Christian the lion

Check this out on you tube.

I saw this on the Good Morning America show and it was so touching. Enjoy!

massage…

I go for massages about once a month. This is my time to relax and unwind and damn it, I deserve some relaxation time. I like my massage pressure “firm” which is an understatement. I like extremely firm pressure that would bring tears to anyone else’s eyes and shouts of pain.

I called Massage Envy this morning to ask for an afternoon appointment. The receptionist said that my appointment would be with “S”. I have never had a massage with S and I typically just go with the ones I’ve had before. I was feeling adventurous however and said, “Sure, S sounds just fine.”

I get to Massage Envy and my session starts out like usual. “What kind of pressure do you like?, What areas do you want me to concentrate on?, etc” S, happened to be Chinese so her English was a bit hard to understand. I told her my preferences: firm pressure with a concentration on my shoulders and neck.

The massage started with me face down on the table. S starts applying pressure on my back and shoulders. It hurts. But it’s a good hurt. She then gets on top of the table. Her knees are on my legs applying pressure. I still don’t know if I like this. Then she takes my hands and pulls on my arms releasing tension in my shoulders. Hmmm… this is interesting. There is pain but it’s not all that bad.

I finally get the courage to ask her what she is doing. It turns out, this is Thai massage. I’d never had that done before. Lots of pressure on specific points of your body. Less stroking. A funny thing she did was spend a few minutes applying pressure to my feet. At the end of it, she proclaimed, “you need to go see a doctor. You have pain under your stomach.” I was confused because I’d never had pain in that part of my body and told her so. “No… not your stomach. under. those parts. I don’t know how to say in english.” She said she could tell something was wrong by how much tension she could feel in my feet. Anyone else experienced something like this?

A quick project

Here’s a few pics of Waldo modeling my latest half FO. It’s a baby sock from the New Pathways for Knitters book by Cat Bordhi. I’m following her suggestion of knitting baby versions of each of the architectures so I can learn them before progressing.

Please forgive the drunken look on my face. Camera flash tends to make my eyes blink prematurely and I get that dazed and confused look on my face. Trust me… this is the best one. At least Waldo looks good.

As for the sock, I am using On Your Toes. That bamboo/nylon blend I got at The Grove. Needles are Crystal Palace size 2 DPN’s. Can you believe it, I’m using DPN’s??? That almost never happens but Cat only gives directions for DPN’s and 2 circular needles. Since I don’t know how to knit in the round with 2 circs and I don’t have 2 circs of anything, I went to the default DPN’s I’m sure for the next socks, I’ll whip out the magic loop. It’s not exactly the gauge that Cat Bordhi calls for in this particular project but it will fit some newborn baby and my canine baby. As you can tell from the pictures though, Waldo is not a fan of socks.

I’m off to look up New Pathways on Ravelry to see if I can find finished projects. I want to be inspired!

Another one hits the frogpond…

My Bonita shirt has some serious flaws in it.  For one thing, you have to cast on a huge amount of stitches.  210 for my size.  And I’m notoriously bad at casting on the correct number of stitches.  So armed with this little bit of powerful information, I used stitch markers to help me count.  To no avail… I was off by 10 stitches which I did not discover until I started the lace pattern.  Now, if you’ve knit this shirt, you know that you do something quite painful in the beginning which is knit the hem and knit it back onto itself.  I know that sounds awkward but if you have the directions, look it up and you’ll see why I fudged the shirt for so long.  It took me a week of knitting before I got to the lace repeats.  I was flabbergasted but did what any lazy knitter would do.  I simply added increases until I got my additional 10 stitches.  So I trudge along with the correct number of stitches for a while.  The decrease instructions got a bit hazy for me and I ended up doing that wrong too.  Now I made “allowances” for the stitch discrepancy again.  You can tell I’m not one who takes to the frog pond lightly.  I keep going in complete denial until the increase section and I break down.  The shirt just doesn’t look right with all of my fudging.  So I’m going to put it away for a while and come back to it.  I almost cried as I came to this conclusion this morning but it needs to be done.  I was working on Bonita since the my Maui trip which was a few weeks ago now so I’m quite despondent.   Small gauge yarn and small needles came to disaster in this case.  On the positive, the lace pattern is quite fun and I loved the knitting in the round construction.  I suppose I could have just continued on in denial but then I probably would never wear this shirt.  I’m so heartbroken that I can’t bring myself to take a pic of the disaster.

I think I’ll start on Brooklyn Tweed’s Hemlock blanket that seems to be all the rage on Ravelry.  I have some Eco Wool in the stash that would be perfect.  Hopefully, that gets my mind off Bonita for a while.  I wonder what percentage of knitters successfully stop and start a project all over again…

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a good one. I have to go to my mom’s house for Christmas dinner so mine isn’t over yet. I got a whole bunch of knitting presents such as this and this. I also received my present from my Knitters Review pal. Allison, I hope you get yours soon. I mailed it out a little while ago. Here’s a pic of what she gave me. Lots of fun stuff to play with!

There’s some sock yarn and a skein of Art Yarn in blue. There’s also some cedar blocks in there. Allison also gave me some maple syrup and chocolate. Yum… Thank you so much.

Dogs at Christmas are so fun. I got Wendy a tin of these dog breath mints. You rattle the tin and she goes absolutely insane. Waldo got a squeaky toy that he hasn’t managed to bit the squeaker out yet. It’s sooo annoying but he loves it. I also got him this quaking duck. He got it this morning. It is now resting in stuffed ducky heaven. Doesn’t he look sooo innocent in this picture?

And just because it’s funny, here’s another one…

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Here’s my new sweater….

I decided on the Central Park Hoodie. I’m knitting it in the size 36 size. I was going to do the 34 inch size. My bust is 32″ around but I thought 2″ for ease might not be enough. Any thoughts on this???

I actually got gauge with size 8 Denise Interchangeables and my Cascade 220. Hmmm… I wonder if I should have tried those with the Minimalist Cardi. Oh well. It’s going along well. I’m almost done with the back. I have 5 skeins of yarn and the pattern calls for a bit more but looking at some of the other projects on Ravelry, I should be alright. If not, I guess a sweater was not meant to be with the Cascade that I got in a sale for $2/skein. I thought I had 6 but I can only find 5 in this mess of a stash. As far as the pattern goes, so far so good. It appears to be well written but like I said, I’m still only on the back. This is my first sweater in a long time that isn’t raglan. The seaming may kill me but I hope I get a sweater that I will love.

I have another FO. The Berry socks. I finished them this afternoon while at Common Threads I had a very legitimate reason for being there. I was buying a gift for my secret pal. I’ll post a pic of it after my secret pal gets it. I don’t know if she reads my blog or not but I want it to be a surprise. The Berry socks are knit with size 0 Addi Turbos in the magic loop fashion and Trekking XXL. They are my usual recipe of ribbing 3×1 all the way down. I love this ribbing as it is very stretchy. I have a whole bunch of the yarn left over. I always have lots of sock yarn left over since I have small feet. Does anyone have any ideas for using up the extra yarn? I don’t think there is enough to make another pair of socks. Maybe a pair of baby socks but I want to do something different with the leftovers. I should start a new group on Ravelry called leftover yarn. LOL…

I had a nice 3 days off. My first extended weekend in about a month. Since I’ve been orienting, I’ve been working 4 days a week which I’m totally not used to. I had a nice day on Friday shopping with my mom. I was on call for doulaing at UCSD but I wasn’t called until 6 pm! The mom was in early labor but it was her 4th pregnancy. I anticipated a fast labor. However, that was not meant to be. The labor lasted until midnight and I didn’t get home until almost 2 am. Needless to say, I missed the Blanket Joining party that my knitting group organized. Sorry guys! I go back to work tomorrow. Hopefully, I have a good week!

My house still stands!

Oh… I’m super happy.  There is no damage to houses in my neighborhood and there is no police standing guard so I think I’ll be able to go home tonight.  Yesterday and today I’ve spent at my aunt’s house anxiously watching the TV for news of my house or my parents’ house.  My parents are also lucky.  Their house is still intact. There is a police squad guarding houses in their neighborhood to prevent looting.  My mom says she saw one man handcuffed and being put in a police car.  A tragedy like this brings out both the best and the worst in people.  So if I can go home tonight I will. Others in Westwood are not so lucky.

Over 1000 homes in San Diego have been destroyed by these wildfires.  Many people are still under mandatory evacuation.  Hundreds of thousands of acres have been burned.  This place looks like a war zone.

News people are swarming all over the place.  My mom almost got interviewed while she was standing in line to get in her house.  To get to her house, she had to wait over an hour to get a police escort into the house.  And she was given 5 minutes to collect her medications that she needed.  Otherwise, the police wouldn’t let her take anything else.  I’m so glad that they are doing this to prevent looters.  At least I don’t have to worry about my or my family’s things being stolen.  It’s so sad that some people would take advantage of people who’s houses have been destroyed.

I hope everyone is ok and safe.  If you need help, the American Red Cross is available.  Shelters are open and stocked.  If there is anything I can do for anyone, let me know.

Wildfires. Please be careful

If you live in San Diego, you’ve heard the news. There are 5 wildfires burning in San Diego and they are 0% contained. Please take care of yourself. I evacuated this morning and there are fires burning on the side of Interstate 15. It’s spreading to Westwood and the news is showing houses burning in my parents’ neighborhood. I evacuated at 6:30 am and am in Mira Mesa. Hopefully the fires do not spread south to hear.

All my friends in San Diego, please stay safe. Evacuate as soon as you can. And if the police or fire department come banging on your door or sound the bullhorn, get out now. Gather your kids, your pets and your belongings and get leave with what is important.  Please send good thoughts. I’m hoping that my house does not burn down right now.

Finished pics of Lucy #2

Here are a few pics of Lucy #2. I think I figured out how to felt in my washing machine. Warm water instead of hot and use the 12 minute cycle with the cold rinse. It came out much better than my first one. The fabric isn’t as thick. Which is a good thing.

The color doesn’t show very well but it’s a deep purple.

Here’s my new project

It’s the Vintage Baby Blanket from Vogue Knitting on the go: Baby Blankets Two. It’s made in four squares that you join together later and knit the edging. I swore I would never knit another baby blanket but this is super fun. The stitches change constantly and keeps your attention. I finished one square and am working on the next. It calls for Baby Blatt which is a DK yarn but I’m using Lion Brand Baby Soft. I wanted something machine washable. Thanks for reading

8 random things

I was tagged by my friend Elizabeth

The Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I have two bachelor’s degrees. My first one is in Industrial Engineering. I got that one in 1999 from Cal Poly, SLO. My second one is in Nursing. I graduated last year from Michigan State University.
2. I love eating good food. I wish Matt was a chef. I would be in heaven if I could eat wonderful creations everyday. My favorite dessert has to be the Salty Pistachio Crumble that I had at Bar Marmont. I am too lazy to figure it out. My other all time ultimate favorite thing to eat is crispy french fries with ranch dressing. I know… healthy things to be eating as a nurse.
3. I hate exercising. I know it’s good for you. I know I need to do it. I make resolutions everyday to start. In fact, I made one for today.
4. I love the beach but hardly ever go in San Diego. The ocean temperature is super cold. About 50 degrees except for the hottest days in summer. In fact the last time I swam in the ocean was when I was on vacation in Hawaii 6 years ago. But I was at the beach last week to watch the sunset.
5. I love trashy TV. I watch dumb shows like “I love New York 2″ . I discovered these kind of shows on my days off.
6. I like the smell of dog. I sometimes bury my face in my dogs’ fur and take a good sniff.
7. My favorite colors are pink and purple. Funny thing is I don’t look good in either color. I look best in neutrals and red. I still wear both though.
8. Matt and I got engaged last Friday

I’m tagging these knit bloggers: George Anne, Yarn Hog, Dirty Sue, Susan D. , What If Knits, Drop Stitch Knitter, Ruth, Rob