Good Morning Sweater by Pickles

Wow. I haven't updated this blog in over a year. Well here's to New Year's Resolutions... As a personal challenge over the holidays, I started knitting my first sweater. I'm extremely excited to share my finished product! (& thanks to my dearest Ashley Chang for being my photog)

I followed this pattern (adjusted the sizing) on Pickles, one of my favorite knitting sites. I wore this outfit to work on Friday (with black tights of course) and heels... combined with a standing desk and my legs are still hurting today. So, what's next? I think Howard wants me to tackle a sweater for him. :)

Paper/Book Wreath

I fell victim to the influence of Pinterest's DIY & Crafts section. A Pulitzer prize winning book may have been sacrificed in the making of this wreath.

Jewelry Frame

This was worth the 9pm Saturday trip to Home Depot by myself.

Bow Headband

Project 2: Bow Headband

Waffle Hat

Project 1: Waffle Hat

When people see me knitting, I think it's almost like an open invitation for them to talk to me. Of course, I still get the "what is f is she doing" stares & "wow that's cool" looks, but most of the time after a few seconds they go back to what they were doing before they got distracted. But if I was about 40 years older and doing the same thing, I doubt I would get as much reaction or attention as I do today.

For example, I brought my knitting with me on my trip to LA during this 4th of July. I looked up the TSA security regulations and knitting needles are allowed in your carry on. Anyways, I begin my knitting in what I thought was a pretty secluded corner. A woman from Portland, OR sees me and beelines over to compliment me on the beautiful waffle hat (even though at this point it looks like an over sized headband). She lets me know she's also an avid knitter and unfortunately left her knitting project in her check in luggage. We talked for a while, found out it was her first trip to California even after living 10+ years in Portland. She went to San Francisco, Saulsalito, and even down south to Monterey. Told me about the local yarn store near her and how people can drop off their leftover yarn, which was turned into knitted goodies for the troops.

Then on the plane, the guy sitting next to me (Juan Felipe) simply asked me: "What are you making?" This turned into a lengthy conversation where the following was uncovered -
We both live in Mountain View, CA. He goes to Stanford business school (he asked me if I went to Stanford - I laughed that question off). His girlfriend is about to go to UT business school for her MBA. He worked in (my hometown) Plano, TX for 2 months. His nephew in 1st grade knows how to knit hats and scarves. He is yet to convince his nephew to knit something for him.

Long story short, knitting can tied people together. No pun intended.

Thanks to my boyfriend HL for the photo!