A Penguin in Central Park...

I have been knitting my little fingers to the bone lately. I have the whole front and back of my Central Park Hoodie blocking on my bed as we speak. Which reminds me, I fucking hate to block. The whole process takes way to long and the only place I have to do it in my tiny apartment is on the bed, which makes afternoon naps (or an afternoon delight, if J were actually home) out of the question. Anyway, I got the whole body blocked so that when I get the sleeves done I can immediately start on the hood and get this bad boy sewed up by monday. That is my goal anyway, lets see if it happens. As it stands now, I am about half way through the first sleeve and I am beginning to wonder how it would look as a vest instead of a sweater. Of course we may have a larger problem. When I got the sweater all blocked out it looked HUGE! I suppose I will never know until I get it on, but as it stands it may fit J better than me. I made the 52" version, because I have huge knockers, but I probably should have jumped down a size or two. of course, it's not like I swatched or anything. There is a little pattern snafu on the front right panel, and I accidentally added 3" to the length (Because I REFUSE to frog it). Oh well, now we just play the waiting game.

I also made another Pasha, since I can't get over that pattern. I ended up giving one to Harley, and my sister says she is still carrying it around all over the place. I felted this one, which would have turned

out great, except I seamed her all together and stuffed her before I felted, since I wanted the seams to blend in. Well, when I pulled her out of the wash, she had gotten really fat, like Cupcake Royal had relocated to my dryer. So in a nutshell, her white belly is not near as felted as her black and yellow parts. Also, one of her wings sticks out, straight from her side. J thinks it's funny, so I haven't really worried about it all that much. 

In other news, I went to a new knitting group last night in Renton. I joined the Ravelry group like a month ago, and for various reasons had yet to make it to a got together. Honestly, i was also a little afraid that they would all turn out to be fire breathing or something. I actually had to give myself a pep-talk before going in. I mean really, I have moved to Eastern Europe alone, I could certainly go an sit with some people in a Starbucks. Well regardless, they turned out to be really nice, and didn't look at me like a was a freak, encroaching on their happy established little group. J thinks going knitting will be good for me, that only working and sitting at home is making me a little batty. Maybe he is right. But I had stuff to do this week, like officially change my name to J's last name. I even found the elusive Social Security office in Bellevue. 

Happy Birthday To Me...

So today, I turn 28. I have had a hard time with turning 28, mainly because it seems so freakin' close to 30, and 30 still seems old to me. In addition to turning 28, I also had to trot down to the DMV today to get a new driver's license. Which means I had to bid farewell to my lovely Alaska driver's license (that allowed me to get tax exempt on every thing but food and gas) for a boring old Washington State one. It took me about 2 hours to get in and out of the DMV, mainly because this was apparently the only day of the week when new drivers can take their driving tests. I kind of thought it was funny, how nervous they all were. 

One little asian girl sitting next to me kept asking me what the test is like, and I had to explain that not only did I take my driving test 12 years ago, but I also took it in a different state, so I could really be of no help to her. (insert picture of Weasely, because he is absolutely the cutest thing ever when he sleeps like this.)

But having to get a new license also left me without a lazy excuse for not changing my last name to J's. It only took me 11 months to get around to it. For the longest time he said that he didn't care what my last name was, but when I told him about needing to get my license renewed he said "Oh, now you can change your name!" Apparently it was more important to him than he had let on. 

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In other news, I am working away on my Central Park Hoodie. I have the back and the front, left done. No pictures yet, because I am lazy, but to tide you over, here is a picture of Teply and her amazing tongue instead. 

This picture was actually taken by J after he had an entire day off work and by himself at home. When I came home from work there was an entire sink full of dishes, a hamper full of laundry and 156 pictures of the dog and cat on the camera. 

If I didn't love him so much I may have had to be angry, but I forgave after he cooked me dinner. Which consisted of a single pork chop. I honestly wonder how he survived as a single man? 

I started a group...

So, today I started a Ravelry group. Since there seems to be a group for everything, I thought I would try and find one for people who love their mutts. I mean, have you seen the pictures of my precious? I have a major thing for my dog, because she is a super hero. But low and behold, there are not Ravelry groups for mutts, which I find surprising, since people tent to start groups for anything. I even found one today for people who like the movie Labyrinth, so I figured if there were groups out there that can find 83 members who worship David Bowie in a mullet wig and tights, then there must be some out there that love their ugly (or uniquely beautiful) mixed breed dogs. I called my group Mutt Puppy. I mainly picked this name because I couldn't think of anything else at the time. But whatever, I guess I could have called it "The Teply the Wonder Dog Group" but I am sure most people won't get it. 

The Joke May Be on Them...

This morning, I stumbled out the door, tea and toast in hand to go to work, only to be greeted by this: 

Needless to say I

 was perturbed, but that honestly lasted only a little while. I mean, I have good insurance that will cover the costs, but the really frustrating 

part is that they broke my window and only stole my GPS system. After my initial frustration subsided, I began to find the entire situation relatively amusing. To illustrate, I will go through a list of all the great stuff that was in my car just asking to be stolen:

 - 1 Gallon of Grey Goose Vodka

 - over $500 in camping gear

 - Several bottles of prescription drugs (Ok, so they were asthma pills, but still, criminals don't have time to read labels in the dark)

 - Several ounces of herbal, recreational material (if you get my drift)

 - 2 iPods

 - An XM satellite radio and an iTrip

Obviously it was a smash and grab job, but still, a lot of this stuff was pretty obvious. Of course, the last laugh may be on the way-word thieves, since J broke the GPS by "accidentally" dropping it in a river while camping last weekend. Obviously alcohol was being consumed at the time. 

Oh Inga...

Oh Inga, the saga you have now gone through. I actually finished my inga hat a few weeks ago. I love the pattern, and even thought I kept reading on Ravelry about how it was too big and how you should shave a few rows off the bottom, I kept right on knitting. 

As you can see, it is rather large, so I decided to take matters into my 

own hands. 

I took Inga and shoved her in the dryer on Low. I checked on her every 10 minutes to see how she was progressing. And by a miracle of the Gods, it came out to be a normal size. Ok, I say normal size as a loose term. She is a little tight now, not so tight that you can't get it on, but tight enough that t

he hat keeps riding up when you have it on. Therefore Inga

 may be destined for the Gift Pile. Which has gotten a little larger lately. Of course, no one ever regretted being totally prepared with tons and tons of beautifully hand knit gifts for the Holidays. 

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In other news,

 I was driving home from work yesterday I passed this car on Interurban Parkway. Now I am no expert on Washington State Driving laws, since I am still have an Alaska  Drivers License ( At least for another 9 days, then it will expire and I will actually have to get a Washington one. Which makes J happy since i am out of lazy excuses for not changing my last name), but I am pretty sure that your back window should be unobstructed with issues of the Seattle Times. But what do I know? Yesterday I also had a woman come up to me at work to inform me that her son had made "a rather large mess" in the bathroom and that I "needed to take care of it". And then the bitch walked out the door. I was in shock. First of all, if my kid made a mess somewhere, I would clean it up, I wouldn't go and tell an employee. And secondly, I have a fucking Master's Degree!!!! Yes, I realize that my degree doesn't make me above anyone else, but every time something happens at my job that pisses me off, I want to run through the halls screaming " I have the same degree as the department director and I am more qualified to run this whole place than the CEO!!!!" Ugh, at least all of this just gives me the motivation to continue my job hunt.

What Partial Unemployment Will Do To You...

Not working is really beginning to get me down. I mean, I work but for the most part my piddly hours I get now are consumed by standing outside of an airplane with a clicker in my hand, counting everyone that goes on the plane and telling them that "No, you can't go on the 747, sorry" or "No, this was not the plane that Kennedy's body flew back to Washington DC on". What's with people? Why are they so morbid? The presence of dead people is more than enough to make me want to stay away from somewhere. Of course they could be brought on by all the horror movies that take up a majority of my movie watching time.

Anyway, I took a whole bunch of pictures today of my new projects to post, but for the life of me, I cannot find the stupid cord to connect the camera to the computer so I can upload them. I haven't really looked that hard, so I am sure I will just make J look for it when he gets home from work. I have been knitting hats like crazy, I think they are my new thing. Or I just like the instant gratification of being able to make something in a day or two. I guess everyone is going to get a hat for winter holiday this year. 

I started making J a pair of Earl Grey socks for our anniversary. I figured if I started 2 months in advance then I would be able to get them done on time. I also finally finished my Inga Hat, only to discover that the pattern was made to fit a Cone Head. So I shrank it in the dryer. I have the entire process documented for posterity, but alas, the camera cord issue again rears it's ugly head. 

Also, out of boredom, I have started cooking. In the last week, I have made 2 pots of chili, 6 quiches, 7 loaves of bread, and a giant pot of chicken and rice soup. If I could eat sugar, I would have no doubt made an amazing amount of brownies, cupcakes and muffins. I guess I could use Splenda, but honestly, it kind of makes me farty, which is irritating when in groups. J hasn't complained, he likes all the food. When I work I get lazy  about making dinner, and left to his own devices he would eat deep fried burritos 3 times a day. 

Wow, It's Been A While...

So I haven't posted since May 26th. Lots has gone on since then. I got a contract position at work that got me through the summer and now I am at part-time and collecting a miniscule amount of unemployment. I apply to an absurd amount of jobs on a daily basis, and have several "almost" jobs come my way.
On an upside though, I have knitted an absurd amount of hats. I have an actual stack of hats. I guess I know what everyone is getting for "Winter Holiday" this year. I stopped eating sugar and have lost 4 pants sizes in 7 weeks (WooHoo!!!), and I am making a conscious effort to be more positive. Anyway, I am making a vow to make my posts more frequent now, and to actually take pictures of all the fun stuff in my life and share them with the world, because honestly that is why I read other people's blogs.
I have tomorrow off, maybe I will start my new and improved blog then.

Memorial Day Weekend...

So I am now on the last day of the first 4 day weekend I have had in years. Ok, technically I went and worked for 4 hours yesterday, but all that involved was standing in the sun and talking to museum visitors, which isn't really work. It is socializing with a paycheck. I had big plans for this weekend though. J worked every day so I decided that I would work my little fingers to the bone and try to get the back of the Apres Ski Hoodie in the most recent Interweave Knits magazine done. But alas, I have worked exactly 2 rows on it. For some reason, since I started working at a yarn store, knitting has been the last thing I want to do. 

But this weekend I did go and buy J his birthday present (7 new pairs of boxer shorts and 2 shirts), go to lunch with Maureen, go to dinner with Kim and have coffee with a long lost cousin I haven't seen in probably 15 years. I also cut the dog's toenails and gave her a bath, during which she acted like I was dipping her in a fat of lye. J and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie with Simon on Saturday. It was stupid, and we all agreed that that was $9 and 2 hours we couldn't get back. We ended the evening at The Pickled Onion playing pool and watching a guy with a HUGE mullet dance with himself.

Today I have spent most of my time laying around. It's nice to do that sometimes. I read a bit out of a new batch of infertility books I got in the mail last week.  Turns out that the #1 cause of infertility is people who don't have enough sex. I was floored. I mean can you imagine being a doctor and have a couple come in because they aren't pregnant and discovering that they only have sex once a month. Are people really that stupid? I mean sure, it is possible to have sex once a month and have a whole litter of children, but if they don't take into account the timing of this sex, then nothing is going to happen. And how good can sex once a month really be? Why bother being married to someone you don't want to make time to have sex with? People are just so uneducated. At least I know that a lack of sex is not our problem. 

I also had this big long discussion with my Rabbi about infertility being a punishment from God. He assured me that was not the case. I mean, I knew that is wasn't all along, but it just felt better having a "Higher" official tell me so also. Apparently Jews are all about the miracles of modern medicine. He ended the conversation with "anything that is going to bring more Jewish children into the world has to be ok with God." However, at this point we have decided to take a break from treatment. We are both going to work on loosing some weight, and we are really starting to seriously talk about moving back to Alaska at the end of the summer. J wants to spend more time with his dad, and at his cabin. I want to be around my mom since she has some rather serious health problems. In addition, a job that I am perfectly qualified for at the local museum will be opening in August. 

We are still certainly in the discussion phases, but at this point both of us really want to go back. We will see what actually happens when the time comes. 

Hey, does this blog make me look bitter?

So I was going back, reading some of the other posts I have made to this Blog, and I have come to a conclusion. I sound like a bitter, unhappy, and pissed off woman. This is totally not the case. I am semi fun, most of the time. People occasionally tell me I am amusing, and I am awesome in bed. I do have interests other than knitting and getting pregnant. So, here are some things that you may not know about me:

1. I am totally in love with my husband, even though people who don't know us well usually think we hate each other. 

2. I have every season of Highlander on DVD and I watch them often. Well all of them except Season 6, because I have chosen to pretend that season doesn't exist. 

3. I read practically anything and everything, from the classics to harlequin romance novels. And, if a book has a vampire love triangle in it, send it my way.

4. I secretly want to make soap, and I not so secretly want 

to decorate cakes for a living.

5. I have loved museums since I was 4 years old. 

6. I really don't hate J's cat as much as I sa

y I do.

7. I have a thing for men with black hair and blue eyes.

8. I love Fred Astaire movies.

So there it is, some things to prove to you, and me that I am 

a totally normal person. On a different note, Teply and I had a little photo shoot today. She was miserable, as you can see in the photos. First I put her in the Hug, but she gave me a death look, and then Weasely started fucking with her, teasing in a feline way. Th

en I tried to put Foliage on her, but she just tried to eat it.

So I went in search of another model, that wasn't me. I found Boy, and set him up to be my model. I think I might stick with him in the future. I put foliage on him. And then I got out this green cable knit hat that I made in January. It looks super weird on Boy, but on a real human, 

it is pretty cool looking. 

On a different note, J and I went to Oliver's Twist last night to meet up with some Grad. School frien

ds of mine. We took Simon with us, since he was just hanging around anyway. I swear, sometimes

 he is like my other husband, except I don't want to have sex with him. Anyway, after we left the bar and were driving to the International District to eat at Honey Court, 

Simon started telling me how J and I had the perfect marriag

e and he wanted someone that he could be himself around, like J can be around me. I though it was sweet, that someone else looks at our relationship and thinks it's as great as we do. We think it's kind of funny, how people think we d

on't really get along, but I guess when you have known each other since you were kids like J and I have, you interact with each other differently.  I 

told Simon that if he wants to get a girl like me, he had better move out of his mom's house first.

Yeah!!!! I got a New Job!!!!!!

So, a little over a week ago I was on Ravelry just checking stuff out. I belong to the Sheepless in Seattle group, and I was just poking around, catching up on posts since I had been on the SUPER VACATION and had missed out on two whole weeks worth of posts. I ran across a post from Sue from littleknits.com saying that she was looking for some employees. Since lately I have been in the habit of applying for anything that seems interesting, I sent off a resume and within the hour she had called me. We set up an interview, but honestly I didn't think much of it. I have been on alot of interviews lately and I always hear one of two things, "We are really looking for someone with mure museum experience" or "You are over qualified for this position". Honestly I see what the problem is most of the time.

I have a reasonable amount of experience in museum collections, but since i have spent the last year and a half slaving away in an education department for a boss I am reasonably convinced is Satan's great-aunt, I have lost that time. Which was ok. It was a full time job with benefits. And, had my life gone according to plan, that would have been super, and I would be getting ready to go on Maternity leave right now. Regardless, I digress.

As for being over qualified? Well I started applying to jobs that just sounded interesting, not necessarily museum jobs. I completly understand why I haven't gotten any of those positions in the past either. I mean, quite frankly it is super suspicious that someone who has apparently spent their entire life trying to work in a museum wants to leave a job in a museum and go work in a bookstore. I see the problem with that. Employeers will think of me as either someone that will only stick around long enough to find something better, or as a nut job that can't make up her mind.

Ok, back to the new job. I sat up an interview with Sue, which turned out to be the most un-orthadox interviews I have ever been to, since I am usually sat in front of a committee and asked questions like "describe a situation in which you used your leadership skills?"Anyway, she seemed super nice, if not a little hectic, and I was on a complete sensory overload standing ther amidst all that awesome yarn. Nevertheless, to make a long story short, she offered me a job.

And let me tell you, words cannot describe the sheer glee I felt when I got to hand my letter of resignation to my supervisor. Granted I do feel guilty about leaving everyone else at work, but I did a little dance at the thought of not having to have any more "short meetings" with her. I have been talking to my department director and I am going to get to stay on part-time here, but only doing education programs.

On a different note I thought I would post some pictures I took in Ephesus, just because they are pretty, and I always like to look at other people's pictures on their blogs.

Now, I have seen some cool things in my life, but Ephesus was truly spectacular and I completly recomend going there. Of course, traveling around Turkey is a moderately shady experience.

Back Home, Project Updates, and the Devil Boss....

So after a much needed holiday in Europe, I have now touched down back in Seattle. Honestly, by day 8 or so of the trip both J and I were ready to come home. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t ready to go back to work or anything, but I was ready to sleep in my own bed and watch something on TV besides BBC World News. We went on a cruise of the Mediterranean, which was nice. I had never been on a cruise before, and am not completely convinced that I am a fan of them. Firstly, out of the 3,500 passengers on the ship, probably 100 of them spoke English. Therefore it was a little lonely, and more than once both of us made the comment that we wished we had brought some friends along, because we were tired of talking to each other. I slept a lot though, a byproduct of having a cabin without a window, it could be noon or midnight and we wouldn’t have known the difference. We just decided to tell people that we never left our room, which is true, but we weren’t doing what they think we were, well at least not the whole time.
Venice was nice, crowded, but nice. The really cool place was Turkey. We went to Izmir and Istanbul. At Izmir we saw the ruins of Ephesus, which were amazing, and crowded. And then in Istanbul we went to the Spice Market and the Justinian Cisterns. The latter of which is when J announced that he should have proposed to me there. I told him he could try that one on his next wife. Dubrovnik, Croatia was really neat too. I almost bought some knitted socks from a woman on the street but she wanted an outrageous amount of Euros for them and she was kind of bitchy. I think she was cultureist against Americans. So I ended up buying some embroidery with crotched edges for $10 from a very nice lady by a big fountain.
While I was gone I started working on some Endpaper Knits with some Red and blue Kauni I got at Acorn Street. I was all excited about the variegate colors, but I am almost done with the first one and it hasn’t changed colors at all. So now, I am probably going too end up with two mitts that don’t match. Of course that could be kind of cool, you never know. I have also made a vow not to start anything new until I have finished all of the projects I currently have going. Well maybe not all of them, since I am sure the green Aran sweater will never actually get finished. I need to finished Sally, and send her to my niece. Sally was supposed to be her 4th birthday present, but since her birthday is in 2 days and Sally still doesn’t have a dress, underwear, legs or hair. My Feather and Fan wrap is almost done, but I am going to be cutting it close on yarn. And I was going to make my mom something for Mother’s Day, but now I am just thinking I am going to send her a Pasha I made awhile back and call it good. She has also wanted some fingerless gloves for a few years now, so I may just send her the wonkey colored Endpaper Mitts.
On a whole different note, I had a small victory/setback at work today. It is no secret that I loathe my job with every fiber of my being. Actually let me rephrase that, I loathe my supervisor with every fiber of my being. Several times now I have been “called onto the carpet” by her for ridiculous things. An example is that I don’t make enough coffee throughout the day. Now how I became the office coffee maker is beyond me, apparently my predecessors were the office coffee makers and I am just continuing the role. However, for the sake of my own sanity I have been diligently making coffee several times a day, just to keep her happy, and to make my life easier until I can find another job and gleefully turn in my two weeks notice. So today I trudged down to the lounge to make more coffee, just as I have been told. While I was in there the big boss of the department walked in and we started chatting (he graduated from the same Master’s program as me). He made some comment about how I must have taken the last of the coffee and I said that no, that I didn’t even drink coffee, and I was just making more so we didn’t run out. He looked at me and said “Why, that’s not your job” I told him that I had been told several times that it was my job and that I was to do it throughout the day. He then told me to go with him, while he walked to my boss’s boss’s office. He then called my boss into the office and proceeded to tell both of them, rather forcefully that it was not my job to make coffee, or clean the refrigerator, or refill the sugars and creamer and that I was not to do them any more. It was at this point that I have some very mixed emotions. Firstly I was glad that someone finally stood up for me at work, but at the same time I knew that I would pay for this later. My supervisor has a habbit of calling me into a meeting to discuss all of the things I am doing wrong, a few days after she gets in trouble for something. The first time she neglected to do a background check on a volunteer that turned out to have a criminal record, I got screamed at for an hour about my dress code. Another time she neglected to file an incident report about security being called on one of her volunteers, and I got berated about my inability to make coffee or keep the staff refrigerator clean. And the most recent time she got a complaint from a visitor that she didn’t handle properly and I got yelled at again for my dress code, and not smiling enough. So now I am just wondering what I am going to get in trouble for now. And just for the record I would like to add that I dress just like everyone else in my department, but she wants me to wear heels, and I refuse.
I honestly think she is trying to make me quit, but my office mates promise me that isn’t what’s going on, she just has no idea how to be a supervisor. I just think she is evil.

I Need A Hug...

I stopped knitting the "husband socks". I got half way through turning the heal on the first one when it dawned on me, I Hate Knitting Socks. I have always hated knitting socks, mainly because they are on such small little needles and have such tiny yarn, and it makes my thumbs hurt and my eyes ache and I just hate it, so I am going to give up on sock knitting, at least for the time being anyway. 

Instead I went and got some Lambs Pride Bulky and started knitting a cabled version of version of Hug. I have always like hug, but I must admit that I was confused about how to decrease and increase with ribs, so I just didn't. Instead I plopped a double twist cable in the middle and sis all of my increases and decreases in the cable pattern. I now have one whole sleeve done and am halfway through the back. I would post pictures, but I am terrified that this is going to be a waste of some perfectly good Lambs Pride, so I will hold off on bragging until I have something to brag about.  

I also checked out a new knitting store today, the Knittery in Renton. Honestly, the selection is nothing to scream about, but the owner was nice, allowing me to sit, drink my tea and browse through the pattern boos for at least an hour. As I was walking out I saw some Manos Silk Blend in some really awesome colors. I bought 2 red multicolored skeins and 2 vibrant greens. All I could think was what cool Endpaper Mitts they would make. But then I came home and checked the pattern, and it calls for Fingering weight, and the yarn I just spent $50 on was DK. I think I might do a swatch just to see of I can get it to the right gage, but I am not very optimistic at this point. 

Saturday J and I went to an event at my work. We walked around with my co-workers and got drunk from samples from microbrews. Weird beers, like chocolate, and almond flavors. And I got drunk. Not sloppy, falling down, puking in the bathroom, but a nice buzz going at least. I chatted with people, was even friendly. I didn't feel like I had a cloud following me around like I usually do. For one entire night I wasn't thinking about how shitty my fertility drugs make me feel. I wasn't embarrassed to be seen by other's because of the Acne that has become rampant because of the PCOS. I was even kind of happy that I wasn't pregnant, so that I could actually participate in something, so that I could actually sort of let loose and have fun a little. J even noticed it too he kept telling me that I "looked happy" and that he hadn't seen me let go and just be me in a long time.

That is all I have thought about for the last two days. Today i was a lunch with my friend Desiree and I was telling her how I feel like J has every right to leave me, because he married me under false pretenses. He wants children and I can't give him any, he should be able to go and be with someone that can give him what he wants. She told me I was being crazy, and even I know I am being crazy. But the strange thing was, Ja and I sat on our couch tonight, me knitting on my Hug and him watching the NCAA Championship game. At the beginning of half time he turned to me and said "If we don't have kids, just think of all the great trips we can go on."  

If I can't give him a baby, I might as well knit him some socks...

I started a round of progesterone two days ago, to get myself all revved up for another round of Clomid. Therefore, all I have eaten in a day and a half is a banana and some granola, the thought of anything else makes me want to hurl. Part of me wonders how I am ever going to handle being pregnant if I can’t even take some hormones that my body produces naturally (Ok, so my body doesn’t exactly produce them naturally, which is why I am in the situation that I am in at the moment, but it is supposed to produce them). So, in a nut shell, I feel like shit. I have no idea what I am going to do if the Clomid doesn’t do the trick and I have to move on to bigger and bad’er drugs. My sister told me to take them at night, but I am already doing that. So I guess this is all part of the sacrifice. I told J that this kid had better be worth all of this trouble.

I also started knitting a pair of socks of J last night. I can’t explain it, but I just had this strong urge to create something for him. He really wants a sweater, but since I can’t even seem to make a sweater for myself, how the hell I am I going to make him one, he is way bigger than me, and any sweater for him would take years. Who knows, maybe the urge will hit me at some point. Anyway, I have dubbed these “The Husband Socks”.

I think the yarn is kind of ugly, but he said that he wanted them to be ugly. I think I got it in the SALE bin at Weaving Works a while back. I can’t pass up sock yarn on sale, even though I don’t make many socks. When I asked him how long the cuff should be, he told me that he wanted them to come up to his knees, I laughed and said no, that I wasn’t ready to put that much time into some socks, especially since I could find a pattern for knee-high men’s socks. I have a sneaking suspicion that he wanted to wear them while he played Basketball. He has a penchant for ugly sporting clothes.

Many of you may look at this picture and wonder why on earth I would knit socks on DPN. Why not Magic Loop, or those turbo needles? What about two at a time socks? Well honestly, I like DPN. I found magic loop confusing, and don't even get me started on figuring out two-at-a-time socks. But I also like knowing that this is the way people made socks for tons of years, not to mention people are always impressed when they see you juggle all of those needles.

Also, as you can tell by the picture, I am back at work this Saturday, hanging out with my old men. I have to say though, they were very impressed with my knitting and told me that they want to see a completed pair od socks next saturday. I told them not to hold their breath.

Singing the Praises of Ravelry, And Some Other Stuff

So after what seemed like years of waiting (it was actually more like a week) I got my invitation to ravelry. All I can say is WOW! I honestly don't know how I lived without it. I am so bad a picking yarns for projects, and this wonderful web page could get rid of the problem permanently.

I also got my new set of Harmony Wood interchangeable needles this week. I couldn't wait, so I immediately cast on for a feather and fan wrap. I am quickly developing a love affair with these needles. The only way I can describe them is "buttery" They are just so wonderful and smooth to work with. The connection to the cable is a little rough sometimes but so far I am totally pleased.

I even got so excited that I brought my project and new needles to work with me today, since all I am doing is sitting around, listing to a training program. The wrap is coming along nicely and I like that I can zone out watching TV and still knit it without making any major mistakes. I want to have it done for my cruise of the Greek Islands that is coming up next month. I have visions of standing on the bow of the ship with my lovely wrap snug about my shoulders, and my loving husband blowing kisses in my direction. The actual trip will no doubt be fat from that vision, but a girl can dream can't she. I picked up the yarn at the Weaving Work's discontinued yarn sale (yes I went back and braved the piles and piles of novelty yarn again) It's Dalegarn Tiur in a pretty blur green. I scavenged the entire shelf and got 7 skeins of a blur-green color, the back light of the computer screen doesn't come close to doing it justice in the picture below.

Also, as you can see on the computer screen, the Spring issue of Knitty is fresh off the presses. I am not completely inspired by any of the patterns this time around, but I always love the features.

A Big Setback!!!!

So I know this blog is supposed to be about knitting, but I have just had a big setback on the infertility front. My HR at work has finally gotten an answer for me from the inusrance company and it turns out that they do not cover ANY treatment, from diagnosis on. Ugh, i want to scream and throw things at the wall, or at my insurance company, I can't quite decide.

On a happy note, I am almost done with Foliage from Knitty.com. It looks good, but I definately messed up a while back, I am just too lazy to frog it yet again. Now I think I will just give it to someone who won't know the difference.

I also got the pattern for the Central Park Hoodie last week and am considering starting on that, but I don't have any yarn for it right this second. I did go to The Weaving Works this weekend because they were having a "discontinued" yarn sale. I thought I was going to find some AMAZING deals, but in fact they only had ugly synthetics and eyelash yarn on sale. So I splured and got some yummy hand painted yarn to make another Foliage with.

I might as well spend all my money on yarn, since I won't be spending it on a baby.

The First...

I always had the idea that bloggers were a group that had an overwhelming ego. The fact that someone would think that other people would want to read all about their lives seemed strange to me. But at the same time, I had a realization, I loved reading blogs. I loved everything about it. I loved seeing all of the projects that other knitters are working on and wanted to show off my projects for praise or jeers, whichever seems appropriate at the time.
So, after years of reading other people’s blogs about knitting, and life, and whatever else they feel like talking about, I have finally broken down and decided to write one of my own. Perhaps other people will read it, perhaps they will not. Who knows, but at least I will get my frustrations and victories out there for everyone to see.

Well, here goes…

I have been knitting forever, I can’t even remember a time in my life when I didn’t knit, kind of like I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know how to read. I was a very sickly kid, in and out of hospitals all the time, and I was bored. I read a lot, and colored a lot of pictures, but I was still absurdly bored. I remember that my grandmother taught me to knit, but I don’t remember learning. My first completed project was a scarf fit for a giant made out of a nasty, blue Read Heart yarn on giant aluminum needles (that I still have in my needle stash as a matter of fact). It was shaped basically like a ten foot long triangle. Even as a child I thought it was ugly. I hid it in my closet and refused to look at it. It didn’t match the vision I had for it in my mind. That was basically how I approached my knitting for a vast majority of my life. I didn’t read patterns, I would just get out some yarn and needles and make something. When it didn’t look like I wanted it to, I would throw it down in disgust and walk away. Therefore I knitted a lot of scarves.
When I moved to Seattle three years ago, I stumbled across The Weaving Works, a store in the University District. I had never really had nice yarn, so this store was a sensory overload for me. I finally decided on some amazing baby alpaca yarn and bought several skeins of it. But now I was faced with a problem. I didn’t want to knit just a scarf with it, I wanted to make something amazing out of this yarn. I started looking through books and magazines to find just the perfect pattern to use. Many of the people around me turned out to be closet knitters and I started asking them what they thought I should do with the yarn. I quickly began to realize that I was in over my head as far as patterns were concerned. And though I knew how to knit and purl, I was basically at square one when it came to knitting.
Ever since then I have been on a journey of self discovery with knitting. Burying myself in a new pattern has allowed me to get through many of the more difficult things life has thrown my way, including my infertility, which seems to be taking over every aspect of my life. Besides, it also gives me something to do while the Old Ball and Chain wants me to watch basketball with him.
I'll work on getting some pictures up int he next few days.