Attitude is everything.

I got this from a friend...

Attitude is everything.

• Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
• Live simply
• Love generously
• Care deeply
• Speak kindly…….

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Geekin' out on all things CSM not CMS

My work involves maintaining CMSs (Content Management and Course Management Systems). But for the moment, I'm obsessing with all things CSM. I've got some homework to do before my Legare 400 arrives from Quebec!

• Home Study Courses


• YouTube vids on making ribbed socks on CSMs

Various informational sites:

• http://www.sockmachines.com/index.html


• http://www.oldtymestockings.com/
  
• http://www.angoravalley.com/

Sheesh, I haven't even laid a finger on one of these machines and have already joined the CSMSA and comtemplating going to their yearly convention in Indiana!

OMG! What the F have I done?!

I was so proud of the fact that I didn't spend much money at stitches this year. Revelling that I got out of there under a $100 bucks! But then I made the mistake of stopping to observe a demo of a Circular Sock Machine. It was all over after that. Up until that point, I had only seen them in use online and not in person. I fell in LOVE with the mechanics and solid construction of an item of a bye gone era. I emailed the woman who demo'd it for more info. and well...two days later, I've plopped the $$$ down for my own. It's a Legare 400 and is being shipped from Canada. It's fully restored and is supposedly a gem of a specimen. All I can say is that all gifts given to friends and family from this point on will be SOCKS-SOCKS-SOCKS-SOCKS-SOCKS. Sheesh!!!

wanna ride to stitches west?

i was going to ride the bike on over, but i'm a fair weather rider. i'm signed up for a class on sunday, but would like to hit the market tomorrow (friday). ping me if you're interested in going. i'm in the north berkeley bart area and can pick you up locally.

dansko yarn clogs!

i saw these online and managed to find these awesome dansko professional clogs that have various yarns needle felted all over them! aren't they cool? what dansko lovin' yarn addict wouldn't want a pair of these Dansko 'Professional Confetti' Clogs? they're pretty much sold out everywhere except on occassion the usual spot you go to obtain unobtainable objects. :) i'll model them once they arrive in the post.

edit: seems that you'll be able to get these again...september 2008. a place called shopfred.com is taking pre-orders.

yep, i'm antsy alright...

Chompin' at the bit alright... but boy I'm movin' up fast!

You signed up on February 11, 2008
You are #106773 on the list.
382 people are ahead of you in line.
4657 people are behind you in line.
95% of the list has been invited so far

So I broke my promise to continue knitting off my UFOs pile. I picked up a copy of The Magic Loop: Working Around On One Needle from a new LYS located dangerously close to my house! :) some german sock yarn that I forget the name of and set myself up to start knitting a pair of socks. The idea was for me to cast on both socks and knit them with just one circular needle. Since the pattern I was using came straight from the booklet and called for worsted weight and I had sock weight I'd have to make a swatch to figure out gauge and do a little math. Well, I was impatient as usual as well as lazy to figure out how to deal with casting on both socks on using this one needles method so I ended up pulling some Cascade 220 (#4192) from my stash and just knit one sock on one needle. I'm right at the heel now. Too bad it's not superwash. Oh well...good for practicing anyways. I have yet to complete a pair of socks. Let's hope I finish these.

Maguro nigiri or salmon roll?

Maguro nigiri or salmon roll?
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

I had lunch at my neighborhood sushi joint and noticed this on the counter. I asked the owner if I could pull it down in front of me to snap some pics. Isn't it adorable? The woman who knit them and gave it to the sushi chef has just started knitting.

Where's the soy sauce? Wonder where she got the pattern from? Just did a quick search and found one on MagKnits. Dang, I should have taken pics with my order placed beside it.

UFO down to earth

Lion Brand Beanie
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

They call it "grunge" lace, I call it cute. What do you think?

i was pretty close to finishing this last year, but for some reason, i stopped more than 1/2 way through it. the pattern called for repeating the 4 row "grunge" lace 3 times, but i ended up doing it 5 times as i felt the beanie was a little too short. i also only did the ending 2 by 2 rows 5 times instead of the pattern's 6 and also swapped out from size 7 needles to 5s as the hat was just a tad too loose. seems to fit just fine now. Made with Jewels from La Lana Wools, Mountain Colors and Blue Sky Alpaca Suri. It goes with the Jewels scarf I made last year after getting the La Lana Wools' yarn at Stitches West 2007.

yeah, late to jump on the bandwagon, but what else is new...

seeing how i have not been knitting or blogging for a few years now, i just found out about ravelry from other knitting peep's blogs.
as of 7:40am pst today,

• You signed up on February 11, 2008
• You are #106773 on the list.
• 4384 people are ahead of you in line.
• 2111 people are behind you in line.

sheesh, i'm #106773 to jump on this particular bandwagon. it's a bit of a pitty that so many people are posting all of their stuff on this now. it's locking out so many of us that do not have accounts. :(

Yippy! Off the needles and onto my head!

IMG_1363
Originally uploaded by purlgurl

well, actually the mannequin's head. thanks to vanillabean knits for the pattern & inspiration! earlier this evening i went through my stash and discovered over a dozen UFO's. some i will rip out, some i hope to finish. in my hand now is UFO lace beanie from lion brand. it calls for cotton-ease, but i'm using leftovers from a scarf i did from stuff purchased at stitches west last year:
Mountain Color's Bearfoot (60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon) in burgandy carried along with Blue Sky Alpaca's Brushed Suri in "fudgesicle". you can view the scarf i made last year with it here. it's about 50% done, so hopefully, if i can figure out where i am on the pattern, i can whip this one off the UFO list.

approaching the finish line...yay!

so i am on row 41 of my cable beanie (almost 6" in length). i'm going to start the decreases now. woot woot! approaching the finish of the 1st completed project in a year! sorry for the poor quality pic. i'm being lazy and snapped this out of focus pic with my phone.

great knitting videos abound on youtube!

omg, i've just found a great video on continental knitting. i already do continental, but this teacher has some great techniques that i plan on using to make my knitting faster and more efficient. check it out! oh, and check out this wonderful little animation short called the last knit (When knitting becomes an obsession.) too!

My yearly attempt at getting back into knitting...

I have so many WIPs, but I decided to re-start my knitting by making this. I am using Cascade Indulgence (when it was still avail in 100gm hanks) in a charcoal from my dusty stash. I did however, buy some #7 Clover bamboo circs from my LYS (even though I have 3 sets of Denises, several Addi's and tons of other miscellaneous needles about--all with various WIPs attached them). I started right in without swatching...doi now! Well, I pulled it all out and I'm swatching right now. You'd think I'd know by now, but I am so impatient. I always like to plunge on in without really preparing. I do this with most everything else too.

I also signed up for one class at Stitches West in February. I'm a little late in the game, so most classes have long been sold out. Sounds fun though...knitted softies. Last year I signed up for Automaton Knitting with Debbie New. Wow, what a cool class and boy does she make amazing stuff. I brought my copy of Unexpected Knitting for her to sign too.