Knitting From The Dark Side & Other Stuff

A New Beginning

2008-09-07T14:26:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow I start my new job at The Company That Shall Not Be Named. I am so excited I can barely breathe. Laundry is done - way better than my usual of doing laundry around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night so that I am greeted by a wet bra and slightly drippy pants on Monday morning. This is the first real job I have had in several years. I have been trapped in the temporary business although this last job lasted a month short of 2 years. The job is in the same building that I have been working in and I know several people that work there already. I am so happy and just the thought of the paycheck I will be getting makes my head spin!

Precious is doing great. She is going to doggy day care on Wednesdays. In case you are interested, here is the link: www.luckydoglounge.net.
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She has an absolutely great time. She runs and plays all day and is completely exhausted when we get home. She is usually asleep before we travel a block or two from the day care. The owner, Kris, is a delight. She plays with the dogs all day long and really caters to their personalities. Precious loves her and all I have to do is say doggie day care and she is at the door ready to go!

Think of me tomorrow, oh great internet! I will be out there doing my best to impress!

Now That's Funny . . .

2008-01-03T13:32:00.001-05:00

When I posted, I noticed an ad from AdSense for a drug rehab center. Hehe.

A Little Time Has Passed

2008-01-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted since August. I have absolutely no idea why. And no excuses. End of story.

Christmas was the best in several years. I buried my Momma on the day before Thanksgiving several years ago, and since then, the holidays have, for the most part, sucked. This year was great. Shana spent the night with me and we managed to wait until ten minutes before 12:00 on Christmas Eve to open the presents. Since I was well lubricated in the wine department, I gave in to her begging. Here is Precious in one of her Christmas sweaters:

You should actually see a picture, but blogger hates me right now.

Everything at The Job That Sucks, Inc. is still the same with one exception. My boss informed me that she would be interviewing people for my job and, of course, I was welcome to apply. Minutes after that announcement, an email from Careerbuilder landed in my inbox. Yep - it was my job. Nothing has happened over the holidays - she was on vacation for 2 weeks. I'm still waiting to hear something. Of course, none of these circumstances bothered The Boss when she sent me Christmas shopping for her staff - me included. Instead of the lame coffee and chocolates she sent me to buy for myself, I made an executive decision and bought the things I wanted from Barnes & Noble. Hello Lace Knitting Books!

About the knitting: I suck with DPNs. I have tried to make Crazy Aunt Purl's easy roll brim hat. I am great at it - right up to the point where I have to knit with the DPNs. A fellow Ravelry friend sent me the answer to my prayers - simple, straight forward, any dumb ass can do it, instructions. I am, once again, a knitting fool! The really weird thing is that I can do baby hats - not as many stitches, I guess. Furthermore, I have stressed over and felt bad about not being able to do this, and the truth of the matter is, I will never wear this kind of hat. Go figure.

My one New Years resolution is that I will learn to knit something other than squares and long rectangles. (Dishcloths and scarves). I guess I'm ahead of the game.

I am really looking forward to this year. I am happier and more confident than I have been in years. Life is good - most of the time. That's a pretty good deal.

It's Not The Heat, It's The Stupidity!

2007-08-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

Gawd, it's hot. Our ever vigilant news media is screaming warnings of possibly, just maybe hitting 100 degrees today. Crap.

I received my invitation to Ravelry. I have really had a blast perusing the yarn. I even counted my needles and put those in inventory. It is very handy to have when the yarn addict comes out in me!

The Yarn Harlot is coming to Atlanta on September 19. I made my reservations and I am hoping to meet up with some fellow Atlanta bloggers for a little pre-Harlot yarn crawl.

More to come - new boss is hanging about.

The Dark Side of Knitting

2007-08-07T14:19:00.001-05:00

Create your own visitor map!

Here is the rest of the post. I'm an idot.

2007-07-19T15:11:00.000-05:00

!!! Crazy Aunt Purl has a recipe –

http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2005/06/easy_rollbrim_k_1.php

I will try to remember to bring batteries to work tomorrow so that I can post some pics. The office manager is on to me – I can’t steal borrow batteries anymore. They were disappearing at an alarming rate. Since they see me fiddling with my camera on a fairly regular basis, I assume they also figured out why batteries were costing a fortune every month. Not that I would steal. I borrow. They wear out. It’s a vicious cycle.

Time to wade home. Severe thunderstorms every afternoon this week. At least it’s raining. At one point, Atlanta and Georgia in general was between 14 and 18” below rainfall for the year. It appears by the condition of my front yard – read flooded – that we are going to be okay. Wet, but okay.

Some Time Has Past

2007-07-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

I have no ida where the time has gone. Ok, I do - all manner of wasting time and having fun!

First of all - The Best Weekend Ever was last weekend.

Friday: Shana and I went to have highlights done.

Saturday: Shopping, Pedicure and Manicure.

Sunday: Marietta Bead Show and dinner prepared for us by a chef at her house.

The chef was incredible. We could pick anything we wanted for dinner. I went to the Southern Living website and downloaded receipes for shrimp and crab lasagna, artichoke dip, pan seared shrimp salad, white chocolate truffle cheesecake, and other delish dishes. I didn't mean for him to cook everything - but he did. Shana made one change. She wanted prime rib and collard greens. I swear - you can't take that kid anywhere. At any rate, every single dish was prepared and presented with style! Naturally, my camera batteries were dead. All of that food for 3 people. I finished off the prime rib yesterday and the cheesecake didn't even see the light of day on Monday.

I kind of lost the knitting mojo for a while, but it's back. I can make a hat!!!

The Drama Continues

2007-05-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Life at Casa Fur All Over Everything continues to be up in the air. My boss recently resigned and he will not be replaced. That means, that for the most part, I have an imaginary job. I spend the day surfing the net, playing Solitaire, reading, or making jewelry. Monday I painted my toes. I am looking for a new job. I have been a temporary for several years now. It's fun in a lot of ways - you get to work a variety of jobs and you meet lots of people. The downside is not having any stability and not getting paid for holidays and such.

Yesterday, DD sent me a cell phone picture of Precious. She had airbrushed pink bones all over her! She is absoulutely adorable and of course, the hit of the neighborhood last night on our evening stroll to Poo-Poo Hill.

I've been making a lot of stitchmarkers lately. I have been loving the beads. I participate in several exchanges, most noteably http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StuffKnittersWantandGottaHave_Exchange. Come on over and join us. This is a great bunch of knitters that love them some mail!

Not much knitting has been taking place. I seem to have lost my knitting mojo lately. The weather has been warm and beautiful - spending lots of time outside. Just because I'm not knitting as much hasn't kept me out of the yarn stores. Still stashing like there's no tomorrow. Ya'll know.

Me, Abnormal??

2007-04-12T09:17:00.000-05:00

You Are 40% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul.

You are at high risk for having a borderline personality. It is very likely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at medium risk for having a social phobia. It is somewhat likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement.

You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

2007-04-04T20:11:00.000-05:00

mom gettin' loose

2007-04-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

Check out the fox sign.... mickey...vicky same thang!!!!

A visit to the dark side...

2007-04-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

Posted by the best daughter EVER!!!!!!!!

Spring Has Sprung

2007-03-27T13:07:00.000-05:00

Everything is covered in green pollen. Every.Thing. Most people use ice scrapers for, well, scraping ice off the windshield. This morning I used mine to get the pollen off the window so that I could see. There was just enough moisture from the dew to make a disgusting mess of my windshield. Apparently, Precious has allergies. Everytime I have taken her out to walk, she has sneezed the entire time. Hard to tinkle when you are a sneezing fool. She just looks at me like "Make This Stop".

I have been knitting washcloths. Real exciting, I know! I like knitting with the Peaches N Cream and a dishcloth is the perfect way to practice stitches. Back when I first started knitting (November, 2006 - I now have months of experience!), I read Stitch and Bitch Nation. One of the first things I did was a practice swatch. Debbie's advice was to knit a swatch and then throw it in your purse to clean your glasses. I did what I was told - the swatch is still in my purse!

I have been following the posts in Blogland about The Yarn Harlot's Represent Tour. I lifted this picture from her site http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/. I can't wait to get my hands on the new book.

Half a Century

2007-03-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

I turned 50 on March 21 - Yikes! I came home from work to find black bunting draped across the front of the house along with black balloons and a banner that said Happy 50th Birthday. There was confetti along the sidewalk and up the stairs to the bedroom where I found a new TV! I had told my daughter that she should make this birthday a really HUGE deal - and she did. Last Saturday night we went to Spondivit's in Buckhead http://www.spondivits.net/ for a bucket of crab legs and lobster tails. Totally delish! After dinner, we headed over to Churchill Grounds http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=13693590&stx=&csz=Atlanta+GA for jazz. We had such a great time with our cute new outfits and sparkly, sexy sandals!

It's spring in Atlanta and the pollen counts are off the chart. Everything is in bloom and if you didn't have allergies before, you will develop them in the spring here! Bradford Pear Trees, tulips, daffodils - everything is in full bloom now. The photo above represents the azaleas here. We have had beautiful weather all week and the weekend promises 80 degrees.

Precious will be 1 on April 1 and I am planning a birthday party for her and her friends. Sammy, the Poodle, Tater, the wiener dog, and Megan, the purebred brown dog will be in attendance along with their mommies for a cookout and doggie cake from Three Dog Bakery. They say that the cake is really good for dogs and people. I think I will take their word for it!

The Yarn Harlot is in New York this week. I seriously considered going for the Book Release Represent Tour. She is coming to Lexington, Kentucky - that seems more realistic. I was at Barnes and Noble when they opened on March 15 only to find out that the release date had been pushed back to March 30. I was crushed. I can't wait for that book to come out.

In knitting news, I have been cranking out washcloths just to practice some new stitches. I bought a set of circular needles and plan to try those out this weekend. There is a really cute tank top that I would love to make. I finished a scarf last night that was knitted up with the most luscious yarn I have ever had in my hands. Naturally, I can't remember the name of the yarn but it is a barely pink - almost blush color. Since our temps are in the 70's and 80's, it's time to find something less woolly to knit.

It's Friday - finally! Enjoy your weekend and knit happy!

Precious Is In Trouble

2007-03-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a typical Monday. Mostly uneventful - actually spent the afternoon making stitchmarkers while I filled in at the front desk. Walked in the door at home to discover my ottoman top in shreds. My first suspect was the dog with the foam hanging out of the corner of her mouth. That mutt! That ingrate! That sweet puppy of mine who was so happy to see me that she really didn't mind me yelling at her - that much. Precious will be a year old April 1 - I think we have a lot more "puppyness" to go.

A month off

2007-02-27T11:47:00.000-05:00

Time certainly did slip away. Life gets in the way of knitting sometimes. I joined another exchange over at Stuff Knitters Want and Gotta Have Exchange Group on Yahoo. This time it's just stitchmarkers, but I had so much fun finding cute stuff to put in the package that I think I will add extras to this package as well. Mailed off the two packages for the Swapbot.com exchanges - on is for Aries (send 3 things Aries) and the other is Beads and Buttons in a matchbox. Have been searching the net for an easy shawl to make. I have cranked out more scarves than I can bear to think about at this point. It's time for bigger and better things!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title

2007-01-24T10:07:00.000-05:00

Here it is! I have no idea what this means, but it's kind of fun! Try it.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Empress Vicki the Verdant of Pigotts Sty
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

2007-01-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

More new pictures - forgive the date and time. I changed the batteries but not the date!

Winter??

2007-01-17T08:39:00.000-05:00

This past weekend the weather was beautiful - 70 degrees! I was off on Monday for Martin Luther King Day and DD and I shopped till we nearly dropped. My vacuum cleaner bit the dust - 12 years of duty so I guess that's OK. I got a Bissell bagless with a HEPA filter - WOW! I knew that the carpet was pretty bad - with a cat and a dog shedding everyday - well, you can imagine. I could not believe how much fur was in the container.

Back to work on Tuesday and the temp is hanging around 30 degrees. Hate that. I am definitely a warm weather girl - absolutely hate the winter - anything below 65 and I start whining.

Have completed two scarves. I used a mohair yarn on one of them that made me nuts with the itching. I would have to stop every so often and wash my hands and wrists. That one will be a definite gift! I'm still struggling with the wrist warmers. My Stitch N Bitch gals were so helpful getting me started and they assured me that the knitting would be easier once I got past the first few rows. So far - not so much! I'm using 5 needles - 4 for the divided stitches and one working needle. It's a little like knitting with an octopus.

Since I'm at work, I guess it's time to work! I suppose I should do something productive since I can't knit!

The Yarn Harlot

2007-01-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

I just got this book today. I started reading it at lunch while I was at the mall. Too funny. I finally got a pattern for wristwarmers from my friend Patty. Here's the link http://www.zenknit.com/mitts.html. These seem pretty basic and I figure there isn't any other way to learn than to just jump in. I just bought some beautiful purple yarn - the color goes from a sunset purple to a deep grape shade. I'm casting on tonight and will let ya'll know how it works.

Last night my daughter and I went for a spa manicure/pedicure after work. Ahhhh - it was DElightful. Shana tried on the oatmeal scarf and ooohed and aaahed about it. I was on my way home when I remembered she still had it. She sent me a text message that said "It's truly loved and admired when it's stolen!" Guess I can't argue with her about that!

A Yarn Disaster

2007-01-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

Four-day work weeks are always the longest and seem the most difficult. Returning to work on Tuesday after the holidays seemed like it would be fairly easy. NOT! I staggered through the day barely able to put one coherent sentence together. I have no idea why. Finally five o'clock came. Traffic wasn't bad so I made it home a little early. I could not believe my eyes when I opened the door. Apparently, Precious had a yarn party while I was gone. I had just purchased 2 new skeins of a beautiful raspberry wool and they were now hopelessly tangled all over my living room floor. I could have just cried. I have tried a couple of times to untangle - my level of patience is just too low right now. Maybe a job for Super Daughter!

Last night I wanted to do my usual knitting and half watching TV. Precious would not let me knit. She kept trying to nose the needles out of my hand or crawling up on the length I had already knitted. It didn't occur to me until today when I was having lunch with my daughter, but Precious is jealous of the yarn. Precious has been in my lap every night (and some days) since I brought her home at 6 weeks. I'm sure she sees the yarn as The Evil One! I wonder if I can knit in the air??

Shana and I had lunch today at Applebees. I had the French Onion Soup - although there was very little soup to it! It had maybe 3 tablespoons of broth - the rest was bread, onions, and cheese. Shana made a scrapbook for me. I gave her lots of scrapbooking stuff for Christmas and on New Years Day, we went to Dollar Tree and Walmart. They had tons of great stuff. Anyway - the scrapbook is a hoot! Shana did a great job. She even used some of my report cards!

My Kids

2007-01-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

These are pictures of Domino and Precious.

Another Year?

2007-01-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Yikes! Another new year. I gave up making resolutions years ago, because - well. . . I sucked at it. I'm more of a spur of the moment gal.

Friday night, I stopped at Michael's on the way home. Big, big mistake. They had so much on sale that I went a little overboard. The good news is that now I have quite a knitting stash. I finally bought a copy of Stitch & Bitch. What a great read. I have only been knitting a little over a month, so casting on has been a huge problem for me. I watched several different videos online over and over. I could eventually get a project going but whew! it was frustrating. The Stitch & Bitch drawings were perfect. I can even cast on without looking at the pictures now!!

I finished my first scarf on Monday. It is a bulky yarn that reminds me of Oatmeal. I really enjoyed knitting this. The yarn is so soft. I started the project on bamboo needles. Can't really say that I liked them in the beginning. After knitting a while, the needles seemed to get smoother.

And then: Disaster!! The scarf was getting close to the end on Sunday night when I went to bed. When I got up on Monday and went downstairs for coffee, my project was all over the living room floor. It seems that Precious required some late night playtime. She thoroughly enjoyed gnawing the bamboo needles. Amazingly enough, she either couldn't or didn't try to get the rubber stitch protector off - so no lost stitches. It was my fault for leaving the knitting on the ottoman to tempt her so I couldn't be too angry with her.

I meant to bring my camera with me to work so that I could upload some pictures. Unfortunately, I was in staggering mode this a.m. I barely was able to get to work. I just have been so bored over the holidays since my boss has been on vacation. I figured that once I got to work, we would be really busy planning for upcoming meetings and events. I forgot just one thing: he is off today and won't be back until Wednesday. I am hoping that today will be my last day to sit around and knit at work (although come to think about it, it's not that bad!) Does anyone else knit at work?

One other great thing about today: one of the financial planners in my company came by this a.m. and gave me a $25 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. YUM!

I will be so happy when everyone gets out of holiday mode and back into doing their own job mode. I don't mind helping people out, but for hell's sake - 2 weeks of, for the most part, goofing off is enough. Put away your party clothes and let's get back to a nice gentle routine.

There. I'm done now.

About that yarn addiction . . .

2006-12-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

Having nothing better to do today, I did what any knitting/shopping obsessed creature would do. I shopped online. I have seen posts regarding http://www.smileysyarn.com. Seemed like a good idea so I took a look. Oh the treasures you'll find. The minimum order is $40 - that seems reasonable to a knitaholic and the shipping is free. I like that part. Well - here I am $78.00 later and my head is spinning! I can hardly wait to see the big box on my front porch. I found a pattern today for a beautiful shawl - I think even I can do that.

Tonight is the sit-n-knit at the LYS and I think I will mosey in for a spell. I belong to a local meetup group. We meet a couple of times a month to knit and laugh. If you haven't found a group of folks to knit with at your local coffee shop, check out http://www.meetup.com. Enter your zip code and you can find a meeting for practically any interest you can imagine. If a group hasn't been formed, you can do it yourself. The LYS stays open until 9:00 on Thursdays for knitters and crochet types to hang out, learn new stuff, shop, and discuss/solve the world's problems. What a hoot!

Tomorrow I am planning to post some pictures of Precious and Domino along with some links to blogs that I love to read. Some folks are just too entertaining!!

A New Blog For A New Year

2006-12-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

Today is my first posting to my very own Blog! I have been reading blogs 8 hours a day for the past few days - nothing to do at work and I am painfully bored! I figured I should throw in my 2 cents worth. Who knows - I could be the next Great American Blogger, ah, Bloggee? *sigh*.

But first, let me introduce myself. I am rapidly approaching the big five-o. Not that I am all that happy about it, but it sure beats the alternative. I have a 27 year old married daughter named Shana and an 8 month old Jack Russell Terrier, Pomeranian, Beagle girl named Precious. She can really get on your nerves. I was referring to the dog, but I guess it applies to the daughter as well!

I work for a national financial services company as the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director of the Southeast Region. My job description goes pretty much like this: I Run His Life. I work for the greatest person. He is genuinely thrilled with everything I do. When I first started this job, I was a little surprised and taken aback by his reaction to what I accomplish everyday. I am extremely organized (I fold my panties)and I have the ability to handle 40 things at once. I love making lists and checking off the "dids"! No kidding - he actually was amazed that I was doing my job and said so!!! And then, he proceeded to thank me. I didn't know what to say. He was quite generous at Christmas and has been gone on vacation for a week. What else could I ask for!!

I have been trolling around the Internet the past two weeks looking for anything to do with knitting. I went to a Michael's Yarn Event in November. The instructor, Barbara, was fantastic. Within 20 minutes I was knitting. I have cast on. I have purled. I have cast off. I am now, hopelessly addicted.

I have Mapquested every yarn shop in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. My Christmas money was doled out to some of the most incredible yarn shops in town. I plan my life based on when, where, and how much I can knit. Is this sad? I think not.

I am happily acquiring quite an impressive stash of needles and yarn. My Palm Pilot now has an inventory of yarn and needle sizes for convenient comparison. When I run across a yarn so beautiful - so soft - so "I've got to have it", I happily add it to the spreadsheet. Apparently, I have been very happy lately!

Thankfully, Christmas is behind me. This was my first Christmas being alone. It was not a bad thing. I slept late, watched old movies, played with Precious, and generally was unproductive. Of course, the only exception was that I knitted all day long.

I got it in my head that I wanted a Christmas turkey with all the trimmings. Given the fact that I would be the one cooking and eating this giant feast, I scaled back to just a turkey breast, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Note that I am not a great cook, nor do I particularly want to be. On Christmas morning, I got the turkey breast out of the fridge and tossed the cabinets for a proper cooking vessel. Who knew? I actually had a turkey roasting pan with a lid. I know it is a turkey roasting pan with a lid because it has an outline of a turkey on top of the lid! I read the directions on the back of the label and preheated the oven. I scissored the packaging and fished around in the cavity of the bird for the gross stuff they put in a bag for whatever reason. Apparently, turkey breasts do not come with the gross stuff -- I was very relieved. The oven chirped when it was of sufficient heat and I thought I should do some math to decide how long to cook this hunk of meat. Horrors! The cashier at the local Kroger pulled off the tag that had the weight on it. I had no idea how much this thing weighed. My first thought was bathroom scales - but that was silly. I don't believe in nor do I own a pair of scales. I thought about asking my dear neighbor (who cooks beautifully) to weigh the thing, but that would have involved putting on decent clothes and meeting her family - ah, No. The label mentioned a meat thermometer and for some reason unknown to me, I have one. Problem solved.

Precious and Domino were thrilled with their mid-afternoon snack. I ate just enough to induce a late afternoon turkey nap. I'd say a pretty nice day.