Old Shale Scarf

With the spoils of my yarn crawl, I started the Old Shale Scarf by Tiennieknits. It is a beautiful rust orange color in Koigu Premium Merino. While on vacation on the cold, cold East Coast, I modeled a lot of my knitwear out of sheer necessity. I got several requests for knitted gifts because of this. This scarf will be for my mother as consolation for not stealing my Lace Ribbon Scarf from me.

Ahhh - Vacation

Vacation, all I ever wanted, vacation, had to get away...On vacation this week on the East Coast, in New Jersey/New York to visit family during Thanksgiving week, and it is wonderful. Went on a yarn shop crawl (will post pictures, but they are not that great) in NYC: Purl SoHo, School Products, and the Yarn Company. Bought something at each store, but honestly, San Francisco is really blessed with its own wonderful yarn shops.

I am also stuffing my face with yummy food - lots and lots of Korean food, NYC pizza at a place called Pinch and Smack, and I admit it, White Castle and Dunkin Donuts (each only just once!).

Christmas Knitting?

In my mind, I have a list of potential Christmas gifts that I would like to knit up. But, I am torn because I can't figure out if the persons to whom I want to give the gifts would appreciate the time and effort, or would just think "Ooookay, you were too cheap to buy me a gift?" and not understand the thought, and even expense, (let's face it, some yarns are pretty pricey!) put into the gift.

I would love to knit the Juliet Scarf by Louisa Harding for a friend at work. Whee! Look at me, I finished one measly lace project and now feel like I am good enough to give gifts of lace - will I be sorry? I am also thinking of doing a trade with one of my other friends, who turns out to be a crafty jewelry maker in her spare time. A scarf for a necklace. I already have a mental picture of the necklace I want in my mind - it involves gemstones and briolettes... I also toyed with the idea of making a pair of socks for someone. But, all that skinny ass yarn, and TWO finished objects to make ONE gift is daunting for me.

Am I being overly ambitious? Thinking too much about it? Maybe I should just give the gifts and if the people don't like them, to hell with them! It is the thought that counts, right?

Kitty Emergency

This past Friday, we spent about 5 1/2 hours at the pet hospital waiting for chubby cat Mr. Elvis. Poor baby had some weird vomiting and stomach issues for a couple of days, and we thought it was time to take him in for a professional opinion. He had an x-ray, then an ultrasound - note his shaved belly. For about an hour and a half, we thought he would have to have surgery to remove a potential "foreign object" that might be lodged in his intestines. But, in the end, he was ok, and discharged with a prescription of kitty antibiotics and instructions to be be fed human Pepcid AC.

I nearly had a violent vomiting incident myself when I saw the final bill. We are talking serious cash. So much so that I could not justify going to a haircut appointment this weekend because of the serious cash outlay (I know, I know, I hear the the world's smallest violin playing in the background). Hey, at least we saved the $3,000 it would have cost for surgery. Yes, people, you heard me right - $3,000 for kitty foreign object surgery. But, Mr. Elvis and Ms. Monkey are members of the family, so we would have shelled this out, but it would not stop me from blogging/lamenting about it!

Happily, Elvis is doing fine. His vomiting has stopped, and he mostly looks at his shaved belly with a "WTF is this?" kind of expression on his face. He tries to hide his shaved belly - kitty modesty, maybe. And he is definitely enjoying the people food (canned salmon and tuna) that he is eating, on doctor's orders. Ms. Monkey is benefiting from this as well, since I can't look at her little face of jealousy without pangs of guilt, so I break down and feed her the people food, too.

Another Hole in the Wall

Art's Cafe - greasy spoon diner fare for very low prices, and randomly, a few Korean food choices on the back of the menu. Run by a Korean couple. We usually go for the bibimbap bowl with the barbequed beef, but their hash brown sandwich is very popular, too.

Elvis approves of the yummy lip smacking goodness!

Excitement

I really feel like Obama's win signals a new start for our country. I know he will make mistakes while in office (hey, no one is perfect), but his integrity and spirit make it seem that things will be moving forward. My excitement is only tempered by my sadness that Proposition 8 looks like it has passed. I am disappointed that California, while a leader in so many progressive ideas, has let this one pass.

Another WTH Moment

So I open my blog this morning, and I see a random ad placed on my blog from Google Adsense about voting yes for Proposition 8 to protect marriage. WTH?!? Now, I know that this is some automated thing, and it is probably no one particular person's fault that Google Adsense put this ad on my blog, but again WTH??

Just as clarification: I strongly believe that we should all vote NO on Proposition 8. It is discriminatory and wrong to amend the constitution for this issue. I am removing this blasted Google Adsense program from my blog immediately.

Behold, my first socks!

I finished my sock class, and here is the end product modeled on hubbie's feet (little Monkey's paws snuck into the picture - adds perspective). I call them the Learning Socks, and nevermind the short anklet length.