I first tried my hand at crochet when I was about 10. I have no idea what prompted me to give it a go. I don’t even know where I got the supplies, although I’m pretty sure they were already in our house (why, again no idea, cause my mom doesn’t crochet… at least not to my knowledge). I remember I was trying to learn to crochet from one of those little booklets from the craft store, and it was as old as I was, if not older. I had a skein of black acrylic yarn and a hook… a little hook. Some how I completely missed any mention the craft booklet may have had on gauge. Perhaps if I had read it I would be a crocheter today rather than a knitter.

I sat patiently on the floor of my bedroom looking at the pictures and reading the instructions, trying to following along. I don’t think I was trying to make anything, just trying to learn the movements. After getting beyond the basic problem of getting myself all tangled up while trying to hold the yarn in my left hand while working with the hook in my right hand, I began working in single crochet.

It was hard. It was frustrating. I could not comprehend why people did this on purpose. The pictures made it look as if the hook would simply slip into the right spot and come back out again wrapped in yarn.

This was not my experience.

I had to work the hook back and forth to fit it inbetween the strands of yarn. And getting it back out with the yarn still wrapped around the end was making me break out in a sweat.

After creating a strip of fabric 4 inches wide and 1 inch long I gave up. I accepted that I would never be a crocheter, and forgot about it.

Three and a half years ago I decided I needed a hobby and considered crochet for a moment, then passed it over after recollections of my previous experience. That’s when I took up knitting. Since then I’ve been operating under the presumption that I’m a knitter who can do enough crochet for a provisional cast on.

Now, I have been given a second chance at crochet. Itgirl sent me a sparkly crochet hook like hers. It’s a 5.5 inch wand of clear plastic filled with gold glitter; this of course means I must try my hand at crochet again for sparkles make everything better. She also sent along sparkly yarn… this may actually be fun.

I’m getting rather jealous of the pics other bloggers have been posting of their gardening efforts. I haven’t had a sunny weekend in awhile, so my balcony plants (well, those that are still alive) are languishing. Winter took a heavy toll. My lack of watering the palm tree that is under the eave, and thus out of the rain, has left it brown and lifeless. I’ll blame the evil squrriel for the death of my lavender plant. One of the adopted citrus trees is blooming, so not all is lost. The ravages of winter have left my balcony looking simply horrible… lots of blacks and browns, lots of stuff dropped by the overhanging tree. I’m just going to have to find time to get to a nursery to get something with color.

I knit on my mom’s afghan last night while watching Rent. Singing along with a musical is not the way to get knitting done. I have also come to the conclusion that my row gauge is way off. I have stitch gauge (3 sts/inch), but the pattern says that each color strip is supposed to be 3.25 inches wide. Mine are more like 2.5. Another comparison indicates that each pattern repeat (4 strips) should be 13 inches wide. Mine is actually more like 9 or 10 depending on the set of strips you measure. Does Lion Brand Homespun magically widen when you wash it? I have quite a bit more yarn left than I was expecting with only 4 strips left to knit (according to the pattern). Do I just finish it and call it a lapghan? Or, do I add another set of strips, which will take longer to do?

Nothing quite like slogging your way through a day after waking up at 5 am and being unable to get back to sleep. Talk about unproductive all around. We won’t talk about the slight queasy feeling that accompanied me through most of the day since I only brought it upon myself (but the wine was good at the time).

Tonight, however, I have an evening of knitting planned, which is good because I had no time to work on my mom’s afghan over the weekend with a final to turn in. The Husband was called up by a friend this afternoon with an offer of a free ticket to tonight’s Sharks game, the last regular game of the season. So, now that I have fed myself, I’m going to pop Rent in the DVD player and settle down to some afghan knitting. But, I am thinking of walking down to the corner store for some ice cream first… mmm, ice cream.

I had been considering waking up at 5 am on purpose tomorrow so that I could watch the Lotta’s Fountation ceremony live. Then, I found out the commemoration is beginning at 4:30 am. I’m all for seeing history, but this is what Tivo is for.

Nothing like a paperwork run around to make you want to take a baseball bat to something… anything.

The nice people at the Vespa dealership would of course like a check when I take delivery of the scooter. The bank won’t give me a check until they have a signed purchase order. I can’t get a signed purchase order until the scooter comes in and there is a VIN to put on the paper. Oh, and the purchase order has to be to the bank before 2 pm, or it has to wait till the next business day.

Should I cross my fingers that the scooter comes in tomorrow, so that I can then run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off to get paperwork where it needs to be, when it needs to be there? Or do I hope that it just waits until Monday after my EAD final is done and turned in, after I have driven up to Livermore and back for a baby shower (which I have yet to purchase a gift for cause the baby blanket is at the same point as 3 days ago), after my Library of Congress cataloging assignment is turned in?

I’ve been avoiding the projects I need to get done. The baby blanket is crawling along — the kid is due May 24. My Mom’s afghan hasn’t been touched in months — her birthday is in 2 weeks.

I haven’t worked on the Adamas shawl since I cast on for the baby blanket. It sits on my coffee table, glaring at me. And I want to knit it, but I can’t, not until I get at least one of the projects with a deadline done.

Meanwhile, I keep thinking crazy thoughts… my Dad’s 50th birthday is at the beginning of July and a couple of years ago he asked for a lace doily for the coffee table in the living room (this is of import cause when you ask my Dad what he wants for any gift-giving day, his response is predictable – “Nothing.”) My best friend is getting married in August (in Boston), and while I have no flipping idea what I’m going to wear (and he asked me to be his best man), I have been thinking that 100% tencel lace weight I bought at Stitches West might make a nice shawl to go with some dress I haven’t bought yet.

Yeah… all my smart brain cells are doing homework.

ETA: If you haven’t read The Dark Side of Knitting Revealed over at Feral Knitter, you must go do it now.

I had to fill up my Corolla yesterday and almost choked on the total – $30.05. This is one of the reasons I’m upgrading my scooter. I’m currently in the process of getting a Piaggio BV500.

We had gone to San Jose Vespa a couple weeks ago so I could look at the BV500 and the Vespa GTS. I decided that the bigger scooter would be better for highway riding, but needed to think on it… do I really need a new scooter? We went back on Saturday, so I could sit on it again and to get a price break down. I ended up putting down a deposit on a burgandy BV500 with a top case, windscreen, and cover. The sales guy is hoping it will be in sometime this week.

Because I’m getting a bigger scooter I’m also going to get a new helmet. I currently wear an open face helmet with a full visor. With a larger scooter that can go a lot faster than my Vino 125, I want the extra protection a full face helmet provides. So, I’m considering the HJC CL-15 and the Arai Quantum 2. I’m hoping to go to the cycle accessories store tomorrow and try them both on again. By the time I tried them both on Saturday I had had 20 helmets on and off my head; my cheeks were feeling raw from the cheek pads rubbing as the helmets went on and came off. Of course, it’s just my luck that the more expensive helmet seemed to fit better when I tried it on Saturday.

On the knitting front, I highly doubt the baby blanket will be done in time for the baby shower. I had originally heard that I would have till the end of April, but I recently received an invite for the 15th. Nope, definitely not going to happen since I also have my EAD final assignment due on the 15th and a cataloging assignment dealing with the Library of Congress system due on the 17th. I figure I’m good if I can get the blanket done before the kid is born.

When I got to work this morning I entered the building carrying my coffee in one hand and my bag in the other. This item carrying arrangment prevented me from removing my sunglasses right away (although I don’t tend to take them off till I get to my desk anyways… I hate fluorescent lights). This woman passes me in the hall and apparently couldn’t supress her good mood because she felt the need to look at me and say, “Well, a happy Monday to you.”

Thankfully, I’m an adult enough to supress my urge to smack a bitch.

I’m not sure which pissed me off more, her need to spread sunshine to complete strangers (i.e., me) or that she assumed that because I was wearing sunglasses in the building I must be in need of said sunshine spreading.

Between Happy Monday Lady and Bitch in a Black VW Bug*, my day got off to a get start.

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*When I went to get coffee this morning, I exited my car, which I had parked on the street, and proceeded across the road (a small 2 lane street in downtown Mtn. View). This lady in a black Bug comes barreling around the corner, looking right at me, and I seriously wasn’t sure she was going to slow down. And she threw in the added nasty look for free.

Today we are experiencing a brief glimpse of lamb, you know, “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” Monday, the Vernal Equinox, was 48 F and had at least two bouts of hail. Today, it is 65 F and blue skied. Tomorrow, it is supposed to start raining again.

I always like the idea that March came in like a lion and went prancing out like a lamb. But, I’m probably biased because my birthday is on the 29th, which means the lamb usually comes around in time for birthday fun. This year I’m beginning to wonder. Thankfully, all planned birthday festivities are at indoor venues — spa visit (hot tub/sauna then massage) and dinner at a fancy local French restaurant.

On the knitting front, the baby blanket goes apace. Now that I have gotten beyond the section of yarn that had been ripped out of the previous design, the splitting that was making me question my sanity has quieted down.

I need to try on what I have done so far on my Dublin Bay socks. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m avoiding it because I’m afraid they may be a bit too tight and I don’t want to contemplate the amount of time I’ve spent on them so far.

My STR Sock Club package arrived on Monday and The Husband allowed me to open it (membership is my birthday present this year). He was considering making me wait until next Wednesday to open it, but I convinced him that I already sort of knew what was in it since others around the Web had posted is contents. I may need to pick up needles to get started on the socks (I’m finding I prefer slick metal needles for small gauge socks that call for needle sizes 1 and below… 2 and up either metal or wood/bamboo is fine). I think I’m going to follow the instructions for feathering as I really like the way this colorway looks feathered rathered than striped.

And I am trying to forget I have a pretty lace shawl on the needles so that I can get the baby blanket done before the shower.

I think I’ve finally realized what my problem is (no, that’s not it). I’ve been feeling run down and worn out, more so than usual at this time of the year. I know most people would comment on how the weather has been “depressing,” all rain, hail, sleet, and even snow (Hwy 17 was closed last Friday due to snow… kids were building snowmen in the middle of the highway… that’s closed). But that’s not it because I love our winter weather; the rain and the gloom relax me (I’m 1/8th Norweigan, what do you want?). I think the problem is the timing.

It’s the 17th of March, and we’re being hit by the types of storms that normally come in December and January. The Vernal Equinox is on Monday, but you wouldn’t know it from the cloudburst (that’s what the news called it) we had last night. I love winter, but I’m ready for spring. The weather is just throwing my system out of whack.

At least I’ve started knitting again. I whipped up a quick bookmark for a friend’s birthday last weekend, and then forgot to photograph it before wrapping it up with a book and giving it to her. I’ve rebegun the baby blanket for a friend who is due in May. I had gotten about 2 inches of it done, then realize the pattern (Tilting Blocks) wasn’t working for me. So, now I’m doing something a little wobbly (Coral Pattern). I also decided to make the blanket bigger; I originally had it at 28 inches, now it’s 36 inches… I’m wondering when I will begin to regret that decision.

(Please try to ignore the fact that I took this in my work’s bathroom mirror.) I was quite happy to find the Olympic sweater had finish drying over night even as it poured outside. Rowen Felted Tweed softens so nicely when it’s washed. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to actually put on the sweater, there are some triffles. The sleeves, which have an underarm sleeve measurement of 18 inches, seem to be what one might call bracelet length, and I have no idea why. The sweater I made for The Husband has an underarm sleeve measurement of 18.5 inches and fits quite nicely. So, why does this sweater, with just a half inch less, land 3 inches from my wrist bone? My wrists aer getting cold. I am actually contemplating taking out the cuffs and adding some length. (Would that negate my gold?) Maybe I just need to let it grow on me. Second triffle is the seemingly abundant amount of material in my armpits. I have never made a raglan sweater before… is this usual? Or do I just have short shoulders? The only other thing I can think that would be a contributing factor is the number of stitches I cast on in the armpit area.

All in all, though, finishing was worth it. I have a sweater that is wearable, in a pretty color, and I made it.

Thanks to Steph, Kat, S.Kate, Emma, and Ken for making this all possible. And thanks to Franklin for creating the medal.