Just In Case

This is my last week off before I go back to work. What am I doing with my last week, you ask?? Working.

I can't complain because I've already had five weeks off. It just so happened that the only week the temp agency called me with an assignment was my last week off.

I will be helping to administer the BAR Exam. This sounds somewhat interesting, but will most likely be very boring. I have given the CA State Standardized Test to elementary and middle school students for three years now, so I assume it will be very similar to that, except with adults. Basically checking people in, reading directions, and then hours of monitoring and watching for cheating. When talking to my mom about this I said, "Do you really think I'll have to monitor them the whole time? I mean they are adults and they will be lawyers." My mom's response: "Exactly. They will be lawyers." No offense if you are one or know one (I know a few myself), but I see her point.

I was really hoping I would have some time to do some knitting while they're testing, so just in case I started these infant socks.



Here's hoping it's not too boring and that I can do some knitting.

Little Monsters

I love these little Monster Chunks. Not only are they quick, easy, and use up leftover sock yarn, they are adorable too!



I really prefer the eye placement of the monster on the left. I completed the one on the right first, so I guess it's like the "first pancake," the one you throw out because it doesn't turn out as well. I won't throw it out, but I might donate it to the cats. They seem to enjoy it.

Lack of Knitting

I have not been knitting as much as usual. I did not even post during the month of June, which is somewhat disappointing since I had been pretty consistent up until that point.

Instead of posting about knitting, I will just post pictures from what we have already done during July (I don't even have pictures of anything for the month of June. Not sure what happened there).

We went to the Alameda County Fair with my parents (an annual tradition). They were able to beat the World's Record for the largest hamburger, so of course we had to take this dorky picture.



We ate corn dogs (a fair must!).



For the first time, we went and watched the pig races. How have I missed this in all the previous years we've gone??? Hilarious!





I don't know why, but I always love wearing things that relate to a holiday, like black and orange on Halloween, or red, white and blue for the 4th of July. So on the Fourth I wore some patriotic earrings that I made that morning, a white top, a blue skirt, and red flip flops. While I don't have a picture of this amazing ensemble (ha ha, I crack myself up), I did happen to take a picture of the artwork I did on my toenails.



In the morning we attended a parade. It was probably 95 to 100 degrees! That's commitment my friends. I don't know the last time (if ever) that I have gone to a parade for the 4th of July, but we all had a great time. DH took tons of pictures, so I will just include the beginning and the end of the parade.





After the parade we tried out a new BBQ place. DH loved it more then his usual BBQ place and we plan to go back. It was a LOT of food and also very delicious. I hate to admit it, but my favorite part was the free ice cream.



After lunch, we went home and took a nap. Then headed over to my in-laws for a BBQ dinner. Believe me, we did not go hungry that day! Then DH, my sister-in-law and I headed out to watch fireworks. We actually ended up watching them from DH's work parking lot. I was a little skeptical, but it was actually very quiet and easy to go when we were ready to leave.





Our one year anniversary is coming up on August 14th. Since I will be starting a new school year on August 1st, I will not be able to go anywhere during that month. We decided to celebrate a month early and since DH's work closed for the week of the 4th of July, we took that opportunity to go to Pismo Beach. The weather was perfect. Of course, the first thing we did when we got there was eat (notice I never leave out this important part of any event).



It's almost a little sad how much we look forward to having that clam chowder bowl at Brad's. I highly recommend it!

Most of the time we were there, we spent it in the hotel room just relaxing. I was able to actually get a sock finished and started on the second sock. Yay! Since these are going to be a Christmas gift I am extra excited that I am now almost done with the pair. That's my one bit of knitting news in this post :)

We did go down to the beach as well.



We have never taken a beach umbrella with us before, but it was totally worth it!! Here's our little set up.



Hope everyone had a safe 4th of July and is having a wonderful summer!

Finished for the Not Warm Weather

Since it is almost June I decided to finish my Make Up Your Mind tank. Unfortunately, it hasn't really warmed up enough yet to wear it. Hopefully it will be warm this weekend when we go camping and I can show it off.





It's kind of funny that I love the back more than the front. The horizontal sections with different stitch patterns seem to highlight my midsection (which is not what most women want), but overall I like it and plan on wearing during the summer.

I have another purple tank top that I just need to block and seam the sides. Why I didn't knit it in the round is beyond me. It's been a couple years in the making because it is all boring stockinette stitch and I have lost interest several times. I'm hoping to have it done by next week, but who knows. I tend to put off all seaming as long as possible. Wish me luck!

Tiffany Morgan

On Monday I finished these:



And on Tuesday (her birthday), Tiffany's mom put them on her:





And of course I had to have my turn to hold her :)



Congrats to Erin & Ben on their beautiful baby girl!

Finished Objects

Just a quick post of some finished projects...yay!

Here is the Felted Fair Isle Bag that I did as a knit-a-long with some lovely ladies in my knitting group. The KAL was done on Ravelry. Check it out here.





I recently finished Anouk. I knit the skirt in the round instead of leaving it as two pieces that you button together. I omitted the pockets and did three flowers across the bottom instead. This will be a gift for a very special girl that will be turning 1 this month :)



Last night while watching the San Jose Sharks lose :( , I finished these socks. They are just basic toe up socks with an afterthought heel. They remind me of Andes candy...the mint chocolate candies. I am giving them away as a Christmas gift and might include some of those candies. BTW, you didn't misread that; I said I FINISHED A CHRISTMAS GIFT. So proud :)



On the needles I have Make Up Your Mind Tank and Calypso tank. Obviously I am ready for summer!

Birthdays Are the Best!

I don't know about anyone else, but I really like to stretch out my birthday celebration as long as possible. I haven't been doing a ton of knitting lately, so I have some pictures of how I have been celebrating my birthday thus far.

First, the night before my birthday, DH gave me my gift (I am super impatient). The first things I pulled out of the gift bag were these:



DH said one is me and one is him. I love how adorable he is in that way. The monkeys are wind ups and they do make me laugh as the move sideways across the table.

Also in the gift bag I received this:





It's a Kindle in a purple case! Awesome! I have been debating over getting a Kindle for over a year. I love reading and I liked the idea of the Kindle (portable, light weight, many books in one for travel, etc.), but I was not sure if I wanted it because I was resisting change. There is something to be said about having a paper book in your hand and actually turning the pages. Now that I have it, I LOVE it! I still have some books on my bookshelf that I will keep because I will reread them. Also, I don't think I would want a digital version of a knitting books. You really need to be able to flip through those.

When I told my dad what DH had given me and that he was also taking me to a nice dinner on my actual birthday, my dad said, "It better be nice if all he got you was a candle." Cracked me up!

So the dinner was a surprise...we went to La Fondue. Melted cheese, lobster, filet mignon, chicken, shrimp and melted chocolate for dessert. Can't go wrong with that!



They brought out our dessert dippers with two candles and two glasses of champagne.





Probably the best birthday dinner ever!

On Saturday, I went to the LYS with a knitter friend. This shop has a make your own birthday sale with a chance for 100% off. On Saturday they were having an anniversary sale for everyone that was similar. You draw a poker chip out of a vase and get 20, 40, or 80% off. I decided to do the anniversary sale on Saturday and then save the birthday sale for another day this month (remember, I like to stretch out the celebration). I was stoked when I pulled out the chip for 40% off! I bought a pair of circular needles and this yarn:



After the yarn shopping, my friend and I went across the street to a bar for a drink, a couple games of Scrabble, and knitting. Again, awesome!



Then Saturday night I went out to dinner with DH and friends. We went to BJ's Brewery. They have this amazing dessert that is called a Pizookie. If you haven't had one and you are ever near a BJ's, you must get it! Normally they are not this large, but this one was the size of a large pizza.



After drinking, having appetizers, and dinner, I figured there was no way the 7 of us there would finish this thing. Five minutes after singing "Happy Birthday" this was what was left:



I also received a couple more gifts. A bottle of wine and a wine glass. The related gifts were not planned that way, so I thought that made it great.



My friend decorated the wine glass and named it "Big Al." For those of you who don't watch the show, it is a reference to Cougar Town and "Big Joe" (RIP) and "Big Carl." Love it!

Needless to say I had a fantastic birthday!!