Faucets

Yep, faucets. The kind you find in your bathroom and kitchen. That's what the hubster and I were doing last night during the game. Went to Lowe's, where we sat around for a lifetime about an hour to get the work order done since neither of us has the time/interest/tools to install said faucets by ourselves.

If I wanted to stay in this house for any length of time, I'd be pushing for either a full master bath remodel or a kitchen remodel. Instead, we're replacing the fixtures for both upstairs bathroom sinks and putting tile on the bathroom floor, plus a new kitchen sink fixture. Major improvements for minimal cash output that will help with resale. Let's just all cross our fingers that we'll be trying to sell the place before too much longer, OK?

After splitting an entree at Claim Jumper (yum!), we got home at about 8:45, just as the hoopage was coming to an end.

I knitted a very little bit, we watched Dancing with the Stars, I started reading back entries on a new Pittsburgh knitting blog I found via the Harlot, and that was that.

I do have some progress shots, though, and one needs an opinion!


This is the first sleeve for the brown cable sweater. Exciting, huh?


This is the back to the misti alpaca v-neck. I'm not sure I'm in love with the "X pattern" that it's making. It's obviously releated to my gage, which has been pretty consistent since I got about an inch off of the 1x1 ribbing.

Do I frog it? Do I live with it? I really don't want to do the "alternate balls of yarn" thing. Since this is the back, I may just live with it and hope the front doesn't stripe the same way.

HELP! What would you do?

Fabric vs. Fiber

I've been itching to quilt lately, but my inner sloth has vehemently resisted the effort required to set up for sewing at home. This leaves me with way more knitting time than quilting time.

But, the home conference softball season is here. We play a single day game on Friday, and as soon as that's over, I can high-tail it out to Pasadena for the last few Friday Nights at Bearly Stitchin.

When I got in my car post-game on Friday, I was pretty concerned about the Hollywood Fire, but in one of those traffic anomalies that can only be found in Los Angeles, I sailed from Westwood to Pasadena in an hour. AN HOUR. On a normal Friday, it takes at least 90 minutes.

Once I got out to Pasadena and procured my sandwich from Whole Foods, I zipped on over to Bearly and got cranking on my project for the evening, a baby quilt for a kiddo who is scheduled to make his appearance in about two months.


I bought a few patterns and the X-Block tool at the Road to California show. Then, that Saturday, the hubster and I field tripped out to the Fabric Patch and I bought the kit for this quilt.

I have the "scrap" pieces sewn together for the pieced border, but when I had the blocks and small border sewn together at about 9:45 on Friday night, I looked over and saw this fabric from the Moda Sunshine line sitting on the shelf. I immediately ripped through the train of thought saying "This is a baby quilt. It is going to get dragged in the dirt and puked on. If I do the pieced border, I probably won't be able to finish the top tonight. If I do a plan fabric border, I'll be done tonight!"

Easy decision. 3/4 of a yard later, I had the top done by 11:30 (including snack time) and it's now sitting in my crate waiting to be taken to the Cotton Shop to choose backing flannel. The binding is even cut out, pieced and pressed. I'm hoping to sandwich and quilt next Friday.

The most fun thing that was finished on Friday night was this quilt:


Anne had been working on this for a while and got the quilting finished and binding on that night. It's the Lucky Stars pattern from Atkinson Designs. I have this quilt started in purples and greens. This inspires me both to finish that quilt and possibly start a new one with my batiks stash and either a white or black background. Awesome, eh?

I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. I was up at 5:40 to start my week early, so I'm hoping I don't fall asleep with a hygienist's hands in my mouth. Wish me luck! Otherwise, I'm hoping to cruise the Beach Knitting sale this week, get that backing at the Cotton Shop and be ready for my two home games this week.

Best part of the whole week? No game on Sunday. Three cheers for Easter, my last day off until the season is over!

Of Sneezing and Stockingette

I had a home softball game on Tuesday. It was very windy. At least twice during the game, a particularly large gust of wind blew a WALL of pollen off of the trees in the outfield. It was so thick that for a split second, the scoreboard in left field was obscured.

Our PA announcer asked what that was. When I informed him that it was a cloud of evil yellow pollen, he remarked that "Damn. That tree should be having a cigarette about now!"

Well, I thought it was funny. ACHOO! Now if I could only find an allergy med that worked that I didn't have to spray up my nose, I'd be happy camper!

On to the knitting ...


I've gotten a few inches into my alpaca V-neck sweater. I wanted something plain so that the pattern wouldn't "fight" with the yarn, since I happen to think that this yarn is amazing all by itself.

Lots of people complain about how they get bored with plain stockingette. I have to admit that most of the time, I'm not one of them.

I get so busy with ... life. And work. The Mountain of softball season doesn't seem very daunting when you're in the middle of the hike. But when you're standing at the foot of the Mountain about to start the climb ... well, it has a tendency to bum me out. Stockingette sweaters are simply perfect to fight the mid-season blues.

And let me tell you, I have a five-star case of the blues right about now. I'm tired of my life being unsettled. Although I love my quilting and knitting friends and the resources for those hobbies here in LA, I'm so over this place.

On the drive back from San Luis Obispo last weekend, the traffic changed as soon as we hit Santa Barbara. It got more crowded. More cutthroat. More aggressive. Then we topped the hill on the 101 coming out of Camarillo. BOOM. Sprawl. The Hubster and I just signed and agreed that we're ready to get outta here. Keep your fingers crossed. I think he has an iron in the fire that's starting to get warm.

Oh, and rather than leaving my brown cable sweater in pieces to sit as a UFO forever, I cast on for Sleeve #1 last night


More stockingette. This is not a bad thing in my life right now.

[NOTE: To all of my quilty buddies heading north, have a wonderful time in Asilomar. I want to hear all about it and see pictures when you get back!]

Weekend at the Coast

The Hubster and I spent the weekend in San Luis Obispo. The spark for the trip was that my softball team resumed its schedule with a doubleheader up there on Sunday at Cal Poly, but the bonus was that we were able to stay with friends. And their golden retriever, Kalie!


Ain't she cute? She's nine months and quite well behaved, although there are definitely chunks of "puppy" that come through.

If I could figure out how to fix puppy red-eye without spending a big chunk of time on it, she wouldn't look like Exorcist Dog, but you get the idea. :)


Here is the hubster and I at Pismo Beach. Unfortunately, the free day we had happened to be the overcast day of the weekend. Oh well!

No pics, but I finished the back of the brown cable sweater and have cast on with the vareigated alpaca for my v-neck. I'll try to get some pics in the next few days, between LOTS of softball. *sigh*

The grind isn't so bad when you're in the middle of it, but when you're staring the start of it in the face, that's when it pretty much just sucks.

Yarn Pr0n Thursday?

OK. I didn't even think about joining Turtlegirl's blog ring for Yarn Pr0n Fridays, because I know I'm not reliable enough for her (perfectly reasonable) expectations. If I had a "normal" 9-5 job, I could probably pull it off, but that's just not my world.

However, in the last week, I have acquired some pretty great fiber, none of it at full price. So I'm gonna share some pics!

First, last Saturday the Hubster and I attempted to go to Santa Anita for a day of racing. He likes going to the races. I like the horses and history. He usually goes to Hollywood Park, which is a lot closer to our house. The day was a disaster. We didn't get there as early as he wanted to (maybe he should have set an alarm? Whatever.) and we were unable to get a table in the club area. From that moment on, I wasn't spending a day with the Hubster, I was spending the day with Captain Cranky.

After three races, we decided to punt. At that point, I was willing to do anything to improve the day and not finish it by shouting at each other. I loved Santa Anita. It's a beautiful track and you can see its heyday as you walk around. There's a statue of Seabiscuit in the paddock, and after having read the Laura Hillenbrand book several years ago, being in that place made the story come alive in a way the movie never would.

Anyhoo, after feeding the hubster a yummy lunch, I asked if we could make a stop at Unraveled since we were in the neighborhood. Captain Cranky agreed, so I dashed in and took advantage of their 30% off sale.


This was the yarn that I had in my head that pushed me to ask if we could stop. It's Koigu KPPPM in the "Arctic" colorway. The only problem I have now is deciding if my next pair of socks is going to be out of this color or the green I showcased a week ago.


Isn't it awesome? I can't wait to play with it. Gotta finish the second toe-up short row heel sock first.


After confirming that there really was a sale going on, I explored a little bit more. And I found this. Malabrigio Worsted Weight. 216 yards. Color is "Oceanos"


I got two skeins, so I have about 430 yards of it. Any suggestions? I'm kind of thinking about making this scarf. There is a green that's amazing too, but this blue ... I just couldn't resist.


And finally, last night I went to Beach Knitting for their super-secret Spring Fling sale. I went in specifically to get this yarn. It's Misti Alpaca, baby alpaca in worsted weight. The close-up (below) is almost perfectly "true" in color.


It's going to be a V-neck pullover sweater in stockingette. It's such a beautiful variegated colorway that I don't want any pattern that's going to fight with the yarn. Just let the yarn be itself and shine.

The store wound up getting SLAMMED, so I wound up staying an extra hour or so and just helping all the customers that wandered in for the night. It was fun!

The hubster and I are going up to San Luis Obispo for the weekend. We are planning to stop at The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria on the way up there tomorrow. Don't I have a great hubster? We're spending Friday and Saturday nights with friends who live in SLO. Then my softball season starts up again on Sunday, and my free time will disappear into nothingness. Oh well. At least I have plenty of yarn to keep me busy between then and when I get my life back at season's end!

All Socks, All the Time!

Well, not really. But I did finish my first ever toe-up short row heel sock last night. Tah-dah!


I'm pretty happy with it. I think I ripped and re-started the toe about a half-dozen times. I'm quite happy with how the toe turned out and am halfway through the toe of Sock #2.


The short row heel, however, has issues. You can see the hole at the "apex" of the heel from a distance. *sigh*


I bow at the feet of experienced short-rowers and beg for enlightenment! What am I doing wrong, or maybe just not quite so right?

Gotta run. Off to an afternoon blood test that required fasting. Few things worse than that. Ugh.

Chicken Little

Every time it rains in Los Angeles, even if it's just a very light mist, I think of Chicken Little. The sky is falling! The sky is falling! (Loved the recent animated move, BTW ... BNL doing the title track is just a bonus!)

It rains so infrequently here that people just freak out when it rains. If it's what I consider "actual rain" then it's the lead story on the news with STORMTRACKER 7000 and people either refuse to get in their cars to drive anywhere (because it's too dangerous) or drive like idiots because the roads might be slick. It's a mess.

It has rained here today, but it's an exceptionally light rain. Only qualifies as rain in an area like this as far as I'm concerned. I managed to force myself to go work out (and got in a really good sweat thankyouverymuch) and am now trying to psych myself up to complete the work that must be done today.

In lieu of actual sock or sweater pictures, I give you a meme.

I got tagged for this meme when I was keeping track of floribunda’s blog. I thought it was pretty interesting, so I didn’t mind the “you read, you’re tagged!” caveat.

Have a go at this - and if you spot any you think I really should have read tell me which one(s) and why........

Look at the list of books below: Bold the ones you’ve read; Italicize the ones you want to read; Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

If you are reading this, tag, you are IT!

The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) – May have read this as a kid, but don’t think so (and don’t remember. Same with whole series
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
The Stand (Stephen King)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
The Hobbit (Tolkien) -- just re-read in advance of the movies
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) -- first book I ever read that my mom recommended. I read it in ONE SITTING (yes, one sitting) and left a circle of Kleenex around the spot on the couch where I was sitting. I now try to read everything that my exceptionally well-read mother recommends (hi mom!) :)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) -- have it, need to read it
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) – read parts when I was a kid. More my brother’s cup of tea than mine.
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) -- re-read in advance of movie
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
Dune (Frank Herbert) – Again, more CE’s cup of tea than my own.
The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
1984 (Orwell)
The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) – Tried, but … yechhh
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
The Bible – read it? No. Familiar? Yes.
Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
Great Expectations (Dickens)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) – Don’t remember, but I REALLY think I’ve read it.
The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
War and Peace (Tolstoy)
Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Les Miserables (Hugo) – Haven’t read it, but the musical is what hooked me on Broadway
The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
Shogun (James Clavell)
The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) – Did I? Don’t remember!
The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
The World According to Garp (John Irving)
The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) a kid-hood favorite
Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)
Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
Emma (Jane Austen).
Watership Down (Richard Adams)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
Blindness (Jose Saramago)
Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
Ulysses (James Joyce)

Free Time Distribution

I want to be sewing, but can't motivate to get my quilting cabinet cleaned off so that it will accept a sewing machine. **sigh** Instead, I have been knitting like it's going out of style. Warning, I took these photos on Friday morning. Much progress since then. I'll try for new photos tomorrow.


Here is my sock-in-progress. It now has a short-row heel and about 1/4" of cuff ribbing started.

I have holes at the end of my short rows. Any experienced sock knitters have a suggestion for how to prevent this on future socks? Didn't have holes when I closed the toes, but I certainly have holes on my short-row heels.


This was my cable sweater about an inch before the armpit decreases. it's a modified drop shoulder, so it was a BO 10 stitches each side, then knit away until I get to 8" of arm hole. I"m probably 5" into that process now.


And here's a close-up of the cable. It has been fun and easy to memorize. Plus, the mini-cables on each side of the large motif have been perfect for cabling without a cable needle. Bonus! This yarn, Classic Elite Wings, has also been a pleasure to work with.

This is my last week of general enjoyment for the foreseeable future. I hope to spend it sucking the marrow from life and enjoying this time as best I can. This plan may include a weekend trip to San Luis Obispo with the hubster, but we'll play that by ear for now. I just know it comes to a screeching halt on Sunday morning, since softball season starts back up at 1 pm in SLO that day. Wish me luck!

A Chapter Closes

Seven years ago, almost to the day, I took the first steps towards becoming a Quilter.

In March, 2000, I went to the Glendale Quilt Show. That year, I went on Sunday, the last day of the show.

When I moved to Los Angeles in June of 1999, I was a cross stitcher. I was working on a hardanger wedding sampler as a wedding gift for my best friend from college. Once I finished that project (in November or December if I remember right). I was looking for a new project and was shocked stupid to discover that there are no cross stitch stores in Los Angeles County. None. Zero. A metropolitan area of about 10 million people, and there aren’t enough cross stitchers to have a local store?

My solution to this problem was to change hobbies.

My mom, who taught me how to knit and cross stitch when I was a schmoo, had been making quilts for quite a while. Totally hand-pieced and hand-quilted. While the thought of doing all of that hand work gave me hives, quilting had always been a hobby that I aspired to.

So during mini-breaks during that first Bruin softball season, I started researching sewing machines. Boy, was I ever surprised at how much they cost!

Still, I went to the Glendale show that Sunday in mid-March of 2000. Admired the quilts. Gazed at the vendor booths having no idea what I was looking at. And then, at the end of my journey, I found the Bearly Stitchin booth.


I got lucky. Really lucky. I started talking to the owner’s daughter (Melinda), who wound up selling me a Bernina 150 QE. I walked out of the show bewildered, excited, and with a sewing machine in the back seat of my car. It had been a classroom model for use at the show (not that I knew what that meant), but I figured I got a reasonable price and the payment on the financing was well within my budget. I was already sucked in.

I went back to my apartment. Stared at the still-closed box for a few days. Almost a week later, I ventured to Pasadena to visit the actual Bearly Stitchin brick-and-mortar store, about five miles west of their current location on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Again, I was bewildered and overwhelmed.

Then, this amazing little woman came over and introduced herself. Her name was Joann, and she worked in the store. She chastised me, in a very kind, humorous and friendly way, for having not played with my shiny new machine yet. She made sure I got some thread (Mary Ellen gray, of course!), she got me signed up for a Quillow class with Melinda, and she suggested a good first quilting class once I successfully negotiated my Quillow experience.

My first-ever “real” quilt was “My Friend’s House” from some Thimbleberries pattern. It was my first ever Mary Ellen class and the finished product is currently hanging in my dad’s office in Pittsburgh (Sorry! Thought I had a digital photo to share, but I don’t!).

From there, I was encouraged to come to a Friday night “Pick a Project” class. People come to the store and sew from 6-midnight? Really? Wow!

My first Friday night, nobody really brought snacks (a rarity, I would come to find out), and everyone chipped in $5 for pizza at “halftime” around 9 pm. I was planning to leave around 10, so I didn’t contribute for that reason and because Abe Lincoln was absent from my wallet. Everyone was friendly, but I was still very much on the outside.

Somehow, I decided to continue coming to those Friday night classes whenever I could. I kept signing up for most of Mary Ellen’s classes. Eventually, that group of people turned into my best friends in California. I managed to suck a kindred spirit into the group when Beth landed in a random Mary Ellen class with me.

Our Melrose Mondays mini-group is born from that group of Friday night quilters. Beth. Carol. Lisa. Anne. Sandy. Denise. Nonie.

People I see occasionally, but enjoy tremendously show up at Friday nights at Bearly. If I didn’t suck so badly at names, and if it hadn’t been 3+ months since I had shown up for a Friday night (work, this was not a conscious choice!), I’d rattle off a bunch of those names too.

My habit has exploded since I started down this quilty path. I have a cutting table (well, it’s covered with non-quilty crap at the moment, but that is its intended function), a sewing cabinet (same), even a pile in the garage. Four sewing machines and a serger, all from Bearly.

I have even started to knit again, encouraged by Beth, since it’s her fault I discovered her friend Irma and Beach Knitting.

Why the trip down memory lane, you ask?

Bearly is closing. They have to be out of the store by the end of May and will shut their doors for good in mid-May. The last Friday night is May 11. Sadly, I will be in Phoenix (work) and won’t be there for the official closing ceremonies.

This makes me extremely sad. Yes, I have a perfectly great quilting store walking distance from my house in Redondo Beach in Luella’s, but it isn’t my quilty “home base” the way Bearly is. [Bearly's owners are moving to Phoenix in order to be closer to their daughter and grandkid. A motivation I certainly understand and empathize with, and the sudden departure is related to their lease, not a desire to "dump and run."]

Everyone should have a place where they can be Norm from “Cheers,” and in a way, I hoped Bearly was one of mine. I hope that my friends and I can find a new Friday night hangout. I hope that Mary Ellen can keep up her teaching schedule at a new location. Any store owner should certainly be happy to have her, since she has a very loyal following. I just hope that the gang doesn’t move much farther east, or it will be too damn hard for me to get there on Fridays.

Last night, I attended my first “Friday Night” since November. It’s sad to think that Bearly will be gone very soon. I feel badly for Bearly’s employees, who range from my age to retirees. Some will need jobs immediately and won’t be able to ride it out until the store closes. Regardless, all of these great people will fall to the winds. Hopefully many will be able to find new places that make them happy.

I hope that the store's loyal customers can take a chill pill and stop asking everyone what they're doing "after" It's a tough situation for everyone, particularly people whose livelihoods have been compromised in a big way

Nature abhors a vacuum, and this void will be filled. Here’s hoping that the resolution becomes clear quickly for all.

Halfway Mark

Today is the mythical halfway point of my softball season. I say mythical simply because today is the last game before a 12-day break for winter quarter final exams. It's my very favorite time of the year.

I have this weekend totally off. I'll go to the Glendale Quilt Show on Friday and possibly Sat. or Sun. I'll go quilting on Friday night. I'll watch lots of college basketball.

I won't spend a whole lot of time in my office and the only traveling I'll be doing is for personal enjoyment. I'll knit. I'll quilt. Maybe I'll even manage to machine embroider something. Woo-Hoo! :)


Here's the Koigu I bought at Wildfiber last week. Ain't it nifty?


I think it's going to turn into the Wendy Knits generic toe-up sock pattern.

And, to prove that I really am doing some knitting ...


Roaming Tigger thought that my sock looked like a really cool hat. So he tried it on.

Just about time for first pitch. Catch you soon!

Recovery Mode

It has been a long time since I last posted. Sorry about that. Life has been kicking my ass.


Last weekend, I spent a ridiculous chunk of my life at the softball field. On Saturday morning, Roaming Tigger (RT) decided he needed a glamour shot of his own self with the field in the background.


Later in the day, we had a very special Softball Skybox appearance by the local fire department. They parked in the fire lane in left field between the scoreboard and the fair pole. Hey, if anyone can block the fire lane .... may as well be an engine!

After watching 12 softball games over a three-day stretch, I started a marathon cross-country trip. The athletic department at Thomas Jefferson's University wanted to interview me for a job opening. That particular university is a place I've always wanted to work. And it's the most beautiful college I have ever visited, although I didn't really see any of the academic areas on this particular trip. Added bonus? 4.5 hour drive to see my family instead of a 4.5 hour flight.

So I was on a 6:30 am flight through Atlanta on Monday morning. That means I was up at 3:30 am PT and at LAX a little before 5. Got to my destination around 5 pm ET. Got a brief driving real estate tour, then dinner with the person making the hire.

RT decided to boycott said university and did not get his photo taken with any local landmarks. In hindsight, probably a good decision.

Of course, with the time change, I couldn't get to sleep until probably about 10:30 pm ET. Up at 6:30 am ET on Tuesday since my first meeting was a 7:30 am pick-up. What followed was a series of meetings and other interview-type stuff that finished when I was dropped off at the airport at about 3 for a 5 pm flight.

I totally couldn't sleep on the flights home. Killed my 3+ hour layover in Atlanta by talking to friends and family and reading mindless stuff. Still, when I got home and passed out, it was about 12:30 am PT, so I had been awake for 22 consecutive hours.

I had a road game on Wednesday at 6 pm PT. At 5:15, my phone rang and it was the person making the hire. They hired a graduate assistant over someone who has been full-time in this business for more than 10 years. Stupid bastards.

I'm hanging my hat on the fact that somewhere over middle America on the flight from Atlanta to LAX, I had several moments of Panic. It had nothing to do with flying, and everything to do with "something wasn't right on this trip." I still don't know what caused that, but I worked pretty hard to ignore that feeling and I know I would have ignored it entirely had I been offered the job. That probably means that this outcome is for the best.

Craft-wise, I've been doing more un-knitting than knitting. I have my second KnitPicks Slipper Sock past the heel and ready for some serious brainless work. My toe-up sock is in a similar state, rapidly approaching the heel turn.

I had my (brown) cable sweater almost through the first 33-row repeat when I realized that I had seriously screwed up the center cable multiple times. It has been frogged and this morning I cast it on again and I'm through the set-up row and first row of cabling.

I'll take some knitting photos in the next few days, and i'm seriously hoping I can get inspired to embroider two quilt labels in the next few days. Photos and apology letter to follow if I can actually get that pulled off.

Thanks for listening to me whine. To all of my local quilty friends, I hope to see you at the Glendale Quilt Show next weekend (anybody know what's up with those goofy hours on Friday?). I need some fiber therapy in a big way, and the Koigu I bought yesterday at Wildfiber ain't gonna cut it all by itself!

Hibernating

Well, sort of. I'm doing some knitting. I have the back of the brown cable sweater knitted through two skeins of yarn and it's sitting on a holder waiting to make sure that the armpit decreases are correct on both the front and back. No photos, 'cause it basically looks exactly the same as it did the last time I showed you.

I've also started the front. I've only had time to do about four rows a night, so it's going slowly. I had "homework" for a field trip early next week. Hopefully I'll have a little time for RT to get his picture taken a time or two on the grounds of Monday/Tuesday's destination, but I doubt it.

Don't want to jinx the field trip by talking about it too much, so I'll shut up now.

On Tuesday, the hubster went up to school with me for my home game and the aforementioned Tuesday evening field trip. It was a really clear day in Los Angeles. The kind that makes me really wonder what the hell we're breathing the rest of the time. Anyhow, I whipped out my camera and instructed the hubster to take a photo or two. The shot below was taken on the northbound 405 freeway about two miles south of the 105. And the HOLLYWOOD sign, which is circled in red, is probably about 20 miles away. It's a little fuzzy in the picture, but clear as day when you're looking at it live.


This scares me, because on a regular day in LA, I can't even see the mountains when I get to the 10 freeway, which is awfully close. The air is probably about as good for us as the tap water, which tastes like dirt. I love this town (not).


And, a final gratuitous shot of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. We got a far-away shot in this earlier post, but on the day of the skills competition (Sat.), our bus drive managed to drive right up to the front of the building on our way to the field. So I took advantage and took a kick-ass picture from the bus.

RT will probably make an appearance this weekend at softball. That's where I'll be for all of the upcoming three days. Enjoy your weekend. I'll be working.

Thawing Out

Last night was as cold as I can remember being for a very, very long time.

I started freezing to death around noon. I had to score a game out at the "minor league" fields. Once I was already out there, wearing shorts, the wind kicked up to about 40 mph and I wound up sitting in the shade shivering for quite a while.

Then I sprinted back over to the field where my own team was about to play. The photo below was taken from a nearby vantage point before I started turning into a popsicle. Most of the way through my first game of the day, some friends decided I looked cold and got me a hot chocolate. Many humble thanks to Mama E and Becky! I put on all of my remaining clothing layers for our 8 pm contest, but still was literally shaking from the cold by the time that game ended. Not. Fun.


Roaming Tigger (RT) is seated on the storage unit of the tri tip stand at the complex. These are some of the best sandwiches EVER.


The proprietor of the stand asked what I was doing. When I explained, he said "he needs a picture with the sandwiches!" So here is that resulting shot. I'll have a sandwich for dinner tonight. My special treat for the weekend!


Earlier in the morning, RT was kickin' it at the hotel, soaking in the golf course and poolside view. This was well before we realized just how effing cold it was going to get


Just to prove that I do stuff besides softball (although not much these days!), here is a baby blanket I finished up for a friend I'll see this weekend. It was a panel kit from Keepsake Quilting. I quilted it ages ago and whip stitched the opening during Grays Anatomy the other night.


And, here's the progress I've made on the cable sweater since its last photo op. About 10 more inches of stockingette and I'll be ready to start making some changes.

Gotta go score another game (surprise). Here's hoping that today remains exponentially warmer than yesterday!

Spinning, and I don't mean with fiber!

The weekend in Vegas was fine. The bed was comfy which is a huge plus. The only problem was that we played LATE on Saturday and EARLY on Sunday. A bigger issue when you remember that somewhere between that Late and Early, you must Pack and be ready to get on the bus to check out of the hotel at the appropriate time.

I've been fighting an annoying little cold. I don't feel bad I just feel wiped out. Ugh.

I also have a "thing" tomorrow morning that I'm nervous about. I'm trying to ignore it as best I can, but we'll just have to see what happens.

Then it's off to Palm Springs for another weekend of softball. Aren't you jealous? I think my local friends are starting to wonder if I still exist.

Yes, there has been knitting. I've pretty much decided that my toe-up sock will be OK. I'm mostly bugged by the needles I'm using. Of course, I'm having a complete brain fart trying to remember who makes them, but they're the plastic-ey needles that bend as you knit. I'm not really a fan, but I don't have another pair of US 2.5's so I can't just switch them out. Bummer.

No new photo of that sock. However, we do have a half-finished object to show from the weekend in Sin City


This is the first of my Slipper Socks, a free pattern I got off of the Knitpicks website. I'm zipping along in Memories, the suggested yarn for this pattern. I'm happy with my results so far.

Last night, while the hubster was gone for his workout, I got an itch to start a sweater. It's this fantastic cable sweater out of this book. If you go to the "look inside" link and scroll to page three, it's the brown cable sweater that's four down on the left-hand pile.


Thanks to this fantastic YouTube video I found on Wendy's blog about a week ago, I was able to do all of the pictured cables, after getting through the first row, without a cable needle! WOW!


Here's a "money shot" close-up of the cable. Color is more true in the larger photo.

Well, I need to finish up a few small things, then get my butt up to practice. I have to pack again tonight. I hate packing!

Fabulous Las Vegas

Yep. I'm in Fabulous Las Vegas. Watchin' some softball.

The host school set the schedule with three-hour windows between games. This is both good and bad. It's good because you know that you're going to start on time. It's bad because when there's a quick game (we played in 95 minutes earlier today) then there is a loooooooooooong time between games.

I skipped the lunch field trip with the team, so I've spent a good solid six hours at the field today. Fortunately, there's a very nice press box, so I'm plenty comfy.

I also decided it was time to bust out my roaming gnome. Meeet Tigger!


In front of Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas


In front of the Hard Rock Cafe. This is where we ate dinner last night. I had a cobb salad. It was yummy.


With part of the Las Vegas strip in the background


And with the Thomas & Mack Center, the site of the NBA All Star Game ... the rookie game will start roughly at the same time as the second game of the day for my team.

I got a tiny bit done on my KnitPicks slipper project, but not much. I'll keep chipping away on that. It's what is calling me right now.

On the Road Again!

Sorry I have been so scarce. Left a week ago today for a work trip to Phoenix/Tempe. That didn't go so well. Had a home game on Tuesday and now I'm about to get on a plane to Las Vegas.

While that announcement makes most people say "AWESOME!" please let me explain why it makes me say "CRAP!"

** It's NBA All-Star weekend. We are staying in Henderson, Nev., and playing 4 of our 5 games on campus at UNLV, which is Strip-adjacent. This means we'll be spending way too much time on a bus going to-from our games.

** I don't like to gamble

** I do like to visit quilt shops and knitting stores but, remember the bus?, I am without transportation and therefore essentially locked in at the hotel/field.

** A hotel that probably won't have a workout room. Bastards.

As long as I'm whining, I'll also mention that I woke up yesterday morning with a cold. At least I've consumed about 2 liters of water already today!

I have been churning away on several knitting projects. I finished the next-to-last pair of Fuzzy Feet. Ginormous pair #2. These are for my friend Bill. Pen included for scale


Yep. They're huge. Hopefully they felt nicely. I'm looking forward to being done with this Fuzzy Foot experiment. Just the re-knit of my dad's pair left to go.


What is this, you ask? Well, I placed a KnitPicks order a few weeks ago. This is their Memories yarn (Yukon colorway) being worked up into their Slipper Socks pattern. I'm a fan so far.

I also have yarn and needles at the ready to do their Come In From the Cold pattern as well.'

I have a pair of toe-up socks on the needles as well. (previously modeled here by Baxter Bear). As I continue to knit these socks, they continue to look HUGE. My stitch gague is accurate. I'm thinking I'll knit a little longer then revisit my decision. It's really bumming me out, actually. I keep drooling over all of this great sock yarn and can't get my sock mojo to cooperate.

I'm also itchign to sew again. My second Starr block of the month showed up while I was in Phoenix, and I have my M&Ms blocks due. Haven't even thought about those. Yikes!

Well, I need to get my work bag packed up and ready to roll for today's adventure. I remembered to pack my Roaming Tigger so maybe I'll get some photos from the field in Vegas. Happy All-Star Weekend! :)

Speed Posting

I have about 10 minutes before I have to pack up and walk out the door to start the first road trip of the 2007 season. I'm excited, and looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Why sleep? Because I've skimped the last two nights. Tuesday night, a college friend of mine was in town and once he got settled at the Hilton near the airport, he gave me a call and I zipped up there for a beer.


Jamie and I worked on our college newspaper together and he currently lives in DC. This means we don't see each other very often, but he's a great guy. He and a friend made a pilgrimage to LA to see The Price is Right before Bob Barker retires. Keep your eyes peeled for that prematurely gray head in the early portions of March. :)

Last night, I had to pack. That always takes longer than I expect, hence the later bedtime than I would have really liked.

There has been some knitting going on. I finished the first of the dark green Ginormous Fuzzy Feet. I have started on the second one, then just have my dad's lime green pair to re-knit before I am totally finished with that undertaking.


Meanwhile, I finished my Lorna's Laces mittens. Very fun. Hat is next.


Hey, Baxter got to model last time. This morning, it was Derf's turn.

Gotta run. Will try for pictures from Phoenix, but we'll see what happens.

Stars, Stars, Stars!

That was the primary theme of last night's gathering at Sandy's house. Well, at least for me. The obiligatory dog photos were taken. Here's the best one from last night: Paulie, the elder statesman of the group, snoozing.



Denise joined Sandy, Anne, Beth, Carol and I, taking over the real estate vacated by Lisa's pending trip to Martha Pullen. She's probably on an airplane (or still in route) as I type.

Carol was kind enough to meet me for dinner at Outback. Even though I wasn't anywhere near this snafu which would have made my life completely miserable had I gone to work yesterday, it still took a ridiculously long time to get to the restaurant. Carol and I highly enjoyed our meal, as always. We all got to yell hello to Carol's hubster and my favorite lurker, Ole, later in the evening when he called her from Norway where he is working at the moment. Hi, Ole! Hope the weather clears up! :)

On to the sewing. Overachiever that she is, Denise has finished all of the larger setting stars for the Starry Starry Night quilt that was the inspiration for our blue and white MMs exchange last month. I posted a photo set on Yahoo! here. They look awesome. Here's my favorite:



As for me, I spent the entire evening cutting up teenytiny squares ... that I then sewed and squared up ... to make the friendship stars for my Starr BOM. As has become my habit, I cut WAY too many squares to make the friendship stars. I should have thought through the instructions better before I put rotary cutter to fabric, but since this is Month 1 of 12, I should be able to recover just fine. The bad new? LOTS more squaring up of friendship star triangles. Once I exhaust this supply, I will be doing 1" Thangles for any/all remaining small stars.


I also sewed my large paper pieced star together. I'm pretty damn happy with it if I do say so myself. This quilt is gonna rock ... assuming I can keep up with it and not get overwhelmed with the backlog of paper pieced blocks. Hey, the paper piecing is actually the fun/easy part. It's the friendship stars that might be the death of me!

Today is very low-key. Hanging with the Hubster (once he gets back from Costco and the grocery store), maybe a dinner out. Maybe a stop at the J-store to check on plastic storage ... it seems like I never have enough of that! ... but generally a low-key day. Tomorrow is the Big Game. I'll go to Beach Knitting in the morning and probably come home about an hour before kickoff. Then Monday is the start of my first Game Week since December. Here's hoping I'm ready to get the train rolling!

Shhh ... Don't Tell the Hubster!

I kind of acquired another Penguin today. He could be a cookie jar for small cookies, but apparently arrived upstairs full of candy, many moons ago. Badly photoshopped can included for scale.


He originally came from Sea World. When I visited said 2nd floor office this morning, I immediately noticed this guy and was informed of the correct person to ask if he was homeless. My adoption application was immediately approved, and he now resides in my office. Now I just have to give him a bath and clean things up in my office (Surprise! It's a disaster area in here!) so he has a place to hang out!

Oh, and in case I hadn't mentioned it, while I was in Omaha in December, there was a department-wide office holiday party. They had a mock game of "Family Feud" I was a distant second most popular answer to the question "Whose Office is the Biggest Fire Hazard?" (a semi-kind way to say messiest office!)

I'm taking tomorrow (Friday) off from work. I plan to start my kick-ass day of Cult-ing at Luella's to pick up an extra 2 yards of a fabric my mom wants. They open at 10.

[NOTE: The Hubster refers to my Friday Night quilting group as my "Cult" That's all I mean by the above statement. We'll just ignore the addiction factors in my two little hobbies!]

Then it's off to Beach Knitting for a morning/afternoon of Knitting with Irma. I'll leave there around 2:30 to go home and switch to my quilting gear, then it will be an evening of fun and dog snoring at Sandy's house. We'll be short a Twin, as Lisa leaves bright and early on Saturday morning for Martha Pullen School. We'll miss her!

I plan to finish the "Über-block" of my Starr Designs BOM ... get the paper pieced eighths sewn together into one big block, make all of the surrounding stars and sew it all together. I'd crank on my MM block, but I haven't tracked down my fabric yet. Bummer. At least Lisa was able to draft Thangle-like triangle paper for 3.75" finished half-square triangles. Bonus!

I started Mitten #2 last night and have just a round or two left of the ribbing before I begin the stockingette and thumb gusset portion of the program. I need to re-weave the thumb end on the inside of Mitten #2, but otherwise they are just peachy and quite happy-looking! Hat is next!

Oh, and stop whatever you are doing RIGHT NOW and check out this site. I thought it was hysterical!