Out With the Old, In With the New

Of course, Sunday marked the beginning of 2012. Husband and I rang it in with true "over thirty" style. We joined two other couples, one with children (ages 3 and 11 months), and another friend. We actually ended up deciding to celebrate the ball dropping in New York and heading home before midnight actually arrived in Wisconsin. Despite Ian (the 3 year old) kicking a glass of red wine out of my hand which spilled all over my pants, it was an enjoyable evening.


Sunday brought the last of our Christmas celebration, unless you count the Christmas party Awards Banquet at husband's work (but that has now been moved to April to make it less Christmasy) which was my dad's family. Somehow that particular branch of the family managed to ignore the fact that they scheduled dinner during the last regular season Packer game, giving Husband and I the options of crowding into my aunt's family room to watch her minuscule tv, or huddle over his phone and watch the play by play courtesy of G3 and Yahoo Sports. We went with option B, but did manage to make it home for the last half of the final quarter. Thankfully, it wasn't an important game, but I was still bummed to miss Flynn's amazing performance (and most likely the last time we will see him play as a Packer).


Today was another fairly quiet day. I got my hairs cut and enjoyed lunch with Husband and some family. Then husband and I spent some time putting away the Christmas decorations (I know, technically it is too early to put them away...but tell that to Husband). Then we enjoyed some delicious chili, grilled cheese, and attempted to enjoy the Rose Bowl (sadly, that ended with a Badger loss).


I've also joined the Words with Friends craze over the weekend. It may have become one of my new favorite ways to waste time and spent some time thinking about resolutions for the New Year, which will be another post coming soon!

Project Talk: In a Slump

Lately I’ve been feeling rather blah about my knitting. Well, actually to be fair, I’ve been feeling rather blah about a lot of things, which just so happens to include my knitting. Not sure if it’s holiday stress, weather, the fact that I’ve been sick, or something else, but things are just very blah.
Usually for the holiday season, I plan on knitting an impossible combination of gifts and decorations. This year? Zero, zilch, nada. I thought about knitting something for my mom, but never got beyond the idea in my head. (Sorry, mom, maybe for mother’s day, or your birthday, or next year)
There’s nothing wrong with the projects that are on my needles. In fact, I’m pretty happy with the projects. I’m hoping that over the next few days, an increase in family time equals an increase in knitting time, the trip to Lambeau field not only provides several more hours of knitting time, but also serves to inspire me to translate a couple of football related ideas from my head to actual knit goods (or just to paper, before the ideas leave my brain for that matter) and writing about the projects serves to inspire me to pick up the needles and knit more.

So here’s what is on my  needles right now:
  
Socks, of course. Currently, I’m working on Cookie A’s design, Cubist socks. As the name implies, it has a geometric pattern that resembles cubes. I’m knitting them out of Malabrigo sock yarn in the colorway Abril, which is some beautiful shades of purple. The pattern looked a little intimidating at first, but really isn’t too bad. I’ve gotten past the gusset decreases for the first sock.

Spatterdash Fingerless Gloves. I’ll admit it, I’ve become a convert to fingerless gloves. At first, I thought they were useless, but after making a pair, I’m hooked. I had a beautiful pair of End Paper Mitts, but they are now happily on the hands of a friend, so I needed another pair. This pattern, Spatterdash found on knitty.com, combines buttons and ruffles, so I can’t go wrong. I’m using Knit Picks Imagination sock yarn in the colorway Wicked Witch for those. The green in the yarn looks like it will match my winter coat beautifully, so I’m happy so far. I am a little concerned that the gloves might be too small, and I might need to start over with a bigger needle, but I really need to get more done before making that decision (Yes, I know, this is usually a recipe for me griping in a couple of weeks wondering why I didn’t just rip out and start over when I first suspected they might be too small, but this pattern for gloves is different than any I’ve done before, so I’m honestly not sure).

Sheepcote Pullover. This one started out as a love story. I saw it in the Twist Collective and had to buy the pattern, immediately went out to find suitable yarn and couldn’t wait to get started. It immediately jumped ahead of the February Lady Sweater, which has been next up forever (but things seem to keep budging ahead in line…I really need to do something about that). So I casted on, over a month ago, and have completed one sleeve. I still like it, and I’m not sure what the actual problem is. Maybe it is that sleeves just aren’t that fun and things will get better once I get to the actual body of the sweater, either way, progress has been slow.

Of course, there are some perpetual works in progress out there on the needles. The Scrap Sock Yarn blanket, which may very well never be finished, and the Yggdrasil Afghan; which, without a deadline, just gets neglected. I might buckle down and make it my Wednesday night project to work on while husband is away at Lions and basketball.

So that’s what is on my needles, hopefully I will be able to report some actual progress sometime soon!

Back to Work

Way back when, in late September, I received a bit of a crushing blow, career-wise. My longtime goal of being a teacher wasn't going to work out, at least not a this point. I didn't want to talk about then and still don't. But I will provide a bit of an update what I've been up to.

The first month or so were pretty tough on me. A lot of soul searching, and trying to figure out what it was I really wanted out of my life, a lot of fretting about getting older (turned 30 last week) and a lot of applying for jobs that, well, frankly, I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to get or not.

A conversation with my sister offered an interesting theory. I'm not the sort of person who is defined by their career. I'm a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, along with being a knitter, reader, and aspiring writing. I want to spend summers growing things in a garden and fall canning homemade food.
There are few things I love more than curling up on my couch with my pets, a ball of wool, and two sticks. Maybe a career isn't what I need right now, maybe I just need a job.

There was a teller position open at one of the local banks in my hometown, I applied, interviewed, was hired, and started last Monday. It is full time, good hours, with some pretty good perks.

Is it a forever job?
I honestly don't know.

Is it a right now job?

You bet.

I'll be working between 30 to 39 hours a week, mainly Monday to Friday, eight to six with a hour for lunch. Sure, I'll have to work the occasional Saturday, but it works out to about one a month. The pay is not the greatest, and I'll supplement with extra hours at the grocery store, (okay, with grocery hours, it'll work out to every other weekend). There seem to be oppertunities for advancement within the bank. And, one of the main things I like right now, I can leave work at work. I'm not devoting my hours at home to my job. I can come home, have dinner with the husband, and spend the evening doing activities of my choosing. It should work out just fine for the foreseeable future, maybe longer.

Things are still new right now, I'm not entirely sure what my typical schedule will look like. I'm expecting things to settle down a bit more after the holiday season, and am looking forward to getting into a bit of a routine in January.

Book Review: Devil Wind

Title: Devil Wind: A Sammy Greene Thriller
Authors: Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid


This is another book I received via Book Rooster in order to review it. 


Devil Wind takes place in Los Angles, in December 1999. The Santa Ana winds are pushing wildfires closer and closer to the city, adding to the chaos and stress caused by the fears of the looming possibility  of a Y2K disaster. Progressive late night radio talk show host Sammy Greene is new to LA, having moved from the East Coast. In her quest to draw attention to the forgotten people of the city, she finds herself caught up in a web of murder, terrorist plots, and her own past.

This book had the potential to be a great thriller; but the authors included way too many elements commonly found in thriller novels, murder, spies, terrorism, medical drama, wildfires, prostitution, theft, estranged love ones, the list goes on and on. The giant pile plethora of elements adds to the confusion already caused by the story's frequent jumps between characters and constant introduction of new plot twists and stories. It makes the story both unbelievable and hard to follow. 

The core story line was interesting enough, and most of the characters were likable. I really thought that the book had potential, but ended up disappointed. It was one of those books where I had lost all interest by mid book, but plodded on through to the end of the story, where everything seemed to be wrapped up a little too neatly.

The bottom line:

When I read the description, I thought I would like the book, but so many of the added elements and coincidences were so unbelievable that I was tired of the book by the time I was halfway through. By the end of the book, I was resenting it for wasting my time, though admittedly, that was more my own fault for my determination to finish a book I didn't like.


P.S. I have absolutely no idea what is up with the text/background color on this post. We'll just call it a tech fail and move on.

Book Review: The Imitation of Patsy Burke

Title: The Imitation of Patsy Burke
Author: John J. Gaynard


Awhile ago, I came across a site called Book Rooster, a website that allows authors to share free Kindle editions of their books in exchange for reviews. It is an excellent way to discover new books and author, and to help others do the same by sharing your opinion.


Now, I'm a pretty avid reader, but my to-read pile has reached mountainous heights. However, I have read two of the review copies of books from this program and today finally got around to posting the reviews on amazon. I figured that meant it was time to also share my review and opinions of the books here.


The Imitation of Patsy Burke was the second book from Book Rooster that I read, but the first I reviewed.  The book starts off with Irish born sculptor Patsy Burke, waking up in his cheap Paris motel room, bloodied, with a broken arm and no memory of the night before.


We quickly meet Patsy's "friends," his inner voices, alter egos, or other personalities and join them as they assist Patsy in piecing together the events of the previous night. The journey through the bars of Paris also takes us through the memorable events of Patsy's past, mainly involving women, booze, and fights.


As we travel deeper into Patsy's mind and memories, we also come face to face with our own inner voices and urges. The book draws us into the darker side of human nature as is not for the easily offended, especially for those with sensitivities toward religion, language, and sex.


The bottom line:

This book quickly drew me in within the first few pages and kept me engrossed until the ending plot twists. It is not often that a book actually surprises me, but this one did. It is a dark and depressing story of one man's descent into madness and violence, but an engaging read.

Product Review: I Could Make That

I'm pretty good at dealing with, accepting, or at least tolerating other people's annoying habits. It's part of working with people, which, try as I might, is an unavoidable part of being human. There are some traits,, however, which seem prevalent in the species that bug the dickens out of me on a regular basis. Things like confusing "teach" with "learn" or "lend" with "borrow" or people who do not say "please" and "thank you" to service people. Generally that sort of thing.

But here's another one. People who look at handmade items that others have for sale and say in a snotty, condescending tone of voice, "well, I could do that." Yes, the item is handmade, you probably could do it, but if you're looking for things that a mere human could not make on their own, why are you at a craft fair. 

I'll admit, being a knitter, I fall victim to this exact thing. I find myself looking at some hand knit items while thinking, "I could make this for way cheaper." Usually, I'm looking at hand knit wash clothes when thinking this, which, yes I could make for cheaper, but I have about ten skeins of cotton yarn upstairs and a bunch of queued patterns on Ravelry that make me question if I'll ever get around to actually making the clothes. 

My new favorite purchase also falls under the "I probably could have done the same exact thing for cheaper" category, but I don't care. I love it, I love, love, love it.

The Knitter's Tool Tin

Those who know me, know that keeping my knitting tools handy is a bit of a problem for me. I keep the basics in a Namaste Buddy case, and keep the more specialized items in a Knit Happy Fold 'n Go Notions Box, both of which work well for home use. The problem comes in when I travel. I always have trouble remembering to pack up everything that I need, and keeping it all together without taking up too much space in my bags. And, despite my best efforts, I will end up in dire need of a darning needle, stitch markers, scissors, or a tape measure.

Enter The Knitter's Tool Tin, I can't remember if it was an ad on Ravelry, or something I saw in a magazine or on a blog, but somehow I ended up at the Sexy Knitter's Etsy store and found it.

So cute!

What is it? It is a tin, the size of an Altoid box, but clean and cute. Inside the box is a tape measure, a pair of puppy snips, 5 handmade stitch markers, a mini double ended crochet hook, a stitch holder, a cable needle, two tapestry needles (one blunt and one sharp), and a sewing needle.  On the lid of the tin is a magnetic strip to keep the needles from getting lost. Then there is the added detail that you can choose from a variety of cover designs and pictures, or get one custom made (I went with the orange owl cables). Absolute pure genius. 

The Contents, except I lost a stitch marker already.

Now, I know there are skeptics, who are thinking, "really, couldn't you have done this yourself?" And the answer is, yes, I could have. But that would have involved hunting down all the items (most likely ordering from multiple websites), and the tin and assembling everything. Then I would still have to decorate the tin, which still probably wouldn't have ended up nearly as cute. And that's a lot of knitting time that I would have wasted. In short, it wasn't worth it to me to make it, but it was worth it to me to buy it. So I did. 

And I don't regret it. This little tool tin lives in my purse and has the tools I need whenever I need them. I left for a road trip with a friend this weekend and didn't have to worry about whether or not I might have to sew a seam, or measure progress, or need a stitch marker, or pick up dropped stitches, or splice together yarn ends (all of which I did have to do this weekend); the tools to do it all were in my purse. 

Puppy Snips, open

Puppy Snips, closed

Add to that the bonus that everything in the kit is TSA approved, no more worrying about my scissors being confiscated at security checkpoints when I fly, the Puppy Snips, in addition to being adorable, are completely harmless.

In short, if you're a knitter, a kit like this is a must have. It was an idea I would never have thought of, and I'm not sure I could have assembled it for less money (especially when you factor in shipping and handling from several different websites), and I'm all for supporting sellers on etsy. These things made this wonderful little kit so worth the price for me, and added the bonus of less knitting time lost due to lacking or searching for the correct tools!

Adventures in Pattern Writing: Episode 1, Chart It!

Last summer, I tried my hand at designing a pair of socks. They were Green Bay Packer Socks knit for my mother's birthday. While there are several things that I would change about them, overall I considered the whole undertaking to be a success. The socks were such a huge hit with my mom, she has already requested more!


However, despite the socks being such a huge hit, I still haven't gotten around to actually writing down the pattern (though I have gotten several requests for it). My notes and hand drawn charts were placed in a pile and left to sit.


Today, I noticed that the pieces of my pattern notes were getting scattered around the house, and I realized that it would be only a matter of time before either the whole pattern or several key pieces were destroyed or go missing. I came to the decision that I needed to sit down and actually write out the pattern.


Now, because on good days, I have the attention span of a gnat, I know that the best way to take on any large project is to take little baby steps. To decide on where to start, I considered what would be the biggest pain to reverse engineer in the event that pieces of the pattern are lost or destroyed? With that question, the answer was clear, the charts.


On these particular socks, there are several pieces that I charted out, the Go Pack Go band around the top of the leg, the numbers on the heel flaps, and the large G on the top of the foot. 


First, I did a little research on the easiest way to make charts on the computer. After looking at several methods, I decided to use Microsoft Excel for charts. It is easier to add and delete rows using Excel, and the charts can then be cut and pasted into Microsoft Word when I start on the final pattern. The next step will be converting the Word document into a pdf file (there's probably no real need for this, I just prefer my patterns in pdf form), but that can't be too hard, right?


Now, non-knitters may not know this, but knit stitches are slightly wider than they are tall (if you look at the pictures really closely and know what you are looking for, you can see this), so I needed figure out what sizes to use for the cells. I ended up making the cells 15 pixels wide by 10 pixels tall, giving me a 3:2 ratio, which should work pretty well. After re-sizing the cells, I then turned on the border for each cell and was ready to start charting.


I started with the leg band, mainly because that was the one chart I didn't want to make any changes to. It went pretty quickly, so I was able to move onto the chart for the top of the foot. I knew I wanted to make the G look a little less jagged around the edges and a little more symmetrical. I started with the original chart in the spreadsheet, and made changes, square by square until I was happy with the result. 

The original heels needed some more work.

The heel flaps made me a little more nervous, as I was making big changes to that piece of the sock. I wanted to switch from a heel flap to a short row heel, which would change the entire shape of the available stitches from a rectangle to a triangle (upside down triangle, in case you are trying to picture it). Like with the top of the foot, I figured the best thing to do would be to block out my available stitches.


From that point, I decided what size to make the numbers. During this process, I had to consider the triangular shape I was working in, and the fact the the numbers on the original ended up being too low. 

One of the revamped heel charts.

I ended up settling on 8 squares wide by 14 squares high (though I will actually have to knit another pair to be sure that this size will work).  I took these figures and went back to my paper and pencil. It took awhile until I was happy with the way the numbers looked, but it was worth it to get the finished charts saved in Excel.


There is still lots more work to do to get the pattern written. Plus, after writing the entire pattern, I want to make another pair, following the revamped pattern to see how those turn out. But I am really hoping that at some point I will be able to post an entire knitting pattern on this sight for others to use.