Very little crafting is going on here. My most recent impulse buy is a fax machine. How wrong is that?



I am enjoying Ariann in the green Karaoke. It is going slowly. I like that the fronts and backs are knit together. The shaping goes along the side seam. I really like the slight variation in the yarn color.

Here are a couple blues. On the left real NZ merino from the blogless one. Thank you! In the middle is Cascade Key Largo. Opal wants to swap these 8 skeins for the almost 4 oz ball of Zephyr on the right. Hmmmm. Seeing how lace and me just can't get along, it is probably the right thing to do. A part of me still wants that Stevie Nicks black shawl. Decisions, decisions.


Bouquets are popping up all over. My modest Koigu stash includes the newest gift from my Wisconsin sisterup front. I love all of them. Thank you!
I've been trying to figure out how to wrap beach glass. Here a few test ones. It's challenging for me.

I'll be out of town for a week on business. I'm just so happy to be away from the office!!!! Have a wonderful week everyone!

7 Random Facts and a bit of this and that.

Thanks for all the nice comments on Ganomy Hat. I really enjoyed making it. I cast on for Ariann in SWTC Karaoke in Forest. It's a almost felted wool/soy silk yarn which will be very warm. My blue Koigu Child's first sock #2 is inching along. The knitting progress has been pretty pathetic. It's suddenly turned quite hot here. It was very muggy day. Excuses, excuses.

The weather did not stop my mom from winning first place in the Jenny K in her flight. Here she is with her medal and leis in front of the prolific gardenia bush.

My sister and BIL have returned to Wisconsin. The last day we walked up Nuuanu Pali drive, where portions of Lost are filmed.

We walked by one of the Morgan's Corners. The owners of the waterfall have gone on a cleaning frenzy and it looks so idyllic now.

Opal has tagged me with a meme.

The rules:
1. Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 7 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 7 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are 7 random things about me.
1. I have a cupboard full of Totoros. I'm sure that comes as no surprise. I once saw a show on TV about how to sell a house. A buyer commented on the owner's juvenile collection. Apparently prospective buyers want to buy from grownups. Since I'm not selling my house any time soon, I guess it's okay to obsess and collect them a while longer. I will have to find them a good home eventually as I suspect my boys will just sell them at a garage sale or give them to Goodwill. Sigh. Poor babies.

2. I call my system of organization the organized pile method. Don't mess with the piles! A neat desk is the sign of a sick mind is it not? I secretly long for the simplicity and an "empty bowl" ala Every Day Sacred. I read about clutter and periodically cull the mess. But alas, then I have to shop to fill the void. It's a vicious cycle.

3. My best friend until sixth grade was a boy down the street. We spent many happy hours catching bass with earthworms we dug up, flying to Uranus in the litchi tree, and hiding in our rock fortress in the "Subdivision". Those rocks are mighty small now...must be erosion.

4. I never spoke more then two words to the first boy I had a crush on.

5. I loved organic chemistry in college. It was a lot like cooking. I even repeated the five hour lab just for fun. I don't remember too much of it now. Analytic chemistry was another story.

6. My kids taught me a lot of things and helped me undo some irrational ideas I got from my parents. Like, just because a person does not like tofu, it does not make them a bad person. And I cannot make someone like peas no matter how much I smile while I'm trying to feed it to them.

7. I'm a process person and not much of a risk taker. Yes I suffer from analysis paralysis. I'm trying to get well. It may take me years to ever own a dog. I have taken tests to see what kind of dog is for me (a Portuguese water dog). I have studied the Dog Whisperer and watched Oprah with her dog trainer. I have taken Ebony, the wonder dog for walks and held the undaunted Cricket on his leash. I have ogled Kai's puppies. But I don't yet have a dog. Like I said, it may be years. Do I need to go to veterinary school before I own a dog? See? It's a disease. I'm starting with houseplants.

Kim. Blogless Michelle-you can email me and I'll post your answers. Debbie, Vron, Angie, Bev, Kai. You are all tagged!

Malabrigo Ganomy Hat

I know I'm not the only knitter out there who obsesses on things. This hat pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Almanac appealed to me because it just seemed sensible to have a a hat that covers the ears, yet needs no seaming. I know there are those who would agree with me. Nevermind that I live in Hawaii where cold is 50'sF.

I was not too clear about how to finish the top and because of my yarn I cast on more stitches then the pattern called for. The crazy thing about this pattern is that it is lumpy on top and EZ says to tie a ping pong ball in the front so if it falls in the water it will float. This is very sensible for someone who lives in the most isolated spot in the world, surrounded by water!

The Malabrigo was oh so soft. It grew a little after it's bath. I was surprised at how little color came out in the wash.

My Wisconsin sister, who is modelling the hat, has taken the sensible hat with her back to Wisconsin. The Malabrigo was gifted to my by her, purchased from The Knitting Tree right there in Madison. I think she will be able to use this hat even when it "warms up to 20". She may have to add the ping pong ball if she bikes around Lake Mendota or Monona, or goes ice fishing.



I noticed the flowers on my pineapple yesterday. The top of the plant looks like a flower when it first get started, but it's the "eyes" of the pineapple that produce the true flowers.

"The fruitlets of a pineapple are arranged in two interlocking spirals, eight spirals in one direction, thirteen in the other; each being a Fibonacci number. This is one of many examples of Fibonacci numbers appearing in nature." (Wikipedia) Fibonacci...new learning for the day!

If you can't walk and chew gum at the same time do not drink beer and knit!

...or take photos

These photos show what happen when I have a beer and try to take photos after. These are actually the best of them, cropped and edited a bit as well. The others were so out of focus! I got those Asian genes...after a couple of ounces of beer I am quite witty and funny (heh, or so *I* think!) and then if I go on I fall asleep. When I wake up I have an odd feeling in my head. At least I don't break out in hives like two of my sisters.

These 3 fellow Aloha Knitters are my enablers. Blogless Michelle, Kim and Chris. Michelle is modeling my Dolce Skinny Scarf as a belt. She just returned from New Zealand, home of many sheep and hobbits. I admired her new earrings, which are nice coils that just pop into her ears. I love pounding silver wire:) Kim and Chris are studying our collective Eleanors. Kim's is just getting started on top, and mine is greedily covering up most of Michelle's wonderfully grand Lady. Her Noro silk garden has a great red in it and she used bits of the Noro with the angora in it here and there for random squares of fluff. She made tassels instead of the fringe. It is wonderfully warm and luxurious!

On the personal creation scene, I find that between family visiting, Mother's Day, a very challenging stretch at work, my bowl is too full for successful creating. This is where sock knitting is all I can muster. It is finite, small, portable, and most likely going to fit. And it ain't progressing quickly! I reap the benefits of the creativity of others!

For all you mothers out there and all of you celebrating your mothers, have a Happy Mother's Day!

It's starting to feel a lot like summer

So many of the blogs are featuring the most amazing flowers. The colors and shapes are so beautiful. I love the roses and pansy's especially. It seems very green here. I have seen some lovely orchids in stores preparing for mother's day. Our orange tree is producing the most fragrant blossoms.

A straggler pineapple is producing a fruit in my patio.

The others are quite large now. I never moved them back after the fence was done. I was afraid they would fall over as they are top heavy. (Well that's my excuse anyway, heh). I hope they get ripe soon.
Of note, the last pineapple canning company folded in Hawaii. A sign of the times. Too expensive to operate a plant here. Growers will be focusing on the fresh fruit industry.

My Knitter's Almanac came and I started the Ganomy Hat in worsted weight Malabrigo.

My sister and BIL are visiting and we did the Hoomaluhi Walk today. It was muggy and warm so we dropped by School Street to get a shaved ice. Then I dropped them off at Ala Moana Beach park while I went to retrieve my Visa card from Sam Choy's BLC restaurant. I was so happy it was found! For a moment thoughts of identity theft and large unknown charges showing up on bill flashed by. There was a Kaiwi channel race at Ala Moana Beach Park and I don't recall when the park has been busier. There were NO spaces, and no one leaving.

Yesterday I stopped by Bella Beads. I just became aware that Brad, co owner or the store recently died in an accident and stopped by give Karen a hug.

While I was there, I met Stacey of Simple Joys. She has been helping out in the store. It was nice to meet a fellow blogger. I'm hoping she'll post pictures of her creations soon.

Waah! It's Monday tomorrow. Back to the grind.

Baby Eleanor, FO

Pattern: Baby Eleanor, adapted from Interweave Knit's, Scarf Style pattern, Lady Eleanor
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, color 244. I'm not sure how many balls as I sacrificed Klaralund to make it

This was an enjoyable knit. I love Noro Silk Garden, the entrelac was fun to do and I learned to knit backwards. The fringe was a bit of challenge, but once I got over the fact that it was not going to be exact, it was easier. As I am only 4'11# and a undertall for my weight (ahem) Baby Eleanor engulfs me. It is quite a generous "scarf" and for me basically a stole.

While looking for eyeballs at Creations by You, I found the magic sign, "50%" off so got a novelty yarn, called Trendsetter's Dolce (75% acrylic, 25% polyamide...GASP!) According to Wikipedia, polyamide "is a polymer containing monomers joined by peptide bonds. They can occur both naturally, examples being proteins, such as wool and silk, and can be made artificially, examples being Nylons, Aramids, and sodium poly(aspartate)." I like to believe my polyamide is natural, heh. I was attracted to the brilliant jewel tones. The WIP is a Skinny scarf with a crossed trellis pattern over 6 stitches instead of the 8 pictured in Shelagh Hollingworth's A Compendium of Knitted Stitch Patterns on size 11 metal needles. The yarn is a ribbon yarn and feels like a silky scarf but it stuck to the bamboo needles I started out with.