flex fridays

i'm down to my last few flex fridays - our department is part of an 'experiment' for the summer where we can elect to work four ten-hour days. it doesn't always happen - there are weeks where i just need to go in on friday - but for the most part i've been happy with the program. today i really needed the extra day off and i knew just what would fit the bill.


yarns unlimited is a fabulous yarn store just a couple miles away from my house - a good walk or an easy bike ride. i'd only been there once before, when miss limerick and i did a west side yarn crawl - this is the place i bought my denise interchangable needles kit. while they may not carry super-chic yarns (like rowan), they have all of the workhorse stuff in tons of different colors and that's just what i needed!


i picked up some cascade 220 heathers for an upcoming KAL with malarky - the minimalist cardigan that she oh-so-craftily noticed we both had queued in ravelry. i'm not 100% certain that i'll use this yarn for that project but it was a good price and a lovely color, so it'll get knit up into some sweater at any rate!

i also bought some pretty light blue cascade pastaza for the estes vest. i don't love the rolly i-cord on the bottom but otherwise i adore this knit!

then i spent a couple of hours like this:


ahh, i love being so close to the beach!

for the rest of the afternoon, before we go out to dinner, i'm going to work on my current WIP - a february baby sweater from elizabeth zimmerman's knitter's almanac.


i've been dying to knit this up but didn't have the occasion until my friend jo told me she's due in january! the color is more of a dusty blue-green than it appears here and i'm planning to find some cute pearly pink buttons to give it a touch more femininity.

have a wonderful weekend, 'yall!

coachella

well, she's done! please forgive my squinty pale-ness - i still felt 'off' most of the weekend and i was standing opposite the sun when b took this photo. anyway. the coachella tank fits perfectly and i love it. the only mods i made were to slip the first stitch of each row during the flat-knit bits to get a smooth edge around the armholes and racerback (i should photograph that at some point, eh?), lengthen the waist, and substitute 1.5" of 1x1 twisted ribbing on the bottom for the rolled edge. i LOVE this yarn and the pattern was quick and very easy to follow. all in all a good one!

feeling a bit better today - think i'm finally kicking this thing!

all good things come to an end

pretty, pretty macbook! this is the first new computer i've purchased in ten years... basically since i started uni. that poor laptop kicked the bucket during my final semester. then i went without for a number of years, until b graciously gave me his old macbook when he upgraded. now that one's on its last legs (i need to visit the genius bar tomorrow to figure out how to transfer my files, yikes) so... i bit the bullet! so far, so good. there are a ton of great new features on this operating system that i'm looking forward to playing with!

and lest you think i've been up to no good while sick, please welcome coachella to my WIP pile. the modern lace henley just wasn't doing it for me - i dreaded picking it up, so i knew it was time to put that aside and start something new.


i'm knitting this up with southwest trading co's phoenix, a soy tape yarn. i felt a bit of trepidation casting on, because my only experience with flat yarn (a cascade ribbon) was really intensely no fun. i hated it. but this - this, i love. it was a gift that languished in my stash for a couple of years, and i'm so happy i found the perfect project for it!


i realized as i was photographing coachella that i never posted about my trinity stitch hat. i knit this one up when i was in nashville, waiting for the wireless at my hotel to stop freaking out so i could do some work. it's already gotten a bit of wear and i love it!

and on a final and completely unrelated note, i must leave you with a photo of maeve's favorite new bed. enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

don't speak

i've been sick since wednesday night and i can't stand it. i've missed two half-days of work and i'm working on my first full work day at home. thank goodness for laptops. my doctor somehow managed to prescribe something that doesn't exist anymore and he seems to be ignoring my pharmacy's faxes pleading to approve something else, so - if anyone knows a great general physician in los angeles, would you let me know? i'd be grumbling if i could talk right now.

i did manage to sneak out of the house when i heard the festival of chariots parading across the street on sunday, though.





three beautiful floats, lovely mantra chanting, and vegetarian treats - this city gets better and better! except for this part -



see those signs? now, i don't mean to offend anyone here, but... these guys were following the parade. there was even a guy with a megaphone and a sandwich board around his neck screaming about how the hare krishna monks were going to hell and we were all going with them. i was kind of blown away that people could be so verbally violent against some of the most peaceful people in the world. to each his own but - please, to each his own.

and that's all i'll say about that.