janxknits

I've Moved my Blog...

2007-03-19T22:13:05Z

some of you know and some don't. So I thought I should post it officially. Email me: jtoppen AT gmail DOT com for the updated link.

See you over there!

Madrona On and On

2007-01-30T03:23:39Z

Like seemingly every other blogger/knitter in the greater Seattle area, I went to Madrona Fiber Arts Festival yesterday. I didn't take any classes but instead went to the vendor fair. I knew it was going to be small (only 24 vendors) but was surprised at what great yarns there were. It also opened my eyes to quite a few more yarn stores in the "outlying" areas. (By outlying I mean south of Kent and north of Everett) I went with the mindset that I wasn't going to be buying Noro, Cascade or even my beloved Koigu. They needed to be unique yarns that I wouldn't come across everytime I walked into a yarn store. I was pretty lucky. I ended up getting one skein of "Socks that Rock" and 4 skeins (2 different colorways) of hand-dyed yarn from a Shelton yarn store (Fancy Image Yarn) I also picked up 1 skein of Tofuties from Soysilk Yarn company. It's a 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk fiber, 22.5% cotton and 2.5% chitin. Don't know what chitin is? I didn't either. It's fiber from shrimp and crab shells that adds a antibacterial element to the yarn. The color I got is called, "Off on the Right Foot." Clever.

I was also inspired to break out some knitting software that I had long since forgotten about. I received Instant Stitch software a few years ago as a Christmas gift and never opened. After watching Diana plunk down some money for an updated version of it I remembered that I had the software at home. I loaded it up and sure enough, it's the same program. It's now Great Knit Designs.

I also finally finished the orange crib blanket for my pregnant co-worker. I thought she was due in May but it turns out it's March. If have time I might knit the baby a "Candy Corn" hat for baby's first Halloween. I made one for Harrison and it was so stinkin' cute, I could hardly stand it.

It's Been that Kind of Week

2007-01-27T06:05:16Z

Life on the job has remained hectic as ever so I haven't had much mental energy to blog. I was so physically tired last night I was in bed by 9:30pm TIVO-ing "Grey's Anatomy" until tonight. I have however, made some great strides with "Sloppy Joe" from Modern Classics. I finished the back and have cast on for the front. I'm a little concerned with the sizing. It came about about and 1 in and 1/2 wider than the pattern. I'm thinking that I'll knit the front one size smaller (the front and the back are the same) to make up the difference. The sweater is of course called sloppy joe so a looser sweater isn't going to kill me but I don't want to be swimming in it. I've knit up several balls of the Debbie Bliss DK and am now starting on the 2nd bag of yarn. I can't tell you how happy I am to be knitting stuff from my stash of yarn. It's almost liberating.

Speaking of stash, I stumbled on this blog a few days ago: Destash. It's kind of a craigslist for yarn and knitting related stuff.

WHY????WHY????WHY????

2007-01-24T02:53:24Z

It.Hurts.My.Chest.

According to TMZ.com: Blonde bombshell Jessica Simpson and balladeer borefriend John Mayer are taking their show on the road. The new couple was spotted in Miami just hours ago -- loading into Mayer's tour bus. The new couple was spotted in Miami just hours ago -- loading into Mayer's tour bus. Mayer will be performing in Jacksonville on the 25th, and Jessica seems to be going along for the ride. Just a few months ago, Jessica weathered a media backlash for her then publicist's mistake of going public with the Mayer romance and then denying it. Now Jess is on board and on the bus.

Knitty Gritty Episode DKNG-511

2007-01-18T06:47:23Z

The Knitty Gritty episode that we taped over a year ago is finally airing. Ladies from the Eastside Stitchers said that they saw it but when I checked DIY Network, there was no air date. How annoying. Anyway, for the pattern "Marco Polo" designed by Jenna Adorno- click here

Here is a picture of Harrison, modeling the finished polo. Note Harrison's broken arm (from over a year ago....)

It's A Cold Place

2007-01-16T21:06:19Z

A view from my living room window. It's a cold wintery place. I now understand why everyone in Narnia was depressed. No Christmas for 11 more months and it's just cold and snowy. See the lonely, frozen garbage can? The garbage folks couldn't pick up last week so they said it will be double garbage this week. That's if they can make it around town. I loathe to think if they can't pick up this week either...

Elsewhere in ~~Narnia~~ our home, the boy lays in bed (my bed, I might add) sick while watching Noggin for a 2nd day in a row:

Finally, with the Valentine's Day socks done, I started on a sweater for me:

I present-- the starting 5 inches of Sloppy Joe from Modern Classics in Debbie Bliss DK Cotton - Navy. I've always been a fan of knitting backwards. With this sweater I've learned how to purl backwards too. Self-taught even!

janxknits @ 2007-01-14T08:42:00

2007-01-14T17:01:38Z

First things first, I finished the Valentine's Day socks yesterday! Hooray. It's nice to actually finish a project. I'm going to throw them in the wash to soften them up a tad before I wear them. They look great. This yarn was from my extensive stash so that makes this finished project even more satisfying.

Yesterday, Mike and I went out and I got my "bonus present." Both Mike and I buy each other a gift with our respective bonuses. He got the complete M*A*S*H TV series on DVD from me. I picked out these diamond earings.

These are really pretty "everyday" earings- they aren't so big that I think that I'll get my ear cut off in an attempted robbery and they go with everything. They are afterall are diamonds.

Finally, last night Mike and I went out with some friends to see the movie "Children of Men." This movie has won a lot of critical acclaim and I can see why. Set in the very near future (2027) in Great Britian, the world is in chaos and infertility is rampant. No child has been born since 2009 -the end of mankind is near.   Illegal immigrants are routinely caged and pushed out of the country. There are scenes right out of Abu Garib and Gauntanamo Bay--

This moving haunts me- I slept poorly last night. This movie is no "We are Marshall" or some other "uplifting" film. It's thought provoking and very reflective. Go see it for yourself.

Snow Day! (Another One)

2007-01-11T19:40:24Z

The Sock looked longingly out the window thinking, "When is this crazy ass weather going to stop?"

Ah. Another 2.5 hour commute home last night. I left promptly at 4:23 and got home at 7:00pm. (I unfortunately missed the President's "Oops! The Iraq War isn't going as planned" speech.) Mike, Harrison and I met halfway at the McDonald's to get some dinner, go to the bathroom and wait for things to clear up. This place is totally gridlocked. One of Mike's co-workers didn't get home until midnight. We are both home today with Harrison. Being up on Finn Hill has issues. Issues like, we can't get down the hill without sliding into a hundred other cars. I keep seeing snow fall off the trees but the temp is SUPER cold which of course means it's just going to be icy. So, we'll all hang out here today.

Speaking of hanging out. My men have found a shared hobby:

With a new flat screen monitor, the news that Indiana Jones 4 is finally going to get made, and the fact Harrison loves to be in Daddy's office- my men have found a new hobby together. The Indiana Jones computer game. Mike will play this for hours and Harrison in turn will watch for hours. When I came downstairs the other night, both my men were in their pj's and their Indiana Jones hats playing/watching the game.

Finally! Some progress

2007-01-10T06:00:01Z

I finished the 1st Valentine's Day sock last night. It fits great and I REALLY like the way this looks. I'm using Regia Wool 6 Ply Crazy Color (Passion 5402.) It's got some great colors - red, lt pink, hot pink, purple and black. I can't find my digital camera right now (ok, it's downstairs but I'm too lazy to go get it) but it looks something like this:
<IMAGE DELETED, See next entry for photo>
I'm off to start #2. Plenty of time before Valentine's Day!

100 Best

2007-01-09T03:49:23Z

The winter months are normally pretty slow for me at work. I relish it. However, things lately since mid-November have been going sideways for a variety of reasons. Most of them revolve around a program I manage that's screwy and I won't go into here. It's making me very grumpy though as I'm really having to be 110% when I should be at 90% now and 110% starting in the summer.

Why are things so crazy for me in the summer? Why the company picnic of course... take a look where it's called out: FORTUNE MAGAZINE....you know that's going on the review!

100 Best Companies to Work For 2007

50. Microsoft

What makes it so great?
New perks in 2006 included free grocery delivery, dry-cleaning service, and valet parking (it's a big campus!).
Annual summer picnic drew 30,000 employees and family members to the Cascade Mountains.

"You're Not Paying Attention"

2007-01-05T22:47:18Z

This phrase is said alot in the Toppen-Ryan household. Mainly to Harrison, who for the most part is not paying attention to his surroundings and thus the phrase is uttered. As a 4 and a half year old, he doesn't understand the full context and will ask if something is not paying attention if anything is off kilter. For example, if traffic is backed up and we aren't moving quickly in the car he'll ask, "Is the traffic not paying attention?" Or if the DVD in the player is not coming on he'll ask, "Is the DVD player not paying attention?" It's hard to provide the context in which it's appropriate for "not paying attention."

However, it would be appropriate to say that of my knitting of late. Completely frustrated by the "Jaywalker" socks that were supposed to be for Halloween, I frogged them and put the yarn aside. Koigu or not, I can't stand to look at the yarn. I've knit with it for so long I'm complete sick of the colors. I picked up some self-striping Regia sock yarn in reds, purples, pinks and even dark grey for some Valentine's Day socks. I've been knitting along and actually FINISHED one sock. During the knitting process I thought, "Man, this is going by so fast. I'm cruising along." When I tried on the sock I thought, "It's kind of tight..." but I really didn't think it through. It wasn't until I cast on for the 2nd sock that I realized that instead of casting on 64 stitches for the 1st sock, I only cast on 42. No wonder it was so tight and no wonder it worked up so fast. Yep, I wasn't PAYING ATTENTION. So I'm starting on the 2nd sock (which will really be the 1st sock) but this time with 64 stitches.

How is this for Weird?

2007-01-02T19:53:30Z

Yesterday I got on the scale as a baseline. I noted the number. (I won't be sharing that number here.) This morning I get up, putter around the house getting Harrison ready to catch the bus, go to the bathroom and hop on the scale. I'm up ONE WHOLE POUND! Can you believe it? I didn't, so I get on the scale again- the same number appears. I'm not feeling well so I get online, email my co-workers that I'm going to stay home today and go back to bed. I sleep very, very hard. I can tell I'm not well. At 11:00 AM I decide I should get up and at least shower. Before I do, I decide to get on the scale again. Guess what? I'm down 1.5lbs from yesterday and 1 lb from 3 hours ago. Stupid scale.

From my baseline weigh in yesterday, I'd like to be down 6 lbs by the end of this month, and 5 more lbs by my birthday. This would not be at a drastic pace,but would be significant results for me personally. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy 2007

2007-01-02T00:01:05Z

I hope everyone had a great 2006. Onward now, to 2007. I'm starting the year out right. I'm sick. I normally get sick around the holidays- this year's cold came a bit later. It's going to be a doozy though. I can already tell. I'm downing the vitamins and cold medicine, but really I know it's just going to have to run it's course. I have a low grade fever which means later on after my body kills the virus, the runny nose, cough and sore throat will all be here in force.

Mike on the otherhand has been working like a fiend. He spent all day breaking down the Christmas decorations with very little "help" from me. The man is a workhorse when it comes to a task.

All decorations are back in the attic or garage and he's off to the store.

I for my part, sold the toddler bed on Craigslist. It went super fast, like within a day or two. It's nice to have it out of the house. Mike thinks we are close to doing another purge. When he was in the attic he noticed we still have 3 car seats, a baby bath and tons of other stuff we just aren't going to use. It will be like the house is on a diet - just like Mike and I.

Happy New Year's Eve

2007-01-01T07:23:22Z

Tonight Mike and I went out to dinner and a movie with our friend's G. and F. Harrison gets along swimmingly with their two girls and so we leave the kids at their home with the sitter and go out. Unfortunately for me this AM, my throat was a bit "sticky." Tonight, it turned into a full-blown sore throat and my voice is strained. Stupid oncoming cold. WIth only 44 minutes until the New Year, I'm going to take a handful of vitamins and cold medicine and sack out. You can totally tell I'm 32, not 22 anymore.

Happy 2007 to You!

It's All Good

2007-01-01T07:10:44Z

We finally did our last gift exchange. I know, I know- it's New Year's Eve, but with the power out before Christmas we had to delay many of the exchanges we had set up before the whole city went dark. It was great though. The exchange was with our friend's B. and R. They are both fun and interesting people to talk to. They are interesting without being dramatic. It's a big difference and makes then thoroughly enjoyable to be around.   They also are very supportive of hobbies, even if they themselves don't share your passion or hobby.

Case in point:

Yep, a Jordana Paige Knitter's Satchel. It's very cool on the inside. I've linked the site, they have much better pictures than I can take.   I was also lucky to get 2 skeins of this:
Itsn't it lovely?   To top it all off I also got a silver Fossil watch from my Amazon.com Wish List- so I can tell when it's time to stop knitting one project and start on another!

New Bed for Babe

2006-12-31T07:01:14Z

It seems like it was just a few months ago I was moving Harrison from the crib to a toddler bed. Well, today I moved him from his toddler bed to a twin bed.   I met my brother and my niece down at IKEA to pick up Harrison's new KURA bed (with canopy!) It took hours to put together and of course was not intuitive at all, but my brother Marc and I managed to finally erect the bed (and canopy!) Harrison couldn't wait to go to bed. He was very, very excited.

The bed in it's finished form from the website                         The bed in it's used from from Harrison's bedroom

Yesterday was a Good Day

2006-12-28T21:31:12Z

I spent my time yesterday taking more things back (the wallet and holiday dress I never got to wear) and was pleasantly surprised that there were limited lines at both stores. I was thinking it would be pretty bad, but I was 2nd in line at both places and I managed to finish up in record time. I have two more items in my return bin and then I'm done. I'm amazed at all the money coming back into my bank account. It's a nice change.

On my way to knitting, I called my Mom. RIght before Christmas she had a routine mammogram done and they spotted something. The radiologists pulled her previous year films and saw that this was a new "something." She had gone in for a biopsy and her results came back Wednesday. No cancer! That is always good news. To top it off she let me know that my cousin who has been struggling with infertility (and is currently waist-high in the adoption process from China) is expecting. Keep your finger's crossed- she's 8.5 weeks in!

Finally, last night a fellow Eastside Stitcher was selling one of these:

This is an out of print knitting book that currently is on Amazon.com for $335-$385.00 dollars. It originally sold for $29.95. I bought it for $100. It is in great condition, although smells a bit of smoke when the book is opened in the middle. No matter. We aren't smokers and I'll air it out. It was quite the coup.

Point of All Returns

2006-12-26T18:54:45Z

Today is "Boxing Day" in Canada. I think we should have Return Day here in the US. I've already been to the store to return the Thomas the Train set and exchanged the size 9 slippers for my brother for a more expensive size 10. I'm now off to both Hilltop Yarn stores (the one in Seattle, the other in Bellevue) to do some various yarn returns.

Some pictures of my Christmas yarn (that I won't be returning): See previous blog entry for full details.


I have this new "habit" of buying things I really don't need or even want and then I pile them up to return them later on. The bag of "returns" is probably worth about $500 by now. Yarn, DVD's for Harrison, an expensive wallet for Mike, a dress for the Christmas party I didn't get to go to. The list goes on and on. I don't want stuff to go to waste, but it seems like such an effort to get my money back for it.    Pure laziness I know.

In other lazy news: I mapped out a 1.1 mile circut around my neighborhood.    I haven't actually walked/jogged it yet, but it's a start...

How Was Your Christmas?

2006-12-26T06:45:22Z

I'm not complaining, well maybe a little. My Christmas is not what I thought it would be. It was hurried and hectic and I couldn't wait for it to be done and over with. And that's a shame.   I'm thinking that 5 days of this had something to do with it:

Love to my peeps at Puget Sound Energy!

My biggest source of joy was watching Harrison. Who quite frankly, loves the idea of presents more than the presents themselves.   His most favorite gifts were really simple ones, like a "Lightening McQueen" digital watch and a play cell phone. He did end up getting quite a bit though. So much that I'm going to take back the Thomas the Tank Engine train. He already has 2 and he showed little interest in it. Mike had originally paid $100 for a 70 piece set, but ended up taking it back. In hindsight it was a smart move.

I got some very nice gifts. The highlights: 10 skeins of Koigu. You can never go wrong there. 6 in one color, 4 in another. I also got 3 skeins of some cool varigated bulky yarn. The name escapes me now.    I also got 2 skeins of some Lorna's Laces sock yarn.    I was also lucky enough to get 3 copies of the The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Three: Color Knitting: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary. Yep, three copies of the same volume. Expect some horse trading on that one.   Probably for Volumes One and Two. One the not so knitting front, Mike got me a circle diamond necklace, a John Mayer CD single, a ton of books, some make up from Perscriptives that I had specifically requested, the list goes on and on. (I won't bore you a checklist.)

I do hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are, surrounded by people who love you and bring you joy.

Merry, Merry Christmas.

Back to the Gym

2006-12-22T03:01:13Z

Since being exhiled from our house, we've been eating out massive amounts. Eating out = eating bad so I got up, dropped Harrison off at daycare and went to the gym today. It's been quite a while since I had gone, but it felt good. I haven't had the courage to get on the scale yet. Maybe tomorrow. Between now and the New Year, I plan on making it to the gym everyday and on Christmas Day I plan on at least going for a walk. Today at the grocery store I bought a pack of AA batteries specifically because it had a free blinking "safety light" that a child (or walker) could wear so folks can see you in the dark.

Here's to a new resolution, starting now.

We Are Up and Running

2006-12-20T19:12:40Z

Last night as I drove home to get more clothes the power came back on. I saw the Northshore Utility Department and as I passed by I wanted to shout, "Hey, Knuckleheads- when you move the switch UP, the power goes on!" I restrained myself fortunately, because by the time I was at the house, I could see we had power.

The contents of the fridge and freezer were tossed, but luckily the contents of the chest freezer were still frozen solid. Maybe because it never exceeded 40 degrees in our garage.

We are all very, very happy and feel fortunate to have power. The neighborhood behind us still is in the dark. Even though we are in the same "complex" (Ingelmoor Highlands) we must run on a different grid. Lucky us!

From the Puget Sound Energy website:

2006-12-19T20:00:53Z

Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell and Kenmore areas

Restoration of the heavily damaged distribution lines here likely will continue until Wednesday or Thursday, though final restoration in isolated pockets in the Juanita, Inglewood, and Avondale areas may not be complete until sometime this weekend. Crews are focused on repairing local distribution lines to restore everyone's' power as quickly as we can.

But Not For Me...

2006-12-17T19:53:52Z

The Seattle Times reports:

"The utility reported it had restored power to more than 70,000 customers in Bothell, Kenmore, Juanita, Kirkland, Bellevue, Issaquah Plateau and nearby areas on Saturday night."

Still no power for us. Mike went back to the house to get some more clothes. It's 45 degrees. Lovely.

3 of a 1,000,000

2006-12-17T05:27:39Z

For those of you who aren't in the Puget Sound region, it sucks here. Especially if you are on the Eastside (of Seattle.) A wind storm blew through Thursday night, and about midnight, we lost power. We are as of this minute still without power. I'm blogging from The Coast Bellevue Hotel. For $89.00 per night, I get 2 double beds, free internet access, heat, electricity, and a hot shower. I could take the cold, but I can't handle the non-showering. Just gross. Most hotels were booked but after calling 9 different housing establishments, I got a room. My hope is that by tomorrow my work will have it's power restored. Even if it's not back at the house, I can shower at work. These are desperate times.

Here's hoping the power comes on tomorrow.

More Shopping, More Knitting

2006-12-11T04:43:02Z

Another busy weekend- a birthday party for my best friend's now 2 year old daughter, Christmas wrapping and today, shopping. I managed to finish both Mike, my nephew, get my parents started and almost finished (I still need to get them a wine rack and get a few more stocking stuffers for Mike.) Once I get them the wine rack, I'm done. I even managed to pick up a few things for myself.   A dress for Mike's work holiday party, some slippers, and something I've been wanting a long, long time. A bigger memory card for my camera. I managed to get 1G for $25.99 at Best Buy. I'm extremely pleased.

Harrison is driving us a little buggy with the whole present thing. He's been watching us wrap presents and either put them under the tree or box them up for shipping. None of his gifts are out yet and he's starting to get a bit panicky about "where's my presents?" Poor kid. I remember being so resentful when I was a kid that my parents were buying gifts for other people besides me, so I understand.

I've also been knitting a bit too. A cell phone cozy you can wear around your neck. I've finished one (still need to sew on the velcro) and almost done with the second.   I'm using some leftover Encore worsted weight yarn in a heathered blue (pictured on the right) and some leftover yarn from Harrison's "Harry Potter" sweater. Inspired, I decided to knit a "J" to personalize the cell phone cozy. (The "J" isn't for me, but for the person who will be using the cell phone cozy.)

Starting Wednesday, things are going to start to get really busy so I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get in. But I'll do my best to keep the reading audience informed.