Knit and the City

Doesn't the title say it all? I'm a 30 something knitter on the West Coast. Expect to read about my life with the guy, two ex-racing greyhounds and a couple of crazy cats!

12/31/2003

I've decided that I never, ever want to work another Eve. I don't care what holiday it is, no more Eve's for me! I rented an SUV to a guy last week. He had booked a mid-size car and I told him we had other sizes available if he's like to step up. He decided on a Suburban. It was $75 more per day than the car he booked. So I pride myself on a perfect contract. I explain everything the same way. I write everything of note in BIG letters or numbers. I ask my customers if they have any questions several times during the transaction and at the end before I make them sign the agreement. So dude-a-roonie brings his SUV back and freaks out at the total bill! I'm, like, what part of the giant 129.99 a day I wrote on your contract didn't you understand? Did you think it was free? He said he did. It wasn't really him it was his wife, who wasn't in the office when he picked up the car. Fuck, I was steamed. Mostly at the fact that they blatantly accused me of lying to them. I've got way better things to do in my life than to lie to you. I am so indignant about this! Don't they teach people how to read english in the good ol' USA? And not even a freaking 'Thank You' when I discounted the rental for their ignorance. Fuck that! I usually don't get worked up but, argh, this one almost made me cry. Planning a quiet night off. My guy picked up Freaky Friday (I love Jamie Lee Curtis) and some wine. He's got some Dom chilling in the fridge. He's cooking me dinner. Here's to more in 2004! Be Safe Everyone. Have a great night!

12/30/2003

I lost the previous post and had to rewrite it. I'm leaving the spelling mistakes in. I hope Terri understands!

It's snowing! Not the usual Wet Coast huge flakes but the fine dry snow that makes perfect snowballs and snowmen. I horror to drive in for those of us who see snow maybe once a year! I almost put my beautiful little car into the curb today on the way home! I was turning onto our street from the nice clear main road and made a small miscalculation. Thank goodness for the all wheel drive! I must remember to tell my boss how much I love my car! The flu has overtaken our office. Last week the Fish was out. Today the Small Strange One went home and the Whale (she's preggers, don't ya know) is suffering a little as she was sick on her days off. I went home early yesterday and had my nap between 2 and 4 and feel pretty great! Maybe it was the flu shot. Then again I think I may have started the whole thing a couple weeks ago. I'm still doing the mindless stockinette stich of the Booga J Bag. I think it may stall when I get to the I-cord. Man, I hate that. Someone send me a Magic Cord Maker! Please! I ran inot some friends of mine today and I realized I still haven't made their kid anything yet! I better make something for a 10 year old because it may be that long till I finish it. It was good to see them. I was the 'best man' at their wedding. Snoop Petey Pete was my prom date and I was his. How cute is that. He's such a great guy. I wonder if it'll snow all night? Theguy woke me up when he came to bed last night to tell me that he loved his Fuzzy Feet. I sound like a broken record but I love that man of mine!

12/29/2003

My guy is so funny. Well he makes me laugh and that's all that really matters. I felted his Fuzzy Feet last night. They were about 15 inches long pre felting. He's got flippers I tell ya! I felted them down to 12 inches (a foot! Bwaaa) and then made him put baggies on his feet and squish into them. Perfection! He was wandering around all proud and posing! I know it's all for me. Sorry no pics. I didn't get a digital camera for Christmas. And I keep forgetting to bring the digital home from work. New Years Resolution #2-More pics on the blog. I received a wonderful letter from my father today. Along with a little Christmas gift. It was so nice to get the letter and read the latest update. He does have email but I don't think he ever checks it. I scheduled myself for 4 days off at the beginning of January. I find I'm tired all the time. I think I just need 4 days away from there. No popping by on my day off, no one day off here and another off there, just a complete, uninterrupted 4 days off. I was telling the guy that this year I had no time off. Like time off. Yes, we went to our cabin once a month all summer but we slaved! Worked so hard to get the place built. It was all work this year. It was well worth it but I'm tired. Next years gonna be different. Currently working on the Booga J bag. Maybe tonight I'll pick up the Baby Cable. If I procrastinate any longer the kid's gonna out grow it!

12/27/2003

Yeah! A day off! Just one because one of the girls called in sick for tomorrow. The flu is going around the office and it's not a pretty one. Started the second Fuzzy Foot and doubt I'll finish today as now I have to do all my chores in one day. Here I am in the computer room procrastinating. Got a call from my father on Christmas Eve at work. That was very nice. We have communication interruptus and can't seem to apply ourselves to calling or emailing on a regular basis. I've been trying to call once month but you know how time is. It flies along and before I know it I haven't talked to him in 3 months! New Years Resolution #1-Keep in touch with my father on a regular basis.

12/26/2003

What a great Christmas! I have the best boyfriend in the world. He spoiled me rotten and got me a beautiful 3 stone diamond promise ring. He promises to love me always! And this is after 7 + years! He's a keeper! I finished one of his Fuzzy Feet and will start on the other one tonight. I gave him yarn in his stocking and he just laughed. "Is this for you or me?" I get the joy of knitting and he gets the finished project! Oh, oh, oh! The guy also got me Sally Melville's "The Purl Stitch"! He said he didn't get me "The Knit Stitch" because I already knew how to knit! Ha! Great book with a ton of information and excellent how-to sections. Some pretty good patterns too! I'm a sucker for a knitted hoodie and the pattern in the book looks great! Work today was insane. Thank god I had yesterday off! We were open for 5 hours. We did a page of business. So if you multiply 5 times 60 we were open for 300 minutes. A page of business represents about 90 contracts. So that works out to 3 rental agreements a minute. Divided by 2 because there were two of us on the counter today. 1.5 a minute each. Holy Crap! And then we had someone call and ask us to stay an extra hour because they were running late! I told them I had nothing better to do tonight so I'd wait around for them. I apologized for being a bitchy pants when they arrived. They owe me big time. Actually we still had a ton of stuff to do so it wasn't like we were sitting there twiddling our thumbs waiting. Managed to get out of there about an hour and a half after we closed. We rented all the cars we had on the lot and there are none left! WooHoo! I hope some people return overnight so there's some for tomorrows reservations. I'm glad I'm not going to be there! Hope everyone's Christmas was merry!

12/25/2003

Merry Christmas Everyone!

12/22/2003

Too cute! She loves it!

12/21/2003

I survived the Family Christmas Dinner! I think only because it was finger food this year. Usually it's the giant spread and I have trouble getting up from the table after scarfing all that turkey and fixings! Scored some nice presents. My lil sis got my name this year. She got me a $50 gift certificate to the new yarn store in town! Now that's the coolest! By the way, she has apologized. My mom tries to buy me clothes every year and there have been many years of questionable outfits. The last few years she finally gave up on trying to put me in pastels and started buying classics in black. This year a beautiful pair of staight leg , low waisted black dress pants and a lovely ribbed black sweater. Classy. She also gave me some jewellery that my father had given her when they were married. One piece is a charm bracelet. All the charms tell a story and most of them have a date stamped somewhere on them. There's one for the birth of my sister, one for the birth of my brother, none for the birth of me...hm...a charm for the year my father got drafted, a charm from Vietnam, a bell charm that is flattened from when mom fell after dad hit her. Quite a family history. The best is that it does show that my mom and dad really did love each other at one time. That it wasn't all long sleeved shirts in the middle of a California summer.

12/19/2003

First there were the dog days of summer, now I fear we've happened upon the dog days of Christmas. The days where the dog takes the unwrapped presents and snacks on them. It was a nice new paperback for the guys friend, now its a shredded disaster and someone's not happy. The culprit? Sarah. We think. When both dogs were present and asked 'Who did this?' only one went into a submissive pose and tried to leave the room slowly and quietly. The other wasn't fazed at all. Maybe Ella has a brain the size of a pea and doesn't understand good dog/bad dog. I think it's separation anxiety because it happened while we were out. But then again Sarah has alot of furry friends in this house. Maybe it's boredom. Who knows? She's currently serving her sentence in her bed. The judge has yet to rule on the time served.

12/16/2003

I learned a faboo new thing yesterday that I have to share. You know when you get a cold and you have to blow your nose a lot? Even though you're using those super soft tissues with lotion you're still getting a red, sore (even dry and flaky (gasp)) nose? The solution? Lip Balm! No word of a lie. I had (gasp) nose day before yesterday. After a day of lip balm (applied twice) it is a beauty to behold! Far from it's beastly cousin who had appeared earlier! Remember...it really works. Crap. I made a mistake on the Baby Cable front. About halfway up on one of my side circle thingys I zagged my cable instead of zigging it. As I said it's about halfway up and I'm an inch from binding off. Do you think I'm going to rip it back? If you know me you'll say 'Hell, no!' but then you'll realize I'm sending this to my ex husband. 'Ah Ha!' you'll say 'You will make it perfect so he will see what a dork he was to let you go!' You really are very close. Truth is I'm leaving it in there. As a reminder that no one is perfect. Not even me.

12/15/2003

Just a pic of the back shortly before I bound off. Isn't it nice? About 2 inches away from starting the neck shaping. I'm very happy with this project and I think it will be a big hit. Must remember to block it before I put it all together. Also had a request from my friend in Korea to make her a poncho. She's a nut. She would like it made out of snuggly yarn. I think I have a pearl grey coloured mohair/acrylic blend that might work. I just don't know about the colour on her. Hm. I'll worry about that after Christmas (that's only 10 freakin' days away!) when she returns from her month long holiday to Australia and New Zealand. Life is rough. I really do have to work a little today.

12/14/2003

Don't panic! Remain Calm! After I did my swatch for the Baby Cable and measured it out according to the 'knit bible' It looks like I'm only about 1/2 a stitch out. Phew! It's the ribbing that's throwing me off when I look at it! Must remember ribbing stretches! I recommit myself to swatching before every project. Is it really Saddam Hussein? I'm sure George Bush wishes this would have happened closer to election time.

12/13/2003

Sometimes I'd really like to kick my own ass. I'm so proud of my cabled masterpeice but as I was knitting the sleeve yesterday I was thinking to myself that babies are small but they're chubby, not toothpicks. And I had just completed a sleeve for a toothpick. So where did I go wrong? Gauge, baby! It's a baby sweater, why do a swatch? I'm a very snug knitter. I realized today that I will have to go up a couple of needle sizes to get it to be remotely right. A couple of whole needle sizes. Pattern calls for 3.5mm. Looks like I have to use 5.5mm. Is this right? And later when I have to switch to larger needles I'll have to go to 7.5mm! My row count is always almost spot on it's the stitch count that gets me confused. If I get the right row count in my swatch how do I adjust the needle size and get the width without wacking out the row count? Could someone explain this to me? I've read in my 'knit bible' about it but it's still not very clear. Maybe I need someone to show me. Please, I know you're lurking out there. I won't bite or stalk. Any suggestions or explanations? Anyone, anyone? Bueller, Bueller? I also have come down with a cold. So I won't be able to go to the Christmas Party tonight. Sucks. Colds suck. Christmas shopping sucks. Hell, the whole world sucks today. Did I mention I get cranky when I get sick? I'm off to the couch to read more about Gauge and see if I can get to know her better.

12/12/2003

Let's get 2 things out of the way. 1.Lil sis hasn't apologized. 2.My ultrasound is clear. That's all I want to say about that. The cable baby sweater rocks on! I'm about 3 inches from completing the back and I dropped a stitch somewhere in the middle and I dare you to try and find it. I compensated by picking up a stitch in another row. I'm very smug about this little project. It looks so complex. And I did it! Forget those beginner + patterns! Get me the intermediate and expert ones! Bring it on! Thank God the girls on Survivor finally got their shit together and made a descision! I'm going to go work on my little sweater some more!

12/10/2003

I did it. I can cable! I can! I can! Isn't it gorgeous? Well, I think so. If you're ever confused get out the graph paper! Amazing! It's going to make someone a handsome little sweater. Ronald! Look away! I found out that some of my overseas friends read this. Yeah, that makes 5 people including me! Har har. They think it's pretty neat to read about my daily life and the goings on. Kinda like a phone call for nothing. There are good reasons to blog. For me I like to write but don't like writing. Or the task of getting paper and trying to write legibly. I am the daughter of a doctor and a nurse so you can imagine what the handwriting's like! I also like to 'write' the way I talk. I try not to get too wordy and I do forget my grammar but the truth is that when I talk I sometimes use no grammar either! I talk very fast when I sense that someone is on the same wavelength. Sometimes I misjudge and watch their eyes glaze over as I go right over their head with my fast talk. Now that's funny. Making some of my 1001 Spice Chicken Soup for the guy. I'm such a pushover this week!

12/09/2003

The guy had his flu shot and has had 2 killer colds since. Man, is he cranky! I'm hiding in the computer room till he has to go to work. So far he's yelled at the striking ferry workers on TV, cussed out the scheduling of Friends at 7:28pm and told the dogs to get out of the kitchen even though it's doggy dinnertime! I'm glad I parked the car right or I may get yelled at! He makes me laugh! I am sympathetic, really! Abandoning the ZigZag hat. I'll just make the Jester Hat from the same issue of Knit It! Slightly sucks but I know it's going to be like a Far Side cartoon that you read and don't get. Years later it'll make you wet your pants! I'm being very good and using my graph paper to chart out my Aran sweater pattern (from the same issue of Knit It! I really do own more than one knitting magazine! It's just that there's so much good stuff in the first one!) I managed to trap myself in my office today with my chair. Well, I tried to behead myself with my desk, that seems like a more accurate description. I was reaching and managed to tip the chair over and sent myself flying! My co worker was in the office with me and managed to ask if I was okay. When I said 'Yep.' She went back to her book. Ha! No bruises but my pride was hurt. We also had a customer compliment the office on the great customer service she received. She thought we were professional, very friendly and that she wasn't dealing with anyone else ever. Wow! Thank you! Makes our day! On top of that I received notice from the head office that I just joined the $50 club. That's the club you join when a customer writes in about how great you were and you get $50! Nice way to supplement your income! I also did a good thing today. In our Production Office we hired a lady to be our accountant last year. She has been amazing. Taken on new tasks, picked up on things that weren't getting done, took on the payroll for the office and is a genuine pleasure to work with. I gave her and her husband a trip to Mexico today. Don't you want to come work for me?

12/08/2003

Well, there you go. Lil sis will work part time till she finds another job. Thank the owner for giving her that lifeline. I was ready to fire her ass first thing this morning. Well, hey, I gave her the opportunity to move out of mom and dad's and get her own place and let's see where she takes it from here. I wish her luck becuase if she shows up late consistently at her next job, she's going to need it! Better things. KNITTY! I -so- love this magazine. I just had a quick glance over it all and thought there was some great stuff. I'll pour over in more detail another day. Epiphany moment-I was having trouble with the Zig Zag set from the first issue of Knit It again. I emailed Terri again and she mentioned that she had plotted out the stitches called for on graph paper! Pure Genius! It was a lightbulb moment for me. Not that it's helped in the construction of the zig zag hat, that's still suffering and I let the recipient know that it may not get completed this year either! I'm starting little aran sweaters for my ex's two sons and couldn't get past cable row 2. BING! Graph Paper! I can plot out the stitches and visualize it in my head! Amazing how the internet has helped me gain new skills in this craft! New word of the day: Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole. (From the Washington Post's Style Invitational)

12/07/2003

Why did I even bother? Lil sis was late again today. When she called in a half hour after her shift started I told her to stay home and think about whether or not she wanted to work here. I don't think she grasps how embarrassing to me the situation is. How she behaves does reflect back on me to some degree. I'm hugely disappointed and pissed off after this mornings stunt. That makes it 10 times in 12 weeks that she's been late. WTF is she thinking? To top it all off, aside from having to work by myself for a few hours, I had to call almost every employee in the company and wake them and their families up on a Sunday morning to see if they would take an overtime shift. You can imagine how popular I am today. Sheesh.

12/05/2003

Okay, so here's a surreal moment from my ultrasound appointment. Last week when I was watching Sex and the City (as if you can't tell from the title of my blog that I love) Charlotte was going to the Chinese acupuncturist to facillitate her chances of getting pregnant. They were talking about the herbs that both parties had to take and such. The couple next to me in the waiting room happened to run into a friend that was so excited about their pregnancy and was talking to them about their encounters with a chinese acupuncturist! It was almost word for word from the episode of Sex and the City! 'Are you taking the herbs?' and 'You know that you both have to take the herbs.' I almost wet my pants! Then the guy was a real jerk. 'Why don't they tell everyone to show up at 9 then they'll just take them as they come.' I -so- wanted to kick him in the shins. Especially when the girlfriend/wife said in a tiny little voice 'Don't you want to see the baby?' I was pissed! Now that my ex's new baby has arrived and I think he's just a love, the guy has been weird. I love babies. I don't think I'm ready or want to have them. So this evening I was going on about the new baby and how beautiful I thought he was. Then the guy started to say something and then stopped. I pressed him about what he was going to say but he was tight lipped. What was he going to say? I'm all worried about my ultrasound results and don't really want someone to say 'Sorry, that's it, your time has passed.' Did I never think about kids before? Well, hell yeah! I just didn't think our lifestyle was the best for kids. I think I'm selfish about what I want and want to do. I don't think that a child in this world has a lot to look forward to. There's too much shit going on. I think I may prejudice that child. It's not fair. I always knew that my ex would be a great father. That I never doubted. I wanted us to be solid before we brought another life into a scary world. Unfortunatley, for us, we couldn't work out us. I am so happy that he found a wonderful woman to complete him. I'm a little sad it wasn't me. This is not to say I'm unhappy with my guy. I love him and appreciate him more and more everyday. Hello, that's what my grandfather told me when he met and married his third wife shortly before he died. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Irma were a perfect match. On their wedding day they wore matching PINK polyester! It was adorable. Sometimes it takes a couple tries before you get it right. I feel that way now. I have the perfect man. He's attentive, tells me I'm beautiful (a lovely thing for a Leo to hear) and truly loves me with all his heart. Now why am I so curious as to what he was going to say?

12/04/2003

It's here! It's here! The Ex's kid has arrived! Welcome to the world.. Valentijn Waldemar Olivier! What can I tell ya, the Dutch like the interesting names! This one may have to grow up to be an author or an actor. Now what am I going to make him? I'm thinking matching set of sweaters for the little tyke and his big brother. I'm so proud!

12/02/2003

Holy Craptastic Day! Muthafuhhhh. I got to work this morning only to find out that our interac/visa/mastercard/amex/everything machine went tits up and wouldn't respond to any CPR I gave it. We called the tech support for the machine and they told us it was the phone line. We called the phone company and they said it was the debit machine. A guy came out from the debit machine company and walked in and said "I knew when I got the page it was your phone line." Didn't look at anything and walked out. Phone guy came in (love him) and at least bothered to explain what was going on. So after 6 hours we managed to get the machine running. Then the computers went down. I missed that part because I was at the ultrasound place. Oh joy! Standing room only in the waiting area! No results yet, of course. As I was leaving I got in the car and reminded myself about the pole behind me and not to hit it. I looked and watched and hit the freaking pole! Damn was I mad at myself! Small mark on the bumper and the bumper moulding popped out about a centimeter. As I drove back to the office I was so upset! By the debit chaos, computer chaos, ultrasound chaos! I parked the car at work and got out and kicked my bumper in the spot where it was sticking out! Hey! Who knew my car could pop back together like a Snap-Tite model! Can't tell anymore that I bonked my bumper. It ended up an okay day after all!