i re-cast on the sumire top last night. figured out the new gauge and re-wrote the pattern. it's killing me!!!!! but i wan tthis top to be right and i want to wear it. i guess this is the learning process when you start making up your own patterns. and no pics to post because i leant out my digi camera. i never realized just how much i used it until i didn't have it. i'm not lending it again.
my next race is this sunday. this one's a bigger deal. i placed 4th in this race last year, and i really wanna push for the top 3!!!! just trying to have a mellow week unlike the last race and get in my last swims, cycles and runs with no stress. i tried new inserts in my shoes and it seems to have solved the blister situation. and today i'm going to buy clipless pedals and try them out for the race. normally i wouldn't try anything new so close to race day, but the pedals will really maximize my cycling effort.
just went to the this or that link to update today and they announced that they're on hiatus. too bad. i think one of them is planning a wedding and the other is on vaction??????? so i might take it out o fmy blog template for a while. anyone found any other things like it that i can replace it with? i already do the friday 5.
i'm soooo pissed!!!! i decided to put the sumire top on waste yarn and try it on to see how it was fitting. i've read a lot about poeple doing this and i'd never done it myself. it's also hard to know if your piece is coming out the correct size when you're knitting in the round as the piece bunches up to fit the needles. well, i should have done it way sooner since i've found out that it's WAY TOO BIG!!!!!! so i checked the gauge again and i'm off. way off! i must have done the gauge swatch on straight needles which came out differently on the same size circulars. so i've frogged the whole frickin' thing!!!!! i'm starting over from scratch with the new gauge. i really want to have this done by the sunset junction festival since we've decide to make it my birthday party as well. this of course is all in combination with the factthat my next race is this sunday and i'm trying to pack in some training this week. argggh!!!!!
another hollywood legend gone. memories of the entire family sitting around watching his cheesy holiday specials are fond ones. one can only dream to live a life of 100 full years making people laugh.......
hi everyone. sorry i haven't posted for a bit, but i picked up some work at the end of the week and also leant out my digi camera so there was nothing to update. went to vegas on a shoot over the weekend. it was so frickin' hot!!!!!!! and a hectic shoot as well, so i'm happy to be home. also had my first KWT experience (knitting while traveling). no one said a thing about my bamboo needles and i made a lot of progress on the sumire top on the flight home. now i only have to finish the ribbing and the straps on the top and it'll be ready to wear to the sunset junction festival. there's a great line up of bands this year!!!!
being from los angeles, people are fascinated about whether i see celebrities here. so in true hollyweird spirit, i'll be maintaining a celebrity sightings link. i'll try to include photos when possible being that i have no shame or problem walking up to celebrities and asking to take their photo. so to inaugurate my celebrity sightings section of the blog, i'll begin with who was on my flight home from vegas.
ron jeremy, the porn king,
and
actress, mena suvari.
they were not together i might add. sorry there are no actual live pics. as imentioned above, i leant out my camera. but i'll get it back and i'll start hitting the streets in search of celebrities to bring to you on this blog. maybe even a celebrity knitting!!! cross your fingers!!!!
so in my virtual knitting group and on a few blogs now, i've noticed that people are already thinking about christmas gifts. and considering how slow i knit, i should be too. but thinking about christmas when it's 90 degrees in the shade and all i wanna do is go to the beach, it's just not happening. i have some chunky wool i bought on ebay a few weeks back that i can make a few hats or scarves out of, but other than that, i don't think everyone is going to get a hollyweird original this year. maybe just a few chosen folks. i finished my swatches for jen and they're getting sent out this afternoon!!!! now it'a back to the sumire top cuz i want to finish it and wear it while it's still summer!!!! i'm about halfway done, so i gotta ramp it up.
the results were posted late last night. i placed 16th out of 17 in my division. argggggh!!!!! i definitely need to focus on improving my cycling and clipless pedals will be the next purchase for sure. interestingly though, i placed 1019 overall but 789 overall in the swim portion. hmmmmm.
in knitting news, i'm almost done with my second swatch for jen!!!!!! i'll be popping them in the mail tomorrow and then on to the next set for stacy!!!! woo hoo!!!
here's a picture of me all geeked out at 5am in front of the cove where we swam. i swam all the way from where those lights are behind me to where i'm standing!!!!! and here's a picture of evryone setting up their stuff in the transition area. there were over 1500 participants!!!! it was crazy, and i'm pretty certain that i was the last one in my division to finish, but i'm so happy i did it!!!!!! i'm pretty sore today, but overall no worse for the wear. i realize that i need to focus on cycling. my bike's not the right size and i need to take a bike maintenance class. i'm gonna look for one this week. next race is in 3 weeks!!!!! i have jury duty again this week, so back to the needles!!!!!!
well this is probably gonna be my last post until after the weekend's over. i work tonight and then coach early in the morning and then i drive an hour to pick up my race packet and i'll be staying down there until the race the next morning. i'm nervous and anxious and just ready to get it over with!!!!!! and guess what. there's another knitting triathlete out there!!! check out super girl. cool!!!!!
did anyone watch this show the other night???? what a piece of crap!!! it really saddens me that these ridiculous stereotypes are continually being perpetuated. my gay friends have way more style than any of these fools without being catty and campy. so sad. so so sad. i can't wait until t.v. get's over the reality and makeover shows. but i shutter to think what we'll move towards next.
in other news, i've totally overextended myself this week which i know better than to do right before a race. i had an insane gig yesterday and another half day today and i just got a call for tomorrow. i need to take the work, but it's coming at the worst time. all that to say that there's no real progress on any knitting, but i'm trying to post regulary, so there!!!! i'll be back to jury duty again next week, so i'll be passing those bamboos through the metal detector once again!!!!
so i've spent the better half of the day producing for this job on wednesday. i'm only supposed to be assisting this photographer, but after meeting with her last night, i realize that her last assitant really held her hand on evrything and lit it all for her. for this, i should probaly be getting paid more, but i'm just happy to be working. it just cut into my morning blog reading and of course getting any knitting done. i can relax a little bit more this afternoon, but not everything is finalized. i did see on buttafly's blog that she's posted pics of gher new baby girl. so adorable!!! what a blessing.
went to a great ocean swim clinic this morning at the actual course for next week's race. i had to get up at 4:30am to get there on time!!!!! i forgot to bring my digi camera but i'll try to get a shot of it when i go back for the race next sunday. i learned so much about water entry and exit and dealing with surf. i'm pretty confident in the ocean having grown up at the beach, so i feel fortunate compared to others who are dealing with their panic when they enter the water. and no matter how comfortable you are, the ocean will always throw you a surprise and that gives me the ultimate respect for nature.
in knitting news, i haven't made any more progress on the sumire top since the last photo. i'm gonna sit down right now and work on the rebecca redux.
i forgot how great this movie is!!! the egyptian is a wonderful theatre right on hollywood blvd. with a lot of history. they host the best film series, the american cinematheque. tonight they screened this followed by a q&a with paul mazursky and leigh taylor-young!!!!! they went on and on talking about the eccentricities of peter sellers and how much pot they smoked while filming it. and did you know that alice b. is a real person? she was gertrude stein's lover. she actually wrote a cookbook with her famous pot brownie recipe in it. apparently the version that's available in the states has edited that recipe out, but you can still get the original edition in europe. but mazursky's suggestion was "just make brownies and throw 'some' in!!!!" taylor-young also mentioned that she was wearing the same jeans in the last scene that james dean wore in "Rebel Without a Cause". i still think "The Party" is my favorite sellers flick.
showed up for jury duty this morning at 8am. my bamboo circs made it through the metal detector without a hitch. i got a few rows in on my sumire summer top before they opened the jury room. they announed to us that we had been transfered to this jurisdiction because their jury pool was completely depleted and if we stayed we could "probably gaurantee" (what an oxymoron) to be put on a trial that could last anywhere form 3 to 10 days not including deliberation. so i decided to save the talking to myself bit and went straight for the postponement so i can take that gig next wednesday. the sucky part is that when i report on the 21st I HAVE TO START ALL OVER!!!!!! none of the days that i called in this week will count. what a sham!!!!
so here's where i'm at with the sumire top:
i just love the way this fabric is coming out. how beautiful are those colors????
but i'm finished with the first skein, so today i'm gonna move over to the rebecca redux. stay tuned...........
so i've been on jury duty all week. it's changed since i last served about 6 or 7 years ago. now it's on a phone-in system. you call after 5pm the night before and it tells you whether you need to report the following day. so all week, i've been calling in and some automated voice tells me to call back the next day after 5pm. it's thursday now, and i'm figuring that they can't possibly call me in on the last day, right? WRONG!!!!!!! and given my unemployed status, you would think that this would be the perfect time to get my civic duty over with, right? WRONG!!!!!!! i finally booked a gig with a new photographer for next wednesday. this woman could potentially bring me regular work. now i have to call her tomorrow and tell her that i may not be available. arggghhh!!!!!! at least i'll be able to get some quality knitting in. and i'm just gonna do like i did last time, say crazy things like "i think drugs should be legalized" and "the revolution is coming." that should get me kicked out of every jury pool and potential trial. better yet, i'll knit vigorously while talking to myself!!!! HA!!!!
so i'm now on the knitting blogs ring. let's see if that will motivate me to keep up with my posts. and i also added the list referers javascript. can anyone tell me why the referers show up on the explorer version of my blog, but not on the netscape version? i'll have to drop a line to stephen and see if he has any suggestions. and i promise that i'll start adding more hollywood-ish and hollyweird-ish links. especially the celebrity sightings link. don't know if i'll ever catch a celebrity knitting, but maybe i'll open a forum to discuss whether some of them really knit or not. so come one, come all to see all that is holly and all that is weird in my knitting adventures!!!!!!! screening soon will be THE REBECCA REDUX!!!!!!
when picking patterns, i need to be more realistic about what will look right on me. i should've known better. the girl in the magazine has no chest. how did i think that and extra 6cm of ruffle would not look ridiculous on me?? and i know i seamed the front wrong, so it sags and makes me look like a frickin' shar pei. the good new is that i think i can frog back to where the ruffle starts and try re-seaming it into something respectable.
i'm loving the noro cotton cash iroha yarn that i won for this on ebay. it's so soft. it's cotton/cashmere/nylon which makes the perfect fabric for "cold weather" here in l.a. i'm gonna hold off on working on this one or at least take my time since it'll be months before i'll be wearing anything this warm.
and in the meantime i've bought this stuff at the lys.
it's also a noro yarn called "sumire" which i think was sitting there for a while cuz i got a good price for it. it's a cotton yarn twisted with a colorful silk slub yarn. i love love love this stuff and i'm making another summer tube type top with i-chord straps. i'm making up the pattern myself, so wish me luck!!!!!
and if i didn't have enough yarn already, i won this yarn on ebay ( actually i went for the "buy it now" option). i'm not even a big fan of chunky wool, but the colors grabbed me and i think i can make at least 3 or 4 holiday gift scarves out of it.
THAT'S IT!!!NOMORE YARN!!!! STAY TUNED FOR THE REBECCA REDUX............
so i finished the rebecca top. it looks aweful!!!!! but i think i can salvage it. i'll post pictures later when my digi cam batteries are charged. i bought some new noro yarn at the lys. it's a cotton/silk slub blend called "sumire" and i think it was sitting there for a while cuz it was pretty cheap. i think i'm gonna design myself a summer top with it. i also won some more big, fun noro wool on ebay!!! that stuff won't become anything until the fall at least. ok, now i really need to go on a yarn diet!!!! no yarn for at least a month.
finally got back to swimming, so far only in the ocean and not the pool. crossing my fingers that the eye infection is gone for good. sunday, a friend and i went for a lesiurly 10 mile bike ride along venice beach and the marina and then i hopped in the water and swam about 3/4 of a mile in super rough surf. i'm beginning to believe again that your muscles never forget. tonight i'll go for a 3 mile run and hope that the blister doesn't come back. i spoke to the guy at the running store and he confirrmed what i didn't want to hear. the blisters are coming from my shoe being the wrong fit for my foot type. that's what i get for trying to go with a lighter shoe!!! oh well, i can still use them for track work, but nothing over a 3 mile run. well, i'm heading out for my run. i'll post pictures when i get back.
i keep starting off my posts with "haven't posted in a while" sorry about that. i have so much to update and so many buttons to add!!!! but i'm finally over at a friends house transferring a bunch of files that i couldn't access from home. in knitting news, i finished knitting the top from rebecca #25 last night. now i just have to seam it up which is gonna be tricky since the front is way longer than the back and is supposed to get bunched up while seaming. cross your fingers!!! i also won this yarn on ebay the other week. i love the colors and it's sooooooo soft. i started my first sweater with it using the chicknits ribby pullover pattern. i can take my time with this one since i have 'til november before i'll need to even think about wearing it here in l.a. thinking about doing another quick summer top with some pretty cotton/silk noro stuff i found at the junky lys that has a few teasures within it.
and in summer fitness news: i'm vigorously training for my first of three triathlons of the summer coming up july 20th. it'll be my first ocean swim, so i'm a little freaked. but i just can't win when it comes to training. i have a six day a week schedule right now and i'm really trying to stick with it. on monday i found out that i've acquired an eye infection which may be from the pool i've been swimming in for years. the doc says, no swimming!!!! so i decided to stick with the rest of the schedule and go for my six mile run last night. i took it easy the first 3 miles and was warming up great and started to speed it up for the second half. by mile 4.5 i had the worst pain in my left foot and wasn't sure what it was, but the more i ran, the worse it got to the point where i had to stop and walk the last mile. got home to find a blister under the arche of my foot!!!! a blister on my arche!!!! now i've seen it all. i'm really hoping that all i need are new inserts in my shoes (mine are really old). so that leaves cycling later today and i'm terrified of what the outcome will be. but i already registered for the race, so i'm commited even if i have to crawl across the finish line!!!!!
monica, 33, single
photographer / running coach
live in los angeles
2 dogs, ella (lab) and ruby (dobi)
learned to knit when i was 7, but recently picked it up again in december 2002
...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
i've thought about this one before. i'd call the restaurant "whateva's cleva" and change the menu every day with all my favorites including, mexican, indian, soul food, veggie friendly, etc.
...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
yarn, duh!!!!!
...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
biographies are my favorite, but i can't imagine that my own would be a top seller. probably a crime story.
...ran a school, what would you teach?
tolerance
...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
oh, again, that's a difficult one. i'm a musical schizophrenic. some punk, some funk, some metal, some rap, and at least one sappy love song
how come this little pixie never looks like me????
