I AM NOT A TERRORIST!!!! BUT THE GUY IN FRONT OF ME MIGHT BE.....
ok, since my last post i've returned from the out of town job where we stayed at a golf resort down south in san diego and have left again, this time heading north to napa valley on another job. we finally arrived last night at 11pm only to discover that we were really meant to be shooting in LOS ANGELES AT 9AM TODAY!!! with 3 hours sleep, we made the 6am flight this morning back to l.a. and managed to arrive to our shoot a half hour early. but that wasn't the craziest part of it, and here comes the knitting content:
i'm almost done with the gusset increases on the koigu socks and am anxious to get to the heel portion and be done with these suckers!!!! i could knit an entire sweater and put in a zipper (which i've never attempted btw) faster than these socks are going!!! #1 needles are just insane, and susan bates #1 needles are maddening!!!! i think they're alluminum,i don't know, but they suck ass. they're sticky!!! they just slow me down, and the joints from the needle to the wire portion is far from smoothe, so i have to hand force every stitch up to the needle. i soooooo want to switch to some addi turbos, but aside from the potential gauge change, i just don't have the cash to be blowin' money on needles i already have.
but back to the travel foibles: first off, as a photographer in a post 9/11 world, i've learned the lesson to arrive 3 hours early for even the shortest commuter flight to northern california. i've learned not to argue about anything with anyone. as if on auto-pilot, i remove my shoes, my belt, my watch and remove my laptop from its own case and put it in the lovely utilitarian grey, plastic one that tsa provides. i always expect that they'll pull me aside to do a more thorough search of the camera case, and AT THE VERY MOST, inspect each packet of film (we shoot a hell of a lot of film. thus the 3 hours). the tsa employees are less than thrilled to have to do this, but this morning we encountered perhaps the most argumentative one ever. she moaned, she groaned, she huffed, she puffed as she explained that it was going to take a while because she had to CUT OPEN THE PLASTIC WRAP ON EACH AND EVERY ROLL OF FILM!!!!! meanwhile, i decided to push the limits of the knitting needle allowance beacause i really wanted to get these damn koigu thangys over with!!!! i usually only ever try to bring bamboo needles on board, and i suspect that they've never been detected, because no one has ever stopped me for them. i assumed that the very thin #1 susan bates alluminums would be mistaken for headphone wires or some such benign object. and if they did want to confiscate them, it would be my excuse to replace them with the addis that i want anyway. sure enough, no reaction coming or going. BUT SHE STILL HAD TO INSPECT AND UNWRAP EVERY ROLL OF FILM!!!!! and did i argue??? no i did not. here's the real kicker though. ahead of me was a guy with A BLACK WOODEN BASEBALL BAT sticking straight up outta the top of his backpack!!!! no one said a thing!!!!! and then he ends up sitting in front of me on the flight!!!! so yeah, sure, go ahead and inspect every roll of poisonous film, completely pass on the pointy metal things i'm not supposed to be bringing in the first place, but DON'T LET THE GUY WITH THE SKULL CRUSHER JUST SAIL ON THROUGH!!!!! people, if you think this world is any safer with these minimum-wagers running the show, you're dreamin'. hell, if i was gettin' paid 5 bucks an hour to put up with all that crap, i'd let stuff slip by too. oh, i could go on forever......
aside from the small needle annoyance, i've gone sock crazy!!! after spotting a random ball of yarn on over at wendy's, i emailed her for more info about who made it as it was a combo of all my favorite colors in a stripy pattern. but before she could reply, i had gone online searching for it and discovered that it was a regia self striping yarn. then i promptly found some for auction on ebay and returned home to find it in the mailbox tonight.
i'm so fried from our whirlwind 12 hour roundtrip flight, BUT I WANT TO CAST ON FOR ANOTHER PAIR OF SOCKS WITH THIS YARN RIGHT NOW!!!! i must control myself. i must finish the pair i have going now. i must go to sleep and rest up for day 2 of our shoot. i'm so conflicted, but y'all know how this is gonna turn out. to be continued........
when you're out of town on a job and held up in a hotel room, you have time to read about this kind of insanity. if this lady doesn't have grounds for a serious law suit, i don't know who does!!!!
i'm so bored, i found myself watching american idol, the groundhog's day episode even. but i'm gettin' a ton done on these socks!!!! i'll be up to the heel in a few rows. wooooo hooooooooo!!!!!
can't wait to get back home tomorrow night. this job killed my already aching back. looking forward to my massage friday!!!!!
it's kinda like KIP but better. Knitting While Out Of Town = KWOOT. i'm out of town on a job until thursday. staying at a golf resort in the middle of, well, nowhere. seeing as i don't get the concept of golf, my evenings are going to be spent knittin' away on my koigu socks and checkin' out blogs. life's been so crazy at home, that it's a nice escape to be here in a big, fluffy bed with nothing to do but knit. i only wish i had brought more than one project, but at least i'll make some headway on these small-needled buggers. #1 needles are nuts!!! and i have to say that i do not dig susan bates needles. i should have known better, but i just couldn't spend the money on addis when i wasn't sure how i was gonna like knitting socks. but i'm finding that i love socks and may now have to bite the bullet and get me some o' those addis after all. i brought my digi cam so maybe some progress pics in a few days........
HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!!! tonight i'll be wearing this, which i made last year, and sweating my ass off, as it's 80 degrees here in los angeles. what an irish will do for pride........
ok, i started to write this post earlier today, and i clicked on an empty link and low and behold, POOF, there went the entire frickin' thing, pictures and all!!! so let's try this again.
first of, can i just ask WHEN IS THIS GOING TO JUST GO AWAY????? at least i can be comforted knowing that, should i ever find myself in prison, i can still get my hands on some yarn, albeit, ugly ass yarn, but yarn nonetheless......
so on to my badd ass weekend. first off, i didn't knit at all which was nice for a change. saturday, i took a good friend out for her birthday. we went to two very different yet very exciting events....
our first destination for the evening was roller derby night!!!! yes, you read correctly, roller derby is alive and well. i'm totally dating myself here, but if you were a kid growing up in the 70's, you most likely watched a few roller derby matches on weekend television. i loved the matches. it was way more exciting than cartoons for me. the teams were co-ed. the women were super beauty amazons who could defnitenly hold their own. i loved my local team the l.a, t-birds and had complete disdain for the bay city bombers.....
so cut to last saturday night and the all-girl roller derby league, the derby girls these bitches are brutal!!!!!
the bout takes place on a banked track located in a wherehouse that serves as a feather processing plant by day for the poultry plant next door. let's just say the smell was gamey to say the least, but it added to all the seedy under belly of it all. we sat in arena style seating made out of humongous styrofoam blocks. i felt like i was about to watch a cockfight, but i was about to watch a bitch fight!!!
the bout was between the "fight crew" and the "sirens." we weren't sure who to cheer for at first, much less what the rules were, but we quickly realized we were in sirens' fan territory. they were all cheering for their favorite siren, stabitha, with fists in the air mimicking a stabbing motion as they chanted her name. so we bcame sirens fans as well.
check out the sirens' bad ass outfits complete with mini skirts, fishnets, and all proper padding and helmets.
there's no time for cryin' when a member of the fight crew is tryin' to push through, but emma geddon gets a good nudge in where it counts!!!
as of halftime, the sirens were behind, but thanks to the slammin' efforts of jammer,thora zeen, we came back in the last 10 minutes to win the night!!!! festivities continued into the evening with autograph sessions, bands, and a whole lotta pabst blue ribbon, but we moved on to a totally different scene.....
while i have no pictures of all the kids gettin' down, this picture says it all. the reunion of four of my favorite djs who all turned me on to music as i know it (l to r) cocknie o'dire, dj daz, culture d, and tomas. a reunion of umoja, swahili translation = unity, a club i used to attend religiously every monday night for two years back in the early '90s. where i began taking pictures and made lifelong friends, and even lost one to a senseless shooting(miss you, fats) the night was so much fun seeing a whole new generation of people enjoying a mix of rare grooves, soul, dancehall, and house. fun seeing old friends from back in the day. made me remember what it was that i love so much about taking pictures. tomas left us at the end of the night with the same song that i used to request so much that it just became the traditional night ender every week......
you must get closer to the essence of life but be aware that it takes courage and strife expand your mind, don't let it whither and die you might even lift your spirits high to the sky
so meditate let's contemplate
talk to the heavenly bodies of the universe
go on go on talk to the heavenly bodies of the universe
i've been reading about everyone involved in sockapalooza, and i wish i had joined in. the only problem is that i'd have a hard time giving up the pair i'd made. it would be exciting to get another surprise pair though!!!!! hopefully there'll be another one.
so i've only made it this far with the koigu socks. they're going super slow!! this yarn is so tiny and i'm knitting these on #1 needles. but they're coming out really nice, so i suppose they're worth the wait. i'm needing to have another project going at the same time, and cast on for another newsboy hat. it makes #8 needles seem really huge!!!
i'm also reading about everyone ripping old stuff out and recycling the yarn into other projects. i'm thinkng of ripping this out...
no that's not me already ripping out the sweater. that was the last photo i shot of it while i was still trying to figure out what sort of neckline i wanted. it's the original chicknits ribby pullover pattern which is no longer available and has now been replaced with the ever popular chicknits ribby cardigani ended up finishing it pretty much how it's seen here, and i've worn it a lot. but i was 30 pounds heavier then, and it's made from noro cotton cash iroha. the cotton content has caused it to stretch just a bit, and combined with the weight loss, it's just too baggy. the yarn is gorgeous though and really deserves to be made into something equally gorgeous. i've never cardiganized either, so maybe this'll turn into it's successor afterall. stay tuned.........
my friend sent me this picture of her new baby girl wearing the hat i made her. i also made her these adorable baby ugg boots with a matching hat in a cute hot pink. baby stuff is so fun and quick to make, and the parents all really seem to appreciate them as gifts.
AFTER 2 YEARS, I HAVE FINALLY COMPLETED A PAIR OF SOCKS!!!!! three different starts and finally i got the hang of it. my feet are so happy right now. and look what i've cast on for next....
my first venture with koigu. and it's all about two socks on two circs in my humble beginning sock knitter's opinion....
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????
