Yesterday I spent a bright, warm summer afternoon at the baby shower of my lovely friend Julia. Sitting on the patio, talking and snacking and crafting with an amazing group of talented and inspiring women, I realized how lucky I am to have met such amazing friends here in Los Angeles. I love my gals.

Obviously Julia is in the "glowing" stage of her pregnancy. She looks amazing.

Making baby clothes is always fun just because everything is small and cute; making baby clothes for loved ones is an absolute joy. I made the Baby Sweater on Two Needles, from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac (February). The yarn is MadelineTosh Sock; super vibrant and electric color. After washing, it became silky-soft and drapey. I already had the tiny little vintage silver buttons. I worked stockinette stitch instead of lace for a more unisex sweater, and shortened the sleeves by about an inch (it's Los Angeles!) before working the garter border. I know that I will make this sweater again... probably first in my size using Pam's February Lady Sweater pattern, which I loooooooooove very very much with deep loving feelings. Ahem. (Ravelry project page)

More prezzies! (And Miss Marnie, who was much better than I about taking pictures of the whole shebang - I took my memory card out of my camera, for some reason, and I had no space!)

I gave Julia the Mobile Menagerie sample (and the matching sleep sack) from Boho Baby Knits. It makes me happy to think of a little baby playing with it! And even if the little one isn't into it, at least it has another fan in the house.

Nounie thought it made a nice kitty bed. Such cuteness.

Oh man, it's hot. I'm trying to embrace it, but heat is really hard for me. It makes me pouty and annoyed. Plus, this is not supposed to be a hot month! June is normally sort of misty and cool in Los Angeles - June Gloom. Where is it? I liked it. Please come back, June Gloom! Good thing that cold beers and ice cream exist on Earth. I remembered how much I love ice cream in Ohio, which may or may not be a good thing. The Jeni's right across the convention center + it was a bazillion degrees = we ate so much ice cream!

The lovely Kristine from A Verb For Keeping Warm (if you haven't seen her fiber yet, and you are interested in yummy naturally dyed goodness made by a very nice person... please just click on that link right now and I'm sorry about your PayPal balance) tagged me with a meme, which is great, because I have been wanting to blog but feel like I have so much to say I don't even know where to begin, and now I can just begin with the questions! Excellent.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

I had just finished my third year at CalArts and was waiting tables at Spago Palo Alto for the summer. I got to take wine glasses, which was fun. Edit: Classes! I took wine classes! I have never taken a wine glass from a restaurant in my entire life!

What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

Blog entry (mine and also work), groceries, cook yummy dinner (salmon & veggies), watch a movie... um. That is it. It's Saturday and I am kicking it. Sunday will be busier.

Snacks I enjoy:

Kettle corn, chips and salsa and/or guacamole, almonds, peanuts, salt & vinegar potato chips, kumquats, Haribo gummi bears.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Buy a lot of wheelchairs (and do so many other Good Things), buy a house, travel. Life is pretty sweet... I guess I do this stuff anyway. Except the buying a house (yet).

Places I have lived:

• Pittsburgh, PA
• Fairfax, VA
• Palo Alto, CA
• Valencia, CA
• Val Verde, CA
• Van Nuys, CA
• Los Angeles, CA

Jobs I have had:

Babysitter, waitress, nanny, teacher at after-school arts center, LYS manager/teacher, knitting/crochet designer, Director of Operations, Ravelry Person (woo hoo)!

I finished a project! A pair of socks. I have only blogged three finished items this year (two pairs of socks and a hat) and that had me a little bummed, thinking that was all I had actually knit. (That's just not like me.) Then I remembered the finished silk garden sweater, much loved but not yet photographed, and the unbloggable things large and small, and felt better. Makes me wonder what pre-blog projects I have just completely forgotten about. Sad. But! More pictures later, which is good!

I am six days into it - hope I can keep it up!   

Misti Alpaca Chunky, 4X4 ribbing, heathery eggplant color.

A quick project, made to give a virtual hug to a relative going through some really crappy (such an understatement) health issues right now.  (Love you, Uncle Tim!)

Jacob's camo socks are finished, and already keeping his feet warm and cozy. 

The pattern:  Gentleman's Fancy Sock, from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.  I omitted the decreases down the leg and shortened the cuff a bit to fit Jacob's feet without running out of yarn.  The camo yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock) looks great in the stitch - mottled and rich.  The needles got no rest before I cast on another pair.  Gotta keep the socks flowing! 

Oh, our little knitting time was great .  At the cafe, I finished the Ribbed Lace Bolero - and am really happy with this quick, cute project.  The color is so cheerful, the yarn (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece) is soft and cozy, and I love the look.  I think I'm going to make at least one more of these!  Julia was kind enough to pop outside with me to take some photos (thanks so much!) - we started laughing when we saw this sign:

Gotta love it.  I really need to check out the Healing Oasis - I'm not sure what it is, but it's pretty exciting to have one so close to my house!

Anyway.  Pattern notes/modifications: really nothing - my gauge was smaller than the gauge that Kelly specified, but since she wrote the pattern as a blueprint, it can easily be adapted to any gauge or size.  My shoulders are wider than hers (not surprising... um, I will never need shoulderpads); still, I used less than 1 1/2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (215 yards/skein).   This pattern was pure Ravelry inspiration, and was a great little appetizer knit.  I am tossing around some sweater design ideas in my head, and while I work them out, it was great to have the bolero whet my appetize for fall knits.

This makes two finished knitting projects within the last two weeks - made for myself - that I love and will actually wear.  I don't know how to act.