A week of interviews

Feeling Quiet

No I haven't had a job interview, but my beloved has, and oldest daughter should be in the middle of her first ever one now. She has applied to be an apprentice painter and decorator. One of her teachers openly laughed at her when she told him, and he thought she was taking the piss. He said that she would be wasting her brain if she did something like that. I think it is an idela opportunity and that she should go for it. She has always wanted to be an interior designer, and this would be an ideal grounding for her before she goes to college or uni. I told her I've got plenty of rooms that she can practise on :-) The company that she's applied ot work for are in Ellon, so there would be no travelling, and they do a varied range of jobs. She would have to learn specialist paint techniques, hanging wallpaper, some interior desing, colour matching etc. Once she is qualified she could work for herself, and it would be quite a good job.
I haven't done much knitting this week, I've just been in a bit of a rut. I have a cold creeping round my system and it is making me tired and ratty. I do keep getting out my stash and fondling every so often. I think I'm all knitted out at the moment.

I dunno - I think it's a great opportunity personally, esp. if it's what she loves to do. What is that teacher talking about?

And what is taking the piss? lol!
Comment from thorawashere - 30/04/05 02:08

Some of her teachers are too opinionated for their own good.
"Taking the piss"; "extracting the urine"; "taking the mick"; are all phrases used to mean that someone is poking fun at another person, or having a laugh at their expense. If someone makes a statment and you don't believe it, you say that they are taking the piss, or having a laugh.
Comment from gazandt - 01/05/05 10:03

Hope everything goes well with everyone and their job interviews.
I would love to have someone come and design the rooms in my house.
Comment from time4moretea - 07/05/05 20:47

Still haven't heard about the interview. I asked and she said that it might be next week before she hears. I applied for a new job on Friday and got and email yesterday to say the position had already been filled :(
Comment from gazandt - 10/05/05 11:28

Stash Increases Daily

21 April 2005
16:59:00 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy
Hearing Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I had a great afternoon yesterday. I went to my friends house and we chatted, read some books, and did a little knitting. After that we decided to go through her stash and give it a little sort out. As we were sorting things she kept throwing different yarns my way. I ended up with three bags full of different yarns. Most of it was pure wool, and there was the odd ball of glittery stuff in it. It all started because I wanted to make the monster slippers from Stitch and Bitch Nation and I didn't have the right yarn needed. I'm using a rose coloured lopi that is going to be perfect.
I still haven't taken any photos of my finished projects, but will do that tomorrow, I promise. Tonight it is Stitch and Bitch in Aberdeen so am going to go for a bit of girly stitching time.

Hello

Feeling Chillin'



Thought I had better say hello to my reader and update you on my utterly exciting life :-) After the mammoth knitting project, I've been very quiet and not done a great deal this past week or so. My whole body and my brain ached from all the concentration and I've just about recovered.
Last week was a lazy time for me. My friend came over on Thursday and we looked at books, went for lunch and did a bit of shopping. It was great. We were both very tired, but it felt good to just be girly for a while. I saw a couple of things that I want for me, but they will keep for another time.
My beloved decided that he wanted some new work clothes, and we went in to Aberdeen on Saturday to get him some. The whole city centre was heaving with people. The main road in the town was blocked off and there was an international street market. Most of the folks were French and the smells from the different stalls were fantastic. I bought so much stuff that I had to go to the indoor market and buy myself a pull along shopping bag. The food was amazing, and the black pudding was out of this world. I have never tasted anything like it. I also bought two bunches of dried lavender from Provence, and they are in jugs in my kitchen. I have some dried grasses and they look pretty together.
I have finished a baby blanket from the Yo-Yo yarn that I bought a few weeks ago. It looks good, and is now on the washing line. I've only been doing brainless - no thinking - knitting this week, my head just won't stretch to patterns or anything strenuous. Someone on Knitflame described it well, she said she had brains farts, and that's just how my brain feels.
Oh, and I got my Stitch and Bitch Nation from Amazon. It wasn't until after it arrived, that I realised one of my friends was mentioned in the acknowledgments. It turns out that she was one of the knitters for the book, and she made the black fishnet stockings. I vaguely remember her mentioning something about it, but didn't take much notice at the time because I was busy with work and stuff. She says her only regret is that she wasn't the designer, because she would have made them in the round.

Yippppeeeee

Feeling Happy


The jacket is finished. I am totally worn out. My joints ache and my back is sore, but that's it, over and done. I managed to get all the pieces done on time, and they are looking pretty darned good. All the ends are sewn in, and it has been lightly pressed. The good thing is that I don't have to post it off. My student is coming here to collect it. She will be tired when she gets here because she has driven all the way from London, via Sheffield. I am expecting her about 12 midnight.

I'm not posting any pictures until it has been made up, that way it is going to be a surprise.

I've started crocheting a bag that I got off a web site, can't remember which site. It's just a plain old string type shopping bag, I'm using some of my stash because hubby keeps telling me I have to reduce it. I must admit that it is getting a bit on the wild side. I keep finding different bags with yarn in, most of which I'd forgotten about. The yarn I'm using for the bag is some that I bought in Ireland 3 years ago. It's been sitting there and taunting me ever since. I hate to think about the cost of the yarn that I hold. Some of it is cheap stuff, or bought in sales, but I have some yarn that was almost £6 and that was reduced from £7.95 per ball. I have 6 balls of that. I also have a fairly large amount of fibre for spinning or felting. Maybe I should take up felting and sell my wares. I've never really done much felting. I've done knitted felt, but not proper felting where you layer lots of different colours together to make a picture or piece of fabric.

Anyone up for this challenge?

I asked this question on the Yahoo group that I belong to. I think it is going to be fun to take part and it will also give me a chance to play around with textures and colours. I keep dreaming of different ways to make one, and how long it is going to take me.
What, you ask is the stupid woman talking about. Well I'm talking about this.
Isn't it a grand idea :-)

The project isn't turning out how I would have liked. For some reason one of the sleeves is wider than the other. I've ripped it out, and started it again and it hasn't changed the width at all. There is definitely something weird going on. I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to get the sleeve finished tonight, then I can start on one of the fronts or maybe the back tomorrow. The entire jacket has to be in London by Friday at the latest. If the yarn had been ordered on time, and hadn't been delayed then, I might have stood a chance, but it is hard going trying to work out a pattern from a piece of paper, and get ot right first time. I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to write the pattern, I'll probably have to delay that by a week or so. I was a naughty girl and went out this morning instead of staying in and knitting. I'm glad I did go out, because my beloved bought me a lovely amber and silver bracelet. It is slightly celtic in design, but is lovely on and feels like it was made just for me. Most bracelets that I buy have to have at least two links removed, but this one just sits right on the wrist. Aren't I a lucky girl. There were some bracelets that had pieces of amber in that were as big as hen's eggs, but I thought that they might be too big for me. I might save up my meager pennies and see if he has any more pieces over the next few months and might buy myself another one.

I saw my old neighbours today, and it was lovely to see them. When their little boy saw me he ran up and jumped in to my arms. I got the longest of hugs and then he told me he loved me. It was so sweet that I could have wept. I miss them, and I miss my old house. I know I have more space here, and have gone up a notch in the social scheme of things, but who cares, I loved my old, cold, draughty house.



Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna

I love my Denise

I got my Denise knitting needles today, they are wonderful. Normally my hands would be aching after a couple of hours constant knitting, but they are feeling fine. The only problem is that I made the first sleeve of the project, it was ok, and I was happy with it. However, I made the second sleeve with my Denise needles and boy what a difference. The whole shape was more to the design, and the sizes were a lot closer to my pattern. So, I took the bull by the horns and ripped out the first sleeve. This is the fifth time I've done this. I could have just about made the whole bloody thing by now. Normally I owuld do two sleeves together, but I'm using two different yarns together and that would have meant four different yarns, the possibilities of twisting and getting in a muddle are endless. Let's hope this time it is right.

The one bad thing about all this knitting is that I'm not moving about as much as I normally would, and have put on about half a stone in weight. My legs are all puffed up and I feel like an old woman. No wonder the image we have of knitters is of an overly ample matronly looking woman. I've turned in to her. Well, to be honest I wasn't far off it before.

On another note, I just spoke to my pa and he is back from Dublin. He said the funeral went well and the church was packed on both ocassions for Violet. She was a very well loved and respected lady. He's tired and misses her, but he is glad that she is at rest now.

In memory of.

This time last year, was a particularly difficult time for me. There had been a numbr of funerals, and sadnesses, and this year it seems like it is going to be more of the same.

My aunt Violet died on Wednesday evening at 11pm BST. I wanted to mark her passing with a poem that I heard at my friends funeral last year. Whenever I read it, it gives me a peace inside that I cannot understand, but I accept it without question.

Parable of immortality ( A ship leaves . . . )
by Henry (Jackson) Van Dyke - 1852 - 1933

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes! ' ,
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout :
'Here she comes!'

And that is dying...........