Stella Knits

All my presents came! First, I have new earrings. They are like little pieces of pipe and you can see straight through my earlobes now, very freaky. It's a San Francisco thing. Then, my calculator arrived. I accidentally poured a glass of water over it the day after it came, and I tried not to stress out. Thank God it had a good seal and it's working fine. I just know, it will give me a huge advantage in class. It solves algebraic equations - you type in the equation, tell it to solve for x, and it tells me! I guess you'd have to be in this situation to get that excited about it, but trust me, I love it.

Lots of progress on the knitting front! The yarn for my Rogue came. My gauge is more like 5 st/in, but I used aforementioned calculator to figure out which size to make to fit me. I'm having great fun learning to follow the charts for the cables. I love the color and the yarn, and I know it will be a pleasure to work on this one. As long as I don't get overwhelmed by having too many projects going on at the same time as school.

I've spun up 4 little balls of the roving below, so this week I can start plying. I also started the second sock (see 2/16) and, wouldn't you know it, the stripes are coming out different! It's all good though, my lovely recipient said he did not mind at all. :) He wears the first pair I made him everytime I see him! So sweet.

School is still going well. I'm having a hard time not judging myself when I'm freehand drawing. So hard in fact, that I got very frustrated when I had to draw a chair. I lost it. I started to cry! In class! SO embarrassing. I couldn't believe it. I immediately took a break outside to calm down. It should be so easy, but... the part of my brain which translates from what my eyes see to how my hand moves the pencil is very rusty. Sometimes, I just want my CAD! But it is important to learn this, so I won't give in.

posted by Stella 12:37 pm

I'm waiting for 3 UPS/USPS packages. I'm so impatient!!! I got lured by ebay, and I won a calculator, the TI-89 (I know, HELLA geeky) and 2 gauge earlets. Cascade is sending me the Rogue yarn. So I'm on pins & needles. I'm spinnin' the roving on the right below, but spinning is a ~~medicated~~ meditative activity, and I'm feeling like I want to be productive.

It's pouring outside today! It's like an aquarium! I'm so glad I don't have to go out. The drains can't handle it and the street is starting to flood.

Good things are happening. I'm getting used to school. It's getting to be E-Z! I could have taken another class. Financial Aid paperwork is progressing. I have a new lead on some drafting work. And, I'm having lunch with a former client on Friday. (For a look at the type of architect I DON'T want to be, watch the movie "My Architect.") One of my old bosses called me yesterday, and he wants some technical writing translated. For free. But I said I'd do it cause he can straighten the way for me in the future. I'm going to an Open House on Saturday at CCA. It's a private school, and way expensive, but it's on my list. AND, I've been going to the gym and have been running, lifting weights and doing my Pilates. So hey! I'm excited!!!

posted by Stella 9:25 am

I got to go to Stitches after all. My friend Gina called me Saturday and said, "hey, what are you doing, wanna go to Stitches?" So off we went! Not much new there that I didn't know, but what was great is that I ran into my spinning friends, Marie-Christine & Rose of Fuzzy Galore! I found out City Spinners is still happening, there was just a DSL breakdown which explains why I didn't get any emails from them. It was fun hanging out at Blue Moon Spinnery, which seemed to be the point of attraction for all kinds of hippie women, pagans, lesbians, what-have-you, a very accepting crowd!

On my way out, I ran into Christina of the BAWDIES, and we compared our goodies. OF COURSE, I spent more than I meant to. But I'm not the only one, I'm sure. And I spent cash, not credit cards. I already spun up a little of the yarn on the right. I think it will be a hat. I'm coming around from my no-hat stance. I'm caring less about how geeky I look after that cold I caught the last 2 weeks.

The meeting at school was worth it. The guy who is organizing the chapter is super-motivated and already has 5 events set up for us to go. Very exciting! I volunteered to help out and I'm even considering running for office (despite the many skeletons in my closet).

The classes are going well. I'm loving the Physics, and I'm just documenting that statement for future reference! I actually get it. Never before in my life has that happened. My highschool physics teacher really did suck, it wasn't me! Then I heard a very scary statement from my transfer counselor that UCB does not accept 2nd baccalaureate candidates for majors other than engineering or chemistry. Which means, I would have to go for the graduate program. Little old me, a grad student? But, that needs to be confirmed before I freak out any more about it. Phone calls to make and appointments to set up.

posted by Stella 9:53 am

So, yesterday I finally decided to cancel my plans to go to Stitches. I have class from 10am - 12noon, and then some young go-getters decided to start an AIAS chapter, and they set the first meeting from 2pm - 3pm today. <<DEEP DEEP SIGH>>. Not only am I missing out on yarn and fiber and spindles, but on meeting some very cool people. And then, this morning, when I got to class, the professor is absent. Now I'm just kinda hanging out at home, waiting for 2 pm to roll around. How do you call that? Anticlimactic? But it will be good for my future. Afterward, I'm thinking about seeing a movie, called My Architect. One of those "whatever!" days, I guess.

NO knitting happened this week, either. What a drag.

posted by Stella 12:41 am

Check out Threadbear / Black Dog's entry from Thurday! In the Waiting for Godot entry, Rob shows the new Regia colors, and the Jazz colorway is the same I was using for my socks last week! Dude! I'm a trendsetter! Nah, I really just got the yarn on vacation. :)

I also ordered my Rogue yarn from him and it will be Cascade 220 #7815, which is a nice baby blue. I think it will be lovely! Baby blue seems to be a popular color for those velour sweatsuits the kids like to wear around here. And it goes with my own baby blue eyes! I checked 2 local yarn stores but they did not have enough. And Rob has it drop shipped directly from Cascade to moi! Does anyone else fret about the support your local merchant deal as much as I do? But, heck, if I still lived in Indianapolis, he'd be my local merchant, right? And his selection and customer service far exceeds what I'm able to get locally.

In the meantime, I started a new pair of socks for my s*xy boy. These are in a Regia color way called Mini Ringel. The goofy part about it is that there is no repeat. It's random stripes. I'm hoping that the 2nd ball will be the same as the first, or these socks won't be identical. And that would bother me.

In non-knitting news, I had major heebiejeebies about school this week. It is just hurting my brain. I even went to my doctor (to see if I was crazy) and he said, no, I just have culture shock, like folks who move overseas. Hmmm. He also likes to analyze my dreams (so old-fashioned!) and I definitely have freaky ones. I also went to the gym, after reading about Supergirl's 7mi run, which was very empowering. And I gave myself permission to do anything that makes me feel better, even if it is eating cooking dough straight out of the package! Whatever preserves my sanity.

Anyway. Here is my own excessive pet sentimentality picture, Taseti snuggling with his teddy bears. Awwww.

posted by Stella 10:11 am

New Sock Monday. It seems like all I want to knit lately is socks. They have become so brainlessly easy to do and they get me into the zone fast. I can't wait to cast on the next pair! Caroline told me a long time ago I'd eventually develop my own recipe for my socks, and this is it. I do a stretchy cast-on with 112 st, reduce to 56, and then I follow the Regia chart. I never heard back from these people about my copyright inquiry, so maybe I'll just go ahead and translate it.

I'm coming closer to making a color decision on Rogue. But if I start writing about it, I'll jinx it all, so hold your breath for now. :)

In the meantime, go visit Mariko and wish her well. She has the flu, yuck, poor thing. And then, go visit the other Stella (she who knits) - cause she moved her blog and old site doesn't forward readers to her new site. I love the "stellaland" url!

posted by Stella 4:30 pm

Did I say V-day? mmmmmmmmh.... thank me later, ladies.

posted by Stella 4:45 pM

It is so great when my body actually figures out how to fight the virus and gets to work! Thanks for the kind well-wishes, Miss Rebecca & Rachael! Yesterday I felt so full of Tatendrang (one of those excellent German words that you can't translate - if I were an engineer, I'd say, I was amped up!) that I moved furniture! Now my bed is back in my bedroom, along with my desk. It had been in my dining room for a while. That was for therapeutic reasons. I had moved into this apartment with my ex, and after we split, it felt weird to sleep in the same space. But I reclaimed the space yesterday. Now I have my dining room back. Only, I don't have a dining room table, so now I have 2 living rooms. Yes, I live in a mansion, in case you wondered!

I meant to do a whole bunch of other things as well but I crashed after I got everything rearranged. I managed to go on a walk up to Haight Street. A Jamaican dude offered me kind buds but I thanked him kindly. I was looking for buttons for the Saffron sweater, but, they did not turn out the right color. Maybe I could get clear ones, or go hook-and-eye.

For the rest of the night, I knitted the second sock. It's weird - I can knit a sock in 3 days now, so there will be pictures very soon. I think it has to do with how much me-time I get and how much time I get to spend with my boy, but he is very busy with homework this weekend. (Or, supposed to be doing it, but then, awful distractions happen to him). I miss him, though. So I think I'll be shopping for some V-day presents today.

posted by Stella 9:43 AM

Not too much happening here this week, other than that I caught a nasty cold. I'll spare you the icky details and let it suffice to say that everything has just slowed to a crawl. I made it to all my classes, which is the most important thing. I did not miss the surprise quiz. And I did my taxes, my FAFSA and bought health insurance. Looking back, I think I overachieved.

I haunted my local stores today for some red Araucania or Cascade 220 but to no avail. Urban Knitting now carries Cascade 220 (yeah!) but it was so popular that supplies were low. And the folks at Atelier seemed friendly enough despite their bad rep, but they had no Araucania or 220, either. So, the plan is to wait for Stitches. Ah, the hunt for yarn! To be honest, I'm still not sure what color I want, and that may have to do with being so busy. In the meantime, I'm still working on my socks.