Non-knitting News - It's a Boy!

... dog that is. :)

He's a cutie - SO sweet and lovey-dovey. He's hanging out with me all day when I'm working at home. His name is Muggsy, and we LOVE him!

We've had him for about two weeks, but while we were away, we had to send him to be doggy-sat because it was too overwhelming for him to be in a new place, with new people, and with 3 other new dogs for 5 days or so. We missed him tons though, and are happy to have him home again permanently.

He is SUCH a smart dog too - we have to be careful about locking the door into the garage from the house or he wants to follow us wherever we go! hehehe He even opened the door to the backyard (which opens inward) while were were at the gym last night! Our floors will never be the same, but we LOVE him! :D

Santa was good to me

Hello! I hope that you all had a lovely celebration of the holiday season - whatever you celebrate :)

Christmas knitting (unfortunately not pictured) was finished in the very last moments - at 2 am Christmas morning. WHEW!! I didn't bring the now broken sucky digital camera on our Christmas trip, so had to give things away without pictures.

After Christmas though, I did make a couple of baby hats for the fun of it, and since I have a couple of friends who are pregnant, it works out well. :)


These are done in Patons Grace cotton - a discontinued color, the leftovers from my Bonita shirt. I found the pattern in Knit It! Fall/Winter 2006 (which I can't find a website for), but it's apparently from Louisa Harding's book, Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. The real pattern is striped and SUPER cute, but this is the only yarn I had with me, so no stripes for these ones. The little girl version is super cute too :) I've never tried picot edging before, so I may tackle that soon. But, since I'm home now with my unfinished projects (like the mommy snug) sitting around waiting for me, I think I'll table that exploration for later ;)

Christmas was really nice - hung out with the in-laws and just relaxed in the wine country :) Lots of fun gifts were given and received, and tested out by all - especially the back massage pillow that my father in-law got, It's very loud, but feels really good! While Santa did not bring a new digital camera this year, he did bring a new all-in-one printer, which is AWESOME. I've been wanting that for over a year already, so I'm very happy :)

Well, back to work for me - hopefully all the Windows Update installations have fixed the problem on my work computer... :)

Happy New Year!!

My Life. My Blog.

Thanks Cara, for the idea :)

And Julie too!

Portrait is the perfect day, even though I was pretty chubby - better now, but still on the road...

Knitting progress on the Mommy Snug has been halted by Christmas gift knitting, but I did get pretty far on the back, so that's a good thing. I doubt I'll have it finished for her by Christmas though, which is rather sad - but not unexpected. The good thing is that non-handmade Christmas gifts have mostly been purchased online already, and a bunch of them showed up today!

Yay for not procrastinating this year!

no longer MIA

WOW
Have I mentioned that life is crazy?

If I haven't, LIFE IS CRAZY!!!!!!

Hawaii was AWESOME! I wore my Bonita shirt on the plane, and thank goodness it was comfy, because I was on that plane for a REALLY long time! We flew in on the day of the earthquake, landed just fine, but since the power was out at the airport, we got stuck ON THE PLANE for an extra 3-1/2 hours.

That's 8-1/2 hours

ON ... THE ... PLANE!!!

The rest of the trip was fab - we ended our crankiness with some food once we finally got to our destination, slept, and spent the next 8 days enjoying the beach, the pool, the sun, the scenery, and some yummy food :)

Job has been really good as well - things are moving along, I'm finding things pretty easy, and getting good feedback, so YAY! I'm officially an instructional designer!

New knitting:
Mommy Snug Interweave Knits 2006 (scroll down)
I hope it fits. I hope that I get it done before she has the baby!!
See that pooch in the middle? That's for the BABY! hahahahah I LOVE IT! My first-ever attempt at short rows. I don't think there are any holes, but I haven't totally stretched it out yet to see...

I've really missed reading blogs, so hopefully I'll be able to catch up one of these days and start leaving comments again... :) feel free to leave me one! I'm better at answering email...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So Close

Seriously - I mean, I know there's a bunch of ends to weave in as well (I hid them in the picture because it looks nicer), but look at this!!!

I mean really, SO CLOSE!!!!

I need more knitting time people, what's with all this work!?

and working extra hours!?!? who invented that?!?!

When it's this close, can you justify taking time off to just FINISH?!?!

Well, maybe if you hadn't just been laid off.

Or maybe if you had just been laid off, but you already found a new permanent postition.

At least the contracts for these 2 weeks before vacation are going pretty well. Except one where I couldn't do much work until yesterday at 3pm - which means I have only been able to work about 8 hours so far, instead of the 20 I expected to work.

ugh.

Once I finish, and weave in all the ends and stuff, I'll take a mirror picture to show you :)

have a great weekend everyone!

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

More Finished Objects!

A couple more FOs to show:


This is the fruit baby hat - see sidebar for pattern link. I made a couple of these in different colors, but have already given them away without taking pictures (oops!), so use your imagination for a lemon and a peach one :)

This one is the raglan baby sweater - again, see sidebar for pattern link. It's a really bad picture, I'm sorry - I'll take another one in the sunshine this weekend, then need to wrap these up and give them away! :) I hope the baby this is for gets big enough to wear it when it's still cold! I thought bigger would last longer, but I'm nervous it will be too big, oh well, we'll just have to see :)

I may be helping my sister figure out a pattern for a tube-top she saw in Cosmo that she wants to make - we have a sleeveless shell pattern to start from, but any ideas anyone has about tube-top construction (she should be able to hold it up OK, but better safe than sorry, right?) would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great long weekend! :)

On the Needles

Well, my camera is quite lame apparently and is unable to focus, so these are the best I've got:

Currently on the needles: Bonita Shirt, Interweave Knits - Summer 2006

I've enjoyed this one so far - I'm at the point of starting the waist shaping (and I'm just hoping I'm measuring from the right point, if not, I'd have to rip back quite a bit, and I don't want to do that). This was the first time I've tried the crochet chain cast-on, and I really did NOT enjoy that.

And, I wish I would have read Jenny's blog and seen her reference to Nona's awesome left-slanting decrease options before I started.(I like # 7 the best, go Nona) Can you see my problem here?

How about now?

Seriously irritating jagged left slant compared to the right. Oh well, I'm not starting over now, and I don't want to switch in the middle of the sweater. Next time, I am definitely using the fab-o-rama Nona left decrease.

P's Sweater

Thanks Ann, for my very first blog comment! :D

The pattern is from Tahki/Stacey Charles, Fall/Winter 2004, which doesn't seem to be shown on their site - although some of the patterns from this book are in the free patterns section (of course not this one). It's the #14 Fitted Cable Jacket, design by Rosemary Drysdale. I did start it in the medium size, make the ENTIRE back of it, held it up to my mom (who's about the same size as P) and went CRAP. Ripped the whole thing, and started the large size - then also extended the length about 2".

Apparently everything is short on P because she has a longer torso than average, and then with her swimmer shoulders, the large worked out better. :) She's actually a great swimmer, and I had the pleasure of watching her at a swim meet earlier this summer and was AMAZED - she usually gets around 2nd place at her meets, so REALLY good :D

Homeowners Drama

So, we now have a NEW sprinkler timer, and while there was some possibility of a hospital trip for stitches to DH's thumb, it was not necessary! So good things all around - the sprinklers go on and off BY THEMSELVES, EVERY DAY, and hopefully the grass will be happy :)

In other news, the "big" Labor Day plans include:

1. sleepover at our house with sister and cousin
2. painting bedroom furniture
3. DH working on Monday (while not a good vacation thing, this does mean more knitting time for me!)

wooohooo
I do however have some more FOs to post in the side bar, but for interest's sake, I'll post them here as well. Please excuse the terrible photos, I really need a new camera :)

Gramma's V-neck
This was actually originally made for me, but then I lost weight and it was too big, and since Gramma liked it, it is now hers :) Don't tell her I posted her picture, she'll get mad. By the way, that is Buttons on the couch - she's not normally allowed up there, but for picture purposes, it was OK. :)


P's SweaterI'm actually pretty proud of this one - this is the first sweater I started, second finished because I had to special order an orange zipper - who knew? But it has the cables, and the zipper (which I'm sure I didn't sew in correctly, but it's not moving that's for sure). The important thing is P likes it, so all is well. :) [P is my sister by the way]

Welcome

Well, I'm jumping on the blogging bandwagon. I don't know if anyone will ever read it except me, but I have fun reading other people's blogs, so here goes!
I am a knitter - not a great knitter, more of a newbie, but I have a lot of fun with it. I am currently knitting something from the summer Interweave Knits - the Bonita Shirt - and aside from the pain-in-the-butt cast on, it's going really well. I'll be posting some pictures some other time because I'm still getting the hang of this blog thing, stay tuned!

:)