Tuesday, November 17, 2009

No Knitting Going on Around here!

I haven't knit a stitch in weeks! Which is really unusual. Usually I have my knitting always with me. And I'll confess to getting tons of knitting done while sitting in the passenger seat of the car. Obviously with Bob gone, I'm doing all my own driving. But I'm also still sorta working both jobs - which hasn't left much free time. I came home from Quilt Festival, Houston with several new cross stitch charts I bought from The Silver Needle. If you like cross stitch at all, you really need to go check out their website. I can't imagine how, but one of these days, I will be in Tulsa, OK and be able to spend the day in the store. Actually, one of these years, I'd love to attend Camp Wannasew, but we'll see about that.

I haven't even been working on anything new either! The Silver Needle has a monthly mailing I subscribed to for awhile called Secret Needle Night. (Bet you don't see what's coming.....oh. You figured it out?) Because the whole thing is ..... a secret! Fun fibers, cute designs stitched on 10 count so they don't take long. Well, when I became a "collector" instead of a stitcher, I stopped the subscription. I knew I had other cross stitch kits laying around besides these.

Well, this week I bought a small tote with a lid. It's only a 12 quart and slightly larger than a sheet of paper. I've spent odd bits of time finding all(?) my cross stitch kits and putting them all together in this little tote. Actually, I liked this so much, I bought another one today to put all my needlepunch stuff into.

So I finished a Bent Creek design and I've been working on a Christmas Secret Needle Night kit from 2003! The idea is that I'll get to spend a bit of time each week working on a cross stitch design. It may take quite awhile to finish anything, but at least there will be progress!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

What's Your Weekend Like?

What are your plans for the weekend? I read other people's posts and am amazed at the things people do, places they go, and events they attend. They have a much busier life than I do, that's for darn sure! But I'll admit that there usually isn't a whole lot going on around here. Without school age children, that also cuts out a lot of activities.

And when is your weekend? With this new job of mine, my "weekend" is actually Monday and Tuesday. My minister always said that his sabbath day was Monday. Sunday was (obviously) a heavy work day for him. And at the time, he was minister to three churches each Sunday. But this job is also a second job for me. So Mon & Tues are spent pretty heavy working in the basement in the woodshop. I've decided to declare Wed my "day off." Which is odd since I do go to work - but usually I only work Wed from 5-9 (pm). I did little bits of nothing this past Wed and it was wonderfully refreshing.

I've been fairly busy while Bob is gone cleaning up stuff around here. I live in a very small house with a full basement. The basement is where we do all our work stuff and unfortunately too much of it migrates upstairs into the living room. So I have been cleaning up, organizing, and carting things back where they belong. I know that it won't last too long once he is home again - we will have a bunch of orders for stuff that will need packaged and shipped out and that will happen in the living room.

But I'm hoping it will be a bit easier this time. I haven't had a kitchen table since I bought this house. And while I regretted the lack, it wasn't as if there was a lot of room around here anyway. I went to the local Salvation Army the other day looking for new work shirts. And they had a nice (small) kitchen table and two chairs! I went home to measure - taking the chance the table would still be there the next day. And it was! Picture a table and chairs from probably the 50's and you've got a good idea what mine looks like. But it is in wonderful shape! I cleaned it up good when I got the set home. Stopped at the store and bought new rubber feet for all the metal legs. And some rustoleum primer and new paint for all the legs. I'm really hoping that the weather will stay decent so I can paint everything before Bob gets home. Especially since he doesn't know anything about it!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Light Bulb Moment?

I think I've just had an "ah ha!" moment and I'm hoping that any sweater knitters who happen to stop by can confirm.

I don't have a whole lot of luck with sweater sizing. I'm always just a bit off. I knit swatches and manage to get and keep gauge. I wear a size 36 bra and usually knit the size closest to 36. The lightbulb moment came here....we're supposed to measure around the fullest part of the bust, right? Because I wear a 36D - so the fullest part is actually 41". So when I'm knitting the pattern somewhere in the 36" - 38" range, I'm dooming myself to failure, aren't I?

Shoot! And wow.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Totally Random. Without Pictures.

1. I love people's random posts. Disjointed "comments" and pictures thrown together.

2. Bob still has my camera. No pictures. Makes me wish I was rolling in a few extra dollars and could go buy a second camera.

3. If he didn't take any pictures, he's not getting the camera next trip, that's for certain.

4. After much angst, lathe problems solved. It took an extra trip to the store (1.5 hours away) and several phone calls to get everything solved, assembled and working.

5. I so wish I had asked if I could buy the display model.

6. So I was late sending out my prize contribution to Chan and haven't taken the time yet to see if it has even arrived at her house. But it was shipped out last week and I hope the winner loves it.

7. World Series! I don't have a tv. Well, technically, I own a television, just no cable. Which means i don't get to watch anything except dvds. But I own a stereo.

8. On the radio, I can get Eagles and Penn State football games. Nascar races. Rap, country, rock, and oldies. Christian and spanish speaking stations. Do you think I could find even ONE station that I could listen to the ball game on for longer than three pitches??? Is that really so much to ask for??

9. Apparently it is too much to ask for. No, I am not willing to pay for cable.

10. I ripped out my Norwegian Woods shawl back to the first bead row. The beads were just too small. I got really lucky and found some beads (on sale even!) at the local A.C. Moore that will go wonderfully.

11. I am taking another turning class tonight. Actually, it is a class on how to sharpen our chisels. Can't wait because everything downstairs is dull as dishwater.

12. Dinner at Carraba's on the way home!