KnitsyBitsy

I made these!

2009-07-05T17:09:00.003+01:00

Not alot going on here in Providence. But the copious amounts of rain has allowed me to produce my first ever beet:

And after the big Bristol 4th of July parade, we got a hankering for Strawberry Shortcake. Little did I know how simple this recipe was!

Tweet tweet

2009-05-14T13:39:00.001+01:00

I think twitter is the new blogger. I'm just saying.

Here's the problem

2009-05-13T18:47:00.001+01:00

The reason that I cannot do anything crafty is because I spend way too much time on the internets reading about what crafty things *other* people are doing. It seems much more interesting than any crafty thing I would do anyway. Ravelry, Craftster, and BurdaStyle and all the other RSS feeds are all damning me to this un-crafty fate! Curses!

I Suck at Blogging

2009-05-12T03:21:00.003+01:00

Haven't had too much to say, except that allergy season is a doozy this year, and I've not been crafting at all, except I am teaching myself how to use the ruffler foot on my sewing machine. Photos to follow.

Also, I did find the cutest shoes *ever *on Zappos:

How will I ever live without them? Eep.

Exhausted!!!

2009-03-14T00:36:00.002Z

Wow, I just flew in from the Bay Area, and boy are my arms tired. (BOO! HISS!)

But really folks, it was such a whirlwind trip that I was only able to see a few of my favorite peeps. When so much time flies by, it's hard to realize how old I'm getting. Which brings me to the point of my post.

To Dye or Not to Dye?

I have people in both camps, although I will say that most of my fair-haired friends say not to dye, while all my dark-haired friends are desperate to dye. The one exception is my mother, who says that she wishes that she never started, and let it grey naturally. (Somehow, I think I've complained about this before...) Anyway.... Ms. Crafty says that her friend's mom has never dyed, and still has normal colored hair. She said, that it's the dye that starts to discolor the hairs that aren't grey, which then keeps you dyeing until the end of time. My view is that I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the plucking, and I might just pluck myself bald, so I'd better start dyeing.

The one time that I tried to dye my hair, it was so bad, I looked like some kind of tranny, because the black color was not a naturally occuring black. Of course, my mother just tells me that I should just go get a 'real haircut', whatever that means.

De-Furrer

2009-02-26T20:11:00.003Z

Tamsin called my attention to the Furminator.

It has life-changing potential. My cat is a furry beast, and leaves clouds of fluff in his wake, no matter what time of year. Yes, it's pricey, but Amazon sells it at half-price. Elwood loves being brushed, so after I tried it (one must be careful not to get over-zealous, as bald patches can emerge) I was left with a ball of hair roughly the size of half a cat. I have to try it when it's not so cold, and the air so dry, because it does build up a good amount of static, and Elwood starts to complain.

If you have a hard time keeping up with all that shedding from your cat (or dog), I highly recommend this awesome product.

The Kitty Has Landed!!!

2009-02-23T00:17:00.003Z

Taking my cue from Ms. Crafty, thought that I would also try to catch up on some blogging!

We landed in Boston, MA on 17 February, and it was a whirlwind of events leading up to our departure. Most of it spent in nightmare-packing-mode.

As we were getting ready for take-off, the captain came on the intercom (or whatever it's called), and said, "Welcome to Virgin Flight 11, I just wanted to let you all know that we have a cat flying with us today, his name is Elwood. I was just down in the pet compartment, and Elwood is calm, and ready to fly!"

I almost started to cry. I'm such a huge sap. Virgin really does go the extra mile to make sure crazy cat ladies such as myself are happy campers when they bring their pets on the flight. It does cost, though. Elwood's ticket was roughly double the cost of my own ticket.... But he cam through like a champ. I must note, however, that the receiving team on the Heathrow side of things are much better than the guys who received him on the Boston end. His cage was totally wet because they left the water in his bowl to spill around.

Anyway, more posts to come, as well as some long-overdue NY's resolutions, photos from Decaying Beauty, and what I'm going to miss most about the UK.

For now, it feels good to be back stateside, even if it's hovering just above freezing here in Providence. Elwood is adjusting well, and watching the squirrels run around outside.

Viennese Holiday

2008-12-30T09:38:00.001Z

Bern and I had a lovely time in Vienna and Salzburg, even though it was -3 degrees on one of the days. We stopped and drank lots of hot drinks on the way to museums, and castles, and stuff.

Rathaus:

Schonnbrun:

Ornaments at the Christmas Market:

One of the best things that we discovered was this:

Labello lip balm rocks! I'd first heard about it through Not Martha, and then from Chaptastic. It really is one of the best lip balms out there! We stocked up at Bipa, and are already looking where to get our next fix. Perhaps we can meet in Geneva next month and go on a search mission. I can't find it too easily here in London. Of course, you have to check out the Labello website to really understand what the fuss is about!

Vienna-Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T23:04:00.003Z

Bernadette and I finally made it to Vienna, and we got in after a lot of the city had shut down for the holidays. So, we spent a few hours in a cafe catching up. Something that we both remembered while trying to book our trip was this hotel that made us totally laugh!

Check out the stripper shower! Anyhow, we didn't book that hotel because it freaked us out a bit. We are staying in the 10th district, (photos forthcoming) for a few days, and then heading to Salzburg to take a Sound of Music Tour!

What I love about the holidays!

2008-11-05T13:04:00.002Z

It's back! It's finally back. I've been waiting all year for...

The CHRISTMAS SANDWICH!!!!

YAY!!!

Election Humour

2008-11-04T15:02:00.000Z

Gum Election made me really crack up!

Knitting and Stitching 2008 at the Ally Pally

2008-10-17T21:41:00.003+01:00

I was originally going to skip the show altogether, but then I couldn't resist. Denise and I met at the Ally Pally and hit the booths. It was a crazy and wonderful show, but I spent quite a bit of money. Here is the day's take: A hat kit, a colinette kit, a magazine, a beading kit, and a beading book.

Can you believe that Debbie Bliss has her own knitting magazine now?!! I couldn't resist even though it was a bit pricey. Here are my favorite things from the magazine, first knitted sweater egg cozies!

Beautiful knitted coat:

Then there was a great booth selling make your own fascinator kits! Of course, I'll probably never be able to attend a British wedding to actually wear one of these, but I'm going to try to rock the whole fascinator thing when I get back to the US.

From the graduate students show:

What could be better than knitted shoes?

And finally, I got to hang out with Nicky Epstein for a few seconds, which was the highlight of the whole show for me!

Rainy Days = Crafty Time

2008-10-11T18:51:00.000+01:00

I was just chatting with Ms. Crafty the other day , who lamented that "It's lonely crafting by yourself", and being in big-city London, it is really hard to find crafty souls, and find the time to meet up and have crafty conniptions like I used to do in the Bay Area.

But this past weekend, I was able to meet up with WeatherPixie, and we hit the fabric shops *hard*. I think that it's been so long since I had someone to go with, that we had to hit every single fabric shop on Uxbridge Road. Well worth the trip for all you fabric-o-holics in London. I think there are now 8 different shops for fabric on Uxbridge Road. My favorite is Classic Textiles, and A-Z fabrics. They aren't too pushy, and are just helpful enough.

This is the lofty goal for December:

I'm doing the one on the right (with the contrast stomacher bit), but adding the hoops at the hip to give it fullness at the top of the skirt. I bought olivey-green tafetta, with a dark blue embroidered tafetta. I'm on the hunt for a tall wig in silvery-blue for a huge costume party in December.

I haven't yet shared the wealth of crafty supplies that I picked up in Berlin so, here is some good crafty-porn for you sickos:

The best thing I found was the Burda "Kopierfolie", which is like tracing paper, except that it's plastic, and totally transparent, and way better. WeatherPixie's pattern which I borrowed, was cut for a size 10. So I was able to trace the pattern and re-size at the same time. After futzing with a cotton muslin pattern for an evening, I have a bodice that fits! Woo hoo! I am now just waiting for the boning to arrive so that I may construct a bodice that tortured our ancestors for pure enjoyment and frivolity on my part. Other bits of interest are the make-your-own-buttons thingies, where you can match your knitting by weaving in yarn and beads. Those Germans think of everything. I also picked up some spare sewing machine needles, and some collar points for B, since the dryer seems to mangle the ones in his shirts.

I highly recommend the Idee store in Berlin. It's a great store to browse, and discover things you've never seen before. It's right off the Kantstrasse. The website is a little weird, so don't be put off by it. The store is worth the trip.

Of course, there are oodles of sewing projects that are backing up. Here are just a few on the list:

Loving this tulip skirt. I bought a gorgeous printed linen a few months back.

This amazing silk tunic/top. It's more advanced than my skills, but I don't care. I just love it. The details on it are just amazing.

I'll post my progress on the Marie Antoinette dress soon. Wish I had knitting to share, but I've been suffering knitter's block. Maybe the Knitting and Stitching Show will get me out of my rut.

Lazy post

2008-10-02T20:58:00.001+01:00

But still pretty 'awesome'.

Back in Rainy London

2008-09-02T10:03:00.002+01:00

(I know, a little late with the blogging...but I'll catch up eventually)

Summer completely bypassed London this year. I think we may have gotten a total of 2 weeks of summer-like weather. I missed one of those weeks while in Mallorca in August. We stayed clear of the super-drunk & touristy spots, and headed to the Northwest coast, and stayed at a lovely resort, and ate to our hearts content, and sat on the beach all day. It was pure bliss.

I also just returned from totally different beach holiday, this time, stateside, at Cape Cod:

Again, ate to my heart's content, but this time it was all fried food and comfort food:

I think that B's and my new rule of traveling, is to travel where we can eat well. How easy is it to plan a trip around food, rather than tours of museums and national monuments???!

(PS. All the photos are from B's flickr stream. I am getting way to lazy to take my own photos!)

New Fave Blog

2008-08-13T14:04:00.001+01:00

Cake Wrecks

Made me laugh so hard!

Hair Dilemna 2008

2008-08-10T10:53:00.004+01:00

Thank you for all of the comments the last time I did this. Again I find myself hating my hair, and not being able to do anything with it....can't even put it up, so it's driving my absolutely batty now. Here are the contenders: I think I keep going for the same kind of idea, but I just don't know how any of these would do with super straight, and super thick hair.

I do have concerns that if I go too short, it will make my face look fat....and I also do realize what a pain is it to grow out bangs(fringe for you UK folks). I just want something sassy, and relatively low maintenance. I'm willing to blow dry and use whatever product I need to.

Number 1: Audrey Tatou. I'm not sure if I would look good with this cut, but I just love Audrey Tatou. I have to check out her latest film soon.

Number 2: Long bangs, major face-framing layers, does it look as high maintenance as it truly is?Number 3: I think my co-worker just got this cut, and I'm afraid to appear too "Single White Female" to her and everyone else.(Bridget Fonda movie, I think? Too lazy to imdb it) It also has a little bit of the Victoria Beckham thing going on.

Number 4: Kristin Carvalli: I have no idea who she is...but she's supposed to be famous. Her fame does not affect me in any way. Would this cut always look so undone? Or could I make it look elegant for evenings out? Would it make my head look abnormally huge? I mean, more than it already is? Or does Kristin just have a freakishly small face?

5: I think this is Rumer Willis, Bruce and Demi's daughter, but I have no idea where I found this image, so I can't be sure. I just image-googled "short hairstyles", and it returned hundreds of images. This has shorter fringe....so my fears with this one, is that after a week, it will resemble the "bowl cut" that my mother used to do to us when we were kids. It's also got longer layers, so may last longer between cuts.

The last time I was at the stylist's....they did a bad job. I'm going to try a new place, and hopefully, it'll be better. It's really a hit or miss around here.

Ich Liebe Berlin!!!

2008-07-20T21:31:00.004+01:00

Long overdue post, but just wanted to show a few pics from Berlin, where I was fortunate enough to spend a few days on holiday, while B had to work.

We stayed in a hotel right on the Ku'Damm, so everything was really easy to get to.

Cool vespa parked on the street:

Old school knitting machine from the Technical Museum:

Scariest billboard that I've ever seen:

What's left of the wall:

Coffee at the second oldest cafe (Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum) in all of Europe (in Leipzig):

Bach Museum (Leipzig):

Faust's shoe: Rub for luck

And best of all, found the best craft store, that I've ever seen in Europe:

Button wall!

Epic FAIL

2008-06-28T13:03:00.002+01:00

It's almost the end of June, and I have yet to get a decent blog post out! FAIL.

After a drinks at Kim's leaving-do, for some reason I kept cracking up at man-boobs euphemisms... so I came up with a bunch. Even in my hangover state, I'm still giggling about them:

1. Moobs
2. Male-ons (like "melons")
3. Man-a-bagos
4. Mantalopes
5. Manzongas

Apologies, as my junior-high school level of humor is the only one working right now.

Carnaby Street Shopping

2008-05-25T11:07:00.007+01:00

I met up with a bunch of lovely ladies this weekend to do some hardcore wedding/shoes/beads shopping. R and I are making the bridal jewelry, so we hit up every beadstore in a 2 mile radius! We also ended up buying more stuff than we initially planned for. It was some much needed retail therapy.

One store that I was very impressed with is a store called Harriet's Muse off Carnaby Street. It's located in a small multi-floor building on Kingley Court. It's definitely worth a browse around. There are a many shops with really cute clothing and accessories, so definitely take your time to walk around. Do check out Fur Coat No Knickers , for great vintage dresses and jewelry and Mnini for the prettiest cocktail rings and purses! I also saw proper tea with scones and clotted cream being served in one of the cafes in here, if you were needing some sort of sustenance on a marathon shopping day!

Here are some photos of Harriet's Muse:

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I also ended up buying some Birkenstocks for my poor troubled feet. I hope that they fix my feet and I might be able to go back to wearing cute shoes again! I believe that Birkenstocks are one of the few things in London that are not more expensive than in the US. I think another thing are Addi Turbos. Buy them at Loop in Islington.

More Hair Talk

2008-05-21T23:34:00.000+01:00

A co-worker of mine turned me on to the best thing since dippity-doo.

You know how sometimes, okay often, you wake up and you need to wash your hair, but you've woken up late, and there's no time to dry it, and it's winter (or just London cold/damp summer), so you'll catch pneumonia if you don't blowdry.....

Well, in those emergencies, you can use this great stuff called 'dry shampoo'. I've never seen this stateside, or maybe it was okay for me to run out the house with wet hair in California... but here in London, it's just not done.

There's two kinds, unscented, and tropical, which makes your hair smell like a pina-colada. I just love it. I think it makes my hair look way better than when I wash it. Yay!

Trip to Kew Gardens

2008-05-13T23:48:00.002+01:00

The best thing, if I haven't said this before, about having houseguests in London, is having the excuse to do all the touristy things that you haven't yet had a chance to do. This past weekend, we went with B's mum to Kew Gardens. (Like how I use "mum" instead of "mom"? So very British!)

We took the ferry there, which was fun, but kinda long. Here are a few photos from the trip:

It was one of the hottest days in London so far this year! I hope it doesn't get much hotter! Eek! Not much else going on, I'm embarrassed to say. Lots of work and no play make me a dull blogger, truly.

Remembering Proust...

2008-04-03T10:35:00.003+01:00

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called
petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the
fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary
after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised
to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of
the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it,
touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I
stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…
at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its
disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…”

Well, I'm not sure about the whole body experience of my madeleines, but they were quite tasty dunked in tea. I made them to welcome back the office espresso machine. They are not really a cookie, more of a mini-cake. Yum!

Brought to you by the Internets

2008-03-30T21:31:00.007+01:00

There is no way that I would have been able to do this fabulous apron project without the Internet. It really has brought my crafting to a whole new level.

The pattern is originally from here (scroll to bottom) but I can't remember how I first found it. It's mostly for crafty quilters, but I don't know where to got to find sewing patterns in the UK, so it's nice that Susan Branch provided this one for free. I changed the side-ties, and the made a loop for the neck band, otherwise it's the same pattern and technique. It's goes together pretty quickly, I made it in a day and half. I recommend making friends with your iron. It helped me keep my seams neat, except around the curved edges. I wish there were somewhere that told me how to do the curves with bias tape.

Then, I had to figure out how to do my own seam binding from here and here. I recommend doing the continuous bias tape method, as it saves you a lot of time from sewing each individual strip. I had the Clover bias tape in my crafty tool kit already! Score! For those of you without this nifty tool, Creative Little Daisy has a great DIY method for it!

Then, it just so happened that Amy from Angry Chicken just did a video on the best way to attach binding, and it saved me a bit of head-banging and went pretty smoothly. Except when I had to rip some pieces, and read from purlbee how to properly use my seam ripper!

Here is the first bound piece:

And here I am halfway done:

Last of the binding to go!

I went with my co-worker R, to this great fabric warehouse in East Finchley to buy the Amy Butler-esque fabric, and I hope that you'll agree that it really works for this pattern.

It's a belated bday present (one week late) for a friend. I hope she likes it!

Steve Jobs, I am your beeyatch

2008-03-26T17:00:00.000Z

Yep, I fell for the whole marketing hoopla. I gave in to the dark-side of consumerism. I had to have it:

I'm a sucker. But I'm a sucker in love. It truly is a thing of beauty. I can't keep my grubby paws off of it. I geek out with my co-workers who also gave into the dark side, and we compare new things that we learn all the time. I might love it more than any Apple thing I've ever known.

I even sewed a custom case from a recycled silk tie, while I dream up a knitting pattern for it.

Such a geek.

Blog Stalking

2008-03-13T00:20:00.002Z

Today, we had a special visitor in the MOO offices! It was Lara Cameron, of Kirin Notebook fame! I've been a huge (blog-stalking) fan of hers for a while now, and it was such a treat to meet her in person.

You have all these high hopes about a person when all you know is their art, and Lara did not disappoint. She is an amazingly creative, lovely and warm person. I love how the crafty world connects on the internets, don't you?

Pillow Talk

2008-03-12T22:23:00.005Z

I went with a colleague to the best fabric store evah! It's like an hour and half away, but so worth it, since all the designer fabrics are are £6.99 a metre! There are even John Lewis reject rolls here! I spent way too much money, and I can't show everything that I bought, since one is for a present for someone, who may or may not read this blog!

So, since the BF has been complaining about the couch pillows, I whipped some up over the weekend! Here are the old, sad ones:

Here are the new sparkly ones:

I absolutely *heart* them!

Bag Addict

2008-03-11T19:01:00.000Z

I love bags. Any kind of bag. For some reason, I cannot find the perfect all-purpose type of bag, so I just keep buying more bags. B thinks I'm completely mad. That being said, I just love these Envirosax. They're just da bomb. At the time when I bought them, they could only be bought from Australia (from the UK), so the whole carbon-footprint-effect with the shipping-by-plane thing, put me in the negative. Sorry about that, but I just couldn't find them here last year. Now, they're everywhere. I use them for grocery shopping all the time. They are perfect because they roll up nice and neat inside my purse, they are roomy, strong, and they have handles long enough to swing onto your shoulder, so that my fingers don't fall off from carrying them home from the store with heavy items. I think I'm going to have to use these for a few years to offset the plane that had to deliver them to me. If you're in the US, Delight carries the whole line of Envirosax.

Unfortunately, although Envirosax are great for groceries, they are not great for when you have to transport baked goods in tupperware, that have to remain upright and flat. When I put cupcakes in a container, then try to get them to work, the tupperware always starts to tilt in the bag, because it doesn't have a flat bottom...the seam is right there in the middle of the bottom of the bag. Baked goods never look good when they've been carried lying on its side. So, I had to get out my sewing machine for yet another bag project: The Flat-Bottom Bag. Elwood was kind enough to pose to give you an idea of scale.

It was a quick and easy afternoon project, and I got to use oilcloth that was already in my stash! It's a Cath Kidston knockoff that I found in the remnants bin in a kitchen shop on Northcote road on the way to a street market last year.

Sewing with oilcloth can be a little fussy, but if you've got a teflon foot on your sewing machine, it makes life a whole lot easier. I haven't yet decided if I want to put a lining it yet or if I want to put some kind of closure on it.

Now, there is no excuse for smooshed cupcakes! These short, flat ikea containers are perfect for transporting baked items!

I'm also on the search for the perfect work bag. I'm looking for nice, sleek, non-wilderness-looking backpack. I can't believe all the comfortable, roomy, functional bags all look like I'm about to go on a camping trip. I really just need a city backpack. Does one exist? I'm scouring every online shop, and I can't seem to find one that looks feminine, yet urban, that can fit my laptop, and maybe my lunch sometimes, and has some nice small inner and outer pockets for things like my travelcard, and my phone.

KnitWitches

2008-02-21T21:18:00.000Z

Forgot to post about the scrumptious yarn that I got at the London Stitch and Bitch Day a few months back.

These lovely ladies were running the table, and people could not stop touching their yarn!

Here are the two colorways that I could not resist:

I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but will have to try my hand at lace-knitting (finally). I'm still working on switching from continental to throwing, because I have a feeling the yarn and needle angles for the throwing method are better for lace knitting....

Total Thrill

2008-01-30T12:17:00.000Z

If you haven't yet seen this, it's worth the 2 minutes to watch it. Wish I could have been there...seems like a flashmob sort of activity. It really is that dead-silent and boring on the Tube.

Selvedge Addiction

2008-01-07T23:02:00.000Z

I had highly doubted that I would get addicted to British things the way I'm addicted to American things, but I must admit that I am a SUCKER for Selvedge Magazine. There is no better craft porn out there than this quarterly publication. I had seen them in shops in the States, but it cost $20 each! I have to by mine second hand for a pound each, but it is so worth it. Much like I collect and hoard MSL magazines....Selvedge is something that I may have to clear bookcase shelf space for.

Peanut Butter Cookie Time!

2007-12-10T18:10:00.000Z

The great thing about these cookies is that I don't have to deal with the whole British flour issue, since there is *ZERO* flour in this recipe. It's quick, it's easy, and when I was through half the batch, I thought...why not add chocolate chips??? I found the recipe online, and from the reviews, it looks like it's a never-fail recipe. I wonder if British peanut butter would turn out differently? I still had a stash of Skippy, so that's what I used for these

If you're a purist, you can have plain, and if you're a chocolate fiend, the chips add a nice bittersweetness to the peanut butter.

I Heart Etsy

2007-12-09T13:14:00.000Z

One of the VPs at my company visited Etsy, and brought back some Etsy schwag.

I swear...working for Etsy would be my dream job.

My Dream Craft Room

2007-12-03T14:17:00.000Z

For one day, when I have a house big enough to have a craft room of my very own. Click on the 3rd floor one. Comes complete with kitty friendly touches too! You just gotta love Ikea.

Come into the Closet

Belated Thanksgiving

2007-12-01T19:08:00.000Z

It's so odd for me not to celebrate Thanksgiving in London. My friend Amy went to Harvey Nicks "American Thanksgiving Dinner" on Thursday, and she said it was a pathetic rendition of a Thanksgiving dinner. So, we decided to do our own dinner....on Saturday, since we both had to work on Thursday and Friday. There is nothing like the pure gluttony of a real American Thanksgiving.

Amy and John still smiling, because they haven't yet stuffed their faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, butternut squash, cranberry sauce and pie.

We'll be having leftovers for a while.

Catch-up

2007-11-25T13:51:00.000Z

It's been a crazy few weeks, and I haven't had time to blog. But there have been so many random thoughts about what to blog about, now that I'm finally sitting down and typing, I've forgotten all of them.

MC came for a visit, and we had blast doing touristy things around London.

High tea at the Orangery by Kensington Palace:

Hedge maze at Hampton Court Palace:

The famous Raclette stand at Borough Market:

and finally meeting Debbie Stoller at the London Stitch and Bitch Day:

Having good friends come to stay with me in London reminds me of how much I miss my gal pals from home. I think I went through a harsh withdrawal period when she left. I can't wait to see everyone when I go back in December. I might just have one huge crafty conniption when I get there! Yarn stores beware!

KissKiss

2007-11-07T11:47:00.000Z

I've been struggling lately with baking. For quite some time, I blamed it on my Barbie-sized gas oven. Thank you to my co-worker Kim, who is quite the baker herself, as she tried to work out the problem with me.

All of my cookies and cupcakes were turning out flatter than normal. I swapped out my baking soda, I made sure the butter was super-cold when mixing in with the sugar, I tried different butter, froze the dough before baking, lower baking temps, higher baking temps, changing baking pans.....no improvements. It was killing me. I kept making stuff to bring to work, but then was embarrassed by the results.

Finally, Kim found some information on how American flour is totally different than UK flour. She thought it might be the gluten content, but wasn't sure....so I tried to bake with a bread flour. Better results, but still not the nice crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside cookie that I'm used to having. Then, she found this gem, which talks about exactly how Rose Beranbaum spent a few weeks in the UK trying to translate her American cookbook, "The Cake Bible" into something that would work equally well in the UK. Hang on, the mystery unfolds further!!!

Turns out, that the Brits do not bleach their flour, which is standard in America. It's actually illegal to bring bleached flour into the UK! I think I'll start having to smuggle my flour in cocaine containers. Anyhow, Rose linked to a treatment of the British flour that simulates the bleaching process....and I tried it last night, and it works, by golly, it works!!!!

I bring you the (very) successful batch of Peanut-butter Chocolate-Kiss cookies!!! Ta da!

Fiber Farm

2007-10-20T18:51:00.000+01:00

NotMartha turned me on to the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm CSA. You can buy a share of the CSA, and each year, you'll get a stash of yarn from the sheep and goats that are raised lovingly on the farm! NotMartha is running a free drawing for a share, but even if I don't win, I might just having to buy a share of my own! How cool is that? I think that the best part is that they tell you the names of the sheep that the yarn come from, and they have pictures of the sheep on their website as well!

Knitting Show Extravaganza!

2007-10-16T21:20:00.000+01:00

This weekend was the best ever crafty weekend! I went to the Ally Pally for the knitting show, and this year, it seemed that there was more of the 'stitching' brand of craft rather than the 'knitting' brand. Still, there was so much to look at, and again was overwhelmed by it all. I got some great Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn, and picked up some Addi's at a steal, but I resisted most of the yummy yarns, because I didn't really have a project to shop for...too many projects in the queue.

Some shots that I sneaked at the show, as they highly discouraged photo-taking! Eek!

Colinette booth:

Rowan Booth:

Some amazing student works:

Unplanned Hiatus

2007-10-12T21:13:00.000+01:00

Okay, wow. I've been so neglectful of the blog of late, because I was sick for a while, and then I had a dear friend visit me in London, and then I got to see Wicked, and I've been working so much, and trying to figure out how to get all my knitting in time for the holidays!!!!

But the best news of them all is that I was finally invited to Ravelry!!! Of course, now I just have to wait for everyone I know to join. But, in the meantime, I'm enjoying poking around, and fantasizing what to make and buy. I really think that it's just a really well designed enabling tool for my obsessive knitting behavior.

This weekend is the last weekend for the London Craft Fair, and it's also the Knitting and Stitching Show at the Ally Pally! I'm not sure if I can only attend one.

Also coming up soon is iKnitLondon Stitch and Bitch, and Crafternoon and Tea!

Arzak

2007-09-30T13:46:00.000+01:00

For all you foodies out there, San Sebastian is known for having three Michelin 3-star restaurants in town. That's a total of nine stars in ONE city! Fortunately, on this trip, B and I had the great fortune of going to Arzak. Having been spoiled by all the great food options in the Bay Area, and having so few here in London, we were super excited about this, and it did NOT disappoint. It was the most memorable dinner of my life. Chef Juan Mari Arzak and daughter Elena even came to our table to chat a little!

We ordered the tasting menu, and the food would not stop coming! It was amazing service, and amazing tastes, and such amazing presentation. I feel like I never have to eat ever again (I wish).

Foie gras with caramelized sugar atop grilled zucchini drizzled with pomegranates and parsley:

Fish mousse in pastry, on it's own flashing disco plate:

Steak with "foam" (They really called it that):

One of three dessert courses (Apricots, dried mangoes, candied pineapple, chocolate truffles, and white bean truffles)

All in all, I only gained one pound on this trip, but it was most likely due to all the walking we did, not for any lack of eating. More delicious photos in my Flickr stream.

It was not as warm as we thought it was going to be, but we ate well, and saw a movie at the film festival, and even made a day trip to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim! The Guggenheim's restaurant is actually run by Martin Berasategui, another of the Michelin 3-star chefs!

I think that for future vacations, I'm going to plan them around the World's Best Restaurant List!

Buen Appetito!

Who doesn't love Ninjas?

2007-09-20T14:08:00.000+01:00

Not my own pattern, I'm afraid. I saw a similar stuffy in my colleagues backpack, and just fell in love. It took me about a month to find the correct eyes, but once I did, there was no stopping me! He's just made of craft felt. I wish I knew where to buy proper wool felt.

Par-tay!

2007-09-17T23:30:00.000+01:00

Okay, well not really, since it *is* a Monday night, and really, how much can you party?

Some colleagues and I were invited to a little soiree right off of Tottenham Court Road. (I call it TCR, but my colleagues laughed at my American-ness. )

Got some great snaps at the event. See more of them on Flickr, but here are my faves:

A Lot of Lotta

2007-09-02T21:21:00.000+01:00

I can't stop making things in this book!
Here is my second project, the drawstring backpack. It was super simple, and came together in one afternoon. It's super cute, and is perfect to put my wallet and phone, and a few Envirosax for the weekly grocery shopping!

Jumping into the Deep End

2007-08-30T22:58:00.000+01:00

I got this book last year, and almost every week since then, I've been dreaming about making the sun hat, so that I could go around London in the summer with my sassy hat.

Alas, summer never found its way to London, so this project went on the back burner for a while. Since B and I will be vacationing in San Sebastian next month, I thought that would be the perfect place to wear a sassy sun hat. So this week, I finally started sewing.

It started out all well and good, up until the assembly. Now, Lotta ranks this project as a 3 on a scale of 1 to 3, 3 being the most difficult. So, of course I picked one of the hardest projects in the book! And of course I did not take into account my ginormous melonhead, and did not add an extra half inch to the crown as I should have. I cut it out exactly to the pattern. Yep...the hat did not fit initially.

I also found out, through all the Lotta fans on Flickr that most found the hat too big. Yeah, not too big for me! It was too small. So I took it apart, shortened the crown a bit (1/2 inch) and also shortened the brim a bit (1/2 from the inside end, not the edge). Shortening it made the opening of the hat a little wider so I could finally fit my head in it. Woo hoo! Most folks said that they found the brim way too oversized. I actually like it this big, because I feel like it protects my face more from the sun. Unfortunately, since I can barely see out of it, it will have to be my "sit-on-the-beach-and-don't-walk-around-that-much-or-I'll-trip" hat.

The finished result:

(How hard is it to take a photo of yourself in a hat, and not show the camera? I think my arm is about to fall off!)

I would absolutely do this hat again, probably in a more heavyweight fabric. This is just a cotton print, with a little bit of stretch. It's actually some leftovers from a past season't Talbots line. I picked up a few other prints too, so hopefully, I'll have more to show. Thanks so much to Knitting Iris for all of her tips. I wish I had seen them earlier in the project!

Carnival!!!!

2007-08-28T13:33:00.001+01:00

This weekend was the Notting Hill Festival, and it was the only sunny weekend this summer. My co-worker L says that it never rains during this festival. I think they should have that festival every weekend, then. It was incredible, although as an official "old" person, I could not enjoy it without some earplugs! Sigh. Anyway, the parade was amazing, as was the music, and the costumes, the food.... such a good mellow vibe too. Had more fun than I thought I would, since I'm really bad in crowd situations. Lots of Red Stripe, and Caipirinha helps!

Long Story Short

2007-08-25T23:58:00.000+01:00

Okay, so I finally finished off the baby booties that I finished knitting last week (Yes, an FO!!!), but I really wanted some cute teal and brown polka dot ribbon to do the ties with. I can't even tell you how hard I had to look for this. All over the internet, some completely crazy, yet sweet guy who-works-underneath-the-Tube-tracks workshop, John Lewis (the big shop on Oxford Street that has a tiny craft section), after going to MacCulloch & Wallis three times, I finally got there before it was closed...and they didn't have ANY polka dot ribbon. I mean, how can a proper haberdashery not have polka dot ribbon? It's a crime, I tell you. More about the haberdasher at a much later date. He had a treasure trove of ribbon and buttons, but I ended up talking to him for too long, so now I have to make another trip out there.

I ended up using this lovely velvety ribbon, and they are ready to be presented to my co-worker M, whose baby C is still in intensive care, so we are all thinking good thoughts for all of them. She came 4 months earlier than expected, but seems to be fighting for life everyday. I hope she likes green.

Storming the Castle

2007-08-23T09:32:00.000+01:00

I finally got the visit Windsor Castle! The Queen was not in residence, but it was a lovely visit anyway. I could not believe how close Windsor is. I might have to spend more time over there, since it's only about a 20 minute train ride! So worth it!

The changing of the guard, so impressive!

We had lovely tapas as a reward for a long day:

My First Football Game

2007-08-22T21:34:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, Kate, Brian and I got to go to a proper Premiership football (soccer) match! We saw the Tottenham Hot Spurs!

It was amazing fun, and we got to have a meal in the clubhouse, and meet some famous footballer that I've never heard of.

Crafty butter pats:

Our clubhouse pass:

Yummy cheese platter:

Stadium was so wild! Constant cheering and singing, and swearing!

I would definitely go to another game, it was super fun. Next game will be Fulham, I think!

Inspirational Clothes

2007-08-15T19:45:00.000+01:00

Note to self: When trying to lose weight, don't buy clothes that I wish would fit, because by the time I lose enough weight to fit in them, I end up not liking the style anymore.

Ugh.

Must have, want now

2007-08-14T23:26:00.000+01:00

I was waiting at the bus stop heading to Japanese class, when up walks this girl with the cutest shoes *ever*. So, when I got home I rushed to find them. Thank goodness Camper always puts a tag on the outside, so I can always identify them when I see them. Too bad Zappos doesn't ship to the UK, or I would order them posthaste! I think it's great that the British use words like "posthaste".

My Current Favorite Threadless T

2007-08-12T17:00:00.000+01:00

I haven't yet bought it, but I might have to throw down for it soon:

For some reason, I can't tell if the sheep is supposed to be sad that we take all its wool, though.

Out of this world!

2007-08-10T15:27:00.000+01:00

I have yet to taste anything in the US that rivals this: Scoop Gelato.

I have no idea how many points were in a scoop of this stuff, but it was so worth the calories. I'm happily skipping dinner. Well, maybe.

The best one was the pistachio. It was crazy good. The best pistachio I have ever had!

Scoop is officially added as one of the places to take my out of town visitors. YUMM!!!!

Prince still ROCKS

2007-08-09T13:46:00.000+01:00

I may be dating myself here, but I think the guy's still got it. He's 49 years old, and rocks the house. I almost cried when he did "Purple Rain". That was from back in 1984!!!! He played a bunch of the classics (Rasperry Beret, Little Red Corvette to start) , as well as some great covers like "Play that funky music white boy".

The O2 arena:

The approach...coming from North Greenwich tube station. Only 25 minutes from central London! Three transfers, but still, pretty straightforward. When we got inside, it reminded me a bit of Foxwoods, that huge Indian Casino in Connecticut. Completely enclosed, and massive!!!

The stage:

Prince magically appears through the middle of it, amidst smoke and lights.

I think my ears are still ringing from the concert.

Back from Amsterdam

2007-08-01T18:02:00.000+01:00

I must say, Amsterdam is on my list of top 5 cities that I've visited, that I could see myself living in. It was beautiful, even with the crappy weather! This city has a good pace that I'm comfortable in. London is really fast, New York is really fast....Amsterdam...just right.

We walked ALOT, and did ALOT, and ate WAY TOO MUCH. Without further ado, here are the photos.

Walking along one of many canals that all look alike to me now:

Geishas love vlamse friites! Unfortunately, I felt too guilty to partake of any. Sigh. I think there was my whole daily allowance of points in just one order of these.

Irish coffees at the Cafe Americain. So amazing. So expensive. They were €17 each!

The Bloemenmarkt, the floating flower market:

Outside our hotel:
Dutch Pancakes:
More pictures to come!

Kim Hargreaves got it going ON!

2007-07-27T12:33:00.000+01:00

I've been admiring the Kim Hargreaves Collections for a while now, even before I moved to the UK. I have almost bought her kits before, but I kept choking on the shipping from the UK to the US, so I never ever completed the transaction. Until now....

I've been getting the crafty itch for a while, and small projects here and there have not been enough. I needed a bigger project. Enter Bella:

and Moonbeam, which reminds me of a tiny little Hobbit cape.

It was so exciting to get the package and open it up. It was as if it were Christmas in July!

Plain white box (not giving away the wonderfulness inside):

She does such a wonderful job of packaging, and she was so sweet in her email to me, when they ran out of the color I wanted for Moonbeam. It came in three days! Notice that the kits also came with all the haberdashery required to finish the project. I heart Kim Hargreaves!!!

I cannot decide which one to do first! I do have some babies to knit for.....so maybe I should do that first! Whee!

Need your help (Hair Drama Part II)

2007-07-24T23:00:00.000+01:00

After seeing recent photos of me with 'longish' hair, I've decided that I desperately need my hair cut!

Here are the contenders....yes, they are pretty similar, but I'm trying to put together a good idea to take to the stylist, so that there is not miscommunication on what I really want.

I tend to like short-ish hair, but don't have patience to spend a lot of time fixing it in the morning. So it will have to be a 'wash-n-go' kind of style. I have really thick course hair, and some weird-ass cowlicks at the front of my head. It's mostly straight and it kinda flips out only on one side (right side). It's mostly straight. I have a very round face, sometimes I feel like it's too big for my head.

I think I almost caught some virus googling all the images that I could. Thank goodness for macs....

1.

2.

3.

My First Amigurumi!

2007-07-23T09:42:00.000+01:00

I first saw the pattern on SuperEggplant and I have been wanting to try this little guy for a while. I'm really bummed that I have no idea where to get "amigurumi eyes", so I had to use some black yarn, and try my hand at a "french knot". I think I have to work on my embroidery a bit more, as the eyes look kinda wonky.

I still think it's cute, though. The pattern was pretty straightforward, although, like my knitting, my tension is way loose, and I had to use a hook three sizes smaller than the pattern recommended.

I'm not quite sure how you're supposed to attach the leaves, so I just sewed it on one end and glued the other part of it down.

Giving it up to a higher power

2007-07-22T13:00:00.000+01:00

After hearing success story after success story, a month ago, I finally gave in and joined Weight Watchers. For obvious reasons, I thought I could do it on my own. You know, watch what I eat, get plenty of exercise. I thought to myself, "How hard can it be?"

People, it is unbelievably hard to lose weight, no matter how much of it you have to lose. Let's face it....we'll never be happy until we're at our ideal weight. So, I finally took the leap of faith and joined in.

I am happy to report that after a month, I've lost a little more than half a stone. Ha! WW in the UK uses the IMPERIAL scale! How awesome is that! One stone = 14 pounds. It was either the imperial scale, or the metric one. I'm really bad at the metric system...so I had no choice. I'm hoping that it's easier to lose stones than pounds!

So, 9.5 pounds down, and 6.5 (about half a stone) to go. Now we'll really see if I can actually BE happy!

(Muffin)Case and Point

2007-07-21T18:50:00.000+01:00

Most of the grocery stores here in London sell "muffin cases", which is the term for "cupcake liners" here. I have only seen them in white, and the are the 'fairy cake" size, which is way smaller and shorter than a "normal" (i.e. American version). My co-worker took pity on me, and found some way the heck far away from where I live, and brought me some.

I've been doing a fair amount of baking lately, so that I can get the hang of the gas oven, and it's weird uneven heating....and then I found out that these 'American muffin cases" were slightly too big for my muffin tin, and they would buckle in when I poured batter into them.

Sigh.

It makes me even more homesick when I see that Martha Stewart has come out with her beautiful cupcake liners, and in fashion colors too!
To add insult to injury, MS charges me over $20 to ship this to the UK. It costs $3.99 for petesakes! I'm adding this to my list of things I have to buy when I go back to the US.

Geek toy

2007-07-20T22:00:00.000+01:00

I've been wanting to blog about this for a while, but my life is just too full of excitement to sit down and blog about cool things. (not really) I think it's just too many good intentions, and not enough discipline.

They really do love their phone charms here in the UK, and most likely in Japan. I don't think it has caught on in the US as much. I think that it's originally some sort of crazy Japanese technology, and I'm really not sure how it works, but....when the office phone rings, the TARDIS is activated. I love that I can keep my phone in my pocket, and notice the flashing even before the phone starts to vibrate. How do they do that??

Other phone charms can be found here. I wouldn't advise ordering from Firebox if you're in the US. It took 2 months for my order to get from them to an address in the US. Not sure why...but if you're in the UK, it gets to you in one day.

I bought myself one, and one for a friend who has the same appreciation for the TARDIS as I do, if not more. I hesitated because I do like the Dalek one as well, but everyone in the office voted for the TARDIS. So, MC, if you want the Dalek, let me know, and I'll pick one up for ya! (I found out today that a package mailed from London to San Francisco takes about two days to get there! Whee!!!)

Cuppa Joe

2007-07-20T07:56:00.000+01:00

I'm a huge fan of Betz White. I idolize her uber-craftiness. I *so* wanted to buy one of her cupcake pincushions, but could not bring myself to pay that much, even though I think it's totally worth it, because she's so clever, and they are so beautiful.

So, when she offered her Cup O Joe Kits, I snapped one up as quickly as possible. I wish I had taken more photos of the kits, because the kit itself is just lovely.

Here is the kit:

And here is the finished product!!!!

I should have taken time to make sure my thread matched the fabric, but I just couldn't wait to make it!

I also used the basic instructions to make my own version of her cupcake. It's not nearly as good, so I think I will have to wait until her book comes out, and I will definitely be buying it!

Summer Knitty

2007-07-19T09:57:00.000+01:00

Get yourself to Knitty if you haven't already! There are so many lovely things! I want to make Wisp, and Zinzin, and so many others!

Here is my Wisp, a little less than half done. I used Crystal Palace Kid Merino, and it seems to be doing okay. I did notice that Kid Merino has a bit more stretch than KSH, but I think it will do. I think it will take about a ball and a half of the Kid Merino. I'm still trying to source those cute shell buttons they show on the pattern. I'm having a hard time so far, because there really isn't a store like Joann's anywhere that I can find in London. Will have to hit the street markets, I think.

Hair Drama

2007-07-17T21:32:00.000+01:00

One weekend, I was putting up my hair in preparation for a hot day. The most comfortable way that I've used in the past is a side part, and two low ponytails on each side of my head.

As I started to smooth down my hair in front of the mirror, not one...not two...but three grey hairs popped straight out of the top of my head!!!!

My first thought was that nature was telling me that it was no longer age-appropriate to wear ponytails, and that I just need to get over myself, and stop pretending that I'm still in college. C'mon, it wasn't like I was doing silly mini-buns or some such thing.

My second thought was: hair dye! Some sort of grecian formula, henna or some such thing. I was dreading that this day would come. I thought that I could just keep up with it and pluck the hairs as they sprouted. Now, I think I'd have to quit my day job to keep up with it.

When I told my mother, who btw, has dyed her hair since as far back as I can remember, she told me to just live with it. She said that once you start dyeing, you have to dye forever.

So, now I'm torn, and I don't know what to do.

I think I just need to get a haircut. Which is a whole other kind of drama: finding a stylist here in London.

Sigh.

Feeling Whole Again

2007-07-10T23:49:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago was the Grand Opening of the new Whole Foods on High Street Kensington. Words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful this place is. And not just because I'm an American living in London. They did such a fabulous job of designing this place, it actually brought tears to my eyes. It's three floors of glorious food. Foodie Paradise. It knocks the pants of of Harrods, and Selfridges food courts. Really. Okay, I might be biased.

Here is the entryway...

Ahh...the bulk food section. I don't think I've seen bulk foods anywhere in London! I had to just stand in this section, and keep myself from feeling too homesick.

The lovely produce section:

The cutest shopping carts ever:

And finally the whole wall of organic chocolate from around the world! People could not believe their eyes. It was so crowded that opening weekend....but it was glorious, nonetheless.

Hours of Operation

2007-06-28T16:15:00.000+01:00

okay, small rant.

Why on earth do stores close before you get out of work? Why does everything shut down at 5pm (sometimes 4pm) on Sunday, and you can't buy things before 11am?

Doesn't everyone work in London? I mean they'd have to in order to afford the rent. Why is it, when I get home at 7, all the stores are closed? And the hours on the weekend? Totally pathetic. I rushed to pick up a few things today (Sunday) and the stores all close at 5pm. I think if I opened a store, I would have hours that the working man/woman could deal with.

Perhaps I just need to manage my time better.

Party like it's Web 1.0

2007-06-22T10:24:00.000+01:00

I've been really lacking in non-generic photos, so I thought I'd just throw one in! Don't you just love the old skool polaroid? It's actually a polaroid I had to scan in!

This week, the Moo Crew was invited to the Flickr London Party, and it was a blast. You really can't go wrong with an open bar! Also, Flickr rented out the Tate Britain. Really lovely venue! I remember the days of fancy dotcom parties....sigh. It wasn't huge, actually quite intimate....met some really nice people, some from Yahoo, and the founder of Upcoming....as well as Heather and Cal from Flickr! So cool! I feel like a celebrity stalker now! Hee!

Then, we took a splinter group to some pub, which has taken it upon itself to go smoke-free, two weeks early! What a treat! Can't wait to see how this law affects the pub life that London is so famous for!

Barefoot Technology

2007-06-19T14:15:00.000+01:00

Being a person who used to complain ad nauseum about her feet, I've finally discovered two things that enable me to get through the day. All this walking was really making my plantar fasciitis worse, until now.

PowerStep arch supports, and MBTs. (Masai Barefoot Technology)

Yes, MBTs are a trendy fad thing...super popular in New York and all of that....but hot DAMN if they didn't get me from the tube stations to my destinations without complaint. It even comes with a funky infomercial-like DVD that tells you all about it. All I can say, is that I hope that the Masai people are getting some sort of kick-back, because these shoes are NOT cheap. I think that once you buy them, you notice all the people on the street that have them too. Hee! It's that kind of weird affirmation I need to justify that kind of spending.

I bought two pairs of Powersteps, and they're absolutely brilliant. I put them in my regular shoes, and it really makes a difference, even in my tried-and-true Danskos. I am doing the whole calf stretching exercise thing every evening, so maybe I'll be able to wear cute shoes soon.

No 7

2007-06-12T16:46:00.000+01:00

One of the better things about London is Boots. Boots is the best drugstore in its class. Really. And you gotta go to one of the big ones, like in Hammersmith, or Kensington High Street. It's kind of like Sephora meets CVS. I dunno what it is, but I can spend hours here. All the pharmacists working behind the counter really know what they are talking about. They are extremely helpful, and very conscientious about selling you any product, even over-the-counter medications. I love that even though it's a chain, it still has this very small-villagey feel to it.

So, they re-released a Boots exclusive product last month called No 7 Protect and Perfect. It truly is magical. As I've started to see tiny wrinkles between my eyes, and on my forehead, I've been fanatical about this product. Boots created this huge buying frenzy by doing limited production runs, and allowing only one per customer. Women were lined up down the block before the store opened to buy this. Women made their husbands buy it for them. It was nuts. They sold out of the biggest store in just under an hour.

I just love this stuff. I use it daily underneath my foundation, and it just glides on. No strong smell, and they claim that you'll see results in just FOUR weeks! I'll check back in after the four weeks, and let you know!

I've just found out they've started selling this in Target stores in the US. It's under a different name though, "Restore and Renew", which is not to be confused with "Refine and Rewind", although after speaking with the No7 rep at the Boots shop, she says that the "Refine and Rewind" contains a more concentrated version of the secret formula than in "Protect and Perfect".

I'm also using their "Lighten and Brighten" products, since I've developed some sort of adult freckles. The upside about this product is that it doesn't containg hydro-quinone, which is rumoured to cause some kind of skin cancer. The downside is that I think it will take longer to get rid of those "age spot/discoloration" on my cheeks. I have also bought the Neutrogena product which is supposed to do the same thing, also without hydro-quinone. I think I'll do a cheek test, one product on each side to see which works the best.....I'm a little obsessive with these freckles, having tried some soy skin brightening products (like Aveeno) which did nothing.

I heart Nano

2007-06-06T08:19:00.000+01:00

From his last business trip, B brought me back this:

Paired with the Shure EC2s, makes for a perfect commute. I hear almost nothing.

Among my favorite things to listen to on the tube:

This American Life podcast
CarTalk
Fresh Air with Terry Gross
Pimsleur Japanese
CraftyPod with Sister Diane

I tried listening to a few knitting podcasts, but I haven't yet found one that doesn't annoy me. CastOn was just alright. Maybe I need to give it a chance.

1945 Christmas Stocking

2007-06-04T16:08:00.000+01:00

A knitting friend of mine told me about these Christmas stockings that her grandmother had knit for her as a child. She has five siblings. She and three of her siblings received the same Christmas stockings with each of their names on them. Two of the siblings never received their stockings from their grandmother, as they are much younger than the other two, and I guess Granny wasn't really into knitting them anymore.

This year, this friend decided that she wanted to knit her younger siblings their own stockings and present it to them this Christmas. First, we were going to try to re-create the pattern on our own by looking at the sock..... but then by the magic of google and the internets I discovered this pattern! And we believe it is the original pattern that Granny used!

When did everyone turn into grown ups?

2007-06-03T00:08:00.000+01:00

I think that by choosing not to have children...and I know this is not a popular, or widely-accepted lifestyle choice...(I have many, many friends who have chosen this sacred path) it has kept me in this suspended child-like state.

I just want to know when everyone else all got so smart and grown up? Is it really the kids that make you grow up so fast? Wasn't it just yesterday, we were all going out drinking and staying up late, and making midnight runs to check out the new houseplants at the all-night Longs, and making quesadillas in the one big skillet that we owned between the three of us?

I spent one of my final precious days in California with my old roommate/dear friend and her daughters walking down College Avenue. It was cold (yes, in July), so we all had out hands in our jackets. The older girl, R, wanted to run down to the end of the block. My friend K told her that it would be fine for her to do that, as long as she waited for us before crossing the street, and if she took her hands out of her pockets. And then she proceeded to explain why it made sense to do that. (Because if you trip and fall, you can prevent your head from hitting the pavement by catching yourself with your hands!!) I don't know why this memory has stayed with me....but holy crap...it's brilliant. I think I never realized how wise mothers are. I never really gave credit to my own, while growing up....or even now ...that I'm *almost* grown up. Mommies are very wise. Maybe that's why I think I shouldn't be a mom. I just have no wisdom to pass on.

This is what it sounds like when doves cry

2007-05-16T21:18:00.000+01:00

O M G

Guess who's coming to London!!!!

Yay!

And I scored tickets!!!!!!

Get caned

2007-05-13T23:45:00.001+01:00

Earlier this year, my friend A introduced me to an amazing massage therapist. I'm so sad that I live too far away to be able to see her on a regular basis. Being that I have a desk job where I'm sitting at a computer for most of the day, I develop regular painful kinks on my neck and back.

There is this one spot right under my shoulder blade that pains me the most. Sometimes, I make my boyfriend pound right on that spot until I cry.

When I was home last, the massage therapist introduced me to this amazing contraption, which I went out and bought the same day, and have been hooked, literally.

Introducing the TheraCane:

Ignore the cheesy photos on the website, and get yourself one of these bad boys. It changed my life. I may survive until my next massage with this thing! My massage therapist calls it her "boyfriend". I love that I don't have to bug my boyfriend anymore. The best $35 I ever spent.

I scream, you scream

2007-04-30T23:04:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know I've talked about the whole ice cream thing here before, but now that summer is around the corner, I thought that I would let you in on other bits of information that I found out.

Remember when I talked about the ice cream here? And the fact that some ice cream was labeled "dairy ice cream", and others were not?

Well, one of my esteemed colleagues just informed me that a few years ago, the EU version of the FDA tried to get the makers of the ice cream that wasn't dairy to rename their product because it didn't contain enough dairy to call itself "ice cream". The name they came up with? "Frozen Animal Fat Dessert". I still have yet to find documentation to support this information. Another interesting fact: There is a company here in the UK that makes only two products: Ice cream...and sausages.

Go figure.

Ultimate de-stasher

2007-04-28T14:44:00.000+01:00

If I got this, do you think I would knit through my stash more quickly?

Sigh.

ROTFLAPM

2007-04-27T14:30:00.000+01:00

For some reason, this had me in a fit of giggles, and I could not stop.

Before you click, beware, because there is a high gross-factor. It's gross, yet funny. Apologies in advance, I seem to have a sick sense of humor these days....

Hee hee!

"Cake"

Luxury Gadget

2007-04-11T14:56:00.000+01:00

I was in Japan when I first tried one of these. But now it's officially on my list to put in when I do my bathroom remodel.

Swash

In other news, Diana and I went to the Knitting Hill knit-night in Notting Hill, and met lovely ladies Allison and Sonia. Making a guest appearance was Cassandra of KlozKnitz who incidentally is originally from San Francisco (as was Allison), and now lives in Amsterdam. Bay Area REPRESENT, yo.

The club meets on Monday nights, at the Earl of Lonsdale, which is a great old-school looking pub, with funky compartments and doors around the bar. I'll take pictures next time. It's a really friendly group of women, some great WIP on the needles, and super low-key. I highly recommend it, and I will definitely be back! Plus, it really is good for me to start knitting again. It's been way too long. I'm still working on Carolina from Rowan 39. Sigh.

Please let this not be a hoax

2007-04-11T14:10:00.000+01:00

The new Mailboxes!

Holiday City Break

2007-04-09T23:11:00.000+01:00

B and I have finally taken an out of town trip! We've been here for nine months, and this was our first trip ever! We have both been to different parts of Europe in our youth, so we had to find somewhere that neither of us had been to. Add to that two more friends who were also going to meet up with us. We finally decided on Prague!

As far as holidays go, there are two basic kinds: The ones where you see as much as you can in however much/little time you have because you never know if you'll ever make it back there again, and then the ones where you sit on your butt, and do nothing but relax, and maybe read. This holiday was of the latter kind.

This is the big Castle Cathedral:

We had to climb 187 circular steps for this view:

The famous Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square. Every hour, the skeleton pulls a cord, and the windows at the top open, and then the 12 apostles parade by as the clock chimes the hours.

Gratuitous sheep photo:

Did you know that the *original* Budweiser is from Czechoslovakia? (Now the Czech Republic, of course)

Mimi, Me, and Bern enjoying the original Czech rolled dough covered in sugar treat. It's called a "Tdrlo". We noticed that the Czechs really don't like to waste vowels....

Another Czech treat. This is just called "beer and sausages". We quickly learned that "beer" in Czech is "pivo".

A good time was had by all. We ate too much, tried to see *way* too much, and I was completely exhausted by the end of it. B & I have decided that the next trip will be more relaxing, and less rushing around.

Day Trip to Oxford

2007-03-27T13:15:00.000+01:00

I meant to blog about this a few weeks ago, but just got lazy. B and I took the train to Oxford one weekend. It was a cloudy day, and we almost decided not to go. We hopped a train at Paddington, and were on our way to Oxford in no time!

This is the front entrance to Christ Church, made famous in the Harry Potter movies (among other things, of course).

This is the courtyard. Can you just see the big Quidditch tournament going on here?

Inside the chapel:

Daily Mail and Sun

2007-03-13T22:03:00.000Z

I really don't read The Sun or The Daily Mail with enough frequency to know how good or bad of a newspaper they actually are....but this might help you decide for yourself.

The Sun has their daily "Page 3 Girl", which is just a huge photo of a naked girl with some bio facts on her. The funniest thing, is that they try to push some political/social agenda right on the same page. It will say something like, "Busty Melody really thinks that we should support the war effort in Iraq" or "Hot Susan agrees with the new congestion charges expansion". I wonder if anyone falls for that?

I picked up the Daily Mail, and it had this huge two page spread on Heather Mills, and all the lies she's told since the beginning of time. They list numerous things, like she didn't really run away with the circus, she just used to disappear on weekends with some bloke who worked at an amusement park. The best thing about it, is they had these big red letters stamped "Porkie" across each lie. I said, what the heck do they mean by "porkie"? The Brits in my office quickly pointed out, "Porkie pie = Lie". Gotta love the cockney!

Worst Feet

2007-03-12T20:01:00.000Z

Okay, I will never complain about how bad my feet are ever again. I've just started reading this book, where in the first chapter then talk about how a young Chinese girl's feet are bound. I swear it almost made me sick. Here's some additional information, if you like strange and freaky facts.

Sometimes, you gotta thank your lucky stars that you don't live in the era of foot binding.

eesh.

London ==> crazy, weird, wonderful

2007-03-08T15:35:00.001Z

I was on my way to my tube station, and waiting to cross the street, when I saw a well dressed woman waiting on the opposite side. A moment later, a man came up next to her, and started to grab at her purse. She pulled it back, and then he tried again. Then the light changed, and she moved quickly to get away from him. Then he stepped back, and hung out on the sidewalk to make a cell phone call. WTF?

On the latter part of my journey, as I was exiting the tube station, a blind man was making his way to the stairway. A young man was kind enough to lead him to the stairs and instruct him what direction to go at the top. Heartwarming. Makes you believe in the human race again.

Saw this, and I want to buy it.
Do you think that it's wrong that I only want to buy it because the kitty on the front is the spitting image of my dead cat, Jake?

Aww. I miss Jake.

:(

What do normal people do?

2007-03-05T23:34:00.000Z

(I wonder if blog-surfing is a official hobby yet? )

Anyway, while blog-surfing today, I came across an article about a woman who hired herself a stylist just before she was going to become a high-powered executive. She was looking for an image that would be appropriate for both her 20-year old programming team, as well as for 50-year old venture capitalists. Styish, but competent.

I don't have the exact same problem as this woman, except that I have no idea what kind of image I convey. Actually, it's more that I have an image....and it really sucks.

I keep trying to convince myself that I'm not careful with my image, because I'm carrying a little bit of extra weight, so I can't be bothered to buy really expensive clothing until I'm at my perfect weight, so everything that I do buy now is just to tie me over until I'm that "perfect weight". (Ha!)

On a separate, but related note, I'm reading Deborah Tannen's new book about the communication problems between mothers and daughters. This book is about me and my mom. And even though it pains me to argue with my mother, I just can't help it. The same way that she can't help buy push my buttons. Although I must say, she is trying very hard to be supportive and loving even if I moved halfway across the world to some foreign country, and still don't know what to do when I finally grow up. So, this book talks about the number one hot button topic between mothers and daughters: Hair. Somehow my mother always hates my hair....or my clothes....hence the image issue that I have...

Back to the point at hand...my image. How do normal people go about improving/changing their image? Rich, high powered, or famous people can afford to go to stylists....and then there are those hopeless fashion victims on "What Not to Wear". But what are the rest of us supposed to do?

We turn to our girlfriends, of course...who are also having the exact same issue. I know how I'd like to look, given that I was 15 pounds lighter and 3 inches taller....I've gotten two good haircuts in my life (one of them was the "Rachel", so you know how long ago that was). When I was back in the US, I went on a crazy shopping spree with two good friends. We poured through magazines to try to decide what we liked, and what we thought looked good on each other. We criticized and praised potential purchases. We tried on numerous combinations of outfits to see if we could "make it work". I'm no closer to finding my image.

I still long for an image that I feel good in, that people who see me can admire a well put-together woman. Is this too much to ask?

This can't be real, right?

2007-03-02T14:51:00.001Z

Migrant Mountain --> Theme Park?

For lack of posts on my part, I'll just post about other things that people post, until I can get my act together to make a real post. Sorry about the absence. Was a little under the weather for a while....

Favorite Flickr Set

2007-02-17T11:48:00.000Z

Words cannot express how much I've fallen in love with Flickr. When they first came on the scene, I admit, I really didn't get it. But now, I can't imagine life without it. Here is my favorite flickr set to date:

Cats in midflight

Now, if I can just get Elwood off his lazy butt to do some jumps for me....

Knit for a Cause

2007-02-08T10:52:00.000Z

I'm trying to find out details, and see if there's some pattern somewhere, but what a worthy cause! I will post details as I find them out!

Liverpool Women's Hospital

White Fluffy Stuff?

2007-01-26T17:02:00.000Z

OMG! Can you believe it actually SNOWED the other night? The good thing is, that when it's snowing, it's not as cold. The bad thing is, I discovered that I have no appropriate footwear for snow. Damn.

Brought to you by MasterCard

2007-01-20T12:20:00.000Z

Health certificate and de-worming : $120

New Transport Crate: $35
USDA certificate authorization form: $75 (no photos allowed, plus it was really weird)

US Cargo Handling fees: $420
UK Cargo Handling fees: £230 ($460)

Taxi ride home from animal control center: £35 ($70) (don't use a black cab for this)

Finally getting your cat to London after waiting a long six months: Priceless

Good Intentions

2007-01-01T13:38:00.000Z

I thought I'd start of my first post of 2007 in stating my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Lose weight/Exercise more. Every one of my lists since 1985 has started with this one. I think I may have succeeded only once. That was back in 1997. I think I lost a total of 8 pounds that year. It's all been going downhill since then....or is that uphill? Not sure.

2. Keep in better touch with friends and family. I thought that the blog was an easy way to do this, but it turns out that people actually like personal messages. Sheesh.

3. Eat more vegetables and fruit. In cereal form doesn't count. I'm talking fresh here. And it's going to be doubly hard in London. In California, easy. In the middle of a deadly-cold winter, hard. But now I'm totally paranoid of getting sick, since my only medical coverage is the NHS, and people have told me horror stories about it. So far, I've liked my doctor and the service. But you never know.

4. Be less anti-social. Sometimes I get really lazy, and don't open myself up to meeting new people, and open doors to new opportunities. Have to build up courage to do this.

5. Finish projects that are started. I have jewelry, knitting, scrapbooking, and sewing projects that I've abandoned midway. I need to either throw them out, finish them, or just reclaim the materials for another hair-brained idea.

6. Buy less, waste less. Re-use more. This includes getting through my yarn stash. I may have to start selling the stuff on ebay, or something. But I really do wish I had all that yarn here with me in London. I should have shipped the entire crate. Sigh.

7. Be nicer to my mom. This is the hardest one. My mother and I have an odd relationship. I'm not quite sure how it got to be this way. But, it seems nowadays, we don't have much to talk about, we complain a lot, and push each other's buttons a lot. I realize that I have no idea how to have an adult relationship with her, and this makes me sad.

8. Learn how to draw. As a crafty person, I feel like the lack of this
skill is holding me back. From what, I don't know. It just bums me out that I can't draw the projects that I see in my mind.

9. Take more pictures. I need to always travel with a camera, and not be shy about taking pictures. I think that as I get older, I won't be able to remember places, people, and things as easily. Who am I kidding....I have an awful memory now, as it is.

10. Enjoy life more. I have a bad habit of worrying about every little thing, and I can't relax, because my mind is so weighed down with trivialities. I have to learn how to let go of bad things, and hold on to good things. If anyone knows how I can do that, please email me.

Windows, continued

2006-12-25T13:55:00.000Z

Selfridges is another HUGE department store. Their theme is some sort of mash-up of a bunch of different fairy tales rolled into one. As far as I can tell, it's Rapunzel, Rumplestilskin, Hansel and Gretl, and Cinderella. It's a little strange as a theme, but it is quite striking as Christmas windows....

Window Shopping

2006-12-21T21:46:00.000Z

My favorite thing about Christmas in a city, is the beautiful displays that the big shops do. Unfortunately, San Francisco isn't the best city for this. Fortunately, London is. I was only able to take pictures of a few stores, and over the next few days, I'll brave Oxford street to capture some of the best store windows that I've seen.

Here are some of the Fortnum & Mason windows. They have an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I think it's just fabulous!

Here are the lights hanging over Carnaby street. I think they are the prettiest ones because they are so low key in the midst of all this neon, and crazy sparkling lights on Oxford and Piccadilly.

I spy with my little eye....

2006-12-20T08:16:00.000Z

Some photos from when my friend Anca was visiting. This is the London Eye. You can get a 360 degree view of all of London. We went up right before the sun set, so that we could catch London in the day light, as well as night. The best thing about having visitors here in London, is that we get to do all the touristy things that we haven't yet gotten a chance to do.

The "pod" behind us.

The River Thames:

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Did you know that's what HP sauce stands for? HP sauce is the original brown sauce! Which is totally not the same as A1 sauce, I found out.

Case and Point

2006-12-19T10:52:00.000Z

I think that MC can take pictures to make anyone look good. For some reason Elwood always has a sneer for me when I'm taking pictures of him. But check him out now! He's gorgeous! My BF calls it Kitty Porn, because I stare at her pictures for hours.....

Paper Pushing

2006-12-16T23:00:00.000Z

So, what I thought was a simple process to bring Elwood to the UK, has turned out to be a huge ordeal. I thought it was just a matter of fulfilling all the requirements of the Pet Travel Scheme, the shots, the microchip, the bloodtests, and then the flea and de-worming treatment, plus a six month waiting period....but, no-o-o-o-o-o, the saga continues.

I can't even book my flight home until I can secure a spot for him the the animal hold on the plane. I can't do that until I fill out over 20 pages of documentation that says that I understand that I cannot hold Virgin Atlantic responsible if something happens to my cat. It also outlines the fact that it will cost close to $800 to bring him with all the handling fees. And....he won't even be at Heathrow when I land....he will be whisked away to some kitty holding cell miles away from the airport, and I must arrange for my own transportation because there is no bus or tube service.

One would think that would be enough to discourage me from bringing him over. If you thought that...you must not know me all that well. I'm just crazy enough to bring him, and pay whatever it costs, because I cannot even begin to explain how much I miss that damn cat...and my boyfriend is tired of me trying to coddle him the way I coddle my cat, so he'll probably offer to help me pay for this crazy nightmare.

My good friend MC has kindly taken him in, much to the dismay of Mabel...and I do
believe that boarding a cat that's not your own for 6 months is going above and beyond mere friendship. I owe this woman so much. I thank her from the bottom of my heart. Words cannot express how grateful I am. She even posts pictures on her blog of Elwood, so that I don't miss him too much. He never looks that good in photos I take of him.

I'm very thankful to have her in my life. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

Oh, and now it looks like we'll be here for more than a year....which makes bringing the cat over seem not so crazy.

Aha!

2006-12-08T12:52:00.000Z

Okay, finally found this comment on the knitty boards:

Quote:

"Yes, if you just want to undo the edge, you can do that. You'll have to pick it out stitch by stitch (because every time you switch from purl to knit or vice versa, the yarn goes *through* the stitch above), but while tedious, it's certainly feasible.

However, you can't knit down and have it match; you'll be half a stitch off. Your choices are either to break it up with a different pattern for at least an inch (then you can go back to ribbing, and the eye won't be able to pick out the shift, if you want), or knit a replacement bottom piece and graft it onto the bottom of the existing stitches -- *that* you can do, because the stitches are then running in the same direction."

So, the question becomes, "How can I graft two seed stitch pieces?" Should the ends that butt up against each other be the exact same stitch pattern. (K1, P1 to K1, P1) Or should they be the opposite (K1, P1 to P1, K1)? What grafting method should I employ?

Knitters : SOS

2006-12-05T10:05:00.000Z

This is a plea for help to all you knitters out there.

I started a knitting group here at work, as I always need yarn enablers around me. So, we all decided that we would knit these fabulous wool scarves for our bosses with the company logo on them. Easy, right? I just got the exact gauge of graph paper here, and enlarged the logo, and traced it on the graph paper.

Everything was going well, until R was almost finished with her scarf, you know, row kajillion, when she noticed that she had made a mistake on the logo, near the beginning of the scarf. It would be a pain in the ass to unravel it from the cast-on edge, but the mistake is very noticeable, and she *is* a perfectionist. I wish I had my camera to show you, but it's just a partial row that is purled, and it needed to be knit.

This is way beyond my beg/intermediate knitting skills. I have this sinking feeling that the only way to fix it is a) unravel the kajillion rows back, and re-knit, or b) cut it, hope that you get all the stitches back on, and re-knit.

I've googled everything under the sun, and still, can't find a good solution. Any other ideas out there? If she cuts it, will it look normal if knitted up backwards? Is there some sort of grafting method that I need to know about?

Update: Here are the photos. Not sure if you can tell where the mistake is, but it gives you a good idea of how far down the mistake is.

Yeah, so see this edge here? ^ That is the cast on edge. The mistake is about 30 rows up from here. Kind of the top of the branches of the tree.

This is how the logo is supposed to look like..here is the other end of the scarf...the cast-off edge:

The company logo looks like this:

Cool, huh? I think a little blocking will help even out the logo a little...

Stay tuned, tomorrow, we are taking the scarf apart from the next yarn join, and knitting down from there. I hope to be able to document a success here, and I have high hopes....eek!

Vampires Beware

2006-12-04T12:11:00.000Z

For years now, I have been looking for the *best* garlic press/crusher around, but everything that I've seen has been less than satisfactory. Until now. These guys have changed the whole concept, but the good thing about the old style one, was that you also got a bunch of the garlic juices in your cooking when you pressed it over the pan you were cooking in. This one seems like you crush it over a cutting board or something. Maybe I'm just being lame. But I really do like the concept. Buy it here.

Laptop is dead

2006-11-27T07:33:00.000Z

It was a good laptop: well-behaved, reliable, not super fashionable, but got the job done. Rest in peace, Thinkpad T41. It was fun while it lasted.

Okay, so maybe not entirely dead, but there is no place around here that can fix it for me. All the local shops can do is upgrade the damn memory. Ugh. Where is the BestBuy or the CompUSA when you need one?

Not sure when I can post next. Stay tuned.