Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain)

HELLO!

So I have been having a whirlwind of changes happen in my life over the last couple of months! You can always tell when life is overwhelming me, as my Blog becomes neglected! So here is the quick and dirty version of what has happened over the last few months.

I don't think I have mentioned much about this in my Blog, but I was laid off from my job this summer. I won't go into a ton of detail, but I had been in my last company for over 12 years, and it was quite a surprise. They gave us about two months notice at the job and then I was out of work about two months before I started my new job. So that was all very stressful on about 14 levels. My new job is fabulous and I am REALLY happy there, but it's a huge change for me. I went from retail to a hardcore business environment. Change to how I dress (no more jeans!), and my commute (half the distance!) and my parking (what do you mean I have to PAY to park?!?!), and I could go on and on here. But now here I am, in my new job, in a company that I REALLY love, with wonderful wonderful people. Very happy on that front and so pleased to be finishing out 2014 in a job that I  love and with potential for me to grow in.

I also decided to take a break from school. I was actually in classes up until a couple weeks ago, and I finally decided I was just to overwhelmed and I wanted to take a break, focus on getting up to speed in my new job, and then reevaluate what I want to do with my education. So I withdrew from my HTML class a couple of weeks back, and am just focusing on my job at this time. It is strange to not be focused on my studies! I had been in some form of school for the last 2 years - so it's just like hearing the silence after a storm. Strange!

So! In terms of crafty stuff, I have been getting some knitting done. Most of what I have completed since I last wrote has been for Pine Ridge. I found a group on Ravelry called "For the Children of Pine Ridge" and I have been working on hats, scarves and mittens for a school on the reservation.

Here is what I sent over the last month or so:

My First box included 7 knit hats and 4 crocheted scarves.I am not overly skilled at the crochet yet, so this was a good way to practice and do some good as well. The hats I made using 3 different patterns I found on Ravelry.

1. Erich's A&F Knockoff Hat by Eboni A. Johnson

These knit quick on size 15 needles and the yarn was Lion Brand Hometown USA that I had floating around. My notes on these can be found HERE if you want more detail. They were fast and fun - and this pattern is a staple for me. Works on almost everyone and it's fast and easy.

2. Basic Hat / Radiant Hat by Lion Brand Yarn

 An easy pattern and free from Lion Brand. Used Hometown USA again and size 15 needles again. My notes on this hat can be found HERE if you want more detail.

3.The Vermonter by Abi Gregorio

Same yarn as the other hats, but we switched it up and went with size 11 needles on these babies and I opted to skip the pompom's. My more detailed notes can once again be found HERE if you need more info.

The next box I sent out had three scarves, a pair of mittens, and a bunch of stuff my mom contributed.

The scarves I made were crochet stash busting once again:

 And the mittens were made following one of my favorite patterns:

Warmest Mittens by Kris Percival.  

 

 

These were knit with Farmhouse Yarns Andy's Merino that I had had in my stash for years. If you want more details on how I made these, head HERE once again. (I always try and take good notes for my Ravelry Project pages!)

So that is what I have been getting done on the knitting front. I am going to work on getting blogging back into my life as I really missed it! Hope this finds any and all readers out there in good health. 

 

Happy crafting people!

Ketchup.... er... Catch-up.

Hello! Classes are over for the semester and FINALLY I have a minute or two to stretch and breathe. So let me catch you all up on whats new in Jen's World:

✔ Straight A's this last semester.

✔ I received a letter of commendation for outstanding academic performance in the Spring Semester 2014 as well as my name appearing on the official Dean's List. (Go Me!)

✔ I achieved my second certification when I passed the Microsoft 98-349 MTA: Windows Operating System Fundamentals exam. (YAY!)

✔ My dog Emma has had two surgery's this year: The first was to remove tissue from a cyst on her back that burst and get her teeth cleaned and her dangling dew claw (that I always feared would get caught and rip off!) removed. That surgery went fine, but then about two weeks ago Emma tore her ACL and had to have knee surgery. She is still recovering from this - but is doing well!

 ✔ Was told 2½ weeks ago that I am losing my job. (boooooo!) So I have been shooting applications and resumes all over the place. Also not sleeping and crying inappropriately. Yup - I am just a stressball!

✔ Partly because I neglected myself and partly because I just want to get healthier, I rejoined WeightWatchers online about two weeks ago and have been trying to eat healthier, exercise more, and in general take care of myself  a little better.

So  - I have been a busy bee with work and school and dog surgeries, and now that the semester is over I am searching for new employment and hoping I will gain a job that is positioned closer to the IT world than the retail environment I have been existing in. (I don't think screaming at my laser printer counts as "IT".)

I didn't get much time for fiber fun over the last 6 months, but am slowly getting my knitting mojo back and will post about that soon. (But let me say how MUCH I missed the knitting needles!)

Hope everyone out there is happy and healthy!

This crazy life

Oh blog. I neglect you so! It's been a little over a month since my last blog post and I have had a lot going on in my life. Lets start with the yarn!

So I have been pecking away at night on my Nemo's Comfort blanket. I am up to about 47 inches across and it is about 80 inches in length. This thing is a beast! I have been working on it off and on for over a year. Each color is three rows - and each row is around 240 double crochets on a size H hook. This is in cotton yarn so it will be machine washable and dry-able. But I seriously need to decide where it is going to go so I know what size it will be!

Other things in my life includes be taking a nice tumble down the steps to my basement. THAT was unpleasant! Let me start this story by saying this has been an insanely cold and snowy winter. The day I took my tumble was another really cold day and we had some good snow out. We came back from the grocery store and I was wearing thick winter boots and my thick winter coat and my boots were covered in snow. I was carrying two 12 packs of soda in one arm and one 12 pack in the other. My wet boot hit the painted step and next thing I know I was laying half way down the steps in some serious pain! I had bruises on my butt and back like you would not believe and motion in my neck was limited for about two weeks. I knew where each stair hit! So that was pretty awful. It took me a bit to get back to human after that, and I still had my full time job and four classes at school to contend with while trying to recover. Needless to say I was pretty tired, and a little cranky to boot!

Here is a picture of our backyard the weekend I took my tumble. We had a pretty good snowstorm the night before and my Husband has been blowing paths in our yard so the dog can access her zone in the back where she takes care of her doggy needs. We have several feet of snow pack right now and it's just been a challenge this year to function!

This past week I had my final exam for my PowerPoint class. I am so happy to have that off my plate! I actually found the classwork fairly simple - I like PowerPoint and don't think it's all that challenging to use so I enjoyed the class for the most part. But now that it is over I feel like I will have better balance in my life. That's one less class to attend every week, one less weekly quiz to study for, one less text I have to read and turn in an assignment for every week.... So I am pretty excited to have just a touch more free time.

School overall has been going very well and I am pleased with my progress in my classes and the roads I am forging into my next career path.

And that is about it for my world right now. School. Job. Homework. A little bit of yarn. A little bit of sleep. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Back to School and a Knitting Retreat

I am in my third week back to school and up to my eyeballs in homework and studies. These are the three books I am using for school this semester and what I am hauling around and have my nose buried in. My classes are:

• Microsoft Powerpoint
• Project Management Software
• Windows Operating Systems Fundamentals
• It Career Success Skills and Strategies

The Powerpoint class is by an instructor I have had many times and I am finding the content interesting. Last semester I had to give several presentations and I used Google for presentations - partly because it was easy and partly because I didn't have a good understanding of how to use Powerpoint. So it's nice to get familiar with Powerpoint.

The Project Management class is an online class and I am finding that interesting as well. I had never used Project management software and never thought much about project management before this course, and now that I am studying it I find it really interesting and feel that I will learn much that I can apply to my future careers and to my personal life as well. One of the people in my class is going to plan her sister's wedding as her final project - which I think is really cool!

The Windows Operating Systems Fundamentals class is a challenge. I have to work with a Virtual machine and install servers and operating systems in a virtual enterprise environment. It's interesting but I find it really challenging. I am learning a lot!

And the IT Career Success and Skills class I find a bit frustrating. We didn't meet for the first class and I had to miss the second class - so I am feeling a bit lost and frustrated with that class at the moment. BUT, I think this class may be instrumental in getting myself into a new career. I suspect I will have a kick-ass resume and a better idea of how to market myself after this class. So I have high hopes!

In between all of this I have managed to sneak in something really exciting. I went on my very first Yarn Retreat! The retreat was hosted by Sun Valley Fibers (who make nummy yarn!) and it was called Sun Valley Fibers January Thaw 2014. It was held in a hotel in a tiny town in Wisconsin called Barneveld and it was a big adventure for me!

Sadly, these are the only two pictures I took. My hotel room and the view out of the room.

As you can see, a huge bed which I happily plopped onto at the end of the night and collapsed after a long day of meeting awesome new people and knitting like mad. 

The view out the window gives you an idea of how cold out it was. It was bitter and I actually went home a day early to avoid driving home in nasty snow and wind. So very glad I did that! It got pretty bad and it was about a six hour drive one way. I can't imagine driving that in bad weather.

I enjoyed the retreat on several levels. I learned a lot about myself. I suffer from social anxiety and my first night was a little rocky as I was pretty overwhelmed. Around 100 people attended (or more?) and when I walked in it was a wall of noise and activity and I felt like a sad little wall flower. After a call home (not an easy feat as my cell only had Emergency service and the hotel struggled to connect my room with long distance) where my hubby talked me down, I was able to grab my knitting bag and head down to hang out with the other knitters. It didn't take long before someone joined me and that helped calm me down too. After talking to this kind knitter for a few minutes I found out it was Megan from the Stockinette Zombies Podcast! I don't watch podcasts, (is it a vlogcast if it's video?) but I will surely be checking it out now that I met Megan.

Soon I was meeting more knitters and chatting about projects and fibers and admiring projects. It was a pretty rocky start but it didn't take long before I felt comfortable and was happily drinking cup after cup of coffee and knitting away with my fellow knitters. I met some really great people and I enjoyed talking to them so much! It made me really happy that I pushed myself out of my nest and took a chance on doing something that was pretty far out of my comfort zone. And of course, I got some amazing yarn and now have a bunch more friends on Ravelry.

So that is what I have been up to lately. School, Knitting retreat, and trying to survive a January in Minnesota!

December, Finals, and a little Snow

 

Nothing too thrilling to report from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. 

I have a final exam and a quiz tomorrow at school for my Excel II class. So in just 28 hours I will be down to having just one class to focus on, and that is nearing it's end as well! Pretty exciting. I still wonder how I managed working full time and being enrolled in 6 classes this semester. Kind of neat when you impress yourself!

We are getting some winter weather here this week. I was happily distracted by the above view out my window while studying today. Huge white fluffy flakes fell from the sky - so pretty when you aren't trying to drive in rush hour. ☺

No holiday decorations have been placed in our home - and I sort of doubt it will happen this year. Just not feeling that Christmas spirit this year. I haven't purchased a single gift yet, and I am thinking gift certificates and Amazon Prime will be my saving grace this year. 

I have not knit a stitch in days. Really hoping to get my knit back on here really soon. A girl gets crabby when she doesn't get her fiber fill.

Is there anybody out there?

I am still here! I know I have been quiet the last two months, but I am still here! I am currently working full time and I headed back to school this fall. The schedule has been hard to handle and I pretty much just work, study and attend class. So even when I think I have a little time to do an update here, I tend to stutter to a stop as I don't have a clue what I would talk about. I think everyone hits that point with a blog from time time. It seems like the only way to get your mojo back is to jump in and start babbling!

So I am actually making pretty good progress on my class-load for this semester. I finished my Excel 1 class, my Access class, and my Computer Careers course. I am hoping to be done with my Introduction to computers class tomorrow, and that will just leave me with my online Word class, and my Excel 2 class. So far I am doing really well, but boy am I missing just hanging out and knitting while watching some crappy tv! I know it will all be worth it in the long run. I really need to get out of my job, and this is a great direction to head if I want a new career. Maybe one day I won't dread going into work everyday.

I have been picking up a little knitting the last week or so. I knit up a pair of mittens for my niece and I kind of wanted to keep them, so I immediately cast on a pair for myself! I am making mine out of a ball of chunky Malabrigo that came from deep in my stash. I will have to take pics and post details this week. I know I will regret knitting mittens in Malabrigo as they will be a pilled nightmare in no time, but boy are they soft and warm. Sometimes you just have to do it even though you know better.

I have also whipped out a couple of crochet items. They go so fast! I have a scarf I made for my neighbor's child, and a cowl I knit from stash. So hopefully I will get some pictures taken this week and will be able to give a proper show and tell.

So that is pretty much what my world has been revolving on lately. I am looking forward to getting back into the blogging groove!

Slow Going

I was hesitant to even take a picture of my progress on my sock, as it feels like you can't really SEE any progress, but there is a little movement

School has got me jumping and I find I barely have time to breath lately. I start two more classes this week which will put me at 5 classes. October will be BONKERS. I am a little concerned my hair might fall out or start on fire or something. I have very little positive to say about the college I am attending, but I like the subject matter I am studying. I guess that is good. I just wished my instructors and my college didn't suck harder than a Dyson.

Sigh.

Ghoul School Progress Report

I have been studying all weekend like a woman possessed, so knitting time has been minimal. (I think I knit two rows on Friday?) But I have made progress since my last post, and thought I would share what I have done.

I tried the Eye of Partridge heel this time around and I am so happy with it!I love how it looks on this yarn and I think my stitches picked up much cleaner. I love seeing my technique improve. I am still working away on the decreases and heading down to toe town. I suspect it will be a few weeks before I get to sock two. School is kicking my butt - and it's hard to work in the quality knitting time.

Did I mention how much I love this yarn?!?! GnomeAcres yarn is so yummy. ♥

Summer Days

It's the last legs of summer here in Minnesota. We are warmer than normal for this time of year and I find myself trying to enjoy every moment of it. When I am not studying or working I try to go out and enjoy my yard.

I have been planting sunflowers the last couple years as they make me really happy. They are so pretty and the birds just go bonkers for them. This year they have turned into squirrel feeders and these awesome huge sunflowers are largely getting bent from the weight of a squirrel climbing up it's stalk and eating away like it's some giant buffet I planted just for them. But we have a few that are still reaching for the sun and I really enjoy their smiling faces.

On the knitting front, I am still working away on my Ghoul School socks. I finished the ribbing on the cuff and am knitting away on the sock. I am trying to decide how long I want them to be before I start the heel flap. I am leaning toward making these a bit shorter, partly for speed and partly because I think I will lean toward wearing these around Halloween (since they are pretty Halloween/Autumnal tones) and we really don't need the warmth/length in the fall that we would need in January. And I tend to wear two pair of socks during the winter anyway, so yeah. I am leaning toward these being a bit shorter.I love the feel of this yarn and am really enjoying the knit.

Other than that I have just been working my job ans studying for school. My on-line class has been very challenging in that it is run pretty poorly. The test I was supposed to be able to take this week was not open to me to access, so I studied all last weekend for it and then went in to take the test only to find I could not. When I e-mailed my instructor I got no response. Several students (including me) also left messages in our discussion boards and got no response there either. So mostly my online course has been a study in frustration. I will be starting my third class this next Monday and hopefully things will start to really chug along for me after that.

Time to do some knitting.

Catching up

My goodness - how time gets away from a person! I had no intention of taking an almost 2 month break from my blog, but it appears that is exactly what I did! Since my last post I enrolled in the local community college and will be going for an Associate in Applied Science Information Technology Support Degree. It is a two year degree and I am sincerely hoping it increases my potential in the job market. I start classes next week and will be taking 6 classes this semester while working full time. My head may very well explode, but I am also excited to be moving forward on my life in this way.

So that has been a huge chunk of what I have been doing the last two months. Meeting with the various people in the college, setting up a million different accounts, and enrolling in classes. I have managed to work in a little knitting too! I have finished just one project since I last wrote. Now that I am knitting socks, I find my finished objects are further and further apart.

Project Name: Summer Breeze - Makes me feel fine
Pattern Name: An Anklet a Day.... by Jessica Marks
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport Self Striping and I used 1.05 skeins = 172.2 yards (157.5m)
Needle: US 2 - 2.75 mm
Size: Fits my size US 7½ foot
Love: ♥♥♥♥ out of 5 ♥s

You can find my Ravelry Project Notes HERE.

This is proof that I am a slow knitter as it took me close to a month to finish these guys. And when I was done I thought I wouldn't like them as they are really pretty short, but I find myself loving them and wearing them around the house all the time. We have hard wood floors and I always get cold feet, so they are a pretty perfect summer sock. I think if I made them again I would increase the ribbing (maybe double or triple?) as I like my socks to stay put and I just feel like these want to slop a bit. I also found some errata in the pattern and found that I had to spend some time working things out that an experienced sock knitter probably wouldn't have a hard time figuring out. ("Continue on in this manner..." instructions tend to throw me for a loop!)

But overall I am very pleased with them and they are very wearable!

Hi all!

Hey everyone! I am still lurking about. Just thought I would post a little update about what has been happening in my life.

I am currently taking a night class on getting A+ certified and it is eating my soul. Ok - Maybe not eating my soul, (lol) but it's pretty consuming! I work full time during the week - getting up at 4:30 in the morning everyday to get to work. My class meets twice a week from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. It's exhausting! Add to that - this is a very different area of study for me. I have a B.S. in English with a minor in Philosophy, and before this class had never opened up a computer before. I have to study ALL THE TIME just to get what they are talking about in class. It's really challenging, but I am really liking it.

So that is the really big thing going on that has been taking up most of my days and nights. We did get out and get one camping trip in - which was really fun. I will post pictures when I get a chance. Sadly I broke my camera on the camping trip, so I have been camera-less for about three weeks now. SAD! I take pictures all the time! I have borrowed my hubbies little camera to take a few pictures of projects - but that camera doesn't even have a flash - so it's not real practical. (aka - the photos look pretty bad!)

I haven't been able to get much knitting or hooking done lately as I am really studying all the time. But when my brains burn out I will try and do a little work on something while drooling on the tv. I will try and get some pictures up soon of my latest. (It's raining today - so no natural light and no flash = Bad bad pictures. Maybe it will be sunny tomorrow?)

I had my Birthday on Monday and as I do every year I took the week off of work. It was great timing as I really needed the time for school. I spent my actual Birthday in class ripping all the bits and doohickeys out of a computer and then (lord oh lord) putting them back in CORRECTLY. (It wasn't pretty - but my computer did work when it was all over. Whew!) So a pretty uneventful Birthday.

I will be trying to post more frequently in the future. I was shocked a month had gone by since I posted! WHAT?!?! How does that happen?!?!

Hope everyone is healthy and happy.

XO