Well, here we are getting ready to wrap up April. Let me tell you it's been a busy month!
My birthday was on 4/5 and I celebrated by buying myself some gorgeous Claudia Handpainted yarn (in the Oops! colorway) from Prairie Arts & Fibers and successfully knit my first sock(yes, just one...so far!) I joined the Lake County Ktog and went to my first sit n' knit at Panera Bread in Gurnee. I popped into The Hawley Street Shoppe in Mundelein and made a purchase of some Cascade Fixation in a tiger like colorway (someday, it will be socks for Lauri!) I started them, but was not happy with how the first few rows came out, so I frogged out 3 inches of cuff and 2 inches of a heel flap last night (aargh!)
I knit in public alot this month, especially at work. I knit on the Metra to Chicago last Sunday on my way to the Cubs game with my friend, Gina.
It was a beautiful day to celebrate Gina's birthday at Wrigley Field. The sun was shining, the beers were cold & the Cubbies won!
I have a lot of pictures to upload, but I just wanted to get some words up here before I forgot for even longer!
Happy Socking!
Jenn
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
So disturbing!
I checked out this book from the library without looking inside:
http://www.amazon.com/Hookorama-25-Fabulous-Things-Crochet/dp/1846011205
Sadly, Amazon does not show the bounty of "Fabulous" things it has on the inside - I will tell you of the gems which lie inside:*Crocheted baguette cozy with matching knee pads!*A powdered wig!*Hula hoop cover!*Spats (which are modeled on a woman wearing high heels that has a rather noticeable gash on the top of her foot...she shows that gash off in almost every pic)*Crocheted picture edgings to glue to the side of a suitcase to prevent homesickness!*Adam & Eve Fig Leaf bikini's! (there is also a pattern for a serpent! Oooh! Biblical!)*A "Science Experiment" sweater, complete with bouclé burnholes and a periodic table of elements - Sexy!Upon further inspection, I find that the author is affiliated with this site: http://www.castoff.info/shop.aspI don't know about you, but I find the "Big Toe Protector" much easier than trimming my toenails to prevent holes in my tights!Please also view the album and gaze in amazement at the Knitted Wedding - ahhh, the bride wore dishcloths...I found this, and immediately classified it in the "WTF is this?" section of my brain, then went home and burned all my things.
Happy Monday!
Jenn
http://www.amazon.com/Hookorama-25-Fabulous-Things-Crochet/dp/1846011205
Sadly, Amazon does not show the bounty of "Fabulous" things it has on the inside - I will tell you of the gems which lie inside:*Crocheted baguette cozy with matching knee pads!*A powdered wig!*Hula hoop cover!*Spats (which are modeled on a woman wearing high heels that has a rather noticeable gash on the top of her foot...she shows that gash off in almost every pic)*Crocheted picture edgings to glue to the side of a suitcase to prevent homesickness!*Adam & Eve Fig Leaf bikini's! (there is also a pattern for a serpent! Oooh! Biblical!)*A "Science Experiment" sweater, complete with bouclé burnholes and a periodic table of elements - Sexy!Upon further inspection, I find that the author is affiliated with this site: http://www.castoff.info/shop.aspI don't know about you, but I find the "Big Toe Protector" much easier than trimming my toenails to prevent holes in my tights!Please also view the album and gaze in amazement at the Knitted Wedding - ahhh, the bride wore dishcloths...I found this, and immediately classified it in the "WTF is this?" section of my brain, then went home and burned all my things.
Happy Monday!
Jenn
Thursday, March 20, 2008
It's Been Awhile!
WoW!
I am a blog slacker, once again!
I must say that it's alot easier to maintain a (semi) interesting blog when that's really all I have to do all day.
Now that I am working, my brain is full to bursting with health insurance information.
I haven't been knitting or crocheting much lately, the past 3 weeks have been quite hectic.
Mike and I have decided to go our separate ways, so for me that meant moving back into my parent's house while I get myself stable.
So far, so good.
I am really going to try to get alot of my financial issues resolved, and try to start fresh.
I miss my yarn.
There just hasn't been alot of spare time lately. I think tonight I will just sit down and start something.
I still have to make Habibe her obscene dish cloth : )
I am a blog slacker, once again!
I must say that it's alot easier to maintain a (semi) interesting blog when that's really all I have to do all day.
Now that I am working, my brain is full to bursting with health insurance information.
I haven't been knitting or crocheting much lately, the past 3 weeks have been quite hectic.
Mike and I have decided to go our separate ways, so for me that meant moving back into my parent's house while I get myself stable.
So far, so good.
I am really going to try to get alot of my financial issues resolved, and try to start fresh.
I miss my yarn.
There just hasn't been alot of spare time lately. I think tonight I will just sit down and start something.
I still have to make Habibe her obscene dish cloth : )
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Why today was good...
Today was a good day.
I woke up alive and able to dress myself and go to work, to make the dollars that buy yarn.
(I suppose it also pays for other less important things, like food and fuel for my vehicle but whatever.)
Upon arriving to work, we got our Day 7 Assessments that we took on Monday back:
It's a perfect score! (And yes, its hanging on my fridge with a Fairly Oddparents magnet - squee!)
Then, I had my review with one of the facilitators who nearly succeeded in making me crap myself. He sat me down in a small room and asked how I thought I was doing in the class, I replied that I thought I was doing well. Then he said, with a completely straight face,
"Hmm, well I beg to differ."
I was stunned, I was like "really?"
and he said "NO! But you should have seen your face!!!"
He confirmed my original thoughts that I was doing very well, and that he appreciated that I was helping out the other classmates who were having some trouble.
::whew!::
Then, I went on my smoke break with Levi, who handed me this:
Ahh, profanity in fiber art makes me smile : )
This counted cross-stitch sampler was done by Levi's friend, Habibe (aka Jen) in Michigan.
It is currently hanging on my fridge, awaiting a frame.
I told Habibe that I love her and I am making her a dishcloth that says "F*** The Dishes, Let's Get Drunk!"
(minus the censoring, of course!)
Today was a good day, I hope yours was too!
Now, shut your whore mouth!
Love, Jenn
I woke up alive and able to dress myself and go to work, to make the dollars that buy yarn.
(I suppose it also pays for other less important things, like food and fuel for my vehicle but whatever.)
Upon arriving to work, we got our Day 7 Assessments that we took on Monday back:
Then, I had my review with one of the facilitators who nearly succeeded in making me crap myself. He sat me down in a small room and asked how I thought I was doing in the class, I replied that I thought I was doing well. Then he said, with a completely straight face,
"Hmm, well I beg to differ."
I was stunned, I was like "really?"
and he said "NO! But you should have seen your face!!!"
He confirmed my original thoughts that I was doing very well, and that he appreciated that I was helping out the other classmates who were having some trouble.
::whew!::
Then, I went on my smoke break with Levi, who handed me this:
Ahh, profanity in fiber art makes me smile : )
This counted cross-stitch sampler was done by Levi's friend, Habibe (aka Jen) in Michigan.
It is currently hanging on my fridge, awaiting a frame.
I told Habibe that I love her and I am making her a dishcloth that says "F*** The Dishes, Let's Get Drunk!"
(minus the censoring, of course!)
Today was a good day, I hope yours was too!
Now, shut your whore mouth!
Love, Jenn
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Happy Sunday!
Howdy!
Well, I made it through my first week back to work unscathed. I eventually had to break down and take a sleeping pill to help me get back on a "sleep at night/awake during the day" schedule.
I have been working on my first itty bitty sock for the last 2 weeks, I finally decided last night (this morning?) to Kitchener stitch the toe and get it off my needles. I had been dying to do a sock (all the sock hype on Ravelry helped!) but I didn't have actual sock yarn, or DPNs small enough so I improvised. *Note to anyone who would like to buy me a present for my birthday...April 5...I'll be 29, so it's my last b-day in my twenties...Sock yarn and DPNs (double pointed needles) in size 1 & 2 would be perfection...you can see my wishlist on the Loopy Ewe.
And also here, at Lisa Souza
in the following colorways (it's called Sock! Merino yarn)
Pacific
Printemps
Emerald City
LimeNViolet
Spumoni
Little Devil
And, if you *REALLY LOVE ME*, you can take a peek at Blue Moon Fiber Arts:
(Socks That Rock, lightweight)
Watermelon Tourmaline
Pebble Beach
Philosopher's Stone
Lunasea
Froggin'
Fire on the Mountain
Lucy
OK, my blog post was sadly turned into a shameless wish for sock yarn...I'm done now...
One last thing - should you gift me sock yarn, you never know, you might get that yarn back! It will, however, be fashioned into cute socks : )
If I were you, I'd buy me a colorway in a color I liked...because, you never know...
Alright!
Baby Turtle was born this past week, and yet his blankie is still not finished...So, I believe that will be back on the hook this week.
Rooster placed 1st at Sectionals!
WOOT! He is on his way to state to dominate the wrestling mat for the last time as an IKWF wrestler! GO ROOSTER!!!!
I am so proud of him!
Have a great week, everyone!
Love, Jenn
PS - look at this handsome guy!
Well, I made it through my first week back to work unscathed. I eventually had to break down and take a sleeping pill to help me get back on a "sleep at night/awake during the day" schedule.
I have been working on my first itty bitty sock for the last 2 weeks, I finally decided last night (this morning?) to Kitchener stitch the toe and get it off my needles. I had been dying to do a sock (all the sock hype on Ravelry helped!) but I didn't have actual sock yarn, or DPNs small enough so I improvised. *Note to anyone who would like to buy me a present for my birthday...April 5...I'll be 29, so it's my last b-day in my twenties...Sock yarn and DPNs (double pointed needles) in size 1 & 2 would be perfection...you can see my wishlist on the Loopy Ewe.
And also here, at Lisa Souza
in the following colorways (it's called Sock! Merino yarn)
Pacific
Printemps
Emerald City
LimeNViolet
Spumoni
Little Devil
And, if you *REALLY LOVE ME*, you can take a peek at Blue Moon Fiber Arts:
(Socks That Rock, lightweight)
Watermelon Tourmaline
Pebble Beach
Philosopher's Stone
Lunasea
Froggin'
Fire on the Mountain
Lucy
OK, my blog post was sadly turned into a shameless wish for sock yarn...I'm done now...
One last thing - should you gift me sock yarn, you never know, you might get that yarn back! It will, however, be fashioned into cute socks : )
If I were you, I'd buy me a colorway in a color I liked...because, you never know...
Alright!
Baby Turtle was born this past week, and yet his blankie is still not finished...So, I believe that will be back on the hook this week.
Rooster placed 1st at Sectionals!
WOOT! He is on his way to state to dominate the wrestling mat for the last time as an IKWF wrestler! GO ROOSTER!!!!
I am so proud of him!
Have a great week, everyone!
Love, Jenn
PS - look at this handsome guy!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Back to the salt mines...
Well, I've officially made it through my second day back to work!!!
It's the first time in a long time that I've actually been excited to go to work.
Upon completion of my training, I will be doing inbound call center for a benefits administration company. The commute is only about 3 minutes from where I used to work, and I will be working with people I already know from my circle o' friends, so that's exciting!
The pay is the same as what I used to make.
Oddly enough, I will be working in the same town, doing the same job (call center) for the same $.
Easy Peasy, Lemon-Squeezy!
I'm exhausted from the change in my sleeping patterns, I'm trying to overcome my nocturnal leanings. On Sunday night, I went to bed at 10pm - and I never fell asleep. So I just went to my first day of work looking like I was coming down from crack or something. All jittery and chatty (and for those of you who know me, I'm already chatty!) I got home, ate dinner at fell asleep at 7pm - then I woke up, all bright eyed and bushy tailed - at 3 AM! I tried to fall back asleep, but finally relented and cleaned the kitchen, made coffee, made breakfast, surfed Ravelry and at 6am I got in the shower. Needless to say, by 2 pm today, I was fading.
This week, I am working on getting my internal clock back to normal, working person hours - so I may not post too much - but bear with me - the funny will be back, I assure you.
Happy Whatever-ing!
Jenn
It's the first time in a long time that I've actually been excited to go to work.
Upon completion of my training, I will be doing inbound call center for a benefits administration company. The commute is only about 3 minutes from where I used to work, and I will be working with people I already know from my circle o' friends, so that's exciting!
The pay is the same as what I used to make.
Oddly enough, I will be working in the same town, doing the same job (call center) for the same $.
Easy Peasy, Lemon-Squeezy!
I'm exhausted from the change in my sleeping patterns, I'm trying to overcome my nocturnal leanings. On Sunday night, I went to bed at 10pm - and I never fell asleep. So I just went to my first day of work looking like I was coming down from crack or something. All jittery and chatty (and for those of you who know me, I'm already chatty!) I got home, ate dinner at fell asleep at 7pm - then I woke up, all bright eyed and bushy tailed - at 3 AM! I tried to fall back asleep, but finally relented and cleaned the kitchen, made coffee, made breakfast, surfed Ravelry and at 6am I got in the shower. Needless to say, by 2 pm today, I was fading.
This week, I am working on getting my internal clock back to normal, working person hours - so I may not post too much - but bear with me - the funny will be back, I assure you.
Happy Whatever-ing!
Jenn
Monday, February 18, 2008
You should have seen it...
As you can tell from the picture...it was a GREAT WEEKEND!!!
We left for Champaign at 4:30a on Saturday morning and arrived at 7am.
We found a parking spot, bought our tickets and headed in to Assembly Hall.
The wrestlers were all down on the mat, and I found Jordan, laying on his belly getting a massage from his awesome coach, Bret Wojcik.
We joined Grandma & Papa Blanton in section C4, for the moment, we were the only 4 "Blanton Boosters" but soon enough, the section would be filled (and overlapping into sections C3 & C5!) with family, friends and well wishers.
We were loud, proud and very orange when Jordan and Spangler stepped out to the mat.
We screamed! We clapped! We wolf whistled! We chanted "Jordan, Jordan!"
We weren't alone.
The atmosphere was undoubtedly ELECTRIC.
It sounded like everyone was cheering for Jordan Blanton.
It got so loud, I thought the roof was going to blow off.
The match was gut wrenching, watching Spangler score, then relief when Jordan started racking up the points.
The cheering got louder (as if that was even possible!)
Then it was over.
Jordan did it, he beat Chris Spangler of Neuqua Valley 10-8.
Every orange clad Blanton Booster was reduced to tears. Tears of joy and pride, tears of relief!
We hugged, we cried some more. It was the best cry I've ever had.
When Jordan came up from the floor, he got a much deserved standing ovation...not just from us - from nearly the entire crowd at Assembly Hall. He zigged and zagged through the crowd and when he got up to us, there were hugs for everyone.
Over 100 of us, and Jordan gave hugs to everyone. He even signed some autographs (how cool is that??!!)
This had been the match that people were comparing to last year's final against Benefiel, saying there was a slim chance that Jordan would beat Spangler. Well, I'm going to say that hard work, determination and an utter devotion to winning this match is what made Jordan #1.
After we all regained our composure, we headed over to Eastland Suites for a much needed lunch and (of course!) a couple beers ; )
Our reception room was packed, buzzing with "Can you effing believe it?!" everyone was in awe, we logged on to Illinoismatmen.com to read the comments on the match, people were saying it was the greatest match they've ever seen. I agree whole-heartedly.
Mike and I went back to our hotel room and took a much needed nap before we had to return to the finals, and have our guts turned inside out one more time when Jordan stepped out onto the mat to wrestle his final match as a high school student against Carl Foreside of Montini.
Our group of fans had grown exponentially since lunch time, and we were officially overlapping into other sections.
We sat on the edge of our seats once again as the Championship Finals began, and Jordan took the mat with Foreside.
We were not disappointed with Jordan's performance, and for the 3rd and last time in his high school career - Jordan was number one in the state.
He beat Foreside 10-8.
There are no words to explain how proud I am to be Jordan's aunt.
As a wrestler and as a man, Jordan is number one.
You can read the newspaper article here.
Still buzzing with Blanton-win-itis...
Aunt Jenn
We found a parking spot, bought our tickets and headed in to Assembly Hall.
The wrestlers were all down on the mat, and I found Jordan, laying on his belly getting a massage from his awesome coach, Bret Wojcik.
We were loud, proud and very orange when Jordan and Spangler stepped out to the mat.
We screamed! We clapped! We wolf whistled! We chanted "Jordan, Jordan!"
We weren't alone.
The atmosphere was undoubtedly ELECTRIC.
It sounded like everyone was cheering for Jordan Blanton.
It got so loud, I thought the roof was going to blow off.
The match was gut wrenching, watching Spangler score, then relief when Jordan started racking up the points.
The cheering got louder (as if that was even possible!)
Then it was over.
Jordan did it, he beat Chris Spangler of Neuqua Valley 10-8.
Every orange clad Blanton Booster was reduced to tears. Tears of joy and pride, tears of relief!
We hugged, we cried some more. It was the best cry I've ever had.
When Jordan came up from the floor, he got a much deserved standing ovation...not just from us - from nearly the entire crowd at Assembly Hall. He zigged and zagged through the crowd and when he got up to us, there were hugs for everyone.
Over 100 of us, and Jordan gave hugs to everyone. He even signed some autographs (how cool is that??!!)
This had been the match that people were comparing to last year's final against Benefiel, saying there was a slim chance that Jordan would beat Spangler. Well, I'm going to say that hard work, determination and an utter devotion to winning this match is what made Jordan #1.
After we all regained our composure, we headed over to Eastland Suites for a much needed lunch and (of course!) a couple beers ; )
Our reception room was packed, buzzing with "Can you effing believe it?!" everyone was in awe, we logged on to Illinoismatmen.com to read the comments on the match, people were saying it was the greatest match they've ever seen. I agree whole-heartedly.
Mike and I went back to our hotel room and took a much needed nap before we had to return to the finals, and have our guts turned inside out one more time when Jordan stepped out onto the mat to wrestle his final match as a high school student against Carl Foreside of Montini.
Our group of fans had grown exponentially since lunch time, and we were officially overlapping into other sections.
We sat on the edge of our seats once again as the Championship Finals began, and Jordan took the mat with Foreside.
We were not disappointed with Jordan's performance, and for the 3rd and last time in his high school career - Jordan was number one in the state.
He beat Foreside 10-8.
There are no words to explain how proud I am to be Jordan's aunt.
As a wrestler and as a man, Jordan is number one.
You can read the newspaper article here.
Still buzzing with Blanton-win-itis...
Aunt Jenn
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