Getting things done, and napping.It's been a lovely weekend, despite the weather, and two very nice days. We hung out with Mike Friday night, played video games, and drank. Saturday and Sunday we slept and played video games and watched cartoons. Yesterday was shopping day, and this morning we got groceries and I cleaned out my pantry. I feel very relaxed and oddly productive, even though I just woke up from a nap! In another week or two, I may have cabin fever, but right now, I definitely feel like I made the right decision in not waiting to find another job before leaving my old one.
3/26/04:
*
Sleepless but happy.I did not sleep well last night. Couldn't get to sleep, and when the cats woke me around 3:30, I couldn't get back to sleep until fiveish. I'm slightly delirious. But it's my last day of work! We're going to hang out with Mike and anyone else that shows up, and party. Probably drink and play video games, but who knows? We might go out for a bit. Dunno that anybody I particularly like is playing, but we could alwyas play pool or something. I'm really, really looking forward to having the time off with my husband. I'm even looking forward to cleaning and organizing my house, although I doubt that lasts.
3/25/04:
*
Play in the midst of work.All work and no play makes Kara a raving psycho! Luckily, I just have to make it through today and tomorrow. Today is not a good day, so I've been listening to music and looking through the Phildar magazines online. Tonight we get our taxes done and our hair cut. I may knit, I'm pretty stressed right now and I do want to sleep! Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully a less stressful one.
3/24/04:
*
Getting my stuff and going home.Cleaning out a whole lab of personal effects is surprisingly easy. It's kinda funny; most of the stuff I have to remove is on the computer. Occupational hazard, I guess. Then there's all my little bottles and tubes that I've saved and washed. I am such a packrat, an obsessive-compulsive packrat. I do have a hard time throwing things away, like tin foil and glass. Some of the thins I've saved from the trash at the lab are pretty cool, though. I plan to use some of them in beading kits, like the little bitty bottles. Once I get the office done, I should have time to play with all my odds and ends. Who knows what crafty weirdness will ensue?
3/23/04:
*
Twang goes the back, Anticipation.Backache! And no wonder. I've done anywhere from 15 to 20 THOUSAND serological tests a month these last three months. I'm pooped. But it's almost over! Just three more days! I plan to party. And clean my house, and finally get the office the way I wanted it, and a few dozen other things done. When else am I ever gonna get all this stuff done?
3/22/04:
*
Last week of work at the lab.Wahoo! Four more days, now, till I'm unemployed! I feel almost giddy at the thought. Now if I can just get things done until a new job comes along, life will be great for a while.
3/17/04:
*
A breath of summer.It was so warm today! Sunny and warm, over 70 degrees. Makes me feel like everything might be okay, like I'm finding my happy, well-adjusted self again. Autumn is still my favorite season...but I love summer. Complain about the lack of mild spring weather all you want, but it's still a world better than winter! I really should move closer to the equator.
3/17/04:
*
Sproing!Just a few more days till spring, and the new moon. A good time to, uh, spend some quality time with your sweetie. ;) Outside, even, although I doubt it's going to be that warm. Warm enough to grill, though! Grilled shrimp and veggies. Maybe grilled fruit. Mmmmmm. I'm hungry.
3/15/04:
*
Wonky.Things just aren't right. Yeah, that includes the big picture like bombings and Dubya, but little things too. F'rinstance: I'm sleeping well. And energetic, once I finally get good and awake. And I'm hungry, even in the morning, although that may be due to the change of the season. In other news, now I know just how lucky I am that my husband isn't a MMORGP addict. And I still need a good shag.
3/12/04:
*
Resume` and med adjustment.The ol' resume` is updated; I even made it a web page. The new higer dose of Zoloft is working out quite well, except that I'm a little fidgety after I finally wake up. It's weird to have my energy level so affected by a little yellow pill that I took the night before. I'm getting less paranoid, too, although that's not just from the Zoloft. It's good to be leaving, all the guilt is falling away, and I'm embracing the possibilities. Sure, I could have started looking for another job two months ago, when things started to really suck, but I wouldn't have taken it seriously like I am now.
3/10/04:
*
The hunt begins.Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's hunting jobs I go... The job market around here is pretty interesting. There are actually jobs for scientists around here other than the University, who knew? I'd like to go back to school and get my Master's, but I'm not sure I can handle that either until I'm a little more well. We upped the dose on the Zoloft, and it is helping, so maybe it won't be an issue. Of course, I wish that it was never an issue, but I don't have much choice there.
3/8/04:
*
Quitting.I've done it now. I put in my resignation notice for the second of April. It feels like I've failed, like I'm weak and bad and frivolous somehow, like I should have ignored my feelings and stuck with it. Never mind that I really can't handle the stress of the personality conflict on top of the stress of having so much work to do. At least it seems that it's going to be an amicable parting.
3/3/04:
*
Broken. Ouch.I'm injured. Mostly physically, in that my right arm seems to have a repetitive strain injury and it hurts all the time, and a stupid cold that won't go away. I stayed home Monday and it apparently didn't help. I'm an emotional wreck, too, thanks to weeks of stress, pain, lack of quality sleep, and certain people at work. I know I'm cranky, but is that any reason to insult my work?
* Maybe it gets better? and Libertarians do it better ;)Reprieve - I hope! They're meeting to discuss whether it's worth doing any more testing, at the place with the disease issue that's been making my life overly stressful. The income from this little outbreak is good, but it's caused more stress than I can handle. *sigh* I need a good shag. ;)
* On to plugging my favorite political party, the Libertarians. They are the closest to getting it right of any political group we have right now. I wish more people would realize that the Republicrats are the same people with nominally different agendas, and they will never do what's best for our country or even the actual will of the majority.
2/24/04:
*
It only gets worse.I feel like crap. Backache, headache, sinus issues - probably allergies, at this time of year - and serious tiredness. If only I could get unwound before bedtime. Gotta start doing yoga after supper or something. Tired + stressed = twitchyness and futher lack of sleep. Vacation, that's what I need! I have eight days and a bit of vacation time. Of course, I have rather more sick time, so maybe I should get sick. It wouldn't take much for me to really get sick, since I already feel sick right now.
2/23/04:
*
Starting over with a new bad week.It's only 10:30 on Monday morning, and already everything sucks. When things calm down at work, I'm definitely taking some vacation. Too many ELISAs, too many AGIDs, too many different supplies to keep track of, too much stress. I'm having nightmares again, but a doctor's appointment and a different dosage of my drugs should fix that, if it isn't just stress. I haven't been too moody, and I'm still sleeping okay, thank goodness. Some minor house-tidying occurred before I got all wound up in sewing patterns, but the place is still awfully messy, and that's a little stressful, too. Just ask Mike, you can do it on his weblog with his new commenting system!
2/18/04:
*
Bad week, but it's almost over...Just one more day. Surely I can make through another day? I only have 150-300 ELISA samples to do tomorrow, and we should get paid...
2/17/04:
*
RSS issues, stillDunno what the problem is, exactly, but the RSS feed is still not working quite right. In other news, I'm inexplicably sore in a wide range of my anatomy. I don't think I overdid it this weekend; in fact, Saturday all I did was go to my parents' and to Hobby Lobby. Sunday was even less active. Yesterday I did pick up Mike from the airport and go shopping, clear out more of the office, and straighten the living room a little. Maybe that's it. ;) It was odd to have so much energy, though I wish I had it all the time. Waking up 30 or 40 minutes later seemed to help more than I would have thought.
2/15/04:
*
<strong>All righty, then - RSS.</strong> I loaded a PHP RSS generator from RSSgenr8. Let's see how well this works. Nope, something in the PHP is buggy and it insists that the address for this site has /" in front of it. My head hurts now. And it was such a good day so far...
2/13/04:
*
<strong>I am so mad!</strong> Just for the record, in this lab in Springdale we've done over 95,000 avian influenza AGIDs, over 56,000 avian ELISAs, and over 17,000 HIs, and most of them are monitoring, although there are more than a few diagnostic cases in there. Most of these have been performed by me, personally - I've been a busy girl! It's bad enough that I don't get the pay or title that goes with my job due to state financial issues, but to have my efforts so carelessly (or maliciously? I wonder) omitted in a public statement by my agency's director is really too much. The article says that "Wyrick said routine testing continues at the commission's laboratory in Little Rock..." Um, hello, there's an Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission Lab here in Springdale performing quite a bit of routine poultry testing! Would it have killed him to say, oh, "...at the commission's laboratories" or even "...laboratories in Little Rock and Springdale"?
* Here's proof that I've been working on RSS: Lockergnome's RSS resources and the W3 XML standards. Maybe I'll figure it out over this long weekend.
2/11/04:
* Sinus infection. Yuck. That's about it. I feel horrible and I still came to work. There's just too much to do. If i can just make it through this week, next week starts with a holiday...
2/9/04:
* Nightmares suck. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well and I had to have the husband hold me for a while when he got home this morning.
2/8/04:
* I hate sinus infections!! I feel better, but my sinuses don't, and therefore neither does my head and neck. That didn't keep me from hanging out with my family yesterday, but I think I should have gone to bed earlier. Weekends just aren't long enough.
2/5/04:
* Naaaarf! I am sick. Staying home yesterday helped some, and so did sleeping almost all day, but I still feel yucky and here I am back at work. I wonder sometimes if my loyalties are misplaced in this regard. Especially since the workload isn't that bad right now... Eh, they're all busy rearranging all the office equipment and file cabinets. My lab is an island of peace. Best of all, they put the outer door to my lab back on, so I can play music without anybody else hearing it unless they actually come in here. I'm listening to Golden Oriental Belly Dance, if you're interested.
2/3/04:
* It's only Tuesday?! That just doesn't seem right. I"ve been surfing a little: Engrish.com (funny!), Mesoamerican Manuscript Facsimilies at the University of Utah, and the Libertarian Party site. I'm going to color my hair again tonight, I think. Back to red, with highlights, maybe.
2/2/04:
* Bored with Groundhog Day? It's also Imbolc. It's traditionally time to plan for the first planting and livestock often give birth around this time. It foreshadows summer, thank goodness, because I'm really sick of winter! If it weren't so yucky here (and my back didn't still hurt) I'd go look for signs of spring.
Yes, my back still hurts. I figure there will be more accursed tension headaches, too, since my neck starts hurting pretty fast while I'm working. More yoga and acetomeniphen for me. At least my sinuses are doing fine for once.
* No groceries. At least my back hurts less, though my neck and head hurt. No knitting, either; I've been reading Kushiel's Chosen. Those books are inexplicably riveting, maybe because they're a little naughty and have lots of adventure. It can't be the plots. The characters are good, too. Anyway, pain makes me a lot less productive. I coulda had a sleeve done by now if it weren't for that.
1/29/04:
* Like this better? It's called Teal. My back is killing me and we need groceries, both of which make me a little cranky, so that's all I have to say for today except the stuff I posted in my crafty weblog.
1/28/04:
* You know you're stalling when something you intended to do "sometime" is suddenly really important right now. I'm looking at sewing machines online, putting off the less-fascinating site content reorganization. I do need a better machine, but the site reorganization is just as vital to my well-being. Maybe it's an anxiety thing.
1/26/04:
* The fun part of the site redo is done, now I have to sift through and edit all my content so that it makes more sense and isn't so all over everywhere. I don't want to give any of it up, but it should all to be easier to find and look at.
In other news, it's foggy as all getout and may snow. It's supposed to get down to 16F tonight, gross!
1/24/04:
* Don't really like this color scheme? I'll have you know it's my favorite of the three, but there are two more and you can see them applied to my About kwicz (fleur) and Science (bluesage) pages. Tell me what you think about them. After all, I only spent most of this past week working out the new, complex CSS layout, and a good chunk of today working out the colors. You better like them ALL!
1/23/04:
* New design! What do you think? Beautiful and easy to follow? Too bright or confusing? I really like it, but I realize that my taste in colors runs to brights that not everyone cares for. I have a soft teal and sage tile and color scheme I can apply to this layout if I decide these colors are too much. It feels so good to get something done!
1/21/04:
* Now that I feel a little better, it's amazing how much easier it is to get things done. Of course, it's also amazing how quickly I jump from project to project, too. No more done on the office; The books in the bedroom floor still aren't all shelved, I have two round robin freeforms to work on and send out, the husband sweater and Blizzard cardigan want to be finished, and I still haven't finished a pair of socks for myself. My crafty to-do list keeps getting longer, and so does my housey stuff list. Any minute now it will all overwhelm me and none of it will get done because I won't be able to decide where to start. It would help if I didn't feel like housey projects have to be finished in one unbroken chunk of time. It would help even more if I weren't so afraid of screwing things up...
1/19/04:
* You know what they say about good intentions. Still, I really did intend to post Friday, and get more work done on the new site design this past weekend. What I actually did was get swamped at work, so no stolen moments to post. Then I went to dance class on Saturday and Dad fixed our leaky kitchen plumbing and we put together the shelves for the bedroom. Yesterday I hung out with my family, except the husband, who was asleep until almost suppertime (which is pretty usual). Then we went out and had Mexican with Mike. Today, I finally cleared off the old improvisational craft table - the old bedroom closet door on top of three short plastic drawer units - and moved most of that crap into the spare room. It'll take more muscle than I have to move the door and the new furniture, so that will wait for a nice strong man. He can shampoo the floor on his days off, too. It definitely needs it.
1/14/04:
* One of the hazards of trying to post at work is that the connection is so squirrely. I tried to update yesterday, but was foiled by some mystery outage. Anyway, Happy Birthday Sweetie!!
1/12/04:
* Why do so many people drive SUVs that have obviously never been off the road? Why drive a vehicle that you have to spend $25 of more to refuel every week to commute, when you could spend less than $15 every two weeks driving a car? I just don't get people sometimes. Okay, I don't get people a lot.
* In case you were missing the slice-of-life entries, here's what I did this weekend: Saturday, knitted, sorted out beads and jewelry-making stuff, and went to lunch with Mike, and Dad fixed the wobbly leaky toilet; Sunday, finished sorting the beady things, visited the parents and read their newspaper, and knitted. Pretty boring, huh? But I'm participating in a freeform peyote bracelet round robin, where each person does maybe an inch or two and embellishments on each other's bracelets. I got the first one Friday, and sent mine off Saturday. It's good to have a reason and deadline to bead.
1/08/04:
* I've been thinking. Why is our culture so obsessed with being nigh-starvation thin, when most people are built to be sturdy, padded, and maintain said padding through famine and real starvation? I know it's part of the whole youth-obsessed thing, but it's still weird. Also, I've been trying to figure out how to use div and span properly, and nest them so they go where I expect them to. It's not working too well so far.
1/07/04:
* Unwellness still holds sway over my household. The husband called in sick to work and went to sleep; I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight because I couldn't breathe! Tried to do some beading, but I couldn't seem to do things right. Today, I hope to go home, lay down, and not move very much until I go to bed, hopefully at some early hour. I had some thoughts about CSS and satire of our idiot president, but they'll have to wait until I feel human again.
1/06/04:
* I owe my husband a nickel. No work got done at all over the weekend, because we were both sick. Therefore, the office hasn't een touched, much less organized. I've devised an ingenious plan to dump everything into boxes and move it out of the office, shampoo the carpet reapeatedly with multiple vinegar rinses, move in the new furniture and storage boxes, and then sort through all that crap. I may need a mini-storage unit to hold all the stuff that has to come out of there. Actually, we may nedd the storage unit; almost half of the volume of stuff in the office belongs to the husband. He'd better help me tote all those boxes out to the car at least!
1/01/04:
* Happy New Year! I've been playing with colors, tiles, and nested divs, not all of which is working the way I expected. No organizing done yet; I stayed out late with my friends and I have to work tomorrow. I took Monday off, though, so I swear I'll get this mess of an office straightened up!
3/30/04:
* Knitting magazines and yarn catalogs! Even the dreaded Vouge Knitting was worth getting, if only for the Adrienne Vitadini cross-strap tank. I've made considerable progress on Sonnet, and I've been thinking about the beading patterns. I was going to start with an intermediate-level herringbone bottle cover for the smaller bottles. But a beginner pattern might be more practical, and I'd like to do some netting, though maybe not both together. I'm planning my approach to the office organization/craft area setup, so not as much is getting done as I could do. Well...I've also been taking a nap every day...
3/26/04:
* Knitting at 4am. I don't recommend it, unless you're always up at that hour. I fiddled around with mitered squares using big yarn and needles, alternating two yarns every two rows. I got irritated with it about the time I got to the second square, and cast on and picked up the stitches for it. Picking up stitches in chenille yarn, even bulky chenille, sucks. At 4 pm, it wouldn't have bothered me, but so early in the morning when I'm not supposed to be up, it bugged me. I did make some decisions about the beading patterns and kits - a series of beaded bottles and tubes, for beginners thru advanced, in several different stitches. Ought to be pretty cool if I get them all done and comprehensible.
3/25/04:
* Looking through catalogs from yarn companies is fun. Today, I visited Phildar online and looked through their catalogs. I love some of the designs, but I've never knitted from one of their patterns before. Not that I need more projects, but I may ask around and see what people think of Phildar patterns.
3/22/04:
* Sonnet is humming along. I'm to the first armhole, and that's a lotta garter stitch! Glad I decided to increase the length of the lace section and decrease the garter sections. I've never really used much garter stitch before, and it's very slow going - I'd hate to do a whole sweater in it! The Disco sock is moving along, too, but not as fast. I finished off the fourth freeform piece and intend to send it off tomorrow. No real progress on patternmaking yet, or the new dance costume, either.
3/15/04:
* More knitting, no beading. Saturday, Mom and my sister and her husband and I went on a road trip, and since I didn't have to drive, I knitted on Sonnet. I was so tired that I didn't do anything yesterday. You'd think that I'd have done some beading over the last week, but it just didn'thappen. I need a case of finishitis! I also need to get with the sewing, if I want an Easter dress and a new dance costume in time.
3/10/04:
* Sonnet with the small lace diamonds is kind of addictive! There are only really four lines in the lace pattern, and Cotton-Ease is, well, easy to work with. I thought about the beading patterns, and did a little research, but no real progress on those. I should get with it!
3/7/04:
* Long time no post! Not much crafting is getting done around here. I've decided to resign my position at work, so not only will I have more free time (until I get another job, anyway), I'll need a little extra cash. To that end, I'm writing patterns and making up kits, for beading so far, but I do have a gorgeous beaded diamond lace chart I drew just waiting to be written up...
* The little crafting I've done has all been knitting. Socks and the Eden shawl, and I started a little cardigan called Sonnet, with a little less garter stitch and replacing the box stitch with small lace diamonds. Someday, I may make a pattern as written, but I wouldn't bet on it! I'm making the socks toe-up, and it's quite fun. More socks should and will be made this way. The next pair will be in Lana Grossa Sarah and have a lace pattern.
2/26/04:
* Bamboo dpns + Fortissima Colori Disco = good knitting! The trouble with travel projects is that I don't travel or wait in lines or traffic much. Good thing socks work up so fast! I did finally get the next freeform piece off to the next person in the round robin. I should finish off the bracelet and start a new project; I want to make a necklace with beaded beads on a beaded rope, and I'm bored with the bland matte metallic colors of the bracelet already. What I should really do is either get a new sewing machine or go over to Mom's and use hers to make my next dance costume. I only have six weeks!
2/23/04:
* Being wired from stress means startitis! I cut a leotard top and a cute little tank-and-shorts outfit from a swimsuit pattern out ffom some neat two-way stretch textured fabric. I really intended to cut out a dress, and a top and skirt for a new dance costume, but I stopped and knitted on the new shawl instead - almost a whole pattern repeat! Worked on a freeform round robin piece, too. I really need to get it and the next one mailed off.
2/17/04:
* I figured it out! The Evening in Eden pattern. Now that it's in my head properly, the knitting is going pretty fast. I went on a little fabric and pattern buying spree yesterday. Must have been "losing" half my patterns when I sorted them the other day. Hopefully the patterns I bought will fill out my wardrobe a little - if I ever get around to sewing them, that is! The office cleaning and reorganization project actually progressed this weekend, so maybe I'll have a place to sew besides the dining table before too long.
2/15/04:
* What a week! So Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday. I didn't buy too much, just the poster frames that were half price (planned purchase) and some yarn and fabric (not so planned). If I could just translate all this energy into doing something! I did organize my patterns last night: gathered up all the pieces and envelopes, baggied the ones that wouldn't fit in their envelopes anymore, and separated out the ones that are too small - anybody want some Vogue, Butterick, and McCalls patterns in Misses sizes ranging from 6 to 12? I'm a 14 in every pattern company but Burda.
* I started the Evening in Eden shawl in Peruvian Baby Silk. I love the yarn, but I seem to be having trouble with the pattern; an extra stitch keeps appearing! That's okay, I'll figure it out. Have I mentioned how wonderful my new handknitted socks are? If I'd remembered to wrap my turns on the short-row heels, they'd be beyond perfect. I'm just glad the superwash wool isn't breaking me out. More socks!!
2/11/04:
* Magic Stripe socks all done. Not much else, though. I'm sick. Maybe some husband sweater knitting later.
2/5/04:
* It's weird to be so close to finishing so many projects. Only the upper third of the second sleeve stands between sewing the husband sweater together and picking up the neckband. The Magic Stripes socks lack one toe, and I've already started the toe decreases. Heck, I even started a new piece in triangle seed beads and it's a quarter inch and some embellishment away from completion. It feels good, but probably not as good as it'll feel to have all this stuff done! However, I still intend to buy a new sewing machine and make more of my clothes, so we'll see if I can keep getting things done.
* Fabric and bead shopping occurred yesterday, and I bought some gorgeous two-way stretch fabric with a gold and green pattern for a top, and some kinda batiste-weight crinkle polyester for a skirt, both for belly dancing. My sister got some really cute cotton prints and eyelet for her first garment sewing adventure - she's making matching dresses for her girls. Mom and I went to the bead store and we found the neatest findings I've ever seen: multi-strand end pieces in different styles. Needless to say, I bought some, along with the beads to finish embellishing the triangle bead bracelet and start on the next freeform swap piece. Good shopping!
2/5/04:
* Finis! I'm wearing the Blizzard cardigan as we speak. It's unblocked and nas no zipper or buttons, but it's soft and very warm, and the three quilter's basting safety pins seem to work fine for now. You know what this means? I can start another sweater! I think I'll start a shawl first, though. The husband sweater still has half a sleeve left. No freeform work; I was sick yesterday, I still don't feel all that great, and seed beads are not the thing to work with when you're sick. This weekend I'll work on them, I swear! ;)
2/3/04:
* All the knitting is done on the Blizzard cardigan! All that's left is setting in the sleeves and sewing up the seams. All the ends are woven in and the collar is done, too. Now I just have to get to that point with the husband sweater. I've been neglecting the freeform round robin pieces, so I may work on those tonight. I had an idea for carving interesting cabochons from laundry detergent bottles, which could be painted with that cool plastic paint too. Dunno when I'll try that one out, but at least I have the Dremel to do it.
1/29/04:
* I got fabric for the Stretch & Sew patterns last night, mostly for the leotard, since I have t-shirt knits for the City Tees but only scraps of two-way stretch fabric. I also picked up the Patons Katrinayarn to make a kimono-style jacket from the Winter 02 Knitter's that I've been wanting.
* If you want some inspiration to do recycling crafts, here it is: Recycled Planet. Check out these plants made from recycled plastic! They are beautiful, and there are lots of other cool things there, too.
1/28/04:
* The husband's complaints have spurred me to work on his sweater for a change. It now has one sleeve minus the sleeve cap, which I may finish before the week's over. It's time to work on the next freeform bracelet, too. And I'm looking at sewing machines again; maybe I'll actually get around to buying one this time. With all the belly dance costume sewing, it would be worth it to have a machine that doesn't have so many irritating little problems. Of course, the old Necchi is at least twenty if not older. I got a couple of patterns from Stretch & Sew that I can't wait to try!
1/26/04:
* I love Blizzard, and I'm glad it's being knit into this sweater. I'm already at the same place on it as I am on the husband sweater, halfway through the first sleeve. I already picked up and knit the collar, but I decided to go ahead and set in the sleeves before I sew the side seams. It feels soooooo good! I got some sock knitting done, too - only half an inch left till the toe decreases, so I should have a pair of socks sometime very soon. That means I can start a new pair, maybe the Disco ones. It looks like there will be some of the Magic Stripes left, so I may make a pair from it for a niece.
1/24/04:
* Is laying out a web page design crafty? It's going to have to do, because I've finally finished a new layout and three new color schemes for the web site. Check them out on my About (fleur), Science (bluesage), and Weblog (tiles, and my favorite!). And don't hesitate to tell me what you think of them, or even if you prefer the original Stars design.
1/21/04:
* Crafter's ADD - I have it. I have inexplicably managed not to cast on a new shawl, socks, or hat while finishing up the husband sweater, but I want to really bad. In the process of sorting out all the bead and jewelry making stuff, a few more future projects occurred to me. The sewing machine calls to me, but I want a new one that doesn't get its bobbin thread tangled around itself before I sew anything major. I want to paint, for once. And don't get me started on paper crafts!
1/19/04:
* The Blizzard cardigan is zipping along! I have the back and the left front done, and the twisted ribbing done on the right front. The husband sweater is progressing, too; a third of the first sleeve is done. I picked a pattern for the delish navy blue Austermann Candy from the 03 Spring Interweave Knits, the Gatsby Pullover. I think it will translate well, the texture of knitted Candy is kind of bumpy and uneven and it feels so incredibly good. The next freeform for the round robin needs to go out this week, so I'll work on that and finishing those two sweaters.
1/15/04:
* Elann rocks. I ordered on Saturday, and it got here on Wednesday, all the way from Canada! I ordered some ribbon yarns, mostly Austermann varieties. I also ordered an Austermann Stricktrends book - I forgot it would be in German! But that's okay. It'll be a while before I start another big project; the husband sweater and Blizzard cardigan need to be finished first.
1/14/04:
* The freeform Round Robin has begun! I sent my three inches off Saturday, and I'd already gotten the first one to work on by Friday. I organized most of my beads and jewelry-making stuff and got it out where I can get to it, so I'm ready to bead. Mom gave me a new corded Dremel, so I can work on bigger projects with it - I'm pretty excited about it. More husband sweater knitting got done; the front is almost done and then all that's left are the sleeves. I decided that I'm not really ready to design an intermediate-level pattern, so I found a Tahki Baby zip cardigan pattern in the same gauge as Blizzard to make instead and it's moving pretty fast. I can't wait to start another shawl, though.
1/8/04:
* Have I mentioned that the green necklace is not going so well? It has a single strand of frosty green crystals supporting a donut, but I'd intended to either add more strands or maybe dangle some of the pretty parallellogram-shaped aventurine beads, but I just can't get it to work out. so I give for a while; I need to do the freeform round robin base anyway. Gotta pick a color...
1/6/04:
* And here I thought I'd finish a project for New Year's. Ha! Well, I did finish Mike's scarf. The husband sweater has certainly progressed, but I'm not quite to the sleeves yet! I played a little more with my Wig-Jig and knitted some more on my socks. Oh, my BIL loves the socks I knitted him. That's so cool - I can't wait to finish mine.