Finishing

I actually finished a project, so I feel the need to share.

My friend T and I had been going for walks with her pup but it's gotten cooler (and is now down right cold) at night.  She made a comment that she'd like a hat with ear-flaps (and she "doesn't care if she looks silly).  Enter Simpatico.  It's a more interesting pattern than a standard ear-flap had, knit with worsted weight yarn, and would give me a chance to attempt the magic loop.  I'm not sure I did that quite right, but it came out okay.

I prefer it with the ties, which I braided instead of using i-cord.  They are more for show as the ear-flaps are plenty long to stay down on their own.

Please ignore our messy living room - moving and all that jazz

 T wanted pink, and pink she will get.  I think if I were to do it again I'd use different yarn.  The Plymouth Europa Tweed is pretty but splits a bit too easily and is a little thicker than is called for in the pattern.  I went down a needle size and that made it work, but knitting bulky yarn (I wouldn't call this super bulky at all, despite the description) on size 5 needles was a bit of a pain.

End thoughts: while I like the end look, the pattern was sort of a pain.  The decreases aren't predictable and there are only two size options - Child or Adult.  My adult head is a bit too small and M's head is a bit too big.  Hopefully T's head is just right.  I don't think I'll be making it again unless someone requests it specifically.

Survival of the Fittest

Yesterday marked my first full week of work in my chosen vocation...in a new town. Things went well but today was the exciting day: Moving Day! Strangely, it always surprises me how much random stuff I still have left to pack when it's time to load the truck, but thanks to M and his dad the actual loading and unloading was pretty darn painless.

Moving sucks. There really isn't any other way to state it. Packing, trying to make sure things are organized and nothing breaks in the process. Ensuring boxes aren't too heavy, but are still full enough that things don't shift (too much) inside. It's a hassle and I can't wait until I have settled in enough in life not to have to move again. But unpacking, now that's something I can get into.

I love unpacking. Putting things away and watching the stack of boxes dwindle down to some scrapes of paper. Picking just the right drawer for the measuring cups, and filling up the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Plus, there is rarely a time that the apartment will ever be quite as clean as the moment the last box is unpacked and put in the recycling. It really is a cool thing, at least it is at this point in my life when my possessions will probably be completely unpacked by the end of the weekend.

Then there is the exploring. How can it not be fund to discover the secrets of a new place? Maybe this is why I move so much. I love new places, but you never get to know a location and it's people until you live there. Hm...food for thought.

As an added bonus, I went from a studio apartment to having a spare room. Finally a home for all my yarn, sewing and office stuff. My living room can be solely for relaxing and watching movies without all the clutter that comes with storing my stash of unfinished projects.

Things are finally starting to fall into place.

New beginnings

I don't write a lot and I have decided not to stress about that. The only people that read this blog are friends anyway and it's my blog. Plus, I don't need the extra stress.

So let's start fresh. It's a new year, a new decade. Good things are bound to happen.

In the most exciting news, from my perspective, I finally found a legal position. And that will be all the job talk you'll see.

I will be moving, hopefully, by the end of the week. I say hopefully because M and I went to look at apartments over the weekend and I found the perfect one. I asked a lot of questions, because that's what I do, and M poked around and asked some questions as well. I didn't think it was anything special: "the bath doesn't have any caulk, is that going to get fixed?" "Are you re-caulking around the kitchen counter?" "Does the A/C unit need to be weatherized?" Called the building manager back later that day to say I would like the apartment, she sounded enthusiastic and told me she was dropping information into the mail for me that afternoon. I mailed in my application and hold fee today. This afternoon she called to say that she wants me to come look at the place again because she's not sure it can live up to my expectations. She's never had anyone have so many complaints. Um...she was already fixing all the issues I asked about. Grrr. It's a two hour drive and I was coming down on Friday to sign and pay for everything. I had canceled my viewing at another apartment later this week because it she told me yesterday that I just needed to get my application in and all would be well.

Can you tell I'm a bit annoyed?

Moving right along. I've decided to try an experiment. I'm going to wait until March for this particular experiment because the move is guaranteed to cause issues with it. I'm going on a spending moratorium. I know that thousands of others have done this before but I'm curious how I'll do - plus it can't hurt the budget.

So here's what I'm allowed to spend money on:

• Rent
• Groceries
• Gas
• Insurance
• Utilities
  
• Internet/phone/cable (not sure if I'll have cable when I move or not)
• Personal care basics (shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toilet paper etc)
• Birthday gifts

That's it.

I wonder how many of my friends have tried this sort of thing and with what results...