Too cute not to post

The children are asleep. Now the parents get to raid their loot. Shhhhh. Don't tell.

Che sorpresa.

Mr. Stupidhead picked another conservative white guy for the Supreme Court. I'm shocked. Just shocked.

Magknits

October Magknits is up.

Car Trip Art

This evening we were driving home on I-580. The kids were watching a video in the backseat, and I was bored. But aha! I had the camera handy! Here are two of my favorites, taken as we went over the Altamont. The first one reminds me of hearts, and the second of musical notes.

The camera, BTW, is just a Kodak point and shoot digital. I took these shots using the night-time setting, and zoomed in to the camera's max.

Morning Musings

I live in California's Central Valley, where summers are long and hot. But Fall is finally here, with comfortable days and cool, crisp nights. Yesterday we had a few rain showers, and today there's some cloud cover. My students have responded by putting on hats and scarves and parkas and Ugg boots. They look like they're ready for a polar expedition. For goodness sake, the highs are still in the mid-60's! I don't know whether my students are genuinely cold, or if they're just anxious to use their cold-weather gear.


My beloved SUV got crunched this weekend in the grocery store parking lot. An idiot in a pickup backed right into me, even though I was honking like mad. He says he didn't hear me, and he certainly didn't see me. I strongly suspect he was talking on his cell phone, because he managed to have 2 more phone calls in the 5 minutes it took to exchange insurance information. He did $1700 worth of crunching, which my body shop won't get to until the end of November, and which will take them a week to fix. Foruntately, although the kids were in the car with me, nobody was hurt or traumatized. And there is a small silver lining: the fender he squished, which will be replaced, already had 2 largish door dings in it. So at least I'll get rid of them.


I stopped this morning for a venti pumpkin spice Frappuccino because I needed a major caffeine and sugar boost. Right in front of Starbucks, some guy was in the process of being arrested. I have no idea what for; probably nothing important, because there was only one cop car involved. I felt kinda sorry for the guy. What a crappy way to begin your Friday.


Thing One needed to get some cavities filled yesterday. She was an extremely good girl. And for an extra $200 out of her parents' pockets, she got Twinky Star fillings, which are colored and glittery. She even got to choose her colors (pink and blue). The dental tech warned us against orange--he said it just looks like the kid's been eating Cheetos. While I certainly appreciate anything that will help a 6-year-old tolerate dental work, I wonder if it's really such a great idea to make cavities FUN!?!


Elizabeth Hickok has sculpted San Francisco in Jello. Knatolee, does this inspire you?

Clapotis est fini

Allison is modeling my clapotis, fini. I'm very pleased with the scarf, which ended up using about 3 1/3 skeins of yarn. Allison looks a little strange in this pic because (1) she just returned from the dentist, and her mouth is numb, (2) she's about to leave for gymnastics, hence the leotard, and (3) they're having a Halloween party at gymnastics today, hence the hot pink hair.

I should mention that Angelika's got my extra yarn to me within 3 days, and the dye lots seem to be a good match.

I am looking forward to taking my clapotis to Europe with me.

Ooh la la?

I have been slooooowly making progress on my current project, a clapotis. I'm using Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in the Jeans colorway. This yarn is equally scrumptious to look at and to touch. I bought it a bunch of months ago at Stash in Berkeley. Now, I normally buy an extra ball of yarn or so, just in case. But this stuff is really spendy--as in $30 or so a pop. So I just bought the 3 that the pattern calls for. Well, Saturday night I hit the halfway point on my clapotis and realized that 3 wasn't gonna make it. I searched online and found Angelika's Yarn Store, which had the right color in stock. I ordered one more ball, and it looks like it was shipped today. I just hope the dye lot is a good match. I'm wondering, too, why I'm running short, because I tend to knit tightly, and because I didn't care about gauge in the project, I should have had enough yarn.

Clapotis was inspired by Parisian women, and it looks like I'll actually get to wear mine in Paris. This winter, the plan is for the grandparents to come stay with the kids, so hubby and I get a grownup vacation in London and Paris. First time the two of us will have the time and the money to go to Europe together. Hooray!

As If My Knitting Backlog Wasn't Big Enough Already

The Fall Knitty and September Magknits are up.

Best Character Name Ever?

I saw this in a teaser for next week's Arrested Development. Scott Baio (where has he been for the last 20 years??) will play an attorney named Bob Loblaw. I can't stop saying it out loud....

Ruthie Models Again

Ruthie models my newest FO, the Alpaca Crack Scarf. It's made from one of the balls of yarn I received from KnitPicks. A single ball of Suri Dreams costs just $3.99, and it's enough for a quite long scarf. The yarn itself is really light and lofty. It's like wearing whipped cream. I'm not sure if Strawberry is Ruthie's color, nor do I think she really needs a scarf when it's 90 degrees out, but doesn't she look pretty? (ignore the drool-related guck on her neck and chest, please).

Time for a Quickie

Noro Daria drop-stitch scarf. A nice immediate gratification project, and I just had to try Daria.

Not California Dreamin'

It's not even October yet, and I'm buried in work. So of course I'm dyadreaming about vacations. Right now I'd probably jump at a vacation to anywhere (hey, we honeymooned in Lincoln, Nebraska!), but I've decided on my top 3 Fantasy Exotic Trips: Bhutan, the Galapagos Islands, and Botswana.

This week I haven't even made it to Modesto.

Ruthie in Stitches

This is my version of the Boyfriend Bag from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, with Ruthie Toothie as the model. It's made of Cascade Sierra, a cotton/wool blend, and lined with dog bone-print fabric. It took me forever to knit because I'm painfully sloooow at fair isle knitting.

Truth in advertising, finding religion, alpaca crack

Possibly one of the 10 best commercials, ever. Really. And this is funny, too.

Have you found the Lord yet? No?? Try this! Some religious group sent a flyer home with my Thing 1 today (from public school) which stated, "Release time for religion, an important part of education, is provided for by state law and school board policy...." Parents are supposed to sign a permission form so kids could attend "Release Time Rallies." After visiting this website, I think it's time to schedule my own Release Time Rally.

Last night I skipped over to my husband to show him my KnitPicks loot. He said, "Oh. That's what crack looks like." He knows me too well.

Major gloat time!

Last week, I received an email from KnitPicks about a surprise package they were sending to a few customers so we could see the new fall yarns. "How nice!" I thought. "They're sending me color cards." Well, the box arrived today, and it certainly looked too big for color cards.








Hmmm! What's inside??

Wow!!!

The booty:

I know this is very smart marketing by KnitPicks. It's reminiscent of the tactics used by drug dealers. You know, "Here kid! Just try some! It's free!"

But I don't care.

I'm sure the marketing will work and I will order some of this yarn. In the meantime, I can decide what to do with a bunch of single balls. The package did include a pattern for a 1-ball scarf. And now that I have been appropriately bribed, I can still truthfully attest that these yarns are very nice. The green one at the front right is Ambrosia, a baby alpaca-cashmere blend, and it's especially yummy.

I'm not sure why I got the free yarn. I've only ordered from KnitPicks maybe 3 times, most recently in June, and I haven't spent a fortune there. My Mon, who's also ordered from them, didn't get free yarn. Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe I'm just obviously a sucker for their ploy. I don't care. I'm just going to gloat for a while.

The Perfect Yarn Store

I do yarn shop tourism. Partly this is because yarn shops in my immediate vicinity are scarce, and partly because it's just fun. So any time I travel, if I have the chance, I try to visit new fiber stores. You can read reviews from some of my visits here.

I have a (totally unrealistic) fantasy of owning my own LYS. As the new academic year begins, and I begin the thankless and unrewarding job of department chair, it's particularly tempting to lapse into this fantasy. So yesterday, as the family was driving home from a visit to the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento (which entailed no yarn shopping), I gave my patient husband an oral dissertation on the Perfect Yarn Store. Here are some of the Perfect Yarn Store's characteristics.

1. Naturally, it has an excellent selection of yarn. It is particularly strong on high-end basics, and it carries a wide selection of some of my frequent standbys, such as Lamb's Pride, Manos, and Noro. It also carries some novelty yarn, but it's stronger in basics.
2. The staff is friendly and helpful, and yet allows people to shop without hovering over them. I like to feel like I can browse forever, unmolested, but also that assistance will be at my beck and call if needed.
3. The store is sufficiently well-staffed that it's easy to find someone to help you, and you don't have to wait long to pay.
4. The yarn is displayed in such a way that it's easy to find something specific. I prefer stores that organize by fiber weight and type, not by color or brand.
5. Like Lint (in Portland, Oregon), yarn bins have tags that are color-coded by yarn weight. This makes it easy to find, for example, all the worsted yarns.
6. The store is attractive and it is clear that the owners have given thought to its design.
7. There are places to sit and browse patterns or, perhaps, just sit and knit.
8. There's enough room in the store that it doesn't feel crowded, even when there are lots of shoppers inside.
9. The lighting is good.
10. There is an excellent and well-organized selection of patterns and notions.
11. Each yarn is clearly tagged with price.
12. Each yarn has at least a small swatch displayed nearby, so you can see what it looks like knitted up.
13. There are lots of knitted up garments on display, each clearly marked as to pattern source and yarn tpe, amount, and cost.
14. It's easy to reach the yarns (I'm 5 feet tall).
15. It's kid friendly. Really, I prefer to shop unburdened by my offspring, but that's just not always possible. I love yarn stores that have a box of toys to occupy the kids. I also prefer if the staff does not give the evil eye to my generally well-behaved girls the moment we enter.
16. There's a cafe in the yarn store (which also makes a good place to occupy children and spouses).
17. It's easy to find the store, and parking or public transportation is convenient.
18. The store also carries a nice selection of buttons, and maybe even other goodies like jewelry.
19. There are other interesting shops and restaurants nearby. I often make a day's outing out of a yarn store trip, especially since many stores are located 2 hours or more from my house.
20. The store is open long hours. I have a full-time job and two young kids; I can often only manage to shop on weekends or evenings.
21. The store has a website with information about hours of operation, directions, and a list of yarns carried. News on upcoming events would be nice, too
22. The store sponsors not just classes (which I have never taken) but also fun events. For example, I've seen shops that have book club/knitting nights, special knitting nights for moms, and knitting trips and camps. At one store, I recently saw a poster advertising a Knitting at the Movies night: a local theater would be showing March of the Penguins with the theater lights only part-way dimmed, so that people could knit and watch the movie.

I'm sure I can think of other things as well, but this is a good start! Of course, no single store can meet every one of these criteria, and some of the criteria are more important than others. If anyone thinks they've found the Perfect Yarn Store, I'd love to hear about it. In my next post, I'll list the closest contenders I've found so far, at least in Northern California and Oregon.

One More Completed Project

A sweater for Thing 2. It's Isabel's Sweater, from "Knitter's Stash." I made it in grape-colored Katia Himalaya, with yellow Berroco Pronto for the trim. It was slightly traumatic, because I ended up just a few dozen yards short on the Himalaya, and my original source, Elann, no longer has this color. Fortunately, I found it elsewhere online (Perfect Touch Yarns, to be precise), and thanks to Priority Mail, I had it in hand in 3 days. And there's no discernible line from unmatching dye lots.

I think this will look cuter on, but there's no way I'm going to make Cutie Pie model a heavy sweater when it's 95 degrees out. So instead, I have posed it in its natural element, among the detritus of an evening's playing. Tonight, the girls were playing Veterinarian, Pirates, Taking Care of Babies, and Putting Things in Bags.

When Dinosaurs Have Tea Parties

Tooth Fairy Purse

Thing One has her very first loose tooth. So what does she need? A felted Tooth Fairy purse, of course! In the requisite 5-year-old girl colors: purple and pink.

Felted laptop bag from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. It fits my laptop perfectly. I finished the knitting and felting last week, and then bought the zipper while were in Oregon, celebrating my sister's wedding.