dairy queen and spherey

i made this elizabeth zimmerman dairy queen hat for tammy for xmas. i was at her house last weekend and i just sat and knit it and then gave it to her. a very quick knit on size 15 needles. and its a fun pattern too. i got it from The Opinionated Knitter by EZ but watch out there is a mistake in the pattern. get the corrections. i used Harrisville Heathered Bulky by Harrisville Designs which i bought at Stash on solano ave. one skein does it with a bit leftover.
spherey and sammie. i used cascade 220 and the new variegated brown sheep lamb's pride for the legs. all from my stash.
spherey is for my aunt phyllis and uncle tony who live in boston. he is from the now-out-of-print book Unusual Toys for you to Knit and Enjoy by Jess Hutchison. she does however have a cute cat named kate on knitty.com. i think he is happy even though he has no mouth. i would ask him but i don't think he is capable of answering.

my fave tiny people

my mom and sammie are my fave tiny people. some of you may say that sam is not a person. i beg to differ. ok they are my favorite tiny mammals. how is that? sam is wearing his sailing sweater that i made for him so that he would look smashing out on the bay on my dad's new used sailing boat. the sweater is made out of mission falls 1824 superwash wool that i got at stonemountain and daughter. you know if you go in there, and sign up on their mailing list, they will send you 20% off coupons on the regular. so i cast on and knit a square with the silver and put in those anchors that i got from 1000 Great Knitting Motifs by Luise Roberts, which really is great. i decreased it a little along the way so that it would fit sam's thin little schnoodle body. i then knit a chest piece and sewed them together leaving holes for his legs. then i picked those stitches up and knit legs. i then picked up stitches around the whole edge of the sweater and did some ribbing. then with the blue- i picked up stitches around the neck and make a collar which can be popped if sam feels like it. ta da! a sailing sweater. first we have to find out if sam likes sailing.

adorable dog and WIPs

people always ask me how sam is doing- so i thought i would pop in a picture of him doing just fine. he is sitting on carrie's lap. we are about to go for a run, in the rain? or is that the sun trying to come out? i am wearing my new shoes for this year. they are green and make me happy. i also have new running socks which also make me happy.
ok yes knitting blog- ok here we go- this vest is for my dad- it is being blocked at this very moment!!! done!! i used kraemer mauch chunky bought at dear article pract. i made this pattern up and it makes me very proud of myself. when it is really done, as in my dad is wearing it, i will post again with its name.
this is another vest, for me this time. an anatomical heart. the heart is done, well besides some cardiac veins and arteries. i still have to do the back of the vest. i made this one up too! i printed out an image of a heart from the interweb and then drew it onto graph paper i bought from schoolhouse press. then i knit it into my vest. and i cursed my name the whole time. at some points, far too many, i was knitting with four colors across a row! gray, pink, red, blue, pink and then gray again. crazy i tell you, crazy.
ok the sun is out so that is my sign that it is time to run, especially since there is a high wind warning going into effect at noon. if i don't come back, its because sam and i are floating around out there somewhere. happy new year! i am calling it knit 2008.

don't steal my two-headed alpaca, bitch

this is logan. she is adorable. she also works at article pract. she rides a very pretty green bike everywhere. i wish i had the discipline to ride my bike half as much as she does. i mean i have a car which just makes me lazy. can i just say that it is cold and dark early? well it is. but logan is still out there on her bike. you are my biking role model. i have no excuse.
ok back to knitting. we had a gift exchange for the store. i got a two-headed alpaca. i could not be happier. logan took the fiber trends pattern for a 'normal' alpaca and made it have two heads. it is felted and she knit it out of alpaca yarn!!! my knitting heart is so happy to have them around. it was one of those gift exchanges where you could either open a new gift or steal the one from the person who just opened one. i was first. no one stole my alpaca. it was great. i have named them dartos and cremaster. thanks logan. oh and that is remy's hand behind logan's head.
today is new year's eve. i work tonight at the hospital. i am looking forward to it actually. i don't know what that says about me, well i guess that i like my job. i am working on finishing some knitted things which post soon. happy new years!! be safe and drink enough water if you are going out to have a drink or two or five.

done and done

done #1: in january i signed up to run 100 miles every 13 weeks- 400 miles in a year- yarnagogo is to blame, ok nevermind, to thank for all of my runningness in 2007. i was not sure if i should do it, i have knee pain from a car accident i was in over three years ago and i wasn't sure if it would hold up. well i signed up anyway and last week i finished my 400 miles!! (i am aware i mentioned it earlier) something i never thought i would do. the picture above is me about 30 sec after i made it home from crossing the 400 mile finish line. all that running was great and totally doable. i am going to increase my mileage for next year, i am thinking 600 miles. i was not sure i was going to make it, but with some discipline and faith in myself, i finished before the year is over and i feel great about the whole thing. one of my best accomplishments, at least during this last year. if i can do it- you can too! sign up at http://www.runagogo.com/

done #2: i just walked in the door 15 mins ago from finishing my last final for my nursing pre-requisites. this means i can now apply and then knit while waiting to hear if i get in. i decided last year that i wanted to go for nursing, and i started this jan by taking chemistry. i took two classes a semester including summer school, maybe you remember not seeing me for 2.5 months. this morning i had my physiology final and tonight i had my life span pysch final.

i now know way more about the human body than most people are interested in hearing, especially the gross stuff!!

anyway this year has been hard but very rewarding with all the studying and running and more studying. now i will sit back and let my blood pressure come down a bit and get some solid amounts of sleep and knit everything that i didn't get to this year. thanks to all of you who have supported me through this, i could not have done it without you.

ok, so yes this is a knitting blog. being that i have been busy, i have not done much knitting. but i plan on calling 2008, knit 2008.


above is a picutre of me wearing the neckwarmer i made for carrie (www.knityaya.com) for the holidays. it is prism yarns kashmir in color nevada ( 65% cashmere and 35% silk) . i used the luxe neckwarmer pattern from knit2together, a very simple 4 row repeat in a feather in fanish pattern. it only took maybe 2 hours as i was studying for my final! very nice to work with and looks great on carrie with her blue blue eyes. she is off to iowa to see her family so i hope it will keep her warm. more knitting to follow. and a two headed alpaca...

All I Want for Christmas (a public service annoucement)

All I want for Christmas is for people in public places, and not so public places, to sneeze and/or cough into their elbow and not into their hands or into the shared public air around them, and me and you. Using your elbow keeps your germs to yourself and keeps them off your hands. You know what you do with your hands, you touch things that I then touch. That is how things are spread (common name: germ theory). So also, since I am already on my soap box, wash your hands. That is all I want.

things

things I like least when I am running:
1. running through someone's just exhaled cigarette smoke

things I like most when running:
1. finishing running 400 miles this year (100 miles every 13 weeks) www.runagogo.com

things NOT to buy at the dolllar store:
1. pregnancy tests
2. condoms
3. anything that costs more than a dollar

things to buy at the dollar store:
1. everything else

Speaking of things...

... these are my two favorite male things (interviewing for a third):

my dad (left back corner):
1. he came up with the name for this blog
2. he came up with me (at least part)
3. my sense of humor, some people might not think it can be called that, is from him
4. he is a fantastic supporter of all things I do and is endlessly proud
5. when my hair feels like being curly- its from his side of the family
6. he is saving the world by being the chair of the environmental studies department at Merritt College http://merritt.edu/~envst/index.html


my schnoodle (Sammie):
1. best dog ever
2. weighs 9.8 pounds
3. very smart
4. loves to cuddle
5. does not shed or make people have allergic reactions
6. adorable
7. tiny
8. best running partner
9. adopted him from http://www.bayareapoodlerescue.org/
10. with help from Sile from www.knitoneone.com
11. loves to wear the sweaters I knit for him

some other things:
1. your pee should be clear, yellow, but clear
2. I like black licorice
3. knitting is the best hobby ever, hands down
4. my mom is one of my favorite female things, ok my fave
5. community colleges provide an amazing education for a great price