Must-see television

Remember this? While briefly living in Santa Fe, New Mexico this past fall, Duck and I had brunch at the ChocolateMaven one Sunday morning to find there a small crew and one Ms. Italian HotPants filming a segment for her new upcoming show.

Well the show is finally running, and the Santa Fe episode -featuring YOURS TRULY - will be on. TONIGHT. OK, so "featuring" might be an slight exaggeration, but if my mug is on TV for longer than 1 second, than it's good enough for me!

The scene where she walks in the restaurant for the "first" time and does her "Oh wooow!" (don't know if she will, but she everything seems to excite her), keep in mind that she filmed that two dozen times, while a small mob of hungry, cold patrons huddling outside in the parking lot. When I watch these kinds of shows I always think the scenes totally seamless and not at all choreographed.

I'm the Asian girl wearing the grey sweater. You'll see the backside of Duck's very metrosexual white shirt with small flowers all over it. If you blink you'll probably miss us. So don't blink!

So if you're in the US and you have the F00DNetwork, the show is on tonight at 9:30pm. I'll be missing it as we're heading off to NYC for the weekend in just a few. So watch and report back!

Comments [10]
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Santa Fe

Two!

Happy Birthday Yarn Cake for everyone!

My first post two years ago today. I just started knitting and maybe you can tell that I was rather ecstatic over completing my first sweater (there was a lot of squealing). Two years later and knitting still gets me excited in that "eeeYAAAAAAAAAAH!" sort of way.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share your love of knitting with me!

Comments [39]
Filed Under: General Knitting

I lasted 34 days

What we have here is a skein Fleece Artist Merino Sock yarn in Autumn. I've been very curious to try it, and by the looks of it it will probably be no different than CTH, Koigu, et al.

I bought new yarn. Shut up. I just can't resist a good sale.

Game over! Thanks for playing!

Does it count though if I bought this yarn at the behest of a friend who wants socks for her birthday, which is this weekend, and since I'm way behind already these are going straight onto the needles and will therefore have no chance of marinating in the stash...or am I just making excuses at this point?

(PS: My own addendum to the knit-from-your-stash rules forbade yarn in ALL forms, so that included sock yarn, gifted yarn, and yarn to be gifted. Yes I have quickly realized these rules are seriously flawed. And they make no sense. If you were to gift me yarn, would I then have to decline it? 'Course not. That would be rude.)

Before the yarn could be wound, I took it back to my Fancy Pants Photography Studio so it could have its official portrait taken. 

The yarn was subjected to many minutes of sitting very very still inside this state-of-the-art lighting box during the shoot.

But all that hard work in front and behind the camera is worth it.

Heh. I might have added another skein into my shopping cart... another FA sock yarn in Forest.

Comments [21]
Filed Under: General Knitting | Yarn Stash

Where there's green, there's purple.

A scarf came in the mail today! And here I am modeling it, with my new purple peacoat, indoors, because it's too cold - not to mention very unsafe - to go outside.

Thank you Elemmaciltur for sending this beauty over! He wasn't so into the So-Called Scarf he made, but I was, and half-jokingly commented that I would take it if he didn't think he could wear it. First, I need a scarf. Second, it's in a pattern that I've been wanting to knit myself, if I could ever yank myself away from knitting socks. Third and MOST excitingly, it's got my #1 all-time Never Realized It Was My Favorite Color Combination Until I Looked Around My House and Realized Everything Is That Combination color combination - green and purple! Purple and green!

OK so the colors are really more magenta and green, but close enough. I love it. Magenta is like a drop of blue away from being purple anyway. They all compliment each other very nicely.

By themselves purple and green are not my favorite colors. But I naturally gravitate to them when they're together. They're everywhere.

My purple peacoat, lined in apple-green goodness.

Ah purple and green. You're the perfect couple.

In my purple coat with my green-magenta-almost-purple scarf on my purple and moss couch in my green living room with purple curtains that's adjacent to my dining room. Which by the way is purple.

Thanks again Elemmaciltur for the beautiful scarf! It will be well-loved and well-worn.

Comments [22]
Filed Under: General Knitting | Life

Socks: 18; Me: 0

It's just useless. Utterly, completely useless. It's so less than useless it's usenil. Usezilch. Usekaput.

Mwahaha, I win! Again!

I simply cannot stop knitting socks.

I give up.

Comments [22]
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks | Child's First

Eye Candy Friday

Yes, new yarn! No, I didn't cheat! I'm still yarn-free in 2007, all the way!

I received the yarn recently but the transaction went down in the beginning of December 2006, one whole month before I knew I was going to disallow myself from buying more yarn. For an entire year. (?? Really? Did I really say I that? Outloud?) So I'm still good, I'm still good.

PS I photographed the yarn above in a makeshift lightbox a la HelloYarn. I've never tried to "properly" shoot anything or play with lighting techniques. I don't like to use flash usually, but the resulting photo looked good and easy enough to set up. I used a plastic shoebox and lined the bottom and one side with sketching paper, set the prop inside and positioned the box so the sunlight (indoor) hit full from behind, and used a small burst of flash from the front.

Not too bad for fooling around. It made me a feel like a real photographer. Heh.

Photograph on right taken in natural lighting. Yummy.

Comments [12]
Filed Under: Yarn Stash

Breaking news

In case you missed this really important headline, here's this morning's Breaking News from cnndotcom:

"The musical 'Dr3amgirls' led today's Ac@demy Aw@rds contenders with eight nominations, but was shut out in the best picture category for which it had been considered a potential front-runner."

Stunning. I mean. 8 nominations - but no best pic? I knew it - there is no god. I'm completely shattered.

Even so, I'm not quite as shattered as I was when I read this truly Breaking News-worthy breaking news from Nov 7, 2006. It's possible you fellow Americans might have missed this one because you stepped away from your desk to perform more pressing matters, like to refill your cup of coffee. Or to pee. Or to vote.

"Br!tney Sp3ars files for divorce from her husband...citing irreconcilable differences."

I caught it though. As soon as it happens, I know about it. Thank you cnn.

Here's my own very exciting breaking news: Hatred for knitting by hand convinces handknitter to buy knitting machine.

Slow, torturous progress on my Kooch. I've decided it needs to be a given a more flattering name and will now call it My Albatross.

Waaaah you guys waaah. Finishing this is going to be a huge struggle. I want the coat a million times more than I want to knit it. After knitting with fingering weight yarn for so long, the chunky is doing a number on my hands, not to mention the return of Reynaud's on my ring and pinky fingers making chunky knitting that much more unpleasant. I've been fantasizing about a knitting machine more and more. If I had a knitting machine I'd use it in a heartbeat. If I had a knitting machine I'd have a sweater coat in another heartbeat. No more languishing as a WiP for a year...the whole thing would finally be done.

If I get one though would that be like going over to the knitting darkside? My mom has one and I always poo-poo it. Because isn't the fun of knitting doing the actual knitting? The yarn, the color of the yarn, the feel of the yarn through your fingers, the clicking of needles, the mechanics of it all motivate us more than whatever the outcome will be.

But not in this case! Stockinette stitch to infinity, scratchy yarn, chunky needles...Kooch is officially Not Fun to Knit. I have no tactile motivation; I just really really want to wear it. 

This is where the practicality of hand knitting comes into play - as in, it's just not there! So to machine-knit or not to machine-knit...that is the question...

Comments [15]
Filed Under: General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch | WTF

Introducing Dottie to a Sunday night ritual

American football, that is. Even though it actually involves more hands than feet.

First, grab yourself an ice-cold Bud and find a comfortable place in front of the television.

Then, help yourself to a plate of Buffalo chicken wings. Celery and blue cheese dressing on the side are mandatory.

Still hungry? How about some savory Green Chile Stew?

And for dessert...

Dottie gets an eyefull of T0m Brady,
America's version of David B3ckham.

The bad news: he lost the game.
The good news: he's newly SINGLE.

Dottie's verdict:

"Mmm...American football...Gooood..."

Too bad you'll have to wait til next year to see more!

PS I actually hate watching football during the regular season. Couldn't care less. Also, that green chile stew I made was REALLY REALLY GOOD. Get the recipe here.

Comments [7]
Filed Under: Cat in the Kitchen | Postcards from Dottie