It's Finished! And it's CUTE!

Look everybody, I have actually FINISHED a knitting project that I started. I have recently decided that it is due to my committment issues, that I A: am still single, and 2: have a stack of scarvelettes, hatlettes, and other unrecognizable things on needles that I may never finish, no matter how much I want to.

The success of the bag has inspired the ordering of more skeins of Valley Farms Berkshire from Webs for gifts for my friends and family. I think the Lamb's Pride Bulky is a little too bulky, so I am going down a weight for the gift purses. Valley Farms is a really affordable price ($4.99!!) compared to the $7.99/skein I spent on the Lamb's Pride.

I discovered a really cool store that deals in vintage fabric and found that they sell "phatties" (which is a funny word) of fabric which are about half a yard each and perfect for the lining. I may get crazy and make small makeup bags out of these perfect little "phatties", or I may just hit the Sally Spicer friends and family warehouse sale and call it a day.

This is what I came back with from the last sale.
Sally & friends are handier with the sewing machine than I am,
and Hot Diggity Dog, her stuff is cute!

I thought I would knit the handle to the cable purse, and I knit about 20" of a 2x2 rib with a cable down the middle, and it was just too bulky, so I found these beautiful vintage wooden handles at the vintage fabric store that work very well. I think I'm going to have to re-sew them, as they seem a little crooked, which annoys me when I carry the purse.

I have had several requests for the pattern - email me your photos or blog link of the finished product! I'd love to see what you all have come up with.

I sail, therefore I am.

So, I sail. Little known fact, but I race out of San Francisco Yacht Club on a Tartan 10 sailboat that my mom co-owns with a family friend. We do pretty well, too! We got a second place overall in the series of races that the Club sponsors every summer, and more importantly, we have fun!

That's me, waving like a dork. This was from a race in July. As I sit here in the fog, I am missing these days very badly!

And, this was a slightly colder day, one that my best friend Nikki was able to join us on. She'd never been sailing before, and has now become a regular member of our crew, which is great!

Here she is on board, in blue, facing the camera. She LOVES sailing!

So, to put things in perspective:

The QE3 is 33 feet long (10 meters), and the average speed is about 6 knots, which is probably about 7 miles per hour. We race within the confines of San Francisco Bay, on a course which is usually from Angel Island to the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, maybe over to Alcatraz, and then back to Angel Island. I don't know how long that is, but it takes about 3 hours (so by my bad math - 21 miles ish). I rarely get wet.

In comparison, the Volvo Ocean Race is 9 legs, of God knows how many miles. They average 25-30 knots, or 28 to 40 miles per hour. That's DAMNED fast on a boat. They get drenched. Volvo boats are 70 feet long. Check out this crazy ass video from the last ocean race...I have a friend who is planning on doing it next year, and I think he's out of his freakin' frakkin' mind, but I also think it is so bloody cool! It's like how I read books on Mt. Everest but could never imagine ever ever climbing it. The Volvo Ocean Race is the sailor's Mt. Everest. People die.

This crazy video sums it all up - any takers?

In other more calm news, I have decided to knit the handle to my cable purse. I cast on 10 stitches, and am doing a K2, P1, C4R, P1, K2 pattern. I think it's going to be 20 inches long and very cute.

Adorable Cable Knit Purse from Long Beach

Hi Everyone!

To the 2 people that still read this incredibly boring blog - here is my gift to you - the pattern for the SUPER CUTE cable knit purse that I've been working on. It's a really quick knit, and I would have been long since finished if I hadn't been,

A. Going home with a good friend of mine and inappropriately molesting him in his hot tub which then led to, ahem, a night that required a phone call from him THREE DAYS LATER straightening out our "expectations" of what's next...which, by the way, apparently means that he's going to Africa to see some girl and I'm staying home and being annoyed.

B. Nursing a hangover, which was caused by the overimbibing the night before, which led to aforementioned hot tub incident.

C. Unable to commit to finishing a damned knitting project to date,

D. All of the Above.

I choose D.

Enjoy your pattern - send pics! Stay tuned, I WILL have this finished by the end of the week and will post final photos. I plan on embellishing (read: covering up a mistake I'm too lazy to fix) with a chunky wooden button, adding very groovy wooden handles, and lining with a brown and black silk fabric. The fabric is coming from a skirt that I LOVE, but have unfortunately ruined. So, it will become lining to my purse!

If you have trouble reading the pattern, drop me an email at marissa@mizmiller.com and I'll send you the PDF.

California...knows how to party.

Bloggers unite! On Saturday, Kristy and Tami joined me at my office to sew up a million squares that Kristy had collected to make a blanket for Crazy Aunt Purl's Grandma. Very sweet thing for Kristy to do, and I was pleased I could help. I love that Crazy Aunt Purl, and all day long, I wondered if sewing up all these squares meant I had entered a new place of Crazy. But, in the end, I justified it as doing a nice thing for a sweet lady. We have all gotten so cynical and image conscious that we worry that doing a nice thing for someone means something weird, and so then the nice thing loses power. I have to remember to embrace doing something nice - and just realize that doing something nice is...well...nice. And often appreciated.

Here we are in front of our blanket, getting ready to sew up. Hidden from view is the bottle of champagne and our glasses of mimosas!

And, after a couple of hours of sewing and drinking mimosas...we've made some progress!

(Thank you Kristy and Tami for letting me pirate your photos from your blogs!)

It was great to meet both of these lovely ladies, and Kristy's sister-in-law Lori - we had a fun time, and once we all stopped making faces at each other...hee hee...

In Other News...

I am apparently an amazing person. Wonderful. Inspiring even. Men love to spend time with me. And have enjoyed my company. SO, if all that is true (and let's assume it is)...how come I keep getting these lovely compliment, followed by, "BUT..." and any or all of the following,

A. "I'm too busy for a relationship"

B. "We have different expectations"

C. "I am not emotionally available" (double bonus points for that one)

or, D. all of the above. Which I got on Sunday night, which by the way, was only a second date. WTF??

Let's see, that makes THREE this summer.

ARRRGGGHHHHH...thank GOD for knitting! I started a very cute cable knit purse with some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Chunky - look how cute! I have the pattern and would gladly share - email me for a PDF.

Off to try on wedding gowns...not me, unfortunately, but my darling friend whose lovely and handsome boyfriend proposed with a rock the size of her head. Love it!