Bikes 'n' knitting 'n' stuff

So many things to report on! First of all, I got extremely bored with dating, so I'm going to take a break from that for a while, except for continuing to enjoy Cute Vegan Cyclist Guy's company and extraordinary cooking. I mean, a girl's gotta eat, after all. CVCG has been uber supportive of my new hobby, cycling. And he's simply adorable and fantastic company.

I got myself suckered into a charity bike ride in Carmel in October, and that was all well and good until I realized that, um, I don't own a bike. Dur. So, I picked CVCG's brain for a while and then went up to East Side Cycles in Petaluma (LOVE those guys!) and bought a killer road bike for a killer low price. Tip - they're clearing out their '05 stock, so go buy a bike!

Of course, because I'm brilliant, I go and buy a bike as the weather gets colder and I'm less likely to bound out of bed on an overcast SF Bay Area morning and go for a bike ride (which is exactly why on a Sunday morning, I'm on my couch in my jammies updating my blog rather than going for a bike ride or even doing my dishes - although the dishes have little to do with the weather).

Last Sunday, my friends Stacy and Nikki came over for a little knit 'n' wine (or whine, if you're Stacy). Nikki brought over a beautiful Capis shell curtain for me to divide my studio apartment with, and because she's so handy and knew that I'd never get around to putting it up, she put it up for me and then celebrated her handiwork with a kir royale.


Stacy had to bring her yarn roller-upper (I know there's a real word for that handy little tool that rolls up the yarn into those nifty little balls, but I have NO idea what it is), because Nikki's tiny little kitten had a yarn party and unraveled 2 of my 7 balls of expensive Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk the night before. The cats were enamored with the yarn roller-upper.

And, that very same day, I got started on my version of the Paris Loop. It's beautiful and I'm knitting it in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk and Jo Sharp Infusion Kid Mohair. I love this combination, so soft!!

Think of All the Yarn (and kitties) I Could Store...

I used to laugh at Stacy when she would moan and groan about yarn spilling out of every closet in her home, and what a yarn ho she'd become...til I started knitting. I'm already an eBay addict, I love to shop, and to spend money on frivolous things, so knitting was probably not the best hobby to pick up. I have already bought 9 balls of yarn for projects that don't exist. I just really liked the color, the feel, the rush I felt when clicking "Buy it NOW" on eBay. 7 of those 9 balls came from eBay. Sick, I tell you, this is SICK!

I realized that I could no longer have USPS soft packs lying around my house, so I trucked off to the Container Store - which I love. Seriously my favorite store. First of all, I am a total slob. I am the least organized person I know. Drives me INSANE. I love to walk into the Container Store - I feel calm. Like there's hope for the insanity that is my apartment. Dick used to say I lived in chaos. I don't think I completely agree, but there's a lot of shit everywhere. If I had a million bucks, I would spend at least half of it at the Container Store - buying all those nice tidy boxes to keep all my shit in.

(While looking at this picture, does anyone else hear angels, bells, and a choir singing "alleluia"? Ok, I'm the only sick one, but that's cool. I'm ok with that.)

I walked in, and was browsing through the aisles touching everything, and it occured to me...think of all the yarn I could store.

Oh Elvis -

I really should get through my current project before buying yarn for one that doesn't exist...dontcha think?

Speaking of which - this is the scarf I am knitting for my darling Noelle. Red Heat Light & Lofty yarn in Sage. It's a beautiful color, and the yarn is super soft and snuggly. I like it much better than the snot yarn I attempted to knit the poor girl a scarf with.

I soon need to learn how to knit on circular needles, so as soon as I find the perfect yarn, this is what I'm going to attempt (thank you MagKnits!):

Even Container Store containers store kitties!

My first hat!!

I did it! I knit my first hat while hungover in bed this morning. I had way too much fun last night on an eHarmony date. I was actually drinking NOT to tolerate the guy, but because we were actually having fun!! Things are looking pretty good this weekend, I gotta say.

So, Friday night, I started the hat during a movie with my best girl Nikki and finished it this morning while chugging Coke and Ibuprofen trying to erase the damage done last night by too many Tanqueray and Tonics.

I'm triumphant because I read the pattern all by myself, decreased stitches all by myself, blocked it, and sewed up the seam! I'm not sure I did the seam right, but you can't really tell, so it's ok.

Elvis the cat helped me block it before I sewed the seam closed:

Today, in my travels, I saw this Mama Horse and her colt - for those of you who know me know that I've been a horse person since I could walk, and I do believe this was the first time I'd seen a colt up close. I melted.

Breakups SUCK.

I'm not having a sobby, poor me moment, I'm having a moment of such rage that my animals are hiding under the bed. Ok, I'm exaggerating. I'm not filled with rage, I'm just really angry and annoyed that I wasted tears, love, and heartache on this bastard.

I come home from a reasonably nice date (although this guy did mostly talk about himself and didn't offer to pay...rrrr. But that's not why I'm raging) and I check my email (cuz I'm such an email whore).

And, in my email is a response from Cold Hearted DickHead (yes, my ex, we'll just call him Dick for short). He is responding to my relatively pleasant email requesting that he allow me to buy him out of the Jack Johnson concert tickets that we had bought together back when we were pretending we were in love.

Me: "I'd like to take someone else to the concert, so if you wouldn't mind, can I send you $40 for the ticket?" (He doesn't have to know that the "someone else" is my best friend Nikki, it's much more fun to imagine him stewing about who I'm taking)

Dick: "Actually, I really wanted to go, and checked Craigslist and there are lots of available tickets if you need to buy some."

Ok, so maybe it was the "I'm taking someone else" comment that made him respond like such a DICK. Or, it could be because he IS A DICK. But hey - I wanted to hurt that cold dick the way he'd hurt me. Although, I'm not sure someone without a heart can get hurt.

Regardless of the reason, he is a cold hearted bastard, and it gives me great pleasure to publish that fact on the internets. So there.

Thneeds 'n' Things

Look! Look! My adorable daddy finally learned how to use the digital camera I gave him for Father's Day!! He is the cutest. This is his kitty, Chanel, who I think he might love more than me, but I'm not sure. I'm an only child, so having a sibling to compete with is new for me. I'm sure he loves me as much as the cat...I think...

So, yesterday, as I was doing a Google image search to locate an image of a "thneed" to illustrate my post about my Portland Snot Thneed, I happened upon this poor dear.

I'm sure she's a lovely person (which is why I blacked out her eyes, a la "Fashion Don't" style), but really...just because you can knit it, doesn't mean you should...

So, instead of knitting a thneed, or any of the crazy "hip" knits featured in that link you should all be clicking on for a great laugh, I decided to knit the May hat in the Rowan Big Wool pattern book. It's going to match my beautiful first scarf...

And just cuz the little weasel is SO cute...

And here I am, updating this blog when I really should be spending the precious hour I have before my next eHarmony date either napping or knitting! That's it, my yarn is calling me...

Now, Don't Go Blaming the Yarn...

But I have to. I bought this great yarn at my LYS in Mill Valley and it turned out to be SO hard to knit with! Definitely an F-factor of 4 or 5.

Being the stubborn ass that I am, I continued knitting it into a scarf while visiting a friend in Portland. I was going to give it to her as a gift for her hospitality...but soon, as I got closer to finishing, I realized that I liked this friend, and she had really done nothing wrong to me, so why would I give her a scarf that resembled snot? We even jokingly referred to it as her Thneed, from that great Dr. Seuss story about The Lorax.

You all remember the Lorax, who speaks for the trees, don't you?! The Lorax fights the greedy Once-ler who cuts down truffula trees to knit "Thneeds" When all the trees are gone and the land is ruined, the Once-ler and his gang disappear, leaving their dead factory, grey air, brown water, gasping Humming-Fish and choking Swamee-Swans behind.

So, this was my attempt at a Thneed - as modeled on my friend's lovely greyhound, Zarou.

It was hideous, and the yarn was itchy and shedding little hairs all over my clothes (Lord knows I have enough animal hair on my clothes!) so I ripped it out, returned one ball, and pawned the second ball off to StacyO. I have started a new scarf for my Portland friend in a lovely olive boucle.

Here is a token cute cat picture (Bonita lounging on her deck in Portland)

My friend Noelle and her BRAND NEW CUSTOM SURFBOARD!

And, this is my cute cousin Kiki (on left) who lives in Portland: