what i learned yesterday

1. amtrak, though fun, is still not europe by train.
2. i should pay a little more attention when i am doing cables and lace at the same time.
3. downtown sacramento is a mix of downtown san jose and somewhere nicer.
4. a lot of people in downtown sacramento take a lot of smoke breaks.
5. betty lampen is adorable.
6. an emmy award is seriously very huge.
7. “wow, those japanese americans are very creative” (overhead 11 year old boy).
8. spoken word poetry can be hilarious when overheard.
9. ayelet waldman is really freaking nice.
10. vallejo’s mexican restaurant does not serve diet coke.
11. someone who works at the california museum really likes coldplay.
12. needle tatting doesn’t look so hard.
13. next year we should wear costumes.
14. maria shriver likes purple eyeshadow.
15. maria shriver looks totally like a kennedy in person.
16. dang, people just really love that cat cora.

i’m lazy. i’ve had terrible cold

but thanks to looking at tavi’s blog, i am just well enough to comment on these:

actually, i can’t comment, because proper words escape me.

oh, okay, i will try

• omg the shoes, like the ones i tried on in london in 1997 and did NOT buy, but i should have, what else do i have to show for that trip?  well, never mind.
• contrasting color f-ing CABLES!!!! on otherwise marled ribbed socks.  (i hate marled yarn, but the CABLES!!!! make up for it)
• today i will be picking out sock yarn and figuring out how make socks with CABLES!!!! like these  CABLES!!!!
  
• i know how to make a sock, thank you, and i know how to make CABLES!!!! but not in a different color with a different yarn as pictured

1. do you make the sock and CABLES!!!! separately and then sew them on?
2. is it some sort of CABLE!!!! intarsia (please say no)?
3. is it like an applied i-cord sort of technique?

i’m pretty sure it’s option number one, but if you have, say, a pair of these socks with CABLES!!!!, could you please turn them inside out and show them to me?

please?

intarsia vs. fair isle/cake/rodarte omg.

i hate intarsia:each goddamn pink and purple diamond had to have a strand hanging down because you just are not supposed to carry the yarn behind so many stitches.  the front of this looked okay, but the back is a disaster.

here’s another back of intarsia, my second attempt at this project.  i decided it would be easier to just have one center line of argyle so i wouldn’t have so many strands.  doing it this way i had only 5 strands as opposed to the 15 i had with the first try.

but it looks all gross on the back.

here’s the front of that piece:

looks nice enough, right?  but each row took so long (just doing those 3.5 argyles took a couple of weeks) and although you can’t see them, there were no fewer than 8 dropped stitches within that argyle, so i threw it away, too.

so after throwing away the back of a vest, three ruined partial fronts (forgot to take pics of try number 3)  i did this!  in 4 days!

and why did it only take four days, you ask?  well see, in fair isle, there are no more than 5 stitches in between colors so you can just switch colors without starting a whole new strand.  also, instead of being knit separately, this vest was able to be knit in the round, like a tube for most of it, most importantly all the colorwork was made this way.

look at how pretty the back is:

pardon the picture quality (iphone) but really, the back looks like it could be the front of something, sort of, it makes a nice little pattern, i think.

so i’m more proud of this project than any other i’ve done in a long time.

here’s a pic of esme eating birthday cake yesterday at grandma’s:

and finally,

OMG Rodarte, quit being so amazing!i got this pic from style.com

1.  ankle straps

2.  tights/pants or something made of tulle with embroidery for god’s sake

3.  tartan and gingham!

4.  inside out tartan cuffs!

so pretty!

jpg for target/zac posen for target

So I just saw lookbooks for both, and while I’m not dying about jean paul, because there are no overalls, dammit!  there are some things I do like:

por ejemplo, the striped shirt.  I don’t pretend to know what the hell is up with it entirely, but it’s striped, so I like it.

and so is this the same striped top, styled differently?  But I like the stripes/floral combo.  (does anything ever change with me?  no.)

Interlude provided by Franz Ferdinand:

And then Zac:

Snap tape?  I love snap tape!

Shorts?  Yes, but no to the Joey Buttafuoco shirt.

Chambray dress?  It’d be almost like having overalls.

Raincoat?  I do need one.  And you know I love asymmetricality.

look what else i bought:

i was beginning to think that haute look was a waste of time, then i saw these;  and despite esme-type modeling, the little bit of tartan trim got me.  and despite the richard nixon effect on the check dress, i know it’s going to be good in person.  maybe i’ll get different buttons.  what do you think?

zac posen, your shoes…

oh my god i want them!

best thing overheard at my starbucks

my starbucks in the city is the one on 17th near castro.

two hippies are making out, and starbucks shift guy (i don’t know his name) says to them, ‘guys, cut it out, okay?’

and the one hippie goes, ‘was that because we’re gay?’

my starbucks is the gayest starbucks ever, and it’s a well known fact.

so that was hilarious.

so i ordered this, the most awesome thing EVER:

and you should get one too.

also, there was a very cool girl on bart today wearing a rugrats t shirt.  when i say girl, i mean lady, like, not a kid.  i wish i had my camera.

also, michael stipe shoulda paid for vic chestnutt’s medical bills, and maybe someone to dispense his meds properly.  i mean, i don’t know if he tried to do that or what the circumstances were in their friendship, but you know what i mean?

anna and mary by bittlerelly featuring Anna Sui

jon bon jovi on fresh air

i’m cracking up because jon is acting like terry gross doesn’t know who the scorpions or motley crue are.

shoes, a sock, an ace brace

f-troupe (from my boss, she gave them to me!), handknit sock, walgreen’s ace brace

i twisted my already wonky from falling down the stairs ankle by trying on shoes at nordstrom rack, so i have an ace brace. i like saying ace brace a lot.

i put my little sock on under the brace because the brace doesn’t feel as nice as a sock.

the background is the hq of macmanrepair. apparently fixing macs involves alcohol and a blow dryer.