Finally, a chance to actually make a post to my blog! I think this has been the longest I have ever gone without being able to post, and I've really missed it! I never thought when I started this blog that it would be something I would "miss" if I couldn't do it, but I have.
With such a long time having passed since my last post, I guess this will have to be a post of some randomness and rambling, as one tends to do when trying to make a long story short (something I'm not very good at, but I'll give it a go...). It's just that there are so many random bits, I can't begin to even try to tie them together cohesively. So this will have to be a post of this and that and the other thing, all stuck together so I can quit storing it for later in my poor, tired brain.
Even on my best days, I can somewhat be the queen of the non-sequitor and non-sensical segway. But now that the last of my brain has been squeezed into a dried apricot by my current schedule of 14-hour days, a string of non-sequitors might make more sense to read. Oh well....if it gets confusing, you can skip down to the actual knitting content near the end...
"Graduated" from training at my new place of wage-slavery. Yes, there was an actual lame graduation with presentation of a certificate in front of the rest of the current slaves. We were told at about 4pm the day before that each class had to present something---skit, speech, song, whatever---to the attendees. Say What? My 5 fellow trainees and I looked at each other in horror. This couldn't be good. Suffice it to say that out of desperation for something to do at the last minute, I made the mistake of joking that I play the ukelele.....
Just a message to the wise: If you are ever desperate for lame ideas for a needed performance, don't ever let jokingly slip to 5 desperate nurses that you play ANY type of musical instrument, as you will then be forced to play said instrument in front of about 150 co-workers you barely know. You know, just to cement your new professional reputation amongst the colleagues. Not only that, you will then be forced to write a lame SONG to sing along with the bad ukulele playing!
Let's just say that there was an ugly scene at graduation of me playing the ukulele and all of us singing a song I wrote to the tune of "Tiny Bubbles" (a la Don Ho----sorry Don, don't roll over in your grave too hard...). There is a tradition of "Aloha Fridays" at my new place of employment, so it did fit in with a theme, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially since I added in lyrics about the training making us need a cocktail----mention of cocktails seems to please crowds of nurses, for some strange reason.
And oh, yes, this performance was complete with lei's and bubbles being blown by our trainer and fake cocktails with little umbrellas in pink plastic martini cups for all. Good times! But let's not forget that all of those other rat-bastard fellow trainees got away with a little bad singing, while I had to play a musical instrument (badly) in front of over 100 people!!! Let's just say I really took one for the team on this one, and those bi-atches (and I call them that in the most loving way) owe me BIG TIME!
And in a totally random change of subject......Have any of you ever entered contests on anyone's blog and won? Did they actually send you a prize? I only ask because I have won only once, which I mentioned gleefully on this blog a few months ago. And what did I receive as a prize?....Nothing, nada, zip!
Edited 7/25/07 - I am happy and relieved that the contest blogger mentioned above just sent me an email explaining the circumstances. Said she sent a package in May (which I didn't receive), and then wrote an email later, which she inadvertently saved rather than sending it. Thanks for emailing....I feel much better now that I know what happened (and that it wasn't intentional or due to a bad life turn...).
Official Knitting Content:
While the past 6 weeks have been like a never-ending freeway roadtrip with extended daily breaks of brain-draining confusion at work and occasional 4-hour peeks at my own bed, I have actually managed to knit a few rows here and there. Not much, mind you, and not enough to be particularly satisfying, but at least I got to touch some yarn and knitting needles, which made me feel a like I remember how to knit. Humor me here, I'm trying to feel better about pictures of very little progress....
Some progress on my Mermaid Wrap....
While taking the pictures, I really started to notice how the yarn is patterning in little "boxes" of color. Not sure I'm crazy about that, but I still love the colors anyway. However, I think I still would have preferred this pattern in it's original semi-solid color.
Here's a picture of very little progress on my Tofutsies socks---two cuffs. Believe me, I've tried to let these see the light of day once in a while, but working on size zero needles after 9pm has not exactly been within my abilities this past few weeks...
The MD Moss Grid Hand Towel has fared a little better. It's about 3/4 done at this point, and beginning to feel like a bit of a boring slog, but I'm hoping I can actually finish it soon!
And finally, in a last-ditch effort to feel like I could actually have an FO, I decided to make this cute little cup cozy out of Fixation yarn. We have these plastic cups at work that sweat like crazy when filled with ice water, and I saw this pattern for a Java Jacket that Chris wrote up and thought it was kinda cute! Besides, I needed something to work on that I could knit with no time available and minus a brain....
I have to say I wasn't sure about the actual usefulness of this cup cozy in the beginning, but after road-testing it for a few days, I can say it actually works really well! No drippy water cup on my desk all week! I liked it so much that I'm making another one in a different color to carry around in my purse for those drippy iced latte cups in as well! And better yet, it only took me (the world's slowest knitter) about 2 hours to knit up!
Instant satisfaction and a cute pink FO---just what I needed!
(Pay no attention to those poor, ignored, unseamed and unfelted, clogs in the background...)
|