Gifts for My Sisters

So, I finally got birthday gifts done for my sisters. Both are January birthdays so at least they'll have their gifts in hand before the end of the month. HA!

Little will get her gift tomorrow. I got it over to Brown for shipping last week. She gets knitted washcloths and naturals soaps and a lovely body wash from Mary Kay. I started knitting these washcloths for myself, but I know little sis will love and appreciate them. So I'll have to order more yarn to make more for myself.


Big sis get a very lovely and much more expensive Schaefer scarf. It's 50% silk/50% wool and it feels really nice. The pattern is called the Open Wave Scarf and it knits up supper fast for a quick and easy gift. It's just hard to give away because of the cost of the yarn. I know she'll love it and I hope she cares for it accordingly. I'll have to send care instructions along with.


Now I'm off to knit something new. Maybe finish something for myself!

Oh, It's So Personal

Today, several people were "let go" from my company. My own job is a little shaky, but I found myself more worried about the others than myself. Yes, the company has been having financial problems lately, but it's method of getting rid of employees bothers me more so than the fact that they had to let someone go. Having to implement a hard decision can be seen as just "business", but when you implement your decisions in ways that have the most negative impact to the lives of the employees, it SO becomes "personal".

Today's actions, although coming from a sound business decision were personal. Personal in it's implementation, personal in it's impact.

There is no business anymore.

Learning Something New

People always want to believe that because you're single and you own a home that you are some independent woman that doesn't need anyone and can do everything on her own. To an extent that is true, but there are times when you just need to have someone to help. Now is my time.

My heat pump has been out for a couple of weeks now so I've been force to use alternative heating method. Here enters the fire place that I've never used. I've been in my home for 3 years and I've never lit this thing. I've never had to before. We didn't have a fireplace growing up. Why would we? We lived in Mississippi. But here I am.

So I went and bought fire wood, loaded it up in the Jeep, unloaded it and piled it in the garage, consulted the internet on how to build a fire and off I was. I've still got a lot to learn about building and maintaining a fire but I did it! Ms Independent learned something new. And as much as I wish I had a husband that could do it for me, I am quite satisfied that I was able to do it myself. So to all my "independent" women out there (you know who you are), go out and learned something new. Give them another reason to believe we know it all. :)

What's on my needles?

I'm glad you asked!

At the moment I am knitting several projects. I alternate between them depending on the kind of mood I am in. If my week has been stressful, I try to put a little more time on the weekends into my knitting. This week was a doozie!

I've been working on the Isabeau purse for my little sister. Part of her growing but late birthday gift.
I've finally started one of the Schaefer scarves that I purchased yarn for. I think I will gift this to my older sister when I'm done. Her birthday is in 3 days. I think this will make a good, light scarf that can be warn throughout the spring. It will be pretty with a coordinating Easter outfit.



Two projects that I want to finish but I'm not necessarily enthused to knit are the knitted bag from Last Minute Gifts and some hats that I'm knitting up for charity. I pick these up when I'm wanting to keep my hands busy but I don't want to have to think about the stitches. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the bag when it's done.
My intent is to do at least nine of the charity hats, but I will go until I run out of wool. I think this will strictly be stash busting. If I go out to buy more yarn, I may go overboard and buy too much.

My absolute favorite but LONG project going at the moment is the simple cable hat and scarf sets from cables untangled. The hats are done and one scarf is still in the beginning stages as you can see. I figured out I could knit them both at the same time so I got the new one on the same pattern row as the one in progress, put them on the same needles and off I went. I'm not sure how long they'll both be when finished. I'm just going to keep going till I use up all the yarn that I have. They are knit with this very soft and luscious Malabrigo yarn.

Dismantling Christmas

Today, I removed the Christmas and fall decorations from the house and neatly packed them away. It was a little sad. The holidays, especially Thanksgiving, are very precious to me. And for another year I've packed away the decor but there is still is a hole left where some experience that I've not yet been allowed to have will reside. I don't know what's missing. All I can say is this still was not it. Even with the new that has come into my life, that old longing is still looming. I hope the holidays brought you everything you were looking for. If not, I pray next year brings that magic.

Get Some Business About Yourself

This last year, I set out on a mission to meet new people. People that inspired me and people that have a mission about their lives that no one can take from them. I especially wanted these people to be women and I definitely got more than I bargained for.

My job had me working on location in Atlanta and there I met some phenomenal women that made me look at myself with a new set of glasses. No homogenized living among these women. Each has a different perspective, each has a different mission, each has a different lifestyle, and each has taught me the power of being an individual.

At the start of 2008, knitting and blogging have brought even more fabulous women my way and they all (old and new) have a business about themselves.

Whether it's furthering education, writing books, or making and selling handmade items, these women are moving and shaking and blazing the trails of money and business. You want to keep up? You better get some business about yourself.

Step up and step out. Discover and set that mission that's been lurking in the back of your head. Make an impression and get some business about yourself!

Knitting Away the Stress

Being an engineer, stress is a natural part of the job. Add to that all the stress of just living life and I get a little wound up at times....okay a lot wound up. So, I've adopted the attitude that rather than binge on cookies and chips, I will keep my mind and hands busy with my hobbies.

Sometimes it jewelry making, sometimes it's scrapbooking and sometimes writing. Lately, the hobby of choice has been knitting. I find that concentrating on a pattern and working to finish a project really keeps my mind calm. And it keeps me from becoming the angry office 'B'.

But I sometimes procrastinate on starting a project. I will buy the book or pattern, get all the yarn I need and then nothing happens. Hanks of yarn have been lurking at the back of my closet for months with the fact that they have not been wound into balls my excuse for not starting those projects.

Well, last night I put aside that excuse and I sat and watched TV as I wound 7 balls of yarn that have been waiting for me to get into gear. A couple of those skeins wound into pretty big balls. No more excuses!

TIME TO CAST ON!!!!

Birthdays and Murphy

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister. She's 22 today. I can't believe it! She's such a fantastic domestic goddess. I hate her. :) Since I'm home early today, I'm going to work on a special birthdy gift for her. I know it'll be late, but it took me awhile to figure out what I would get her. I know she'll love what I make. So, why am I home?????

Okay, so Muphy has come to nest in my home. Murphy being the destroyer of bliss. My heat pump has decided on the coldest day of the year here to stop heating. I had to buy electric heaters last night so I didn't freeze to death. Okay, it's not that bad but ooooh it sure feels like it. The repair man is under the house right now trying to figure out how to fix it. I just hope this doesn't cost much.

I was looking at blogs yesterday and kept running across people that were doing the 1 pic a day for 365 days. I haven't signed up for any of the groups, but I did decide to attempt to do it myself. What's the pic for today? What else....one of my new electric heaters. :)
The date stamp on my camera is a day behind....I'll have to fix that.

Setting Up

I'm enjoying testing out all the things I can do with my new blog, but I'm a little miffed that I can't figure out how to get my flickr account to show up correctly. I'm not sure whose pictures are showing up, but they are not mine. I'll continue working on it. Who helps with these things? I'm also trying to link to ravelry. Easier said than done, I guess.

wash cloths.jpg

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Originally uploaded by aldorris105

I'm knitting custom face wash cloths for myself. Going great so far.

Happy New Year

Thank God a new year has started. 2007 was actually a good year for me but it ended quite strangely and I'm excited to move on. This is my first post of what I hope to be many. Who knows what the new year will bring. I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I do. Happy New Year and more to come soon.