Crafty

When I went to Phoenix in the early spring, my mother gave me a shower curtain that she found that she wanted me to make into a table runner. I feel horrible for putting it off for so long, and completed it this week.

This thing was incredibly difficult to hem, since the fabric is so thick. My original idea was to fold the end to a point, but the thickness of the fabric made it difficult, so that's why I went with the fringe. I am very worried that it will be too short, as the table is 90" and this is a bit less than 80" even with the fringe. But my Mom said the height of the shower curtain was fine. She doesn't hang it over the end of the table, but scrunches it. I'm hoping she will be able to scrunch with the width of it, to preserve some of the length.

I have extra fabric, so I can make a second longer one, but it will have seams in it and I don't think that will look great, with the bulk of the fabric. So hopefully this is what she wants. I told her I would make napkins with the extra, but then I realized the fabric is a) a horrible pain to hem and b) dry clean only, so I'm having second thoughts.


I did a small amount of knitting on St. Moritz this weekend, but have no progress to show. First I knitted with the recommended size needles, but realized I was getting 7 st per inch, not 6. Over the body of the sweater this made a 4 inch difference, and that's a lot. So I ripped it out and started over with the proper gauge. Then I realized the sleeve looked like it was going to fit me. And I put it on, and other than being really really short, it would fit me.

I was very very torn on what to do with the sweater. Everyone says "knit it big- he'll grow into it" But what good is growing into a sweater when he is 6 if I give it to him when he is 2. By the time the width fits the length will be comically small. The sweater's chest is 28", after a lot of research, most sweaters have a 24" chest. So my "wrong" gauge actually makes it a lot more normal.

So I ripped it out again, and have started over. Now I'm praying it is not too small.

Also- I added buttons to the blog, so now you don't need to comment to voice an opinion. I think I did a "boring"- and I'll try to avoid topics that get that alot, an "interesting", a "funny", and a "hi" button. Hi is just a way to let me know you are reading. You know, if you wanna.

Knitting

Today I cast on for St. Moritz.

St. Moritz is a Dale of Norway sweater; multi-colored stranded colorwork, with 5 colors, and more than 2 colors per row (that makes it harder, for those of you non-knitters).

I bought yarn for this years ago while I lived in Dayton, but I'm not making this one for me. Actually, I'm making it in a 2 year old size for my nephew Conor. Judging by the sizes in the books it's going to fit him until he's 10 - but I'm trusting the book, and if my gauge is a little bit tight, then I'm okay with it.

So far i'm only about 80 stitches into it, so no pictures, but possibly tomorrow.

Archie Comics

Kevin has told me that Archie will be proposing to Veronica in issue #600.
Thankfully, looking this up it appears it is a 6 part series, so it's likely he won't marry her.

Which is good. Veronica treated Archie so badly. Bettie, although a bit of a pushover- really loved him and treated him well. I wouldn't want to see Archie with Veronica. Besides which, what would the storylines be like after that?

At least he isn't marrying Cheryl Blossom.

Job Search

I applied for 3 positions at the company I used to work with. I'm cautiously optimistic that I might get one of these. I'm a good fit for them, and they are pretty good jobs, though not what I used to do. I'm hoping one of my former supervisors will be willing to call over for me, but who knows. Otherwise it's just a matter of getting seen, since I am not an internal candidate anymore.

My yarn from Bjerk has been de-kinked (for those who have never unravelled a sweater, imagine Ramen noodles) and I've wound all but one hank of it. I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it for another sweater, but I think what I'm going to do is make a couch pillow.

Tomorrow- writing! I'm on my last lesson for my current assignment, and then I have another one- that I actually won't be able to do if I get the position I applied for. But man, I'd rather have a full time job than a short term assignment.

Kevin's post

"Today I ate a steak. It had bacon around it. YUM. Oh dang, I was going to make this bread."

aka: this posting everyday thing might not work. I've got nothin'

Bjerk

Bjerk was my first sweater.

I found it and I LOVED it. The prettiest sweater ever. And a Dale of Norway, something the awesome knitters like Wendy and Stephanie made.

So I took it on, and I think I did an okay job. But the collar is on backwards, one of the shoulders is bound off in green (even though I ordered extra yarn!) and it's just a little bit too short in the body and the sleeves. I remembered the sleeves as being pretty tight on my upper arms, but trying it on today it wasn't so bad.

Because of all this, it never gets worn.

Well, I decided the yarn deserves to be something that will be worn. So I ripped it out today. It is currently a pile of yarn spaghetti.

beep, beep. beep.

Today I have spent 3 hours sitting next to a timer going off every minute. I probably have another 2 hours to go.

This is so I can make a graph about how long it takes for water to cool from boiling to room temperature. After 2.5 hours of getting up each minute, I realized I could just set the pot on a potholder on the table next to the computer. It is a lot less annoying now, and I'm going to knit.

Mini Mochi and Me

The Loopy Ewe carries a yarn called Mini Mochi. For a short time this yarn was THE craze. It has colors like Noro Kureyon, and is soft as a kitten. And it's not too expensive. I fell for it, and ordered two balls.

I DO NOT like Mini Mochi. One of the balls I got had 2 knots, the other one. The blue dye in it comes off on my hands (and I imagine later my feet). The twist is almost none existant and it pulls apart like roving, AND because of that it produces a fuzzy worn fabric. And the "soft as a kitten" feeling is lost once it is knit up. But more than anything I don't like it because I could never get it to work for a pattern (it's tough to find a pattern that you can knit with yarn that rips apart on itself...) and its even harder to rip out because it felts to itself... So I lost yards and yards of it after ripping it out and not being able to rip out the cast on. But I didn't want to throw it away. The yarn is rather pretty.

So after ripping out Marlene. (Did I mention that. I got to the heel, tried it on, decided that even though I could get it on it was too tight and the entire thing is now gone.) I needed a project to bring to knit at Aimee's. I grabbed the mini mochi and some needles. I'd wing it.

I did the turkish cast on (how do you tighten that up? The stitches are really large) for 8 stitches on each side and made a toe for a 64 stitch sock. Then I came home and looked through Wendy's book for a pattern.

Oops, should have looked first. Apparently even though you decrease a cuff down toe to 8 stitches, with turkish cast on she recommends 16 stitches on each side. The "Dead Simple Lace sock" looked cute, but then I realized the pattern isn't centered on the foot. How odd. So I went with the Butterfly socks.

I don't see butterfly's in these socks at all...

And the mini mochi is working okay. First off, I actually ended up ripping out the toe I did at Aimee's. (And turkish cast on was much easier to rip out than a knitted cast on!) I did it on US 1.5s and had 11 spi too tight, I thought. So I went up to the 2s and now I think it's too big (9.5 spi) because of that the sock isn't pulling the lace pattern open, so the fuzzyness of the mini mochi really obscures the pattern. I'm doing the heel right now and am really confused how it's going to turn out, but I'm trusting the book.

The book itself, Socks From the Toe Up, is alright. Good, but not great. I love love love Wendy Knits so more than anything I bought the book to support the author, since I don't pay for the blog. But the patterns seem very run of the mill. And Wendy has some really awesome patterns out there already. I think she was going for a basic reference book, so maybe that's why and I suppose the reference of heels and toes is useful, but I still had to go to youtube to see how they were done when I got confused, so it's not necessary. I like all the sport weight patterns (go figure, since I have no sportweight), and one or two of the fingering weight I'll probably knit, but it isn't a must have knitting book. If the internet didn't exist, I'd say it was. But the author is an internet essential, so she deserves a payday! I don't regret the purchase.

Edit: Finished the heel flap, and they fit perfectly. BUT the yarn really hides the pattern, which I wasn't crazy about to begin with. I'm not sure if I should rip them out or keep them... Do they just look bad?

No knitting progress

Yesterday I completed the cuff on Marlene. Then I realized that even though I could get it on, it's too tight. Ripped out. I need sport weight yarn, and don't have any, so Marlene will have to wait until I can buy yarn again.

Today I did the toe of a toe up sock while knitting with Aimee. Then I realized my gauge was way off (11 sts an inch!) so I ripped that out too.

Lacking Inspiration

Today has been a very dull day. I did not accomplish anything that I wanted to.

I can't come up with the inspiration I need to write my lesson. I just have no ideas in my head for this one.

Although I did a lot of knitting last night (a full repeat) my arm is still really bothering me, so I'm trying not to do much knitting. The deltoid muscle is really acting up, rather than just the tendon in the shoulder. This has the PT baffled, but was one of my initial complaints, he and my NP just latched onto the shoulder pain.

It's almost Friday which means I need to do my two work contacts ASAP. I know which two jobs I'm applying for, but they aren't positions I want, so I'm rather meh about doing it.

Marlene

I'm a few days ahead on my writing assignments so I took this morning off to knit a bit on Marlene . (rav link) I don't know why this pattern takes so long- I have it memorized so I don't have to look at the chart (it's very intuitive- work the number of stitches same as the row, yo, work 4, decrease- work until next decrease (17 stitches on row 1, 2 less every other row) decrease, work 4, yo, work same number as row. Then purl, k,p,k,p to set up for the 2nd repeat of the round. It's the "same number as the row thing that makes it easy, and a decrease every round so they are hard to miss.
But actually- I do know what takes so long. 1x1 rib is SO boring. And as much as this looks like it's something else, it's not. It is really just 1x1 rib, just like Potomatus (Rav. link, sorry.) was. Cookie likes to hide incredible patterns in 1x1 rib to trick you into doing it. I'd never do a 1x1 rib sock otherwise.

I am so in love with the yarn. This is the one I dyed myself. I wish I knew how I got this result, because the colors are blending perfectly- the purple, pink, and just the tinest amount of blue. I'd never be able to duplicate it. It kind of reminds me of Dream in Color Smooshy- how it's solid, but not really.... There is more going on and it's perfect. Guess that's how I duplicate it- buy DIC!

I went around the yard to take pictures of flowers (since I missed the daffodils, and the rabbits ate all of our tulips already). Apparently nature agrees with my color scheme, as all the flowers are purple/pinks right now. (I have no idea what any of these flowers are, btw. All of our gardening is based on the previous owners and what continues to grow.) Click on any picture to see a larger image. That goes for pretty much the entire blog.

Monkey Bread

I made Monkey Bread today using a recipe off of the Pioneer Woman blog.
It's very good, but it's not the most incredible thing I've ever had. Just really gooey biscuits...
I had a piece of it warm, but most places say to serve it cool, so I had one cool too. I don't think I have a preference. The bottom pieces are very very crisp. The top, very very gooey. VERY gooey. Even though the sauce covered all the pieces it sunk down and didn't coat the pieces that were at the top of the baking dish. I didn't use ALL the butter- but there is so much on it that I'm kind of glad I didn't. I'm just dunking crisp pieces from the bottom in the top of the bread :)

These are the pieces of biscuit all cut up, and tossed with cinnamon sugar. And the butter and brown sugar ready to be melted.

And then the bread covered in the butter mixture, plus a picture of the butter I didn't use. (Man does this recipie use a lot.) And finally a picture of it right out of the oven. The picture up top is the final product, flipped out of the pan.










I'm not sure I'll make it again. Have to see what Kevin says. It was pretty cheap though 4 cans of Great Value biscuits were $1.68. (I used all 4 cans because they seemed smaller than the brand name cans, and the recipe calls for 3 cans.) Then it's just 2 sticks of butter (probably the most expensive part of the recipe), 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and a half cup of brown sugar.

Edit: The bread is cooled now and it is SO good. A bit too gooey, IMO, but now it's soft and chewy, and very flavorful. YUM!

HuHot

Tonight we went to HuHot to celebrate Brianna's summer in Mongolia. She leaves on Wednesday (and I have to remember to go let her dog out midday!) Brianna is the synchro team's coach.

Brianna is blogging her trip here. Of great interest to many of us who know her is what she will eat in Mongolia. Brianna is an RN who does not eat vegetables. I suppose the RN thing isn't really applicable, but it's still kind of interesting because of the health factor. And yet, Brianna seems to be very healthy without any major defiencies or scurvy or anything like that, so maybe the whole "eat your veggies" thing is a big myth.

One thing Brianna does apparently eat is s'mores. With a bit of encouragement from synchro team member Karen, they ordered the table top variety tonight at HuHot. I wasn't going to partake, having already chowed down on some Marshmallows (my new hey it's only $1 snack- a better deal than a candy bar) but with one left over and no one to eat it, I did what I could.

I was promised that I would recieve a "perfect" marshmallow. Brianna toasted it, and from what I could tell, she delivered on her promise. It was well toasted. The s'more, however, was far from perfect. Apparently the marshmallow didn't want to be on the inside and ended up getting scrapped across the top :)

It was a fun evening and we'll miss Brianna this summer! Hopefully by the time synchro starts up in the fall I'll have the means to skate with the team.

On the knitting front, I didn't get much done today- maybe 2 rows of Marlene. I'm on row 33 of 80 of the cuff so it's going to be awhile. Freelance work is keeping me very busy (the 6 hour per assignment estimate has turned into 20+ hours per assignment. If I was actually busy it would not be worth the flat rate, but since I'm not I'm keeping at it) so not much knitting happening. Unless something else comes up (what?) I'll likely post a picture tomorrow.

Spring, Spring, Spring

Kevin came in today and told me that there are four lily's growing in the backyard (eek, you can see a weed there too). Two years ago we had two, but last year we had only 1 because Elsa killed the others. As you can see, now there is a fence to prevent her from getting back there. That fence is actually because some rodent (possibly a Vole) lives under our air conditioner unit and she was digging so vigorously we became very worried it would go off balance and crush her. The hawks take care of the vole's (we hope... we've found one or two halves) so we aren't TOO worried about their digging. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the flowers once they are in bloom. The raspberries in the front yard have started to bud and the strawberries have started to flower. Oh- and neither of our neighbors have mowed their lawn yet. Dandelion stems abound...


I started knitting Cookie A's "Marlene" last night. This is what I have so far. The yarn is knitpicks "bare" fingering weight merino/silk. I dyed it myself and in a happy accident it's one of the most beautiful yarns I've ever seen. It was supposed to be a gradient of blue, but the dye didn't work right (Wilton's icing colors) so I threw in a ton of Kool-Aid to over dye it. It's turned into magnificent hues of purple and pink, with just a few hints of blue still peeking through.

Finished my socks...

And look! They make tiger stripes!

Picture post.

Kevin reminded me today that it has been ten years since I broke my neck.

I really cannot believe that amount of time has passed. I think of how much has happened since my junior year in high school, and how amazing it is that I'm even here. But then I also worry about how much time I have left before it all gets bad again. I know I'm going to have to have fusions in the future. I was given the estimate of every 20 years. Has everything I've done since the accident made that worse? I went back to dance so quickly. I've started ice skating. Are these things harder on my neck? Or is it like osteoporosis where weight bearing excersise increases bone strength?

This picture was taken in the inpatient PT hospital. The wheelchair is still there, which means my friends hadn't had it taken away from me yet. I never used it once I switched to the inpatient floor. I refused to. By then I was walking slow, but I was okay. From the first moment I wouldn't accept that this was a big deal. I think that realization came to me years down the road. I still remember telling the ER nurses I didn't have time to be there because I had AP tests to study for. My hair was a bit tough to control. It's hard to put a ponytail up without pulling- my mom would tie it together with gift wrap ribbon, since she couldn't use a hair tie. I couldn't do it at all at this point- my hands were not strong enough to hold anything that small.

Then I think about the people in my life. I think my high school friends knew how much it affected me. And to some extent my college friends, because I was still having nerve problems. And I know my current friends are aware it happened, but I don't think any of them realize the severity. I've had many people tell me since then that they broke their necks. Not to discount their injuries, but only one has ever had a surgery and most were bone chips or minor compressions. The bone hit my spinal cord and I have a small hole. I had a hip bone grafted into my neck. But more than anything, I don't think the people in my life now know how much it haunts me emotionally. I've dealt with it long enough now that I keep it to myself. And I'm not as close now with anyone as I was when I was younger.





I think Kevin actually took this picture of me. We were on a double date at Olive Garden. But I wasn't on the date with him. I do sometimes think that if I hadn't broken my neck Kevin and I wouldn't be married today. That was the time I really got to know him and slowly fell in love with him. We didn't start dating just then (remember- on a date with someone else) but we became friends. And that is one of the most important things Kevin and I have. I'm glad we came to our senses once I started college and started dating :)











This picture is from Red Jacket camp. Remember how I didn't have time to be in the ER? Well I didn't have time to deal with recovery either! I think it was a really tough decision for my parents to let me go to RJ camp- especially since I was still in my brace full time (I also went to girl scout camp as a CIT II, and only had to sleep in my brace then, and to student council camp, and I only had to take it just in case...) I didn't do any dancing, but if I hadn't gone I would have had to sit out football games for missing camp. It was my senior year- there was no way I was missing football games! Check out that watch tan! It took 3 years to go away. (And now I'm pasty as a ghost)



And this picture is from Kathi Harolson's retirement. My hair seems to be finally under control. (Though I bet I didn't do it.)

You'll notice in all these pictures I'm wearing a watch. I had a stuffed animal in the hospital with me that wore the watch around it's neck so I could always see the time. There are only a few pictures of me in high school when I didn't have one on. Usually why dancing, or if I purposefully took it off for a fancy occasion. I was addicted to knowing the time. Now, I never wear a watch. It hurts my wrists too much with the rubbing. Nerve damage that didn't become apparent until later. (At this point, it was more my fingers that were the problem).

This picture I'm including because it's the only one I could find in the other brace. I HATED this brace. It was foam- and it got hot and itchy and was so uncomfortable. I wore it for awhile in the hospital before I got my fancy one, and then I had to wear it while taking showers. I'm so grateful for all my Mom did for me. I'm sure it was very scary for her to have me lay down on the bed, completely still and take off one brace to put the other on. She washed my hair for me, but by the time I got home I could do most everything else. I just needed someone nearby in case something happened. It was never the big things I struggled with. I have memorizes of balancing in releve on one foot in group PT while others struggled to stay balanced on two feet with their eyes closed. (I was with mostly elder patients.) My gross motor skills came back quickly once they did (though the memory of having to relearn how to walk, and the indignity of having to step both feet on stairs, so slowly, are still with me). It was the fine motor skills that were hard. I became very adept with my feet. My hands were not strong enough to press the buttons on the TV to change the channels, so my feet did it instead.

And finally, one of my favorite pictures of all. This was my senior Red Jacket picture (I think I also have one in my uniform, but I love this one.) My sister, Courtney, gave me this shirt when I was in the hospital to cheer me up. I still have it. It certainly doesn't fit (though I can squeeze into it), but I can't part with it. Courtney was such a source of support for me, even though at the time we were never very close. One day when I was still in the regular hospital, I remember she came in and asked to shave my legs. My mother has a picture on her bedside table of me sitting in a chair and Courtney on the hospital bed with the leg massager things (that help with circulation) on. Until you notice what a mess my hair is, I doubt you'd know I was the patient. Lastly though, this picture is my favorite because you can see my scar in it (at least in the large one). My real senior portraits they airbrushed it out (badly too) even though we asked them not to. It's not a blemish, and I didn't want to hide it. At that point, It became part of who I am. You can't see it now unless you know what you are looking for (a point of pride of my neurosurgeon) I wish I could say the same thing about the one on my hip- which was never as unnoticeable as the one on my neck. Oh- and my hair looks awesome. But man was it big!

Physical Therapy

I'm frustrated with PT. Last week, I went in with no pain and the PT decided that we would do one last session then be done. This week, I went in with considerable amount of pain, he did massage and ionto, no exercise, and I have another appointment next week. And today, well especially overnight, my arm hurts worse. It's supposed to be getting better! In fact, it had already got better.


You get another dog picture today because I haven't taken a picture of much else. This is not today though, this is two days ago. Today she is mopey. Today is a rainy, rainy day. The dog is very mad at me because everytime I open the door it's still rainy and she wants me to open the door to a nice day. Yesterday was a nice day. Absolutely gorgeous. Of course, even though I don't work in an office it's moot that it's a nice day because I'm holed up in the basement doing freelance work. Today I have printed items to edit, so I could have done that outside, but nope. The weather had other plans.

Still no knitting pictures. I am not knitting much at all lately. Between my arm (which based on how it felt in Phoenix I don't think is caused by knitting), work, and it being a boring stockinette sock it's going really slowly. If I was doing a cool design it would probably be finished by now. I realized I still have the Zombie Socks (raverly link, sorry for those not on there) on the needles. One is completely done, but the other is still in the cuff ribbing. Those will definetly be what I pick up next. Possibly before I do the match to the sock I'm knitting right now.

I also got Wendy's "Socks From the Toe Up". I've only ever done one toe up sock, and it wasn't great, but I'm bound to try again. The book has very simple designs; the opposite of the Cookie A book. But I'm bound to try some. The book was expensive- so I need to do at least 4 to have it equate to buying actual patterns. :)

Since I'm not working right now I'm trying to be more helpful around the house. So far I think I'm doing okay. Most of the house is cleaner than usual (quite the feat since I'm home all day) and last night I made dinner that was ready pretty much as Kevin got home. I resigned up for the FlyLady emails (those do NOT work when you work full time) but I refuse to put my shoes on while I'm home. If an absolute true, don't have a second to find shoes emergency came up, I have no problems being in public without them. I wish she wouldn't send so much crap, but I like the reminders to stop and clean a bit, and the ideas of what to clean.

Feeling lost...

Here's a cute dog picture. You are getting the dog picture due to lack of content and because I'm sad and cute dogs make it better.

I got bad news yesterday. The Girl Scout council decided to offer the job to another candidate. I really cannot believe this as I was perfect for the job and had fantastic interviews. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, because the pay was low, the hours long, and the job was based in Cedar Rapids. But it was a job that I really wanted. I want to do non-profit work and make a difference. I don't have much chance of getting a teaching job for next year (A&M still hasn't sent me back my paperwork for the license!) but its looking more and more like I'll have an empty summer and will be substituting in the fall. I'm applying for a few more positions today but there are just so few full-time professional positions available. I'm not looking at part time work yet. I did put in my unemployment claim yesterday (*cries* that's something I never thought I'd do) but since I left with so much vacation, I don't think I'm eligible until July.

Yesterday I did get more knitting done that I thought I would. After having completed the outline of the freelance writing I'm doing (so 90% done- just have to type it in) I got an email to stop working because the client was revising specifications. We were supposed to get new specs by EOD yesterday, but the email never came. So I don't have that yet either. I am really really hopeful that I'll be able to use most of what I've already written!

I also got news of another freelance assignment, so I'm very excited about that. I haven't recieved the full information yet.

I went skating yesterday afternoon, but have decided that I will keep my skating posts at Skittles Skates

So today I need to:
- write at least one, hopefully two cover letters
- send those off
- 1 load of laundry
- clean the kitchen
- not be sad
- write if required, otherwise knit
- get out the fabric for mom's table runner and find matching fringe.

Knitting

I thought I'd share my most recent completed socks.

These socks are from Cookie A's "Sock Innovation" book. It is a fabulous treasure trove of socks. And an incredible bargain when you consider that her sock patterns cost $5 or more each. Because I have small feet, I probably won't do too many of the cable socks (I tried one and even below gauge it was huge) but I plan to make all the lace ones, since the stretch is better for small feet.

One of the few socks in the book I didn't care to knit at all was Kai-Mei (raverly library link). The giant holes on the feet just didn't interest me. But a knit-along I participated in chose it this month and I thought I should give it a try. It turns out, I LOVE it. The holes don't feel holey, and they aren't bulky in shoes. I chose a yarn with nylon (Knitpicks Kettle Dyed Essential) so that I can wear them on carpet with a bit more confidence than a 100% merino wool. These will be my going to friends house socks- for those times I know I have to take my shoes off. They really are perfect I think. I'm so glad I knit them.

The yarn was an experiment. Knit Picks had a lot of complaints about the kettle dyed yarns not being the same colors, and they only sold them in 50g skeins, so you had to use two to make a pair of socks. They've changed the put up to 100 gram skeins, hopefully the color will be more even. But that wasn't the only complaint. Some of the kettle dyed skeins were turning out solid. No variation at all. Since they cost more than a solid skein, you would expect variation.

Well, I got 4 different colors of the 50g skeins when they were on sale (they cost less than the solids). I knew I was taking a chance that colors wouldn't match and I'd get solid skeins. To my bare eye, in the skein, all the colors seemed to match, and wine (the color above) was the only one that looked solid. I knit the sock that is on The Loopy Ewe blocker first. I was THRILLED to find that it had very lovely, subtle variation to the color. I was slightly disappointed when I did the second sock and found no variegation at all. Aww well. From a distance I don't think you can tell.

I am currently knitting with the yarn I bought from Dibadu. Shopping in German was worth the hassle, as the Wild Funnies pools beautifully. I originally made Kai-Mei with this yarn, but it was too busy for the design, and I frogged after one sock. So now I am just doing 3x3 ribbing cuffs with a stockinette foot and a short row heel. I am much happier with this decision and hope to post the socks soon.

However, now I have to do some writing, so there will not be much knitting today.

First post. See how this goes...

I'm determined to keep a blog. I had a very active livejournal all through college, but it wasn't really a blog. It was much more an interactive way of keeping up with my friends. It seems like a blog is more a monologue - all about me.

The thing is most people who blog write a lot about their kids. I don't have kids! And I won't make my blog all about my dog. So what do I write about? I keep a skating journal, and I think for now that will stay separate but I might just migrate that over here. I knit, so I might write about that. And I'm currently looking for a job. Probably won't go into much detail of that, as professional and personal should stay seperate.

But for this week, I have a goal to write SOMETHING everyday. And maybe to add some pictures.

So today will be a to-do list.

- Fold Darks laundry (done)
- Dust bedroom (done)
- Write freelance assignment (working on it)
- Lunch with Aimee at noon
- LTS at 5:45