Too Many Scarves

Knitting!

So I said I would talk about some knitting, didn't I?

Well, the Cute Little Red Sweater is still on hold right now.  I don't think I ever showed the problem with the sleeves, the main reason I am ripping back or possibly starting over:

The picture is a bit fuzzy, but I think you get the idea. They're too big, not to mention the poor seaming there. I'm going to come back to it, but the timing just isn't good right now. Funny, I had the vision of wearing it over a cute little tank and maybe a skirt but now I think it may be finished somewhere around Christmas. Oh well, at least the color is right.

When I was working on the CLRS I got bored and cast on for the French Market bag from Knitty. It was a stashbuster, but I didn't really want it, I just wanted to get rid of the yarn. So how excited was I that Nicole liked it? She already put it to use at her local Farmers Market:

 

I didn't do such a good job at grafting the right handle there, it really stands out to me in the picture, but I honestly don't care.  Another friend expressed some interest in having a bag of her own...so there's more yarn soon to be gone from my stash. Sweet.

What else? Oh, I made these hats while camping:

Overexposed picture anyone? Damn that's a bad shot. Anyway, they're the Reversable Hats from the Jo Sharp Knit, Issue 3. Such an easy pattern, I whipped each of these out in a day. One on the drive to Yosemite and the other on the way home.  I can't decide if someone I know will get these or if I will donate them to charity. I don't even remember what the green yarn is because I've had it in my stash for so long. I do know it's acrylic though, probably some Lion Brand from when I first started knitting about 5 years ago. The blue was some Plymouth Encore, leftover from my Tilted Duster.

I think I am leaning more towards donating them since I'm not happy with the quality of the yarn. Would I really want to give something acrylic to someone as a gift? Nah. I have enough random balls of nicer yarn that can be made into hats for people I know.

There was some other knitting on the camping trip that will probably end up being a Christmas present. They don't read the blog, so I think it's safe to mention it here.

Uhmmm..yeah. Is that not the craziest yarn you've ever seen? It's also a big pain in the ass to knit with. I hate boucle yarn. But...it's for two girls under the age of 10, so I'd like to think they'll like it. Problem is, I don't think I'll have enough to make matching items for both girls (ie; 2 scarves or 2 pairs of hats and mittens). I want to give them the exact same thing, but I think I am going to have to get creative. I only have these 2 balls and I don't want to try and track down more considering it was over a year ago that they were given to me. Any ideas?

Another quick stashbusting project:

A quick garter stitch scarf made on super big needles. More Lion Brand out of my stash.

And lastly, a totally impulsive cast on that is near completion:

Danica, made from Patons SWS. Last week, I was looking up at my yarn shelf (which is slowly dwindling down, thank god) and saw the Patons. Out of nowhere I decided to cast on for the scarf. I had other ideas brewing in my head for upcoming projects, but suddenly I had to start this. Funny how it happens sometimes. I was working on it this weekend when I was with Tracey and she asked about it. Now it's going to go to her when I am done. I have a ton of scarves already, I can spare one. I do love the colors though...

I would probably be done with the scarf already if it weren't for my latest obsession. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I am hooked on the Twilight saga now. I read the first two books in two days and am now on the third. I never thought I would read anything like this, but hey, there has to be something to it if everyone is reading them, right?!

So, if anybody wants to chat about the books, leave me a comment. Just don't spoil anything for me since I haven't finished Eclipse yet or got to Breaking Dawn...

Annnnnd we're back.

Well, we've been back for a bit now, but I just haven't had the chance to blog.

I won't give you the day by day breakdown, but I'll give you the highlights:

The view from our campsite:

Our hike on the way to the waterfall:

Fun with the tripod and self timer on the side of the road:

Yosemite Valley:

Bridalveil Fall:

Around the campfire at night before we toasted marshmallows:

 

Maybe one of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Last year, we did the more touristy things and saw the sights in Sequoia (General Sherman, Crystal Cave, etc) since Randy had never been camping before and I wanted to ease him into it. (Don't get me wrong though, I'm no expert, I've just been a handful of times before.) This time though, I feel like we really got out and enjoyed the park because we hiked almost every day and it felt so good. We're already planning for next year. We're thinking about climbing Half Dome next year. Eeek.

I have some knitting content coming next. Really, I do.

See ya in a week...

So lets see...where was I?

That's right, I was working and trying to find a way to manage the rest of my life after 40 hours of work.

Well, no need to worry about that now. The temp assignment ended yesterday.  And while I admit I was a bit upset about that (I was looking forward to having a steady paycheck for at least a few weeks more) it's ok now. I am more focused on the next week. Tomorrow, Randy and I leave for camping. 5 days in Sequoia and Yosemite.

I am soooo looking forward to it. The Perseid meteor showers peak is early Tuesday morning, around 1 AM, check it out people, it's pretty cool. We're going to bring a camera and tripod, but we'll see how that goes. Night photography is not one of my strong points. Or any photography in general, as evidenced here in this blog.

So, see ya in a week.

Oh the suspense...

Whoopsie. I didn't mean to leave you all hanging like that! (Sense the sarcasm there considering there are maybe 5 people who read this blog and I know none of you gave a second thought to the ending of the last post. Anyway.) I intended on posting the very next day, but I started a temp job and now I'm back to trying to fit in a life after 8 hours of work a day. Seems I don't remember how to do it. I work, I come home, I eat dinner, I get ready for work the next day and sleep. Repeat. I'm sure by the time I get it down again I'll be released from the assignment.

So, onto (slightly) more interesting news...the other activity I mentioned in the last post.

Did you guess belly dancing or spelunking? Well,you'd be wrong if you did.

Letter boxing! I had never heard of it till a girl told us about it at knit night. Nicole and I were all excited about it as soon as she mentioned it. Come on, it's exercise AND a scavenger hunt! We went the very next weekend. I'm just going to link to one of the websites in case you don't know what it is.

I mentioned it to my friend Melanie who was ecstatic that someone else wanted to try it. I guess she had heard of it before but whenever she brought it up with friends they weren't interested. Randy was intrigued so he came along too.

This particular letterbox took us to the Newport Back Bay, which I had never been to before. This seems to be a reoccurring theme. Turns out, I don't get out much and haven't seen lots of places that I spent a good deal of my childhood near.

Tracey even lived for a little while in those apartments in the background there.  

It was a nice day, warm but not too warm. And the sun only came out on occasion since there was such a heavy marine layer down there.

Randy and I ended up going back the next weekend to ride our bikes around while my dad did some photography. Earlier that day, Melanie and I wandered around the Long Beach and Seal Beach area trying to find a few letterboxes but came up empty half the time. And I came home with a sunburn despite my sunblock application, which prompted me to wear a hat when we went yesterday. Tracey wanted to see what it was all about and tagged along, but she's not on board. She thought it was fun to get out and talk to people (inevitably people ask what you're up to when you're snooping around in bushes looking suspicious) but the whole idea of finding "just a stamp" doesn't interest her. She thinks there should be money :) 

Anyway, depending on the letterbox, or how bad your sense of direction is and you get lost, there could be a decent hike involved. It's been fun exercise and an opportunity to see places I've never seen...and what's more fun than a scavenger hunt?!

Activity

I've been much more active these days.

Well, I usually sit around on my butt during the day, either in front of the computer or catching up on Jon and Kate Plus 8 on the Tivo, (unemployment is really starting to get old) but I've been getting out more at night and on weekends.  

As I've mentioned, Randy and I are planning on a 50 mile bike ride in the fall. The past two Saturdays we have gotten up early for a little ride to get prepped. The first Saturday? 11 1/2 miles. (We actually could have gone longer, but some construction on the bike trail stopped us.) The second ride? 15 miles. Woo hoo! It was pretty tiring, but I definitely think we can work our way up to 50 if we keep going out and tacking on a few miles every time. It's funny, because we get up early so there won't be many people out and so we can be done before it gets too warm. During the week I haven't been getting up until 10am or so, but on the days where we've rode, we're home by 9am. Up earlier than a weekday and have rode 10+ miles. It feels good.

   

There has also been some hiking. A couple of months ago, Me, Randy, Tracey, Kevin and Nicole went to Griffith Park. That didn't really work out due to a private screening of Wall-E at the Observatory that closed off the main road, but there was a little walk involved and lots of picture taking.

   

Then, Nicole and I went on a hike in Santiago Canyon the following weekend. We didn't go far again, but let me tell you, it was hot. And I'll admit it, the further we went in the more worried I was about mountain lions. I know, I'm a wuss. I just wasn't sure about what to do if you saw a mountain lion and didn't feel comfortable going much further into the canyon until I found out. (I looked it up later that day, but now I don't remember. I know if you run into bears while camping you're supposed to make noise and even throw rocks on occasion, but I still don't remember about mountain lions. I'll be sure to look it up before the next hike.)

 

I'll spare you the picture of the seriously disgusting bug we saw. I get shivers just thinking about it.

There has also been some kayaking in some local harbors, but no pictures. I've never fallen in the water, but I'm afraid the one time I bring my camera, I will.

There's one other activity that I have taken to recently, but that'll be for the next post.

Ooh! Such suspense!  Ha ha...

Re-inspired

I love the internet. I know some of you knitters out there can understand this.

The whole Cute Little Red Sweater debacle really made me lose some of my knitting mojo (for a lack of a better word. I never use that word but I couldn't think of another one that fit the bill.)  I always feel so defeated when something doesn't work out. And it's even worse when the mistake is something that could have been avoided.

The problem with the CLRS? The armholes are waaaay too big. I know I have tiny arms...why didn't I pay attention to the measurements on the pattern and modify it?!

*sigh* 

So...I may rip back and make modifications, although I really don't know how I am going to do that since they are set in sleeves. I may just re-do the whole thing. And I also may just make up my own pattern.

So how does this relate to the internet? I came across the KnitPicks podcast with the Yarn Harlot this morning and it just re-inspired me. She says something about how new knitters will say things like, "I can't wait till I am a really good knitter and I don't make mistakes anymore" and how that's hilarious. It's so true. Even the most experienced knitter make mistakes.

I feel a bit better now. Maybe after I finish the French Market Bag I have been working on I will go back to the Cute Little Red Sweater.

Sad face...

I don't know if I find anything more disappointing than when after weeks of knitting something, I realize it's just not going to work out. I'm talkin' about the Cute Little Red Sweater. *sigh*

I can fix it, but I'm a little exasperated right now and think I need a little time away from it. Maybe I'll pick it up again in a few weeks.

Always procrastinating...

This ones for Lara:

A real post later...

Just a bit of what's going on...

It seems like there is either absolutely nothing going on or too much to even know where to begin.

Right now, it's the latter for me.

I wish that "starting a new job" was one of the things going on right now, but it's not. *sigh* I have plenty to keep me busy though.

I'm taking a sewing class that has really inspired me to go further with the craft. I've seen a few patterns for dresses that I might just try one of these days. I really love dresses, although you'd probably never know it by looking at my closet. I wear jeans and t-shirts most of the time because they are "easy". But so are dresses (Come on! It's and outfit all in one!) but I rarely see any I like. Necessity is the mother of invention. So I'm going to try and make one. We'll see when I get around to that though. For now, it's more aprons:

My friend Brenda saw the apron I made and promptly asked me to make her one. Brenda is one of my biggest fans. If I make something and show it on here she asks me for one. I love it though, it's never an inconvenience, it's flattering :)  And how cute is this fabric?!

Brenda said she could send me some more because I love it so much. I think I might use this for my first venture into quilting.

The sewing class is just a beginner class, but I knew I was missing out on a bunch of basics considering I basically self-taught. The project is a pair of pajama pants, which I've made before, remember these? * but can't find a picture of. But this is what the current pair for the class are being made of:

I love the retro 50's cowboy thing. Don't know why, but I love it.

They should be finished up next week at the last meeting.

My Cute Little Red Sweater should hopefully be done by next week too. I am sooo close. I ran out of yarn goddammit! All I have is a couple inches of a sleeve and the button bands left.

Since I haven't had a chance to go get more yarn yet, I've been moving along on the French Market Bag:

What a boring little brown lump. Anyway, it's stash busting. Woo hoo!

* I just spent nearly an hour trying to find an old post that had a picture of the pajama pants. Can't find it anywhere, but I did have a nice little trip down memory lane. It's so weird to think of my life back in 2004-2005 when Randy and I were in San Francisco, it seems like so long ago.

Things that may or may not interest you...

In bullet form:

• I have signed up for some classes in the fall. For those of you that may not know, or remember, I dropped out a few years ago and this is a big step for me to finally go back.
• I am still working on the Cute Little Red Sweater. I could be done with this in a matter of days if I just put my mind to it, but I'm dragging my feet because I am not looking forward to picking up stitches for the buttonband.
• I'm also not doing so well with the "one knitting project at a time" thing right now. Truth be told, I've been looking at my stash on the bookshelf (the one that spurred a friend to recently say "Are you planning on opening a yarn store?" Ha. If they only knew how much more I had hidden around the apartment.) and I've been wanting to get rid of it. Badly.So I've been doing some stashbusting. A couple of hats and now there is a French Market Bag on the needles.
• And lastly, I think Randy and I just committed ourselves to a 50 mile bike ride around Thanksgiving time. Woah.