Yarn Crawl

Wordless Wednesday

Tagged!

I was tagged by Bobbi to do the 5 secrets meme - I'm flattered as I haven't been tagged before for any memes!

On this one you are supposed to:

Get tagged by someone (check)

Write down 5 things that have never been revealed on your blog before (see below)

Tag 5 others (hmmm, a lot of you have already done this one so this will be interesting)

5 Things that Have Never Been Revealed on My Blog Before:

1. I have extremely poor eyesight without contacts or glasses ("legally blind" officially.) I always wear one or the other so I am never really impaired by this.  I am scared s&&&less of laser surgery as I am worried about being the 1% that has a horrible irreversible side effect, like blindness. 

2. I don't think I'll ever fully retire. I may not always do what I do now (probably won't) but I know I always will do some type of paid work.  As a result, I'm more afraid of incapacitating disabilities that would render me unable to work than not having enough money saved to completely stop working.  (Geez, Bobbi, you may be sorry you tagged me for this one - DEPRESSING!)

3. I always got teased for my name when I was younger.  Robin lends itself to teasing for "Batman and Robin" and that 50s "Rockin' Robin" song.  I also didn't like that the last two letters of my last name are "in" so my name kinda rhymes.  My mother always reminded me that my full name was what she was thinking about when she named me "Robin Elizabeth Martin"  not "Robin Martin" which sounds singsongy, and said (wisely) that I would like my name better when I liked myself better as a person when I got older and really grew into my own skin.

4. Despite #3, I kept my last name when I married Jim.  I think he would have taken my name too if it was more socially acceptable, because his last name, although it is short (five letters) never gets pronounced or spelled right - so we always give my last name for reservations.   I didn't keep my name when I got married in my early 20s the first time (this fact may have already been revealed previously so I haven't counted it separately) and actually changed it to the ex's name - a difficult to spell, difficult to pronounce, Eastern European surname.  Yeah, young and impressionable (some would say "young and dumb!" but we live and learn.)

5. I only talk to two people from high school and didn't go to my 10 year reunion.  Although I think I was fairly well-liked in high school, I don't have much in common with the people I went to school with - most of them still live in the same town in which I grew up (not too far from here) and have married each other and their kids go to school together.

Well, there it is!  I tag Amanda, Sandra, Carol, Monica and Cheryl for this meme. Looking forward to reading your replies!

No Knitting, No Pictures Today

Today is going to be a non-knitting, non-sewing, picture-less post.  (The number of words in this post will more than make up for the Wordless Wednesday picture for tomorrow, which may end up being a relief!)

It's shaping up to be a crappy week - even though it's only 5:18 am on a Tuesday. I woke up just now thinking about my to-do list, never a good sign.  To be fair, I was dreading yesterday and it turned out somewhat ok.

So to start with yesterday.  I decided to come home after work before my class, which started last night, to see how Jim's first day of work was.  He was completely exhausted, flopped into a chair, and had dirt on his clothes. Apparently, he was supposed to observe the operations and manufacturing lines to understand how everything works, but he said he didn't want to just stand there all day, and jumped in to actually do the work with the employees on the lines (assembly line powdercoating, kind of like what you see on American Choppers as part of the process of finishing a bike, if you've ever watched that, but on a large scale, for industrial parts.) 

On the positive side, I think this shows that he's willing to (literally) roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty to learn a new business. I think strategically, it was a good move for him to show that he's not just the "former downtown banker" that sits in the office and works up the quotes for the jobs they get. It gave him some "street cred" with the workers and probably with the owners.  It still didn't help me feel any better when I saw him like that after work. I was glad he wore jeans to work, which I had been doubtful about when he left in the morning, but turned out to be a good thing with all the dirt that he was wearing when he got home.

It won't be like this going forward, but I guess it is important for him to dive in and learn everything on a detailed, hands-on way.  On the positive side, he said he never had a day go by so fast in twenty years of banking, and that everyone was nice to him and joking around with him.  He said that he was the tallest one on the assembly line hanging parts (at 5'10"!  I'm sure that made him feel good) so they asked him to hang the ones that were higher up.  He also saw his friend Tim there on and off all day (he's a driver there) so that was good. 

A few weeks ago, we agreed that he will be able to tell after about a month or so whether this will be the right move for him - if not, he'll just move on. We'll see how it goes.  I am way more negative than he is, but am trying not to be.  Part of me wants him to do what he knows (banking), just in a company that's a better fit for him, but the other part rationally knows that he didn't take that year and a half off for nothing - he needed to do something different and I'm glad I could help him do that.  So we'll see.

Last night after I saw him between work and school, I went to class, not in the best frame of mind after the conversation he and I had.  Surprisingly, I think my class is going to be great.  It made me realize that I truly am in the right line of work (from a general sense - finance as a whole.)  The class is Financial Statement Analysis and we will basically be learning a systematic approach to analyzing financials, something I've wanted to learn for a long time. 

Having an undergrad degree in accounting, I obviously know what I'm looking at with a set of financials, and know how to do ratio analysis, etc. but I was looking for insights into what the Wall Street analysts look at when they look at financials - almost a window into their mindset as I eventually will be dealing with them in either my next job or the job after that.  Which I think the class will really do for me.  The professor's background is in business rather than academia, and at one point he was the CFO of a decent-size publicly traded company.  I think I can learn a lot from him.  It was one of those classes where I feel like I'm going to have to control my impulse to raise my hand to answer questions constantly though, as I don't want to be annoying or dominate class, even though I have something to say about almost every subject he brings up.

After being a teacher myself (even though it was just online classes) I know how challenging it is not to discourage the person who answers all your questions, while trying to draw some other people out for their thoughts.  So I kept it fairly well under control. There's probably only a handful of people that are in financial management in my class, so it's a challenge as a lot of the students are younger and don't have a lot of experience yet to share.

I did get one compliment though (I'll choose to take it as such) - the instructor asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves, and after we did, he was talking about how he started his career at the predecessor to Ernst & Young, and started talked about Arthur Andersen and its demise. He asked if he had any former Andersen people in class - of course, I was the only one, saying "but I was just there a year."  He said, well you probably have some interesting experiences to share just in that year - to which I replied - well it was the middle of 1994 to 95 and he looked surprised.  So apparently I must look younger than almost 35. Not fishing, but some days I truly don't think that's the case.  If everything's done just right, definitely, but not after a full day at work, not been spray-tanning in over a week, etc.

Anyway.  I have officially become one of those annoying older students talking about things that happened in the previous decade. No offense to anyone, but that is how me and my friends always referred to it as undergrads - so I guess I am getting my comeuppance by turning into one!

I feel a lot better, but I'm still going to post my blah to-do list for the day.

1. read the multiple emails reporting the developments in tax news for the day

2. try to clean my office as the filing pile has gotten out of control, hopefully enlist help in this process

3. 10 am: annoying sales tax planning discussion/conference call

4. 11 am: final review meeting with one of my co-workers for the 1099s that have to go out by tomorrow (she did a good job on pulling together the data and I reviewed most of it already, but just have to make sure she prepared the actual forms correctly)

5. see how I'm feeling and either drag one of my co-workers away from her desk for lunch or go home for lunch

6. tentative 1 pm continuing professional education webcast (potential closed-door knitting time)

7. 2:30 pm meeting to discuss impact of cash repatriation from one jurisdiction to another

8. deal with whatever else comes up

I guess it's not really that bad.  I'm really fine with all of it except for item 1, which I am dreading. But I guess it'll be over before I know it. If you've made it all the way through this post, thanks for listening.  Sometimes I have to vent, and I do feel better.

Debbie Bliss Update

So yesterday, after I finished Jim's sweater, I pulled out my Debbie Bliss Lace and Bobble Jacket to work on. I hadn't worked on it since summer when I first started it. Here's a progress pic....

The 200+ stitch rows are killing me - it's an 11 row repeat and two of them have bobbles. I have to learn how to knit backwards to do those bobbles more easily - there is a lot of knitting to flip around to do these bobbles (turning them back and forth so many times!) I know there was a tutorial on the Jimmy Beans' Wool web site that I have to check out.

I can't wait to get to the end of the back that's even with the arms and do the decreases for the rest of the back.  After that, there's lots of picking up and knitting as there's a fairly large ribbed and bobbled edge that goes around the whole thing.

What was I, nuts, when I decided to start this project???? Next time I say it will be a really good idea to make anything with bobbles, just give me a good smack.

One good thing I did was switch to addi turbos for this, as the bamboos were driving me nuts with the "K3togs". I'm using the same needle size as my gauge isn't really different between bamboos and addis now - it used to be.

Done with Jim's Sweater!

I feel like I worked on Jim's sweater all weekend (because I did) but it's finally DONE!

First, Friday night I finished the first sleeve while knitting with the cats

and I even took a martini break!

Last night I finished the other sleeve, and this morning I got up early and did the 3 needle bindoff for the shoulders and picked up for the neck.

Later, I took a quick break to go out to JoAnn's and buy a teflon foot for my sewing machine for the Ultrasuede I've got in my stash for a skirt. That stuff is impossible to sew with a normal sewing machine presser foot, at least for me.

I got home, sewed both sleeves in and wove in every single last end in and here's the result. Voila!!

Here's a close-up of the front chest cables.

I LOVE this sweater - Jim really likes it and said it fits him perfectly, and it really does. Now I know exactly the measurements to use for sweaters for him! It doesn't hurt that he doesn't have any freaky fitting issues like I do (short, short arms, yada yada.) I'm so happy with this. And, I met my January sweater requirement for the Sweater A Month KAL with a few days to spare!

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!

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Yada Yada Yada

I just updated the Manly Gift Along so I would have something to show for the Sweater A Month KAL, and asked for clarification on whether the "rules" say that one sweater must be completed each month, or just 12 in a year.  I think I read on someone else's blog that it is the latter, but wanted to check.  I know I could finish this one by 1/31 but only if I stopped knitting on my other sweaters in the meantime.

Like this one (Wicked) - sorry for the horrible "cell phone pic at work" shot.  This has now become my at work webcast knitting, as I'm done with the Pedicure socks, which previously filled that role.  I think I've talked about this before, but I have at least two or three one-hour continuing professional education "webcasts" on the exciting subjects of tax and accounting updates every week, so I knit while I watch them.  The projects have to be mindless knitting, preferably in the round so no purling, and Wicked fit the bill exactly.  So far I have about 15 more rounds until I get to separate the sleeves and try it on.  It's been going amazingly fast, unlike that SKB where it seemed like I would never get to that point!

No news to report on Eiffel since the last time I posted.  Still putting off doing the increases on the sleeves in the lace pattern and figuring out how long they have to be.

Yesterday I did buy my serger though!  I bought a Viking 936, the higher end of the two I was deciding on (that has the coverstitch), and decided to pass on getting a separate coverstitch machine for now, as it was more than I had thought it would be.  If I went with the 910 (without coverstitch) and then added a Janome 1000CP it would have been just over $2,000 - a little more than I could justify.  The 936 cost $1299, which was more my speed.  The machine was easy to use and I don't think I'll have a hard time converting between coverstitch mode and serging mode - it was a lot of steps, but I don't really sew on a deadline so I don't think it'll be a big deal.  If it becomes a big deal, I'll just buy a separate coverstitch machine later (that can be next year's birthday present.)

They didn't have the machine in stock so I don't get it until probably next week.  Pics to come when it arrives!!

Now since you made it this far - the eye candy picture of the day - from the Butterfly Farm I visited in Grand Cayman last month (taken by my husband, who is obviously a much better photographer than I:)

A Mixed Bag!

This is what I did last night (sorted through my SIX bins of individual skeins of yarn to divide them by weight.) I was so exhausted when I was done, but I was on a roll.

I also think I found the first crochet sweater I'm going to attempt, to satisfy my 2007 goal.  This one is from the Happy Hooker book - the Unseamly Sweater (made in one piece as the name suggests.)  I love the style of it, and I want to start with something I really want to make to stay motivated.  I could make a crochet scarf or shawl or something easier, but I really want to wear this!  I bought another crochet pattern yesterday from the Stitch Diva site but this one actually seems easier after reading through both patterns, so I will save that one for later.

Here it is!

Now for a gratuitous kitty pic!  Gildie in one of Jim's Jack Daniel's boxes - he's corrupting her!

After work, I'm going to go to the sewing dealer and "test-drive" the two Viking Huskylock sergers I posted a picture of yesterday on "Wordless Wednesday".  I have been participating in a lot of discussions over at patternreview.com regarding the best way to go with the serger decision. 

Based on what a lot of people are saying, I might be better off getting the lower end of the two sergers (the 910 instead of the 936, which is still a very good quality serger, it just doesn't have coverstitch capability) and getting a separate coverstitch machine as there's more flexibility with the attachments and can keep it set up all the time instead of switching back and forth between normal serger mode and coverstitch mode.  Also, they say the separate machines give a better quality coverstitch on knits and fine fabrics. 

I can get both the 910 and the separate coverstitch machine I have in mind for around the same ballpark price as the 936 by itself, so that's not an issue.  I just am a little leery of adding TWO new machines to my knitting/sewing/crocheting/beading room (hell, I should just call it a craft room!) but I guess I could work around that.  It is one of the bedrooms in my house so is a normal sized maybe 15x15 size room. I can fit it in.  I just have to see how I like the machines today.  So wish me luck!!  I feel very well informed from my discussions with the people over on patternreview - I love that site!

Wordless Wednesday!

WSJ Article Today

OK, I know I just posted, but I just read an article that frosted me a little bit.  It kind of reminded me of the whole controversy that the Yarn Harlot was discussing in her 1/11 post regarding Socks that Rock and bankers not believing that many sock knitters exist to create a valuable business opportunity.

The article was in today's Wall Street Journal (online but you need a subscription to read it in its entirety) and is entitled "Wal-Mart Aims to Further Tailor Stores to Locales."  The news was that Wal-Mart is eliminating cut fabric in some of its stores and replacing it with crafts and party planning supplies.  Now first of all, let me say that I abhor Wal-Mart, especially after reading The Wal-Mart Effect, and refuse to shop there simply on principle.  Their overall impact on the U.S. economy and watering down of quality in favor of "rolling back prices" by a few pennies just sickens me. So, this won't impact me personally - but this quote (from a banker, yet again - and I used to be one so I can say this) just frosted me:

"Bill Dreher, a Deutsche Bank Securities analyst, said Wal-Mart likely is moving away from fabrics because the department doesn't lure significant traffic into its stores and doesn't yield the same margins as other merchandise. Also, cut fabric and pet fish require employees to retrieve the merchandise for customers. "The fabric department takes up a lot of space in the stores," Mr. Dreher said. "Making your own clothes is a dying skill. (emphasis added) And when Wal-Mart rolled these stores out 40 years ago, it made a lot of sense. But now people might [instead] decorate around the house."

Who is this guy to say that making your own clothes is a dying skill?  Exactly what does he know about this?  Whatever.