Believe It

Yes. I am alive and well. I know I have been ignoring my blog for a couple of months now, but I am back. With knitting content to boot!

I would like to thank Misa for inspiring me to get back to knitting again after a three month disappearance of my knitting mojo. She posted on her blog the Wool Peddler Shawl she was knitting and it gave me the life in my veins that I needed to pick up my needles and finish my own shawl!

Also a big huge thanks to Marsha for sending me the most awesome care package the other week! It definitely served it's purpose well and I loved looking at all the little treats that were included. Thank you for being an awesome friend that I have yet to meet.

I am still without a job, but have decided that I am going to get over the fear of being jobless and enjoy the most out of my summer the best that I can. My sister has scored cheap plane tickets and secured our hotel room for Rhinebeck in October. The excitement from knowing she will be going with me this year has got my knitting mind going about what sweaters to knit for the festival. However, for now, I will share what I have completed.

Pattern: Wool Peddler Shawl from Folk Shawls
Yarn: Dream in Color Baby, Lace Weight; Colorway: Lipstick Lava (1.5 skeins)
Needles: Knit Picks Options, Size 8
Started: June 19, 2008 (put on hold in July '08 and picked back up in June '09)
Finished: June 22, 2009
Notes: I have yet to block the shawl. I don't know what the finished dimensions are at the moment, but it wraps around me very nicely.

Scrapbooking

My knitting mojo seems to have left my body when I lost my job back in February. I've only finished one other item since the socks I showed you in my last post. I'll share it once I get a decent picture.

So until my knitting vibe comes back to me, I decided to focus on my other hobby. Scrapbooking. Since I had no plans for this Easter weekend, I figured I would try and make some progress on scrapbooking some old photos of mine. This is the first spread that I have completed so far.

P.S. All that alcohol you see in the bottom right hand picture was not drunk. It's just a very funny picture of my grandpa being surrounded by it.

OMG - An FO!

Yes, believe what you are seeing! I actually have an FO! Don't ask me why it took me five months to get these socks completed, 'cause I really don't know. What is really important is that they are D-O-N-E!

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks (Favorite Socks)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM (Colorway P105)
Needles: Knit Picks Fixed Circs Size 2 (cuff) and Size 1.5 (foot)
Started: October 20, 2008
Finished: March 22, 2009
Mods: I did a straight Knit, Purl Ribbing on Cuff instead of Twisted Rib Stitch

Isn't it amazing just how different these socks are? The pooling definitely did it's own thing from sock to sock. Fraternal twins for sure.

What Ya Think?

Back in January I went and got my eyes checked. Since I had insurance I decided to get new glasses. Can I tell you just how thankful I am that I did this when I did? So while I still don't have any knitting to show off, I thought I would show off my new glasses.

Without glasses...
With glasses...

At Christmas I fell in love with Mary Beth's new specs. Normally I go with frames that blend into my face, but I felt like the bold frames looked good (the fram is made by Legre. Believe it or not, I actually love wearing these glasses! What ya think?

5 AM

This is one day I was happy I didn't have to go out in this....

This is what I saw when I looked out my front door at 5am. I guess old man winter just had to get a real snowstorm to us in NYC before spring started in a couple of weeks.

Changes

Last June Becky posted on her blog that she wanted to start a Traveling Scarf event. The first seven people who commented they were interested would get to participate. The idea was that you would start your own scarf in the rib pattern provided and then it would get passed on to the next person on the list. Eventually your scarf would have 8 segments total.

So, last Thursday I met up with Kim for lunch. I was really excited about it because she was bringing me my completed Traveling Scarf. I have to say that I totally LOVE it!!! All the color choices were perfect. I love how bold/bright they are. This scarf has been wrapped around my neck for the past two days. The Koigu yarn is so soft and scrumptious. I thank all the wonderful ladies who worked on my scarf. It is perfect.

In addition to receiving my scarf, Kim gave me these really cool circular needles. They are square and have the most flexible cord I have ever seen in a needle. Way cool. Oh, but the surprises didn't stop there. While Kim and I were goggling over my scarf I see this person approach us out of the corner of my eye. When I look at her I realized in was Misa! My mouth fell open and I was so surprised to see her I was actually speechless. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me that day so I didn't get a picture. It was a really really really nice surprise.

As the title of this post says, there are some unexpected changes happening in my life right now. As of yesterday I was laid off from my company. I got the call from my boss on Tuesday night within 10 minutes of walking in the door from work. Needless to say I was very upset. I have been with this company for 10.5 years which is really unheard of these days. I never imagined I would now be out of a job.

I signed off on my separation agreement yesterday and found out what my severance will be. I will have money coming in from my company for 3 months. I will also be joining the thousands of others who are claiming unemployment. I am still going to try and continue with my Paralegal Certificate. I have 3 classes down and 7 more to go. Today I am doing much better than two days ago. As Kim told me yesterday, "When one door closes, another will open". Very true.

Before February Comes

I want to thank you all for your well wishes. I am soooo feeling better. I even started back to my running this past weekend!

I can't believe February is right around the corner. Can anyone tell me where on earth January went? I thought it would be good if I shared my first FO of 2009 before a new month rolled around next Sunday. So, in it's unblocked state, here is what I call Berries and Caramel Shawl.

Pattern: Something Mary Beth created, but Iadded a different edging from her Beauty & The Bead Shawl. The edging came from Nicky Epstein's "Knitting On The Edge". For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the pattern I selected.
Yarn: Lumpy Bumpy Yarn (Colorway-Berries & Caramel); Shepherd's Shades (Colorway-Chestnut) (1 skein each)
Needles: Bamboo Circs Size 15
Started: December 31, 2008
Finished: January 3, 2009

My goal this coming weekend is to get it nice and blocked out so I can't started wrapping myself up in it! I know with the blocking, the main part of the shawl will spread out nicely and be in a good proportion to the edging.

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting with the Lumpy Bumpy. I purchased the yarn during mine and MB's outing to the knitting shop in Georgetown, SC. Every yarn in the store was 20% off that day. I couldn't stop myself from going back to the Berries and Caramel colorway. It was calling out to me and it couldn't resist from hopping into my basket.