Por Fin!

Finally. Finally. Finally. They made a decision...

I got the promotion!!!!

You are reading the words of a new buyer. YAY!!!

Sure I interviewed for 5 jobs, but it's the 1 where they loved me that matters!

AND!!!! I get to go to Las Vegas in 2 weeks for the industry show. I'm so psyched.

The best part.... NO ONE REPORTS TO ME!!!! No babysitting required. Don't get me wrong, I love most of my current team. And I'm going to miss them. But there are times I can't deal with all the drama.

Finally, the waiting is over. Time to move on.

Thank you to everyone who was sending me good job vibes over the past week or so. I really appreciate it!

I Heart IKEA

That's right! This is probably the only time you'll hear me say this. I went tonight after work on the advice of Another Knitting Nell. She recommended trying late on a Tuesday. GENIUS!!!

There were about 40 people there. I snagged a parking spot right by the entrance. And although I had intended to only buy the shelves, I went for the whole office set up. Shelves. Desk. Chair. With a parking spot this good and IKEA so quiet, I couldn't test the gods by not making it a complete trip. Anything else I need for the office can probably be purchased at Target.

I didn't buy a dresser. That would have been too much to carry and probably wouldn't fit in my Civic. In fact, I was amazed that everything I bought did fit in the car. The office now has furniture. Woot! And this weekend will be an assembly-fest like no other.

Football and IKEA. I have quite a weekend planned.

Goals Update- Week 4

This week's been testing me at work as you all know. But I have to keep my eyes on the bigger picture of making my 2007 goals. Time to refocus as we're at the one month mark.

1. Thin for Thirty- I had the flu this week which threw a wrench in the exercise plan. But I really didn't feel like eating. This morning the scale is showing a 2 pound loss. That's 8 total for the month. Can I make it to 10 by next week? I hope so. I want to make it to 10 by the end of January.

2. Knit from my stash- Well, I did buy yarn. I admit it. But some is for my SP. And the one I'm keeping is replacing a skein I'm gifting. With this creative math, my skein count remains the same. Plus, I have an FO to show off.



Pattern: Jaywalkers
Yarn: Regia Nation Stripe in Rainbow from yarn4socks
Needles: Bryspun Bry-Flex dpn's in size 2.5- 3.00 mm
Date Started: 1/8/07
Date Finished: 1/28/07
Mods: I did these toe up with a figure 8 cast on to take full advantage of the crazy stripes. And I started the yarn as it came out of the ball. I wanted them not to match perfectly. What's the fun in that?



These are my Socktopia Socks for the January Theme of "Celebrate Good Times!" And I crossed the 1/2 mile mark for the Lime-N-Violet sock marathon. Now that is cause for celebration.

3. Junk Room to Studio- The flu that ravaged our house put a damper on my plans to hit IKEA last week. I'm determined to get the shelves done this week. Maybe the desk too. We'll see.

I also need a new dresser as my previous one from IKEA finally broke after 7 years and a cross country move. Not too shabby for $130. I spotted one I really like on Jillian's blog. She's using it for stash storage. I'm going to get the taller version to tame my clothes pile which has invaded my couch. What I haven't told you is that the dresser broke about 6 months ago and I'm just getting around to replacing it now. See, I work in baby steps.

Today I'm doing the predicable laundry and casting on a Moorish Lace sock in blue Fleece Artist for my February socks for Project Spectrum. Yummy!

Maybe I can get a quick nap in too.

I have no title

Have you ever tipped over your knitting bag and tons of crap falls out? Yup- that's what happened to me. I took it as a not so subtle sign it was time to organize my little corner of knittiness.

As fate would have it, I was listening to an old episode of Lime-n-Violet where they mentioned the Fresh Yarn Etsy Shop. One of the organizational issues I've been having is how to wrangle my needles and crochet hooks. Check this out...



It's a crochet hook holder!



Now, I don't really crochet. OK- I don't crochet at all. I'm not anti. I just haven't gotten there yet. But I was looking at JoAnne's for a smaller crochet hook I could use to rescue occasional dropped stitches and I noticed a set of 8 hooks for not much more money than one. Light bulb! Why not get them all? Well, they've been floating haphazardly in my knitting bag since. Now they have a little home. Phew! This doesn't solve my knitting needle organizational issue but we all know how I work in baby steps.

Julia updated the Knitterly Things page this week and I really wanted to get something for my downstream SP. Well, I figured the loop hole to the knit from my stash thing is that if I buy something for myself, I have to give away an equal number of skeins from the stash to someone. I have some perfect yarn for my SP living in my stash. And since I'm giving that away, I could buy 1 skein of Vesper. I know that's a total cop out. But I couldn't resist the Astro colorway.



See??? It's so pretty. This one is staying with me. There's other loveliness that will be going off to my SP.

Another great deal I made this week was a trade. I got this Claudia Handpainted sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe. When it arrived, it was a lot brighter than I anticipated.



See? It's a little bright for me. I like orange but not this bright. Luckily, someone on the knitty boards loved it and had a some Trekking she didn't love.



Score! The blue suits me much better. I received some other things in the trade but, again, I can't show you due to my secret pal sneakiness.

I'm halfway through my second rainbow jaywalker. They are crazy and fun. And when I have pictures you'll question why the Claudia yarn was too bright. They are going to be great.

I'm putting all this job crap behind me for the weekend. I can't do anything so I'm not going to worry about it. My upstream secret pal (The Masked Chicken) has been sending out lots of good job vibes for me. Thank you so much!!! Take a break for the weekend. I don't want vibrating keyboards and tea spilled on the keyboard on my conscience! :)

Nada

Still no word on the promotion.

The upper ups are torturing me for the weekend.

So typical...

One More Day

I had a second round interview for that promotion at work. I'll probably find out tomorrow if I get the job. Just have to wait one more day.... Patience has never been my strong suit.

On the knitting front, I finished the first crazy, very bright, somewhat clownish rainbow jaywalker. And I LOVE it. Killer socks. The second one is zipping right along. I hope to have a pair by Sunday. At any rate, I have to finish my the end of January. These are crazy, very bright, somewhat clownish Socktopia socks.

Have You Seen This?

Interweave Knits put out the preview of the Spring Issue.

I cannot wait to knit the Slanted Neck Pullover. It's so a Nell sweater. That Kate Gilbert is a talented woman!

It's on the top of my list once the 2 bin maximum has been reached. Someday... someday...

Progress

I worked on the junk room yesterday during the first quarter of the Pats/Colts game. And it went from here...



To here...



Not to shabby for 15 minutes of football. (OK- it took longer than that. I was trying to brag.)

I think it's time to shop for shelves.

Goals Update- Week 3

This week has been tough. I had a lot going on at work and it really affected my other priorities.

1. Thin For Thirty- According to the scale this morning, I actually gained a pound. Yesterday it indicated that I had lost 2. So officially, I've gained 1. But hopefully, I'll have better news next week. I definitely cheated this week. I had a taco plate on Thursday and my boss had her holiday party last night with lots of prime rib, shrimp, and cheesecake. So back on the horse this week. I really want to lose 10 total by the end of January! On the upside, I started running again this week. 14 miles which, considering the week I had, is pretty good. Gotta keep that up!

2. Knit From My Stash- Well, there hasn't been much knitting at all. In fact, there's mostly been frogging. I'm about to turn the heel on the second try of the first rainbow jaywalker. Slow but steady, right? The big news here is that Vesper had an update yesterday. And I bought two skeins of sock yarn. I fully intend to gift them to my secret pal. But I still feel a little guilty about buying yarn.

3. Junk Room to Studio- I'm working on that big time today. I really need Brian to get on board with it as well. A lot of what's in that room is his. There's been progress though. Not quite to the point of needing to buy furniture but progress none the less.

I know the blog's been a little boring this week. No pictures. No tales of FO's or packages received. Hopefully this coming week will be a little more interesting.

Rocked It!

That's right. I rocked my interview today! Hopefully this leads to a promotion.

But right now, I'm curled up in the lazyboy with a bowl of (whole wheat) pasta and a glass of sake.

It's so good to be home.

Dookie

With the exception of Tuesday night Stitch and Bitch, this week has pretty much been dookie.

I'm interviewing for a promotion at work. And I've had 2 (yes, two) different interviews for 2 different positions. And I have another one tomorrow. I'll probably hear early next week on whether or not I can move on to meeting with the second level manager for final approval. So here I sit, on pins and needles, waiting. That's the worst.

I've been busy every night after work preparing for interviews.

Brian has the flu.

I haven't been able to knit or exercise very much at all.

See? Dookie.

Goals Update- Week 2

1. Knit from the stash- I've been working on some jaywalkers in Regia rainbow stripes. I was almost to the toe last night and I realized, I can't get them on. UGH!!!!!! So I'll be ripping those out today and restarting with larger needles.

I also found a good project for some stash yarn! One of my college roommates is having a baby in April. And I have 4 skeins of Classic Elite Premiere in the stash. That's just enough to make the peapod sweater from Kate Gilbert. YAY! It's an eggplant color. Is that OK for a baby boy? I usually don't like to subscribe to gender specific colors but I don't want to offend anyone. But our school colors are purple and white. It could be baby's first Amherst sweater.

2. Thin for thirty- I dropped another 3 pounds this week. So I'm down 7 total. WooHoo!!!! I joined Runagogo. 100 miles by April 1. I got to get moving. The first 2 weeks of a diet I like to get used to watching what I'm eating and paying attention to how my body is reacting to the change in food. Now I really need to add in exercise. And I haven't run at all since the half marathon in October. Time to get back in the groove of moving my booty.

3. Grad School- I heard from one of my top choices that they are not going to interview everyone for acceptance. They will accept their top choices and interview anyone on the bubble. This is great news assuming they find me qualified. I get really nervous in interviews. I mean nervous to the point of forgetting what I've already said. I kind of go on autopilot. And that's not good for any interviews.

4. Junk Room to Office- I'm going to work on this today. Friday night I got one of the existing bookcases cleaned out and put more books in it. I took all the pictures that were still in the envelopes from the developer and put them into photo boxes. ($1.99 at Joanne's!!!) I got all my magazines organized and put into a magazine file. It's slow going but there's definitely been progress.

On tap for today- cleaning, laundry, exercising (I'm behind in this Runagogo thing), and ripping out my jaywalkers. Good times...

Here There Be Dragons

I finished my first socks of the New Year last Sunday night. But of course, I'm not home when there's light outside. So finally here's some pictures of the FO.



Here's the pair.



I like how the patterning goes all the way to the toes.



The pattern calls for a short row heel using yarn overs. I did one that way but it turned out a little messy (the one on the left). For the second one (on the right) I used the wrap and turn method. I think it looks a lot better. I'm pretty sure it isn't the fault of the pattern. When things go wrong, it's probably user error.



I could have done more repeats on the cuff. But I always get paranoid about running out of yarn. As it turns out, I had plenty left. Oh well, the anklet length is nice too. The yarn pirate merino/tencel yarn is really nice.

Pattern: Here There Be Dragons
Yarn: Yarn Pirate Merino/Tencel yarn in Storm
Needles: Started with Lantern Moon size 1 until the snap. Finished with KP size 1.
Date Started: 12/22/06
Date Finished: 1/7/07
Mods: Fewer cuff repeats than I could have done.

I gave them a good Soak using the samples Sheri included in my last order. And I made some sock blockers out of wire hangers.



I haven't blocked socks before. I really like how they look and feel after blocking. Now I know what all the fuss is about! It's been really cold here and it took a couple of days for them to dry. but now they look and fit perfectly.

Cookie and Kristi had a big destash sale. I was able to clean up! Here's the sock yarn I scored.



Lorna's Laces in Vera



Lorna's Laces in Turquoise



Fleece Artist in Cranberry

There are only 2 skeins still to arrive from the yarn binge of December. Lisa Souza has had some problems with her supplier. And actually, it works out great for me. That way I can prolong the feeling that I'm buying yarn. It's the same thing with sock clubs. It feels like a present even when I know it's not.

Nancy Bush, You Rock My World

During the great stash enhancement of December, I figured I needed a few more sock patterns for all this yarn. After reading all about sock books on knitty and hearing an interview on Cast-On, I decided on two Nancy Bush books. Knitting on the Road and Knitting Vintage Socks are AWESOME! They are chock full of interesting patterns and new techniques. Plus, they are spiral bound which makes using these books very easy. Now I'm having a classic knitters' problem- I have tons of yarn, patterns, and needles but I still have to go to work and sleep.

Must.Knit.Faster.

Goals Update- Week 1

So far so good. At least none of the goals have been specifically given up on yet.

1. Knit from my stash- I've almost finished my first pair of socks for the New Year. All the yarn I showed you yesterday was purchased before the New Year. So, technically, I haven't purchased any yarn in 2007. I still have 2 packages coming. Even though I can't shop, there will still be pretty pictures of acquisitions for another week or two.

2. Thin for Thirty- I went on the all veggie plan this week. Yup- all veggies for every meal. It's tough and I don't anticipate going more than another week like this. But I think it jump starts my body and wakes up my metabolism. I watched a show on FoodTV that was talking about getting healthy. The nutritionist reminded one of the women not to worry if she wasn't "perfect." I think that's the best dieting advice I've ever seen. I tend to be ultra strict and if I mess up, I say "oh well" and eat a whole batch of cookies. It's OK to have a cookie. And there will be situations where I have to eat what's available. But I can still choose the portion and minimize the impact to the overall goal. I know this sounds obvious. But I'm definitely an all or nothing type of girl. Anyway, I lost 4 pounds this week. YAY! That's 13% to my 30 pound goal.

3. Clean out the Junk room- I made 6 trips down 3 flights of stairs to put things that have crept up to the apartment back in storage. It's a little progress. I also looked online and I think I know what I want from IKEA. When's the best time to go? 9pm on a Tuesday? First thing on a Sunday? Anyone with experience in this, let me know. Of course, there's more cleaning to do before we're to that stage of the project. But maybe shopping for furniture would motivate me to clean out that room!

That's all for today. I'm going to clean and knit and do laundry. Pretty exciting, huh?

Guess What the Yarn Fairy Brought Me!

OK- Really the Internet and post office has done the dirty work. I have eleven skeins to show you today. Yes, 11. These are all from yarn4socks and The Loopy Ewe.

Let's start with the stripey goodness...



I LOVE the rainbow stripes in this. These are definitely destined to be Jaywalkers- bright, crazy, potentially scary jaywalkers!



These will be very stripy and comfy as well.



I've been dying to try Sweet Georgia yarn for awhile. And it has lived up to its reputation. It's soft and the color is lovely. The color is Life Aquatic. If you haven't seen the movie- go rent it today!



Austermann Step has aloe and jojoba oil in the yarn!!! How cool is that?!?!?!?!? This is their Wasser color. Hopefully, it'll make my hands soft when I knit it up.



J. Knits was actually not on my list of yarns to try. But there was a big sale at yarn4socks and this color really jumped out at me. It's a really bright lime color (Vermont) and super duper soft. I didn't know anything about this yarn before I bought it. And now I'm glad I did.



This Fleece Artist in Marine is really close to the blue lagoon color I already have. Oops! Marine has more purple in it. I cast on with the blue lagoon last night and I really how it's knitting up.



Finally, I also wanted to try some Claudia Handpaint. This is Tropicana. It's a little brighter than I anticipated. The yarn is soft and lovely but I may have to trade it out for another color. I like orange but this is a little more construction orange than I thought it would be. Or maybe I just need to dig out the right pattern.

Yarn4Socks had a great sale after Christmas and I stocked up. They had great brands and shipped quickly. I highly recommend them.

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe is great as usual. She included a sample of Soak wash and a really cute stitch marker. Her customer service is awesome as always. I just can't say enough good things about Sheri. I love that she carries some of the Indie brands that I love. Anytime small companies get more exposure, I'll happy about that.

I've been knitting here too. I finished my first Here There Be Dragons sock and cast on for the second one. I also cast on for my Socktopia January sock. The themes are Blue Monday and Starry Skies. So I combined those and we'll see what happens!

Hurray for Customer Service!

I emailed Lantern Moon about my broken needle. And a lovely woman named Annette promptly asked for my address so she could send me out a new one.

Now THAT'S good service!

WARNING! This picture is not for the faint of heart!

I was happily knitting along on my "Here there be Dragons" socks. I got to the heel and was told to K3tog. Now, I'm a little bit of a tight knitter. And suddenly I heard a snap...



Lantern Moon Ebony dpn's Size 1. I got them in a trade before Christmas.

I don't want to talk about it. Sigh...

2007!

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful, safe New Year! Here at Palais de Poulet, we hung out and ate pizza. Sorry, no crazy year end tales of the Chicken in the City.

So on to 2007!!

This is a significant year for me because I'm turning thirty. Therefore, I have some lofty goals to achieve. I tend not to make resolutions because they never keep. Goals seem to be much more comfortable and attainable in every New Year.

The Goals

Goal #1- Knit from my Stash (as stolen from Wendy)

When I started out in this new hobby of knitting I bought two small rubbermaid tubs. Mind you, these aren't the bins that small children could hide in. These are about the size of 2 shoe boxes. As I read about the stash issues of others on knitty, I promised myself that my stash would absolutely NOT outgrow theses two bins. I would buy for each project as I went along and the bins would provide storage for yarn I absolutely HAD to have. Famous last thoughts, right? Exactly. Then, I learned to knit socks, shop on Etsy, and listen to Lime & Violet.

At last count, I have amassed 20,434 yards of yarn. (That's about twice what my little bins can hold.) And this doesn't count the roughly 16 skeins that are on order but not received. Yikes! This girl needs a yarn intervention.

Below are the pictures of my sock stash alone. Again, this doesn't count the recent purchase of 21 skeins of sock yarn or any yarn that isn't fingering weight. (There isn't much in the stash that isn't for socks but still- that's a lot of yarn.)





Rules for Knit from my Stash:

A. No yarn will be purchased until the stash fits into the two designated bins. To accomplish this goal, I have joined the Petals Collection KAL, Socktopia, and the Lime & Violet Sock Marathon. It's all socks all the time. If you don't like socks, I'm afraid you'll have to find another blog. (Don't leave, really. Please. Seriously, don't leave.)

B. New yarn can only be obtained if it has been paid for or committed to before today, if won in a contest, or given as a gift. For example, I have signed up for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Socks Club. However, I have not yet paid for this club. Only the STR and Sunshine yarn clubs fall into the "committed but not paid for" pile. The 16 odd skeins that are still on the way are OK as well because they are already paid for. But now I'm done until the two bin limit is reached. I promise not to trick anyone into "gifting" me yarn in return for the "gift" of their groceries. There will be no accomplices.

C. There are no exceptions to the yarn rule. I must resist the siren song of yarn on etsy. I can buy patterns, books, needles and various accoutrement but only for the express purpose of clearing the stash. I know this sounds harsh but I'm very committed to getting down to my 2 bin goal. The yarn guilt is overwhelming. I apologize to my usual yarn suppliers whose kids will have to go to public school in the Fall.

Goal #2- Turn junk room into studio/office.
I want to turn this mess into usable space in our very small apartment. You can see the things in this room will survive quite well in the garage. But the garage is 3 floors down and no elevator. And I'll need furniture. This means a trip to IKEA and that'll be rough. But a room of my own will be wonderful. Hopefully, this will be done by February. Especially important for goal #3.



Goal #3- Get into and start grad school.
The applications are in. Now, I'm just waiting for the verdicts.

Goal #4- Save more money.
See goal #1 as a clear and obvious way of making this happen and goal #3 as the reason.

Goal #5- Get down to my college weight. AKA- "Thin for Thirty"
I hope to accomplish this by my 30th birthday in September. Please don't come to me with any negativity or warnings about changes to my body as I grow older, I know this and the goal is possible. My college weight was a very healthy one. I was there when I met my husband almost 7 years ago. I haven't had kids. There are no excuses for me being lazy and having a ridiculous love of pizza. The goal is between 30-40 pounds. Just enough to fit back into my skinny jeans. When I get there, those jeans will cease to be skinny jeans and thus lose their sacred status. And I can buy new designer skinny jeans with all the yarn money I've saved.

The Plan

To keep me honest, I plan on blogging a goals update weekly. This will keep me on track, keep you informed, and hopefully, be kind of interesting. If you hate it, tell me and I'll try to cleverly hide these updates in other posts.

2007 has the promise of being a wonderful year! Hopefully, I won't blow it by February.