and come and unchain me from my desk at work! i've hit dire straights people. finally, the play is done and yet i'm still swamped. maybe i need to give it a few more days to catch up and then i'll feel normal again but right now, i still want to pull out my hair and i have a propensity towards violent thoughts about my computer and outlook. they pass, though, thankfully. i don't want to have to explain it to the help desk why there's a big dent in the side of my dell.
anyway, i want to send out a super duper HUGE thanks to my friends who came out to support MADAIR (and me) with the play. katie, amanda, lisa, veronique, and nancy, you gals rule. you really made my week brighter by coming for a visit and to see what we've all been slaving over these past few months. all in all, i feel like we did really well with the play. acting/producing is not really my thing though. i'm not really sure if i have the ego to keep it up for years to come. right now, i enjoy the fruits of my labor but i'm hoping to put aside producing for at least the summer so that i can concentrate on some pet projects of mine that center on my true creative abilities. watch this space.
the first week of the play was pretty grueling which is why you haven't heard much from me lately. saturday was probably both the longest, most stressful, and most rewarding days of them all. KP and i managed to sleep in and i twisted his arm into making me waffles for breakfast which were super yummy (my man has some skills making the vegan waffles!) then i went to print out the box office report and our black print cartridge decided to die halfway through. note to self: most buy new printer to replace crappy old one that will tell you when ink is running low. frustrated and pissed off, i took what i had and ran off to run the box office for the matinee showing. it was a beautiful day so between the matinee and the evening show, i walked over to work (stopping off at a sale at aerosoles on the way) to drop off some things and print out the evening box office report then spent a little time outside in bryant park with some iced coffee, my book and KP's socks.
KP's socks grow in bryant park
continue reading -»
the socks are done! today i go to get a little extra something special to put in the package before i ship it off to my pal. a little chocolate perhaps? and a postcard too.
socks are done!
so once i was done with these socks i realized that i had only one project on the needles: socks for KP. i really needed to start something for myself so i cast-on for my slinky garter stitch wrap. 80 stitches on US19 needles. it's like knitting with baseball bats, but fun and mindless none the less.
slinky garter stitch wrap
loopy
i can't really carry this around with me because the needles are too big, so i'll be knitting on KP's socks all week at the play. speaking of which, the play is going really well. PLEASE come out and see it this week. it's the LAST week! the actors are doing a fantastic job and i'd really like to see this week sell out. don't make me beg!
and i got called for jury duty again. i postponed the first time back in january and i can't postpone again (or at least, i can postpone but i have to do it in person so why not just go and get it over with.) i wish that i could postpone because things are really crazy at work right now. my boss quit a couple of weeks back and now another of my coworkers is leaving which means stressful times ahead. i'd rather not sit in a courtroom all day and then have to work all night to get caught up.
anyway, i'm going to cast-on for green gable this coming weekend and use my denise needles so that i can bring it to the courthouse. sigh. it never rains but it pours, huh?
###
that's right.. after finishing the first sockapaloooza sock last week, i immediately casted-on for the second sock and got moving. progress is much slower on this one but i'm still going to be done before the deadline, i'm sure. the play that my production company is producing goes up tomorrow night (see madairproductions.com for more info) and i'll have many nights of sitting in the box office knitting to look forward to. now that i have one finished sock and another on the needles, i get a chance to show you the marked difference between the washed & blocked and the unwashed socks.
small sock, big sock
here is the second sock sitting on top of the first. you can see that's it's almost 50% smaller! now you know why i was freaking out last week. the difference is pretty extreme! the anxiety was worth it though. this is some fabulous yarn and i'm definitely going to order some more from marie once i'm done with all the sock yarn that i dyed at her place.
oh! and check out this cute little bag that i picked up at the point last week..
sock containment system
we ran out of ziploc bags at home and my sock yarn was threatening to get away from me (you know, loose ball with less yarn in it. it was threatening to fall apart) so i decided to pick up this little number. it keeps the skein contained and everything seems much neater. i can also clip it to my wrist or belt loop for on-the-go knitting but i don't really know when i'll ever do that.
the sock is past the heel now and i'm chugging toward the toe. this time i picked up stitches between the short-row heel and top of the foot on both sides and then decreased them away after a couple of rounds. definitely a much better solution. it looks neater and there are no holes on the side (there are no holes on the first sock now but that's because i darned them after i washed them.)
continue reading -»
hand it to marie to produce a great sock yarn. i was skeptical. i really was. when i was knitting this sock and trying it on, i kept thinking that there was no way it was going to work and i would have to go back to square one and start all over again. but i was wrong (and it's not the first time.)
hooray for not being wrong! the yarn fluffed up and became very nice and soft. the whole sock relaxed and now it looks as though i knit it with koigu.... but it's superwash and has much more yardage. huzzah!
i'm doing a modified version of the rib and cable sock pattern from fall 2005 IK. i decided not to do a heel flap because i didn't like the one in the pattern. it turned out looking a lot like the one that beth did recently and i wasn't keen on the idea of sending my pal cloven hooved socks. call me crazy but it just doesn't send the right message. i re-read my sock pal's requirements (her foot is one inch longer than mine and a half an inch bigger in the ball) and realized that she's looking for socks to wear with clogs so i thought it best to make snug socks.. socks that won't bunch up and fall with wear. this was the point when i ripped out the heel (for the second time) and put in my first ever short row heel.
i used the wrap method from wendy's toe-up sock pattern and the elfine sock pattern and it was really easy! much easier than i thought it was going to be... even purling three loops through the back was easier than i thought it was going to be. the only thing that i had to do was close up the holes at the join and i did that this morning before taking the picture above (next sock i think that i'm going to pick up stitches there instead.) i didn't change the toe pattern all that much. i did take out a few rows of straight knitting between the decrease rows but that's about it. these should fit my sock pal (fingers crossed) as they are about an inch longer than my foot and they are stretchy. i'm totally pleased! AND i finished it in about a week. so tonight i cast on for the second one and KNIT KNIT KNIT!
one sock down
in TV news, i finished watching all the MI-5 that i could. i wish the fourth season was available on DVD! it looks like this show isn't on BBC america (why?!?!) and i have no idea when they'll release it so now i just have to sit tight? wait? ugh, i HATE waiting. lisa let me borrow the new pride and prejudice and oh my. matthew macfayden has kicked colin firth off the the island! (you know, that desert island where i'm allowed to have three famous people? yeah, colin firth, you have been replaced. sorry.) i love matthew in MI-5 and he got even better in P&P. they even managed to ugly-up keira knightly enough to make me believe she was elizabeth. i felt it was a faithful adaptation and a lot less glossy than the BBC version which made it even better. let's face it, those were the days when baths were few and far between, after all.
so now that i'm done with all-things-british for a while, i'm on to a TV show that everyone on this earth seems to love, 24. i'm sorry that it's taken me this long to get to it. really, i am. but i really hate the networks. they certainly know how to ruin a good thing. i see it happening with lost already. there's nothing like building up great suspense and then throwing six weeks of repeats into the mix. just when you get right on the edge of your seat, they pull the chair out from under you, and i'm sure the network bosses are thinking that we'll all stick around to see what happens next, right? no. we get pissed off, lose interest over the six weeks, and don't turn it back on. i think that they have a lot to learn from cable channels: a) don't stop running new episodes unless it's a holiday, b) schedule the shows in runs so that (a) is possible, c) have marathons. a marathon of BSG is what got me all caught-up so that i could watch season 2 with everyone else! networks simply don't have the space in their schedule for them, but they should, and if they want to keep their audiences around, they have to change. so now, i'm only going to watch 24 on DVD. this way i can enjoy the show in runs where it stays suspenseful and exciting. i'm really looking forward to it.
###
why is it that in the spring, all of the crazies in this city come out of the woodwork? this morning, there was a man on my train who continually announced that "this is the last stop on this train" when it in fact wasn't. then he would announce the station as we approached it, "14th street, last stop on this train!" then would meow like a cat the rest of the time. i kid you not. "meow, meow.. last stop on this train... meow." what is it with new york? i think that only 40% of the population here does not talk to themselves.
anyway, it was one heck of a weekend! yesterday, i had to get to a dentist appointment early and then to my last japanese class after work so i didn't have the energy to update. sorry! i'm a bit overwhelmed by my schedule both at home and at work. i wish that the end was in sight.. but it's not. i don't expect things to calm down till mid may and by then i'm sure to be as whacky as the rest of the new yorkers i see around here. that, and my ganglion cysts are back at the base of my right index finger. this time they hurt! i have to take care on how much time i spend typing or using the trackpad on my PB at home. i took some time last night from knitting to ice them but they still hurt this morning. i don't know what to do. should i even bother going to the doctor? anyone else out there have them?
ok, i know that you want pictures. let's start things off with last friday at chez osoh.
the eatin's good
continue reading -»
i owe you all big time. BIG TIME. it's busy in my life but that's no excuse for neglecting you for soooo long. in my defense, i've been working overtime at my day job and coming home to do freelance every night, as well as taking my japanese class and working for my production company, but it's just no excuse. i'm sorry.
... that and i lifted weights at the gym yesterday and my neck sorta hurts so i'm feeling a little battered. i decided that the only way to loosen up those muscles was to drink.. alone... during the day.. at home!
it IS st. paddy's day after all!
oops! what do we have here! those there be some finished arm warmers! and that's not just it.. i have tons more photos to show you.. so sit back and let me talk your ear off just for a sec..
continue reading -»
