Needlephile

Ok, I know I've been rather non-existent in the blogging world lately, but I've been busy! I do finally have a photo of my Diamonique, though!

I am very pleased with the way it came out, and I think I might wear it tomorrow in clinic. I used the recommended yarn, Patons Brilliant, and neeedles. It was a good pattern overall.
So that brings me to my next project... the VK tiered skirt (link in left sidebar). I cast on for it on Saturday, which turned out to be the only overcast day we had this weekend. Sunday and Monday were absolutely perfect, so of course we hit the beach both days, along with about half a million other people! But it was fun... we had some friends who set up a volleyball net, and I must have played 7 games. On Friday we went camping to our favorite spot out in the Cleveland National Forest off of I-8. We were lucky we got there early, because all of the spots were filled by nightfall. We have gone there maybe 10 times, and it is never even close to being full, its a rather secluded spot. Here is a pic of James playing the guitar by the campfire:

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend, too! I would love to blog some more to make up for my lack of posts lately, but I need to get to the gym before class. Being on the beach this weekend convinced me I need to be more serious about working out!!

Wow, I had such a busy (but good) weekend! And, its been a long time since I have posted, so i don't know where to begin. I guess I should start with knitting content... I finished Diamonique on Thursday! Well, its not exactly finished yet because it still needs to be blocked. I will take some pics after I do that. But it came out great and I cant wait to wear it.
Friday night was spent drinking margaritas with my neighbors in our courtyard, because one of them will be moving up to LA this week. Saturday morning I went to a Feng Shui seminar at school (slightly hungover), which was really interesting and it inspired me to clean out a lot of the clutter in our house. The best part about it was that it was free, thanks to our wonderful student council! After that, I had just enough time to go home and eat and take a little nap before having to go work for the catering company I worked for this winter. I hadn't heard ffrom them in a long time because they weren't very busy, but now that the wedding season is coming up, they need the extra help. It was at the El Cortez in downtown San Diego. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is looking for a place to get married in San Diego. It was so beautiful there. And luckily I was able to make some pretty good money that night.
On Sunday I went to Mission Trails Park to meet some people from school and our herb professor Zev Rosenberg for a hike to learn about native plants that have medicinal qualities. It was really interesting to see what some of the herbs that we study at school look like out in the wild. It was amazing to see how many there were, too! if you're interested, you can check out all of my photos at my Flickr page.
When that was done, I had just enough time to go home, change and eat before meeting some friends to see The DaVinci Code. I hate going with big groups of people to see a movie on opening weekend, because we were late getting in there, and of course it was sold out, so there were hardly any seats left, except the front row. I managed to get one further back though, after moving a few people around. As far as the actual movie goes, I liked it. I did read the book, so it was a little hard to not have any expectations, but my biggest problem with it was the poor acting in some parts (especially by Sophie), and the lack of depth about DaVinci's works and art. One friend of mine who saw it this weekend didnt like it at all... she said it was boring and hated the acting. I have heard that that is what many of the critics have felt also. If YOU have seen it, let me know what you thought.
So that brings me today, and all of the studying I need to do that I really should have done this weekend! I will block my Diamonique today also, so I can show you how it came out.

My garden is finally growing some strawberries! Just yesterday this one was mostly green. I think I might have to go back to home depot and get some more to plant. The other plants in my garden are doing really well, too. I'm hoping I'll have tomatoes by June. Is that overly optimistic?? I haven't grown tomatoes in a long time so I forget how long it takes.

This is a pic of my boy Little Man enjoying his time outside in the grass. Him and his sister have been mostly indoor cats, but we have been letting them outside a little at a time the past few months. Where we live is good for that, it is a bunch of cottages in a U formation, and lots of grass around for the "kids" to run around in. There's a lot of other cats around for them to hang out with, too. But now they are spoiled and want to go out all the time, but I don't feel confident enough yet to let then outside unsupervised. Maybe I'm just being a paranoid mom, but my neighbor's cat had to be put to sleep a few months ago because this other cat beat him up. I'd rather be paranoid than have a huge vet bill or a dead cat. That would SUCK.

I got my Luna in the mail on Friday for my VK skirt. It came in just a few days, which is always nice! Its not quite what I expected from the picture on the website, but I think it will make a nice skirt.

I apologize to all of you who actually come to visit my blog looking for knitting content, cuz there is none lately. I do love baseball, and especially the Red Sox and I must warn you (in case you haven't already figured it out) that I might make some baseball related posts. There may also be some occaisonal Yankee-bashing. I am making some progress on Diamonique... I finished the back, and am about an inch into the front, but any pictures I could take wouldn't be very different than the pictures I have taken of it.
I did however get my financial aid check on Monday, which of course means that I have money to buy yarn again! Uh oh.... I have restrained myself so far, mostly because I have so many expensive text books to buy this semester. But i did spend my elann.com gift certificate from my secret pal swap on some Endless Summer Luna in the color lapis (royal blue) to make the skirt from the latest Vogue Knitting. Hopefully I will get the yarn in time to start it at my monthly Stitch n Bitch.

Well, apparently I have some pull with the Padres, cuz I must have convinced them to send Mirabelli back to the Sox. Either that, or the Red Sox finally realized that we coudn't live without him. In the interview after the game, Dougie looked absolutely giddy about the whole thing. And what a game, too! Hopefully the rain is gone and they will be able to play today. By the way... did Johnny look absolutely miserable playing for the Yankees or what? Like, "oh geez did I make a stupid mistake... I hate this team." What I do know is that he does not look as good without his hair! maybe its just the uniform, though.