Arachne's Musings

2003-08-13T18:42:00.000-05:00

I've moved!

I defected to Typepad...please visit me at my new home Arachne's Musings
and update your bookmarks.

2003-08-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch, Oh the bitch is back (elton john)

I got back late Friday night...tired and starving. What is it with the airlines and those mini bags of pretzels? Can't they at least give you a vending machine size bag? I'm supposed to be satisfied with 5 mini pretzels over 10 hours (I had 2 connecting flights)?

I spent the weekend in a vegetative state. It always takes me a couple of days to readjust after I travel. It's almost like someone has hit the reset button in my brain. Before the trip, I usually have a huge mental to do list (must do's, want to do's, etc.) I go away for a week and my mind is wiped clean (not in a good way).

I did manage to whip up one mouse-along mouse before I left:
Casey seemed pretty happy with it!

I didn't get much knitting done during the trip..just another mouse. Both mice were made of some acrylic yarn I had.
I do plan on joining Wendy's mouse-a-thon as soon as I have some leftover wool. (This girl ain't got no stash!)

Suki: I have a serious problem: I didn't buy enough yarn! I figure I have two options:
1. Go back to LYS and buy one more skein of each color which will run about $25. I will probably only use a very small amount of three of the skeins.
2. Adjust my striping to accomodate how much I have left.

I am probably going to go with #2. Bear in my mind that this does not sit well with the planner/engineer part of me. Flying by the seat of my pants is not part of my makeup!

2003-08-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving on jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again

I will be heading out tomorrow for a business trip in Texas. I probably will not have internet access so I won't be posting again until next weekend. I will, however, be knitting! I plan on knitting up a few of the mouse-along mice during the trip.

Also, Blogspot upgraded me at no charge, so when I return, I will be spending some time jazzing up this site. A couple of days ago I tried to fix my archives and now I can't get them to show up at all. I will try to fix this when I get back.

Caught! I finally nabbed a photo of the raccoon that has been raiding our garbage. I like raccoons but I don't like finding my garbage strewn across my deck first thing in the morning! (And we don't leave the lid off of the can for the raccoons convenience. It is perfectly capable of prying the lid off the can!)

I also want to show a bracelet I made a few years ago. The design is called Queen's Chain and is made out of sterling silver jump rings.

Directions on making this bracelet came out of this book:

by Irene Peterson

She also shows you how to make your own jump rings (it's much cheaper). Believe it or not, I use knitting needles to make them. Beaded stitch markers are also on my ever growing list of things to make. I don't have much of a yarn stash (yet) but I have a massive bead stash. It will be a good way to use up some bead leftovers.

2003-08-01T18:44:00.000-05:00

Sixteen and time to pay off
I got this job in a piss factory inspecting pipe
Forty hours thirty-six dollars a week
But it's a paycheck, Jack. (patti smith, Piss Factory)

Suki: still chugging along. I do have some serious curling at the top. Do I need to do something about that before I felt it? If so, what?

In my job, I am part of team the travels about 6-7 times a year. After each of these trips, we put a report together. When I first started, I developed a system for one of the tasks involved in writing these reports. Because no good deed goes unpunished, I have been saddled with this task ever since. Now let me just explain that this task is basically a paper work drill and it is nothing difficult. It is, however, tedious. A couple of years ago, I suggested that we rotate this task amongst the team members for the following reasons:
1. I was f***ing tired of always getting stuck with it
2. If I quit, no one else would know how to do it
3. I was f***ing tired of always getting stuck with it
4. If I got hit by a bus, no one else would know how to do it
5. I was ever loving f***ing tired of always getting stuck with it!!!
Well, I kept mentioning this, my supervisor agreed, but it never actually got rotated to anyone else.
Yesterday, as I was once again putting the paperwork together for this task, I finally had it. I walked into my supervisor's office and informed her that this was the last time I was doing it. I would be more than happy to walk the other folks through the process but this was THE LAST TIME! So she agreed, and is putting together a rotation schedule.
The kicker is, immediately after doing this.. I felt bad! Aaargh! It takes some of the joy out of my victory. (Smartypants is going to have a hissyfit!)

2003-07-29T19:21:00.000-05:00

Oh Happy Day!
A big shout out goes to Jessamyn of sweetgirlknits
for helping with getting photos on here in spite of blogspot!

So here goes:

The 2 tassel Fat hat:

and Suki so far:

2003-07-29T12:39:00.000-05:00

Testing

2003-07-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

Nightmare City, Nightmare World

I've made it to about round 45 of Suki. This is the first project for which I purchased "good" yarn. Even though I balked at the price, I know understand the seductiveness of quality yarn. (I am a goner) The colors of the lambs pride yarn is particularly striking (when compared to the cheap stuff). I've become entranced with the Lambs pride "pink". It is such a luscious shade. I don't even like pink, normally!

I had a very odd experience last night. I was having a dream that I was pulling a long string string out of my mouth (like it was attached to something in my stomach). In the dream, the object blocked my breathing passages and I panicked. I immediately woke up and couldn't breathe! I sat straight up in bed and took a gigantic and very wheezy breath. It was loud enough that my boyfriend came running up the stairs to see if I was ok. It took a few minutes for me to catch my breath and I had somehow ripped up my throat (taking that big breath) so I couldn't really talk very well. Scared the shit outta me. For a second there, I truly felt like I was going to die. I tend to have a lot of nightmares and vivid dreams, but nothing like that.

2003-07-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

There is a person in my office who has a way of speaking to people which is very condescending. This person, who I will call Smartypants, irritates the crap out of me. I have joked to people that Smartypants will somehow talk down to you even if you are merely conversing about the weather.

Conversation overheard today:
Innocent person: Man the sun is really hot today.
Smartypants: I can't seem to tolerate the heat like I did when I was a child
Innocent person: Children have a better tolerance to things like that
Smartypants: That statement is totally wrong! It is so wrong I won't even get into it!
Innocent person: (silence)

2003-07-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

Boyfriend has band practice tonight so I should have the house to myself for the evening. I plan on working on Suki and not doing much else. While Suki was laying on my bare legs, I was given a little reminder of why I will never be able to knit anything out of wool for myself. Within seconds, I became very itchy and scratchy. *sigh*

I have another business trip coming up but because the Suki is going get quite large and not very portable, I am thinking I might knit up a couple of the Mouse-a-long mice for my cat and some friend's cats while I am in San Antonio. When the mouse-a-long was happening, I had no idea how to do cables so even though it appeared to be a quick and easy project, I didn't want to attempt it. Making the Fat Hat taught me how to do basic cables so now I think I can do it.

One of the things that bites my butt about the traveling I do for my job is that I do not get compensated in any way shape or form when I travel during non working hours. Most trips we end up traveling on Sundays so when can get started first thing on Monday morning. So, not only does this ruin my weekend, I don't get paid for that time. We aren't even allowed to get comp time.

Insomnia

2003-07-24T18:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I had taken the morning off because I had a vet appointment (actually my cat had the appointment, I was just providing transportation). Since my appointment wasn't until 9:30, I would've been able to sleep in a bit. So what happened? I wake up at 4:15 and cannot get back to sleep! Aargh! After tossing and turning for about 40 minutes, I just got up and knitted for a couple of hours. So between yesterday morning and evening I was able to get about 7 inches done on Suki. The circular needles were a little strange at first but now I think they are pretty cool.

Casey (my cat) is fine, it was just a check up but she actually hissed at the vet when she was giving her the shots! Casey is about 7 years old and I have never heard her hiss at anything. I think she is taking after me getting crankier the older she gets.

2003-07-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

Me, Me, Me

Yesterday was one of those "all about me" days. Went to Bethesda, got my hair cut and highlighted. Then I went to a LYS and bought supplies for the Suki bag. Then because I was hungry, I had sushi. I haven't had one of those days for awhile. It felt goooood!

It was also the kind of day where I felt like money was flying out of my wallet at an alarming rate:
1. Haircut + highlights+ tip= $130
2. 5 skeins of Lambs prides (periwinkle, pink,jaded dream, fuscia) + addi turbo circular needles = $45.00
3. Sushi +tip= $20

For the Suki bag, I decided I don't want the frou frou edging so I got a fourth color. Not quite sure yet how I am going to adjust the striping.

Also, I finished the Fat Hat last night and I finally finished the scarf I had started sometime ago. I think I am one of those one project at a time people. The Fat Hat is pretty darn cute even I do say so myself. If blogspot ever lets me upgrade, I will post a photo.

2003-07-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

I'd like a gallon of "Quiet Moment", please..

In the midst of home improvement, I've had the opportunity to buy house paint these past few weeks. The names that they have for the colors are just kind of silly. Last weekend I had to ask the manly Home Depot depot guy for "gallon of quiet moment." We just looked at eachother and started giggling.

I went to the NMC Knitters group meeting and I had a great time. It was nice to talk about knitting with people without getting that glazed over look. Of course, the next meeting I will be out of town for work. I am almost finished with the Fat Hat. I just have to do the tassels and weave the ends in. Yay! I would post a picture, but nooooo, Blogspot will still not let me upgrade..I am getting highly irritated. If they don't get their shit together soon I am going to have to investigate other options for this site.

Now I am trying to figure out what my next project should be. Maybe Suki. I am dying to try felting! I loved the felted patchwork bag that craftydiva did. Beeyootiful!

I have noticed that I am starved for female companionship. I am female engineer.. a woman in what is still a male dominated career. Since I started college, I have spent most of my time around men. In my engineering classes, there would be maybe 2-3 girls in a class. Many times, I was the only girl. For work, I travel and work with a team of (guess what), all men. I have a handful of close wonderful female friends but with everyone so busy, I get to hang with them, if I'm lucky, once a month. It was a strange realization for me because I am not a girly girl. I guess you just vibe with people of the same sex on a level that you just can't with people of the opposite sex.

2003-07-16T08:09:00.000-05:00

I am making good progress on the Fat Hat. I only have about 2 more inches to go.

I really want to upgrade to Blog spot plus so I can post photos and do my own template with graphics but I get a "down for maintenance " message. Is anybody else seeing this?

Some good news: found that one of my all time favorite movies, Wings of Desire is out on DVD! This is just an incredibly wonderful film; beautiful cinematography, great acting (esp. Bruno Ganz), and a great story. An added bonus is that Nick Cave and Bad Seeds make a brief but memorable appearance.

I am hoping to make it to the NMC Knitters group this week. All the meetings they have had in the past few months have coincided with me being out of town. I am looking forward to it.

2003-07-13T07:58:00.000-05:00

I typed out the pattern for the Fat Hat, row by row, stitch by stitch. The way the pattern is given has you jumping around and that confuses the crap out of me. I started knitting last night with the written out pattern and it has made it a 100x easier for me.

This weekend I have been spending most of time on home improvement. Repotted some plants, hopefully killed the poison ivy in the backyard and painting the guest room. Ever since I bought this house, I feel like I live at home depot!

2003-07-10T20:32:00.000-05:00

2003-07-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

I decided to start over on the Fat Hat. I had somehow created an extra stitch (which mystifies me since I found doing an increase, on purpose, difficult). Then I took a good look at what I had done so far and it wasnt looking too good. I think the yarn had gotten funky from frogging so many times. So, I cut it off and started again.

I decided to learn to knit about 2 months ago because I needed a hobby that was portable. I've been making jewelry for about 2 years but it wasn't very portable and with all the travel I do I needed something to occupy my evenings when I am stuck in a hotel room. I was also very inspired by the other knitting bloggers. I was and continue to be so impressed by everyones work!

2003-07-08T18:32:00.000-05:00

Knitting news: I finished the hat I made for R. While it won't win any awards, it is wearable so I was kinda proud. I started working on a "Fat Hat" from Hip to Knit" This one has been a little bit of a struggle. It's my first knitted object that has a pattern and it's my first attempt at cables. I've had rip out and redo the first 4 rows from the ribbing about 5 times so far. What's that saying..that which doesn't destroy me makes me stronger.

Paycheck shenanigans...
I work for the government. In February, I was told that there was a chance that I had been overpaid since June of 2002. If I had been overpaid, then I would be expected to pay that money back. I was not happy. I figure, since I was not the one that made the error why should I have to pay that $$ back? Let the person who made the error pay!
Fast forward to late June..after 5 months, they finally figure out that yes indeedy I have been overpaid. The way it's supposed to work: I should get an official letter stating how much I have been overpaid. After I get the letter, I have 30 days to either file a waiver, contest the amount or decide how I would like to pay the money back (lump sum or a bites taken out my paycheck). Well somebody decided that they should go ahead and take money out of our (2 other coworkers are in the same boat) paychecks before the letter was even sent out!

Now, I don't know about you, but I have bills to pay. So I was not happy to see more than half of my paycheck subtracted. The amount they took out was twice as much as allegedly owe. Then the following paycheck, they gave me an extra $4000! What the fuck? Apparently the payroll office is on acid. But we have a big meeting tomorrow with someone who hopefully can explain what the hell they did to our paychecks and why they broke the law and did not give us our due process (I am sounding like a lawyer but I am pissed!).

2003-05-24T08:47:00.000-05:00

Reading my last post, I just realized how incredibly cranky I get the days before I have to travel! I am trying to learn to knit (cuz you know I need another hobby!). So far it is going fairly well. R. (the boyfriend) has begun calling me Grandma in honor of my new hobby. He should know better than to make fun of someone while they are holding two fairly sharp metal sticks. I am making the Garter stitch bag from Debbie Bliss' How to Knit
The awesome band X is coming to DC on June 14th (YAY!). My boyfriend and I met at an X show almost exactly 5 years ago to the day (same venue too). So it will be an anniversery of sorts. Fitting anniversery for a couple of old school punks!

2003-04-26T11:43:00.000-05:00

I am getting ready to go on yet another business trip. After almost five years of this I am so very tired of traveling. When most people hear I have a job where I travel alot, they think it must be so interesting. I work for the Army so I travel to Army posts. Army posts are usually in the armpits of the US. I have had a few pretty good places I've got to go to, Germany and Hawaii.

2003-04-26T11:36:00.000-05:00

Decided to start a blog. Just a way to vent, talk about my ongoing projects (jewelry, crochet, photography, etc) and whatever else crosses my mind.