Ewe N I

It appears that I've been stood up.  I didn't expect a big turn-out for the first meeting of our social knitting/crocheting group.  It is a small town, and this was the first scheduled meeting.  But there were two co-workers who told me that they were planning on being there.  And I had hoped that at least one person would see the announcement in the local newspaper and see what it was all about.

But, one co-worker told me this afternoon that she would not be able to come, that she had something else she needed to do.  The other one told me, as she left work about 4:30, that she would be back.  And so, I sat in an empty room for over half an hour, waiting.  Maybe she got the time wrong.  But, I finally gave up and left.

Now, to be nice, both of these ladies probably had very good reasons.  And I'm not really mad at them.  Disappointed, but not angry or even irritated.  I just tell myself that the next time will be different.

On a more positive note, I took the Pink Monstrosity to work today.  I admit it, I was showing off.  (Now, since I don't think I've mentioned it here before, the Pink Monstrosity is a crocheted shawl that has, so far, used up over five skeins of good old Red Heart Super Saver (8 ounces a skein).  It's a very pretty thing, really, inspired by Doris Chan's Crysanthemum Tea Shawl (Ravelry link), which I recently made and which turned out quite nicely.  Anyway, last year I had the privilege of meeting a dear lady, probably in her 80s, who sat in her room in a long-term care facility and crocheted exquisitely elaborate lace doilies.  When I left off working at that facility, I got a copy of her pattern.  And I had the idea of reproducing it in worsted-weight yarn, not having any idea how big the finished product would be or how much yarn it would take.

So, a client saw this humongous shawl, and decided that she wanted to contract with me to make something similar for her.  We discussed her tastes and what she would like in the way of a pattern, and I promised to bring along a couple of possibilities for her to look at.  And, this time I'm going to charge her what I think it's really worth.

DH and I have been living in our new home-town for about four months now, and we really enjoy it.  There are some problems, mainly having to do with the size of the town (about 8,000 people), and the fact that it is pretty isolated from larger towns.  I've had to start driving about 45 minutes, one way, to find a church.  (Okay, I do belong to a denomination that isn't very common around here.)  And I miss the social knitting/crocheting groups that I had been involved with before we moved.

But, hopefully, that is soon to change.  I decided, soon after we moved here, that if there wasn't a group in this area I would just have to start one.  After some searching, I found a place to hold the meeting.  I also found that two of my co-workers are avid knitters.  And one of my Ravelry friends has said that she might be interested in attending.  Our local newspaper has a column that lists when different area groups and organizations meet, and I got them to post information about this new group -- the Preble County Stitchers. 

So, our first meeting is scheduled for this coming Tuesday evening.  We'll see who shows up.  I'm aware that it will may take a while for word to get out about our group, but maybe we'll find that there are a lot of people in this area who would enjoy a group like this.

On a different note, I'm hoping to go digging for my graphics program in all the boxes we have yet to unpack, and install it on my laptop.  I'm getting tired of not being able to post pictures of my work, both here and on Ravelry.  In fact, that may be one reason I haven't been posting here as often as I should.  (Or is that just an excuse.)

My current project is a fairly simple basketweave stitch baby afghan.  I found the pattern on Ravelry.  DH went to a garage sale that our next-door neighbors were having, and came back with a single skein of good old Red Heart Super Saver, in a pretty light blue shade.   After trying a couple of scarf patterns, and being unsatisfied with how they were turning out, I finally settled on this pattern.  And I have to say I'm pleased with the way it's turning out.  I have a couple of co-workers who are expecting, and if I don't give it to one of them I may donate it to a local children's hospital.   Depends on how I feel when it's done.

It's easy to tell that I never had children.  I'm learning, the hard way, about child-proofing (or, rather, puppy-proofing) the house.  I soon figured out that I can't just kick off my shoes after getting home from work.  The first time I did that, the Demon Dog came trotting out of the bedroom with one of those shoes in her mouth.  Oh, well, maybe she's just teaching me how to be a better housekeeper.  Hehe.

I realized that I forgot to mention those size 9 Brittany wooden knitting needles that she chewed up.  (The ones that DH gave me for my birthday.)  I'm still too heart-broken to post a picture of those, although I do keep them in a highly visible place, to serve as a reminder of what happens when I leave things around for temptation.

Have I mentioned how smart DD is, and how she has this way of looking at me with those sad eyes?

Well, once again I've let a blog lapse, although this time it was for good reason.  DH and I have taken a new apartment, and we had to do without internet access for at least a couple of weeks.  I have to say that I was going through withdrawal by the time we got it back.  And, now that things are relatively put-together, I can resume my efforts here.

We've also had an addition to our family.  One of the selling features of this particular apartment was that it has a fenced-in back yard.  I've been pestering DH for a couple of years to get a dog, and this gave me the excuse to press the matter.  So, we went to the local animal shelter and picked out a darling little puppy.  (If I had access to my graphics editing program, I could post a picture of her.)  She's a terrier mix, about 20 pounds of fluff and energy.  The vet is guessing that she's about 18 months old, so she still has a lot of puppy in her.  And that means she likes to chew.  And chew.  And chew.

The first problem occurred when we left her alone in the house for a couple of hours, shortly after we moved in.  Well, when we returned home we found out that she had been busy.  She had gotten into my project bag, and had blue yarn all over the house.  Thankfully, she hadn't done anything with the project itself, but I was still pretty ticked off.  Then again, I wasn't totally without blame.  After all, I had left it out to tempt her.  Well, I soon corrected that mistake.

 But the chewing continued.  She chewed up the cord to DH's computer, when he wouldn't wake up to let her outside.  That cost us about $20, and prompted DH to call her Devil Dog.  The other night, she came trotting out of the bedroom proudly, my shoe in her mouth.  This reminded me to put my shoes away when I take them off, instead of just letting them lay beside the bed.

Oh, well.  She really is a sweet dog.  She loves to curl up in our laps as we relax on our matching reclining chairs, watching television with our eyes closed.  And she is proving to be a wonderful companion.

Oh, last night she found my project bag again.  Grrrrr.

Ever since DH and I moved to this small town, a couple of months ago, I've had it in mind to start a social knit/crochet group.  I've participated in a couple of them, and felt a real sense of satisfaction and kinship with some of those I've met there.  But there have been a few challenges along the way.

One of the ladies I met through Ravelry, who lives a few miles north of here, said she would be interested in such a group.  Then, someone at work told me about a co-worker who was a big knitter, and we had quite an interesting conversation discovering about our shared passion.  She said she might be interested, and mentioned yet another co-worker who was a big knitter.  When I spoke to her, she was all for a group like I described.  So, including myself, that makes four potential members of my group.

Now, there remained the problem of where to meet.  Since this is a small town, there is no Starbuck's or Boston Stoker or other restaurant/coffee shop that might serve that purpose.  The library is small, and there is one meeting room.  But it looks more like a classroom, and I wasn't totally thrilled with the atmosphere that it provided.  I checked out the one coffee shop in town, but it is quite tiny and wouldn't really work either. However, when I mentioned this problem to one of my knitting co-workers, she right away suggested that we use the Activities room at the nursing home where we work.  There is a coffee machine, and tables, and a courtyard outside that we could work in when the weather permitted.  So, today I asked the facility administrator, and he said it sounded like a good idea.  After all, it does make us look good to offer our facilities for public betterment.

So, now we just have to decide when we want to meet, and put a notice in the newspaper.  I'll also put out word on Ravelry, in case there are any other local members.

Yay!!!!

Do not knit while drunk.

'Nuff said.

For the last few weeks, I've been seriously contemplating a career change, and have been thinking about how I can find a way to actually make money from my knitting/crocheting.  (Hence, one of the reasons for this blog.)  But, today I got an offer for a job that totally dumb-founded me, and one that I just couldn't pass up, for almost six figures.  It's in a good place, working with good people, and I feel as if I'm really doing some good. 

And so, DH and I went out to dinner tonight (Red Lobster, yum!) to celebrate my good fortune.  We had an absolutely wonderful dinner, starting out with some lobster/shrimp fondue thingy in a bread bowl, and then a salad, and then this monstrous dinner with grilled lobster tails and two kinds of shrimp with rice.  (I gave DH my broccoli.)  I had this drink, a Bahama Mama, which was really quite good.  I ended up bringing a god part of my dinner home, along with the standard Red Lobster cheese biscuits, and will feast on it again tomorrow night.  DH had a comparably lavish dinner.

And, yet, as excited as I am about this offer, and as much as I'm looking forward to diving into it, I still find myself thinking about making some sort of a living with my craft.  The fact is that I'm not thinking of starting a new career because I dislike the old one.  I love what I'm doing, what I've done for the last 25 years.  But it's getting harder and harder for me to do it, from a physical standpoint as well as an emotional one.  I've been working from a wheelchair for the last year or so, which is often awkward.  And by the time I get home, I'm so exhausted that I simply can't do much more than sit on the couch and knit.  My blood pressure has been going through the roof.

So, maybe I can gradually phase into some sort of position where I'm doing both of the things that I love.  Work part-time in two fields of endeavour.  Of course, making any kind of change is going to have to wait until (1) DH is working, and (2) I get a couple of knee replacements.  But, in the meantime, I can continue to explore my options and make plans.  I've joined some groups on Ravelry that have to do with this sort of thing, and am pondering some ideas for projects from original designs.  And looking into how I can teach people to knit or crochet.

We'll see where this all leads.

Well, here we are.  A new blog.  A clean slate, for me to enter my thoughts (or my rants, as the case may be).  Ostensibly, I'm doing this for my own benefit, to help me put into words my thoughts and emotions related to my recently-initiated efforts at trying to make a living, in some fashion, from my knitting and crocheting.  But, I'm also hoping that other people are going to take the time to read this, and to benefit from it as well, either by commenting on my words or by making the patterns I'll be posting here eventually.

Wow, I'm making this sound like a deep philosophical endeavour.  But, at least in part, I'm just jumping on the bandwagon and doing something that it seems like hundreds of other knitters and crocheters are doing.  I do eventually want to start getting my own designs out there, and I've been told that doing so without some sort of a blog or other web presence will be difficult.  So, here goes.

So, for anyone who might be reading these words, please be kind.  Hopefully, you will take something away from my words that will help you as well, either by bringing a smile to your face or by enabling you to construct a well-received gift for that special person.  Or, maybe just make a new friend!

And now, I have to finish getting ready for my "real" job.