So, hopefully the main problem with the pics is just that I needed new batteries. Hopefully. And hopefully today you'll be able to appreciate the beauty of my yarns the way I do. I've completed the quick project with that reddish-gray stuff. My mom laughed at me because I took the socks and hat back after I finished with them. I told you what happened with the hat. I just want to keep an eye on them while they're being worn. Ahhh, making hats and socks are so satisfying to me cause your kids need this stuff.

Have you checked out the latest knitty.com? I've already devoured this cute Monica tank that was supposed to be a party gift for a party today. I'm sorry, but I don't feel like making the 1.5 hour drive. And now the top belongs to HP. They probably wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. And yes, we are going to be wearing it with a tutu. I'm going to make a denim and chocolate one to wear with jeans. I was just using what's left over from some Bernart Softee Baby from those blankee making days.

Also to be worn with a tutu is this soon-to-be kimono. This will be made with Tess yarn that I got from the Stitches convention. This is my first project with yarn that I got from that convention. I got myself a ball winder and had a lot of fun with it. You CAN NOT use it with this yarn. The yarn lable says that you need a "real live person or a swift." I didn't try either of the kids, and it took me about a week to untangle the mess. I'm already impressed with working up what looks like yards and yards of ribbon. So, I'm over the tangle. The worked up fabric feels great, but sliding the yarn between my fingers is uncomfortable.

That silk that I bragged about kept breaking on the ball winder. Grrrrrrr. I'm going to complain to the maker. If they don't compensate me some how there will be hell to pay.

When my boy was tiny, whenever we were about to leave my parent's house my dad would whisper something in his ear. I would demand that he tell me what he said and would even threaten him with capital punishment. But, he would still say with that cute smile, "I'm not telling." Well, take a look at these colors. Clue: Almost every primary color in 100% Peruvian wool, HP will be starting pre-school soon.

I'm not telling!

I'm sorry because I know that this picture is unacceptably blurry. But, I had to show you. I've lost the label to this yarn. So, I don't know who makes it. All that I know is that I like it. And, since I know exactly where to get it from, I'm sure there will be more. It knits so beautifully. It's texture soothes you. The strand is so perfectly tubular. There is however, this one stripe of grey that torments me. I love it so, and there's just not enough of it. When I hold it between my fingers, as soon as it appears, it disappears. I don't think I've ever seen a gray this beautiful. Could it be like the clouds disappearing right after a rain storm at dusk? Grey so satisfying. I got this yarn to make my son a pair of red socks. He loves red. And I don't love it so much. So, this was my compromise. Then I decided that he needed a hat more. He likes it but wishes that it was a little longer. A simple 2 x 2 rib with spiral decreases at the crown. I wanted to make it longer but...

...as soon as I finished it he wore it to school and left it there. It's been there for two days now in that cluttered desk and I'm starting to loose my patience. We'll be lucky if somehow it's protected from sharp pencil edges and uncapped pens. Grrrrr. After the hat, there still seems to be plenty left for socks. Could this be the ball of yarn that I dreamed about that never runs out? Here's a better picture of the yarn with me at work. And this is after the hat.
My yarns go everywhere I go all the time. Do yours?

I've finally finished HP's sweater. I was so determined for it to turn out exactly as the models that it almost did. What do you mean, you say? It fits exact, and this is not necessarily desirable when making clothes for toddlers. We wore it the very day that it came off the needles. I get so tired of trying to make this girl be still for pics. Here's a shot of the back anyway.

Oh yes, I turned another year older last week. I thought it would be amusing to the kids to see the appropriate number of candles on my cake. Oh my God, it almost set on fire. The caramelized part was still tasty.


This is the top for my lucky silk. I don't have quite enough, but I'm sure I can find a blend able hank for part of the bottom band. Don't hate non knitters/non crocheters. Maybe you'll be able to find one of these hanging on rack somewhere. Peace.

Whew. What a lovely weekend. Look what I found.


This was one of my first major projects many years ago before my kids were even thought of. I guess I was crocheting for some imaginary baby somewhere. I knew how to select the right size yarn, with the help of the then Straw Into Gold store associate. But didn't know how much yarn to get. It wasn't a big deal since no one was scheduled to wear it anyway. But nevertheless, a shame it's never been, never will be worn. By the time I went back to get more yarn, still before the kids, the store had closed. It later evolved into what's now known as Crystal Palace Yarns.

This weekend I went to Stitches West. It was so much fun. You were not allowed to bring your camera into the event, but here's my post card to prove I was there. I have a girlfriend who makes fun of me because of my yarn fetish. I'm telling her that I know she wishes she could knit/crochet.


My goal, as usual was to score some major deals. Many vendors had what they called a deal, but not enough for me. Here's how I made out anyway.

I got these skeins of sock yarn from the Bay Area Knit Co-op for $7.95 each. I call this a bargain cause it feels the same as those $12 sock skeins. These will be my first conservatively colored pair of hand knit socks.



I couldn't resist this ribbon yarn. From a maker called Tess. The Baby Kimono that it's designated for is simply delicious. This was my impulse buy. I couldn't resist.



I wore my new socks to the event. They came from this free toe-up pattern on Knitty.com, but shame on the designer for not including a stretchy bind off. I used this one with a one by one ribbing. She also advised that I use a needle size one size smaller than what the yarn called for. I can see why. Comfy socks, but a little to baggy for shoes. However, when I took this advise on my next sock, it fit much too tight. Not "the tighter the better", but still a good pattern that I'll continue to use.



Remember this yarn? It used to be a hat. A had that wasn't worn much at all.

On the Stitch and Ride to San Jose (the Capital Corridor). We were given very cool goodie bags that included some tools, a nice pattern book, and even some bamboo/cotton yarn. Just one skein that I have no idea what I'm going to do with.

And finally, my find of the day that made all of the walking around worth it. ..

What amounts to about 800 yards of luxurious silk made from The Village Spinning and Weaving Shop for a mere $24. I've never used any of their yarns before, but this beauty is going to be the sexy tank that makes everyone jealous. Those people even had the nerve to be selling buffalo yarn. I guess that can't be any worse than the vendors there that turned dog fir into yarn.

I also made some pretty cool friends on the train up there, which was great cause I was planning to spend the whole day by myself. Thanks you guys.

I'm still, as my son would say, "Yarning." I just had to incorporate a little bit of living life into my yarn experience. Me and HP had to make a quick stop by the surgery center. Nothing major, and she was a champ. Note about HP: She wouldnt' have been a good first baby. She's always been too independent and is pretty much down for whatever (that's anything that something that doesn't have to do with animals). So, I guess the whole process went down as smoothly as it possibly could have. They kicked us out immediately after she woke from anesthesia. And I mean immediately!

Although I was working on it in the hospital, I paused on the sweater to make myself an office scarf. I started a new job, and although most offices tend to be on the chilly side, these folks like it hot, which is alright with me. It's quite comfy in there, but I still like to keep my decolletage covered. This is the Ruffles scarf from the Scarf style book in Ella rae, Amity.

And, although it doesn't look like it in the book, the coils are quite "grabby." So, I thought that it would be a good idea to make a smaller version for HP. Just twist the ends and it stays snug. I did hers in Paton's SWP. It's a 70/30 soy-wool blend. I've wanted to try this yarn for some time. I think it worked out nicely. It feels pretty soft to me but she complains sometimes that it's "ouwee". I think that means itchy. But she likes it cause the style makes her feel a little grown up. He-he-he.

Ok, what the heck am I doing? Why am I torturing myself? See, I started this sweater for HP. It calls for a yarn that I think has been discontinued. I mean, I got the pattern directly from the yarn manufacturer, and I can't even find details about the yarn on their website. This is why I've made the assumption. So, I looked the yarn up on other online yarn retailers and found what I think Rowan is calling for. They call it Handknit Cotton. And from what I can find it's about 90 yards per 50 g ball, also at about $5-6 per ball. Nope too expensive. So, I have the nerve to try this stuff I got at the local yarn store. Only $2.75 per 50 grams, but also only 70 yards. Can you say chunky. But I was determined this time to get the correct gauge of 20 stiches per 10 cm and 28 rows. How come, with yarn this chunky, I could only achieve this gauge with some size US 4 needles?! OMG. And I think I'm going to keep going too. At least until somebody stops me.

The results so far...

Also, a note. I know that the pictures that I post are of very poor quality, and I'm working on providing better ones. I'm studying my camera's manual today.

I think it's soooo cute. I wore it out of the house to Walmart as soon as I pulled it off of the needles. I can definately visualize this little ditty in other colors.

My new project...

The Turtleneck Shrug from the book Scarf Style.

I've had to learn this magic loop knitting method. It was tricky at first cause I was concerned about a gap my work seemed to have developed. And this is all after I figured out how to join in the round withouth twisting the stitch.

Anyway, I kept at it and the gap seems to have disappeared. I guess that's where the magic lies. I have a long way to go, but I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year! I hope that in 2007 finally realize some of the desires in your hearts. Whatever those may be. Whew! I can't believe I've let a whole month get by without any new posts. Well, that doesn't mean that the yarn hasn't been between my fingers. I've finished that cable sweater for DJ.

It's interesting though. The kid in this picture from The Yarn Girl's Guide to Knits for Older Kids has a sweater on with boxy shoulders. But on DJ, the shoulders look way too broad. I think that I oversize him too much. Let's wait and see how it look on him in a couple of months. For now, I'd probably have to beat him to get him to wear it.

I made HP another cardigan to wear on Xmas. It came together really quickly. I swear, as soon as we locate the other 3 dragonflies, we're going to put them to work keeping this sweater closed. It still looked cute with just 3 buttons, and she enjoyed choosing them herself.

And for me, this is my adaptation of the Bell Sleeve Tunic featureed in the December issue of Better Home's and Garden's Simply Creative Crochet. I added length and width (in a maternity like way - I'm NOT pregnant). Also, I added the trim to the bottom to make this sweater, which on the model is loose fitting, hug me the way it does. I hate to admit when I don't get a pattern, but after a while, I just started doing my own thing. I have a lot of yarn left over. This picture is of the unblocked version. I'll be calling upon the magic of immersion blocking to lenghthen, flatten, and straigten.

The scarf is finally finished. Hope you like it, Brother. Yarn used, Knit Picks Merino Style in Moss and Leaf. Knitted on size 6 needles for a tighter weave, but this left me without enough yarn for my plan. I worked out a fix that will provide a more acceptable length (the required 61"). I hope the color blocking pattern is acceptable to you. If you find that you aren't wearing this very soft, warm scarf in L.A., please send it back cause it's freezing up here. Love, Nicole.

Out of all the things I do around this house, I'm glad that something very important has finally gotten done (with the help of a professional). In one day, my front door went from this, YUCK! The results of a bothced paint job from someone who claimed they knew what they were doing, NOT!

To this. Aaaah. Me and the kids made up a little song. Like to hear, it? Here it go... Who has the best door in the neigh-bor-hooooood? We, do, weeeee dooooo!

And, all though I've learned how to hold back the tears when I feel overwhelmed with all the responsibilities I have around here, I still appreciate any help that I can get. For example, HP, just 3, without complaining, folded these dish towels up for me. Yes, I put them in the linen closet just like that.

You go, girl!!!

Well, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We went up to Sparks, Nevada with my parents. They don't celebrate the holiday, so we didn't do anything special. That doesn't really matter since we ate the food I brought up there and we just really wanted to be together anyway. They live in the Bay Area and picked us up on the way. Great! I didn't have to drive and I got a lot of knitting done. From my house, the drive was lovely. We were traveling on 80 East. Snow on one side of the car, and beatiful greenery on the other, all with clear blue skies. I'm almost finished with the back of DJ's Down Under sweater. The pattern works up pretty quickly

on size 10 needles, and I've only got 2 1/2 more balls to go with the Forbes Forrest scarf. Did you notice the major error I made with it in it's last post? I'd never knitted a chart before and instead of going from right to left from left to right I was only going from left to right. So, although I was doing the stiches correctly, they weren't looking right. I know now and I'm pleased with the outcome. I can't wait to block it so that I can get rid of that nasty curl. For DJs sweater I used Bernat Softee in Grey Heather. I'll have to go get more yarn since, while knitting, I decided to make it about 4 1/2 inches longer than the pattern called for. The instructions stated to start shaping the armhole after 12 1/2 inches and I knew that this just would not do. We prefer longer tops. I knitted a lot of the sweater on the long ride home. What should have taken 1 1/2 hours took about 6 becuse of the snow. We even had to get chains. This is the main reason I rarely go up there even though I live so close.

Today, we'll be making a pine cone candle holder. You can see HP doing what she did all weekend long, look for pine cones. To my knowledge, she'd never seen one before Thursday, and was quite facinated that someone would leave something so cool lying around. The kids seem happy when we're on our way home, but things get a little testy from being in the car for so long. We're going to South Lake Tahoe next month, and I think we'll catch the bus.

Sometimes you just have to step back.

I had to take a break from my on-the-side sweater. I took too long of a break the last time and when I came back, I made the sleeves too big. I've been having a problem with the sleeves since day one since they never have really worked up according to the pattern. The pattern says increase on each side of each row 10 times and then on each side of every other row 8 times. To me, this says that I should be finished increasing after 26 rows. The end result should leave you with 86 stiches. Problem is, I get to 86 stiches after about 15 rows. So, I decided to try to work this issue into the pattern. It might have worked if I'd tried to make the size small sleeve and not the large. For now, I just have sweater body that fits great and two sleeves that leave room for about 3 times as much floddle as I actually have. I'll get you a pic later.

But for now, in order to cool myself off from this small disaster, I started on a gift for my brother that I've been meaning to do for a long time. I finally found a pattern that was suitable for him in the book Scarf Style. It's the pattern Forbes Forrest. Since I'm trying to bust some of my stash too, I have to make it in two different colors. My brother chose moss green and leaf green (I spoke to my mom and she said green is all he can think of nowadays, so it makes sence that he would choose these colors), with the darker green on each end of the 61" scarf. It's coming out good so far, but my knitting inexperience left out the fact that it's not so cool to mix colors for any project who's right side is the purl side. Oh well, this error should only be noticed slightly to the very nosy individual who examines the piece close enought to notice these two rows. Hope you like it so far big bro!

I didn't have any pictures with my last entry, but there are lots today. First, let me assure you that I have been doing what my kids call "yarning." First, I want to start off by showing you the toddler sweater that I adapted from an adult pattern. It wasn't such a smart thing to do since it was one of my first knitting projects, however, I'm very adventurous. What went wrong? The head hole is too small, I think. HP's head is in the 75th percentile, so I am going to make sure to try the sweater on a narrow headed kid before throwing it in the reject pile. I've also kept up with the On-The-Side Cardigan from the Hip To Crochet book. I think it will be cool for kicking around the house or running errands. It looks so cozy to me. I've slipped stich the side seams together and am pinning in the sleeves now. I even saw the shell buttons at Wal-mart, and the acrylic yarn I've used worked well. The stiches are a little more plump, but I think it's working out. Outside of yarn world, like I told you last post, I baked HP a teddy bear cake. She loved it, and that makes me happy. The indentations came out a little better than they did for the car cake because the pan instructions required a one hour baking time. Unfortunately, this doesn't make decorating the darn thing any easier. You need pure skill for that. Also, the extra 15-20 minutes baking time made for a dry cake. Once again, I was supposed to blot stars on, but that didn't work out so I just spread the icing on there. At least you could tell what kind of bear it was supposed to be. Poor thing. It doesn't know what's coming to him. When I asked her what piece she wanted, she request that I cut off his head and later bit off his toes, elbow, and left paw. I also made some cheesecake cupcakes for the daycare. For her gift I got her a trunk full of dress up clothes, which she also loved, and they came with these "bling-bling" plastic pumps which she can't get enough of. I got the trunk from Costco for $29.99. The clothes seem like good quality, but unfortunately her favorite outfit has enough glitter in it to make our house look like a disco. Her birthday was a week and a half ago and we still have glitter in our hair. Ta-ta! Decorations complete! Cheesecake cupcakes.
Your wish is granted!

Well, my youngest child is 3 today. Happy Birthday, HP! I made her some cheesecake cupcakes and a teddy bear cake. I used marble fudge icing since against the cake pan manufacturer's suggestion. It called for a mixture of regular consistency cake with pound cake. I guess I could have done that, but decorating this cake was too much effort and I didn't want to have to worry about making a toping to go with that pound cake too. And with the icing, that would have been too much. So, I just used white and chocolate for this panda bear (my 9-yr old tells me pandas are not really bears). Baking the cake is the easy part. Decorating them is a whole other thing. I gotta start hooking up with my cuz in Oakland again, whos made wedding cakes.