Stash 1, Wallet 0

I've been talking up how great I've been at avoiding buying yarn impulsively. And, I've made great strides...until Saturday...

I'm not quite sure what got into me but a friend and I went to Fungari in Half Moon Bay. It's a well-stocked store. Messy, disorganized, but good selection.

Anyway, they were having a sidewalk sale of sorts, in that they literally had boxes and bags of yarn out on the sidewalk in front of the store for discount prices.

I fell in love with this Jaeger yarn...a merino angora blend (hello, soft and warm) and decided to see if they'd cut me a deal.



This pile o' yarn serves as evidence that I was able to get an excellent price (under wholesale according to my friend)...so of course I got them all. I mean, it's going to be discontinued. Shouldn't I have enough to make my sweater coat, a hat, and then some?

I literally have nowhere to put this yarn...so I'd better get plowing through the stash to clear out some space...

Waffle Wednesdays

Yes, folks, you heard it right. We officially kicked off hopefully the first of many Waffle Wednesdays at my place of employ.

What's waffle wednesday? Why, I'm so glad you asked. Basically we make waffles at an empty cube near our group...and eat 'em of course. All while trying to be stealthy.



Turns out it's pretty difficult to be stealthy as the delicious smells spread like wildfire...and it lingers in the air. Yum.

Some comments from passersby (who didn't see the waffles) were:

"Smells like oatmeal. Hey, do you smell that?" I'm sorry sir, but waffles smell nothing at all like oatmeal. Pancakes, yes. Crepes, sure. Oatmeal, no.

A trio of almost suits walked by talking to each other. "Hey, Bob, do you smell that?" "Why, yes Stan, I sure do. It smells like waffles." "Hey, you're right. But where would you get waffles?"

Of course, that one caused me to erupt in audible giggles...oh you silly, silly fellows. You too can make waffles in the office. You just need: Krusteaz mix, water, oil, vanilla, a waffle iron, and an assortment of condiments. An empty cube really helps.

Waffles definitely make meetings and mornings better. I highly recommend them to anyone.



They were oh-so-delicious. Mmmmm. Boysenberry syrup and fresh raspberries. I'm drooling right now just thinking about them...

New shoe overload...

I never thought it could happen to me, but today I completely lost my new shoe enthusiasm. It could be that wearing brand new shoes (different pairs of new shoes) two days in a row is too much excitement for one person to handle.

It could be that my feet hurt so much from the first day of new shoes, that the second were destined for disaster...I keep forgetting that you have to break said shoes in over time...

Anyway, my feet totally hurt...I'll be wearing bandaids for the rest of the week...

But don't they look fabulous? (not my feet, silly, the shoes--my feet are a disaster)



I can't believe I'm over the shoe thing, cause I won myself yet another pair of Fluevogs last night. What's that, you say? You won a pair of Fluevogs? How?

Well, let me tell you. The faux husband decided to make a bet. Now, last weekend while a smidge inebriated, he wanted to make a HUGE bet about whether or not a bit part in a move we were watching was played by Bronson PInchot (you know, Balke).

Being completely sober, I just couldn't make the bet since I knew he was dead wrong. It was just too easy. But last night, he challenged me to guess what one of his co-workers got his/her degree in. The only hint I got was one letter of the alphabet.

He also set a time limit of last night. He must have thought I would make one or two guesses and then give up.

Boy, he was wrong indeed. I spent a nice chunk of time working my way through the alphabet and saying everything that came to mind...

It took a while (at least half of an hour) but darn it, I got it!

But now I don't even want a new pair of shoes anymore...I'm over breaking in shoes...I wonder what I can get in trade...Hmmm...any ideas?

(KB, don't say yarn cause I don't have any more room!)

I love me some new shoes!

Nothing beats the feeling of stepping out in a pair of new shoes. There you are, walking down the street in your sassy new kicks. Look at me, I've got new shoes! And they're fabulous!



Remember when you were a kid and you got to wear them home? Um, why don't they do it for adults? I"m serious. I'm sorry, but I've never had a better walk to work...clearly you should run out and get yourself a new pair of shoes.

Had a reunion of former coworkers at lunch--grabbed some delicious burritos and some froyo (frozen yogurt). We LOVE froyo. We used to talk about it when we worked in Emeryville. Of course, there was nowhere to get froyo in E-ville.



I'm looking forward to more reunion lunches, suckers! Shout out to Chris and KB! Miss working with you guys! See you soon!

The TKGA rocks!

Thank you Knitting Guild of America for feeding my addiction this Saturday. I mean it. I mean, I've been pretty good about buying yarn these days, but take me to a yarn show in a convention center and I lose all control. Literally.

Met up with a former co-worker, KB, and the owner of Marin Fiber Arts and had a lovely time gorging ourselves on the yarn.

Got this.



Gee, notice how it doesn't actually look like yarn? Do you notice that? Yeah, that's because it's sort of pre-yarn.

Here's a detail shot.



See how it's really a blob of fiber, rather than a neatly wrapped skein? Yeah, that's because it is a blob.

KB and I have been talking about spinning for a while...and right there in front of us was a booth literally selling yarn crack. See, you can get the raw stuff nice and cheap. You just have to spin it yourself. They were kind enough to teach me for free...so what was I going to do? What would you do?



Well, I don't know about you, but I was a pushover. I ended up getting a lovely spindle (at least that what I think they call it). See how I'm on crack? I haven't bothered to learn the terminology and didn't even hesitate when taking on yet another hobby.

That's not my style. I just jump right into it...

I bet it takes me a year to spin all of that raw stuff...oh man...

I clearly need YA (yarnaholics anonymous).

Whine and wine

I LOOOOOOOOOVE working a half day. It means that you can go into work for a few hours, and then go shoe shopping with a friend for the rest of the afternoon. It rocks...

Sure, you have to pay the next day (and I will pay dearly, I 'm quite sure) when you have to be in before 8am, but it's worth it to be out and about in the summer sun.

So yeah, work, shoe shopping, a little more work.

So then I met up with two other friends for some whine and wine. It was fabulous. I'm still feeling it's fabulosity :-)

In fact, our plan was to stick to a one-drink maximum, but what can you do when an adorable italian guy buys a bottle of wine for the table...really...what else can you do except say "thank you" and drink up? If you have any ideas I'd sure like to hear 'em.

Love the wine and whine sessions. Perhaps this will have to be a regular Thursday night get-together!

KB, stop shoe shopping already! You got shoes before I did and you weren't even looking. Stop browsing zappos.com and shoes.com right now! I mean it :-)

Ugh. Time for a big glass of water and bed.

Not just any shoes will do...

So I recently started working downtown. Yay! My commute has gotten so much easier now that I leisurely stroll to work. You know you're jealous.

The only problem so far has been that it isn't easy walking a mile each way in businessy shoes. I really do not want to be one of those ladies who wears the white sneakers and athletic socks with her suit , then changes shoes at her desk. Those women gross me out. Especially those wearing pantyhose. (Note: I don't actually wear suits, though I own a couple left over from my stint at USPS corporate HQ in DC...but I digress...)

That said, unless I find a cute comfy walking black maryjane I'm going to keep spending my weekends in foot recovery mode. I think i had at least 5 bandaids per foot this weekend...

I do know about zappos, and I will definitely be ordering something from them...the question is what? Danskos? Fluevogs?

Any suggestions? Sadly I might order at least two pairs of shoes knowing I'm only going to keep one...

I mean, there's something to be said for walking to work in stylish comfort, right?

Of course, until I actually decide on some shoes I'll be continually patching up my poor, mangled feet...

Babies, babies everywhere

Everyone I know is having babies. Seriously, I have a backlog of baby items that need to be knitted and gifted. I didn't have this problem last summer. Back then, in the good 'ol days, I was just making baby sweaters for fun and didn't even have babies to give them to.

Alas, those days are long gone. And so is my affinity for knitting baby items.

That said, I have to knit something for an upcoming neice/nephew...so I snagged a new pattern and some yarn as seen here...


interesting cuffs, collar, border


the lovely blue with which I'll be knitting

I'm sure gonna need some luck, cause I don't seem to be finishing much of anything these days...

I'm back!

And I'm already misusing exclamation points to disguise my utter lack of enthusiasm! See, with an exclamation point I seem chipper and motivated, when really I am neither!

Hawaii was fantastic. Of course, we didn't have any internet access and my cell phone didn't work, so it was my first real vacation from the outside world in years.

So we were on the Big Island, aka Hawai'i. You may or may not be aware that this island is the newest and has lots and lots of rocky lava beaches (and lots of pure rocky coastline).

The condo at which we were lucky enough to stay was right on a rocky lava cliff. It was pretty cool. At night the waves would get really large and smash into the cliffs and would send spray flying.


amazing sunsets


waves crashing against the cliffs

There aren't many white sand beaches near Kailua, so we had to be content with a smallish one. But while the beaches were small, the waves were fantastic. There would be lots of small waves, and then suddenly the skin on the back of your neck would crawl. You'd look up, and would see a wave straight out of a horror movie causing complete panic and terror as it crashed over folks just standing there asking for it.

You would just see stray body parts flying around in the surf as people were knocked around and into rocks.

I, myself, acquired some rather spectacular bruises from boogie boarding into rocks. Yes, it seems simple enough to avoid them, but those pesky boogers are sometimes hiding beneath the white sand. Which means you don't see them until they have already smacked into you...oh well...I consider them war wounds.


my war wounds

We also did some snorkeling. This time I purchased one of those ultra-cheesy touron underwater disposable cameras...of course, now I have to wait to get actual film pictures back...I hate the waiting...I'm so used to instant gratification.

Anyway, good times were had...and I'll hopefully have some interesting underwater shots to share.

I didn't knit at all in Hawaii. It was just way too hot. Oh well. I'm still working on my Debbie Bliss bolero jacket...hopefully I'll finish it this weekend...no promises, though.


gratuitous gecko shot


why wouldn't geckos like pineapple?

Welcome back, Kotter

So at my new job, when you go on vacation, you're subject to a prank of some sort. Now, I have only been working here two weeks and still I was punk'd by some humorous co-workers, as evidenced here:



Yes, I came back to find my entire desk sheathed in the print version of "The Onion".



Note, the phone was actually covered as was the computer and monitor, but alas those had to be unwrapped in order for me to actually work...

The most hilarious part was the unwarranted stop-and-chats...each and every person who walked by was compelled to strike up a conversation with me or make some sort of comment.



The American Apparel ad in this photo (which was actually repeated over and over again all over the most visible wall of my cube) was the focus of attention. In fact, one older gentleman let me know in no uncertain terms that he felt its display was "scandalous".

Ha! It's nice to be missed. Seriously.

Aloha!

In my approximately twenty-four hours back in san fran I have had time to do the following:

eat

sleep

unpack

laundry

walgreens

nap

repack

I'm sorry to say I won't have time to post a real blog entry. Sorry, KB. Not sure if I'll have internet access in Hawaii (or even if I did if I'd want to waste valuable beach/drinking time using it) :-)

So, next Monday it is, folks.

Hope you can stand not being bored by me on a daily basis until then. Aloha.

Feeling kind of sick...

I'm not sure if it's the 100 degree heat or the unbearable humidity, but today I feel like total crap.

My mom woke me up and 10am and wanted to hit three craft stores...including one yarn store. Fifteen minutes later we were out the door.

The yarn store was totally worth it...good selection of baby yarns, which is great considering I've got a backlog of baby sweaters to knit...I'd better churn one out next week in Hawaii...

Now I'm at my sister's house (she has high speed internet thank goodness) getting ready to take a nap with her adorable dog.

I wish I felt better...

I have actually been working on the Debbie Bliss bolero...but I don't have any pics of it yet...it'll have to wait until I'm back in san fran tomorrow night :-)

My pink baby sweater

So, here's a pic of my mom's famous seamless neck down baby sweater...the one I made a few of last year as gifts.



My cousin, my sis and I all wore this sweater, and it looks like it could go another tot or two...

That old school acrylic wears like iron.

Yesterday I finally got to hit the beach. It was super hot, but the water was nice and cool (but not bay area cool).

Then, my sis and I went and painted some pottery...I made a pear mug and my sister made a decorative tile which says "I don't do Mondays". It's totally true, she doesn't. She doesn't do mornings either. You don't want to run into her before noon--seriously.

Lastly we had dinner with my dad's sister. It was a blast--she's hilarious. Her husband is retiring and she's preparing to be driven crazy...

Good times were had by all.