that I will have on paper AND on my computer :)

What's the morale of the story?

In my younger days, my sister and I were blessed to have spent a few summers in Japan. Some of the most wonderful memories are of times spent with my great-grandfather. He couldn't walk much, and so oftentimes I would take him his meals upstairs. I was a little scared, a little nervous, as a kid you aren't sure what to expect from someone who is so much older than you are. I have only a few bits and pieces of memories left of him - how he was always listening to the stock market on the radio, how he liked to talk, and how he always had a bit of inspirational knowledge to share. It was his version of the morale of the story.

As we get older, we go through life's experiences, meet different people, go through the good times and the bad. Through all this, we begin to question ourselves, "what is the point in all of this?". Most in their quarter-century life crisis, like I did, begin to wonder what all of this, is all about. Many hit their mid-life crisis, look at their lives in retrospect and wonder "what is the point in all of this?"... we all do, at all points in our lives, continually question, what this, our time here, is all about.

My great-grandfather went through a tremendous amount in his lifetime - the foreign influence on Japan in the late 1800's through the pre-internet age of the late 1980's. But some of life's lessons are timeless...

"You will have 3 great opportunities in your life. They may not seem obvious to you at that moment in time, but in relative time, it will reveal itself."

Its funny, there are certain points in life I can recollect where a single decision or outcome has changed my entire life's course... was this part of my limited number of opportunities? As I cross another hurdle in life's trenches, I continue with optimism that this is the right direction of my life's path.

Road Trip... The Conclusion

A little more than 24 hours after we left, I'm at home. We've spanned most of the central California area... we sped up 99 to Fresno, staying with my parents last night. Spring was in the air - my baby Pika has given birth to two baby cockatiels!

We continued up the 99 to Stockton this morning, raining pretty hard on our way to the Breeder's. Corky, was so absolutely sweet. She had 3 girls and 2 boys in this litter and Nancy really contacted her at just the right time, and she's been waiting for weeks to pick up this little angel. BJ is a Tibetan Spaniel, still a rare breed in the US, and BJ is one of very few in the state. Corky gave us a bag of food, a toy (with her brothers and sisters scent) and all her paperwork. I drove us home as Nancy held her new baby. As new babies do, she threw up - three times. Luckily Nancy is an instinctive mother who knew what to do. It was an uneventful ride home on the I5, as poor BJ continued on her car ride home with her puppy throw-up breath. She's awfully cute tho!

Road Trip!

We're on our way up north today for a ROAD TRIP! Picking up Nancy's puppy in Stockton, California. Will post pics when we return :) This will give me lost of time to finish Honeymoon Cami, Part Deux!

In the meantime, I found this absolutely hilariously true:
"The bloggers are, to varying degrees, narcissists and exhibitionists. We love to expose ourselves, talk about ourselves. And yet, ultimately, we expose only what we want to expose: a little thigh, some cleavage--well, I don't really have any cleavage... "
- Quoted from Onigiriman

A simple equation....

+ =

It starts off quite simple... prepping for Nancy's Puppy Shower, we decided to make a few sample bone shaped cakes. Then we had a few drinks... then, Hiroko got the knife...

Knitty.com: Honeymoon Cami

Pattern: knitty.com
Author: Julia
Yarn: GGH Samoa in white
Changes to Pattern: None
What I would do differently next time: Use different yarn (something thinner and drapes better) and cast on more loosely.

I fell in love with this the moment I saw it online. The best part was it came with tech support! I emailed Julia, the author with a question mid-way through the project and she responded right away! The actual pattern calls for GGH Mystik but my LYS didn't carry it... and the girl recommended GGH Samoa (and in hindsight, I don't know why) and from that point there was no turning back. To match my German brand yarn, I ventured to try a German brand needles - Addi Turbo circulars and I fell in love! I've always used the clover bamboo circulars up until this point (fighting the plastic part that always seems to want to curl the other way), but the feel of the Samoa and the Addi Turbo was just too good to be true. Smooth, like buttah!

For additional motivation to finish asap, I started reading the Honeymoon Cami KAL which has others who are also working on the project using different yarn, needles, etc. It was nice to read and see questions and answers as well as finished projects. Alternate yarns and ideas were also wonderful as I put the finishing touches to my very own cami.

But..

The darn thing was too big around the bust (I have it pulled in the back for the photo below). How could that be? I pulled out my swatch and remeasured. It was a half an inch bigger than 4", and unfortunately, I am not magically endowed in that area (even with the padded bra!). Luckily, I know someone that is, so the cami is currently on its way to Mom. :)

Now, more determined than ever, I returned back to the LYS armed with the list of alternate yarns, and picked up Sirdar Duet in white. So far, so good!

and I thought Lean Cuisine was bad....

I sure the hell would have lost weight on Weight Watcher's back in the days - just looking at these make me sick.

U2: Vertigo Tour, Los Angeles, CA

What did you say? Because chances are, I probably can't hear you. My ears are completely ringing right now after this fab 2-hour concert. They played a lot of songs from their old albums like Boy, and I'm so exhausted right now I won't even post a review. Let me just put up some of the better photos I got tonight.

And after, we were STARVING! the concert ended at 11 PM and we zipped down on the freeway to Titos (Achtung regarding the Venice offramp from the 405 - what the heck are they doing there anyway?!) unfortunately it was 11:30 when we got there (close) and we had to bring the food home (which meant I had to have some self-respect and self-discipline from busting the food open in the car).

U2-itis

I've got U2-itis. The concert is tomorrow night. I can't wait!

Pretties!

This must be the season to come home. My student abroad to Russia returned last week for a quick trip, Gracie is visiting from New York, and Hiroko returns tomorrow!

Today was the last day of the International Gem Faire down in Santa Monica. This was the very show that started my jewelry making fanaticism a few years ago. Nancy and I had no plans on going this time around (and can I say, have no funds to really buy?) but with one phone call from Gracie notifying that she's coming, we were ALL THERE. There are a few vendors that we are regulars at - I suppose two asians and a black woman fawning over gems might be memorable, but some people seem to remember us. I hadn't been to a gem faire in awhile... We were able to find some great pretties, including these chalcedony in two different blue tones!

Of course, a day of fun cannot be complete without some good eating. Our favorite Cuban restaurant on the westside, El Rincon.