Sunday, March 30, 2008

Hanami

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is this week, and they are just gorgeous. I went walking with an old friend among the blossoms on Friday evening before it got too cold, and watched the sunset over the cherry-tree-ringed Tidal Basin. A peacful end to a hectic week (or several, if my blogging is any indication). It made me want to go buy some pale pink laceweight yarn and cast on for Hanami.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

What I did on my day off

Yesterday, after a couple hours struggling (and failing) to get my new sewing machine properly threaded and operating, I sat down and (finally!!) finished hand-sewing the zipper for Samus. Words cannot express how relieved proud I feel to finally be done with this first sweater ever for myself. Appropriately, a fellow knitter was the first to see me wearing it--I spent the afternoon with Sangeeta knitting and drooling over yummy new yarn in Fredericksburg. A perfect day off!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Free like a dragonfly

I got a call from my mom very early in the morning today, and as soon as I heard the phone ring, I knew why she was calling. My grandmother had been admitted to the hospital earlier this week for pneumonia, and last night, the pneumonia won. She was 94, and if she had made it one more week, she and my grandfather would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. But it was time. Grandma once said that she imagined dying to be like a dragonfly, finally free to leave the beautiful pond of life, drifting away on iridescent wings.


Grandma in late 2006, showing off the socks I knit her. She wore them very nearly
every day for the rest of her life.


If it weren't for this amazing woman, I wouldn't have had a role model of a woman who read voraciously, swam everyday well into her 80s, played basketball, almost always voted the opposite of her husband, and signed up for computer classes when she was in her late 70s. I wouldn't know how to knit. I would not be the person I am. I am so grateful for her life.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Hope

In case you haven't seen it yet:


Regardless of who you plan to vote for, just make sure you get out there and vote in your primary! This is the most exciting election I've ever had the chance to vote in, and you can bet I'll be getting up nice and early on Tuesday to get to the polls. For the first time in my political life, I feel real hope, and I sincerely cannot wait to vote!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Speaking of luck...

This is going to be a fairly short post. No photos, no long discussions of yarn or patterns, and no funny stories. OK, well maybe one story.

Once upon a time there was a girl who had just finished grad school. She loved what she had studied, and had really enjoyed the prestigious internship she did while in school. But despite her solid credentials, it took her over 7 months to find a job. When she did find one, it involved a long commute, but she didn't mind because that just meant more knitting time. However, after a few months in this new job, she became very bored and started to realize that there wasn't really very much for a person in that job to do, and definitely no room for taking initiative on new projects. A few months after that, the organization where she worked realized the same thing and decided to lay her off. She was very sad, but with the support of her family and friends, she got back into the job search. This time, it lasted 6 months, and when she did find something, it was only a temporary position. But it was with such a great organization, she decided to accept it anyway, and move several states away to start work.

She tried to view the temporary position as a "foot in the door" at this place she'd always wanted to work. But when the first temporary position was followed by three other temporary positions, she started to feel rather downhearted, wondering if they were just toying with her, and didn't actually like her enough to keep her around long-term. She kept applying to permanent jobs within the organization and kept getting rejected. And each new temporary position was offered just days before the previous one was due to end (or even a few days after), so she was always on edge about whether she'd have to embark on another half-year job search. It was exhausting.

But then one day, she saw an internal posting for a permanent job that really seemed like a great fit. She put a lot of thought into her cover letter, and prepared very thoroughly for her interview. Then she got a second interview, and thought she did pretty well in that. She felt hopeful, but didn't want to get too excited only to be crushed when she didn't get it. And then finally, it happened. She was offered the job. And a raise. And an office with a window, one that she finally felt authorized to decorate and really move into. And best of all, it was at this wonderful place where she'd been for a year and a half and come to love the wonderful people doing their wonderful work. She was so happy she could cry.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Lucky 7

A month and a half. Yikes. I could claim holiday madness, or the fact that I got a cold over the holidays that I'm only just now getting over, or that I've been so busy learning how to do my new (yet alomst-over) three-week job while interviewing for other ones, or that I hurt my back last weekend and couldn't sit up long enough to blog.

And all of that would be true. But the real reason I haven't blogged is because there haven't been any FO's. Not only have there not been any FO's recently, but if I think about it, the "newest" of my WIPs was cast on in June. All the rest are more than a year old, and it's just sad. I was so excited that I was going to finish Samus and cast on for Autumn Rose, but the ribbon placket for Samus has been the bane of my existence. One side went in fine, but I am currently re-sewing the second one for the third time, since I can never seem to get it to be the same length as the other one, no matter how carefully I measure. I am nowhere near being ready to install the zipper itself.

Finally, on Wednesday, just before I went to Late Night at my LYS, I cracked. The hat I was wearing totally did not match my scarf, and it wasn't handknit either! This is because before the holidays, I very sadly lost a lovely hat that my future sister-in-law knit for me last year. And the other hat I had knit for myself two years before has not been seen since we moved. I was desperately in need of a new hat! At least, that's what I told myself. But what I really needed was a new project, that I could finish quickly and use right away. Enter Knitgirl and the rest of the Late Night gang. KG recommended some Malabrigo worsted, and while everyone was helping me pick a color, she went onto Ravelry and quickly found me a perfect pattern: the Lucky 7 Hat by Knittywhipped.


"Lucky 7" hat in Malabrigo worsted (Damask Rose colorway), using magic loop on US #8 42" Addi Turbos

This hat was a dream come true. I cast on at the shop on Wednesday night, knit a bit on the bus ride home, a bit on my morning commute Thursday, and both my commutes on Friday. After another couple hours in front of Law and Order and the Australian Open women's final, I had my wonderful, perfect hat. There were no errors in the pattern, and it was very easy to follow. The only problem I encountered is that Knittywhipped definitely has a smaller head than me, so I wasn't able to don my new hat as soon as I wove in the last end. However, a good blocking seems to have taken care of any size issues, and I feel like a million bucks for finally having finished something. Who knows? Maybe this was the boost of confidence I needed to finally (dare I say it?) finish Samus. I am feeling pretty lucky!