As promised

Yarn!

Our friends are so sweet and they know what kind of knitting fanatic I am, so for my birthday I got an absolute solid ton of yarn... ok not quite, but it felt like it carrying it all out of the restaurant.

Firstly, Maritza and Gabe got me a big package of yarn (that's 12 balls!)

They live about 2 blocks from a shop called "Mexico Thread & Yarn" down in the Toy District of downtown LA. Unfortunately this place only sells the yarn wholesale, so you have to buy it by the bag, but that's great for those of us who make larger projects like sweaters, blankets, etc.


Also, the yarn isn't marked as a specific weight and the names are in spanish. So I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's called "La Pantera Rosa" from Estambres yarn. It also says "Angora Yarn 2/8 Janitzio" but it's 90% Acrylic and 10% Nylon. So I'm a little lost on this, but all I know is that it appears to be fingering weight, so I'm either going to get a small sweater out of it or tons of gloves, hats, scarves and socks out of this. I don't care, it's yarn and it's a beautiful purple and white color.

Then from Kasia and Metin...

Three balls of Nashua Creative Focus and a set of double pointed needles. Kasia and I work together (she got me the job actually) and Metin and Chris work together. They are the sweetest people and I didn't expect a gift from them at all and when I saw the yarn I just jumped with joy.

Then Carlos and Caroline got me a new purse

I can't decide though if I want to use it as a purse or as a knitting tote. It's got a nifty little purse inside for like makeup, but I could use it for notions as well. But I love the little anchors on it.

Oh the choices!

Breaking News:

So for my birthday I thought my great gift was a new computer and some DSL, but no, Saturday night Chris got down on one knee and well... we're engaged.

No date is set yet, we're probably going to give it another year or two before we actually tie the knot, but the plans are in the works.

I also got tons of yarn which I haven't yet taken pictures of, but will by my next post.

I just had to share the news. I'm so excited!

My Dirty 30's

Two more days and I will officially have abandoned my 20's... where the heck did they go?????

To celebrate, we're going to go to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Damon's Steak House in Glendale, CA. It's got this awesome tiki theme and the menu is minimal, but sooo very good and they give you a ton of food! Everyone is going to be there so we'll have tons of fun. I'll have finally caught up with them and entered the 30-something realm.

The new job is going great. I'm still in training and it went from being totally lost to being so easy. I'll actually be taking calls by the end of next week and I'm terrified. I felt the same way when I first started my last job, so I know I'll get past it very quickly.

I'm not sure if I mentioned exactly what I would be doing, but a quick rundown: You know those armored trucks you see often parked outside your grocery store, bank, mall, gas station, etc? Well, I'm the one on the phone who places the orders to have those guys go out and pick up the money; not a dispatcher, they're at the local vaults, but I'm the one who customers call to find out when their money is arriving, also takes complaints about the drivers, helps find lost money if it wasn't deposited, etc. I have to warn you now, never, ever approach one of those armed couriers. They carry real guns and will use them if they feel threatened. Don't even ask them for directions!

It's a lot to learn and a lot of math, but it's a pretty neat job and I get paid so very much more than my last, so I'm really happy (so far). Plus just seeing the amounts of money that some of the banks order (from the Federal Reserve) is absolutely ridiculous. The first time I saw an order for over $200,000.00, I almost fainted.

Another word of warning, don't give a tax refund to a knitting addict. I have even more new stuff to show off and I'm just embarrassed. I'm not sure if I had before mentioned that I'd made an order with KnitPicks, but they have great prices on knitting books so I couldn't resist.

Lower left is Kitty Knits: they have some great patterns for both kitty and kittie's mama (that's me). I'm a geek I know. Lower right is Toilet Roll Covers. I've blasted before about those books that offer really useless knits, like leg warmers for your coffee table, door knob cozies or doilies for your tupperware, but the toilet roll cover is such an old school kitschy thing (who's grandma didn't have one!?) that I just had to have the book.

Last and barely visible at the top is just a kids sweater book (Kids: A Knitters Dozen); general stuff, nothing terribly exciting.



I got some stash addition too. Only two balls of yarn, it's KnitPicks Essential in Meadow. It's a great purple, black, green and brown.



Lastly, is the GoKnit Pouch (pictured with the sock yarn). I had purchased this based on the many reviews I'd seen and it truly is really awesome. I attached it to my purse and all you have to do is just run your yarn through the inner loop, it won't tangle, and just knit away! It's small so of course you can really only use it for socks or very small projects since long needles won't fit in there, or might get lost/fall out if they're bigger, but it's so very cool!

I promise, that's the last of my showing off for a little while. I've put a cap on the yarn spending.

And! I received the most wonderful birthday present ever. New pictures of my neice Allessandra Rose ("Smush" for short)... The first was from St. Patrick's Day... we start them young in our family...

Her first modeling session, I almost cried when I saw this, she's such an angel...



And lastly, the happy family...

The B's of a Knitiot

So here are the B's of the queen knitiot...

Bloopers:

I had forgotten to mention in previous posts about the little blooper I encountered a few times while knitting the Prince Monty Kitty Throne and I've run into some bloopers on new projects since then (yeah, yeah I haven't finished the Fruit Loops Socks yet and started something new).

With the kitty bed, you hold two strands together, one of the wool and the other of the fun fur, well along the way I kinda forgot at times to check where I was at with my yarn balls and several times ran out of one or the other right in the middle of a row. This genius ended up several times having to work back to the beginning of the row to change balls. First I did it with the fun fur then said "be more careful stupid" and then quickly proceeded to run out of wool and did it all over again. Go figure.

I've begun a new sweater, for Smush out of the Sirdar Cheeky Chinos book I picked up a few weeks back.



I got all cocky after finishing the back and when starting the front, you work it the same up until you reach the neck shaping. So I had worked the ribbing on the smaller needles and ignoring the fact that there's a few decreases and increases before switching to the larger needles, I just switched, got half way across the row, realized my mistake, worked back, started across again, realized I read the wrong part of the pattern, worked back, started over again.

And then... I think I goofed big time on the first part of the sweater and you can see it in the picture above. One shoulder is longer/taller than the other. I had initially figured that this was because of the lap collar or button collar it has on one side (to get it over baby's head) but I think I messed up big time. I took notes, but I don't see anywhere in my notes that I added 4 rows like it told me to then cast off. Argh! So I think I have to rip out my cast off, add 4 rows and then cast off again. Shouldn't be a big deal though since it's just a straight edge (the opposite side has ribbing). I was so focused on not making my cast off so tight that I didn't really realize that I may have missed a chunk of instructions.

Other B's....

Boyfriends in the Bathtub...



Buttpaste



They still haven't fixed the air conditioning at Chris' work and he's developed a little rash on his tush. So we picked up some diaper rash cream (powder doesn't seem to do the trick) and hopefully that'll sooth his booty.

Boobies... As you may have noticed, there is a little link I added to the sidebar (Knit-A-Tit). One blog I frequently lurk about in is Becca's Blog (The Knitting Wounded). Recently she was diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing a mastectomy. She's started a little Knit Along in Ravelry based on the Tit Bit pattern in Knitty Fall '05 issue. It's a bra stuffer basically for women who have lost their boobies to breast cancer. I'm going to get some made and donate them. If you would like to join too, just click to Becca's blog at the Knit-A-Tit link to your right.

If you don't have a whole lot of time either, you can just make one and many sizes are available too. Remember not all women lose both, so just one will make a difference to some chick out there who needs it. You can get creative as well.

And.... Big Elvis

Almost every time I've been to Vegas I've stopped by for this guy's show. I'm absolutely in love with him, he's such an amazing singer and yeah a little cheesy since he's an Elvis impersonator, but he'll totally take your breath away. I was thinking about him again because Chris was talking about taking a day trip to Vegas sometime soon (it's a 4 hour trip so we can go and come back in the same day), so if we go, we're so going to see him again.

The joB (ok I couldn't think of a "B" word for having a job) is going well. I'm only training right now so much of it is sitting over someone's shoulder watching. It's so very, very much easier than my last job, and they pay more. What's wrong with this picture?

I have been working on the socks during my lunch break since they're more portable, so hopefully they'll be done soon. I've decided I'm going to send them to my best friend with the Owl Socks as well. I think she'll love them, plus she's made me all kinds of jewlery and sent it to me, so I kinda owe her (and miss her terrible since she's all the way back in IL).

Ok that's a long enough post for now!

New, New and even more New!

Ok, so you've noticed the new template. I found this great site, which I linked to through Blogger it's called Pyzam so I picked this dorky girly one. I love it.

Anyway, all geekyness aside I finally start the new job tomorrow! Yay! One downside however is that they have a business casual dress code. My previous job did not have a dress code at all. Since we were in the fashion industry, they gave us the option to dress as we please (within reason of course).

So after finally sealing the date of my employment I needed to make a mad dash for the clothing stores. Typically in the past I'd shop at Torrid or Lane Bryant, but given a small-ish budget we decided to hit up Kohl's. I'll never shop anywhere else again...

The money spent there got me 3 times as much as the aforementioned stores, so I have now a week and a half's worth of work clothes and didn't spend as much. Typically the Kohl's trips were for Chris, kitchen and home products or gifts for the relatives. Never shopped there for myself. I also got two new purses (I'm a geek for shoes and purses) and we'd looked at shoes but my size 10 hooves just didn't agree with anything they had.

It was weird though because I'm not the dress up fancy type person. Comfy is what I'm all about, but I was shocked and happy to pick up so much stuff that was nicer and that I could wear to work!

As for knitting, I got the second fruit loop sock started, but unfortunately not finished yet. I got sidetracked making a swatch for Smush's sweaters-to-be. But without further ado... The Prince Monty Sleeping Palace!!! (I think Clyde's used it more and she hates cat beds)

From the top:


On the side:


Mama are you sure it's ok? You always yell at me to get off your knitting???


Well ok if you say so, I'll give it a shot...


Later Clyde came and kicked him out of it, then proceeded to sleep under it. Since it's not padded it can cover her like a blanket. She won't let him near it. This is strange since any cat beds purchased for her in the past have gone to the birds and she wouldn't touch it. I'm not making another one, this was kinda boringly simple so that's why it took me so long to finish it.

Well, next time, socks, sweaters and an update on the job!