Hello and happy Wednesday! Not too much knitting done in the past few days due to Valentine's Day on Monday and Beer:30 yesterday (Beer:30-When you and your co-workers hit the bar for Happy Hour right after work...normally occurring at 5:30 pm. "What time is it?" "Beer:30!"). I am almost done with the raglan shaping on the back of Banff. My plan is to finish the back tonight and hopefully get all the ribbing done on the front. Tomorrow night I teach night 2 of Socks on Circ's at the LYS, which is having a HUGE sale running Thurs. through Sun. I can't wait!
The Spring issue of Knitter's arrived in my mail box on Monday, and I have to say and I'm not utterly disappointed with the issue as I normally am with Knitter's (that's a complement)! You see, I have a love hate relationship with this magazine...I love the fact that they are a "local" mag (out of S.D., a neighbor of MN), and I love that they really try to be "out of the box" with their designs. I hate the fact that most of their garment designs use novelty yarn (only good for scarves, IMHO), and I hate the fact that, umm, most of the designs are fugly. So, that said, the Spring issue actually has about 4-5 designs I would actually make!!! Surprise, wow!! In fact, I will be making this one:
"Snap It" uses Plymouth Fantasy Naturale yarn, a 100% worsted cotton that I (surprise!) happen to have in my stash! A couple years back, I bought a bag (10 skeins) of F. N. in white on mega-ultra sale, and it has been sitting in my closet waiting to be knit up. Yay for "shopping" for yarn in my own stash!!
Other things I would knit up: Hjalte by Elizabeth Lavold (I like most everything she designs...I've also met her); Blue Ridge Jacket (I like the band at the bottom a lot...this would be something good to wear to work);Green Tea Jacket (Oh, that's why I like it...it's designed by Knitty regular, Natalie Wilson); and I'm oddly drawn to Retro Brights , although I'm not sure I'd wear it, but I do like the colors! Note: all of these patterns use natural fibers, that's partly why I like them!!! Knitter's: HINT HINT! Of course, there are the required fugly ponchos like this, this and this, but it wouldn't be Knitter's without them, right? :)
I might not be posting much this week, I'm kinda starting a new job. Here's the scoop (if you care). For the past year and a half, I have been working as a "Real Estate Assistant" (my official title being "Client Services Manager") for a team of 5 agents. My job entails all the property and team marketing, advertising, client communications, paperwork, tech support, Starbuck's runner, lunch getter, etc. The team lead, my boss, was promoted to Vice President of another office back in October, while I was getting my license. Well, 60% of my job was talking care of him...making sure he knew where he was going on a daily basis, scheduling his calendar, buying gifts for his wife, de-linting his jackets, etc. (I really enjoyed it actually, we became like brother and sister). Now that he's a VP, that part of my job is gone, and I only really need to work for my team half time (he did most of the volume). So, my boss connected me with an agent out of his new branch who REALLY needs my help. Bad. She's an awesome gal, she only markets luxury homes, had 4 kids, is married to a NHL hockey player, has written a book, writes a weekly newspaper column, and is developing a TV show to run locally. She is Super Women...she does it all, and she REALLY NEEDS a good assistant. Enter moi. I'll probably be working full-time with her for the next two weeks (getting her and her office on track), then I'll go 50% with her, and 50% with the current team I'm with. Is it bad that I pride myself in being the best real estate assistant in MN? I had loftier dreams for myself (US President, US Senator, Lawyer, News Producer), but I really do enjoy my job and taking care of these people, and kind of being "behind the scenes". It's funny realizing what we thought would make us happy, and what actually does!
