a what? a f.o.?

so. i did it i finished some knitwear items that i actually wear. one i finished long ago but love now more than ever, and the nature of knitwear is stretch so it is doing well on my rapidly expanding form. the other was specific to a bump, even called the bump sweater, and though i probably was not generous enough in the sizing, it fits for now so i love it. i am inordinately pleased with my self for the actual finishing of said item, i have had some issues of late with focus and follow through. the joy of pregnancy (along with many other things, i assure you) is the ability to blame any and every fault and flaw on it. did not make that appointment, pay a bill, get dressed today? oh yeah, it is cause i'm pregnant.

in truth, the energy thing really does affect every aspect of my life lately, so it really was pleasing to finish my pretty pink sweater. funny story, i actually started it way before the reality of a bump developed, during the 'oh, i cannot hold the contents of my stomach' phase. a part of me was so excited when i found out and i really wanted to have it done in a timely manner. ordered the yarn from knitpicks, received it is the mail with a shockingly pink tinge that really is more 'pepto bismal' than 'ballerina' and started the sleeves. and ended with the sleeves at the time because said color and knitting itself began to trigger my 'morning' sickness. what irony. the thing i loved best was now my greatest nemesis (if i wanted to keep lunch down, anyway). so set aside was the pink, the yarn, the needles, my best companion. a bit devastating but survive i did, and at about 16 weeks, the magical week that all that woozy-just-got-off-a-boat-while-walking-on-a-treadmill thing dissipated, out came the needles, the pink yarn and the simplest and truly most flattering garment i have ever created. i love it.

the opportunity to wear it has been abundant as the temperatures in the land of socal have plummeted recently. i love the chill, the briskness and the cold nose tip, but we lack a lot of the moisture lately and the foothills behind our house stand barren of snow, their brown surfaces uniform and dry. usually the cap of white is one of the few signals of seasonal change here, it is saddening and maddening to think that maybe this is their future, that snowshoe walks will exist only if we travel away to the sierras (which are not doing do well themselves...poor mammoth season pass holders, what a dismal season total they have had. a little part of me does not feel that bad since i can't be out there on my board this year. gosh, i am heartless.) we are doing a little of our part today by stocking up on the alternative light bulb at the depot. sorry. little weather digression. i am almost as fascinated by weather as by knitting. odd, what our obsessions tend toward. by the way, the snow photos are the sierras and the vest is (of course) eunny's.

anyway, they are both done, getting some play and may actually follow me into the land of 'not having a belly ' in the future. i have a ways to go with 23 weeks and a bit under my belt (no pun intended) and now only baby knits to conquer. yay. and a little treat for the loverly senor yatez who has been nothing but supportive, calming and encouraging during this whole time. he is getting one of the EZ hybrids, once instructions are properly deciphered. pictures on that to follow.

voyeurism at it's best

okay, i admit, that sounds a lil' bit dirty. but what i actually refer to is the joy i take from this whole blog and knit combo thing. i have a love affair with some blogs, as i am sure all that actually access this world do. the select few are the ones i eagerly go to and scroll through, always ready for more. but i have to admit it is not necessarily for the knitting. i love knitting and others' projects do to some extent inspire me, but what really excited me are the glimpses. glimpses of people's tables, their favorite armchair, their wood floors, their choice of textiles, of color, of furniture arrangement. so, you see, it is voyeurism. i am that one that during nightly walks with dog and husband cranes my neck toward any open window, any glimpse of the way people live.

it all started a long time ago while as a small child and i developed that need-to-know condition. the one where quiet conversations attracted me and exclusion from a group nearly killed me. i honed it as i grew, preferring to observe others and the details of their lives and surroundings. lest you think this odd, i was not really inside any group, so it was really my only choice. and then i fell in love with homes and the aesthetic of arts and crafts, green and green, old pasadena homes that once lay in disrepair but now cost over a mil for 1000 sq ft. for a time my husband and i lived in an old adobe, built early 19-something with rounded arches, little rooms, quaint, if cramped spaces. really weird shower though, i still shudder to think of it. then there was the victorian house converted to apartments in northwest portland. it was once a whore house for the docks, the crowning jewel was a tiny window that let one gaze out through wavy old glass that made the freeway appear indistinct, hazy, floating.

i love seeing bits of people's lives; i wish i shared more of mine. the blogs i return to again and again combine photography, a smattering of information, and fiber of course. they embody that odd essence of sharing and communication as we establish it in our world. we as readers and onlookers can establish links and lines of sight into people’s lives that we may never meet, speak to, or even comment on. as i read through different happenings in other’s lives it makes the community we live in seem more intimate and real.

the women who have become mothers is of particular interest to me as it is a path I have embarked upon. it is great to view the pieces they knit for their little ones, to see the first pictures, to read the birth stories when they are shared. as it is I seldom post, I expect it will not improve with the future additions to our family. mmmhmmm, additions is the operative word. the news of twins came as a complete surprise to the two of us and we are thrilled, exhilarated, excited and slightly terrified. so many scenarios can play out in my mind if I let them, so I just do not. the only thing is I did knit in anticipation of baby so there are little pieces stashed about my room, hidden from view so as not to jinx the future. now, though, I feel my head start has dissapated, and I have to plan to make another of each cute thing. ah well, more knitting. i guess I will fit it in somehow. i did fnally complete the body of knitting on the 'bunp' sweater and now only need to seam it before the bump becomes babies.




this is a little reflection on the lives and homes that blogging allows us to see. i don’t think these pieces get much play, so to speak, but just a little thank you to my favorites and some of the others I swing by and visit. it is always nice to check in and see what holidays, birthdays, vacations and celebrations look like in other people’s lives. i hope i can share a bit more in the exchange of this information as time goes along. happy new year.

liar, liar.....

let me check the calender again, yep, it is december, yep, the 8th. um, last time i was here i spoke of early resolutions, vacations, knitting, new yarn...not necessarily in that order. i had some crazy idea that if i wrote down in that post that i planned to post that maybe i would post. apparently it was to little effect, as i did not post. i mean to,i really do, it is just that everyone else is so interesting. and i do not think others actually read this either. ah, the glory of seeing one's writing in print, even if it is on the internet with a bizillion others.

the holiday season is heavily upon us here. the autumn comes to a close soon and i thought to post a plethora of pictures that would likely illustrate a bit better why i do not actually write more often. we tend to have many projects at a time that compete with the ambition to try to get away as often as possible. i live in a multigenerational home, so much family and all good in many ways, but leading my husband and i to seek the occasional respite in weekend trips to remote and quiet areas with only dog as company. here are some pics of recent happenings. yeah, yeah, a few pathetic yarn pictures thrown in for good measure.








um, i wish i understood blogger better.i never can get those pictures in order. anyway, above in no real order are pictures including : a) man and mishka b) me wearing handmaiden sea silk something in a very silly manner c) knitted baby hat, pattern from purl,portland d) sunflower e) shaver lake, western sierras.

just a brief recap of some autumn events, many more memories to be posted like...



a) photography and knitting, again in the sierras b) my kitty hallowen make-up, any excuse to wear false eyelashes, darling c) cuddling with the meesh.

it has been a great fall season for many reasons. i have finally settled into some type of pattern in my newly created life where i have some structure but a lot of freedom. for the first time since that period post-college in "job search land" i have very little work to do. having focused on my profession for many years, it was a change, but a good one. i am currently trying to get back to knitting, not that it is to be believed considering i show no fo's. i actually was once quite proficient, but that fell off once i stopped commuting into los angeles for work. as much as i love the fact that i no longer have to wake at an inhuman hour, still, that uninterrupted 45 minutes on a gently rocking train are missed. it was a good time for sweater production. i do hope to finish a long forgotten usmp and highly altered colchique for my beautiful sisters prior to saint nick charging our christmas morn, but i refuse to write any more resolutions in this domain. we will see, we might get a few pictures out of me yet that have modeled articles.

unfinished business

good lord...this site has so little to do with knitting, so little to do with anything really. things and time constraints aside, maybe i am just not cut out to blog. it probably has something to do with reading everyone else in the knitting community, by the time i come back here i just am plain old computer burned out.

um, that last post spoke of bathroom reno. welllll, it is not not done, it is just not completed. there is a big difference, you know? there is a fairly functional space that is not too hard on the eyes...but then, the other side of the room is lacking a few essentials, like a vanity and sink. the fire has drained from my person, the husband has been working so hard and i just feel bad insisting he build a custom cherry vanity on the few hours a week that he does not have to be in the shop. we did get a lovely frame for the mirror out of scraps otherwise to be discarded, so there is nothing to complain about. it will get done. it always does. they say a carpenters house is never complete. they speak truly.


it has been such a weird time for knitting. i bought scads of yarn on a vacation we took in september.
i bought hand spun alpaca from a little farm on a canadian island, koigu skeins from little boutiques that i would (of course) never be able to find elsewhere, knitpicks terribly cheap but oh so soft yarns, ebay 10 packs....aaaaaaaa....make me stop. and i cannot seem to finish anything. colchique languishes in a corner because i changed the armhole shaping and did not write it our clearly. a new project i started make me feel like barfing when i pick it up (more about that later, it is an association thing), some lovely silk from handmaiden cries out to me 'please, start some lace with me, i will be worth it'... and yet i lay still, hands idle.

so, i thought if i post and put pictures of all the lovely yarns and opportunities awaiting my someday eager hands, i will either be inspired or shamed into beginning and finishing all planned, anticipated, imagined and actual-pattern-in hand projects every time i go to my site to link up with all the other blogs i obsessively read. luck with that, eh? here is a little montage of the yarn waiting, as seen in the backyard, posing among various natural elements. it is so pretty. and feels so lovely to the touch. just handling it reminds me there is so much reward to each piece, each project.


anyway, that is the happenings. there is good reason to start trying to be more consistent here. i have little in the way of work at this time and things are a-changing in our lives. i had hoped to be more prolific (and proficient) by this time in the blog world, so maybe as an early resolution i shall commit to a post a week, whether trivial or not, knitted or not, feeling like it or not. i need a good dose of discipline lately. let us see if i can give it to myself.