Question 8

8) What is my favorite show currently on TV (not in syndication)?
a) NCIS
b) CSI (the original)
c) CSI: New York
d) LOST
e) I don't watch TV.

No knitting pictures this week. I suppose I could take a picture of the 9 inches of sweater body I've completed of the Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong #1. However, since it's not yet to the end of Clue 1, I haven't bothered yet. I also did not finish the WW MKAL2 or WW MKAL3 sweaters by last Saturday. For the record, I didn't make a pair of socks for the 10 for 10 either. I didn't even knit at all last Friday, thus blowing all of my goals for that 2 week challenge. Feh.

Not much has happened this week. My mom was off tons and tons of time (9 days out of 13), although she has worked the last 2 consecutive nights -- for the first time since July 14. I'm thoroughly enjoying my nighttime solitude, believe me.

Nothing new on the job front either. The dealership that called last week was looking for someone who could work full-time, and my school schedule will preclude that. The one class that I absolutely Must take this semester (unless I want to wait and try to get into the program again next year) is from 2 to 4:20 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, which conveniently nixes most day and evening jobs at once. Handy, that.

I had one of those probably-blazingly-obvious-to-other-people epiphanies today, when I was driving to Taco Bell. (Yes, I'm still on unemployment. What? I don't do it very often.) I think I'm going to mull it over for a bit before I inflict it on all of you. It's either angsty or depressing, and enough other people are having real problems right now that I'd feel weird (read: self-centered and self-indulgant) posting about it. Stay tuned! Next week you may get to read all about it! I suggest you hold your breath. That way you may be unconscious by the time I post it.

Answer to Question 8: NCIS, hands down. I usually watch CSI, and occasionally CSI: NY, but I can do without them easily. I haven't bothered with LOST since Season 2. And yes, I do seem to only consider TV shows that have initials instead of titles. (Except for Pushing Daisies, but that's not around anymore anyway.) Oh, and if watching the shows online doesn't count, then the answer is E.

Late Edit: I do have a photo for the week, after all. This is the Siegling's bag that I received from Pansy earlier this week. It's currently full of all three of my WW MKAL sweaters-in-progress. I think it wants to go home to Washington state, where it might have to carry gardening tools in the crazy heat, but at least it wouldn't have to worry about exploding. lol

.............
(front and back, with and without flash, respectively)

Question 7

7) What Facebook app do I play most?
a) Farm Town
b) myFarm
c) (Lil) Green Patch
d) Send Good Karma
e) Castle Age

Photo Filler for the Week: Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong 3 (WW MKAL3). Sweater is shown at the end of Clue 4. (I'm working on the sleeves now.)



I have also almost finished one sleeve of the WW MKAL2 sweater, although I don't have a photo yet. I had actually worked the entire sleeve through the ribbing and cast-off, but when I put the sweater pieces together, I saw that the sleeve was definitely too short. So I've ripped back the 3 inches of ribbing and I'll lengthen it. I've had bad luck with the measurements on this sweater, and I'm a little concerned that the neck is too wide for Warm Woolies, but it's a nice pattern. I may try to add a collar or something, although I'm not sure quite how I'd do that. We'll see.

Also, last week I joined a challenge that ends this Saturday, and I set my goal as finishing these 2 sweaters and working through Clue 1 of the WW MKAL1 sweater (or a pair of socks for the 10 for 10 (scroll down), but I think the sweater will be easier). My mom's been off a lot lately (7 days out of the last 9), so I don't know if I'll make it, but there's still a chance.

In non-knitting news ... I'm not sure if there is any non-knitting news. Hmmm.

• I got a phone call today about a potential job at a dealership up in Schaumburg. I'm not sure if I really want to commute so far again, and I don't yet know if it's part-time or full-time, but at least it's a potential.
• I haven't heard anything yet about my permit to register for my HIT class, which I was supposed to have received by now. And the program director hasn't responded to my e-mail either. Fun!
• I have been completely eaten by novel-snips and fanfics from a not-yet-published author. Sadly, this means that I can't share the novel-snips with you. The fanfics and 4 original fic snips are linked on her blog. I keep staying up waaayy too late, rereading her stuff. She's very good. (Seriously, the last time I complusively reread stuff like this was when I discovered Lois McMaster Bujold's The Sharing Knife series.)
  
• In an odd bit of ... recurring theme? cycles in life? something like that. Anyway, as I've become less involved with most aspects of the Shieldmaidens, I've been getting more active (truly! "More" is a relative term.) with Sporkers. (ie. the author in the previous bullet point is a Sporker.) And this summer, a number of the Sporkers have started Walking to Rivendell. So far as I know, I'm the only crossover between the two groups. And I've never even made it to the Stock Road.
  

Answer to Question 7: Obviously this isn't a terribly important question. However, as the quiz was made on Facebook, it seemed like decent filler. I play all of the listed apps, but Castle Age is my favorite.

(These questions are coming from my "How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?" quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.)

Question 6

6) If forced to choose, would I ... for the rest of my life?
a) Read only books I haven't read yet
b) Read only books I have already read

Remember that sweater I started last week? Well, this isn't a current photo (because Clue 4 came out late last night, and I've started working on that now), but as of yesterday morning, this is what it looked like:




It may be hard to tell, but the entire body of the sweater (waist to arms) is knitted, and the back of the yoke is knitted. Half of the front of the yoke is also knitted. Clue 4 contains instructions for the rest of the front yoke and the collar. I hope to have it completed by morning at the latest.

I haven't made much progress on the bag I started last week, but that's because I was focusing on catching up with the clues for the sweater, since I started the knitalong 6 days late. I don't really expect to get very far on the bag this week, either, as I (perhaps foolishly) posted a challenge goal of finishing this sweater, the sweater from the previous (second) knitalong, and Clue 1 of the sweater from the first knitalong by July 25. Luckily the second sweater is at least 69% of the way done already. However, I think I'll be exclusively focused on sweater knitting for at least the next week and a half.

Edited to Add: OH! I almost forgot to post a picture of the completed Rivendell socks.




Answer to Question 6:
b) Read only books I have already read. I know that I'd miss out on some good, new books this way, but I simply cannot imagine never being able to reread my favorites again.

(These questions are coming from my "How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?" quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.)

Question 5

5) From most to least, what are my favorite types/steps of knitting?
a) knit, purl, graft, cable, yarn over
b) knit, graft, cable, yarn over, purl
c) purl, cable, yarn over, graft, knit
d) knit, yarn over, purl, cable, graft
e) Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to rank them?

This week's filler is NOT the Rivendell socks, although they are finished. I've mailed them off to Pansy, and I don't want to post pictures of the finished objects until she can see them in person. I originally thought that I'd just post the picture and hope that the package got there before she checked my blog, but then I didn't get to the post office until this afternoon, so that seemed risky. However! I have another finished project to show you as well. I finished my 6 pairs of Potato Chip Socks for Warm Woolies' 6 for 6 campaign, and they were also mailed off this afternoon.



Having finished 2 sock projects (and 7 pairs!) in the past 2 weeks, I decided to cast on for a couple of things, namely the Warm Woolies' Mystery Sweater Knitalong 3



and the Montavilla Market Bag (from Knit Picks).



This one has been burning a hole in my stash for a while now, but I didn't think I should cast on for it before I finished some other stuff. That's probably still true, but after resisting for at least 6 weeks, I caved. Also, I realize that neither of these projects is very far along, but since I cast on for the sweater on Monday and the market bag just last night, I'm not terribly worried about that.

In other news, I finally renewed my library card (expired 11/08) and went to the new library building. I realize that the old building was, well, old. And small. However, I'm still not entirely sure I approve of the amount of money they spent on the new building and the ways that they spent it. Then again, since I don't get a refund for boycotting it, I may as well get something to read. Also, no news on the job front. I didn't really expect to find something this quickly, given my somewhat restrictive school schedule and all. Plus the fact that I have no professional wardrobe anymore, having worn uniforms for the past 3 years and rather extreme Business Casual for the two jobs before that. Still looking.

Answer to Question 5: D (knit, yarn over, purl, cable, graft)
This was just a silly question, and I didn't really expect anyone to know the answer. I'd decided that it would be nice to have a round 20 questions, and towards the end it was getting a little tricky to think of them. I enjoy just about everything in knitting (at least everything that I know how to do), but some of the techniques can get a little tedious if you have to do a lot of them. Knitting is easy, of course. Yarn overs are even easier, because it's basically half of a knit stitch. Purling doesn't bother me at all, probably because the first two times I tried to teach myself to knit I ended up knitting through the back loops (similar movement to purling, but behind the needle, so a little more awkward). This means that, back then, I actually preferred purling to knitting. Cabling is fun (especially since I learned to cable without a cable needle), so long as there's some give to the yarn. It can get a little old if there's too much of it though, or if you're doing twisted cables or something. Grafting is fun because of how invisible it is (assuming you do it well), but it's one of those things that gets tedious pretty quickly. But like I said, the question wasn't terribly serious in the first place.

(These questions are coming from my "How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?" quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.)

Question 4

4) What is my religion?
a) Lutheran
b) Christian (no specific demonimation)
c) Pagan
d) Eclectic Wicca
e) Gods only know.


Photo Filler: Do you recognize this photo?



I bet you don't. You just think you do. Know how I know? Because -- Ta-Da:



That's right -- the first photo is of the second toe, just completed. Yeah, yeah, it looks like the first toe. It's a pair of socks; that's the point! I have finally completed the Rivendell socks! Woohoo!

Okay, technically they're not quite completed, because I still need to weave in the ends (4 total) and block the socks. But the actual making is done! Woohoo again! (Yes, I may be just a bit excited about this. So sue me.) And ... AND! It took me less than a year to complete them. Not much less than a year, true, but still less than a year. For me and fancy, grown-up socks, it turns out that's about all you can hope for.

Answers to Question 4:
This one really needs to be taken by the process of elimination. Lutheran? Nope! Raised Lutheran, yes, but that is emphatically Not what I am anymore. Generic Christian? Tried that, didn't take. Eclectic Wicca? Ditto. Pagan? This comes closest, but given that I couldn't even tell you which pantheon(s) I would focus on if I somehow found the energy, I can't really claim it either. That leaves "Gods only know." And they may. Or not.

I feel like I should explain a little what I do believe, but I have trouble pinning it down. Basically, I believe there are many gods. (You might consider them powers or forces, ie. nature/portions of nature.) However, I don't believe in an afterlife, so I'm not too worried about pissing them off by not worshiping as they decree, if they decree. 'Nuf said? Good.

Now wish me luck. I have to back to the campus and register in person for the first of the HIT series of classes. Maybe the parking will be more reasonable this time? And none of the offices will have moved? I can only hope.

(These questions are coming from my "How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?" quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.)

Breaking News

I got into the Health Information Technology program!!! (That's a fancy way of saying medical billing & coding, for the uninitiated. They've even eliminated the medical transcription part of the program, which was the most interesting to me. Oh well.) The application packet warned that the acceptance letters would probably not go out until August, but mine got here today. Whew! It's not a paying job, but now I have an answer to the "Should I give up and get a full-time job, or hope that I'm actually accepted and aim for a part-time gig that's flexible enough to accomodate changing student schedules?" dilemma that I've been tying my intestines in knots over for the past couple of weeks. Whew! Again.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go collapse into a puddle of relieved goo in the middle of the hallway. (I'd collapse in a corner, but then I'd have to vacuum first. Or risk reconstituting with loads of dust bunnies involved.)