One down...

Thanksgiving is over. It's the only holiday that I host regularly. We don't have a large family but had 12 for dinner. It was a lot of prep for a meal that lasted all but 20 mins. The meal itself was traditional Thanksgiving faire, complete with a turkey that I roasted myself, homemade cranberry sauce (canned just days before), homebaked pies and cookies, real garlic mashed potatoes, gravy made from reduced stock and pan drippings, fresh steamed vegetables and a HoneyBaked ham. We baked Wednesday and I woke up Thursday morning thinking we didn't put enough eggs in the pumpkin pie -- checked with daughter Kelsey, yep only one egg. With the stores still open I had enough time to bake another pie before getting started on the turkey. But then I thought *something* is bound to go wrong so I offered up the pie as sacrifice. It worked. The turkey which was overdone the first year (I got the temperatures crossed -- it's 180 in the thigh and 160 in the breast and not the other way around), and underdone the second year because my oven is hotter towards the back and I didn't turn the bird, came out perfect this year. Not only did I remember to turn it, I basted it every half hour and I started probing after 2 1/2 hours this time with the right temperatures in the right places. And the gravy, did I mention the gravy? Too bad nobody noticed it in the blue gravy boat on the buffet -- but it was heavenly the next day with leftover turkey. I think it isn't until the day after that I actually get to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I finally started on one of the Xmas scarves. I'm down to 2. Not that I finished everything else, there's just the 2. All other gifts I've decided either will not be knit or if knitted, not for Xmas. Fixes that.

Got that over with...

I finished Sursa in record time...now I can get on with the Christmas knitting. Like shopping during the holidays it's always tempting to buy stuff for yourself. I did that the other weekend in Half Moon Bay, now that that's over with I can concentrate on others. Same thing goes here. It was very fun to knit -- the color changes were intriguing and I loved the ruffle border. It called for 100g of Cash Iroha -- each skein is 40g so I had 3. When I got to the 3rd skein I did one row (across both short sides of the triangle) and then started the cast off row. I came within 1 yard (held double) of running out. Whew, that was close!
But did I start the Christmas knitting? Not yet. I went to watch my daughters ice skate and brought my sock, along with 2 circular needles and the book "Socks Soar on 2 Circular Needles" by Cat Bordhi. What's cool is the Sensational Socks book includes breakdowns for 5, 4 and 2 needles. I did the first one on 5 needles so we'll see how much faster it goes with 2 needles. I'm not ready to turn in my dp's yet, but I may purchase a couple more sets of 24 circs in sizes 1 and 3...and maybe some size 8 US for the Vogue shrug -- which I'm holding hostage until the Christmas knitting has started (as for the ends of the fairisle, what fairisle?)

20 More Things

It's Random Wednesday, thus the 2nd installment of 100 things:

21. My oldest UFO is sampler (embroidery) I started just before I got married (1993).

22. My second oldest UFO is a quilt started just before my 2nd child was born (1998).

23. I have 5 spinning wheels and over 100 spindles.

24. My mother and father are still married.

25. I have one brother and no sisters.

26. I grew up close to several of my first cousins. Two of my mom's sisters, her parents, her uncle and his family lived within a 1/2 mi radius.

27. If I got into trouble *everybody* knew about it.

28. I rarely got in trouble caught.

29. My favorite color is pink.

30. I was a Navy brat.

31. So were half my cousins.

32. I'm a first generation (born here) Filipino.

33. I don't speak Tagalog.

34. I'm a native Californian.

35. I can speak "valley girl".

36. I like tall men with big hands.

37. My husband is 6'3" and wears a size 13 shoe (this should give you an idea of how big his hands are -- since feet and hands are proportional.

38. I like to cook -- although not everything always turns out.

39. I love to bake -- experimentation here seems less risky.

40. My favorite holiday is Easter.

47 Days until Christmas

I don't usually knit my Christmas gifts. Maybe one or 2 but usually not more than that. This year however I had my usual one, a request, a new baby coming (not mine), a hat for his brother a mobius for his mom and I haven't started anything. I haven't even woven in the ends of the fairisle nor have I started the Vogue shrug. Time is running out, and I'm...well, procrastinating. However, in true harlot-wanna-be form I started this:


I went holiday shopping in Half Moon Bay this weekend and found a kit for this wrap called Sursa out of one of Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Noro books (the second, believe). It's knit with Noro Silk Garden held double (both ends of each skein). I get mesmerized while knitting this project wondering what color combo will come up next, or deciding which skein to add next -- they all start/end differently. I'm half done with with the main part, which I cast on yesterday afternoon. I also bought a nice project bag made from bolivian blankets, a pink fresh water pearl necklace with matching earrings and a hand painted silk scarf -- all (shamefully) for me.
Another thing taking time, attention away from Christmas knitting/project finishing/starting is this:

my other passion is bobbin lace. This is an acorn (I've taken artistic liberty with the colors) done in Milanese style lace. Bobbins (aren't they stunning?) hand turned by Wolf Bauer.

20 Random Things

I'm taking up mamacate's invitation to do 1/5 of my 100 things, randomly, since I have nothing, and have always wanted to do the 100 things...

1. I'll start with the meaning of FiberDev -- I am a computer programmer by profession, also known as a developer. A developer takes one thing and turns it into another -- as a programmer I take code and turn it into a program. As a fiber developer...well you get the picture.

2. I'm a mother of 2 lovely daughters.

3. I've been married for 12 years.

4. I was born and raised in California. I grew up in Southern California and now live in Northern California.

5. I went to school at UCSB, go Gauchos!

6. I love to read historical fiction and chick lit. I read 1.5 books a month, 1/3 of which are audio books.

7. One of my favorite movies is French Kiss.

8. I don't like to travel. To clarify, I like visiting different places, but I don't like getting there. Plus, I get homesick -- even over the weekend.

9. I drink Peet's coffee. If I find myself in a Starbucks I will have a peppermint mocha latte -- I don't consider this coffee.

10. I love chocolate. 2 weeks before my 1st daughter was due I walked into a See's Candies and bought their 4 lb box. I was hungry. She was born 4 days later.

11. I had gestational diabetes during my second pregnancy so I waited until after she was born to eat a (very small) box of Godivas, but before the nurse came to checked my blood sugar.

12. Later, I developed Type II diabetes but I still have chocolate -- just not as much or as often as I'd like.

13. I love cheese, all kinds but mostly soft cheeses like cambazola.

14. I'm Catholic, but not a very good one.

15. I'm Republican, also not a very good one.

16. I'm pro-choice, see?

17. I like having a garden, but I don't like gardening. My idea of gardening is pointing at the things I don't like in the garden and asking my husband to remove them.

18. I love fruit -- all kinds, no exceptions.

19. One of my favorite books is The Mists of Avalon.

20. I love anything Brighton.