I need a Weasley. Mrs please.

She seems the most useful. If she's not available, I'll take Hermione.

Ok peeps. You know I have my head in the sand (aka school) most of the time, and that I am clueless to any worldly happenings (outside of major hurricanes, tsunamais, etc). So... um, how come NONE of you told me about the TRAGIC news?

That THE MOVIE, the ONE MOVIE, that i've been really looking forward to, has moved opening night from Thanksgiving 2008 to SUMMER 2009?

I am devastated.

I suppose I will have to console myself with looking forward to meeting my niece, also making her debut in Fall 2008 (late october). The baby shower was last weekend, and I was bummed I couldn't attend. I did send along some gifties, of which only one is likely interesting to you all.



ETA: that's the peapod baby cardi, by Kate Gilbert, just in case it is difficult to identify by the teensy tinsy picture. Knit with Frog Tree Alpaca, sportweight.


oh. I need Mrs Weasley or Hermione b/c the start of school is quickly approaching, and I've got knitting committments to attend to!!

1) finish cabled hooded jacket by debbie bliss for my soon to be niece
2) finish BRQ squares for sharing
3) finish (uh... start?) BRQ squares for Stacey's project

I'd also like to knit the Juju for my niece too.... but we'll see how time goes.

I was at the APA (american psych association) conference last week. Am now on 'vacation' which means I just have to finish writing some journal manuscripts before school starts!! WOO HOO!

EZ? Yes. Intuitive? No.

I've finally knit my first Elizabeth Zimmerman garment. The baby surplice jacket is a cute variation on the ever popular baby surprise jacket... but since I had the pattern for the surplice, surplice it was.

At first, I thought maybe I am crazy or tetched in the head. I am NOT loving the pattern. I kept going, thinking, everyone else has made one of these, I can do it too. Plus, I excused EZ from any wrongdoing, since the pattern was dug up from her archives or something and re-written by someone at Vogue. I have to say that it took some faith to continue knitting past the increases, b/c I could not figure out the construction of this thing. No idea. No clue. Just... a leap of faith.

OH! OH LOOK! it says I just need to seam now? (but it seems like I'm in the middle of the garment? what?

I've only knit a few rows (maybe 5-6) since the last time I took pictures but I'm done! And amazed at the simplicity and genius of the design. Wanna see?



I love it. Can't wait to gift it. I'm knitting crumpets, plan on at least one pair of booties, and maybe I'll crochet a small car blanket. We'll see.

Triple X

I've got a lot to say about knitting today! I found the secret trick is to not post in forever about any knitting, then it seems like I've been productive when I finally have some stuff. I've even got the official stamp of approval


In order of finishing:

1) the wimple: I used this pattern which was the most appealing IMMEDIATELY accessible pattern I could find. I wanted to try the flared lace smoke ring that has been talked about, but the pattern can't be downloaded. Bummer. If I was interested enough, I'd shop around for a different bind off to make it stretchier, but it fits over my head, and the cast on side is VERY stretchy. I wanted to use the alpaca for the wimple b/c I wanted something warm, but not bulky surrounding my head. As some people know, I've got a big ol head. Nobody ever believes me until I put a hat on for them, but please trust. I'm Asian. I'm only 5'3. I have a BIG head.



Pattern: Wavy Feathers Wimple
Needles: US6 circs, INOX
Yarn: Lonesome Stone 100% alpaca, River Runs To It, fingering weight, about 300 yds?
Time: 1/26/07-2/2/07 (I finished in one weekend, but the weaving in of ends...)




2) The clapotis: same yarn as the wimple. I fell in love with this color at the shop. even though it's only fingering weight, it's 100% alpaca, so here's my winter weight clapotis.



Pattern: the ubiquitous clapotis by knitty.com and Kate Gilbert
Yarn: lonesome stone 100%alpaca (see above)
Needles: US3s, addi turbos
Time: forever and ever. (11/17/06-2/2/07)
Pattern changes: I added 2 increase sections and countless straight sections. Obviously, i had to do more decrease sections as well.












3)The Robin Hood Jacket!! Yay!! I'm SO excited about this one b/c it is freakin' adorable as all get out.




Pattern: Robin Hood Jacket in Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots
Yarn: DB merino chunky (about 13-14 balls) Yarn originally for me, but chunky on chunky is not flattering. I love the color and it'll look smashing on LRHM (little red headed monster).
Size: Biggest one written... (4 yo?)
Time: Forever and ever. I have no idea when I cast on. It's a super quick knit though. I knit most of it in October and November 2006.
Needles: US10.5 and US11s, addi turbos.
(note: never ever use DB yarn again. All those freakin ends!)

It's VERY satisfying to have all of these done. I have one more NEED TO FINISH ASAP knit, but that became less urgent when the Bookish Baby decided to arrive the day before the baby shower. If you didn't already know, go welcome the Bookish Baby to the Bookish Family!!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Ironically, the theme song to the show based in Boston... signifies Denver for me. I was able to slip away to Denver for a fun filled long weekend. My only complaint is that it was too short. :(

Some of you (those only interested in knitting?) should probably just skip this post, as my blog is multifunctional. I'm more than happy to entertain you all with my funny stories featuring my parents, but the blog also helps me remember what's happened in my life.)

I called a cab to come get me at the buttcrack of dawn, 4am, since my flight was at 6am. I arrived in Denver at 1030am, and my friend Preggo (who's not preggo anymore) and her 2 kiddos came to get me. The red headed monster (RHM) has grown SO much since I last saw him, and it makes me sad that i've missed it. Our 'thing' since he was born (actually, before he was born) was to go to Sweet Tomatoes. I wish the east coast had some of these restaurants out here! I got to hang out with them until Stacey and Michelle came to pick me up. It was sooo good to see my grrlz. Unfortunately, they had to endure a half naked red headed monster (um, the dangly bits were the naked bits) b/c they came when he was just trying to go poopy in the potty. He had just told Preggo that "this poopy isn't for YOU mommy, it's for CynCyn." Never has such a disgusting sentiment made me feel so honored. :) You know you love a kid when you're willing to sit in the bathroom with him so you can admire his, um, excretions.

After I said goodbye to the RHM, Stacey and Michelle tooke me over to THE SHOP to see what new inventory had come in... and to see Tiffany and Carmen, of course! The Tepper Jackson bags, the huge selection of cherry tree hill yarn, lorna's laces, all sorts of new goodies. We couldn't stay too long, b/c we had to meet Jeni, Wanda, Nachaele, for dinner, then all of us met up with Joanne, Sheila, Michaele, and Kim, and Tiffany. It was so nice to catch up with everyone, and to see them!

On Saturday, I met up with Michelle, her DH, (almost forgot to congratulate them! it was the first time I'd seen them since the wedding), and Jeni for lunch. We had a HUGE meal of dumplings from Lao Wang Noodle House, and I'm glad that everyone seemed to enjoy (dumplings are just about my favorite thing to eat). Saturday afternoon was spent in a high state of stress and anxiety as I watched THE GAME (Michigan vs OSU), in which the outcome was not to my liking. But I quickly stopped pouting as we sat down for my Thanksgiving dinner. MMMMM. I love thanksgiving. friends AND food. Preggo had invited some of my friends over for a Thanksgiving feast for me, since i couldn't afford a plane ticket for the actual day of thanksgiving. Since she knows how much I love it. It's my abs. favorite holiday. We had roast sticky chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing, baked mac and cheese, green bean casserole, mandarin orange salad with candied almonds, and this INCREDIBLE red wine. Smooth, no bite.

Let's not mention dessert (pumpkin cheesecake and apple spice dump cake... plus vanilla ice cream) b/c I was still stuffed when I stuffed that down my gullet too.

Preggo dressed up the littlest one in the Halloween outfit I made for him (Teddy Bear All in One by Debbie Bliss)

It really was a relatively quick knit (the joys of baby knits). I used Rowan cash soft for the body, and fiddled with gauge and sizing. Sorry i can't be more specific, but if you've ever knit a DB pattern, then you know how it is to improvise on the fly b/c her patterns are so shitty. I mean, lacking in details. I couldn't find choc. brown yarn in the same gauge to save my life, and used some mercerized cotton (probably Tahki).
Preggo and I stayed up late chatting and laughing, and it was much fun to surprise RHM the next morning. I got to spend some time playing with him, then went for brunch with Preggo and some of our old work friends.
I met the grrlz at Colorful yarns, then we headed for dinner (so, yes, I was either eating, sleeping, or knitting the entire time) at a Vietnamese restaurant. We headed back to Stacey's to hang out (and knit), and stayed up entirely too late.

On Monday morning, Stacey took me back over to Preggo's house so I could spend a bit of time with RHM and say goodbye. I think I took it harder than he did. We had gone for a nice walk, during which he begged me not to go back to Boston. I think it tears me up b/c I didn't really want to come back either.

Wanda, Michelle and Jeni met up with Stacey and I for lunch, then power knitting at the shop. A shipment of the weekender bags from Tepper Jackson came in, and I couldn't help myself. I got a weekender (Dial) and a couple skeins of Lonesome Stone Alpaca in the River Runs To It colorway. (lovely purple and green variegation). I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of the shop without some souvenirs!






and this project is basically ALL I worked on over the weekend. I had this fantasy of finishing this sweater up before i left, and if I had half a brain, I would've read teh directions more carefully and FINISHED it.


The top pic is the sleeves, which went beautifully. Michelle gave me a great tip for knitting 2 sleeves at once (pin them together so you don't accidentally knit one sleeve twice while ignoring the other). The body of the Robin Hood Jacket... was sorta finished. Except I messed up the hood (used the cable pattern instead of seed stitch) so that will be ripped back. But, all things considered, I'm very pleased.