You know knitting is cool when....

Your husband is a follower of an online comic strip and he calls you over to take a look at the new strips. The strips are all about knitting! and funny too!

I've posted the first one here.
For the rest, simply click on the links and enjoy!

Day 1: link to the online strip

Click on the above strip for a larger version that can be read.
I especially love the last frame of this one LOL

Day 2: link to the strip

Day 3: link to the strip

Day 4: link to the strip This one is my favorite. I love the slogan!

Day 5: link to the strip

Day 6: link to the strip

Hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Nice to see that fibre arts are alive and well even in the comic strip world!

Reinventing your life or what to do when you retire

I came across this video while checking news updates since we don't have tv reception.

I wish I could do what this lady is doing. I'm sure having a 6 figure salary helped a lot once she stopped working.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If the video doesn't work here, you can see it at this link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/26411480#35776845

I'm already doing the knitting and/or crochet everywhere I go since it's the only way I will sit patiently while waiting to see a doctor (7 hours), for a bank teller (15 minutes), waiting to get blood work done (3 hours), in line at the grocery store, waiting at the pharmacy (20 minutes), sitting on a transit bus/train (up to 5 hours return trip), and anywhere else a person has to wait to get service, even while on hold! The only thing I haven't mastered yet is knitting while walking. I need to see the ground where I'm stepping and I have to wear magnifying glasses to see what I'm working on. Not a good mix LOL

I have a long way to go yet insofar as producing any kind of pattern or finished work that people would want to buy. I'm only getting my feet wet at this point and have a long road ahead of me.

Kudos to this lady for doing what she's done. If I accomplish even a quarter of what she's done, I'll be happy.

Ravelympics so far

Wow, I actually earned badges!!! I really was not expecting this to happen but it's quite nice :)

The project that got me the Hat Half-pipe is in my previous post complete with pattern.

The other project is arm warmers requested by my loving husband. I used Bernat's Heathery blue worsted weight yarn. Since he wanted them to fit snuggly but not too tight, I used 2 cables that run up the arm.   I finished knitting these while I was sitting in the ER on Monday. Still have to get a photo of hubby wearing them. Guess I'll have to corner him when he has them on :) Yes, he's camera shy but then again, so am I! The picture is of my arm while holding the camera with the other hand. It sorta works, right? :)  

Update on the infection and swelling on my face. The swelling is barely noticeable now. There is a bit that doesn't seem to want to go away but with the big blue pills I have to take 3 times a day, it should be gone by the time I'm done taking them all. Hopefully I won't have to go to bed snuggling an ice pack tonight. The freezer burn under my left eye is slowly disappearing thank goodness LOL 

I finished the red slippers! They are for a disabled young woman who comes in every week at the office where I temp on and off. She needs something that will fit easily over the distorted bones of her feet and not constantly fall off and keep her warm as well. She's very prone to getting cold and has no way of saying so. The disability is so severe that she is about on the same level as a newborn baby and cannot express what she needs except in wails. I do hope that she is happy. 

I only have one more part to go on the surprise for my husband. I was planning on doing this for Valentine's day but got sidetracked with the arm warmers and hat and slippers. I was finishing up one part last night when he asked what I was working on. It looks like a hat, let's leave it at that :)

How time flies

Now that I have time again, I thought I'd post. So here I am, 4 months after my last post dancing about getting the job of my dreams... How time has flown.

Update on the job of my dreams... turned out it wasn't the dream job I wanted. I should have known right from day one when I found out I would be working for 2 bosses from 2 departments. It might have gone better if they had not competed for my work to the point that I felt like the baby that King Solomon threatened to cut in half.

And to add insult to injury, one of my bosses turned out to be quite abusive. Didn't matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. She yelled and cussed at me pretty well daily. I didn't dare say anything because we needed the money badly and the job came with a health plan. Whee!.. yeah..right... not worth the abuse.

Last Monday, I worked late getting a powerpoint presentation printed and bound for one boss. (the one who was never satisfied) She lets me in on a "little secret"... that the other boss has been gunning to get rid of me... ."Oh wonderful" I think to myself. I've reached a point where I'm tired, emotionally and physically of all the crap getting thrown at me, so the next morning I face the other boss and ask her why she wants to get rid of me. She gives me a blank look and asks me where the hell I got that from. So I tell her, she flies into a rage and goes into my other boss's office and all hell breaks loose. I'm asked to go in the office, the one who told me the other boss was gunning for my dismissal denies ever saying that and it just goes downhill from there. Wednesday morning, the axe fell. I was dismissed. Never got a chance to defend myself, explain, etc.. just out, immediately. Talk about a slap in the face. Like I said, should have known that nothing good would come of this, working for 2 competitive bosses. Lesson learned.

Why can't I get a break? Doesn't matter what I do, I always end up on the losing end. What's wrong with wanting a decent job with decent money so we're not struggling from pay cheque to pay cheque? Seems that I always have to give things up, as if I can't have more than one part of my life that's happy. It's always a struggle for me and I'm tired of the constant fight to even have just the basics of life. I have a wonderful loving husband who is plagued with health problems that can't be healed. I get the wonderful job that on the surface looked like this was it, but turns out to be a pile of crap on a fancy cracker. Mind you, looking for work a week before Christmas is not what I'd call optimum time but I don't have a choice. Don't want to end up on the street. Scary when you realise you have very little to go on. Merry frakking Christmas to us. :(

Hey, at least I can get caught up on the housework. The apartment looks like it should be declared a disaster area and get federal funding. The only thing that I managed to keep up with tenuously during the weekends while I was working were the dishes and the laundry. The rest kind of slipped away from me. I was too exhausted to do much of anything on the 2 days I was off. I'd get groceries when we were low, dishes and laundry, get the recycling out and that was it. Even switched to disposable paper plates to lessen the dishes that needed washing, sad huh.

Doesn't help that my neuropathy kicked into high gear, preventing me from sleeping decently which meant I'd wake up tired and have to drag my way through a hectic work day with feet and hands sending my brain phantom pain messages strong enough to make my foot or hand jerk in response. The stress I was under didn't help my diabetes either with blood glucose readings yo-yo'ing from one extreme to the other during the same day. I know, you're probably thinking now that I'm better off without this job. I agree, but we need money to survive which means I have to work.

The last couple of months were so bad, I couldn't share with my darling husband since he had his own beasties to battle. His blood pressure climbed to scary heights for no apparent reason about a month ago. He gets palpitations, racing heart beat and never seems to be warm enough. He's on blood pressure pills which were upped but that didn't seem to help in the first few weeks. He's still getting a high bp reading and we still don't know why. 153 over 96 is NOT normal! A heart rate over 100 beats/min is NOT normal! And this is while he's just sitting there, never mind what happens when he climbs a set of stairs or tries to do any kind of physical work! Add to that chronic kidney stones and now you know why I couldn't share what was going on at work with him. Last thing he needed to hear was that I was struggling trying to keep a job that wasn't working out.

In other news, I haven't stopped knitting or crocheting. With a 5 hour round trip daily commute, I knit/crochet my way through hats, scarves, wristwarmers, Halloween decorations, slippers, cowls, anything small and portable. Some I took pictures of, most I didn't and gave them away. I know, silly of me not to take at least one picture!

Currently working on presents which I intended to send to family. I'll keep making the items, but they'll have to wait until I'm working again before I can send them out. At least I don't lack for yarn thanks to my wonderful daughter and friends.

I also created a slouchy hat pattern that I like well enough to wear it myself! It's a nice big slouchy beret. I hate tight hats and since I wear my hair in a bun most days, a regular winter hat didn't fit well or was too tight.

On my needles, I have a neck warmer for my husband. I'm using Bernat's wool blends in the off white colorway. I really liked the owl hat pattern I'd used in the past and thought it would make a very nice neckwarmer.

Time Flies!

Wow, time does fly or so it seems. It certainly doesn't feel like weeks and months have gone by, but they have. The pain I feel in my heart is less, only by a small bit, but still, it doesn't hurt as much. I still burst out crying at the most inopportune moments, but I'm dealing with those as well. I don't think I will ever stop missing my sister, but I will continue to live my life as if she were still around since I know she's not far in my heart.

What have I been doing?

Looking for a job, any job! And there's not a heck of a lot out there. Mostly ads from temp agencies who are collecting resumes. Big whoop! And the few legitimate job ads that do show up every few days are flooded with applications I'm sure. With all the layoffs, I'm not the only one searching for a job. I keep applying with the hope that my resume will be first in line and that someone will actually read it over.

I've been knitting and crocheting a lot! I made wristwarmers for a very special friend's birthday in a lovely shade of blue, her favorite! :)

I'm still working on the Adamas shawl for a friend of a friend. But with the summer heat setting in, worsted weight yarn in a large shawl does not set well on my lap. I've also got another shawl in the works, but again, the heat is not amusing for shawl work.

I've made several more washcloths which will end up in a Christmas package for my Mom. Still have to do something else though. Sending just washcloths seems cheap in a way.

I'm currently working on a dress for Xandy. This will be for fall when she starts school! It's dark pink with a lovely frill of Bernat satin faded glory ombre shade. I'll also be doing the front bodice using the satin as well as a small frill or cap for the sleeves. Right now, the bottom frill is killing me! LOL I have 528 stitches to purl, and k2tog, yo, k1 that is taking forever to do one repeat of! But once the frill is done, I'll be going down to ONLY 264 stitches! That should speed things up.

The pattern I'm using as a base is from Knit 'N Style June 2007, Viva la Violet dress, size range 2T to 6 years. I'm knitting the size 6 just to make sure the dress will be worn more than just one season.

I've been stewing over ideas about what I want to make for Christmas presents. Just have to get them down on paper and actually start making them.

The blanket for my son is slowly growing. I have the 24 outer squares done. Started working on the first of the 24 inside squares last night. Thankfully the squares are small enough 8x8 that I don't end up with a lapful of worsted weight yarn. Much too warm for that!

My darling daughter is looking for yarn for a summer top she wants. She found it in a back issue of Sandra magazine. Model 29 I hope she finds yarn that she likes so I can knit it for her.

I started knitting a curtain. The whole thing started when I spotted a cone of laceweight yarn in a lovely teal shade that was only 2 dollars at the local Talize store! I bought it thinking I could experiment using it on my Passap 201 knitting machine. But, alas, it was not to be. The solid metal workings of the Passap literally ripped the poor laceweight yarn to shreds. So back in it's box went the Passap. Out came the crochet hook as well as several skeins of a white acrylic laceweight yarn that I didn't know what to do with and I combined the two together. I found a lovely lace pattern in my stitch encyclopedia and off I went! The curtain is 24 inches wide by about 14 inches in height at this point. It needs to reach aproximately 24 inches in height and then it will replace the faux lace curtains that are falling apart from old age in the bedroom window. I'll take pics soon! I promise!

I finally found a pattern for a fall/spring jacket or coat that I like. Mind you, it will need some modifications since the collar and lack of buttons doesn't do it for me. But what else is a knitting pattern for except to modify and make it to suit yourself!?! My darling daughter purchased a large number of Bernat Solo which is a chunky yarn and would be perfect for this jacket. The pattern I found is from the free downloads at Knit 'N Style and is called Wrap Jacket.

The oversized collar is going to be turned into hood. I'll be adding a button band since I don't like my coats flapping in the wind. And since I love cables, there will be some added cabling but that remains to be seen. I still have to work out how I'm going to do it.

I love the overall construction, just don't like the collar and closure.

And last but not least, as some of you know, I play Neopets. Last week, the Random contest was called Life sized, and asked members to recreate one of their petpets in a life sized version. I chose my catamara Chewie to be the designated victim.

Using basic amigurumi techniques I crocheted this little guy and submitted pictures. I won! Came in the first place group which really was amazing! And this is what my little guy looks like.