Knit Addictions

Beachy n Bitchin'!

Ten Years!
Thank you for all the lovely and wonderful wishes for our tenth anniversary! We had a perfect day...we went to the beach and hung out ....went to dinner at Juliano's which was nothing short of fantastic and pretty much out of this world. If you ever want to go there and you're not too sure about this 'raw' thing,....just have the blueberry cheesecake. It's UNBELIEVABLE. That and the green curry pasta. Wow. Don't worry........there's no cheese in the cheese cake and no pasta in the pasta. Just pure goodness. Nothing cooked. But man........the FLAVORS!!!!!!!!! unreal.

Anyway.......we did a little shopping and stopped in and saw our pals who live close to the beach......and well, words don't do the day justice. It was brimming with love and the memories that two people have after ten years. Awesome.

Here's a shot of me in my new shorts and 'punk is dead' tshirt....

Got both things and more from Anonymous on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Killer shop with verrrrrrrrrry cool clothes! Oh, the funniest part? At the bottom of the tshirt, it says "Long Live Disco"....Somehow...I just find the whole shirt brilliant and fun!

I commandeered Bam's Canon camera and finally took a shot of him at the beach....

I still think he is the hottest guy on the planet!

Oh.....and he insisted we get me this dress......which I LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (especially with my skull converse!)

Hot, hot, hot
In spite of our heat wave, I have been working on Bam's sweater (if you know me, you know that after all this knittin'....he still doesn't actually have a sweater from me!)...got the front and back done...started on one sleeve! hooray!!!!!!!!!!

70 foot semi
The trucker called today and we gave him directions to our teeny tiny street to deliver a bunch of stuff I inherited from my mom and dad. Totally funny when he turned on our street...the neighbors all came out to assist! (super friendly!) He eventually made the turn and we unloaded everything. Most of it is going to a friend's garage (we have zero space)...and the rest is in our shed. But in two weeks or so......(drum fill please....) the PIANO ARRIVES. I cannot wait now!

Great Date Flick
Oh, if you're like me and you drop everything to go see a romantic french film, this movie will make the grade. Very fun and very light and very romantic! Russian Dolls. Much better than that ole Da Vinci Code....which totally sucks if you've read the book. arrrrr!

Oh To Be Idle For a Day!

Sheesh! Where have I been?

Well, I spent one week in Minnesota packing and helping sort stuff for the bank to sell my family's house. Sigh. It was not a fun week. But I survived and I'm glad it's over. The only two positive things I can say are that my niece, Kathryn is planning to move to Los Angeles in the fall. Hooray! And that I have inherited my mother's Sohmer upright piano. Hooray!

Bam and I are still 'raw'! He has come up with loads of amazing gourmet raw vegan entrees now. OMG! Mind blowing recipes. I try to keep up, but let's face it, that is a talent. I have a talent for eating what he creates! Ha! We go to this farmer's market every Sunday and let me tell ya, it is fantastic and chockful of local organic farmers! yummmmmmm!

Now let's move on to the knit stuff............

EXTREME
Has everyone and their dog seen Theresa Honeywell's Knit Motorcycle??? Holy bat wheels, batman!

Go to Flickr to see her whole set of 'Extreme Craft' which includes embroidered tattoos. Wow. She deserves the Punk Craftster of the Year award. Which I think I shall invent!

On my sticks
I am making Bam a much deserved and long sought after big wooly jumper. Now that I work in a yarn shop, I get a discount and can afford that Rowan stuff! ha! So Fergus with an altered collar and some Big Tuft probably added in the cuffs,.....is on the way!

THE BAG O' BONES
The Stitch Cafe and I paired up and cooked up a crazy bag idea with stripes and a heart, skull, and star charms dangling off it....all in a kit with our skull needles. You can view the commercial and watch my imitation of pirate-ese.
quicktime: http://blip.tv/file/get/Shazza007-StitchCafePunkKnitsBagOBone599.mov
windows: http://blip.tv/file/get/Shazza007-StitchCafePunkKnitsBagOBoneWindows652.wmv

KILLING TIME
Sometimes, it all gets to be too much and I just need some mindless entertainment. As a big fan of the Da Vinci Code (cuz I LOVE LOVE LOVE games and puzzles).....I stumbled across this quest which you can put right on your google homepage (please tell me you have one, right? cuz they rock!)....Once you get caught up ...you only get one puzzle a day and they get progressively harder. Talk about brilliant marketing for the film?!?!?! WOWSA! I am blown away! And....I love the quest! I feel so.....utterly bamboozled by the great marketing team at Sony. And I don't care.

Well.........I think we are going to the beach today. First time in months! Crazy to live in So Cal and not go to the beach right? It's the only place I truly stop working!

Over and out fellow knitters.........fellow crazy people, fellow game addicts, fellow mellow yellows, fellow schmellows.....marshmellows......hmmmmmmmmm..............I'm losin' it.

Raw-velicious

Wow. This raw thing has been going well. Bam and I both feel terrific and we're sleeping really well and....our energy ....wow!

We went to the Jade Cafe yesterday for our first raw meal out. They serve up some pretty amazing concoctions and one of their drinks was so easy, we did it again when we got home.

Cucumber/Basil Water.
Slice up some organic cucumbers, add 3 or 4 leaves of fresh basil. Put all of that in a tall glass, add filtered cold water and drink with a straw!

We also discovered a great fast way to make yummy raw oatmeal!

1 cup steel cut oats
2-3 organic oranges
Assorted fruits/nuts....we use raisins, dates, apples and soaked cashews, soaked and dehydrated almonds.
Freshly made almond milk.

Cover the oats with the orange juice using enough juice to cover them well. Let it sit for about an hour.
Then top with your favorite fruits/nuts. (we use soaked nuts to get the most enzymes and make them digestible.)
Then, pour fresh almond milk and serve!

You can make fast almond milk by using raw almond butter.
Take 2 tablespoons and put in a blender. Add 3-4 cups filtered cold water. Blend on high.
Add Agave nectar as a sweetner. (won't take much)
1-3 drops of vanilla extract.
Strain through a paint strainer in to a pitcher and you've got fresh almond milk.

Of course, you will still benefit if you use store bought almond milk. ;-)

Well, there's more raw tales to tell.............like green smoothies........but I must leave to go make a commercial for our punk bag Bag O' Bones we're doing with the Stitch Cafe. Crazy.

Woohooooooooooooooooooo!

Quad and Raw

QUAD
What a mad mad weekend! On Friday night, my friend, Kastle invited me to Quadrophenia (look up THE WHO if you don't know what I"m talking about!) with her. It's a staged production and I braved the hail storm (yes, hail storm in LA!) to go and check it out. Together we braved the insanity known as 'which color wristband do you have' inside the Avalon Theater to figure out where we were allowed to sit. Wow! After all that craziness, it was definitely worth it. The lead character is played by Stephen Shareaux who was the lead singer for Kik Tracee and he is reeeeeeeally well suited as a singer in a big production play. Overall, it had its high moments and I don't get out much to plays so for me, it was a gas.

Saturday, we had a client in our recording studio. So that was fun!

RAW
But during this whole time........we have been reading and absorbing this book about living a raw food lifestyle. Since this particular book is written by two chefs, we found it particularly interesting as the recipes are verrrrrry delicious. At the same time, my friend told me she had a juicer she no longer wanted so we graciously received her juicer for free. We are going for the raw life. So far, I feel terrific. No cooked foods is agreeing with me. It's weird to eat like this at first, but I'm liking it, I'm liking it. Plus, I get to eat pretty much as much as I want! God knows, I love to eat! I've been reading alot over on this forum and finding lots of sites dedicated to the raw food lifestyle. We will eventually get an ice cream maker and make our own dairy free/soy free ice cream!!!!!!!! Imagine eating a gallon of home made coconut ice cream?! I can!!!!!

Notice how I go straight for the sweets part of it all? Actually, I'm craving sugar waaaaaaay less now that we've been doing this for a few days. We're still not what they call 100% raw.........we are transitioning. But we're both into it. I feel soooooooooooo damn Californian. Bloody hell. First the feng shui and clutter clearing and now this! What's next? Hypnoretrospacetravel-therapy???????????

A Little Freeform Babble

So I just have to write something after all the caring comments and emails...........wow.  Ya know what is really amazing?  My mom so completely does NOT think she is beautiful.  It's almost like an ongoing thing for me to convince her that she is.  She just 'pashaws' it.....but now I have all of your comments to throw at her!  and believe me.........I will!  She is a wonderful woman.  So graceful and elegant.  In that way...I'm so NOT like her.  But I definitely have her musical sense and her compassion.  And her love of games. (she can whip ANYONE's ass at cribbage!.....in fact......one time on an airplane............well, suffice to say, the whole plane and the pilot ended up watching the game!) 

anyway, you can tell how much I love her, huh.  yeah.  I do.

I'm taking advantage of the fact that I'm in a good mood and not crying and .....well....I'm just gonna blog it.  frog it.  dog it.  and sod it.
ha!

First off........THE TRUTH ABOUT HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
I've just discovered the hellishness about this sweetener.  They use it in all those Big Gulp things and super size drinks and it's even in Hansen's "natural" soda.  You can find it in loads of stuff aimed at kids, of course.  The thing is.........it's cheaper to make than sugar.  And the scary part?  Your body does NOT read it as sugar but your mouth finds it sweet.  So after consuming something with it, you want MORE, MORE, MORE....!  This stuff is in so many things.......ketchup........cookies,....my personal fave: tofutti cuties!  :-(

HFCS is linked to so many scary things.   It's unreal.  I thought I was already living pretty clean...but I wasn't looking out for that.  It's in a LOT of stuff.  Read your labels.

So what to do?  avoid it.  get the 'real thing' baby.  use sugar when necessary.  at least your body knows what the hell it is.  Skip the chemical substitutions at all costs. 

Wanna read more?  Try this one....or type it in to google and let me know what other scary crap you found. I just hate how they save money and use junk they try to pass off as 'edible'.  Gimme a break. 

IN THE STUDIO
We've been recording some friends of ours the Ballard Brothers (Rick and Brian) who are collectively known as "Falls Church Garage".  Very cool Americana type rock n roll.......ala Tom Petty meets the Replacements with Nirvana and Tom Waits.  All kinda rolled in to one.  Very very cool stuff and Bam n me play on the album too.  Everytime they come to record I have a great day!  That's a good sign, eh?

ON THE NEEDLES
Oh.......well, dammit all.  I can't really say much now.....cuz of the darn book.  hmmm....let's see...I got some mad Crystal Palace combination of wacko yarns for a great big thing in black.  (involving of course, a skull and crossbones.)  I've got another project on the go with pink Suede from Berroco....it may not end up pink for the model though.  Of course, I happened to have pink on hand.  (gee...I wonder why?)  hmmmm.........oh I know.  I made this mad thing that was supposed to be a capelet but I only had one ball of yarn (Suss Cotton.........verrrrrrrry yummy) and it ended up being like a ...hmmm...thing that sits on your shoulders sort of.  I dunno.  But I gave it to my mom and she loved it. 

OTHER STUFF
We are launching our first knit related product in the next few months.  Been working on that a whole lot!  OMG!  How could I forget?  I played drums in a friends music video that Bam directed, shot and edited!  How is that for wacko?????????!!!!!!!!!!
you can see it here:
www.bam13films.com  click on 'director' and then click on Robbie Tart.
he he!
Verrrrrrrrry fun.

NEXT WEEK
I'm leaving for Minnesota next Friday.  Planning to stay longer.  Just have to ........
I'll be reading your comments again while I'm there..........they give me strength.
thank you.

Back in Smogville

The DAD news
Well, my dad is back in the residents home. He is stable again and has his good days and his bad days. After speaking with my mom, it's comforting to know that all of the other residents and nurses welcomed him back with great big hellos and hugs and how much they missed him. He's a pretty funny guy when he's not in agonizing pain so it's nice to know they appreciate his sense of dry humor.

AMOEBA
Remember a post a few months back when I was all pissed off at Amoeba? Well, they took our cd and apparently they listened to it cuz they contacted us and now we're going to be their featured "Homegrown Artist" on November 17th. So if you live in LA, go to the shop and check us out and please buy our cd there! :-)
Of course, you'll see us on their site that day too! (The Hollywood store)

ZZZZZZZZZ FILM
We went and say "I 'heart' Huckabees". OMDG! I fell totally sound asleep twice! So did Bam! This is more of an idea than a film. I highly recommend it for a lovely afternoon nap. I thought with all those superb actors in it this must be a fantastic script and story. Alas. Very meandering and .......well, not very good.

AROUND THE HOUSE
But I tell ya, sometimes, a nap in the theater is as good as it gets. We still have the evil homeowners next door who knocked down their condemned shacks and are building a new house. The issue I have with them,.........they work 7 as in SEVEN days a week. Starting at 7:30 am and generally going until 7 or 8 pm. After a while, ya get a little loopy. Not to mention, the edge of their new house is literally, 4 inches from the edge of our garage which doubles as Bam's office/recording studio. So he sits in there with the banging right on him. It's enough to make an ex-smoker start smoking again.
But, .........he is at 16 days without a cigarette today!

NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS

That's what I should call this scarf cuz it's like a pastel version of the Sex Pistols colors! (who I adore!!)
Thanks to my Secret Pal..........I used the yarns she sent me to start this scarf on the airplane ride home from Minnesota. I think it's turning out uber cool and I can't wait to wear it with something pink/green. It's making me want to find neon pink/neon green and design a very loud, very obnoxious sweater!!!!

MORE KNIT
I swear, all I do is work these days. Well, that and watch movies. (I have to have ONE addiction, right?) But I did finish the Lulu sleeve and am gonna put that together. It still involves more knitting...have to pick up the collar yada yada yada. But that should be fast. I have so many projects on the go.......a second Janis Tank in Pink/Black. But ....well, it seems there is a strong publication possibility so now I cannot post piccies of all my knitting designs. (this is weird to me)
Anyway, here's a pic of a scarf I did last year out of the Vogue knitting magazine. It's still a fave around the house and we have to decide who gets to wear it! ha ha!

SITE MANIA
Lately, I've got more sites that need building and just not enough time to build them. I guess I'm a slow website designer cuz man, oh, man. I just have a tough time.

On that note.........here's to dreams of yarn...........

Update on My Dad, the Pesto and VH1

First, the good news...
My dad is doing better and they think his seizures were due to some antibiotics they'd given him. My mom and I are going to look at a different 'home' tomorrow that she already checked out once. It's a longer drive which is very very tough on her but it is much nicer than his current 'home' and she thinks they would take better care of him. They have a special section for people with dementia which he has. So that's all good if you ask me.

Ah.....the PESTO!
It's so easy it's almost funny.
Ingredients:

• Fresh Basil (one bunch)


• Fresh Garlic (between 5-10 cloves)


• Pine Nuts (about 1/3 cup or so.)


• Olive Oil - 1/3 cup


• Black Pepper - to taste


• Fresh Shredded Romano or Parmesan Cheese - 2 Tablespoons

Re: the ingredients......I never measure anything. So be intuitive and use your taste as judgement!

Put everything in the blender and mix it up until somewhat chunky/liquid. You don't want it to be too liquid or too chunky.

Scrape it out of the blender and into a small pot on the stove.
Simmer while you prepare whatever it is you're going to spoon it over.

Enjoy!

Vixen on VH1
Many of you have asked for a reminder when VH1 is going to show the Bands Reunited episode that we did. It airs on November 9th at 11:30 am/10:30 am central time. Again at 10 pm/9 pm central time on the same day.

Then it airs a ton for the next several days.

There is also a 'compilation' best of Bands Reunited airing on November 11th at 10 pm/9 pm central time which has goofy stuff from both seasons and apparently there is some funny stuff in there.

On the Home Front
Bam has still stopped smoking! It's been over a week now.
He read this book. Twice! He said it was like reprogramming his brain. But you really have to want to stop.

He has gotten funnier and funnier since he stopped smoking!
We were talking about cleaning out the house cuz it's so tiny and we have so many things we do and quite frankly....we are running out of space.
I said, "we need to make 4 piles, Keep, Toss, Giveaway/Sell, Storage."
He said, "nah. I use the hammer method. Blindfold me, put a hammer in my hand and what doesn't get smashed up is what we're keeping."

hmmmm.....at least I would get to keep the yarn!

COMMENTERS
Thank you so much for your thoughts and kind words. It's so comforting to know people care. Knitters rock.

Not Quite Home Yet

I was supposed to be on an airplane right now.....
But alas.
My dad had two seizures last night.
He's a very thin guy who's never had a drug/drink problem nor any diabetes so it's really puzzling and pretty scary. The doctors simply cannot figure out why he had these seizures.

We reckon it's one of the meds he is on for his dementia.

Tough stuff to deal with all the way around.

So, I ended up extending my ticket and am here until friday.

KNIT
Made a duplicate of my new pink scarf for the main nurse that takes care of my dad. She indicated her love for it and how she would love one like that. She really goes beyond the call of duty for my parents so it was a great knitting pleasure to make it for her!

In other knit news..........I plan to cast on something tonight........but I don't know what!
ha!
Must admit, there is a strange pleasure to having a limited supply of yarn at hand so I have to figure out what to make with what I have.

FOOD
To the commenters...........thank you yet again! You'll be happy to know tonight's feast was the following:
Salmon with homemade pesto sauce (after discovering my 19 year old niece orders this at her favorite Italian restaurant and yet fails to sit down to dinner with us everynight....it worked tonight!)

Fennel, celery and pear salad. (simple, chop up the fennel, chop 3 or 4 stalks of celery, chop 1 pear. squeeze lemon juice, add 1 or 2 spoons of organic mayonnaise and crack pepper to taste. chill and serve.)

Now if that strikes your fancy, I'll post the recipe for the pesto too.

But I really have to go now cuz my hands positively STINK of garlic and fish! argh! The cooking definitely kept my spirits up.

Report From Minnesota

It's been a rough visit on a few counts this time. First, I got sick! Me, who never gets ill. I came down with a nasty head cold and fever but thankfully, I was able to sleep like crazy and it was pretty much gone within 48 hours. Of course, that's a big chunk of a one week visit. argh!

Outside of that, my dad is currently in the hospital. He was taken to ER late last night and my mom and I were with him until 2 am. He had some troubles which I won't go into here but it isn't life or death but still very serious. Now my mom is wondering again if she can possibly handle him at home. It's so hard. The toss up between the guilt of having him at a 'residents home' or the exhaustion of having him here. She is battling lung cancer so she ain't exactly bustling with energy. Anyway, I've promised to find out some information for her tomorrow to help her with her decision.

In the meantime, I've cooked for us every night. (even with my cold!) Tonight we had Moroccan chicken stew with a side of good old fashioned beets. But at the same time, I made 'green soup'. The anti-cancer soup! It's basically tons of green vegetables: celery, spinach, broccoli along with earth vegies like potatoes, leeks, carrots and garlic. Heat it all up in filtered water and puree the lot. Simple eh? It tastes like pure health when you eat it! It is supposedly really good for anti-oxidants and helping immune systems.

I've hardly knit a thing here but I did manage to finish the other sleeve for Lulu's sweater. When I get back to LA, I plan to get some help stitching it (to make sure I do it right) and then pick up the collar. Then comes the job of sewing the whole thing together. Oh, and a note to Rowan and/or anyone considering making this sweater, ....beware, they call it 'beginner' level....I say it's tougher than that! But I'm excited. The finish line is close by. Hooray!!!

It's been cold and rainy and windy here and I'm looking forward to going home to our California rain. Ha!

Oh, Bam has stopped smoking while I was gone. He is holding his own against the evil nicotine curse and I think that is so amazing.

To Lana, Jessica, Michele, Emily, Dave (Ragged Hearts!) Ellen and everyone else.........thank you for your wonderful comments. I appreciate your thoughtfulness sooooooo much!

No Fast Food Please!

Being a true So Cal hippie bohemian punk, I'm not one to eat at fast food restaurants. Like.......it has to be the only option and I'm starving and it's that or nothing to eat 'til morning.

That actually did happen to me two years ago in all places ........Spain. A country with fantastic food choices but we were stranded and had to consume matter in a McDonalds. And yes, I did find it revolting!

The reason for my tirade is that we rented 'Supersize Me' last night. If you had any doubts about the evils of fast food, this will convince you of how dreadful the shit really is.

I'm proud to say that I was grandstanding about how Mickey D was ruining rainforests and altering DNA for their 'fries' many years ago. To such a degree that Bam and I convinced his daughters NOT to eat there anymore. If you are still questioning the seriousness of McDiets.........think about this.

Obesity is the NUMBER ONE KILLER in America.
yep.
Next time you see an obese person sitting next to a smoker. Think about telling the overweight person that they ought to give up overeating before you yell at the smoker.
More kids than EVER before are overweight.
More schools allow sodas and fast food companies to sell their products in school!
Geez! They call it "ADD" and hyper active. I call it bad diet.
But I'm not having a pop at any parents here! I know how impossible it is to guard dog a kid when they're bombarded with advertising and what's available at other kids houses. (believe me, I know.)
If we can just convince a few more folks to boycott the golden arches and then they convince a few more...etc etc. We'll impact them where it hurts.
In their wallet.

I made a decision many years ago and gave up many things in my dietary habits. I'm not on a diet. I'm on a lifestyle. I read labels. If I don't know what a word is....like some big scientific word, then I don't buy it or eat it.

But watching Supersize Me was very eye opening. Diabetes, Liver failure........all this can be yours with a McDonald's diet. Not to mention, a hamburger from a market...(like Whole Foods) will come from ONE cow. A hamburger from McD's will have 'meat' from over 100 cows. Usually raised in enclosed buildings and living in their own manure. You can only imagine the disease that comes with THAT! ick.

What on earth does this have to do with knitting?
Nothing!
Except, I see knitting as a very natural craft and I also view it as anarchistic. Making our own garments instead of giving more money to mindless corporations like the GAP, Old Navy........etc etc etc. So I figured my friendly fiber addicts would be interested and probably feel the same outrage as me about the evil McD empire.

Wanna see some really anti-corporate art???????? RON ENGLISH. Check out his awesome billboards!

On a personal note....I have been struggling to deal with my dad's health. Hence, not a lot of posts on here. I know I will bounce back and I am doing everything positive that I 'should' be doing.

Thank you for your great comments on the Toons and other goodies! Big shout out to Marnie for the CSS tip. If you fellow knitters want to be inspired........check out her site. She designs, she knits, she models, she designed her site!!!! Holy cow! Makes ya feel lazy don't it?