Oak-Town Adventure

Sunday my knitting friend Karol and I took an adventure to Oakland. Our mission, go to Article Pract, shop yarn and meet Kristine Brooks of Curious Creek Fibers. We drove to Fremont and took the BART to the MacArthur Station in Oakland then walked a little over a half a mile to Article Pract. The was was amusing in itself. Lots to see and umm, comment on.

Article Pract has lots of lovely yarns in every fiber known to man. They have lots of beautifully knit samples for you to get inspiration. If you don't look carefully, you will miss some of their inventory, it is literally stacked floor to ceiling, baskets and cubbies, racks and rods. The only down side for me was there was not an area for you to sit and knit. For people that make a little trip, I would think it would be nice to be able to stay and knit also. To be honest, I would probably have bought more yarn if I was able to relax, knit and chat. But I did manage to bring these beauties home with me, ShibuiKnits sock yarn that to my knowledge, none of my LYS carry, so score for me!

After the yarn purchasing took place, I went into the back where they hold their classes to meet Kristine of Curious Creek Fibers. Kristine was in town from San Diego to teach a class and I am doing some sample/test knitting for her with her yarns. I got the package she sent me with the yarn and pattern on Saturday...

And on Sunday, I brought this to show her...

Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby. (Ravelry link) She approved. It was nice for the both of us to put a name to a face.

After the yarn store, Karol and I went to a coffee shop a couple of doors down, got a beverage and a cookie, knit and people watched. The BART train back was, well, interesting! We encountered a man that was having a difficult time getting information on his phone and kept arguing with a recording as if it was a live person. If you see me, I will go into more detail, lets just say I had tears in my eyes, not from crying though.

Its all about the caramel corn...

This past Tuesday night, July 22, was the Stitch n Pitch night at the San Francisco Giants game. I had not originally intended to go this year, even though last year was a memorable night, see here. But the day before, my boss asked me if I wanted our companies season tickets on the club level of the stadium.....OF COURSE I DO. So I made contact with knitters that I knew didn't get tickets to the event, Karol (Rav link), Jill and Teenuh. Jill works in the city, so Teenuh, Karol and I took the train up and meet her there. Teenuh has a much better recap of the whole event.

But the best thing about the Giants game is the fresh hand tossed caramel corn that you can ONLY get on the club level. I have been fortunate in the past to get tickets to the games and made attempts to include my good friend Nathania but it never worked out. So she had to hear about this caramel corn from others. Well Tuesday night she got her caramel corn thanks to my club level seats. I bought the corn, took the elevator up to the 5th floor and meet her out in the concessions area of her section.

I went back to where she and the other knitters were sitting to wave hello and then took my happy ass back to my club seat!

The weather this year was much better than last year, the Giants beat the Nationals 6-3 and it was a great night with good friends.

Relayed out and the winner!

I am almost recovered from the Relay for Life event over the past weekend. It was a great event, I was happy to see such a great turn out for support of the American Cancer Society. I am most appreciative of all the people that supported my efforts in knitting caps and monetary donations. I blew it and did not get any good pics to share with you of the entire site with the Luminaria's all lit up, trust me when I say, it was a beautiful site. I stayed out at the relay all night to the ending ceremonies on Sunday and there were lots of people walking in the wee hours of the morning. If you have never been to one of these events, I recommend going, you don't have to be apart of a team to participate. Check out their website to find an event close to you. Here are a couple of pics that I did manage to take of our little space.

And now what you all have been waiting for... The lucky name drawn is Kristin Leamy!! Congratulations Kristin, I will be contacting you to see which yarn you would like and thank you for your support!



A little knitting progress other than hats and such has occurred. I have breathed new life into my Carbon Copy Monkeys. I went up a needle size, changed the heel flap type and I believe this time I will be successful. I am about to turn the heel so we will see!

Last Chance Effort and Yarn Giveaway

This is my last chance fundraising effort. I am participating this weekend in the Relay for Life in Campbell, CA. Relay For Life is a 24-hour event whose mission is to raise money which will be used towards research, education, and programs which support those undergoing cancer treatment. I have committed to raising $500 for the event, I am close but with your help, I can meet and or exceed this goal.

My father died of lung cancer in 1992 when I was 20 years old and my mother is a two time ovarian cancer survivor. I know first hand the struggles of those with cancer and those friends and family members that are there to care for them. This cause is close to my heart in many ways. Cancer is life altering and we all know someone who is or has been affected by this disease.

One way of supporting the event is the purchase of a Luminaria. As the light dims over campsites and team member’s complete laps, the night is brightened by the glow of lighted bags called luminaria, each of which has a special meaning. You can honor a cancer survivor by placing their name under "In Honor of," or you can remember someone who was lost to cancer by placing the name under "In Memory of." Each individual’s name will appear on a luminaria and each will be lit at the ceremony to shine as a beacon of hope for others. You also have the option to send an e-card to inform family members and friends of your special gift. To purchase the Luminaria or make a straight dontaion click on this link.

Anyone that comments to this post AND makes a donation, I will pick one random winner and give them a choice of a hank of either Blue Moon Fiber Arts or Malabrigo. Go ahead and make a donation, help the American Cancer Society and possibly get some yarn!!
EDIT: THIS WILL CLOSE ON SATURDAY JULY 12TH 2008 AT 8AM PST

Parade of Socks

Long time, no post. I have been away a bit for 3 good reasons.

Reason 1:

Reason 2:

I kept my niece and nephew. We had a grand time! We went to the Oakland Zoo, Chuckie Cheese, the drive-in movie theater to see Wall-E and a couple of parks for play time. To see photos if you are interested, you can view them here.

Reason 3:

I have been working a TON of hours and I then took ill. Come to find out, I have/had a sinus infection and ear infection. But I am on the mend, got my antibiotics and all is getting right in my world.

Now, on with the important stuff - knitting content.

Here are some photos of socks that I have completed and never posted about. Sensei's House Socks knit with Dream in Color Classy in the Cocoa Kiss colorway. I knit them on a US5 using a 3x1 ribbing. Ravelry Details.

And these are my Torrey Pines/Buick Open Socks. I knit these while watching Tiger Woods play in the Buick Open at Torrey Pines on our trip to San Diego. They are knit with Socks that Rock in the Ravenscroft colorway. This is my plain basic sock pattern knit on 2.5mm needles. Unfortunately, I got lots of wear on these prior to taking proper blog pictures, please excuse the slight felting on the soles. Ravelry Details.

And finally, my Lucky Green Socks, well at least I hope they will be! I started them a long time ago and never finished them. While I was in bed sick all weekend I decided that it was time to finish them; besides, I only had half of the second one to complete. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in the Happy Forest colorway (I think.) The pattern is Corded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Ravelry Details.

On a totally sad note, I had to frog my latest sock, Carbon Copy Monkey, because it was too small. There is a funny unattractive photo of me frogging the sock that will not be shared here. Trust me, it is funny but much more unattractive. However, every time I call Teenuh it pops up on her iPhone, gives her a laugh. Cookie gave me a tip on fixing my too small issue, I will be casting back on soon!

2nd Knitiversary

July 1st was my actual Knitiversary, but I was WAY to busy at work to post about it, so it is a day late (just like most things in my life.) In honor of my 2nd Knitiversary, I thought that I would do the following knitting meme to see all that I have accomplished in 2 years.



1) Bold things you’ve done
2) Green thing you are currently doing
3) Red out things you’ve abandoned or will never attempt
4) Italicize things you want to try

Afghan
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Baby items
Bobbles
Button holes
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Drop stitch patterns
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Freeform knitting
Fulling/felting
Gloves
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Hair accessories
Hat
Holiday related knitting
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewelry
Kitchener
BO
Knitting a gift
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting socks
Knitting to make money
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Olympic knitting
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern