Strung Out

mmm... I went over to Claudia's website and I was struck with a deep longing for a Rogue Cardigan of my own. But before I can buy more yarn, I need a recap of ongoing projects.

1. the socks need to have the ends sew in. So close to finished!
2. an unearthed cardigan from 3 years ago needs sleeves, a hood and a zipper
3. thrummed mittens will begin shortly!
4. Mom's Big Mexiko jacket- needs to be blocked and requires a zipper- but that's not going to happen until Spring Break - since it's in Chicago.

I figure once the sleeves from #2 are done, I can get yarn for the Rogue Cardi, then again, I do have the yarn for Candy from Knitty's winter edition. hmmm. delimma.

This is what happens when I need my needles for a new project... late night knitting resulting in a FO! (it was only 3 inches to the end anyway) I just have to do some
kitchener stitch tonight. ick.

Grr.... I'm doing research and reading, serves me right, since yesterday I spent a good portion of my day just relaxing, knitting and now I have to pay for that. heh. Bad new about the mittens- I need the needles that are currently being used on the socks to do the ribbing... and I really don't want another set of size 3 double pointed- so this means the sock is going to get finished before I start the mittens :( in good news, I think I'm going to modify the mitten pattern (surpised?) and make a flip top so I can use my fingers sometimes- I have a picture in my head, and eventually you all get to see it. ;)

Thanks for the great comments everyone- Welcome Josie and Susan!
no, I didn't make up the baby pattern (I'm not so great at making up complicated crochet patterns) the book/pamphlet it's from is a Leisure Arts book- Pastel Pineapples for Baby- pattern #3. Obviously, I'm not so fond of pastels.

Anyway- back to work

And this is the new project- waiting to be morphed into beautiful thrummed mittens!

This is baby blanket #1... I think I like the combo of baby color and bright colors better. But that's just me :)

Baby Blanket #2 done!

So California prosecutors decided to charge the man who caused the train crash with 10 counts of murder with "special circumstances." Under California law special circumstances allegations could make him eligible for the death penalty. (AP press)

Not that I have too much sympathy for this guy about getting charged with a crime, although I think that perhaps the prosecutors may be caving into public pressure. Why do I think this? Murder requires malice... Look Ma, I learned something in Criminal Law!...
California Penal Code defines malice as;
"express malice is the deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature. It is implied, when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart. When it is shown that the killing resulted from the intentional doing of an act with express or implied malice as defined above, no other mental state need be shown to establish the mental state of malice aforethought. "

This guy wanted to kill himself, not random people on a train. Perhaps he should be charged with 10 counts of manslaughter(homicide without malice). Under murder, the prosecutor is probably going to have to argue that leaving the car on the tracks shows an "abandoned and malignant heart" (I love that phrase- it should replace "evil" in many cases)
One issue with this is that apparently the actual occurrence that killed the victims was the fact that after derailing, the train hit another commuter train. Trains hit cars all the time and no one dies, except the people in the cars.- sorry if that sounds flippant, it's not meant to be. It's just that the defendant may not have foreseen such a tragedy because it's not what normally happens. On the other hand, maybe he should be held accountable for the unforeseeable results of his actions, since he did cause a derailment, which caused a train wreck, which killed 11 people.

I guess my point is that the prosecutors are probably going to get this guy convicted of 10 counts of murder, because everyone in the country has heard about the crash; the defendant can forget getting a jury who hasn't been exposed to the media pictures and speculation. Once he's convicted, maybe the death penalty will be pursued. It's possible to do this while staying within the bounds of the law, but is it right? Me thinks no.

*future law students, consider this situation as a hypothetical for criminal law exams. As bizarre or sad it seems, you may see it on an exam in the future. It would make a great hypo.

**BTW- I got a job in Chicago! Whoohooo! No more job hunting for Kristine!

*** I'm finishing the edging on the baby pink and hot pink baby blanket... and then it'll make it's online debut- sorry knitters, but this project is crochet

Best comeback ever!
"You don't tease me about my hobbies and I won't tease you about being an asshole"

Heh. I could think of at least once I could have used that... when I was called a "grandma" last weekend for knitting on a Friday night. (there was some drinking as well)

By the way- This Friday I'll be at Legends for a salsa band and latin music DJ... Band starts at 10pm... join us if you can, it's going to be a blast.

ok- I'm not very familiar with feedline issues and it's a bit confusing... but here's the options available to all of you

the RSS 2.0 feed-http://feeds.feedburner.com/StrungOut

the atom feed is-http://strung-out.blogspot.com/atom.xml

it's up at bloglines athttp://www.bloglines.com/blog/Kristine

I hope this works- let me know if there are problems, and please let me in on any advice if you've got some.

:) On another note- I hate Constitutional law because the writers of my textbook are jerks and used the most outdated and obtuse language available. Sullivan and Gunther- you suck!

Lisa sent me email gift certificate from Adagio teas. I looooove tea, and I loooove flavored tea even more, and they have a great selection. Needless to say, I am thrilled and grateful- thank you Lisa! (She's looking for a particular shade of handpaintedyarn.com-so if you have some stash, head over there and see if it matches)

Another tv show with knitting!!! Today on King of the Hill, Bobby(the son) knit a cozy for Hank's(dad's) circular saw. I was so proud... Hank renamed the cozy- he called it a buddy. A quick thank you to the writers of King of the Hill- you guys rock! MEN DO KNIT (nudging the bf)

Hooray! My laptop has returned and I can post pictures again! Presenting the colors for the modified Candy cardigan! I may change the black to red, but then again, maybe not... cast your vote and help me decide!

Presenting... the stash I collected from Aji Ichiban (the Chinatown candy/yarn store) the color in this picture is a bit off the... red is actually more burgundy

And last, but definitely not least... Welcome to the meetup.com group! This was last weeks meeting... don't we look like a happy group?

Amy Wynn Pastor knits! For those of you who don't watch Trading Spaces, last night there was an episode set in Scotland, where an Englishman and a Scotsman traded rooms in their castles. My favorite part was during the reveal (I think of the Englishman's castle) was a clip of Amy and Frank watching a little tv, so they could see the couple's first responses.... and Amy was hanging onto some knitting! I was really excited, since it's more proof that strong women knit. (she's a carpenter on the show)

Alright, back to the grind, wish me luck for Monday and Tuesday's interviews!

Last night was the meetup knitting group at Lula's - sorry about the lack of advance warning for those who are in the area.

Ok- the group was 9 strong, and several Guild members were also in attendance. We've outgrown Lula's (plus they have really bad lighting) so it was decided for next month to move the group to a coffeeshop in Mishawaka, that has a very cute name, but I've totally forgotten it- no matter, since Elizabeth (group leader) probably will send out a group email- thank God she's way more organized than I am!

I had the chance to show off the big Mexiko jacket.... there were ooo's and ahhh's (ok, I was the only one oooing and ahhing) but it was lovely to show the jacket to knitters who know just how much work it really represents. Everyone was working on such beautiful projects... I know some of them may wander over to this site to check it out, please feel free to leave a comment with details of your projects... I know I didn't get around to everyone last night- but I really want to hear about them!

There is also a picture of everyone from last night (just one big group picture) that I can't post for a day or two, until I get my laptop back... and then pictures galore!

Just so everyone knows what an obsessive knitter I am... over break I collected the fleece for the thrummed mittens, and new stash from the Japanese candy store in Chinatown(picture to follow), and made mini-sweater ordanments for Xmas presents, made myself a hat to match the scarf and almost finished the pineapple pink baby blanket, and worked on the 2nd rainbow sock(past the heel!) and finished my mom's jacket(sans zipper). Whew! So that's my excuse on why I haven't written the pattern for the scarf yet! It's coming eventually- Spring break is coming up in a few months ;)

PS- for the inquisitive knitter at last night's group... the yarn for Big Mexiko came in the mail over Thanksgiving. I think I told you the jacket took me about a month, it was definetly closer to 2 months... oops!

Alrighty then... I've think I've figured out the confusion about not being able to post comments anonymously-
Basically, after clicking on the # comments link on the main page, you are redirected to a page containing only the post. Once there, you can click on a link that says "Post a comment"
This link sends you to a sign-in page, which leads to hand wringing ;)

If you then look below the username and password area, there is a link in tiny letters thatsays "Or post anonymously"... obviously Blogger wants everyone to think they need to register for a blog in order to leave comments, but really, you're allowed to leave anonymous comments.

I hope this helps (and increases discussion on this site- hint, hint!)

Did you love the fashion at the Golden Globes? (I didn't watch)
Are you desperate to own anything Ewan McGregor touched? (I admit nothing!)
Or perhaps a whiff of William Shatner's shoes will make you faint (I'm not judging you- just laughing hysterically)

Stars are donating their designer duds for the tsunami relief... the list of items for sale include Terri Hatcher's dress (of Desperate Housewives and raunchy NFL commerical fame) going for a whopping $5,000... to poor Charlize Theorn, whose dress has 0 bids.
I'd feel better about this if I didn't know that the celebrities get these dresses for free.

BIG MEXIKO JACKET IS DONE! yayyy!
of course, I still need to sew in lots of ends... and there is a zipper that needs to be attached- but there isn't one more stitch needed- hooray! And once I get my computer back this week, you'll get to see it in all it's glory... isn't that a happy thought!

ugh- I've been writing cover letters and statements of interest- I just feel so phony! In some ways it's more difficult than the regular studying that's going on. grrr... back to the grind- there's less time for knitting, but I managed about 2 1/2 inches on the jacket last night. I'm going to miss this Sunday's knitting guild meeting, but Wednesday's Lula's meeting may see it finished! Yay!

Also- knitting at school is set for Tuesdays at 12:30-1:30p; email me for details if you want them!

who said free speech is a right? That's definetly not true if you are at a private school. Take Madame Zorah... a law student at an unidentified Jesuit law school, who wants to sell tickets to a production of the Vagina Monologues... with massive restrictions that result in her not being able to sell tickets at all.
In response, she is asking for donations so she can hand tickets out for free.
Check her website out for details, and sponser a law student!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/zorah/

So I have decided to participate in Wombs on Washington... knitting as a political statement. I knew this day would come!
Apparently there is going to be a PO box set up, and details are being hammered out... so this is all I know so far.
The deadline for the wombs to be sent in is March 1st, with a mid-March action plan to bring them to the steps of the Supreme Court.

livejournal.com group is named knit4choice

I found this originally at
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=21517.0

So I just wrote out a huge post, and it disappeared.
So here's the short version....
Break was wonderful, ski/snowboarding in Breckenridge- with friends, it was fun
It was my first time on the half-pipe, jumps, rails and rollers, and I learned ollies, 180's and other stuff I can't remember the words to.

I did some fun reading- but I'm brain dead at the moment and can't remember what I read...
And I am near completion on the Big Mexiko jacket, the girl version of the baby blanket and I worked on the 2nd sock, defeating 2nd sock syndrome! (well, almost)

Law school has started again, and job searching is also in full swing. I have a phone call on Friday and an interview on Monday- wish me luck!

I am a measly four inches from finishing the Big Mexiko jacket... and tommorow I leave for Breckenridge and some great snowboarding and skiing, but instead of finishing this project, I have to send out resumes for jobs! Woe is me!
Ok- it's not that bad, but I was hoping to have had it finished before I left. I guess I have a "tupper" (hat tip to the Yarn Harlot for coining the phrase- I'm not sure if I used it correctly though, seeing as there wasn't a set date the gift should have been handed over to mom) anyway, I digress. I am still determined to go to Chinatown and complete my mission to visit the candystore/knitting store. I'll report later tonight, perhaps with a photograph or two. (if they don't bust me)

I hope everyone had a fantastic, and safe New Year's Eve... I spent the night with some close friends, and then went to North Beach (the club) and had a blast... News flash for me- I bowl really really really well when I'm "mildly" intoxicated. I kept getting strikes and spares- I had so much fun.

ok- but now for the resolutions...
- I will review my needle collection and start carrying around a sheet detailing what I have (I know I have at least 2 size 8 circulars of the same damn length!)
- I will review my stash at least once every six months and designate projects or potential projects to each yarn, or it shall be purged
- I will not buy more stash merely because I'm in a LYS and feel the need to contribute to the proprietor's income (a worthy cause- but it causes me much damage)
- I will stop collecting baby and toddler patterns for my adorable niece and nephew, because by the time I actually get the project done, they'll be too big for the projects I'm picking out.
- I will make my adorable niece and nephew one thing each this year
- I will make myself anything I desire- I am a selfish knitter!