Potential Job?

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

So I forgot to mention I think in my last blog post that I had a job interview today at one at Best Buy. I applied there as an after thought kinda. They hadn't posted an ad or anything, but Chad wanted me to, so I did.

It was weird because they did a group interview. So there were three other applicants there. But at the same time, it was fun, we kinda learned about each other and there was a lot of joking around and laughing. I think the interviewers used it as a way to make things less formal and see what our personalities were like. Then they did individual interviews. So the guy said at the end that if they were interested, I would get a call back by Friday at 5. Well apparently they called back before I even got home. I didn't even see the message. Chad noticed it was blinking later on but it was after they closed. Anyway. I have another interview tomorrow (Thursday) at 6pm.

It sounds promising, but like the others I'm not getting my hopes up. At least I have a better shot because they are hiring a bunch of people for seasonal. They also said that they usually keep about 75% of their seasonal people, so come January I could be a regular employee if they like me and I do well. I don't think honestly that will be an issue.

Overall I think I wouldn't have thought that I would like it there, but after the interview, and meeting a bunch of people, it seems like a great place to work, and I really am hoping that I get to!

No more news though other than that. I'm sure I'll post again when I find out.

Until then... here are a few pics of some yarn I got in a trade (yes another trade, and I've got several others in the works!) from Ravelry. I traded 3 balls of pretty pink kidsilk haze and got this:

A skein of Baruffa Cashwool in light pink. It's lace, well more of a cobweb weight. Pretty though and really soft!One skein of Lorna's Laces in Georgetown. I'm going to make those lace mitts that I showed a few posts back with it.And two skeins of Artyarns Ultramerino 4. It's more teal than blue, darn flash. It's nice and soft and squishy though! Yay sock yarn!
That's it, gnite!

Spinning Adventures

Before I get into the spinning I've been doing, I must mention that the shop has been updated! I have 6 new rovings up. Go check it out if you're in the market. ;) They are all 100 percent merino. I'll be doing the merino tencel hopefully this week.

Mother Earth:
Embers:Firefly:
Sweet Pea:
Tye Dye:
Clique:
So, other than the fact that I'm still spindle plying that orange merino silk...

I finally finished the second single of my pink merino. Monday night I sat down to watch the Bachelor (love the DVR!) and ply the singles. It ended up taking two (whoohoo QVC). So today I sat down to get it off the bobbin and when I was done, realized that it was seriously under plied. Oh boy. So I wound it into a center pull ball and am going to have to slowly reply it. I might do that with the spindle as well, because some parts are plied perfectly. Sigh... I so wanted to be done with it and knit with it.

To make up for it, I dug through the roving stash and started spinning this:It's somewhere in between those colors. Rose, pink, yellow, tiny bits of green and brown. It was my flawful fibers roving in Amore, 100% BFL. I was really worried about how well it would draft since I'm used to the merino, but OH MY GOD I love it. I can get it just as thin (although I'm not, because I want a 2ply sock, instead of the lace I've been doing and I can totally see spinning thicker yarns with it too) and it's just as easy to draft, with a longer staple. So I think next time I buy roving to dye for the shop, I'll get some BFL. Plus it seems like it is kinda shiny when spun. Which is totally a plus. I got through a few chunks of it already too. Generally when I spin I pull the roving in half, then each half into fourths, and each fourth into pieces. With the merino I did 6 or 8 to make it faster to spin into lace. I only pulled these into four pieces.

Ok well this is just a quick post. More later!

A Productive Day...

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Finally got around to dyeing today. It took about 4 hours to dye 6 four ounce sections of roving. Of course there was a lot of prep involved since I used all my stock from last time. Once that was out of the way, it went faster. Oh yeah and the fact that we were almost out of saran wrap and I had to send hubby to the store. That took awhile to wait for. Anyway the point is that I got to dye. It was a lot of work, and annoying to do in the house, and my back is killing me. But I'm happy that I'll have stuff to put in the shop. I'll list it on Wednesday when they are all completely dry and braided up.

Here they are hanging on the rack I got for drying, in our bathtub... the colors are a bit off in the pic, not as pretty as they really are. Better pics will come on Tuesday or Wednesday when I photograph for the shop.
Top row from left to right: red/yellow/orange where they overlapped, pink/black, red/black, turquoise/brown

In the center you can just barely see on the right there, a pink and green one hiding.

On the bottom there on the left is blue, yellow, and a lime green.

They are all as of yet unnamed but I've got a few ideas already for some of them. Like the one on the bottom I think will be Tropical Fish. The red and black one something like Broken Hearted. I'm still working on it. Usually I need help (ahemMelissacough) to find the perfect name or variation. ;)

That's about the only real update I've got, more to come later.

Blades...

Saturday, October 27, 2007

...of Glory is a hysterical movie. I cried I was laughing so hard. SEE IT.

The day after I posted those rovings on etsy, two of them sold! I was so shocked and thrilled at the same time. Good thing they sold, I was having a hard time not keeping them! I have plans to dye tomorrow (ok technically it's already tomorrow, but since I have yet to go to bed...) and get more roving ready to post by Wednesday. Hopefully I'll have time to dye all of what's left, and then go get more from paradise fibers this week. More merino, maybe some bfl, and more merino tencel.

Thursday I got my last Chewy Spaghetti sock club shipment. This is what was in there. A stitch marker, some lip balm, and more of the sport weight Spaghettoni in Nostalgic.I can't help but feel a little let down by the club now that it's over. I'm disappointed with the yarns. Not just in the colorways. Actually I loved the second one. And this last one isn't bad. She can't predict that, which colors everyone will like. More of it is that it's only one skein of sport weight, which seeing that it's a sock club, well that one skein isn't enough for a pair of socks. That and I don't like to knit socks in sport weight. It would have been nice if we got some in the fingering. Honestly though I could have dealt if there were two skeins, or at least one skein large enough to knit a whole pair of socks...

There were also definitely some good things in the shipments. The great sock bag, the lingerie bag, which is cool for me at least for felting, the soak sample, and the lip balm is fun, although not really yarn related. I guess I'm just disappointed that the last shipment wasn't like the best one, and that there wasn't much there. One stitch marker? I never use one stitch marker. At least two to mark sections like sleeves or patterns. So overall I'm not sure if I'll want to do another sock club. For that much money I could have at least gotten colors I really liked.

I received in the mail a prize from Monica. I don't think I mentioned it yet...too lazy to go look. Anyway she had a contest on her blog to name her newest fingerless glove pattern, and my name suggestion was picked! They are Ariel, because the pattern and colors combined reminded me of the move The Little Mermaid. Don't you think? Anyway the prize is a free copy of the pattern, and my choice in colorway from the Loopy Ewe in the yarn for it. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Georgetown. I think it will look great in the pattern. I believe that she will be selling the pattern at Loopy too.
This is the other pattern of hers I bought, also at Loopy awhile back. Aren't they purty? Winter is kicking in and in response, so is my fingerless glove impulse. I'm still deciding what yarn to use for these...maybe my striping sock yarn I got awhile ago...but then I'd have the urge to match stripes. We'll see.
Let's see, what else. I have some people test knitting my Victoriana Gloves. I never got it tested before, so I'd like to see how it works up in other yarns, and get the pattern done into a pdf so I can offer it as a download.

I'm waiting on some leather handles I got for that luckiest bag I knit for my sister. They are the same ones used in the original pattern. I'm excited to finish up the bag for her. Did I mention it's going to be her anniversary gift? I'm not good at buying stuff, and they don't need anything. Her hubby is getting a hat, and fingerless gloves from the Spaghettoni. Manly colors.

I also have to knit a hat for my brother. I haven't knit him anything in awhile. Also Chad suddenly wants a hat. But only if it's black. I don't have any black yarn though, so I told him if he wants it, he has to buy the yarn since I'm on a diet. ;)

Not to mention I want my own hat! It's this one, called Gretel. I would make it in the slouchy version. I have two yarns from my stash I'm debating. I just haven't had time to swatch. One is thicker than the called for yarns, and one is thinner...sigh. I'm hoping one will work.

Ok well I think this post is long enough. I'm getting tired, and I have a full day tomorrow. Hopefully full of dyeing that is.

Yarnophilia

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Remember my roving? Course you do, it was like two days ago. Well today it was dry and I got pictures before the daylight ran out. And noooooow, they are in my etsy shop!!! I'm very excited about it. Here are the pictures that I took today as well.

Apple Crisp- 4 ounces of merinoAutumn Roses- 4 ounces of merino
Jack Frost- 4.25 ounces of superwash merino tencel, 50/50 blend.
So that's what I have been doing for the last hour or two. I am anxious to dye again and this time, blend and mix more.

I also mailed out my secret pal's package today. It's the second gift for her, and I hope that she likes it! With that I mailed some kidsilk I'm trading, some roving to melissa for being fabulous ( ;D ) and to my sister the baby sweater, matching hat, and gloves that she commissioned me to make for her. The gloves are the same one in this post. And here are pics of the hat and sweater. They came out sooo cute I didn't want to give them away!
It just came out so darn cute. I know that they will love it. I don't have much else in the way of news. So I'll leave you with that!

P.S.

Found out about a contest from Melissa's blog. It's being held for those of use who couldn't make it to the infamous Rhinebeck. You are supposed to take a pic of some of your stash, and post it like it's what you got there. I grabbed a few of my favorite yarns that I haven't used yet.

They are:
Top: lotus sock yarn
Middle left to right: shibui sock, handmaiden sea silk, socks that rock lightweight, fleece artist sock, lornas shepherd sock
Bottom: snitches sock

Dyeing

Monday, October 22, 2007

Today I took advantage of an empty house and the kid's naptime. I dyed roving! 8 ounces of merino, and 4 of superwash merino tencel. It was relatively easy, and came out better than expected. Once they were dyed I liked them much more than before the dye set. I just wish I had more room to dye! It would have made things MUCH easier and faster. Here are some pictures, which aren't the greatest but they give you an idea of the colors I got. I will take better ones as soon as the roving dries.

This one is the superwash merino tencel. I used black, sapphire, and turquoise. It's very very soft but I found it annoying to dye since it sheds easily.
This one is merino. I used brown, turquoise and pink. I think it's my favorite. Although I didn't set it long enough and a good bit of dye came out of it. Still it made it less intense and I really like the lighter colors. This one is also merino, and I love this one too. It's red, pink, and brown. The colors took the best in this one I think, well they spread out more or something. Either way there isn't much white left in it which is good. I didn't do any color mixing this time around. I just wanted to get a feel for the whole thing and see how it went. I also used too much dye for the amount of water, etc. So I learned quite a bit and I know that it will go smoother next time!

A new Gem

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I know it's been awhile and I'm sure that you're all DYING to see my new baby. I got it on Friday and am already so in love! Here are pics.

This is the front view. It looks crooked, but really it's just that I'm SO talented taking pictures lol.This is the side view.And the flyer! Look at the size of that bobbin...swoon.
The wheel as you know is a portable one, so it came in a few pieces. It was pretty easy to figure everything out and get it together. There is more to it than the ashford, more adjustments to make, and whatnot. But once you understand the basics of a wheel, it's pretty easy to decifer.

I have already started spinning on it as well. I have half of my roving on one of the ashford bobbins and need to get it off so I started to spin the other half on the Gem. Why do I need to get it off you ask? I sold the Traditional! I really didn't expect it to sell so fast. So I'm trying to get that done to send off.

So that's the biggest news I have. I'm excited to have sold the wheel though because I know it will be loved and enjoyed by someone else. I just have no need for two wheels right now.

I have also decided that the yarn diet will end when the Gem is paid for. Should that be sooner than 6 months. The money from selling the Traditional should have helped, but SOMEONE went over in minutes on our phone bill calling who knows who, and our bill is...well a lot.

Um lets see. I started school this week, and I hate it, but I'm going to make the best of it. It really sucks to have to retake some classes, but at least I know what to expect. At this point I'm trying to mentally prepare myself, and sort of overcome the feelings that I get. Of course today isn't helping. I have spent most of the day with no help from anyone with the kids, today of all days when all my work is done. Chad and his brother have spent the last 13 hours with almost no break changing the engine in the civic. So no help there. And usually I get help from Chad's mom but she's been busy all day. So of course I'm sitting here with my work done in less than 20 mins and I have nothing that is ready to be submitted. I hate my life sometimes.

So I'm going to start the term off horribly, but what can you do. I also have a million other things to do so I should probably stop blogging and go do them.

Woohoo! It came!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Today my sweet sheep order finally got here and it was WELL worth waiting for. Here are pics and details. Each one is 4 ounces of superwash merino tencel, and sooooo soft and shiny.

Lily Pond:
Ivy:Body Electric:And my personal favorite: Weeping CherryI can't wait to spin one up. I have quite enough roving don't you think?

I also got this yarn from another ravelry transaction. STR lightweight in Apple Vallely Rd.
Man I really love good mail days...

My last bit of news is something exciting. For me at least. I bought a wheel! I know I know I have one, but as good as I've got at spinning on it, it's helped me realize all the little things that are annoying and that make me want a new one. So I've posted it on craigslist and hopefully I'll be able to get rid of it.

Here's a link if you wanna check it out. My wheel is slightly famous! And no that's not why I bought it, just a little perk. See here, the one on the home page? That's mine.Oh yes, what kind of wheel is it you say?

It's a Majacraft Little Gem, a tiny little wheel that's easy to take with you, which is one of the things I wanted in a wheel. It's double treadle, also something I wanted. The bobbins are bigger too! I know I wanted a Rose and I'm sure I'll get one, but for now this one actually seems more fitting. Plus when I get the Rose, I'll be able to share bobbins and won't have to buy all separate stuff. All in all, she's selling it for a deal too good to pass up, and this was the second wheel I wanted to buy. So I'm just getting it first instead. When we have more money and space I will get my Rose.

I've also promised hubby that in getting the wheel that I will not buy yarn or roving for six months. I'm gonna put a counter on my page lol. The only yarn and roving I can buy is the stuff to dye for etsy, when I get that going. So hard to find the time to dye! Anyway, it's a good thing I've stocked up the last month or two. I've got enough in my stash to keep me occupied.

Ok so besides the few random things in the mail for me already, I am not buying yarn! Or roving!

Who wants to send me gifts??? ;)

Yarn Overload!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Oh my god I have a ton to talk about in this post. I really meant to post on Friday but I somehow forgot. And last night I got very involved in what I was knitting so I skipped yesterday too. So to start with, my sweet sheep order was not there on Friday. We didn't get to the post office yesterday so maybe it is there now. I know that the shipping said up to 12 days which if they shipped that same day of my order then 12 days would be the 16th...which is tuesday. So if they didn't it might not get here until Wednesday. Hopefully it won't be later than that.

I did get quite a bit of other things in the mail. One was the book Victorian Lace Today, which I traded for on Ravelry. She got two skeins of Kidsilk from my end.

I also got my Loopy Ewe Order. I mentioned what I got already, but here are pics of some of it.I also got stuff from Melissa. The box contained some yarn from her and some needle cases she sewed up for me as a favor. In exchange for chocolate rather. ;) One is for dpns and one circs. Aren't they the cutest! I picked some of the fabric, and she added some other colors but they are just the awesomest things ever. I looove them.
This is the blueberry pie yarn she sent, which we traded. This is the yarn I picked in exchange for my spindolyn.
This one I bought from her etsy shop. It's called Vineyard Elegance and so pretty!
The rest of this stuff is yarn I got from Webs.

Silky wool in color 48 for my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's a pretty grey green color. I wanted something light so the cables would show up well.A ton of Cascade 220. There was a little mix up and I'm missing a skein of the Lilac Mist, so that should be on the way to me soon. That's going to be for the Brea Bag.
The Sapphire and Celery are for my Luckiest Bag, and the Dark Plum is for my sister's.
There were also five skeins in black, which were supposed to be brown, but one of the local yarn shops happily exchanged them for me so I didn't have to send it back and wait! I am making the one bag for my sister as an anniversary gift. Her hubby will be getting a hat. :)

There are three skeins in this Brown.
This is brown too although my flash is acting up so it looks black. It's Vandyke Brown. It is on the darker side. I have two of these.
There was also a skein of Debbie Bliss Rialto in Black. I'm making my sister fingerless gloves from it and I've already got one done! It's the Dragon Scale pattern, which I modified. I had to take a whole repeat out to make them small enough for her tiny hands! Lucky for me her hands and mine are the same size so I was able to do that and know they will fit.Oh yea and there were four skeins of Berroco Comfort in the colors blue, yellow, brown, and a lime green. My sister commissioned the above gloves from me, as well as a baby sweater she would like to give as a gift. So I am making the Tulip Cardigan from the comfort yarn. It's worsted weight, half acrylic and half nylon and sooooo soft and squishy. A little splitty, but I can deal with that. Here's my progress, in a few hours yesterday. I got more done today. It's so cute I want to die.I started her bag, which is made in entrelac. You knit double stranded, so it's going fast! The colors look good together I think. I still have to order handles and found ones that I want. Which are the same ones used in the pattern. I have to call and see how fast they can ship them to me, because their anniversary is coming up quick! And for once I want to send the gifts on time lol.I'm also test knitting a pattern. It's not what I expected, but I think it's looking pretty good! It's a blanket, knit in a quilt style design. It will be small, so the kids will probably use it for their dolls or something.I'm slowly plying my remaining singles of that roving. So far it's going well on the spindle. I'll be happy when it's done. I haven't spun anything else even because I'm feeling the need to finish this first.
Oh yea and one other thing. I picked up a skein of yarn at Holy Threads (look at the virtual tour if you can, it's amazing!) as kind of a thank you to them for exchanging my yarns when others (who shall remain nameless) wouldn't because it wasn't from their store... It's a bit lighter than the pic, and very pretty! Maybe I'll use it for the glove pattern I mentioned last post. I also bought some dpns. I really like that store and will definitely be going back now that I've been there and experienced it and the great people there.
Ok well I guess that's it for now. This has taken me like an hour to upload pics, link stuff, and blabber on. So I'll be back!