Tag Archive for 'family'Page 2 of 7

The Mothership’s Siren Song 31Oct07

So the Leopard release was quite spectacular. I was one of the first 20 people in line (and was actually in line with some of the same people from the Apple Store opening!), so I did get a t-shirt, and my copy of Leopard. I was glad I went early too, since half and hour before the store opened, the line went all the way around the block!

heavenly marquee

It was certainly worth it too, because Leopard is pretty sweet. I’d highly recommend it if you are on the fence about upgrading. I also gave into the siren song of the iPod while in the Apple store, and picked up a shiny new toy. I’m so weak.* ;)

"come on, just one touch"

I’ve been iPod less for a while now, and the combination of a big screen, WiFi with Safari, and the ability to banish my car radio turned out to be too much to handle. Maybe someday I’ll get an iPhone, but for now, the iPod Touch is close enough for me. It’s a bit easier on the wallet too, especially since I barely ever use my phone.

Oh Apple, why must you exploit my weakness for shiny things?

In other news, I just sent all these lovelies off to The Loopy Ewe today. Phew! Look for it sometime soon, in one of Sheri’s infamous sneak ups. Keep an eye out too, because the last batch went crazy fast! (who knew nerdy yarn could be so popular?) There’s a few new colorways in there, and all the yarn is my new 850 MHz Merino sock yarn.

and on the seventh day

Between finishing up the yarn dyeing and other things this weekend, it was pretty crazy. I ended up spending an hour cleaning up black yarn dye on Sunday, after tipping over one of the containers I was using all over the floor and onto Dallas, who happened to be laying right under the table. The poor guy jumped up, sending yarn dye flying all over the creation. Luckily it didn’t really damage anything, and after a long scrub Dallas was no longer all black (good thing I didn’t spill warm water and vinegar on him too!), but it was quite the detour from my dyeing plans that day.

I also had a big family occasion this weekend, as my Grandparents celebrated their 60th Anniversary. I admire my Grandparents profusely, and hope that someday I can have a marriage as strong as theirs. It’s not always easy, but they’ve stuck by each other through everything for 60 years, and I think that’s so cool. So Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa, I love you both!

cb and bb

Well, that’s about it for me peeps. I need to get to bed before it gets too late, so I’ll catch you later. Next time I can show you how I just re-organized my office with a yarn shelf. Yup, I have a yarn shelf now…it’s a slippery slope.

Oh, and beware of those Apple stores!

The Family That Bowls Together 13Jul07

Has it really been 9 days? Yeesh, bad blogger, no cookie! I was reminded of my extended absence by my Mom, with the kind words, “Hito, you need to write a new blog post, it’s been a week!” Ah, just like the days when we had to do journal assignments for school, what fond memories. ;) Anyway, here you go Mom, I’ll try not to neglect the blog for so long next time…but there are only so many “I’m working on gift knitting and reading books” posts that you can do without becoming tragically boring. (Not that all my posts are eloquent prose, but there’s a fine line that differentiates a mundane post from one that is capable of causing your eyes to hemorrhage.)

So what could I talk about that won’t cause your eyes to hemorrhage? How about a family evening of ruthless competition good fun?

See, last night was the weekly family get together, and we had decided to go out and do something, but were somewhat at a loss on what to do. Movies are expensive (and deciding on a movie everyone will see is nothing short of a miraculous feat), I’m really the only one who likes Indie Rock shows in small dives, and my Mom was swimming pooled out since she’s been taking my cousins a few times a week. So what do you do in Albuquerque on a Thursday night with 6 people, once swimming, movies and concerts are ruled out? Apparently, you go bowling!

all suited up
how about these shoes for eye candy!? I think I’d even wear these as normal shoes!

Now I was a bit reluctant initially, since I was in a grouchy mood, and I’m as good at bowling as a fish is at flying, but I was persuaded by one phrase: “but you could have a beer at the bowling alley!” I’m not sure it’s a good reflection on me, that I was enticed to go bowling by the promise of beer, but what can I say? I’m a beer geek! ;) I did make sure that everyone agreed I was allowed to photograph them bowling, so that I could have something to show off to the Internets.

And without further ado, may I present my parents, the bowling champions!

going for the split that's a spare!
look at that form!

Now I didn’t really know what to expect, but I figured that I might be able to school my parents, even with my meager bowling skills. Well was I ever wrong! They were awesome! I guess that just means you get better at bowling with age, ha! I was pretty proud of myself too, since I broke my all time record of 50 points (I told you I was awful!) and got a 64 and then a 73. Not quite my Dad’s high of 150 something, but not too shabby considering my bowling history. (I’ve managed to throw the ball backwards and trip and slide down the lane before…) My Mom thought I would be really good since, “you can understand the math behind it”, but I had to remind her that understanding the physics and translating that into movements are two different things. At least for my uncoordinated body they are!

I think now that we’ve gone bowling, we’ll have to go to a math competition or something next, so I can beat everyone at something! You hear that family? You may have beat me at bowling, but it’s on like Donkey Kong!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

Be sure to go check out Yarn Nerd this weekend, since I’m having a 15% off sale! It was originally supposed to last through today, but I think I’ll extend it through Sunday to help clear out some more stock for next week’s update. I’m not sure on the date yet, but it will most likely be Thursday at 10 AM MDT. I’ll post more details when I know them.

And in exciting blog news, I bought a new camera! It’s on it’s way here now (DHL may ban my IP address since I’m refreshing the tracking page so often…), and it’s a beaut. A Nikon D50 with 2 lenses that I got for quite a lovely price on eBay. I did a lot of photography when I was a teenager (that’s so strange that I can refer to my teenage years in the past tense.) and am really looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve been saving up and searching for a good deal, and when this one came along I couldn’t pass it up. Plus, I’ve been using cameras borrowed from friends and family up to this point, so it’ll be nice to have something of my own to play around with.

Alright, I gotta go, time to check the DHL page again! Have a great weekend everyone :)

PS: Have you seen what Carole has sitting in her office? OMG! I offered her free sock yarn for life if she just nipped me one copy, but she has more moral fiber than I anticipated. Anyone else care to mount an assault?

Happy Independence Day! 04Jul07

Happy 4th of July everyone! I’m off to the family cookout, to enjoy tender steak, tasty beer and a swim in the pool. Oh, and this little festive cheesecake I whipped up today ;) Looks pretty good huh? I think so!

it's a wonder I haven't snuck a slice yet!

I hope that whatever you do today, you get to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family, while celebrating the wonderful things that make the US a great place to live. Like fireworks! Have a great day everyone!

My Trusty Steed, ___ 17Jun07

So how’s the bike commuting going you ask? Super! I really love it, and think I finally might have found a form of exercise that I can really enjoy. Plus the fact that I’ve gone 3 days over my normal gas tank fill up day makes it even better. In fact, I’m finding that riding my bike can be super relaxing, so much so that after getting home from work the other night, I rode another 5.5 miles over to my brother’s house for dinner. (My brother was kind enough to give me a ride back home, since going east is considerably harder than going west in ABQ because of all the hills!) I’m also feeling a lot more confident on my bike than I did before, and am getting comfortable riding with the traffic on the smaller streets. So all things considered, I love bike commuting and am so happy I gave it a try.

The only thing I need for my bike now is a catchy name, and this is where you can help me out. She’s (yes, I’ve given it a gender.) an older gal, but she is still full of energy and loves to go out on rides. Not one for being flashy, my bike is a workhorse, and she has a few scars to prove it. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be treated kindly and get a cleaning every now and then. Oh, and as you can see in the picture, she’s quite a nerd, and prefers to be parked where she can brush up on her Electricity & Magnetism Theory.

So do you have any ideas for a name I could use? If left to my own devices, I might just name her COBOL or some other programming language (yeah, I had a car that I named FORTRAN once…), so I figure that maybe I should give the non-nerdy people a shot.

my trusty steed

In knitting news, I finished my first Gentleman’s Lozenge Sock with Anne’s beautiful hand-spun tree scum yarn, and the sock is looking fine. I was a bit worried about the fit, but it turns out that my fears were unfounded (I swatched, how could I be wrong?), and the sock fits wonderfully. I love the pattern, it makes such an elegant looking sock, especially with such nice yarn. I’m planning to cast on the 2nd one today, which should give me enough time to finish the pair and make them my June socks.

first lozenge sock done!

In Yarn Nerd news, I dyed up a custom order of 9 skeins this weekend, and tossed a few other skeins into the dye pot as well. I have plans for a few of them, but there’s at least 2 that are available, so I’ll probably just put them up on the blog sometime this week. I also have one other skein that was a botched custom order, which I’ll be offering at a discount, so keep an eye out for those.

dyed goodness

In preparation for my big summer dyeing plans, I’m taking a simple survey that will help me decide what things are most important to my wonderful customers in terms of yarn. I have a good response so far, but any more volunteers who would like to help me make my observations more statistically sound are more than welcome. You can take the survey here. Also, if you put in your name/e-mail address, you’ll be entered into a raffle for some Yarn Nerd coupons and great Yarn Nerd yarns.

That’s it for me, I hope everyone has a nice Father’s Day, and be sure to tell your Dad how great he is! I know I’m thankful for my Dad, he’s pretty much the best ever. So thanks Dad, I love you!

A Family Affair 06Apr07

Let me start out this post by saying Happy Birthday Dad! Even if you’re getting up there in years, you’re still a great Dad, and pretty hip to boot! ;)

To celebrate my Dad’s birthday, we had a family dinner last night, complete with food, fun and presents. My brothers got him a copy of the new Wii game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and everyone engaged in a spirited game of golf while I helped with the dinner.

he's always getting par, it's not fair!
I think the game secretly favors whoever plays Tiger ;)

For dinner we had a surf and turf meal, with shrimp and steak kabobs plus pineapple, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. It was pretty tasty ;) Oh, and some Blackberry Apple Pie from Flying Star! (Notice that I ate it all before remembering my blogging responsibilities)

surf and turf kabobs mmm, pie and ice cream!

And what Church family gathering is complete without a Ting! picture?

birthday ting!
Ting!

It was a great evening, and I also got to give my Dad his present…the finished Jaywalker socks! I had everyone fooled, thinking they were for me, which isn’t too hard a ruse to pull when you and your Dad have the same size feet. I really love these socks, and despite a few gauge problems I think I’m gonna have to knit myself a pair. The pattern just lends itself to variegated yarns so well doesn’t it? It was also nice to knit them with sportweight, since it makes them quick and sturdy. I think the recipient was quite please with them as well ;)

dallas jaywalkers trying on the socks
  • Pattern: Jaywalkers, by Grumperina. I used this toe up variation and winged it to account for the sport weight gauge.
  • Yarn: Yarn Nerd (that’s me!) 1500 MHz Sport Merino, in the Dallas Colorway.
  • Construction: Toe-Up using a Magic Cast On and Simple M1 toe increases. I also used a standard short row heel, and Misocrafty’s method for picking up the wraps without holes.
  • Notes: This was a somewhat trying pair of socks, mostly due to gauge issues. I changed the size of the pattern repeat for the zig zag part, and got gauge for the foot part, but when I went to all patterning on the leg, it no longer fit over my feet. I ripped back and increased a few stitches after the heel, finding the right combination for a good fit. But it’s a great pattern nonetheless, and I really enjoyed knitting these socks.

Oh and I should mention that I’m very close to comment #1000 on this here blog, woo-hoo! I have to honor such a wonderful milestone, so I’m sure I’ll be giving away something. I don’t really know what, either something from the stash or an IOU for my next shop update, but suffice to say if you’re the lucky commenter you’ll be compensated accordingly ;)

Have a great weekend everyone, and Happy Easter!