Spur of the moment...

Have to get out of Berkeley. Going to Moscow for weekend. Want to see real wintery stuff.

Drunken online purchases...

So the weekend before last I got a little toasty at a friend's going away party. Karrie was kind enough to give me a ride home, but it was only 9 pm when we got home and that was way too early to go to bed. There were only two things to do: drink a lot of water, and shop online.


Here is what I ended up buying in my drunken state.

I bought the first and second Vogue Stitchonaries. I also ordered the third one as well, but according to Amazon, it isn't going to ship until December 11. I also ordered enough of the 6 ply merino for a sweater in the color lettuce and some in the color burgandy for a scarf from handpaintedyarn.com. I got that isn't this very much, but when you take it in conjugation with my trip to the outlet malls on Monday and my garage sale hopping on Saturday, it was quite an expensive week. You can also see some of the knitting needles I bought at the garage sale in the picture.

Just in case you were wondering, I did not have a hangover the next day, but I probably shouldn't have timed the long walk back to my car to coincide with the hottest part of the day.

New wardrobe...

So Karrie, Ingrid and I went to the outlet malls in Vacaville for the Columbus day sales last Monday. I sort of went a little crazy and bought most of a wardrobe. I got two skirts, two pairs of pants, one pair of pajama pants, a fleece, three dress shirts, two pairs of tights, a tank top, six long sleeve shirts, a short sleeve shirt, a pair of sunglasses, two shrugs, a blazer, a cardigan, a cashmere sweater, and a hoodie. The next day I got a bra and three pairs of underwear as well as a pair of sleeping socks. Add that to the three pairs of shoes I got on the Solano stroll a couple weeks, and I have a whole new wardrobe.

Garage Sale Loot.

Today was the awesome El Cerrito citywide garage sale so Karrie, Abby and I all headed off in Karrie's high trunk (and roof) capacity car.
I spent about $40 and got a ton of stuff. Karrie was even kind enough to stop off for coffee at Peet's on the way so I wasn't a total beast.

At the first stop (which happened to be at the crematorium), Abby and Karrie spotted the one item I really, really wanted, a French onion soup bowl, in just under a minute of us being at the sale, and they both simultaneously pounced on them in my behalf as a little old lady was also reaching for them. I must say they are pretty sweet: a 12 piece set complete with 4 bowls, 4 lids, and 4 little woven mats to protect the table from heat. Thanks for the fast reflexes ladies.

I scored a vintage version of the game Pit and some vintage yatzhee score cards. I think they are super cute.


I also found a bunch of old cookbooks, an old knitting book, and another vintage game called Tri-Ominos.

I got a lovely kitchen scale as well as some vintage fabric, more cookbooks, some knitting needles and an angel food pan.










Finally, I bought a hand loom, which came with some yarn, more cook books, a nice clear green vase, a green sealing jar, some embroidery thread, a lovely blue dish, an i-cord maker, one more vintage game called Perquackey, and a comfy burgandy chair which I am currently typing in and which the cat has already decided is a scratching post.

All and all, it was a very sucessful day. The weather was great, the sellers were all quite resonable and nice to us, and I had a couple of great people to hang out with. I think perhaps my favorite part was the 'should-we-or-shouldn't-we-buy-it.-is-it-going-to-fit?-nope-it-isn't.-well-let's-put-it-on-the-roof.-nah-forget-it.-we-are-leaving.-well-screw-them-I'll-get-it-anyway' part of the day. I was also big fan of the little old ladies being mean to other little old ladies that were just digging through their piles looking for things to buy. Thinking back, we really should have taken a picture of Karrie's car with all the stuff in/on it. Also we should have taken a picture of this house that was all decked out (excuse the pun) in sailing stuff: oars, fishing nets, anchors, and about twenty of those two pronged things that you tie the boats to when securing it to a dock.

Thanks for the great day ladies. Perhaps November 5th we can check out the Alameda antique fair.

Speaking of el gato loco, he had a lot of fun with the packing materials that got strewn across the floor with my purchases.

SP9

So this is my first secret pal experience. I think I might be just a bit behind the curve here.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I much prefer natural fibers like merino and alpaca. I have had a problem with some wool being too itching and my hands freaking out a little bit when I knit but it was rare. I am big fan a hand dyed yarn though too many colors tend to make me a little ill. Not knocking anyone here but I am not a fan of fun fur. Mostly I think a lot of it is too itchy and too big a hassle to knit with. Plus they tend to come in colors that I don't like. I also am not that big a fan of acrylic. I do however like bulky yarns. Was very very sad when handpaintedyarn.com got rid of their super bulky.
Really anything soft I tend to want to buy. That got me into such trouble at Stitches West last year.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Well my Boye's came in their own carrying case and I am still waiting for Karrie to make that straight needle case so as of now they are all stored in the tuperware box I keep part of my stash in.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learned to knit in Feb/March of this year. I am not sure what the distinction is between beginner and intermediate, but I can increase, decrease, cable, knit in the round, purl, knit, cast on and cast off. I have not yet tackled two color knitting and my finishing skills perhaps aren't that great.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do. I am a little embarrassed by what is on it right now though. :)

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
Umm not sure. Have a problem with heavily scented products sometimes. I like lavendar, tea tree oil, mango mandrian, sometimes vanilla, raspberry. I hate patcholi and anything that makes me think of patcholi. I tend to not use scented lotions or bath products other than hand soap and I have a ton of that right now. I like candles though. Something about fire.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I do. I really like chocolate. White chocolate is NOT real chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I am not sure how crafty I am. I really like cooking and baking. I am planning on taking a spinning class in December but who knows if that will pan out.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I am not sure about MP3. I am sure it probably does. I haven't bought a CD in a while because of iTunes.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like greens and blue though my aunt has been trying to convince me that I am a Spring and should not be wearing the colors I am used to wearing so much. I am not a fan of orange or yellow or anything neon.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Family situation? Not really sure what that means. I live in a studio apartment by myself. I currently have el gato loco, Pablo. Not sure how long he is going to be here as I was only supposed to be cat sitting for 4 weeks starting about 3 months ago. I do have pet allergies but for some reason he tends to not to affect them as much as most other cats I meet.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves, hats and mittens yes. It is of my opinion that no one should ever wear a poncho unless you are following a llama through the Andes.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like scarves and hats so far. Not a big fan of gauge. I have not yet attempted socks though I do have some Socks that Rock to knit up.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Umm three or four scarves, a couple hats and a sweater. I seems to have knitter ADD.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes but I am not going to send anything handmade (except for maybe cookies). My motto is simple is best. Buying stuff is simple. :)

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I am using primarily bamboo and aluminum. Seriously though I am probably all set for needles right now. Those sets from China on eBay rock btw. If anyone knows how to get more cords though for the Boye interchangeable needle set, I'd be interested in that.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I have both. Thanks to Sarah for the gift and the store for the sale.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
My second or third project I started back in March still isn't done. No one explained to me that the smaller the yarn the longer it takes to make something out of it. Plus I got sick of pink yarn. (I dislike pink and it isn't for me). I do plan on having it done for Christmas though. Hopefully.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Not sure. I like Thanksgiving because there is a turkey. Not sure what the question is referring to but if it is supposed to be about decorations I can do without those. I like making Christmas cookies. Really any holiday centered about food I am all about. Unless it is holiday themed food I can do without it. And no halloween candy either. :) I am trying to cut out the overly refined sugar.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Umm not really. I seem to have way too many books so that could be called a collection. Really like fantasy novels, old cook books, and seem to be collecting a lot of knitting books as well.


20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I can't think of anything at the moment. I do have some on my amazon wishlist. Are we supposed to post those if we have them? I don't have any mag subscriptions but I am not sure that I want any.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Can't think of any at the moment.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am not yet. I am not sure what foot measurements are. I wear size 9 shoes and have slight wide feet I think.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
July 31st. (this should be way over by then though:)

Paris Night Scarf.

This may look a little familiar. It may not. I have officially started my X-mas knitting. I am using 5.5 mm needles and am using a color of the 6 ply merino from handpaintedyarn.com called Paris Night.

Sweater update

So I have finished the back of my first sweater. It isn't blocked so it is rolling up a bit but all and all it looks pretty good I think.
I started the front but have stalled off by starting a couple of new scarves.