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.