28.8.03

Randomness

I sent this to my English friend, however, she didn't find it funny. Maybe it's because she reads the Sun.
For all you Anglophiles out there...

Prime Minister:
I know exactly who reads the papers.
The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country.
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it already is.

Sir Humphrey:
Prime Minister, what about people who read the Sun?

Bernard:
Sun readers don't care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits.


Why I like Germany...Kinder Uberraschung. Sure, you can get these eggs in other countries but the toys inside are not the same high quality ones you get if bought in Germany. Germans make the best candy! Here are some other delicious empty calories: Haribo, Ritter sport (cornflake for me, please), Kinder Schokolade and Katjes' Fred Ferkel.

While lurking through several blogs today I discovered this funny guy.

27.8.03

One last task

Just need to sew the buttons on the sweater and c'est fini. I'm happy with how it came out. The last cardigan I made was not so good. Using the raglan top-down method I attempted to knit a cardigan of my own design. It came out unshapely, heavy and the color was icky. The color is ecru in low light but in daylight it’s this tea-stain yellow that reminds me of a smoker’s teeth (gross!).

The diamond check pattern of stockinette and seed stitches was easy. The pattern made for quick knitting; I flew threw the back and sleeves which usually drag on and on for me. My procrastination kept me from finishing the sweater sooner because I finished all the pieces in early July then left it in the basket until last week. Well, I did run out of yarn and the LYS didn’t carry it so there was a wait for the remaining yarn.

Drum roll...


As I mentioned earlier I found someone who sells all the yarn needed to make the Phildar stripe cardigan. Nathalie of Breiweb will be sending me the yarn later this week! She is also sending me needles. I noticed there are no US equivalent for sizes 2.5 cm and 3 cm. A fourth of a centimeter may not make much difference but I felt like splurging.

Speaking of needles…found these for 25 cents!


Finally, I got rid of blogExtra’s blog back. Dang, it was unreliable. I am now using a tag board located on the sidebar. Drop me a note if you wish. :-}

26.8.03

Found Phildar

Breiweb does deliver to the US and they accept paypal!

Didn’t get the collar done last night. Only half an inch left to knit before I bind off.

25.8.03

Almost Done

I'm this close to finishing Nancy. Aahhh. The satisfaction of a completed project. I'm at work knitting the collar. Hope to have it done tonight.

This weekend I won a bid for this dress form. I've been looking for one for a while.


Been resisting ebay because I was hoping to find a it at a thrift store. No such luck. And I was getting tired of trekking around the local thrift stores every weekend. Finally gave in and went to ebay.

Also, I have been searching like crazy to find Phildar yarn for this beauty. I was attempting to translate the pattern this weekend. My French is tres rusty but I was able comprehend a good portion of it. Thank you Anna for the complete translation. Just found it today. Anna mentioned that there is interest in a knitalong. Just need to locate the yarn. There is a Dutch site that carries the Phildar yarn. I'm waiting to hear from them about shipping to the US. In my search I found Phildar's Webzine. There are some free patterns but didn't find any I like. I prefer the company site where the cardi pattern was listed.

Here's a another picture of the stripe cardigan. In this photo you can see the variegation in the Plaisance yarn.

18.8.03

Easy peasy!

Hooray! I finished ChicKami and one of the skirts. The skirt was tres simple. The project was 4 hours from cut to finish. Also working on the pleated skirt. It's sewing up much faster than the first skirt beacuse I don't have to line up the herringbone. The first skirt was cut at a diagonal, and lining up the front center seam was slow going.

ChicKami was fun. I calculated my pattern for a 32" finished measurement and shortened it by 2". There is lots of the Linen Drape left. I was thinking knitting the pattern again with a v-front. Wondering how to calculate the stitches get the desired pattern...hmmm.

Believe it or not I am trying to finish up Nancy. I've figured out the placement for the buttonholes on the second front placket.

Here's me and my ChicKami.


ChicKami and skirt

14.8.03

ChicKami by weekend's end?

Here's an update on ChicKami. No big plans for the weekend so perhaps I can finish up the tank. Digging through my closet I found the perfect skirt to go with the tank.


The picture came out a bit yellow on the skirt but the little "dots" on the skirt is a perfect color match with the yarn.

Plans also include work on the sewing projects. I cut the patterns for the skirt last night. It dawned on me that I should use my tranfer pencil to trace and heat transfer the skirt markings. Duh. This will be especially helpful with the pleated skirt.

Killer heat wave across Europe. Major blackout on the eastern seaboard. Yikes. I hope those folks trapped in elevators are okay. That's the last place I would want to be trapped. Also hope folks can get back online soon. On other national news. This is a little old, but I would like to thank GW for the tax cut that has saved me a whopping $1.20 a month on my paycheck. I had a good laugh when I saw it. The California governor's race...what's going on? Of course Arnold is the front runner, the media keeps talking about him giving him free press. The NYT put him on the Sunday front page! Why?!!

On to happier news closer to home... I recieved the coveted kingpin award at work today. :-) Great to know my workers appreciate my work. Nice group of people to work with everyday.

12.8.03

Mini Break

We went on our annual camping trip to the San Juan Islands this weekend. I love it up there! Every time we're there we fantasize about leaving the city and moving up there. Aaahh, to live the island life. The locals say that winter is pretty bleak. I figure if I have some hobbies (oh I don't know, maybe knitting or pottery) to keep me busy I could manage the other six months of the year. Just waiting to hit it big with the lottery.

We camped on Lopez Island, our favorite, because it has fewer tourists than the larger islands, but there is just enough accommodations for us car-campers. The weather was great on Friday and Sunday. We had to scrap the kayaking on Saturday due to the torrential down pour. This gave us an opportunity ferry over to Orcas Island to do a mini hike, see the view from Mt. Constitution, which is breathtaking even with the cloudy skies, and visit some the pottery studios on the island.

Here are some pics from the trip.

Going to the San Juans always means a beautiful scenic ride on the ferry.


A view from the campgrounds, Spencer Spit.


Orcas Island Pottery Studio. Located at the end of a winding dirt road. What a location for a studio!


Ceramic wall hangings.

Cute!


Blown glass from Crow Valley Pottery Studio and Gallery.



A view from the lookout tower of Mt. Constitution. A 360 view. On a clear day you can see forever...pretty darn near it.







Lopez Village



Long wait in the ferry line is opportunity to knit! I brought two projects with me and was able to get some knitting in during the wait.



Progress has been made on ChicKami. Had to pull out and start over because the first cast on was too tight. I'm on the increase portion of the bodice.


Opal



One disappointment of the trip was the cost of the ferry ride. Forty plus dollars for a car and two people!! Fifteen more if you take your car on a westbound trip after stopping on one of the islands. Make that two disappointing things...National Parks should be free for all.

This post took forever!! Had to take a break to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy...
I think I will upload the rest of the pics to photo navy from work 'cause this home computer is slooow.

4.8.03

Weekend re-cap


I had an enjoyable weekend. Did some hard labor, grilled some meat, bought some yarn and started more projects.

Started the weekend with a bite to eat.

A view from the taco place we ate at.


Busy evening on the lake.


Participated in an after dinner sporting event. I lost the foosball match. The score was close, though.


Watched 24 Hour Party People that had I rented last week and had to take back on Saturday. Knowing nothing about the Manchester music culture of f the seventies and eighties I still found the movie interesting. Lot's of humorous moments. Funny Mancurians!! I highly recommend it. Steve Coogan of I'm Alan Partridge fame is great. He's one of the funniest comdiens around. Too bad America has not discovered him, or maybe that's a good thing.


On Saturday we helped some friends move and their friends invited us to a barbeque.



I visited my LYS to purchase a skein of Opal. My first self patterning socks.

Then returned on Sunday to purchase some Rowan Linen Drape (It was 30% off. I couldn’t resist.)


I’ll be using it knit ChicKami.



Also visited the fabric store and got these.



Get a load of that crazy seventies print ? I'm not making that dress.


These two herringbone fabrics are what I plan to use for the skirts. I'm debating whether to make two of the same (B) or B and E .





This floral fabric is for the dress. I'm planning to sew the white dress.