Day 10: What's wrong with me??

I don't know what the problem is but today after I logged into my bank account and checked my account balances, I actually teared up. Watching my savings account slowly grow actually made me cry! But that's not all, I cry for pretty much any reason lately. Like.....we're out of milk. Ben on Season three of Scrubs died. I love this yarn. I hate this yarn! "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming?" How beautiful! OMG, I'm in my mid thirties. What do I have to show for myself? Will I look back at my life and think I've wasted all this time here in California? Will I regret it? If so, maybe I should do something now? I hate my body! I'm fat! I am having a hard time not being fat, it's all I know!

That being said, the map above shows the latest about the wildfires. The peach areas show where the fires burned in 2003 and the red is this year. Amazingly, the fire's still burn!

Losing the battle

I bought some yarn with a specific person in mind. My goal was to find something springy, not too dark nor a pastel. Though I usually stay as far away from the Socks that Rock Multicolor Wave as possible, the Watermelon Tourmaline seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. The plan of attack was to knit up the Rock and Weave socks.

When I got the pattern, I realized I was an idiot and didn't read the part on the website where it said "mediumweight." ARGH! I bought lightweight. So I made a new plan and switched to a different pattern. *sigh* I started the cuff and realized there might be a slight problem with pooling. Of course, I live most my life in denial so I kept knitting. Well. I wouldn't mind if the colors mixed thoroughly, but this stripey pooling thing that's going on? I don't think so! I even found an awesome pattern, Wollmeise Socks, but it didn't stop the pooling. The solution? I set it aside, wound up some awesome Stonewash STR and cast on Daisy Socks.


After some head scratching and blaming myself for my inability to recreate the pattern as written, I realized there were a couple different errors in it after all. Yay, not me! I fixed them and emailed the author - she confirmed there were indeed errors. I usually tell myself to trust the pattern and to just knit it. Unfortunately, this time it caused me to doubt myself and to even ask Faythe for her opinion. I don't know why I did it, I try not to. When it comes to leaving yourself open to sneering and finger stabbing, one should never ask a Malcontent for their opinion! And yes, I can feel her pointy finger stabs across the Internets. Damn you Faythe for leaving me with that childhood memory!! Anyway, this colorway reminded me why I love the Shaded Solids so much. When stretched a little, as if worn, the flowers really pop out. Loving it!

Nerd tests

Some yarn to brighten my day

I don't usually like to post pictures of yarn unless it's in a partially knitted state but I was excited about these guys I received yesterday, especially since they helped to brighten up an otherwise gloomy day. I picked out the multi-color hank specifically for a pattern that I bought at the same time. It's not normally something I would pick out but it has a specific recipient that I think will enjoy it. Well so much for saying I pay close attention to detail, the site clearly states you need mediumweight yarn and both of these are lightweight. Great! Anther excuse to buy more, I guess. :) Good thing that multi-color is growing on me!

BTW, that cat paw print was created accidentally when Simba was stamping a birthday card to Aimee. Now there are permanent prints all over this little table and a few on the dining room floor too.

Day 4: Say what?

I've just learned that more people were evacuated in SD county due to the wildfires than in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina!

While I worked from home today, those in the office experienced intermittent internet problems. Later, a very important portion of a site went down causing our very understaffed department (I don't know why there were only two of us scheduled) to go through anxiety attacks while people across the world hurled insults at us.

Meanwhile, in an effort to establish some normalcy, I ripped out and started a new pattern using some Lorna's Laces Denim. I stole a pattern from someone else's sock so I could add some flowers to this simple sock. And if you know me, you know it's quite possible I'll be ripping these out again. I'm not easily satisifed when it comes to The Knit.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Something Red That Isn't Fire. Wee!

Day 3: Update

Since I can't stop watching the news and refreshing popular informative websites, I'm able to bring you an update on the latest developments.

Though there are many, many fire's, there's two that are causing the most destruction. The Witch Creek Fire to the north is 1% contained with no end in near and is heading straight towards the beach. The Harris Fire is down south and from what I've heard has actually entered city limits, is 5% contained and has an estimated containment date of November 4th. Yes, that's right. Today is Oct 23 but it may be another 12 days until this fire is under control or out.

In case you're wondering what all those symbols mean, here's the break down:

flames: fires that are still burning or the beginning point of larger fires.
red crosses: evacuation centers
red houses: where the majority of homes have burned
red areas: location of where fire's have burned or are still burning
yellow areas: voluntary or mandatory evacuation

Some communities are evacuated based on poor air quality or by downed fire lines. The local electric company is asking people to limit electric usage. Apparently San Diego county is linked to the rest of the Western grid by two transmission corridors. One is in the heart of the Harris fire and is out of service and the other has also sustained fire damage.

The city of Ramona is losing water pressure and it's been estimated that they'll run out before they get more. Residents are being told they need to boil all water now before consumption.

While over 500,000 people have been evacuated, there's been a strong sense of generosity and unselfishness within the community. People not affected by the fires have been donating so much to different evacuation sites that some were turned away! Of course,they were sent to other sites but can you even imagine such a thing?? I'm grateful I live in such a considerate community.

Day 2: San Diego county fires

I'm a little overwhelmed here even though the only way I'm affected by the fires is knowing my office has been evacuated. I have watched hours of news coverage and checked SignonSanDiego.com and another SD County blog obsessively while communities around me lost their homes, pets, livestock and potentially family members. I feel nauseated.

Last night just after midnight, I lay in bed having a hard time falling to sleep. Partially because I knew there were some fire's burning out of control. But mostly because I could hear a ton of traffic on the 805 a few blocks from my place. At first I wondered why that was out of the ordinary but then it hit me - there normally isn't any traffic to speak of at that time of night! I could hear all the people who were evacuating and emergency personnel as they raced to the fires. So sad.

In this map, the red blobs represent the estimated fire area's and the pink area's are estimated evacuated fire areas. The fires are 0% contained.

I'm sure we won't have any fire danger here where I live, but we still have an evacuation plan. It basically involves the cats, cat food, important papers, water and the car.

Fires...again! Or "Day 1"

San Diego County is fighting a couple large fire's which have the potential of causing more damage than the 2003 Cedar Fire. Though the fire's just sparked this morning, it's bad enough that we here a few miles from downtown San Diego are already experiencing enough smoke that it's giving the appearances of fog.

Of course, even though the fire's in east county could cause more damage than the largest fire in California history, if you check the news you'll probably see pictures or video footage of the fire in Malibu. I mean, after all, someone has died in the fire in the east county where 11 times as many acre's have been burned than in Malibu and firefighters are being treated in hospitals for fire related injuries, but rich people are losing their homes!! We've got to keep our priorities straight, right?

Almost Argyle

This pattern has turned out to be a big disappointment. It looks pretty good here but in reality, is small and I feel like I'm squeezing my foot into it. Maybe it'd be better with Socks that Rock yarn that has a slightly larger gauge. OMG!! It's like the Prius of socks! Seemed like a good idea but after you take it for a test drive you regret it. Sometimes I don't want to know how horrible something is. I'd rather live in my fantasies. And yes, I'm still bitter about the Prius.

Earl Grey

The yarn isn't quite this yellow, but it's close. You can't see the pattern but at least you can see how it goes down the side of the leg and the foot. These next images show the cable, which after I got past one of the abbreviations, wasn't that hard at all. The last is of the cable that continues down the side of the foot.

After I loaded these pictures, I realized there's a major mistake in the pattern on one of the socks. Oh well! Ha!

Yarn: Blue Moon Socks that Rock lightweight in Jade
Pattern: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Jade socks, done!

I stayed home today and drank Pepto Bismol. Well, not even the real brand but a store brand. Anyway, thanks to the pink stuff I'm feeling a lot better. While resting up and watching Season Two of Scrubs, it was with a great sigh of relief that I finally sewed in the last end of the jade Earl Grey sock. Don't get me wrong, I love the pattern but I couldn't wait to finish them. Plus there's the matter of my having recently received my latest shipment of LL's yarn. I'm already looking for a good pattern for my next socks.

There was one thought that occurred to me during my lazy day. Remember when we were kids and we would think about "When we were grown up?" Is this it? I feel like I'm still waiting for that portion of my life to start. I guess I should be proactive and do something about it. Or not.

Second sock: the end is near!

I'm so obsessed with finishing my current pair of socks, well that and the food poisoning symptoms that keep me busy, that I've forgotten to blog! Though there have been a couple issues along the way, I'm confident and working on the gusset of the second sock. You can't see the design here but when I'm done, I'll display them so the design is hard to miss.


I like this Socks that Rock yarn but don't like how their shaded solids hide patterns. It's really too bad because otherwise it's one of my favorite fingering weight yarns. Even more annoying is that I bring it up every single time I knit a sock out of it.

Speaking of annoying, did I mention the poo on the floor in the women's bathroom this morning? It was bad enough that I used the bathroom on a different floor to get away from it. Seriously, I have never seen that in a women's bathroom. I've heard of it in men's bathrooms but have yet to witness it myself, let alone in a professional office situation. I used to know this guy that hated Wal-Mart so much he would deliberately use their bathrooms, then hang his butt over the edge and poo on the floor. Nice, huh?

Meanwhile I'm trying to decide if I should go to work tomorrow or stick it out here at home. There's something to be said about home comforts when you're not feeling well. Plus, there's definitely no poo on the floor here!

Jade Earl Grey

I started on a new pair of socks yesterday. Even though the cable is hidden by the beautiful color texture, I'm going to follow through and finish them. You don't know how much it's killing me.


I'm using Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Earl Grey pattern. It took me a minute to figure out one of her abbreviations but now it's no problem.

Basic 2 x 2 socks

They're a bit snug for me, good thing they're going to someone with smaller feet. I used Lorna's Laces in Devon.