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.

Craft Fair and Craft Fatiuge

So, I have been lazy and I am not going to write about the Renegade Craft Fair. But I can say that I did have a lot of fun! There were a lot of cool vendors. Here is a list with links to their sites.

• Old Tom Foolery
• Urban Fauna
• Spincycle Yarns
• Feusty Elle
• Magnolia Photo Booth Co.

This weekend is the American Craft Council craft fair at Fort Mason. Tonight (August 14, 2009) they offer $5.00 after 5pm admission. So I think that I will attempt to get my lazy but over to Fort Mason. This should be a little more hardcore than the RCT. This seems to focus a lot on the rise of home crafts and innovative use of materials.

This month I am kind of out of it blogwise. There have been an number of changes around me that have distracted me. YARG!! Knitting has also suffered a little. I am almost done with the Victoria Yoke Pullover. I re-knitted the body of the sweater about five times and recently realized that I fudged up on one of the sleeves. i am at the point where I am pretty sure that I am just bored by the whole thing. I really want to finish it. I am afraid that it is going to be a little more snugg than I am comfortable with. Yep people I am committing a knitting sin: depending on blocking to solve all of my problems!!!!

There are now a number of other projects that I want to work on. Small yet challenging projects. Mittens, lace, slippers, hats. And well, I also have plans to make another sweater. I know that it is a bad idea to start one project before I start another, but sometimes you have to indulge in an urge. I would like to work on the Rosamund's Cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2009 issue. I think that it would be nice to work with some chunky/bulky weight yarn. I haven't done anything with chunky in a long time. Maybe I will make it in tweed? or a very light green? or blue? We will see.

One project that is going well are my socks. Well, one pair of my socks. I am at the cuff of my diagonal rib socks. I already have one completed and blocked. It took me a while to finish the short row heel. Although I am proud that I am making some pretty good progress, I am not sure if I am completely sold on the sock thing. I think that I might possibly like mittens more. Sure, mittens are just socks for the hands, but you get to use bigger needles (a lot of the time).

Brief Thought About Dating Blogs

I feel bad for people who write Dating blogs. not blogs where people give advise but where people talk about their own personal experiences. Usually a good dating blog involves lots of horror stories. Stories that might make you feel better about your own bad dates or lack there of. Although I enjoy a good share of them I realize that I feel bad for the bloggers when things start to go well for them. I notice that move of these types of bloggers stop once they have found themselves in a relationship that works for them. I understand why they would stop. I think that the best way to ruin a good relationship publicize every little detail. But when these bloggers decide to stop I always find myself wishing that they would find out something horrifyingly embarrassing about their new mate so that they would return to blogging.

This , I admit , is really bad. But because I always think that way I think that I will try to avoid talking about such things myself. If I did post more personal stuff my blog would be so strange. It would be all about food, knitting and dating. I guess that could work but I don't know if I can do it without seeming really cheesy... let me rephrase that. I don't know if I can do that without becoming more cheesy than I already am. But, saying that makes me wonder if my blog is just really boring. I don't even know if people read this thing. I have a feeling that there are just two people and one of them is me. Oh well. For some reason I feel that I should post about twice a month. So readers or no readers the writing and pictures will be put out there.


Oh! Soon I will write a post about the San Francisco second annual Renegade Craft Fair.

A cool video that was sent to me

My friend Jeff emailed this video to me and a whole bunch of other people. It took me a while to finally watch it, but I am sure glad that I did. Its a sweet and cool little music video.

About two weeks ago a friend from college came to visit me. I was happy to see her but also realized that it would provide me with ample time to be a tourist in my own city. There are many times when I think about things that I should do but just never has the time get to them. For example, I live about ten minutes away from the Golden Gate Bridge but I've only walked across it once... and that was about eight years ago.

There were two days when I played the happy tourist. We went to visit a couple of wineries in Sonoma and the next day we took a ferry to Alcatraz. I took about thirty pictures at each place. But like so many of the photos that I take most of them looked pretty much the same. So I narrowed down as much at I could to provide you all with a couple of slide shows.

The day that we visited Sonoma was great. The weather was in the eighties and there were barely any clouds in the sky. The cool stone buildings were a welcome escape from the hot sun. I am not a wine drinker but I was not disappointed. The great thing about Sonoma wineries is that you can find a lot of places that offer food tastings. So I got the opportunity to taste my share of cheese, olive oil and spreads. Another thing about Sonomoa is that each winery has its own personality. There are villas, country homes, and even barns. The one thing that is similar with each one is that by noon the tasting rooms are full of winos.



The next day there my friend and I went to Alcatraz. I once lived in full view of Alcatraz and never made my way out there. Mainly because most of the tours are very expensive. But if you go to the Alcatraz Island Official Site you only have to pay 26 dollars. Alcatraz has a very rich history for a tiny little island. It was first used as a military fort during the civil war, then as a prison, and occupied by Native American civil rights protesters and finally a part of the National Parks reserve. The prison was smaller than I had expected, but it defiantly does not seem like a place that you would want to stay overnight. There is a surprising amount of vegetation on the island. Much, if not all of it, was brought over by people who worked and lived on the island.



Side Knitting Note:
I am currently in the middle of two projects. I am still working on my Victorian Yoke Sweater. I am currently attaching a sleeve. I am currently having issues with the length. As things stand it currently sits right at my waist but I would prefer it longer. So I am trying to figure out whether or not I want to take out the bind off and make it longer or just block the SOB.

I am also working on a Mock Lace Sock. It is a cuff down pattern that is moving pretty quickly. I am also have issues with this project that i hope will fix themselves out during blocking.

Upgrading my updates?

hi there everyone. I am making this post from my phone i guess that you can say that I have been a little restless lately and the result is that I've gone further into the internet cave. i am just adding more and more to the matrix that well all call the net.

As you can see on the right side of the screen I opened a twitter account. I am still getting used to it but i think that the quick little entries will keep you up to date in between my actual posts.

So the most exciting thing going on is that my friend Adrienne is coming in town Wednesday! Yay!!! i haven't seen her in three years and now I have to show her a good time in my city. Luckily we have a working itinerary. I will take lots of pictures while I am touring around the city and I hope have a real nice post up at the beginning of next week

I was gone for a whole month, did anyone notice?

Hey there! So the month of May was a complete bust as far as blogging goes. I wish that I had kept on track for at least one post. Unfortunately finals always seem to get the best of me. Basically I would have made posts like "I only go home to sleep and brush my teeth" or "when is it going to end!!!" So I thought that it might be a good idea to just hold off on things for a little while. In May I took a number of "field trips" and I was smart enough to take my camera. I took pictures of a couple.

First I went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. If you ever find yourself in or near San Jose or you are taking an extended trip to the Bay Area I recommend taking a trip there. they have a very large collection of artifacts and replicas. It was funny because there were exhibit rooms that were sort of tucked away. So I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to be there or not. But since no one jumped out of any dark corners to usher me back to where I should be I strolled through anyway. I also went to 2009 Bay to Breakers. There were lots of variations of Swine flu costumes and floats. My favorite one is in the slideshow below. I was down by the end of the race. I think that it was a bit of a let down. I have a feeling that most of the fun people stopped way before mile 6. In May I also made a return trip to the California Academy of Sciences. Although I do have a membership there and I have even made one or two lunch time trips I still enjoy seeing all that they have to offer. I personally think that the best part is the planetarium but the aquarium is a close second.



At the very end of the month I went on a hike with two very good friends of mine. We went up to the Marin Headlands. It was a little chilly, and really gray but still beautiful. I think that I need to make my way out there again sometime during the summer.

Knitting-wise I have been pretty industrious. Not that I've done a great job finishing my work but I am working on some pretty nice projects. I am half way through with my pair if olive stripped socks. I am almost at the point where I do the ribbing on the body of my sweater. And I am working on a hat. I decided to the the Philadelphia Springtime hat. It is a nice pattern to work with. Right now it looks like I I am nowhere near done. But when I check the chart it appears that I am half way through. I think that i am just not used to working with lacy projects. I hope that it all works out when I block it.

I am not cool enough

Can someone please go to this website (MADATOMS) and tell me  what exactly it is. I know that it must be cool. It has to be... it looks like hipsters like it. I am just not cool enough to understand

. Oh wait... no... I figured it out. It actually is an ok site. Once you ge passed all the hipster glam. 

Volunteering

I believe that this passed week was National Volunteer Week. So I thought that I would help out and do a little community work. This Saturday I volunteered with a group called One Brick. One Brick is an "a volunteer organization that brings people together to help non-profits and community organizations staff their events or work on projects." That comes straight from the FAQ page of their site. I worked at Park Presidio cleaning up the park. Most people who have driven to the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco know the park as that really long divider that that has all those trees. Well I was surprised to learn that it is actually a park that has a path. Yes you can run right down the middle of most of it.

Unfortunately there are large parts of the park that are used by the local homelss for shelter. It was clear that there were people who lived in some parts of the park. There was even a tinny person sized shed (about 2 feet high and 6 feet long) in one area. I hate to be cheesey, but while we tried to take care of the park by cutting down dead leaves and striping ivy to give light to all of the plants it also exposed a serious neighborhood issue. I don't want to use the word "problem" because that just sounds too negative. One of the park managers said that he wouldn't mind the homeless if they could just keep things clean. Some of the local neighbors said that the exposure should move the homeless community out into the open and drive them away. My question is where do they go? I am not advocating that we set up a shanty town right there between 14th and Funston. But it is an real straight up honest question.

I think that this one day of volunteering really makes me want to do it more often. I want to feel like I am actually helping out. One Brick is a non-commital organization, so I can volunteer and often as my schedule allows. My goal is to start off once a month and then work my way up.

On a completely different note. My sweater is solwly comming along. Unlike some people I know, I am not a crazy fast knitter. But then again, I give myself a whole summer to finish a big project and we're still in spring so I am way ahead.

SFPL Main library hates me

So here I am at the Main Library in San Francisco. For some reason I thought that it would be pretty empty. Seeing as how its the middle of a weekday and all. But I forgot to take into account that there are kids on spring break and that there are many people who need to use the public resources that the library offers. I was surprised by the large number of people here. It's basically busteling with activity. So I tried to find the most quiet spot in the library. That meant that I had to go nearly to the top of the building. The only problem is that you can't get a clear WiFi signal up there. Arrrrg. I tried for a good half an hour (yea, I know. I wasted way too much time) trying to get online.

Finally I just decieded to go down one flight to a more noisy and crowded floor. Turned on my computer and huzzah! There it is. I have strong enough connection to watch The Office and upload pictures onto my blog. Unfortunatly I cannot do either. I have to leave soon to go to an appointment. OH! and my outlet doesn't work. The best part about this discovery was that there's a guy sitting next to me who decieded to tell me (as I am discovering that it is a difunked outlet) that he thinks it doesn't work. No sh-- .

Anyhoo. I am off. My next post will be much less on the grumpy side.

Tempura

So it has been a while since I last made a post. Things have been a little on the stressed and busy side lately. I meant to make a couple of posts but never seemed to come around to it. One thing that I have tried to do was cook. Aside from not blogging I also stopped cooking. I mean, as much as I enjoy fajitas I know that you can only eat so many. One day I decided that I really wanted to have my favorite dish of tempura and cold soba noodles. This is real compfort food for me. But I didn't want to go to my one of my favorite resturants to pick some up. So i decided to make my own. So I got to take a trip over to the Richmond New May Wah super market. It took a while to find everything that I needed but I got it all. The key ingrediant for me was to find the soup base to dip my noodles in. This stuff is like edible magic in a bottle. I also picked up some shrimp and veggies. 

It was re ally nice to finally make something by hand. Nice fresh beggies are allways good. Look at them sitting there just ready to be deep fried. 

The shrimp was the first to go in, It was my fist time so I am pretty sure that I didn't have the oil hot enough. Everything eventually cooked, but it did take a little longer than I think that it should have.  

The thing that I like most about this dish is the colors. You might not be able to tell in this shot is that there is a combination of greens, orange and white. Although most of this is fried it still gives off a nice light appearance. I think that it is a good spring dish... well I think that it is a good anytime dish really.  

Knitting Up-to-date

Alright. In the past couple of months I have been doing a lot of
knitting. i havn't really mentioned it simply because there would be a
lot of posts about the progress of work that never seems to get done.
Well I did finish one project so I guess that it is fine to post now.
Espcially since I have pictures.

First I have to say that I have finally finished my whimple, aka neck warmer . So the
pattern for the Never Wimpy Whimple did not say that it might take you
four months to complete. I can honestly say that I did not work on this
project as studiously has I should have. There were other things that
came up. Like a pair of mittens, a couple of hats, and a sock (no, not
a pair but a sock) and a graduate school application. So when I finally finished it
I could not be happier. I think that it fits just like it is supposed
to. I don't know if I will ever want to do another lace project but I
guess that I can try. Next time I am going to do open work rather than
closed. I am currently shopping around for a nice rectangular shawl. We
will see when that actually pans out into anything of substance. So far
Ravelry's free pattern look up is my friend.

This
is the start of my new sweater. Pretty right? unfortunately I lost this
one (and the whole project bag) when I was in the airport. So I had to
get all new gear this weekend. It is sad but I will hopefully finish it
by this summer and I wont even care at that point.... right?

Whooo
hooo! I finished my Whimple, aka cowl. It took me a couple of months to
finish the damned thing. But I have to say that it is pretty
impressive. You can't tell by the picture but it is all made using thin
lace yarn.

                                      


This is part of my first sock. I did it toe up which seemed to be way more productive than cuff down. I don't care what anyone says but I now and forever will have my a toe up sock knitter.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Ho hum

Today I don't have much to blog about but I thought that I would give it a try anyway. The weather in the Bay Area has been kind of trippy the past week or so. Its sunny, there aren't any clouds but it is cold. I mean, like upper 50's low 60's. I wouldn't really complain about this if I didn't know that there are some parts of Ohio that are actually warmer than it is here. I was talking to a friend of mine and she said that the high was 78 degrees. Now, the difference in weather prediction in the Bay Area and well anywhere else is that when other people say "The high is ___ degrees" they are refering to the warmest temperature of the day. Whereas in the Bay Area it just means that it's going to be that warm in the middle of the day somewhere... but not very likely in San Francisco. So when my friend said that the high was 78 degrees I nearly fell on my backside. I guess that I shouldn't complain. At lease we don't get snow storms.

I did it all on my own: MAC continued

So my RAM arrived at my house on Friday. That was a whole day earlier than I had expected. Friday was just full of surprises! Such as, did you know that if you dip an Oreo cookie into pancake batter then fry it in a deep fryer the cookie will taste sweeter!?! Yes, yes it will. Anyway, taking apart the Mac was not a problem. I did mistakenly take out the battery. At least I know what to do if the battery poops out (and I am able to actually buy a new one). Then I realized that there was a small rectangular piece of removable metal in the center of the bottom. Eurika! That had to be where something went. So I unscrewed it and low and behold there was a RAM sized hole. Woohoo. So I popped the RAM in and then went to turn on my computer. I pressed the nice little button and nothing happened. I remembered that the battery had died. So I looked for my charger in the "living room" of my apartment. Not there!! The only place it could be was at work... in my locked desk. Damnit. No one wants to go to work on a weekend. Espeically if

I got up around 9:00am to head back to the office. I was all gungho to get everything started when I realized that I didn't have the key to my desk... and the power cord was locked in my desk!! Guuurrr. So I took a bus back home grabbed my key and returned to the office and finally I was ready to load the new version of Lepord (opperating system) on to the Mac. Cut to an hour later and look at what I could see:
YEAH! Now I can look at blogs! Woot Woot. And although I cannot type an knit, now I can watch episodes of The Office and knit. I still don't have internet in my apartment so most if thus will happen in cafe's and libraries.

Anyway, if you are a knitter who reads my blog you may have noticed that I have started on sock2 of my pair. I am pretty sure that the sock color and pattern will be off a bit. Let's just hope that I have enough yarn to finish.

She's a maniac, maaaa-niac on the fu-ton, and she knitting like she's never knit before.

Alright. In the past couple of months I have been doing a lot of knitting. i havn't really mentioned it simply because there would be a lot of posts about the progress of work that never seems to get done. Well I did finish one project so I guess that it is fine to post now. Espcially since I have pictures.

First I have to say that I have finally finished my whimple, aka neck warmer . So the pattern for the Never Wimpy Whimple did not say that it might take you four months to complete. I can honestly say that I did not work on this project as studiously has I should have. There were other things that came up. Like a pair of mittens, a couple of hats, and a sock (no, not a pair but a sock) and a graduate school application. So when I finally finished it I could not be happier. I think that it fits just like it is supposed to. I don't know if I will ever want to do another lace project but I guess that I can try. Next time I am going to do open work rather than closed. I am currently shopping around for a nice rectangular shawl. We will see when that actually pans out into anything of substance. So far Ravelry's free pattern look up is my friend.

This is the start of my new sweater. Pretty right? unfortunatly I lost this one (and the whole project bag) when I was in the airport. So I had to get all new gear this weekend. It is sad but I will hopefully finish it by this summer and I wont even care at that point.... right?

Whooo hooo! I finished my Whimple, aka cowl. It took me a couple of months to finish the damned thing. But I have to say that it is pretty impressive. You can't tell by the picture but it is all made using thin lace yarn.

This is the spot where I will later put a picture of my sock. I thought that I had a pic on my camera but apparently not. So if you actually do read my blog then just wait a day or so.

Mac Experiance

So my PC died about six months ago and I needed something to use. I know that I use a computer all day at work and that my phone (blackberry curve) has internet access but neither is the same as having a nice little laptop in your own home. The problem became a little more evident when I needed to do some heavy typing for a graduate program application. There is nothing worst than trying to go to the public library to try to type up a story in 30 minute increments. So, after hearing me complain for about a month a friend of mine was nice enough to give me her old Mac. Its a nice little G4 12" laptop. That sounds really tiny but I swear that the keyboard was made to fit my hands and its way lighter than my old PC.

All has gone well so far. I was able to finish some needed writing, I could check my e-mail, upload pictures, watch DVD's and I had no problem updating my Netflix queue. But I did notice that there were a couple of random issues. I couldn't look at my blog (and was not able to update it) or anyone else blog and I noticed that something was really up when I couldn't download the new Safari. "huh" I thought to myself. I don't want anyone to think that my friend gave me a crappy computer. It's not crappy at all. Far from it. It just has a little hiccup in the system. I am one of those people who has to figure out how I can make something work the way that I want it to. So, I decided to try and reinstall Leopard... the disk never started. So I bought the new version and tried to install that. It took me all night to figure out that nothing was going to happen. Then I just called Mac costumer service. The woman took my info and then told me the wonderful news! I simply didn't have enough RAM. The rest of the conversation went something like this:
"So... all I need to do is buy more RAM, at least 500MB and I will have enough space to install the new version of Leopard"
"Yes"
"So I should just go to the store and buy-"
"YES"
"And you said that I could do this myself?"
"Yes"
"Can I just buy 1GB of RAM now, since I am on the phone?"
"No, Apple doesn't carry that anymore"
WTF?!?!?! "OK, thank you"
CLICK

OK. I know that she just told me that they don't sell the RAM that I need, but could she have at least told me where I could find it. I mean, come on. I am clearly not that computer savvy. Luckily I was able to go online and chat with a representative. I told them that I needed RAM.and not only did they tell me what kind I needed, which the phone rep also told me, but also where I could find it. WoooHooo!! I really wanted to know where they recomened because I felt the it would be more legitimate than someplace that I could think up. Cut to five minutes letter and I have ordered 1GB of RAM from some company in Florida.

The funny thing about all of this is what if non of these possible solutions takle the problem? How much would that suck? Well at least I will have 1GB of ram (about three times more than what I have now) and the latest version of Leopard. Which should allow me to upload a program to sync my BlackBerry to the Mac. AND I should be able to then view The Office and 30 Rock online. Yeah! Man, it sure is amazing what computers can do for you.

To Be Continued.....

Corresponding Picture & Lots of Promises.

So I think that it was a little unfair for me to talk about knitting projects without showing you. I mean, are you really going to go around an search for all of that? No, I know that I wouldn't. So that basically makes my last entry lame.  Here are pictures corresponding knitting projects two of my successful pictures. I am not going to talk about my whimple nor take pictures until I have finished. If I am lucky then it is going to happen sometime in February:

My first completed sock! Woohoo, it even looks like a sock, kind of.  The reason that it looks a jumbled is because there is a cool ass ribbing pattern. Once I finish the other one I will take a decent picture... you know a finished sock with a foot in it.

This is what my hat looked like at the time that I wrote my last post. I finished it later that day. I think that I will eventually just write about my completed projects




I have to take a break from knitting for a little while. I am having some back problems so I am not really allowed so do work that requires that I look down too much. Which also means that I really should have my laptop a little higher than I do right now. But when I  get better I have high hopes. Did someone say sweater?

Knitttin' aint esay... just like pimpin'

Hey everyone! This winter is seems that I cannot finish a project to save my life. I am currently in the middle of three projects: socks, a hat and of course the wimple. Gosh that damn wimple. It was really silly of me to choose this project. Using lace weight yarn to do closed work knitting is just crazy to begin with, but trying to do something that will totally about 13 inches long and about 5 inches wide is really insane. Seriously insane. I lost the pattern a while ago. But I knew that I had to do like eight or six inches of the stocknet stitch. Yea, I have to do more than that. I have to do a total of 9 1/4 inches. WTF? That totally explains why most of the wimples on Revelry look a little smaller than the picture in the book. I have thought about just giving up and finishing it shorter than I am supposed to. Because really, at the rate that I am going I won't finish until the weather finally gets warm. But at least the other two projects are coming along.

Socks are like crack. Yea, I said it. I never thought than I would ever try to make socks let alone like making them. I also think that sock yarn is some of the best looking yarn in the world. I have always stayed away from patterned yarn patterned sock yarn just looks cool. I think that it is because the projects are small and not always seen. I can't really handle too many patterns. However, I am beginning to appreciate colorful undergarments. I finished my first sock I am using the William Street sock pattern from knitting daily. It is a toe up sock. I really like the pattern and using size US 3 dpn's rather than the recommended size US 2 really made things go fast. The part that really had me flubbed was the heel. I think that I spent two or three days trying to figure out how the hell I could make a heel. I did it, it's not pretty but it works. I think that the sock might be a little shorter than it's supposed to be but it seems perfect to me. Woohooo! I just hope that people don't think that my declaration means that I am so good at making socks that I will just whip up a pair whenever someone asks. But I would like to get good enough where I can make a pair for someone and think that they are decent.

My hat is coming along fast. That gives me hope. It remindes me why I started doing this whole crafty thing in the first place; I want to make functional things with my hands and see the final result. I am doing the Robin's Egg Blue hat by Rachel Iufer. This is great. I get to use the rest of my green casmerino wool to whip this thing up in a couple of days. I haven't experienced the joy of using chunky yarn and US10 needles in years. At least one of my winter projects will work out while it is still cold. The way that the weather has been in San Francisco, that might mean that I'll get to wear it for a month or just a couple of days.

Whew, at least something will get done!

The Thing About Blogging

Alright. So I always feel like I don't blog enough. I don't know what it is but it seems that blogging once a month is not enough while blogging three times a week is too much. I have had people complain about the fact that I blog too much about knitting. I really can't help that because sometimes that is the most exciting thing that I have going. My boss lets me blog at work as log as I don't blog about work. I think that is fair... well I think that it is fair when I have time to blog. When I am super busy I kind of feel like it's a one sided agreement. And another part of blogging that I find difficult is what to write about. Have a lot of random thoughts and ideas but I am never really sure how I should present them.

For example: Are there any shows left on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel that have female lead characters. The reason why I was thinking about this was because I just found out that Raven Simon had a baby. All I could think what "What!?!? But shes Raven!! Having a baby, not that is NOT so Raven!?!" I also couldn't figure out when she had the baby. I guess that is what I get for not paying attention to more tabloids. And Jamie Spears had a baby so I don't think that her show is going to continue. And its only a matter of time before that Hanna Montana pulls a Brittany right? But really are there any girls left? I don't have cable to the fact that I am even thinking about this is odd.

I am sure that what all of this really comes down to is that I am getting older. Yep, I am finally at a age where I am supposed to know better. If I could drive I could rent a car without paying that extra insurance. I am also old enough that the songs that I used to listen to are now considered "taking you way back". Dude, really? I mean my mom listens to songs that reminder of her of back in the day. My Nana had songs that took her way back (and made her want to smoke Virginia Slims). But me? Are you really telling me that A Tribe Called Quest is just as irrelevant to younger people as Marvin Gaye? I mean, I understand that there are functioning humans who only know Marky Mark as Mark Walberg but should I be called old?

See the problem with me blogging this month is that there might be a lot of these types of entries. It's my birthday month so it is a time of reflection and assessment. This is the time when I always promise myself to dress more like an adult than I did the previous year. Or go to the gym more often (which is actually working out this year) and think about what I want to do in the future. Not like I think up some time line for when I am going to marry and have babies, no more like what things can I do to make my life more fulfilling. I know that a lot of people who know me will think that is bull. But it actually is true. I feel like some much of my time is spent either doing nothing or doing things that I don't really get much fulfillment. Last year I made a goal to take more chances. For me this meant something as simple as joining a book club or dressing a little different every once in a while or taking a road trip with only two weeks planning. I did these things and discovered that they can be fun! I learned that I don't have to do certain things just because that's what people expect. I really wonder what am I going to make a goal this year? I take the whole month to think about it so I still have time. Unfortunately, creating a more balanced blog is probobaly not going to be one of those things . It is just too hard. My blog dosen't really have a focus so I think that it is best just to go with the flow.

Happy New Year

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and she asked me when do I stop saying Happy New Year. I told her that anytime after my birthday was too wish everyone HNY. I don't really know if I should do it longer but I think that if it is almost February, people are already on their way for having a good or cap new year.

Anyway. I have not made any resolutions. I generally don't or if I do then I make sure that I have a really vague resolution, such as exercise at some point, or take more risks. That way I feel like I have a whole year to go to the gym a couple more times than I usually would, or I finally try a different brand of underwear. This year I just want to finish things that I start. Last year I left a lot of things unfinished. Aside from knitting projects (wimple, slippers, sock, hat) I just want to get some things done a work and in my own life. That is a little more dramatic than I meant that to be. Basically, I have a tone of stuff to do at work and I want to get it out of the way so that I can have a clean desk and finally do some PDF forms that I have been itching to do. The only hitch (and its a big one at that) is the fact that right when we get back I will have another project that I really wish that I didn't have to do.

Another tradition that I have after new years is taking an inventory of everything that I did accomplish in the past year. I feel like this has been a pretty good year for me. I joined a book club, went to knitting more often (wait, I don't even think that I was in a knitting group last year), and when out a little more than I usually do. I did not go crazy, but I did enjoy being somewhat social. Last year I actually did go to the gym more often! Sure the only reason that I did it was because there was a fitness program going on at my job but I do think that I will try to keep it up a little while. As part of my hope to be more consistent I also hope to blog with some regularity and keep up the physical exercise and start knitting things that I usually stay away from (like lace, or another sweater, or crazy socks).

Speaking of socks, I have started knitting a pair the about a week ago. I am almost at the heel of my first sock. It's been a little frustrating and I am sure that I've made a number of mistakes but I know that it should be somewhat functional by the end.

Well this is post number one. It's not blogging gold but I think that it's a good start!