#1

Dear Grandma Davis:

I want to tell you about my weekend. Friday night Sensei** and I went to the movies, we saw I Am Legend. It was really suspenseful and a little heart tugging in a few spots. The special effects are fantastic too. Movies have come a long way since your time. Then on Saturday, I worked for a while, needed to get caught up on some stuff since I was gone so much during the holidays. After work on Saturday I went on a little shopping spree at the mall. Got some stuff at Target that I needed and then I got these. Sensei does not like them but he said if they were as comfortable as I said they were and I liked them, that was all that mattered. Grandma, I love these shoes! I want some in different colors now.

Sunday, my friend Colleen and I went up to San Francisco to take care of some business for mom and do some shopping. We went yarn shopping. Yarn stores are so different now than when you were buying yarn let me tell you. First we went to the world famous Artfibers. Grandma, they let you knit a swatch of any yarn to see if you are going to like it, how cool is that? So I knew I wanted to try one particular yarn that I have been admiring from afar. And sure enough, I bought all they had in stock, 583 yards, 265 grams. I will be getting more.

Sorry, the picture is not that good; I forgot my good camera and had to use my camera phone. Yes, grandma, phones have cameras in them now, but that is a whole other discussion! But for a better look at the yarn, here is it on their website. My colorway is #20.

Then we went to another yarn store to see what they were like, Noe Knits. The staff was very friendly, kept checking with us to see if we had questions etc. The store was sort of shabby chic, I liked that, but they didn’t have a lot of stock, seemed a bit empty to me. But the worst part about the store was the lighting. It was horrible. I could hardly see the colors of the yarn, the true color. I did however purchase two hanks of Peruvian Tweed. The yarn is 100% alpaca and has no dyes, the yarn is the color of the alpaca, and I loved that idea. I didn’t get a picture of those this time, but you can see the one I got here. I will have my Ravelry site updated this week with the new yarns.

After all the yarn shopping, we were hungry and thirsty, so I took her to the Haight and we we went to Cha Cha Cha. The food is yummy Caribbean food served like tapas and to wash it down, sangria. They are pretty proud of the sangria, it is very tasty. When I lived in the city, it was one of my favorite places to eat.

Ok, I have some WIP’s to show you next time and I promise more pictures in my next letter, for now, back to work for me!

Lisa


**New format, new name for the significant other formerly known as Richard. He is actually a Sensei, so that how I will refer to him, he likes some anonymity.

New Year, New Format

This is the first official post on my blog for the 2008. I wanted to try something new this year with my blog posts. It seems to me to be easier to write my posts like I am writing a letter to someone. My Great Grandmother Myrtle Davis was the first person I came to know in my life to work with yarn, she crocheted. So my posts will be addressed to her. Now, it has been many many years since she has passed, but I feel that if I was to talk about my knitting she would be the one that I would want to talk to because of all her years of experience. I know in my heart of hearts that she is looking down on me now and laughing with that great smile of hers and saying, "Well, out of all of them, Lisa is the last one I thought would knit!" Confession, I was a bit of a Tom-Boy when I was little, not much about wearing dresses etc. I grew into a fierce love of lipstick and shoes in my late teen years. But, Grandma Davis is right, I have shocked a few of my family members with my knitting projects. For 2008, my goal is to shock them even more! Starting with Eunny Jang's End Paper Mitts. I have the yarn, will be learning stranded knitting in the very near future. Then, on to Alice Starmore!!

Old and New

First the old. Christmas day I stopped by my friends house to visit before returning to San Jose and realized that I never got a picture of the scarf that I knit her last Christmas. So she went and got it out for me and I got a photo finally. I really like this pattern, in fact I liked it so much that I made two last Christmas.

Irish Hiking Scarf, 2 hanks of Malabrigo in Dusty.

And for the new, Sensei got a new car. On my birthday. Wait, how does that happen? Oh right, his blew up! We got it in time for our trip to Disneyland. Sensei is really pleased with his new car, the windows roll up and down on this one!

Highlights...Lowlights

After 17 years, I finally got to return to Disneyland and I got sick! Yes, I have either a severe cold or the flu. Halfway down on our drive to Anaheim I started to feel, well, shitty. Took some medicine got some throat drops and started heavily medicating. I am still very weak and tired. I will have a better report of the day, I am just too tired and well, SICK!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas, stay healthy and safe!

Contest Answers

Sorry, I forgot to include the answers to the contest questions this morning.

1. I have 2 brothers, what are their professions?
Older brother Todd is a Sergeant Detective and younger brother Kelly is a minister.

2. What is my favorite football team?
Notre Dame Fighting Irish, that is right, losing season and all, I am still a proud fan!

3. What is my favorite color?
Red, a true blue red. No orangey reds for me!

4. Where did my fellow knitters and I go after the Stitch n' Pitch?
Jeni, Becky, Hannah, Cindy, Cookie and I all wandered out of the park looking for a bar to sit and watch the end of the game because it was so cold there. We ended up at a tequila bar Tres Agaves! And if you click on the link above, there is a picture of Lori, the winner of the yarn in that blog post!

And if you wanted to know what happened to me last year on my birthday click here. So far today I have not repeated history!

And the Yarn goes to.....

Lori (Monkeyroom) !! She has chose the new colorway Ravenscroft in Socks that Rock. Congratulations, Lori! This was fun, I will have to come up with another contest soon. The contest came down to a drawing, so many of you got all the answers correct. The process was very scientific (hahaha) names were placed on slips of paper, folded equally and put inside a hat, a Notre Dame hat. Sensei was granted the honor of picking, he initially had protested that I was using a Notre Dame hat, I told hit to get over it and just pick. So yes Lori, your name came out of a Notre Dame Fighting Irish hat!! I am sure that your alumni status at Penn is fully in tact still.

Not sure how much blogging will be done between now and Christmas, we are leaving tomorrow morning for Disneyland. Hopefully I will get some good pics for the blog. Wishing you all a happy and safe Holiday Season!

Didn't Finish...

Didn't even come close to finishing. Christmas knitting is no more. I completed only 2 of several knitted gifts for this Christmas. I have 2 more on the needles now. Do I care? Yes, a little. Will I let it bother me to no end? Absolutely NOT. I have bigger fish to fry right now. This has been the year of problems during the holidays. Remember Thanksgiving?? Well this holiday it is Richie's car. It died. I mean, stick a fork in it, it is done! It was a 1988 Honda Prelude, it served its purpose and now it is a charitable donation. So we went car shopping. Hopefully we will have the car situation resolved by Friday morning when we leave for Disneyland. We'll see.


And, you still have time for the Birthday Contest... I have several entries, it will be a drawing. I see that either you all read the blog or you are really good at searching fast! You still have time to enter.

So this is how the contest goes. Comment on this blog telling me which yarn you would like to receive if you are the winner. Then email me at twistedstitches71 AT gmail DOT com the answers to the following questions:

1. I have 2 brothers, what are their professions?
2. What is my favorite football team?
3. What is my favorite color?
4. Where did my fellow knitters and I go after the Stitch n' Pitch? (specific answer required)

All the answers can be found in my past blog entries. You must answers all the questions correctly for your name to go into the hat where the winner will be drawn. Contest will be closed December 19th at midnight. Winner will be announced on My Birthday, December 20th.
Good luck!

Friends

I have some of the nicest friends in the world. Last night I gathered with my former co-workers from my 3 year stint at Honda. These are the same friends that I also taught how to knit. We ate pasta, bread, drank wine and conversed, it was nice. Then after dinner we sat around and knitted. It was really funny, I looked over and realized that I had taught them all how to knit and how we all bonded through knitting. Each of them have distinct knitting personalities and it has been really fun watching them grow as knitters. After some knitting came the dessert. I thought we were having brownies that Danielle made, but there was a lot of commotion going on in the kitchen for just serving brownies! Then around the corner came my dessert plate... brownies with ice cream, caramel sauce and whipped cream. It was a sight to be seen. Sorry I have no pics, it was too good to stop to grab a camera. Thank you Holly, Colleen, Danielle and Jackie for a wonderful evening; you are great friends! And Jackie, I loved your card!

You all still have time to enter my Birthday Contest. Contest closes December 19 at midnight. Get your emails to me if you want to get free yarn! I am giving away your choice of either Socks That Rock or Silky Malabrigo, click here for more details. Good Luck!!

Merry Christmas Sweaters !!

So I finally got evidence of the wear-ability of the sweaters that I knit for my niece and nephew. Aren't they cute? Now you see why I would want to knit for them ALL THE TIME??? If you are on Ravelry and have seen this in my projects list, yes, my nephew has an uncanny resemblance to the little boy in the book for this pattern. And if you ever wondered what I looked like when I was a little girl? Take a good look at my niece. I will have to post a comparison picture later.
I would be remiss to not mention that I would have NEVER gotten these sweaters shipped out in time if it had not been for Nathania's help. Thank you for saving my knitting behind, again! Hope every one's holiday knitting is going smoothly. And there is still time to enter my Birthday Contest.

CONTEST-Revised

Yes, this is my first blog contest. It is the holiday season and my birthday soon and I am in a giving nature. Or maybe I just want to know how many people really read my blog?!?! Who knows and who cares? Cause I am giving away yarn! The winner gets a choice between two yarns, both highly coveted by many knitters I know. The first choice would be the all new Malabrigo, 50% Merino/50% Silk in the Stone Chat colorway. This yarn is in limited release at a few stores for test knitting and I happen to have one hank. The second choice would be Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in the all new Ravenscroft colorway.

REVISED
So this is how the contest goes. Comment on this blog telling me which yarn you would like to recieve if you are the winner and EMAIL me your answers! (thank you Ariel for your suggestion!) Email me: twistedstitches71 AT gmail DOT com

1. I have 2 brothers, what are their professions?
2. What is my favorite football team?
3. What is my favorite color?
4. Where did my fellow knitters and I go after the Stitch n' Pitch? (specific answer required)

All the answers can be found in my past blog entries. The person who answers the most correctly wins, in the event of a tie, names will go into a hat and a winner will be drawn. Mom, you are not eligible, besides, you don't knit!

Contest will be closed Decemeber 19th at midnight. Winner will be announced on My Birthday, December 20th
Good luck!

FINISHED OBJECT AND LESSONS LEARNED

Since I am unable to blog about current Christmas knitting, I give you my finished Ribby Pulli. I have worn it several times, it is the warmest sweater that I own. Being what I would call a plump woman, this pattern can be worn by all shapes and sizes easily.



Here is the run down:

Pattern: Ribby Pulli Long Sleeve Funnel Neck
Yarn: Bottom, Cascade 220 in Jet (which really is more of a charcoal color) and on top, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted in Obsidian.
Needles: Size 6, 7 and 8 Addi Turbo's
Size: The largest size in the pattern, I can't remember what it was off hand.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes and no, this was one of my first sweaters completed so I did not understand everything the pattern was telling me. With a little help it became more clear.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The "like" part of the pattern is that it is knit in one piece in the round with only seaming the underarms. Also that the ribbing on the sides does the waist shaping automatically. The "dislike" would be the way that the ribbing on the sleeve was written and the decreases in the yolk. They were both a bit confusing for me.
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I knit the entire sleeve on my size 7 instead of just the cuff part. And I am going to rework the neck, I didn't pay attention the the pattern and picked up more stitches around the neck than I should have. So I am going to pick the neck out and re-knit it to include a few of the ribs just on the side to continue the ribbing from the sleeve. Oh and I made the body about 3 inches longer than the pattern calls. I like my sweaters longer.
Would you knit it again? Yes. I actually am knitting it again for a friend after the holidays.
Conclusion: This is a good pattern for any level of knitter, even beginners that want to try a sweater. If I were to knit another for myself, I would knit one in a solid color. Also, I would knit a size or two smaller, this sweater is bigger than I would have wanted. My gauge was correct and other have mentioned the same problem.

Ok, current knitting. Flash back to when I sent my niece and nephew hand knit socks, just cause they are cute and I love them. The lesson learned, ALWAYS ship your hand knitted gift signature required! Their Christmas sweaters have been sent and I just got a text message from my brother that "The Eagle has landed" The box is in the safe hands of my brother and he is waiting to get the kids and let them open the box. I will post photos of the sweaters once they have seen them.

Birthday Meme

Ok, I saw this on CJ's blog it is her Birthday today and since my birthday is around the corner I thought I would do this now instead of later.

Birthday meme

The instructions:
1) Go to Wikipedia.
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.
3) List three events that happened on your birthday
4) List two important birthdays and one death
5) One holiday or observance (if any)

Three events that happened on my Birthday
1.) 1803 - Louisiana Purchase completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
2.) 1981 - The first ever on-stage performance of the award-winning Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Imperial Theatre on Broadway.
3.) 2005 - US District Court Judge John E. Jones III ruled against mandating teaching "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.

Two important birthdays and one death
1.) 1537 - King John III of Sweden (birthday)
2.) 1868 - Harvey Firestone, American automobile pioneer (birthday)
3.) 1968 - John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902) (death)

One Holiday Observance
R.C. Saints - Saint Dominic of Silos, O Clavis, Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne

What happened on your Birthday?

Happy days are here again...sort of

The fridge is fixed!! Cost was VERY reasonable. The "starter" to the compressor basically burned out. A very nice man came tonight and replaced the burned out part and made my fridge work. Now the toilet/shower/drain pipe issue has reared its ugly head again after we thought it was fixed. That repair man is coming in the morning. One down, one to go.

Knitting update, the niece and nephew Christmas photo sweaters are going well. All four pieces of my nieces sweater is complete including the blocking. I am now working on my nephews back of his sweater. Deadline, this weekend. Anyone like to knit ribbing??

The Good, The Bad and The Smelly

THE GOOD


Thanksgiving Dinner



The Family, left to right, Mimi(paternal grandma), Michelle (sister-in-law), Cody (nephew), Todd (oldest brother), Grandma (maternal grandma), Me, and Sensei. Mom is taking the photo.Sensei, stop tickling me, I am knitting!!!

THE BAD

When we got home, the fridge had died while we were gone to Grandma house for Thanksgiving weekend. We are hoping that it will be a minor financial fix instead of a replacement. As you can see, I have emptied the entire thing, it was pretty much an entire loss of food.

THE SMELLY

The toilet got backed up so bad that the shower stall floor filled up with sewer water after several attempts of removing the clog with a plunger and Liquid Plumber. I will spare you the descriptive details and photo of the ordeal, suffice to say, it was a crappy situation (pun intended!)

No Deep Thoughts

No deep thoughts, no in site, no words of encouragement from me today. Just a couple of photos that I took and thought I would share. Because really, no one wants to hear how stressed I am with all the holiday knitting I have committed myself to. I said last year that I wouldn't do it, but I guess I couldn't stick to that. (my English skills are stunning right now too!) I finally got the yarn order completed yesterday for my nephew's sweater. I had to pay for 3 day shipping so that I would get it in enough time to complete for Christmas photos. I started another gift project, I still have to finish my green socks, 2 baby gifts to start and complete, my moms birthday sweater (from July!!) and a few other things that have escaped my mind. But to be quite honest, even though I am a little stressed about all the knitting, I wouldn't have it any other way! I could have worse problems...wait, I actually do have worse problems. OK, knitting is my escape, my sanctuary, my zen.

Here is a scarf that I did last year but only had time to wear it a couple of times before it got too warm to wear. But it has sure come in handy lately!

I made this out of one hank of Baby Grande Alpaca in a 1x1 rib, I like the look of stockinette with out the rolling. It is very light, warm, soft and fuzzy. Me likes.

And my favorite furry guy in the whole wide world. Mugsy, laying on top of Sensei on the couch. Sensei, a bit camera shy that day. Mugsy IS the king of the house, we just live around him.

Knitting and Love

I love my niece and nephew, a lot. You will know how much when I show you the finished objects, but for now, these are just progress photos. I went down to visit them back in September and had a great time. That is when I started the "missing" socks, the ones that have never been delivered still. While visiting, I opened my mouth and said, "You know, I could knit them (the kids) matching sweaters for your family Christmas photos." Now, I in no way am regretting this moment at all, but I have to admit at times it is overwhelming to think about all the knitting that I have committed myself to completing. These sweaters will be the first to complete because of their deadline. My niece and nephew are little, 5 and 3 respectively, so I chose to knit something fairly simple with room to grow for them. This is a ribbed drop shoulder sweater from the Debbie Bliss Easy Knits book. The sweaters are going to be the same style but in contrasting color schemes. Pictured is my nieces sweater, I have completed the front and the back and now have casted on for the sleeves. All the pieces will be done this weekend. Then on to the little guys!

No nickel for me...

So I faithfully read Janet's blog, my Twisted counterpart, she was reviewing the KnitPicks metal DPN's. Read her review here. I do not used DPN's, they are my enemy, I have never been able to use them successfully. And that is OK. Others love DPN's and wouldn't think about using anything else. I on the other hand am a circular needle kind of girl. So much so that now I am even Magic Loop knitting several things.


My needle usage started with Clover Bamboo needles, straight, then to circulars. Then I discovered Addi needles and that fantastic flexible cable, score since they have them in bamboo too. Then I bought the nickel plated Turbo Addi needles and I thought that I was a machine knitter it was so fast. I was in love, well not with the price, but hey, the cables were the best on the market in my opinion. Next thing I know, I was introduced to the KnitPicks needles, not only were they hollow, nickel plated needles like the Addi's, they also had fantastically flexible cables and the best part, way less expensive than the Addi's, TRIPLE SCORE.


Then came my discovery, my hands eat nickel. They really do. This is the evidence...

These are Addi Turbo circular needles US5's. The two in the middle are the ones that I used to knit some worsted weight wool slipper socks, one pair only. The ones on the top and bottom are the replacements, new needles never used. I have done this to KnitPicks, Addi Turbo and Addi Lace needles. Stitches no longer slide across the needle like intended, they have to be forced. Makes for difficult knitting. So I am heading back to wood. I still have some Addi's Natura's and I have now started knitting with KnitPicks Harmony needles. I am not as fond of the wood, I am forced to knit looser now. It was suggested to me that I try steel needles, so I will be buying one and giving it a go when it arrives.

Any thoughts? Any like experiences? Any suggestions? Let me know please!!! I am leaning in the direction of buying the KnitPicks Harmony Options, I am not fond of the Denise cables and plastic needles.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I was in the mood for a change, actually it was long over due, I cut my hair. I am very pleased with it, I think it suits me. I cut about 10 inches off. Next step, color. The greys are coming in too fast. Sorry for the crappy camera phone pic at work no less.

I have 2 finished sweaters to show, yes, I have FINISHED two, count them, one, two sweaters. Next blog post, with the new hair cut!

I feel the earth move under my feet...

This was definitely not my first earthquake since I was born and raised in California but this was the firs time that I have been located this close to the epicenter of a quake. I have marked on the map where we live.

A few things were knocked off the wall, things fell off shelves but no major damage. I was just a bit shook up, no pun intended. It was a jerking motion first and then we felt a rolling motion and it lasted for a good little while. We didn't lose power, I am actually shocked that we didn't, however my cell phone did not work for about two hours. My brother Todd called to check on me at about 10:20pm on my cell phone so I know it works now. We are all fine, Sensei, Mugsy and I.

Great Weekend

My weekend was great on several different levels. First of which was that the Irish finally won a game this season. But, I am not sure if I am more excited about Notre Dame's win or USC's loss to Stanford. Yes, you heard me right, USC LOST to Stanford. The Trees beat the Trojans!!!! My heart did a little pitter patter. Second happy thing was the celebration of Nathania and Kevin's birthdays on Saturday. They are both very special people and I was honored to attend. Friends gathered and brought things to snack, I brought crack, I mean King Eggroll, the best egg rolls that you will ever eat! And finally the knitting. I have attached the sleeves to the Ribby Pulli, started the second color (Twisted in Obsidian) and started my sleeve cap shaping. I have only 5 more days to get this sweater completed for Purlescence Yarns 1st Birthday Party October 13th. They are having a group photo for everyone that has knit the Ribby Pulli or one of the several variations in the pattern. So if you have knit this pattern, go to Purlescence and join the rest of us! The photo was taken pre-attachment.

Given Up

Well after several phone calls to a Bakersfield Post Office, it is over, the socks are never to be seen by the rightful owners. The manager spoke with the letter carrier for that route and he said that he did not remember that particular package ( I really was not thinking that he would.) He also stated that the carriers are ONLY to leave packages at the door when it is stated on the package itself, I did not make that statement. The manger instructed him to never leave packages at the door from now on unless clearly stated ( that does not help me!) He apologized (that doesn't really help me either, but it was the right thing for him to do.) I have learned my lesson, never send anything in the mail that I have knitted without a signature required. A couple of bright thing are, 1.) at least it was not a hand knit cashmere sweater and 2.) my niece and nephew only wear a kids size 11 and 8 shoes, little feet, quick to re-knit (that will have to wait though.)
By the way, thank you all for your comments and personal emails!

Knitting Humor

I love Franklin and his blog The Panopticon. If you don't read it, you should add it to your list. He is an amazing writer and illustrator. Check out his latest cartoon, you will have to scroll towards the bottom of the post. Made me laugh after an especially disappointing day this ended up being.

Thieves in Bakersfield

This is an open letter to the person or persons that decided to take the package I sent to my niece and nephew from their front door step. This package contains hand knit socks that specifically fit my niece and nephew. I think it is deplorable that you would steep so low as to steal childerns gifts, how do you sleep at night? Many hours were spent pouring my love in to knitting my niece and nephew those socks. I hope and pray that you come to your senses and just return the package and its contents to the rightful owners with no questions asked.

Hurt and Angry in San Jose, CA

Happy Birthday

Saturday September 29 is Sensei's birthday, but since he has a crazy work schedule, we are celebrating his birthday all weekend. Last night we went to a movie, something that we have not done in a while. We went to see The Kingdom. All I have to say is WOW. The opening credits and graphics was a quick history lesson about the USA's relationship with Saudi Arabia (The Kingdom.) There are shocking scenes that will be embedded in your mind from the minute that the movie starts right down to the last scene. I found myself with my mouth open in shock half the movie. There was so much that goes on in the movie that I want to see it again so that I can take it all in again.

So this morning we are going to do another of our favorite things, golf. Not sure which course we are going to play, its his birthday, he gets to decide. After golf I will be getting in some more knitting time. I am done with the first sleeve of my Ribby Pulli, now I have to cast on for my second sleeve. I want to get the first sock of my green Dream in Color Smooshy sock done today also, I am hoping.

And finally, yesterday, Notre Dame, I don't even have words. I honestly don't have any idea what is going on. The amount of error, lack of rushing and passing yards is staggering. There is always next year.

Best Red EVER

So I go to my LYS Purlescence Yarns and they immediately toss this hank of loveliness at me knowing that I was going to scream, "This is it!" They know me too well. I have 4 hanks now. This version of red is fondly known at the store as "Lisa Red."

In my humble opinion, this is the best blue/red sock yarn ever! I am always in search of the best red colored yarn and this is definitely one of them. Now if I can just find the perfect red lipstick, then I would be set! I drug my mother all over San Francisco one afternoon on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick, the hunt is still on!

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug Colorway: Vatican Pie

I tried to show was a rich blue/red this is and the photos really does not do it justice. I did a little tweaking and still could not get it just right, it is much more blue/red than it looks here.

I also just got the new sock book, More Sensational Knitted Socks. I am looking forward to using this yarn with one of those patterns!