Friday rocks (warning! photo heavy)

The biggest news around chez small hands, is the boy's newest acquisition. He has owned it for a only a few hours...

The best part can be seen in the fine print.



Yes, a former cop motorcycle. Complete with scary "you're screwed" horn that goes "WOOOp, WOOOp". And since that plastic cover pops off of the passenger seat, stay tuned for pics of my new bad ass bitch helmet and jacket (soon)!

In other news, I am doing some knitting, but it's not all that exciting, so I thought I would share some more vacation pics.

WEST COAST VACATION July 2007
We flew into San Jose, CA airport and headed straight to Monterrey and the Laguna Seca raceway. By a total stroke of luck, we got to take a "hot lap" around the track with a driving school instructor in a Mazda RX8. But after the lap, we played around in the smaller racecars.



Later, on our way up the coast, we stopped by Castroville, CA. The Artichoke Capital of the World (who knew?)...



In San Fran, we stopped at the Botanical Garden for a few moments before driving through Golden Gate park. There was a big head:



And the world famous Golden Gate Bridge:



In Mill Valley, I got to see one of my best friends from long ago and her newest family member:



Then, finally... the coast!



We headed north through California along the famously gorgeous Pacific Coast highway 101. Along the way we drove thru the tree (just like in the Goofy cartoons!)



Stopped at more lil beaches:



Chatted up Paul and Babe:



(While there, some lil kid asked Paul [he talks to the crowd] if Babe was a boy or a girl... Paul said "What do you think?"... So BBE got this one of me clarifying)



We saw some Trees of Mystery, stretching impossibly high:



And finally, joyfully, made it to Oregon!



Where the beaches were more gorgeous, since, being an Oregonian by birth, they are somehow more MINE.





Whew. That's probably enough pics for now. Maybe I will post the Oregon half of the trip next Friday. Until then, it's the weekend: shake it like a polaroid and have a shot of Jager for me.

Jems Diamonique - FINISHED!

Here she is all weaved in and ready to go...


(The "Carrioke" shot, complete with smudgy bathroom mirror but without the smiley-smile.)


(I want to patent the "late-night dance-move" shot. Sorry Betsy, I am not much of a Sporty Spice, but I DO like some late night rrrrumpshakin')


(Love that plunge!)

Stats:
Pattern Jems Collection - Diamonique by Saunshine

Fiber Knit Picks Shine Sport in Hydrangea (5-6 balls for the XL)

Needles US5 for the body, US3 for the neckband

Time it took For-freakin-EVER. I think I started it last spring?

Mods
The main mod was that I did not do the increases at the top of the armsyces as written. I have a wide shoulder phobia, and I am glad I left them out. The shoulders on the finished piece are the absolute widest I could wear. Since I left off the increases, I had to do some fiddling around with the neckline and I think I added a few decreases there. I also made the center stitch of the neckline a purl instead of a knit, as it kept the k1p1 ribbing look more consistently.

What I love
The shine sport seems made for this design. It has just enough shininess from the modal but isn't so sparkly that I can't wear it to work. This yarn is my new favorite cotton blend. I did not get hand cramps from knitting it, yet it seems to have all the wearability of the cotton that I have dreaded knitting with in the past.

I love the diamond lace as well; it was an easy pattern to memorize and I only messed up in one spot without catching it (and I am not telling where). The designer also wrote in a lovely garter edge on the arm bands, so no ribbing was required (love that!)

What I would do differently next time
Always the sweaters are too short for my non waist! (Not to mention the mountaineering the sweater has to do to even GET to my waist.)


(Just 2 more inches woulda done a world of good!)

Maybe one of these days I will remember that, and learn to love short rows, I was just REALLY not interested in trying to figure out how to insert them into the lace gracefully... And while I love that I didn't need to knit arm ribbing, the pattern calls for only 2 garter stitches, and they are quite firmly curled under... If I knit this again, I might decrease one more to accommodate a three stitch garter edge.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with this FO. And since this is Texas, I still have several weeks of wear this year!

All over but the shoutin'

FINALLY!
Here is my Jems Diamonique almost ALMOST finished.



I still need to weave in the ends and take some goofy action shots, but in the meantime... Woo! This thing has been lingering and lingering.

See her lovely side shaping?



And her plunging V? (She's a bit of a tart, but no tramp.)


Click here to see it more embiggened.

I made a few mods, but I think I will hold those for the final post. She is a wee bit short (as are all knits without darts, on accounta my buzooms). But otherwise seems to fit well. I used Shine Sport in Hydrangea (which is a color somewhere between all three above).

All in all this was a mostly painless knit. There is a lesson in it for me: if I ever write a lace pattern with decreases on the left AND right, I will try my damnedest to chart them out. But more on that later, for now, the champagne is chilling and I am getting my weaving-in muscles warmed up.

Long time no see

I am still alive. I have even been knitting, but I have also been moving into my first house, travelling almost every week (every other month) and having too much fun inbetween.

Looks like my old server has finally kicked me off, so it is high time for a new template. Hopefully in the coming days I can give the old blog a much needed overhaul.

Some of the shit that's been superfantastic in the last few months:
* Getting to see all my knitbuds (even AMY!!!) on my last trip to DC for awhile.

(I thought someone got a pic of this, but now I can't find it)

And while we were there, we got to hear Steph give a hilarious and heartwarming talk:

(I stole that one from Sarah)

* Lots of cool shows. Including a couple of badass nights of Ween, Amplified Heat's cd release, Turbonegro, and our pals Mr. Lewis and the Funeral Five. (Also, BF's band is getting off the ground and has 3 gigs this month with a couple pending for next, so stay tuned!)

* A really awesome vacation/roadtrip up the West Coast... Some highlights:



(There were some beaches, and roadside attractions, and long lost friends, too...)

* Knitting has been going on; some secret, some not-so-much. I have been posting as much as I can on Ravelry. Don't you love it the MOST? If you aren't there yet, drop me a line... I *might* have a way to get you on board.

More things that rock

I am in a hotel in MD, leaving tomorrow to go back home and frantically pack some more of my house before heading back this way next Tuesday. (Just for work, the move will be a local one.)

There are finally a few moments to give mad props to a couple of folks.

First, Amy, got me a two fantastic birthday presents:



These were both on my list, and are each inspiring in different ways. Thank you so much, Amy!! She just celebrated a birthday herself, and has been a great (knitting) friend for a couple of years now. Though we don't keep in touch as often as we should, I am very lucky we are still friends.

Also BBE kept the pressies coming for weeks! He got me a great bag that is my new carryon...



As well as a great Gama-Go wallet and an amazing contact lens case (no pics).

Oh, and a couple of weeks ago?



I beat last year's time by 7:27.

I have been knittng as well as enhancing ye olde stash at some of my favorite haunts, but I will blab about all that next time.