Time of Sorrow

I found out that a very dear friend of mine of 15 years passed away this weekend. He was a good man and a true friend. I will miss him very much.

Oh The Agony of D'Hip

I'm still bruisy and in minor pain from the ski fall. Went to the doctor's and was told that it's probably nothing more than just a big ugly bruise. Nothing seems broken, and no collected blood clots. If I still feel achy after 10 days, I'll need to go back.

My wonderful husband bought me some arnica gel and arnica tablets. Hopefully, that will speed up the healing process.

The aunt and uncle are coming over this weekend for a special home-cooked meal that Timothy will prepare. Last night he made pumpkin pie ice-cream with the ice cream maker he received from his beloved wife, that's me, for Christmas. So, the dessert is done. All that's left are the other three courses and a quick clean-up of the apartment. Update: Timothy's recap of the meal

Weather permitting, we'll be karaoking tonight. At the moment the snow is coming down hard. We'll see. The last thing I need right now is another slip and fall.

What's Black and Blue and Stings All Over?

Let us begin by saying...."Ow."

Our flight took off on Wednesday night landing us in Colorado. Thursday night was just lovely with Valentine's dinner at Zengo. The mouthwatering Kobe beef was to die for, both as an appetizer and a dinner entree. Hey, when it's a pre-fix menu, you can't go wrong with Kobe beef, so why not order it twice? And what better way to end the perfect meal than with caramel flan. Yum. I would go on and on about the meal, but the hubby will likely have a more colorful account of our Valentine's feast on his blog, to which I will link.

The rest of the weekend, my friends, went downhill from there. The hubby and I joined the in-laws for a weekend trip to the ski lodge. Having only skied four times before, about five years ago, I very much considered myself a newbie. I was set on taking a lesson, but wanted to get a feel for the skis and the snow. You know, just to jog the old memory.

"Skiing is like riding a bike", they all told me. Yeah, okay.

So, in my efforts to recall my skiing instructions from five years ago, the hubby suggested we go on the lift and work in some practice on a run called "Galloping Goose". Sounds harmless enough. Geese are fun. Geese are cute, especially when they're galloping. It's not like the run was called "Python of Destruction". So, I gave it a whirl.

I miraculously hopped off the lift unharmed. That in itself boosted my confidence. I started heading down the run. I was a little nervous because I began to pick up speed and in the middle of the rush, I realized I forgot how to stop. In theory, I knew I had to bring the tips of my skis together, but since I had not practiced the actual motion in a dog's age, theory goes RIGHT out the window. At the very bottom of the run was this massive mound of snow. It was a mountain in and of itself! Why? Why would anyone purposely put that there? What happened to my little galloping goose? My little, safe galloping goose?

My skis were aimed straight at the ginormous mound. As I got closer, the mound got bigger. As it stretched in height, a mouth slowly took shape and exposed its long hideous teeth. My eyes popped open as a demonic, "Muaaahahaha" resounded the slopes. In all the madness with the teeth, the snow and the "Muaaahahaha", I lost all control. My skis slipped from under me, my body was lifted slightly off the ground and BAM! Landed right on my left hip. Oh, the agony.

For the rest of the weekend, I was left in the lodge with my books, my knitting and a nasty, nasty bruise. That's okay, though. The weekend wasn't a total loss. The food at the lodge was exquisite. It's been three days and I still can't stop thinking about the ribs. Also, I had a chance to finished my hat and got started on a matching scarf. See! Not so bad after all.

Here's a snapshot of my hat. A huge improvement over the first one. Not as many slip-ups. Believe it or not, it's something that I might actually wear in public. The scarf is coming along nicely. I'll add pics as soon as it's complete. Until then, I'll be relaxing at home with my knitting needles and an ice pack.

Girl Knitting Hat, Take 2.

After the first failed attempt at making a hat, I'm giving it another go. I appreciate the comments from my friends who fail to see the flaws, but I attribute that to good photography, as opposed to skillful knitting. I have about 3 days remaining before the big trip. I'm somewhat confident I can finish before the deadline.

I started knitting yesterday in the evening. It's about 30% complete. I was hoping to make a matching scarf, but that may be a little ambitious on my part. I will however, bring the appropriate materials to work on that project during the trip. Who knows, I may finish it before my feet hit the slopes.

So, the hubby decided he's going to add a few wacky embellishments to the first hat and use it for skiing. It's hard to say whether or not he'll be able to do that between now and then, but it's the thought that counts. The idea that he's willing to wear it out in the open shows true love. Thanks honey :)

Fit for a Hobo

So the hat is finished. No fireworks, no tickertape parade. The first sentence pretty much sums it up. As I mentioned in my earlier post, there were some screw ups and if you continue to knit along that line, well, it remains screwed up until the end.

It's a sad, sad looking hat. Something that you'd pull out of the bargain bin from a thrift shop. And not the hoity-toity thrift shops either.

It lightly resembles a piece of knitted fabric used to wipe down New York diner counter tops and then afterwards given to the family pet as a chew toy. And not a Chihuahua, we're talking French Mastiff, straight out of "Turner and Hooch" kind of pet.

Maybe I'm being hard on myself. But honestly, I am NOT wearing this hat in public. The shape itself turned out okay. It's the holes in the stitching that have made this quite an unattractive accessory. At least now I know, in theory, how to make a hat. I tried to get all fancy using ribbing and I must have mistakenly added a couple of stiches and twisted another along the way.

Seeing as I still have one week to go before the ski trip, I can try to tackle another one. We'll see. At the moment, I'm just cranky.

My Sticks Are Here!

Yay! My 13 bamboo knitting needles arrived last night. That was quick!! I love eBay. As stressful as it is on the ol' ticker, I just can't stay away. So as of now I have single pointed needles of all sizes ranging from US1 to US15.

Next I need to find a set of circular needles. Using double-pointed needles (DPN) for hats seems so cumbersome. My needles keep turning and getting in the way, circular is definitely the way to go. I'll use the DPNs for smaller projects like socks or more accessories for Pooh.

As far as the ski hat goes, I worked on it a little more last night. There are some obvious screw ups, but I didn't want to turn back. I decided to just keep on going. If I go back every time a stitch is out of place, I'll never finish. And if people ask, I'll just say they're designs by choice.

Ski Hat Deadline: 9 days remaining

P.S.: The chopstick is working like a charm.

General Tso's Hat

I came across a fairly easy pattern for a ribbed hat from figandplum.com. After reading the pattern, I was fairly confident I could throw this little baby together. However, I was thrown for a loop when there was mention of six double sided needles. SIX?? I've seen packages of four and five, but SIX?? Luckily, the package I bought came with five. So now I was on the hunt for a sixth. Where to go...where to go. I wasn't about to go out and buy another one. No, that would make too much sense. Where to go...where to go.

[insert flash back of hubby making jokes about my needles]
"Those look like sharpened chopsticks."

Hmmm. Not a bad idea. I went to the kitchen and looked for our wooden chopsticks. Found 'em! Okay, I was all set. Five double sided needles and a chopstick. I was ready to rock-n-roll.


I started the first round and finally the chopstick came up on it's turn. It was somewhat difficult to use because it was so pointy at the end. The size difference from point to end was a little too drastic which made the process a big challenge. I quickly remembered we had another set of chopsticks that were practically identical to my needles and decided to give 'em a try. Much better!

So here I was knitting away with five needles and an eating utensil.

I still have a ways to go, but not bad for my first real hat.



Oh, and as a follow up, just thought I'd mention that Pooh Bear is about four inches tall. Apparently, the photos from Monday's entry were a little misleading. Yes, Pooh is small enough to fit in your pocket, which makes my previous attempt at making a hat a little less monumental.

Ski Hat Deadline: 10 days remaining

Presidents' Day Hat and eBay Wars

So, the plan is to go skiing on Presidents' Day weekend. At the moment, I have no hat appropriate for skiing. Currently, I have a Yankees cap given to me for free at The Stadium with a big ol' Verizon logo slapped on the back and another hat that's one size too big. Not a very impressive inventory.

With that said, I have two weeks to knit something up. I'm sure I can do it. I think. Let's see, what do we know? I can knit in the round. I can knit green yarn. I can make pointy hats for tiny heads. Not much to go on. I should get a move on it, then.

Wasn't sure if I should settle for a warm headband or a full on hat. Seeing as I have two weeks, I'll go for the hat. If there's time, maybe the band.

I'm excited to get started on my project(s).


In other knitting news, I just bid on a set of 13 nine-inch bamboo needles. There were 0 bids until six minutes before the auction was over. Man, I thought for sure no one would bid. Then I figured I would wait until the last 15 seconds. Two minutes left, no additional bidders. One minute left, nothing. The countdown began. 30 seconds, 25 seconds, 20 seconds. I was getting nervous. Heart was pumping, blood was rushing, hands were sweaty. eBay does this to me every time. One day I'll find out that I have congestive heart failure due to incessant eBay use. I have to learn to relax. Maybe put on some Enya.

Anyway, at 16 seconds I put in the bid, hit the button and was the top bidder with 8 seconds left. I bit the corner of my lower lip, hit the refresh button and BAM! The item was mine! In your FACE brnzgirl88!*

So now I'm the happy owner of 13 bamboo knitting needles. Just got confirmation that they were shipped out today. Woo-hoo!


*Identity has been changed to protect the weak and the sloooow.