It has been a long while since I last posted here!  I thought I would give it another go now that I remembered how to log in.

I have been off work the last 2 days.  I changed jobs just over 2 years ago and now work evenings 5 nights a week as technical support for POS installers.

I just found another pattern that I want to do for a sweater and am getting frustrated that the paypal purchase isn't going through and I can't figure out how to turn off the automatic log in to pay for it.  Not sure if it is a PayPal issue or if it is a Ravelry issue, but I can log into both, just can't get the purchase to go through.

Below are my 2 current projects that I have going.  On the left is Eyeblink shawl and on the right is Trapezoid Sweater. 

 

 

And here are my last 6 projects before that.  I made the hat for a male co-worker and the fingerless mitts for 2 of my female co-workers.

 

 

The poncho is for me - I had 1 almost identical in the late 1970's and had searched for the pattern for years since.  And I found it.  The first sweater is made from the same yarn and the 2nd is made in a different colorway, but the same yarn.  I may re-do the bollon of the poncho since I am not 100% happy with the way it came out.

 Well, I will try to post this again now that I re-sized the pictures.

I'm around

I looked and it's been over a month since I last posted.  I have tons to talk about or at least that I would like to talk about, but I also can't fully right now.  I am getting ready to start the new Bad Cat Designs KAL.  I have news of a future addition to the family, which will require some projects to be made.  I have been spending time with grandkids.  My oldest granddaughter who decided that she doesn't want to have a regular set time with me, does want me to help her with a knitted boot slipper kit I had bought for her birthday from Hobby Lobby.  My dh and maybe grandson are planning a trip to Seattle this summer.  I have been working on my Paabusall shawl and an within 6 pattern rows of being finished.  I may try to get that finished before I cast on for the other project.  I finished a baby afghan for a co-worker.  I'll try to get more details into a post soon, but for now, I will share the pictures from the baby afghan and the shawl.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Another pair done - almost feel like I might be able to finish in time!

I finished the 3rd granddaughter's socks Thursday & started on the gusset for the 4th granddaughter's socks.  I also put the 2nd heel into my son's gf's socks.  This is her 1st knitting project and maybe this weekend it will work out to be able to get her socks up above the ankle and then teach her to purl so that she can put some ribbing on the socks.  I think she is just planning for them to be about ankle height, so she is nearly finished if that is correct.

 

About 2 weeks ago my oven died, so yesterday part of my day was spent in shopping for another stove.  I got this stove.  Then I waited to get my son to pick it up for me in his truck, but he had a very low tire on his truck, so we waited about 3 hours for Wal-mart to get that fixed..  Delivery just doesn't work for me with both of us working days, etc.  There is no one that I can have wait here to let them in nd I can't usually take time off from work.  I might be able to after the 1st of the year by taking the 1 vacation day I will probably have, but I don't want to wait that long.  I need another oven for Christmas baking.  I still have my old stove hooked up to the gas in the kitchen, so just had my son & his friend leave the new one in the box at the top of the stairs, then after they had left, I took down the dog gate & scooted it across the floor to the kitchen, got a Stanley knife & opened the box, then found a good sized dent/scratch in the upper top right hand side.  It is where with a little bit of paint, with it butted up against the end of the counter, then I won't hardly be visible.  So I have contacted Sears about getting a partial refund.  They told me last night that they would give me 5% back, but then when I looked online, I saw that the same stove had an online discount of 5% for yesterday.  So I printed that out & think I just might see if I can get 10% because of that.  That would be about $60 instead of $30.  I know that it will only cost me about $2 to cover up the damage, but I still don't want to pay full price for a damaged stove.  Will see what he says when I get there.  There was absolutely no damage to the box, so this was done before it was boxed.  And I have pictures of the box as well as the damage.

I set up a hair appointment on Friday and will finally get my hair cut again after 3 months since my disastrous haircut back in September.  There are still sections that may not even be long enough yet, but it should for the most part be good.  So 2 weeks from tomorrow!  Just in time for Christmas!

I have gotten through my first semi-annual "big" inventory at work!  I don't know that I helped a lot since there were only certain things I was allowed to do being new.  But I helped count parts, checked serial numbers on parts, and helped the person over Advance Exchange as she read off serial numbers and I marked them on her lists.  I personally didn't think it was as bad as they all seemed to think, but maybe that comes from either me doing the inventories for my other jobs over the years or because I wasn't given as much responsibility.  I know today I was glad to be able to start putting tickets back in the system so that I wasn't just sitting there twiddling my thumbs.

I stopped at my LYS (Local Yarn Store) on my way to shop for the stove and thought I would check into some sock yarn to make me a shawl/capelet/poncho for wearing at work this winter.  I was envisioning something that might have points front & back, but only hit at about elbow length on the sides so that it would be warm for my shoulders, while still not getting in the way while I am working.  I didn't want to have to come up with my own pattern though, so I bought 2 skeins of Lang Jawoll Magic in color # 84.0079 - a black/green/turquoise colorway and then searched Ravelry for something that might work.  I found this pattern and think I can just stop it at the right point by trying it on periodically as I work.  Right now it probably shouldn't even be in the works, but it is!  I don't know many knitters that can resist the temptation.  Right now I have it on straight needles and I have some Chiaogoo needles on order for it to eventually be worked on.  I still have at least 2 projects to work on for Christmas gifts, so will be putting it aside now that I have it started to do that, but I think this will be my gift to myself as soon as I get those done for being semi-patient.  I do have a crochet project that I started for my niece that I will have to get back to as soon as I get done with Christmas stuff, but I just might finish this first so that I can have it.  I usually am a bit cool at work already and am afraid it will get worse.  I am thinking that with the wool, this will possibly be warmer than even my acrylic sweater that I have been wearing.  And I am thinking I will put some buttons or something on it to hold it closed in the front without having to fiddle with adjusting it all the time.  Will see.  But I didn't want anything that I had to pull over my head at all.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Back to the Garden is finished!

I did it!  Sixteen or so months after starting this shawl, I bound it off the needles this past Sunday evening.  Tuesday evening I wove in my ends, soaked it & then laid it out to clock it.  I looked it up, I was about 1 month into working on this shawl when I developed the issues with my right hand that I believe are tendonitis.  Which is getting way better!  This week I was even able to pick up a yarn needle off the table without issues.  I still don't know if I would easily be able to pick up a sewing needle or a straight pin, but it is getting better day by day.  Just amazing how long something that developed overnight can take to heal.

Thanksgiving here in the US is this next Thursday.  I haven't made any plans yet!  For some reason, I am just not much in the mood, but I know I need to get there.  I believe my oldest daughter's family will be going to his family's gathering that day, my youngest daughter & her dh are in Chicago area.  My son & his gf weren't sure they would be in the area Thursday, but now it seems that they will.  So still undecided whether to plan something for Thursday or wait until the weekend.  And then whether with everyone's busy work schedules, etc., if I should try cooking & having them in here at home or just going out to eat.  Going out would probably be the cheaper option!  And maybe the least stressful option as well!  But it just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving to do that!  Of course, this year, instead of having a 4 day weekend like I had for several years, it will be 1 day, work 1 day, then off 2 days.  So if I spend a lot of time cooking, etc. on Thursday, then I will probably be exhausted come Friday!  But if we did everything on Saturday, I could have Sunday to recover!  Decisions, decisions!

I have been fighting with a cut on the tip of my left index finger that I got somehow while putting the dogs onto their cables a week or so ago.  Trying to work on the granddaughter's socks the bamboo needle keeps irritating that fingertip, so Friday night I decided to take a break - I started on a pair of the Amazing Siberian Slippers for my mil from Henya's website - I am making them in Cascade Pacific in # 47 with #53 as the 2nd color.  I have even taking a bit out when I found that I had messed up and had an extra line of yarn on the front instead of hidden on the back.  I almost have the 1st one ready to stop the contrast color and start shaping for the sides and bottom of the foot.

I received the certificate this past week for the testing I did on November 8th - I received the Gold Certificate as I thought I would after being given my results.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time! 

Testing and shawl done, except for the blocking

Well, it's been a while since I have posted!  We've re-elected President Obama for another 4 years here in the USA, there have been a lot of strong feelings on that and we had Sandy hit the east coast.

Here in my little area, I had to put my knitting to the side to do more studying, I think, than I ever did when I was in school oh so many years ago!  When I was hired for my job, it was a conditional hire relying on me taking what is called Work Keys tests - 3 tests given over a course of about 3 hours - 55 minutes allowed for each test.  They were over Locating Information, Reading for Information and Applied Math.  I was given a practice test that I had 3 times I could go through it & I spent many, many hours doing this.  You would take a pre-test in each subject and then it would determine whether to skip you past some areas based on how you scored on that.  I was skipped to Level 7 (highest) on the Reading for Information, skipped to Level 6 on the Locating Information and to Level 5 on the Applied Math.  But when in school, while I did take algebra, I never understood it.  I think that was because my mother, contrary to most parents, always told us that she didn't have to do homework when she was in school, so neither were we to do it.  So what little I did was usually done while sitting in the closet with a flashlight after everyone went to bed at night & I barely scrapped by that class.  That was when I was 14 years old - a long time ago!

So I worried over it, over & over!  I studied it, I ignored my phone, my knitting, my dh, etc. to study!  I took the test last Thursday evening and I needed to have at least a Level 4 on everything to keep my job.  I didn't want being tired after working all day, etc. to keep me from being able to get a good enough score.  I ended up with a Level 5 on the Locating Information (there were 38 questions on this one and I ran out of time without answering the last 2 questions - don't know if I was feeling overly confident & so spent too much time on other questions or what, but I didn't get it finished like I should have).  I got a Level 6 on Reading for Information - which was the highest you could get.  And a Level 7 on the Applied Math.  A Level 6 certificate is the highest certificate you can get on it, so I am thinking they will average things out for my final certificate and if that is so, I probably got the Platinum - the highest, Level 6 certificate.  But if they just go by the lowest level, then I got the Gold Certificate, which is OK, I only needed the Silver, which is the next lower level!  But I am so glad that is over with and for my own knowledge, I am intending to buy an Algebra I textbook and prove to myself that I really can understand it!

So, Friday I picked my knitting back up!  I was about 8 rows from being done with my Back to the Garden shawl.  I finished it last night!  All except weaving in the 2 ends and blocking it!  I did take a pre-blocking picture.  I think people will be surprised at what a difference there is in this kind of knitting between the pre-blocking & the blocked pictures!  I plan to get it on the blocking wires & pins within the next couple of days.  I do have to go over our insurance options first to make sure if we need to make any changes there before time runs out on doing that and I have a chiropractor's appointment tonight.  Been having some issues with my left arm tingling and a spot on my left hip kind of hurting.  So went back in - he agrees with me, I have a pinched nerve from my neck shifting again!  So probably twice a week again for a bit.

Going to cut this short since I need to get ready for work!  Hope everyone has a great day!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

New Job and Shawl progress

One week down on the new job & I do like it & so far, I like my co-workers!  Granted I have only spent 4 half days at my position, so every time I start to feel like I don't feel as comfortable in my new job as I think I should with 1 week in, I remind myself of that fact!  In fact, probably a bit less than that!  On Monday, we went in at 10 am instead of 8 am, but were told that we will be paid from 8 am since it was for their convenience.  We started our orientation then.  At noon we still had a Sexual Harassment video to watch before being sent to our respective spots - there were 3 of us being started - 1 installer, 1 help desk & me as the RMA assistant.  So we took a lunch break & then went back to do the video before going around & being introduced to everyone as we went to our desks.  So about 3 hours on Monday were spent with our immediate supervisors.  Then the rest of the week, we rotated around to different departments to see how things work.  Evidently the installer is now the only one of us that still needs more rotations before he is finished.  I am sure there will be times that we will still be called on to pitch in to help out a department with they have a deadline, but it won't be the same as this past week has been.  And N, my immediate supervisor says that she is very pleased with how fast I have been learning my job.  She is having me work only with 2 pieces of equipment to start - the receipt printers and the Verifone card reader machines.

I spent part of 2 days late week before last going through the sample lessons & tests for the Work Keys tests that I have to pass at the Silver Certificate level minimum to keep my job.  There are 3 sections I am to be tested on - Applied Math, Reading for Info & Locating Info.  I was exempted on levels 1-4 , passed levels 5-6 & failed level 7 on Applied Math. Exempted on levels 1-5 & passed Level 6 on Locating Info (no Level 7 on this one). Exempted on levels 1-6 & passed level 7 on Reading for Info. Level 3 is listed as a Bronze Certification, Level 4 as Silver (which is what I need minimum), Level 5 as Gold, Level 6 as Platinum. I think I have the Silver sewn up & possibly the Gold. Haven't had math since 9th grade Algebra that I barely squeaked through because of not being allowed to do homework. So am totally lost, I feel, with the ones dealing with area, radius, diameter, etc. But still feel that I am good, although I will still work some more on the math through 11/7.  The test is on 11/8.  My plan is to even go through the tests that it exempted me from, just in case & do at least 1-2 a day through the 7th.

It has turned chilly this weekend!  Had been as high as the 80's earlier in the week and yesterday it did get up to the low 40's, but it has been dropping into the 20's for 2-3 nights now!  I am not ready for winter!  I have been told that I will probably need to dress a bit warmer for the winter since our desks at work at on an uninsulated north wall that only has a narrow store room between us & the outside wall.  I am sure that I can handle it after my last long-term job where we had a similar issue, but I might have to take my electric throw to work & wear a couple sweaters or something.  Might even take in my fingerless gloves or make me some mitts to wear to work to be on the safe side.

I finished Chart 7 of the Back to the Garden shawl yesterday morning before starting my studying!  Then last night I completed another 3 1/2 rows on it, so just over 20 rows left to finish it!  I didn't get quite as much done on it this past week as I had planned, but it is still moving along!  Maybe it will be finished by the end of this coming week!

My dh worked 3 15 hour days this past week, so I had 3 evenings to myself, which was nice.  I had so many years with him working evenings that at times it is hard not having that quiet time to myself anymore.


With it being on the chilly side, yesterday I put a veggie beef soup into the crockpot.  Today I think I will try a new roasted veggies dish that I saw in the paper a few weeks ago, but also think I will add some meat to it as it cooks & cook it in the crockpot.  It has red peppers, carrots, acorn squash & onion in it.  A little dab of honey & then the spices.  I think it will convert to the crockpot with ease.

A bit irritated right now.  Two years ago last month I had purchased a flute for a granddaughter to use for school.  With all the instruments I have purchased in the past from this company I have always made payments by sending them a check each month, except for the one I did for our grandson 2 years before.  That one I had given them my card # and asked that they take the payment each month.  Which they did and after 12 months, I had gone in & paid it off in full.  My plan had been to do the same for the granddaughter's flute, but by a couple months after signing the agreement, I lost my long-term job due to the economy.  So then started the last 2 years of 1 temp job and another that ended up being a seasonal job.  Then unemployment checks.  I knew I had paid 2 payments the 1st month since I told them I wanted the payments to come out automatically on the 25th of each month and they didn't want to go over 30 days for the 2nd payment to be made.  I was also told that they no longer handled the payments like that themselves, but instead had another company handle that for them, so I could expect my payments to be made to this other company.  What I wasn't told was that this other company would take $5 per month for the convenience of doing this!  I only found this out because I figured the 24 payments ( which has always been my experience with buying instruments) with the double payment in September 2010, would make my payments finish in July 2012 even though I didn't pay it off early like had been my original intention, so that I could save the interest on the contract.  Now after having a payment come out again in August for the full amount, I emailed this company & questioned them about it.  They emailed back that I still owed $65.09.  So I figured I must have been off in my figuring and that I would have 1 payment of $34.57 and then 1 payment of $30.52 and the last payment would be October.  Instead another full payment was taken in October and when I emailed asking for a refund of the overage, I was told that instead of being paid in full, I still owe $11.75 and was sent a print out of the account.  Well, I found what the problem is!  I was never told about the $5 per month that has been being taken out of my payments and so it has added about $140 to the original contract and so I feel that when I was told I still owed $65.09 in August, I was lied to since this didn't include the $15 in added fees that would be coming out as well and even now, being told I still owe $11,75 isn't the truth either since there will be a $5 fee added to that as well!  I have now emailed this company back telling them that this is all deceptive practices, these fees were never disclosed to me, that I will never allow myself to be put into any kind of a contract with them in the future and that I will warn anyone that I know of who might be considering entering into a contract with them!  It would have been 1 thing to be told of these fees up front and agreeing to them, it's another thing finding it out at this late of a date.  And another thing also by finding out they aren't being truthful to me when telling me what my balance is!

I've decided after the 1st of the year and after I finish a crochet tablecloth that I have started for a family member, I want to make myself some crocheted cafe curtains for my kitchen & dining rooms.  So I have for the last couple of weeks, clipped a 40% off 1 item coupon in the Hobby Lobby ad & gone in to buy 1 of the large balls of #10 crochet cotton.  I have 2 balls on hand right now & will get a few more.  Not 100% sure how many I will need for 3 windows, but I figure I would also do a tablecloth or 2 if I get too many.  This coupon brings an $18 purchase down to just $11.  I think though I might use the 1 this week to get a couple skeins of sock yarn for myself in 1 of the new colors I saw last week.  I try to do 1 pair for myself in each new color in my favorite yarns.  Since the coupon is only good on 1 item, I won't be able to get 40% off of each skein, but essentially it will work out to 20% off of each skein & I can handle that.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Knitting while trying not to panic

On Friday I ended up with a quandary about a job & I sure hope I didn't make a mistake, but right now, while waiting for a phone call, I am not so sure.  I had gotten a message from my son last week with a picture of an Facebook post 1 of his friends had posted saying that the company she is in the HR department of was needing some full-time positions filled.  I looked it over and of the 4 positions listed, I felt I was qualified for 1 of them.  I had an interview on Friday morning and felt it went pretty good.  Came home and found a message that the temp agency had a company wanting me to start a 3-4 week data entry job on Wednesday of this week.  So I called the 1st company back & left a message for my son's friend saying that while I would understand if they didn't want to say anything at all (I had told them this temp position was a possibility of being offered to me) and that I wasn't trying to put her on the spot, I would like to find out if she might have heard anything positive and/or know if there was a definite start date that I might be able to use to see if I could fit in the temp position (which the message at that time said it might only be 2-3 weeks - so a start date of November 7th or later might allow it to work out) since they had told me it would be about 2 weeks before they made a decision.  When she called back, she said that my call had given her an excuse to go talk to the 2 I interviewed with a bit earlier than she had planned to already and that I was definitely in the running.  They had interviewed another person Friday afternoon.  And that she would give me a call this morning since they wanted to sit on it over the weekend.

In the meantime, I had contacted the temp agency to ask what the options would be if I were to accept the temp position and then get offered the FT position & want to take it.  Would I just give a couple days notice or what.  They came back with 2-3 days notice would be fine, but after they contacted the company they were working with, he said he wanted someone who would give a 4 week commitment, but she agreed to give me a bit of time this morning to see what came of the other position.  So far, it's almost 10:30 - I've been up since about 7 and I haven't heard anything!

In the meantime, I finished chart 6B on the Back to the Garden shawl this morning.  It's still a little damp around the edges, so while I am typing this, I have the fan blowing on it to try to dry it enough to work on again.  I still have charts 7 & 8 to finish before time to bind off.  I am really hoping to have this shawl finished for my oldest daughter for Christmas this year.  I did finally break down and told her it was for her.  I had started it a year ago this past summer, but when my hand issues developed, I had to put it aside, there was a lot of aching in the hand even trying to work on it and I was afraid that if I kept on, my hand might not recover.  I still have occasional twinges in my right hand, but nothing like it was last year at this time!  I have not tried to pop my thumb on that hand since the issues came up, but occasionally it will pop on it's own.  I think that is probably a good sign since for the longest time it didn't pop!  So I think the tendon is getting back to normal!  I am still taking my MSM 1000 mg, but am taking 5 a day rather than the 8 that I started out taking - 4 per day is the recommended amount, so figure I am not taking a huge amount over, but slightly over now that it is close to being back to normal.

My dh started a 1 week vacation today.  I think it is his last week for this calendar year.  Tomorrow morning at 3:20 am he will leave heading to Chicago by Amtrak train to visit our youngest daughter & her dh.  He decided to pay about $40 more and get the direct route, so the trip will only take about 13 hours going and 12 hours returning.  He will arrive at about 3 pm tomorrow and it seems their apartment is only about 14 blocks from the station, so his plan is to just walk to their apartment instead of them taking off to go pick him up.  Then he will leave coming home at about 3 pm Saturday and arrive back here around 3:20 am Sunday morning.  So I will get my son or daughter to help me Saturday & we will take his van down, park it in the lot there - pretty much where I used to park for my last long-term job and then I won't have to get the granddaughter that I will have for the night up in the middle of the night to go pick him up.  If it were any of the other grandkids I wouldn't worry about it, but the 2 that are our sil's daughters are early to bed, early to rise kids, so it might be a problem to get them up at that time!

I have now moved into about 6th or 7th place in the I Love Yarn contest - I could sure use a bunch more votes if anyone is feeling generous!  You can vote once every 24 hours and you can even vote for more than 1 picture - I have a couple of friends I have been voting for also.  My entry is the Sugar Plum Fairy that I did last winter & gave to my niece J.  I sure would appreciate your votes!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Earthen Ruins finished!

This time I have several things to chat about!  First off this past Friday I went to watch my oldest granddaughter participate in her last tennis tournament for this school year.  She has improved a lot this year, but they still didn't win.  It was a misty day, so everyone was trying to stay out of the weather and the officials were trying to dry out the tennis courts.  I left there about 3 pm, came home, took another bath & prepared for the start of my 35th high school reunion.

My reunion started with the homecoming football game.  I found the group that we were to sit with & so did some others, but not all found it, it seems.  I took some socks that I am knitting for A. and worked on them while we watched the game.  At least 1 classmate said she knew it had to be me if I was knitting.  Our school lost miserably - 10 to 34.  After we left there, we went to a local deli/bar that seems to have been a hang out back in the day for most everyone except me.  I was good and only had a diet coke, but chatted with quite a few in both places.  I headed home about 12:30 am, to sleep about 1:30 am, then back up at about 6 am to get started on a new day.  Since my hair was cut so short, I have to make sure it is dry - which I don't use a blow dryer unless I absolutely have to, then the straightening iron to put some body into it so that it isn't just flat & male looking.  I headed out the door about 9:15 for the 10 am brunch & got things set up.  We had a Memorial List of classmates that have passed away.  I also used an arrangement of flowers in our school colors that I had made a couple years ago.  We had about 30 people show up for brunch and ended up being told that we would have to leave soon as they had a 1:30 reservation for the rooms we were using.  I came home from there and delivered an Avon order that still needed delivered.  Changed & headed to a local Mexican Restaurant that everyone seems to like (not my favorite though).  I set up the flowers, Memorial List, name labels & got ready to start taking money.  We had 58 pay through our arrangements and then some decided to eat on their own tab.  Of course, that didn't help us in recouping the costs that had been spent for arranging things -postage, postcards, etc.  So we came up a bit short.  I am not sure exactly how short, but I know 2 receipts worth had us already at about $8 short.  I feel bad that I don't have the money right now with not working to help at least spread the loss out.  Maybe I can send something after I get a job though.  After the Mexican restaurant we went to another bar & hung out there until about midnight.  I again had diet coke, but this time I got annoyed at the server!  She served me a small wine glass of diet coke (which really wasn't great since the CO level was too high) and when I paid & then asked for a refill, I was charged $3.30 and told I could have no more than 4 refills before she would charge me another $3.30.  I told her I felt that was poor customer service, that I knew for a fact they pay less than 25¢ per pop (probably for all the glasses I had, in fact!).  I almost told her that I knew for a fact that I could buy 5(5) 2 liter bottles at the grocery store this week for just $5.  Instead I just made it so that she really earned the 70¢ I gave her as a tip before I was told about the refills - I would wait until she had served everyone else at our table, refusing refills until she was completely done, then had her go get me a refill.  Petty yes, but I think they should rethink their policy!  At dinner I paid $16 total that included my meal from a buffet, all the drinks I wanted of the non-alcoholic nature, my tip, the tax & part of it went towards the expenses for setting up the reunion!  Anyway, I left at about midnight, came home, got a bit of sleep & headed to the high school for our tour on Sunday morning at 10 am.  We thought we had it arranged for the circle drive as we knew it in high school, but they now have a new circle drive & so over half of us were in the wrong place.  But we got it figured out and got our tour, which was great!  So many things are changed from when we were students there!

Sunday afternoon I headed to the mall for a job interview.  It seems that there is a calendar/games store that is opening this coming Thursday and they want a manager for it.  I'm not sure manager is an accurate description of what they want though since it seems that if I were to be hired for the job, I would be working alone until at least Thanksgiving, when it sounds like some additional help would be coming in.  I'm not even sure how many hours per day the store would be open, but the hours that were mentioned for the manager position is 9-5 Monday through Friday.  The pay is supposed to be up to $10 per hour, which would be a bit less than I have made in the past - my last job, I was getting $11 per hour and another job before that was $15 per hour, but it is better than nothing.  The downside of it, to me, is that it would just be until February and then I would need a new job, but wouldn't have worked enough time to earn unemployment again.  I think that is 7 months, but I would have only worked 5 months.  I haven't heard anything yet, but I left him a message asking about his decision.

Monday I blocked the Earthen Ruins shawl.  I need to figure out where I tucked my tape measure so that I can get the final measurements, but I believe it is slightly larger than the Ruby shawl was.

Today I had my once every 6 months dental cleaning and check up, so not my mouth feels all nice & clean again.  Unfortunately, I also have a clogged, scratchy feeling to my throat today, so not sure if allergies or a cold coming on.  I know the weather is continuing to cool off more each day.  It's supposed to be down into the 40's by Wednesday or Thursday of this week with rain I think for the weekend.


Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Sangria Shawl update

Well, I finished Chart D of my latest KAL just a little while ago.  Then I wet it down good and finger blocked it for a picture, set a fan on it and now I am working on the last knitting chart of the shawl.  I am trying to use up most of the skein of yarn without running out.  Made a few changes from the 1st one I made of it.  Like I forgot 1 repeat of Chart A, I believe it was.  So I made an extra repeat of Chart B.  Now on Chart D, the designer said she stopped on row 154, while I went on to row 164 for the complete chart.  But I put in a life line on row 154 in case I run out of yarn & need to go back so that I have enough for Chart E and the bind off.  I really hope I have enough yarn to do the crocheted bind off again.  I love the way the points zig zag along the edge!

So I have 14 rows to knit before I am ready to try the bind off.  I think I may put in another life line about 2 rows from the end so that if I have to go back to start the bind off again and I don't want to go all the way back to row 154 to start again, then I only chance losing 2 rows of knitting while backing up to do a normal stretchy bind off.

Right now, as I write this, it is thundering outside and my male pom - Fred, is sitting beside my feet!  In fact, his chin is on my foot.  He hates storms - if he is indoors, but doesn't really mind them if he is outside.  So I think it is because he can't see what is happening when he is inside.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Knitting update, hair cut & weekend with C

As I am typing this, we have the Muppets Take Manhattan DVD in the player.  C. is watching several movies this weekend as we are having our time together!  I think the kids like to come just because it makes them feel special to visit by themselves, but also because they can do pretty much as their please.  As she put it earlier - when she is here, she doesn't have to even act her age, she can watch cartoons or whatever!

I had dough on rising to make pizza for dinner.  It is now cool enough to actually use the oven again.  I have some pepperoni and some Italian Sausage to put on it.

I finished Chart C of my Earthen Ruins Sangria shawl this past Monday.  I am now about 1/3 the way into Chart D.  I also did some knitting on a pair of socks for the oldest granddaughter.  I will get some more knitting done on those on Monday and then again on Friday.  Monday is about a 2 hour tennis meet for the oldest granddaughter and then Friday is an all day tournament.  So probably will take 2 projects with me, just in case I finish 1 pair.

This past Wednesday I had a hair appointment at the local beauty school & I am sure regretting it right now!  For the 1st time ever, I had a man as a hairdresser and he messed up royally!

 I asked for this:

 I got this:











And it has way short spots as well as way longer spots.  This really upsets me since not only did the owner of the beauty school check it over himself, but next weekend is my 35th high school reunion!  I am making sure I take my vitamins each day so that if anything can help it grow just enough to maybe add a bit of curl to the ends or something, that I can.  In the meantime, I feel like just staying in my house & going no where!  Even hoping no one calls for a job interview until it has a chance to not look like it's a man's haircut.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Crafts updates

Yesterday afternoon my oldest granddaughter A. had her 1st tennis meet.  I forgot to get out the camera to get a picture though.  I was trying to get out of the sun a bit so that I wouldn't get a sunburn.  I burn so easily & I had forgotten to grab some sunscreen.

I had originally intended to just take my grandson T.'s socks to work on while watching her play, but I was 3 rows from being finished with Chart B of my newest Sangria shawl that I am making for N.  So I took it along.  I didn't need to add any beads on the rows that I was doing, so didn't need to worry about tubes of beads, crochet hooks, etc.  And I got about 2 1/2 rows done.  So just had about 1/2 a row to finish it up when I got home.

I had seen a new pattern for a crocheted bag that I just really wanted to get started - it tucks in on itself so that you an carry it in your purse to have when you need a bag.  It seems that it should be kind of small, so will be just for those small purchases or it can be used to carry knitting in as long as it is something that doesn't have small items necessary that can fall out the holes.

I really shouldn't have started the crochet project - I have several other projects in the works that I should get done.  Especially the other 4 pairs of socks for the grandkids for Christmas, 1 pair for my mil that I want to make, the shawl that I started last year for my daughter D. that I had to put aside because of my hand issues, the sweater for my son that has been hibernating for a while.  I also was recently invited to a wedding shower, but it feel last weekend while I had my grandson for the weekend.  So I still want to make a gift for them, but had decided to make something for their kitchen & have now been told what their kitchen colors are, so need to get started on that.

Yesterday I attempted to go to the courthouse to try to get my dh's name taken off of my son's 2 vehicles.  I had gone last week to get the forms that I needed.  Then I needed to get some information & signatures from both my son & my dh.  Which I got.  But I had forgotten to look at the list where I had made notes of what all pieces of information I would need to take with me.  To back up a bit, back in May, the state of Kansas took their tag information computers down & installed new servers from my understanding - it's all supposed to streamline the process, keep the information all in less places, etc.  But it has slowed things way down!  There have been lines ever since!  You used to be able to go in at almost any time of the day except near the end of the month & just breeze in & out.  Now I was in line for 45 minutes yesterday - the line was longer than I have ever seen it & that is when I realized I had forgotten that it was the end of the month & so things would be even worse!  Then as I get to the head of the line a horrible thought came to me - I didn't have the registrations for the 2 vehicles!  So I decided to leave & try again next week.  The woman behind me tried to talk me into waiting some more to see if they would accept it without, but I told her no, I knew I had to have it & to count herself lucky, she had just moved up a spot!  After getting home, I looked at the list & realized I also hadn't had the insurance cards either!  So at first I thought I would try Monday , but Monday is a holiday - Labor Day, so Tuesday.  But then my dh brought up the point that Tuesday may be busier again because if some of those with tags expiring today don't get in, then they may be there Tuesday.  So now the plan is to go Wednesday & to try to make myself get up & around early enough that even if a line forms, that it will be a short line.  Yesterday the line just kept getting longer!  It was snaking around the entire area & about to turn back on itself by the time I left.  I did wonder, since it was almost 2 pm when I left, what they would do at 4:30 if the line was still there, because they have a sign that say they do no title work after 4:30.


Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

2 Shawls

It is a beautiful day here in central Kansas as I write this!  It has gotten up to 93 degrees, but there is a wonderful breeze from the south that makes it seem cooler.


I am currently working on 2 separate shawl KAL's.  Both are from Bad Cat Designs, but one is the current KAL & the other is last summer's KAL.  As I have previously mentioned, I got started on this summer's KAL - Sangria and realized that the beautiful maroon color that I had chosen was actually almost the same color as a previous shawl that I had given to the intended recipient.  So I needed to change things a bit.  I finished the maroon version & ordered new supplies for the new version.  I bought a neutrals colorway called Earthen Ruins.  Today I finished the last row of Chart A and this is the result to date:

The other shawl is from the Back to the Garden KAL from 2011.  I had started it as a surprise gift for my oldest daughter, but shortly after starting it, I developed issues with my right hand so that for a short while, I couldn't even use my hand.  Then I was gradually able to start using it, but still had pain, so couldn't do much at a time.  Even now a year later, I have to take it easy on this project.  I don't know if it is the size of the yarn to the size of the needle or what, but usually after a couple rows, my hand is aching, so what I am trying to do is to work a couple rows each day so that hopefully I can have it finished in time for Christmas this year.  Today I completed Chart 5B.  I chose to work Chart 5B instead of Chart 5A so that I could move on to the next chart instead of just moving on to the border.  So this is the shawl to date:

I do know that the designer says that there may be a snake or snakes involved in the knitting & that does concern me considering how intensive my fear of snakes are.  I am getting nervous because I could almost swear the area I just finished looks like a snake head emerging.  I know this sounds crazy, but I hate snakes in all forms!  I won't even eat or touch a gummy worm because it reminds me of a snake!  I hate drawings, plastic or stuffed fabric snakes.  I hope I am wrong & that it is just the suggestion that was brought on by the designers comment about it, but if I had of known that to begin with, I do not think I would have started the KAL in the first place.

The family has now scattered around the world again after the family wedding earlier this month in the Seattle area.  Nephew & his family have moved to their new home in Italy.  Sister-in-law & her husband are back in the mission field after about a 1 month break in the states.  Even my son went traveling yesterday!  I knew he would be traveling soon with a young man that he has been coaching for boxing, but didn't know the travel date was yesterday.  A few days ago I was asked if I wanted to go to Wichita yesterday with his gf for an errand that she needed to take care of & I said yes.  We took my van, took care of her errand, then went to do some shopping.  She wanted to get some more socks & a couple polo shirts for my son for work.  She also picked up some socks for the granddaughters.  Evidently they had been missed earlier when getting some school clothes bought.  We had gone to lunch at Cinnamon's Deli,  before going shopping for the shirts.  The made a stop at Hobby Lobby looking to see if there were any new colors in my favorite sock yarns - got enough for 2 pairs of socks.  I. insisted that she had to pay for my birthday!  Told her I would only allow that if she then didn't pay for the gas, but she told me she wouldn't ask me to go with her again, if I didn't allow her to also pay for the gas.  So guess, I will have to use the gas money to buy some yarn to make her something with!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Catching Up

It's been a couple weeks since I have posted.  In that time, I finished a couple of projects, made a couple of cakes, had my dh leave for a week, etc.  Now to try to catch up!

I believe I had already technically finished Mom's orange socks, but had not gotten the puff paints to put something on the soles to try to help her not fall & break a hip in them.  I really had hopped to find something that would blend in with the color, but wasn't able to, so just went with white & drew the outline of hearts on the soles of the socks before sending them off to her.

August 1st our oldest daughter, D. finished her last class for her accounting degree!  She first started in college in the fall of 1996, but through life's many twists & turns, it has taken her a while to get to this point.  I believe over the course of it all, she acquired an Associate's degree from 1 college & in total attending about 4 different colleges.  She went from originally intending to get a dual degree is Mathematics Education & Music Education to Accounting.  But in the process there were 5 kids & 2 husbands involved as well!  I know she is finally glad to be at this point!  And this means that all 3 of our children have finally gotten their 4 year degrees!

I finished that up about the 5th or 6th of August, then on August 8th I mailed them after my dh left for his niece E.'s wedding in the Seattle, WA area.  I was also sending the wedding afghan that I had crocheted for their wedding gift to them.  He had a good visit, I believe, with his parents, siblings & their families.  Unfortunately, for the 1st time in 35 years, I had to chose to not go due to being required to report exactly who I was applying to each day for jobs with my unemployment.  Our town just isn't big enough to be sure I would be able to find enough jobs to apply to online or through email to allow me to go & then not being sure how the internet would work (have been in places that was supposed to have free internet, but was never able to connect), so didn't want to take a chance!


On August 17th I finished my Ruby Sangria shawl from the Bat Cat Designs KAL that I had been working on.  I have another on the needles as well though since I realized shortly after starting that the person I had intended to give Ruby to had already been given a shawl in almost the exact same color.  Oops!  So am now working on an Ancient Ruins color.

I had been working on another of Bad Cat Designs KAL's when I had issues develop last year with my right hand.  I have now tinked back to correct a dropped stitch that I had evidently marked when I was last knitting on my Back to the Garden shawl, figured out where I was and am trying to make sure I do a couple rows per day so that I can get it finished in time for Christmas.  I had intended to give it to my oldest daughter last year for Christmas, but then couldn't when I had issues being able to work on it.

There have also been several twists & turns in getting a great-niece's 15th birthday party done.  Originally her parents had intended to give her a Quince bash like they did for her sister last year, but it seems she had some trouble making up her mind about what she wanted exactly.  In the end, we had cake & ice cream yesterday for her 15th birthday, but she doesn't actually turn 15 for another week or so.  The original party date had been 9/1, then it was changed to 8/11, finally to 8/18.
 

 The weather has gotten cooler over the last couple of weeks.  We have still had some 90+ degree days, but as I am writing this, it is only 67 degrees.  I looked over at my female dog & realized that she looked like she was trying to find some way to get warm.  So I got out her sweater & now she is cuddled up in her bed going to sleep!  Usually I only have their fur cut twice over the summer & the 2nd time I don't have it cut as short as the 1st time, but this summer with trying to not use the AC, I actually bought a set of clippers & cut them about every week to get them through the hottest parts of the summer.  And the female has actually lost some weight over the summer because she didn't feel as much like eating.

I'm going to get a break for a little bit on a 2 disk rental that my dh got.  It's corny, not my taste in a movie, which he is watching in the living room because the TV that he had in the bedroom went out and with his hearing loss, I have trouble thinking straight with it on.  He is planning to go visit with out grandson for a bit, so guess I will deal with it again this evening.  Maybe after a nap I will feel up to it more myself.  It was so bad that I couldn't even lose myself in my knitting since I couldn't concentrate.

My son E. has started taking flying lessons recently.  He is all excited, especially since he works in the airplane industry now that he has graduated with his Mechanical engineering degree.  So he calls me & tells me about his progress after each new event.  He would love it if I could bring myself to fly with him at some point in the future, but I really don't think that will happen.  I am terrified of heights, but I do manage at times to go on commercial airlines.  I just can't even consider the idea of going in a small plane!  When I am on a commercial airline I sit in the aisle seat, avert my eyes from the window, try to distract myself with reading, knitting or crocheting - except for take off & landing usually.  Those times are usually done with my eyes squeezed shut as tight as I can, holding my breath & clutching the seat in front of me so tightly that I am sure the person sitting in it thinks I am trying to snatch it out from under them!

I have to say, I do a little better than I did on my 1st flight when my maternal grandmother had made sure to tell me about, if I never see you again......  I had a 3 month old baby & it was my 1st time flying!  We had gotten a special on our tickets that if we drove to Kansas City & flew United, then we could get our tickets for 1/2 price.  The seats that were available were 1st class going & coach on the return trip.  So we had the best leg room going - 1st row, right side of the plane and when the baby started crying, the flight attendant offered to take her with her while she offered drinks!  Gave me a chance to get myself together & I think helped calm D. down since she had to be picking up on my nerves.

Well, I think I will see about getting a bit of knitting done on the 2 shawls I am working on at the moment.  I did get several rounds done of the legs of a pair of socks yesterday during the party, so I am doing good on those.


Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Pictures

Just a quick post to show off the pictures I took today of my 2 current knitting projects.  The first is the pair of socks that I am knitting for my mil.  I was just starting the gusset shaping.  I right now have about another 10 rounds to go before I start making the short-row heel shaping.

The second is the first picture of my Ruby Sangria shawl that I started last night.  In this picture, I have the start up chart finished.  I am now a few rows into Chart A.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!