I've made the switch over to blogger.

~J

I watched Stardust this past weekend. I didn't really know what the movie was about before going to see it. I ended up really enjoying it. Michelle Pheiffer does a wonderful job in it. It's well done and has a wonderful adventurous magical feel. =)

I'm excited about The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising movie coming out. The previews look so so. I'm just excited because I read The Dark Is Rising series when I was young. I don't remember much of the books but  I do remember enjoying them. Maybe it's time to try to dig out those books and take another look at them.

Onto knitting, MS3 is going to get frogged. I do not like the way the wing looks with the rest of the pattern. blah. I started two new socks.

On the far left is the beginning of a sock in Cherry Tree Hill Java. In the middle is the stockinette sock in Seacoast Panda in Surf. On the far right is the Double Eyelet Rib sock in Cherry Tree Hill Peacock. I'm on the heel for both of these socks.

Here are the two shirts that R bought me =)

 

They are both super cute.

MS3- I'm in the middle of Clue 6. I have about 60 more rows to knit before the entire shawl will be completed. I pinned it out to see how it would look.



Here is a close up of the main pattern



Here is a closeup of the wing pattern

Here's a picture of MS3 in the middle of Clue 5. The white yarn is my lifeline. This is about 400 rows of lace. I'm starting the wing part of the shawl, which *gasp* means knitting short rows! I'm trying to catch up on this shawl. I have about 100 rows left to knit before Clue 7 AKA the final clue gets released on Friday.



After MS3, I plan on casting on for a new sock with this Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Tropical Storm.



Last but not least I leave you with a picture of my newest yarn. This is the yarn my Dad brought back to me from Tibet. The top one is Sheep wool and the bottom one is Yak. I think these are destined to become a blanket of some sort.

Fresh off the needles are my stockinette socks. I finished these on the drive back from Tahoe.



Pattern: Stockinette
Yarn: STR Walking on the Wild Tide- this is special STR sock club yarn
Started on: 8/2/07
Finished on: 8/12/07

The Feather and Fan shawl was finished right before the Tahoe trip, but I didn't get a chance to blog about it. Here it is blocking.



Pattern: Lace 1,2,3 from Knitpicks- this is a basic feather and fan pattern
Yarn: 7 and a half skeins of Knitpicks Andean Treasures in Embers
Started on: 12/01/06
Finished on: 8/8/07

This was my oldest WIP. It feels nice to have it off the needles. =)

I'm in Tahoe now...and things are kind of just mellow and hanging around until dinnertime...I miss R...

To cheer myself up, I will share with you pictures of the Shaggy Chenille Wrap. This is something I made my mom a little less than a year ago. This is a significant project in my knitting life. It's what I consider my first real knitting project and the first time I really challenged myself in this craft.

I never really took pictures of it, so indulge me. =)



This one is closeup to show the stitches


I've also been working on MS3. I'm in the middle of Clue 4. Row 246 to be exact.

I have several knitting rules and overall goals for myself. (some are old some are new)

1) To make socks for R,V,T,E, I, A, Mom, and Dad- I have made socks for everyone except A, Mom, and Dad.

2) Every pair of socks I make for someone else, I have to also make one pair for myself. - I did not do a good job with this. I currently need to make 4 pairs of socks for me in order to have successfully followed this rule.

3) I am not allowed to start a new knitting project until I finish two WIPs.

Knitting goals for August

1) finish feather and fan shawl

2) finish stockinette socks for my mom

3) finish stockinette socks for me

Knitting goals for September

1) finish MS3

2) finish the A line skirt

3) start the honeybee stole

I am sure these lists and rules will change as time goes on. =)

The Meme

Four jobs you've had in your life:

1. marketing analyst
2. receptionist at city hall
3. office assistant
4. assistant in Ebis


Four movies you could watch over and over again:

1. Sleepless in Seattle
2. Bring it on
3. Sabrina (the original with Audrey)
4. Down With Love

Four places you have lived:

1. Cupertino, CA
2. Los Altos, CA
3. Saratoga, CA
4. Stockton, CA


Four t.v. shows you watch

1. The West Wing
2. Heroes
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Friends

Four places you've been on vacation:

1. Australia
2. Most of Europe (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweeden, Finland, Russia, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary etc)
3. China
4. Taiwan


Four websites you visit daily:

1.a lot of blogs (mostly of knitters)
2. gmail
3. Knitpicks/The Loopy Ewe
4. Livejournal

Four of your favorite foods:

1. French fries (or any other form of potato. However, i do dislike yams)
2. pasta
3. tacos with no beans (only exception are Jack in the Box tacos. those are quite delicious)
4. pizza


Four places you would rather be right now:

1. anywhere with R
2. anywhere I can knit freely
3. anywhere I can nap comfortably
4. somewhere that is not work


~~~

I found something new, complicated and stunning to knit. My mouth is watering over this gorgeous honeybee stole. It's the black one that really gets me hot. In my opinion, when it comes to knitting, there is nothing sexier than a good simple yet complicated lace pattern. I already purchased the pattern, now I need to get me some black lace weight yarn. As much as I want to start on this right this very second; I decided that I must finish a WIP or two first. Otherwise it seems nothing is ever going to come off the needles. You should be proud that I'm finally exercising SOME self control. Speaking of which, some progress has been made on the WIPs, the feather and fan shawl is inching slowly towards being finished and about another fifty or so rows of MS3 have been knit. Maybe I'll post a picture later today or early next week. I hope this weekend will be a good knitting weekend as it will be family vacation time in Tahoe. I still need to decide which projects I'm going to want to take on the trip.

It's been awhile since I've looked through and updated my list of WIPs AKA knitting that is on the needles.

1) A line skirt- no picture- because you are probably sick of seeing pictures of it. heh. I know I am. I probably won't take a picture of this until it is competed. There's a lot of finishing details and hemming that needs to be done.

2) Lace 1,2,3 AKA Feather and Fan Shawl- no picture- because it looks the same as the last time I took a photo of it. It just grows but you can't really see any difference in a photo. Plus the burgundy color is hard to photograph well. I started on the 7th skein. There will be 8 skeins used in total. This is slowly but surely getting done. I hope it will be done by the end of September for sure.

3) Stockinette Socks for me- this is STR sock club yarn. It's gorgeous and soft. I'm on the heel of the first sock. =) It's coming along quite nicely.




4) Stockinette socks for my mom- this is Seacoast Panda in Surf. I'm on the leg of the first sock. Stockinette socks are fun to knit as they require little attention. I really like the summer-y colors.




5) MS3 (Mystery Stole 3) -this is knit in Lorna's Laces Helen's Laces in Cedar. This has been slow progress as I restarted it after finding an error. I am on the beginning-ish part of Clue #3 at Row 158. Clue 5 and the theme of the stole was released yesterday. The theme that was chosen by Melanie (the stole designer) is Swan Lake. As I am a big fan of the Disney cartoon The Swan Princess as well as a former ballet student, I approve. =) This too is coming along slowly but surely. This is a very enjoyable knit. I like the way the stole looks as well as the yarn I'm using.




6) Adamas Shawl- no picture- as this is kind of on hold as I have so many other things on the needles.

7) Mitered Square Blanket- this pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting book. This is wonderfully addictive to knit. Here is a picture of my second big square. I hope to have this done before it starts to get cold.



8) Hanami shawl- no picture- as this is kind of on hold as I have so many other things on the needles. This is another lace shawl designed by Melanie, the designer of MS3.

-Entrelac scarf and Uptown Boot Socks have been frogged.

The mitered squares blanket I'm knitting is following the pattern from the Mason Dixon knitting book. By the way, this book has a whole lot of awesome ideas and patterns. I only wish I bought the book earlier. The blanket consists of 80 small squares. Four small squares equals one big square, so there are twenty big squares. I decided on some color rules, so that the blanket will have some consistency to it. Each big square will have the same background color. Each big square will also have two identical squares. This is to help me limit the colors in the blanket. There will be no rule specifying that they must be placed diagonally or next to each other- that will be up to me. I finished my first square and it's been lightly blocked. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks.



edit: This week I will have knitted 8 little squares. After this week my goal will be to knit 6 little squares per week. I'm hoping to have this done before it starts to get cold. I also would like to make some time to knit other things. I've only just finished clue 2 for MS3 so I'm quite behind (Clue 5 is getting posted tomorrow). I will post a picture of this soon. I also have started stockinette socks for my mom in Seacoast Panda.

I've decided to start a brand new big knitting project. Ever since I saw a completed version of the mitered squares blanket, I have wanted to make one myself.

Here are all of the yarn I am planning on using for the project.  That's 40 hanks of Tahki Stacy Charles Cotton yarn in various colors. The yarn is nice to use so far, except for some splitty-ness issues.



Here is my first mitered square ever! (yes, it actually is a square.) The sides are curling in so it doesn't look as much like a square, but that will be taken care of when I block it. =)
It's so gorgeous and fun to make. I can see how it is easily addicting. I love being able to choose any color combination I want. =) I also love the concept of making a bazillion squares and then stitching them all together to make a blanket.

I am a Simpson =)

Last night I watched live tennis for the first time in my life. I went to the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford with R, T, G, IC, and JC. I got to watch Sania Mirza beat Patty Schnyder and then afterwards there was a doubles game. It was pretty exciting and fun to watch.

I finished knitting R's socks. It's been awhile since I've finished something. yay!



Pattern: basic ribbed socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Worsted in Jeans
Started on: 6/19/07
Finished on: 7/28/07
This is the eighth pair of socks I've knit this year, but it's my first time ever knitting men's socks.

 I do like the way the pooling looks in the foot.

Here's a close up pic that shows the ribbing better.



Now it's time to go watch The Simpson's Movie. WooHOooo....

I finished Harry Potter, so I can return to my regular schedule of knitting. =)

Harry Potter has put me in a reading mood. I think my next book will be something by Alexander McCall Smith (He's the author of the series of The No1 Ladies Detective Agency.).

There has been knitting going on.

Here's the first of R's socks. This is just plain ribbing and stockinette on the foot.



Here's my skirt blocking away on the mats. The knitting is done. A couple days ago, I learned that I'm incapable of embroidering anything especially lazy daisies. After forty minutes of frustration, Grace was kind enough to offer to do the daisy embroidery for me. =) This skirt is my first garment I've ever made. It's much more complicated and time consuming than I originally imagined. Even after the daisies are done, there needs to be weaving of ribbon, mattress stitching, and attaching the elastic.



There has also been progress on the feather and fan shawl. I decided to not post a picture of it since it doesn't look that different. I probably won't even post another picture of it until it's done.

I understand the concept of stealing and the thought process behind it. Not that I'm condoning or contemplating it. What I don't understand is when people steal/take things from people that they know, work with, or are friends with. Maybe I'm just being naive or I just don't think in that way.

Anyways, someone stole my coworker's lamp. I'm still bothered by it, because the lamp is not really worth that much money. It's not a special fancy lamp just one of the small ones that you can get at Target for ten bucks or whatever. It's just the whole principle,  that someone that I may or may not work with came along and felt that it was okay for them to take it. Some people will tell me that stuff like this happens every day and I should get over it and move on because that's life. Even though this may be true, it's sad to think that we've all become so cynical in expecting the worst.

~~~

On a happier note,  I'm on chapter 22 of the last Harry Potter Book. =) If you know what happens please don't tell me. I hope to have it finished up in a day or two.

This weekend was busy but good. Saturday, I got to see the DSP crew in Livermore. There was tons of yummy costco food. =) Plus I got to hang out with the girls + John and I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. Everyone seems to be doing well. =) Sunday, R & I went to a wedding. The reception was on Treasure Island. Watching the sunset was absolutely breathtaking. The other highlight was meeting another knitter. She wore a shawl that I wanted/and will eventually make. =)

As always this will be another random post.

1) Happy belated Fourth of July, not only is it independence day, but it also marks the day eleven years ago that my family moved to Toga. R and I went to Shoreline to watch the fireworks. It's been a few years since I actually saw fireworks on the 4th of July.

2) R and I watched Transformers last night. It was a really good movie, this is easily this summer's best movie. It's especially a treat if you are like me and used to watch the cartoon religiously and owned a bunch of the toys. It makes me and I'm sure many other people, nostalgic and then wonder why they don't make shows like that anymore.The movie is incredibly cool and fun to watch.

3) I have been knitting =) Here's the update on my skirt. I'm hoping to be able to have it finished before summer is over. I'm not sure that is going to happen at the pace I'm knitting.

I put the finished half next to the half that I am working on so you can get a feel for how much I have left to knit. After the knitting there is blocking, the embroidery, ribbon weaving, inserting the elastic, seaming/hemming the pieces together. So that is quite a bit of work after the actual knitting is finished. Figaro is guarding my skirt, so no one will touch it. =) He is a very good cat.



Here is an up close picture so you can see the pattern.

I don't know when it started or when I  first noticed it. All of a sudden, I see my parents very differently. They seem older and more tired. Things that were once came easily or naturally seem to be so much harder. It's still hard for me to think that they might not be there one day. That thought hasn't occurred to me since I was 8 or 9 years old. Today or tomorrow my dad is getting his bill of health. We will see how that goes...

The Giants were awesome yesterday. =) they beat the diamondbacks 13 to 0. i am slightly sunburned, but the game was fun to watch in a packed stadium.

I need it... I want it.... I crave it....oh how I love lace.

I made two swatches for MS3 (mystery shawl 3). I'm not sure which one I like better. The top one is Lorna's Laces Helen's Laces in Cedar and the bottom one is Knitpicks' Shadow in Oregon Coast. (the same yarn I used to make the cherry leaf pattern shawl from VLT). I'm tempted to make a third swatch in Knitpicks' Alpaca Cloud, but somehow I think that would just prolong the decision making process as well as make the choice even harder. I also need to learn to be better at blocking. blah.

edit: I've decided on using the Lorna's Laces (top one in the picture) as the yarn I'm going to use for this project.



I started the Hanami lace shawl. This is knit in Knitpicks' Alpaca Cloud in Smoke. This yarn is so incredibly soft. It was early in the morning when I took this picture, sorry it's not that great. This is 30 rows into the pattern....I'm 8 rows from finishing the first chart for the first set of repeats.



Did I mention how much I love lace?

This weekend was a lot of fun.

Friday night was vodka bar and clubbing.

Saturday was Salad boy's birthday. In the afternoon Salad boy and I watched Fantastic Four the sequel. I found the movie to be fun and entertaining. It was much better than I thought it would be. Then again I thought the movie would be total crap.  haha. At night, there was dinner with R, Cal, V, W, and A at Pizza Antica. Afterwards there was a K restaurant and then karaoke. (Happy Birthday Salad boy!)

Sunday was just doing nothing and relaxing. I watched Bridge to Terabithia. I've been wanting to watch this since it came out since I read it in school in 5th grade. I remember loving the book back then. From what I remember of the book the movie follows it pretty closely. I was pretty happy with it. Yes, there was a part where I cried.

Oh and somehow I also managed to do some knitting.

Here's the start of my entrelac scarf. The yarn is the one I bought with V at Stitches West this past February. It also looks almost the same as the scarf I knit V a few months back. This is because although I'm knitting in different colors, it's still an entrelac scarf made out of Noro yarn.



I've also started a new pair of socks. =) This pair is for R. This is Lorna's Laces in Shpherd's Worsted in the colorway Jeans. This is actually not sock yarn, but it works just as well.  In fact the first pair of socks I made were out of LL Shepherd's Worsted in the colorway Old Rose. This is just plain ribbing. R requested the leg part be short, so short is what it is. =)




I've also managed to join MS3 (Mystery Stole 3). I'm very excited about this. It's a very cool and fun idea. It works like this: every week a new clue (direction) is released, so one is knitting the shawl in parts. One has no idea what it looks like or how it will turn out until it's done! It sounds exciting and fun, but then again I'm a knitting dork so...there you have it. =)