I have been thinking this for a while and i am pretty sure that no one reads my blog anymore so I almost feel like I am saying this in secret. I would like to not make this about me... but this is a blog so it is completely appropriate. I debated putting this online. But for some reason I feel like it is important to put out there.

The past two years has been filled with a lot of ups and downs: took a risk and applied for graduate school, left my job/home/friends, moved crossed country and started graduate school. I have seen friends take on new adventures in life, become closer with family and all in all I am developing a different view on life. I have found topics that I enjoy learning about and I am enthusiastic to see what is to come in the future. During the past year or two I have also had a lot of hard times. I've cried too many times to count. Cried from sadness, worry, anger and frustration. But I have also cried because of overwhelming feelings of happiness and joy. I have spent sleepless nights working on assignments (not too many!), going over and over in my head about what I could have done to change the outcome of some event, thinking about the type of person I want to be and how that compares to how I see myself, and yes even stayed up just for the fun of it.

So what have I learned from this? Well... I am blessed. Sounds strange for me to say, even stranger to think when times are going rough (and boy to they seem to get rough quick). But I have found myself saying that more and more as I step back and look at all of the opportunities I have had. I am sometimes overwhelmed by the thought of how my life could have turned out differently. I think about how easy it could have been to give up when it felt that I had to work harder than other people just to do ok (i should put the word "perceived"somewhere in there. I mean sometimes there is just no evidence). But I also have received a great deal of help and support from family, friends, colleagues and people in general who saw something in me that I often didn't see in myself. For that I am most blessed. I say the word "blessed" without a hint of irony or cynicism. I don't even say those words with a single idea of how I came to be blessed. But lately,I have come to feel that it is more and more true.

So people I know. If you find this and read it let me say one thing: Thank you! 

Fall is here... and going so fast?

So this fall has been sudden and quick. I feel like it was only two days ago when I was taking cold showers at night just to lower my body temperature enough to get some sleep. Now I am busting out the boots with the boiled wool lining and the mittens. It is possible that sometimes I am overdressed for the weather but honestly I am not used to 40 degree weather. By the way, if you want to know what to get my for Christmas or my birthday: winter base layers, long johns and even if you want, snow pants!

Of course fall is beautiful. Right now the leaves in the Boston area are in the midst of turning. There is still a lot of green around but teher are ints of red and brown all around.  But the weather is also very confusing. One day the temperature is in the low 50's and then another it in this high 60's. One day it's sunny the next it's pouring rain. Luckily I have a thing for coats and I some how have worked out a way to have an appropriate jacket for the random fall temperatures.  

Asside form  the random weather all of the changes are also signifying a change in the school year. It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. i have a number of large projects that I must do and everyone is wondering what to do during the winter break. This will be the first time that I am not going home for Christmas so I will have a lot of time to think about what to do. I will spend a bit of time working.

I started my new job a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty fun. I am realizing that i may want to read up on some new topics. I am beginning to realize that I really have to use my reference interview tools, mainly because my frame of reference for subjects and titles are different than that ot he patrons of my place where I work.

First week on the east coast and I encounter two natural disasters

NOTE: This paragraph was written before the Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene:
 So right now the whole East Coast is under a hurricane warning. Earlier this week there was an earthquake and now this. So far I don't really know what to do. I did go to Trader Joe's and picked up some non-perishables but really my NERT trainers would laugh at what I picked up.... If you ever hear of those old-timey expeditions where they bring 500 wigs, coo coo clocks and beads I got a small scale modern equivalent. The storm isn't supposed to hit until Saturday night/Sunday. Or at least that is the rumor.

Update Post:

So I survived the tropical storm. There were no power outages or floods in my neighborhood. Luckily the worst that happened to me was that I got antsy due to staying in all day.  
This is the first week of school. Well, I don't actually go to school until the end of the week but hey, that just means that I am no longer in vacation mode. So far I have a few articles to read but it's more exciting than stressful. I am nervous, excited and anxious about this new start. It is exciting but I really wonder what it is going to be like to go back to school. It has been five years since I was a full-time student. And this time around I am a graduate student. Now, unlike during undergraduate school, I know that I have to take responsibility for a lot of my actions in and out of the class. Don't get my wrong, I was a good kid, but now I understand how clueless 20 year old people are...or how clueless they can be..  

The other interesting thing about my program is that all of my classes are once a week. I don't even have things spreed out so I have to make sure that I don't just think of my days off campus as days off. That would be a really good way to fail my first year. I am ready to have something to do with my time. Although I enjoy my time getting lost in Boston I do find that without a place that  I have to go to at least twice a week.  Once school starts that is exactly what I am in for. It will also be exciting to start my internship. I am taking intro to archives. Part of that  course requires that I have an internship. This will be a real change form what I am used to doing on a day of work. CRAZY! 

I have been knitting. I started working on my winter cap. I think that finishing a winter hat will inspire me to finish my big projects...you know... like my shawl or my two sweaters! Ekk. Well I guess that I will eventually just have one post where I talk about nothing but knitting. The pattern that I am using is Pollen and Bubbles. I am using Mademinetosh Vintage yarn. It is really nice to work with and I really want to finish it. So this is what I am keeping with me at all times. It is a good distraction from making sleeves on my sweater (which I really should do now rather than when it gets cold). I will get to make pom poms for this hat wich I think is pretty fun. I still haven't mastered knitting with both hands but the results aren't that bad, just a little on the puffy side. I am still in love with the hat nonetheless.
 
I guess that like all of the choices that I have made in the last year everything may not be perfect but the results are generally good and I am happy with what I can do.

Changes

So I am currently house sitting..."Why?" you might ask. Well I am technically homeless. I have a home... but it is across the country. I think that at this point I should just say what is going on with me. I am moving from San Francisco to the Boston area. Yes, this west coast girl is moving to the east. I am moving because I will start graduate school for library science. I am pretty darn excited. The past year has been full of ups and downs and now I am finally taking a little time to stop and look around me. My things are being shipped out to my new home and with the kindness of knitters I am able to stay behind in my hometown and enjoy my time off. So far I have met up with friends and had some wonderful food. I will miss both (SF friends and food!).

During my two year program I will study cataloging and reference, as well at take courses like the history of the boot k and user services. I am going to be be a general MLS student. But my hope is that by the end I will graduate with a lot of classes in user services. I hope that with hard work that I will complete my program prepared for a new career path.

Although I will be on the opposite coast for a little while I will still knit. And well for a while I will have projects started on the west coast to complete. I am currently working on a great number of projects. Socks, hats and even a sweater. I really wish that I could finish at least one of them, but right now I am at that odd tedious point (ex: sleeves)  of most of my projects. One project that is a constant challenge is the Phostosynthesis shawl. The combination of lace and beading makes this a very involved project. I think that most of it is coming out nicely. I am excited to see what will happen in the end. I highly recommend this pattern. It looks great with AND without beads. I would love it if I could get just a bit further in this pattern before I leave. I guess that means  that I will have to hunker down and knit! Well so long till next time.

First Post of 2011

Why hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted. I since my last post I have worked long hours, completed a couple of personal projects, moved and become a year older. So far 2011 has been a busy one.

One thing that I am very excited about taking a Dreamweaver course! So I hope that in a few months from now that I will try a few new trick on this blog. The class is very basic. But I plan on using this site for my final project. I don't really know how this whole thing would work. But it would be nice to show off what I am learning. The class starts off very basic. I learned where menu items were and how to save files. It sounds minor but it also seems that not knowing the basics can cause some really annoying or even major problems.

Craft-wise I was pretty busy at the end of the last year and the beginning of this year. Two of my cousins were pregnant at the same time! Since they were both due in January/February I felt that it would be a good time to work on something small as a gift. The result were two pairs of baby booties. One set for a girl and another for a boy. This was my first time making booties. I used the sock yarn from my diagonal lace socks and Charade. I used the magic slippers pattern. I was pretty close to not having enough yarn but lo-and behold, these bad boys barely use any yarn. These are done in on piece (first the sole and then stitched are picked up for the body of the booties). I am pretty sure that I could have done these two at a time. But I did not. They still worked fast.

This winter I also worked on a couple of hats. The first that I completed was a lace and cable number called the Ashley. I did this project using sport weight yarn. And although it came out pretty good it was also a little on the thin side for me. So of course I decided to work on another hat.


The Selbu Modern came out very nice. This was my first fair isle project. It went fast and it was the first time that I ever knitted while holding yarn in two hands. This hat fit perfectly and was comfortably warm. The sad part of this story is that I lost it! I tried to retrace my steps but I just couldn't find it. I do want to another one. But I feel like i should use a different color. BUT I also don't want to go around buying large skeins of sock yarn and not using it all for one project.Today I started a new Selbu. I am going to use the contract color as the man color for this one. I just hope that I have enough yarn. I forgot how hard it was to start this project. I think that I must knit really tight.

When not knitting, reading, or watching movies I have done a bit of canning. The first thing that I made was apple sauce. I used Macintosh and Honey Crisp for a nice sweet sauce. I spiced it up with cinnamon and brown sugar. This gave it a nice pink color. I think that next time I make applesauce I will add some raspberries. That would have to be good. My second attempt at canning were pears. So far so good. I made the pares last month and so far I have had three out of the five small jars (one pear per jar people). And well so far I have not gotten sick and the paers are still not brown. Yum! My favorite part of canning is hearing the pop made as the cans seal while cooling. That is pretty exciting.


I have a number of projects to finish: Alice lace top, socks, secret gift knit (the secret is what the gift is, not that it exist), a lace stole and well... I hope that is it. I guess my next post will be an "in progress" post. Hopefully THAT wont take me three months to write.

Tis the Season

So, it is the holiday season now. Yup, it starts with Halloween (which seems like a big deal here in SF) and ends in New Years...and well for good measure my birthday is thrown in right after...Yes, I know that my birthday is not a holiday, but it is still an event in which I try to be around people and celebrate. This year went by very fast, and the closer we get to the end of the year, the faster it seems to go.

This has become the year of the sock (and lace) for me. These are my third pair of completed socks. I am very proud of this pair. I did them top-down magic loop. This time around I got to learn kitchener stitch. I guess that now that I have finished a project I can start another non-lace project??? Or do I have to finish the projects that I already have on needles...hmmmm.

Feather and Fan and all the rest

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, this past week I was sick (first a sinus infection, then a bad reaction to antibiotics), and I have been working on five projects... well I have five projects on needles (six if you want to count each sock that are on circular needles). Before I proceed to talking about knitting I will blog about something that more than just knitters will enjoy.

This weekend was a knitting group weekend. The thing about my knitting group is that we love doing activities that are fun and adventurous. We actually go out and do stuff. This weekend we went to St. George's Spirits in Alameda for a tasting.

We all crossed the bay and braved an unpaved road to get to the distillery. The weather was actually pretty nice. So I was able to take a number of pictures while on the ferry. It was nice to see San Francisco from the view of the Bay. It's not very often that i get to see the sights that so many tourist come to see.

St. George's is the maker of Hanger 1 vodka. They also make liqueurs, whiskey and absinthe.  The tasting menu was a bit lengthy but the host guided us through with humor and insight. This was my second time there. I just have to remember to start taking visitors. Sure, many people come to Northern California for wine tasting, but I think that St. George's Spirits offers a fun experience that most people don't get to have. I mean how many people knew that swirling vodka is a no no and that there is a specific way that you should breath while tasting.

Now, to the knitting. It is strange how I have become one of those people who sees a pattern and the says to themselves "You know what? I can knit that! I even that some yarn and the right needles (not always, let's just say the me and Addi are quickly becoming friends )!! That is what has happened this year. And the other strange thing about my knitting habits this year is that I have done way more lace projects this year than I have ever done in the total however-many-years I have been a knitter.

I find that I really like how lace looks, but I have a problem with sticking with one thing... the moment that charts get a little complicated and I start to loose count I get a bit frustrated. For example: My Alice top is currently on hold because I have to decrease while maintaining the pattern to shape the waist.... yeah, for me it is as complicated as it sounds. So I have distracted myself with projects that seem a little more doable.

Does this count as being half way through?

What does that mean? SOCKS! Socks that don't have a lace pattern or cables. I am working on the Charade sock pattern. I am doing two at a time using magic loop from the top down. I was worried about doing a slip stitch heel flap rather than a short row. But it seems to have worked out fine and I think that i might even prefer it. But these bad boys are knitting up at a good rate.

The knitting goal for the next few months is to actually organize my stash (i.e. get containers form Walgreens and store my skeins in my closet rather than stuff them randomly on my bookshelf), and to not start any new projects until I finish the ones that are currently on needles. Wish me luck people... wish me luck.

It's been a while

Well it has been a while since I have had time and inspiration to update my blog. For some reason life has sort of been on hold. I really don't know what has happened. It is not as if there have been any major changes, it is just that for some reason I have put the pause on activities. I am slowly returning to my normal way of life: gym, studying, reading, writing, cooking. I mean really! I am a whole month off of my GRE schedule!!! Gurrrrrr. Well there is no one to blame but myself.

This past weekend I took a vacation to Portland, OR. I think that Portland if a very nice city. I used to think that I would want to live there. After doing some exploring I wonder if I really could live there. Hmmm. I think that I could only live in very select areas. As much as I don't like living in high volume areas in San Francisco, I think that I would have to in Portland otherwise I might feel a little stranded. If anyone has any insite on living in Portland, OR without a car, please leave a comment.
 
Well my trip was really nice. I learned that being a tourist while you have a smartphone is MUCH easier than without one. I am one of those people who likes to constantly check maps. So have a little homing device that also tells the time and allows you to take pictures at the same time is pretty darn good. This time around I ventured far from the downtown Portland. Went as far as the McMenamins Kennedy School in NE Portland and down to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in SE Portland.Sure my map obsession can wear on people, but isn't that better than me giving up on going to places because I can't tell where I am and I hate getting lost (arg, I still regret not finding a yarn shop during my semester in London).

One of the first places that I went to was VooDoo Doughnuts. This is a tiny little shop with a lot of character. The doughnuts were pretty darn good. I recommend the Old Dirty Bastard washed down with some milk. YUM. I learned that if you are going to go to VDD then you should go during the week. Because during the weekend there is this thing called Market Day (yes, it's called Market Day even though it is Saturday and Sunday). During the weekend people line up around the corner!Craziness. Well I guess that if I were smarter I would have bought more than one at a time. There were a lot of niknaks and that added to the decor of VDD but my favorite was the ATM. I barely saw any graffittie in the areas of Portland that I was in, so it seems that all of the taggers in town just took it on on VooDoo Doughnuts' ATM.

In San Francisco there is a museum... more like an educational playground really... called the Exloratorium. It is a really cool museum where you can interact with all of the exhibits.  It is a really great place and Portland has their own version. called Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI for short). There were some interesting exhibits, but it was really more of a family oriented thing. You know, bright rooms, lots of primary colors. One of my favorite exhibits was the spinning platter. In this exhibit there was a large table with a spinning platter in the center, You could take balls and hold them so that they would start spinning. If done properly you can let go and they would stay in place on the plater. If it is done inccorectly then the balls just go flying off. I am sure that there is a lesson to be learned there. And I am also sure that at some point I learned it. But I can't remember, so it is all just good fun.

During the trip I ate some really good food. Rather than going into detail (I might Yelp! about it later) I will just list a couple of places

• Kenny and Zuke's
• Stumptown Coffee
• The Bijou Cafe
• Doug Fir Lounge 
• The Grilled Cheese Grill 

On the knitting scene I have not really made any progress. I am almost done with the first pattern on the Hanami sampler stole and I am just started the waist shaping on the Alice Top. Things are going slow. There is a secret project that i need to start ASAP. We will see.

NATURE

This weekend I went on my first post-boot trip. I took a day trip to lovely Point Reyes . The weather was good and I was in great company. Although

Point Reyes is beautiful they do give you warnings about the landscape. I know that the great part about nature is that its wild and free. But it still doesn't make you feel very good to know that you are running the possibility of falling do your death while you are trying to take a break from the city life. Well, I guess that it is a good thing that they warn you about the what may happen if you don't pay attention.

My favorite part of the 5.whatwever hike is that I was able to do some camera hunting. there w as tons of bunnies and quail everywhere. It was really fun trying to take a good picture of the fuzzy brown bunnies and plump little birds. The funny part about quail (aside from the fact that they eat stones) is that they will run for a longer distance than they fly. So in the end it was a lot easier to get a picture of one of the birds than it is to take pictures of rabbits. Rabbits are tricky because they will run down their rabbit hole even if you breath too hard in their direction.

Yes, you read correctly, I went on a hike that was about 5 miles long. It was a feat that I am pretty proud of. I know that 5 miles is not really that long of a hike, but for someone who fractured a toe and had to wear a boot for a month and a half any pain free distance is something to take joy in.

Oh! I would like to finally visit more National and State parks in Northern California. If anyone has any ideas of where I should go let me know!

Finally Spring is in the Air

Well, I got my boot off and the weather became nice enough for me to wear my flip flops. After having the boot for so long I am ready to go out and do things. Last weekend I actually put air in the tires of my bicycle and I took a little ride around the neighborhood. This weekend I wanted to go camping. But as some one pointed out to me, EVERYONE will be camping this weekend because it is a three day weekend. Ah well. With all of the great parks around I will hopefully go for a hike. For some reason I have a real urge to be in nature.

On the knitting front I have not been very good with completing projects. I am still working on the Alice Top, and I am also still working on the Hanami Stole (which I am failing at). But! I really wanted to make a baby gift for my very pregnant co-worker. After days of searching for baby hats and booties and jackets and all that cute baby stuff I got realistic: I only had a week to knit a present! So I decided to stick with hats . I made the two pretty little caps listed below. I got the patterns from the Chronicle Books "Hats Mittens and Scarves". I have owned this box of patterns for a number of years an I don't think that I ever made anything form it. My co-worker is having a girl but I didn't want to make anything that was super pink. She really liked the aviator cap because of its ears. These two bad boys used less than a skein of yarn. Woot Woot. If I had a little more time (or if I was more skilled) I would have made matching booties or socks. Awe well. Next time I know someone is having a baby I will do more planning ahead.

I hope to distract myself with yet another knitting project. Because the Alice top is so slow for me to work with I felt that it was alright to work on something that should be a little easier.I did some searching and mistakenly downloaded a couple of sweaters that looked like they should be of the top-down variety but were really done in pieces. Then I found this snazy number called Rusted Root. It's pretty and has a little bit of lace but it shouldn't make me want to tare my eyes out and bite my fingers off.

I got off of the horse when it came to GRE studying. My plan to take it in June will not happen. I guess maybe I should say that I will take it in September. What I should do is just schedule the test so that I have no choice but to take it. Wish me luck I guess.

I know that I am late in the game but I saw this and I just thought that it was super cool.

I am so good at self sabotage that I amaze myself!

So, some people who know me would say that I am accident prone. I would like to believe that not everyone thinks that I am, but if they do they are nice enough not to point it out. I would say that I am perfectly fine, but it seems that January/February of the past three years has resulted in me being incapacitated in some way: 2008, bike accident resulting in cracked elbow, 2009, pulled back muscle resulting in a few months of physical therapy, and now 2010 sudden fall in my apartment resulting in fractured metatarsal and boot for 4 - 6 weeks. So sad. So although I was hoping to start running this year I will have to put that on that back burner till this summer.

Some how the moth of April got a way from me. During the month of April I started to study for the GRE. Yes, I am interested in going to graduate school one day. My goal is to study for the GRE and take the exam this summer. That will be a big step towards applying. Yes it is true that some of the schools that I am interested in do not require GRE's but they are good to have when you are not sure about where you want to apply. I still like my job and my apartment so I wont be going anywhere soon but so far it looks like if I do get into graduate school I might be leaving San Francisco once again. If I am lucky I would get to move into a city otherwise I will have to finally learn how to drive. I think that it would be in everyone's best interest if I didn't have to learn how to drive. 

This month was also a big soup month but I forgot to take photos. This month I made a spicy pinto bean soup (from the Deborah Madison book that I mentioned in earlier posts) and a beef burgundy from Cooking Light Soup magazine. I forgot to take pictures So I will have to remember to do that next time that I make it.

Knitting has gone slow but well. There are not many projects that I have finished. I did finish my first pair of socks. I have also started a new sweater. It is a top down (not challenging) but it is a lace project (AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!). So this is taking a long time. I think that I might want to try to find a less challenging project but I should really finish these plus my other lace project.

Here is an update on my socks. It is taking me a long time to finish because of very minor mistakes. The first one made was my won fault. I thought that i was supposed to start in then heel after I knitted the sock an inch shorter than its desired length. But I guess that night only be true if I am doing a short row heel. So I found myself ripping out about two days of work because I was supposed to knit three inches short of the desired length.

The next problem occurred because the pattern was wrong... YES, THE PATTERN WAS WRONG!! So here is my correction for the heel flap of the diagonal lace sock designed by Wendy D. Johnson: That first row of the heel flap where is says knit 47 across? Knit 43. Now I don't know if I read the damn thing wrong and I wasn't supposed to do something, but knitting 47 across caused me massive head aches. But after doing some knitting math I figured out what worked for me. Ta-da! O now have something that looks like a foot can go in it. Woot Woot. I guess that after this I should really return to some of my old projects and complete some of those. Then I can start working on a sweater.



SO OKGo has a new music video. Like everything else on the internet I may be behind on this one. But I thought that I would share this... I think that it is time that I play Mouse Trap

First Magic Loop Socks

First Magic Loop Socks
Originally uploaded by oneroompalace
So I have begun to attempt to make socks by knitting two at a time using the Magic Loop Method. And although I do not think that I will finish the socks by the end of the Olympics(February 28) but I will have at least completed a good chunk of the socks.

At one point in time I thought that I was going sock crazy. and then I realized that i was just going crazy. Although I enjoyed starting socks I could not complete a pair to save my life. I would run out of yarn (and not want to spend a butt load of money on a new ball) or I would lose a needle and not want to buy a whole set just for one needle. So I would stop and move on to something else that i would not finish. My hope with doing two socks at at time is that I will either have two socks or no socks at all. There wont be any of that proud to finish one and not have the energy to do the other. YAY!!!

On another note. I was looking for some toe-up sock patterns and stumbled upon a site where the author claims that she has not worn store bought socks in years. I have heard this multiple times and for some reason I can't believe. I would love it if someone would fess up to this and tell me how they function. I mean, I know that there is all types of yarn that you can make socks out of (cotton, hemp, bamboo, soy) but are people really wearing hand made socks to the gym?!?!?! That is really my only question. I have been able to justify every other scenario and for the most part I can see why knitted socks might even be preferred. But I still can't wrap my head around the gym thing.

Most recent domestic activities

This winter I bought myself a hand blender for myself as a Christmas present. I bought this so that I could make soups and sauces. The first soup that I made was a wonderful broccoli cheddar soup, recipe from Deborah Madison's "Vegetable Soup". This is a great soup with a slight kick to it. That book has a number of wonderful soups. I have used the soup for two additional recipes:
Tomato bisque

lentil with chickpea (it was supposed to be farro and chickpea but I got the wrong thing)

I know that these soups may not look like anything special but they were damn good. I have to try more.

Aside from cooks I am still knitting. The cold weather this winter kind of inspired me to try something new. So I am working on my second lace project. It is a sampler called the Hanami Stole. I realized very quickly that this might not be the project for me. Ahhh. I messed up on the first pattern. Oh well. I still think that it looks kind of cool. That was really the only reason that I have not ripped anything back.

Since the weather was so chilly at least a couple of days this winter I decided to knit a scarf. The last time that I made as scarf was sometime during college. I made a eight foot long, basket weave and seed stitch scarf. I believe that after I made that scarf I vowed to never make another scarf again. But this year I really wanted a circular/moebius. Those things look so warm and you don't have to worry about tying any loose ends. I also thought that it wouldn't take very long because it would definitely be shorter than the first scarf I made. I am beginning to think that neck wear is the bane of my existence. Why you may ask? Well the patterns become tedious and boring. This is not a reflection on the pattern itself. Its all me. I am currently working on the 5th Avenue. It is a great lacy pattern that hides mistakes pretty easily. I really like how it is coming out. But I do need a little distraction. Since it is getting warm now I think that my goal is to finish by next Winter. I know that is really lazy, but hey, it's still a goal.

This year I made two winter hat. I usually don't make hats because I lose them. But this time I was not knitting it for myself so I am not terribly worried. I made another Nora Gaughan and I also made

a Raleigh Hills Hat. THAT came out cool. I don't usually make cabled beanies (I don't know why. I am not "anti-beanie). It was really fun making in and the yarn was nice to work with. I believe that it is Debbie Bliss "Fez". Which was a change from the Malabrigo that I am using for my other projects. I think that I will use the Fez again to make a hat for myself... maybe I will make one with a pom-pom on the top.

Hello! I have not given up blogging. I was on a bit of a hiatus due to working on my fiction writing for a class that I was taking. I know that it has been a while since I posted anything. But at usual I vow to post more often. Lets see if I can meet my goal of twice a month. I think that is a good number for a person who is not always the most busiest.

The Winter holidays were pretty fun. My family did Secret Santa for the first time. I think that, with the help of my family members, it went well and I hope that we will it again next year. I think that it will work better if I have everyone's email address. I got a wonderful gift certificate to YarnMarket.com. I feel like I should use the certificate wisely. I have hidden it from myself so that I don't buy sock yarn that I may never use. I would love it but I may never use it.

It was nice to see the City get all dolled up for Christmas. The Hyatt at the Embarcadero looked pretty good. Sure most of it were just some red and green lights but it still gave me warm fuzzies.




I also received a great knitting related gift from my boss. He bought me (i believe that he was advised by his knitting sister-in-law who apparently helped with the set up of Ravelry.com) great stitch markers from DragonLadyDesigns on Etsy they are really great looking. I am sort of afraid to use them because I worried that I might lose them. But they would look really nice on a work in progress.



During my winter break I finished a second Sunflower tam (forgot to take a picture) and worked on my 5th Avenue Infinity scarf (there is not much to take a picture of). I will do a WIP post sometime in the next few weeks.

Halloween At Work

Every year my office decorates for Halloween. This year one of my bosses came in during the weekend to decorate the office like a spooky police station. She didn't tell anyone that she was going to do it this weekend. So I was surprised when I walked in this morning. Of course I took pictures!

I have to say that there is nothing that puts me in a better mood than Halloween decorations in my office. I guess that a lit Christmas tree will do the trick, but I don't bring a tree to work with me. I hope to remember to take and post pictures when we have the trick or treaters come in on the 30th.

Ok. I guess that I don't have too much to say so far this month. Last month went by almost in a blur. August is always a strange month because it is the end of the summer and the beginning of the school year. This year was even more topsy turvy because one of my coworkers left and the next day the tore down the wall where her cubicle was and I have started taking a class after work. I am taking a class in creative writing. Last year I applied for a MFA in Creative Writing program but was not admitted. Rather than wallowing in my own grief I decided to just work on my writing on my writing by just taking classes on my own. So far the class is going well. I can't really tell how old most of my classmates are but I do know that most of them seem to be pretty creative. I was worried that everyone would write about crack whores and how they lost their virginity but so far I have heard a lot of really good writing (no offense to people who write in the virginity and crack whore genre). So far I written one story and started another. I don't know if they are any good. But I did compete a story!

Earlier this year I told myself that I was going to make one new dish every week. That never seemed to take hold. Somewhere early on in the year I decided to eat at a new restaurant every week... That is not really true but I feel like it is not that far off. Although I have not taken up becoming a black Julia Childs but I have made a pie.

My knitting is going well. I am starting projects as well as finishing them. I started working on a pair of mittens (a-la similar ones that I gifted last year). I hope to do some colorwork mittens this year so look out for that I guess. I finally blocked my blue Victoria Yoke pullover (The sweater has three quarter length sleeves which is why it looks like it is made for a two year old)!!! Now all that I have to do is make the button holes and I am set.

I bought my buttons at Britex Fabrics in downtown San Francisco. The woman who helped me was very nice even though I could not make my mind up about what to get. I chose a set with a leaf motif.

The sad part is that I am not very sure if I like the length of the sweater. I would not be able to wear it on its own without it looking horrifyingly short. So we will see what I do. I feel like it is too late to add on (I already blocked it) but we will see what happens.

I started on a pair of mittens for myself. I made a pair for my college roomie last year and thought that it would be nice to have a pair of my own. I am using a blue worsted weight Malabrigo yarn. I never really knew why people made such a big deal about Malabrigo, but I think that it is nice to work with for my mittens. It is a very soft brand and I really can't wait for the weather to get cool enough that I wont look like a crazy person for wearing mittens while outside.

Well that is all for now. I hope that I pay a little more attention to this thing than I was last month.