How was TKGA?

I'm so envious of all that were able to attend TKGA last week. I had it marked on my calendar...and even when I found out that I was going to be bedrested and likely not be able to attend, I was still hoping that hey, maybe I'll be able to go and look around for 30 minutes on Sunday(that's the length of time I can 'exercise' per day).

Well, gee, guess what? yep, that darn Placenta Previa...I had to go back to the hospital again and had a couple of nights stay. So, no fondling of pretty yarns, no great yarns to pick up (sigh). Instead, I got to read a really pulpy badly written romance novel (think Harlequin but longer and more trashy). Hey, it did pass the time since I didn't get a chance to bring my knitting.

Oh, what else? no baby yet. She's not done at 36weeks (according to the amnio), even with the Betasone shots. Maybe next week. Or the week after. I guess the good news is that I didn't have to stay in the hospital for the duration. How sucky would that be?!

Oh, I'm trying to figure out a pattern for the pink baby blanket. I was going to do a sampler blanket (ala TV show this morning on Knitty Gritty), but I don't want to sew it all together (lame or what?). Then I was thinking maybe I'll do several 'scarves' that look like sampler squares that I then need to sew together, but again, can I do that and not have skinny and thick squares?

My other alternative is to knit a round blanket...hmmm...

Happy Easter (early)!

Another TV rant - cooking

I was catching up on the 'Top Chef' on Bravo and the chefs on the show sort of irked me. The show is based in SF, a destination for good foods, 4 star restaurants, and amazing ethnic foods and super fresh produce, yet they can't seem to wrap their brains around the fact that maybe their 'clientele' ( folks in the Bay Area) actually enjoy good food and have discerning palates.

I mean, it's annoying that the chefs on the show felt they needed to dumb-down to the kids when they had a challenge to feed children. Really, z's favorite foods are chicken tikki masala, char sui bao, and sui mai, and sushi (yes, even the raw type), and he's 3 yrs old.

And on another segment, they fed the Jr. League of Oakland and one chef in particular was just a boor. Please...tamales from Oaxaca, etc. East Bay has Gourmet Ghetto, Fremont Asian, International Avenue Latino, and Berkeley Bowl (where the chefs shop at), and they think that folks 'don't get' good food?!

And don't even get me started on their fusion Latin-something else street food...

However, this show is better than the show on Food Channel, where they are looking for a TV personality that maybe can cook. Again, maybe it's me, but don't you think you should know how to fillet a fish if you're going to become a TV chef? And julliene is not that novel of a term, is it? If you watched the TV cooking shows, you'd pick up that term. I guess that goes to show you that you don't have to actually know how to cook in order to host your own TV cooking show.

TV knitting siting!

I was watching the chick-centric 'Grey's Anatomy' and there was Mer and Izzie knitting 'cause they took vows of celebacy. Well, Izzie knitting a sweater in one day, AND being able to wear it for 3 hours before handing it over to Denny was pretty darn TV-fantasy (okay, maybe I'm just jealous that someone could finish off a sweater in a day...but still!) Well, maybe it was because she had Addi Turbos to work with... Can that be done? a man's sized sweater completed in one day?

As for Meredith, man, she's not very good at knitting (on the show, anyway). That was no sweater she was knitting. It was a really long wide scarf...but the yarn did look interesting.

My final comment is what is wrong with knitting in a bar? Okay, maybe you shouldn't be knitting at the bar itself, but I see nothing wrong w/ sitting at a table knitting, but hey, that's just me.

And yes, these are just characters on TV, but still...what if nonknitters now want sweaters in a hurry?

Hat Trick

Sorry, this isn't a post about how to knit a purty warm hat...but rather, another post about my 'complications'.

Apparently, 'hat trick' is a sports term that initiated from cricket. Yeah, it's some sports analogy that z's dad used alot this week, 'cause I took another ambulance ride to the hospital. Three's a charm, right? Well, good news is that I only had to stay until Saturday.

What was sad/funny was that the 911 operator recognized z's dad's voice when he called. Furthermore, I got to chat w/ the friendly paramedic, Josh, some more about his wife and kid and the fact that I wanted to make sure I had a 18 gauge IV put in, while enroute to the hospital. This time, we were smart and I was hanging out in our hallway to facilitate getting me into the ambulance. And they were smart because they first put me on a tarp before strapping me into the gurney. (I have a feeling that they had a huge clean up on their brand new gurney last time--the nurses had commented on that).

Anyway, while there, I managed to finish off the other sleeve of Bpt cardi and tried it on. It's a tad wide at the armpit area, but we'll see. I just have to do the hood and finish off the bottom as well as the trim on the sleeves. I wonder if I can block the sweater before I finish it off to make sure that I don't have gorilla sleeves...

More Bpt

I'm a little scared...I'm working on the 2nd sleeve already. I'm trying to figure out how long the cardi should be so I put it on waste yarn and worked sleeves instead. I'm also trying to figure out how much waist shaping to do since well, I's sans waist right now...

On a happy note, I'm doing the sleeves using magic loop and it's working much faster than the body part. I'm being lazy so I'll take a picture of it later.

Bpt progress

I'm working on Bpt from Knitty using the red Sisik yarn I purchased from WEBS at Stitches West. Here's the specs from WEBS:

DALE OF NORWAY
SISIK
Sisik is a beautiful wool/mohair blend with a terrific color palette. Each color is complimented by coordinating flecks of color that result in a lovely tweed look to finished garments. Sisik is very soft to the touch and a joy to knit with!

Content	30% wool/30% mohair/34% acrylic/6% viscose
Weight/Yardage:	50gm/148 yards/ball
Gauge:	5 sts = 1” on #7 needles
Knitting Weight:	Worsted

I really like the feel of the yarn and so what if it's somewhat acrylic. I got gauge using #6 Addi Turbos (yeah, I'm a loose knitter). The only thing I didn't like about this yarn is that the "coordinating flecks of color that result in a lovely tweed look" ends up flaking off the yarn and gets on your clothes and nearby surroundings.

As far as this pattern:
I initially had issues with where the increases were supposed to be and actually had to draw out a schematic to figure it out. Of course 9 inches into the sweater, I realized that altho' I got the stitch gauge, I missed on the row gauge (mine was 26row/4 inch vs. their 24row/4in). I asked the smart folks from my knitting group and was able to wrap my brain around how to fix it. However, I tried the thing on, and it fit fairly well, so I decided not to mess w/ the pattern (it would just spiral to no good, I'm sure).

Of course, when I went to join the cables, I realized I made a fundamental error, I had switched all but the back cables, such that my cables were all in reverse pattern. Oh, well. I'm just going to leave it and I doubt anyone will care. I'll have to take a picture of it for next time since my camera battery is charging as we speak.

One final note: this sweater is knitting up very quickly. I may even start thinking about z's dad's sweater again...

See Saw See Saw

Here's a post I meant to upload before I went to the hospital the first time...

I finally frogged my first real attempt at socks because I think socks were too loose and I just plain didn't like them. But I wanted to use the yarn to make a pair of toe up socks on one circular needle, so I wanted to split my yarn into two even skiens. How do I do this without a scale? Well, if you were me, you'd get creative with your 3 year old's toy.

z got this last year and it's a toy where you balance the animals on the two sides of the see saw. (And yes, it's more difficult than you think--but z can do it). It's an exercise in symmetry (which may not be what a then-two-year-old thinks of). Anyway, he got this toy, took off all the animals and just played with the base, saying "see saw see saw see saw see saw". (and yes, it was a little annoying, but also pretty cute)


Anyway, as I was trying to figure out the best way for me to determine approximately how much yarn was in each skein, I thought I'd use his toy as a balance. Yes. I realize that since the two skeins do not have the exact same shape, this is truly an approximate. But it's good enough for me.

Two socks on single circular needle

As promised, here are the finished socks:
As I said, these socks were made by using a single 40inch circular #1 Addi Turbo and following the general directions from this site. I followed the link on that page to learn the fancy schmancy crazy figure eight cast on (very unweldy to do the first couple of rounds). After some rows, I put them on the Addi and started knitting. Once I finished the heels, I decided to do a 3X2 rib. I wanted to do something more fancy, but I didn't have any knitting books with me at the hospital.
(note to self: moisturize)

(I think most of the nurses thought I was knitting something for the baby and were surprised when I wore them when I was done,)

Specs:
yarn - Lion Brand Magic Stripes (Bright Spring pattern) a little less than 1 skein
pattern - simple toe up from site
amt of time to finish - less than a week

here's a pic of the socks in progress (or more rather, almost complete)
I highly recommend using this technique if you're like me and really hate counting and recounting rows so that you don't get uneven socks.

I did even start the socks at the same point in the yarn to ensure that the socks match. However, when turning the heel, I must have messed up a little because the designs became out of sync and one sock pattern is a quarter stripe different than the other (the good thing is that you really can't tell).

Priceless...

Sorry for not blogging lately, things have been uhmmm...eventful.

2 calls to 911
3 ambulance rides*
~2 weeks total in the hospital
4 significant bleeds
2 days of fasting in case of 'emergency surgery'
too many to count hospital cafeteria 'gd' meals plus snacks
6 IV lines 'just in case'
2 painful shots of Betamethasone
1 diagnosis of complete placenta previa
1 pair of toe-up on one circular needles socks

ZERO 29/30 week baby...Priceless!



But, did ya notice? I finished my socks! I'll have to take a picture of the completed socks in a little bit.

Complete placenta previa--yeah, at 10 weeks, when I got my CVS, they mentioned that my placenta was there, but hey, it'll move. At 18 weeks, when I got my main ultrasound, again, they noted the position of the placenta, but hey, it's only 18 weeks and the placenta will move... well, apparently, it didn't move.

As for the bleeding, it wasn't painful or anything, there just were very impressive amounts of it. So much that they had to put additional IVs in to make sure that I would get lots o' blood if I needed a transfusion. It's a little freaky to bleed like that and have no pain (while blood is literally running down the legs). z's dad likened it to a CSI crime scene.

As for the hospital, the nurses were kind and very helpful. The TV sucked (no cable). And the food? blech. And you'd think that a large hospital would figure out a diabetic diet w/o any problems...but no. I had sugar spikes because they accidently gave me regular food . And there were times when the nurses scrounged food for me because the dietician so limited my carbohydrates that they didn't give me enough calories to eat.

Anyway, the good news is that every day the baby is on the inside means that she'll be healthier and have to spend less time in the NICU. We're shooting for 36 weeks, would be happy at 34 weeks and would settle for 32 weeks (I'm at 30weeks 5 days).


*the first time we called 911, the ambulance took us to the local hospital w/o any OB care and had to call for another ambulance to take me to my hospital.

Ribbon Clapotis

I had gotten the Moda Dea ribbon for a ribbon Clapotis. This is what I worked on during the Winter Olympics and I managed to finish it during the closing ceremonies. Here it is:

Specs:
Clapotis pattern from Knitty
Moda Dea Ticker Tape - 7 plus a little more skeins
Size 13 needles
~21 inches before drops

The only thing is...I'm not sure I like it. It was very heavy feeling before I dropped the stitches, and although it feels pretty airy now, I don't know. Maybe when the weather is less crummy here in the Bay Area, I'll take it out for a test run.

If it turns out I'm not fond of it, I can always frog it and use it for some type of sweater (I think I have enough ribbon).

Finally Stitches West Yarn pics

It's taken me awhile to actually take pics of my pretty yarn. As I mentioned, I had to try the Socks that Rock yarn. The picture doesn't do it justice, but oh, well. It's a very beautiful dark green grey.

And here's the two large yarn purchases for sweaters. I'm thinking cardigans both since that's what I tend to wear. Maybe the knitty hooded cardi (Bpt) for one and the other? Probably another cardigan from Knitty. I'm having difficulties thinking about pullovers since I have a big belly and don't want to knit a sweater that I won't be able to try on for months.




Finally, here's the Noro I got for possibly a small felted bag.

We have SOCKS!

Well, I finished them. And here they are. Pretty basic pattern from the net (I don't even remember which one). All I know is that they were easy peasy. The only problems I had was trying to turn the heel (not knowing whether it was half of the stitches turned, or the specific number-- see previous post).

Next time, I'm going to try the 2 socks at once thing. I was a-surfing and found this little gem -- The Boy Who Knits. In his most recent entry, he speaks of doing the Jaywalker socks from Grumperina ala magic loop two socks at once! I'm going to attempt this too. If he didn't have detailed instructions, I would have done them as written from Grumperina, but you know what I figured out the one thing I really do not like about knitting socks is counting the rows to make sure the socks actually matched. I figured that I probably counted the same darned rows of the second sock at least10 times...(but then again, mayhaps I have a smidgeon of OCD)

Potato Puffs....mmm....

I had a doctor's appt. today on Piedmont and went to check out the new Gregoire. It's an upscale takeout place right next to AG Ferrari. I had been reading about this place for awhile, but I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of Shattuck parking, but when I heard a new store opened on Piedmont, I was SO there...

Walked in to what looked like a huge line, but in fact, folks were just waiting for their food. I ordered these potato puffs, not knowing what they were, only that everyone raves about them. I watched the cook/chef making them. Basically a little scooper of something going into the deep fryer. I had thought that maybe they're little baked puffs (ala creme puff) or that they were deep fried like binets or doughnuts. But what I got were light fried mashed potato balls with a really yummy sauce. I refrained from eating all of them and brought some home for z's dad to try. They are really good.

So, their menu changes every month and I've heard that their blue cheese burgers are absolutely to die for...I'll be checking to see if they have those in March.

Oh, knitting content. I went to check out Article Pract for #2 or #1 Addis for my next pair of socks, only to realize that today is Monday, and they're not open on Mondays (that would be Skein Lane that's open). Of course my next doctor's appointment is also on a Monday, so I'll have to make a special trip to Article Pract for the needles. Yes, I could have should have bought the needles at Stitches West, but I had a budget, darn it!

Walk-on Olympics

I'm totally not like this kid -- first, I'm not autistic, not in highschool, nor did I shoot 6 three pointers and another shot during a game...however, I did manage to finish a whole project (non-dishcloth) during the Olympics allotted time.

Of course, I didn't sign up for the competition or anything. I wasn't doing the Knitting Olympics 'cause I wasn't sure I'd finish anything in that amount of time. But, I managed to get some ribbon yarn (Moda Dea Ticker tape) and casted on for a clapotis some time after the opening ceremonies. Maybe I can be Emily Hughes, kinda like a walk-on for the Olympics.

So, amidst the Closing ceremonies last night, I realized I was 13 stitches from finishing the clapotis, and w/ much super fast knitting (as fast as I can, anyway), I casted off the last stitch...

I'd show you a pic, but z's dad has the camera in his car and he just left...

Stitches West (and I'm now South)

After trying to find folks that would like to carpool (or even a ride), I ended up going by my lonesome. Not bad tho'...no enablers to tell me...'really, that's a great yarn...just buy it'

I got down there pretty quickly and started shopping. Note to self: buy tix ahead of time to increase time at Marketplace.

What did I get? yarn and more yarn. You don't get to see them because I'm w/o them right now (maybe later). I got yarn for a green sweater and one for a read sweater (don't know which pattern yet, but I think possibly one that I saw on Knitty. A little Noro too. I also got a skein of Socks that Rock yarn (med weight). They were out of the light weight except for yarn of Cal colors -- and I decided that z's dad may not appreciate handmade socks yet, and there really is no way in heck he would wear socks that weren't white or black anyway. Also, if I'm knitting socks, folks better be able to see them, so they'll be worn by self w/ burks. Yes. I'm going to make myself another pair of socks (after I'm done w/ the first pair, anyway). I also got very cool yarn for a present--1400yds of loveliness. Actually, as soon as I got home, I wound that up to 3 skeins (w/o cutting them, so there's some twist to it now) and am working on the project while down south.

I did see some very cool shawl pins at Stitches West. But, you know, I can do that myself -- when I get around to taking another glass fusing class...

Oh, what else...oh, it took z and I less than 6hrs. to Magic Mountain and then we hit LA traffic and sat on the 405 for a good long time. We made it to destination at 4:30pm. I really recommend leaving on the earlier side on a weekend.

While I'm down here, I'll work on socks, secret project, and another clapotis (this time using 13's and ribbon yarn).

While down here, I was originally thinking about going to the Yarn Lady's store in Laguna Hills, but after seeing their stuff at Stitches West, I've sorta lost interest...their stuff at Stitches did not dazzle (but I may have just been overwhelmed w/ the cashmere and luxury yarns of some of the other vendors). I will try to head to the HB LYS tho'. Last time I was there, I got some neat 100% wool yarn there.

May post more from behind the Orange Curtain--you know, Reagan Country, and now more familiarly known as 'The O.C.'

Artfiber in SF

All I can say is 'very cool'. That and everyone should go to Artfibers in the City. It was too easy to get to. BART to Montgomery and then it's on Sutter Street. I was surprised at the size of the store. It was much smaller than I expected, but man, it was packed w/ amazing yarn goodness.

You may be asking what I got there...I was good -- nada. I ran out of time browsing around (since I had to meet friends for lunch). I had all intentions of stopping by after lunch and picking up some lovely yarn, but after lunch, I headed over to Old Navy instead. Never managed to come back that way. It's all good, tho. I can now go to Stitches West without guilt (or too much guilt).

Stitches West...

I really want to go to Stitches. My goodness, folks are coming down from Oregon and up from SoCal...sheesh...the least I can do is to go check it out since it's not really that far (and no bridges).

We've got a huge amount of stuff scheduled this week, culminating in z and I going down south to SoCal to visit the newest nephew (born in November). z's dad can be the single guy (woo hoo!). We were originally planning to go down Sunday (Stitches on Sat) so that we can do a weekend down there, but it's looking like we'll be back on Friday...so...Friday to Stitches it is.

But it looks like no one is interested in going on Friday...so, it looks like I'll be solo. Of course, this also means that I won't have an enabler w/ me, telling me what great yarns those are and how I can't get it anywhere else...

Wish me luck! And I am going to really try to limit my yarn purchases to stuff I'll use. I have been super duper good. I have not bought any yarn since October/November. I've been trying to bust the stash.

Uhmmm...of course, I'm having lunch w/ a friend today in the City, and realized that Artfibers is literally around the corner from her building....I will go and see what all the hoobaloo is about.

Even sock pics!

Here's my first sock! (and then some). As I said, the sock yarn is from ??? and I used a very simple pattern. I think that the toe part is wonky but once you put it on, no probs. I just need to find out how to sew the ends in w/o bothering me...

At last.... (no really, can I have a drumroll?...)

Here's my pics. errr...finally. Prefelted


Wait...they magically turned brown in the felting process...just kidding. If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that the blue pair didn't shrink down to quite what I was hoping for.


Specs:
-for the Blue pair: Galway medium woman's clogs
-for the Brown pair: Patons brown/black small woman's clogs