Good day/bad day

I had today off from the store and the plan was to get up fairly early and head to the school and start painting the show. That didn't quite happen. I had changed the time on my alarm so I didn't have to be up quite so early but then forgot to turn it on. What actually woke me up was the smoke detector plummeting to a not so graceful landing on the tile floor below. No clue why...maybe all the times it has randomly gone off late were cries for help and just couldn't take it any more.

I had a pretty good day paint wise. I over came the the drawing obstacles that were thwarting me on Christmas day (yes I went and worked Christmas day)
This is what I started with. My love and I had snapped a 1' grid over the flats on Christmas. I cover the renderings with plastic wrap and draw the same grid in scale on the plastic. From this I draw on the flats with charcoal. Usually the drawing is done on kraft paper (especially if one is painting on fabric) which is then transfered to the scenery. The paper is more forgiving and even comes with a grid printed on it. For the sake of time and money, I was doing this directly on the flats



I started on the sky and finished the drawing while that dried. Once the charcoal was what it should be I go over it with Sharpie. and then flog away the charcoal. That is the fun part. This is my flogger...I inherited the leopard print flogger but it has become one of my trademarks now. Basically it works like it sounds...you hold the stick and flog away the charcoal.


Once that was done I laid in the base colors on the wall. Then a little more work on the sky. It is nice when you can rotate on a project. Really half the job is waiting for paint to dry.



Then some detail and shading on the wall.






Last I threw some green down to base in the bushes.






The play list for todays painting was as follows:
First a little NPR then CD's
Enigma-MCMXC A.D.
Medieval Babes- The Rose
GreenDay - American Idiot
Evanescence- The Open Door
Rob Zombie- Hellbilly Deluxe
System of a Down- Toxicity

So the bad part of the day. Other than the late rude awakening. I got a stupid traffic ticket. I turned left out of the school like I always do...except you're not suppose to between 3:30 and 6:30 weekday. Now this normally isn't an issue for me because I'm never leaving at that time. Rehearsal is typically 3 to 6. So I'm either already gone or just showing up at those hours. Well school is out right now, so there I was, not even thinking about it and now I have a ticket worth $103. I feel like such an idiot and irritated as hell. With so much going on in my life right now, and so much stress, I know I am on the verge of my breaking point. I'm trying to keep this ticket from being what cuts the thread on my sword of Damocles. *breathe*

Waiting is the hardest part...

I'm down in the studio waiting for a bag to felt. So I thought I would write a few words.

First I want to amend the gift list from my secret pally. She also gave me domiKNITrix. I forgot it because it rocks so much that I hid it away until I was done knitting holiday gifts. I was too tempted to knit a boatload of stuff for me. I actually squealed with delight when I realized that the cover is black vinyl. Mmmmmmmm.....black vinyl.

Christmas was lovely. Getting up to be at work at 6:30 this morning wasn't.

Its cold and I hate winter.

And in two weeks I'll be 30.

Need I say more?

Tis the season for...

(to quote my Dad) PRESENTS!!!!!

And I have made out like a bandit lately.

First was the lovely box from my PRGE (not so) secret pally Obsidian Kitten.
The spray of real lavender sits on my night stand. A bag of homemade kitty treat mix for when my girls decide to be good. Lavender and oatmeal soap with two candles graced by a spunky Catwoman action figure. Chocolate...oh the chocolate...one bar is Belgian and the second is Swiss. The Swiss one is called Art Bar and a portion of the sale goes to Art Education programs. How could you make chocolate more perfect. And then there is the Homespun handknit hat made of "llama/corridale & mixed wool" And it fits perfect. (maybe I'll get a pic when love and I are home the same time.) Thank you thank you thank you. You were the perfect secret pally even though you weren't quite so secret. It was fun to pretend though.

Then came Yankee swap night at our stitch n bitch. There is a play by play posted here by Karen. I ended up swiping my final gift which was brought by Amy. It is a Knit Picks pattern for a cup cozy and coasters in a beautiful snowflake pattern. I admired this when she was knitting some of her own a few weeks before...little did I know. She also included the needles needed and enough yarn (Knit Picks Telemark ) to make a set in green, red and blue. I can't wait to knit these.

And then to top it off, my love won 5 free yoga classes at his company holiday party. (I couldn't go, I had to work) He gave them to me since yoga really isn't his thing. I guess that Lorna's Laces from O'Kitten is going to be made into yoga socks sooner than I thought!

First lines

I got this meme from my kick-ass Secret Pally.

What is the first sentence you posted at the beginning of each month in 2006?

January:
(Didn't have blog then)

February:

And so it begins...

I have been meaning to start this thing for a while.

March:

The Gnomes are back

You know...gnomes...those pesky little critters that move stuff around your house.

April:

Paint & Yarn

That's what it has mostly been about lately.

May:

I know I haven't blogged in a while...i'm a bad little blogger.

June:

The Lusty Month of May

Tra La!
(bonus points to you who know what that is from)

July:

ever onward

6 is done despite having to rip back to the life line 3 rows in.

August:

I'm ok

Thank you everyone for your encouragement.

September:

Punk Rock Gift Exchange Questionaire

Here it is ...in all its freakish glory.

October:

Busy Season

Did I mention this is my BusySeason?

November:

yep

a lot has happened. Halloween has come and gone.

December:

Calendar days

I just bought our 2007 calendar.

There it is. It is amazing to see that there was knitting content once upon a time. I'll have to get back to that...someday.

What I really want for Christmas...

is a homing device for my mug of tea. Damn thing keeps hiding on me!


I know I've been quiet lately. I've been a bit of a wreck and not in the right mind to post. I found out last week that my Dad (who is the coolest Dad in the world, btw) needs open heart surgery for multiple bypasses. So I've been crying on and off consistently since then. His family doesn't have the best track record for heart stuff. His parents both died young. My aunt died at 49. My uncle had a bypass last year. And everyone is on meds for heart disease. Plus the timing has my morbid sense of doom activated since everyone in my life tends to die this time of year.

So what I really REALLY want is my Daddy to be ok. I'd even give up my stash for that.

(have to go...crying again)

Deck the Halls

Last week was spent moving furniture and this week is decorating. Christmas is both a good and bad holiday for me. It is second to Halloween in my favorite. The good parts of Christmas are romantic and fun. Being a divorced kid, it had its really bad parts...fighting over who got me when. That and lots of people in my life die at Christmas.


Here's our tree. Yes its a fake one. I do fake for several reasons. One, I don't like killing trees for my own entertainment. There are enough stupid people in the world who deserve that honor. Two, they are messy and Isis won't stop drinking the water. Three , we have an active fireplace and its not worth the fire hazard. (can you tell i'm a firefighter's daughter)



One of my favorite parts of our tree is the topper. It is pure retro. That is the tree topper my Mom had as a kid. Inside the globe is a cylinder of lighting gel that is blacked out with a pattern of different colored translucent stars. That sits over a light bulb and the heat of the bulb makes it spin. All those lights that you see on the wall shift in and out of colors. It drives the cats nuts but its absolutely beautiful when the room is all dark. Mom and I use to just curl up on the couch together and watch the tree.


This is my new addition this year. I have a bunch of the vases left over from various centerpieces. I bought all the glass ornaments with my work discount, filled them and lined them up on the mantle. See the knitted Santa face stocking. One of my cousins (2nd cousin I think....who really cares...a cousin is a cousin) knit all the kids in the family a variation on that. His beard and the fur on his hat are angora. Wow...that stocking is almost 30 yrs old!

That's all for now...I have to go get ready for work. I hate being an adult sometimes.

Calendar days

I just bought our 2007 calendar. We alternate who buys it every year to avoid any disputes. I always agonize over the buying of the calendar. It's going to be a fixture in our house for the whole year; I don't want something that sucks. The top runners this year were the Magnetic Poetry Calendar,Pin Up , Boris Vallejo, Klimt.
Instead I settled on this one. Its pretty, informative and has the moon phases on it. I hate it when I get one with out the moon phases on it. Especially when my cycle is in sync with the moon. Like it is now...It was a full moon last night and I'm fertile. That's pretty close to lock-her-up crazy. All I need is a cupcake, a fit of giggles and a slurpee and/or a margarita to push me over the edge. Watch out!

Kittens for Christmas

Damn, damn, damn! Another person backed out of taking some of these kittens off our hands. I really don't want six cats right now. This is what I get for being nice and saving them from the coyote. I may just wrap them up and start sending them to family and friends.

Here's some pics of them. They are warming up to us. I think after some time they will be fine as house cats. I don't recommend them for people with children, or people who insist on picking up and cuddling their cats. These are the kind of cats who must come to you. We are also insisting that they are adopted in pairs...you take 2 or 4. I don't want to split them into singles.

This is Juno (or Junior since she looks just like Momma). She's the first one who would eat out of our hand. Unfortunately for our hands she would try to drag it off when she was done eating.



This darling is Phaedra. She's by far the bravest and the most comfortable with us. She's also the only long hair in the bunch. She's the first out to eat and the last to run away.








This is Sam. He's the lone boy and rather shy. He watches you constantly though. He likes to sit up high. Out in the garage he was the one who would climb the ladder or jump on the higher cabinets. He's also the only one to attempt to leave the studio...I do believe he's seen the rest of the basement a few times.



This is Spec. She's the 'fraidy cat and the hissy one. She's also the one famous for the paw in the face while they are eating. She's usually the first to run and cram herself back into a corner.

Adventures in moving furniture

Suddenly the bookcase was harder to move...

Black Friday and beyond

Ugh! Well its over but really it is just the end of the beginning. I survived Black Friday. I had to close on Wednesday night...we were there until about 11pm setting the two day ad. Then I was at work 5~friggin~30 in the morning on Friday. I should not be seeing stars in the sky when I go into work. The next day was a 7:30 and the last two were 8:30...but I pulled an open to close last night because my closer called out. I feel like I fought off a band of drunken bloodthirsty vikings. I didn't kill anyone for those of you who have wondered. I came very close with the jackass who was both lying to me and haggling for a better price. First rule, if you want me to cut you a deal...don't lie to me. Especially about my employees. Asshole!

But now I have two days off in a row. woo hoo! and I'm missing a big corporate visit in all of this. I'm planning on some shopping, some knitting, some painting and a bunch of furniture re-arranging and maybe a touch of Holiday Decorating.

I have a feeling we will be staying here for Christmas. That is both good (not having to drive 5 hours either direction) and bad (depressing with out all the family on a holiday). I've not had a Thanksgiving with my family since I moved out here in 1999. I've either been stuck with a retail schedule or in the middle of loading in a Christmas show.

But here's something that I knit in the last week. Its a scarf for a gift so I can't say too much. Its done out of the Patons SWS which is soy and wool. It is a single ply. I really like the feel and the sheen. Being a single ply it is a little splitty, but I would knit with it again. The stitch is just a double moss stitch, but it is one of my favorites. It's easy but it has a lovely texture.

Well I'm off to get things going...its a gloomy day and hard to get motivated.

Happy Turkey Day!!

I hope you all have a lovely day and if you need me to bail you out of jail for killing any relatives, I'm here for you. It's like I've said before....I don't care who I look like. I'm adopted.

Cheers!

Pies!

I had every intention of blogging yesterday but I was in pie making mode. All of that also included a huge trip to the grocery store. Unfortunately the guy bagging my groceries cracked the bottle of sour mix. I poured it off into another bottle but it wasn't big enough for all of it so I was forced to have a few whiskey sours while baking. Ah, the sacrifices I make.
The pies are a big deal this year because last year there were none. The oven decided to die 2 days before Thanksgiving. It would do that every now and then but this time it was forever. Luckily the stove top still worked, and even better we weren't expecting guests. We survived however...I got a small turkey breast and cooked it in the crock-pot. Everything else was done on the stove or in the toaster oven.

But not this year...this year we have a HUGE turkey and a shiny new oven. So we have pies.

I also have pics of the kittens to post, but unfortunately I have to work tonight...

Tarot card quiz

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Thwarted yet again

So I'm downstairs felting some gifts and I thought that this would be the perfect time to get my new to me computer set with my stuff. Love got me my own jump drive and I'm all set to transfer all my bookmarks and documents and such...except for one hitch. I don't see the usb port. I'm use to those being in the front and there isn't one there. Now I may be completely dense on this, but i'm not about to start shoving my jump drive into anything that looks like it may fit.. Good for me that I married a computer genius. Too bad he's working like a bazillion hours the next few weeks.

Inspired by Lani, here's a my knitting wish list of future projects:

Gatsby Girl Pullover
Liv
Ljod
Belle Epoque
Gyrid
Ballet Wrap Cardigan
Fur Trimmed Wrap
Union Square Market Sweater
Veste Everest
Ballet Wrap
Tubey
Corset Tank Top
Icarus Shawl
I Do
Anouk
Hedera
Very Tall Socks
Knucks
Cigar
Bambozelle
Marley's Ghost
Womb

So that's enough to keep me busy for a while. That's not counting all the gift knits that lay before me.

*sigh* I have a crush...

Last night I realized that I have a crush on Cary Grant. Love is loading in A Christmas Carol and I really won't see him (except in small glimpses) for a few weeks. So last night I made myself some dinner and sat down with my needles, some wool and some movies. I watched Charade (I adore Audrey Hepburn as well...And I must have that wardrobe!)...once done I decided to make it a film fest and popped in An Affair to Remember. (again...i need that wardrobe...especially that first dress she is in).
And it dawned on me that I have a crush on Cary Grant. My love looked at me with his usual "ok, I married a freak" look that he as been perfecting lately. He already knows about my Johnny Depp crush. I guess its better than having a crush on someone I can actually interact with. And besides...it keeps me home on the couch and out of the yarn stores. Though I really need to invest in more old/classic movies. I absolutely adore them and not having cable they are rarely on my tv. These are my only two with Cary in them. My only Audrey as well. I know...shame on me.

The knitting went well...I can't say much or show anything yet as it is a surprise.

Lacking in knit

I'm sorry about the lack in knitting pics lately. What little knitting I have been doing has either been boring furry scarves for charity or secret present knitting. I should have something soon. But here's something that I created in my shady past.

These are the first pair of socks that I ever knit.

arghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

i want one day, just one friggin' day where i can go into work and not find 10,000 mistakes by my people. Today I was greeted with the fact they have been ringing in our custom orders wrong...no wonder our numbers suck. this is not fucking rocket science....it's retail. its not that hard!

damn you html

I'm trying to do some blog changes and i just don't get this html stuff. and I don't know where or how to get help. It also doesn't help that my house is slightly smoky to the self-clean cycle running on my oven.

But on a positive note the rain is keeping me from having to rake all of this

Oh Caesar!

I promised pictures of the show I just finished and here they are.
This is a production of Julius Caesar set in modern times...sort of a Vegas Caesar's palace/Sopranos mafia mix quasi stylized. Sort-of taking reality a step further.

Sorry this first pic is blurry. I have trouble with the full stage shots. And my camera is not the best. The columns and platforms are marble. I don't have shots of the side flipper open (the stone wall shown earlier) but I did take copious shots of the pink marble.
The purple columns are a bit more electric than I had planned. I had forgotten that the dye in the purple paint likes to react with clear sealer. It was a rude awakening late at night, but I didn't stress to much since the whole thing is suppose to be over the top.

The pink marble took up the bulk of my 86 hours of work. And this is where the bit of disaster struck. I paint the majority of the set on stage, having no shop available to me. The theatre is constantly in use for class. This usually isn't a problem since they don't mind working around my presence there. I was painting the final step of marbling on the platforms when the acting class came in. I made the platforms off limits but the purple forestage was all theirs. The assignment for the day was acting out/telling about a day in the life of a superhero created by each student. The first student gets up and starts his bit. I've sat through so many of these that it doesn't phase me much. Some of they are quite good and amusing. Many are not. So the student comes to the point in his story where he kicks at the villain....and off comes his moccasin flying across stage into my paint buckets! SPLASH. Paint everywhere! Long story short, it ended up fairly well. I managed to clean most of it without too much damage to my work. (there were a few drips that I didn't catch in time. I tried working that into the veining). As a gesture of apology the director moved rehearsal elsewhere and I had the stage to myself the rest of the day. So it all worked out. I felt bad for the kid. I'd be more upset with myself than I would anyone else (unless they did it intentionally). We've all done it. My personal favorite is when I was so tired that I hooked up the wrong hose to the paint pot first and sent black paint 8 feet in the air.
So there it is. And that is where I have been. Am I forgiven for being a bad little blogger?

I voted...

Did you??

yep

a lot has happened. Halloween has come and gone. Family has visited and we took the kittens in. The show has opened and closed and I've been a knitting fool...yet I haven't blogged. Sorry. I will have pics and stories and such very shortly.

i promise.

cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

hAppY HaLLowEeN!!!!!

This lovely lady I found in a book of vintage Halloween graphics. I've been waiting for today to post her. Enjoy the day and the night!!!

So much to say...

So few functioning brain cells left. *sigh* well here goes....

Cats: We caught the last one the other night. So I now have 4 feral kittens living in my garage. Its getting cold out there and I feel horrible keeping them in the unheated garage. They would need to be spayed/neutered (to prevent new litters and spraying) and flea dipped before I could even think of bringing them in. As well as checked for disease that could carry to my girls. If all was well then they could be in the studio until we figure out what to do with them. Though, (shudder) I am seriously beginning to consider starting my life long dream of being the crazy cat lady, but this is a lot sooner than I had planned.

The show: I've done 27.5 hours on it in the last 3 days. I'm very nearly done. I have a great story to tell about today's disaster, but too tired for that. Besides I want to have the pics of the set to show you. Either way my back and knees are killing me from a lot of marbling.

Work: sucks...I am very behind because I keep having to fix things. I love most of my staff but they keep giving me aneurysms on a minute by minute basis. At least the days go fast...so fast I look at the clock and realize I should have left an hour earlier.
At least I make my own schedule (within reason) and I am taking Halloween off....from everything. No work at all. It is Halloween a time to remember those who have left us and a time to dress up, sugar up the neighborhood rugrats and party. If it not about costumes, ritual, chocolate or booze...don't talk to me. I haven't even worked on my costume yet. *sigh*

Well...i'm off to bed with some painkillers...(did I mention my uterus has been trying to rip itself out for the last week?) Have I spontaneously combusted yet????

And then there were three...

My Love came home to this little guy sleeping in the trap cage. One left...but he's going to be the hardest...he witnessed one of his siblings being trapped. (of course all these gender references are made up...we have no clue if they are male or female)

Two down...

two to go.

Well, we just got Floofy with the have a heart trap and add him to the party in the garage. We found a place that will come and spay/neuter and then release but it is $67 a cat. And we are looking at 4 cats.(hopefully)

Anyone want to sponsor a kitty??

Today's adventure

So over the summer a feral cat had kittens under our neighbor's shed. There were early half-hearted attempts to catch them. Our neighbor dropped the ball on the whole thing, except for feeding the lot of them. We have been feeding them as well. I've possibly found a home for one of them...the neighbor lined up some homes but they apparently have fallen through.

We managed to get this one into our garage. We are upping our efforts to catch them due to the drop in temperature and the coyote wandering around our back yard. Yes we have coyotes in the neighborhood...and we are by no means rural. Tomorrow my love is going to see if we can find an organization to help. I did find one online that examines and spays/neuters the feral cats and then releases them into a barn environment. I think this lot would be good for that. They are still very skittish around people.

Mmmmm...brains.

Do you have any because most of our employees don't.

Grand opening was today. I was there at 7am...which wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been there until 11:30 the night before. And I left an hour and 45 past when I was scheduled today. I am now cozying up to a fire in the fireplace and a bottle of wine.

Please don't expect much on the blog side for a little while. But do contact me if you know of any job openings...let me tell you..the Hooters down the street is starting to look rather promising.

Secret Pal Strikes Again!!!

Secret Pal you so rock!
Saturday I decided to run home after work before running to the theatre on a sheer whim. I thought maybe I'd grab a bite before spending the evening crawling around to paint the brick below. Lo and behold there was a box on my doorstep. Inside the box was this...








And inside was this treasure trove...
There are cookie cutters to add to my vast collection (how did you know??!!) in ghost, pumpkin, bat and black cat. A craft kit for a Bat halloween bell. A foam stamp with a skull, gravestone, spooky tree and ghost. A delightfully creepy finger candle with a skull ring tied to it. Spider shaped glitter confetti. An absolutely beautiful charmed folding scissor necklace...(much needed since my scissors often end up under my butt on the couch.) A Ghirardelli "intense Dark " chocolate bar with espresso beans. I nearly died at the sight of that. It is being saved for some intense me time. Lastly was a crafted halloween mix cd full of some my favorite music...quite a creepy eclectic mix. This will probably be my new painting cd.

Again...thank you thank you thank you. Secret pal you rock. Your gift actually convinced me to stay home and take the night off.

Sunday....

I turned this...














into this.

Busy Season

Did I mention this is my BusySeason? I'm working full time at my regular job. Actually I'm working overtime at my regular job and i'm not sure I'm liking this manager stuff. Then I have my show at the highschool and now I'm doing a overhire gig at a small local professional theatre that I used to work for. Yes I am crazy. But I need new rear tires and I love being in with my theatre crowd again. Though it makes going to my regular job all that much harder.

And I'm knitting when I can in between.

I haven't really eaten today and can't remember when I showered last.

yep...its my busy season.

Plugging away

on both knitting and work. When I'm not here knitting on the shawl I'm turning this hideous mess (you may remember it from "Flash your Stash") into scarves for charity. Kindof a stash cleansing. To make room for fiber I like. I have been good. I went to FabricPlace's closing sale and didn't buy any yarn...nope no yarn...but then again a yarn diet has nothing to say about fabric aquisition, now does it.

Work has been...well...work. Much more physically demanding the usual, we are still setting up the store and a tad behind. I've been sleeping better with all the work. I miss having the physical aspect to my job. I'm also trying to get into manager mode. I never really wanted the promotion. I'd rather be left alone to do my own work then have to deal with everyone. I did manage to close the store by myself without screwing up the alarm, and I got to yell at everyone. I still want out. I've promised myself to them until October 20th, thereabouts, after that I can walk with a relatively clean conscience.

I am painting the fall show at a local private high school. Its about my 6th year or so with them. I've also taken on a quick and dirty paint call for this Saturday. Slowly getting my foot back in the door.

Off to bed. I did 5 hours at work on my day off today. I'll check my spelling tomorrow

The Last Knit

You have to check this out. Its a short on YouTube called The Last Knit . I probably would have done my dress as well. Thanks to Lani for enlightening me to this one.

The Good, the Bad and the Ruffles

Well, in regards to the shawl I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I just finished chart eight and i'm to the ruffles.

The bad news is that I'm at the neverending ruffles.

ps Yes we have water again. He came home that night and replaced that. He's going to battle more plumbing today while I'm at work so I don't hear his endless swearing. He holds it well but he's got quite a temper when he loses it, and plumbing tends to bring it out.

Thank you Pally!

I so needed the box that came yesterday. I was having a crap-tacular day. We are a tad behind at work, but I only did 4 hours yesterday. I came home to plumbing half completed (love did some on his lunch hour) which left me with no water in the house. I mean NO water. There was enough for 1 toilet flush which was conserved until absolutely necessary. But then there was no way to wash my hands ( I ended up using some from the lone supply in the Brita pitcher). Nor could I wash the tomato sauce I spilled on my jeans at lunch. I couldn't do laundry or mop or have my usual 17 pots of tea. Grrrr...and to make it worse my period showed up. Which just made me cry (especially since it seems so many of my friends are pregnant now).

Then the mailman came...and he had a box for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


There is a fun little metal lunchbox with the Last Supper on it, filled to the brim with a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in lovely greens, blues, purples, and browns. (I think I have a project for this already!), some black and white mystery yarn accompanied by a little Catwoman (whip included!) Now my WonderWoman won't be so lonely! She also included the movie Diva, which I have never seen. I'll save that for a night that my love is working. And even a present for the cats! A cat dancer which gave them both quite the workout! This was all joined by beautiful postcards that will be gracing my studio walls.

Thank you thank you thankyou !!!!! I love it all.

A door closes

Today is my last day at the old store. There are some people there that I will really miss. And there are some that I wish would be eaten by a pack of ravenous dogs. My last day as a minion and tomorrow is my first as a manager. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I'll be 10 minutes from home now (instead of 45) and I am getting a raise. But I'm leaving behind the people who help me get through the day. Actually on some level that may be a good thing. More motivation to get myself out of this company and out of retail. I tend to loathe the bulk of humanity...retail is not exactly the place for me. So this is my first step towards having a job I enjoy once again.

Knitwise I'm still in the same place. I'm a few rows into chart 7. Its a little slower going because this is where the pattern for the rest of the shawl transitions into the boarder pattern and I have to pay a little more attention.

Canning i've managed to do 12 quarts of quartered tomatoes in their own juice and 5 of sauce. It took the sauce forever to cook down. I have about 3 more boxes to go. I'm not sure when I'll get to it...probably do a batch or so an evening. I have no clue what my work schedule is this coming week. All I know is that tomorrow is a long day.

I'm also sorting out my studio some more...it is a total disaster lately. Now that the weather is more moderate I can handle the temperature in there.

Thanks for all the feed back on the blog. I'm actually cheating on the font size. In compose mode I am setting it to "large". I'm not sure how to make this size the default size. Pictures next post...i promise.

Don't we look marvelous

So i did a bit of playing around with the blog today before I submerged myself in canning tomatoes...(this is going to be an on going project for the next week or so).
I'm just having a bit of trouble getting the font of the main body larger as its standard. For some reason its code is different than all the others for font size and I know squat about html. I still have to figure out how to do buttons and put a sidebar on the other side too. But what do you think so far? Its my transitioning into fall colors. Like my hair I think they will change with my mood.

However I'm to chart seven and still pondering my next project. That is mostly waiting on me to do a swatch or two to see what in my stash will fit my potentials.

Work Countdown: 16 more hours at the old store.

Ever onward

My recovery time last week yielded a lot of shawl progress. Not so much this week. I had scheduled overtime that made it difficult to get too far. I am about 6 rows away from completing chart five. I have not been bringing the shawl to stitch n bitch. It requires so much concentration that I can't work on it when we all get together. I need to get more audio books as well. I just can't do this in front of the TV either.
No knitting monogomy this time. I am sort of in-between projects in the non-shawl catagory. I've put myself on a yarn diet so I am in the area of creative pairing of yarn I own and projects I would like to do. I also have some baby knitting before me. The first tot is due this month, then November, March and June. Lots of babies coming. I need to dye some of my yarn to get the right colors for the first project. Amy suggested using the Witon paste cake colors with a vinegar mordant. I think I will give that a shot, especially since I already own the dye. I'll probably work on that in my three days off in the middle of the week.Yeah, sucky schedule this week. To date, it is the crowning acheivement in my manager's passive-aggressive campaign against me since he found out I was leaving to go to the new store. I work Sunday, Monday, Friday and close on Saturday, my last day in that store. I was so angry I could spit acid when I found out but enough of that subject.

See the miracle that has happened in our home! They are on the same cushion and LO! they are TOUCHING!!!!! And this phenomenon has been witnessed more than once!