Year of the Dragon

Some friends gave us grandstand tickets to the Chinese New Year parade so we loaded up the family SUV and headed over to downtown LA where we caught the metro to Chinatown. It was a fun outing but way too warm for January...














Lots of lag time in between stuff; the kids lasted about 1.5 hours so we headed back to Union Station for a rest/snack break.


Slushies helped cool us off and the nice courtyard.


Time to catch a train and head home...

sunset at the beach

Lately the skies have been gorgeous with the warmer weather and scattered clouds. I've been wanting to see the sunset at the beach for the longest time but the boys's homework and activities prevented that. Yesterday, everything came together...the boys finished their homework and we had nothing else scheduled so I rushed them out the door.

Of course, in my haste I forgot the memory card in the reader for my DSLR but I did have my little Fuji in my purse. So these are the pictures of the lovely sunset at Torrance beach.













Short but sweet time. I can't wait for the longer days at the beach.

Portait Session

My friend V and I go out when we can and practice our photography. We usually shoot flowers, landscapes and whatnot but people portaits is what we've been avoiding. So last week, we headed over to the marsh to see what we could do...

It's a weird feeling to be in front of the camera instead of behind it but we had fun and these are the 2 photos I liked the best. I adjusted them in LR3 but I like the mood and look.




We are beginner level portait taking so it's a start.



I used Erik Kim's Lomo preset on LR3 to get this effect but I like how it's backlit and has that kind of dreamy quality to it.

Knitterly mood

I can't seem to focus on my socks so instead I pick other things to knit. I have plenty of non-sock projects waiting to be finished but no, I have to start a completely new project. Yes, I admit that I have a problem.



First up is the Everdeen beanie from the book Weekend Hats. Lovely and stretchy, I think I will keep it for myself. :)

And the Infinitude scarf (although it's a cowl) which I have a like/dislike attitude. I like the idea of looping it around the neck up to 2-3 times without the ends coming undone or losing the scarf but it just doesn't feel right or comfortable to me so I set it aside for the gift pile.



Now I'm off to find more stuff to start so I ignore my socks...

Weekend update

 No ice hockey for Joshua, we didn't have any either to go to (I watched it on TV) but Tyler did get his blue belt in kenpo on Saturday. We're hoping he gets motivated and focused since Josh will soon start.









It was nice, chilly & rainy this weekend which brings up another favorite thing...a nice fire in my wood stove! After many years of lighting fires in the stove, I have come up my routine to start a fire. I used to have a difficult time getting enough kindling to get the logs to catch but one day, Hector & I happened to be at Lowes and found in the clearance section, these things called Lightning Nuggets. I can't remember if it was the box of 24 or 100 but it was marked down to $1 so we thought sure waht the heck we'll try it. There was another box that Hector said I should get but I said no, I'll try these first.

Well, these turned out to be awesome. Yes, Hector still reminds me of the time I missed out on the 2nd box I could have bought for $1 since I can find them online at $26 per 100 so I missed out on that. :) A box can last about a year or more...

I still use kindling but not nearly the amounts I did in the past. So when I want a fire, it's super easy and quick which makes me a happy girl...

On with the remodel

I think it was in November when we helped a neighbor who wanted to do a backyard redo but couldn't get proper access with heavy equipment so they asked us. It worked out because we wanted to have our wall redone.

Well, that was complete and we have a nice yet ugly cinder block wall with the other 2 side fences falling down. Finally after consulting with more neighbors etc we have started demolishing the fences.

Now I can see what our neighbors yards look like! Nothing exciting.




My poor avocado tree is down to almost nothing and barely hanging in there. :(





Today is the concrete footing...everything is moving along.

Monday

Since it was MLK day, Sherri and I decided to get the kids together for some time at the tidepools and look for whales at the Point Vicente center.

It was a nice cloudy day and the kids were excited to enjoy the day. Unfortunately, Tyler fell on some rocks, scraped both knees and hands. He sulked for a bit but he soon cheered up and had fun breaking rocks with the others.

Here are the pictures which explain much more than I ever can...

















A great day and fun to be with good friends!

Weekend Antics

First I have a video I shot on my phone because I was lame and forgot my camera. Josh is at his special needs ice hockey program skating and working on his stick handling. He loves to skate and seems to enjoy the program, especially the hot chocolate afterwards.



I started another hat and a cowl so those are my newest works in progress. On Sunday we went out to dinner and I got a text from a friend asking if our power was out. Huh? Through Facebook, I found out from neighbors that yes, our power was out and it was still out when we got back home.

The kids were happy to play in the dark with their flashlights while I dug out some candles and Hector busied himself with the generator (just in case). By this time the power is out for a couple of hours and we have no idea when it will come back on. Hector got the generator running (very very loud) and hooked up the fridge and a light. I made a fire in our wood stove and made ice cream sundaes for the kids. It was cute to have them sit by the fire eating their desserts even though we had a light on in the playroom. :)He went off to get more supplies like gasoline, batteries etc but while he was out, the power came back on at 9:15pm. Phew! I was relieved since I was not looking forward to sleeping (or trying to) while that generator was running.

All is back to normal, the kids are off today so we'll try for an outing with Sherri and her kids to see if we can spot some whales. Stay tuned...

hat trifecta

I'm on a major roll with these hats which give me a kind of instant gratification high so now I feel a tad guilty neglecting my sock projects. I'm easily distracted by all these cool projects I see on Ravelry so my mind is constantly churning and spinning with ideas.

Anyway, here is the Capucine hat which is knit is bulky chunky yarn which only took a day. When I use Noro it fascinates me with its color so I keep on knitting and before I know it, I have a hat.





The hat is hood-like which I think is really cute and feminine (almost looks like I should be on a sleigh ride). It doesn't give me hat head although I have to wear it longer to fully test it out. :) Very unique so much that I want to knit more in all sorts of colors to use up all the yarn I have hoarded away.

Another Hat

Last time I made a man hat so this is a woman hat. I went to the yarn store yesterday to pick out some Noro Iro which is a bulky yarn, came home and started knitting & finished that night.

I had to wait til today for some proper photos although I didn't bother  prettify myself. Maybe later today....so just enjoy the hat. It is plenty colorful and interesting on its own.







2 hats done this month and 1 more hat to get a hat trick! :p

I Love this Sport

This video pretty much sums up all the parts of NHL hockey...

I'm a Knitting Machine

Ha ha, not really. I just have so many projects on the needles in various stages that it only seems like I knit like a maniac. :)

I used smaller needles = smaller hat. I always love the Noro yarn colors and this hat was modelled by Josh for effect to see how it would look on someone his age. I am so lucky that he is so accomodating and sweet! It'll look awesome on a young girl or someone with a small head. It will be the 1st to go in the gift pile this year.

This is the Welted Toque from Weekend Hats.

1st Pair of 2012

Yay for the new year!! And a new pair of socks to boot! :) It was a first ofor me to knit a pair of sportweight yarn socks which is a heavier/thicker yarn but it sure knits up fast. I used some STR (Socks that Rock) club yarn from January 2011 (almost a year ago) that came in 2 colors for a pair of colorwork socks. I liked the patterns but that type of socks would be too warm/dense for our mild weather here so the yarn sat in its yarn bin.

I used the pattern Van Dyke socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up. That's a cool thing to knit from the toe up so if there are possible yarn shortage issues, the feet will be knit first then you can knit the leg as long as your yarn lasts.



This particular yarn wouldn't be able to get a regular calf type sock so they became short  ankle socks. These are so cute. I wore them all day yesterday and the thicker yarn was really cushy and comfy. Even though the weather has been warming up lately, my feet were cold so the socks came in handy. :)





I used the gusset heel per the pattern which is a nice and tidy heel that doesn't add any extra bulkiness. I ran out to get take out for dinner and the socks were comfortable inside my Chucks. :)

Now I have the other sportweight club yarn waiting to become another pair of socks soon...

New Years Eve

We actually went out! Well, we went to a hockey game then out afterwards for some food and drinks but it's been forever since we've done that! :)

Here's a nice pic of Hector and me posing out on our porch when we accidently got locked out! Not to worry, luckily a friend with a spare key was nearby and rescued us so we could go on our merry way.





okay, back to the important stuff, hockey! :) The Canucks were in town and they're a tough, high scoring team but The Kings answered the call to play and boy, it was a great game.

The Canucks scored on their first shot but after that, the Kings shut them down and Quick was awesome plus add in some scoring > 2 goals makes it fun and exicting.











It was even better to have that win and head out afterwards for some drinks with Julie and her friends. Really nice ladies and we had fun talking about all sorts of things.
A nice pleasant New Years eve that wasn't super crowded or rowdy. :)


All these pics were taken with my new little point & shoot camera H got me for Christmas. I still love my DSLR so much but there are times when I do not want to carry that beast around. Plus, Staples Center balks when I bring my long lens into the games so the little Fuji works pretty well.