One Thousand Words

Wii would like to play

Some Things are just TOO funny to pass up!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Grace Lady Sorcha the Indefatigable of Peevish St Victor Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

How do you know when to (or when not to) blog?

Ever feel like it's not as bad, or as real or as scary or whatever if you don't write it down?
We are wanting to move from Texas. Kathy has been applying for jobs within her profession since the end of May. The very first one she applied for sort of/almost/kinda hired her, but just hours before their HR dept could call her, the funding for hiring was pulled. The next one wanted to hire her but offered entry level wages at best. Another wanted to hire her, but warned that the job was really just temporary, and once she had completed the task they would either move her to a totally different career or part time her out the door. Another one looked VERY promising, but in the final match-up of her and one other applicant, they chose the other person.

The funny thing is, just last week, Kathy received another email from the first job, saying that they are still working on getting the funding back, and that she is next to be hired when they do. She keeps looking and applying, but since this is such a specialized field, there are only so many jobs out there. To give you some idea of how small a field we are talking about... this morning there are only 41 job listings in the USA for her exact job.

It's tough trying to decide how much of the house to pack up since we have no idea how long it will be sitting here. If the move is not going to happen for another 6 months, I would really like to have an awful lot of that stuff back out of the boxes. But if they call tomorrow, she could be expected to be there in 2 weeks. I would like to have as much as possible already packed and out of the way if that should happen. How do you chose what to pack up and how much of it?

At least I know not to pack my needles LOL

Prayer Shawl Completed and on it's Way

For some reason the colours of this yarn simply REFUSE to be photographed. I swear... next time I am buying the "Lindsay Lohan, Please Take My Picture" yarn.

Anyway, Kathy's aunt is home from the Hospital and on the mend.... shawl is winging it's way to her as we speak/type/read, and coffee was had by all.

That old Ravelry Magic has you under it's spell...

Ravelry. The best idea to ever ruin a knitter. Take several thousand needle clicking, yarn stashing, pattern collecting enablers, and put them on a website together. Give them forums to write in, and databases to organize their stash and projects in. Let them make their own clubs, each with their own forums. Give them a way to look at everyone else's stash and patterns and WIPs and FOs. Yes, I said look. They have linked up Flickr so you can take pictures of every lovely ball of yarn you own. Using LibraryThing you can set up bookcases with all your favorite Designers, and Pattern Houses represented.
Did I mention pictures... that you can browse thru.... search thru patterns, yarns, friends, FOs, you can even do a browse of items people have deemed FOuglys.
Did I mention forums.... LOTS of forums..... forums based on things you're actually interested in?
Did I mention not a lot of knitting getting done here?
Look for post later today on non-knitting stuff... like the endless job search and bare naked puppies.

States Meme

Ok, the goal here is to BOLD the states you have been to, underline the states you have lived in, and italicize the state you are in now....
But... I seem to really suck at this so I am going to try colors instead
Red where I have visited
Blue where I have lived
Green where I live now

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /


A little more colorful than I expected :)

Not every day is golden

The last few days have been less than pleasant as life has been handing out the anti-candy lately.

Kathy's aunt was taken to the hospital monday in grave condition. We learned of it mon night and Kathy was on a plane to KC tues morning. With her parents still driving across country from Las Vegas, Kathy was the first family member to arrive, and so had her hands full finding out what had happened and what would happen next. Because we had just had little Zeke neutered, I couldn't board the dogs and go to KC as well.
Yesterday they took her aunt to surgery, and a little while later Rochester called.
Seems they needed someone with a little more international and corporate exp than Kathy has. This still leaves both Denver and Erlanger to hear from.

Aunt came thru surgery ok... not great but ok.... I gave up trying to find the right yarn here at the house and ran out last evening to get yarn for a prayer shawl for her.
I only have about 7 inches, relaxed, knit on it so far, but am making it a bit wider than pattern calls for with 75 stitches instead of the called for 57. It will slow down the finishing a little, but I should have it done in a few days.

Will post pics in a few minutes.

Only Lily Tomlin has more Phone

Yes folks, you know this tune. We've been humming it for weeks now. It's the we'll call you by the end of next week song. Star of stage and cinema! But what's this? An email from Denver? Kathy is next on their list of people to call to hire? Can't help but wonder how Denver will react should they learn Kathy's is a lot more expensive now than she was when they first started stringing her along.

It's Done!

No longer merely Pi in the sky... my Pi Shawl now reaches the sky!
We had to finally take it outside to finish the blocking process as there was nowhere inside to keep this petite little key fob-like bit O' Frippery

Waiting for the Phone to Ring ..... Again

Kathy got back from her interview in Rochester last night. They seemed to like how she could fit into the team and the new extra skills she would be bringing to the job. They told her she is on the short list for the job, although if you take everything they told it sounds like a short list of one.

Oh, and they gave her nice parting gifts. Nice ones.. a ceramic coffee mug with the company logo on it, A really nice laser etched acrylic slab-like desk award thingees .... you know what I mean, they take a slab of pure clear acrylic and laser etch an achievement of some sort into the back of it show it shows thru the front. It's about 3 inches high and 4 inches wide and celebrates one of the company's big mile-stones. Oh and an item from the company's product line. To me this says they ARE going to hire her. Why would a company give you a permanent item with their name on it for her to look at every morning if they were NOT going to hire her. To rub it in each morning with her coffee that they didn't want her? I don't think so.

Anyway, she is supposed to hear by the middle of next week, but Kathy thinks she will hear sooner. Oh and because she didn't get to meet with HR while she was there due to scheduling conflicts and her flight home being so early in the day, they will be calling her probably today or tomorrow.

Please feel free to comment.... have any of you ever heard of parting gifts at a job interview?

In other news.... The Pi Shawl is off the needles! Will be working on getting it onto the stretcher frame today and will get pics then

Lookit What The House Elves Found....

Must finish book then start socks.... must finish book......

Word from Denver

Well, Kathy was finally able to get the ppl in Denver to give her a fairly straight answer... not a good answer, but at least now we know. Bleh!
However, it looks like instead of Denver, we will be moving to Rochester NY.
Neither one of us know a thing about Rochester, so I guess I get to do serious research every time I sit down for a minute between mad packing of boxes.
Of course, Rochester means cold... which means more knitting!
thicker socks, and actual sweaters to wear woohoo!

More later
:)

Sock Swap Questionnaire

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Hufflepuff

2. Shoe size?
9.5 or 10 depending on shoe style
40 or 41 european

3. Foot Length?
10 inches


4. Foot Circumference?
10" at ball and at arch
12.5 " ankle to instep with toes pointed

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
a. Knit Picks 6" size US 0
b. Crystal Palace 6" US 0 or US 1
c. Tried Bryson's... didn't like them at all
6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
Would love to try Brittany's some day any size from 0 to 3

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

8. Allergies? Do you have any? Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals?
no allergies, learned to knit to stop smoking 5 months ago, so no smoke worries... we DO have small poodles... while most ppl consider them to be hypo-allergenic, it is still worth mentioning.

9. Are you an international participant (outside US)? Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
I am in US, and am willing to have an international swap pal.

Hogwarts Sock Swap!

I get to knit socks and make stitch markers, and buy pressies.....
No idea who my swap pal will be yet, but there seem to be lots of First Years, so lots of sneak peeking ahead I'm sure.

GRRRrrrrr Still No Word

How can this be the 16th of July with still no firm answer as to whether or not they are going to hire Kathy or when they plan on doing it. Her first phone interview was 2 months ago today.

Pi Shawl's Progress

Here we sit finally beginning to dry out a bit, no rain the past 2 days. The puppies splash thru the backyard still, but it's getting better.



My Pi shawl is coming along nicely. I got so wrapped up in worrying would I be able to do a lace project in 1 month, and then with all the cast-on problems, I have done little this past week other than work on my shawl.


So now I have gotten far enough along to be able to think about getting other things finished. Like finishing the pics of my stash for my Ravelry account... and I am dieing to do some socks or mittens. Not to mention all the shawls, scarves, and socks I have queued LOL.

More later today about the Denver situation.

Rain, rain, rain

I think I saw fish leaping in the front yard today....

Big fish... the kind with teeth...

Just another rainy day here in the pond that was Hurst

Well, another week has gone by without a call from Denver. Last we heard they absolutely wanted to hire Kathy, they just needed to get all their ducks in a row.

From the Look of things here, we could get all kinds of waterfowl in a row.... or teach them to row.... little duck boats.

And still waiting...

Well, it's been a week now since the mad dash to make sure Denver had all the papers they needed. No word yet....

A Year with Elizabeth Zimmerman

I joined a Yahoo Group last week called Elizabeths_Year. Starting July 1st (or as close as possible), we will all be knitting a project each month from the book Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac.

Because we are starting into this in the middle of the year, our first project will be the Pi Shawl. I am hoping I will be able to start on time as my yarn for this project is on a truck somewhere between Ohio and Texas. There is also a concern that I may not have ordered enough yarn. I ordered 4 skeins but it seems an awful lot of the women are ordering 5 or even 6 skeins.

Now anyone who knows me will understand that I cannot simply go back and order 1 or 2 skeins of yarn to make sure I have enough. If I am going to take the time and effort to go to Knit-Picks' website and place an order, I will get more stuff to make it worth while. Yes, there are a few more needles I need from them to complete my collection... and they DO have some of the nicest sock yarn I have handled.... BUT I am supposed to be consolidating the stuff in the house not adding to it.....

For that matter, I am supposed to be packing up the house for the move, not knitting. Of course if the yarn is already knit up it's easier to pack....
Needless to say we never heard anything from Denver yesterday. I am half expecting it to be tomorrow when they contact Kathy again. Thursdays seem to be their day to talk to her.

Proof that plain white paper can wow you

This is one of those sites that leave you wondering what you were doing during Arts and Crafts...
http://www.petercallesen.com/index/A4PAPERCUT_000.htm

And we wait.........

Well, no calls yesterday, nor did any packages arrive. It's beginning to look like today will be the same. I am treating it all as an extra packing day. Except packing isn't as easy as it ought to be... ( OK... when as the last time YOU used the words easy and packing in the same thought?) If we were going from our house here to a new house there, I could have already finished most of the packing by now. But we are going to an apt, or townhouse and I have no idea how much room we will have or how long we'll be there.
How do you pack your home to go to multiple places?

What I am doing now is simply packing up anything we are not using and marking it for the storage unit.
And for every box I pack, I allow myself to knit one row on Kathy's shawl. Or maybe two....
Still Waiting........

Coming soon (maybe) to a sky near you

There has been talk in the last year or so in the aviation world that Jeppesen (subsidiary of Boeing) was trying to get a waiver from the FAA to dispatch commercial flights. What would they need to do this? Well really they already have everything they need except enough well-trained dispatchers.

I bet you are asking what this has to do with socks. Well, in early May (2nd or 3rd), Kathy came across an ad for dispatchers... seems Jeppesen is in the market for well-trained dispatchers. After a lot of discussion (mostly via txt msgs since I was in Indiana visiting my family) over several days, it was agreed that Kathy should apply for said job.

She applied on May 7th and then we realized that maybe I should at least visit Denver to see if I even liked it there, or could breathe in the higher altitudes. So, off we go to Denver on the 10th. On the 11th, Jeppesen called Kathy. Unfortunately, her phone was in the back seat of the rental car and she couldn't get to it before it had rolled to voice mail. She called them back, but her call rolled to voicemail almost on the first ring. Thus ensued the High Stakes Phone Tag tournament.

We flew back home on the 12th, and I start thinking about the idea of living in a place that actually USES hand-knit items. Imagine actually needing a sweater or hat.... my gosh I bet they even use mittens and scarves there! I can knit heavy socks!

Jeppesen called back on the 14th to set up a phone interview on the 16th. That went very well, and they called again on the 23rd to set up Kathy's itinerary to fly up to Denver for face-to-face interview on June 7th.

Then we start the waiting game. Now that we both are on board with the whole idea of moving, they seem to have changed their minds... or are dragging their feet... or lost the phone number....
Something must have happened right? It cant be that they dont want to hire her and are simply going to act like nothing ever happened.
Finally on June 21st, Kathy gets a phone call. It turns out that things would have moved much quicker had they gotten her to fill out the papers they were supposed to when she was in Denver for interview. Phone call goes something like this. "Hi, it's me, ******, from Jeppesen. Things are looking good here, we are indeed wanting to put together a package to offer you, but it turns out I forgot to get you to fill out these papers. So, if I email you a link to them, can you print and fill them out and fax them back to me ASAP?

So now it's mad dash to fill out 19 pages and get them faxed back to ****** as quickly as possible. Which Kathy does. Except that later that same day, early evening in fact, she gets another call. This time from the person she had interviewed with. Only she was already on phone at the time and let it roll to voicemail. Turns out this person wants same papers... faxed to someone different. So, June 22nd, again the mad dash to Fax place and 19 pages off across the ozone to Denver.

Now we get to wait some more.

Welcome to Socks Appeal

This is my first attempt at blogging so please be patient.
3 months ago I quit smokng. In an effort to find something to do with my hands, I started crocheting again, something I have done since I was a small child. After about a month of crocheting, I decided to try my hand at knitting. About 31 years ago, someone had once shown me how to cast on, knit, and purl. You would think I would be about set to go with this new adventure. However, 31 years is a long time, oh and did I mention that the person showing me was left handed?

So right around valentine's day or just before, I broke down and got a couple books. Oh look! directions in plain english for right handed people! (Have I mentioned I am something of a smart ass?) I am determined now... there WILL be knitting accomplished!

To make a long story skinny, lets jump ahead a couple days. Skinny like a scarf. It took me 2 days to knit, but by golly I have a scarf I would be proud to wear out in public. If it wasn't for the fact I live in Texas where they don't need scarves. Hmmm, they don't need sweaters here either. Why am I teaching myself to knit things I will never be able to use?

Then I discovered socks. You can knit socks! Everyone needs socks. They come in all sizes, shapes (well, aside from all being foot shaped), thicknesseseses...esss..es.....how many eseses do you need in that word?

So now I knit socks. I have been knitting for about 5 or 6 weeks now..... I have made teeeeny tiny socks, one for a swap, and a mate to it for myself. I have made nice thick ankle socks which I am going to figure out how to apply a non-skid bottom to... and today on my 45th birthday I will be finishing my first pair of socks for me. I will wear them to Indiana this weekend when we fly home to visit family. And measure everyone's feet.... so I can knit them socks.....
Socks are kewl M'kay?