Giving Thanks to the Yarn Gods

I'm giving thanks to the Yarn Gods today!  Remember I started these fingerless gloves the other day?

Fingerless Gloves

Well, I played a mean game of Chicken with the yarn.

The yarn's band said the skein weighed 50 grams.  I didn't weigh it before I began knitting, but when I'd finished the first glove, I had 26 grams of yarn left in the skein.  One gram more than exactly half.  Excellent.  Excellent as long as the skein had actually weighed 50 grams when I started.

And so, the game of Yarn Chicken began.  I got a little nervous doing the second glove's bind-off.

Completed Fingerless Glove

But in the end, the Yarn Gods blessed me with a spare 6.5 inches of yarn.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Yarn Gods!

Giving Thanks, Day 9

Today, I'm giving thanks to Twitter for providing me endless hours of procrastination.  Specially today.  Etsy's Forums are down so no procrastinating getting done there.

No knitting photos being shared today either.  I don't know what I did yesterday, but what ever it was, it wasn't knitting.

Giving Thanks, Day 8

So yesterday was a weird one.  This weekend is the first weekend I've had off since the beginning of March.  March people!  That's a long time to go without a Saturday and Sunday off.  All the cool, fun things happen on the weekends and I miss out on all of it.  That's one downfall to the job I love so much.  Another downfall is that working the long hours that I do and never having two days off in a row means that the one day off I do get is spent sleeping and doing laundry.   My entire summer is spent either at work, sleeping, or standing mostly naked in front of the washing machine.  When the season ends and I get to go back out into the real world, it's a bit disorienting.  Literally.  I have to re-learn how to grocery shop, how to cook dinner for the family, how to interact with cashiers and how to be social.  It sounds weird, but it's true.  And I'm not the only one who feels it.  Other co-workers have mentioned they feel the same weird disorientation when they finally get the opportunity to go out into the real world (as opposed to theme park world.)

Anyway.... Since I woke up sick the very first day after the season ended this year, yesterday was my first day out of the house. (I woke up feeling much, much better thank you very much.)  Of course, while I was waking up feeling oh, so much better, the rest of the family was waking up feeling ughy.  Ha!  That's what they get for 'allowing' me to wash dishes while I was sick!  Pay back's a b*tch.  (Picture the evil Mom grin.)

Anyway....  After enjoying a cup of coffee that I could actually taste (glory hallelujah!) I got dressed in real clothes (no uniform!) climbed into the car and hit the Real World.  The Real World being Target.  Now, keep in mind I'm suffering from Real World disorientation so every single thing seems slightly weird, exciting and surreal.  But several things happened while I was there that seemed noteworthy.  First, there was the Halloween 70 - 90% off sale and lucky for me, the only candy left was candy corn.  You know how I feel about candy corn.  I am now the proud owner of six bags.  Six!  Good Lord!  I was also interested to note that the only costumes left were banana costumes.  That may not seem strange to the majority of you, but my closest friends will understand why that would be "a thing," specially when I'm still feeling slightly Real World disoriented.  And then, as I was walking toward the cash registers, I passed the kids' toy aisle and I overheard the most precious thing.  One little twin boy drags the other twin boy over to some special display (looked like Lego's to me, but it was secured in a special glass case so who knows) and the first twin says to the second twin, "Let's talk about The present."  It was so cute!

Next up was a trip to Michael's craft store.  You know I spent hours and hours wandering up and down every single aisle, some of them more than once.  Okay, most of them more than once, some of them more than twice.  The weird thing there  - there was a customer with a bunch of children on the spray paint aisle.  They were down on the floor, spray painting a wreath bright blue.  Spray painting!  Spray painting a wreath on the store's bare floor, with a can of paint off the shelf.  What the Hell??  You don't even get to see that kind of behavior at Walmart!

Next on the docket was a trip to Barnes & Noble.  Where a little boy who looked to be about four was throwing one of those fits that only a four year old can throw.  But this kid's fit was extra special.  While he cried and flung snot every where, he was also kicking his mom and loudly screaming, "I'm gonna beat your a$$!"  Good Lord!

At that point, I decided that I'd had enough of the Real World for one weekend and went home.  Home where I'm grateful to be an American.

#GivingThanks

Okay, that's cheesy, I admit it.  But there's something I just love about the simplicity of this row boat and flag on the edge of the pond.  And I couldn't very well say I was dedicating an entire Giving Thanks post to 75% off candy corn.

Giving Thanks Day 7, or let's just knit instead

Today's post has been written, deleted and re-written about 40 times already and will most likely, be deleted and re-written at least once more.

I'm conflicted and at a total loss for words.  Imagine that - me not rambling on for page after page after page of a "short" post.

The problem is, today I feel guilty for being thankful.  My mind is numb and all I can do or think is how eternally grateful I am to have my kids and to be able to hug them.  To be able to send them crazy, "I know I'm being a helicopter parent, but I love you and please be safe and please come home" text messages and have them actually respond.

You see, a friend and co-worker doesn't have that option any more.  Her two teenaged sons lost their lives in a tragic car accident on Thursday.

And just typing that leaves me speechless and in tears.

And guilty.  Guilty for being thankful that I still have my kids.  Guilty for even sharing the information.  Blog wise, should I mention it or pretend it didn't happen and my thoughts are not consumed by what she and her family are going through?  While I consider us friends, we weren't super close.  We didn't have the opportunity.  Our jobs had us working in different areas most of the time so we didn't get the chance to interact much, but we did spend plenty of nights chatting while ironing wet money.  (Yes, that's a thing.  Part of the job is ironing wet money.  Crazy, right?)  While we weren't close enough to have shared phone numbers (and I'm speaking in past tense because the season is over and the job feels like it's in the past,) my heart breaks for you.  You and your family are in, and will remain in, my thoughts and prayers.  And as a fellow parent.... I'm once again speechless, in tears and numb.

Meanwhile, since this is supposed to be a blog about knitting,

OTN, fingerless gloves

And once again, I'm conflicted.  Should I delete all that?  Again?  Should I just make up some dumb, meaningless thing to be thankful for today and simply show the OTN photo?  Probably.  But I won't because I want to give thanks for the things I'm truly thankful for.  Even if they make me feel a little bit guilty.

Giving Thanks, Day 6

I'll be honest.  I'm not feeling particularly thankful today.  I have a cold.  A horrible, horrible, cold.  My nose is stopped up and raw from being blown so often, my lips are chapped from doing that awful 'I have a cold' mouth-breathing thing, my ears hurt and my sinuses....  My sinuses feel like....well, I don't even know what they feel like.  They hurt.  They throb with each beat of my pulse.  I swear my cheeks are so swollen they're blocking my vision.  Just glancing down at the keyboard makes me feel like I've been hit in the face with a brick.  I've coughed so much even my arm pit muscles are getting sore.  Generally, I feel really, really ughy.

Have I mentioned that I don't do well with little illnesses?  Child birth, ectopic pregnancies, broken bones, gall bladders..... no problem.  Give me a Tylenol and I'll laugh at how bad it hurts and then get on with my day.  But little illnesses like a cold, a hang nail or a paper cut.... and I become a huge puddle of pathetic.

And that's where I am today.  A huge, gigantic puddle of pathetic.

And since I'm a huge, giant puddle of pathetic, I don't have much mental capacity for knitting anything the least bit difficult.  "Difficult" being anything more than knitting one stitch every few minutes.

OTN 11/6/15

Luckily, I still have an "at work" project on the needles even though work is done for the season.  It's a simple, all stockinette, knit in the round cowl.  Pretty mindless and perfect for 'I feel ughy' knitting.  And please, pardon the blurry photo.  Coughing fits and photography don't go together too well.  But I am thankful to have this very simple project already on the needles.

Giving Thanks, Day 5

Today I am giving thanks for my wonderful, loving husband.

TBT Mike & Zack, 1995

He's put up with me through the good times as well as the bad and he turned out to be a great dad to our kids.  Even when he drives me so insane I want to bash his head in with a cast iron frying pan, I still love him to death & can't imagine life without him.  So I guess what I'm really thankful for is an old boss who forced me to go to a hockey game where I met Mike.  Thanks Nancy!  I owe you one.

Giving Thanks, Day 4

Today's Giving Thanks post will be short.  I've managed to catch a horrible cold & feel all ughy, so besides being thankful for Advil Congestion Relief,

Fall foliage

I'm thankful for fall foliage against a bright blue sky.

Fall on the lake

And the simplicity of walking the dog in the fall.

Sunset on Lake Caroline

And watching the sun begin to set over the lake.

Giving Thanks, Day 3

Today I'm giving thanks to cheaper gas prices.

Gas Prices, 11/2/15

$1.79! Wow! The last time I put gas in the car, it was $2.24.  Admittedly, I've been lucky & the car has needed gas on the days my daughter is driving (we share a car) and she's been the one to go to the gas station for the past month or two.  But still.... $1.79.  I'm pretty excited.  And thankful.

I'm also pretty excited about this hat.

Watch Cap Style Hat

It's a fake fair isle knit from Yarn Bee's Fair Isle yarn.  The yarn is an acrylic/alpaca blend and was a joy to knit with, even though it was mostly acrylic.  (That's the yarn snob in me is coming out.)  The yarn was nice and squishy and knit up super fast.  It has that alpaca hairiness, but it didn't have the alpaca scratchiness.  I'll definitely buy more of this yarn.

Slouchy Style Hat

I knit it so that the brim could be folded up watch cap style or worn unfolded and slouchy.  If you're interested, that hat will most likely show up in my Etsy shop within the next few days.

Giving Thanks, Day 2

Frequently, it's the small things I'm thankful for the most.

Today I'm thankful for my Employee Appreciation Day travel mug.  This thing is fantastic!  I always have a drink in the car so over the years, I've owned a lot of travel mugs/cups.  And most of them have been horrible.  The lids don't screw on tight so they leak, the spout is too large & you choke to death on the huge mouthful of hot coffee, or the spout is too small & it takes you 30 minutes to get one little sip out.  And I've had cups that didn't keep hot things warm so that by the time I got out of the driveway, my coffee was already cold.  Or my favorite - when the cup sweats profusely from a cold drink and it drips on you so badly, you might as well have dumped the contents of the cup down your shirt front.

But this cup, my Employee Appreciation Day cup, is fantastic!  Hot coffee stays hot for hours and cold drinks stay cold for hours and best of all, the cup doesn't sweat.  I LOVE my new travel mug!    Now, if I can just keep it out of my husbands hands....

Giving Thanks, Day 1

Happy November, the month of giving thanks.  Along with everyone else in the free world, or at least the majority of American bloggers, I'll be posting something I'm thankful for each day during November.

Since today is the last day of my working season, I'll start the project off by being thankful for my wonderful supervisors and co-workers.  While I do love 'playing with the money' at work, the people are what make the job so much fun.  Without the fun people, the job would be a massive Hell hole.

Each year I've knit something small for our main supervisor & this year was no exception.

Amber's Fingerless Gloves

Sorry, Amber.  I didn't crochet shark slippers.  Instead, you're getting fingerless gloves to keep your hands warm while you read & cuddle with your cat.  And, if you hate them, you can use them as rat sleeping bags.  I'm pretty sure I remember you saying you have pet rats as well as a cat.  That must be an interesting combination.  Anyway....  I hope you enjoy the gloves.  I've certainly enjoyed having you as a supervisor.  You've not only been a great boss, but you handled all those 4:00 a.m. crisises like a pro.  Congrats on a successful first season wearing the Supervisor shirt.

And then there's Jarrett.  Jarrett is one of those crazy co-workers who has, on more than one occasion, almost made me pee in my pants from laughing so hard.  I don't normally make anything for the co-workers, but I saw this hippo dish cloth and well....

Hippo Dish Cloth

It's a silly gift and my version doesn't even look much like a hippo but when I saw the pattern, I couldn't resist.  There's a funny story behind the hippo thing, but I'm not going into details here.  For one thing, just thinking about it makes me laugh too hard to type plus, it's a little rude.  But, for the rest of my life, when ever I see a hippo, I will think of Jarrett.

So, thank you Amber & Jarrett and everyone else who has made this season such a fun success.  I will miss you all and hope to see each of you again in the spring.

On the needles

Another quick OTN post....

OTN 10/30/15

The start of a deer cable hat.  No pattern, just making it up as I go.  Well, I have a pattern for the cable (it's out of The Knitter's Handbook) but the hat itself is a totally spur of the moment, cast on a bunch of stitches and make it up as I go hat.  The jury is still out on whether it's a yay or nay project.  The cast on edge is curling just a tiny bit and part of me likes it and part of me thinks it looks like a horrible rookie mistake.  I'll keep knitting until I decide.

Well, I'm off to work.  It's the last weekend of the season.  Part of me is jumping for joy to reclaim some semblance of a normal life and part of me is sad to see it end.  I'll miss the people, not to mention the paycheck.

Meanwhile, I hope you all have a safe but fantastically fun & spooky Halloween.

TBT - Halloween Dress Up

It's TBT/Throwback Thursday, Halloween is only a few days away, and I'm reminded of my grandparents.  My hippie for a day grandparents.

Hippies

Okay, so my grandmother's choice of hats isn't what I'd call "hippie" but my grandfather's hair sure is!  They'd dressed as hippies for a costume party and if I remember correctly, they got stopped by the police on the way.  I was pretty young & don't know the details, but just seeing my grandfather with that hair makes me laugh.  He was a judge and didn't have a "hippie" bone in his body.  Neither of my grandparents did.  My grandfather sat around the house in his coat & tie while my grandmother was the type to wear white gloves when she went out to lunch.  They may have dressed immaculately, but they enjoyed life and were great fun.  When they let their hair down, that is.

On the needles

Today's OTN project...

OTN 10/28/15

A fake Fair Isle hat.  A fake Fair Isle hat that I'm trying to ignore.  It's supposed to be my At Work project but I'm loving the yarn and the striping so much, it's hard not to knit on it at home.

I'm not sure what I'm loving about it the most.  Self striping is always a good thing and the fake Fair Isle affect is even more appreciated.  I don't have my gauge exactly right so I'm not getting a perfect Fair Isle look, but that's okay.  Although the yarn is a sport weight, it knits up quickly, more like worsted weight.  That may have something to do with it's hairy alpaca content.  And, it's "cheap craft store yarn."  It's Yarn Bee's Fair Isle from Hobby Lobby.  And did I mention it contains alpaca?  Anyway, I'm loving the simplicity of this project and am having a really hard time saving it for an At Work project.

On the needles

I'm excited about today's OTN project but I can't tell you much about it yet because it's a gift.  But  

soon....

OTN 10/23/15

The other thing I'm excited about is that yarn.  Oh my gosh!  I don't think I've ever loved a colorway as much.  The yarn is Falling For You from Knit Knot Studios.  The moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it.   And now that I have it, it is absolutely killing me not to be knitting a pair of socks with it.  I'm not allowing myself to ball the yarn though because I know that as soon as I do, I'll start knitting with it.  And before I knit a pair of socks for myself, I have a bit of Etsy and Christmas gift knitting to do.  Damn Christmas knitting!

On the plus side, I have scratched a few things off my Etsy shop knitting to-do list this week.

Red Slouchy Hat

I photographed & listed this red slouchy hat.  You can tell I love knitting this design since I have several different color variations of it in my shop.

Watch Cap

I've also finished several different sizes of this watch cap plus a matching cowl.  I love the yarn's colorway & I liked the yarn itself, but it's a super bulky yarn and super bulky yarns don't get along with my carpal tunnel issues.  It's a shame because I can knit for 14 hours straight to finish a hat in fingering weight yarn and my hands/wrists are fine, but I spend an hour or so knitting with bulky yarn and I have to wear the carpal tunnel wrist brace for the rest of the day and night.  It's the main reason you won't find very many bulky knits in my shop.

Okay, well, I'm off to go buy dog food.  I'd rather be home knitting, but the dogs are pretty excited about my plans.  They do like to eat.

TBT - The Rescue Rider

It's Throwback Thursday, otherwise known as TBT....

The Rescue Rider

For Zack's first Christmas, Santa brought him the Rescue Rider.  And, boy! Did Zack love that thing!  He pretty much learned to walk by pulling up on the back end of it and pushing it all over the house.  Later, he learned to sit on it and propel himself forward with his feet.  I never understood why it was called a "rescue" rider because it was really a dump truck.  What ever.  Zack carried all his favorite toys, loads of sand and more frogs & turtles than I could count around in the back of it.

Later in life, by the grand old age of 2, Zack had perfected steering his Rescue Rider.  Zack would start at the back of our house & race straight towards our front door.  A glass front door, I might add.  He'd get within inches of slamming into the door, turn the steering wheel, do a half a donut spin, and end up with the back of the Rescue Rider literally only an inch or two away from the door.  He did this over and over and over again and never hit the door!  Not once!

Later still, when his little sister was grown up enough to be chasing him around, calling "Hack, Hack" (because she couldn't pronounce the "z" in Zack,) he'd give her rides on the back and he even carried her dolls around for her occasionally.

Zack drove that Rescue Rider until its wheels fell off.  Literally.  Well, that's not true.  They didn't fall off.  They were hard plastic and he wore huge giant holes in them (from sliding towards the front door, I'm sure) and eventually, the holes got so big the Rescue Rider would no longer role.

It was a Very sad day the day the Rescue Rider went to live with the garbage men.