Feelin' Lucky?

Yesterday was the company picnic and I must say we had just about the worst weather you can have for a summer picnic. I'm quite sure the sun decided to take the day off and go to the beach because all we had was rain and clouds. So unfortunately, much as I wanted to participate, the three-legged race and the egg toss were out. I can only imagine what those would have been like with half the company getting sloshed on free and, might I add cheap, beer. And let me just say, free and cheap are two totally different things when it comes to beer, and when mixed, bad results usually occur. Think back to just about any keg party you've ever been to and that about sums it up.

But it wasn't all bad. There was the raffle, where the prizes included such things as a mountain bike, knock-off Prada purses, and gift certificates to just about every over-priced resaurant in the area. We were all given ten tickets to place into any bag we wanted. Being the youngest person in the company, the only prizes I was really interested in were the mountain bike (though this was only slight interest because I haven't got a clue where I'd ride the thing), the $75 gift certificate to Best Buy, and the $50 gas card.

After the first 15 items were raffled off, it became quite apparent that our particular table was quite lucky. One woman won two items right off the bat and then everyone around me won at least once. I watched as the mountain bike and the Best Buy gift certificate were raffled off (again to people around me). Up next, the gas card. My friends were chanting my name cause they were sure I'd get it. I was not so sure having never won a raffle in my life.

The name was drawn and the woman called my name. I thought she was joking because of the chanting, but she wasn't. I couldn't believe it. That's two full tanks of gas for free. That is going to help with the commuting to class!

The excitement of the raffle was just about all I can stand so shortly after that I took off. I suppose if I'm forced to be at a company picnic it helps to win $50 dollars in free gas.

Knitterly Weekend

Talk about a knit filled weekend. I spent a bit of time with some knit buds on Saturday. The weather was phenomenal. It was the first day that it's been in the upper 70's, low 80's where the humidity was more than tolerable. Simply gorgeous, therefore, we decided to take advantage and knit outside.

After a few hours of that, Jill, my mom and I decided to take a little trip to the LYS where they (and every other store in that town) were having a sidewalk sale. Bags full of yarn at majorly discounted prices... Umm, yeah, I spent more than I should have, but I walked away with this...

The green one is a full bag of Debbie Bliss merino dk... That's 10 skeins. You're never going to believe what I paid for that. Are you ready? Are you sitting down? I don't want anyone to get hurt. I paid $30. Yep. That would have cost me at least $90! I love it when they have the sidewalk sale. Oh, and then there was the 6 skeins of discountinued Rowan Linen Drape for about $4 a ball. Seeing how that puke green one wasn't going so well with my skin tone I thought I'd get some more. (Granted, I realize that just a week or two ago I bought some subsititute yarn for that project. Apparently in my knitterly brain I haven't moved on from thinking I still need a replacement, but who can resist that color?!?)

And lest you thinkI haven't been knitting, let me just show you a couple of projects I've been working on. You'll see I have a pretty bad case of startitis...


Here's the "replacement" for the puke green shell. It's coming along nicely, though I haven't worked on it in a few days because I was distracted...






Probably distracted by this branching out scarf. I'm making a couple of them for Christmas presents and recently I've realized just how little time I have until then.





But even the threat of Christmas couldn't keep me from starting a pair of socks out of my very own handspun yarn. Yeah baby! I was a little concerned because the foot looked huge, but actually it fits pretty well.


Sunday was spent cleaning and knitting, then D & I got together and made dinner (taco night...mmmmm, I love me some tacos) After we ate went driving around looking at houses. He's thinking about buying one! Is that not exciting? And don't jump to conclusions here, I didn't say WE'RE thinking about buying one, I said HE'S thinking about buying one. But I'm so excited for him, I think it's great.

I love relaxing weekends like this. I actually feel like I've gotten things accomplished and that's awesome. I guess finishing one sock can do that! Yay for little projects!

Tag... I'm It...

Ok, so I was tagged.... twice.... with the same meme so I'd better get to doing it huh?

10 years ago: Well, I was 13 going on 14 ten years ago so that was about the time that I moved up to CNY and was dealing with being a shy, introverted teenager at a new school where all the kids had known each other since kindergarten. It was a bit of a rough time, but I got through it.

5 years ago: I was a Sophomore in college. I was loving school, meeting new friends, coming into my own as a person. It was a great time and right now I can’t believe that it was five years ago. It seems like yesterday…

1 year ago: I had moved back home after things didn’t work out with an ex-boyfriend. Though in hindsight, I don’t regret any of it. Just another one of those learning experiences.

Yesterday: I was registering for classes!!! I can’t believe I’m going back to school! It’s probably the best thing I’ve done for myself in a very long time!

Today: I informed my current employer that I am returning to school in the fall. They can either keep me on as a part-time employee or let me go. (I honestly don’t care one way or another. It’d be nice to not have to find a new job, then again, this environment sucks, but I’ll be here less so I suppose it balances out)

Tomorrow: Knitting with a few friends in the morning then heading down to my LYS because they’re having a great sale! Can’t resist those stinkin’ sales!

5 snacks I enjoy: Because I’m in my I-should-be-eating-healthy-foods phase: Hummus and pita bread, port wine cheese and crackers, Clementine tangerines, tostitos and hellavua good french onion dip (mmmmm, though not so healthy), and Haagen daz Chocolate ice cream (very not so healthy).

5 bands/singers that I know the lyrics of MOST of their songs: Better than Ezra, Dave Matthews, Postal Service, Coldplay, and Sara McLaglen (probably spelled wrong)

Things I would do with $100,000,000: Jeez, what wouldn’t I do? I’d go to school, anywhere I want without being restricted by money, I’d buy a house, I’d give some of the money to my brother so he could finally do something he wanted without being restricted by lack of funds. I’d pay off my parent’s mortgage. Not very exciting, but hey, it’s my million dollars!

5 locations I'd like to run away to: New Zealand (wool, duh!), Ireland (more wool and some potatoes), Australia, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

5 bad habits I have: I’m a slob in my own bedroom, clothes everywhere, nothing put away, yet if it were my own place I know I’d be anal… weird huh? I leave dishes in the sink. I’m really lazy sometimes. I can be selfish, but I try not to be (hey, I’m just being honest here!)

5 things I like doing: Knitting (yeah, you guys knew that), Spinning, reading, singing and just lounging around doing nothing.

5 things I would never wear: Ponchos, caplets, thongs (much to the disappointment of my boyfriend), velour running suits, and Velcro shoes.

5 TV shows I like: Survivor, LOST, Jeff Corwin (those are the only shows I will actually make time in my schedule for, plus I hate commercials so much that I think all I can handle are three shows!).

5 movies I like: Just 5! Are you kidding me? If I had to choose I’d say Waiting for Guffman, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter movies, View from the Top, the first Matrix movie, the rest of them sucked. Under the Tuscan Sun. I’d say that’s enough, I really love all movies so I can’t just pick 5!

5 famous people I'd like to meet: Oh man, I hate this question because I just don’t have any good answers for it. I’ve never been all that interested in meeting anyone famous. Ok, there is one person. Jane Goodall. That would just rock. Other than that, I’m good knowing the non-famous people I know.

5 biggest joys at the moment: My family and friends (who would I be without them?), my spinning, knitting, my cats, and the fact that I’m going back to school.

5 favorite toys: My new car, my spinning wheel. Basically those are the only toys I care about at this point.

How to love your car more...

How is it that I can love my car even more than I already do? Well, it takes a couple of very special things.

1. You have to have an old friend who was looking for a new home for a nice little car stereo with a CD player that your current car doesn't possess.

Check.

2. Then you have to have a really great boyfriend who's willing to install this lovely little piece of machinery.







Looks like I have that one covered too...






3. Then your dashboard has to throwup all over your kitchen table in an amazing mess of wires, screws and plugs...










4. After all these criteria are met, you're left with more love for a car than anyone in their right mind should possibly have....

Oh and a brand new stereo that you can play all your favorite CD's on while you commute to class. Yeah baby, yeah.

Geek would be the word for me...

Ok, so I didn't get a bunch of knitting done this weekend. In fact, the only time I knit at all this weekend was Saturday morning. Other than that, nada. Spinning? Well, that only happened on Sunday night after I finished a certain book...

Ok, ok, I admit it I was a bit obsessed with reading it. I couldn't really put it down except for the necessaries, i.e. eating, bathroom, sleeping. D was lucky to pull me away for more than two seconds!

Yeah, so I'm sure you've already guessed, but this was the book...

And the worst part is, I finished it in less than 24 hours. And the worst part after that is I can't stop thinking about it because the ending was just.... well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone but it definitely left you wanting more to read.

I'm dying for someone else to finish it so we can discuss. I know I'm a big geek, but judging by the amounts of people I saw reading it at the mall the minute they bought it, I'd say I'm not alone. At least I waited till I got home to wip it out and start reading!

Woohoo!!!!

So guess what finally arrived in the mail yesterday?????

MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

I can't even begin to describe how excited I am about this! Of course, this is where all the real work starts. My list of things to do just grew! But I'm looking forward to it so much! I never thought I could be this excited to go back to school!

Fantabulous Weekend

It really was fantabulous, I wasn't lying about that!

First off, Saturday morning was spent knitting among friends, which I have to say, I love doing. I was working on my linen drape shell. I realized, at some point during all this knitting ( mind you, I'm half way finished the second side) that I just have a knack for picking colors that totally clash with my skin tone. I ask you, what's with that?

And so I present, what to do when you're down on your knitting luck...

What to do? Why, go to your favorite local yarn store with a couple of friends while the store is having it's annual 20% off sale, then you spend a couple hours decided what you think would work better for you and you buy it.

For me, it happened to be some Dale of Norway Svale that seemed to be the right color for my skin tone, and it was the right gauge for the project.

What to do with the nearly finished shell? Well, that's a little trickier. You finish it then try to dye it with some RIT dye. Even if it turns out the most horrid color you've ever seen, at least you had some fun with it right? Of course, this is all hypothetical and yet to be tried.

Then after that, if your spirits still aren't raised from the let down of finding out you have no sense of what colors work with you skin tone, I suggest you throw all that aside and head to a baseball game.

Granted, about halfway through the first inning, you realize that baseball just isn't your cup of tea, and the real reason why you came is that you just can't seem to resist the $4.50 nachos that you can buy at the concession stand. Plus, you didn't have any other plans for the evening so you thought, why not?

Lucky for you, you brought your knitting bag and, much to the suprise of those sitting around you, you decided to wip it out and start on another shell out of a yarn that works better with your skin tone.


And because your boyfriend is just the sweetest, he's willing to take a picture of you at the game, knitting away on your new project.

But he doesn't mind, because he's there with his buddies.
And even though they think it's kind of weird that you're knitting at a baseball game, they still think you're cool for even going.

At some point, you're going to find it kind of funny that the announcer said for everyone to stay alert while at the game because a foul ball can cause you injury if you're not careful. But you think it's ok, because everyone around you is paying attention (remember, they actually came to see the game, whereas you came to do some knitting) and they'll let you know that there's an incoming foul ball by acting crazy and jumping up out of their seats, thereby blocking you from said foul ball. Again, this is a hypothetical and probably won't happen.

And if that still doesn't cheer you up, what you really have to do is find a cat, one that's particularly cute and knows what buttons to push to make you melt. This cat, for instance, knows how cute it is. And it knows that you will run for the camera when it sits next to the fish bowl eyeing the fish, but when you retreive said camera, it will act as if it was never interested in them and that all it really wanted to do was take a little nap... Cat's are sneaky like that, you'd better watch out!

And if none of that helps, I really have nothing else for you. All I know, is it's what worked for me!

You are the best!

I'd like to thank everyone again for your kind words, you're all so sweet and supportive!


I did promise to show you my spinning. I've been knitting too, but honestly, there are only so many pictures you can show of just a few more rows of stockinette stitch finished!

Honestly, my finger is in there for proportion, however I don't think it's giving the desired effect because it looks huge. Or maybe it is giving the desired effect because a huge finger shows just how thin the singles are that I spun.

This is the same roving that I started drop spindle spinning a long time ago. I love how, overall, it looks bluish gray, but when you look at it in the light it makes all the other colors shine through. My plan for this is to make a 2 ply yarn to make a pair of socks. It's the first time I've actually had a plan for my spinning rather than to just spin for the fun of spinning.

If you didn't catch it the first time, here's a better picture showing the thinness of my spinning. Again my ginormous finger is in there for reference. I'm going for a yarn that I'll have to use really tiny needles with. I'm thinking 1's for a pair of socks.

I've finished the back of the Linen Drape shell I'm working on. Like I said before it's not that interesting to see a couple more rows of stockinette finished. I'll probably post that when it's all finished.

A couple of nights ago we lost power from about 5pm to 1am and I decided to start another branching out scarf. I thought this was a good idea because, for me, it's really hard to read the pattern and pay attention to anything else and well, having no power, there was nothing else to pay attention to. I only finished a couple repeats of that before I decided candlelight wasn't the best light to be working on a semi-complicated pattern with.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'd like to thank you all for your kind words of sympathy. I know I'm not the only one who's ever been through something like this. Ironically enough, the day I decided to post that we've broken up D and I ended up talking and both of us want to work this out. No one ever said the roads of life and relationships are without potholes.

My heart goes out to those in London who are dealing with the tragedy there. It's strange to think that my family and I were just there not a month or two ago. It felt like such a safe city and to find out that they are just as vulnerable as anyone else took me back. Again, my thoughts are with them.

I know I haven't been writing much recently. I really haven't been in the mood. I'm only writing now because this is pretty much like my journal, documenting things that happen in my life. D and I broke up. To write it down makes it all the more permanent and I just was avoiding writing it. I don't want to get into why or when or how. I just want to move on and stop feeling the way that I've been feeling.

It's amazing how much spinning and knitting has been helping me. Spinning mostly. I just sit there and focus on the fiber and by putting all of my attention into that my mind is not left to wander to places I don't want it to go. I've been spinning very fine yarn so that takes even more of my attention. And I've been reading. I haven't been reading anything good, but I've been reading and that helps too.

So now you know why I haven't been posting much and I'm going to try to get into regular posting again, we'll see how that goes.