One sleeve done…

I haven’t forgotten about my little bloggy here, but was waiting to blog when I had some progress to talk about.

I have finally completed one sleeve. The pattern states to knit it to 13 inches from underarm, but that is only a 3/4 sleeve.

When I look at the pattern, the pictures clearly show the sleeve knit down to her wrist. Tell me….how long are your arms? Perhaps my arms are long as I had to knit almost 18 inches to get the sweater to go down to my wrist. Granted…she did say on there “or less than 0.75 from desired sleeve length.” I just felt like I had ape like arms compared to who the pattern was written for.

Today I am going to start the second sleeve. My goal is to get this completed by Thursday as I will be going away to my ocean getaway and might actually have a chance to wear it. Otherwise…in this California heat…I will have to wait about 5 months!

Knitty Hermia – in progress

Knitty Hermia

Originally uploaded by earthwhisper

I finally bound off the cardigan. I need to sew under the Picot Hem.

I still have the arms and the button band to knit. The pattern calls for Hook and Eye closure, but I don’t like that. So, I think I am going to go for a regular button band. I guess I will have to work out some math to see where I want to space the buttons out…or do I just want to put buttons on the top of it…and not the bottom. I don’t know.

I noticed by this picture that one side has darker stripes than the other side, but I think in the end it will look okay. Also, with my size I know horizontal stripes are a “no no….” but…I like this yarn.

I tried to get a picture of me wearing it, but the pictures weren’t very good. It does fit though, so I am very happy with that!

I do have plans to visit my parents soon in Mendo and am hoping to have this finished before then so I can wear it….as they have year round cool weather.

Domain Name

Ummm…that was FAST!! So, it has been confirmed that my old domain name was bought by someone from China. My domain name expired in the beginning of May and man….they are not forgiving on that. Who would want a domain name with crochet/knit blog traffic? Ridiculous!

The past few months have been crazy though and a domain name was the last thing on my mind.

I am going to be making some changes soon…change the name of my blog and possibly get a domain name. I don’t want to be affiliated with the dot com version of my blog name…who knows what will be there now!

In progress: Knit Hermia from Knitty

Knit Hermia from Knitty

Originally uploaded by earthwhisper

Here is another project that I started awhile back (end of December) that I put down.  It is Hermia from Knitty. I have 4 more lace repeats and then go work the hem, sleeves, and finishing touches…I put on Ravelry that I was 60% along, but that probably is wishful thinking. A good knitting goal for the night would be to tear through the 4 more lace repeats, but that is 32 rows and I am not sure I have that in me…will see! I wish I could show you it in a more flattering way, or even on me…but I don’t have a manequin and the cable needle isn’t long enough for me to put it on and take a good picture. So, you get this floor shot.

Today I submitted a crochet pattern to Crochet Today! It is a pretty simple concept, so if I get reject, I won’t feel bad. I just have a feeling it is publish worthy, so thought I would put myself out there. If I hear any news in the next 6 months, I will post.

I created a really nice garden this year. I planted 4 types of tomatoes (Beefstake, Early Girl, Better Boy, and Sweet 100.) I also planted zucchini, crook neck squash, sunflowers, Walla Walla onions, bell peppers, king pepper, and watermelon. I did have cucumber, but they didn’t survive.

So far I have picked 3 ripe zucchini and eaten 2. My cherry tomatoes are almost ripe. It is going to be a good year for my garden, I can already tell!

Finally, blog name. I once owned the domain name: earthwhisperfiberarts.com. However, I have accidentally let that domain expire and GoDaddy has told me it is $80 for them to retrieve it from the redemption period. I don’t want to pay that. When it goes out of the redemption period, I might be able to get it back again. However, there is a good chance someone wanting the traffic will take it before I do…that is my luck.

So, I can choose to keep the wordpress name. Or, I can pay for a new domain name and “recreate” myself. I am sort of leaning towards the latter idea. I have a few names I have been tossing around for awhile and they aren’t as long as my original. This would be a good time to change it too…

Knit Wool Snowflake Hat

Knit Wool Snowflake Hat

Originally uploaded by earthwhisper

Nothing like a double stranded wool hat….ready for the summer! This is one of the projects I recently finished. Iin my quest to get back into knitting and crocheting, I wanted to finish projects I started and put down. This was started over a year ago.

I used Lion Wool (from Lion Brand) and knit it double stranded. The colorwork is from the Vermont design in the book Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 3: Color Knitting. I CO 84 stitches and then worked in 2×2 rib for a couple of inches.

I’m back!

I have decided to resume blogging again. I am knitting, crocheting, and designing again. I am back! I don’t know how frequent my blogging will be…so bear with me. Also, I have lost my domain name….so I can either reinvent one or just use the wordpress one. I haven’t decided.

Just because I stopped blogging, doesn’t mean I stopped reading blogs.

A lot of personal craziness has happened in the past 9 months that I would love to share with some of you, but am not comfortable posting all the details of it for all of the internet to see.

I will just say that this year has probably been one of the hardest, most challenging years for Tony and I. I got a job, lost a job, gained friends, lost friends, Tony lost his father, I had my purse stolen, and we both have had to deal with identity theft.

On the plus side, my kids are healthy and happy and we have been looking to find the positive around us.

So…back to what I love to do…my fiber arts:

I have designed something for the home. It is crochet and I think it is Publish Worthy. So, should I self publish? Should I try to get it into a magazine? Does anyone know any books looking for patterns?

I want to take a picture of it so bad and post it…but I know that if I am going to get it published somewhere I need to keep it to myself.

What’s that I hear….nothing.

Yep, it is pretty darn silent around here.  With both kids in school it is weird.  For the past 7+ years there has been some type of kid noise in this house, practically 24/7.  Now every day I will have 3 hours of pure silence.  Even the husband is taking it in…sleeping style.  Nothing goes better with a little afternoon silence than an afternoon nap.

I didn’t get the job I was interviewed for last week.  It was such a hard let down.  I felt so confident about the interview, especially with both people telling me “good answer” each time they asked a question.  Unfortunately they gave the job to someone with more health care experience.   It was just a school health clerk position, I am pretty sure anyone with substantial health care experience isn’t going to settle for a 4 hour a day job (a few bucks over minimum) with no benefits.  Though…it would have been perfect for me.

So I am now applying for more “would be perfect” jobs, and crossing my fingers that I at least get an interview.  It is disappointing to get notified by email that I didn’t get a job, when I didn’t even get an interview for the job.

A little voice is telling me I need to rewrite me resume or something.  Tony tells me there is just a exceedingly large job pool here, and he is right.  This county has a huge unemployment rate, apparently it is the 6th worst in the state of California.  So, it really isn’t me…it just is what it is.  On top of that, I am returning to the job market from being a mom…and…I don’t speak fluent Spanish, which is a big deal in my area.  Perhaps I need to invest in Rosetta Stone.

Stinky

Soy…I mean so, I was knitting with Tofutsies, which is suppose to be odor resistant…and well, it stinks. The first sock doesn’t have a smell. The second sock though has this odor that is strong (like burns the nose hairs strong.) I can’t place the odor. It isn’t a fishy smell and it isn’t a poop type smell (thank goodness.) It is a strong odor and it bothers me. My sniffer is a super sniffer though. Tony can’t smell it. The kids can.

I do have to say though that I really like this yarn.   It has a really nice drape to it and when I put the sock on my foot is nice and warm and perfect.

I am sensitive to smells and almost can’t tolerate candles. I can’t tolerate the stores that have a large amount of candles. I can’t tolerate any kitchen counter cleaner. Tony bought Lysol 4 in 1, GAG!! Oh, it is so gross. I can barely tolerate the Clorox Green. It has almost a “pure” lemon scent, but Tony doesn’t think it cleans good enough.

I had a job interview today and it went really well. Of course, replaying it I can always think of things I could have answered better. However, overall I think I was a star. I had them telling me, “good response.” That is a good sign, right? I am staying positive. I really need this and the hours are PERFECT for me! I can get the kids to school and make it back with plenty of time before picking up and can still do Girl Scouts.

Kool-Aid-Out

That would be the name of my newest invention….if only I knew the magic formula.  Kool-Aid and renter’s “white” carpet just don’t mix.  After some research I found out the only way to reduce the stain is this:

1.  Wet stain with warm soapy water.

2.  Lay down absorptive cotton towel (or old flannel baby blanket.)  I thought those tea towes work the best.

3.  Put your iron on steam setting and iron over the top of the towel.  It pulls the warm soapy water and stain into the towel.

Repeat steps 1-3 until stain is gone…in my case it was never completely gone, but it went from bright red Kool-Aid stain to barely noticeable stain.

We have been watching the Olympics and have been enjoying it.  Sierra has enjoyed it the most.  She is at the perfect age (7) and is just soaking up the whole cultural aspect of it.  She loved the opening ceremony, watched the whole thing again this morning (we have it taped in the DVR.)  She was impressed that the Chinese invented paper and the kite.  Of course, really impressed with the girls that were in the ceremony, the singer, the piano player, and the one flying with the kite.  Who wouldn’t want to be any of those girls?

She announced today that she wants to be in the Olympics.  Tony told her she needed to be good at a sport.  At which she declared it would be….Swimming.  So, we will see.  Wait until she sees Women’s diving and Women’s gymnastics (my favorites!)  Oh…and synchronized swimming.  What little girl hasn’t pretended she was a synchonized swimmer?

Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I have an interview on Thursday. 

Uh oh…or…it’s about time?

Apparantly, they now sell yarn at Target.  I don’t know if this is limited to online only or if they actually have yarn in the store.  I know this isn’t new as at one time they sold yarn in their dollar bins.  They actually look like they are building a small selection.  They aren’t limited to yarn, though.  They even have knitting needles and roving too…as well as all sorts or needle felting supplies.  In my opinion, if they are going to sell yarn, they might as well carry a full selection and not tidbits of something here and there.   Perhaps this is the beginning…