what I've been up to...

I had a job interview this past week. The opportunity was much appreciated, because it spurred me to think about what I really want. You get fed so much bullshit from all sources about what is the right way to live, that sometimes it is hard to know what is best for you. Just because someone else is a stay at home mom who makes all her child's clothes and bakes fresh cookies every day, does that mean that is right for me? Should I want that? It sounds lovely. Just because the woman that interviewed me went to an Ivy League school and talked a mile a minute and has a nanny for her two kids, does that mean that I should want the power job she was interviewing for? Do I want to be like her? That sounds tempting too! What do I want? What's best for me? Not the me I think I should be, but the me that I am.

These are the things I know that I want:
1. I want to buy a house. I don't want an apartment. I don't want a condo. I want a house, with a yard. Not a big yard, not in a neighborhood where I have to maintain the damn thing to someone else's specifications, but a fucking YARD where Stella can run around without a leash.

2. I want a partner who loves me. Me. Not the person she wishes I was, but the person I am. Goofy, loud, lazy, messy, smelly me. I want to have all our shit together so that if (god forbid) one of us gets into an accident or has to go to the hospital that there is NO DOUBT about why the other one is there. I would love to get married with a ceremony and a ring, but it is really more important that the commitment is there (and the paperwork is in order!). I want to feel supported and loved, and secure that the person she is will be there for me no matter what, as I will be for her.

3. I want a job that I like doing, that I feel that I do well, and that isn't something that drains all my life away doing.

4. I want time to do the things I love--read, knit, watch movies, run, travel, visit family, etc.--and money to be able to do those things.

5. I want to help. I don't know how else to define this, but I want to help. Either through my job, or through something I can do with my time or effort. I want, in a small way, to make the world a better place.

6. I want to be part of a community. I like having a local coffee place, and seeing the same people when I walk the dog, and having a knitting group that I love.

Some of these things are very much part of my life now, in JC, at my current job, and some of them very much are not. I tend to dwell on the things that I'm missing, and forget about the things I've already got, and it was good to have everything put into perspective again, even though it means that I'm not going to take that job, with more money and more power. I guess money isn't everything. It's hard to let go, but I know it isn't the right move for me, especially now. I need to focus on the things on that list, and not get distracted. I need to just refine from where I am now. I'm halfway there. I'll figure it out eventually I think. This transitional place is just a hard place for me to be. I like things settled, and I've been in flux much too long.

Anyway, back to the knitting:

I'm working on three projects, which is good. They're all coming along, and I feel like I'm making progress again, even though I started the third one because I needed a break from Veil. So let's talk about that one first:

1.

This is Veil by Norah Gaughan. It is one of the best patterns in NG volume 2. Well, I like it, obviously. There are a few others I like in "Objet d'Art", which is the story with Veil in it, such as 'Pleat', and 'Mobius', although I probably wouldn't make Mobius, Pleat could be something I knit sooner rather than later.

Anyway, Veil is knit in two pieces, one stockinette, and one big lace piece that you knit and then attach later. This is the lace:



I have just started. Again. The needles I knit the stockinette part on are Pony needles, which are smooth plastic. So smooth in fact that the stitches have slid off the needle TWICE already. I'm being really careful now, and only knitting rows when I have time to finish them and only in twos. Knitting with this yarn is like knitting with waxed thread, and it's not that pleasant, actually. I do like the look of it, but I don't think I'll want to use it again, especially not for lace. We'll see. Maybe I'll change my mind if the finished object turns out really awesome.

2. **image removed from prying mommy eyes**

My mom's Jaywalkers are also in progress. I just kitchenered the toe of the first one today, and cast on for the second. This has to be done by the end of June, but I think I'm well on the way to being finished with these, especially with a business trip coming up this Thursday (to Minneapolis, AGAIN...)

3.

I got these two skeins of Alpaca blend yarn from a Michael's in Murfreesboro during that horrible night, and planned to crochet the scarf pattern on the ball band, which I'll link when I finish this and do the FO post, but let's just say that I'm not the best crocheter around, and I had a lot of trouble understanding the pattern. That's when I pulled out the One Skein book, and found the crochet cravat pattern. I'm planning to just keep going until I run out of yarn, but it's already cute, right? This might be my marketing person's holiday present... We'll see.

So that is the long and short of it. My niece is coming at the end of June to spend some time with me and I can't wait. I want to spend some quality time with her and my sister and just enjoy living in (next to) one of the best cities in the world for once, instead of stressing about it all the time. YAY.

FO #18 & 19: A Tale of Two Shrugs

Finally got some shots of the shrugs! Spanky's not a fan of shrugs. She says that it looks like the rest of the sweater is missing. But I like the fact that they aren't as warm as regular sweaters--they're transitional pieces. But, some of them work out better than others.



Pattern: Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug by Stephanie Japel, from the book Fitted Knits.

This pattern was really easy, although the never-ending ribbing around the collar was a bit tedious. I really love the way the collar looks though, so it was worth it. The weird thing was that while it was on the needles, I really couldn't figure out what it was going to look like.



Also, I made the pattern size that corresponded to my shoulder width of 18 inches, which was further up the chart--probably the 3rd largest size. Apparently I have pretty wide shoulders for the rest of my build, because the arm widths for that size turned out to be a bit baggy. I should have been more vigilant while I was knitting, and measured the sleeves as I was going. That way, I could have decreased evenly around the sleeves so they'd be more fitted but the back could have remained wide enough.



As you can see, it's not that bad, so I'm still pretty happy with it. I've already worn it, and I can see it is going to be in pretty heavy rotation at the office this summer, during the Ice Age of the air conditioning. Plus, it's not that heavy of a sweater, so I don't look freakish wearing it in the summer time.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers. The brown is left over from the yarn I used for Spanky's sweater, and the blue is some Cascade I bought specifically for this shrug. I was going to use the blue along with some pinkish rose color of Cascade together, but when I saw them together, I didn't like the way the two colors looked together. But the blue looked really good with the brown, so... Anyway, I love the two colors together, and I love 220. This yarn has been in my stash for a couple of years now, so again, WIN.



Needles: size 7 for the brown and size 6 for the ribbing. Not really a stretch. I knew the size 7s would work just fine, so I didn't really swatch.

ANYWAY, on to shrug #2



Pattern: Carie cropped cardigan by Stephanie Japel from Fitted Knits

I fell in LOVE with this pattern in the book. It looks SO GOOD on that model, paired with that dress... I fell for the marketing. The model obviously HAS NO BREASTS. She's wearing a dress that exactly matches the shrug, but most importantly, she HAS NO BREASTS. WTF was I thinking?



Can we see those again up close?



Holy Moley!

How can I wear this? I look like a WENCH. Ugh. I can probably get away with punking it up for going out on the weekend, but I can't really wear it to work without feeling like my girls are saying, 'Well HELLOO!' and that's just not professional. I work in a casual office, but this would be too weird.

The sad thing is that otherwise, I really like it. I love the sleeves and the way the shoulders fit. I wish the collar was a little higher, and I definitely wish the bodice was a bit lower down!

Yarn: Cascade Magnum, 2 skeins
Needles: US 17

In Seattle, I found this sewing shop called Stitches that also had a great selection of Cascade yarns, including a lot of this Cascade Magnum. There are some gorgeous colors in this yarn. I spent a long time deciding which to get, because they were each $19.95, so I only bought two. Really, I think if I'd had three skeins, all the problems I had with the pattern would have been alleviated, since I would have had more yarn to make the bodice longer, etc. As it wound up, I used pretty much all the yarn, and seamed up the sweater with some cotton remnants from my stash.

And so it goes. You win some, you lose some, not that this is a loss. It is just something that won't see a lot of rotation in my wardrobe... unless I'm going to a medieval faire!

FO #17 Stella's rippled blankie

OK, so these aren't in exactly the right order, because I finished the shrug before the blankie, but I haven't got any good pictures of the shrug yet, so you get the blankie first. And what a blankie it is!



Of course my camera focused on Stella, not the blanket, but you get an idea of how big it is, right? You can see where the sides bulge a bit, which is where I accidentally kept increasing, because I'm not such a good crocheter, but I sort of got myself back on track, and fudged it enough so that it came out relatively square anyway.



I am extremely pleased with how this came out. I got rid of a lot of acrylic yarn, and the stripe pattern came out pretty regular, even though there are a few irregularities where I ran out of one color or another.

Pattern: I used this pattern, because it was the easiest to understand with my beginner crochet skills. I wish she had a bigger picture of how it looks though, just for reference.

Yarn: Acrylics of various weights (mostly worsted) and sources, although most of them came from the Unfortunate Ebay Experience. There is a bit of stuff from Target too though. I used up all the hot pink and pink variegated boucle that I had left from a while ago when I made a scarf and hat for Spanky's niece. And one of the balls of lavender was just so much bigger than the rest of them, that I decided to use that for the border, which I just made up. It's just double crochet all around, and I fudged the corners by doing several stitches in the same place the way you do the ripple points.

Hook: I can't remember now, but I think it was a G maybe? Is that the same as a 6?



Notes: This was pretty fun to do, although I messed up a lot, and about half way through I got really tired of it and put it away for about 6 months, until one day I just got tired of looking at the bag with the project in it and decided to finish it up. It didn't help that Stella went back into the hospital a second time (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis) still with no blankie.



Now she's feeling much better, and has a scrumptious blankie for lazing about on the couch. All in all it was a good way to use up the yarn and get a fantastic result that I didn't have to wear!