Overwhelmed

Thanks for your nice comments after my last post. This is certainly an exciting time for me, but also MASSIVELY STRESSFUL. It's good to know there are people pulling for me!

I finished another baby hat a couple of weeks ago. It's the same as the purple one, except that it's green. I just found out the other day that a friend of mine is expecting twins (!!) so I think that they will be the recipients of the hats.

I don't expect to have any exciting crafty content around here for quite awhile. After the move I don't even know when I'll have internet access. Probably not a good idea to be blogging at my new job! Time to get a laptop with wireless!

We have to sell our condo before we buy a new house, so I'm supposed to be decluttering right now. We hope to get it on the market for a couple of weeks. I'll stay in an extended stay hotel for a week or two, see if the condo looks like it's going to sell, and if not, I'll get an apartment. We are trying to avoid moving twice so hopefully everything will fall into place. My husband has not even thought about looking for a job yet. I'm not sure when he'll be joining me. While I'm in the hotel, I hope to start a nice fall sweater and do a bunch of cross stitch since there won't be any distractions other than exploring my new location.

OK, I must get going. I have WAAAAAAY too much to do.

I Have BIG News

I gave notice at my job yesterday.

I accepted a new job yesterday.

I'm done with my current job August 9th.

I start my new job August 14th.

The new job is over 250 miles away.

WAHOO! YIKES! WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Last December I was sitting on the couch, whining to my husband about how our lives were at a standstill and we needed to do something. A major change. I dubbed 2006 "The Year of Action." I didn't want to be sitting on the couch in December 2006 wondering why we haven't gotten more fulfilling jobs, started a family, and/or gotten a "real" house. I've been looking for jobs here and there for a few months and finally came across a good match. I interviewed June 30th and got the offer late last week. It's been an emotional rollercoaster for weeks. Last weekend I was scared, elated, weepy, nervous, and just an all around basketcase. I accepted yesterday. Life is going to change in a big way.

This explains why I haven't been able to knit anything challenging lately. It's why my Trekking sock looks exactly the same as the last time you saw it. It's time to do the heel and I just can't get it. Under normal circumstances I would probably be able to figure it out. I've also spent two nights working on the Cable Footies from One Skein. The first time I twisted a cable the wrong way on row 3 and ripped it out. I started over the next day and didn't bother to check the pattern, so I cast on 42 stitches instead of 48. Duh. All that time wasted-I should have just done some organization or purging or whatever. Knitting isn't really relaxing for me if it doesn't work. I think I should probably start a new cross stitch piece and leave the knitting alone for awhile.

I launched into planning mode on Tuesday and my To Do List already has at least 30 items. It's a good thing I have already done a lot of the important stuff, like determining that there are two LYS in the suburb where I'm going to be working. One of my new coworkers wives does cross stitch. Wonder if she's a knitter, too?

I am really excited about the new job. My boss seems really nice. Everyone I interviewed with was friendly and non-threatening. I even ran into a good friend from college while I was there! We lost touch 4 years ago when she had a baby. I am looking forward to catching up with her.

I'm going to be a mess for at least the next month. I have no idea where I'll be living in 4 weeks, if my husband will be there with me yet, what he's going to do for a job, if our condo is going to sell in a reasonable amount of time, etc. etc. etc. AAAH!

TBD's Baby Hat and Knitting Progress

Children's Cotton Hat (Toddler Size)
from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Started: 02 July 2006
Finished: 03 July 2006
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
Needles: Sz 7
This may replace the Umbilical Cord Hat as my quick baby hat pattern. It's just a little more interesting. It uses 2 stitch I-cord for the tie, which wasn't as annoying to make as 3 or more stitch I-cord. I've had this yarn for several months with this pattern in mind. I'm currently trying to knit up some of my stash. I don't know who this will be for, but it never hurts to have baby hats ready to go!


Oooh, what's this? A half finished sock? This is the "ugly" Trekking I've referred to before. I bought this yarn 30 seconds before taking a pretty much worthless sock class last summer. When I signed up for the class I asked if I should buy my supplies beforehand, and the clerk said no. I went to the class and had to pick out something with the teacher breathing down my neck. And she sold me some expensive US 2.5 needles to go with it. Hello? Does anybody use 2.5 for any kind of socks especially thin thin thin Trekking? I'm so much wiser now! Anyway, now that I have recovered from wasting money on the class, yarn I didn't love, and needles I'm not likely to ever use, I decided it was time to do something with the yarn. Simple stockinette so I can minimize the time spent with it. So far it's going well and I'm actually liking it. However, like my Jaywalkers, I'll have to be in a certain mood in order to wear these socks.


Yet another project with unloved yarn. I tried knitting a Midwest Moonlight scarf with this Crystal Palace Miracle (?) yarn last winter, and it just didn't work. I'm not sure I like this pattern with the yarn either. I have 3 skeins and I really don't what to do with it. Any suggestions?

Outdoors

I really should have joined "Trek Along With Me" this summer because I've gone hiking three times already and am currently working on a Trekking sock. However, I have no cool photos of my sock being worked on outside.

This is from a hike over Memorial Day weekend in a state park about a half hour from where I live:


This is a deer (can you see it?!) we saw while hiking on our camping trip a couple of weeks ago.


We went hiking last weekend, too, but I haven't uploaded the pics yet.

I got an email from my mom today. This is completely shocking to me since she has never owned a computer until today. She got a really old one from some friends and they helped her get it set up. I hope that they are willing to provide her with unlimited tech support. She does not yet know the meaning of CTRL-ALT-DEL.

In craft news:
1. I finished up a cross stitch piece today.
2. Which is good because I saw a needlework store on our way to the state park last weekend and I went there yesterday to check it out. Now I have 2 more projects on my plate in addition to the three I showed you recently from the 50% off sale.
3. I knitted a baby hat. No recipient yet. I just felt the need to do something quick with stash yarn.
4. I started a new pair of socks.

Nothing too challenging right now since it's summer and life is busy.

Sew? I Knit! Shirt

Pattern: McCall's 3662, view C
Fabric: 100% cotton from Hancock Fabrics
Started: 16 June 2006
Finished: 18 June 2006

This was a quick and easy pattern. My only problem was that the sizing was too big. There was way too much ease for my taste so I took in each side roughly an inch. Note to self: don't just look at the bust size, also look at the finished size!

For anyone keeping track, this is the less wild of the two fabrics (I tend to wear only solid colors) I picked for shirts for the sewalong. I have until the 15th to get the other one done if I want to meet the deadline. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. I'm not really motivated to sew at the moment. Or maybe the fabric is scaring me. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I bought it.

Spey Valley Socks-Finished at Last!

Spey Valley Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush
Started: 22 May 2006
Finished: 01 July 2006
(This does not include time for frogging almost an entire sock when I decided it was too small!)
Needles: Sz 1 Susan Bates Aluminum
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Java, superwash wool

I really liked this pattern. Some of it required 100% attention, and some of it required 10% attention. A good variety. I shorted the cuff to 7 inches since I don't like super long socks. I loved the yarn. I'll definitely be using it again. Yum.