It's all Eleanor's fault

When I came into work late this morning from my weekly DMV appointment I found this on my chair. What’s that you say? that box can’t be full of Noro Silk Garden, there has to be packing materials in there to fill space? Ummm, NO.

It all started a little over a week ago when I wore my Lady Eleanor Stole to work. Here comes my boss walking down the isle by my cubical and she sees her.

She grabs it hold it up and declares it the best thing EVAR and asked how many balls of yarn it took and how much did it cost. She paid me compliments and stated that a chair or couch throw 3 times wider than my stole would be fabulous to have. When I broke the news to her how much I used for my stole and the cost, she admired it a little more then laid it down and quietly walked away. Then as a stroke of fate or whatever you want to call it I get an email notification from Webs like 3 minutes after my boss walks away that Noro has discontinued 4 Silk Garden colorways and were selling them for $5.79 per ball. Are you F’ing kidding me?!?! So I called her back to my desk and showed her the email. I explained to her that you rarely see this yarn this cheap and if she wanted to buy the yarn then I would knit her the throw (more like an afghan.) I emailed her the link where she could buy the yarn and said I could not promise a delivery date but if she wanted me to knit this, here was her prime opportunity and not to wait to long to make the decision, the yarn will go fast. Little did I know when I made that statement how true that was.**

A few hours later, she walks by my desk and says, “I ordered the yarn,” with a big smile on her face. She proceeded to tell me what she ordered:

Boss: So this (Lady Eleanor) took you 15 balls right?
Me: Yes
Boss: And I would like it this long but three times wider.
Me: OK (doing math in my head)
Boss: So that would be 45 balls.
Me: Yes…
Boss: I ordered 60, 15 of each color, use what you need and keep the rest.
Me: WOW, ok (then I was speechless, I know that is hard to believe, but I was)

That box is FULL of Noro Silk Garden for the project that I will be calling Koo Koo Eleanor! Berroco has a blanket/throw pattern that is called Koo Koo and I am blending that pattern with the Lady Eleanor Stole.

**Webs sold over 4000 balls for the discontinued Noro Silk Garden in 4 days. Did any of you take advantage of that sale!

Orange ya glad??

It is amazing to me with my major dislike of the color orange, that I am STILL knitting with orange! But I ran across the Kürbis pattern and could not resist, it is too cute to not knit.

Pattern: Kürbis Baby Hat
Source: Sonnentaler

Size: fit a head of about 39 cm circumference

Materials: Cascade Cash Vero and Knit Picks Telemark

Amount: 0.75 skeins = 73.5 yards of Cash Vero in Rust (Orange) and

0.05 skeins = 5.2 yards of Telemark Cilantro Heather (Green)

Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm and US 7 / 4.5 mm

Start Date: October 22, 2008

Finish Date: October 27, 2008
Quantity: 2 Hats

This is a very easy and quick pattern to knit. The directions are clear and easy to follow which is important. I chose Cash Vero for a couple of reasons, one, it had a great pumpkin color and two, it is sooooo soft. The blend of merino, microfiber and cashmere makes it nice to wear next to your skin.

The top of the hat is knit with Knit Picks Telemark which is a sport weight so I held the yarn double to get the proper thickness. The recipients of the hats? Co-workers. No one in my immediate family have babies or toddlers, so one co-workers baby, Allicyn got the first one, she is 8 months old.

And the second hat went to my boss' niece, Genevieve, she is 2 years old.

She wants to be like her Aunt Patty, typing on the key board and making important phone calls!

I think the girls are way cute with the pumpkin hats no? Ok, I promise, this is the last orange I am going to knit with for a very long long time!

Go Giants...Go Bears

Pattern: Basic Sock
Size: US Woman's 8-1/2

Materials: Panda Silk
Amount: 1.25 skein Orange 0.5 skein Black

Needles: 2.0mm US 0 Hiya Hiya Circular 40” Magic Loop Method

Start Date: September 20, 2008 (approx.)

Finish Date: October 19, 2008

As a Thank You/Birthday gift to my boss, I made her these GO GIANTS!! Socks. She has given me tickets to see the Giants play many many many times and for that I am thankful. She is very warm blooded, her office you could hang meat in, seriously. She has admired many of my socks that I have knit in the past, but always commented that they were too thick for her. So I set out to find a really lightweight yarn that when knit would not produce too dense of a fabric but still sturdy enough for a sock; Panda Silk fit that bill nicely.

I CO 76 sts, knit with black for 1” of 2x2 ribbing, 1 round of knit in black so that the color change would be smooth then start with orange. The total length of the cuff and leg is 4”. I did a slip stitch heel flap for 2” and turned the heel in black. Picked up stitches with orange and did the gusset decreases knitting until I reached 7.5 inches from heel to beginning of toe. Knit one round in black and began toe decreases. Kitchner when 20 sts remain. She put them on and they fit her perfectly and she loved them. I guess I get to keep my job for a little while longer! (joking)

As I have mentioned before, I am not fan of orange, but I like my job and my boss, so I sucked it up. My dislike for orange started sometime during my teenage years. I was a cheerleader for many years and all the teams that I cheered for were Orange and Black. On any given week during my high school years, I could be found in my uniform at least 3 days a week. So I am a little burned out on orange, besides, I look horrible in orange, I am a winter.

Senior year, Varsity Cheer, Selma High 1990

All hail to Selma High, Our sons and daughters sing.... (I can't remember the rest of the song!)Go Bears! Cheer Forever!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my dearest Sensei. Though I can't stand when you leave wet towels on the bed after your shower, leave the kitchen cabinet door open after getting a glass and leave the TV on all day long, I love you for many many reasons. You make me laugh on a daily basis, especially when you do those little dances! This past year has been emotionally trying on the both of us, but it has brought us closer than ever. Besides, who couldn't love a guy who brings her a 3 Splenda wet cappuccino every morning?!?!?

Happy Anniversary!!

My weekend in photos

SATURDAY
I went to San Francisco and met my mom, older brother the cop, sister-in-law and my nephew at Lefty O'douls in Union Square for lunch, drinks and college football games on TV. Giving a big shout out to Fresno State beating UCLA and an even bigger shout out to Notre Dame beating Purdue. Way to go Irish!!! Since the Irish won, that started the weekend off on a good note.

Then my family went to the Dodger vs Giants game and sat in my companies Club Level Seats while a co-worker and I sat in other seats at the park.

This is my family, right to left, mom, brother, nephew and sister-in-law.

In all the times that I have sat in those seats I have never gotten a chance to see a celebrity, but they did... Steve Perry.

So my sister-in-law snapped this from her seat about 10 seats away

Steve Perry (former lead singer of Journey) was very nice to my family and signed autographs and seemed happy to chat, he just didn't want to pose for a picture, something about he had a year left, yada yada yada. Not sure what that was all about. But my co-worker and I sitting in the lower box seats on the right side of the field did get to see Vida Blue, you have to be BIG baseball fans to know who he is, but this is him...

Yes, I Kinneared him. It was too late to get a picture and autograph with him, so this is the best that I could do.

SUNDAY

Sensei and I were guests of Mazda at the AMA Superbike races at Laguna Seca. Getting these passes was good timing, it was Sensei's birthday too!

This pass is what I like to call, "Ain't no where here you are gonna get denied access Pass," or as Sensei liked to call it, "I AM the shit Pass!"

The suite was located on Pit Row, stocked full of food and drinks gratis. There was indoor seating with 3 TV's showing parts of the track not visible from where we were and then outdoor seating looking onto the track. I met some Mazda factory people, good people to know, because I scored this for Sensei and I...

Yes, that is me in the Official Pace Car and the driver took me around the track going REALLY REALLY fast. It was the most awesome experience I have EVER had. Sensei loved it as you can see...

He said that this was the best birthday he ever had.

The bikes were going speeds of about 180 mph in the straight aways. This link will show all the pictures at Laguna Seca if you are interested in seeing more.

Just a Thursday night in San Francisco

So last night my friend Juanita (fabulous singer) and I went to San Francisco because I called in and won tickets to the annual Alice 97.3 karaoke contest at Ruby Skye. I blogged about it here and to be honest, when I blogged about it, Juanita was the first person I thought of to go with. We headed north after work, found the place, parked the car and got something to eat a Max's and then proceeded to the event. After watching several people, some scared, some drunk, some tone deaf and think that they are the next best thing and then some, well all I can say is-bless their hearts they tried. Then this happened...

The embeding thing is not working, click here to see




The crowd went wild, no other person got that great of a reaction, the night was GREAT!! Yay Juanita!!!

So you think you can sing?

I know that I can not sing, that is for sure. Just because I can't carry a tune to save my life does not mean that I don't still sing, just ask Sensei. However, I like to see others sing, those who sing well and those who are train wrecks. Yes, I am referring to karaoke. Never would I be able to drink enough to get up the nerve to participate, but I won tickets to a huge karaoke event at Ruby Skye in San Francisco hosted by Alice 97.3. The winner of the event receives $1000!!! The contest is Thursday, September 25th, so if you think you can bring out your inner Diva and have the attitude and the pipes to get on the Ruby Skye stage and want to compete, contact me and the second ticket is yours. I will be there to cheer you on! Besides, you can win a $1000, Stitches is coming soon, that can buy a whole lot of yarn!!!

Pattern: Helena

Source: Knitty Summer 2008

Size: 2 yr old

Materials: Rowan Wool Cotton in Clear colorway

Amount: 4 balls (615 yrds)

Needles: 4.0mm/US 6

Start Date: August 31, 2008

Finish Date: September 12, 2008

A co-worker of mine has been trying for a baby for years only after learning that they were unable to conceive, they were graced with the opportunity to adopt a young unwed girl's baby. Alicyn Kate was born in February 2008. I knit an infant hat for my co-worker for the baby with a promise of something bigger later. Well, this is the "bigger later."

Helena from Knitty Summer 2008 will be my “go to” baby/toddler sweater pattern from now on, it is a great pattern. I opted to do buttons instead of ties. Rowan Wool Cotton is a GREAT baby yarn, it show great stitch definition, supper soft and it is machine washable (gentle in cold water.) Baby's mother only request was that it was an icy blue color to match her babies eyes. Hopefully when the weather turns colder, baby will have grown enough to wear the cardigan this winter. I will be sure to get action shots then.

Now to non-knitting news....

I cut my hair! Cutting my hair is sort of a big deal. I am not that disciplined in several areas of my life and keeping my hair styled and cut is one of them. So enjoy it while you can! I did not dye it, just cut, but it does look a bit darker than usual. I have had mixed reviews from friends, mostly in the "Love it " column.

These pictures are of the second day after the cut. It is much shorter in the back than the front and I chose to get some heavy bangs this time. It has been years since I had bangs, we are talking early 1990's.

Ok, later this week, more knitting... I am seeing lots of blue in my future!

Rock the Casbah

Pattern: Basic Sock
Materials: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Casbah Sock in Ebony
Amount: 1 Hank (355 yards)
Needles: 2.5mm
Start Date: July 9, 2008 (I think)
Finish Date: August 9, 2008 (I think)

This yarn is WONDERFUL! If you have a chance, I would highly recommend picking up a hank and making yourself some socks. Who doesn’t want a little (or a lot) of cashmere on their feet? The colors are rich and beautiful in each hank of yarn made up of 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon.

The yardage is the only issue that I have with this yarn. It is a decent yardage, but since my feet are large (size 9 – 10 depending on the shoe) and I like about 6-7” from cuff to start of heel flap, I opted for a basic plain sock. If I had tried to make a sock with a stitch pattern, I would have had to severely shorten the cuff/leg. It made for nice mindless knitting. I thought about calling these my DMV socks. I process DMV paperwork for two different car dealerships and I have a standing Thursday appointment at the local DMV office where sometimes I am waiting for long periods of time for my turn. My appointments are an hour long also, so that gives me some good knitting time; not to mention stress relieving due to the nature of DMV.

For these socks, I cast on 68 sts, knit 2x2 ribbing for 1”. The 68 sts is because I have thick calves, I decreased 4 sts at the top of my ankle so that it would not be baggy. I opted for a slip stitch heel flap and when I got to the gusset decreases, I decreased down to 64 stitches on the foot, and fished with a standard toe.

I have knit several socks; these are the MOST comfortable socks that I have made hands down. There are a couple more hanks of this yarn in my stash (they are not listed on my stash page on Ravelry) and I am looking forward to knitting them up to add to my collection of socks.

And I must give a huge Congratulation to my friend Janice Kang (bogiebogie) for her new sock design Baroque in the Fall 2008 Knitty. Janice is a fantastic designer/knitter and I am glad that I get to hang out with her at social knitting and especially Stitches West every year because she finds all the great stuff! Right Janice?? Oh and rumor has it, she can sing backup vocals pretty good too! :)

Yarn, Giants, Tigers

My boss offered me the companies Club Level seats to the Giants vs Padres game Saturday and of course I was happy to accept. I rounded up some friends, we set the time to leave and off we went. Karol, Erin, Betsy (Erin's mom) and I all took the Cal Train up to Millbrae, transferred on to the BART to go into San Francisco. I know you are asking, why would they transfer on to the BART if they are going to the Giants game...cause we went to Artfibers first silly!

I saw the most beautiful brownish/bronze color in the Satori yarn. It looked beautiful knitted up, but not sure it the color would really be flattering on me. So I took my little swatch with me to ponder the color choice.

Then we headed out to the game, got food and drinks (I had a margarita or maybe two.) Knitting, food, drinks, sunny day at the ballpark, it was great!

My uncle, aunt and mom were at the game too, they had seats only one section away and we met up with them after the game for a short visit.

Me, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Barbi

I started working on my Giants socks out of Panda Silk, they are really soft.

And I have finished the second and final project for the Ravelympics. These were originally called, We Call Them Giants, but since they are no longer going to be the socks that my boss gets for her to wear to the Giants games, I have renamed them.....

Sorry Roger, You Tiger Now!

And if you are not familiar with that tag line, here is where I got it from...

(The embedding is not working, so you will have to click on this link.)

Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A
Source: Knitty Spring 2006

Materials: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight Socks that Rock in Rocky Horror

Needles: 2.75mm Magic Loop Method

Ravelympics, Fiesta!

Pattern: Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby (Ravelry)

Source: Tradewind Knitwear Design

Materials: Curious Creek Fibers Wasonga in Moon Shine and Omo in Early Sunest.
Amount: Not sure the exact amount, it was a test knit and not full hanks were supplied.

Needles: 2.0mm cuff, 2.25mm hand and 2.75mm on thumb (right hand mitten) and 2.25mm cuff, 2.5mm hand and 2.75mm thumb (left hand mitten)

Start Date: July 26, 2008

Finish Date: August 17, 2008

Funny how things just happen; I came into contact with Kristine Brooks, artist/owner of Curious Creek Fibers through a friend of a friend. We exchanged emails and the next thing you know, I was knitting for her. Curious Creek Fibers is partnering with Lucy Neatby to create kits for Lucy’s patterns and trunk show. I was given several choices of patterns to pick from and the Fiesta Mittens were one of them, you all know my love of fair isle now.

Lucy Neatby used Koigu originally and Kristine wanted to see how the pattern would work with her beautiful hand dyed creations. I think they are very nice, don’t you? She had the idea of using two different yarns in her line. The main color yarn is Wasonga, her fingering merino yarn in Moon Shine. It is a really pretty eggplant color with touches of black and pale lavender throughout. The contrast color is Omo, her fingering 4 ply silk/merino. The use of the Omo just pops beautifully.

Fiesta Mittens in Curious Creek Fibers should be made available soon as a kit; a great pattern with beautiful hand dyed yarns! Since my deadline also corresponded with the Ravelympics, this project was entered in WIP Wrestling.

Decent Day: BAD ending

Monday’s are sometimes the worst day of the week, agree? Well, yesterday was not a bad Monday until I got ready to leave work. If you don’t already know, I work at a car dealership. When you buy a car, I am the one that ensures you get registration and plates for your car, I process the DMV paperwork. It’s a job a job and pays decent. Along with that, sometimes our customers get tickets and the dealership is forced by the DMV to pay the ticket in order to complete a transfer of ownership on a vehicle, speaking strictly of a used car. So there was this customer who leased a car and when his lease was up he went ahead and bought the car out right. When I transferred the ownership of his car from the bank to him there was a parking ticket on his record and the DMV would not do the transfer unless the ticket was paid, so we paid it. I then sent the customer a letter stating that we paid the ticket and requested reimbursement from him like I have done many, many times before from other customers with the same situation. Let’s just say that he was adamant that the ticket was not his, even though he owned the car when the ticket was issued and he in not so nice words declined to pay the ticket and was getting quite worked up about it. I was very calm, believe it or not (I have a witness) and I realized that continuing this conversation was not going to be beneficial to either of us. Now, I am leaving a huge amount of dialogue out (see me for more detailed summary and facial expressions) but here is what turned a fairly decent Monday in to a crap day…

Customer: They made a mistake, I was not in _______ during the month of February and I am not going to pay the ticket.

Me: Ok, I will pass it along to my manager and you have a nice evening.

Customer: I don’t think you understand, I am not going to pay that.

Me: I do understand, have a nice evening. (still trying to end the conversation)

Customer: No, you are going to listen to me, you don’t know how to do good business, let me tell you how do to good business, you are going to listen to me or I am going to call ______ your General Manager and tell him what a horrible job you are doing, you scumbag.

Me: Excuse me! Did you just call me a scumbag?

Customer: Yes I did…

Me: (action) Slam phone receiver down and hang up on customer.

All of this over a $20 dollar parking ticket!

Hope your Monday was better than mine. Tomorrow, detail on my Ravelympic knitting event completed.

Beijing Opening Ceremonies

I had a dilemma Friday at work. My boss came by my desk waiving Club Level tickets to the Giants vs Dodger game asking me if I wanted them. Well of course I do, the company tickets to a Dodger game is damn near impossible to get. "When is it ?" I ask like a silly girl, tonight she says...ouch. The dilemma is, I love the Olympics, my knitting friends and when drinking is involved that is a trifecta...but I love going to Giants games and its even better when I have Club Level seats and they are FREE. Then I uttered the word that shocked both me and my boss, "I can't, I have plans already."

Some of the Team BobaKnit knitters gathered at the Firehouse in Sunnyvale, CA to watch the opening ceremonies and WOW what a site they were. I knew that it would be spectacular, but it was more than I had expected, even if we could not hear what was happening or the commentary. BobaKnitters in attendance were, Jeni, Teenuh, Jill, Linda, Juls, Margit, Julia, and Sheetal. There was knitting, food and of course there were drinks!

The sad thing about my knitting is the cuff of that sock was already done when I got there, I only completed 4 rounds after that. I was loving the Cosmos just a little too much to knit. Our server was fun, he had a great sense of humor. I wanted some coffee with my desert and while trying to express to him that I like a lot of cream I said to him, "I like a little coffee with my cream." I guess you should be careful of what you ask for...

Oh and since I was having too much fun and forgot to get my camera out, I totally stole these pictures from Teenuh's Flickr stream. She has other great pictures from that night on her blog. Thanks Teenuh.

In hind site, I am super glad that I passed on the baseball tickets. A good time was had by all of us watching the Beijing Opening Ceremonies and the Giants lost that night anyway, Saturdays game was better :)

Ready, Set, Cast On!!

I love the Olympics, Summer or Winter, makes no difference. Our TV will be tuned to the station with the games everyday. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics I was 12 years old, I stayed with my grandparents in the San Fernando Valley and they took me to see the torch go by on its route. I took pictures (that I can't find at the moment) and it was memorable to watch.

And now that I knit, I am participating in the Ravelympics this year. You must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics (Aug. 8)- and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Aug. 24). That’s 17 days. I have joined Team Bobaknit and entered two events, Sockput ( knit a pair of socks) and WIP Wrestling (finish a project that is already underway.)

Tonight our team is gathering at the Firehouse in Sunnyvale, CA to watch the Opening Ceremonies together and root each other on as we knit to the finish line!

What are you event are you knitting in and what is the project?

A moment of weakness

I just have to put it out there, it is all Irishgirlieknits fault. I was reading her blog late last night thinking I am going to be reading all about her trip to Sea World and then at the bottom of the blog post she goes and mentions that Sundara opened up her Seasons Club. I have been wanting to purchase Sundara yarn for some time now, I just got paid, I was home alone, enough said. I chose the Winter season, it suits me best and I can't wait for my first shipment. Thanks Carrie!!

Things in which I did not knit...

Last Friday I went to lunch as usual and when I came back I found a package on my desk, happy surprises!! When I opened it this is what I found…

My friend in Texas, Twisted Knitter, sent me this beautifully hand knit drawstring bag. I was so shocked and happy. And as if that was not enough of a gift, I found my second surprise…

She put a center pull wound ball of a beautiful red fingering weight yarn, she knows me well. Janet (Janet Ravelry Link) is a wonderful knitter and is truly inspirational. She is on a blog vacation at the moment, so it gives you time to browse her archives and see the beautiful things she makes.

And the gifts keep on coming. Saturday night I attended an anniversary party of one of the owners of Purlescence Yarns where I received my birthday gift, a pair of hand knit socks. December is my birthday month and when we were in the shop chatting I had mentioned that I have never had anyone knit me anything. So the Purl Girls decided that as my birthday gift they were going to knit me my Notre Dame socks (they know me well too.) Kaye (Kaye Ravelry Link) did the lion share of the knitting with a stunt knitter, Jasmin (Jasmin Ravelry Link) to complete the toes. While we were all around celebrating the anniversary Jasmin was finishing the toe on the last sock and I got to take them home. So I am all ready for the new football season with my beautiful birthday/Nortre Dame socks.

So may I suggest, knit another knitter friend something, anything, they will love you for it!