For the Love of Stitches

30 is looking kind of good...

Not much knitting going on these days. A lot of packing to do, and not enough time to do it all. I'm just hoping I can finish it before our move date.

Not sure if I shared with you, but I think I was going through a mini crisis earlier this year. I turned the big 3-0 this Sunday, and I went through a phase of reflection. Thinking about my life, how I could've done things different, and all those could've, would've and should've. Not being sure what 30 was supposed to be, and I don't feel or look like I'm 30 (at least I don't think so). I was so scared to turn such a big age, but I knew that I couldn't stop time and be 29 forever. Well, 30 came this past weekend and I have to say that it was one of the best birthdays I've ever had. I had to face turning 30 and you know what? When 30 came, I didn't turn into a pumpkin and nothing horrible happened. In fact, I was surrounded by people that loved and cared for me, genuinely, and had a great time. I think my 30's are going to be fabulous, because 30 is truly the new 20. In fact, I'm going to celebrate my 30th birthday every year until I feel like I'm 30, then I'll turn 31. lol.

My husband and friends came together for a dinner party at Iguana's in Manhattan. The food was great, the drinks were even better and the music in their lounge/club downstairs was fabulous all night! Great DJ! The service was wonderful! They really took care of us and the manager came around himself to make sure that everything was going smooth. I guess, the fact that it was about 20 or so of us might have had something to do with it. They even made it more festive by bringing the lady with the feathers over so we can dance together. My friend Berna's birthday was that Saturday, and she celebrated with me too. That's us in the picture below with the hats, which I wish we could've kept :(. Thank goodness for pictures.

I'll be knitting crazy once I moved. I've already started making a list of projects I want to do while job searching in Florida. Hopefully the job market isn't as bad as NY's. Happy Knitting!! Oh, I almost forgot, my brother got me a new camera for my birthday! It's a Canon and it's the bomb diggidy!!!! When I get a chance, I will post pictures I took with it to show you it's wonderful effects! I didn't know cameras could do that and it takes wonderful indoor pictures of objects in natural light!!! How you doing??!!! (I've been watching the Wendy Williams Show - That's another post).

  

She is working it hard!! You go Miss Thang!!! Work it!!!

I L-O-V-E the hats and this picture. Never mind that we both have our boobs hanging out of this pic. I bet you would've never noticed if I didn't say anything. I think we were both on our 2nd or 3rd drink. They make the best Mango Margaritas!!!

The Taste of Freedom

Work

About three weeks ago, I gave my 2 weeks notice to my current employer. I was very shocked by the reaction I received from my boss and from HR. When I handed my notice to HR, they were shocked that I was resigning and kept me in their office for two hours trying to convince me to stay. Wanting to know if there's anything that they can do to change my mind and make me stay, especially since I don't have a job lined up. They spent about 45 minutes of the two hours telling me how bad the economy was and how I may not be able to "survive out there without a job, so I should really think twice before I make this decision. I guess if they knew I was moving out of state they wouldn't have spent so much time trying to convince me to stay, but I didn't think they needed to know that. So, I guess they think that I mostly quit because I was in a very unhappy work environment. Was I wrong for not telling them? I just didn't think it was any of their business. Anyway, after I spoke to them, I went downstairs and handed my boss a copy of the same letter I gave to HR. He too was shocked and spent an hour trying to find solutions to all the issues I bought up to him in the past (which he did nothing about), in order to see if I could possibly change my mind and stay. I think it was a little too late for him to find solutions now, considering that they had been ongoing issues. I didn't share with him that I was moving out of state, but I did talked to him about all the changes that need to be made so that the next person that fills this position won't have to go through the same b.s. that I went through. I have to say that I was shocked because no one ever showed any appreciation for the things that I did in that office, and I guess I would've neve really known how valuable I was if I didn't resign. I think it's a real shame that it took me leaving for them to show how much I was needed.

As my two weeks went by, and I packed up my belongings at work, which wasn't much, my boss hardly said two words to me. I think he was hurt by me leaving and didn't know how to express himself? I don't really know. My last morning at the job, he threw a breakfast in my honor and invited everyone in the office that I talked to. I was touched by his kindness and glad that he didn't invite the entire building, becuase I don't think I could handle the fake people who hardly spoke to me (and those that never speak to me) coming to wish me well just so they can get a free breakfast. The fact that he only invited those that actually took the time out to be my friend made the breakfast and my farewell extremely genuine. Walking out those double doors of the building for the last time was a feeling that I can't describe. I felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder, and my heart had a new song to it. This was the best decision I've made (career wise) in a very long time. If I knew then what I know now, I would'vve quit a long time ago.

Knitting

I think any sane person would be nervous to quit there jobs and move to another state jobless, but for me I feel as if this is a new begining and I'm not worried at all. I truly believe in my heart that this leap of faith will bring nothing but wonderful things my way. It's like I finally listed to the inner voice inside of me (God), and now a golden door has opened. I see this as the begining of a new chapter in my life. Maybe this is part of the whole turning 30 "crisis" (I'll be 30 on July 20). I don't know, but I'm so happy being free. Having my time be my time, and being able to concentrate on what I want in life.

To start, I have been receiving many orders for baby blankets and baby outfits. I didn't realize so many women delivered in the summer. I guess there was a lot of loving going on during the cold winter months. lol. I made this beautiful blanket (pictured below) for a client. It was a lot of work, with a lot of details. I added the ribbon for a special touch. I absolutely love this blanket, and so did she. She loved it so much, that she kept it a few more weeks before giving it to the person it was intended for, so she could show it off to family and friends. That was a great advertisement for me. She wants another blanket  and a baby outfit in September. I think what made this even more special for me was that she appreciated the value of a hand knitted gift and knew it's worth. That made me happy. It was a very big baby blanket. You can click on the picture for a larger view.

  What a difference lighting makes. It's the same blanket. The lighting and angle of the picture makes it seem as if it' two different colors.

Well, now I will have time to post more often on my blog, and knit more often. I just love the craft!

Happy Knitting!

Grrrrrr.....

This week is the week from hell, and it's only Tuesday!!! I was ready to quit my job this morning. I have to keep telling myself that it's only a couple more months before I head down to Florida. Just a couple.

I have been in a long battle for R-E-S-P-E-C-T at work. Apparently the men in here don't know how to even spell that word. Working for the federal government was probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made in my entire life. If you want to know why the government is the way it is, just walk into any federal building and it will explain it all. Now, if you do work for the federal government and you love your job, I think that's wonderful and know that I don't mean to offend you in any way. Just know that our experiences are different. Now, I'm in middle management, first women to be in any type of management in this federal agency, and it seems like people are just hatin' on me for that. This place acts a lot on the Good Old Boys mentality and that women are only good to be secretaries. So the battle has always been me trying to prove myself, defend myself, and show that "HELLO!!! women can do what men do but BETTER"! Well, I'm at the point where I've just had it with this place and asked that the man they call my boss and my co-worker (another man) have a meeting with me and a mediator addressing all the issues that are going on in the department. The man they call my boss agreed to the meeting, but does not want a mediator to be present. What does that tell you? Well, I'm trying to get one to come in anyway. This place is like satan's playground. Everything you can think of happens here. Like, a worker was busted by the FBI for selling drugs in the building. What in the world made him think that it was okay to work for the federal government and sell drugs from his office?!! I tell you, satan loves it in here.

On to knitting...

I'm not really doing much knitting for myself lately because people keep putting in "orders" for baby blankets and outfits. I have one baby blanket to finish and hopefully that will be all the baby stuff for the rest of the year. The good thing bout making baby items is that I can knock them out in less than a week. If I wasn't in this 9-5 prison, which others would call a job, I probably would be able to finish them faster and have time for my own stuff. Oh, I have a new knitting bag, well needle binder bag. I needed something that would better organize my needles. I have the red one. I love it!

 

I have more pictures of actual knitted projects coming soon.

Are you on Ravelry??

I'm addicted to Ravelry. Ann, from Dreamweaver Yarns told me about this site a while ago. With all the things on my plate, I remembered signing up for it, but didn't really follow up on whether or not I got an invitation. Well, now that I'm back in my knitting groove, I decided to check it out. I'm so glad I did, because it is the best site ever for knitters! At least it is for me. I've already met some wonderful knitters in Florida that I can't wait to meet and party with! I'm so addicted! Are you on Ravelry? If so, you can catch me as Divineladi.

Where do I start????

Hi everyone! I know I've been M.I.A. for about six months now. I missed you all and glad to be back in the mix again, or at least slowly getting back in the mix. There's so much that's been going on in my life that I just don't know where to start. Well, I guess I'll start with this: I'm moving to FLORIDA in August! I'm super duper excited that the hubby and I finally made this decision, because that is where I've always wanted to be and He loves it too. His entire family is down there, and eventually my family is going to move down there in a year or so. Now, we're in the process of packing things up to get ready to move...again! Can I tell you that we still have boxes we haven't unpacked from our move last year, one of which holds my neglected yarns and a box that I need to send to Cinnamon Purls. Cinnamon, please don't hate me girl. I'm still going to send you the yarn. The post office is not near me and I barely have time to drive there to drop off your packages and Kelly's too. I know it's probably been a year since ya'll been waiting for those packages, but I promise you that I will not move to Florida with them. The hubby and I would move tomorrow if we could. I can't wait to leave this prison that I'm in now that they call a job.

Now, let's talk about some knitting. Have you seen the scarves made by Anna Kula? Well, I have to say that since I saw her site, I felt like I too can make a living out of knitting. Why not? She can do it, so why can't I? Then I thought about SistaCraft and what a wonderful inspiration she is to me. I just wish that school and work didn't get in the way so that we could've kept working together. So, with all of this in mind, I said I'm definitely going to take my knitting more seriously and start working on trying to do what I love for a living. The best part about this is that my husband supports me 100%. He thought it would be a good idea to quit the job that I have now and pursue knitting full time while he supports the both of us! That made me feel so special and I was so shocked, I didn't really know what to say. I just didn't really expect it. He is truly a blessing to me and I love him even more! Anyway, to try my hand at it, I made this Glitter Shawl for Ann at Dreamweaver Yarns. I guess you can it's my very first design. She sent it to Tilli Tomas because they were doing a photo shoot and I received a copy of the picture. I think it photographed beautifully! Ann is such an encourager! She believes in my skills and I love her for that support! After my 12 years of knitting, seeing this picture has made me realize and believe for the first time that I'm truly talented! So, what do you think?

I'll post later about my update with school, the interesting things I found out about the program, and the prison I go to every day 9am - 5pm, also known as work or a job or whatever.

Twinkle

So all of you were probrably in the know about this book before I was.  I think this book has a lot of cute designs on it, but I have caught a few mistakes while reading the patterns in the book. The mistakes are easy to fix, so it won't be too big of a challenge. So, the yarn to make most of these patterns are like $12 per skein, and some require at least 10 -12 skeins! I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money right now. I'm a struggling college student :-).

I absolutely adore this halter! When I get home, I will take a picture of the finished project and post the information about the substitute yarn I used for it. One of these days, I would like to make another one. It was definitely a quick knit, and I finished it (at work, of course) in about a week. I used size 11 and 13 needles as opposed to the size 13 and 15 needles they suggested. I still have to block it and will post more info about it later.

 

More Pics and Dreamweaver

I've been working at my company for 4 years and I just found out that Ann of Dreamweaver yarns works in the same place with me! How wonderful is that! She is the coolest and sweetest. She bought in a knitting bag that I fell in love with and in no time it became my very own knitting bag :-). I love the color, and that big is big enough to carry everything that I need to knit or crochet! I love my new bag. (Namaste)

Yes, that picture was taken in the conference room at work. That room is now officially the knitting/crochet room. I know, you would've made it your knitting room too.

My knitting group at work has suffered due to my schooling and work, but one of the members are determined to get us back in the habit again. I'm glad she is determined, and we are scheduled to start knitting again on Fridays during lunch time. I guess that's better then me not knitting at all.

Skyle, who's part of the work knitting group and claims to be a beginner knitter took on a project on her own. She got the pattern for the baby blanket from Lionbrand. I'm very proud of her. She read the pattern on her own and the blanket turned out beauti ful. She even conquered her fear of YOs (yarn overs), which are used to form the border on the blanket.

 

I'm Back!

Hello my fellow bloggers. I thought it would be a long time before I post again, but I didn't have school today. Our final paper is due this week, and we got a day to go home and finish the paper. Of course, it seems like instead of typing my paper, I found some of my old knitting pictures in a camera and decided to take a little break from school work. These pictures were taken earlier this year...I think. I don't really remember for I've been living one long day since I started school. Anyway, before I go on to the pics, I wanted to welcome Saushine to NYC!! I hope you're adjusting well. I want to give a big shout out to Sahara, A.D.D Knitter, Gingersnapswtea, quiltyknitwit, and Anna. You ladies are the best! Thank you for the words of encouragement :-). Del,I've missed so much with you. In one day I read that your knitting blog was going down and the same day the knitting blog came back! lol. It shows how out of touch I've been. I'm glad you're back. I'm peeking through everyone's blog now and going right back to my paper afterward.

Ok, now let's get to the pictures. Sometime this year or last year (I think), don'treally know when, my fellow knitter Irina gave me this really cute cable halter top  pattern that she told me was going to be nice and quick to make. I took on the challenge and took advantage of my boss being out on vacation, and knitted the halter at work. It was very quick to make and I was able to finish it that week. Can you believe I sacrificed lunch for this? This was the first thing I knitted in a while and I think I was just too excited to get it started and actually finish it. Ladies, cables are your friend. lol.

Yarn: Katia Jamaica (100 % cotton)     Size 6 needles     Model: T-Pain (Torie)

I never realized how wonderful the lighting in my office was.

Here's T-Pain modeling the top during a friends birthday shinding. This is after we've had a couple of drinks. lol. Let me out once and I don't know how to act. lol.

This top is like a one size fits all top. I kid you not. It fits everybody! Anyway, I have more things to post, but I'm going to get back to work.

Peeking in

I know I've been horrible at my blogging. My computer was fixed, but I got swamped with school work. I'm also in the process of looking for a new job, so my time has been extremely limited. I was able to knit an item or two a couple of months ago, but that was it. I'm in the process of writting the first three chapters of my dissertation, so research has taken over my life. Next month, I will be starting year two of this program. I will be old and grey by the time I'm down with this thing, and I can't wait to finish. I've already had a couple of breakdowns!!!

I'm completely out of touch with the knitting world. I don't know what's going on or what any of you are doing. In the middle of my research late at night, I will spy on your blog to see what you've been up to the last 3 months that I've been gone. I made a decision to make every effort to post on this blog at least once a month, even if it's to bitch about school. At least that would let you know I'm still breathing.

Computer Down :-(.

I was ready to post my pictures and show you what I've been up to lately. Especially since I actually cast on a garment! My needles are at work again, but not as much as I would like them to. My computer totally crashed! I have nothing to show you :-(. I was told that my computer will be ready, possibly, by this weekend. Let's cross our fingers because I need it for school too!