This is not what an FO is supposed to feel like

This is what happens when you wait too long to cast on Endpaper Mitt #2 - and you're kind of stupid:

Not until the final bind off did I bother to set these two mitts side by side.  Plus I did right out in public at my Sunday night knitting group so everyone got to witness the stupidity!  Maaaaan.  Apparently I did NOT use size 3 needles on the first mitt.  Even as I was knitting, I was thinking that this second mitt seemed kinda looser than the first and for some reason I congratulated myself a little on getting more comfortable with the colorwork and therefore not knitting so tight.  duh.  Nooow, what I thought was an FO is really just 50% of two projects, I guess.  I fear that I won't have enough yarn to do two more mitts - even though, as Emily contends, these balls of Panda Silk seem to be endless.  I definitely have more of the orange than the yellow, though it doesn't really seem like the pattern uses terribly more of one than the other.  I'm debating whether I should do one of those flip flop color things, where the main color on mitt #2 is the opposite of mitt #1.  I'm not really too fond of that though.  Maybe I'll just do a second and call that spare one my little punishment.  I could give the second pair away, but I'm sure as hell not buying more yarn to finish a replica of something that I really just wanted to be done with!  suck!  

Tagged!

I got tagged with a meme!  So maybe 3 people read my blog, but it kind of makes me feel like a real blogger!  Thanks Hannah!  

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Um, I was 2 years out of college and was being a chemist working in the lab at Cargill - we magically turn corn into corn syrup and HFCS and high protein animal feed and starches - yep, all that from a kernel of corn.  We'd test products all through the process and make decisions about what needed to be done next to make sure they came out right.  It was cool for a while.  I had to work all kinds of crazy shifts, which wasn't much fun, but it was a real career kind of thing, not just a job, so I stuck it out.  Oh, I was also taking a cake decorating class at the local Michael's because it occurred to me that I could do stuff like that now that I was out of school!  A guy I worked with set me up to do his daughter's wedding cake!  Let me tell you, that wasn't easy in my apartment kitchen (even though it was big!)  And trying to balance the thing on the passenger seat of your Ford Ranger - that ain't the way the pros do it!  hmm, I can't remember what the heck I really DID - I guess I was clubbing and stuff back then - wearing vinyl pants and other things that make me shudder now!  Oh, and learning to cook, which I'd never really done any of when I lived at home - I lost like 70 lbs when I moved out.  Not because I couldn't cook, but because I learned what a normal portion was (far less than what my mom put on my plate!) and I didn't have her standing over me saying "we don't waste food around here!  you'll stay there till you eat it!"  Oh, and I was not knitting - I was sewing some, and occasionally dating people who lived way too far away to really be practical.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list?

Ooh, I loooove to make to-do lists!  short term, long term - whatever, I've got scraps of paper with lists all over the house!  I think it's really the crossing off of things that I love.  I think my best one ever had this item on it:  Get gooey butter cake recipe out of the trash! -- the BF found that note, and said "maaan, I've seen you write some crazy lists, but what the heck is this?"  Ok, so lets see - on my list, 1) do one more pattern repeat on my endpaper mitts 2) vacuum 3) look up Woobu (a yarn I recently heard about from BMFA!) on Ravelry 4) bike to the market and get maple sugar candy for my pop for pop's day tomorrow 5) put the towels away before the cats realize what a great bed a laundry basket full of towels is!  

3. Where have I lived?

Wheeling, WVa.; Phoenix, AZ; Cincinnati, OH; Monroe, OH; Dayton, OH.  Dayton's not really much in the way of cities, I guess, but I kinda love the hell out of it!  

4.  What would I do if I was a billionaire?

Pay off the house, buy a Vespa, oh thank god - get the house painted!, hire a maid, travel EVERYWHERE, buy stuff on Etsy that I just sigh over now, live simply - not like those crazy lottery winners on TV, grocery shop exclusively from that organic farmer lady at the market downtown, eat at the Little Saigon vietnamese restaurant like 5 times a week, buy my brother a house with plenty of bedrooms for my 2 nieces, one nephew, and one more on the way!  Buy yarn like there's no tomorrow and have all the time in the world to knit it!  Oh, and I'd love a tiny vacation cabin somewhere away from everything.

5.  Who would I like to know more about?

Emily, of Emilynye fame; Emily, of Dainty Kitty fame; Ginny, of Striped Toe Socks fame; Lisa, of PunchPink fame (who will not do this, I'm sure because she started her new blog only for her amazing photography, not for writing!) and Samantha, of Dharma Rants fame.  Consider yourself tagged!

Things I did not rave enough about!

It seems impossible that I spent hours with my knitting friends last night and barely mentioned the new Norah Gaughan, Vol. 3! I got an email about all of Berroco's new stuff and I was just blown away - so much so that I ordered two books right away from my desk at work! Starting a conversation at home with "ok, so I know you don't care, but there's this new sweater pattern that just came out and it totally blew my mind" pretty much goes nowhere. I can't expect him to get excited. But I can expect it from you!! Ok, so there's this new sweater pattern that just came out and it totally blew my mind - it's Portrait, from Vol. 3 Is that not amazing?! I mean even if I wouldn't make it, the concept is just nothing I've ever seen or imagined! Cables pixilated and done in intarsia. wwhhhhaaat? Norah Gaughan, you're brilliant! Am I crazy or is that not the most innovative thing you've ever seen? I mean there are so many sweaters that are just like, yeah yeah, top down pullover, but with an interesting stitch pattern, or yeah yeah, it's a cardigan BUT it's asymmetrical! and don't get me wrong - I think asymmetrical cardi's are the cutest, but I've seen the concept, you know? This is like the newest, most modern thing I've seen in a long time. Like I said, I may not even want to make it, but I still think it's a design like nothing else anyone else is doing! She's also doing a lot of shaping with cables that grow and shrink - not just like adding waist shaping with some cables there, but actually cables with movement - like in Eastlake. (well, I guess it's not so much a cable that changes shape on this one, but the motif does. Check the detail on the sleeves too - I love it!)I noticed something similar in the Stitch Diva Studio's upcoming Silken Scabbard. Ugh, I love it! Ok, so everybody go check out the new Berroco stuff because I need someone to be as excited as I am!

Like a jungle in my dining room!

My terrarium is fully outfitted now!  Let me tell you - going to a steamy greenhouse on a day when it's already 92F wasn't my best idea ever, but I did get lots of plants!  I nearly bit it once when I hit a slick (moss on the brick pathway, I suspect) spot and did one of those crazy arm windmilly things and said "whooooaaah!"  - I probably could have been a little cooler about it, but it's not really something you plan, and regardless, I don't think anyone was around to laugh at me!  The heat motivated me to not linger too much and therefore I totally forgot that I sort of wanted to look at herbs.  That's ok - I hadn't really planned to spend $33 anyway (especially since the big jug of stupid activated charcoal was $30!) but that's what happened.  Look what I got out of it though!  and from the other angle and a little close up  and another little close up!  oohwee - purty!  I love it!  

Oh, why am I asking for this?

So in a momentary fit of confidence I threw my name (and resume) in the hat for a new job.  Now I'm kind of scared to death that I'll get it.  It's a new position with the same company, and actually in the same department - just a promotion that I'm not really sure I want.  I've waffled back and forth as soon as I anticipated it opening up.  Lots of people in the upper levels of our department have told me I ought to think about going for it, and that they think I'd do a good job at it.  I'm not so sure, but I've let myself get buffeted by their compliments.  I just as often think it'd be a great idea as I think it'd be something I don't want to deal with.  That's probably not a good sign.  It'd be quite a bit more money if I did get it, but that also means quite a bit more responsibility.  So many times I hear about things happening and think "whew, glad I don't have to deal with that!" - well, with this job, I WOULD have to deal with that.  I'm sure I could handle it, and I'm just selling myself short, but I've also kind of gotten into this nice comfortable place where I like what I do and like the relative lack of pressure.  On the other hand, it seems pretty irresponsible to not go for a better position when it's right in front of me.  I wouldn't have to relocate, and when would that kind of opportunity pop up again?  Oh, and I realize how stupid this sounds, but I'd have to start wearing a uniform and hard hat, etc. and be out in the plant again - right now I get to be in the office all the time, which means I can paint my nails and wear earrings and skirts and peeptoed shoes.  I'm never sweaty, my hair isn't mashed by a hat, I don't have to go outside when it's blazing hot or snowing.  But, I have to worry about how I'm going to afford to get the house painted and such.  Ugh.  such a pickle.  On the other hand, I tell myself this is the perfect position to be in - if I get the job, that'll be good, I'll probably handle it just fine, and if I really hate it, it's not forever.  I've been with the company for 12 years now and they're aren't going to push me out the door - I've had several different positions in this company and something always comes up.  But if I don't get it then I'm still in a job that I love - it isn't like this was my only hope to get out of a job I hated.  I feel like so many people in positions to make the hiring decisions have given me the thumbs up, that they'll HAVE to give me the job, but maybe I'll flub up so much in the interview that they'll realize how not ready for it I am.  I don't know.  So wish me luck, or don't - I kind of want it both ways!