Where does time go?

So much lately does it seem like my time continues to diminish everyday. I miss the days when time seemed to stretch out longer, when I had the time to do things I wanted to do, as opposed to running errands, cleaning, working, life stuff. Sadly the days of T --- I --- M --- E really lasting were, as you would guess, when I was a kid.

Doesn't it seem like we lose our time as Adults? Or maybe we don't, maybe it's just our perception. There's a movie called "The Boogeyman", it's a kids movie, and the premise of the movie is that as a kid your mind is open and free which allows you to see things adults wouldn't, like a real life Boogeyman. I think TIME is our Boogeyman, as kids time is endless days of swinging on swings, feeling the air go through you, it's days of just meandering, frolicking or plain nothing.

As adults, our perception is different, our time has a different purpose, no more frolicking, only errands or work, work which most of us can't escape unless we enjoy pillaging for food, leaching for items, you know what I mean *-)

I always wonder if things would be more simple if we just simply bartered for items, maybe as adults we'd have more time, instead of trying to earn that evil green, money that is. I really think money is the root of all evil. It can cause most of us grief, stress, unhappiness, envy, for those who have an abundance of $ it can provide them with feelings of power, veiled happiness, gluttony, to name a few.

What is of real value, not $, is our time, without it, nothing happens. I've digressed about time because I'm obviously feeling like I have none. There is so much I want to do, so much I can do, but time is the key ingredient I lack. As a result, I'm dropping out of HAT ATTACK, cause I just don't have the time to commit, and I must admit my loyalties to the fiber craft are now more towards KALS, Holiday's, Swaps, and oh yah, personal items.

I started my Mystery Stole 4 knit this past weekend, didn't get to far into it, but hopefully I'll at the very least get CLUE1 finished by end of week. I've chosen to go with the LACI STR I bought not long ago, there's going to be A LOT of yarn left over from this skein, as it's 1750yds, but hey, it can always go to another knit, maybe something to coordinate with my finished MS4 Stole.

TYPHOON TINA


As for Secret of the Stole III, I'm still stuck in HINT 2, just haven't go to picking it up, but it is another goal to at least get done by end of this week too.

I've actually been really working at nailing down Crocheting, which has been an interesting experience. I bought a Crochet Cowl design, "Undulating Cowl", and when I first was looking at this pattern, I was like what the hell??? I finally figured it out, and am now one row away from finishing it. I can't believe how fast crocheting is. I've heard it was fast, and I can remember when I first learned to knit, my husband was like "My Mom used to crochet scarfs and sweaters in one weekend when I was small.", and I remember telling him "Your crazy!", but now I believe him, especially if your an experienced crocheter. It's pretty freakin' amazin' to me how fast it is, and I'm still a newbee at it, but so far I'm real comfortable with it, and am confident I can tackle a more intermediate crochet projects. DONT' GET ME WRONG, I'M NOT DEFECTING TO CROCHET, but I've always wanted to learn it so that I could use it to embellish knitting or for those quick needed garments to crochet.

Here's a pick of the Undulating Cowl, I'll post picks of my FO if not tonight then tomorrow morning, this is from the pattern.



I don't think the yarn does this pattern justice, it really is prettier. I'm knitting crocheting it with some real pretty Malabrigo Charrua, which is turning out to be just gorgeous, and soft.



Speaking of time, somehow, don't know how, I've found time to be MOD in Ravelry for the Traveling Scarves Group Noro 37 Knit/Crochet. I'm co-moderating with Trustcrazyideas, it's nice having her help. We've officially started today, our first deadline is on 9/23/08. I'm excited to see how my scarf will turn out. The group is only to us NORO yarn, which is even better, and we can do either Knit or Crochet, perfect for me to hone my Crochet skills.

I'll leave you with this video of the widely popular, plus one of my fave groups, The Bangles video of their hit song "Hazy Shade of Winter", which was a hit for the movie "Less Than Zero", another good but sad movie, great performance by Robert Downey Jr., another FAVE actor of mines. Which reminds me, I'll have to post some movie reviews for some movies I saw recently, one of which stars Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder", I'll say quickly it was "Freaki' Hilarious!". 8)

This song reminds me of TIME.

Falling For Ewe Question of the Week - 9/7/08

For my Swap "Falling For Ewe"

What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

I love the colors, the vibrant hues that contrast so vividly against the hazy days of Fall. I love the smells of the air, the freshness.

I revel in how nature sheds and renews itself. I love the feeling of knowing the holidays are upon us, all the glorious caricatures, scenery's, ornaments. I feel warmth and happiness, like an old friend that visits every year to remind of what really counts, us and nature.

Starting from around August all the way through January, I'm at my most inner happiness, I'm one with nature. I'll walk into a craft store, and I just automatically feel happy seeing all the fall decorations, not to mention all the holiday displays. I can walk into any store and see these things the more we get into Fall.

Fall, Winter, Holidays, Warmth, Nature, are all my time.

A Good Weekend Part DOS

Onto my other adventures from last weekend. I've been doing alot of reading and thinking about really getting into the dyeing arena, and I finally got the nerve up to dye one skein. *Baby Steps*
I kept lamenting over what color combination's to use, so I ended up choosing 2 colors that are very close in color but the color tone is different and one real vibrant color.

Here's how the skein came out (It's self-striping):


I really love the rich vibrant blue, as I was putting the dye on, I just knew it was going to be a real pretty blue. The darker brown I was totally satisfied with, it has a nice deep tone to it. Now the other shade of brown, I was somewhat nervous about. I wasn't sure how it would look once the dye was done setting in, but I'm just so happy with how it turned out.





Look at these colors, I just love them, it gives me the energy and excitement to forge ahead more with dyeing. Not sure if I should give it a name, guess "Blueberry Cake"???? In fact I have a good amount of BFL & Merino just waiting to be dyed.

Some other GREAT presents that showed up at my doorstep this past weekend was my "Hello Kitty" kit from Woolgirl.

Look at all these goodies!



I love these colors, so pretty & vibrant.





A Hello Kitty Stitch Marker! & WIP bag!



Plus I got the latest installment from Scout's Swag Club, it is POSA!





And for Sundara's Season's Yarn Club. Both are lace, and OMG gorgeous! I'm in love with Mahogany Over Marmalade.





Honey Over Hibiscus




Last but not least, I ordered the Custom Knits book. Don't you just love that green vest on the bottom left?


Photo courtesy of Scout

Look at this, isn't is pretty? I would really love to make this, perfect for the upcoming Winter season.



Have a good weekend everyone 8)

A Good Weekend...Part UNO 8)

I hope everyone enjoyed this past Labor Day weekend. It was a very nice one for me, and very productive I might say! I have so much to share and can't fit it in just 1 Lil'O post, so I'll be splitting this baby into 2, the 2nd to follow shortly...

My weekend started with a BANG! I got off at a little before 4 p.m. on Friday, all day all I could think of was... "Is it 4 yet? I wonder if I'll enjoy the game? I wonder if my kids will?"

What game you ask? Well, the last pre-season game for the San Francisco 49ers vs the San Diego Chargers. Woohoo! My husband and I bought 4 tickets a few weeks ago to take the kids and let them experience a real NFL game. We left San Jose about 5 p.m. and headed North towards San Francisco. We were all geared up, I had on my white 49ers tank top with lace trim, and I was wearing this lovely "Moss Ribbed Scarf" in Scout's custom dyed "49ers" colorway...




I'm thinking I might add another 10 inches to it, cause it fits more like a cowl than a scarf, but boy did it come in handy.

Now us (me'family and I) being San Jose natives, left the hot San Jose weather wearing our normal summer clothes to go to San Francisco. You would think that we would know what to wear to S.F., considering we go there all the time, but no sir'ee'bob. I was the only one who brought any kind of warm gear, my scarf a.k.a faux cowl *) and my beige sweater jacket, but nobody else brought anything warm to wear?

So we had nose bleed seats (which I love!) and up there at night in Candlestick, it can get windy & chilly, and it didn't fail to deliver this last Friday as we watched the game. My hubby & kids were all rattling their jaws, curling up, and trying to enjoy themselves. We ended up buying a S.F. blanket for a whopping $55.00 bucks! We've learned our lesson, and we'll gear up next time, but the blanket will come in handy this winter, so I guess it's a positive.

There was also this "49er Elvis", so cute! You gotta see this pic....



You see him striking the signature "Elvis" pose? Look at the back of his shirt.. I love it! "Viva Las Niners"!!!



I always thought "nose bleed" seats were the worst, but now that I know how the view looks, I'm going to pick these seats more often. Check out this view:



Another cool thing, which I swear was a wish granted to me, cause as I was attentively watching the game, still cold under my sweater, I wished silently "If only they had a stand vendor who could serve you hot chocolate right at your seat"... I totally swear I wished this, and then next thing you know... BAM....



I couldn't believe my eyes! I quickly bought a $4.00 cup of hot chocolate..I was just in ahh of it. If only I had wished for $$$, wonder if that would've come true??? Oh yah as soon as I got the hot choco, I took a big gulp and I burned my lips. Guess all that ooh & ahh just took the common sense right out of me 8) Friday's done PERIOD

Begin Saturday... I started off with cleaning, I'm a good knitter, I clean my house before I knit so as not to feel guilty. I can't stand to have guilty thoughts and I really hate the voices in my head sometimes, I'm just totally neurotic, I'm always thinking about something or everything. Thinking of dinner, what to knit next, knitting patterns to devise, colors to dye yarn with, meals to write down, job stuff (I really hate when job stuff creeps in), bills (ahh!), upcoming appt.'s, on and on I go in my head. Is everyone neurotic or is it just me? Are you? I have the hardest time going to sleep, I just can't get my mind blank.

After my cleaning I was just pooped. I decided to finally catch up with my Secret of the Stole III KAL, which I'm so behind because I kept debating over what beads to use, and decided to go and buy some to match my lovely lace yarn. After some lazying around, I just didn't feel like driving down to the bead store. I had some beads I bought from the Knitting Arts going out of business, and decided to go with those. There green, and the lace I have has shades of green in it. I was a little skeptical as I started my SofSIII Hint 1, but I'm really liking how it turned out. I think the beads turned out pretty darn good, in fact I think they give the yarn that special *something*. This is the completed SofSIII Hint 1 portion:



Yarn is Schaefer Yarn Company Andrea lace weight, it is so so soft and silky. I remember when I bought it from GPY, I was just in love with it the moment I saw it and felt the silkyness.

Besides my SofSIII I continued knitting on my Elm Row scarf, this is one of the newer patterns published by the marvelous Ann Hanson from Knitspot, this pattern is so pretty, but I have to say, you do need attention to detail for it. The stitches are your basic increases, decreases & such, but I'm finding I need to pay attention as I'm knitting because the pattern consists of a 10 row repeat, each row has a different combination of stitches. For me, I tend to make mistakes because I have this type of built in memorization I do. I played the Memory game alot when I was a kid, maybe that's where I get it from? You know the game Memory? It's where you have a bunch of cards, each has 1 pair of identical pictures, and you mix them all up, face down, and slowly try to match up the pairs by memorizing where you saw the previous picture cards position? I played this so much as a kid, and it has helped in my adult life, I memorize everything, from numbers, to phrases, etc. For knitting this is good because I can remember entire patterns I knit, and because I memorize stitch sequences, I'll start knitting ahead knowing the next sequence, but with the Elm Row the pattern changes so frequently that I find myself knitting a sequence that is not next in order, so I TINK TINK TINK away!
Anywho, I'm making good headway on my scarf, and I just can't wait to finish it and block it. My little yarn cake is diminishing rapidly. The yarn is the beautiful "Peach Pit" from Scout, one of her debut colorways back in late July 2008. I'm going to custom order more of this color, I love this colorway.





To end this post, I did also get another "TO DO" done, I knitted up a Square from the "Barn Raising Quilt" pattern in the "Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together" book. Stacey from "Sheep in the City" (great blog!) posted awhile back regarding volunteers to knit a square for Father. I love my Father, and from one kind thoughtful knitter to another, I was more than happy to volunteer my knitting time. I knitted up this square using the softest yarn, I don't have the label on me right now to give you the yarn specs, but I can tell you it is soft, velvety, rich and vibrant. I just love how this *star* pattern evolves as you knit the square. This went out in the mail to Stacey this morning 8)





Okie Dokie folks, I'll post Part DOS later, stay tuned 8)!

Ravelympics Results 2008

I signed up for all kinds of projects to attempt to both START and FINISH for this years Ravelympics. When I first heard about the premise behind it, I was just totally thrilled and eager to participate.

As a kid, I was an avid watcher of the Olympics. My favorite categories were, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Ice Skating. In fact, I took a form of Gymnastics (Acrobatics) during my dancing years (K -10thgrade), along with other dance classes (Jazz , Tap, & Solo).

I never took any professional ice skating classes, but I've always loved ice skating, it is one of my favorite activities. I'll admit that I haven't went ice skating in ages, and it's funny because I think of it all the time, always imagining myself skating & feeling the air against my face and the sweet smell of the ice.

Alot of people think ice skating is difficult, but it really isn't. It's kind of similar to learning to swim, you know how when you first look at a body of water and wonder, how do I not sink to the bottom? You take the plunge, and wait, oh no! Your going down, and do you know why? It's because your nervous, that nervous tension causes you to sink; if you calm down and try to relax, ly on your back, you'll see we humans are capable of floating, right? Well it's the same with ice skating, when you put your skates on, you think, how in the world will I be able to stand up on those thin killer looking blades? So, you strap them on, and try to stand, but start wobbling back/forth, grabbing on to anything that will allow you to stand up without falling; well, if you relax and just slowly stand up straight, try to imagine you don't have skates on, as if you still have your everyday shoes on, and slowly let go of what your holding onto, voila!, you'll see you can stand just fine, and once you realize this, you'll be able to take your first steps on those killer blades.

It's much the same when actually skating, but can still be difficult getting used to the real slick ice, but boy, once you get the hang of it, you'll love the speed and the wind you generate, and as an added benefit it's a great cardio and calorie burner 8-) All this, has made me want to go ice skating again, hmm... one day soon.

As for swimming, I was briefly a member of my high school swim team during my 10th/11th grade years. I can still remember my hubby (then just my boyfriend) always hanging around the fence that enclosed our pool, just waiting to see me in my bathing suit 8) What a perv! LOL... so funny the things you remember. Swimming is so much fun, I only wish I had a pool, I'd be out there daily, just doing some laps, floating on my back, some handstands... ahhh..! Did I mention my children are fishes? Say the word "lake or pool".. and there like Superman, **bam**, in their swimming gear ready to take a dip.

What can I still do at my ripe age of 32??? I can still swim fluidly, I can still tap dance, and I can still do a slow motion back flip, crab stand, cart wheel, no handed cart wheel, but I can't do the splits anymore 8-( Oh well.. I'll need to get back in it.. it's on my list and my list is long.

Ok, enough digressing, I apologize, I do....for the Ravelympics I signed up for Mitten Medley, Cowljump, Sockput, Shawl Relay, Amigurumitoss, Hand-dyed Hurdles, holidayhandball, felltedfreestyle,and Handspunhepthalon.

I really really thought I could at the very least get 50% of my goals done, but I realized that other forces would take over and steal my thunder. Those forces were, mis compleanos, Yarnsmackdown, Sock Wars III, Spinning classes, Tech Square Afghan Knit -Along, Visiting family, and oh yeah, my personal life, work, kids, cleaning... the list is long.

Anywho, one of the goals I had for the Amigurumi was to learn to crochet, I figured Amigurumi would be a fun way, and if I messed up, it wouldn't be that bad. I bought me a complete steel crochet set, a Crochet for Dummies book, and some cheapy yarn from Michael's, in a bunch of colors for my Amigurumi pets. I was able to learn to crochet, took me about an hour or so to really understand the method. Before that I only knew how to make a crochet chain, that's it. After looking through my books, surfing You Tube, and many many tests with my hook and yarn, I was able to make a Magic Ring, which is pretty cool, a single crochet, double crochet, increase, decrease, and other things. I got the body of my lil' guy done, but never completed him, thus I didn't finish that event. All my other events, were just not even touched, I hang my head in shame for this **head down**
But I am just proud of the drop spinning, at least I managed to complete one of my events! And, BobicusMaximus (great name!) magic linked me the other day to honor me (along with fellow spinners)with a Ravelympics Hand Spun 08 Badge **applause**

And my *cheesy* speech goes something like this "I'll have to thank god and my family for this, and the great Sandy from Purlescence for her mastery at teaching, without which I might not of finished my event or any event for that matter" (LOL)
So here yah go, my one but precious badge earned from the Ravelympics! **squee**



If you stuck with my post this long, thank you.. I hope you don't mind the long post and ummm digressions I made 8-)