One down, one to go

One more week to go until I'm freeeeee. I've got an exciting new project coming up with one of my fellow knitters and I can't wait to get started. In Ravelry news, have you used the experimental pattern search? My new favorite tool and I'm just trying to spread the word because I don't want this one to go away! You can limit by yardage, yarn weight, type of project. It's amazing and kind of rolls all of the search parameters into one easy to use tool. Change one thing and up comes a new list of projects! Try it!

Covet! Wednesday

Covet Wednesday really will be full of things I want from here on out. But just this last once I splurged on this yarn. Sundara's special run of Tulip from her Flowers from My Mother's Garden in her 100% silk laceweight. If you're gonna go out do so with a bang. This will make a beautiful shawl or stole at some point. I received another skein of her silk for the Seasons yarn club and love to look at it and love on it and can't wait to see this one in person. It's not in my usual color range but I've been feeling a bit more adventurous lately. Do you think that has to do with the fact I'm leaving my job soon? I think it does. I've already scored a part-time position at my LYS that will just cover half of the rent and am looking around for something else part time that won't interfere with the possibility of more hours there while fluffing up the income a bit. I keep waffling between how great this is and how terrifying it is. Right now I'm leaning toward great. Good things come to those who are willing to take the leap.

Music Monday

While crafting at Jessica's place yesterday the subject of desert island albums came up. She said that for a long time her album was the White Album and it got me to thinking about what mine would be. It took about two seconds. David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is probably my most cherished album. It fits any mood, the lyrics are amazing and I think it's one of the most well-conceived concept albums ever. EVER. This was the first piece of vinyl I ever bought and it's got the original liner notes with lip licking pictures of a very young and sexy Bowie as well as the rest of the band. When I'm feeling ambivalent about my turntable I always reach for this and it gets my audiophile juices flowing again. Words can't express - just listen.

Good Things, Small Packages

garden #3
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

I met up with Jessica last night for dinner and a movie. Dinner was to die for. Ocho in Ballard has delicious small plates - fried artichoke hearts with aioli and beet vinaigrette, spicy garlic prawns, tortilla espanola, and basque tuna with bread salad. It was so good and if I could have kept eating without bursting I would have, plus they have a great sangria and the bartender has an arm for long pours. We headed down to the Majestic Bay to catch Miss Pettigrew which was charming and funny and had great great great costumes and sets. The only thing that hampered my movie-watching was the random woman wearing gallons of perfume which made my mouth taste like perfumey alcohol and my eyes itch. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my impending departure from my current job and fill up on tasty little bites. If only every Friday could be half so delicious.

The Happy Aftermath

After Wednesday's post about wanting a new job I made the momentous decision to put my notice in at the current place on Friday (today!) and to see what happens. It also serves to get my butt in gear and explore some different avenues open to me as far as what I want to do verses what I need to do. I've decided to focus my energy on my school work and getting my UW apps in and studying up and possibly even doing some writing to get back in the habit. Hopefully this Fall will see me attending evening classes somewhat full time at the U and also working at one or two part-time places with flexible schedules and good work environments. It's a difficult thing when you've worked at a job for 3+ years to get out of the comfort of being somewhere familiar with a steady income and suddenly have no set plans for more income (scary) but also freeing and exciting with endless possibilities. What are your dream jobs? What gets you happy and committed to a work place? How do you find a good balance between paying the bills and being fulfilled in your everyday work? I know it will work itself out eventually, but for the here and now I woke up happy this morning.

Covet! Wednesday

Continuing in yesterday's tired and stabby mood (nothing is working correctly, not even a little bit) - I want a new job. I'm working towards freeing myself but it takes time and I'm really trying to ask myself what I actually want (or need) in my life as far as income and work enjoyment and environment goes. I think this is the first time in a long time I've been present in the idea that what I'm deciding affects everything that comes after and just because I've been doing similar work for a long time doesn't mean I have to continue in the same vein. Lots of advice has been coming in from all directions and the consensus is that I need to do something else - what is that something? How is it going to improve my well-being? The way I live? How I feel on a day-to-day basis? My knitting is definitely improving with all of this pondering and hopefully inspiring my thinking as well.

Dog Tired Tuesday

Toward the locks
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

I'm super tired today and I can't figure out why, I didn't even do anything out of the ordinary for St. Patty's day - just my usual knitting group night. I even went to bed at a reasonable hour which has been unusual since the Man has been on tour. Everything is rather blah and to add to my annoyance at being so tired everyone at work has decided to wear some horrible perfume or body spray or bathe in disinfectant or something. I'm cranky and feeling 'stabby' and want to take a nap....or knit.

Erin Go Bragh!

The Man is on tour with his Irish/folk/punk band - Meisce - for St. Patty's Day and is playing the Great American Music Hall in SF tonight. I will not be braving the streets and bars of Seattle tonight, instead I'll be meeting up with my knitting group and taking it easy and trying very hard to avoid the drunken public. As I got ready this morning I put on my Pogues record and celebrated my Irishness in a completely sober way. I picked up this record on my sojourn to Ireland a few years ago and while it's not in constant rotation (the Man is not a fan!) it is my favorite Pogues album. The guys are young and energetic, the song progression is lively and varied and the album itself is a pretty dark red. It also doesn't include my two least favorite Pogues songs - Fiesta & Fairytale in New York. Each time I listen I'm transported back to Dublin and the best two week vacation I've ever had. Real Guiness, incredibly delicious vegetarian food, cider and train rides, over-friendly strapping young Irishmen, being the tallest girl in the room always, and the real deal in Irish music. Erin go bragh!

Sleepy & Mischievous

Sleepy Snake & Mischievous Mouse pattern from Mochimochiland knit up in some random knitpicks merino for my nephew for Christmas. Perfect for a toddler, so much stuff is going to end up inside that snake besides the mouse.

Knitty

The Spring issue of Knitty is up. Yay!

Covet! Wednesday

Annnnd I'm back. This whole time change, which I was totally unaware of by the by, as well as being on vacation last week totally screwed with my routines and sleep patterns and apparently my blogging as well. I mentioned the damage done to my wallet in Spokane and this is one of the culprits. Lovely lovely Louet Riverstone in Eggplant (yes Jessica, eggplant- matchy matchy eh?)which is a light worsted weight and of which I bought a whole sweater's worth. In my own strange mania regarding yarn buying I usually have a project in mind when I splurge on sweater yarn. This didn't happen this time around so I'm up for suggestions on what to knit with the stuff. I have about 1300 yards total so if you're on Ravelry why don't you do some browsing for me? I'd like to knit something in my queue if possible but wouldn't mind something brand spanking new - I'm a nerd for cables and interesting details but kind of simple clean lines. I suppose that's called 'classic' in the fashion world. So head on over to Ravelry and browse my queue, my user name is ErinB, and message me suggestions or search the web and comment here with what you've found. Thanks for the help!

Music Monday?

Cute!
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

Nope, not this week. I did do quite a bit of music/yarn shopping while the fam was in town but I want to take my own pics for posting. We had loads of fun while they were up - eating cupcakes, watching Arrested Development together, and walking Seattle. There was also the added benefit of being off work for five days which makes me wonder why I'm not rich and living the good life, I think I'm made for it. They left on Friday afternoon to make the 15 hour drive back home and I promptly got ill and locked myself in the house for the ensuing weekend. Lots of knitting time and movie watching and sleeping and I'm cured and loathing the return to work. Basically back to normal. Regular blog features will return soon I'm just readjusting to the time change and my usual routine. Blech.

Road Trip!

My mom and sis got to experience every type of weather in their first 48 hours in the Pacific Northwest/Eastern Washington. Sunny here, sunny on the way over, windy across the flatlands, snowing as we interred Grandma's ashes, icy on the way back, snow over the pass, buckets of rain around North Bend and drizzly and gray and cold last night. The trip went very well and us three girls had a great time gabbing in the car and catching up and laughing ourselves silly. We capped off the trip with some yummy Indian food and I ate myself into a food coma. Spokane was...interesting. It's rather sprawling and has really beautiful old buildings as well as some super 70's retro-tastic architecture that my mom remembered from her high school days. We hit up Paradise Fibers which did a bit of damage to the pocketbook yet made me happy and satisfied. I picked up some stuff that I hadn't seen at my favorite LYS and fondled pretty much everything else. Oodles of roving and spinning wheels and yarn, yarn, yarn. I also got most of a sock done in the car and knit until I couldn't see a darn thing which made me wish my project was plain stockinette, alas it was not. We're off today for who knows what - see some sights, maybe take in a cupcake or two. Yum.

Happy Days are Here Again

Ask and I'll deliver. Well, no one actually asked but I do deliver. My most recent FO - Saartje's Booties for a co-worker's brand spankin' new baby girl. I cast on for these last night while watching the first half of Solaris and finished them up this morning while watching The Black Rose. They're knit in Koigu KPPPM leftover from my endpaper mitts and done two at a time on one long circular. Babies have ridiculously small feet and these are so adorable and easy to knit, they look like candy to me. Hopefully the new mom will love them too. I've got a few more projects in line to share but these take the cake for now.

Even better (!) than finishing up a super-fast and satisfying project is the fact that I'm on vacation for this next week. Think...a whole dang week without work. My mom and sis are, as I'm typing, heading up from Northern California to pick me up on our way to Eastern Washington to inter Grandma's ashes. Not so much a downer as one might think since I'll be able to be there to say good-bye and spend some time with close family. I'm excited to show mom around my city and can only hope for some of the sun we've been getting in the past couple weeks. Oh, and I've already scoped out a couple of LYS to hit while over the mountains. I'm looking forward to car knitting and being a passenger for once. Ahhh...good times, knitting, family vacation, and most likely delicious food.