i have to admit that i passed up going on a dinner date to watch the finale of project runway tonight. yes, i'm that crazy. i have followed this show from the beginning and i've been absolutely enthralled. a smart show about creative people with an abundance (well at least two of them) of talent. and while i too thought it was in the bag with kara saun, i knew there had to be a twist and predicted it would ultimately be jay in the end. come on, you gotta love anyone who does "drunk yoga." we all knew that wendy wench was just there for drama, so it couldn't be as obvious as it was set up to be. in the end kara saun pulled a fast one with her custom shoes, and to be quite honest, i'm over fur and leather. and jay used knits all over the place!!!! gorgeous knit an crocheted items that he comissioned with his budget. gotta love that. i'd like to know who did the knitting for him...
makes me want to dust off fear and loathing and read it again.......
and in knitting news: i've finally done two socks on two circs and made it past the heels!!!!
i've had that "my first sock" link in the "on the needles" sidebar for 2 YEARS!!!! i started with some random regia camouflage yarn on dpns and just lost my mind. then i switched to some other regia mini ringel and decided that i would have to learn how to do two socks on two circs or i'd never finish the second one, and if i did, it sure wouldn't match the first one. but when i got to the dreaded heel, i got all confused and frustrated and then pulled the needles out of it to do something else. this past november, while i was in new york, i broke down and bought myself my first skeins of koigu to see what everyone has been raving about. well, i still wasn't getting it and didn't want to waste such beautiful yarn. then a week ago, i decided once again to give it a try with some bigger yarn that might make it easier to see what i was doing and learn the construction of a sock. but i didn't buy just any old boring sock yarn. instead i got some more koigu, this time the kersti merino crepe. this yarn was far less frustrating and i finally got it!!! turning the heel wasn't as frightening as i imagined. but after i'd done the heel and nearly finished the ribbing of the top, i felt like it was just a bit loose all around. so what does a good learning knitter do??? she rips it back!!!! all the way to the gusset increases where i then ripped back 6 rows and started from there. they're much more snug now, and i'm happy i ripped out to really figure out how i wanted these to fit. so back to the ribbing for the top, and finally, i'll be able to put that damn link in the "finished stuff" sidebar!!!!!
well the word is out in blogland and i'm doin' my part to send another shout out.
marie of scifiville and space craft has now launched knitcast, a very brilliant blog that takes knitting beyond blogland and into the audio realm. knitcast features audio podcasts of knitting related topics available for free download. the first installment features two knitting biologists who talk about bacteria and fungi as knittinng inspiration. i particularly geeked out when they discussed bioluminescence, one of my favorite oceanic phenomenons!!!!
next up will be an interview with wendy of wendy knits. it'll be fun to finally hear the voices of all the knitters whose blogs i've read for so long!!!
i feel like this is a "what i did on my summer vacation" post. except that it was a blogging vacation. the crazy part is that i've been knitting tons, but just not taking the time to post. also due in part to the fact that my digi cam was stolen. my runners gave me a beautiful one as a gift at the end of our season. so now i've just got to catch up and take pics of all the stuff i've been making. so here's the first installment:
the newsboy hat from stitch 'n bitch nation done in some vintage noro yarn called "silk country"
i needed to make a quick belated birthday gift for the last of a group of girlfriends who i haven't knitted anything for yet. i used the loopy pillow pattern, also from stitch 'n bitch nation, but modified it to make it go faster. i combined three different colors of brown sheep lamb's pride and used size 15 needles. that made a very thick carpet-like loopy front pretty fast. by the time i was done with the front, i really didn't want to knit the backside. so i went and got some felt and tested my sewing skills. i also got ambitous and decided to put a zipper in. it took me a while to pin everything to the right measurements and sew it straight, and let's just say that this is definitely a prototype, but she won't see all my defects and i'm pretty proud of it!!!
a detail of the zipper.not bad eh??
i've also made a "razor's edge" poncho from stitch n bitch nation. i must say that this is the first poncho that suits me. i keep making all these friggin' ponchos only to discover that i'm really too top heavy to be wearing such things. and they're really so 2003, no??? but for some reason i'm such a sucker for cute poncho patterns. SO PONCHOS NO MORE!!! i've also just finished a beautiful silk/mohair short sleeve wrappy sweater from the last rowan. just need to take the time to put myself together enough to take pics of them!!!! sooooooooon!!!
oh, and just so you know what i'm up to all the time when i'm not knitting.......
yesterday i ran the chinatown firecracker 10k. happy lunar new year!!! the course was pretty grueling, with a 2.7 mile uphill climb winding through elysian valley and around dodger stadium and back into chinatown. somehow, i still managed to p.r. with a time of 1:01:12. about a 10:10 minute mile. the views at the top of the park were so gorgeous. i don;t know why i don't run there more often!!!!
they estimated that about 3,000 people came to run that morning
dragon dancers in front of chinatown square
they light off 100,000 firecrackers at the start of the race to ward off evil spirits!!!!!
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????
