I've been casually job-hunting for a few weeks now. My current/previous job isn't going to last much longer. I've been watching my friend's daughter for a little over a year now, but my friend is going to be heading off on maternity leave soon, and I really ought to find gainful employment.
Here's the problem: I SUCK at buzzword bingo! I'm looking over my resume, and it fails highly in the areas of Buzzwords and Flashiness. It has nothing to grip you. I'm not a terribly exciting person. And as much as I would like to discuss in detail the various business attempts that have been ongoing for the last two years, potential employers are not generally very excited about knitting publications. Especially not when you are applying for administrative work with a splash of accounting on the side.
The thought of going back into that environment leaves me feeling somewhat cold and paralyzed to be honest. It's what I went to school for, it's what I know how to do, but I hate it with every fiber of my being.
Is there any sort of a job out there that would allow me to fill my artistic passion while simultaneous being gainfully employed? Is there any possible way to avoid the cold, tired world of administration and accounting?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
St. Distaff's Day
St. Distaff's Day is on January 7. Lucky for me, I've got my wheel put back together and it is in proper working order.
H is thoroughly unimpressed with the design of the Ashford Traditional. As much as I love it, he hates it. Only he hates it from an engineer's perspective. He doesn't like the screws that are used or the way the hub pin fits in And I won't even get started on his reaction when we'd put it all back together only to realize that the polyurethane drive band (a single unbroken loop) had gotten twisted around the legs. He thought we were going to have to take it off. His eyes went sort of buggy when I just snipped it (I'd left it loose on purpose and just raised the mother-of-all, in case I ever needed to do what I'd just done). I'll fix my polyurethane drive band later. For now, I've got the cotton band tied on. It's working fine. I'm happy.
It's a shame H doesn't do more woodworking. I'd love to see what sort of spinning wheel he could comeup with. I bet he could make something really fabulous!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The best of Christmas presents
My spinning wheel is in pieces on the guest room bed.
I received the double treadle kit for my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel this Christmas. It was wonderful and the wheel went together quite smoothly. Until I got around to putting the hub pin in the wheel. I used the old hub pin instead of the new one. The old hub pin, being several millimeters smaller than the hold in the crank, allowed the crank to wiggle back and forth, which made the wheel a little clunky as it treadled.
The new hub pin is a much tighter fit, but requires the hole in the wheel to be made larger. I need to work up the courage to make any permanent changes to my wheel. I'm even scared to stain it in case the stain ruins it. I doubt it would.
What makes a better finish? Waxing or staining? And which wax or stain should I use??
So many questions.
As a result, my spinning wheel is in pieces on the guest room bed while I sort out these very important issues. I rather miss my spinning wheel. However, it's absence is allowing me to focus a little more on the knitting.
I received the double treadle kit for my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel this Christmas. It was wonderful and the wheel went together quite smoothly. Until I got around to putting the hub pin in the wheel. I used the old hub pin instead of the new one. The old hub pin, being several millimeters smaller than the hold in the crank, allowed the crank to wiggle back and forth, which made the wheel a little clunky as it treadled.
The new hub pin is a much tighter fit, but requires the hole in the wheel to be made larger. I need to work up the courage to make any permanent changes to my wheel. I'm even scared to stain it in case the stain ruins it. I doubt it would.
What makes a better finish? Waxing or staining? And which wax or stain should I use??
So many questions.
As a result, my spinning wheel is in pieces on the guest room bed while I sort out these very important issues. I rather miss my spinning wheel. However, it's absence is allowing me to focus a little more on the knitting.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A Very Merry Christmas
Christmas celebrations are almost done. We've got one more family dinner today and then we are finished. Luckily, this one does not involve a gift-exchange. It's just dinner. Good dinner, too! It's with H's extended family and is my favorite dinner of the Christmas season.
Since H is chinese, the dinner with the extended family is a Chinese dinner. But this isn't your Mandarin buffet or Chinese takeout style of dinner. This is a sit down meal at a fancy Chinese restaurant with lots of fancy dishes. There is always some sort of seafood. Shrimp, scallops, fish. Then there will be chicken. Usually a whole chicken chopped up into pieces. The bone are left in and the head is usually still on the plate. Sometimes we order peking duck. The whole duck is brought to the table and sliced by hand in front of you. Then the rest of it is taken back to the kitchen where the remainder of the meat is chopped up and stir-fried. Of course there is rice.
There is lots more, but I can't think of what else we usually order.
Christmas with my family was good. The gift exchange is always a bit unruly, but that's to be expected when there are 15 people opening presents at once. My brother-in-law bought me two knitting books. Stitch'n'bitch Superstar Knitting and Modern Top-down Knitting. Both were absolutely perfect. I've wanted the first one since it came out, and the second one was a pleasant surprise, since I've often thumbed through it at the library and had been thinking about picking it up.
My mother bought me yarn. I will admit to being a complete yarn snob. I tend not to enjoy it when other people buy me yarn, since other people's opinion of what is good yarn usually differs vastly from my own. Nevertheless, the more I touch and fondle it, the more it has started to grow on me. At first, I had no idea what I would make out of 5 balls of bernat boa (in the colourway "Bright Glitter", no less). But it didn't take me long to envision it as a hat, scarf, mittens, and possibly shawl. All of which would be made for and enjoyed by ME! I don't do enough knitting for myself.
I almost cast the hat on last night, but a (very!!) stern glare from my husband told me that probably wasn't a good idea. It'll be a hat for next winter. ;)
Since H is chinese, the dinner with the extended family is a Chinese dinner. But this isn't your Mandarin buffet or Chinese takeout style of dinner. This is a sit down meal at a fancy Chinese restaurant with lots of fancy dishes. There is always some sort of seafood. Shrimp, scallops, fish. Then there will be chicken. Usually a whole chicken chopped up into pieces. The bone are left in and the head is usually still on the plate. Sometimes we order peking duck. The whole duck is brought to the table and sliced by hand in front of you. Then the rest of it is taken back to the kitchen where the remainder of the meat is chopped up and stir-fried. Of course there is rice.
There is lots more, but I can't think of what else we usually order.
Christmas with my family was good. The gift exchange is always a bit unruly, but that's to be expected when there are 15 people opening presents at once. My brother-in-law bought me two knitting books. Stitch'n'bitch Superstar Knitting and Modern Top-down Knitting. Both were absolutely perfect. I've wanted the first one since it came out, and the second one was a pleasant surprise, since I've often thumbed through it at the library and had been thinking about picking it up.
My mother bought me yarn. I will admit to being a complete yarn snob. I tend not to enjoy it when other people buy me yarn, since other people's opinion of what is good yarn usually differs vastly from my own. Nevertheless, the more I touch and fondle it, the more it has started to grow on me. At first, I had no idea what I would make out of 5 balls of bernat boa (in the colourway "Bright Glitter", no less). But it didn't take me long to envision it as a hat, scarf, mittens, and possibly shawl. All of which would be made for and enjoyed by ME! I don't do enough knitting for myself.
I almost cast the hat on last night, but a (very!!) stern glare from my husband told me that probably wasn't a good idea. It'll be a hat for next winter. ;)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Days of knitting
One of the nice things about Christmas is that I get to generally ignore most of my regular duties in favour of chilling out and relaxing with H. It's wonderful! ;) I only really get to do this for a day or 2 at most, but those two days have given me some major headway on some important projects.
I've managed to get the second full side of my mother's sweater finished. It's blocking right now. The side panels can (and will) be knit two at a time, which will make them work up faster. Well, not technically "faster", since my stitches-per-minute remains fairly constant, but it will seem faster, since I'll be doing them both at the same time.
I know for sure I can get them done by the end of the month with minimal effort. This leaves only the sleeves, which will also be knit two at a time. This will ensure that they are identical and again will make them seem like they are going faster. That plus the collar and front band are all that remain of the sweater. It will certainly be done by Mother's Day. That makes the sweater just over a year in the making, including all the times I ripped back and started completely over again. I should point out that it was two solid months of starting, ripping back, and starting over to create the perfect design.
On top of that, my February deadline projects are working up faster than expected. At my current rate of knitting, I should have both done and photographed not later than January 20th. Maybe 30th. They're almost finished. ;) And the test knitting on them is coming along well, though I am admittedly horrified at the mistakes I made in one of them. Only one of them, mind you. The other one was perfect with the exception of some small technical inconsistencies (the use of capital letters, improper punctuation, and inconsistent notation).
All in all, I'm fairly happy with my progress. I'll be taking my mother's sweater with me to my family Christmas tomorrow. I dare not work on anything else while I am there, since my mother knows of the sweater project and is anxious to receive it. ;)
I am endeavoring to get as much finished between now and January 1 so that I can focus on my new pattern.
That said, it's 2011 in less than a week. Time flies so quickly.
I've managed to get the second full side of my mother's sweater finished. It's blocking right now. The side panels can (and will) be knit two at a time, which will make them work up faster. Well, not technically "faster", since my stitches-per-minute remains fairly constant, but it will seem faster, since I'll be doing them both at the same time.
I know for sure I can get them done by the end of the month with minimal effort. This leaves only the sleeves, which will also be knit two at a time. This will ensure that they are identical and again will make them seem like they are going faster. That plus the collar and front band are all that remain of the sweater. It will certainly be done by Mother's Day. That makes the sweater just over a year in the making, including all the times I ripped back and started completely over again. I should point out that it was two solid months of starting, ripping back, and starting over to create the perfect design.
On top of that, my February deadline projects are working up faster than expected. At my current rate of knitting, I should have both done and photographed not later than January 20th. Maybe 30th. They're almost finished. ;) And the test knitting on them is coming along well, though I am admittedly horrified at the mistakes I made in one of them. Only one of them, mind you. The other one was perfect with the exception of some small technical inconsistencies (the use of capital letters, improper punctuation, and inconsistent notation).
All in all, I'm fairly happy with my progress. I'll be taking my mother's sweater with me to my family Christmas tomorrow. I dare not work on anything else while I am there, since my mother knows of the sweater project and is anxious to receive it. ;)
I am endeavoring to get as much finished between now and January 1 so that I can focus on my new pattern.
That said, it's 2011 in less than a week. Time flies so quickly.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!!
Here's a cheer to all on Christmas Day!
May your day be filled with joy
Your stockings filled with toys
Your presents be tremendous
and your holiday stupendous!
Merry Christmas!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
The Epic Project (or the blanket that would not end)
6 years ago my husband asked me to marry him. I started a blanket that was to be a wedding blanket for us. It was to be a queen-sized bedspread. In boucle yarn.
5 years 4 months and 2.5 weeks ago I married my husband. The wedding blanket, which was not done, went into a bag. And there it stayed. Oh, I'd pull it out occasionally to crochet a row here and there, but the truth is, I hated it nearly as soon as I started it. Boucle yarn makes me crazy and causes uncouth words to issue forth from my lips.
But, I have good friends who learned about the "wedding blanket" and they encouraged me to finish this project.
I crocheted the last row on it tonight and draped it over my husband. He's pretty happy with it. As you can see, it's not a bedspread. It's only roughly 2/3 the intended finished length. But it looks nice and it's symmetrical. It is the perfect size to drape over the back of the futon and is the ideal size for curling up in while watching TV. So after roughly 6.5 years in the making, I consider my wedding blanket done.
5 years 4 months and 2.5 weeks ago I married my husband. The wedding blanket, which was not done, went into a bag. And there it stayed. Oh, I'd pull it out occasionally to crochet a row here and there, but the truth is, I hated it nearly as soon as I started it. Boucle yarn makes me crazy and causes uncouth words to issue forth from my lips.
But, I have good friends who learned about the "wedding blanket" and they encouraged me to finish this project.
I crocheted the last row on it tonight and draped it over my husband. He's pretty happy with it. As you can see, it's not a bedspread. It's only roughly 2/3 the intended finished length. But it looks nice and it's symmetrical. It is the perfect size to drape over the back of the futon and is the ideal size for curling up in while watching TV. So after roughly 6.5 years in the making, I consider my wedding blanket done.
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