tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-212220642012-01-20T11:15:05.737-08:00Proto-yarn, proto-clothing, snark, and poorly-lit pictures for my own amusement.Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.comBlogger3211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-6500691560573813842012-01-04T11:48:00.000-08:002012-01-04T11:48:10.661-08:00

The first knit of 2012 is complete!  Austermann Step Yarn, 382 yds. Late Christmas socks for my papa. Standard K3P1 rib with what I think is an Eye of the Partridge heel. My dad isn't really into crazy colors - and these qualify as "crazy colors" to that Federal employee - so I'll  over-dye them a little so the white places are also a shade of tan. I'm quite pleased with how well they

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-53526655666585649092012-01-02T14:27:00.000-08:002012-01-02T14:34:13.067-08:00

2011 was pretty swell. I joined a roller derby league, traveled all over the place visiting old friends and making  new ones, and settled in to my (no longer) new apartment. I knitted not as much as I anticipated (a meager 6-ish miles) but nailed my goal of reading 75 books (29,060 pages!!) and revisited spinning. Like years before, I didn't finish my crafting goals. This seems to happen to me

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-88625128552388403582011-12-31T14:28:00.000-08:002012-01-02T14:30:06.825-08:00

1/1 - Green Vanilla Socks - 316 yds. 3/10 - Composition Scarf - 420 yds. 4/10 - Spidey Blanket #2 - 1738 yds. 5/13 - Hera Mountain Shawl - 1760 yds. 6/19 - Blueblood Island Shawl - 705 yds. 7/9 - Chantilly Lace yarn - 220 yds. 8/19 - Moderne Baby Blanket - 1603 yds. 8/24 - Shetland Shorty - 380 yds. 9/1 - Bright Fig Yarn - 716 yds. 9/5 - Be-Bop-a-Lula Yarn - 960 yds 9/10 - LD

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-4348316634893341142011-12-23T12:38:00.000-08:002011-12-23T12:38:53.686-08:00

1. I got my family tickets to see It's A Wonderful Life at Ye Old Local Movie Theater. Not one of the 6 of us has ever seen it, so perhaps this will be the beginning of a lovely new Christmas tradition. Equally possible: we will be cynical while my brothers and I sip hot buttered rum out of a flask all night. Either way, fun will be had by all! 2. What is WITH the sudden Lord of the Rings Love

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-25627953081785709922011-12-21T12:50:00.000-08:002011-12-21T12:50:34.485-08:00

Every once in awhile, I astonish myself with the scope of my... let's not call it delusion, let's call it ambition.  Three days ago, or exactly a week until Christmas, I decided to knit my Christmas gifts. I'll pause to let that sink in.  Now, I'm not quite delusional ambitious enough to think that even I, with my super powers of knitting at an average pace, could finish a hat

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-7161879642482691342011-12-12T10:54:00.000-08:002011-12-12T10:59:59.415-08:00

Polarlings, you may not have noticed, but it is now the end month of 2011. This means many things! - I have been a year older for six days - The 11-Mile Quest is coming to a close - Christmas is coming and, I assume, the goose is getting fat. Deposit your pennies to the left with all your stuff.  - The goodreads challenge is nearly over and I am on hooks of the tentered variety over whether

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-51958546973844050572011-11-04T14:47:00.000-07:002011-11-04T14:47:54.588-07:00

Lookie what came in the mail today! BOOKS! These are the s-m-r-t books about women's lives in Regency, Victorian, and Georgian England. I also got a couple of mass market fantasy novels to read while I'm in Mexico this month, season 6 of How I Met Your Mother, and season 1 of Big Bang Theory; but those aren't quite so important-looking so they didn't make it into the picture. They also

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-30704072663149204222011-11-02T12:59:00.000-07:002011-11-02T12:59:58.829-07:00

I don't know if you've looked around in the last day or so, but it's November, my poppets. Where I grew up, November would mean we'd had our winter clothes out for over a month already, that the air smelled like cold, and that five months of slush were about to fall out of the sky. Not enough to make a white Christmas, mind you. Just enough to be miserable and make the roads treacherous when it

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-32308614870817366942011-10-16T14:16:00.000-07:002011-10-16T14:35:41.647-07:00

First I got a lovely skein of yarn from a friend. Gifted Helen's Lace, original color It sat in my stash for a year - or three - and then I got the brilliant idea to overdye it because the colors are just a little too variegated for my taste. Helen's Lace, overdyed with Jaquard Sapphire Blue It goes from looking like autumn in Vermont to storm-tossed seas, which inspired its use in a lace

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-58465389028040343172011-09-30T23:10:00.000-07:002011-10-01T14:20:28.211-07:00

I didn't succeed in finishing 7 miles of knitting by October first. I really like lofty goals, especially because when I don't meet them I'm not overly fussed. I really, really would like to finish the 11-Mile Quest by December 31, though. For reals. I did manage to churn out a bunch of knits, stay project-focused (mostly), and rekindle my love of spinning. I also managed to not buy any more

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-34218135705515135622011-09-19T13:40:00.000-07:002011-09-19T13:40:08.801-07:00

I've decided it's time to learn how to spin. "What?" I hear you say. "Isn't that handspun in your last post?" Well, yes, it is. And I spun it, which means I know how to spin already. What I mean is, I'd like to know that such-and-such a fiber would be best spun such-and-such a way, to be able to spin multiple thicknesses of yarn on purpose (as opposed to varying degrees of thin), to spin fluffy

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-10609401035756480792011-09-08T13:39:00.000-07:002011-09-08T13:39:06.158-07:00

On Monday I delved into my Box of Surprise Spinning and pulled out one of the Big Bags. What can I say? After a weekend of completed spinning projects, I was feeling cocky. Remember me from Monday? I knew you would. Even though I packed the bags myself, and even though I thought I had an idea of what could be in it, I still jumped up and down a little and squealed "Ooooooo! Yay!" when I opened

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-56558142368151076922011-09-05T18:22:00.000-07:002011-09-08T13:40:29.504-07:00

I woke up this morning convinced that my calves would be abominably sore; after all, I plied roughly 8.5 ounces of yarn last night! Proto-yarn!  I actually laid in bed and stretched experimentally for a few minutes before I realized that roller derby had given me a gift in the form of Calves of Doom (not to be confused with the Ass of Doom or the Thighs of Doom, which generally follow the

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-17022998474770040342011-09-02T13:07:00.000-07:002011-09-02T13:07:21.376-07:00

I always have a nagging suspicion that making my own yarn is ridiculous, especially given how much commercially-spun yarn I already have. On the surface, it's a no-win situation: the fiber costs just as much as yarn that's already made, it takes for-ev-er to create, and in the end I'm left with yet another material as opposed to a finished product. But spinning is more than that, somehow. It

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-53163986157522402792011-08-24T21:25:00.000-07:002011-08-24T21:30:28.162-07:00

Last spring I started making the Shetland Shorty pattern from Knitty Summer '08. I used some black Panda Silk that I've had in my stash forever - I think I bought it in San Jose when Commuknity went out of business. I made it through the garter stitch ties, the honeycomb lace body, and the 3-needle bind-off before the ends began to unravel from under the sleeves. It turns out that a yarn made of

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-20598425939456299802011-08-19T14:26:00.000-07:002011-08-19T14:42:19.183-07:00

The Rosebud Shawl is an "audiobook knit." That is to say, I can't knit on it and watch TV - no matter how cerebral (or not ::coughBuffycough::) that television may be - but I can listen to an audiobook and make fairly regular progress. So for TV watching and mileage-increasing purposes, I pulled out the Moderne Baby Blanket (pdf link!) that I started back in 2009 when Evelyn was the size of a

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-25293709995960417192011-08-13T15:09:00.000-07:002011-08-13T15:09:09.661-07:00

I went to visit Jer and Eliz in San Francisco last week and took full advantage of the time to huff my favorite niece: Now with more yogurt! She's now just over 22 months old. And obviously cute as a button. What does that even mean, anyway? She's definitely still a tiny little thing. But that little package holds a whole lot of hilarity. And also teeth.  Plus, I've

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-58710747128986499382011-08-13T14:22:00.000-07:002011-08-13T14:47:01.318-07:00

My Knitting Deadlines list is getting out of hand. There are upcoming babies, weddings, celebrations of various kinds, and all between now and January. Yikes! Last week I was looking through my stash on Ravelry - because why would I look at the ACTUAL stash when I can just browse through pictures?!? - and realized that a lot of what I know I have wasn't listed. This prompted a 2-day Stash Toss

Tikabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15613555994015659052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-11082627012586898272011-08-03T15:42:00.000-07:002011-08-03T23:50:30.440-07:00

I have a lot of books that a layperson would probably dismiss as "nerdy." I did a quick perusal of my shelves and confirmed that they are largely made up of differing categories: Theater Nerd Books: The Theater and Its Double - Artaud Brecht on Theater - Willett Norton's Complete Shakespeare - Norton and (of course) Shakespeare Literary Nerd Books: The Mysteries of Udolpho - Radcliffe The

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-41643994515777151772011-08-02T11:16:00.000-07:002011-08-02T11:16:00.978-07:00

Last night instead of going to derby I went to The Ballroom in Sacramento and took the beginning Charleston and intermediate East Coast Swing classes. It. Was. Incredible. Derby has been frustrating me for awhile; I haven't felt like I'm getting any better, and the bar for passing to the next level has been getting further and further away. I rolled my ankle (on skates!) at the beginning of July

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-53884990502784805192011-08-01T22:59:00.000-07:002011-08-01T22:59:36.465-07:00

October first is 61 days away. October first is also the day I'd like to click over the Mile 7 mark on my 11-Mile Quest. I am currently 121 yards short of the Mile 4 mark. Therefore, I need to knit (1760x3)+121 yards to hit Mile 7. 5401 yards / 61 days = 88.5 yards per day, not including spinning singles for plied yarn. Singles yarns have never looked so attractive. I'm going to need a wrist

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-41026572096315808662011-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:002011-07-29T12:42:00.346-07:00

It is amazing what effect a small change can have on my crafting. For example, I recently moved my spinning wheel from one side of the sofa to the other: Not pictured: spinning wheel. Now it lives between my computer desk and the sofa, and I use it much more often! The sticking point was that my sofa is too low to comfortably spin from it, so I have to use my desk chair. When the wheel is

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-45289273467555689682011-07-28T12:41:00.000-07:002011-07-28T12:46:00.852-07:00

(Formerly) Crazy Sarah and I went to Disneyland in mid-July, where we rode rides Grrrrr! Creepy!  Watched the end of the parade: It's a jolly holiday with Mary Had (very strong) cocktails at Ariel's Grotto: The Bloody Mary's were surprisingly and pleasantly spicy.   Did the obligatory posing next to statues: No one carries a watch anymore. And of course, rode rides: Do the Disney

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-47141329778575533912011-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:002011-07-12T21:11:14.060-07:00

This is pretty much how I've felt all day about the book I just bought: In this scenario, I am Ziegler and the book is Satine.  I definitely clutched it to my chest, although it's more difficult to overtly grope a book than for Ziegler to grope his Little Strawberry, it would seem. But I tried. Do you blame me? The cover of this book is sexy, y'all. Now with more Jaime Lannister? Mrowr.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-12714406822087023292011-07-09T20:30:00.000-07:002011-07-09T20:30:36.351-07:00

Despite not participating in the annual Tour de Fleece this year, I have been reading many blog and forum posts about the progress of other people's Tour de Fleece goals, and it's been causing me to give my poor neglected Matchless the side eye. Those of you with long memories for my personal spinning goals will remember my leap onto Spindlicity's Stashdown 2011 bandwagon. (For those of you who

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-74248046524462641692011-06-30T14:29:00.000-07:002011-06-30T14:29:47.638-07:00

Last Thursday I set off for Philadelphia, PA, to watch the Sacred City Sacrificers play in the 5th annual East Coast Derby Extravaganza. It. Was. Awesome. I listened to 1776 the Musical in the airport both going and coming home; after all, it seemed only appropriate. The other passengers may have looked a bit askance while I bopped and mouthed the words, but as I'll never see most of them again

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-42284094845232934402011-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:002011-06-22T11:31:02.196-07:00

Final Stats: 97 grams 705 yards Completely charming.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-123536123696372462011-06-22T11:13:00.000-07:002011-06-22T11:13:39.093-07:00

Congratulations to the newly-minted Mr. and Mrs. Erqsome!! May your path contain just enough rain to let you share the occasional umbrella.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-53016656846541735232011-06-20T16:45:00.000-07:002011-06-20T16:45:59.376-07:00

The mailman has been busy knocking on my door for the last few days, dropping off packages from my recent knitting supplies ordering spree. I am now the fascinated owner of Heirloom Knitting, which is more knitting bang for my book buck than I anticipated. I grabbed a used copy for around $40 on Amazon and it is worth every penny! I've also put my new blocking wires to work today: Blueblood

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-75769864037469717292011-06-20T11:40:00.000-07:002011-06-20T11:40:10.191-07:00

I don't usually enter blog contests because I'm lazy, I usually find out about them the day after the entry closes, and I don't need more stuff like vacuums. But this is a tiny bit different. Yes, it's still a contest, but it's to go to PARIS. For a WEEK! And it's put on by a woman who might be my role model; she packed up her family and just... moved. To Paris. I don't even have a family to

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-51586539343426211062011-06-16T19:09:00.000-07:002011-06-16T19:09:25.991-07:00

So the other day I finished (but have not yet blocked) my Blueblood Island Shawl and skeined/washed an unknown yardage (somewhere between one and 2999 yards...) off a cone of yarn I ordered from Colourmart waaaaay back in 2007. 2/36 cashmere/silk in "Tussah." 2/36 means that 18 meters of this yarn = 1 gram. 3000 meters (1.7 miles) is 150 grams, which is about 1/3 of a pound. That's the weight

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-74893700874606816452011-06-13T13:24:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:24:01.188-07:00

One more thing that gets its own post. On a whim I joined Stiletto Storytime's 2011 Classics Challenge half way into the year because I am perpetually on South American Time (directly descended from Mediterranean Time, which is the progeny of Middle Eastern Time. I am always late and it is genetic, is what I'm saying.) And as if that weren't challenging enough, I'm signing up under the PhD

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-1860091326671779772011-06-13T13:02:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:02:09.094-07:00

Today is officially the First Day of (My) Summer. I turned in my final grades to my master teacher last night, and this morning I didn't bother getting up to an alarm for the THIRD DAY in a row. It was quite nice. Tomorrow I'll start setting the alarm for 9am and trying to get moving by a reasonable hour (for summer). The last couple of days have been a kick in the proverbial pants. Saturday I

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-37548652911449976772011-06-06T19:04:00.000-07:002011-06-15T12:59:47.178-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend, I went up to my mother's house with THB, where we drank wine, watched Megamind (hilarious), hung out with Waffles the Cat and dug around in the garden. THB was moving cement pieces for my mom and he found all kinds of interesting Garden Denizens, including these two fellows: You know you wanna kiss it... Sharp-Tailed Snake. Never around when I need him. I was

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-19355163917998937672011-05-20T19:33:00.000-07:002011-05-20T19:39:05.995-07:00

At least, that's what my freshmen announced to me this morning. They quickly followed it up with a request that I rap, whereupon I pointed at my pasty skin and replied that I would be doing no such thing. Being a teacher is hilarious. As I am apparently following trends of Stuff White People Like today, I poured myself a glass of Wine Cube Cabernet/Shiraz and decided to post on my knitting blog.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-44274556984354768002011-05-13T18:06:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:06:43.634-07:00

The pile of Finished Objects to block is getting bigger! Yes, that is an unwoven end. It's not blocked yet so I don't have to!  Sometime in March I left the following note on my Hera's project page in Ravelry: This has been languishing because I am apparently crap at figures. Argh.Hah! It's true. Do you remember when your math teachers used to assure you in that oh-so-superior tone that you'd

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-83000340039086833582011-05-01T17:32:00.000-07:002011-05-01T17:32:45.605-07:00

Well, it's May and I didn't finish 2 of the 3 projects I had anticipated finishing this month. I'm close to being done with the Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl, and have 1/2 of the seaming done for my Sacred Tempest Sweater. I've sewn on the right sleeve, and the sleeve cap is kinda tight, so I'm going to have to regroup a little and figure out some sleeve vents that will match the stripe pattern. Argh

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-59027675964272434402011-04-18T12:15:00.000-07:002011-04-18T12:15:35.052-07:00

The Rivalry between Jet City and Sacred City has been fierce over the last few years. At Regionals in September, we nearly had the win until five of our girls fouled out at the end of the game and handed it to Jet, who won by a mere 14 points.  Photography by D.E.sign That win secured them the #7 spot in the Western Region WFTDA rankings, and put us at #8. Photography by D.E.sign Saturday

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-46456908193659776202011-04-16T14:21:00.000-07:002011-04-16T14:22:14.437-07:00

I'll be here: And in preparation, I'm spending my last free hour-and-a-half listening to the Derby Deeds Podcast and seaming up my Sacred Sweater. Will it be done in time? It's not looking good; I blame my monkey arms. Seaming seems to take forever.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-33167160225906358052011-04-14T17:06:00.000-07:002011-04-14T17:07:18.221-07:00

My favorite part of making Seekrit Stuffs is the waiting for them to arrive. I sent it on Monday! In the mean time, this is my friend Dinah's blog. I met her through my equally cool (if much farther away) friend Kate, who is now in Prague. I am jealous. And this is her (Dinah's) also cool husband Mac's blog. Together, they are the kind of people I would like to be if I weren't, y'know, ME.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-55061338368550006382011-04-08T14:08:00.000-07:002011-04-08T22:27:14.697-07:00

From: A Certain Website Subject: Your Order Has Shipped Date: April 8, 2011 11:56:38 AM PDT A Certain Website has sent you a shipment via UPS The tracking number is: [redacted] You have GOT to be kidding me! ETA: But wait, there's more. Presented mostly without comment: From: Tika Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 4:17 PM Subject: Re: Your Order Has ShippedThis is absolutely unacceptable

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-4132339852020532572011-04-02T20:18:00.000-07:002011-04-03T12:59:25.968-07:00

Lately every time I log into Ravelry I have visions of gigantic lace shawls dancing in my head. I've added so many of them to my queue that I may have achieved the coveted QABLE* status, especially considering that my current knitting capacity pretty much consists of garter and stockinette stitch. Right now I have three big projects that qualify as "almost finished." One is seeeekrit and

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-29316534955674600672011-03-28T18:21:00.000-07:002011-03-28T18:33:02.835-07:00

Dear Friends, Let me take you waaaaaaay back to December 24, 2010. Can you remember back that far? I know, it's tough for me, too. Tika 2010 is sitting at her family's table after Christmas Eve dinner, a few glasses of wine in and poring over the IK Winter 2010 issue when she gets an email: Today is the last day for a 25% off bags of Malabrigo sale at a Certain Website! Visions of a gorgeous

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-20224353363752192022011-03-26T13:13:00.000-07:002011-03-26T13:13:40.706-07:00

Since my 101 in 1001 Part Deux-over is about 1/2 done, I figured I should revisit the idea a little and allow myself to tweak the list. Slightly shy of 3 years is a long time, and a lot of things can change. SO! Here is the first part of my list: the Lifestyle Section. LifestyleWalk for 30 minutes 50 times (0/50) Design and find someone to start new tattoo Donate blood 8 times (0/8) Find a new

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-54664259464116862282011-03-25T15:54:00.000-07:002011-03-25T15:55:27.123-07:00

.. I became a joiner. It's a reading challenge, you see. And there are several choices regarding participation, but the one I've chosen to challenge myself (As Raych points out, there is no good synonym for "challenge!") is Read 5 books that fit into the Once Upon a Time criteria, which are: fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, or mythology.  The quest ends June 20th. In related news, I got a

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-7660264514951698972011-03-23T16:52:00.000-07:002011-03-23T17:42:50.411-07:00

On Sunday, I had an overwhelming desire to learn to make paper. Think of all the things I could make! With paper! And paper slurry! Look how I looked up the appropriate words; clearly I shall be a papermaker!! I could make the buttons for my Sacred Tempest Cardi (sitting on my desk gathering Darcy fur on the topmost piece, awaiting seaming...) out of paper! It would be fun and I could use up all

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-23180449162958412552011-03-20T13:58:00.000-07:002011-03-20T13:58:30.036-07:00

Yesterday I wove in the ends of my Sacred Tempest Sweater while I waited for the Rat City Intraleague Bouts to start on the Derby News Network. The DNN boutcast was voiced by my friend Jake, which was a charming surprise! Now there's just the seaming/button bands/buttons on the sweater to go, and I might indeed finish the darn thing by April 16! I also watched the first 5 and a half episodes of

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-21160586554642914502011-03-16T18:36:00.000-07:002011-03-16T18:38:56.477-07:00

Let me tell you, Internet, that teaching is some Hard and Time Consuming Work! And I'm only teaching 3 classes! When I have six you will hear the rending of the garments from wherever you are in the wide, wide world. The more I hear people bitching about how teachers get all this time off in the summer, the more I want to drop them behind my desk and see how long it takes for them to start

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-76350342997707398682011-02-17T18:19:00.000-08:002011-02-17T18:29:32.549-08:00

Five weeks into this teaching thing and I've found my shine, although it's not quite as glisten-y and well-rested as I'm used to. At least I'm not falling into bed the moment I get home from classes anymore, although I did have to leave a concert at 10pm last night in order to sleep. I felt simultaneously decrepit and responsible. This weekend marks the first Stitches West I've missed since I

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-44470883034014080102011-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:002011-01-26T14:04:51.716-08:00

I started my student teaching last Tuesday, though, and while it is a hoot (hoooooooot!) I am having a strange time adjusting to the fact that although I am getting up a full 4-5 hours earlier than usual, I actually have less time in the day to Get Crap Done. I hear you say, "huh?" Here's that breakdown. Previous schedule: 10am - Rise 12 Noon - Shine (shut up, it takes me awhile!) 9pm - Start

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-72078938049127585712011-01-06T12:28:00.000-08:002011-01-06T12:31:01.896-08:00

Since I moved away from Ashland back in 2003, I've been on the lookout for a dance club that I like enough to go to more than once or twice. San Jose was a big ol' bust; hip-hop is not my jam, and I am not partial to being asked if I "want a ride, mami?" while walking down the sidewalk. And while handsome junior executives in button-down shirts and crisp jeans are always good eye candy, the scent

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-50958576627449589542011-01-03T14:29:00.000-08:002011-01-05T16:32:36.545-08:00

It's January third already. Why is it that the years you anticipate always seem to whizz by? Amazing. Nevertheless, while I tend to hate the build-up to the new year, I definitely like the sense of putting off whatever negative things may have happened last year (a family full of cancer, anyone?) and looking forward to what the new year will bring. I feel like the last couple of months have set

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-80412147674314052302010-12-31T16:15:00.000-08:002011-01-05T16:26:39.425-08:00

Or at least most of them. 1/3 - Citron Shawl, 440 yds.1/14 - Citron Shawl #2, 462 yds.1/23 - Victoria Socks (VR) - 258 yds.3/2 - Peasant Heel Socks #1 - 243 yds.3/8 - Peasant Heel Socks #2 - 330 yds.4/15 - South Sea Monkey Socks - 305 yds. 5/23 - Val's Wedding Shawl - 1787 yds.7/7 - THB's Last Chance Socks - 440 yds.7/7 - Whammy Kiss yarn - 335 yds. 7/15 - Plain Cornucopia Socks - 305 yds. 7/25 -

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-39177457300311883122010-12-28T23:33:00.000-08:002010-12-28T23:33:17.723-08:00

And oh, how I wish I meant this kind. He can captain my spaceship any day, if you catch my drift. But alas, I do not. At this point, I'm not even going to bother weighing and counting up my yardage for this year because it won't make a difference and I prefer to imagine that my 2-3 pairs of uncounted socks add up to enough yards to magically take me to 11 (miles) and also I have yet to find

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-71674953916379791032010-12-05T22:14:00.000-08:002010-12-05T22:38:25.756-08:00

Internetlings, it is DECEMBER. Did you know? The weather in California certainly doesn't, although it has been ever-so-slightly colder lately. In fact, it was a grand 36 degrees (Farenheit, natch) when I sauntered off the plane from Chicago on Monday night. Thanksgiving with the family was lovely. My Grandmother had her final chemotherapy on Monday and managed to stay relatively upright until

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-31461304609041862072010-12-04T12:39:00.000-08:002010-12-04T12:41:53.750-08:00

And of course I was all, "most of my stuff is still in boxes in the garage, so packing will be a snap!" I was wrong. I have a lot of shit (on top of the books and yarn, despite my best efforts last year) and not very many boxes, my Nieblings. This will be a Move in Stages, of which I am looking forward to the Final Stage the most. Stage 1: Paint!

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-27072630041540987972010-11-16T22:28:00.000-08:002010-11-16T22:28:44.958-08:00

I was going to have knitting pictures for you to ogle, but I forgot to take them until after it was dark. Daylight saving is, in case you didn't know, o-v-e-r, so it gets darker... earlier. Weird, right? You'd think they would want to save daylight in the winter, when it's dark all the time. But no. Yet another thing to change when I'm in charge of everything; damn that list is getting long!

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-48242890094660917792010-11-15T23:58:00.000-08:002010-11-16T00:30:09.589-08:00

I'm back from derby and my butt hurts. This kicking ass on skates is totally working because I can feel the definition starting to come back in my quads. YESSSSSS!!! And then someone mentioned a "skater butt," and I got chills. The one thing I do not need more of is junk in my trunk, thank you South American family. I guess you can't win'em all, right? Y'anyway, Darcy is trying mightily to get

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-62916515973118390672010-11-14T12:45:00.000-08:002010-11-14T12:45:05.145-08:00

Um, so it's Sunday. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, especially the SUNDAY part. I got up yesterday, left the house at noon, and didn't come back until 4am this morning. My cat was seriously annoyed with me, and I was dead tired. But I helped to clean the Sacred Warehouse (fresh meat have the dirty job. I love it!), practiced for a couple of hours (those crossovers are getting easier),

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-9169825095405253182010-11-12T22:42:00.000-08:002010-11-12T22:42:52.317-08:00

This is how my day went: I woke up late, cuddled the still drugged-up kitty for awhile, and so got out of bed even later. I made tea, had brunch (having missed the appropriate hour for breakfast), then did a little homework and started laundry. When I looked up, I was horrified to realize that it was almost 2:30 in the afternoon. How had my day slipped by so quickly? That feels like a million

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-5523386486959028412010-11-11T13:55:00.000-08:002010-11-11T13:55:18.177-08:00

Last night THB, Friday and I went to Bel-Air to buy ramen for dinner. After all, it's soup season and we were lazy! So we toodled around the store for a bit, sniffing the cinnamon pine cones and thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas-y foods. I walked by at least three endcaps full of canned pumpkin and evaporated milk, and every time I veered closer... and closer... Let me back up a bit. I

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-4878664539777593402010-11-10T22:57:00.000-08:002010-11-10T22:57:35.192-08:00

Last night was a boatload of fun. Us girls discussed derby names (shhh don't tell that we told each other!), the Potential Hardass Girl on the team, we got our fingers going in the air a few times during stories about Boys and How to Reject Them, and over all had a great time. Randy met us out, and he was amused by my shiny new friends (who are o-m-g so 22, but not crazy [yet]). It was a fabulous

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-84228264933238874102010-11-09T18:28:00.000-08:002010-11-09T18:28:43.357-08:00

Not roommate drama, thank goodness. But it just occurred to me that I have a seirous issue with finishing the NaBloPoMo thing: I am going to the Sticks of Chicago again for Thanksgiving, where I will be sans internet for 10 days. So much for every day of November! But I'm going to try to make every day until then. Unavoidable lack of internet isn't worth giving up on the exercise. So for those

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-69603098050125599042010-11-09T00:04:00.000-08:002010-11-09T00:04:50.608-08:00

Tonight was my first practice as an official Sacred City Derby Girl, Class: Fresh Meat. It. Was. Awesome. My butt hurts. My legs hurt. My jaw hurts from clenching it against the mouth guard while I concentrated. My lower back is sore, my abs will be by tomorrow, and it's fan-fucking-tastic. You know what else is fantastic? All 11 of us girls are totally stoked about being friends. Suddenly for

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-22940692550309772912010-11-07T22:42:00.000-08:002010-11-07T22:42:44.771-08:00

Whew, the last few days have been full of D-R-A-M-A. But now the biggest issues are resolved - that is, THB and I sat down and ironed out how I was feeling and how he was feeling, and now we, at least, are cool. Which is all that really matters at this point; family being family and all. Today I went skating with some fellow Fresh Meat friends! It was fun even though we didn't skate for very

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-38080982013111398502010-11-06T14:24:00.000-07:002010-11-06T14:24:18.034-07:00

Four days, or 13% of the month, to be exact. Ahh, well. Pick up and begin again, yea? Yesterday was one hell of a day! My Nadia came over, we went to look at a charming apartment, then we got ready with Friday and the three of us went to a beautiful dinner at Ella's in Sacramento, followed by In the Heights, followed by drinks and dancing with my friend Randy, who has been the lead electrician

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-80066352794385587472010-11-04T23:34:00.000-07:002010-11-04T23:34:04.888-07:00

It is time to shift house. For a long time, I've been struggling with living in this little 3-bedroom house with (usually) four other people. THB's Girl Friday is here most nights, and so is his best friend, and with our other Official Roommate, that makes five people in a 1200 square-foot house. With no closets (the closet thing really chafes me. Argh). It doesn't help my frustration that the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-42573969592782230112010-11-03T23:44:00.000-07:002010-11-03T23:51:25.706-07:00

It's 11:30! Woot. I just got back from my second on-skates practice, which was also an evaluation to figure out whether us newbies go in the Fresh Meat or the Fast Track group. I, predictably, am in Fresh Meat. This doesn't disappoint or surprise me at all, since I didn't know how to skate when I went to the Sac City Rollers Boot Camp three weeks ago. Was it really 3 weeks ago that I decided to

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-37157210784759729122010-11-02T00:37:00.000-07:002010-11-02T00:37:45.234-07:00

It's 12:24 am as I start this blog post, and since this is my blog I get to make the Posting Every Day rules and I say it counts. So there. (Are you as amused as I am at how I think you're going to all come bearing down on me at full speed? I think it's the endorphins. I've missed them; let me tell you why!) So at 11:15 tonight (last night? On Monday) I finished my first on-skates practice for

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-2649448843152381802010-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:002010-11-01T13:40:54.606-07:00

Holy tiny pill bugs, y'all, it's November of 2010. How did that happen? My mind is appropriately boggled. Today I am listening to In the Heights in preparation for going to see it on Friday. Can I tell you how much I love this musical? So much. My last post kicked me into high(er) knitting gear and I have progress to show you! I finished Baby Evelyn's tiny dress. Baby Bliss Dress, Pagewood

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-85209845886933871042010-10-28T15:25:00.000-07:002010-10-28T15:25:41.487-07:00

My internet friends! I have missed you! It's been a month and ::mumblemumble:: days, and in that time I have finished precisely NO knitting, so I blame my absence on that. There are several half-finished and even some mostly-finished projects sitting on my desk right now, but since I am a Gold Medalist in the Procrastination Olympics, I don't know when they will be done. So what else have I been

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-78575770380025425062010-09-22T13:24:00.000-07:002010-09-22T13:24:30.493-07:00

Back in the day, girls like Jane Eyre were considered subversive and not fit for the eyes of young ladies, especially young ladies of the governess persuasion who might have designs on their employers' hearts. This, my precious ones, is important: without once removing so much as a hairpin (modern temptresses of employers, take note!), Jane winds Mr. Rochester around her tiny, sprite-like finger,

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-5434327741839150432010-09-07T15:35:00.000-07:002010-09-09T22:50:43.798-07:00

Remember Raych, whose blog and sister's art I lurve? She is Riting a Thesis that tickles my fancy bones. Then she solicited ideas for books and got soooo many, and then she posted her list, and then I said, "I wanna play!" and she said, "K! Homework really CAN be interesting!"* And thus was the Everything Old is New Again Challenge born. So grab your questing saddles and squinty reading glasses

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-78717604758320499382010-08-31T15:43:00.000-07:002010-08-31T15:43:55.311-07:00

One of my favorite book bloggers is the hilarious and astute Raych. She consistently makes me laugh and also I agree with her taste in books, which is kind of a prerequisite for thoroughly enjoying a book blog. Anyway. Raych has a sister (or two? I think two. But it is only the one of which I currently type.) who is Into Art in a completely opposite way from the way I am Into Art. That is to say

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-46949697219291537722010-08-25T23:50:00.000-07:002011-08-23T12:08:11.495-07:00

Nathaniel reminded the internet today that it is Bring It On's 10th anniversary. I cannot even express to you adequately how much of an impact this movie has had on my life. I danced from the time I was 5 until I strained every joint in my legs when I was 20. I was on a dance team that won every category we entered at the international championships in 1995, and was totally dedicated to the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-54628388260559413172010-08-24T19:56:00.000-07:002010-08-24T19:56:54.934-07:00

I am back from the bachelorette party! And it was fun, my peaches. I was so tired on the train back home that I fell asleep with my knitting in my hands and missed an undetermined chunk of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which was b.a.d. One should attempt not to fall asleep for the crucial buildup of a thriller, or one is apt to wake up to some Serious Spoilers. I am trying to put them

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-642963375486025192010-08-17T20:50:00.000-07:002010-08-17T20:50:31.688-07:00

I am back in California, and it feels a little strange. I've been sleeping on a twin camp bed with a 30+ year old spring mattress for the last 2 months, so I'd been looking forward to crawling into my full sized, memory foam bed for about 1 month and 29 days. It was everything I had hoped, and I don't think I moved for a full 9 hours. Home smells like home, which is a lovely change from smelling

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-68100758120371104002010-07-25T12:25:00.000-07:002010-07-26T14:18:05.555-07:00

Well, darling Readers, the day has come. The final day of the Tour de France, of which I have managed to watch not a single moment, and with it the final day of my third year participating in the Tour de Fleece. You may recall that my goal was to spin every day of the Tour. It wasn’t a supremely difficult goal, and I didn’t have to stretch myself a huge amount to get it done. But I did have to

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-46489179370151634872010-07-23T11:53:00.000-07:002010-07-26T10:25:24.437-07:00

What day is it? I have no idea. I don’t even know when the Tour ends, so maybe I’ll just continue to spin a little every day until I go home. So far I’ve reached my goal of spinning every day but rest days. What dates the actual rest days are, I have no idea, but I’ve only missed 2 days through the whole Tour, so I’m calling it a success so far. I’m over 1/2 way through the second bobbin of CMF

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-23487789461053063392010-07-19T11:13:00.000-07:002010-07-20T13:20:41.704-07:00

On Friday, I got up at 6, grabbed coffee, set up the GPS, and headed to St. Charles to meet up with the adorable Meghan and her precious son, Owen. It was delightful to meet someone I’ve corresponded with for so long, and we all 3 got along like peas in a pod. Our first stop was at Meghan’s favorite coffee shop, The Four Beans in Batavia, IL. This little place is not just a coffee shop, but

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-88703932780766631472010-07-15T12:16:00.000-07:002010-07-15T16:55:21.227-07:00

Every once in awhile, I try to use the “stash” option in Ravelry and am completely thwarted by my own laziness. I do try to input all the yarn I buy, specifically because I am crap at remembering what I have unless I can see it - one of the slight disadvantages of being highly visual, I suppose - so unless I faithfully input skeins as they come in, I am in some danger of buying the same yarn

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-30139730313097932232010-07-11T17:26:00.000-07:002010-07-14T10:39:57.365-07:00

I’ve been doing well at saving both calories and money, but occasionally I splurge on both. These weeks in Illinois have done something to help me get out of the rut I was in while in California; I’m outside more often, eating more healthy food (and less of it, thank goodness!), and knitting/spinning regularly. I had been running - that dreaded R-word! - but I’ve fallen back on my old method

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-14248111672225750352010-07-08T11:29:00.000-07:002010-07-09T11:50:06.997-07:00

Since I began spinning two and a half years ago, my fiber accumulation has vastly outpaced my handspun output. This, I understand, is not completely unusual, neither for me personally nor for the spinning world-at-large. But in keeping with my motto of “if you’re going to sin, sin boldly,” I tend to spin for a mere month out of the year, and acquire fiber rather more often than that. Said month

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-46235695411557720892010-07-07T20:27:00.000-07:002010-07-09T11:50:54.883-07:00

I had forgotten how much like a whirlpool this book can be. This is my third time through it; the first time was in print and the other two in audiobook, and I have loved it more every time. Our heroine is a young, mousy girl who is being trained as a companion for world-jaunting women of a Certain Age and Status. Then Maximillian de Winter appears in Monte Carlo, and a convenient bout of flu

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-58002223231264565532010-07-02T20:45:00.000-07:002010-07-03T12:52:43.472-07:00

 Note: Since there's no internet at the house, I've been writing blogs and will upload them as I get to  the coffee shop, backdated for the appropriate time. So no, your reader isn't messed up! There’s not a huge amount to do here in Coal City. My grandmother isn’t really very self-sufficient, but she does sleep most of the time, so I’m on my own a lot. I’ve been running just shy of 2 miles

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-22051596935063913282010-06-28T12:30:00.000-07:002010-07-03T12:45:45.152-07:00

It’s been over a month!  And what a month. Last most of you heard, I was heading off to Joliet, Illinois, for my dear cousin Valerie’s wedding, completed shawl in hand. The wedding was a great deal of fun, the family was wonderful and crazy as always, and I had a lovely time with everyone. I didn’t get a photo of Val with the finished shawl, but she assures me that it saved her life many times

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-61550025922787869522010-05-20T10:55:00.000-07:002010-05-20T11:34:29.557-07:00

I have a lot of traveling planned for this summer - Chicago, LA, NYC, and hopefully a move to Portland - so when my mom called last Thursday and asked me to drive with her and my aunt to LA to see my Great Uncle Harold, I was a little balky. Harold is my grandfather's brother, but Grandpa Ralph died when I was 4 so we never spent much time with that part of the family. I know Harold is elderly

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-40075992936892013732010-05-10T22:19:00.001-07:002010-05-10T22:46:21.556-07:00

I read a lot of film and book blogs (don't look so shocked!), and every one that I read regularly was unanimous on one thing: Jane Campion was robbed at the Oscars this year, and so was her costume designer. And now I agree too. Bright Star (2009) was beautiful for both eyes and ears. The hats alone made me long to spend a week in England in 1818, which is an extremely rare feat as I am fond of

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-19058691328199123502010-05-07T14:08:00.000-07:002010-05-07T14:09:35.660-07:00

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-70224791014273576962010-05-06T22:04:00.000-07:002010-05-06T22:31:24.183-07:00

We loves the summer sunshine, Precioussssss.....Knitting progress! It's been slow, but relatively steady. I tore through THB's first Last Chance Sock while I was in Portland at the end of April, and I'm a bit into the second one, although it's going to take longer because I am b-o-r-e-d with the pattern:Pattern: CharadeI've also made it to row 145 of 180 on my cousin's wedding shawl. It looks

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-87568682705877145632010-05-06T10:23:00.000-07:002010-05-06T10:42:44.311-07:00

Apparently I need more light-hearted comedies in my Instant Watch queue. I think this is due to several aspects of my Type A personality:1. I like to watch one TV show at a time, straight through.2. Currently, that TV show is Bones.3. I thoroughly enjoy it so far, but canNOT watch it while I eat.4. To avoid looking for a new TV show to start watching, I look for something light in my queue.5.

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-26559238286043199532010-05-01T23:07:00.001-07:002010-05-01T23:44:01.667-07:00

Well, mes amis, it's apparently Movie Week at Chez House. And by Movie Week, I mean that elusive and multicultural category of "movies based on the book" that I never tire of clicking on at Netflix. What a terrible category! Everything from The Odyssey to A Clockwork Orange and beyond, and never mind that the authors themselves don't have categories. How am I supposed to easily access other movie

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-21127660181549697622010-05-01T01:20:00.000-07:002010-05-01T20:33:31.236-07:00

I don't know if you recall, dear reader, but I read Julie & Julia: The Book Based On The Blog sometime around the beginning of last year. Since then, you may be surprised to learn, it has been made into a movie. And not just any movie, oh no. A movie starring the inimitable Meryl Streep, the adorable Stanely Tucci, the less-annoying-than-usual Amy Adams, and with a brilliant cameo by the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-67738117038369345232010-04-15T17:07:00.000-07:002010-04-15T17:33:57.739-07:00

Finally, something is finished! This is the problem with working on Big Lace: there's very little to update about! But I have been working on Lyra - it's up to row 125 of 180, and I'm just finishing up the first skein of 880 yards, putting me at 70% of the rows but only about 50% of the knitting. Whew! The downside to Lyra is that it's a complicated, audiobook-only pattern, so it's definitely not

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-16275898526330662892010-03-29T15:39:00.001-07:002010-03-29T16:05:40.311-07:00

You'll never guess what's inside this box:Okay, maybe you will.1.69 more miles to the "IN" total...I couldn't help it! Omly wrote about how awesome Trekking XXL is, and I discovered that I don't have any for socks in my stash (shhh - those 3 balls are for a Tempest!). And then there was a sale going on at WEBS, which is kind of redundant as there's ALWAYS a sale at WEBS, but again, shhh! And the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-55843912146897907382010-03-24T14:55:00.001-07:002010-03-24T14:57:09.721-07:00

Miss Murloc's SweaterOriginally uploaded by TikaBelleMiss Murloc seems to be getting use out of last fall's Theodora sweater! She's a petite little thing, just over 11 pounds at 5 months, which is unique in my experience with babies. I didn't get this sweater to her until she was nearly 2 months old, and she's just now grown into it! And there I was afraid she'd be too big before I managed to

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-43123091651365550942010-03-19T15:38:00.000-07:002010-03-19T16:04:58.370-07:00

I finished the center square of my Stonington Shawl and started on the first border. Somewhere around 2" into the border itself, I came to a realization: the construction of these borders doesn't allow for easy patterning because one is made differently from the other three. ARGH!That's when it all came crashing down. My latent feelings that this particular garter stitch shawl was unsuited to the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-55231879548156226692010-03-18T11:11:00.000-07:002010-03-18T11:31:28.673-07:00

It turns out that the last musical I watched is not, in fact, on the AFI Greatest Movie Musicals list (link is a pdf from the AFI website. I am not trying to infect your computer with anything except AWESOME.). And there's probably a reason it was left off. But I looked back over my 101 in 1001 list today and realized that "100 movies from my Netflix queue" is a goal, so I figured it was time to

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-48130487966258412142010-03-14T13:16:00.001-07:002010-03-18T11:11:01.354-07:00

Remember that tiny needles lace obsession I've been talking about? Well, I found the perfect outlet.Wedding shawls. Most of my friends who are my age got married a couple of years ago. There was a time when I went to 6 weddings in one summer - my solitary summer wedding outfit got a LOT of wear. Come to think of it, I could have dressed it up with a shawl... hmm. Anywho, this year all my friends

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21222064.post-70541781169740939812010-03-09T15:22:00.000-08:002010-03-09T15:49:01.334-08:00

Okay, so you have probably figured out by now that I have less self control than I ought to have when it comes to acquiring yarn. You've also probably noticed my propensity for buying all new yarn for a project instead of using what I have in my stash. Well, both of those things are true, I admit it. But it is also true that I am learning (sloooowly) to buy appropriate amounts of yarn for the

Tikabellenoreply@blogger.com4