48 Things
As seen around Blogland:
1. FIRST NAME? Cari
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Baby Carrie (and for my full name, Ma) from Little House on the Prairie
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Yesterday. Career- (or lack thereof) related.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? When I'm not rushed and get to pay attention to it, I do.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? turkey or roast beef.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think so. I talk to myself all the time and I'm always cracking myself up. Plus, I know me pretty well, so I'd understand when I get moody.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I scribble things down occasionally when I think of something I don't want to forget, but I'm not a diarist. (I like that word.)
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup. Appendix too.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Probably.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? First of all, I hate cereal, like corn-flake, Cheerio-type cereal. I can't even stand people eating it in my presence. Secondly, if oatmeal or cream-of-wheat counts, then yeah, one of those.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Enough, yes. As I'd like to be, no.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Black raspberry, strawberry, or coffee.
14. SHOE SIZE? 9
15. RED OR PINK? Both, together
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm indecisive and sometimes shy. And I say I don't care about what people think, but I kind of do.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My granddad, who smoked a pipe, said "hubba hubba," and taught me to tie sailor knots with my shoelaces, all of which I've forgotten; and my parents and sisters, who I live far away from.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Well, if they do, their crush will call them in seven minutes.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue running shorts, black long-sleeved t-shirt, no shoes. (Trying to psych myself up for the gym.)
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Chocolate cake decorated to look like a cemetery, with shortbread-cookie headstones and little candy skeleton parts sticking up out of the Oreo-crumb ground. My friend Shamsi made it. I wish I'd gotten a picture.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The gurgling of the "water feature" of my yuppie apartment complex outside my open window.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Summer in the woods.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? An automated voice telling me that early voting starts today. Actual person? My mom.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Shoulders, confidence.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Yes indeedy!
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Yuengling.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Snowboarding! Wolf Creek opens next week! (That would make a good chant, if my favorite sport were cheerleading.)
29. EYE COLOR? Blue
30. HAT SIZE? Heh. When I graduated from college, I had to get my head measured for the cap, because I didn't know my hat size, and the lady said, "The caps run large, so most of the girls have been taking small or extra-small.... Ohhh-kay, now you would be a large or an extra-large." So yeah, I've got a big head.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No. I just got glasses though.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza. Good for all moods and just about any occasion.
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Both.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter
36. HUGS OR KISSES? That's tough to say, because I hug a lot more people than I kiss, but I like the people I kiss best. This'll take some thinking.
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Strawberry pie or plain cheesecake.
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ...
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ...?
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brien, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker, re-reading Back When We Were Grown-ups by Anne Tyler. ...It just struck me, I haven't bought new book in ages.
41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Rosie the Riveter.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I didn't watch TV last night.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? wind-in-trees, snowboard-on-snow, laughter. Can I get cheesier?
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles, but it's a tough call.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Depends what you mean by "home"... if ABQ, then New England; if PA, then Seattle or San Diego.
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I'm good at talking people into things.
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Baltimore
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Found it on Bev's blog.

random

1. I finished knitting my first Christmas present last night at 2 am. It's all over but the weaving and blocking.
2. A neighborhood strip club (heh) is having a "Nude Halloween Party" featuring a costume contest. [Edit: This is funny to me because there are only so many possible costumes for someone who is nude.
"What are you supposed to be?"
"A baby! What are you supposed to be?"
"Slim Goodbody! Um, with a tan!"]
3. I'm dying for a pumpkin spice latte right now.
4. I really wanted to stop by Village Wools today and pick up some yarn for my next Christmas project but forgot they're closed to move to the new location.
5. It's deliciously crisp outside. I'm busting out the puffy vest.
6. Wolf Creek opens (tentatively, weather-dependently) next Friday! My ecstasy cannot be expressed in words. I love winter!

first in the hearts of his countrymen!

Remember when you were little and saw shapes in clouds?
These clouds I saw on the mountains a few days ago remind me of a powdered wig. Extremely clever viral advertising for that new Marie Antoinette movie? Or a patriotic moment?
Also, this is what I saw when I took out the trash just now. Ahh, October.

I thought that closest balloon was going to land in the next parking lot, but with a burst of flame they went up a little and continued north to Balloon Fiesta Park.

p.s. I'm halfway finished with my first Christmas knitting project. If I knew how to do one of those "pictures after the jump" thingies, and if I thought I could trust Katie not to click on it, I'd show you, but believe me when I say that the color is beyond gorgeous and I like how it's looking so far. Onward!

it's fall!

(...and now I have "It's 5" by Architecture in Helsinki stuck my head. Warning, the link plays music.)

It was chilly enough to wear my new sweater (not handmade, from the Gap, and thanks for pilling already, by the way!) today. This fall I'll be cozy in my new newsboy. Slightly modified from the SNBN pattern, in Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran (and thus, because I still haven't learned my damn lesson and checked my damn gauage, a little too big, since the pattern calls for worsted, but maybe I'll just take the mesh out of the brim and call it a rasta cap), and believe it or not, this is the best picture I could take of it. I have a bit of a sore throat and think I may be coming down with something, which is why I didn't come to SNB tonight. I had a glass of OJ instead. Well, half OJ, half whiskey. Whatever works.

ETA: Oh yeah, it used to have a pom-pom. But not anymore. (See what I mean about "best picture"?)

saturday sky

At the Kiwanis Cabin.
Fake yoga at the crest. (I should've taken my backpack off.)
My girls Shamsi and Wendy checking out the view--the red speck on the lower peak is the top of the Sandia Tram.I'm going to go start my Christmas knitting now.

CPH would never do that.

So I'm trucking along on the Central Park Hoodie. I have the back, both front pieces, and one sleeve done so far, and I'm five inches into the second sleeve. If I can keep up this momentum I may be done by... nope, can't. Don't want to jinx it. Anyhoo, here's how it's looking so far. See if you can spot my totally obvious Grey's-watching, McSteamy-induced mistake, which I lazily decided not to frog back and fix. It'll be my badge of dorky fangirl honor.

hollaback!

I can't say how awesome this is. I may have to invent a new word for it. I'll get back to you on that.

It's pronounced like "cup o' tea"

Finally, finally, finally blocked this baby:


(Hopefully tomorrow at SNB I can get someone to take a better action shot. This is the best I can do with the bathroom mirror.)

Pattern: the world-renowned Clapotis
Yarn: Andean Silk, color slate
Mods: none.

squee!

I can't wait to knit with my prize skein from strangelittlemama! Look how pretty!

ETA: WTF, Blogger? The colors look normal and fantastic on my screen until I upload them! ARGHHH!!! Sorry, Carole, I meant to show off your yarn artistry...
Okay, here's Carole's pic:

what I did on my day off.

...and then I went to SnB. Good times! I can't believe I actually got to go two weeks in a row. I got my lovely prize from Carole, which I'm waiting for natural light to take a picture of, and I screwed up multiple times on my Central Park Hoodie but with a yarn needle from Ramona and some scrap yarn from Noelle, I made it work. I gave Noelle a ride home and got to come in and pet the kitty and the doggie, which is a treat since I'm petless, and check out her marvelously organized WIPs and projects-in-queue, which was pretty impressive. Girl's got the pattern and the yarn in a plastic bag, all packed together in a big plastic tote, like one of those "get organized!" articles in Real Simple that make you long to buy lots of big plastic totes and adorable little matchy-match stacking boxes, because then you'll really have your shit together. And I got some of her weeded-out stash to give to a friend who's a beginner knitter because the colors just screamed her name (like this: "SHAMSI!") (Now that she's read that I hope she ends up liking it.), and her gypsy-scarf pattern to go with it.
p.s. My Project Runway Season 2 Disc 2 came from Netflix today and I can't keep my eyes open long enough to watch an episode! At least that gives me something to look forward to after work tomorrow. All day I'll be saying, "How were your orders? Everything okay today?" but thinking "Where the hell is my chiffon?"

"friend mischief" TOTALLY goes with my last name

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

it's so nice to see you back where you belong

[/louis armstrong voice] I finally got to go to SNB this week! Yay! It was a smaller group, but it was nice to catch up with Beth and meet Jody, Molly, Bentley, Morgan and the others. I got out of work ridiculously early (6:30pm!!!!) so I got to hang out as long as I wanted, without thinking about my desk phone going unanswered and getting needled about my long lunch breaks. (Hey boss, if you don't want me to take long lunch breaks, don't say I'm allowed to take long lunch breaks.)

I have so little knitting progress to report. I tried to replicate Katie's eyelet newsboy and undershot the mark; curse my enormous head. So that'll be frogged back a little this week. I went to Village Wools with Shamsi the other day and accidentally bought some purple cashmerino that's becoming a pom-pom beanie. (I was never a purple person before, and now I'm working on two purple projects--the beanie and Tivoli. Remind me not to sit next to Jamie because apparently whatever she has is catching.)
I still have my Tivoli (apparently it's not a Picovoli unless it has the picot edging? Whatevs) and my Central Park Hoodie on the needles. They're both at parts where you need to keep checking the pattern and measuring/counting after every row. I hate those parts. I like the smooth-but-not-boring sailing of a huge section of easily-memorizable pattern. Oh, and I still have my circus-freak jaywalkers going. They're stalled because I've dropped another stitch that I don't feel like fixing. They're sitting on a shelf, not moving. One of the joys of living alone is that you can put something on a shelf, or even on the floor, and it won't move. For months, even. You say, "Sock: sit! Stay!" and it does, and the stitch drops no further.
Speaking of leaving things on the floor, I do have another kind of progress to report. Today I managed to clean two whole rooms in the Apartment of Ever-Increasing Squalor (kitchen and bathroom--smallest rooms, yes, but most important) and do two loads of laundry. I'm a freaking domestic goddess. Worship me, I'm slightly neater than I used to be.

umbrella: the new tiny dog

Noted fashion-monger Ian had his first day of school today:

That brightened my day, after plans changed at work once again preventing me from going to SNB. Dammit! I need to get another job, if only to have my evenings free again.

cari needs to sleep. sleep, cari, sleep!

So I saw this at Nichole's: google "[your name] needs" and see what you come up with. I love stuff like this because my name is such an unusual spelling.
She may not realize the danger Cari could be in, and probably thinks Cari needs privacy more than protection.
Hello life... Cari needs to get one...
Cari needs to furnish her empty dining room with seating for eight to ten people.
Just tell your boss "No! Screw You! Cari needs me and she says you're a butthead!" That'll teach 'em.
Cari needs some band - aids .
NO, Cari needs to find out her past and her destiny!
Cari needs two medallions and a head then she is set.

Fortunately, I already have a head, so that saves me some trouble. Now to track down some medallions, band-aids, my past, and my destiny. Tomorrow, because I'm tired.

what would tim gunn say?

I'd also really enjoy seeing Michael Kors' and Nina Garcia's reactions to the sock monkey dress.

update on the hipster-to-robot-dinosaur transition

So I have been working on the Skully sweater from SNB for over a year now. It was supposed to be my sister Katie's Christmas present. I wrapped it up, minus one sleeve, and promptly took it back so I could finish it. It's still not finished. I feel awful.
Instead of wallowing in guilt, or you know, actually finishing the damn thing, I made her some consolation prizes.

(I brightened the photo a little and raised the contrast, since I didn't use the flash and otherwise the hat kind of blended into the background.)
Here we see the eyelet newsboy, the hat that disappointed me, then grew on me, in its natural habitat: Katie's head; and the robot dinosaur messenger bag, of which I have NO pictures but this one (because I was trying to keep it secret, you know, for the surprise factor). Oops. Anyhoodle, it's a fairly simple, squarish messenger bag in a fabric printed with dinosaurs and (inexplicably dog-like) footprints, on which I put a gray felt robot. I also did a couple of interior pockets, including a cell phone pocket of which I'm pretty proud. She seemed to like the hat and the bag, so I hope I'm forgiven for the dick move of Christmas past.

Also? Katie's boyfriend has a peg leg.

ETA: It now has two sleeves, and needs a neckband. Well, a neckband that I can fit over my head. Although I have a pretty big head, so maybe it'll fit over Katie's head just fine. The thing is, the proportions are awful. The armscyes are too big for the sleeves and the shoulders look all puffed out, and not in a cute puffed-sleeve way, but a 1980s, linebacker way. I don't want to give her a sweater that looks like crap. It's not a gauge issue either, because I used to knit much tighter and have loosened up, and also I measured. I could frog the sleeves and redo them, casting on a few extra stitches to take up the slack, but the key word there is "could"--I hate redoing things. I think the lesson I have learned from Skully is not to promise people stuff until/unless you KNOW you can pull it off. That said, I WILL finish it and give it to Katie. Someday.

Edited once more! I hope the above didn't come off as snippy, I know you guys were joking, and it is really pretty pathetic to have been working on it for over a year. Maybe I should make September the Month of UFOs and focus on Skully.

everybody needs a holiday, a little time to celebrate

My parents' backyard. I love me some rainy trees.

I love surprises, okay? Getting and giving. Fair warning: if I know you (and like you) I may spring something totally awesome on you with zero notice. (Alternatively, I may spring something totally awful that was intended to be awesome. But hey, the love was there.) So this past weekend I went home to PA, hung out with the 'rents (check out my slang, it's tots def dated) Thursday night and Friday, then Saturday we went to the Jersey Shore. Here's where it gets shocking, so hold on to your hats. My sisters, their menfolk, my nephew, and my step-niece-to-be (whom I hadn't met yet) went to the shore that day too, expecting to meet only my parents. There was some really flattering shrieking and running when they realized the strange lady walking next to my mom was me.

It was a gray and chilly day but that meant lots of huddling in sweatshirts, sitting on the blankets, cuddling shivery munchkins, etc. It also meant that the beach was less crowded than it would've been otherwise, which is good, since for the little ones' sake we had to go to a beach with lifeguards. (My dad used to be a lifeguard, and my sisters and I are all strong swimmers, so we usually go guardless and just keep an eye on each other.) The downside of the grayness and chilliness (besides the actual, you know, grayness and chilliness while you're at the beach) was that the water was pretty choppy and the overzealous lifeguards wouldn't let us go out very far. Knee-deep was the limit, in fact. Which is pretty damn ridiculous. It's not a wading pool. My dad was so furious when he was whistled in from the breakers that he went over to the lifeguard stand and argued with them. It didn't make a difference, of course. Damn the lawyers!
In closing, I present my new niece. Check out those curly pigtails:

I come not to build sandcastles but to destroy them.

p.s. that's right, no knitting content whatsoever.

grow, baby, grow!

In the works: Knitscene Central Park Hoodie in good old Lion Brand Woolease (and by "good" I mean "cheap, but quite soft"); Grumperina's Picovoli in knitpicks Shine; and the second circus freak jaywalker... still...to be worked on during another taped episode of Project Runway this evening.
I'm also working on a little something special for a special someone--I knit an octopus. It's almost finished, just needs a face, stuffing, and maybe some pretty beads on the ends of its tentacles, but that's the boring part, the hideous, dull, finishing details. Once it's past the exciting, winging-it-with-no-pattern, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, "hey, I'm making something" part I get bored. This may be why I never finish anything (grad school, I'm looking at you!). I will force myself to finish it soon though, because this special person deserves a knit octopus. And speaking of works in progress, here's another:

Several months ago, my friend Wendy and I went out for a walk in a nice, houses-not-apartments neighborhood near our building and passed a man messing around in his garden, who surprised us by looking up and saying, "hey ladies, want some iris bulbs?" He was thinning his irises and had a pile of bulbs that he was just going to throw out, so we took four or five each. This is the only one of mine that's made it this far.

saturday sky (sort of)

While watching "What Not to Wear" (you may not believe it, but I do sometimes do things other than watch fashion-related TV shows) my friend commented, "you really are a green-whore, aren't you?" when I shrieked over a pair of shoes--hey, they were moss-green suede! (Also, they had round toes. I'm a sucker for round toes.) So here's my Saturday sky, as modeled by a mountain-ash, a Douglas fir, and some aspens in the courtyard of my building. (See, I am a green-whore--I know my trees. Er, I mean, in a tree-hugger sense, not the Biblical sense.)

i made it work

At my Project Runway marathon tonight, I confirmed that I have lost my knitting mojo. I made myself work on my circus freak jaywalker (yes, seriously second sock syndrome). And I did something--two things, actually--that I never used to do, but lately have been doing like mad. I dropped a stitch, and I didn't notice until the next row. I didn't have a teeny tiny crochet hook (suitable for sock yarn) and even though my lovely hostess probably did, I didn't ask, because I decided I'd rather sit in total stillness and watch, and criticize. What is wrong with me?

I did do something creative today, though. I made a cake. My lovely hostess, the heroic cat-rescuer Shamsi, usually invites my friend Wendy and I over for PR, since we don't have cable. She's been on vacation for the last couple weeks, so she set up her VCR to record it and we had three episodes to watch, back-to-back. In honor of the magnificent Tim Gunn, I attempt some cake decor:


The rainbow sprinkles (or "wickety-wack") are in honor of Santino... and apparently also of Angela. It was red velvet cake (maybe next time I'll make lemon chiffon), and it came out pretty well. Shamsi also had the perfect plates for it:


Sorry for the blurriness, my hands were shaking in anticipation.