Closed

Well, that's it, Three Bear's is closed. Something involving some bank, I'm not really sure what exactly happened. Jeff got called into a meeting today where he received the news. Thankfully, he's able to start his new job tomorrow instead of next Monday (which I guess actually works out better for the new boss). It does mean, however, it may be awhile before Jeff sees any sort of compensation for his work last week, but we're still a lot better off than some of the others, so we shouldn't complain.

As for me, school is going okay, it is going to be a busy and stressful semester. I took my praxis content knowledge test on Saturday, which reminded me why I hate standardized tests. I finished with about an hour to kill with nothing to do.

School's been getting in the way of other stuff. Things I should be doing, like packing; and things I would rather be doing, like knitting. At this rate, I will never finish the banded peasant blouse. I'm also working on a wrap, Danielle's afghan, (which I'd like to have done before her birthday, but more likely will be for Christmas), and, of course, socks. I recently realized that I'm beginning to acquire more sock yarn than I can ever use in my life, so I'm not buying any more sock yarn until I deplete my overflowing stash. Plus, with moving to a new, much smaller, location, I need to work on whittling down my yarn supply to make it easier to move.

Updates

Several big changes are on the horizon for the Cram household. Here's the story behind it:

Earlier this summer, Jeff and the remainder of the Three Bear's employees were given a 90 day closure notice. The resort was being put up for sale and if there wasn't a buyer, the place would close at the end of September (the Monday after Cranfest).

Naturally, this put us in a panic, as not only Jeff's job, but our home are directly tied into the fate of the resort. Jeff began a search for a new job, we began to discuss options including moving. However, we had to remain in a holding pattern until we got more news.

After applications and interviews, Jeff ended up with two job offers, and opted to take one establishing and building an IT department for Meca Sportswear, a company in Tomah. He's excited about the new opportunity, but a little worried about leaving the company where he has worked since college. His last day at Three Bears will be September 19 and he will start the new job the following Monday.

We also had to find a place to live, a place that would allow the small herd of animals we've acquired in the past several years. After weeks of searching, and lots of dissapointments, we found a place to live. It is a tiny two bedroom house on McLean Ave. (by St. Paul's School for those interested parties). It has a great fenced in yard for Pippin. It will be a change from our current house, we're used to the spacious three bedroom house, to this much, much smaller one, but it is adorable. We move on November 1, which gives me time to balance school and packing.

I have three semesters left in school, meaning a year from now I should be student teaching (given that everything goes according to plan). My schedule is pretty full this semester, but I'm still making time to teach religious education on Wednesday nights (those poor kids) and put in hours at both jobs on the weekends. And, of course, I still find some time to indulge my nerdy habits of knitting, Dr Who, reading, and telling people about my ever so charming pets.

Can't Sleep

It is 2 am, and I'm sitting in my living room watching reruns of Gilmore Girls, which is not normally the way I would like to spend a Thursday night, or an early Friday morning, for that matter. However, once again, I have discovered that I cannot fall asleep. I haven't been sleeping well lately, not sure if it has been caused by the stress over the resort, Jeff's job, and the house, or something else.

If it is housing stress, I would think I would sleep better tonight. This evening we looked at an adorable, but tiny house on McLean Ave in Tomah. It is only two bedrooms and the rooms are tiny, but it is so cute. And has hardwood floors throughout, and the owner allows pets, and it has a fenced in yard. I should be thrilled, but there is still so much uncertainty about everything that I cannot fully relax.

Moving from our spacious three bedroom house to a tiny two bedroom is going to be an adjustment in itself. I have no idea where I am going to be able to store my yarn stash, amongst other things. I'm currently working on whittling down our possessions, but it is slow going.

And now I am out of Gilmore Girls, after watching "An Affair to Remember" and "The Festival of Living Pictures," so I've moved on the Ghost Hunters reruns.

On the knitting front, I've been slowly (very slowly) chipping away at the banded peasant blouse, I've finished both sleeves and am now working on the body. I've also cast on my first lace project and my first knit project with beads, the Cheshire Cat Stole. I originally wanted to have it done in time to wear it to Pete's wedding, but considering that is on Saturday, that's not going to happen. I'm also working on a pair of socks using the two at a time, toe-up pattern.

I'm now going to continue with Ghost Hunters and work on the banded peasant blouse until I can fall asleep.

Sock Hiatus

Despite my newfound love and obsession for sock knitting, (I've completed 5 pairs since February, which seems pretty good to me) I am now taking a bit of a sabbatical from socks. This sabbatical is not voluntary, though, but rather forced.

I've also fallen in love with both the knit picks harmony circular needles and the magic loop method of knitting socks. It makes me dread the idea of going back to using dpns. This dread is largely the cause of the hiatus from creating socks.

First of all, while finishing my wonderful, beautiful Bellatrix socks, I snapped one of my size 0's. Okay, not a big deal, I don't use that one very often so I'll just order a replacement with my next order (which seeing as how beautiful some of the shades of the new Imagination sock yarn, wouldn't be long anyway).

Then, last Friday, my darling niece visiting from Seattle decided to throw a football at me while I was working on my Jaywalker socks from Knitty. This broke my size 1 circulars, which I use a lot, so I went ahead and put in an order that night to replace my 0's and 1's, and, of course, some sock yarn.

So, yesterday I started work on my first toe-up socks on my size 2's. I finished increasing for the toe and set the knitting down to do something else. Minerva, the ever charming devil cat, stole my knitting and in the course of playing with the knitting, Minerva managed to chew two large snags in the cable which catch and rip the yarn, making knitting with them impossible.

So, I went ahead and placed another knit picks order to replace the 2's (and get more sock yarn...yes, I know I have a problem). But as I'm still waiting patiently to hear that my orders have shipped, I'll be taking a break from socks for awhile.

Stitch Markers

I've been noticing that there are many more options for stitch markers than the boring plastic rings that I have been using. So, after I decided that I wanted some pretty beaded stitch markers, I thought it would be more fun to make some rather than just buy them.

I headed off to the Michael's store in Eau Claire after finishing Spring finals and got some jump rings, head pins, and beads. I then sat down to assemble some stitch markers today. It didn't take too long, and now I have eighteen pretty new stitch markers. For the time being I made two different designs, but I'm sure I'll make more in the future. They are super easy and super cute. My first project using these will be Sophie's cardigan, so now we'll see how they work out when actually being used.

Updates

Between school and finals, there hasn't been time for much else, but now the main semester is done! Not than I'm exactly done, seeing has how I start a three week class on Monday, but that is only one class to focus on.

I've finished the laptop cover, and I'm thrilled with it! It turned out much better than I would have hoped.



It also means that I can start on Sophie's cardigan for her baptism. It has to be done by July 3, which gives me plenty of time, especially because it is little and shouldn't take too terribly long. I'm happy that my sister requested that I make something for Sophie to wear for her baptism, however I'm confused as to why anyone would need a sweater for the Wisconsin summer.

Since I first adventured into sock knitting, I've become addicted. I'm making it a point to have a pair of socks on needles all the time. They are great for portable knitting, and for mindless work. I've now mastered the "magic loop" method and I love it! It is much easier than using double pointed needles, and I worry much less about the needles slipping out of the work when I shove my work in the bag.

I also need to put my foot down with myself and finish Sophie's Nemo fish. I've got about four fins to make and sew on, but I just can't seem to make myself do it. Seeing as it didn't get done for Easter, I'm shooting for Sophie's visit to Wisconsin this summer.

Could It Possibly Be?

The Mobius bag is almost finished. I'm waiting for it to finish drying after felting, then I just have to trim down the pocket facing and sew it to the bag. This means I am almost finished with my first experienced project. Could this possibly mean that I'm actually an experienced knitter. Whoa, that is an empowering thought.


So, after finishing the bag, instead of putting all my efforts back into the banded peasant blouse, I decided I'd be better served to cast on more projects. I've now added the Aran laptop cover, from Canadian Living (I found the pattern through ravelry) and a pair of socks for Jeff. He's now decided that maybe he'd wear knitted socks. I've still got to finish the Nemo fish for Sophie plus I need to start on my knitting for Mother's day.

The laptop cover is my first cable project I've tried in a long time, so I'm excited to see how it is going to turn out. Jeff's socks are my first attempt at the magic loop method for knitting a small circumference, which seems to be going pretty well.