Spring Has Sprung!

Halloooooooo, everybody! 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Leap Day three days ago; I was hoping to get a post up in time, but life happens.  I've been fighting a nasty cold since about Saturday, and since I'm hardly ever sick it threw me for a loop.  Let's just say I didn't exactly do a whole lot with my extra day on the calendar.   I've also been on the job hunt (more to come on that), and working on projects (more on that, too). 

It's an absolutely beautiful day today, and even through my cold I can smell the orange blossoms in bloom on the trees surrounding the house and backyard.  Absolute heaven! 

Juggling Jobs

Up to now, there hasn't been much happening at the Safari Park, so I've been on the job search.  After two interviews with one company (I'm not saying who just yet--I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch) and being scheduled for a third, the manager I had been communicating with called me and essentially said forget the third interview, we want you on our team.  Not a direct quote, mind you, but it does show off the spirit. 

Unfortunately, there have been a few snags along the way. 

First my online application wouldn't pull up, so I had to re-submit the whole thing.  Then, even though the application has been in their system, the official acceptance e-mail that I was supposed to receive hasn't come yet.   

Now, to top the whole crazy thing off, after months of nothing on the books followed by maybe one meeting or new training session per week for several weeks, I'm downright bombarded with events for the park.   

I really don't know what to do.  I don't want to call it quits at the park--I love the job and the people I work with (not to mention the perks...)--but at the same time, I really want to be part of this other company.  It's something that I know I'll enjoy, and I can really see myself there.   

I honestly wouldn't mind the idea of working two jobs, especially if they entail things I genuinely love.  But sacrificing one for the other?  That's nothing I'm comfortable thinking about right now. 

I guess all I can do at this point is wait and see. 

 

Projects

Shore Thing

Finally, after months of work, hibernation, and more work, I have bound off the back half of my Shore Thing!

Yeah, it's unblocked, slightly misshapen, and I have loose ends everywhere, but I'm pretty darned proud of my work so far!  I just finished casting on for the front, but I'm wondering if I should take another break for something else (you'll see why). 

 

Blanket

At this point, I'm getting tired of the blanket.  Yes, I still think it looks beautiful.  Yes, I like crochet just as much as I like knitting.  No, it's not big enough to just leave it as-is.  Trust me, it's not even big enough to be a bulky shawl, let alone a blanket. 

Maybe it's the fact that I'm crocheting the same.  stitch.  over.  and.   over.  again.  After all, repeating the pattern of *extended single-crochet, chain one, skip the next stitch*  for a total circumference of 290 stitches gets really old, really fast. 

Maybe it's the fact that the warming weather is making it less and less comfortable.  I don't think using a bulky yarn and having the project resting on my lap helps, either. 

What I don't want to happen...



Not going to happen.  Nice try. 

 

Freeze the whole thing into a big yarncicle, huh?  If I have the freezer space, that might work...
 

At any rate, it's slow-going at best.  I might actually break down and follow the pattern!

A Hat For Dad

My dad is the family tease. 

He's the one to make me and my mom laugh. 

Sometimes it's a rib on some idiosyncrasy that either of us has; sometimes it's an over-exaggerated, "oh my gosh, this is delicious!" in a silly voice when my mom makes a particular dinner for the first time.  You know, little things to lightheartedly push our buttons and, despite our best efforts not to cave in, make us laugh. 

Even my knitting and crocheting hasn't been safe. 

Which brings me to a seemingly normal Monday in February.  About 7-ish in the evening. 

"Hey, Al!  You wanna make me a hat?" 

This wasn't the first time he had asked me to make him something, but it was the first time he had requested something "normal."  As opposed to some knitted monstrosity he had seen on some nighttime comedy show and I was unfortunate enough to witness.  Seriously, it looked like someone had kidnapped a Yeti and felted the poor thing.

"Um, sure..." I replied, my voice trailing upward slightly, but not enough to sound like I wasn't taking him seriously. 

"The hat I have, you know, the one I take up to Big Bear?  It's getting too tight for me.  It's fine when I'm just wearing it around, but I get a pounding headache every time I wear it taking the beast out at night, or going on a walk.  I'll get it out so you can see what it looks like."  ("The beast" is our nickname for the dog)

 As he left the kitchen, my mom and I exchange a look that essentially read, "wonders never cease."

"Wow!"  Mom said.  "That's pretty cool!"

"Yeah, he really wasn't kidding." 

He returned with the hat-in-question in tow.  The grey wool beanie, which had obviously lost the elasticity that animal fibers are so famous for, was stretched over his head, and it didn't look comfortable. 

Here's the thing itself, not on a head. 

 

He handed it to me, and I turned it inside-out.  The construction is simple enough:  knit flat, band doubled over and grafted on the inside with no ribbing (which is half the problem, since ribbing adds extra warmth and stretch without adding a second layer), and the sides and the top are seamed shut with the corners tacked together on the inside. 

Inside-out view

 

 

I would like to get one project off my needles before I start another, but I think that's something I can manage to get finished before another cold snap.    And a great guy like him?  He deserves it! 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it won't be so long until the next post; I'll definitely have something in just over a week, on an event I've been waiting years for...I'm so excited! 

 

Until then, enjoy your life's adventures!