I don't really have time to post, but I will dash this off anyway.

Just got back from a lovely family reunion in Missouri. This is Ryan's Mom's side of the family, and I adore them. We ate, played with the kids, fielded all sorts of questions about life, and generally had a wonderful time. It was too short!

From Missouri I went on to Atlanta, where I had kind of a torturous day of market research. It didn't go very well and now I am home and revising revising revising stuff. It'll probably mean late nights the next few days, and a severe stress level. It sucks.

I got to repeat 20 of the second half of my poncho on one of my flights this weekend and ran out of yarn. Now, I have used four balls to this point, which leads me to think I used five on the first side, which would mean I have one ball left (I bought ten). Somewhere. Urgh. I don't know for sure, and I don't have time to search for it, either. I would know for sure if I had used five if I had only not been so efficient and woven in the ends already! I think I might actually need two more balls to finish the side and then do the neck. I may just suck it up and order more, since I don't see myself having time to go to Knit-A-Way this week. I wonder how much the dye lot matters in an open-work garment knitted in cream-colored yarn?

Regarding the house, we didn't do it. Long story short, it appears to be the most expensive house in the neighborhood, with the highest taxes. Not a great investment. It broke my heart. And now we're too fucking busy to look again this month, so it's on the back burner at the moment, right next to my sanity.

Look! Half a poncho!



I probably should've laid it out on a solid-colored towel to block, eh?

I'm now up to repeat 20 or 21 of the lacy poncho. It's so pretty! I wish I had more time to sit around and work on it. If only the subway weren't so damn crowded, I could get 20 minutes in each way during my commute, but it's so rare that I get a seat the whole way, and it's kind of a big piece to work on. I'm traveling again the week after next, though, which should get me some solid knitting time.

In other news, we're trying to buy a house. Our agent is presenting our bid tonight and I am VERY nervous! It is a really cute place, and in a good location. I'm afraid to say much more so just cross your fingers!

I bet you think I've just been sitting around doing nothing for the past two weeks. Wrong! I'm up to repeat 14 on my lacy poncho! I decided I had to make it, and had to make it unimaginatively in the same color as Bonne Marie's. It's just the most versatile shade, and I think I will want to wear this a lot. I'm using some Dale Falk yarn and it's very nice. I think I paid too much for it at Knit-A-Way (formerly Knitting Hands) in Brooklyn, but I wanted it right then and there and that was all they had. I rarely let that happen to me, but this time I just let it go.

So, here's the first chunk of poncho.



I'm very happy with it, and I know it'll look really nice once it's blocked. I have a wedding in Michigan 4 weeks from now, and I would like to wear this over the cute dress I got at Banana Republic last weekend. I wore it to a wedding last Sunday out at the beach, and froze with just a light pashmina. Oh, and I promise I didn't wear it with boots like the model, though it probably would've been nice and toasty and made my feet hurt less than the 3" heels I did wear! That's another item on my list - new black satin dressy shoes. I am finally admitting I can't wear the fuck-me heels anymore.

*sigh*

I often remark to myself that I will feel like the world is a better place when I can realize that I have gone a full day without being reminded of what happened here on September 11th, 2001. It seems there is always something that reminds me. Sometimes it is driving on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and looking at the (still stunning, but now also sad) lower Manhattan skyline. Sometimes it's seeing a plane fly low overhead and realizing that I never used to think that was an ominous sound. Sometimes it's seeing a guy on the street who reminds me of one of the group of high school friends who died that day. It's always something. Obviously, today is a day when one not only cannot help to remember, but one must remember.

I remember, too, September 10th. I was deeply depressed. I had been unemployed and occasionally freelancing since February, and a project I had expected to last longer had just ended. I was sad because I felt my boyfriend was never going to be ready to marry me. I went to the beach with my Mom and cried about all of this. And on the way home, I remember it was such a clear day that we could see the skyline and the WTC very clearly in the distance (about 35 miles away) when we crossed over the bridges on the Wantagh Parkway.

The next day, my whole world changed. I woke up on a beautiful cloudless day with nowhere to go. Ryan was sleeping next to me, and I didn't turn on the TV as I usually did, because I was enjoying the peace and quiet. It was my best friend's mother calling from Albany to see if I was home and OK who informed me of what was going on. I was barely 2 miles uptown and didn't hear a thing until then. After that we turned on the TV, and all my personal troubles were forgotten.

Three years later I'm married to the guy who would never commit, steadily employed and even in-demand from other companies. Life is good. But I still can't go a day without at least some brief moment of thinking about it.

May all who were lost rest in peace, and may all who feel lost now find their way home.

I got to go to School Products yesterday during lunch! It's so close to my office, but I don't often get the chance to get there, and to have company. My friend Virg is re-learning to knit this weekend and she wanted to get some supplies. I love this store. They have such a great variety of yummy yarns.

I was debating what I wanted to make, when I came upon the big wall of Brown Sheep and remembered my dear departed hat. Did I mention my hat? It was pink and purple stripes and I made it two years ago and loved it. Then I lost it, probably back in February when we went to Baltimore. I was heartbroken, as it was a silly, cute hat that always got me compliments. You can see a little of it in this picture.



I almost bought some new Brown Sheep to re-make the hat, and then was struck by an even more brilliant idea when I saw a similar shade of pink in Karabella Aurora 8.



The Aurora 8 is so darn soft - 100% merino, and like buttah. I petted it for a bit, then found a fortuitious shade of purple.



The decision was made - I will have a new pink and purple striped hat, and it will be soft and yummy and it won't itch my forehead one single bit. Don't you love happy endings?

I love when my husband comments on my blog, ya know that? I love him in general, but I love him extra when I know he takes time out of the day to see what I'm saying here.

Not much to say. There's a whole load of job stuff going on, but I am not going to jinx it or risk anyone here seeing the scoop until it's all sorted.

We just got back from spending the weekend upstate with my friend Lisa and her family. We saw them two weeks ago and their son Alex wasn't walking or talking much (he's 15 months). Now two weeks later, he is walking like a pro(fessional toddler) and says stuff like "mama" and "cracker" and "ball" and "hi," though you can't count on him to say it at any given time. He's so cute and so much fun, and I wish we could see them all more often.

Not doing much knitting lately, because other stuff is in the way. I would like to make lots of stuff, but my attention span is very minimal right now. I think when the job is sorted out, I will be more productive that way. As much as I would like to deny it, autumn is coming whether I want it to or not, and it would be nice to have some pretty new things for me to wear, as well as stuff for all those babies that keep popping out.

I'm in love with Sebastian.



I spent the whole day with him and Leanne, and now I miss him so much. They live 53 miles away, and that never seemed far until now.

I had a lousy day yesterday, so my friend Amie sent something to cheer me up. I met Amie online when we were planning our weddings, and we've stayed friends, along with a small bunch of other girls who created an MSN Group so we could stay in touch. Amie had a baby a few months ago, so I knitted her a little strawberry cap. How cute is this little munchkin?



She definitely cheered me up!

No pictures of Leanne's new cutie, but I'm going there on Tuesday to spend the day and take too many pictures. :-)

It's a boy!! Sebastian Peter was born around 3pm on Friday, July 30th. Ryan and I took the long drive to the hospital and got there just as visiting hours ended, but they let us stay for about 20 minutes anyway. This hospital is seriously security-minded and won't let the babies out of the nursery until visiting hours are over, which I find extremely frustrating, but I guess they gotta do what they gotta do.

We got to see Sebastian getting a very very messy diaper changed, so we actually saw more of the butt end than the face end. But the little bit of face we did get to see was adorable! He's a cute little thing, for sure. Eight pounds, 6 ounces, 21 inches long. So he's big, but he wasn't the giant bruiser they were predicting.

Mom and Dad are doing fine. Mom's drugged up from the c-section but was in great spirits and was a great patient, they said. Dad is dancing on air, and as giddy as I've ever seen him.

I want one.

It's official - for various reasons, Leanne has to have a c-section. She's much more sanguine about it now than she was on Monday. It will be tomorrow, probably around midday. So exciting! We're going to go out to the hospital tomorrow night, even though they won't let us hold the baby. Is that new? Most of my friends who've had babies said the hospital didn't restrict that sort of thing, but this one says only parents and grandparents. Bleh! Still, I want to see the little tyke when it's fresh from the womb. :-)

Duck feet booties are ready to go! I made one pair with the Rowan "Sunny" color, and that is all ready. However, I found some really lovely yellow sport-weight cotton/acrylic yarn at School Products yesterday, and I have started another pair. I'm 90% done with bootie one, and would love to finish that and bootie two tonight. This yarn actually feels nicer than the cotton glace, and I think it's a better color. I have several friends with babies here or on the way who could use duck feet, so there's no wasted booties!

Since Liz wanted to know, I'll tell you that my Knit-A-Way experience was not a thrill. It was just like a Knitting Hands experience, although the staff seemed friendlier to the other people there who were asking questions. Basically, I think the big sale is to get rid of stuff, and they didn't seem to have anything new. It was mostly wool, and mostly stuff I don't like (I like soft soft soft), and mostly blechy colors. I was looking for yarn to make baby stuff and came home empty-handed.

Then again, I was in a crappy mood and that certainly could have contributed. I may have to go back. It's another cruddy day, so maybe today.

I am still struggling with that damn Debbie Bliss bear. It's horrid. I finished knitting all the tiny body parts, and putting them together is no more fun than the knitting of them. I hate the way it is constructed with seams running right down the center of the face. I don't know what I'm going to do about this awful little project that I thought would be so fun.

The upside is Leanne is still hanging onto that baby, though her due date was this past Thursday. Poor thing. They say he/she is about 10 pounds by now,  and they may have to induce or c-section her. She was very upset about the c-section possibility, as she has been a diligent Bradley method learner and really has taken care of herself and had a very easy pregnancy up to now. I told her she must have a comfy womb and that whatever happens, she's going to have a beautiful baby, no matter how it gets out of her. Yeah, that helped. Uh-huh.

In the meantime, I am making a pair of duck feet baby booties from Zoe Mellor's 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. I may give these to Leanne, because she has mentioned that she bought some of the Carter's "little duckie" print baby clothes. I also may give them to my friend Wendy, who has a brand-new son. I had bought some the the little duckie stuff for a baby we never got to see (and had to buy a larger size of other stuff)  a few months back, so I could give her that and the booties and have a great gift. I think that if Leanne has a boy,  she'll get the duck feet right away and I'll make another pair for Wendy's son, who I won't see as quickly. If she has a girl, I will send Wendy the ducks, and make the pink gingham booties on the cover of that book for Leanne, and maybe the duck feet later. I could also make the gingham in green, if it's a boy and I decide this plan is worthless. :-)

So many decisions, but right now it's all hinging on when that silly baby pokes its head out and what sort of equipment they find down below!

After reading the news on the Stitch-n-Bitch list, I got confirmation that Knitting Hands is now called Knit-a-Way, and is under new ownership. Well, that would explain the lack of stock and interest I experienced the past few times I went there. I'm intrigued by the change, and since my confirmation came in the form of a "20% off Everything!" coupon and today is a rainy day, I will be there sometime this afternoon.
 
Leanne is going to have her baby any day now, and I am no further on that stupid bear, so that's on my agenda, too. I might have to make some booties or something like that in the interim, just in case said baby pops out before I finish. I do have other gifts I am giving her, but none of them are handknitted (knitted baby monitors are not functional, it appears) and I want to give her something I made myself!
 
Headed to Grand Rapids, Michigan tomorrow for work, getting back Tuesday night. If I don't have to work on the plane, maybe I can knit. But I may get stuck with actual work. Yuk. I'm so over work. I was there until 11:30 Thursday night, and now that I didn't get the promotion, that sort of thing is extra-maddening. I'll work it out eventually, but in the meantime, I'm just not thrilled to be there at all.

I had sort of a shitty end of the week. On Wednesday, I had to drive in to the office so I could drive to Pennsylvania later in the day because we were shooting something on location there Thursday, starting very early. On 8th Avenue, like 5 blocks from my office, I got rear-ended by a cab. It was a minor incident, but I still wanted a Police report, just in case we end up having to replace the whole damn bumper. The whole thing was just a big pain in the ass, and made me very late for work (which was OK - I called and explained and no one minded).

Yesterday, I got to work and went to see my boss. She told me that my raise had come in, and through our conversation, I discovered I was not getting promoted along with this 6.25% percent raise. Well, back in the beginning of the year, when I first started asking about my review/raise, she told me I would absolutely be getting promoted, that I was definitely ready. When I asked her if there was anything more I needed to be doing, she told me no, I was doing great. So this was a tremendous shock.

I was too shocked to bring any of that up at the time; basically I was so shocked all I could do was say "I have to go" and head for the ladies room in case I actually burst out in tears. I didn't, but I was choked up for a while.

I have a friend at work who was at the same level as me, and asked our boss about her raise/promotion outlook around the same time I did. She wasn't satisfied with the answer, went out looking for other jobs, got an offer that came with a promotion and a HUGE raise, told our boss, got counter-offered (not the same salary, but apparently a good compromise) and is now my "superior." Actually, it looks like now I am going to be her "right-hand" person on some of her projects. This isn't a problem between us, because she's great, and she even said she doesn't think of it that way - she knows we're equals outside of the blackmail. But for me, it feels like a tremendous setback, and the irony of it all is too much.

I can't figure out what happened, which is the worst part. Why would she say one thing and then do another? I had no indication at any time during the past 6 months that I was lacking in any way. She is constantly telling me how wonderful I am. So what gives? I'm going to bring it up next week when I can talk about it without crying (lack of PMS would help that situation greatly!). But the cold hard reality is that if this is the decision, it's not going to change now, and I am going to have to wait until next year for a substantive raise and promotion.

That's too long. I already spoke to several people who assured me of my high value in the marketplace, and it looks like I'm going to have to find that out for myself. I don't expect I'll go the blackmail route, either. Once my heart's not in it anymore, I'm out. This makes me sad, because I thought I'd be able to stay here for a while and could be really happy, here. Until now, my boss has been the absolute most wonderful person I could ever hope to work for in a million years. Sad.

Yeah, it's been well over a month since I posted. That's lame.

So what happened in that time? I worked about a gajillion hours, went to Chicago for work, had a fun birthday, went to Hawaii with my family, had my first anniversary, had a great time on vacation, came home and worked a million more hours (negating most of the nice vacation effects), New Jersey, Phoenix, and Dallas for work, got jet-lagged, came home, collapsed in a heap, went back to work, and finally had a nice long weekend.

Right now I am knitting Debbie Bliss's Bear in a Lamb Sleep Suit for Leanne's baby. She loved it in the book and so I decided to make it for her as a surprise. How cute is this?



Unfortunately, the instructions suck ass. Seriously. First off, the colors are specified by name in the book, but only in numbers on the shade card, so the brown I ordered online (because I couldn't get to a LYS that carried it) is the wrong brown. I can live with that - it's just a more fair-furred bear than I had planned on.

The actual knitting instructions are far worse than that. This thing is knit in a zillion little tiny pieces, and then there is no friggin schematic for how to put it together! Just a bunch of paragraphs of description. Hey, Debbie, a picture is worth a thousand stupid words! Because it's so annoying, I've mostly knitted only on airplanes, and even then it's been hard to force myself to do it. I'm almost done with the bear part. I suspect the lamb suit part will be less of a pain in the butt.

I promise to be a better blogger from here on.

So, does anyone remember last year, when my best friend told me we were going to a big yarn sale in order to get me to my bridal shower? Strangely enough, almost exactly a year later, my now-pregnant best friend and I went to the yarn store she decoyed me with! It was called The Knitting Cove and was a lovely place to while away an hour or so on a beautiful day.

I came home with a Debbie Bliss baby knits book and some baby cashmerino to make some booties. My cube-neighbor at work just had a baby boy, and since he was there when I gave my other friend the strawberry cap, I wanted to give him something, too. The pattern works up quickly, and the booties are so cute! Don't you agree?

My blog's been quiet, but I sure haven't. I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself for weeks! No knitting, no sewing, nothing but working and running from place to place. I've had a lot of fun, but I am so worn out and just want a quiet day to myself. Dunno when that's going to happen.

Mother's Day was fun. Mom and Dad came over and I cooked an amazing brunch (if I do say so myself), culminating in amazing crab cakes, courtesy of America's Test Kitchen. If you like crab cakes, make these. The only trick is being willing to shell out 20-25 bucks for the jumbo lump crabmeat. It is totally worth it. You'd pay that for one serving of these at a restaurant, and they wouldn't be as good, damnit.

Been reading in New York Magazine about the protests planned for the Republican National Convention in August. I still can't believe it's going to be here. A block from my office. Shit. What a mess. I may have to go join the protests, since I will be in the neighborhood! What worries me is that the US Open is going on at the same time, and apparently the Mets and Yankees are both at home. What a friggin mess, whatever your political leanings.

Starting to get really excited for our trip to Hawaii in June. My whole family (Mom, Dad, brother, us) is going. Mom's birthday, June 11th, is King Kamehameha Day, a big holiday there. She has always wanted to go, so we are. We'll spend the first 5 days on Oahu, the next 6 on Kaua'i. Our anniversary falls in the middle of the Kaua'i leg of the trip, so we'll get to spend it in my favorite place in the world.

Well, work got crazy again and I've hardly had any time to knit, sew, or blog. It's frustrating - one week is so dead that you're wondering where you're going to bill your time (the evil that comes along with working in a client-service business) and the next you're insanely busy and wondering how you're going to find the time to do it all.

In between all that we went to Atlanta for the wedding of my friends Peggy and Ronna. Screw anyone who has an issue with calling it a wedding and not a committment ceremony. These two wonderful women are so in love, and it was one of the best weddings I've ever been to! Lots of family and friends, lots of love, lots of dancing and good food. What's not to love?

Ryan and I made new best friends, too. Ronna's two nieces, Carly (6) and Wensday (yes, it's really spelled that way and she's 8) latched on to us the first night of the weekend, and none of us ever let go. Everyone kept telling us we need to have kids ASAP. Well, yeah, it's not like it hasn't occurred to us. We're getting there. Someday we'll either be financially in a position to do it, or decide we can't wait any longer and hell, there are a ton of people with kids who make far less money than I do, even if Ryan doesn't have a full-time job. We'll see which happens first.

This weekend is the Cherry Blossom Festival so we'll be back at the Botanic Garden. I think our friend Wil and his girlfriend are joining us there on Saturday. That night we've got a party to go to - a colleague of mine is having "Drinko de Mayo." Who can resist that? Maybe Sunday I will get back to sewing, since it's supposed to be rainy.

We had a little baby shower at work for my friend here who is about to have her baby. First we gave her a gift certificate many people contributed to, and then I gave her a strawberry cap, which made her cry. Happy cry, you know. It was really sweet.

I bought fabric and trim for my copy of the Garnet Hill skirt, and sewed part of the skirt yesterday. Unfortunately, I am not thrilled with it. It sits a bit too high on the waist for my taste. Part of that is the pattern, part of it is that I think it's a bit small, so it's happier sitting higher up on my waist where it is narrower. Grr. I have more fabric, and am toying with the idea of just trying something else or making it in a larger size. Why is it so hard to find a simple, lowish-waisted a-line skirt pattern. You know, like EVERY SKIRT in EVERY STORE out there?

Oh well. I'll figure it out.

Other than that, all is well. It's finally beautiful, glorious Spring here. Ryan and I went back to the Botanic Garden yesterday and pretended to get married again. It was good fun and we took some pictures, but I was too pooped to download them last night so those will have to wait. It was a lovely day, and we ended it off by ordering Indian food for dinner, just like we did on our real wedding night. :-)

I'm kind of fried today. Last night I went out to a going-away party for someone I've worked very closely with for the past 6 months, and who I will really miss. I hadn't eaten much and probably could have done with 1 fewer Tanqueray+Tonic. Ryan joined the party and we had a great time, dancing and laughing and drinking. I didn't pay too hard this morning, but enough that I decided I want to be a lump tonight. So, while Ryan is out seeing Hellboy with our friend John, I am home being nice and quiet.

Added a few more links on the left. I'll try and link to anyone who comments, unless you're nasty. :-)