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Showing posts with label friday fill-in. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friday fill-in. Show all posts

Saturday, January 10, 2009

FFI #106



1. It's January; time to get cracking on this year's Christmas gifts!.

2. Udon is what I crave most right now. (There's something comforting about a hot bowl of noodle soup on a cold day)

3. Cork and wine go together like cheese and wine; tea leaves and water; me and sashimi; knitting needles and yarn.

4. Noodle soup is so nourishing on a cold day like today.

5. Let us dare to try something new in 2009 (that'd be knitting socks for me).

6. The SF Bay Area will always be my home.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing Angelina's mitts (which I did!), tomorrow my plans include chipping away at Leslie's scarf and Sunday, I want to have dim sum and make lasagna!

Copyright © Smariek Knits 2005-2009. All full copyright rights are reserved by Smariek Knits.

Friday, January 02, 2009

FFI 105

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1. The world is abundant with life.

2. Night night (to DD for her afternoon nap) was the last thing I said.

3. I wonder when Y will come to their senses and stop encouraging illegal activity.

4. Love is at the end of all things.

5. There's something to be said for manners and common courtesy.

6. Kauai is where I want to be.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making some progress on L's scarf and a small dent in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, tomorrow my plans include leaving Monterey and heading home and Sunday, I want to veg & knit, after catching up with laundry & misc housework!

OMG, I can't believe I'm actually getting to this on a Friday! It's cloudy, overcast, drizzling, and/or raining here in Monterey. Still not bad at all, a change of scenery is always nice and Missy is having fun. She loves driving through the tunnel on Del Monte cuz it makes her think of any tunnels in her Dora books. And every time we cross some type of bridge, we're going over the "troll bridge" (also from the Dora books/cartoon). Had a nice little walk in Carmel despite the drizzle, and enjoyed some really good cocoa at the coffee/cocoa place at the mall off of Junipero/Ocean. Sharffenberger dark chocolate cocoa, mmmm!
Copyright © Smariek Knits 2005-2009. All full copyright rights are reserved by Smariek Knits.

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Saturday, December 27, 2008

FFI #104



1. I must visit France again before I die.

2. You can't stop breathing.

3. I wish I never had to buy diapers (M is actually using "pull up" pants) again.

4. Learning to take sick days off from work has helped me change my life.

5. I know the song wheels on the bus (and various other kids sing-alongs) by heart.

6. If I weren't so afraid, I would knit with mohair!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to vegging & knitting M's hat, tomorrow my plans include trying to get over my cold and finishing M's hat and Sunday, I want to get over my cold completely!

Copyright © Smariek Knits 2005-2008. All full copyright rights are reserved by Smariek Knits.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Heart Dish Cloths

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4 Embossed Hearts Cloths and Heart Lace Cloths


4 Embossed Hearts Cloths (hot blue & hot green)


Heart Lace Cloths (hot green & hot blue)

Since I picked up so much kitchen cotton this year, it was time for me to start using some of it! So I made some heart themed washcloths to make a "set" for gifting. They're all knit with Lily Sugar & Cream, in the "hot" colors. The hot green color is quite bright.


Heart Lace Cloth (hot blue)


Heart Lace Cloth (hot green)

Pattern: Heart Lace Cloth
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream
Needles: 4.5 mm (US7)

This cloth is a quick knit that can be done in a little over an hour. A little while back I added an alternative method for doing the D4 decrease, since some people were having difficulties with it. Give this one a try, you may find it easier to execute.

The alternative method for doing the D4 decrease, where you take the next 5 stitches and reduce it down to 1 stitch, is done as follows:
1. SSK.
2. K3Tog (knit 3 stitches together).
3. Pass the SSK stitch (from step #1) over the K3Tog stitch (from step #2).
There's always more than one way to shear a sheep... :-)


4 Embossed Hearts Cloth (hot green)

Pattern: 4 Embossed Hearts Cloth
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream
Needles: 4.5 mm (US7)

Here's Miss M helping me with photographing this cloth. She loves to move or pat the knitting. After receiving her "help", I should probably call this my Flattened Hearts Cloth! lol

Something I probably never mentioned before is that I was originally going to call this cloth "Windowpane Hearts". I've never been very good at naming things. People would probably like this cloth more if I had stuck with the more catchy "Windowpane Hearts" name instead of calling the pattern what it really is, which is "4 Embossed Hearts".


4 Embossed Hearts Cloth (hot blue)

To help make the hearts "pop" more, when you block the cloth, push up the hearts from the back side and press down on the purl background around the hearts.

Is blue and green an odd color combination? I wasn't sure how to pair up the hot green color. Did I mention that this is a really bright green color? I think you'd notice it more when you have the yarn in front of you.


Heart Lace Cloth and 4 Embossed Hearts Cloth

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Speaking of dishcloths, check out these cute Pacman cloths.

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Booking Through Thursday - Libraries


Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There's no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

My first library was the Noe Valley branch on Jersey Street in San Francisco. I remember walking up the (many) stairs to the main (second) floor and then forward through to the children's section. I spent much of my time there as a kid. I can't recall if there was an elevator in the building (I don't think accessibility was a big thing back then), however I do know that the building has been closed for renovation recently and will probably have an elevator if there wasn't one before. My mom would take me to the library. Other times I would just walk the few blocks over to the library on my own. Yes, this was back in those days when it was safer for kids to walk about on their own. I used to walk to school too. I don't think parents would do that today because times have changed.

I vaguely recall a library van that went around the neighborhood with books you can check out. Unfortunatly I have no further details. My memory of this is quite hazy.



I remember library cards being green. Then there was a long period when I stopped going to the library. I guess I tended to buy more books during this period. Later on, I applied for a new library card and was surprised to find them white colored with a barcode/magnetic strip on the back. This was apparently in May 2006 cuz I happened to blog about it. I've checked out mostly children's books (for Miss M) since then. And then stopped using my San Francisco library card when we moved in September 2007. I remember being surprised at all the changes to the library system. Everything is computerized now. There are no longer small colorful due date papers slipped into pockets on the front cover of books. Or due dates stamped on a piece of paper that is on the book. The best part of these new changes is that we can do catalog searches online and renew books online.



The statue pictured on the library card is outside my current library.

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Friday Fill-In #86





This week Amy provided the questions; thank you, Amy! And...here we go!

1. Dancing to the music while people are watching makes me feel self-conscious.

2. The last time I went to Target (after dropping off Miss M at day care) I spent nearly three hours there!

3. When I drive I feel like I'm being tossed around like a ragdoll by all the other crazy drivers around me.

4. I saw my toddler standing on a stepstool, figuring out she could open the pantry door by doing this.

5. Give me hamachi (yellowtail), give me maguro, give me sake. I'm back on the sushi/sashimi eating boat again!!! :-)

6. Next week I am NOT looking forward to my doctor's appt.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finishing Elann HUGe swap item #8, tomorrow my plans include taking care of Miss M who has a 104+ fever and Sunday, I want to veg!

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Miss M woke up early this morning and hasn't been feeling well since. She took a 1.5 hour nap in the morning after breakfast and when we took her temperature it was 104+ ºF! (That's 40+ ºC) I'm surprised that she is up and about in relatively good spirits for someone which such a high temperature. I remember having a 104ºF fever decades ago and I spent that time in bed feeling miserable.

I finished item #8 for the Elann HUGe 2008 swap. I haven't gotten around to taking photos of it yet. Now I have 2 more to complete and then mail all 10 to Theresa by October something. I haven't decided whether I will wrap each of them. I'm inclined to leave them "open" so Theresa can see what colors they are. I have the feeling she has a good idea of who would like which color when she is putting together the swap boxes.

Besides the heart dishcloths I made above, I did finish another one last week. It's a lacy dishcloth. I'll share photos of that one another day.

I've been meaning to frog my February Lady Sweater because I need to start over using smaller needles and make larger button holes for the buttons I got for the sweater. I just hadn't gotten around to doing this yet and now I'm afraid the yarn will be too "curly". Trish is using the same yarn, Elann Superwash Bamboo, for her February Lady Sweater and she has posted some interesting findings from swatching with this yarn.

I've been too busy lately to keep up with blog reading and notice that my blog reader says I have 1000+ posts to catch up on. Right now it feels like an overwhelming task to try to catch up. Would it be terribly wrong to mark them all as "read" and start over with a clean slate? Will the Blog Reading Police come after me if I do this?



On the other hand, I have found myself stealing a few minutes here and there to chip away at "A Suitable Vengeance" by Elizabeth George. I'm reading her novels out of order and am thrown off by the fact that (in this book) Thomas Lynley is about to marry Deborah Cotter because I know in later books he's actually married to Helen Clyde. I've made it halfway through the book without Miss M pulling out my book mark. :-)

And when I'm knitting in bed, I'm chipping away at "The Two Towers", book #2 in The Lord of the Rings series. This is an audio book. I love audio books as they allow me to knit at the same time.


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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Friday Fill-In #82

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1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you allows you to live longer.

2. If you're good at something, share that knowledge with someone else.

3. Why so burpy?

4. Something is out there, it's an insect or arachnid just waiting to attack me while I'm sleeping (I live in Bugville and I'm phobic).

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Destination Unknown.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see overgrown grass, thriving weeds, an orange tree, a lemon tree, a peach tree, lots of rose bushes.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to Friday night pizza, tomorrow my plans include going to the library and doing laundry and Sunday, I want to veg a little (if Miss M allows)!


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Friday, July 18, 2008

Friday Fill-In #81

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This is my first time playing.


1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would wish I weren't a fly, but try to make the best of the situation by resting on a vaulted ceiling beyond flyswatter reach.

2. Jealousy is damaging and a waste of energy, but sometimes uncontrollable.

3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that I don't have another miscarriage.

4. I'd rather be knitting than doing housework any day!

5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna cry.

6. If time were in a bottle I'd use it sparingly.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finishing up #6 of 10 for the Elann HUGe swap, tomorrow my plans include the unglamorous task of shopping for a front loading washing machine and Sunday, I want to relax!


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