And Monday's Adventures...

This morning, I once again made a trip out to Ann Arbor, a daily commute I'm finding wouldn't be that bad if M-14 wasn't going to be under construction for the next 500 years, and for someone who lives in the Plymouth/Canton/Livonia/Dearborn/Dearborn Hts/Inkster general area. I don't.

The purpose of today's journey to one of my favorite small US cities was to complete a work sample for an assistant editor position I applied for at the University of Michigan. I'm confident I did a pretty good job...the sample consisted of editing a short book review and an excerpt from a legal document, determining which words from a list of commonly misspelled words were incorrect and providing their correct spelling (I swear I gave the same worksheet out for homework when I was student teaching 10th graders), and writing a letter based on a scenario. Even though the whole English teacher thing didn't quite work out, it was definitely not due to my inability to write/proofread (just my desire to work in a place where I'm not sworn at every day by teenagers who cannot properly conjugate the verb "to be"), so I'm hoping they call me back for a real interview.

Since I wanted to make my trip out to Ann Arbor as productive as possible (gas is expensive!), I decided to make a little stop at Knit-A-Round Yarn Shop...let me remind you, dear blog enthusiast, that I am on a yarn diet until future employment provides funding for yarn. So I was not to buy any yarn. If you've ever been to Knit-A-Round, you know how hard this can be, especially when they have such great sales (and not a basket of sale yarn spun from fiberglass in hideous colors like vomit that no one in their right mind would ever want to pay money for, let alone knit). But I walked out of there only spending $10. Two skeins of Plymouth Encore in Michigan colors to make a scarf (either for me to go with my skating team's warmup, or for Michael once hockey season comes...). That's it.

Now, there was a small reason (beyond not having a source of income) that allowed me to behave myself in the store. I figured that a nice box from Knit Picks would be awaiting me when I got home. (The $25 my mom sent me last week to buy some groceries? Yeah, I spent it on yarn.) I just knew it would be waiting patiently on my front porch for me to come home and rescue it from today's sweltering heat, after all, I had ordered it a week ago, and the online tracking confirmed that it was in a sorting location somewhere in Michigan. So inspired by the Vogue sweater I would be able to spend the rest of the day blissfully knitting in the air conditioning while watching lousy talk shows, I left without purchasing more yarn.

After leaving Knit-A-Round, I meandered over to Jimmy John's for a sandwich...just another example of how well my boyfriend knows me--I had spoken to him on the phone prior to heading to the yarn store. I told him that I was going to get lunch at Jimmy John's on Plymouth Rd, rather than one near campus, since it would be easier to find parking. He immediately replied, "you're stopping over there at that yarn store, aren't you?" (Moi? Alterior motives? No...) Anyway, while Jimmy John's, I discovered the most wonderful diet! Any nutritionist will tell you to eat smaller meals. They will tell you to eat more slowly. I've tried eating while reading, and that doesn't really help since I can manage both at the same time...it only takes one hand to eat, one to hold a book (unless it's a nice, heavy hard covered book with pages that stay put, in which case both hands can be used to eat). Knitting and crocheting? They require at least one hand, if not both. So the next time you find yourself eating (preferably alone or with people who understand that you are not, in fact, insane), try this: eat a bite. Sip your drink. Knit/crochet an appropriate amount of your project. Depending on its size, this can be a row, half a row, a pattern repeat...whatever can be knit in less than a minute (you don't want to spend all day eating, do you)? It really worked. After about twenty minutes, I had eaten half of my sandwich (the rest of which was wrapped up to be taken home for dinner) and finished the One Skein Scarf from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker, which is my first crochet project. All while earning very approving looks from the old ladies sitting at the next table over, as well as a sympathetic glance when they saw me trying to cut my project from the remaining yarn with my car key.

Anyway, back to the yarn waiting for me on the front porch. I got home about half an hour later. Much to my dismay, there were no packages on the front porch or shoved between the screen door and the front door. However, there was also no mail in the mailbox. I breathed a sigh of relief. The mail must not have come yet--perhaps the mailperson was taking his/her time due to the heat. So I went inside the house, where I was greeted by the smell of something cooking (a smell I'm so obviously not used to). A cookbook open to a recipe for some delicious vegetable lasagna was sitting on the counter, and there was chicken defrosting on the counter and a pan of sauteed vegetables cooling on the stove. Ah-ha! My roommate Nicole must have come home during her lunch break, started cooking dinner, got the mail, and was kind enough to put the box of yarn in my bedroom! I ran to my bedroom as fast as my Steve Maddens could take me (almost tripping over the couch in the process). No box of freshly delivered yarn, even after digging to see if it had been somehow buried under some of my clutter. A careful inspection of my desk revealed that it was not there, either. I was so devastated that I started straightening up my bedroom (I needed something to do, seeing that my plans for the rest of the afternoon were now ruined).

About twenty minutes later (just as I was about to get out the vacuum), I heard a truck park outside. I sprinted to the door to discover (yay!) that it was the mail truck! Since my house is the last one on this part of his route, I was about to run outside and ask if he had a package for my address that I could take off of his hands before he carried it all the way down the other side of the street...but I figured that would be just a tad psychotic. So I waited patiently, watching out the kitchen window until he deposited today's bills and other unimportant junk into the mailbox and eagerly tiptoed outside. No package. And that was way too much yarn to fit in the mailbox. Maybe he was going to come back with my package? After all, why would he want to carry it all this way? Wouldn't it be easier to do the rounds with the mail, and then go get the box from the truck and bring it over to my porch? That had to be it. So I waited. And watched. As he walked to his truck, hopped in, and drove off. DROVE OFF. I was so mad that I ate the other half of my cookie from Jimmy John's that I was going to save for dinner.

If I go to the post office and explain to them that there is a dire emergency causing me to need the package that they have for me right away, would they dig it out of tomorrow's outgoing mail?

Sunday's Adventure in Knitting

Yesterday I ventured out to Ann Arbor to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot herself, speak at the Ann Arbor Library. (All you knitters back in RahChaCha...jealous?) Upon arriving, I realized that it was a good thing I arrived early, because eventually the downstairs area of the library where she was speaking filled up, and more knitters were sent upstairs to the fourth floor to watch. Because although Stephanie is awesome and magical, she seems to have not yet mastered beaming herself, being in two places at once, or transporting herself like that Mike Teevee kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That just proves that she is human after all, despite her incredible ability to read the minds of every knitting-obsessed person on earth in her books. Not only was Stephanie hilarious, she also stayed and signed books, posed for photos, admired projects brought or worn by her fans, etc until every person had the opportunity to meet her. Very few authors do that...usually they stay for an hour (if that), and anyone not lucky enough to get a place toward the front of the line is stuck just buying an un-personalized autographed copy of the book later on.

I was quite proud of the resourcefulness I displayed yesterday. When I tossed a project in my bag before leaving for Ann Arbor, I either underestimated the amount of knitting time I'd have, or didn't think about my project's next step, and needed my largee double pointed needles to put the finishing touches on the end of my latest felted bag. After pouting for a few minutes and briefly contemplating stealing a pair from another knitter (something I'd never actually do, even in cases of extreme knitting desperation), a brilliant idea dawned on me...the project was on a pair of circulars from my Boyle interchangeable set. I had a pencil of roughly the same diameter in my bag. After "borrowing" Dana's pen, I was back in business, able to finish that end of the bag, put my needles back together, and get on with the other side (all while still waiting patiently in line).

After getting my book signed, I made my way to Busy Hands, a yarn shop over on S. Main (which I seem to have passed every other time I have been to Ann Arbor...how can that be!?). I was quite proud of myself, as I exhibited excellent self control. Despite finding the most perfect yarn for one of the sweaters at the top of my "stuff to knit when I have a job and money to buy yarn" list, I walked out of the store without spending a dime. I then headed over to Pizza House for dinner, followed by ice cream at Kilwin's. So much for self control...obviously when faced with controlling both the food and yarn diets in a short period of time, I can't handle it. But that chocolate peanut butter ice cream was sooo good. And I walked around while I ate it, so perhaps it won't go straight to my thighs. Maybe it will just stop at my butt. (Both of which, by the way, have started to get slightly smaller in size since my move to Detroit two weeks ago.)

When I got home last night, I was finally able to get out my DPN's and put the finishing touches on the second side of the felted handbag I am making, which will perhaps become a Christmas gift for Michael's sister Katie. In my excitement, I wanted to felt it today, but I have decided to be kind and considerate instead. You see, the high for today is almost 100 degrees. All over the news the reporters were asking people to refrain from using appliances until this evening in order to conserve energy...if my desire to felt a newly knit handbag caused a massive power outage similar to the great Niagara Mohawk outage of summer 2003, I'd probably crawl into my stash of yarn and hide from the embarrassment. So I shall wait until later this week when the weather cools down.

The latest...

Today I am coming to you from Java Hut in Birmingham, MI, an area which is actually quite charming and a nice change of scenery from my usual free internet spot (Panera Bread). I first came to Birmingham last night when I met up with Gillian to see The Devil Wears Prada, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lots of cute little shops (including a yarn shop, which I will be visiting in a little bit!), restaurants, all that type of stuff in downtown Birmingham. I'm really interested in all these loft apartments going up in quaint "downtown" suburb areas like Birmingham, Ferndale and Royal Oak, as well as in Ann Arbor. That would be a rather nice living situation...not that I'd have the down payment for a $200,000+ loft any time soon, but whatever.

I finally transferred pics of my latest works from my phone to my computer, so now I present you with the Fake-A-Gamo in its various stages! Forgive crappy camera phone quality and bad lighting, because this bag truly is fabulous. I love showing it off :) Plus, making it a tad bigger than the pattern (added one more pattern repeat so it has more height) makes it big enough to carry around a book, small portable knitting project, or whatever else, without it being too obnoxious. --> So here it is during blocking. I'm happy with how it turned out during blocking--I'm not sure if a lot of other people who posted pics online blocked theirs, but I liked the way it really opened up those yarnovers in the stockinette parts of the pattern, so that the navy blue lining I used really shows through.
And here is the finished product:
And going along with my current productivity (or boredom), my One Skein Wonder shrug...looks cute with that black/white sundress. I used to wear a black cardigan with it when I'd wear it to work, but that covered it up a bit too much and tended to get warm since all my black cardigans have long sleeves. This makes the dress much more work-friendly without getting too hot. I might actually make a few long sleeve versions of the shrug, too, but the 90+ degree weather we're having at the moment makes me cringe at the thought of long sleeves.
And I've almost finished my first crochet scarf. The other day I picked up a copy of Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker. It's made me a little less anti-crochet, since there are a few patterns in there that don't remind me of my great grandmother's apartment...things I might actually make and wear...

These people call themselves DESIGNERS??

Ok so I'm a little behind on my Project Runway, due to my lack of cable and iTunes' slowness at posting new episodes for download. Yesterday I finally watched episode 2. My reaction? WTF!? These people call themselves designers!? (I recall having the same reaction during the Sasha Cohen episode last season)...ok, I understand that people have areas of "expertise" in design, and not everyone does evening gowns, figure skating costumes, casual wear, etc etc. But when someone who claims to be good at evening gowns and has a degree in fashion sends a model down a runway looking like the offspring that would result in the mating of a turd and a California Raisin, I wonder what so many of us who are self-taught are sitting home watching. The dresses I designed myself for formal dances in high school were so much better than half of those. (My navy blue velvet/rhinestone dress? That was hot.)
And what is this? What the heck pageant did this guy think she was entering? The Miss Homeless Pageant?

Can we say toga party, anyone? I was kind of surprised that Vera Wang, goddess of gown design herself, liked this dress. Even called it "modern." Really, what's so modern about it? The way that it didn't fit the model at all?

I know people say she looks like a man and whatnot, but I'm rooting for Laura. First of all, she doesn't have a degree or any formal training in fashion design or construction, and after the two episodes I've seen, her work is consistently well constructed and classy. Perhaps her pageant dress was not the most innovative or original design, but it also didn't look like it was sewn together by someone wearing a blindfold. And her coat in episode 1? Adorable. And she's not nearly as annoying as some of the other contestants.

w00t w00t

Last night, I finished my fake-a-gamo! It's sitting next to me right now, it is FABULOUS and I can't wait to show it off at Wednesday knitting tonight at Caribou :) I lined it with some navy blue fabric I got for $1 at JoAnn (gotta love the scrap clearance section), and even put a nice pocket in the lining to hold my cell phone and another for my wallet. I sewed the lining in last night while riding around aimlessly knitting on the peoplemover in downtown Detroit with another knitting group I found. Yes, a knitting group that meets weekly on public transportation. Not quite as fun as a bar, but with smoking legal here in Michigan, knitting in bars would lead to some nasty smelling knitting (and that's no way to treat yarn)!

I also made and finished my One Skein Wonder shrug from Glampyre Knits over the past week, which came out very nice.

I'll have to post pics later, I'm limited to my crappy camera phone until the next time I go to RahChaCha and use Michael's digital phone. Surprisingly my phone takes decent photos, but (doh!) I left the cable to connect the phone to my computer at home when I came to Panera to use the internet today. So y'all will just have to wait.

Oh, and I did it...despite my "no job=no yarn" rule, I broke down and ordered yarn for the crochet lace edged bolero from the summer Vogue...I couldn't help it. KnitPicks had Main Line on clearance for 40% off. But seriously, how cute is this sweater?? And I look at it this way...$30 for yarn to make a sweater will keep me busy for hours. That's way cheaper than $9 to see a movie, drinking in a bar, or other activities to fill my day since I'm not working right now. Plus knitting is way better for your health--no calories (it actually burns calories...ok, just a few, but that's better than none...) and in the end, I have something fabulous to wear and therefore won't go buy a cute lace edged bolero sweater from the store for the same amount of money (or more). It's really a win-win situation here. But this time, I'm serious. NO MORE YARN after this.

I'd better quit blogging and get back to researching the pharmaceutical companies who are calling me in the next few days for phone interviews :) That way, I can get a job...and job equals more yarn (in addition to income to, you know, LIVE off of).

Bah...

It's nearing the end of July. I'm now in Detroit. Still jobless. With no internet at my house. (Comcast here is freakin EXPENSIVE, especially when roomie doesn't even have a computer at home, and therefore I have no one to split it with.) Needless to say, I've been spending lots of time at the nearby Panera Bread using their free internet to check my email/apply for jobs while drinking lots of iced tea. Today alone I applied for two jobs at EMU, three at Oakland University, and eight at University of Michigan, plus an opening for a writer with an ad agency. I went to a job fair the other day and passed out some resumes, which so far has resulted in an interview with Aflac on Monday. At least I've got enough cash stashed away to get me by for the next few months before I really have to stress (and hopefully before then something will come up anyway). I think tomorrow I'm going to hit up Somerset Collection to at least find something part-time to keep me busy.

On the plus side, I really like the area I live in, and my roommate Nicole is really sweet. Michael is coming to visit this weekend, and we've got a lot of fun stuff planned, including a trip to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, which I've wanted to go to for the past few years but for whatever reason wasn't able to. I love Ann Arbor. And did I mention that while we're there, I'm going to make a little stop at Knit A Round Yarn Shop? (Even though I'm on a strict "NO YARN UNTIL I HAVE A JOB" yarn fast?) Should be a good time.

I've also been pretty good with my diet the past week since I'm going to lose all the freakin weight this past year of not skating and coming home from work every day depressed caused me to gain. The fact that in November/December I'll have to be in front of an audience in a skating dress is motivation enough!! (Oh, and none of my clothes fit well, either. And I feel gross.) And I absolutely LOVE my new skating team. We started practice on Monday night. Pilates (from which I am still sore), followed by on-ice practice, followed by beer at a nearby bar. Now that's my kind of sports team. (I was good though, I just had one!) The other ladies on my team are all really nice, and we work hard because I'm sure we all want a nice, shiny gold medal from Nationals in February.

Last night, I also met up with a few other ladies down in Dearborn at Caribou Coffee for some knitting. This was the first night of meeting down there, and we plan on making that a weekly thing. Ironically, one of the ladies, Ashley, is a former seventh grade English teacher who taught for two years before becoming a technical writer for a software company (see, there is hope for me yet!) Tonight I'm going to the Caribou in Troy to chill with another group of knitters that meets there weekly. Oh the beauty of being in a large city like Detroit--multiple knitting groups! And I live in a very central location to all the places they meet at (well, and everything else in Detroit in general...). Hopefully tonight I'll get the Fake-a-Gamo finished (I'm on the last section of the second half right now), and maybe even cast on for a One Skein Wonder shrug from Glampyre Knits (part of my "no paycheck=no new yarn, use your freakin stash" movement). I'm making it out of some cheap acrylic yarn I got last year to play around with, but whatever. It's Caron Simply Soft, so it's halfway decent, especially for a little garment like that.

Today's other project is go seek out the nearest JoAnn and buy some padding and some type of a striped or plaid fabric to make a blocking board, and Home Depot for some plywood. All the floors in my new place are hardwood, which I LOVE, but it doesn't come in handy for blocking knitting projects. (Michael has awesome carpet when it comes to blocking at his place, but I don't really want to wait until I go to Rochester to block all my knitting. Not to mention that it would probably annoy him!)

And to all my sexy knitting biotches back in Rah Cha Cha...have fun at Wild Wools tomorrow, I miss you all, but I'll probably see you in a few weeks :)

So Gross!

Among the many topics of conversation at knitting group last night were Skin Bags, which are supposedly the new, hip thing. We really didn't believe they existed, seeing that James was the one who brought up the subject. He does medical research, so who knows what crazy stuff they come up with over at the hospital, but he wasn't joking. And the company doesn't just do bags, they've also branched out to coats, vests, belts, headbands, chokers...

Does anyone else think this is just really gross? Seriously, the pic I've posted here has to be one of the least offensive, check out the web site for further grossness. Now, I know it's not real skin, it's some type of synthetic polymer, but still...who, besides some type of cannabalistic serial killer, would want to carry or wear something that looks like it came off of some old, wrinkly cadaver? Yes, leather is animal skin, and it's real, but that's different. Leather=good. Synthetic human skin=bad.

I think I'll stick to wool and cotton, thanks.

Thanks a lot...

Recently picked up Mason Dixon Knitting, read it in one day (time I should have been using applying for jobs, but whatever). I'd now like to thank the wonderful Kay and Ann, because now I feel the need to run to Wal-Mart and buy all the Peaches-and-Cream cotton I can find (and many of you know how much I hate even going to Wal-Mart, not to mention the thought of buying yarn there). I also am fighting the urge to cover everything in my boyfriend's house in handknit wonderfulness. (I think that would put someone who already seems annoyed by my knitting obsession over the top). I think I'll hold off until after this weekend, when I move into my place in Michigan, and unleash the handknit madness on my own place. What a great way to scare the new roommate. Or, better yet, I'll wait until I have a job before I run out and spend more rent/food/bill money on yarn...and I'll first resort to just using yarn in my stash. I swear. No more purchasing yarn until I have a job. Well, except for more cotton for the fake-a-gamo...

Fake-a-Gamo!!

Yesterday I cast on for this gorgeous handbag inspired by this gorgeous bag by Salvatore Ferragamo. The incredible stitch pattern was figured out by the crafty knitting goddess Kate and numerous others in this Craftster thread.

Yarn: Lion Cotton from Lion Brand in Natural, 2 strands together in natural
Needles: Size 7 circulars
Other material: Straight bamboo handles from JoAnn in Medina, OH (which I have discovered is THE jackpot when it comes to handbag handles...every other JoAnn, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, yarn store, etc I have been in surprisingly pales in comparison to this JoAnn's selection of handles)!

I must say that I am IN LOVE with this stitch pattern, pictures honestly don't do it justice, you NEED to touch it and hold it in your hands. The texture is incredible. And the Lion Cotton is a pretty decent cotton yarn to work with (not to mention cheap)...it's soft, but the two strands give the bag enough structure. I think I might modify the pattern and make it another repeat longer, we'll see what mood I'm in when I finish the repeat I'm on!

Another Reason Why I Rock...

Print O' The Wave Stole!! FINISHED!!

Back around Easter, I started knitting the Print O' The Wave Stole, a pattern by the very talented Eunny Jang, whose knitting skills I envy.

I wanted to have this finished as a mother's day gift for my dad's cousin Leigh Ann, who's two beautiful children Elyse and Ian were killed last October. I figured it was the least I could do to try and comfort her on what was sure to be a difficult day. Well, I must say that me thinking I could get this gorgeous pattern knit up in a mere two or three weeks was being rather ambitious. I honestly had the body done in a short amount of time, since I was off work that entire week and had nothing better to do. But the edging around the border took A LOT longer than expected...and I figured it wasn't going to be done in time, I might as well not rush. So I'm sending it to her to take on the Hawaiian cruise she's going on next month--a trip that was supposed to have been a 10th birthday present for Elyse. :( May it provide her a little comfort there, at least.

Some of the details:
Pattern: Print O' the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang
Needles: Size 6 circs from my interchangable set, and bamboo size 3 needles for the outer border.
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Stream, just over 2 hanks
Started: April 16, 2006
Finished: July 4, 2006

Knit at: My aunt's, gandma's, boyfriend's prarents' and parents' houses in the Cleveland area, various bars and coffee shops in Rochester, NY (one of which was having a bonfire), Manhattan Beach in California, and my flights from LA back to Rochester. Needless to say, by the time this thing was finished, it smelled. Really bad. Like a combination of sweaty hands, beer, bonfire, sea salt, and general beach mustiness. Luckily soaking it in a little baby shampoo during blocking made it all fresh and clean!

I must say I'm VERY proud of how this turned out, and what blocking did to what was previously a big 'ol blue pile of knittedness resembling ramen noodles. I ended up not doing the center panel in two pieces and grafting it like the pattern said to, because I thought the grafting was more of a distraction than the body pattern not being symmetrical.

I feel the need to knit another one. Not that I really wear shawls, but I wouldn't mind having something incredibly beautiful like this around the house just to touch and look at and show off to visitors?

I Need You...

If I need any inspiration to learn to use my sewing machine for more than basic repairs and making linings for knit handbags, I have found it. I NEED this dress. Why? Because. It's incredible. Amazing. Beautiful. A dress that will make any girl feel like Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. I just need it. Oh how I love Vogue.

Show-and-tell

I feel the need to show off some of my pre-blog completed projects. I've literally been on a project completing spree lately, I think due to the fact that I flipped out about having five....or was it six...or was it seven projects on needles. So here goes:


The Butterfly:
I started this purty 'lil number in early March, in hopes that it would be finished just as the weather warmed up enough to wear it...which would have been mid-may. However, I didn't get it finished until late June, due to a few hang-ups along the way. The biggest delay was the fact that one of my bottom hem frills was left behind at Spot Coffee one evening, to so kindly be picked up by one of the gals I knit with. But then she and I just kept missing each other, until I finally decided to stop saying to myself "I'm sure she'll show up next week," and I just went to her rather lovely apartment to pick it up so that I could finish my top. After that, it was finished in less than a week, paired with a white skirt, white tank, and a jean jacket for when it got chilly, and shown off to admiring knitters at knitting group. I'm glad that the finished project at least earned some respect from my boyfriend, who previously said that it looked like a rat came and chewed up what I was knitting (he obviously doesn't understand the delicate process of knitting lace, nor the fact that it does, in fact, require the magic of blocking).

A few progress pics:
<--early stages of the first side I did, you can't really see them, but there are tiny seed bead pearls knit in there.

-->And this is the whole thing during that stressful time known as blocking. Normally blocking should be a delightful time in which the knitter is allowed to see their goofy looking lace work magically turn into a thing of great beauty. However, in the almost six weeks between knitting the body of the first half and the body of the second half, my gauge must have changed slightly, or the knitting gods were somehow playing a cruel joke on me...for the second half turned out considerably smaller (even though I kept holding them up to each other in order to compare sizes and all that common sense stuff as I was working on it)! So, as my friend Erin suggested, I just blocked the hell out of it. I first blocked out the larger half, not stretching it too much, pinned it all down, and then stretched (and I mean stretched) the second half out right on top of it so that they matched in size, the entire time keeping my fingers crossed that the smaller half wouldn't magically spring back to its original size once the pins were all removed. Well, it worked! Thank god! I now believe in the true magic of blocking, and vow to never again finsh a knitting project and not block it...(well, except silly stuff like acryllic scarves, maybe).

Not bad for a gal who only taught herself how to knit last summer, eh? This time last year, I was jus learning how to purl and fumbling with very lousy, very tightly knit stockinette stitch. And look at me now...damn I'm good.

Joining the blogging bandwagon....

So...look kids, I have a blog! Gosh, between myspace and now a blog, I'm oh-so-trendy. Oh, wait, no...scratch that. This blog will mainly be about knitting. Some people don't think that's trendy (obviously, they've been living under a rock for the past few years)!

Lots of stuff going on right now...moving from Rochester, NY to Detroit, MI, right now I'm kind of in between places (literally...I'm in Cleveland, at my parents' house at the moment, pretty much just chilling out). I now have a place to live, synchronized skating team to skate on (Yay Crystallettes!), a knitting group and TWO yarn stores that I know of. Yet does it seem that one important thing is missing? If you can guess what it is, you'll win a prize...


Yup, a JOB. But hopefully that will come soon. I've come to the realization that I need to look outside the realm of teaching. As if last year's hellish job search, followed by an even more hellish school year, weren't enough to convince me. So much for that "great nationwide teaching shortage" everyone who entered college when I did was told about (and therefore decided that perhaps education would be a good field to enter). Teaching jobs are even more scarce in Detroit than they were in Rochester, and I'm definately not doing the subbing thing (i.e. no regular work, no health benefits...the latter of which is not a good thing for someone as accident prone as I). So I've been looking into writing, instructional desing, PR, marketing, student programming at some of the local colleges--anything I think I can handle with my wide variety of interests and six years of college behind me. (Maybe some wonderful soul will stumble upon this blog and offer me a writing job or a book deal because my prose is simply so compelling.) I have my first interview out there on Monday with a marketing firm that seemed very interested in me. I applied for a job doing student programming for college kids in the dorms at one of the local colleges, a position previously held by my high school friend Sarah, and I'm really hoping perhaps that will come through.

Michael has an interview this week with one of Xerox's offices out there, so hopefully something will come of that in the near future as well. For now, he's still in Rochester. But considering that in the almost four years we've been dating, we've only lived in the same area code (let alone county or zip code) for one year, a five hour drive for now is no biggie.

Anyway, about knitting...lately I've been on this project finishing spree. Rowan Butterfly? Check (and man did it come out great!). Print O' The Wave Stole? Check. Noni Medium Carpet Bag? You betchya. Purple cable knit "proctoring finals is boring and I don't feel like grading the final exams my students did so miserably on" handbag? Lining being sewn in as we speak. Go me. Still no motivation to start the friend for the lone sock I knit during all my flight delays heading to/from LA last week, but I'll get there...

Today I finally bought a copy of Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. (Given that she writes books about knitting, wouldn't it be so much cooler if it were spelled "purl?" Like she's never had that thought herself, eh?) This should keep me company during the extra two days that I'm stuck in Cleveland at my parents' house until my job interview in MI.


By the way, if Ms. Pearl-McPhee or Debbie Stoller ever read my blog, and left me a message, I'd fell so special...like a five year old who wakes up to find a note from Santa (whose handwriting mysteriously resembles that of his father) next to the plate of half eaten cookies on Christmas morning.

I also have Mason-Dixon Knitting waiting patiently at Michael's house for me to read when I make my way back to the Rah-cha-cha. Did you know that those coinstar machines at the grocery stores give you Amazon gift certificates, and if you go that route, they don't take out the fee for counting your change?? This book, along with Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, were the reward for the way in which I have so dilligently stashed my pennies in my overflowing piggy bank (and eventually a ziploc bag) the past few years...I knew they'd be put to good use one of these days!