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Rejection

sort of.

So the interview on Monday I thought went really well - and then I called the recruiter today. Well, he actually said they liked me and that they did say no to another candidate, and yes to me - but not definitely. So, they are going to bring someone else on right away for part-time, and because I'm going on vacation for about 10 days (7 business days), my availability doesn't fit for this first role. Which is totally lame because they had told me before that I was the best fit of all the candidates BECAUSE I was going on the vacation and I was less of a risk to hire and then have their start date later as planned. >:( Anyway, then he said that they are going to need a second role and I am "leading the race" for that position and it's a "strong possibility" - which is all well and good except that I won't find out for sure until Oct. 9th.

ugh

on a lighter note, I am getting very close to the finish line with Bonita - doesn't look much different except that 1/2 of it is off the needles :) picture once I bind of the front half!

thanks for all your good wishes, I've needed them :)

Bonita Progress


Man, I'm so close to being able to finish the back, but we've been busy this weekend.

We decided to undertake painting our bedroom furniture (which is of course free hand-me-down stuff) to match the new bedroom scheme. One coat did NOT do it, and since I spilled some of the paint, the one quart just barely made it. sigh.

Then we thought - hey that spray paint I used on the frames for the prints in the kitchen turned out pretty good - let's try that, might be faster.

No.

It was faster, if you don't mind it looking like CRAP.

If you went back over it enough times to make it look good - if you even could - it would not be faster.

Back to Home Depot for more regular paint.

Another 2 coats later, we're finally OK with it. SHEESH!

Then, DH wanted me to finish another drawing so we could hang the last of the pictures, so I did that, and we hung pictures. Now I'm off to the grocery store, and then back to knitting!!! :D

And remember - good vibes at 1:00 - 2:00 pm Pacific please! interview!!! :D thanks!

I am feeling the vibes...

I have to say that all these good vibes, praying, good thoughts, whatever you're all sending is working!!! :D

  • I have an in-person interview on Monday afternoon, and the recruiter is saying that it's a really good prospect.
  • I have a possibility to do some contract work for a project that is continuing here through my company - not sure the hours or rate, but hey, it's income
  • I have another possibility of contract work with a co-worker after we leave our company
  • Then there's the option, which seems pretty do-able, of working for my previous company as a contractor - probably part time, but again, it's income

Keep it up people, I really really appreciate it!!! :D

Fun Stuff

Lu from Full Thread Ahead sent me the picture she took at the Yarn Harlot event! Through that door on the far right is the huge group of knitters, and apparently (because she popped out on the balcony at one point) Stephanie was hiding in that upstairs area while everyone filed in.

I really love the store - it's very open and easy to get around and see things. So many beautiful cubbies of yarny goodness!!!

I did notice though, that I need to re-focus my efforts on the weight-loss regime. sigh

Much progress has been made on the job front! YAY! I've got a phone interview at 3:00pm today!!! WOOOHOO!!! keep the good vibes coming, they are WORKING!


thanks guys!

Better picture...

...of the baby sweater :)
The hat looks worse in this picture, but at least the sweater looks better. :)

In other news, the yarn for my Sizzle showed up! YAY! Elann.com Sonata in a nice fire-engine-y red (color 3611).
MMMM yummy yarny redness :D

I realize these pictures aren't great - but it's definitely not Christmas yet, so don't expect miracles from the crappy camera :) I messed with them in photoshop to get them this good.


On the job front - 2 rejections for sure, and a couple possible opportunities to do some contract work. Still freaking out, but the contracting work options are making me breathe a bit easier. Still, I could use all the crossed fingers, prayers and good vibes you're willing to send my way...

:) thanks

Freak Out

I think I deserve to be able to freak out, whether I actually have the luxury or not.
I've been laid off!!!!!!!! UGH!! I will be employed until the end of the month, and then get 2 weeks pay and my accrued PTO cashed out. Seriously, this is so not what I planned to do with my spare time!


It puts rather a damper in the vacation plans - Hawaii in October - right after I get laid off. We're still going, mainly because we probably couldn't cancel anyway, and also a lot of it ends up being free.

Most of my spare time has therefore been spent updating my resume, searching for jobs, getting feedback on my resume, revising my resume, applying for jobs, revising my resume some more... you get the idea.

There is precious little knitting going on around here, but I am rather excited that I fixed a missed yarn-over without ripping out the 6 or so rows back! I was really proud of myself for that. (We're not mentioning that I didn't notice and address the problem before I got 6 or so rows past it - sshhhh) Thank you
Stephanie [scroll down to June 27 & 23], for the inspirational post about S. Kate's surgery of the extremely complicated lace project - I don't know if I'd tackle that, but I figured if the major knitters could do that, I could fix my little psuedo-lace mistake :)

Did I think to take a picture before I attempted the fix? no.

Would my camera have even focused on a detail shot like that? no.

What am I asking for for Christmas? a new digital camera. (well, that and a ball winder - on
super sale right now, but obviously, with the layoff, I'm not buying anything)

Ok, on to more fun things, like more crappy photos! yay! :)
California:
Since this was really a foggy place anyway, I'm ok with this drawing, but I still like the Arizona one best - I think I'm just a contrast girl. But then again...


Wisconsin:
This one, while obviously the highest contrast, is not my favorite. What can I say, I like the sun.

Check out my portfolio site if you have the inclination, and tell me if any of the links are broken, k?

A Little Cheer

Well, I think today is a tough day for everyone, and I hope that you can find a little cheer today.

I decided to count my blessings today, even though they are less than they were early last week - and really, I'm an extremely lucky and blessed person. The big ones are my wonderful husband, great family, and loving and supportive friends who are all helping me through a rather tough time. Thank you all.

I thought it might take my mind of things to post a couple more finished crafty projects, one knitting, one not.

Pillows

Now, the pillow forms are a bit lumpy - I probably should have stuffed them myself - but they are so much better than the pillows we used to have, that I'm OK with it :)

They're soft and fluffy and comfy to nap on, and they were easy in-front-of-the-TV knitting for quite a while.

Drawings

These are white Prismacolor pencil on black paper. I drew them for my hubby when he was living far away in Milwaukee for grad school. I like the Arizona one best. :)

But the California and Wisconsin ones turned out OK.

[well, apparently Blogger has decided that's enough pictures for one post, so sorry - I'll post the others so you can actually see them some other time]

Bonita Progress Update - and YARN HARLOT!!!

Well, it's been an interesting week - but it's too upsetting to talk about it now (plus I'm under obligation until end-of-day Tuesday not to talk about it) sigh
It's just a sad day all around isn't it?

However, I do have some fun things to show you!

Progress Update

Into the increase rows of waist shaping - and yes, that is the top half of the 3rd diamond!! YAY! I brought this to the Yarn Harlot at
Full Thread Ahead
over the weekend, and (this is almost completely unprecedented) I actually WON something! Good grief!

I was apparently the one with the most unconventional stitchmarkers in the place (with about 300 knitters there even!), because they're earring backs with beads on them, and the main one is a frog (or
maybe a chipmunk, I can never tell for sure). This picture is obviously very weird - I think I've figured it out, my camera does not understand that I want it to take a detail picture, even when I use the zoom function.

My friend Deanna made them for me, and then wasn't able to be there to see me win! She was very sad to miss the harlot, and I think she may have been the one to win if she were there. :)


Here's what I won:

Stitch markers from Giblin Glass Works - they're very cool, my crappy camera does not do them justice. Four are pink, and one is black, but all of them have something cool and irridescent about them - I love them :)

Stephanie, the Yarn Harlot - what can I say? She is awesome! She was totally funny - I must have laughed out loud at least 100 times - and everything she talks about really resonates, even though I've only been knitting for a little while :) I really enjoyed it, and wish I could have stuck around longer!

Sexy Knitters Club

Woohoo - NON FRUMP! I've just joined the Sexy Knitters Club, and the knit-along.

I've decided to knit the "
Sizzle" by Wendy Bernard, and just purchased the pattern. I also purchased some cotton yarn on sale at elann.com - hopefully, I can work out the gauge correctly, but if not, I like this yarn, so I'll use it for something else :)


I like cotton, and I like red, and this one seems to have some sheen to it - plus, sales are good :D Hopefully it will feel good too...

My problem will be how to finish the Bonita Shirt in time for the KAL - while I am just finished with the waist decreases (2nd diamond in lace pattern), that still leaves an awful lot of knitting to go. I will probably be starting the KAL late - if you follow along with me on this blog, that will most likely become a refrain of mine... I also wanted to make something for a friend of mine that I think will be a rather large project, so hhmmm... some decisions to make soon I think. sigh

Wish me luck!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, I was busy hanging out with my sister and my cousin, shopping, and hanging pictures over the weekend, and completely forgot to take pictures until it was too dark to get good pictures with my crappy camera.

I also had lots of ripping out and re-knitting on the Bonita shirt - apparently I can't count, and can't read a chart. sigh

I think that a trip to Macy's is in order to pick up a shower gift for this weekend - but even more exciting is the YARN HARLOT will be in town Saturday evening - I'm so super excited I can't STAND IT!!! My friend Deanna and I will be going to Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos, and since 10% of sales for that day are going to Doctors Without Borders in the name of Knitters Without Borders, I'm saving up!

Wooohoooo for Yarn Harlot! :D