Scrap scarf

It's been a week of clean up and throw out. We got our new bedroom set on Tuesday, and in preparation, decided to get rid of some of the crap in the spare room. Nick cleaned up his Lego and finally threw out his PEZ collection. I de-stashed. I had noticed that my yarn collection was growing out of the two designated boxes, it was time. I finally got rid of all of the nasty acrylic stuff, the tiny odds and ends and the half dozen half finished doilies. It was both sad and refreshing. One of the results of the process was the decision and execution of this little lovely.

(I am referring to the scarf, not the cat)

He is thrilled, I promise.

My panacea

Nick is out of town again. It's my least favorite part about his new job. I am reluctantly getting used to it, and try to enjoy having the house to myself. The first night is always the hardest. The house feels ominous, the cats are usually restless because something is amiss, and I stay up way past my bed time in a feeble attempt to trick myself into falling asleep quickly.

When he is gone, I try to pack my schedule, spending time with my folks or my girl friends. This time though, I wasn't feeling so hot at the start of the week. Monday night, I went to the Mystery Sock class at Temptations because I was afraid if I called off sick, I'd be blacklisted from their in-demand classes. Tuesday, I curled up on the couch, caught up on all of the crappy TV shows Nick doesn't like and felt sorry for my sickly self.

Last night though, I snapped out of it. I realized I only had two more evenings to take advantage of having the house (and the kitchen) to myself. You see, in addition to keeping busy when I'm home alone, I also take the opportunity to eat the foods that he thinks are gross. Last night, it was Drunken Alaskan Crab Legs, steamed broccoli (in our new rice steamer!) and focaccia. So yummy! And tonight, as I typed this, I scarfed down a big bowl of this awesome delight. Neither really made up for having only Simon to snuggle with at night, but it does help just a little.

Socks!

Been a knitting fool lately. Stress always makes my fingers work faster. Also, I wanted to make socks for my aunt, and the first pair weren't up to par, so I had to churn out an improved pair.

Here's the first pair:


They are nice, but I made the cuff a bit too short...



And round two:


Makes for some happy feet!

Stuck!

I've spent about 10 hours on my quilt so far. It's a lot of work, ironing, measuring, cutting, cursing, sewing, ironing, planning, agonizing, sewing, ironing, etc. I've gotten all of my squares stitched together and the pattern is arranged, I started stitching the pieces together, and somehow jammed my machine!! I fixed it once and it worked for a few goes, but now it is stuck again and I am frustrated. Good thing the yarn came to finish Nick's Xbox scarf, I'm in need of the diversion!

But... here's a sneak peek at my unintentionally Halloween themed quilt. I'm excited to hand stitch the layers. I think it will be therapeutic. (I made my first quilt entirely by hand).

Do you see the pattern? I'm going to stitch it out in green and orange thread.

New Job!

So, I am finally able to publish the posts I wrote over the past month about the interview process, the nerves and anxiety and excitement.

It didn't help that I was really uncomfortably sick on Friday. I think part of the reason I got sick to begin with had a lot to do with stress. I bought vitamins yesterday and am going to try to take them and get my immune system back in shape!

I put in my two weeks on Friday. I knew that it was going to be sad, and it was. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, making sure all of my responsibilities are handed off safely and getting through the day to day basics. I still don't quite believe it, to be honest. I have never been at a full time job as long as I've been with my current job. It really does feel like my second home (which is both good and pathetic at the same time). I keep thinking about 4 year phases... high school, college, job! It has been a great experience and I think that I've grown up a lot in my position. I am better at making decisions on my own, I am better at saying "no" when I have to (thank you, sales reps), I am more confident in dealing with people and I think of myself as a grown up finally, instead of a naive kid.

I am nervous about starting all over in a new place. Luckily, the people there have already proven to be kind and interesting. While talking with my future boss, I feel engaged and excited to get my hands dirty. It's going to be intense at first, I think. Two weeks of training and I'm expected to be up and running in 30 days. First and foremost, I have to learn to use a Mac! Yikes! :)

A new kind of stash!

My yarn stash has been getting a little out of hand over the past couple of years. I'm usually pretty good at buying for specific purposes and can follow through with what I've started, but that doesn't mean that I'm not left with lots of odds and ends. I have no idea what to do with most of these tiny bits, but I feel confident that inspiration will strike at some point, or that I will need three feet of lime green eyelash yarn for some project or another and then, oh, boy, I am covered!


Now, with the help of ebay, I am running into another kind of problem. Fabric stash! I'll admit, before I even got my sewing machine, I already had a few remnants (illustrated above) from various projects and good deals.

This fabric, for instance, was marked down to less than a dollar per yard and I bought it because the colors matched my old apartment. Now, it happens to match my craft room! What shall I do... curtains? Pillows? A throw? It's kind of stretchy and odd, so it may be a challenge, but I suppose it's better to get practice from it than to leave it balled up in a drawer!

And then, of course since I got the machine, I got some fabric for a large bag I'd like to make at some point...

And, back to the ebay situation... the other night, I got a little bid happy and ended up with 18 new fat corners! For the low, low cost of $24! That's pretty good, as far as I know - they're $2 a pop at JoAnn's!

I've been inspired by Quilt Month on Sew, Mama, Sew. They've posted a lot of great tips for newbs like me! Now, I just have to pick a design and jump in. Maybe I won't have so much of a stash once that's done... maybe.


Orange, black and green!

StrengthsFinder 2.0

So, I just took a personality test thing for figuring out how to maximize your strengths. I read through the possible characteristics before I took the test and kind of tried to guess at which I thought I would get. I have to admit, I was really surprised by the results. I'm not sure I 100% agree with all of them, but there are helpful suggestions for each and I can see how all of them can help me strengthen my skills. Anyway... here are my results:

Below are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

How well do you think these themes describe me?

Maximizer

People who are especially talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.

Adaptability

People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Communication

People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Input

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Responsibility

People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

To learn more about the Clifton StrengthsFinder and how you can discover your top five themes, visit http://strengths.gallup.com