What?  Again?  Yup - you heard me right - again.  2 days before the end of training, they let me go.  They didn't think I was learning the job fast enough. WHAT?  I can't say I agree.  We spent 5 weeks watching Power Point presentations - I now know the meaning of "death by Power Point" - and only 5 days doing any kind of real hands on learning.  I had mentioned to them several times that I'd learn this stuff faster if we did more hands on and less Power Point, but to no avail.  All my test scores were 100%, so I must have been learning something!  I can't say that the trainer was doing a good job - I would have taught it completely different.  But, my opinion doesn't count, so I'm unemployed, beating the bushes and having to file for unemployment for the first time in my life.  A totally demoralizing process.

On the positive side of things the Ohio River Valley Fiber Arts Guild held it's annual retreat this past weekend in New Harmony, IN and it was wonderful!  I was in charge of it this year and was very thankful everything went off without a hitch.  Nothing like 3 days of doing nothing but spinning to boost your spirits a little bit!  I spent the time spinning some Romney I picked up a while back from Wandering Ewe Farm.  I plan on knitting a sock (maybe 2 if I have enough) out of it for the Interpreter's with Historic New Harmony.  I had knit them a sock some 15 years ago when I worked for HNH to use with the sock blocker they have.  They pull it out and show it to school kids on tours.  The pattern is one used by historic reenactors but at that time I didn't spin nor did I have any handspun to use.  I used a rustic looking oatmeal colored yarn that looked good enough at the time.  This time, they get a handspun and handknit sock!  I had run into one of my former co-workers at the grocery store a week ago and she mentioned that the sock I had knit then was full of holes and falling apart.  They were wondering what they were going to do, so I offered to knit another.  Only now, I have something I can use this Romney for.

Can't say that I like spinning Romney - it's a bit course/kinky for my tastes.  I had bought it to try it - never know what you're going to like spinning until you do, so I can definitely cross it off my list of fav's!  It will make a nice, rustic looking Pioneer sock though!  Must remember to send a moth-proofing sachet with it though and instruct them to store it sealed up with it so the bugs don't get to it.

I also promised someone I'd knit socks for her Barbie doll's.

As a side note to my last entry, I have to come to the defense of my computer guy.  He's a family member whose company maintains the computer systems of our local airport and is as honest as the day is long.  I totally trust him with all things computer related.  He's saved me big bucks on more than one occassion.  This is the first time he's ever charged me for help and he really did need to reformat the whole shebang.  Considering all he's done for me, I have no problem with paying him for the time he had to put in on it considering he did it on his own time.

I did call Microsoft up though to give them an earful (cue the apologies) - no offer of reimbursement for my troubles though.  I did have a couple of little glitches that kept popping up and broke down to call the MS Help Desk as my computer guy wasn't available.  Question: why does a multi-billion dollar company like Microsoft have its help center in India?  No offense to anyone who lives there mind you but why not in America where there are lots and lots of IT folks in need of a job?  I mean, really!  Fortunately, Yuvaraj Kripakara Rao was very helpful - just needed to turn a couple of toggles on and a couple of toggles off, but I just can't help but wonder why not hire American?  Especially considering the current economic woes we find ourselves in.  I'll get down off my political soapbox now.  So - the problems are FINALLY fixed, and I even have a standing invitation to visit Mr. Rao if I ever visit southern India.  I wonder if he's related to my Gastroenterologist?  His last name is Rao, too. 

So - the other day a friend sent me the following:

You never know when your guardian angel will be there for you so I have to try.....   
    
 I am sending this to you to see how many actually read their e-mail ..   
    
 Your response will be interesting..  Pay attention to what you read.   
    
 After you have  finished reading it,  you will know the reason it was sent to you.     
   
 Here goes:     
    
 People   come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.     
    
 When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person..     
    
 When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.  They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.     
    
 They may seem like a godsend and they are.  They are there for the reason you need them to be.     

 Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.     
    
 Sometimes they die.  Sometimes they walk away.  Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand..   
    
 What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.   
    
 The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.     
    
 Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.     
    
 They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.     
    
 They may teach you something you have never done.   
    
 They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.     
    
 Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.         
    
  LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.     
    
 Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.   
    
 It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant...     
    
  Thank you for being a part of my  life.  . . ... . .   
  .  . ... . . .. . Whether you were a reason, a season or a  lifetime.     
    
There were pictures, a request that you send it to all of your friends and a promise something wonderful would happen to you if you did, etc.  You may have received something similar yourself at one time or another.

The hardest one for me to understand are the friends who just walk away.  I've had 2 friends in the past 5 years - both of whom I considered "best friends" - just walk away without an explanation.  When I asked if I had said or done something to hurt or offend them I got no reply.  So now, whenever I think of them (and it's a lot), I still wonder what happened.  If it was my fault I'd at least like to know what I said or did so I could apologize.  I had so few real friends growing up - we moved so many times that it was hard to make or keep friends especially as I grew older.  The friends I did have were really more acquaintances than true friends I suppose and the ones I always considered good friends would eventually quit writing or calling.  Time and distance have a way of ending many a relationship - friendship and otherwise.  I have a couple of exceptions to that - one friend in particular I've known since about 3rd grade (?) and even though I don't hear from her often, I still do hear from her!  It hurts though when a friend leaves your life for whatever reason.  Especially when you don't know why.  It makes it hard to let yourself get close to anyone else for fear they'll hurt you too.  Gives you a good case of paranoia, too!  At least it does me.

Don't mean to sound so morose - it's just something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

Thank you Microsoft for releasing yet another user friendly application (?) that promptly crashed my computer and cost me $165.00 for a FREE download.  Being the smart, savvy computer user that I am (ha, ha) I signed up for automatic updates when I purchased it.  2 weeks ago I get an email that alerts me that the new and improved Internet Explorer 8 is now available to upgrade my current IE7.  So, trusting soul that I also am, I clicked on the "download now" button.  Halfway into the installation I get the dreaded blue screen of death and nothing works.  Nothing - zero - zip - nadda.  Placing a call to my friendly neighborhood computer guy he comes the next day and picks said computer up.  He calls a couple of days after that to inform me that sorry, I'm going to have to reformat your whole computer.  WHAT?  Seems IE8 isn't compatible with the CD burner that came installed on my computer and he wasn't really sure what happened, but... well, the rest as they say is history.

Everything got backed up or saved except Outlook so now I'm trying to rebuild my address book and mourning the loss of a lot of folders with important stuff in them.  Brent, the computer guy, tells me that instead of being on the cutting edge of technology, I was now part of the bleeding edge of technology.  Thanks Microsoft - that's $165.00 buckaroo's I had other plans for - LIKE BUYING MYSELF SOMETHING NICE AT THE FIBER EVENT THIS WEEKEND!!!!

So - I'm slowly trying to catch up with the rest of the world.  In other news, my workroom is 98% done - just have a few odds and ends to tidy up, and I LOVE IT!  Much easier to actually work in now.  In celebration I made myself a new bag - Lazy Girl Designs "Summer Tote" - pics soon.  Now I'm trying to decide whether I want to make some other bags, or make some birdhouses out of the gourds I grew in my garden last summer.

AND - TA DA!!  I have found a new job.  I am now in training to be an Eligibility Specialist for the Indiana Department of Family Social Services Administration.  Fancy talk for I'll be working in a call center helping to process applications for benefits like food stamps and Medicaid.  Pay is good, hours will be reasonable once training is over and I'm hoping I get a 7am-1pm shift so I don't have to give up knit nights (I can finally start coming again!) and Wolfgang Wind Ensemble practice on Friday nights.  The whole thing came about rather strangely - I had posted my resume on a couple of employment sites, one of them being Indiana's Work One site.  Long story short I get a call about a week later from an employment agency who says they're interviewing people for the above mentioned job - would I like to come interview?  I wasn't sure it was something I wanted to do, but hey, when you're unemployed, you don't turn down interviews!  I go to the Work One office here in town for the interview and wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  The person giving the interviews as over 30 minutes late getting there and when she asks for those of us waiting to interview with her to follow her, about 15 people get up from the waiting area to go.  Oh, no - looks like I'm in for a long wait before they get to me.  So, we all follow her back to a room set up with tables and chairs and once we're all seated she starts passing out W-2 forms, payroll direct deposit forms, etc.

We all start looking at each other like - wha... I thought this was an interview.  Turns out if we fill out the paperwork, pass a drug and background test we're hired!  Fastest "interview" I've ever been to!  Now - the catch is, they're only going to hire about 12 of us after training, meaning 3 of us won't be making the cut.  Pressure!!!  So, I fill out the paperwork, pass the tests and started training.  Only 11 of the original 15 showed up on the first day, so the others either didn't pass or decided it wasn't for them.  Now, if I can only learn all the bureacratic mumbo jumbo and 2 different computer programs (one being DOS based -eeek!) maybe I'll have a real job in 3 more weeks.  Best part is I'm working with grown ups for a change instead of "college kids".  Nice...

Progress on my workroom isn't coming along as quickly as I'd like - DH is grumbling about all the "stuff" cluttering the upstairs, but I love the color!  Just not crazy about having to tape edges.  That's my least favorite thing about painting.  But, I've got to get it done, one way or another.  Geez - did all this stuff really come out of that room?  I have read two book though - something I haven't done in a long time.  I read "Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair" and "The Friday Night Knitting Club".  Aunt Purl made me laugh - Knitting Club reminded me a lot of Debbie Macomber's Shop on Blossom St. series - a few too many similarities.

I've applied for at least 15 or more jobs this past week - I HATE filling out forms!!  Any kind of form: questionnaire's, job applications, you name it - I hate filling them out.  Tomorrow I trek down to the school corporation to see if I can get back on as a substitute teacher and then it's over to my college Alma Mater to have a resume tune up.  Fortunately, substitute teacher pay has gone up from $45 a day to $65 a day since I last subbed but the job still ends in May when school does.  So, even if I can get back on as a sub, I'll still have to keep looking for another job as I need year round employment.  So far, I haven't received any calls asking me to come in for an interview which isn't helping my self esteem any.  I feel like such a failure - here I've worked most of the last 30+ years and I just don't have anything to show for it.  No career - no career achievements - no promotions...  sigh...  life just doesn't always turn out the way you envisioned it, that's for sure.  I had hoped to someday manage my own store - to advance from barista, to shift manager, to assistant manager, to store manager.  I guess I'm thinking "now what?"

I had to return my aprons, my hat and all my training materials this week to my former employer.  It took everything I had to keep my mouth shut and just walk in, set it all down and walk away.  Of course my ex-manager was there and when he gave me this "hey, how's it going" greeting I almost told him!  "Oh, it's going great you lousy, two-faced, lieing SOB.."  "Being without employment is just LOADS of fun.  You ought to try it sometime and see how you like it."  Me bitter?  Nah....  Angry as heck?  Yup.  Why this guy is the manager of anything is beyond me - I've never had a worse one.

So - hopefully by the first of the week I'll be finished painting and trying to move all the stuff back in - man, I've got to get rid of some of this!  And I'll finally be getting around to writing up a couple of patterns and starting on a project I've been thinking about for a long time.  Something that will make a little money on the side after another job comes along.

I did something last week that I never thought I would - I quit a job.  I didn't want to, but was feeling like I was being forced to either quit or get fired and felt that quitting before I got fired would be the smarter thing to do.  So, here I am, unemployed and looking for another job.  I had hoped to find another job and then quit, but things at work came to the breaking point last week and the straw that broke the camel's back finally did.  I yanked off my apron, practically threw my headset at the shift manager and walked out.  I had had enough.  I could go on a real rant at this point, but all that would do is bring up all the anger and hurt of the past week and I've had enough of that, too.

Why is it that whenever one is faced with a major life changing event the need to DO SOMETHING rears its head?  I'm talking big project here - something worthy of all the angst I've been dealing with.  Sitting and finishing up a couple of languishing projects isn't big enough, starting a new project isn't what I need, I need something BIG!  So, last night as I stood in the doorway of my workroom and looked at all the accummulated mess that was in there it hit me - time to paint the room.  Painting a room - now there's a project worth getting worked up about!  We've lived at this address almost 6 years now and I can't say that much as been done to make the house a home.  Oh, a couple of rooms have been painted, and I've tackled re-landscaping part of the front yard and putting in a garden in the back, but that's been about it.  The rest of the house still sports its previous owner's colors - colors so pale they're practically white and painted with a flat finish so that it hardly seems there are walls in any of the rooms.  That flat finish just sucks up the light.  They're favorite colors are putrid pale grey, deathly pale Pepto-bismal pink, pale jaundiced yellow and an icy mint green.  The green had to go right away - it was horrid.  That room got painted before we even moved in.  Since then one bathroom has been painted, the kithen/dining room is painted and is awaiting some wallpaper border and the entryway has been done.  Pretty pathetic, I know.  DH keeps saying he's going to get it done, but so far all he's gotten done is the kitchen/dining room.  I've painted the living room and one bathroom and I had to get a pro to do the entryway as it is open to the second floor and there was no way I was going to try getting on a ladder that high up!

So, paint my workroom it is.  Now, if you've ever seen my workroom, you'd realize this is not going to be an easy task.  First I have to get as much of the "stuff" out of there so I can get to the walls to paint.  I've been weeding "stuff" out of that room for the last 5 years and still don't have any room to work.  I quickly realized that I'd have to do the room in segments as there was no way I was going to haul all that "stuff" downstairs only to have to haul it all back up once I was finished.  Stage one is now in progress - about 1/3 of the room has been decluttered and the "stuff" hauled down the hall to the master bedroom for awhile.  And like all BIG projects one little change leads to a whole bunch of changes.  Since I've drug my nice long work table over to the only window, I now have to rearrange everything else on top of painting and decluttering.  So eventually all the bookcases will have to be moved and my towering wall o' yarn will have to move across the room as well.  By the time I'm done, it will have been totally rearranged or I'll be in a padded cell in a special jacket just for the occassion.  Why am I doing this to myself?  Isn't the fact that I'm unemployed and need to be finding another job BIG enough?  Nope.

It will be nice not to have the super pale jaundiced yellow staring at me everytime I go in there to work in the future.  I'm painting it a nice pumpkin color.  Something warm and rich and with an eggshell finish, the light won't get sucked into the walls anymore.  So, first coat of paint is on the trim and the walls  of that part of the room - tomorrow I tackle coat #2 and begin trying to figure out how to rearrange things without losing my sanity.  And apply for some more jobs...

But of a different kind.  Job hunting madness - bleah.  Back in October the Starbucks store I worked at was closed and I was transferred to another location and things just haven't been the same.  Let's just say that the work environment is unpleasant and leave it at that.  So, I'm putting in applications other places but so far no luck.  I did have an offer to become a manager of a Quizno's restaurant - but I'd have to drive over an hour one way to get to it.  No, that's not going to work for me.  Nice offer - just too far away.  I need to follow up on some others today if I can.

So, when I'm not job hunting, I'm working and when I'm not doing either one of those I try to work on my knitting or spinning.  I have finished up a couple of sweaters for my dog - she hates them.  (thanks alot)  And I'm currently working on some fingerless gloves to wear at work.  I get put in the drive thru almost every time I'm there and the window faces north where all this cold, bitter winter wind we've been having lately likes to blow in.  Imagine standing outside for 5-7 hours a day in a cold, blustery wind and you'll get an idea of what it's like!  Brrrrr....  DS is in honors band this year so every Monday I've been waiting for him to get finished at the nearby Starbucks and I get a couple of solid hours of knitting in while I'm there - it's nice being on the other side of the counter for a change!  A couple of their barista's used to work with me at my old location so it's good to be able to talk to them, too.  I miss my peeps!

I have already knit a headband I can wear over my ears and pull down a bit over my forehead and that's helped, but my poor hands are frozen!  It's hard to handle money with gloves on, so I'm knitting these gloves so that just the tips of my fingers are exposed so I can handle the money easier.  Stick a couple of those hand warmers hunters use in their gloves and I think I'll be in business!  Glove number one is done, but a couple of the fingers need tweaking and glove number two is about half finished.  I had to knit them in black (dress code) and I'm finding that knitting anything in black is hard to see - hard to see the stitches unless you have a really strong light.  I decided to try my hand and making my own design for the headband and gloves and am pleased with the results.  I'll have to post pics when I get them all done.  I'm going to call the pattern "Drive-Thru".

So, just a quick update - need to get out the door to run errands and mail a couple of boxes.  Wherever you are I hope you're staying warm! 

Who has time to knit when they could be spinning?!  Lynne Vogel's class at Threadbear has me spinning like crazy lately trying out some of the things I learned with the rovings I already had on hand.  I couldn't decide whether I wanted to 2 ply this Sweet Grass Wool Targhee or Navajo ply it so it's been sitting on the bobbins for some time.  I finally decided to 2 ply it and love the results!

Next is some Opalessence merino top in Hollyberry - I have it 2 plyed, but don't have a picture of the finished results yet.  Here's the bump on the left and the single on the right:

And this lovely blend that didn't have a label - lovely, lovely, lovely!

A couple of weeks ago, I made an 8 hour trek north to the mecca of all things fiber - Threadbear Fiberarts in Lansing, MI to take a workshop with author, spinner, knitter, etc., Lynne Vogel.  Lynne wrote the books "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" and "The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters".  It was a 2 day workshop that focused on spinning - primarily color techniques using roving you have purchased or dyed yourself.  I am so glad that I went!  Even though it was a l o n g drive, Lynne is a wonderful teacher and the company of the guys (both 2 legged and 4 legged) at Threadbear made it more than worth it.

The first day focused on color techniques for novice spinners.  We learned how to divide colors, spin to keep colors clear, spin to make colors blend, how to spin smooth, thick and thin and how much twist to use.  Day 2 was an extension of what we learned on day 1 and we learned how to make corkscrew yarn, blend colors using a drum carder, and add fiber inclusions.  I learned how to do long draw!!!  I can't stop doing long draw!!!  I love it!  It has made my spinning so much easier.  That's Lynne demonstrating on her wheel in the picture above.

Matt and new friend Jamie spinning away.

Since I've been home, I've been madly spinning and knitting test swatches with the rovings from the workshop and have plyed my ? and spun and plyed 8 ounces of Hollyberry Merino from Opalessence.  I purchased a pair of hand cards while I was there, so I've been practicing with them and trying my hand at blending a couple of roving kits I bought from my friend Kristi at our guild's spin retreat a couple of years ago.  Needs more work.  On the wheel now is a merino/tussah silk blend from Chamomile Connection in a lovely shade of olive green with brown, red and white flecks.

Jamie's friend (and now mine) Betty wither Jamie's Paper Frog - kinda like Flat Stanley, only greener.

Besides the hand cards, I brought home the 2 braids of roving from the workshop, a 3rd braid of Lynne's lovely BFL roving, a braid of Seawool roving (70% wool, 30% seacell) from Creatively Dyed Yarns, some patterns and yummy merino/silk yarn from Manos del Uruguay and even yummier alpaca/silk yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas.  Sigh... I could have pulled my van up to the front door and literally packed it full of yummy yarny goodness if I had an unlimited source of moola, but since I didn't... I didn't.

Matt, Lynne and Rob enjoying a break and posing for a picture, of course!

It was great to see Matt and Rob again after several years and meet Mr. Busby.  He and Tate are quite the shop mascots although I told them I think they really need a to get a shop kitty to round things out.  Don't think that will happen anytime soon...  Thanks guys for a really great workshop and a really great visit!  I'll be back!

Oh - on the way to the shop I passed this little oddity along the way - it's on top of a Meijer's gas station:

Full sized giraffe!

Materials:

• 1 skein Mango Moon Recycled Silk Yarn or other bulky weight yarn
• US Size 7 or 8 double pointed needles - whichever one will give you gauge
• 1 stitch marker

Gauge: 4 stitches per inch

Abbreviations:
K - Knit
P - Purl
M1 - Make one
Sl 1 - Slip one
PSSO - Pass slipped stitch over
St. St. - stockinette stitch

Cast on 27 stitches, divide between 3 needles and join in the round.  Knit for 5 inches.  On the next row you will begin to knit back and forth across the rows.
*Next row: K1, M1, K to last stitch, M1, K1, turn work.  P next row*
Repeat between *'s one time.
K in St. St. for 2 inches, end with a P side row.
Next row: K across and rejoin in the round, K 2 more rows.
*K1, sl 1, K1, psso, K to last 3 stitches, sl 1 K1, psso, K1.  K next row.*
Repeat between *'s one more time.
K 3 rows, bind off.

Wear your mitts with the knit side or purl side facing out!  (shown with purl side out)

Every effort has been made to ensure these instructions are without error, so please forgive me if you find a boo-boo.

Copyright @ 2008 by Lea Vollmer

I recently finished a long standing UFO, Sarah James' Entrelac Jacket.  Knit with Noro Kureyon, I had enough left over that I decided to try my hand at design and knit a similar jacket for my dog Zoey.  The jacket was knit in entrelac panels and then knit together with seed stitch bands, adding seed stitched edges and a collar.  I knit Zoey's jacket the same way, first knitting the panels and then joining them together with the seed stitch bands.  I then picked up around the neck opening and did the collar.  I love how it came out!  This is actually the second version of the doggie sweater as the first one I knit in some worsted weight yarn I had on hand as a test run to see if it would actually work.  It needed some adjusting, so this jacket is version #2.  Now that she's had time to wear it out on our walks, I see I need to adjust around the neck opening some more and knit that band wider and tweak the fit some more.  Otherwise, I think I did OK!  Hubby took the picture - I think he did rather well!

Zoey was a reluctant model, but I finally got this one of her by herself.  She didn't want to have to sit still and she didn't want to look at the camera!  I have some more odd balls of Noro Kureyon in my stash, so I think I'll knit a 3rd version in a different color and see how it comes out.

The scarf I started designing a L O N G time ago is back from the photographer, so I can finally put the finishing touches on the pattern for it and see if I can market it to either an online magazine, regular magazine or try selling it myself outright.  My friend, Michelle, is a professional photographer and while she specializes in weddings, she agreed to try her hand at photographing my scarf and I'm very pleased with the results!

In job news, I'm still with Starbucks, getting transferred to one of the east side stores 2 weeks ago.  The only downside is I now have a 30 minute drive to get to work instead of a 5.  I am getting more hours though, which helps, and the tips seem to be a little higher.  This location is about 3 times busier than my old store so I am good and tired when I finish my shift!  I understand from the other partners that come Christmas shopping season we get even busier - way, way, busier.  Hope I can manage to last through the end of the year!