Just a few more weeks!

A few weeks ago, some of us went to PnP, which was a nice, relaxing sort of trip. Considering that I've been an absentee member of the group this semester, this was much-needed and very much welcome--just to get away and knit. Not that I got a lot done, but I did get started on one mitten for a gift. Having tired of the pattern, I decided to start a different mitten pattern before returing to size 1 needles. It was tedious, to say the least! Once it's done, and once Christmas is over, I will post pictures of my gifts. i'd hate to ruin any surprises!

I also did lots of grading at the retreat. very, very exciting stuff.

In other news, I've just started on my scarf swap scarf. I am hoping it all turns out okay, but the pattern is pretty easy. However, it is knit longways, so it feels like it takes forever just to get one row done. It's going to be fun. Once I've got a little more, there will be pictures somewhere.

The Tech Bag is looking good--even though it's fallen by the wayside due to my other gift projects. I'm thinking this is actually a lot of fun, and I really like the idea of using color cables in stuff. So now I'm really getting into the color stuff, fair isle and stuff too. I'm getting some good ideas--just have to see if I can carry them through.

I'll be honest. I am a bona fide geek, but not by choice.

Why, you may ask?

Next Monday is an official holiday (Veteran's Day) which we have off from the university...and I am so excited. Not because I have a day off--but because I have a day off, I have time to do homework! I have the WHOLE weekend -- well, Sunday, PLUS Monday to write a paper (or at least get started), do my lecture planning, and my psychology homework and my statistics homework! And I can actually sleep a little more! Perhaps I'll even have time to pick up the clothes from the floor of my bedroom! Wow! Oh, yeah, and knit. And I will always have time for Dancing with the Stars, which is my guilty obsession and pure moment of being brain-dead for about an hour and a half. This is very exciting, indeed.

Other points of excitement: Although I have very little time to knit anymore, I do have a little more of the tech bag completed (there is a small mistake, but I will not point it out. It adds to the charm of the bag, I suppose. Isn't there something about those rug-weavers who have a small mistake to add their signature to their rugs?)

And, I have an actual vacation coming up (hence, another reason to be very excited about Veteran's Day; I can get homework completed before I go to Peak-n-Peek (or is it Peek-n-Peak?)

I just have to make it through the rest of this week. I've an exam on Thursday and I feel very unprepared. Hopefully with some maniac studying tomorrow, I'll at least be okay with the material to scrape by with a "B"--which is what I'll be happy with. I will buy myself something nice (i.e., a new Trollbead) if I can scrape through it all. I hope I can be okay on the exam--the material is not intuitive for me, but I'll try.

Human tetris

Is this not one of the weirdest things you've seen?

Whew

The next couple weeks, dear readers, are going to be hectic. I've been at work the past week, practically had a meltdown earlier this week (ensuing in sobs and sniffles--ok, so I was also sick--can I help it if I make a very bad sickie? And I really, really wasn't in the mood to teach, but I went anyway?) The upside--no statistics homework this week (YAY) but I know it translates to stressfully difficult homework next week. Ah, well. Can't win them all.

So what else--last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I worked at the store, since it was Sweetest Day (no, my boyfriend did NOT get me anything, since he stubbornly insists that Sweetest Day is a "fake holiday"). I think I have a little more work to do on him. It is my duty as a gift shop girl to make my men recognize holidays of all sorts. Especially where I am the lucky recipient.















In other news (here is more shameless plugging for our store--maybe someone will read this ? Our store is having a Trollbeads Trunk Show at Vale Edge Hallmark & Florist in Ravenna, Ohio on November 2, from 6-9 PM (mark your calendars, ladies, and bring your girlfriends. Guys, don't be like my boyfriend--get those women (mom, sister, girlfriend, wife, daughter, grandma, niece) a Trollbeads Bracelet. I guarantee they are very cool. Anyway, we will be having drawings for free beads...our rep will be there with what looks like a gazillion beads, and we have an amazing special for that evening: Buy 3 beads, get the bracelet absolutely free. If that isn't a deal, I don't know what is. Need a reminder about what a Trollbead bracelet looks like? Here's mine (I just need a couple more beads and I can finish this one off!)

It is also Hallmark Holiday Open House that weekend. Now, I've got a funny story about this. My parents completely forgot that the Open House is in just a bit over a week--and they couldn't figure out why I, or our day manager were so stressed out. Our employee is stressed because she has been trying to make sure everything is in place at the store (i.e., ornaments, cards, displays, etc.), while I kept bugging my mom to please bring home the things I need to print out and organize on the computer, so everything is all sent out and stuff. It just occurred to them today why both the manager and I were practically tearing our hair out (and this also contributed to my sick-stress meltdown on Monday, too).

Also, I've started the tech bag, designed by Andi. Pretty cool if I say so, myself. I am getting used to knitting with colored cables and stuff. Quite fun stuff.

Whew.

Only a few more days left in the week.

And, no learning and conditioning class on Thursday, but still I have Reading Processes.

Good thing: I am DONE with my first exam of the semester--so on Friday, I am going to buy myself a Trollbead for all my hard work (even if I made up answers for my question about Panic Disorders and Anxiety Attacks. What's funny is that my classmate also made up the same, or similar answer).

This is what I am getting:--Carly by Trollbeads. The story: A distinct voice and a unique personality. Carly Simon was one of the strong female artists of the seventies, who made quite the statement in the music scene with her hit “You’re so vain”.

I can't wait!!! I've not bought any beads since August (when my class ended). I've been very good about not randomly buying beads, but still have been lusting over them. Can you tell I am completely hooked???

In knitting news, I will be working on the tech bag sometime soon (my SnB group is having a knit-a-long)-- Andi over at KnitBrit.com will be teaching us all how to do that.

Argh

I have finished grading exams for my professor. Problem though--I need to do a corrected exam score, because no one-- I repeat -- NO ONE got a score in the A range! Ugh. And the prof gave me some complicated way of adding points to the grade, but I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to do it. I'm tempted to just make the highest score a 100%, since only 5 people actually ended up in the "B" range, before a corrected score. We'll see. I'll sleep on it tonight.

Know what's cool?

What's really cool?

Today one of the volunteer editors saw a picture of a hat that I knitted, and they put it up on the front page of that particular pattern--check it out! Very cool, isn't it?

And in other news--I am back to teaching, and taught my first class today, which went better than I thought it would. Now just need to get through the rest of the semester--LOL! Tomorrow I will write my lecture (somehow) and start grading exams. Hopefully the math will click for my students on Wednesday.

I'm skipping Rhinebeck this year, though :( Oh well.

Pooped

Frankly, I'm just a wee bit pooped. It's been a stressful couple weeks, what with school getting turned topsy-turvy, and my schedule changing like crazy. Not to mention endless meetings with professors and not a whole lot of time to myself. (But when I DO have time, I end up knitting a couple rows and watching a sitcom or something). Essentially, in the last week, I've had about 3 or 4 meetings with various professors and people of importance, which is tiring, considering one of them works at a hospital about an hour away. Well, actually that one isn't a professor, but rather, a former professor of mine, who I'll be doing my independent study with. For those who knew me back in the day, when I went to college, the words "independent study" combined with "short" and "balding" should give you an idea who I'll be working with. Not that I mind, but I'm just exhausted thinking about it. Despite that, I still wake up super early in the mornings--I blame all those early morning meetings that I've been running to!

One of the other professors that I met is one that had surgery this Wednesday. In anticipation for surgery, they quickly arranged for me to teach his undergraduate course in hearing science, and need I say, I barely remember any of those topics. And it frightens me when I tell people I am going to teach hearing science, and then they grimace, and brightly say, "Oh, you'll be great!" This includes the aforementioned former professor as well as some of my PhD student colleagues. I'll just tell my students to bear with me for a week or so; they do know that this was a sudden thing. Hopefully they'll forgive all the math that I may butcher. (By the way, I really don't like math, despite the fact that I have, in the span of about 4 semesters, taken three statistics courses).

The sad part is that when I knit (unless I am taking the time for appointment TV -- that is, Ugly Betty or Dancing with the Stars), I feel like I'm wasting time! And that's not a good way to be! I blame the PhD program!

Yes, I am alive!

I actually haven't been posting lately, mostly because (1) I've been lazy, or (2) haven't been knitting THAT much. Some, but not a lot. But I made some little baby sweaters with some oddball yarns that I have left over. One is this one:

It's a sweater from Debbie Bliss baby. Actually, i made another one, it's pinkish (actually makes me think of froot loops) but I dont' know where it is. it is somewhere in my mom's suitcase, and it's been squirreled away for my cousin, who is expecting a baby girl sometime this fall. I'm afraid to dig through her suitcase, because I dont' want to mess anythign up.

I'm also working on my Boatneck sweater from Fitted Knits. Had some issues with it (wrong gauge! Ack!) But I will be patient as possible!

I've also started classes again, so I was rather stressed out for a couple weeks, and not sleeping well. But a week or so ago, Amy, Martha, Andi, and I went down to Columbus for a yarn trip, really enjoyed Temptation Yarns. we also checked out Yarnmarket, which was pretty impressive and has a lot more yarn than you think it would.

In other (exciting) news--I have a ravelry account! Find me at jukeboxheroine! Whee! It's addicting, like myspace or facebook. But without the crazy blond hos who want to be your "friend."

Post #101

Well, I didn't realize that my last post was the 100th post! If I'd known, maybe I would have done something celebratory? (P.S., I apologize in advance for any wonkyness in the way the blog post looks--for all the empty spaces and words that blogger refuses to change. Oh well.)

But over the past few weeks, here is what has happened: I am in class (ugh), BUT it's not too bad, just at a lousy time in the day: right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon. But at least my friend Tameka (blogless) is in it, as well as this guy, who was in my quant class all last semester...but I couldn't figure out where I had seen him, and I found him on friendster.com. Turns out we both went to the same, small undergraduate college--and lived in the same DORM. Hilarity ensued--but even more so when this other guy (he looks a couple years older than me) overheard us and mentioned that he also went the same college, too. Ha! Small world!

But in terms of knitting content:

This is the Sunflower Tam from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughn. Very pretty. A little aggravating at times to knit, becuase I had to pay attention to which stitches I was on, and oops, I dropped some stitches off the dpns at the end. And the tam makes my head look big, but it is kind of cute. I may make another of these in a different yarn, too. It's kind of hard to resist the pattern.

I also started a knitting project this past Tuesday from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel, and I have the yoke finished, and the beginnings of one sleeve. I'm really pleased. It's my exercise in stash-busting. After this, I think I'll try the mohair wrap sweater in Fitted Knits, or maybe something with this nice caramel colored yarn that I have.

In other non-knitting news, I am still in love with Trollbeads. We had our first private bead party on Friday, and actually it turned out to be fun and a good thing--and I'm hoping we'll have a few more in the future (it's a good way to make a good deal of profit in a couple hours. Not to mention that there are some CUTE trollbeads out now for the summer--such as this one:

From top to bottom : The Juggler, Circus Elephant, and Double Flower

The story behind the Juggler: The three balls (pearl, coral and lapis lazuli) dance through the air faster and faster, while the juggler slowly and effortlessly bends her back around the chain till she is standing on her head. A world-class artist.

The story behind Circus Elephant: The circus elephant is everybody's favorite. It tumbles good naturedly around the circus ring in its own playful way.

The story behind Double Flower (which is prettier in person, too): In the summer night, they open up. Fragile and soft in the moonlight, up against the cobalt blue sky that never really darkens this time of year.

A true sign of geekdom.

If you take this test, let me know how you scored!

Your Score: The Cultured One

70 Opera Composers, 60 Pasta

Great job! You were able to identify many pastas and many opera composers. This classifies you as a wonderful. And a nerd.

Link: The Pasta or Opera Composer Test written by batedserenity on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Whew!

All right, so I am back from vacation! I actually did sit down here a few times after I came home, but the idea of writing every single thing down into this blog just exhausted me to death. So here is a very quick rundown (as quick as I can make it).

Sunday (departure from Cleveland): We miss our flight (leaving at 8:30 AM. Damn. We're not sure if it's our fault or the airlines, or no one's. The line was impossibily long. We get booked on the 12:45 flight instead). In a way it is a good thing, because I was on the flight with someone I used to work with on my rotations, and my family actually got to eat a leisurely breakfast before we went. (And lunch, too, even though they also served us breaded chicken patty sandwiches, a salad and M&Ms.) But the best part?

This:






















I wasn't even brave enough to get near Anderson Varejao (for those of you not in the know, he's one of the Cleveland Cavaliers). My brother, on the other hand, has no shame, so he asked the guy for a picture with him. Anderson Varejao is incredibly nice, by the way. And I'm sure the girl with him (girlfriend? Quick shag? not sure) thought it was hilarious that all the people in the airport kept bugging the guy for pictures.

Arrival in Las Vegas: HOT Even though I hated the humidity in Ohio, this was worse. I baked instead of steamed. We did see the Bellagio (the dancing water fountain is beyond awesome--"Singing in the Rain").

Monday: Went all over to different hotels/casinos, and some guy at Planet Hollywood accosted us and asked if we wanted free tickets to a show, and a free dinner. The trade-off? We'd have to listen to a 90 minute presentation about Westgate Resorts. Okay. We did that. My brother prolonged the 90 minutes into two hours, by asking our salesperson a steady stream of questions. We saw Cirque du Soleil (Mystere) at Treasure Island. Way cool.

Tuesday: We saw the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and a Joshua Tree Forest (the largest in the world, in fact).

We also got our free dinner at Planet Dailies (yummy) and saw Lance Burton (yawn, I think I would have loved it more if I was about 18 years younger--am I really that old? eep.)

Wednesday: Last minute sight-seeing. Home. Finally we get to fly home...we arrive at the airport at 8:15 PM...dawdle a bit, as our flight does not leave till 11:30 (we're paranoid about missing the flight, given our experience with the flight on Sunday).

We make it to our gate after being lazy (dad gambled away his money on the slot machines in the airport)...only to hear an announcement that our flight has been delayed till 1:30 AM (Las Vegas time!)! So we wait in the airport for hours, half asleep/asleep. I talked to the woman next to me, who is a pit boss at Planet Hollywood. Interesting conversation and a very well-traveled woman.

I'm glad to be home.

There's my sunrise circle jacket, minus the buttons! Yay! I was worried because when I blocked it, it was so huge and I was worried I'd have to make it all over again, but after washing it, it started fitting a bit better. The sleeves are a bit long, but it's cozy and good feeling. I've found several buttons online that I really like, but I'll wait till I come back from Vegas before I buy them.

I'm going to place an order at knitpicks for some undyed yarn and a few needles...and maybe a book (so I can get the free shipping). We'll see. Martha's going to have a dye day, so I need to be prepared for it...even if I end up being a little cash poor this month.

Dream yarns

Ok, so here are some yarns that I want to try knitting with (hint: none of them are Noro)....The other day, I stopped by Miss Chickpea's, and I saw some awesome yarn...


Like:

Ozark Handspun

Lampes Lumps (pictured below)

and Bamboo yarn.

I'm also curious about this ceramic yarn that I've heard about...

In knitting news, I am seaming up the sweater! (yeah!) It's all blocked and everything, just need to put it together and find some great buttons.

In other (non-knitting) news, I have been busy these past few days, doing work--we have some HUGE events coming up, such as the Kent Fest, and our Hallmark Ornament Premiere...so we're getting everything ready and ship-shape. Not to mention that I think we're going to promote the heck out of trollbeads and Chamilia (did you forget what those look like? Here's a reminder:














In a few weeks, we're going to have a huge special on Trollbeads & Chamilia--buy 3 beads, and you can get the bracelet for $25 (regularly priced at $48--that's a savings of almost half, people! Interested? let me know...)

Today, I went to the library (huge used book sale), and I walked away with some really great books, like 3 textbooks (2 statistics books and one about advertising, each were 75 cents!) and a lot of books like The Poisonwood Bible (75 cents, looks like someone read it once), a hardback of "The Perfume" by Patrick Sueskind (So I have the German language version, but I'd like to see the movie sooner than later to compare...I am sooooo slow at reading the German, though that book may come with me to Las Vegas), Middlesex (1.50), "The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime ($1.00). Not bad. Many more. I also picked up some knitting books with some of the most horrifying patterns I've seen in my life, but each of them have like, one redeeming pattern or style...so I figure 75 cents per book isn't too bad. Not to mention a copy of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. (one dollar). Not a bad haul. Now I just need the time to read everything. (Oh, and I found a couple autographed books for a dollar each! How cool is that?)

Viva Las Vegas!

Well, in July, my family and I are headed off to Las Vegas (somewhere we've never been, for all our traveling)...hopefully it will be stress-free (I need and LOVE stress-free).

In other news, I have been busy doing things like...making ads for our store, websites, a store blog, etc...because we have Webkinz...lots and lots of them at our store. I'm not even kidding about how many we have. Think I'm kidding? This doesn't even scratch the surface. In the backroom, we have piles of boxes, too.

Not to mention that we have tons of events coming up, so I've been making coupons, flyers, mailers, etc., etc. See, I don't necessarily need to be an audiologist. Give me a computer and I can whip together a few choice things for a small business. Special talent of mine, I suppose...

But on the job front: I may have a per diem position through the university! I'm just in the process of all the paperwork stuff. Fun.

In knitting content...I was hoping to get the sunrise circle jacket finished, but I'm still finishing up the back (not too much left now! Maybe I can finish everything on Wednesday, except for the buttons? That would be great if I could!

This week, I will post some of the yarns I long to knit with...stay tuned...

Happy Birthday to ME!!

(I'm off MY diet too!)

My dad woke me up early this morning (being a birthday girl and all, I was hoping to sleep in...oh well. I'm awake now). He wanted to talk to my brother and me, to get our ideas about what to do for my parents' anniversary...both my brother and I were so groggy and sleepy, and you could tell. But dad was thinking of taking a trip or something...Despite the fact that my brother and I think it would be great if dad and mom went on a trip together, ALONE, he wants to make it a family vacation.

So far, we've come up with New York, Vegas, Chicago...anyone have any ideas? Something quick (weekend trip) and not too expensive? Or even in Ohio, if we can't make it out of state? If so, let me know what your ideas are...(post in comments or drop me an email).

And, if you're looking for Webkinz (shameless plug), we received a shipment at our store: Vale Edge Blog.

One day away!

Good news:

Garfield is now celebrating his countdown to his 29th birthday, which makes me oh-so-very happy.

And here are pictures that I promised:

This is the back of my sweater--or what I have of it so far. I'm pretty excited that I've made it this far. I'm going to finish as much as I can this week (all of it?) we shall see!

This is what the front portion (and sleeves) of the sweater look like. It's actually a much prettier turquoise shade in person.

When I came home from work...this package was waiting for me...It's from my Secret Pal, and inside were some goodies for my birthday...

Some Noro yarn, with a great pattern (I seriously can't wait to try it! I am going to finish that sweater first, though!), a copy of Domiknitrix, some C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E , including a square of Ritter Sport, which always brings back memories of Germany (I had a friend, Aaron, who was hooked on this particular brand--so every time we went grocery shopping (or shopping), he always had to buy chocolate. And there is the cutest stationary. Between this and the cute sheep book, I have no idea where you find this cute paper! I love this package, and I've had a great pal--so thanks so much to Suzie!

I just wanted to show you a close-up of the awesome scarf pattern (the Noro yarn goes with this)...it's really great! (Shoji screen wrap and scarf pattern).

And, I wonder if I can get my boyfriend to wear this (Mohawk hat from Domiknitrix)?

Countdown to June 19

I was disappointed that there were no Garfield birthday comic strips over the past week, or even today. It's become a tradition for me, over the past few years, to read those strips.

And it's because Garfield and I actually have the same birthday (June 19). This year, Garfield will be 29 years old, and I'll be 28. Ever since I was about 9 or 10 (when I found out that Garfield and I share the same birthday, he has remained my favorite cat, and I'm sure that's part of the reason why I grew up loving Italian food ;) I hope that Jim Davis will have a birthday comic strip for Garfield on Tuesday. Or else that will be a sad start to my birthday, indeed.

As far as knitting, I finished the right front for my sunrise circle jacket (yeah!) and I am working on the back--and now am feeling MUCH better about being able to finish everything--thus, accomplishing my goal to make at least one sweater this summer--because I plan on making another one this summer! Yeah!

I'll post pictures tomorrow. I haven't taken them yet.

And yesterday, the boyfriend and I went to an Indian Restaurant, and we had pretty bad service but a great waiter who noticed that no one was serving us...so he waited on us...and we got free ice cream...coconut and pistachio. Actually I hate coconut.

The reason?

It tastes like suntan lotion to me.

I told Adam as such, after trying a little bite of the coconut ice cream, and the poor guy had a hard time eating the ice cream afterward--because he was like..."you're right. it DOES taste like suntan lotion. You ruined it for me!"

3-0

Whew. Apparently Blogger has some feature where you can type in Hindi. Hmm. I'm not sure that people could undestand what I write, if I type things out in Hindi--but that's kind of cool.

Anyway, when my blogger suddenly started spouting out Hindi, I got really distracted from my annoyance, so I am not sure I can do it justice...

But...

WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THE CAVS??? How come they're playing so bad? And LeBron was totally fouled at the end! Augh!

Lest you think I'm a rabid basketball fan, I'm not. I don't watch sports, but when one's sports team makes it to the finals (and come on, Cleveland? Our football team stinks, and I don't even know when the Cavs were in the playoffs, and I know we've yet to win a pennant in the World Series...)

So yes, I care. For this time being.

And I did knit a couple rows during tense moments of the game. Apparently I knit faster when there's more tension.

Pictures!

So I promised some pictures!

So first...some knitting ones from the package that I described yesterday...I love the fact that the box is pink:

And oh, why did the package have to come right before I left for work? I tried not to open it before I left. I lasted about 30 seconds, and this is what I saw inside (minus the biscuits and the chocolate).

There's some moisturizer (specially made, lemony-scented stuff which smells delicious), some great colorways (Vero), some rosebud tea and lemongrass tea--both of which I am curious to try, as I've never had either before. I'll make myself a pot when I have a few hours to sit down and relax.

Also there was some chocolate. Like this Caramello Koala, which looks cute, from the packaging. I forgot to take pictures of the biscuits. You can see the good magazines--Yarn and Gourmet International--both of which have drool-worthy pictures. Let me show you some of them:

This is all this passionfruit stuff...like a passionfruit semifreddo with mango and raspberry salad...and passionfruit vanilla slice...

Or how about this meringue stack with raspberries and cream? The magazine is like this. Sure, there are things I'm not quite clear on what they are, like baby shiso, treviso, or cevelo nero. But I'll find out ;) I'm not kidding, I was ready to lick the pages--especially the ones with the desserts--or even the "southern style barbecue" stuff with ribs and cornbread. Yum. But I don't think magazine papers have that finesse.

As far as the Yarn magazine, I like this red sweater...I think I can wear somethign like this.












And wouldn't those coffee/tea cosies make great Christmas gifts?












And for some odd reason, I am fascinated by this sweater, despite the fact that it would probably make me look heavy (those horizontal stripes) but there's something so wonderfully 1920's about it, too.

And aren't you glad that Paris Hilton is going back to jail? This card came in with our shipment today. My co-worker told me, "Nah, they'll never put her back in jail. Too much money." Well, I hope she finishes the rest of her sentence.

This is actually kind of neat. This is some sort of leaf, and on the underside of the leaf...

A flower is blooming! I've never seen that before--and our florist said that in about 20 years, she's only seen this about four or five times. I think this particular floral arrangement is still in the cooler at our store, if you want to buy some roses, with some blooming leaves.

And to make up for all the pictures of pictures of food...here is a picture of some REAL food! This is a tempura banana from Wasabi--this Japanese restaurant we went to for Amy and Rae's birthday. (Yum)