WIPs

I've been experimenting with a new material that will allow me to make customized jewelry and pins in just about any design. Hint: it involves my favorite thing ever, sharpies. First up: comic book line!





I'm so excited about these, and I have plans to make them in several different lines as well - old-style tattoo, horror and zombie, maybe some guns or robots. If these were earrings, pendants, or pins, what kind of designs would you like to see?

Things have been CRAZY for me lately. I was on call last week (and last weekend), so I wound up working 70 hours last week. In exchange, they gave me today off, which I desperately needed.

My parents are coming to visit Friday and I needed to do some MAJOR housecleaning. They're bringing me a cabinet that was in my grandfather's office, so I had to move some furniture around, and M's office and my art room were both in a shambles. Plus, I hadn't taken the recycling to the center in three months! It took me over an hour just to bring the recycling out to the car - ugh! I am exhausted and sweaty, and I still have 15 things on my To-Do list before Friday at 2. When the cleaning is all finished, I will take some pics of the pad to show it off.

I have actually done some knitting too - I finished the scarf for my Ravelry Scarf Exchange pal (who knows who I am, so no pics until she receives it!), and it came out so much better than I expected! I think I may have a calling as a pattern copier.

I made wristwarmers to wear at work. It is ungodly cold in there all the time, so it's nice for my hands to feel warm.

(yes, I already know that I need a manicure)



I made a gaiter, which is a tube that goes around your neck to keep it warm, instead of wearing a whole scarf. I got this yarn through an exchange on Ravelry, and it feels oh so good against my neck!







I started the Ribbed Lace Bolero, which is the pattern that my Caffeine Swap pal sent me, with some of the yarn she sent me. I'm kicking myself for not doing a gauge swatch though, my gauge is a full stitch short per inch from the pattern, so I think I may rip it and start over. At least I didn't get too far.



AND, I heard from my "upstream" Secret Pal that she mailed my first package!! I cannot wait to see what she picked out for me. We've been emailing quite a bit, and we have so much in common that I can't imagine not loving every single thing.

I'm sure all this "swap" talk is super exciting to those of you who don't knit (I know, I don't really have any readers, but it's fun to pretend), but it's a bright spot in my life right now that I desperately need.

So, y'all know I'm a joiner. I have joined Secret Pal 11 (see the 2 related entries below). The deal with this is that something like 600 knitbloggers sign up for this thing, a few people generously donate their time to match people up, and everyone sends and receives gifts. I have two pals - an "upstream" pal, who is secretive and sends me presents based on my blog, and the questionnaires I've filled out, and whatever questions they feel like asking me anonymously. I have already heard from my upstream pal a couple times and provided as much info on myself as I thought of at the time. I'm a tad wordy. My other pal is my "downstream" pal. I know her name, address, and blog address, and I need to investigate what she's interested in and send her presents. I am totally stalking her and already have some present ideas for her. The Secret Pal swap lasts 3 months, so that's a lot of little packages, postcards, etc. and I'm excited.

I have also joined a Ravelry-based-group swap. The group is the caffeinated knitters, and it's a coffee/tea/mug/yarn/etc. swap with upstream and downstream pals, but it's just 1 month (most folks seem to be sending a single package). Well, I did my coffee shopping for my downstream caffeine pal today, and I am so proud of what I got for her! 1 lb. of El Salvadoran coffee beans, medium-dark roast, direct trade (paid 25% more than fair trade, straight to the farmer rather than a co-op), shade grown, etc.; 4 oz. of lovely green tea; "make your own" teabags (they're empty and you put your own tea in them and steep as usual), lots of different tiny chocolate bars, and a great Intelligentsia Coffee Co. mug with the Municipal Flag of Chicago on the reverse:



Now I just need to stalk what kind of knitting she does and find some nice yarn to go along with it. I may also sew a needle case for her, and I am definitely including one of my self-storing tote bags.

I am also GETTING MY SORRY ASS OUT OF THE HOUSE TONIGHT. I found out yesterday about a Stitch 'n' Bitch group that meets at Black Rock, a mere 1/4 mile from my house, each first and third Tuesday of the month. What awesome timing, since I need to STOP FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF AND SITTING AROUND IN MY EMPTY APARTMENT. I'm going to re-start the Cabled Newsboy Cap, this time with less shiny yarn. Wish me luck in making some new (i.e. "local") friends!

1. I'm listening to a new country CD I downloaded (yeah, I know, but it's the good old twangy kind of country) by a gal named Elizabeth Cook, and it's called "Balls". The CD title is an abridged version of the song "Sometimes it Takes Balls to be a Woman". Freakin awesome.

2. I just saw a license plate frame that says "Knitting: It Takes Balls". WANT.

3. My friend Josh just sent me a link to this LOLCAT (maybe NSFW-ish?). Hilarious!

So it's been a couple of weeks, I know. I have updates.

The training in Texas went very well for the most part. There was one session (out of eight) that went very poorly - the attendees were extremely combative from the start, and one man rolled his eyes and made that exasperated "uuhh" sound every time I said something. Grr. The rest of the sessions went well, and one of them, the attendees actually applauded and thanked me for coming! That was very nice. While I do understand that I am essentially a bureaucrat, I am trying to help them get through the "paperwork" that they are REQUIRED to do. I was not expecting applause, for sure, but I wasn't expecting malicious intent, either. The nice thing is that my supervisor (who was supposed to come with me and got sick) nominated me for a "Spot Award" for excellence. This is a little bonus given out to people to reward hard work on a specific project. So my next paycheck will be $500 heavier! w00t!

I had a FANTASTIC time in San Antonio at the nerd barbeque. It was nice to see my imaginary internet friends again.

I have finally seen some concerts! I think these may have been my first since moving to Chicago - we've been paycheck-to-paycheck, and the concerts at Taste of Chicago are free. I saw Kenny Rogers, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, (unfortunately, by mistake) John Mayer, Umphrey's McGee, and the Black Crowes. The food at the Taste was awesome too - I had a veggie samosa, some pierogi, goat biryani, and a lot of the frozen southern comfort hurricanes - it was HOT out. I also got to see my friend Deb, who was visiting from Dayton, and Todd, visiting from Atlanta. Yay, real-life, human friends!

Last week, I was supposed to continue my training world tour by going to Tulsa with my supervisor on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our flight was at 3:30 Monday afternoon, so I went to work at 7 a.m., then we left for the airport at 12:30. We got on the plane, taxied for 45 minutes (for reals), then sat with the air conditioning turned off for 2 hours, waiting out a thunderstorm, with a toddler on his mom's lap sitting right next to me. At 6:15, they said we didn't have enough fuel left to make it to Tulsa, so we had to go back to the gate. When we disembarked (debarked?), the gate agents told us the flight was cancelled. We managed to get on the top of the standby list for the next flight at 7:50, which by that point had been pushed back to 8:55. They gradually kept pushing back the time, eventually getting it to midnight before cancelling that flight too. When we asked about getting on a flight in the morning, the gate agent said the earliest we could get there would be Thursday. So, I hopped in a cab and came home, getting back at 10:30. Thankfully, my boss let me work from home on Tuesday, so I got to sleep in an extra 1.5 hours! Our trip has been rescheduled for the 22nd - 25th, so wish me luck in getting there.

I am working today too - teaching in Waukegan (just North of the city). Not my regular class, 2 days notice. Don't get me started.

I have been knitting. A LOT. I really need to take some photos so my blog is a little more interesting, don't I? Maybe I will make M take some while I am working later today. So here's what I have been doing:

1. Finished knitting a wool hotpad thingy for my sister - needs to be felted.
2. Started another dishrag - nice and mindless to do on the train.
3. Started a SWEATER. I know I said I'd never knit a sweater, but the yarn was $1 a skein! Dude! A $7 sweater!! It's actually coming along quite nicely.
4. Started and finished Calorimetry in 2 sittings - in beautiful Soy Wool Stripes. I promise I'll add a photo, it's really gorgeous, if I do say so myself, and I do.
5. Started a Shrunken Head bag. How can I not make this?

I will try to keep updating more often, but I cannot make any promises. I finally got my invitation to Ravelry, so I will be spending some time over there.