Monkey Catch-Up

Oops, I didn’t mean to go quite so long without posting! There’s a lot to catch up on, starting with the backlog of monkeys to introduce….

Here’s Thelma, who likes ice cream, surfers, and music videos. She lives up in Washington with the cool band Stuporhero.

Here’s Roscoe, who likes blocks, bulldozers, and peas. He flew all by himself to Pennsylvania to live with two-year-old Evan.

Here’s Edmund, who likes olive oil, philosophy, and pom poms. He lives in New York City with Sara.

Here’s Wilfred, who likes cars, tomatoes, and flying kites. He lives not too far away with five-year-old Alex.

Here’s Bessie, who likes mah jong, cooking, and garlic. She lives with my grandma up in the Bay Area, and occasionally plays mah jong with Florence.

Here’s Wendell, who likes signs, harmonica, and asparagus. He lives in St. Louis with Mayor Bill of Shantytowne.

Here’s Polly, who likes guitars, grapes, and motorcycles. She lives in Northampton with an amazing almost three-year-old.

February 26, 2009 - 9:13pm | finished!, pictured | 13 Comments

Big Catch-Up

Few words, but lots of pictures!

In October, I knit my dad a pair of socks (Trekking with a simple ribbing) for his birthday:

In November I worked feverishly on my Sidewinder Skirt (which is almost done, just needing finishing work), and I quickly knit myself a Good Luck Cowl with a lovely skein of Koigu:

I also knit my grandpa a pair of modified Peekaboo Mittens. I finished the first one in time for him to try on for size on Thanksgiving (perfect fit!), then finished the second one less than two days later. He loved them. I already posted the picture, but I can’t resist including it again.

Over the past two months, I’ve gifted a bunch of monkeys!

Here’s Beatrice, who likes sushi, sailing, and lip gloss. She currently lives in Camarillo with Kate.

Here’s Roberta, who likes tacos, pop-up books, and blowing bubbles. She flew to Portland all by herself to live with Gina.

Here’s Orville, who likes chocolate, paintings, and playing tennis. He lives here in Los Angeles with Jerry, but has been doing quite a bit of traveling the past two weeks.

Here’s Constance, who likes swimming, snickerdoodles, and pastels. She’s also been traveling a lot this holiday season, but will soon be settled back in Santa Monica with Vanessa.

Here’s Floyd, who likes sandwiches, word games, and bicycles. He will be living in Mountain View with David and Maria, where I’m sure he’ll be relieved that it isn’t as cold as the places he’s been visiting.

Here’s Florence, who likes Hello Kitty, Tabasco sauce, and mah jong. She now lives with my mom, who proudly carries her around in her purse.

Here’s Rupert, who likes circuit boards, peanuts, and ping pong. He lives with my dad, and is currently riding around in style inside a car cup holder.

Here’s Willard, who likes hockey, lobster, and blackjack. He lives with my brother, where I’m sure he’s watching a lot of hockey games on TV.

Aside from the five monkeys I can’t yet reveal, that should cover all the FOs in my backlog! Whew!

January 2, 2009 - 11:20am | finished!, pictured | 16 Comments

Just a Little New Year Post

2008 was a very hard year for reasons I blogged about here, and also for reasons I did not. I was definitely not sad to see it end.

2009 holds a lot of hope and promise, and it’s already gotten off to a good start. I still have 3 full days before I go back to work, so I’m planning to catch up here and then forge ahead with new projects and plans.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2009 - 9:10pm | non-knitting | 3 Comments

公公

December 30, 2008 - 8:00pm | non-knitting | 8 Comments

Warm Thoughts Needed

Yesterday evening, I was starting to prepare my big catch-up blog post, making a list of the FOs I haven’t shared yet (and can). But then I found out that my grandpa was in the hospital again. I was supposed to drive up to the Bay Area tomorrow (for us all to drive up to Reno on Wednesday), but my evening plans were changed so I could start packing and make the drive today instead.

I spent a few hours at the hospital this afternoon/evening, and I anticipate some very difficult days ahead. Warm thoughts of peace and comfort sent his way would be appreciated right now.

And if a picture helps, here he is with my grandma wearing the peekaboo mittens I knit for him this Thanksgiving.

December 21, 2008 - 10:04pm | non-knitting | 5 Comments

BISY BACKSON

I’ve been busy…

• Knitting scarves, socks, a cowl, a skirt(!), and of course plenty of monkeys. (I feel guilty about the current monkey in progress though — he’s been waiting a week and a half for his arms and ears to be attached!)
• Working and feeling stressed out.
• Trying my best to help the economy by buying handmade gifts (for myself and others) at Felt Club today, along with plenty of non-handmade items over the past few weeks.
• Occasionally watching adorable puppies.

I’m terribly behind on photo taking and increasingly lazy about photo uploading, but I hope to have a big catch-up post before Thanksgiving before I get too far behind!

November 16, 2008 - 7:11pm | knitcetera | 4 Comments

Happy Halloween!

Seymour was amazed by all the jack-o-lanterns we saw in Boston earlier this month. The wall was only the beginning — there were many more groups all around the plaza.

I have a slight blog backlog of stash and WIPs and FOs, but for now I’ll leave you with a link to the Stuporhero Halloween Special. It’s creative and funny, and it features some great songs. Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2008 - 9:16am | pictured, seymour | 2 Comments

Rhinebeck Recap

After reading so many of these over the years, I can’t believe I’m writing one! After an exhausting Saturday in Boston, my friend Brie and I hopped into my red rental Ford Focus early Sunday morning and headed to Rhinebeck, NY. Despite our late start, we arrived only half an hour after our target arrival time of 10 am (when the festival opened).

My top priority was The Fold to check out their Socks that Rock. Seymour and I were both pleasantly surprised to find sock monkey kits, along with a couple sample monkeys:

Despite the order I had just placed with Blue Moon the week before, I picked up two kits of the original batch of colorways (which are no longer available), along with two rare gem skeins.

Just a few booths away was the only other booth on my must visit list, Brooks Farm Yarns. I fell in love with a few colorways of their Solo Silk, but decided to think about it before making a purchase. We enjoyed the fall colors:

We visited some animals:

We watched the fleeting beauty of the pumpkin catapulting contest:

And Seymour found another monkey:

We spent more time than expected watching the fiddle contest, and after a quick stop back to Brooks Farm for three skeins of Solo Silk (for scarves for my grandpa, my mom, and me) we had to rush back to Northampton for a concert.

I was only able to see a small fraction of what Rhinebeck had to offer, but that’s ok. I had a fabulous time, I bought some lovely new yarn, and there’s always next year.

October 23, 2008 - 9:25pm | knitcetera, pictured, seymour | 4 Comments

Guess Where We’re Going?

Yep, Seymour and I are headed to Rhinebeck! I’ve had a fall New England trip in mind since my last trip out there in July, and when a SAMFund benefit concert was announced for October 18, I knew it was the perfect time — good music and great friends, all while supporting a wonderful cause. When I realized a couple weeks ago it was the same weekend as Rhinebeck, that was icing on an already sweet cake. I will be there only one day (Sunday) and will need to practice much financial restraint, but I know it’ll be a blast.

And to leave you with a little more Seymour, here are a few shots from a good-bye card we made for my friend Rob and his monkey Vernon:

October 16, 2008 - 8:12pm | seymour | 4 Comments

Seymour Blogs: Surfers and Bluegrass

Hi everyone! I’m Seymour. Since I travel with Teresa to most of the places she goes, she asked me to be a regular guest blogger here to share my adventures and haikus with all of you. I’m so excited!

Two weekends ago, Teresa and I went down to Carlsbad for a Partch concert. Before the show, we had a fabulous breakfast at Honey’s in Encinitas, avoided going into the two nearby yarn stores, and went to the beach to kill some extra time. I would like to try surfing someday, but for now I’m content to watch and write haikus.

This past weekend, we flew up to San Francisco to attend the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I got to see and/or hear Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Hot Rize, Odetta, Zakir Hussain, Ben Kweller, Elvis Costello, Gogol Bordello, Loudon Wainwright III, and Iris Dement! Here I am during Ben Kweller’s set at the Star Stage:

At the festival, Teresa worked on knitting a sock that is far too big for me. When I wasn’t listening to the music, I napped a little and got to know a couple of her friends who recently moved away from Los Angeles. I also struck some poses… with three humans and one small monkey finishing two bottles of wine, many silly pictures were taken. Does anyone know any wine companies who need a monkey model?

I wrote a haiku to commemorate the occasion. It was inspired by Odetta, who sang about her little heart. Unfortunately, I wasn’t close enough to see if hers is orange and plastic too.

October 7, 2008 - 10:30pm | pictured, seymour | 5 Comments

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