Vacation Week One
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
We've stayed on in Brooklyn longer than expected, although it doesn't quite seem long enough. The nieces are excellent as is the company provided by their parents. Not pictured: Brooklyn Museum, lots of walking, the Paley Center, bbq with the friends, the Strand, and Pinkberry.
Quilt top for Diego
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
I made another quilt top last week. This one from the second volume of Ursula Reikes baby quilt series. It's based on the W block. Of course I say that like I know what that means, but really I am just repeating what I read in the book. Perhaps there is a quilter's wiki out there?
Aaaaanyway, I am madly in love with this quilt top. I think there is something to the color combination that must be soothing. The monkeys and the stripes were from stash so hurray for that. Not everything is lining up perfectly just yet, but there is a distant glimmer of hope that someday I might get this right.
Crafting abounds around my house. More photos and FOs (and a six word memoir) soon.
Triple Rails Bound
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
Over the February break (an unexpected privilege of working at a private school) I had a truly transcendent day. It started out rainy, but broke enough for me to meet Kyle for some waffley goodness at the Farmer's market.
I then went to the main library and did a little research on where my great-grandparents lived in the 1920s and 30s. The family story is that like all good Italians they lived in North Beach, but one time my grandpa said that he went to catechism in the Bayview. When I asked why he would go from North Beach to the Bayview for catechism he said that they lived there. Turns out for three years in the 30s they went from living in an apartment to a house in the Bayview. A few years later they returned. You go, City Directory!
My last stop in Civic Center was in the knitting and sewing sections of the library. There I found Even More Quilts for Baby: Easy as ABC, an amazing guide to creating baby quilts. Ursula Reikes walks you through exactly how to cut, piece, and assemble 20 baby quilts. That afternoon I cut out the pieces for a quilt and by the next day the quilt top was assembled. A few weeks and a walking foot later, I had made a Triple Rails quilt for a co-worker's impending daughter. Two of the fabrics might be familiar from my first quilt, but the construction and placement make for two very different quilts.
I love quilting, especially for now like this, where I have very specific instructions. I am a firm believer that you need to know who to walk before you can run, so I like how this is getting me into the rhythm of quilting so that someday my machine quilting might have a little more finesse than this:
Yikes!
Since then I have purchase all three volumes of Reikes Quilts for Baby with plans to keep practicing as long as my friends and family keep procreating. Then, maybe, I will move on to something bigger. In the meantime, this is hobby is a mean fabric stash buster.
A couple of months ago Harold and I started a podcast about television and how we watch it, but it is also about ranting and nerding out. It's called Shifting Channels (link corrected!). Check it out.
Thanks to series of knitterly links, I ended up at MyHeritage today (thanks to Kim of Yarn Abuse for providing the final link in the chain.) By uploading images from my Flickr, I found out that I look like a Bollywood actress, a well-respected star of stage and screen, a famous telepath, a controversial filmmaker, and the Ghost Whisperer (also on the list David Schwimmer, Sharon Stone, and Andie McDowell). The best that I can tell is that my angle and expression vaguely match the photos of these celebrities.
When I did this for John his #1 lookalike was Elvis Costello. It might have been the glasses or perhaps this says something about my taste in men.
Shirt with pockets
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
My new favorite t-shirt has pockets. A shirt. With pockets. It is pretty much the best shirt ever. It's from Old Navy, but I can't find it on their web site.
Henry Ian Cusick
Originally uploaded by samy1981.
If you told me when Henry Ian Cusick uttered his first "brutha" that Desmond would become my favorite character on Lost I would have never believed you. I am not someone who is going to go on about the subtleties of performance or nuance. What I love about Desmond has nothing to do with nuance. This is a character that wears his heart out on his sleeve. He's the only one who tells the truth. Simply, he is the only character with any character. The rest of those fools just wander around worry about their own damn selves. Desmond is the only one who seems to have a purpose larger than self. He also might be the only reason that I am still watching a show about a plane crash with smoke monsters, ghosts, chemical warfare, time-travel, but no discernible point.
Inspired by a recent post by Brainylady and the number of WIPs and Zzzzz’s I have in my Ravelry project notebook, I am going to try to do some finishing this month. I am thinking of it as spring cleaning. Some of it will be finishing projects, some of it will be meeting milestones. On my list:
(1) Lush & Lacy (Back done, right front done, left front almost done, sleeves and assembly to go.)
(2) Carolyn 1 (Needs seaming and borders.)
(3) Carolyn inspired (Needs buttons and a few ends weaved in.)
(4) Machine knit striped vest (Needs ends woven in, seaming, and borders.)
(5) Big Snugs (One snug knit, but not assembled. One to go.)
(6) The sleeves of Dad’s sweater (Zero.)
(7) 10 more squares of Babette (I have knit crocheted 25 of the two-row squares. Want to knit crochet 10 four-row squares.)
I have started a thread on Ravelry about this if you want to join me. This is cross-posted from there.
Maybe it's because my advisees are obsessed with Connect Four, but I think this is freaking adorable! Plus, Kanye LOLs?
Monkeys!
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
After the night of 1000 sock monkeys, I took an unrelated quilting class at Stitch Lounge. Included in the course materials fee was all the fabric for the quilt top. In the piles of fabrics that the instructor offered us was this adorable sock monkey fabric by Moda. I was planning this as a gift for my niece, so I wanted it to be as lively as she is. Now, some might say that the sock monkeys were lively enough. However, when given the choice between subdued and loud, I will always go for the choice that pops. So, the crazy floral became the secondary fabric, with a more subtle light blue with cherries as the third. I am very excited about the results:
Despite cutting myself with the rotary cutter and sewing the side of my finger, I really enjoyed this project. I want to make more children's quilts! I want to make more sock monkey quilts! (To that end, I purchase quite a bit of the monkey fabric and a package of fat quarters in different sock monkey related fabrics in flannel). I am also obsessing over the quilt in this issue of Craft.
Any experienced quilters have advice for me?
Lately, there have been sock monkeys everywhere. It started in November when Danny's friend Jan had a show at the high school. There was an opening for the show and a night of sock monkey mayhem in the Arts Department. Over the course of the two hours I helped over a dozen teenagers make sock monkeys of their very own, but there was no time to make one for myself. I did leave that night with a sock monkey t-shirt and a few buttons. And while my sock monkey masterpieces are not blog-ready just yet, I came across this movie the other day. Good Grandma, it's funny.
Babette's beginnings
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
On the request of BijouxMaster for Texas Purl Girl, I am posting my knitting resolutions for 2008. While I am hesitant to write checks my needles might not be able to cash, I can't resist the urge to put this out there.
(1) Participate in MamaMarce's Knit All Year Long Along to prevent the inevitable holiday stress-fest.
(2) Crochet 52 squares of Babette
(3) Keep working the stash. I can't say I won't buy, but I am going to try to stay away from large amounts of yarn and sock yarn. When I buy I want to try to use it at the time.
(4) Try my hand at spinning.
(5) Swatch. I swatch for projects, but I would like to take some time to swatch for the love of the knit.
This list is short, but I wanted to try to keep it realistic and fun for me.
Jesus, this is good pie
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
A couple of weekends ago I watched the movie Waitress. It's a sweet fairytale about an unwanted pregnancy, Nathan Fillion, and pie. Well, not exactly, but the story of the movie (and the story behind the movie) is not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is pie.
Love of pie is a recent development in my gustatory life. That's not entirely true, my brother, mom, and eventually my step-dad and I were regular diners at the Baker's Square at Howe and Fair Oaks. However, back in the day, my sights were almost entirely set on Snicker's Pie. My new love of pie can be traced to the opening of Mission Pie, augmented by last summer's peach season. Yet, I never once made a pie. Even after my friend Melissa gave me a copy of the pie recipe/story book that she wrote, Big Pie Country, I never busted out the rolling pin.
Then, I saw Waitress. There was something about watching her make those pies that made me realize how exciting and creative baking can be. So the very next morning I opened up Melissa's book and found a recipe for Chocolate Banana Creme Pie. It goes something like this:
1 package of instant chocolate pudding
1-1/4 c milk
1/4 c Brandy
1/2 c chocolate chips
bananas
Cut up bananas and line the pie crust with them. Ignoring the pudding instructions, make instant pudding with milk and brandy. Melt chocolate chips and then mix in with pudding. Pour delicious drunken pudding mixture over the bananas. Chill. Eat. Be happy.
photo by Kevin Dooley
Some rights reserved
Saturday was one of those great days. The weater was cold and clear. I ate a huge breakfast. I drank Philz coffee. I went to a craft fair and bought something. I saw Andrea. I watched two episodes of Freaks and Geeks ("Kim Kelly is My Friend" and "Tests and Breasts"). I knit a ton (started and knit 3 repeats of the Rainy Day Scarf, worked on the Curiously Clever Clogs). Then when things just couldn't get any better we went to see music. Music that started before 9pm. I love that! John had read about a band from San Pablo called Los Cenzontles playing at the Make-Out Room as part of MAPP this month.
Before we even got there we ran into two of John's former co-workers, who were also headed to see the band. It was a banner day! We were being social! Then, to top things off, the band was awesome. They perform a mixture of Mexican pop and traditional folklorico music. People (included us) danced, sang along, and generally whooped it up. As we were chatting with one of the former co-workers at the end, she said, "I think someone said that Linda Rondstadt is here."
Wha?
At that moment I turned slightly to my right and sure enough there she was. Linda Freaking Ronstadt!! At the Make-Out Room! I grabbed Paul who was hanging in the back and pretty much at that same time, several other people discovered she was there. Some guy even appeared with a record to sign (swift thinking!). She looked kind of like someone's mom (actually with the same haircut as MY mom), wearing Uggs and going to see a band at the Make-Out Room. It was an excellent ending to an excellent day!
It's in
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
Tuesday morning John and I loaded up in the rental car for the drive to San Jose. Usually a quick 45 minutes, this trip seemed to take forever even when we were breezing by the light southbound traffic in the carpool lane. We stopped by Kinko's so I could copy the signature page for my records using a copy card that I got during the two-week "quickstart" program in the summer of 2003.
Wow. 2003. I really know how to drag out my education, huh? Does it make it any better that I finished my course work two years ago and my research was stalled for nine months while I waited for approval from various sources? OK, this is starting to sound like a post for the excusesexcusesexcuses blog.
No matter. I have the approval of my committee and now I just wait for approval of my reading copy from Grad Studies so I can submit copies for binding (insert echo sound here).
Now that I am done the list of things that I want to do is a mile long: take more sewing classes, take Spanish, start another research project, exercise more, make my lunch every day, and of course, the inevitable: knit more.
It's Carrie Brownstein's blog. We just read it. Check out Monitor Mix.
Buttons!
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
A few months ago a co-worker was going through her mother-in-law's boxes of notions and came across scores of buttons. For the most part they are plastic dime store buttons, but they are really beautiful vintage dime store buttons. The original owner had organized the buttons for the most part by color so it was not too hard to take them out for a color-coordinated photo shoot. I have yet to use a single button, although I culled a number of them for another co-worker who wanted to teach his students life skills like setting a table, ironing, and button sewing. When I made S her Wee Wonderfuls Bunny I was a conscientious auntie and did not make button eyes. Although, tomorrow I might be making a sock monkey that will be in need of a pair of vintage button eyes.
Pick out the pumpkin!
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
I went to San Diego to visit my temporarily displaced brother, SIL, and niece a couple of weeks ago. We took a trip to the pumpkin patch, drove around, crawled in the mud, and ate HUGE breakfasts. San Diego might just be the king of breakfast towns.
My niece is pretty awesome. She does a lot of vocalizing. Things that tonally sound like "What is that?" come out more like "Aaaaaaa eeeee at?" And "give me your camera" sounds like, "SHRIEK!!!!!" She sings a wordless version of "Ring around the Rosies" and make the motorboat sound with her mouth quite proficiently. And, I just heard that she is up to taking six steps a time.
More pictures here.
photo by Steve Rhodes
Some rights reserved
Some weeks ago, John and I went to a fundraiser for his work. Where he works doesn't matter, what the fundraiser was doesn't matter, what did matter was that there were a lot of older people at this event. Now I used to work with the elderly, so for me old doesn't even start until 70. So to be older, we're talking 80. 85. What also matters is that where John works is in District 5, home district of Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi.
For those of you not familiar with San Francisco politics, Ross Mirkarimi came to District 5 after Matt "the mayor of my heart" Gonzalez left politics. I was suspect of him at first because his campaign seemed to have something to do with pot clubs, which to me is a political irritant. Legalize it or don't, people, aren't we too grown-up for these kinds of squabbles? Plus, I live in District 11 so even if I cared about the District 5 Supervisor race, I couldn't do a damned thing about it.
As it turned out, Ross is a pretty decent supervisor. If nothing else he sponsored the no bag left behind measure. Plus, he's cute, just ask Emily. However, there is more to our loyal public servant than politics and intermittent facial hair. It turns out that whenever there's trouble, he's there on the double.
That night, at the fundraiser was no different. During the opening comments, the chair of the event was introducing the evening and working her way up to introducing the honorary chair of the event, Ross Mirkarimi, when I noticed an older man suddenly slump over in his chair. My first thought was, "Oh my god, that guy just died!" Two people on either side of him, maybe a son and/or daughter, tried to lift him so he was sitting up in the chair, but he kept slipping. Then, out of the shadows of the back of the room, leapt Supervisor/hero Mirkarimi! He stabilized the man in his chair, confidently instructed the other two people on how to lift the chair and they wisked the man out of the room!
Later, when Ross took the stage, he assured us that the man had merely fainted and that he was under his doctor's care. No thanks necessary.
Mild-mannered city super-visor or super-hero? You decide.
I am sorry I have not written in so long. There's this 88-page albatross hanging around my neck at the moment that lets me go to work, eat, and occasionally knit. Somehow it is hard to write here when I know I should be revising there.
But, that is not what I came here for today. My knitting-romance-writing friend Rachael wrote a book that is in a contest that will get her manuscript seen by some big wig publishing types. While I am not a reader of romance novels, I have read these chapters and found them quite enjoyable. More importantly, I believe that good things should happen to good people. Rachael is good people. If you also believe this, read her message below, read her chapters and go give her second chapter a 10 (they only count 10s in this contest). You will have done a good deed!
Here's Rachael:
**************
Hi there.
Please forgive me for hijacking this blog (ed. I changed her text to say that--sorry, Rachael!) -- I have a favor to ask.
I'm in a competition you may have already heard about. I wrote a book, a romance, full of yarn and alpacas and sheep and hot knitter-on-shepherd action (no, really). I entered it in Gather.com's First Romance Competition. I posted the first chapter, and it garnered enough votes to move on to the second round (in the top 25 of more than 300), so I'm thrilled to say that I'm a finalist, with people now voting on the second chapter. It's kind of an American Idol type of thing, if you can imagine, and this second round is still vote-driven, and the the most important thing to know is that if I end up in the top three, with the most votes, I move on to the last round where THE WHOLE NOVEL IS READ BY SIMON & SCHUSTER and their favorite is published. Oh, my god. I would like that. I would love that.
So I need your vote. I *really* need your vote. I'm in the top four right now, and the three people ahead of me have LOTS of friends. I need to be in the top three to move on, and you will make ALL the difference.
Here's what you do: Read chapter one, but don't vote on it. That one is nice and content and voted on as it is. Please ignore the typos. They hurt my soul, but they're there.
Then read chapter two and please DO vote. If you like the chapter at all, please give it a 10, as they only count 10s (they throw out all votes of 1-9). The chapters with the most 10-votes win.
Even though I know you want to, don't vote more than once, since they're watching for IP fraud. And you DO have to register with their site in order to vote, but they won't spam you, and they don't share or sell email addresses. They will send you a daily email which you can easily opt out of.Oh, please, please? And will you forward this note on if you like the chapter? To all YOUR email contacts?
Thanks so much. Here you go:
Don't vote on chapter one:
http://www.gather.com/viewArtic
DO VOTE on chapter two:
http://www.gather.com/viewArtic
All my thanks. Really, ALL my thanks. It means so much. Whoo-hooo!
xo
Rachael
Josie from above
Originally uploaded by Big Sister.
Earlier this summer Jenny knit Molly Ringwald and I got a bad case of sweater envy. On an excursion to Imagiknit, I saw that they had Silky Wool on sale. I bought enough to make Miss Molly, swatched it, discussed it with Jenny, then suddenly without warning I saw Alison's Josephine and all my attention turned in another direction.
I had 5 skeins of Artfibers Chai burning a hole in my stash for over two years. This poor lot of grey-green-blue silk had several intended lives. I had purchased it to make some version of Jane Ellison's Butterfly (although I now can't imagine that I would have had nearly enough, as I have about 5 grams left). Eventually it was going to become Annie Modesitt's Corset Tank Top. I swatched for both of these projects and the Chai just never spoke to the pattern. This time, this time it was yarn + pattern love at first swatch.
Specs
Pattern: Josephine by Deborah Newton, Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: Artfibers Chai, 5 skeins
Needles: US 4s
Modifications: Many
I am happier than I look in that photo. I love this top!
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