Archive for June, 2006
June 26, 2006 at 7:24 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
This will get me by until I have something fancier. I finished it in less than a week, and the price was right.
The before picture. I used four colors of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride, one skein of each. The finished bag was so huge, I didn’t think it would possibly shrink enough. I’ve felted knits before, but it still seemed like too much fabric. I started out making a medium bag, but switched to small in progress.
After the wash. Not bad! The bag is a little oversized, but it’ll definitely work. And it’s fuzzy. I like that.
I had enough yarn left over to make a little felted pouch for my mouse or adapter. I can either make a drawstring for it, or fasten it with a button. (I’m leaning toward the button.)
Now I’m working on my blue ponchette and a Mason-Dixon Knitting inspired rag rug.
June 26, 2006 at 7:06 pm · Filed under career
I know that Friday was my first day of self-employment, but it didn’t feel that different because I’ve had Fridays off for the past few years. Today, though, was the real thing.
I made a list of things to do, because part of me was afraid I’d run out of work. Ha! Ha! Happily, I still have plenty of items on that list, and yet I still managed to be more productive than I’ve been for months. It’s amazing, but when you’re wrapped up in an interesting task, three or four hours can pass instantaneously.
When Pete came home for lunch, I couldn’t believe it was time already — and it was 1 p.m.
Even my office toys have been adjusting. Barista and her trusty corgi have taken up residence with the Wallace & Gromit gang.
Madeline is staying with the mini Blythes and Licca, who live one level below the Blythe trio. They’ve been terribly neglected, but I’m finally able to give them a little attention again.
You know I’m feeling good. I’m playing with dolls.
Anyway, back to the work day. I made myself stop working at 4 p.m. so I could cook something new for dinner…a vegetarian stew from a Deepak Chopra cookbook, featuring sweet potatoes, onion, cauliflower, curry and coconut milk served over rice. During the cooking process, I wasn’t sure how it would all turn out, but it was quite good. I made consolation brownies for the kids since I was serving up unfamiliar stuff.
I’m sore (from weeding yesterday) and still a bit nervous, but oh so glad to be here.
June 22, 2006 at 8:16 am · Filed under astrology
And here’s my horoscope:
Work and career matters could finally bring you the success and good fortune you’ve been hoping for. This is likely to be acknowledgement for effort and dedication, as well as hard work. Expect a rise in your income as well, and increased respect and status among friends and coworkers alike. However, don’t celebrate too wildly, Aine. There is a slight danger of a minor malaise from overindulging in food and drink!
Wow. Awesome.
More about my feelings later, but for the most part, they are excited, happy ones.
June 21, 2006 at 8:28 am · Filed under astrology
This is so cool (and a little addictive). I just entered a bunch of names and birthdays, and some of the info really resonated. Fun stuff!
June 15, 2006 at 9:20 pm · Filed under career, knit/crochet
I quit my job last week.
I’m finally going to give self-employment an honest-to-goodness try. My last day as an employee will be June 22. Everybody is being great, and of course I’m sad to leave my co-workers. But this has been a loooooong time coming. (Well, maybe not that long. Just looong.)
Anyway, I’m nervous about not having a regular paycheck, but I’m getting more and more used to the idea. The great thing (I think) is being more available to my kids over the summer. Of course, I might have to escape to a coffeeshop with internet access every now and then.
Which leads to … my new toy. I realized that my old-school G3 clamshell was not going to be adequate anymore. I did some eBay browsing and was considering a MacBook, but I couldn’t make up my mind. Pete told me that if I was going to manifest my laptop, I needed to really visualize what I wanted. So I did: a 15″ G4 Powerbook with at least 1GB RAM and a 60-80GB hard drive. For $800 or less.
The next time I jumped on eBay, a new listing popped up. All of the above, with a buy-it-now of $799. And the seller was in Madison. I dashed off an email asking about local pickup, and by the time I heard back from the seller, someone else had clicked the buy-it-now. But the potential buyer had no feedback, so the seller and I reached an agreement. It all happened pretty darned quickly. Power of intention, all right!
In other news, I continue to knit like a maniac. I finished my Mason-Dixon absorba bathmat and made a crocheted washrag out of some of the leftover yarn. I’m now working on a baby kimono, a crocheted one-skein scarf, and my aforementioned June Project Spectrum ponchette. As you can see, I also made a knitted headband from a pattern in Interweave Knits.
I’m thinking that a knitted laptop sleeve is in my near future.
June 12, 2006 at 9:36 am · Filed under blather
These guys are idiots but for some reason their poor spelling while committing vandalism on 6/6/06 made me think, “fashion designer graffiti.”
Besides, 6/6/06 isn’t for evil, it’s for Jodi, who was on my mind all day last Tuesday. So there.
June 5, 2006 at 12:47 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
I’ve finally finished my fourth-ever pair of socks! There’s a mistake, but it’s pretty minor and I was too far along to rip. So I’m living with it. If you want to see the socks on my feet, look here.
‘Twas a busy weekend, but I still had time to knit. I’m working on a bathmat (a few rows at a time, because it’s slightly unwieldy) and I started a headband. The weather was absolutely lovely, so I took my knitting outside to the swing. Even though our backyard isn’t exactly a showpiece, I like sitting out there. Sometimes a squirrel will even mosey through.
On Saturday, I was up early to walk in Race for the Cure with Patti, her sister Jeannie, and two other women (including an ex-coworker). As always, it was an inspiring event. We had brunch afterwards, and an older women spotted our t-shirts and came over to our booth to thank us. She was a 14-year survivor.
Oh, I finished another project last week:
It’s the Lacey Poncho from green to help me celebrate the end of May.
June 1, 2006 at 4:57 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
Oh, my achin’ back. Moon’s school has a huge pops concert at the end of the year, and it’s the music department’s biggest fundraiser. Well, the concert was last night. The school gym is transformed into a cafe, and box dinners are available for pre-order. The thing is, when all the tables and chairs are taken, the rest of the audience has to sit in the bleachers.
Guess who arrived too late to get a good seat?
The concert was quite excellent, although the between-number skits were rather cheesy. All the orchestras and choirs perform, as well as the percussion ensemble and jazz band. The seniors present gifts to the teachers. What I’m trying to say is that it’s a long concert. We were there for four hours. Does today’s back pain mean that I’m getting old? (Yes.)
One of my favorite parts of the concert was when the orchestra played “Pomp and Circumstance” towards the end. At the dramatic points in the music, the seniors in the orchestra stood. Then the choir seniors stood. I don’t even know these kids, and I nearly broke into tears. I am going to be an absolute mess when Moon graduates. First I’ll have two more years of crying about other people’s kids.
